of the Church in the highest Mystery of our Faith the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar For he ministreth the same as the Scripture witnesseth after Supper And now if a contentious Man would strain the Fact to the first Institution St. Augustine answereth not by Scripture for there is none to improve it but indeed otherwise even as the Apostles did Visum est Spiritui sancto ut in honorem tanti Sacramenti in os Christiani hominis prius intret Corpus Dominicum quam exteri cibi It is determin'd saith St. Augustine by the Holy Ghost that in the honour of so great a Sacrament the Body of our Lord should enter first into the Mouth of a Christian Man before other external Meats So that notwithstanding it was the Fact of Christ himself yet the Church moved by the Holy Ghost as is said hath changed that also without offence likewise By the which Sentence of St. Augustine manifestly appeareth that this Authority was deriv'd from the Apostles unto this Time the which same Authority according to Christ's Promises doth still abide and remain with his Church 4. And hereupon also resteth the Alteration of the Sacrament under one kind when-as the multitude of the Gentiles entred the Church instructed by the Holy Ghost understood Inconveniencies and partly also Heresy to creep in through the Ministration under both kinds and therefore as in the former Examples so in this now the Matter nothing diminished neither in it self nor in the Receivers and the thing also being received before by a common and uniform Consent without contradiction the Church did decree that from henceforth it should be received under the form of Bread only and whosoever should think and affirm that Whole Christ remained not under both kinds pronounc'd him to be in Heresy 5. Moreover we read in the Acts whereas it was determined in a Council holden at Hierusalem by the Apostles that the Gentiles should abstain from Strangled an◠Blood in these words Visum est Spiritui Sancto Nobis c. It is decreed by the Holy Ghost and Vs say the Apostles that no other burden be laid upon you than these necessary things That ye abstain from things offered up unto Idols and from Blood and from that is strangled and from Fornication This was the Commandment of God for still it is commanded upon pain of damnation to keep our Bodies clean from Fornication and the other join'd by the Holy Ghost with the same not kept nor observed at this day 6. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles it appeareth That among them in the Primitive Church all things were common They sold their Lands and Possessions and laid the Mony at the Feet of the Apostles to be divided to the People as every Man had need insomuch that Ananias and Saphira who kept back a part of their Possession and laid but the other part at the Apostles Feet were declared by the Mouth of St. Peter to be tempted by the Devil and to lye against the Holy Ghost and in example of all other punish'd with sudden Death By all which Examples and many other it is manifest that though there were any such Scripture which they pretend as there is not yet the Church wherein the Holy Ghost is alway resident may order the same and may therein say as truly Visum est Spiritui Sancto Nobis as did the Apostles For Christ promised unto the Church That the Holy Ghost should teach them all Truth and that He himself would be with the same Church unto the Worlds end And hereupon we do make this Argument with St. Augustine which he writeth in his Epistle ad Januarium after this sort Ecclesia Dei inter multam paleam multaque Zizania constituta multa tolerat tamen quae sunt contra fidem vel bonam vitam non approbat nec tacet nec facit To this Major we add this Minor But the Catholick Church of God neither reproveth the Service or Common Prayer to be in the Learned Tongue nor yet useth it otherwise Therefore it is most lawful and commendable so to be Third Section Another Cause that moveth us to say and think is That otherwise doing as they have said there followeth necessarily the breach of Unity of the Church and the Commodities thereby are withdrawn and taken from us there follows necessarily an horrible Schism and Division In alteration of the Service into our Mother Tongue we condemn the Church of God which hath been heretofore we condemn the Church that is present and namely the Church of Rome To the which howsoever it is lightly esteemed here among us the Holy Saint and Martyr Ireneus saith in plain words thus Ad hanc Ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnes alias Ecclesias convenire hoc est omnes undique Fideles It is necessary saith this Holy Man who was nigh to the Apostles or rather in that time for he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apostolorum that all Churches do conform themselves and agree with the See or Church of Rome all Churches that is to say as he declareth himself all Christian and Faithful Men. And he alleadgeth the Cause why it is necessary for all Men to agree therewith propter potentiorem principalitatem for the greater Preeminence of the same or for the mightier Principality From this Church and consequently from the whole Universal Church of Christ we fall undoubtedly into a fearful and dangerous Schism and therewith into all Incommodities of the same That in this doing we fall from the Unity of the Church it is more manifest than that we need much to stand upon St. Augustine Contra Cresconium Grammaticum putting a difference between Heresis and Schisma saith Schisma est diversa sequentium secta Heresis autem Schisma inveteratum To avoid this horrible Sin of Schism we are commanded by the words of St. Paul saying Obsecro vos ut id ipsum dicatis omnes non sint in vobis Schismata And that this changing of the Service out of the Learned Tongue is doing contrary to the Form and Order universally observed is plain and evident to every Man's Eye They are to be named Hereticks saith he which obstinately think and judg in Matters of Faith otherwise than the rest of the Church doth And those are called Schismaticks which follow not the Order and Trade of the Church but will invent of their own Wit and Brain other Orders contrary or diverse to them which are already by the Holy Ghost universally establish'd in the Church And we being declin'd from God by Schism note what follows There is then no Gift of God no Knowledg no Justice no Faith no Works and finally no Vertue that could stand us in stead though we should think to glorify God by suffering Death as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 13. Yea there is no Sacrament that availeth to Salvation in them that willingly fall into Schism that without fear
what the Popes had sacrilegiously taken from them And now that we are upon the utter extirpation of Popery let us not retain this Relique of it And I pray God to inspire and direct His Majesty and His two Houses of Parliament effectually to remove this just and for ought I know only great scandal of our English Reformation A fifth Prejudice which seems to give ill impressions of our Reformation is that the Clergy have now no interest in the Consciences of the People nor any inspection into their manners but they are without yoke or restraint All the Ancient Canons for the publick Pennance of scandalous offenders are laid aside and our Clergy are so little admitted to know or direct the Lives and Manners of their Flocks that many will scarce bear a reproof patiently from them Our Ecclesiastical Courts are not in the Hands of the Bishops and their Clergy but put over to the Civilians where too often Fees are more strictly look'd after than the correction of Manners I hope there is not cause for so great a Cry but so it is these Courts are much complained of and publick vice and scandal is but little enquired after or punished Excommunication is become a kind of Secular Sentence and is hardly now considered as a Spiritual Censure being judged and given out by Lay-men and often upon Grounds which to speak moderately do not merit so severe and dreadful a Sentence There are besides this a great many other Abuses brought in in the worst Times and now purged out of some of the Churches of the Roman Communion which yet continue and are too much in use among us such as Pluralities Non-residencies and other things of that nature so that it may be said that some of the manifest corruptions of Popery where they are recommended by the advantages that accompany them are not yet throughly purged out notwithstanding all the noise we have made about Reformation in matters much more disputable and of far less consequence This whole Objection when all acknowledged as the greatest part of it cannot be denied amounts indeed to this that our Reformation is not yet arrived at that full perfection that is to be desired The want of publick Pennance and Penitentiary Canons is indeed a very great defect our Church does not deny it but acknowledges it in the Preface to the Office of Commination It was one of the greatest Glories of the Primitive Church that they were so governed that none of their number could sin openly without publick Censure and a long separation from the Holy Communion which they judged was defiled by a promiscuous admitting of all Persons to it Had they consulted the Arts of Policy they would not have held in Converts by so strict a way of proceeding lest their discontent might have driven them away at a time when to be a Christian was attended with so many discouragements that it might seem dangerous by so severe a Discipline to frighten the World out of their Communion But the Pastors of that time resolved to follow the Rules delivered them by the Apostles and trusted God with the success which answered and exceeded all their expectations for nothing convinced the World more of the truth of that Religion than to see those trusted with the care of Souls watch so effectually over their Manners that for some sins which in these loose Ages in which we live pass but for common effects of humane frailty Men were made to abstain from the Communion for many years and did cheerfully submit to such Rules as might be truly medicinal for curing those Diseases in their Minds But alas the Church-men of the latter Ages being once vested with this Authority to which the World submitted as long as it saw the good effects of it did soon learn to abuse it and to bring the People to a blind subjection to them It was one of the chief Arts by which the Papacy swelled to its height for Confessors in stead of bringing their Penitents to open Penance set up other things in the room of it pretending they could commute it and in the Name of God accept of one thing for another and they accepted of a Penitents going either to the Holy War or which was more Holy of the two to one of the Popes Wars against Hereticks or deposed Princes and gave full Pardons to those who thus engaged in their designs Afterwards when the Pope had no great occasion to kill Men or the People no great mind to be killed in his Service they accepted of Money as an Alms to God and so all publick Penance was laid down and Murder or Merchandise was set up in its room This being the state of things at the Keformation it is no wonder if the People could not be easily brought to submit to publick Pennance which had been for some Ages entirely laid aside and there was reason why they should not be forward to come under the Yoke of their Priests lest they should have raised upon that Foundation such a Tyrannical Dominion over them as others had formerly exercised This made some Reformed Churches beyond Sea bring in the Laity with them into their Courts which if they had done meerly as a good Expedient for removing the jealousie which the World then had of Ecclesiastical Tyranny there was no great Objection to have been made to it but they made the thing liable to very great exception when they pretended a Divine Institution for those Lay-Elders Here in England it is plain the Nation would not bear such Authority to be lodged with the Clergy at first but it will appear in the following Work that a Platform was made of an Ecclesiastical Discipline though the Bishops had no hope of reducing it into practise till the King should come to be of Age and pass a Law for the authorizing of it but he dying before this was effected it was not prosecuted with that zeal that the thing required in Queen Elizabeths time and then those who in their Exile were taken with the Models beyond Seas contending more to get it put in the method of other Churches than to have it set up in any other Form that contention begat such heat that it took Men off from this and many other excellent designs and whereas the Presbyters were found to have had anciently a share in the Government of the Churches as the Bishops Council and Assistants some of them that were of hot tempers demanding more than their share they were by the immoderate use of the Counterpoise kept out of any part of Ecclesiastical Discipline and all went into those Courts commonly called the Spiritual Courts without making distinction between those Causes of Testaments Marriages and such other sutes that require some learning in the Civil and Canon Law and the other Causes of the Censures of the Clergy and Laity which are of a more Spiritual Nature and ought indeed to be tried only by the Bishops and Clergy
which he should preach before the King in which he should openly declare how well he was satisfied with his Proceedings yet it is added That in his Sermon where there was a wonderful Audience he did most arrogantly meddle with some Matters that were contrary to an express command given him both by word of Mouth and by Letters and in other Matters used such words as had almost raised a great Tumult in the very time and had spoken very seditiously concerning the Policy of the Kingdom So they saw that Clemency wrought no good effect on him and it seeming necessary to terrifie others by their Proceedings with him he was sent to the Tower and the door of his Closet was sealed up Thus it is entred in the Council-Book Signed E. Somerset T. Cantuarien W. St. Johns J. Russel and T. Cheyney Yet it seems this Order was not Signed when it was made but some years after For the Lord Russel Signed first Bedford but remembring that at the time when this Order was made he had not that Title therefore he dashed it out but so as it still appears and Signed J. Russel Fox's Acts and Monuments The account that Gardiner himself gives of this Business is That being discharged upon the Act of Pardon he was desired to promise that he would set forth the Homilies and a Form was given him to which he should set his Hand but he considering of it a fortnight returned and said he could not subscribe it so he was confined to his House Then Ridley and Mr. Cecil afterwards the great Lord Burleigh Lord Treasurer to Queen Eliz. at that time Secretary to the Protector were sent to him and so prevailed that he did set his Hand to it But upon some Complaints that were made of him he was sent for after Whit-Sunday and accused that he had carried Palms had crept to the Cross and had a Sepulchre on Good-Friday which was contrary to the Kings Proclamations all which he denied and said he had and would still give obedience to what the King should command That of affronting the Kings Preachers was objected to him to which he answered telling matter of fact how it was done but he does not in his Writing set it down Then it was complained that in a Sermon he had said The Apostles came away rejoycing from the Council the Council the Council repeating it thus to make it seem applicable to himself This he denied Then it was objected That he preached the Real Presence in the Sacrament the Word Real not being in Scripture and so it was not the setting forth the pure Word of God He said he had not used the Word Real only he had asserted the Presence of Christ in such words as he had heard the Arch-bishop of Canterbury dispute for it against Lambert that had been burnt He was commanded to tarry in London but he desired that since he was not an Offender he might be at his liberty He complained much of the Songs made of him and of the Books written against him and particularly of one Philpot in Westminster whom he accounted a mad Man Then he relates That Cecil came to him and proposed to him to preach before the King and that he should write his Sermon and also brought him some Notes which he wished him to put in his Sermon he said he was willing to preach but would not write it for that was to preach as an Offender nor would he make use of Notes prepared by other Men. Then he was privately brought to the Protector none but the Lord St. John being present who shewed him a Paper containing the opinion of some Lawyers of the Kings Power and of a Bishops Authority and of the Punishment of disobeying the King but he desired to speak with those Lawyers and said no subscription of theirs should oblige him to preach otherwise than as he was convinced The Protector said he should either do that or do worse Secretary Smith came to him to press him further in some Points but what they were is not mentioned Yet by the other Papers in that Business it appears they related to the Kings Authority when under Age and for justifying the Kings proceedings in what had been done about the Ceremonies and that Auricular Confession was indifferent So the Contest between him and the Protector ended and there was no writing required of him but he left the whole matter to him so that he should treat plainly of those things mentioned to him by Cecil He chose St. Peters day because the Gospel agreed to his purpose Cecil shewed him some Notes written with the Kings Hand of the Sermons preached before him especially what was said of the Duty of a King and warned him that when ever he named the King he should add and his Council To this he made no Answer for though he thought it wisely done of a King to use his Council yet being to speak of the Kings Power according to Scripture he did not think it necessary to add any thing of his Council and hearing by a confused report some secret matter he resolved not to meddle with it Two days before he preached the Protector sent him a Message not to meddle with those Questions about the Sacrament that were yet in controversie among Learned Men and that therefore he was resolved there should be no publick determination made of them before-hand in the Pulpit He said he could not forbear to speak of the Mass for he looked on it as the chief foundation of Christian Religion but he doubted not that he should so speak of it as to give them all content So the day following the Protector writ to him Number 28. as will be found in the Collection requiring him in the Kings Name not to meddle with these Points but to preach concerning the Articles given him and about Obedience and good Life which would afford him matter enough for a long Sermon since the other points were to be reserved to a publick Consultation The Protector added That he held it a great part of his Duty under the King not to suffer wilful Persons to disswade the People from receiving such Truths as should be set forth by others But Gardiner pretended that there was no Controversie about the Presence of Christ And so the next day he took his Text out of the Gospel for the day Thou art Christ Parkers MSS. Ex C. Ch. Col. Cant. He preached before the King c. In his Sermon of which I have seen large Notes he expressed himself very fully concerning the Popes Supremacy as justly abolished and the Suppression of Monasteries and Chantries he approved of the Kings Proceedings he thought Images might have been well used but yet they might be well taken away He approved of the Sacrament in both kinds and the taking away that great number of Masses satisfactory and liked well the new Order for the Communion But he asserted largely the Presence of
Philosophical Subtilties and only pretended to be deduced from Scripture as almost all Opinions of Religion were and therefore they rejected them Among these the Baptism of Infants was one They held that to be no Baptism and so were re-baptiz'd but from this which was most taken notice of as being a visible thing they carried all the general Name of Anabaptists Of whom there were two sorts Of these there were two sorts most remarkable The one was of those who only thought that Baptism ought not to be given but to those who were of an Age capable of Instruction and who did earnestly desire it This Opinion they grounded on the silence of the New Testament about the Baptism of Children they observed that our Saviour commanding the Apostles to baptize did joyn Teaching with it and they said the great decay of Christianity flowed from this way of making Children Christians before they understood what they did These were called the gentle or moderate Anabaptists But others who carried that Name denied almost all the Principles of the Christian Doctrine and were Men of fierce and barbarous tempers They had broke out into a general revolt over Germany and raised the War called The Rustick War and possessing themselves of Munster made one of their Teachers John of Leyden their King under the Title of the King of the new Jerusalem Some of them set up a fantastical unintelligible way of talking of Religion which they turned all into Allegories These being joyned in the common Name of Anabaptists with the other brought them also under an ill Character On the 12th of April there was a Complaint brought to the Council that with the Strangers that were come into England some of that Perswasion had come over and were disseminating their Errours and making Proselites Rot. Pat. Par. 6. â— Râ—g So a Commission was ordered for the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Ely Worcester Westminster Chichester Lincoln and Rochester Sir William Petre Sir Tho. Smith Dr. Cox Dr May and some others three of them being a Quorum to examine and search after all Anabaptists Hereticks or contemners of the Common-Prayer They were to endeavour to reclaim them to enjoyn them Penance and give them Absolution or if they were obstinate to excommunicate and imprison them and to deliver them over to the Secular Power to be farther proceeded against Some Tradesmen in London were brought before these Commissioners in May and were perswaded to abjure their former Opinions which were That a Man regenerate could not sin that though the outward Man sinned the inward Man sinned not That there was no Trinity of Persons That Christ was only a Holy Prophet and not at all God That all we had by Christ was that he taught us the way to Heaven That he took no Flesh of the Virgin and that the Baptism of Infants was not profitable One of those who thus abjured was commanded to carry a Faggot next Sunday at St. Pauls where there should be a Sermon setting forth his Heresie But there was another of these extream obstinate Joan Bocher commonly called Joan of Kent She denied that Christ was truly incarnate of the Virgin whose Flesh being sinful he could take none of it but the Word by the consent of the inward Man in the Virgin took Flesh of her these were her words They took much pains about her and had many Conferences with her but she was so extravagantly conceited of her own Notions that she rejected all they said with scorn whereupon she was adjudged an obstinate Heretick and so left to the Secular Power The Sentence against her will be found in the Collection Collection Number 3â— This being returned to the Council the good King was moved to Sign a Warrant for burning her but could not be prevailed on to do it he thought it a piece of cruelty too like that which they had condemned in Papists to burn any for their Consciences And in a long Discourse he had with Sir Jo. Cheek he seemed much confirmed in that Opinion Cranmer was employed to perswade him to Sign the Warrant He argued from the Law of Moses by which Blasphemers were to be stoned He told the King he made a great difference between Errors in other Points of Divinity and those which were directly against the Apostles Creed that these were impieties against God which a Prince as being Gods Deputy ought to punish as the Kings Deputies were obliged to punish offences against the Kings Person These Reasons did rather silence than satisfie the young King who still thought it a hard thing as in truth it was to proceed so sevâ—rely in such Cases so he set his hand to the Warrant with Tears in his Eyes saying to Cranmer That if he did wrong since it was in submission to his Authority he should answer for it to God This struck the Arch-bishop with much horror so that he was very unwilling to have the Sentence executed And both he and Ridley took the Woman then in custody to their Houses to see if they could perswade her But she continued by Jeers and other Insolencies to carry her self so contemptuously that at last the Sentence was executed on her the second of May the next Year An Anabaptist burnt Bishop Scory preaching at her burning she carried her self then as she had done in the former parts of her Process very undecently and in the end was burnt This Action was much censured as being contrary to the clemency of the Gospel and was made oft use of by the Papists who said it was plain that the Reformers were only against Burning when they were in fear of it themselves The Womans carriage made her be look'd on as a frantick Person fitter for Bedlam than a Stake People had generally believed that all the Statutes for burning Hereticks had been repealed but now when the thing was better considered it was found that the burning of Hereticks was done by the Common Law so that the Statutes made about it were only for making the Conviction more easie and the Repealing the Statutes did not take away that which was grounded on a Writ at Common Law To end all this matter at once two years after this one George Van Pare a Dutch-man being accused for saying that God the Father was only God and that Christ was not very God he was dealt with long to abjure but would not so on the 6th of April 1551. he was condemned in the same manner that Joan of Kent was and on the 25th of April was burnt in Smithfield Another burnt He suffered with great constancy of mind and kissed the Stake and Faggots that were to burn him Of this Pare I find a Popish Writer saying That he was a Man of most wonderful strict Life that he used not to eat above once in two days and before he did eat would lie sometime in his devotion prostrate on the ground All this they made use of to
Nature The Eutychians said it was swallowed up by his Godhead and argued from some expressions used concerning the Sacrament as if the presence of Christ in it had swallowed up the Elements against which Theodoret according to the Orthodox Doctrine argued to prove that there was in Christ a humane Nature not swallowed up and said that as in the Sacrament notwithstanding the union of Christ with the Elements they did not depart from their Substance Form and Shape So the humane Nature of Christ was not absorbed by its Union to the Godhead So it plainly appeared this word Substance stood for the Nature of the Elements Moreman being straitned in answering this Philpot said if he had not an Answer ready he would desire him to think on one again their next Meeting upon this the Prolocutor checked him as if he were bragging too soon He insisted on his Argument but was commanded to be silent Haddon upon that proposed another Argument from these Words of our Saviour The Poor you have always with you but Me you have not always That therefore his Body was not in the Sacrament To this the Prolocutor answered that Christ was not to be always with us so as to receive our Alms which is all that was intended by that place But Haddon brought a copious Citation out of St. Austin applying that very Place to prove that Christ's natural Presence was no more on Earth after his Ascension into Heaven To this Dr. Watson opposed another place of St. Austin and some dispute was about those Places After that Haddon read more Authorities of Fathers asserting that Christ was in Heaven and not on Earth the Words of the Institution did plainly express it both because the Sacrament was to be in remembrance of Christ and because it was to continue until his coming again But to this they said he was not on Earth in a bodily manner and they endeavoured to take away the Force of the Argument from the Words until his coming again by some other Acceptions of the Word until But Haddon asked them whether they thought Christ did eat his own natural Body when he instituted and took the Sacrament they said he did Upon that he answered that that was so absurd that he thought it needless to argue more with those who could yield it and so he sate down Philpot argued that Christ could not receive his own Body in the Sacrament since it was given for the Remission of Sins of which he was not capable having no Sin Weston answered he might receive it as well as he Baptized But Philpot answered he was baptized as he said himself to be an example to others So ended this days Dispute On the 25 Philpot who was ordered to begin that Day had prepared a long Discourse in Latin But Weston interrupted him and said He must make no Speech he was only to propose his Arguments and that in English though it had been before ordered that the Dispute should be in Latin Then Philpot went to explain what sort of Presence he would dispute against and what he allowed Here Weston again interrupted him and bid him form his Argument Upon that he fell down on his Knees and begged of the Lords and Privy Counsellors that were present That he might have leave to speak his Mind Which they granted him so he said For their Sacrifice of the Mass he would prove that it was no Sacrament at all and that Christ was no way present in it which if he should not do before the Queen and her Council against any six that would maintain the contrary he should be willing to be burnt before the Court Gates Upon this there was great out-crying that he was mad and talkt idely and Weston threatned to send him to Prison But this noise being laid and he claiming the priviledg of the House for the freedom of Speech was required to go on to an Argument Then he proved that Christ was in Heaven for himself said I leave the World and go to my Father And to prove there was no ambiguity in these words he observed that his Disciples said upon this Now thou speakest plainly without any Parable It was answered by Dr. Chedsey That those words were only meant of his visible Ascension but did not exclude his invisible presence and he cited some words of Chrysostom's That Christ took his Flesh with him and also left his Flesh behind him Weston and the rest said That Authority was unanswerable and for a while would not hear his Answer But Philpot shewed him that Chrysostom's words must be understood in a large sense as Believers are said to be Flesh of his Flesh for that Father applies that also to Baptism from these words As many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ so the Flesh that Christ left on Earth according to him is not the Corporal Presence in the Sacrament Upon this Pye Dean of Chichester whispered somewhat to the Prolocutor who thereupon said to Philpot That he had disputed enough He answered That he had a dozen of Arguments and they were enjoining him silence before he had got through one of them They threatned to send him to Prison if he spoke more He said That was far from the promise they had made of hearing them fully and from what was preached last Sunday at Pauls That all things should be answered in this Disputation But Pye said He should be answered another vvay Philpot replyed There vvas a Company of them now got together vvho had heretofore dissembled vvith God and the World and vvere now met to suppress God's Truth and to set forth false Devices vvhich they vvere not able to maintain After this Ailmer stood up and brought many Authorities out of Greek Authors to prove that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Theodoret could only be understood of the substance of Bread and Wine and Moreman desired a days time to consider of them Then Peru though he had subscribed vvith the rest brought some Arguments against Transubstantiation for which the Prolocutor chid him since he had before subscribed Ailmer answered That it vvas against the freedom of the House for any to be so chid for delivering his Conscience It was now become late so they adjourned to the 27th Then they again disputed about Theodorets words where Haddon shewed that he said the Symboles retained the same Substance that they had before After that Cheyney fell to argue about those words he acknowledged a real Presence but denied Transubstantiation and pressed Theodoret's Authority so closs that Watson said he was a Nestorian and if Theodoret who was but one was of their side there was above a hundred Fathers against them Upon this Cheyney quoted Ireneus who had said that our flesh was nourished by the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament He also cited Hesychius who said that in the Church of Jerusalem the Symboles that were not consumed in the Communion were burnt afterwards he desired to know whether
meerly for love of the Truth which he had gathered out of the Word of God and the Holy Fathers but because it vvas God's Cause he vvas then to maintain he protested that he might have leave afterwards to add or to change as upon better consideration he should see cause for it He also desired he might have leave to speak his mind without interruption which though it was promised him yet he vvas often stopt as he went on explaining his Doctrine He argued against the Corporal Presence as being contrary to the Scriptures that spoke of Christ's leaving the World as being against the Article of his sitting at the right hand of God and against the nature of the Sacrament which is a Remembrance he shewed that by it the Wicked receive Christ no less than the Godly that it is against nature to swallow down a living Man that this Doctrine introduced many extraordinary Miracles vvithout any necessity and must have given advantage to the Hereticks who denied Christ had a real Body or a true humane Nature and that it vvas contrary to the Doctrine of the Fathers He acknowledged that it vvas truly the Communion of his Body that is of Christ's Death and of the Heavenly Life given by him and did in a strong nervous Discourse as any I ever saw on that Subject gather together the chief Arguments for his Opinion Smith argued That notwithstanding Christ's being at the right Hand of God he was seen on Earth Ridley said he did not deny but he might come and appear on Earth but that was for a moment to convince some and comfort others as St. Paul and St. Stephen though he said it might be they saw him in Heaven but he could not be at the same time both in Heaven and on Earth They returned oft to Chrysostom's words and pressed him with some of Bernard's but as he answered the Sayings of the former that they were Rhetorical and Figurative so he excepted against the judgment of the latter as living in an Age when their Opinion was generally received The Dispute held till Weston grew weary and stopt all saying You see the obstinate vain-glorious crafty and inconstant mind of this Man but you see also the force of Truth cannot be shaken therefore cry but with me Truth has the Victory This being ecchoed again by the Audience they went away with great Triumph and now they reckoned the hardest part of their Work was over since Latimer only remained Latimer And Latimer being next day brought forth told them He had not used Latin much these twenty Years and was not able to Dispute but he would declare his Faith and then they might do as they pleased He declared That he thought the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament to be only Spiritual since it is that by which we obtain Eternal Life which flows only from Christ's abiding in us by Faith therefore it is not a bare naked sign but for the Corporal Presence he looked on it as the Root of all the other Errors in their Church He enlarged much against the Sacrifice of the Mass And lamented that they had changed the Communion into a private Mass that they had taken the Cup away from the People and instead of Service in a known Tongue were bringing the Nation to a Worship that they did not understand He perceived they laughed at him but he told them they were to consider his great Age and to think what they might be when they came to it They pressed him much to answer their Arguments He said his Memory was gone but his Faith was grounded on the Word of God he was fully convinced by the Book which Dr. Cranmer had written on that Subject In this whole Disputation as Ridley wrote of it Censures past upon it there was great disorder perpetual Shoutings Tauntings and Reproaches so that it looked liker a Stage than a School of Divines and the Noise and Confusions with which he had been much offended when he was in the Sorbone were modest compared to this On April 28 they were again brought to St. Maries where Weston told them They were over-come in the Disputation therefore he required them to subscribe with the rest Cranmer objected against their way of Disputing he said they would not hear any one argue against their Errors or defend the Truth that often-times four or five of them were speaking at once so that it was impossible for any to hear or to answer all these In conclusion he refused to subscribe Ridley and Latimer made the same Answers So they were all judged Hereticks and the Fautors of Heresy Then they were asked Whether they intended to turn They answered That they would not turn so they were judged Obstinate Hereticks and declared to be no more Members of the Church Upon which Cramer answered From this your Judgment and Sentence I appeal to the just judgment of Almighty God trusting to be present with him in Heaven for whose Presence on the Altar I am thus condemned Ridley answered Although I be not of your Company yet I doubt not but my Name is written in another Place whither this Sentence will send us sooner than we should by the course of Nature have come Latimer answered I thank God most heartily that he hath prolonged my Life to this end that I may in this case glorify God with this kind of Death To them Weston answered If you go to Heaven with this Faith ' then I will never come thither as I am thus persuaded After this there was a solemn Procession in Oxford the Host being carried by Weston the Prolocutor who had been as himself said in this Disputation six Years in Prison in King Edward's Time This gave him now great repute though he was known to be a constant Drunkard Ridley wrote to him desiring to see what the Notaries had written and that he might have leave to add in any part as had been promised him but he had no Answer On the 23d of April the Commissioners sent from the Convocation returned to London Cranmer sent a Petition sealed by Weston to be delivered to the Council in which he earnestly begged their favour with the Queen that he might be pardoned for his Treason since they knew how unwillingly he consented to the Patents for excluding her He also complained of the disorder in the Disputes lately had saying that he was not heard nor suffered to propose his Arguments but all was shufled up in a day though he had Matter on that Subject for twenty days work that it look'd like a Design to shut up all things in haste and make a Triumph and so to condemn them of Heresy He left it to their Wisdom to consider if this was an indifferent way of handling such a Matter Weston carried this Petition half way and then opening it and finding what it contained he sent it back and said he would deliver no such Petition Cranmer was so kept that though
their Tongues immediatly so they to avoid that butchery promised to obey those cruel Orders The manner of Hooper's death Reflections made on Hooper's Death made those who judged too critically of Divine Providences reflect on the dissension that had been raised by him about the Vestments as if he who had kindled that fire had suffered now more than ordinary for that reason But all that difference was at an end before this for Ridley and he between whom there had been the greatest animosity becoming Partners in the same sufferings were perfectly reconciled to each other He writ twice to Ridley who writ him an answer as soon as he could convey it in which he declared how intirely he was knit to him tho in some circumstances of Religion they had formerly Jarred a little it was Hoopers wisdom and his own simplicity that had divided them every one following the abundance of his own sence but now he assured him that in the Bowels of Christ he loved him in the Truth and for the Truth He encouraged him to prepare for the day of his dissolution after which they should triumph together in eternal Glory he expressed great Joy for what he heard of Cranmers godly and fatherly constancy whose integrity and uprightness gravity and innocence was known to the whole Nation and he blessed God that had given in his reverend old age such a Man to be the witness of his Truth for miserable and hard-hearted was he whom the Godliness and constant confession of so worthy so grave and so innocent a man would not move to acknowledg and confess his Truth It had been happy if the fires that consumed those good Men had put an end to these Contests and if those that have been since engaged in the like will reflect more on the sense they had of them when they were now preparing for Eternity than on the heats they were put in concerning them when perhaps ease and plenty made their Passions keener they may from thence be reduced to have more moderate thoughts of such matters If the English Nation was dissatisfied with what was done since the beginning of this Reign These Burnings were disliked by the Nation it cannot be imagined but their discontent received a great encrease by what was now acted Those that favoured the Reformation were awakened to have more serious thoughts about it since they saw those that had preached it dyed so patiently and resolutly rather than they would deny it It begot in them greater tenderness to their memories and a more violent aversion to their Persecutors The rest of the Nation that neither knew nor valued Religion much yet were startled at the severity and strangeness of these proceedings and being naturally of relenting and compassionate Tempers were highly disaffected to the King from whom they believed that this flowed The Queen had before declared she would force no body in these points so they thought it not reasonable nor decent to charge her with it Gardiner with the other Bishops and Privy Councelours had openly in Court purged themselves of it and laid it on the Queen being therein more careful of their own credit than of her honour so now it could fall no where but on the King the sowreness of whose temper together with his bigotry for that Religion made it reasonable enough to impute it to him besides he had been bred in Spain where the Inquisition was let loose on all that were suspected of Heresie without any restraint and his Father had during his whole Reign been always as far as he safely could be a persecutor of Protestants Philip could not but see that all was cast on him The King purges himself of them and understanding that thereby he should become unacceptable to the Nation and so not be able to carry on his Design of making himself Master of England he was something concerned to clear himself of these Impâ—â—ations Therefore Alphonsus a Franciscan Friar that was his Confessor in a Sermon before him on the 10th of February preached largely against the taking away of Peoples lives for Religion and in plain terms inveighed against the Bishops for doing it he said they had not learned it in Scripture which taught Bishops in the spirit of meekness to instruct those that opposed them and not to burn them for their Consciences This startled the Bishops since it was novv plain But they are prosecuted by the Clergy that the Spaniards disovvned these extream courses and hereupon there vvas a stop for several weeks put to any further severities But the Popish Clergy being once engaged in blood have been always observed to become the most brutally cruel of any sort of men so that it was not easie to restrain them and therefore they resolved rather than the Hereticks should not be prosecuted any further to take the blame of it avowedly on themselves There was at this time a Petition Printed A Petition against Persecution and sent over from some beyond Sea to the Queen in which they set before her the danger of her being carried away by a blind zeal to persecute the members of Christ as St. Paul was before his conversion They put her in mind how Cranmer had preserved her in her Fathers time so that she had more reason to believe he loved her and would speak truth to her than all the rest of her Clergy whom they compared to be Jezabel's Prophets They gathered many Passages out of Gardiner's Bonner's and Tonstal's Writings against the Pope's Supremacy and her Mother's Marriage and shewed that they were Men that by their own confession had no conscience in them but measured their Actions and Professions by their Fears and Interests and averred that it was known that many of that Faction did openly profess that if they lived in Turkey they would comply with the Religion of the Country They said that the Turks did tolerate Christians and the Christians did in most places suffer Jews but the Persecution now set on foot was like that which the Scribes and Pharisees raised against the Apostles for they then pretended that they had been once of their Religion and so were Apostates and Hereticks They also said but by a common mistakâ— That the first Law for Burning in England was made by Henry tâ—â— Fourth who to gratify the Bishops that had helped him to depose Kiâ—â— Richard the Second and to advance himself to the Throne 〈◊〉 were in recompence of that Service had granted them that Lawâ— which was both against all humanity and more particularly against the mercifulness of the Christian Religion They remembred her that in King Edward's Time none of the Papists had been so used and in conclusion they told her She was trusted by God with the Sword for the protection of her People as long as they did well and was to answer to him for their Blood if she thus delivered them to the Mercy of such Wolves From the Queen the
mutual Love and to relieve the Poor according to their abundance Then he came to that on which he said all his past Life and that which was to come did hang being now to enter either into the joys of Heaven or the pains of Hell He repeated the Apostles Creed and declared his belief of the Scriptures and then he spake to that which he said troubled his Conscience more than any thing he had ever done in his whole Life which was the subscribing a Paper contrary to the Truth and against his Conscience out of the fear of Death and the love of Life and when he came to the Fire he was resolved that Hand that had signed it should burn first He rejected the Pope as Christ's enemy and Antichrist and said he had the same belief of the Sacrament which he had published in the Book he writ about it Upon this there was a wonderful Confusion in the Assembly Those who hoped to have gained a great Victory that day seeing it turning another way were in much disorder They called to him to dissemble no more He said he had ever loved Simplicity and before that time had never dissembled in his whole Life And going on in his discourse with abundance of tears they pulled him down and led him away to the Stake which was set in the same place where Ridley and Latimer were burnt All the way the Priests upbraided him for his changing but he was minding another thing When he came to the Stake he first prayed He suffers Myrtyrdome with great constancy of Mind and then undressed himself and being tied to it as the Fire was kindling he stretched forth his Right-Hand towards the Flame never moving it save that once he wiped his Face with it till it was burnt away which was consumed before the Fire reached his Body He expressed no disorder for the pain he was in sometimes saying that unworthy Hand and oft crying out Lord Jesus receive my Spirit He was soon after quite burnt But it was no small matter of Astonishment to find his Heart entire and not consumed among the Ashes which tho the Reformed would not carry so far as to make a Miracle of it and a clear proof that his Heart had continued true tho his Hand had erred yet they objected it to the Papists that it was certainly such a thing that if it had fallen out in any of their Church they had made it a Miracle Thus did Thomas Cranmer end his days in the sixty seventh year of his Age. He was a Man raised of God for great Services His Character and well fitted for them He was naturally of a milde and gentle temper not soon heated nor apt to give his Opinion rashly of things or persons and yet his Gentleness tho it oft exposed him to his Enemies who took advantages from it to use him ill knowing he would readily forgive them did not lead him into such a weakness of Spirit as to consent to every thing that was uppermost for as he stood firmly against the six Articles in K. Henry's time notwithstanding all his heat for them so he also opposed the Duke of Somerset in the matter of the sale and alienation of the Chantry Lands and the Duke of Northumberland during his whole Government and now resisted unto Blood so that his meekness was really a vertue in him and not a pusillanimity in his temper He was a Man of great Candor He never dissembled his Opinion nor disowned his Friend two rare qualities in that Age in which there was a continued course of dissimulation almost in the whole English Clergy and Nation they going backward and forward as the Court turned But this had got him that esteem with King Henry that it always preserv'd him in his days He knew what Complaints soever were brought against him he would freely tell him the truth so instead of asking it from other hands he began at himself He neither disowned his esteem of Queen Anne nor his friendship to Cromwel and the Duke of Somerset in their misfortunes but owned he had the same thoughts of them in their lowest Condition that he had in their greatest State He being thus prepared by a candid and good nature for the searches into Truth added to these a most wonderful diligence for he drew out of all the Authors that he read every thing that was remarkable digesting these Quotations into Common-places This begat in King Henry an admiration of him for he had often tried it to bid him bring the Opinions of the Fathers and Doctors upon several questions which he commonly did in two or three dayes time This flowed from the copiousness of his common place Books He had a good judgment but no great quickness of apprehension not closeness of Stile which was diffused and unconnected therefore when any thing was to be penned that required more Nerves he made use of Ridley He laid out all his Wealth on the poor and pious uses He had Hospitals and Surgeons in his House for the King's Seamen He gave Pensions to many of those that fled out of Germany into England and kept up that which is Hospitality indeed at his Table where great numbers of the honest and poor neighbours were always invited instead of the Luxury and Extravagance of great Entertainments which the vanity and excess of the Age we live in has honoured with the name of Hospitality to which too many are led by the Authority of Custom to comply too far He was so humble and affable that he carried himself in all conditions at the same rate His last Fall was the only blemish of his life but he expiated it with a sincere repentance and a patient Martyrdom He had been the chief advancer of the Reformation in his Life and God so ordered it that his death should bear a proportion to the former parts of his life which was no small Confirmation to all that received his Doctrine when they heard how constantly he had at last sealed it with his Blood And tho it is not to be fancied that King Henry was a Prophet yet he discovered such things in Cranmers temper as made him conclude he was to die a Martyr for his Religion and therefore he ordered him to change his Coat of Arms and to give Pelicans instead of Cranes which were formerly the Arms of his Family Intimating withal that as it is reported of the Pelican that she gives her Blood to feed her young ones so he was to give his Blood for the good of the Church That King's kindness to him subjected him too much to him for great Obligations do often prove the greatest snares to generous and noble minds And he was so much over-born by his respects to him and was so affected with King Henry's Death that he never after that shaved his Beard but let it grow to a great length which I the rather mention because the Pictures that were afterwards made for
the Lord Chancellor conferred on him and his not being raised to that high Title perhaps flowed from his own modesty for as he was one of the most Learned most Pious and Wisest Men of the Nation so he retained in all his greatness a Modesty equal to what the Ancient Greeks and Romans had carried with them to their highest advancement He was Father to the great Sir Francis Bacon Viscount St. Albans and Lord Chancellor of England that will be always esteemed one of the greatest Glories of the English Nation The Queens Coronation The Queen was now to be Crowned and having gone on the twelfth of January to the Tower she returned from thence in State on the thirteenth As she went into her Chariot she lifted up her Eyes to Heaven and blessed God that had preserved her to see that Joyful Day and that had saved her as he did his Prophet Daniel out of the Mouth of the Lyons She acknowledged her Deliverance was only from him to whom she offered up the Praise of it She passed through London in great Triumph and having observed that her Sister by the sullenness of her behaviour to the People had much lost their affections therefore she always used as she passed through Crowds but more especially this day to look out of her Coach cheerfully on them and to return the respects they paid her with great sweetness in her Looks commonly saying God bless You my People which affected them much But nothing pleased the City more than her behaviour as she went under one of the Triumphal Arches There was a rich Bible let down to her as from Heaven by a Child representing Truth She with great Reverence kissed both her Hands and receiving it kissed it and laid it next her Heart and professed she was better pleased with that Present than with all the other Magnificent ones that had been that day made her by the City This drew Tears of Joy from the Spectators Eyes And indeed this Queen had a strange Art of insinuating her self by such ways into the affections of her People Some said she was too Theatrical in it but it wrought her end since by these little things in her deportment she gained more on their affections than other Princes have been able to do by more real and significant Arts of Grace and Favour The day following she was Crowned at Westminster by Oglethorp Bishop of Carlisle all the other Bishops refusing to assist at that Solemnity He and the rest of that Order perceived that she would change the Religion then established and looked on the Alterations she had already made as Pledges of more to follow and observed by the favour that Cecil and Bacon had with her that she would return to what had been set up by her Brother They had already turned so oft that they were ashamed to be turning at every time Heath Tonstall and Thirleby had complied in King Edwards time as well as in King Henry's and though Thirleby had continued in credit and favour with them to the last yet he had been one of those who had gone to Rome where he made such publick Professions of his respect to the Apostolick See and he had also assisted at the degradation and condemnation of Cranmer so that he thought it indecent for him to return to that Way any more Therefore he with all the rest resolved to adhere to what they had set up in Queen Maries time There were two of King Edwards Bishops yet alive who were come into England yet the Queen chose rather to be consecrated by a Bishop actually in Office and according to the old Rites which none but Oglethorp could be perswaded to do After that she gave a general Pardon according to the Common Form On the 23d of January The Parliament meets being the day to which the Parliament was summoned it was Prorogued till the 25th and then it was opened with a long Speech of the Lord Bacons in which he laid before them the distracted estate of the Nation both in matters of Religion and the other Miseries that the Wars and late Calamities had brought upon them all which he recommended to their care For Religion the Queen desired they would consider of it without heat or partial affection or using any reproachful term of Papist or Heretick and that they would avoid the Extreams of Idolatry and Superstition on the one hand and contempt and irreligion on the other and that they would examine matters without Sophistical Niceties or too subtil Speculations and endeavour to settle things so as might bring the People to an Uniformity and Cordial Agreement in them As for the state of the Nation he shewed the Queens great unwillingness to lay new Impositions on them upon which he run out largely in her commendation giving them all assurance that there was nothing she would endeavour more effectually than the advancing of their Prosperity and the preserving their affections He laid open the loss of Calais with great reflections on those who had been formerly in the Government yet spoke of it as a thing which they could not at that time hope to recover and laid before them the charge the Government must be at and the necessities the Queen was in adding in her Name that she would desire no Supply but what they did freely and cheerfully offer One of the first things that the Commons considered was whether the want of the Title of Supream Head which the Queen had not yet assumed was a Nullity in the Summons for this and other Parliaments in which it had been omitted but after this had been considered some days it was judged to be no nullity for the annulling of a Parliament except it had under a force or for some other error in the Constitution was a thing of Dangerous Consequence But leaving the Consultations at Westminster I shall now give an account of the Treaty of Peace at Cambray The Treaty at Cambray That at which things stuck most was the rendring of Calais again to the English which the French did positively refuse to do For a great while Philip demanded it with so much earnestness that he declared he would make Peace on no other terms since as he was bound in Point of Honour to see the English who engaged in the War only on his account restored to the condition that they were in at the beginning of it so his Interest made him desire that they might be Masters of that Place by which it being so near them they could have the Conveniency of sending over Forces to give a diversion to the French at any time thereafter as their Alliances with him should require But when Philip saw there was no hope of a Marriage with the Queen and perceived that she was making alterations in Religion he grew less careful of her Interests and secretly agreed a Peace with the French But that he might have some colour to excuse himself for abandoning
have been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself that is that they should rule all Estates committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil Doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of this Realm may punish Christian Men with Death c. the Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Civil Magistrate is ordained and approved by God and therefore is to be obeyed not only for fear of Wrath but for Conscience-sake Civil or Temporal Laws may punish Christian Men with Death for heinous and grievous Offences It is lawful for Christian Men at the Commandment of the Magistrate to wear Weapons and to serve in the Wars XXXVII The Goods of Christians are not common The Riches and Goods of Christians are not common as touching the Right Title and Possession of the same as certain Anabaptists do falsly boast Notwithstanding every Man ought of such things as he possesseth liberally to give Alms to the Poor according to his Ability XXXVIII It is lawful for a Christian to take an Oath As we confess that vain and rash Swearing is forbidden Christian Men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle so we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but that a Man may swear when the Magistrate requireth in a Cause of Faith and Charity so it be done according to the Prophet's teaching in Justice Judgment and Truth These Articles were left out in Queen Elizabeth's Time XXXIX The Resurrection of the Dead is not past already The Resurrection of the Dead is not past already as if it belonged only to the Soul which by the Grace of Christ is raised from the Death of Sin but is to be expected by all Men in the last Day for at that time as the Scripture doth most apparently testify the Dead shall be restored to their own Bodies Flesh and Bones to the end that Man according as either righteously or wickedly he hath passed this Life may according to his Works receive Rewards or Punishments XL. The Souls of Men deceased do neither perish with their Bodies They who maintain that the Souls of Men deceased do either sleep without any manner of sense to the Day of Judgment or affirm that they die together with the Body and shall be raised therewith at the last Day do wholly differ from the Right Faith and Orthodox Belief which is delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures XLI Of the Millenarians They who endeavour to revive the Fable of the Millenarians are therein contrary to the Holy Scriptures and cast themselves down headlong into Jewish Dotages XLII All Men not to be saved at last They also deserve to be condemned who endeavour to restore that pernicious Opinion That all Men though never so ungodly shall at last be saved when for a certain time appointed by the Divine Justice they have endured punishment for their Sins committed Number 56. Instructions given by the King's Highness to his right trusty and right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Francis Earl of Salop and Lord President of his Grace's Council resident in the North Parts and to all others hereafter named and appointed by his Highness to be of his said Council to be observed by the said Counsellors and every of them according as the same hereafter is declared FIrst Ex MS. Dr. Johnson His Majesty much desiring the Quietness and good Governance of the People and Inhabitants in the North Parts of this Realm of England and for the good speedy and indifferent administration of Justice to be there had betwixt Party and Party intendeth to continue in the same North Parts his Right Honourable Council called The King's Majesty's Council in the North Parts And his Highness knowing the approved Wisdom and Experience of his said Cousin _____ with his assured discretion and dexterity in the Execution of Justice hath appointed him to be Lord President of the said Council and by these Presents doth give unto him the Name of Lord President of the said Council with Power and Authority to call together all such as be or hereafter shall be named and appointed to be of the said Council at all times when he shall think expedient And otherwise by his Letters to appoint them and every of them to do such things for the Advancement of Justice and for the repression and punishment of Malefactors as by the Advice of such of the said Council as then shall be present with him he shall think meet for the furtherance of his Grace's Affairs and for the due Administration of Justice between his Highness Subjects And further his Majesty giveth unto the said Lord President by these Presents a Voice Negative in all Councils where things shall be debated at length for the bringing forth of a most perfect Truth or Sentence which his Highness would have observed in all Cases that may abide Advisement and Consultation to the intent that doubtful Matters should as well be maturely consulted upon as also that the same should not pass without the consent and order of the said Lord President And his Highness willeth and commandeth that all and every of the said Councellors named and to be named hereafter shall exhibit and use to the said Lord President all such Honour Reverend Behaviour and Obedience as to their Duty appertaineth and shall receive and execute in like sort all the Precepts and Commandments to them or any of them for any Matter touching his Majesty to be addressed or any Process to be done or served in his Grace's Name And his Highness Pleasure is That the said Lord President shall have the keeping of his Graces Signet therewith to Seal Letters Processes and all such other things as shall be thought convenient by the said Lord President or by two of the Council being bound by those Articles to daily attendance upon the said Lord President with his assent thereunto And to the intent the said Lord President thus established for the above-said Purposes may be furnished with such Numbers and Assistants as be of Wisdom Experience Gravity and Truth meet to have the Name of his Grace's Councellors his Majesty upon good advisement and deliberation hath elected those Persons whose Names ensue hereafter to be his Counsellors joined in the said Council in the North Parts with the said Lord President that is to say The right Trusty and well-beloved Cousins Henry Earl of Westmoreland Henry Earl of Cumberland his right Trusty and well-beloved Cuthbert Bishop of Duresme William Lord Dacres of the North John Lord Conyers Thomas Lord Wharton John Hind Kt. one of his Majesty's Justices of the Common-Pleas Edmond Moleneux Kt. Serjeant at Law Henry Savel Kt. Robert Bowes Kt. Nicholas Fairfax Kt. George Conyers Kt. Leonard Becquith Kt. William Babthorp Kt.
Cotton John Gate Number 58. A Letter written by B. Ridley setting out the Sins of that Time To his Well-beloved the Preachers within the Diocess of London AFter hearty Commendations having regard especially at this time Regist Ridl Fol. 239. to the Wrath of God who hath plagued us diversly and now with extream punishment of sudden Death poured upon us for Causes certain known unto his high and secret Judgment and as may seem unto Man for our wicked living daily encreasing unto such sort that not only in our Conversations the Fear of God is alas far gone from before our Eyes but also the World is grown into that uncharitableness that one as it appeareth plainly goeth about to devour another moved with insatiable Covetousness both contrary to God's Word and Will and to the extream peril and damnation of Christ's Flock bought so dearly with his precious Blood and to the utter destruction of this whole Common Wealth except God's Anger be shortly appeased wherein as according to my bounden Duty I shall God willing in my own Person be diligent and labour so I exhort and require you first in God's Name and by authority of him committed unto me in that behalf and also in the King's Majesty's Name from whom I have Authority and special Commandment thus to do That as you are called to be setters forth of God's Word and to express in your livings the same so now in your Exhortations and Sermons you do most wholsomely and earnestly tell unto Men their Sins Juxta illud anuncia populo meo scelera eorum with God's punishments lately poured upon us for the same now before our Eyes and specially to beat down and destroy with all your Power and Wit that greedy and devouring Serpent of Covetousness that doth so now universally reign calling upon God for Repentance and provoking to Common Prayer and amendment of life with most earnest Petitions that hereby God's Hands may be staied the World amended and obedience of Subjects and faithfulness of Ministers declared accordingly Thus I bid you heartily well to fare From London July 25. 1551. Yours in Christ Nic. London Number 59. Bishop Ridley's Letter to the Protector concerning the Visitation of the University of Cambridg Right Honourable I Wish your Grace the holy and wholsome Fear of God because I am persuaded your Grace's Goodness to be such unfeignedly that even wherein your Grace's Letters doth sore blame me yet in the same the advertisement of the Truth shall not displease your Grace and also perceiving that the cause of your Grace's discontentation was wrong Information therefore I shall beseech your Grace to give me leave to shew your Grace wherein it appeareth to me that your Grace is wrong informed Your Grace's Letters blameth me because I did not at the first before the Visitation began having knowledg of the Matter shew my Mind the Truth is Before God I never had nor could get any fore-knowledg of the Matter of the uniting of the two Colleges before we had begun and had entred two days in the Visitation and that your Grace may plainly thus well perceive A little before Easter I being at Rochester received Letters from Mr. Secretary Smith and the Dean of Pauls to come to the Visitation of the University and to make a Sermon at the beginning thereof whereupon I sent immediately a Servant up to London to the Dean of Pauls desiring of him to have had some knowledg of things there to be done because I thought it meet that my Sermon should somewhat have savoured of the same From Mr. Dean I received a Letter instructing me only That the cause of the Visitation was to abolish Statutes and Ordinances which maintained Papistry Superstition Blindness and Ignorance and to establish and set forth such as might further God's Word and good Learning and else the Truth is he would shew me nothing but bad me be careless and said There was Informations how all things was for to be done the which I take God to Witness I did never see nor could get knowledg what they were before we were entred in the Visitation two days although I desired to have seen them in the beginning Now when I had seen the Instructions the Truth is I thought peradventure the Master and Company would have surrendred up their College but when their consent after labour and travel taken therein two dayes could not be obtained and then we began secretly to consult all the Commissioners thinking it best that every Man should say his Mind plainly that in execution there might appear but one way to be taken of all there when it was seen to some that without the consent of the present Incumbents by the King 's absolute Power we might proceed to the uniting of the two Colleges I did in my course simply and plainly declare my Conscience and that there only secretly among our selves alone with all kind of softness so that no Man could be justly offended Also I perceive by your Grace's Letters I have been noted of some for my barking there and yet to bark lest God should be offended I cannot deny but indeed it is a part of my Profession for God's Word condemneth the dumb Dogs that will not bark and give warning of God's Displeasure As for that that was suggested to your Grace that by my aforesaid barking I should dishonour the King's Majesty and dissuade others from the Execution of the King's Commission God is my Judg I intended according to my Duty to God the King the maintenance and defence of his Highness Royal Honour and Dignity If that be true that I believe is true which the Prophet saith Honor Regis Judicium diligit and as the Commissioners must needs and I am sure will all testify that I dissuaded no Man but contrariwise exhorted every Man with the quiet of other to satisfy their own Conscience desiring only that if it should otherwise be seen unto them that I might either by my absence or silence satisfy mine The which my plainness when some otherwise than according to my expectation did take I was moved thereupon both for the good Opinion I had and yet have in your Grace's Goodness and also specially because your Grace had commanded me so to do to open my mind by my private Letters freely unto your Grace And thus I trust your Grace perceiveth now both that anon after knowledg had I did utter my Conscience and also that the Matter was not opened unto me before the Visitation was two days begun If in this I did amiss that before the knowledg of the Instructions I was ready to grant to the Execution of the Commission Truly I had rather herein acknowledg my Fault and submit my self to your Grace's Correction then after knowledg had then wittingly and willingly commit that thing whereunto my Conscience doth not agree for fear of God's displeasure It is a Godly Wish that is wished in your Grace's Letters that Flesh
and Blood and Country might not more weigh with some Men than Godliness and Reason but the truth is Country in this Matter whatsoever some Men do suggest unto your Grace shall not move me and that your Grace shall well perceive for I shall be as ready as any other first thence to expel some of my own Country if the Report which is made of them can be tried true And as for that your Grace saith of Flesh and Blood that is the favour or fear of Mortal Man Yea marry Sir that is a Matter of weight indeed and the truth is alas my own feebleness of that I am afraid but I beseech your Grace yet once again give me good leave wherein here I fear my own frailty to confess the Truth Before God there is no Man this day leaving the King's Majesty for the Honour only excepted whose favour or displeasure I do either seek or fear as your Grace's favour or displeasure for of God both your Grace's Authority and my bound Duty for your Grace's Benefits bind me so to do So that if the desire of any Man's favour or fear of displeasure should weigh more with me than Godliness and Reason Truly if I may be bold to say the Truth I must needs say that I am most in danger to offend herein either for desire of your Grace's favour or for fear of your Grace's displeasure And yet I shall not cease God willing daily to pray God so to stay and strengthen my frailty with holy Fear that I do not commit the thing for favour or fear of any Mortal Man whereby my Conscience may threaten me with the loss of the favour of the Living God but that it may please him of his gracious Goodness howsoever the World goes to blow this in the Ears of my Heart Deus dissipavit ossa eorum qui Hominibus placuerint And this Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis And again Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus Wherefore I most humbly beseech your Grace for God's Love not to be offended with me for renuing of this my Suit unto your Grace which is that whereunto my Conscience cannot well agree if any such thing chance in this Visitation I may with your Grace's Favour have license either by mine absence or silence or other-like means to keep my Conscience quiet I wish your Grace in God honour and endless felicity From Pembrook-Hall in Cambridg June 1. 1549. Your Grace's humble and daily Orator Nich. Roffen Number 60. The Protector 's Answer to the former Letter Ex Chartophylac Kegio AFter our right hearty Commendations to your Lordship we have received your Letters of the first of June again replying to those which we last sent unto you And as it appeareth ye yet remaining in your former Request desires if things do occur so that according to your Conscience ye cannot do them that you might absent your self or otherwise keep silence We wâ—uld be loth any thing should be done by the King's Majesty's Visitors otherwise than Right and Conscience might allow and approve And Visitation is to direct things to the better not to the worse to ease Consciences not to clog them Marry we would wish that Executors thereof should not be scrupulous in Conscience otherwise than Reason would Against your Conscience it is not our will to move you as we would not gladly do or move any Man to that which is against Right and Conscience and we trust the King's Majesty hath not in this Matter And we think in this ye do much wrong and much discredit the other Visitors that ye should seem to think and suppose that they would do things against Conscience We take them to be Men of that Honour and Honesty that they will not My Lord of Canterbury hath declared unto us that this maketh partly a Conscience unto you that Divines should be diminished That can be no cause for first the same was met before in the late King's Time to unite the two Colleges together as we are sure ye have heard and Sir Edward North can tell And for that cause all such as were Students of the Law out of the new-erected Cathedral Church were disappointed of their Livings only reserved to have been in that Civil College The King's Hall being in manner all Lawyers Canonists were turned and joined to Michael-House and made a College of Divines wherewith the number of Divines was much augmented Civillians diminished Now at this present also if in all other Colleges where Lawyers be by the Statutes or the King's Injunctions ye do convert them or the more part of them to Divines ye shall rather have more Divines upon this change than ye had before The King's College should have six Lawyers Jesus College some the Queen's College and other one or two apiece And as we are informed by the late King's Injunctions every College in Cambridg one at the least all these together do make a greater in number than the Fellows of Clare-Hall be and they now made Divines and the Statutes in that reformed Divinity shall not be diminished in number of Students but encreased as appeareth although these two Colleges be so united And we are sure ye are not ignorant how necessary a Study that Study of Civil Law is to all Treaties with Forreign Princes and Strangers and how few there be at this present to do the King's Majesty's Service therein For we would the encrease of Divines as well as you Marry Necessity compelleth us also to maintain the Science and we require you my Lord to have consideration how much you do hinder the King's Majesty's Proceedings in that Visitation if now you who are one of the Visitors should thus draw back and discourage the other ye should much hinder the whole Doings and peradventure that thing known maketh the Master and Fellows of Clare-Hall to stand the more obstinate wherefore we require you to have regard of the King's Majesty's Honour and the quiet performings of that Visitation most to the Glory of God and Benefit of that University the which thing is only meant in your Instructions To the performing of that and in that manner we can be content you use your Doings as ye think best for the quieting of your Conscience Thus we bid you right-heartily farewel From Richmond the 10th of June 1549. Your loving Friend E. Somerset Number 61. A Letter of Cranmer's to King Henry the 8th concerning a further Reformation and against Sacrilege Ex Chartophylac Regio IT may please your Highness to be advertised that forasmuch as I might not tarry my self at London because I had appointed the next day after that I departed from your Majesty to be at Rochester to meet the next Morning all the Commissioners of Kent at Sittingbourn therefore the same Night that I returned from Hampton-Court to Lambeth I sent for the Bishop of Worcester incontinently and declared unto him all your Majesty's Pleasure in
this Point but some hap to be curious and inquisitive of things that little pertain unto their parts and some might peradventure hap to talk of such things as might peradventure after turn to much harm as I think you have heard how the late Duke of Buckingham moved with the fame of one that was reported for an Holy Monk and had such talking with him as after was a great part of his destruction and disheriting of his Blood and great slander and infamy of Religion It sufficeth me good Madam to put you in remembrance of such things as I nothing doubt your Wisdom and the Spirit of God shall keep you from talking with any Person specially with high Persons of any such manner things as pertain to Princes Affairs or the State of the Realm but only to commune and talk with any Person high and low of such manner things as may to the Soul be profitable for you to shew and for them to know And thus my good Lady and dearly beloved Sister in our Lord I make an end of this my needless advertisement unto you whom the Blessed Trinity preserve and increase in Grace and put in your mind to recommend me and mine unto him in your devout Prayers At Chelsey this Tuesday by the Hand of Your hearty loving Brother and Beadsman Thomas More Kt. At the receipt of this Letter she answered my Servant that she heartily thanked me Soon after this there came to mine House the Prior of the Charterhouse at Shene and one Brother Williams with him who nothing talked to me but of her and of the great joy that they took in her Vertue but of any of her Revelations they had no communication But at another time Brother Williams came to me and told me a long Tale of her being at the House of a Knight in Kent that was sore troubled with Temptations to destroy himself and none other thing we talked of nor should have done of likelyhood though we had tarried together much longer he took so great pleasure good Man to tell the Tale with all the Circumstances at length When I came again another day to Sion on a day in which there was a Profession some of the Fathers asked me how I liked the Nun And I answered that in good Faith I liked her very well in her talking howbeit quoth I she is never the nearer tried by that for I assure you she were likely to be very bad if she seemed good e're I should think her other till she happened to be proved naught and in good Faith that is my manner indeed except I were set to search and examine the truth upon likelyhood of some cloaked evil for in that case although I nothing suspected the Person my self yet no less than if I suspected him sore I would as far as my wit would serve me search to find out the truth as your self hath done very prudently in this Matter wherein you have done in my mind to your great laud and praise a very meritorious Deed in bringing forth to light such detestable Hypocrisy whereby every other Wretch may take warning and be feared to set forth their own devilish dissembled falshood under the manner and colour of the wonderful Work of God for verily this Woman so handled her self with help of that evil Spirit that inspired her that after her own Confession declared at Paul's Cross when I sent word by my Servant unto the Prior of the Charterhouse that she was undoubtedly proved a false deceiving Hypocrite The good Man had had so good opinion of her so long that he could at the first scantly believe me therein Howbeit it was not he alone that thought her so very good but many another right good Man besides as little marvel was upon so good report till she was proved naught I remember me further that in Communication between Father Rich and me I counselled him that in such strange things as concerned such Folk as had come unto her to whom as she said she had told the causes of their coming e're themselves spake thereof and such good Fruit as they said that many Men had received by her Prayer he and such other as so reported it and thought that the knowledg thereof should much pertain to the Glory of God should first cause the things to be well and sure examined by the Ordinaries and such as had Authority thereunto so that it might be surely known whether the things were true or not and that there were no Letters intermingled among them or else the Letters might after hap to aweigh the credence of these things that were true And when he told me the Tale of Mary Magdalen I said unto him Father Rich that she is a good vertuous Woman in good Faith I hear so many good Folk so report that I verily think it true and think it well-likely that God worketh some good and great things by her but yet are you wot well these strange Tales no part of our Creed and therefore before you see them surely proved you shall have my poor counsel not to wed your self so far forth to the credence of them as to report them very surely for true least that if it should hap that they were afterwards proved false it might minish your estimation in your Preaching whereof might grow great loss To this he thanked me for my counsel but how he used it after that I cannot tell Thus have I good Mr. Cromwell fully declared to you as far as my self can call to remembrance all that ever I have done or said in this Matter wherein I am sure that never one of them all shall tell you any further thing of effect for if any of them or any Man else report of me as I trust verily no Man will and I wot well truly no Man can any Word or Deed by me spoken or done touching any breach of my legal Truth and Duty toward my most redoubted Soveraign and natural Liege Lord I will come to mine Answer and make it good in such wise as becometh a poor true Man to do that whosoever any such thing shall say shall therein say untrue for I neither have in this Matter done evil nor said evil nor so much as any evil thing thought but only have been glad and rejoiced of them that were reported for good which condition I shall nevertheless keep toward all other good Folk for the false cloaked Hypocrisy of any of these no more than I shall esteem Judas the true Apostle for Judas the false Traitor But so purpose I to bear my self in every Man's Company while I live that neither good Man nor bad neither Monk Friar nor Nun nor other Man or Woman in this World shall make me digress from my Truth and Faith either towards God or towards my natural Prince by the Grace of Almighty God and as you therein find me true so I heartily therein pray you to continue toward me your favour and good-will