holsom doctrine be ye sure and a Narration of nothing verely in effect yet be they solemnly added to furnishe vppe the trayne of this his Psalter But Maister Fowler wanteth one thinge vsuall in such preatty popishe deuises That is some Bull to be graunted by his most holy father Pope Gregory that nowe is of pardon for such as shal deuoutly say this Psalter Popes were wont to be liberall to beawtifie such conceiptes with large pardons for thowsandes of yeares Maister Fovvler was much ouerseene that he did not sue to Rome for suche a pardon to haue annexed it to his Psalter Such a Bull woulde haue gotten easie sale of his Psalter amonge the Romishe Calues and so haue made well for the payment of Master Fovvlers debtes And we may thinke that Maister Fovvler might haue come in a very seasonable tyme to his father Pope Gregory on this message For it doth appeare that this Pope was so full of his popish grace about the tyme of the publishing of this Psalter that at an easie entreatie of Maister Inglefeilde and one Maister Allen he did liberally graunt pardon and pardon againe to such as shall haue but one of the beade stones which he hath blessed What would not this Pope then haue graunted vpon small entreatie to him that should haue had and sayd this Psalter of Fowler But if it were so that this Psalter was offred to the Pope to be blessed dubbed with a pardon he refused so to doe yet he hath so plentifully bestowed his blessing vpon a poore beadstone surely it is ynough to marre M. Fowlers markett For then euery man will thinke that Pope Gregory did not esteeme so much of Maister Fowlers Psalter as he did of a simple beadestone A thinge of small price and value surely not vnlike to the value of the Popes blessing bestowed on it that is of no valure at all But if a blessed beadestone may bringe by the popes Bull full remission of all sinnes as his blasphemous Bull importeth Then lette Maister Fovvler goe hange vppe his psalter vppon some pynne on the wall for it can profitte no other man nor yet him selfe any waye that I knowe If Pope Gregory that nowe is woulde haue done so much for this Psalter of Maister Fowler as Pope Pius did for his own primer it might haue serued much better M. Fovvlers turne then nowe it can For Pope Pius doth solemnly reuoke and put out of vse all other primers to make place for his owne Primer nowe printed by Plantine at Andwarpe and also giueth preattie pardons to them which shall vse it If Pope Gregory had bene so good a fellow to prouide for Fowlers psalter that is if he had adnihilated and put out of vse all other psalters and then dubbed this psalter of Fowlers with a pardon what had M. Fowler I pray you then wanted Nothing verely but truth It may be that Maister Fowler thought that the romish popes had already dealt forth their blessed graces in their pardons so plentifully for many thowsandes of yeares yet to come that nowe they had no more stoare of suche graces lefte them to bestow by pardons So might it also haue bene thought that the Romishe seduced sect had already gotten such stoare of pardoned yeares for ages to come and by pardons such full remissiō of all their sinnes that they neded not now to care for any more newpardōs But in error there is no stay I wil leaue therfore M. Fowler to sue at Rome if he be so foolish for a pardon to furnish this his fiddle which he calleth a Psalter But I do wish rather to M. Fowler with all my hart that true christian vnderstanding which may shew him his error grace to forsake it to embrace the trueth of Christ Iesus our Sauiour as it is taught and sette forth in the word of truth the most holy word of God I meane Here I woulde ende as he endeth his Psalter sauing that I thinke good in concludinge to answere an obiection which may be made to me It may be sayed that I haue not touched all his whole Psalter but haue left much not spoken of which is contained in it It is true I haue only touched some such stringes as doe make a fowle iarre from the soundnes of our christian faith of the holy Scriptures And yet I haue not touched all but left some vntouched supposinge that this which I haue wryttē may giue the godly reader sufficient warning of all the rest This litle leauen which I haue touched sowreth his whole psalter and maketh it vnsauery to him that tasteth how sweete the Lord is in his truth and mercy But he will say that Fowler printeth also some good wordes in his Psalter What thereof The deuil him selfe sometime speaketh truth but he is to be put to silence For his purpose is by vttering some truth to get credit to be beleued in his falshoode We are forewarned by an old writer that falshood doth imitate truth alwayes and that vnles it haue some likelihoode of trueth it can not deceaue So it may be that M. Fowler speaketh of purpose in some pointes of his psalter a truth but vnder that we must take heede that he creepe not into such creditte with vs that therefore we shoulde receaue as truth all that he printeth for then you see what stincking filth we shall receaue It is a manner of foysters to sette forth their falshoodes with some shew of truth else should they lay them selues to open and marre their owne market It is the duetie of all them which will praye well and acceptably vnto God to make those prayers which are sound and wholy agreeing with Gods moste holy will witnessed in his holy word Let men take heede of offering straung fier to God I meane that they doe not make straunge prayers to God for if they do they shall feele the paines thereof and suffer bitter reiection Let vs learne to pray to God him selfe sithence he doth vouchsafe to become our Scholemaister herein and doth teach vs how to pray in his sight acceptably to our selues most profitably If we do despise such a scholemaister if we will refuse his teaching and wil be teachers to our selues and thrust vpon him our owne deuises we doe shew our selues to be stubborne and proud rebells he will not accept vs but reiect vs the losse and paine shall be ours It had bene the part of M. Fovvler to haue learned of Iesus our Lord and most gratious Sauiour how to pray and then woulde he not haue presumed thus to packe vp this peeuish Psalter and to set it on vent vnder the blessed name of Iesus This is a boldnes intollerable I reade that there were some psalmes or himnes deuised by men which were forbidden to be vsed of Christians in the congregation and that by the consent of some Elders gathered together in councell Mention is made also in Eusebius how some hereticks had
for his aunswere In the meane season we will be so bolde with M. Fowler his fellowe helpers to aske of them the same question which is asked in the prophecy of Isay 40 To whome will yee liken God or what similitude will yee set vp vnto him And againe to whom wil yee liken me that I should be like vnto him sayth the holy one Aunswere M. Fowler aunswere to these questions and lette vs heare how you can defende this your bold doing and this your likening of the immortall God to a mortall corruptible man Let him shewe vs also in what history he findeth that there was before Christ on the top of the mountaine on which he praied a Chalice with a litle round host or cake in it holden as he doth graue it in the hand of an Angell And where did he reade that Christ Iesus did descende into hell corporally with a long staffe in his hande hauing a crosse and a banner cloth in the top of it did there drawe soules by the handes out of hell by a payre of stayres at a great gate of hewen stone as his imagery sheweth let not M. Fowler now cauill say that I do deny an article of our christian faith For I doe firmely beleue that Article he descended into hell but I do not beleue that this image which M. Fowler hath graued doth truely set foorth the trueth of the descending of Christ into hell Let M. Fowler therefore shewe by what true historie he can proue this his image and all the partes therof Likewise let him shewe vs what historie it is that reporteth vnto vs the trueth of that his image in which he graueth howe the virgine Mary was personally or bodily assumpted into heauen by the handes of Angells a great cōpany of people kneeling by worshipping And last of all let him tel vs in what history he findeth the reporte of the next followinge image That is how the virgine Mary beinge in heauen was crowned by two men the one sittinge vppon the one side and the other man sittinge on the other side of her Let vs know what these two mē were what be their names when the solemnitie of this coronation was kept And let him also tell vs by what catholique sence this coronation is proued by that place of holie Scripture which he doth there cite Cantic 4 to vnderproppe this his image we know the place of holy Scripture but we know not where this catholike sense which M. Fowler doth gather thereon where I say the vnderstanding of that place to serue the coronation of the virgin Mary was coyned There are none of all his images but that they haue M. Fowlers approbation by coatinge some chapters of some booke of the holy bible But a number of them stande there but to fill vppe a place to make a shew of some thinge and say nothing Thus he is bolde with naminge the bookes of the holy bible to shore vp his imagerie which can not stande by them With such images which haue neither historie nor wryter of credite to reporte them it pleaseth M. Fowler for want of better matter to fill vp his booke to please and feede the eyes of his simple reader which is not done accordinge to that rule which him selfe citeth out of Basill But lette vs leaue M. Fowler with his new imagined imagery to him selfe lette me aske this Dare Fowler or any of his fellowes deuise a psalter and father the same vppon the lord Iesus as though he were the author thereof Surely this his boldenes draweth nigh to blasphemie and very nigh to the sinne against the holy Ghost for as I said before it is a plain breaking of Gods cōmaundement He taketh the name of the Lord Iesus in vaine And he also speaketh of the Lord Iesus an vntrueth against his owne conscience knowledge in calling it the psalter of Iesus as though Iesus had made it But it may be that M. Fowler will say for him selfe that he will not auow that Iesus made this Psalter or that it is the Psalter of Iesus If he will not auowe but deny his owne wordes I am content herein to take his denial thinke that it is not as he tearmeth it the Psalter of Iesus And so I may well make my selfe the more bolde to deale with this Psalter and to touche the stringes thereof to trie whether they be in tune or not Yea if it were so in dede that Fowlers meaninge is not to sette out this Psalter as though it were made by Iesus Christ why doth he call it the Psalter of Iesus I wil take mine aunswere out of his own words It is saith he the Psalter of Iesu or the Inuocation of Iesu M. Fowler seemeth to explicate this word Psalter by the following word Inuocation Then with M. Fowler the word Psalter is all one with that word which out of the Latine tongue we borrowe into our Englishe and do tearme it Inuocation which in proper english is a calling vpon so that this Psalter of Iesu is as much to say in Englishe as the callinge vppon Iesu And this may be gathered to be his meaninge because that the name of Iesu is so often repeated in his Psalter But if M. Fowler will suffer his great maister Thomas to tell vs what a Psalter is and what it doth signifie as I haue cited out of him before then can not I trowe this his interpretation of the worde Psalter stande But I am content to leaue him to trye this matter with his sayed maister him selfe The name of Iesus is glorious pretious of great power as I haue sayd and therefore none can name that name rightly but by the holy Ghost Wherof it is also that they which do rightly name the name of the Lord Iesus are taught to departe from iniquitie If the meaninge of M. Fowler be to teache his simple reader to Inuocate or to call vppon the Lord Iesus he must do that he meaneth truly by the word of God which is the onely ground worke of Inuocatiō And M. Fowler must first teach his reader to beleue truely in the Lorde Iesus before he can well inuocate or call vppon him For the Apostle teacheth Ro. 10. that men doe call on him on whom they do beleue They beleue that which they haue hearde by the worde preached if there be no worde of God hearde there is no true beliefe if there be no true beleife there is no calling vppon or to vse his tearme no Inuocation so no Psalter Nowe Maister Fowler preacheth not the worde of God nor the Gospell of Iesus to warrant vnto vs this his Psalter neither doth he in it teach vs truely to beleue in the Lorde Iesus But in this Psalter he doth teach his reader to pronounce some thinges which are contrary to the worde of God and against the trueth of Iesus as shall appeare by that handeling of this Psalter which followeth If then
only for soules in purgatory They haue a reason for this their assertion but I passe it ouer because that M. Fowler him selfe doth seeme to encline to the iudgement of those his maisters For in the petitions of his Psalter he maketh mention only of such soules as are in purgatory But if there be no purgatory at all then are there no soules in purgatory to be prayed for A vaine petition then it is in this Psalter and a needelesse diligence when M. Fowler sheweth him selfe so diligent in praying for the soules in purgatory Yea and it is more then vaine to abuse the glorious name of Iesu and of his bitter passion to this his vanity of purgatory Nowe lette vs consider whether there be such a purgatorie in which soules doe suffer as they saye the paines of scorching broyling or burninge till they be purged from their sinnes and relieued by the charitable deedes of the liuinge yea or no. Let vs see who they were that did first speake of purgatory and how it passed from them to some of the olde christian wryters which doe make mention thereof but very doubtfully and diuerslie in their wrytinges So shall it appeare vppon what fainte groundes purgatorie is founded First it is graunted that purgatory can not be proued by any place of the holy Scripture It is I say graunted by one Archepapist of this our age and also by an olde writer of good antiquitie But the holy Scripture is the rule whereby our prayers are to be framed and it is the worde of trueth which doth truely teach vs of the true being of thinges So that vnles God in his word did teach vs that there were a purgatory we are not to beleue that there is any And againe vpon that which God doth promise vs in the holy Scripture we must grownd our faith in the prayers which we do make to god For if we wil dewly regarde Gods good will with trust that he will heare our prayers and graunt our requests we must haue both a promise of hearing and a rule warrantinge the rightnes of our requestes in the most holy worde of God without which we can not truely haue any faith or assurance of the hearing of our prayers without this knowledge we can make no true prayer It is no true prayer therefore which those men seeme to make which haue no vnderstanding of Gods wil nor trust in his promises Turkes Iewes and Papistes doe prate in their ignorance and vnbeleefe but that prating is not right praying Now then let vs admitte it as a trueth which is as you haue hearde confessed that there is no holie Scripture no word of God to warrant vs this purgatory then haue we by the worde of God no assurance to assertaine vs that there be any soules in purgatory nor commaundement of God giuen to vs to praye for soules in purgatorie nor promise to beleue that our prayers made for them can do them good If we haue no assurance nor certeinety hereof we can not pray for soules in purgatory Wil you know then from whence this opinion of purgatorie doth come The first and most auncient promoter thereof was so farre as I learne not God but Plato the Philosopher a man which did not truely know god His opinion of purgatorie as Eusebius doth reporte it is the most auncient recorde that I haue red Virgill the Pagan Poette hath spoken also of such a thinge as purgatory is fained to be but from Plato it should seeme to be conueyed to other who accordinge to their fantasie layed the first platforme of a purgatory euen that whereon the Papistes haue builded this their purgatorie Which building by the papistes is not yet so handsomely cowched together but that their owne fathers assembled in the last councell of Trent thought good by waye of correction to giue this admonition to them of their seete that they do not hereafter in their sermons before the common people handle the hard and dark questions touching purgatory and that they shoulde not meddle with such vncerteyne thinges touching purgatory as are thought to be false They do also forbid them to handle those thinges touching purgatory which doe sauor of curiositie or concerne supersticion or sauor of filthy lucre And those fathers as popishe as they were doe yet commaunde them whome they may cōmaund that they let these thinges alone as offences By this forbidding nowe it appeareth that before this time the purgatory Proctors vsed to publishe suche thinges of purgatory and for it as this councell now forbiddeth else why doth it now forbid them And so by the wordes of Papistes them selues we may perceaue that they haue had among them such Proctors for their purgatory as haue handeled it so corruptly that they them selues are ashamed thereof and do forbid the like and yet do these popish fathers in that councell vnderproppe this purgatory by their authoritie still But if they did meane in good earnest to take from their purgatory all such thinges as are vncerteine and false or curious or superstitious and such as serued for filthy gaine or lucre let them I say pare al these thinges from their purgatorie in good earnest and surely they shall leaue to their Pope then such a simple purgatory as is not able to be a sufficient pinfold to impounde a poore pigge But as is sayd they and their fathers will needes maintaine their purgatory for they haue taken in hande the defence thereof and it serueth so well for their purse and purpose that it deserueth their defence They saye that their Churche hathe learned it of the holie Scriptures But I saye naye and some of their owne men and their elders also doe saye naye as is touched before Neither doe they them selues shewe vnto vs any one place of the holie Scriptures in whiche we are taught the same purgatorie on which they doe conclude This nowe is the manner of the catholike church as papistes call their romishe Church in their councelles to conclude canons and articles of the faith without any Scripture They tell vs that they haue it also of the auncient tradition of the fathers hereof the reader shal be informed more hereafter Againe they say that this purgatorie is deliuered to them in holie councelles A man would thinke that these Tridentine Prelates did meane some of the first auncient holy coūcells as that first councell holden at Nice or that at Ephesus or some of the other olde holy councells But there is no mention made in any of them either of this purgatorie or of the soules in it or howe they are to be releued by the doinges of liuinge men Yea if searche be made in the Tomes of the councelles it will be founde true I thinke that the first general councell which did set this purgatory on foote by concluding thereon was that late councell begonne by Pope Eugenius at Ferrara continued and ended at Florence about the yeare of our Lord 1439. So