haue ended this letter but that his triumphant conclusion forceth me to make a briefe recapitulation of what hath passed in this combat betweene vs that you may as in a table see both what cause there was he should so crow and how that he as well as other of our Aduersaryes haue a speciall grace when they haue proued nothing to vâ—unt aboue measure of their chymericall conquests for if you barre them of that boasting humour of lying of rayling of corrupting Authours and childish disputing their pens will cast no inke their books will be very barren they in short tyme for matters or controuersy will become altogeather mute M. Halls bragging Conclusion is examined togeather with a briefe Recapitulation of what before hath beene sayd HAVING discussed hitherto all M. Halls arguments and deciphered their weaknes or rather hauing shewed how they haue beene answered by others resumed by him without any notice of their former refutation and that with such confident courage as he pawneth his wife his fidelity his cause all theron which if truth and equity may giue sentence he hath all forfeited yet such is the mans misfortune his wit being so shallow and selfe esteeme of his owne worth and works so great that as before he neuer more bragged theÌ„ wher he had least cause and was most ouerthrowne so in the very end where he should haue excused the want of exact performance of what he had vndertaken as necessarily knowing all his proofes to haue beene so disproued before as neither altogeather or any one of them all cold subsiâ—t yet hauing passed the bounds of modesty by his intemperate rayling on vâ— and immoderate praysing of himselfe without further reflection he ruâ—heth on forwards and in lieu of M. Hâ—lls pride â—nd vanity this excuse and humble opinion of himselfe a there is â—o cause God woâ— why â—e should haue any other he coÌ„meth aloft with an Iâ— triumphe like a coâ—querour in his triumphant chariot with lawâ—ell crowne and scepter in hand talketh of nothing els but conquestâ— victoryes subduing Aduersaryes â—eâ—ching and defending the truth which yet in this brauery he so betrayth as euen in this triumphant Conclusion which he maketh there is nothing he hath that includes not in it some notorious â—alshood obseruing in some sort the rules of art which will haue the beginning and end of a worke to haue some proportion and connexion togeather and so as he began bluntly with fiue lyes at once so will he end with as many to speake the least for thus he writeth 2. I haue sayth he I hope fetcht this truth far inough deduced it low inough through many ages to the midst of the rage of Antichristian M. Hall for a fare well giues vs a fardle of vntruths tyranny there left our libeâ—ty there began their bondage Our liberty is happily renewed with the Ghospell what God what his Church hath euer allowed we do enioy wherin we are not alone the Greeke Church as large for extent aâ— the Roman and in some parts of it better for soundnes do thus and thus haue euer done Let Papists and Athiests say what they will it is safe erring with God and his purer Church So he And to all this vaunting there needeth no other answere then that of the Wise man Nubes vâ—ntus plâ—uiâ— non sequentes vir gloriosus promissa non complens As the câ—oud Prouerb 25. and wind and no raigne following so is the man who vaunteth much and performeth not his promises for all these wast words are but clouds without water vaine blasts of presumptuous pride promiâ—ing much and performing nothing and M. Hall in his long trauell is but like vnto one who maketh a great iourney to the sea side to fetch home salt water in a â—yue or to those of whome the Prophet speaketh who sowed much and reaped little and put all their gaine in sacculum pertusum a purse pierced through the bottome from which all did fall out that was put in for if M. Hâ—ll will rightly cast vp his accounts he shall find that he hath gayned as much by all his labour for his cause as if he had sate still and sayd nothing though for his credit this he had gotten to be hâ—ld a very vnsincere and superficiall writer for he wanteth learning to frame an argument reading to find the truth modesty in his tearmes and conscience in telling so many lyes which are as thicke with him as hops in haruest 3. And whosoeuer will consider what before hath beene sayd will see the vayne hope of this man to vanish like smoke he sayth that he hath fetched this truth far inough and deduced it low inough through many ages euen to the midst of the rage of Antichristian tyranny o how much is truth for her deliuerance out of bondage be holding vnto M. Hall to so potent an Aduocate Scilicet liberanda veritas sayth â—ertullian expectabat Marcionem This conquest of fetching truth so far was reseâ—ued to Tertul. â—â— Marciâ—n these â—ymes to M. Halls trauells to his learned pen but in this his valiant exploit of fetching home truth he should not haue forgot that rule thereof deliuered by S. Ambrose and was much worth his noting Veritatis sayth this Father Amb. lib. â—â—e Offiâ— cap. 24. â—â—est regula vt nihil sacias commendandi tui causa quo minor alius fiat That is the rule of truth that you do nothing in your own commendation wherby another may be abased as heere M. Hall doth whiles in praysing himselfe for fetching truth so far of his happy renewing of his liberty by the Ghospell of erring with the purer Church and the like he contumeliously calleth the Catholicke Church and the gouernement thereof Antichristian tyranny and most basely giues as it were the defyance to Papists and Atheists which tearmes needed not were all so cleare on his side as he would haue it but that the leuity and malignity of his distempered brayne where reason fayled would force it out with rayling and he thought his owne praise too little vnles it went combyned with our contumely In this I confesse his faculty is better then in prouing the continuance of the marriage of Clergy men which notwithstanding his brags hath beene found to be to â—ard a taske for his weake ability 4. And when he tells vs how far this truth is fetcht and how low deduced through many ages I must truely tell him that he hath performed no such matter the primitiue church the ensuing ages the later tymes all authority of any weight or worth are against him vntill the tyme of Edward the sixth the freedome he now possesseth was neuer possessed in England no Bishops were marryed no Priests but of lewd life euer attempted it abuse as tymes gaue M. Hall striueth as it should seeme to vtter many vntruthes in a few lins occasion crept in but neuer had publike allowance And if he meane
Bellarmine as erroneous Bellar. l. 1. de Cler. c. 19. §. 1. antem neither is it otherwise deliuered by the author but as his own proper opinion supposing the abuse of some Cleargy men as it should seem in his dayes who liuing incontinently he thought it better for them to marry euen after their orders then to giue such scandall but no law can preuent all abuses euen in matrimony we find adulterers and they who in single life so lewdly follow their lust would also perhaps not haue beene restrained in marriage within the prefixed limits of coniugall chastity at least for the errours of some the law is not to be altered that bindeth all especially being so ancient so vniuersall so necessary as we shall after shew this law to be 48. The like liberty I might vse in pretermitting other of his impertinent allegations if I thought the man would not where he findeth no answere thinke that they were vnanswerable therefore I meane to examine them all though this which followes be not worth the taking vp had he not by misinterpreting the Latin made it more aduantagious to his cause then euer the speaker meant it for thus he writeth But if this red hat be not worthy of respect let a Pope himselfe speake out of Peters chayre Pius the second as learned as hath sit in that roome this thousand yeares marriage sayth he vpon great reason was taken False interpretation of Pius 2. his wordes from the Clergy but vpon greater is to be restored VVhat need we other Iudge Thus M. Hall in which words are two manifest vntruths the one that he spake this out of Peters chaire for he neuer made any decree thereof and Platina who alone is cited to report it sayth that in familiar talke only he was wont so to say which is far from defyning out of S. Peters Chayre which requires a definitiue sentence as from the head of the Church and deliuered in absolute tearmes for the affirmatiue or negatiue of any assertion for in like manner Kings are not sayd to do out of kingly authority what they do or say in familiar discourse or recreation amonst their subiects but what they do or say by their publique laws edicts proclamations commands and the like 49. The other vntruth is more malicious for whereas the Latin wordes in the margent are Sacerdotibus magna ratione sublatas nuptias maiore restituendas videri which truly traÌ„slated signify no more but that marriage vpon good reason was taken from Priests and may seeme vpon greater to be restored this man bringeth in one lye to confirme another to shew I say that the Pope defined out of S. Peters chayre he maketh him absolutly to say Marriage vpon great reason was taken from the Clergy but vpon greater is to be restored and to make it haue a large extent insteed of Priests he translateth Clergy which includeth also Bishops who yet are excluded by his owne sixth Councel as we shall after shew and then exclaimeth VVhat needeth other iudge and I say there needeth no other but some who vnderstand their Grammer to tell M. Hall three things that the word Sacerdotibus signifyeth Priests and not the Clergy 2. that nuptias restituendas videri is to be Englished marriages may seeme to be restored and not are to be restored and 3. that euery compassionate speach of dislike in familiar talke is not a decree from S. Peters chayre As for his superlatiue lashing of this Popes learning in M. Halls honourable tearms of such as he citeth in fauour of the marriage of Priests dishonourable of the impugners comparison of others no regard is to be had thereunto for now this Minister measures all thinges by marriage and seeth nothing but through false spectacles a schismaticall Councell is for fauouring wiues presently become with him sacred and the authority irrefragable Paphnutius for fauouring the same as â—e supposeth in the Nicen Councell is stiled a Virgin famous for holynes famous for miracles S. Athanasius holy Athanasius a witnes past exception and shall serue for a thousand historyes till his tyme if he cite a Cardinal then must his red cap stop our mouthes and he be termed a learned Cardinall if a Pope then ex tripode he defines him to be as learned as any hath beene in that roome for a thousand yeares But if any speake against this licentious liberty as did Gregory the seauenth he is presently a brand of hell S. Dunstane no more but plaine Dustane and the like of S. Anselme most famous for learning and holynes of life But all sanctity all learning all authority is lost with this man if you allow not marriage vnto Priests Bishops Monks Nunnes and all other votaryes 50. From the lawfullnes and necessity he commeth to the antiquity of the marriage of Clergy men and because he will deduce it from the Apostles tymes yea from their examples he beginneth with this exordium How iust sayth he this law is you see see now how ancient for some M. Halls contradiction a-about priority of tyme. doctrines haue nothing to plead for them but tyme Age hath beene an old refuge for falsehood Tertullians rule is true that which is first is truest So he in which obscure words without any interposition at all of any other there is a flat contradiction for if age haue beene the refuge of falsehood how can the other part be verifyed the more ancient the more true againe if Tertullians rule be true that which is first is truest how can prescription of tyme be a refuge for falshood Do these men wake or sleep when they write do they deale in matters of coÌ„trouersy or deliuer their dreams if that which is first is truest then must priority of tyme be the guardian of truth and not the refuge of falshood which doth shunne and auoyd this tryall 51. If this Maxime of trying truth by tyme had byn obserued of King Henry 8. in England Martin Luther in Saxony and Zuinglius in Zuricke these late hereticall noueltyes with which Europe is now pestered had not entred with such full saile as they did but then age was a refuge for falshood and Tertullians rule was ouerruled as irregular which now in the marriage of Priests is made to be the only square of truth truely as M. Hall doth handle the matter it is M. Hall makes antiquity a Lesbian rule made a Lesbian rule which may be turned changed wrested and applyed as you list for if you vrge the constant vniforme generall consent of all places tymes pastours writers for purgatory reall presence merits iustification by good workes the Supremacy of the sea of Rome and the like alwayes confessed neuer without the brand of heresy denyed then is age the refuge of falshood mother of errour and no certainty can be drawne from the authority of men let but a minister haue but one seeming place of any Father neere the Apostles tymes although but
more foolishly doted therfore the sottish Poet did not so much set forth a mouse with a lyons prayse as ouerwhelme and crush him in peeces So he and so say I no lesse fittly of M. Hall then he of Lucretius that he commendeth not the Councell of Neece Constantinople the first Ephesine or of Chalcedon or such like general Councels but a bastard Conuenticle not worth the naming and with the false titles of vniuersal sacred authority weighing down a hundred conuenticles legions of priuate contradictions with the like he couereth but a mouse vnder a lyons skin and a a skar-crow of clouts with Achilles armour 110. But the man if I mistake him not hath a further fetch in this matter and will I feare me shew vs a tricke of legier-du-maine and by crafty conueyance cast that off by contempt The reasoÌ„ why M. Hall giueth so great vndeserued praise vnto the Trullan Conuenticle which he saw that by learning he could not answere for hauing perused in Bellarmine so many Councells cyted of all kingdomes so many authorityes in him Coccius for cleering this controuersy as euinced the Catholike truth refelled his nouelty and faythfully deliuered the practise of all tymes places authors Churches Synods this man sayth of his bastard Councell alone Iudg now whether this one authority be not inough to weigh down a hundred petty conuenticles many legions if ther had beene many of priuate contradictions so as with this GeÌ„tleman al Councels you shal cyte against him though neuer so ancient al Fathers though neuer so graue all historyes though neuer so authenticall shall be but petty conuenticles and priuate contradictions and this counterfeit Trullan Councel shall be generall sacred and of authority to weigh them all downe whatsoeuer 111. This is a short maistery and easy conquest by giuing more authority then it deserueth vnto one to make riddance of all the rest and to accept nothing for proofe but that your selfe list to allow M. Hall in this saw the Fathers and Councells to be against him that for one broken M. Hall only praiseth them who can pleasure him and dispraiseth the rest allegation of the Trullan Conuenticle we could bring a whole army of more ancient more authentical records and for three Fathers of the foure first hundred yeares though not one of all the three make for him the testimonyes of al the Fathers of these ages which he saw at length layd downe in Coccius and Bellarmine but durst not behold them nor yet the answeres to his owne arguments in the Cardinal only he prayseth such as himselfe produceth and setteth them out with honourable titles as Paphnutius a virgin famous for holynes famous for miracles S. Athanasius a witnes past exception who may serue for a thousand historyes till his age S. Huldericus B. of Auspurge both learned and vehement c. but for all the rest that be against him they make but priuate contradictions so if they bring his cause no helpe he casteth theÌ„ all off with a Writ of Nil tecum attuleris ibis Homere foras 112. Neither is M. Hall the first authour of this inuention but scholler rather and follower of M. Iohn Iewell who made and vnmade Fathers M. Iewels making and vnmaking of the Fathers at his pleasure as they stood for or against him in citing once the schismaticall Councell of Basil for himselfe he sayth the Fathers of the Councell of Basil say c. but when a far more ancient Councell was cyted against him by D. Harding then were all these Fathers ignorant men lead away with See the Returne of vntruths of D. Stapleton art 4. the blindnes of that age when S. Bernard in his books of Consideration to Eugenius declaimeth against the vices of the Court of Rome then is he holy Saint Bernard but when he sayth in the same worke that the Pope is for power Peter for his annointing Christ the supreme Pastour of al Pastours then is he but bare Bernard the Abbot when S. Gregory the Great rebuketh the proud title of Iohn of Constantinople stiling himselfe vniuersall Bishop then he is holy S. Gregory but when he writeth of the miracles of Saints of purgatory and other the like Catholike articles then he is Father Gregory the dreamer Origen if he speake against M. Iewell hath presently many errours and heresies but when he speaketh for him then he is old Father Origen and M. Iewell will be his white sonne 113. So if one Father speake for M. Hâ—ll he is past exception and shall serue for a thousand if another M. Hall submits all authority taken from antiquity to his owne tribunall though of later tymes he must answere all cauills satisfy all readers and conuince all not will full aduersaryes if a schismaticall Councell though neuer so base neuer so much branded fauour his marriage it is generall sacred and shal proclaime in spight of all contradiction but if we for one or two Fathers misunderstood as I haue shewed bring the whole torrent and vniforme conspiring agreement of them all it shall make against him but priuate contradiction if we alleadge the Councells gathered in all the coasts and corners of Europe Asia and Affricke they are all but petty Conuenticles because M. Ioseph Hall as an arbiter chosen not by man or of man but by some greater power defines all to be so and will haue all Councells Fathers historyes records to be allowed or disallowed accepted or refused good or bad authentical or counterfeit as it shall like himselfe which supereminent authority and independence if you graunt him not all his arguments fall to ground and if you graunt him who will not pitty your folly and thinke you worthily deceaued who leaue the brasen pillers of truth sanctity antiquity to leane on the broken and rotten reed of this seely simple Minister in learning very little lesse in sanctity and only in his owne opinion and imagination great 114. He who will not be deceaued in iudgement must not weigh the matters controuerted by the scales of partiall affection towards either part for that were to make truth subiect to priuate fancy where two are in sute at law Priuate affections do hinder vpright iudgmeÌ„t the one against the other if the Iudge be byazed by one party and will pronounce sentence for him without so much as hearing the aduersary speake as Seneca in Medea well noteth the sentence may fall out to be right but the iudgment was wrong He that will iudge vprightly must beare an vpright mind not inclining to the right or the left for truth is compared by Cassian Cassian collat 23. cap. 9. to a straight line and as he who walketh on a rope cannot stand or go if he leane to one side or other so neither he find the truth who hath tyed his affection to any particuler as without further discussion will take all for good which he on the warrant of
might haue suffised for a law had Canons wanted which yet in this behalfe are very abundant M. Halls sacred Councel of TrulluÌ„ doth yield vs two Concil Trullan Can. 10. 48. the 10. and 48. and before that the Councell of Ancyra Neocaesaraea and Neece haue others as I shal afterwards shew and as these manyfold authorityes do much ouerweigh the single credit of Socrates so the notable case which hapned in his Nicephor l. 14. c. 55. tyme doth cleerely conclude the prohibition mentioned to haue had a larger extent then Thessalia Macedonia or Helladian Greece for thus it hapned Synesius a famous Philosopher being A notable example of Synesius Bishop of Ptolemais made a Christian and soone after chosen by the Clergy and sought for by the people to be made their Bishop Theophilus then Patriarke of Alexandria approuing the election went about to ordeyne him Bishop of Ptolemais which the other refused in so vehement manner as that omni arte robore by all art and force he laboured to withstand the ordination saying that he did rather desire to dye then to be made Bishop and Synes ep 11. 57. that on his knees he had prayed for that exchange I meane of his Bishopricke with death to which end he vsed all the sleights excuses stratagems that he could deuise as S. Ambrose did vpon the like occasion at Millane to diuert Theophilus Patriarke of Alexandria from approuing his election or proceeding further to his ordination but what thinke you did he obiect 26. Truly many excuses he made and some of them vntrue for he not only pretended that he was a new Christian not yet fully instructed Synes ad Euopsium ep 105. See Baron anno 410. in the doctrine of his beliefe but further that as yet he belieued not the resurrection of the flesh and other points taught professed and acknowledged by all Christians that his other studyes incombrances would not permit them to be Bishop that his want of health Synesius very vnwilling to be Bishop and disposition of mynd made him altogeather vnfit for that calling the like but most of all he vrged the matter of his marriage as the proper speciall meanes of his hinderanc or deliuerance rather from that burthen the manner of his vrging well sheweth the cleer incompossibility he conceaued to be betweene the one the other state for in this earnest manner doth he deliuer the same Mihi Deus ipse sayth he Loco citaâ—o leges ipsaque sacra Theophili manus vxorem dedit c. Both God himselfe and the lawes and the holy hand of Theophilus hath giuen me a wife wherefore I fortell all men and will haue it recorded that I will not forsake her neither as an adulterer will I secretly know her for the one to wit to leaue her stands not with piety the other to know her after his Episcopall ordination is not lawfull but I will and desire rather to haue many honest children borne of her and of this the Author and chiefe dealer in this election ought not to be ignorant let our friends Paulus and Dionysius whome I vnderstand to be chosen by the people for Embassadours in this matter know so much So Synesius and how can this plea made by so famous a man vpon this occasion at the very tyme when Socrates liued and that euen in Greece stand with the arbitrary chastity heere surmized How can it be that there was no law nor Canon of the continent life of Bishops and yet that this renowned Philosopher and most learned man should vrge his marriage and the not dissolution thereof as an essentiall impediment vtterly vnabling him to be Bishop and the thing it selfe to be vnlawfull in one of that calling 27. And in case the matter had beene as Socrates in that lying chapter doth relate it then had the folly or rather stupidity of this reason beene very singular which will the better appeare if we apply it to some domestical example Socrates proued to be vnsincere of our English Superintendents among whome that is taught for true doctrine which Socrates heere deliuereth and these lewd Bishops if ther were any such are sayd to haue practised and to single out one amongst many to exemplify in let vs suppose that M. Iohn King now by an Equiuocall M. King with my Lady his wife of London title surnamed of London had beene vnwilling to be made Bishop and to hinder his election should haue exhibited to his Metropolitan of Canterbury a memorial concerning the reasons of his refusall and among the rest he should haue stood stiffe on this point that forsooth he was a marryed man that he meant not to leaue his wife that he intended to haue more children by her and that it importeth much that M. Abbots should not be ignorant of this his resolution least perhaps he should vnaduisedly by making him Bishop go about to separate the poore effeminate man from his wiues company whome he would in no case for that he loued her much better then his Bishodricke forsake Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici Could any forbeare laughing to heare this ridiculous reason that seeth so many marryed Bishops in the land and no prohibition to the contrary Whereas therefore Synesius so eagerly vrged this point and our aduersaryes are ashamed to mention it we may wel discouer a presupposed prohibition to haue been extant that Socrates attent Lib. 5. c. 23. only to the matters of ConstaÌ„tinople where he was borne and brought vp either to haue been very ignorant of the customes of other places if not also of his owne citty where in all the row of these Patriarkes this could not be specifyed Nicephor lib. 6. c. vlt. by any one example or els as a Nouatian hereticke for which Nicephorus taxeth him out of the knowne lasciuious spirit of such men to haue dissembled and willfully contradicted the truth 28. And these being all the testimonyes that M. Hall bringeth for the first foure hundred yeares and all wide of the marke whiles we expect that he should according to promise follow the tymes and shew in all ages succeeding the marriage of Priests to haue beene lawful he maketh a foule skip from Origen S. Cyprian S. Athanasius and the Nicen Councell vnto Gratian the Canonist leapeth ouer well neere eight hundred years togeather though after leauing three or foure hundred yeares vntouched he recoile a little backe to the Trullan Councell S. Vdalricke and others but with what effect we shall after see and in this place insteed of the testimonyes M. Hall mistaketh the state of the question and in saying much proueth nothing of writers he brings vs in an idle bedrole of names to wit of such Bishops as had beene once marryed which being all graunted as they lye proue nothing against vs because he sheweth not that then they vsed their wiues when they
Saint but another Bishop of the Binn tom 1. in notis ad vitam Gregorij magni same place and name but in all the Catalogue of these Bishops no second Vdalricke is to be found others as Benefild against M. Leech say that he who wrote this letter was one Volusianus but who this Volusianus was there is no mention M. Hall sayth that Volusianus and Huldricke is all one which to me seems incredible there being so little affinity in the names and not one euer writing that S. Vdalricke was termed Volusianus only they of Basil who first printed this lye Populo vt placerent quas fecissent sabulas Terentius haue made the fiction very formaâ—l and lay that the place was Rome the present of 6000. heads more was made to S. Gregory the Great the authour of the letter S. Vdalricke and that he wrote it vpon the same occasion to Nicholas the first who would haue renewed S. Gregory his decree and haue forced continency vpon all Ecclesiasticall men 21. But the whole narration is so fabulous so ill patched togeather so false and forged The thing euidently demonstrated to be a lying fiction as it disclaimeth from all truth of tymes persons and things no one part agreeing with another or subsisting in it selfe so well had they tippled who deuised this drunken letter for els they would haue seene it impossible that euer S. Vdalricke should write vnto Nicholas the first seeing Nicholas dyed in the yeare 867. and the other was not borne till the yeare 890. so as betweene the death of Nicholas and birth of S. Vdalricke there are 23. years and as though that this were not ridiculous inough for one to writ Non sat commodè diuisa temporibus a letter to another who was dead 23. yeares before the writer was borne they add in the beginning of the letter that he wrote it when he was Bishop for thus he writeth Nicolao Domino Patri peruigili S. R. E. prouisori Huldericus solo nomine Episcopus amorem vt filius timorem vt seruus To Nicholas his Lord and Father the vigilant prouisor of the holy Church of Rome Huldericke only in name a Bishop sendeth loue as a sonne feare as a seruant and to omit this manner of greeting not in vse in these tymes you see that he wrot the letter when he was Bishop vnto which dignity he was preferred in the yeare 924. or as the Chronicles of his owne Church say 923. so as betweene the death of Nicholas his election there are more then fifty years and can any but laugh to heare of a letter written vnto one who was dead more then fifty yeares before M. Hall shall do well to tell vs who carryed this letter where it was deliuered what answere the dead man returned thereunto for that will serue as well as the other for old women to tell children at the fire side and to make fooles pastyme 22. Moreouer in the tyme of the first Nicholas The marriage of Clergy men neuer meÌ„tioned in the time of Pope Nicholas the first although diuers other tumults were raysed especially by the wicked Patriarke of Constantinople Photius Michael the Emperour Iohn Bishop of Rauenna Lotharius King of France Hinâ—marus Archbishop of Rhemes and others yet in the matter we now speake of there was neuer any Controuersy made no decree no mention at all in the life of this Pope exactly set downe by Baronius how then is it possible that any should write vnto him such a letter as heere is mentioned and no mention thereof to be made in his life or any record left that euer he dealt one way or other in that matter vnles it were in some particuler case which was resolued according to the custome then in vse without all tumult noyse or resistance when as this letter mentioneth not a priuate resolution but a publike decree either to haue beene made or intended to be made for all in general that with publique opposition of which there is no mention or memory in any Authour but in this letter and it is a lye worthy of the maker in Iohn Fox wheÌ„ speaking of this Nicholas a most famous and renowned Pastour by this Pope sayth he Priests began to be restrayned from marrying 23. Againe Antonius Monchiaâ—enus Democares a Sorbon Doctour recounting all the Bishops of Auspurg and the tyme when they liued of all others The fable is refuted by the Chronicle of the Church of Auspurg that I know most exactly he putteth in the yeare 858. when Nicholas was made Pope one VValterus who liuing but two years Adelgerus succeeded him who remayning Bishop sixten yeares dyed the yeare 866. one yeare before Nicholas whom S. Neodegarius following ouer liued the Pope and betweene him and S. Vdalrike were Lanto Vdelmanus S. VVidgarius the Apostle of the Switzers S. Adalbertus Hildinus so as this being taken out of the very Registers there can be no errour or not so great as can make so notorious difference in the tyme especially when as other Authours as Sebastianus Munsterus Gaspar Bruschius Henricus Pantaleon and Aubertus Myraeus and with them Martinus Crusius the Lutheran others agree in the same number of yeares and order of succession and our Aduersaryes are able to bring no Authour or authority to disproue it or to make so much as any seeming appearance for this conuiction of tyme betweene S. Vdalricke Pope Nicholas the first which maketh the whole tale more incredible and in the iudgement of any wise man impossible 24. And wonderfull it is to see how M. Fox in this matter playeth the goose and forgetteth M. Fox his contradiction in this matter himselfe graunting and denying now affirming one thing and then another and that as it were with one breath without any pause betweene for speaking of this Pope Nicholas the first thus he writeth by this Pope Priests began to be restrayned from marrying whereof Huldricke Bishop of Ausborough a learned and holy man sending a letter vnto the Pope grauely and learnedly refuteth and reclaimeth against his vndiscreet proceedings touching that matter the copy of which letter as I thought it vnworthy to be suppressed so I iudged it heere worthy and meet for the better instruction of the Reader to be inserted So he of Pope Nicholas the first whome he chargeth as you see with restrayning of marriage and of being reprehended by S. Vdalricke who because he fauoured as they suppose their marriages which is with them the lapis lydius to try all learning only square of holynes is intituled a most holy learned man Thus before the letter 25. But hauing set downe the letter at ful length according to his own translation which is none of the best forgetting what he had sayd in the beginning he giueth presently this caueat to the Reader that heere by the way sayth he the M. Fox was of a very short
craddle of your Ghospells infancy a worke too vnsauery but to shew that we condemne not marriage although in that state there be many aduowtrers for the abuse is to be sequestred as before I haue sayd from the thing the argument were not good to say single fornication is a lesse sinne then aduowtry ergo it is better for men not to marry but to liue at liberty rather chuse to commit the lesser sinne then to put themselues in danger of the greater because both are damnable and all are bound not to commit the one or the other euen so it fareth in Priests of whose state we may not as these men euery wher do against Both wius and concubins to such as haue vowed chastity are vnlawfull all rules of learning or honesty conclude that it is better for them to marry then to keep a concubine as though they were bound to one of these two extrems and that their state after their solemne vows were altogeather the same with other lay men and that it were as free for them to marry as before for both the one and the other after their promise made to God of perpetuall chastity is wicked vnlawfull and damnable and we hold not these to be termini causales or to infer one the other you are bound to auoyd fornication ergo you must needs haue a wife or on the contrary side if you haue not a wife you will haue a hundred harlots for betweene these extremes there is the single life of of such as liue in perpetuall chastity which any one may follow and all are bound to follow who haue vowed it and their marriage is a greater sinne then single fornication with another woman in regard of the iniury done to the vow to the sacrament to the woman marryed to the issue to the vow by breaking the band made to God by a contrary band made to his The marriage of a Priest doth iniury to 4. at once to the vow to the Sacrament to the woman to the issue wife which euen in ciuil contracts among men is held vnlawfull to the Sacrament of matrimony in that he maryeth who is not capable of marriage so prophanely abuseth that which by our Sauiours institution is sacred to the woman he marryed for she being perswaded that it is true lawful matrimony liueth continually in sacrilegious incest being indeed not his wife but an infamous concubine to his issue because it is vnlawfull and bastardly by the Canon law Such is the happynes of this freedome 60. But to end this matter M. Hall not coÌ„tented M. Halls false accusation of Gregory the 7. refuted to haue called Pope Gregory the seauenth the brand of hell vrgeth further against him how his decrees were contemned himselfe was deposed and that the Churches did ring of him ech where for Antichrist let vs heare his owne wordes and then discusse them But how approued those decrees were of the better sort sayth he appeares besides that the Churches did ring of him ech where for Antichrist in that at the Councell of VVorms the French and German Bishops deposed this Gregory in this name among other quarrels for separating man wife violence did this not reason neither was Gods will heere questioned but the Popes wilfullnes what broyles heeron ensued let Auentine witnes Hitherto M. Hall There is no remedy will we nill we this man will begin will go forward will end with vntruths for heere are three more at the least or to speake more plainly no one true word in the whol narration but first let vs consider in a word or two the thing it selfe 61. Dayly experience teacheth vs that where once emnity enters between Princes and Where there is emnity betweene Princes there is also most commonly open detractioÌ„ of ech other men of authority how easy how frequent a thing it is to deuise bitter speaches against one the other and that because both will seeme to haue been iniured both to haue iustice on their side both to mayntayne a lawfull quarrell and whatsoeuer the aduerse part doth though neuer so well or themselues though neuer so ill all are so couered ouer with new coates crests and mantles as a lambe shall seeme a wolfe a fearefull hare a fierce lyon and on the contrary side in behalfe of themselues a Tiger shall be tame and the rude Beare a beautifull beast wherefore from the partyes so interessed no sound vnpartiall iudgment can be expected but that is to be sought from others who being free froÌ„ faction and capacity sufficient to discerne the grounds of the whole contention shall with all candour deliuer the same and there can be no greater coniecturall signe that any Prince mainteyneth a wrong cause then to see his own subiects of most power learning and credit to disclay me from him to rise to write against him to condemne his actions and vtterly to forsake him and this not only happened in Germany to Henry the fourth in this quarrell with Gregory the seauenth but in all other nations at that tyme and all other writers since of any name or note haue condemned him and praysed the Pope or if any mercenary companion haue set his soule to sale and betrayed truth for temporall rewards as the number of such hath beene few so hath their memory beene infamous their credits crazed and their reports as partial as iniurious as lying by all heretiks only excepted who place all their hope in lying been disesteemed 62. In the tyme of Gregory the seauenth ten Authours are cyted by Bellarmine to haue defended 27. Authours alleadged by Bellarmine in defence of Pope Gregory the seauenth him all graue learned and holy men and the chiefest for name or fame that then liued of which the two SS Anselmes were most eminent to wit ours of Canterbury and the other of Luca whose sanctity euen by the testimony of Sigebert the schismaticall monke and fauourer of the Emperour was declared by God in many miracles which he wrought and a little after these men by twenty two other Authours recounted by the same Cardinall of which some report that he shined with miracles as Martinus Polonus Lambertus Shaffnaburgensis and others some Vincent in â—â—â—culo l. 25. c. 44. that he had the gift of prophesy as Vincentius the French Historiographer some that he was most constant in Ecclesiasticall rigour as Otho Frisingensis and Nauclerus in fine for his singular zeale Oth. lib. 6. cap. 32. Naucl. Generat 36. vide Genebrar in Chronico anno 1073. learning vertue iudgment and perseuerance vntill the end all writers cyred in the Cardinal giue him an honourable testimony to which I will adioyne two others by him pretermitted but both of them graue and learned and such as no one who fauoured the Emperour is to be compared with all 63. The first is Harimanus Schedesius a German Scedel Registro Chron. ata 6. who stileth Gregory Virum
constancy the glory of miracles all the gifts of the holy Ghost made famous that in this respect England hath no cause to enuy now at other most noble Cittyes for their renowned Pastours So Baronius of S. Dunstane 89. And in case that the three Saints named by M. Godwin had beene lesse eager against M. Godwine to free in ceÌ„suring of a short memory the marriage of Priests then S. Anselme I see not why he in that respect should not haue beene more fauourable also vnto them in their liues which yet he is not for of S. Oswald he sayth That he was very earnest in setting forth that doctrine of Diuells that debarreth men of lawfull marrâ—â—ge of S. Ethelwold that he plaied the Rex at VVinchester turning along eight honest Priests into the world with their wiues and children of S. Dunstane he rayseth diuers iniurious slaunders but you must know the cause of all to be that which he vttereth in the last words of his life to wit for persecuting and hunting marryed Priests euery where out of their liuings which clause if you marke it well ouerthroweth the other before cyted concerning S. Anselme that his persecutioÌ„ was more general then the other of S. Dunstane S. Ethelwold S. Oswalde when as yet their decrees as you haue seene are all one and alike in generall for all and heere further you haue S. Dunstane no lesse then S. Anselme not only in Monasteryes or places where Chanons dwelled but euery where to haue hunted and persecuted marryed Priests out of their liuings Stil I must complain of want of memory in these men who in their heat of contradiction against vs forget in The famous example which hapned at the Councell of Calne one place what they haue written in another 90. Which point is yet made more cleare by the memorable miracle which happened at Calne of which in a manner al our writers make mention as Osbertus Malmesbury Florentius Huntingdon Houeden Matthew VVestminster and others where in the behalfe of all the incontinent Clergy many of the Nobility were assembled Osbert in vita Dunstani Malmes l. 2. cap. 9. Florent in anno 977. Houeden eodem Hunting in anno 4. Eduard â—â— togeather with their Oratour Bernelinus a Scottish man that so eyther by power or perswasioÌ„ they might ouerbeare S. Dunstane Validissimum illum murum Ecclesiae sayth Malmesbury that most strong bulwarke of the Church But against all humane power and eloquence God shewed which part pleased him best which highly displeased him for the house where they sate in Councell sodenly fell downe and either killed or sorely wounded all those who withstood the Saint he and his as Osbert recounteth in his life being free from all danger which wonderfull euent albeit Huntington the speciall proctour for marryed Priests do â—arely recount without any mention of the cause of their meeting and moreouer do turne it to another interpretation yet others especially Malinesbury the best after Bede that we haue for our historyes in assigning the effect truely insinuateth the cause saying Hoc miraculum Archiepiscopo exhibuit pacem de Clericis omnibus Anglis tunc deinceps in eius sententiam concedentibus This miracle ended the 〈◊〉 betweene S. Dunstane and the Clergy all English men as wel then as after yielding vnto his opinion So he Out of which words I gather against M. Godwin that S Dunstane no lesse then S. Anselme opposed against all marryed Priests ouerthrew them all and against M. Hall that the first prohiâ—ition against the mariage of Priests was not made by S. Anselme but more then a hundred yeares before he was Bishop or had any thing to do in our English Church 91. And as it is most true that S. Dunstane before S. Anselme made this prohibition so is it most false that by him first of all our English Clergy did perforce stoop to the yoke of continency as though euer before they had wiues genuisse filios filias as now we see our English Ministers to do which only is the ill collection of M. M. Halls manner of collections Hall who when he findeth any thing forbidden he forthwith inferreth that the thing fordidden was alwayes in vse before the prohibition and heere his wit no lesse fayling him then his Logicke he gathereth that because at different tymes the same was restrayned vnder two Arch-â—ishops of Canterbury that it was neuer before the tyme of one or the other in his text he sayth that the Clergy were forced to stoop vnder the yoke of continency by the first and in the margent that it was alwayes free to marry and neuer deâ—yed till the later as now we haue heard but â—oth are false and the single life of Priests is of far greater antiquity then are the tymes of these two Saints whome God raysed to take away the abuse crept in and not to alter any constant custome euer allowed or practised in the land before for the good corne was first sown in that field and the darnell after truth was before errour the continency of the Clergy of all acâ—nowledged of all practised in all tymes after â—ur conuersion approued when as their vnlawâ—ll marriage as it entred late so it endured not â—ong so one rising and soone falling and as for â—yme it could neuer prescribe so neither for â—lace could it euer get the full possession of our â—ttle Iland till these later dayes a thing so filâ—hy after a solemne vow to God to take a wise â—s it neuer appeared without the brand of infaâ—y so base as the basest only deâ—ended it the â—est withstood it of so narrow bounds as it was â—euer tollerated in Europe Africke or the Latin Church nor yet in Greece till by bad life it fell â—o schisme from schisme into open heresy and from thence vnto the thraldon of the Turkâ— vnder which now it resteth 92. Which point concerning other counâ—reys I haue proued before now I will restraine â—y speach to England alone and in a word or two proue the Clergy euer to haue beene continent and then obiter touch the cause of that abuse I meane vpon what occasion it first entred and inuegled so many in S. Dunstans tyme A negatiue argument grounded vpon manifest presumptioÌ„ and for the first I thinke this generall negatiue directly to conclude that in all the pursuit of this busines in al the prohibitions depositions censures and sentences deliuered against the incontinent we neuer reade that any of them did euer stand vpon the former custome of the Church or continuall practise therof in that behalfe or euer complained that the Bishops brought in a new law contrary to the old or that they were made Priests when that freedome was in vse approued and allowed and therfore all such prohibitions depositions censures sentences and other penaltyes made afterward to haue beene vniust iniurious and tyrannical as they could doubtles would haue pleaded had
stout Prelate without any touch of disgrace in all that he writeth of him which had not beene spared had he found any thing in him that had beene lyable thereunto and Iohn Fox who â—lthough he speake well of few yet he out of others commendeth S. Anselme when he treateth of his election albeit afterwards he do discommend him euen for that for which by all S. DunstaÌ„ S. oswald S Ethelwolde other Authours of former ages he hath beene iudged most commendable 105. Of S. Dunstan Oswald and Ethelwolde we haue before spoken and VVilliam of Malmesbury is proâ—use in the prayse of ech of them a part in their liues and no meruaile for all three were very holy men and not only admired in England but reuerenced abroad and by the whole Church acknowledged for Saints of the first to wit S. Dunstane inough for this matter hath beene sayd aheady and of S. Oswald M. Godwin giueth him this Encomium be was very learned and left some testimonyes therof in writing not yet perished for the integrity also of his life and conuersation he was much reuerenced the greatest fault that I find in him is that he was very earnest in setting forth that doctrine of Diuells that debarreth men of lawfull marriage c. many miracles are reported to haue been done at his tombe in regard whereof the posterity would needs make him a Saint So he Of the third Matthew VVestminster sayth writing of his death Eodem anno S. Ethelwaldus migrauit ad Dominum In this yeare S. Ethelwald went to our Lord or departed this life this title of Saint is giuen him by all our writers of these tymes and M. Halls friend Henry Huntington Hunting l 5. in â—â—gar Houeder ibideâ—s much prayseth him saying that he was â—gregius Praesul aedificator sepium auertens semitas imquitatis plantans radices charitatis A worthy Prelate a builder vp of the hedges of vertue turning men from the paths of iniquity planting in them the root of charity and in fine of them all three Malmesbury writeth that Miâ—uâ—runt per Malmâ—s l. 2. de gestis Pontij 〈…〉 Angliam vt lumina crederes è â—aelo arridere â—ydera They shined ouer England as â—ights in so much as you would haue thought the stars to send their coÌ„fort from heauen So he And so much of these 106. But now for such Priests as had their Trulls if you looke into the monuments of antiquity The incontinent Clergy as the summ of the world coÌ„mended by none what memory or mention is made of them you shall either find nothing at all or that they were the very scumme and refuse of the Clergy and M. Hall hauing raked this impure dunghill could find but one only man to speake for him to wit Henry Huntington who yet hath but these words Hoc Concilium prohibuit vxores Sacerdotibus Anglorum antea non prohibitas In Hunting in anno 1101. deliuering of which short sentence M. Hal maks vs three vntruths for thus he writeth Anselme sayth that Historian was the first that forbad marriage vnto the Clergy of England and this was about the yeare of our Lord 1080. til then euer free So M. Hall But by his leaue Huntington doth not say that S. Anselme was the first that forbad marriage to the Clergy for S. Dunstane had forbidden it more then a hundred years before againe this was not about the yeare of our Lord 1080. for Huntington himselfe expresly putteth it more then twenty yeares after and this yeare twice set down in the margent was more then twelue yeares before S. Anselme was Bishop or had any thing to do in England If he meane 1108. wherein as I confesse there was held a Councell so I deny that this can agree with Huntington who putteth it the next yeare after K. Henryes coronatioÌ„ which was in the year 1100. and lastly it is vntrue that marriage of Priestes till then was euer free for it is inough for the verifying of his words vnles M. Hall will haue him to contradict himselfe and all truth that in the trouble some tyme of VVilliam Conqueror and his sonne VVilliam Rufus who sold the Bishopricks of England for money the Priests had gotten this liberty which Commentary his words will well support for truly translated they are only these In this Councell S. Anselme prohibited wiues to English Priests before not prohibited for the word before may signify immediatly before in which tyme perhaps though they were not allowed yet the wickednes of that King weaknes of the Symoniacall Bishops wanting so long their Metropolitan and licentiousnes of the Clergy forced the better sort of Pastours to tolerate that which although they did condemne yet could not redresse 207. And this being the only witnes and he if he meane as M. Hall will haue him being Henry Huntingtons ill demeanour in his history taken tardy in his euidence and that both in respect of the tyme and matter for the first he putteth a yeare to soone and altogeather misreporteth the later his wordes in this matter cannot preiudice our cause vnles they were seconded by some better authority of more vpright and indifferent iudgment for this Henry was so far set on this marriage matter and to impugne the aduersaryes thereof as he seemeth quite to haue forgotten the law of a History which requireth all truth and integrity in the things related in both which this man was deficient for in all S. Dunstans life he neuer speaketh of this matter which yet was the chiefest matter of moment then debated and on the other side he commendeth him who opened the fluse to let out all this puddle of impurity amongst the Clergy I meane Edwyn elder Brother vnto King Edgar of whome our best Historiographers report much villany for which halfe his When by what occasion this licentious liberty entred into England Matth. VVestin anu 956. Kingdome was taken from him by the insurâ—ection of his subiects and giuen to his brother and as well for that as other misfortunes soone after dyed hauing raigned but foure yeares of whome as Stow well noteth is lest no honest memory vnles that which Matthew VVestminster writeth of him Cum annis quatuor libidinosè simul tyraÌ„nicè regnum depresâ—sset Anglorum iusto Dei iudicio desunctus c. After he had foure yeares lewdly and tyrannicall abused the Kingdome of England by Gods iust iudgment he dyed And consequently he was the fitter instrument to further theâ— filthines of this sacrilegious marriage of the Priests and Clergy For in his tyme besides the vsuall incursions of for rayne enemyes from abroad and ciuill warâ—s of subiects at home where one halfe of the Realme was in armes against the other and both out of order as it still happeneth in such occasions Frequentes lites sayth Osbert sediditiones nonnullae varij confliclus hominum Osbert in vita Dunstani suborti totam terram
by the tyme of Antichristian trranny the tyme of Gregory the seauenth then is his impudency very singular to say that he hath cleared it till his tyme when as the single life of Clergy men was more in vse in the Latin Church euer before that tyme then whiles he liued and as these are very grosse vntruths so are the rest which follow as after I shall shew to wit that that there left his liberty matrimoniall I meane that there began our bondage that his liberty is renewed by the Ghospell for in our Ghospell we find no such matter that he enioys what God what his Church hath euer allowed which is a double lye or two lyes in one line that in this his extensiue liberty he is not alone that the Greeke Church is as large for extent as the Roman that in some thinges for soundnes better that thus it doth as they doe in England that thus they haue euer done are foure other falshoods and in fine there is nothing true in all this conclusion as it shall appeare by the ensuing recapitulatioÌ„ of what before hath beene proued 5. Yet this by the way I must tell him that al the soundnes he meaneth of the Greek Church is for that it alloweth that married men may be made Priests though it neuer allowed any Priests to be made marryed men much lesse any Bishop for els who so will read their confession in the censure which Hieremias their Patriarke made vpon hereticall articles sent him Censura Ecclâ—siae Orientalis by two Lutherans out of Germany Marâ—inus Crusi us and Iacobus Andrea he shal find for the number of Sacraments real presence vnbloudy sacrifice The confession of the Greek Church iustification by workes traditions free will monasticall life praying to Saints the vse of holy images praying for the dead and other points very Catholike assertions agreeing with vs and condemning the Protestants so as if M. Hall poore silly soule will make himselfe an arbirer to iudge of the soundnes of Churches and haue his cause to be holpen for that the Greeke Church in one thing fauoureth him against vs we may if we thought such arguments worth the making better therof inferre the soundnes of our Church against him with which the Greeke not in one only but in very many points and those also the greatest most essentiall of Christian Religion doth agree truely omitting the errour of the Procession of the holy Ghost and ridiculous Supremacy of that Patriarcke condemned as well by our Aduersaryes as by vs in the rest they seem Catholiks at the least their positions are such and albeit in some particuler eustoms they differ from vs yet are not those of such great moment but that with vnity of fayth a perfect peace and accord might be made betweene vs if all will stand to that which their chiefest Patriarck in so open a confession hath taught and declared But to come to M. Hall 6. He vaunted much in the beginning of his letter of the Scriptures and told vs that if God should be iudge of this Controuersy it were soon at an No diuin authority for the marriage of Ecclesiasticall men end therefore he passed not what he heard men or Angells say while he heard him say let him be the husband of one wise but the proofe this diuine authority hath much fayled him and no place in any Prophet or Apostle hath decided the same and such as this poore man hath brought are but cramb â—ecoctâ— cole worts twice or thrice soden answered I meane reanswered by Catholiks especially by Cardinall Bellarmine and the solutions deeply dissembled such a worthy wight is this writer and it hath beene shewed not one text or citation he hath brought taken in their true sense and meaning to maâ—e for his purpose as for example of the doctrine of Diuels forbidding marriage of the Bishop being the husband or one wâ—â—e that marriage is honourable and the bed vndefiled of the Apostles carrying their wiues about the world with theÌ„ with others of the old Testament all which how they are by him either streyned misinterpreted or not rigâ—tly vnderstood hath beene at large declared in their due places and his two brutish Paradoxes also fully refelled that the vow of Chastity is vnlawfull that it is impossible and that by the excellency of the vertue vowed eminency ouer marriage perswasions of the Fathers thereunto the â—harp rebuke and punishment of the transgressours the wickednes of the marriage of votaryes and that none but Heretikes euer maintayned it and further at large is proued the foresayd vow to be most laudable and for performance to iuclude no impossibility at all 7. To this is added the rigour of the Ciuill law in punishing the deliâ—quents in this kind very ancient and austere which seuerity supposeth the obseruance to be in the power of the maker as it is in the power of others not to steale commit a â—uâ—ery and other like offences in which if they transgresse no Iudge will excuse their fault as proceeding out of any defect of ability to refrayne but supposiâ—g that as knowne and graunted by all punish them for doing such acts which they were able to auoid by the law of God Nature and Nations were bound not to commit and hauing committed deserue to be chastized After this the constitution of the Apostles and what other proofe is brought for their practise are discussed what Caietan Pius and Panormitan haue sayd to the coÌ„trary is answered and in fine it is euinced most clearly the Apostles excepting S. Peter not to haue marryed and in case they had euen by the verdict of M. Halls owne Authours after their calling to the Apostolicall dignity neuer more to haue knowne their wiues much lesse to haue carryed them in pilgrimage all the world ouer with them as these men Ministers I meane that cannot be long from their wiues and therefore would haue the Apostles to be as weak as themseluâ—s do fancy and surmize 8. Hereof it followeth if M Hall will not mistake the state of the question that he hath not setched this truth of his far inough for from the Apostles he findeth he fetcheth nothing that can auaile him and so reacheth not home if he M. Hall destitute of all authority of the ancieÌ„t Father speake as he seemeth of time though for place like a wilde wanderer he haue trauerst Greece Aegypt Asriâ—ke and other coasts of Europe and returned as wise as he was when he went forth Of the next ensuing ages for foure huÌ„dred years he cyteth but three Fathers Origen S. Cyprian S. Athanasius the first hath nothing to the purpose the second is very grosly abused the third mistaken not any one or all together make any thing for him much he is and indeed too much in the fact of Paphnutius recounted by Socrates for he corruply setteth it down to his aduantage against the mind and meaning of his Authours And
in Asia Europe and Africke is demonstrated and the contrary by M. Hall is without all proofe or probability affirmed though he streyne far and forge a text of the third Gregory to this purpose and fouly mistake S. Isidore and then vpon no other ground but his owne errour and ouersight most pitifully exclaime against vs with I know not what outragious crime committed to our perpetuall shame whome he calleth his iuggling Aduersaryes and will haue vs deale worse then the Diuell but this shame I haue shaken off â—rom vs it must rest on himselfe and all the iuggling is resolued to this that M. Hall cannot see that which lyeth open before his eyes and therefore as he is suspitious thinketh it by some iuggling deuise to be taken away Alas poore M. Hall I pitty your ignorance but condemne your malice fayne you would byte but wanting teeth you can but only barke you esteeme your selfe a gallant man when you rayle at our doing or doctrine but your wit is so weake and will so wicked as the later which is blind and should be guyded by the former only directeth your pen and sheweth your iudgement and learning to be alike little I meane in respect of the desire you haue to do vs hurt in case you were able God forgiue you and send you a better mynd 14. There followeth another fundamental proofe which is so potent that M. Hall will be cast The fable of S. Huldericks Epistle in his cause if it do not answere all cauills satisfy all Readers and conuince all not willfull aduersaries and this forsooth is a learned and vehement epistle of S. Vdalricus vnto Pope Nicholas the first in which we see saâ—th this blind man how iust how expedient how ancient this liberty is and not only that but there-withall also the feeble and iniurious grounds of forced continency read it sayth he and see whether you can desire a betâ—er Aduocate I haue done his friend M. VVhiting that fauour as to read it for him and I see this Aduocate in writing to the first Nicolas to haue beene as blind as M. Hall for in caâ—e S. Vdalricus had written it as it is euinced that he did not he had written it more then 50. yeares after the partyes death whome he did write it vnto and more then twenty yeares before himselfe who wrote it was borne and therefore I desire in M. VVhitings name a better Aduocate that may plead after the vsuall manner of other men and not write letters before he haue either body or soule eyes to see tongue to speake or hands to write and then â—end them not to the liuing but to the dead and in the coÌ„tents to speake the truth and not tell vs tales of six thousand heads found in one mote with other the like impertinencyes before refuted and finally I must tell M. Hall that the cause is very weakly defended that relyeth on such rotten grounds of forged fictions and if he had esteemed it to be of any worth he would neuer haue made hazard thereof vpon such fooleryes if he be as prodigal of his wealth as he is of his wife cause credit and fidelity his children shall not be ouercharged with any rich inheritance which he is like to leaue them for he will be sure to liue and dye a beggar 15. In this counterfeit epistle there is no antiquity set downe for M. Halls carnall liberty neither can we espy therein the feel lenes of the ground of forced continency because we force none thereunto but compell such as without all inforcement out of their owne free and deliberate election haue vowed it to the obseruance of their vowes which this letter as lawful doth allow though we may not allow this liberty to M. Hall to change the name of Vdalricus into Volusianus nor to authorize it from them that haue mention thereof as Aeneas Siluius nor yet from such as in case they haue some mention are themselus of no credit as Gaspar Hedio Iohn Fox or such like fablers nor finally to vaunt of a happy plea and triumphant conquest where neuer word was spoken or stroke giuen or thing done more theÌ„ in the idle fancy of some new fangled Ghospellers how soeuer this wise man tel vs that heerupon this liberty blessed the world for 200. yeares after but I haue at one dash bated one hundred and fifty more at another and that from the warrant of his owne words and proued this Plea if euer there had been any such as there was not to haue beene very vnlucky as wel for the discredit of the maker as ouerthrow of the matter and that in so short space as hath beene before set downe 16. And because this modest man rayles at the seauenth Gregory for vtterly ruining the marriages of Priests and makes him the most Of Gregory the 7. Nicholas the 2 and Leo the 9. mortall enemy that euer the vow-breakers had which I impute to his great honour as it is also to be reuiled by heretiks I haue at large defended him and his whole contention with Henry the Emperour and shewed how constantly he behaued himselfe in this sluttish busines and although M. Hall would fayne haue him to be amongst the first parents of such as suppressed the marriages of Clergy men yet the truth is that before his tyme these marriages were neuer thought vpon in Germany but then the Clergy brake forth first into that intollerable beastlines and the like is proued by Nicholas the second for the first had neuer any thing to do in that controuersy and Leo the ninth whose decrees are only against concubines and harlots of incontinent Priests without any mention of wiues which in their tims were not any where allowed or perhaps so much as thought vpon and it may seem a woÌ„der to anâ— who knoweth not the custome of Heretiks to see one to claime prescriptioÌ„ of tyme for the marriage of Clergy men that cannot bring one Canon one Nationall decree one direct authority of any ancient Father for seauen hundred years togeather and after that tyme to alledge a meere patched proofe of a schismatical Conuenticle which more hurteth then helpeth his cause and yet to brag that for all that tyme there was nothing but marriage nothing but liberty no vows no chastity but these are the vsuall pangs of hereticall insolency 17. Diuers other points vpon this occasion are discussed as the deposition of Gregory the seauenth feigned to be made in the Councell of VVormes and that for separating man and wife but there was no deposition made no separation mentioned Then whether Gods will which this man still supposeth to stand for the incontinent vow-breakers â—or the Popes willfullnes was sought therein and lastly whether the broyles betweene Henry and Gregory were about this matter and what flocke it was thâ—t was so afflicted by the Popes censures as Auentine reporteth which was not indeed any flock of Christ for such still adhered vnto their
renowned Pastour kept their vowes and were not shaken with that tempest bu 〈…〉 a few stincking impure goates giuen ouer 〈…〉 ll lust and leachery whome neither feare of God nor shame of men nor vow though neuer so solemne nor band though neuer so strong was able to conteyne 18. Touching our English Clergy M. Hall is very briefe and hath scant six lines in his text thereof yet as few as they be they contradict The English Clergy the Comment he maketh on them in his margent for in the Text the bickering began with S. Dunstane in the margent with S. Anselme in the Text we learne out of our owne historyes how late how repiningly how vniustly the Clergy stooped vnder this yoke by S. Dunstane in the margent S. Anselme was the first that euer forbadde marriage to the Clergy of England till then euer free If euer free till then how came it to passe that S. Dunstane more then a hundred years before that tyme had made the Clergy so repiningly and vniustly to stoop vnder the yoke of continency or single life how is he free that hath his neck in the yoke If S. Dunstane made them stoop a hundred years and more before S. Anselme then truely can it not be sayd that S. Anselme was the first that euer forbad marriage or that vntill this tyme it had beene alwayes free to marry Of what credit his two Authors alleadged are is there declared and further out of S. Gregory Bede VVolstane Anselme Malmesbury c. out of Nationall Councels and other proof it is shewed our English Clergy in the first plaÌ„tation in the continuance and alwayes in generall to haue beene continent vntil the tyme of King Edward the sixt though sometyms in the troubled state of the Land in some places this beastlines began but was neuer publickly allowed neyther can M. Hall or his two Authors Fox and Bale shew any one publicke decree any one Canon of Councell any one authenticall Charter or Record of so much as any one single Bishop extant to the contrary 19. All which being thus declared and as The particularity of M. Hals vaunt is briefly examined occasion serued the vniforme practise of all the Christian Church in Asia Europe and Africke shewed to stand for vs and the very Authors of any account brought by M. Hall himselfe to the contrary to be more ours then his as well for the Apostles themselues and Apostolicall tymes as also for the ensuing ages after M. VVhiting may see the truth of this Thrasonicall vaunt that M. Hall maketh when he telleth him for a farewell that he hath fetcht this truth far inough For before K. Edward the sixth not far off God wot he can fetch nothing to proue the large liberty now vsurped by our English Clergy if the marryed Ministers with their wiues may so be tearmed with their wiues I say because their wiues are as much Clergy women as they Clergy men in one word haue as true calling to teach preach minister their Sacraments as their husbands haue And when this man out of his wandring imaginatioÌ„ further adioyneth that he hath deduced it low inough through many ages to the middst of the rage of Antichristian tyranny I must tell him that he hath made no other deduction theÌ„ of his own ignorance lyes folly which without breach or intermission like an entiere thrid are begun and followed to the end of his letter all the rage of Antichristian tyranny he speaketh of is nothing els but the outragious rayling of a Phantastical sycophant who for want of learning and truth is forced to talke of that he doth not vnderstaÌ„d to confirme one lye by another to mistake what he should proue and to forget all modesty 20. There left sayth he our liberty there began their bondage Where M. Hall do you meane In Terra Florida Virginia or Vtopia For the word there is referred to place and not to tyme or if you will abusiuely take it from tyme I demaund wheÌ„ this lâ—centious liberty for the marriage of Priests began to be restrayned If as before you signifyed vnder the first and second Nicholas vnder the 9. Leo and 7. Gregory your owne Trullan Councell before these tymes is against you which forbids your Bishops to marry at all or keep company with their wiues would permit no Priest to marry And that no Priest might be marryed I haue cyted in the end of the second Paragraffe many Councells out of all the coasts of Christendom And whereas he further addeth our liberty is happily renewed with the Ghospell it is hard to define what liberty happines what Ghospell he meaneth and of what God what Church he talketh when he sayth what God what his Church hath euer allowed we do inioy for this Church is som inuisible castle in the ayre neuer seene on the earth and this VVe is equiuocall and may include Lutherans Caluinists Protestants or Puritans let it include all or some one branch among all of these sects yet is the lye notorious for in all the Christian Church this liberty hath euer beene banished 21. The Greeke Churches sayth he do thus and thus haue euer done if he meane as he seemeth that these Churches vse the liberty of the English Church renewed by this later Ghospel it is too to grosse an vntruth and yet not proued by any See censura Orientaâ—is Ecclesiae c. vltim in principio capitis one authority of the Fathers nor yet of his sacred Trullan Conuenticle and M. Hall doth wel to name the Greek Schismatical Church of this day which yet coÌ„meth short in this very point of the English for in all his Letter he hath not brought one aÌ„cient authority for the Churches of Europe and Africke more then one only of S. Cyprian touching the exaple of Numidicus which if any sparke of shame be left may make him blush to thinke vpon All the rest are broken peeces out of S. Vdalricus Gratian Panormitan Pius 2. Caietan others eyther in themselues counterfeit or with the coÌ„trouersy in hand nothing at all coherent 22. Wherfore to end this matter with him for whome I began it I hope now good Syr that you see M. Halls valour to haue been valued by yourselfe at too high a rate euen there to haue fayled where you esteemed most of his ability in this matter I meane where besides meere babling what hath he proued how many words hath he vsed cyted authorityes only to cast a clowd vpon the truth and to hide it from the eyes of his simple Reader Many are his M. Halls impertinencyes braggs his citations thicke his promises great his confidence singular but his wit is weake his ability small his performance nothing After his first entrance with lyes which continually increase he mistaketh the state of the question and talketh of many things not denyed by his aduersary not in controuersy between him and vs he bringeth
power not to be a woman so little is it in thy power to be without a man Because this matter is not left in our owne hands but it is both necessary and naturall that euery man haue a woman and euery woman haue a man c. And this is more then a coÌ„mandement and more necessary then to eat and drinke purgare exspuere are to homely stuffe to be Englished to sleep and wake So far this Christian Epicure and some 6. pages after he counsaileth what is to be done in case the wife be froward and will not come at her husbands call and his aduise is to leaue her in her frowardnes and to take some other to seeke some Hesther and leaue Vasthy with other such beastly impertinencies 30. By this you see how Luther and M. Hall The first point is discussed to wit whether the vow of chastity be Vnlawfull or not like Pilate and Herode though at variance betwene themselues yet in this do agree against vs that the vow of castity is vnlawfull and impossible let vs now debate frendly the matter it selfe in eyther member and see if this eyther in reason or from the warrant of Scriptures or the Fathers can subsist And to begin with the vnlawfulnes if the vow of chastity be vnlawfwll it must either be in respect of the vow or of the matter vowed but from neither of these two branches can this vnlawfulnes proceed and consequently it is not vnlawfull at all Not from the first because Deuteron 23. Eccles 5. psal 21. 49. 65. 75. vows in generall are lawfull and as such are allowed in the old and new testament and of the Messias it was prophesyed that the Aegyptians should worship him in sacrifices and giftes and further Vota vouebunt Domino soluent they shall Isa 19. make vowes vnto our Lord and shall performe them and these vowes do more straytly bind vs vnto God then any promises made amongst men do bynd them to one another Quà m grauia Ambros lib. 9. in Lucam in caput 20. sunt vincula saith S. Ambroise promittere Deo non soluere c. How grieuous are the bands to promise to God and not to performe It is better not to vow then to vow and not to render what we haue vowed Maior est contractus fidei quà m pecuniae the contract or promise of Religion is greater then the contract or promise of money satisfy thy promise whiles yet thou art aliue before the Leo epist 92. cap. 15. Iudge come cast thee into prison So he The same to omit others hath S. Leo Ambigi non potest c. It caÌ„not be doubted that a great sine is coÌ„mitted where the religious purpose is forsaken vowes violated The reason whereof he yeldeth saying Si humana pacta non possunt impunè calcari quid de eis manebit qui corruperint foedera diuini Sacramenti If humane contracts are not broken without punishment what shall become of them who haue violated the coÌ„tracts of their sacred promise made vnto God So he And this was the cause why the Apostle sayd that the yong widdowes by violating their vow had incurred damnation because it was made to God and so could not be made voyd at all Quid est sayth S. Augustine August in psalm 75. primam fidem irritam â—ecerunt â— vouerunt non reddiderunt What is meant that they made voyd their first fayth they vowed and performed not their vows What more cleare And in another De virginitate cap. 33. place primam fidem irrittam fecerunt id est in eo quod primò vouerant non steterunt they made voyd their first â—ayth that is they remayned not constant in that which they had first vowed 31. And this place not only proueth a vow to be lawfull in generall but euen in this particuler matter we now speake of I meane of chastity Because these widdowes were reprehended of the Apostle for that they would marry and not liue chastly in widdowhood as they had vowed as before I haue shewed to which end and to proue the perpetuall band of these vowes it is applyed also by S. Fulgentius when Fulgentius de fide ad Petrum cap. 30. he fayth Quistatuit in corde suo firmus non habens necessitatem potestatem autem habens suae voluntatis c. He who hath determined in his hart being stedfast not hauing any necessity but hauing power ouer his owne will and hath vowed chastity to God he ought with all care and sollicitude of mynd to keep the same vntill the end of his life least he haue damnation if he shall make voyd his first fayth So he And to the same effect before him wrote S. Hierom saying Nazaraei Hierom. in caput 46. Ezechielu â— sponte se offeruÌ„t quicumque aliquid vouerit non impleuerit votireus est c. The Nazarites voluÌ„tarily offer themselues and whosoeuer hath vowed any thing not fullfilled it is guilty of his violated vow wherupon of widdowes it is sayd when they waxe wanton in Christ they will marry hauing damnation c. for it is better not at all to promise then not to fullfil what is promised Lib. 1. in Iouinian and in another place against Iouinian If Iouiniaâ— shall say that this was sayd of widdowes how much more shall it be of force in Virgins and iâ— it were not lawfull for widdowes for whomâ— shall it be lawfull So S. Hierome 32. And further to proue the lawfullnes oâ— a vow in this particuler matter to wit of chastity either virginall viduall or of single life the speciall subiect of our controuersy to omâ— other arguments I will only touch fiue â— which foure shall be taken out of such Fatherâ— writings as M. Hall doth acknowledge and â—â— whome he refers his cause The first whereâ— shall be their comparing the state of such as liuâ— a chast life with the state of Angells and exhorting thereunto Secondly their preferring ofâ— before marriage Thirdly their sharp rebukeâ— such as haue broken their vow Lastly thâ— condemning of the marriage of vow-breaken calling it worse then aduowtry c. To these will add the approuance of the Canon and punishments appointed by the Ciuill laws for such abused Religious women and then leaue it â— any to iudge whether it be turpe votum a brandâ— Antichristianism worse then aduowtry a diabolicall thiâ— or the like or whether this base assertion wâ— euer taught or belieued in the world by any â—ther then Heretikes And M. Hall if he will staâ— to the triall of antiquity shall I assure him â— this be either forced to acknowledge his errouâ— or els to recall what he hath written that the Fathers tryall it as reuerend as any vnder heauen further Hall decad 4. ep 8. to tippling Thomas of Oxford certaynely it cannot be truth that is new we would renounce our Religion if it could be ouer
lookt for time let go equity the older take both So he And we shal by this particuler see whether this franke merchaÌ„t venturer that hazards so easily his fayth and saluation vpon antiquity although erroneous will stand to his word in this doctrine of chastity for if he will maintayne his former grounds he must alleadge more ancient authenticall records then those heere produced or disproue such as we bring against him which he shall neuer be able to do Or finally deny what he hath sayd of the vow of chastity in calling it a filthy vnlawfull vow which by so great and so graue authority is taught to be both lawfull sacred and Angelicall 33. The prayses then giuen to Virgins single life by these renowned pillers of truth The state of chast liuers Angelicall August l. 6. confess cap. 3. Of S. Cyprians booke of virginity S. Hieromâ— maketh mention Epist ad Demetriad in sinâ— myrrours of learning and patrons of all purity are so plentifull as they take vp no small roome in the vast volumes of their renowned workes S. Ambrose alone whose chastity S. Augustine so much admired hath three bookes of Virgins besids one of widdowes one of the trayning vp of a virgin and another intituled a persuasion to Virginity Of this S. Cyprian S. Augustine S. Basil S. Chrysostome S. Gregory Nissen haue whole bookes of this S. Hierome to Eustochium Demetrias and many others hath very long epistles and as well these as diuers grounding themselues vpon the words of our Sauiour that in heauen there is no marrying because the Saints are equall vnto the Angells shew the life of such as vow chastity to be Angelicall S. Ambrose in the last booke aboue cited sayth Audistis quantum sit praemium Ambros tract de hortat ad Virgin post initium integritatis regnum acquirit regnum caeleste vitam Angelorum exhibet c. You haue heard how great the reward is of Chastity it purchaseth a kingdome and a heauenly kingdom it exhibits vnto vs the life of Angells this I perswade you vnto then which nothing is more beautifull that among men you become Angells who are not tyed togeather by any band of marriage Because such women as do not marry and men that take no wiues are as Angells vpon earth in so much as they feele not the tribulation of the flesh they know not the bondage they are freed from the contagion of worldly desirs they apply their mind vnto diuine matters and as it were deliuered from the infirmity of the body do not thinke of those thinges which belong vnto men but which appertaine vnto God So S. Ambrose as contrary to M. Hall as heat to cold white to blacke truth to falshood 34. S. Bernard stiled by M. Hall deuout Bernard vseth also the same similitude saying Quid castitate Bernard epist 42. decorius quae muÌ„dum de immundo conceptum semine de hoste domesticum Angelum de homine facit c. What is more beautifull then chastity which makes Hall Decad 4. ep 3. him cleane who was conceaued of vncleane seed makes a friend of an enemy an Angell of a man For albeit a chast man and an Angell do differ yet is their difference in felicity not in vertue although the chastity of an Angell be more happy yet is the chastity of man of greater fortitude only chastity it is which in this place and tyme of mortality representeth vnto vs a certayne state of the immortall glory because it alone amongst the marriages heere made followes the custome of that happy Countrey in which as our Sauiour sayd they neither marry nor are marryed exhibiting in a certayne manner vnto the earth an experiment of that conuersation which is in heauen So S. Bernard And a little after hoc itaque tantae pulchritudinis ornamentum c. This ornament of so great a beauty I may worthily say doth honour priesthood because it makes the Priest gratefull or beloued of God man although he be yet on earth makes him in glory like vnto the Saints So he With S. Ambrose and S. Bernard let vs ioyne him who is all in all heauenly S. Augustine as M. Hall tearmeth him Augustâ— serm 24â— who sayth qui in castitate viuunt Angelicam habent in terris naturam castitas hominem cum Deo coniungit Angelis facit ciuem they who liue chastly haue an Angelicall nature on earth chastity conioyneth a man with God makes him a cittizen with Angells 35. As with the same spirit so with the same tongue do the other Fathers speake both Greeke Latin Tertullian sayth that Virgins are Tertul. l. ad vxorem cap. 4. Hieron ep 22. ad Eustoc cap. 8. Athan. l. de virginit Cyril Catechesi 12â— de familia Angelica of the company or household of Angells S. Hierome that the life of Virgins is the life of Angells S. Athanasius cryeth out O continentia Angelorum vita Sanctorum corona O chastity the life of Angells the crowne of Saints yea it is also an Angelical crown as S. Cyrill of Hierusalem sayth and aboue the perfection of humane nature further he addeth that chast liuers are Angells walking vpon the earth S. Gregory Nazianzen speaking to a Virgin sayth Angelorum Nazian orat 31. tam elegisti in eorum ordinem te aggregasti Thou hâ— chosen the life of Angells thou hast put thâ— selfe into their ranke S. Ephrem O castitas quae â— Ephrem serm de castitate mines Angelis similes reddis o chastity which mâ—keth men like vnto Angells and not only like but equall sayth S. Cyprian cùm castae perseueratis â— Cypr. l. de discipl habitu virginum Basil de vera virgin longiùs à fine virgines Angelis Dei estis aequales whiles you remayâ— chast and virgins you are equall vnto Angellâ— yea most noble and eminent Angells sayth S Basil qui virginitatem seruant Angeli sunt non obscuri a qui sed sanè illustres atque nobilissimi they who preserue their virginity are Angells and not some iâ—feriour obscure Angells but eminent and moâ— noble yea in one respect as S. Bernard aboue cited did note and before him S. Cyprian S. Baâ— S. Chrysostome and others they are more nobâ— then all the Angells togeather Virginitas aequatâ— Cypr. de discipl beno pudicitiae Angelis sayth S. Cyprian si verò exquiramus etiam eâ— cedit c. Virginity equalls it selfe with Angells and if we penetrate the matter further it also eâ—ceeds them whiles in this fraile flesh whicâ— Angells haue not it getteth the victory euen against Nature So he Angeli carneis nexibus libâ— Basil l. de virginit sayth S. Basil integritatem suam in caelis seruant c The Angells free from all fleshly bands preserâ— their purity in heauen both in respect of thâ— place and their owne nature inuiolable being still with God the supreme King of al but