to witte That the Church is a multitude of people such as is bounde to obey the Pope of Rome seuered from other Nations by certeine Ceremonies which the Popes haue ordeyned fast tyed to the ordinary cōtinued course of Succession of Byshops and to that onely interpretation of Scriptures which the Byshops and Councels doe deliuer And this is the true proportion and full Definitiō of your Church if I be not deceaued But this Definitiō the learned in Logicke will deny to be good sounde where the thyng defined is not of all partes equiualēt with the Definitiō Which rule is not obserued here For to admitte this vnto you that in the true Church of Christ must be Popes Byshops who must be obeyed who also must haue an ordinary outward succession and who may challenge vnto them selues a speciall prerogatiue in the interpretation of the holy Scripture yet is not this by and by true that all Popes Byshops which are entituled by the name of Popes and Byshops which do pretende a continuall succession which do carry the countenaunce of consentes which do challenge a right in the interpretatiō of Scriptures are the true sheapherds of the Lordes flocke And why so forsooth bycause that thyng wāteth which makyng specially for the purpose you haue specially left out namely the truth of sounde doctrine which may be able to treade downe and crushe in peéces errour and hypocrisie That is to say That Byshops do truly and vnfaynedly become the same in the sight of God which in vtter shew they would fayne seéme in the sight of men Agayne that Succession be not of persons onely but a speciall Succession of Fayth vertuous lyfe that the obedience of the people may not proceéde so much of feare of punishment as of harty affection and willyngnesse of mynde that the interpretation of scriptures be not wrested to the maintenaunce of errour and mens sensualitie but be directed and aunswerable to the meanyng of the holy Ghost and the true naturall sense of the Scripture For these be the true markes Osor. whereby a true Church is discernable from a false not the title and name of a Church not the authoritie and Succession of Byshops not the opinion of a multitude besides the truth of Gods word But the very Rule of the word must be kept which will so describe vnto vs a true Church by true markes tokēs boundes and foundations That it be a Congregation dispersed abroad euery where ouer the face of the whole earth vnited agreéyng together in soūd◠doctrine of Fayth and the true worshyppyng of God which beyng sanctified by the holy Ghost and admitted by partaking the Sacramentes do truly beleéue in God through the Sonne of God Iesu Christ accordyng to the doctrine of the Gospell although some be enlightened with more spiritual graces gifts and some with lesse By this standard and Rule let vs measure now the Argumentes of Osorius Luther and Melancthon are fallen away from the Pope of Rome and his Cardinalles Ergo Luther and Melancthon haue rent in sunder the vnitie of the Church The onely Church of Rome hath an ordinary succession from Peter Ergo The onely Church of Rome is the true Church The great part of Christendome doth acknowledge the Church of Rome Ergo The Churche of Rome is the Mother Churche and Queene of all Churches The Churche of God hath a promise that it shall neuer erre Ergo He that doth interprete the Scriptures otherwise then after the meaning of the Church of Rome or that doth not acknowledge him selfe obedient to the Romish Decrees in all thynges is an heretique and doth sequester him selfe from the boundes and communiō of the Church To this aunswere shal be made briefly and logically These be meére fallacyes and deceites of the Equiuocation deriued from a false description of the Church and the succession thereof and from false markes For as touching the names and Tytles as touching the long pedigreés of neuer interrupted course of Succession as touching the consent of the multitude and the promises made by God if the other tagges were tyed to these poyntes and made suteable namely sound doctrine true godlynesse surely it would seéme somewhat to the purpose that Osorius mayntayneth But now whatsoeuer they bragge and vaunt of tytles and other reliques without the especiall coupling and cōioyning of the Euangelicall and Apostolicall doctrine is altogether nought els but smoake and winde nothing auayleable to establish the true vnity of the Church First as concerning the name of the Church we do heare Christ himselfe speaking Many shall come in my name Touching Successiō we heare out of Ierome Not they that sitte in the places of Sainctes c. Touching the multitude Augustine doth teach vs. That the consentes of voyces must be weyed and measured not numbred Touching Gods promise made for perseuerance in the trueth harken what Iohn Baptist speaketh Do not say we haue Abrahā to our Father For God is of power to rayse vppe sonnes to Abraham out of these stoanes If Osorius will argue after this maner why should not these arguments be of as great force The high Priest of the old law in the Iewish Regiment did beare the face and name of the Church with full allowaunce and cōmon consent of all the multitude yea euen in the tyme of Esay Ieremy Amos Elias and Christ. The same also did conuey theyr Succession from the priesthood of Aaron And did vouch also theyr authority seat lawe and the promise agaynst Ieremy agaynst the Prophettes and agaynst Christ. The Law say they shall not perish from the Priestes Ergo Those high priestes did enioy a true Church nor coulde possibly erre at any tyme. But if Osorius shall thinke with him selfe that these Argumentes were not forcible enough in the olde Church why should they be more effectuall in the new Churche In the olde lawe it was lawfull to examine the very prophettes themselues if they spake the word of the Lord yea certayne infallible tokens were set downe whereby they might be discerned In like maner euen in the new testament we are commaunded to proue the Spirites if obey be of God being forewarned by the spirite of God that we beleue not euery spirite And what kinde of people then be these Popes and Cardinals of Rome which of a more then Imperious Lordlynesse doe commaund and require all men to receaue and reuerence their Satutes Ordinaunces Ceremonies opinions and all theyr wordes and deédes ingenerall without exception and contradictiō vpon greéuous paynes and Penalties that shall ensue agaynst him whosoeuer dare presume to make a question of the right of their authoritye or to make any doubt of any theyr deuises and imaginations And so geuing the slippe to all those he commeth downe againe to our Church with a maruailous blaff of windy words but with no reason at all imagining to proue
doth lye in all his Bookes Hereof therefore canne not be denyed but that he writeth Bookes Or els how could he lye in his bookes if he wrote no bookes at all And yet neither did Luther in that Article affirme symply that the righteous man doth sinne in euery good worke But annexing thereunto an exception conditionall he doth qualifye the sharpenesse of the proposition expounding himselfe with the testimonies of Gregory and Augustine on this wise If God proceed in his iudgement sayth he straightly without all consideration of mercy Meaning hereby not that God should take good workes from righteous men but should despoyle works of that perfection which of it selfe were able to counteruayle the cleare iudgement of God so that the perfection of our righteousnes consist not now in doing well but in acknoledgement of our owne Imperfection and humble confessing the same For this do we heare Augustine speake Vertue sayth he wherewith man is now endued is so farre forth called perfect as the true and humble acknowledgement of mans owne imperfection ioyned with an vnfayned confession of the same doth make it to be accepted for perfect Now what poyson lurketh here I beseéch you worshippfull Syr Unlesse perhappes you thinke thus that because God doth not commaund impossibilities for this cause they that be regenerated may in this life accomplish the law of God fully and absolutely and that your selfe be of the number of them which in this life abcomplish all righteousnes throughly If you thinke thus of your selfe what better aūswere shal I make you then the same which Constantine the great did on a time nippingly to Acesius a Nouatian who denyed that such as were fallen could rise agayne by repentaunce Set vppe your Ladders quoth he and clymbe you vppe to heauen alone Acesius Furthermore where you are wont to obiect in this place impossibilitie of performing the law surely this doth not so much empaire Luthers assertion nor helpe your presumptuousnes sithence Augustine doth aunswere you sufficiently in Luthers behalfe All the cōmaūdemēts of God saith he are thē reputed to haue bene performed when whatsoeuer is left vndone is pardoned And in his booke de perfectione iustitiae debating this question whether the commaundements of God were possible to be kept he doth deny that they be possible to be kept But he affirmeth that neither in this life they be possible to be kept nor to keep them commeth of nature but of the heauenly grace But hereof hath sufficiently bene spoken already before so that it shall not beé needfull to do the thing that is done already It remayneth next now that we enter into the discourse of the holy ceremonyes decreés and ordinaunces of the Church because he complayneth for the suppressing of these also wherein what iust cause he hath to complayne shall hereby apeare If we consider duly and aright the auncient ordinaunces and determinations of the primitiue Church Amongest which auncient ordinaūces of the Church I suppose this was establshed That no man should be abridged from freédome to marry and from eating all kinde of meates fish or flesh as euery man foūd himselfe best disposed It was an auncient ordinaunce also that aswell the lay people as priestes without exception should communicate vnder both kindes the bread and the wine And that nothing should be redde in the Churches besides the scriptures Moreouer that the Scriptures should be read openly to all persons generally in their mother toūg that euery man myght vnderstād it The auncient ordinaūces of the church did neuer admit any more sacramentes then two nor widdowes vnder threéscore yeéres old nor vouchsafed any that were but newly entred into the profession to beare any rule in the congregation nor any els but such as were knowne both godly and prayseworthy aswell for the soundnesse of theyr doctrine as for the continuall course of their liues It was an especiall prouiso of the auntient discipline that no one person should haue any more Cures the◠one nor should receiue out of any Church any greater contribution then should seéme sufficient for necessaryes onely and not to mayntayne prodigality and lust It was also an auncient custome amongst the elders that the newly professed should be applied to reading of lessones and singinge onely And the Priestes in the meane time should apply preaching of the word Amongest other aūciēt ordinaūces that Canon of the counsell of Nyce seémeth worthy to be placed here which prouided that the ouersight of all other churches should beé committed to threé or foure patriarches equally in such wise as that no preheminence of superiority should be amongst them but all to be equall in dignity Adde vnto this the generall discipline of the church which did not hang vpon one mans sleéue onely but was exercised indifferently in all places agaynst all notorions offences without respect of persons Now therefore where Osorius complayneth that the ordinaunces of the auntient and primitiue Church are taken away abolished herein he doth not amisse So do many godly personages more beside Osorius complayne very bitterly of the same But in the meane space I do maruaile much what monstruous deuise this Byshoppe coyneth agaynst vs who neither liketh with the abolishing of the auncient customes of the primitiue Church nor can in any respect disgest those men which do endeuour and desire onely to haue a generall reformation For to saye the trueth whereunto tendeth all the endeuour of those men whome Osorius here wringeth vpon so sharpely but that those auntient decreés and ordinaunces wherewith the Church of Christ was endued at the first might recouer agayne theyr former dignity from which they haue bene lamentably reiected If they could bring this to passe by any meanes nothing coulde please them better But if their harty desires attayne not wished Successe no men are more to be blamed for it Osorius then you your selues who vnder a deceauable and craftie vysor of antiquity practize earnestly and busily alwayes that no Monumēt of auncient antiquitie may remaine but haue forged vs a certeine new face of an vpstart Church with certeine straunge and newfangled Decreés and Decretalles which the true and auncient antiquitie if were alyue agayne would neuer acknowledge otherwise then as misbegotten Bastardes But to proceéde this Rhetoricall amplificatiō waxeth more hotte yet in more choler Moreouer neither contēted sayth he with the lamentable desolatiō of these thynges ye haue dispoyled mā of all freedome of will and haue bounde fast with a certeine fatall and vnauoydable Necessitie all the actoins and imaginations of men be they good and godly or be the perillous and pernitious cōtrary to Nature Reason and the law of God c. Touchyng the freédome of mans will and that fatall necessitie as Osorius tearmeth it bycause aunswere sufficient is made already before It shall be neédelesse to protract the Reader with a new repetition of matters spoken already To be brief and
weaken the Maiestie of the Romane Empire but ransacked and rent in peéces the whole world almost Euen so the Romishe Byshops in the first swathling cloutes of the first primitiue time of the church were very godly and sounde and to vse the wordes of the scripture did many tymes withstand the enemies of the Gospell euen with losse of lyfe But after they had erected this Lordly superioritie of the Papane Monarchy there was of godlynes and integritie of lyfe no dramme at all but of intollerable ambition vnbridled licentiousnes whole swarmes did appeare And yet I speake but a litle It is not therefore requisite to hang all the keyes vnder one maus gyrdle alwayes nor yet scarse good pollicie For if it were so there might be some daūger therein lest the frowardnesse of one person might ouerthrowe the whole estate of Christianitie There is farre lesse ieoperdy where seuerall Prouinces are ruled by their seuerall Pastours for proofe wherof if it be not sufficient to haue alledged reason experience I will recite vnto you out of the Register of Romish Byshops for witnes Gregorie the first Who in this matter vttereth the same reason in the same wordes And for playnesse of the matter I will set them downe as hee hath spoken them whiche are these If we haue but one onely head the fall of that head is the fall of the whole Churche it any mā presume to take vpon him this name of vniuersall Byshop the whole Church falleth downe from her estate when he falleth which is called vniuersall But farre may this name of blasphemie be from all Christian myndes whereby the honour of all Priests is diminished in part whiles this arrogaunt singularitie is presumed vpon c. May any thyng be sayd more playnly or plentyfully can any thyng be pronounced more vehemently or effectually agaynst this extraordinary and presumptuous Lordlynes of Papacie Neither did Gregorie otherwise then he spake For when this Satanicall name of vniuersall Byshop was offred vnto him by the Coūcell of Calcedon hee refused it with great detestation and would by no meanes be acquainted therewith although you deny the same most shamelesly as shal be declared afterwardes But here you obtrude agaynst vs the misticall Sonet of Salomon Wherein he commaundeth his spouse to catch the Foxes destroying the vynes which be as you interpret it heretiques peruertyng the Churche And this you affirme cā by none other meane be brought to passe except some one be set in authoritie that may roote vp the mores of hereticall contagion before they be ripe First of all Osorius it is hard to establish a firme doctrine by an Allegorie Moreouer the denomination of Foxes doth no more resemble heretiques then any other wicked persons But to graunt this vnto you in some respect by what argument do ye proue that heretiques can by no meanes els be apprehended vnlesse your singular Monarchy be admitted The Emperour Phocas did first of all erect this Papal Empire in Boniface the iij. What then Had not Peter long before Foxes in chase and the other Apostles likewise Call to your remembraunce Ananias Saphira and Elymas the sorcerour forget not other pestilent examples like vnto the same and you will be better aduised Proceéde a degreé lower to those graue Fathers the first Byshops of the Romish Church Clemēs Anacletus Marcellus many others Could the holy Martyrs haue sealed our Religion with their bloud vnlesse they had first daunted the pride of Tyrauntes and heretiques with the sword of the Scriptures But here paraduenture you will Triumph bycause I make so honorable mention of the Romish Seé I wis it is neédelesse For I doe here commend Byshops not Popes Martyrs not Monarches And yet in truth I haue no quarell with the Romishe Seé or the Byshop therof nor euer had It is that vsurped authoritie that exalteth it selfe aboue all earthly power which I do challenge and will proclaime open warre agaynst whiles breath is in my body except I finde a stronger Goliath then you are hetherto But we will returne to your Foxes whereof I haue noted the ouerthrow of sondry most subtill and craftie before the Papacie This our later age praysed be God doth punish and vtterly suppresse whole sects of heresies although the same doth not acknowledge your Papane principalitie I dare be bold to vouch England and I conceaue no lesse frendly of other common weales agaynst the which you can not forge any probable reason to the contrary or why it should not be so For if there were no vniuersall Monarche of the Churche sittyng in that stately chayre at Rome ought that be any estoppell to the Byshops of England Scotland Poland or Germany yea of Spayne or Portingall or any other dominion or common weale but that they may apprehend hereticques yea and punish them Haue they no Magistrates do they lacke lawes are they voyde of sense and vnderstanding Put on your spectacles Osorius and behold all Christian Nations and marke wel the maners of the people Are they not sufficiently prouided for their common safetie and tranquilitie by their owne peculiar lawes do not Princes gouerne their seuerall territories in orderly pollicie may they administer all other matters well and can not confute the absurdities of heresies without this Tyrannous Ierarchy of Rome Can not we touch an heretique or can not other Regions do the like which are in the furthermost part of the world seuered from the costes of Italy except they gad to Rome for a Pelting Oracle do you iustifie this Osorius is this the wisedome of an old man are you so altogether voyde of learnyng experience and discretion also Yea rather before any Pope was at all heretiques were layd handes vpon Euen now also rigour of law is executed agaynst them Neither can any Foxe be foside so crafty as your reasons alluded vnto thē are vtterly friuolous vnskillfull But ye skippe from Salomon to Paule and of him you write in this maner Therfore Paule in his second Epistle to the Thessaloniās denyeth that it may come to passe that Antichrist shall come before there be a departyng from the fayth First of all this is somewhat straunge in you that you note the place And surely in very good tyme haue ye done it for euen here your vnshamefast imprudencie is taken tardy Paule pronounceth in that place that our Lord Iesu Christ shall not come before a departyng be of the fayth first but you for our Lord and Sauiour Christ haue placed Antichrist Paules wordes are these Let no man deceaue you by any meanes for the Lord shall not come except there come a departyng first and that sonne of perdition be reuealed You are caught Osorius and so entangled in this snatch that ye can not escape Are you not ashamed to depraue Paules sentence so blasphemously can you with so execrable impietie and horrible ignoraunce place Antichrist in steéde of Christ and the sonne
that huge lumpe of idle wordes scattered abroad by you euery where without reason or measure more then the necessitie of the cause will require After that you haue waded in your accustomed grosse rayling agaynst the lyfe of our preacheâ—s imputyng vnto them all maner of wickednesse where with your Sinagogue swarmeth most euidently you recite at the last certeine of my wordes vouched out of Augustine which be as followeth Augustine doth greuously coÌ„playne that in his tyme such a rabble of beggerly ceremonies did ouerwhelme the Churche of Christians that the estate of Iewes was much more tollerable Osorius affirmeth that I did neuer read this sentence in Augustine This is well I will cite Augustine his owne wordes which are these For although it can not bee founde how they are agaynst the fayth yet doe they ouerwhelme Religion it selfe which the mercy of God willed to be freély exercised vnder a very fewe most euident Sacramentes with seruile burdens That the estate of the Iewes is much more tollerable who though knew not the tyme of libertie were subiect onely to the ordinaunces of the law and not to mens constitutions What say you haue I not cited Augustine truly doth he not speake the same and in the selfe same wordes playnly that I speake doth hee not render a reason also why the state of the Iewes was more tollerable in ceremonies then ours which beyng coÌ„fessed is not your ignoraunce linked with singular vnshamefastnes manifestly conuinced deny it if you can may rather bycause you can not yeld to the truth in the open light For manifest lyers are not to be winked at though they bee Byshops In lyke maner you be ouerseéne in that godly Father Ierome who requiryng all persons to searche the Scriptures and to learne them you would notwithstandyng coyne vs out of the same Ierome a contrary doctrine Bycuase he wrate vnto Paulinus that certeine persons hauing no vnderstandying nor being commendable in coÌ„uersation of lyfe did handle the Scriptures to licenciously In whiche speach of yours what would you haue vnderstoode els but that certeine wicked persons doe abuse the benefite of the Scriptures wherof no wise maÌ„ doth doubt You are ouerseéne therfore Ierome that will so foolishly and so wyde from the matter obiect Ierome agaynst hym selfe If you seéke to be further satisfied herein peruse Chrisostome who hath written of the same matter so much and so plentyfully as nothyng can bee more copious and more manifest I praysed Basile and besides him also those later Monckes which obserued Basiles rules as men that suffred lest losse Osorius denyeth it and affirmeth that we doe not contend with men but with chastitie it selfe What say you dotterell how happeneth that you rehearse the name of chastitie whereof I made no mention at all And with what face do you make our Nation guiltie of monstruous and barbarous crueltie as though it employed her whole endeuour to the rootyng out of chastitie from out our coastes whereas that kynde of sauagenes can not be seéne amongest the Turkes You proue it by the example of certeine Charterhouse Monckes forsooth whiche were worthely executed for hygh treasoÌ„ about xxx yeares past If those men say you would haue yelded to the wicked decrees of mariage then should they haue bene acquited of all other punishment As though the estate of Wedlocke were in any Realme accoumpted a punishment or as though we did constrayne Monckes to marry Wiues agaynst their willes or as though this most impudent father and shamelesse Byshop caÌ„vtter any thing in word or deéde sensibly When as he bealcheth out such foolish and filthy speaches agaynst our common weale beyng so voyde of all credite and truth as hauing no droppe of any probabilitie at all But let vs heare what a worthy conclusion this deépe wise man hath brought for his Lurdeines those mockemonckes But admit sayth hee that the greater part of them were full of all filthynes was it therfore forth with necessarie to suppresse the whole order First of all you doe notably defend your order which you confesse was full of all vice Then we deny that we subuerted any order but that those disorderous runneagates were reduced to the commoÌ„ societie of subiectes their own commoditie by meanes of our wholesome Statutes and Lawes In deéde traytours were executed accordyng to their desert as belonged to equitie The rest we remoued from their stinckyng Smynestyes defiled with all lazynes and fithynes deliuered whole and Iustie to publicke labour and exercise to prouide so for their liuyng accordyng to brotherly charitie But in the meane space say you they forsooke their orders of Dominicke and Benedicte Barnarde and Frauncisce of whom Portingall hath many perfect professours Let Portingall reteine such Ioselles a Gods name We hold our selues contented with that heauenly Oracle whiche was heard from heauen Thou art my welbeloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Him doe we attende vpon we harken vnto his Prophetes and Apostles and withall do performe our profession in Baptisme as farre forth as the frayltie of mans nature will permit other teachers other rules other orders we neither esteéme nor admit So do we also feéle and throughly know your superstitious vanitie herein You do inueigh bytterly agaynst me bycause I do compare our later Deuines in all maner of commeÌ„dation to the auncient fathers and herein you turmoyle your selfe wonderfully You shoote at randone my Lord. I do not make comparison betwixt them nor euer thought to compare them together and therefore you striue here in vayne and your whole Turkish eloquence is not worthe a straw My meanyng was to declare that the auncient Fathers did agreé with out Deuines And for examples sake I noted specially some common places reseruyng the rest for more conuenient place bycause all can not be expounded at once Ouerthrow this my course if you can but abuse not your tyme nor myne nor the Readers with such friuolous lyes nor seéme to be ouer eloquent where you haue no aduersary You are highly offended bycause I prayse Luther Let not this couÌ„ber you I will prayse him for a very prayse worthy man so will all the posteritie also and his studious trauaile in the enlargyng of the Gospell will remaine to that worldes end to his euerlastyng renowme though you and such as you are chaufe and fume neuer so much agaynst him And yet I thinke there be few like vnto you besides that durty pigge of Angrence your sweéte cabbemnate resemblyng you as it seémeth in nature and maners nearest But as to that you accuse Luther as authour of the vprores in Germany herein you reporte a manifest vntruth for no man did more earnestly defend all obedience due to the Magistrates and higher powers then Luther Whereas you adde hereunto the tumultes in Sueuya You do erre therein more then childishly where as the Switzers are farre vnlike vnto him in nature in situatioÌ„ in maners and
and to know how you ought to haue behaued your selfe wheÌ„ you were there what doctrine you ought haue published in so great an Auditorie what personage ye doe represent in your countrey not the person of a common Ruffian I suppose but of a Byshop mary now you haue played so the part of a very rascall vnder the visor of a Byshop pardon me I pray you speakyng the truth that no common barrettor nor Rogish Ruffian could vomitte out more shamelesse scurrilitie S. Paule doth so little esteéme the credite of any other Gospell That hee holdeth him no better then accursed yea though an Aungell from heauen doe bryng a contrary one to this same And shall we beare with this collouerthwarte Osorius like a vice in a play with a new founde chauÌ„gelyng to make myngle mangle with the sacred worde of the Lord and with such vnsauorie subtelties to peruert the pure and vndefiled sinceritie of the Gospell of grace and like a wild Boare to moyle vp by the rootes the florishyng and most plentyfull Uynearde of our blessed felicitie planted by the Lord him selfe If that blynd bussardly Owle eyes of your mynde Osorius be as yet wrapped in so darkened a cloude that this cleare light of the gracious mercy of God shynyng from aboue can not pearce into those dull dazeled senses to seé the manifest light of the truth it should yet haue bene much more seémely for you to haue comforted them whom the holy Ghost had enabled with better grace to teache the truth so simply to haue yelded to the same Truely it behoued you to haue quallified your rage and vsed more modesty at the least towardes them that did dissence from you And if your selfe were not willyng to pursue the true pathe to heauen ye should not yet haue foreclosed the entrye to others that were willyng to enter in And knowyng your owne disabilitie in teachyng ye should yet more shamefastly haue bewrayed your vnskilfulnes and made some end once at the leÌ„gth or at the least reteyned some reasonable order from that rascallyke raylyng and immeasurable insolencie and not so wilfully haue rushed into such Tragicall exclamations before you had bene better acquainted with the cause But as now you tosse and turmoyle your selfe in these questions as though ye were of some other profession and a meére straunger to the matter wherein you scarcely sauour any thyng at all surely vnderstand so little so coldly and senselesly as no man more brutishly and with all vse your selfe therein so disorderly and outragiously as the very furies of Hell could not more horribly You must pardon me Osorius if I spake playnly franckly as I thinke wherein I will not speake as moued of malice or of any melancholicke affectioÌ„ agaynst your person whom I wish well vnto truly and beseéke God hartely to graunt a more sound IudgemeÌ„t But I feare me Osorius least within this Osorius dwelleth some other guest besides Osorius hee not all the best perhappes whatsoeuer he be that doth continually teaze and pricke foreward those busie braynes of yours to poysoned and pestiferous deuises of whom I wish you to be well assured Osorius if you loue your soules sauetie But if wholesome CouÌ„sell of a wellwiller shall litle preuayle with you I would aduertize the tender vnskilfull youth of the posterite in the bowels of Iesus Christ that they take diligent beédefulnesse to the readyng of Osorius his bookes left beyng allured with sweéte poysoned bayte as with Mermaydes melody do vse the wordes of S. Ierome they bee hooked vnwares and carryed away into delusions and errours I know how plausible and easie a matter it is to the Iudgement of the flesh learnedly and plentyfully to preach of the payse and commeÌ„dation of vertue or righteousnesse of the rules and preceptes of mans lyfe of Ciuill gouernement of polliticque Statutes and ordinaunces and of the excellencie of lawes And there happeneth not for the more part in any other Theame a more swifter readynesse of speach a more sensible sharpenesse of deuise or more vsuall admiration of worldlynges Wherein many notable Rhetoricians most subtill Philosophers heretofore haue thought best to employ their endeuours and whole force for their eloquence not without great commendation of witte and singular prayse of ingenious inuention whole laudable trauaile therein I ought and can not chuse but accompt prayseworthy as men that were desirous to emparte to the posteritie most worthy moâ—umentes atchieued through excellencie of learnyng and nymblenesse of capacitie and seuere pursuyng of vertue and vertuous discipline wherewith they were wouderfully beautified But I returne to Osorius whose diligence also in Imitation I doe commende for that he hath made his choyse of such especially after whom he may direct his Imitation But whereas he doth nothyng els but affect their Heathenishenesse I doe not onely not prayse him but vtterly disallow and refuse his order of study herein These men hauyng none other so commendable an exercize wherein they might bestow their tyme as by all meanes possible to beautifie the giftes and ornamentes of nature and to allure men thereby to honest and seémely Ciuilitie did worthely deserue the prayse of that whiche they so earnestly pursued And therfore M. Tullius Cicero hath of right obteyned the garland of an honest Citizen and learned Philosopher who bendyng all the powers of his excellent vnderstandyng in blazyng the dueties and offices of mens lyfe and defence of vertue agaynst the beastly and swynish pleasures of Epicure esteémed that matter worthy his study and trauaile Wherein he bestowed such diligence and actiuitie of witte as that him selfe did neuer better in any other Theame nor any man els could haue handled the same more aboundauntly And euen the same dyd he as then accordyng to the necessitie of the present tyme with singular learnyng for as yet besides the orderly course of naturall doctrine were not any other preceptes of purer discipline extaunt amongest those Nations wherein the fine and nymble wittes might exercize them selues And therefore it was no maruell if hee beyng a man endued with wonderfull instinct of nature did embrace that thyng as the chiefest felicitie worthy whereupon he might discourse and whiche he sawe to be most notable and had in greatest prize amongest all the workes of Nature neither could rayse his mynde beyonde the limites of Nature nor stretche out the force of his capicitie further then to that outward righteousnesse obteyned by speciall pursuite of vertue But now as the state of the tyme is altered from that which was then so haue we now receaued an other Schoolemaister froÌ„ heauen whose Maiestie as surmounteth in glory all worldly state condition so his doctrine being not straighted within the boundes of Nature doth disclose vnto vs thynges farre passing the reach of all Nature whose Scholer you ought to haue bene Osorius especially sithence ye be aduauÌ„ced to so high dignitie in the Church for we haue receaued now not
vp agaynst Luther a neast of Dominicke hornettes caused his propositions and Assertion of Pardones to be openly burned framed Articles agaynst the man exclamed with open mouth agaynst him that he ought to be burnt like an hereticke And bycause the Popes power should not be destitute of frendes in a matter of so great importaunce immediately started vp one Prierias the Prouost of the Friers who like a Lordlike fellow challengeth Luther into the field After them stept forth a thyrd of the same crew Iames Hochstratus who espyeng a fit tyme to purchase credite and fame would ieopard a ioynte amongest them and as though there wanted furniture sufficient enough to mainteyne the challenge thrust more coales into the fire and teazed vp the Uniuersities of Paris Coleyne and Louaine agaynst poore Luther to condemne him Luther beyng thus vexed through the madd outrage of these Friers was driuen to this issue that of necessitie he must prosecute his propositions with a more large and ample discourse so sent the same to Leo then Pope of Rome with Letters emportyng his humble submission most humbly beseéchyng that he would not geue credite to the slaunderous reportes of his aduersaries alledgyng for his excuse that he published his propositions touchyng Pardons not of any euill will or malice towards his grace but onely by way of disputatiō wherof he hath now treated more at large and therfore would most humbly beseéch him to vouchsaue benyngly to read and accept it As touchyng his owne person he was so affected towardes that Seé that he would willingly submit to the authoritie therof not onely his writings but his sauetie and life also withall in all humilitie and lowlynesse and whatsoeuer his Maiestie should determine thereupon he would no lesse reuerently esteéme of then as a decreé of the chief Uicare of Christ vnto whom he did acknowledge all obedience due in earth next vnder Christ. In this so humble lowly submission of this prostrate person in so weightie a matter and in so wholesome counsell what this Uicare of Christ did and how this heyre and Successour of S. Peter behaued him selfe I doe make no great inquiry after This one thyng I aske and demaunde of you Osorius that you would vouchsafe to aunswere me what thinke you would Christ him selfe or Peter haue done in this case First would not Christ him selfe haue throwen to the grounde those money tables and Bowthes of Choppers and Chaungers and scourged those vagaraunt regrators cruelly byeng and sellyng in the Temple of god with whippes of knotted cordes would he euer haue suffered his Church which was appointed for Prayer and Preachyng to be tourned into a denne of Theéues a Bowthe of brothells and market of auarice what would Peter haue done whose successours these Byshops challenge them selues to be who on a tyme not keépyng the right course of the Gospell and therfore reproued of Paule yelded so humbly would he haue refused the offered obediēce of so humble a submission or would he not haue vouchsaued it very gently or els would he not haue thanked the partie for so gentle a remembraunce and frendly counsell But now what this most humble seruaunt of the seruaūts of God did who vpō earth representeth vnto vs the person of Christ and the Maiesticall chayre of Peter how insolently and outragiously he dealt in this matter what Tragedies he raysed what thunderboltes and wildefire he threw out of his bloudy turrettes agaynst Luthers life is neédelesse to make any mention in this place sithence it is faythfully set downe in Histories and all men remember it well enough Euen such were the begynnynges of this troublesome tempest which ganne spread it selfe abroad in euery coast Whereby you may easily vnderstand I suppose that Luther thought vpō nothyng lesse at the first thē to heare of any innouatiō or alteratiō of customes or ceremonies but enduced partly through the necessitie of the matter partly by the prouocation of some peéuishe waywardes did onely set downe a few propositions wherein he gaue no attempt agaynst the state of the Romishe Seé neither did as yet vtterly abandone all Pardons Bulles but required onely a moderation to be vsed in them And it was not to be doughted but if the vnsatiable greédynesse or the vnspeakeable crueltie of the aduersaries could haue restrayned it selfe within the boundes and limittes of modestie and measure Luther would haue holden his peace As appeareth by his Letters directed both to the Bishop of Rome and to Cardinall Caietane signifieng vnto them his vnfayned scilēce therein so that his aduersaries mouthes might be stopped also which request was not onely reasonable but agreable also to pietie in men of their profession especially for as much as Luthers Assertions conteyned nothyng preiudiciall to the Byshop of Rome and the matter had not as yet gone so farre forth but might haue bene easily husht vp if at least they could not otherwise finde in their hartes to yeld to the manifest truth But the Pontificall courage of the Byshop would not so be daunted neither could the vnmeasurable mawe of his greédy Cormorauntes be so easily satisfied and at the last the old Prouerbe Gold is good chaffer howsoeuer it come bare the Bell away After this hūble maner therfore assoone as Luther had propoūded the sayd question Prierias gaue the first onset agaynst him after him preste in place diuers Coronelles and Captaines of that band Thē rusht in whole routes of Monckes and Friers with their hoeboobe to the people Out flewe Articles Restraintes curses with booke bell and candell countermandes finally the Byshops of Rome his thunderboltes with a terrible Bull linkte thereunto In this perplexitie here would I fayne learne of Osorius if he would vouchsafe to tell me what Luther should do he will say Luther should not haue entermedled in the cause at all But what man of any reasonable Iudgemēt could or ought to endure so horrible impiette But whē he saw he could not preuayle he should haue forsaken his tackle But by this meanes he must haue put his conscience in daūger of drownyng Then yet at the least he should haue behaued him selfe in the matter somewhat more modestly Who could haue expressed more humblenes and modestie He should haue submitted him selfe and his cause to the tribunall seat of the Pope And herein what part of duetie left he vndone if humble submission could haue auayled any thyng at all The truth wherof to the end may be more apparaūt vnto you and to the Reader also harken I pray you to the secōd Letters of Luther written to the Pope as him selfe endited them Euerlasting peace be vnto you most holy Father Necessitie forceth me agayne beyng a poore outcast of men and an abiect of the earth to presume with a word or two to your holynes and the whole Maiestie May it please your holynesse therfore mercyfully to encline your Fatherly eares as the eares of Christes very Uicare
the Lord and there let the Church be sought out Now what the experience of Osorius doth seé let him selfe looke thereto Sure I am that Cyprian seémeth to haue experimented an other kynde of experimeÌ„t where he writeth Hereupon grow all maner of Scismes sayth he bycause the head is not sought for meÌ„ come not to the wellspring it selfe neither are the ordinaunces and rules of the heauenly Maister kept nor obserued Wherein I thinke you seé matter sufficieÌ„t enough by how much the testimony of this Martyr doth differre from you whereas you do racke all thynges to humaine authoritie onely he calleth all men backe to the very founteines of the Scriptures rather And yet doe I not deny but that humaine authoritie doth many tymes auayle very much to bridle the vnruly raungyng of sectes if Osorius would limitte this authoritie humaine within certeine measurable boundes But he raketh all thynges now to the authoritie of the Romishe Seé onely as though there were none other authoritie elles that might stay sectes and Schismes besides this Romishe Pope onely Which Assumption is altogether vntrue And therefore to make the same appeare more euidently Let vs note the wonderfull Logicke of Osorius somewhat more aduisedly The Authoritie of the Romishe See beyng taken away sayth he will be an occasion that heresies will grow in vse How shall this be knowen bycause Osorius doth seé it for such are the strongest pyllers of Osorius buildyng for the more part Thus sayth Osorius Thus is well knowen to the world who doth not see this Experience teacheth all men this But what if some meéry conceipted Carneades of the Academickes schoole will deny your bare Affirmatiues to your teéth what if he will geue no credite to your opinions no nor yet to your wapper eyes that are bleared dimme with raÌ„cour malice as it is a kynde of Philosophers you know well enough very hard laced scarse applyable to credite any maner of bare Affirmatiues Nay rather what if some other hauyng bene enured to contrary experieÌ„ce will contend with you on this wise say That he doth seé with his eyes that this Romish Seé wherof you speake is the chief Metropolitane of all sectes and heresies what shall become of this your notable defeÌ„ce The thyngs which are seene with the eyes say you whiche are knowen which are notorious in all mens mouthes which experieÌ„ce witnessing also doth ratifie to be true which are sensibly felt with eares and eyes to call these thynges in question whether they be true or no is meare ignoraunce but to deny them is a point of most shamelesse impudency Not so Osorius we do not deny the thynges that men do seé with their eyes But the thyngs that you do Assume falsely for thinges certeine concludyng false and slaunderous cauilles for meére truth those thynges we do constantly deny to be true not bycause we trust not mens senses which be of souÌ„de IudgemeÌ„t but bycause we geue to credite no Osorius lyeng But goe to Let vs moue forewardes a litle that we may seé the thyng at the length that this sharpe sighted Lynx doth so easily seé Forsooth he doth see sayth he that noysome sectes and troublesome controuersies would forthwith raunge in the Churche if the authoritie of the Romishe see should be cleane put downe I beleéue it in deéde But with what eyes doth he seé this with that left eye I thinke which is couered with a pynne and webbe of desire to slaunder But if he would vouchsafe to open agayne that right eye I would not dought but that experience wherof he speaketh would teach him a new lesson For if this Romish authoritie were vtterly abolished he shall by experience proue that this will forthwith ensue which many of vs through the inestimable benefite of God haue proued to be most true in all places namely that common weales shall recouer their auÌ„cient priuiledges consciences shall possesse their wonted freédome men shall be restored to the sauetie of their lyues all Christendome shall enioy peace and tranquilitie he shall seé horrible fiers quenched whole pyles of Fagottes and fier coÌ„sumyng â— bodyes of Christians to Ashes to be extinguished stockes to be set wyde open imprisonmentes rackynges recantations and Fagottes to be shaken from mens shoulders he shall seé the lyues and goodes of many thousands to be saued out of the â—awes of death and froÌ„ the bloudy bootchers knife he shall seé pilladge polladge confiscations of goodes Popish exaction deceiptfull buyng and sellyng of Pardons fayres and gaynefull marketts of dispensations taxes of Citizens spoylinges of the CoÌ„mons tenthes first fruites of benefices yearely contributions of Byshops great impositions of Monasteries payementes of pentions for Palles for mysters for ringes for liberties for exemptions Finally for whores and concubines to be diminished and vtterly abolished he shall seé their drousie superstitions and ceremonies and their triflyng traditioÌ„s geue place to the Orient bright Sunne shynne of the truth Temples cleansed agayne from filthy Idolatry Kynges to become Kynges and Lordes of their own and once agayne at the last to beare their sword theÌ„ selues which before bare nothyng but bare titles and scarse titles onely he shall seé Citizens and Subiectes deliuered from straunge Tyranny and subiect to their lawfull authoritie â—o them onely to yeld obedience vnto whom they ought to doe Finally he shall seé coÌ„moÌ„ weales begyn to take breath agayne after a certeine sort now at the length and the hartes of the faythfull to rayse them selues vp at the ioyfull countenaunce of their auncient sauetie and to geue most humble thankes to almightie God for their most happy peace and deliueraunce Certes Osorius if the chaunges and chaunces of thynges which men seé with their eyes feéle by practize and dayly experience may without checke be open to the viewe of the worlde you should playnly discerne and seé all those thynges if you were here in England and not in England onely but in Germany in Denmarke Sweuland Scotland Polande and the more part of FrauÌ„ce in SwitzerlaÌ„d finally throughout all incorporatioÌ„s and freé Citties this authoritie vtterly abolished Goe to And where now are those sectes Schismaticall dissentions which you do obiect agaynst vs If you know not this to be true Osorius or if happely you be ashamed to confesse the thynges that you know I will confesse the same for you and will speake the same as frankely as truely If I shall say that euen with you in the very Court of Rome in your Churches in your Monasteries Colledges Rules and Orders of Friers briefly wheresoeuer that shauelyng marke of the Romish Prelate is emprinted or wheresoeuer that authoritie is of most force that there are whole swarmes and sectes most outragiously raungyng I feare nothyng lesse least that my wordes may seéme to emporte more then the truth Nay rather I am sure I haue yet spoken very litle I should haue spoken in this maner
marke of Circumcision haue glorified your Church carrying the marke of the Beast vpon your crownes that Barbour of Horace whatsoeuer he be will serue for your turne much more fittly Upon which wordes of the Poet you proceéde forewarde But by what meanes doe you know me so well Who did euertell you say you that I haue not bestowed longer tyme vpon the Readyng of holy Scriptures then vpon Cicero Demosthenes Aristotle and Plato Truly if you perfourme in deéde Osorius as your wordes do emporte you are much to be commended But your bookes declare otherwise Howbeit we do nothyng mistrust but that you are busily exercized in readyng the Scriptures as your function and dignitie requireth nor did Haddon obrayde you with any such matter as that you did litle or nothyng at all apply the perusing and conference of Scriptures and so also did he meane nothyng lesse then to forbidd you beyng a Byshop as you say and a Priest from the study and practize of Gods holy Testament Wherein you doe vnhonestlye slaunder him and belye him without cause And therefore I cann not seé to what end these wordes of yours which you inferre hereupon and wherewith you seéme to fight with your owne shadow as it were do preuaile on this wise Is it lawfull for you to geue full liberty to wemen to Porters and Carters to tattle and clatter without Iudgement of matters of Diuinitie and will you presume to prohibite me I do not say a Byshop I do not say a Priest finally I do not say a mā many yeares exercised in the most sacred Scriptures furnished with no small encrease of knowledge but as you doe affirme a man of vnderstandyng and wisedome that I may not medle with this most holy learnyng Abate somewhat of your courage good my Lord Byshop I pray you if you can And lett vs reason together vpon some true allegations Tell vs a good fellowshypp where in what place when and at what tyme in whose presence with what phrase of wordes did Haddon euer forbidd you the study of heauenly Philosophy in speach or in thought If you can not Iustifie agaynst him by any meanes to what purpose then is all this so gorgeous and glorious floorish of wordes about the Mooneshine in the water But this braue Marchaunt would neédes blaze out his bracelettes and Iewells lately transported vnto him from out the Calecutes and therefore on this maner ietteth forth this Buskine Portingall Moreouer by what law by what authoritye by what power may it be lawfull for you being a Cyuilian to pearch so presumptuously to handle Gods booke Renouncing the proctorshipp for old Rotten walles windowes and gutters vyle and base contractes Couenaunts and bargains and pleading with pelting libells and may not I who am called to this function to instruct my flock committed vnto me with the word of God be so bold to employ some labour and diligence vpon the interpreting and expounding thereof without your comptrollement c. You haue heard an accusation tragicall enough if I be not deceaued and a very haynous complaynt of this babler For the rest now harken to the Morall of the Fable You offer me a double iniurye sayth he for you doe both entrude vpon an other mans possession and you dispossesse me from my right with most iniurious prohibitions c. Yea but if a man may be so bold vnder correction by your leaue being so great a Byshop so wise a Priest so great a Clarke to speake as the trueth is your selfe haue made two lyes together Osorius without touch of breath For neither he beyng a Ciuilian forsaking his pleadyng of walles windowes gutters doth entrude vpon any other mans possessions nor yet doth force you out of your owne right nor doth prohibite you with any such kynde of prohibitions but that you may proceéde in that course of studies which beseémeth your age profession best bestow as much trauaile thereupon as you can by all meanes possible Yea rather he doth earnestly perswade your holynesse thereunto Enioy therefore a Gods name those possessions which you clayme as your right as much and as longe as you may Haddon will neuer interrupt your course no more will any Christian man els driue you from your interest therein But in the meane space lett vs behold what maner of possessions these be whereof you speake verely if you meane the knowledge of Christ the word of lyfe holy Scriptures readyng hearing of heauenly Pphilosophye Certes I seé no cause why you should haue any more especiall prerogatiue in these possessiōs then any other Nor why this treasure ought apperteigne more to Osori because he is a Priest then to Haddon being a Ciuiliā for as much as by Godes institution this one learning aboue all other is prescribed to all persons indifferently as the chiefe and principall rule of this lyfe vnlesse we will accompt this saying Search the Scriptures to be spoken to Priestes onely and that for this cause Lawyers and Ciuilians ought not intermedle therein But if it were lawfull for Bartillmew Latomes being a Lawyer to write agaynst M. Bucer in matters of highest Diuinitye If Iulius Phlugius a professed Ciuilian might be warrāted by themperour Charles the 5. to sitt in Synodes and disputations of Deuines If Albert Pius Earle of Carporites writing agaynst Erasmus a Deuine and a Priest If King Henry the 8. doing the lyke agaynst Luther and descending into disputation in matters of Diuinitye being neither a Byshopp nor a Priest was supposed neuerthelesse to doe nothing vnseémely his Regall magnificence nor contrary to order Why is Haddon accused then as an encrocher vpon other mens possessions because being a Ciuilian he dare presume to encounter with a priest in matters of Religion But he should haue yelded ouer the charge of writing against you to Deuines and Byshops rather Truely it is not to be doughted but he would haue done so Osorius If in this kinde of conflict he could haue bene perswaded that he should haue contended agaynst a Deuine But whenas he perceaued by the course of your writing that your whole discourse sauored of nothing but of a Rhetorician and a Philosopher and that in your treaty of Diuinitye you alleadged skarse any one sentence of true Dyuinytye and sound doctrine he being himselfe a Rhetorician and withall throughly studyed in the same kinde of exercizes did conceaue in his minde that there could be no fitter match for him then being a Rhetorician to deale agaynst a Rhetorician as Bithus did in tymes past with Bachius that so with one manner of weapō and one kinde of furniture he might encoūter your lyes wherewith you doe so nimbly seéke the ouerthrow of the verytye In this poynt therefore of Haddons determination touching the debating of this cause he did nothing vncomely or vnseémely for his personage nor did he for this cause relinquish his owne walles and encroch vpon your possession yea so much
deuise no lesse wicked then false To witte that the auncient Churche is peruerted by our Deuines and a new Church fashioned after our owne phantasies Whiche doe you call the auncient Church Osorius truly you name the Catholicke and Apostolique Churche to be auncient or so you ought to say founded in the Patriarches and Prophetes enlarged by our Lorde Iesu and his Disciples with vndefiled doctrine and vprightenesse of conuersation Haue we peruerted this holy Church Osorius haue we erected a new nay rather the matter is quite contrary We do most reuerently embrace this blessed Churche sealed vnto vs by the finger of our Lord Iesu and ordered by the pure ordinaunces of his Disciples we do appeale vnto this Church the same Church do we urge agaynst you and the same we do oppose agaynst you we combate agaynst all your filthy corruptions with the decreés of this Churche Herein we do persiste and cleaue fast vnto this Church and fight agaynst you in her defence directly with her owne weapons You are fallen away by litle and litle from this auncient Churche the inuincible fortresse of all truth and haue set your trust vpō the whyueryng reéde of the Romish Seé Then also you are so whirled vp downe as it were with whirlewyndes with the whirlyng and vnsauory Constitutions of Schoolemē ech contrary to other that ye cā finde no ankerhold any where Out of these tempests and whirlewindes of vpstart doctrines out of this immoderate gulfe of your idle braynes so manifold routes of fayned Gods peéped abroad so many sundry sortes of prayers made vnto them so many and so tedious pilgrimages to dumme blockes so many impieties of offrynges inuocations massinges adorations Finally so many blasphemous markets and fayres of pardons and redeémyng of soules out of Purgatory pickpurse are made To this beadroll may bee linked superstitious swarmes of Friers Mōckes Nunnes sproutyng and dayly buddyng one out of an other in infinite droues and innumerable factions This euen this is the true Image of your Church Osorius wherupon you doe bragge so much increased with the ofscombe of rascall brothells made dronken with the drousie dregges of Schoolemen and so farre estranged from the right trade of the auncient and Apostolicke Church that there is scarse any hope that it wil euer haue any regarde to her former duetie or euer returne frō whence it is estrayed In this your new Churche or rather Conuenticle of lozelles which you haue newly erected vnto your selues with the motheaten mockertes of your Schoolemen you moyle and wallow after your accustomed maner We are desirous to renewe the auncient dignitie of the Catholique Church as much as in vs lyeth Hereunto we do employ all our endeuoures to this we doe direct all our thoughtes that siftyng through and throwyng away all the dānable darnell whiche the enemy hath scattered abroad at this present in these newe Churches we may at the lēgth be vnited and gathered agayne into the true and auncient worshyppyng of God prescribed vnto vs by Iesu Christ in his Gospell And here our old peéuish wayward piketh a new quarell agaynst me bycause I will not acknowledge any other chief Bishop but Iesus Christ and that I do also by the name of a Byshop call him a kyng Truly I hartely confesse that our Lord Iesus was both a Byshop and a Kyng but that the name of a kyng is cōteined vnder the tearme of a Byshop is false as you haue set it downe as all other your doynges are for the most part Osorius But our vnconquerable Logiciā goeth onward demaūdeth Why we do admit any other kyng besides the Lord Iesus and yet abandone the chief Byshop whereas both dignities are conteined in the person of our Lord Iesu and in this place our glorious Peacocke pounceth out his feathers and the same question repeateth agayne and agayne very boyeshly in other wordes and sentences If it be lawfull sayth he that ye may haue vpon earth an other Kyng Vicare of that great kyng what reason is there that ye will not haue an other most holy Byshop Vicare of that hygh Byshop Will ye know why we do acknowledge a kyng vpon earth Uicare of that great and heauenly kyng The holy Ghost shall most euidently and expressely aunswere for vs and shall aunswere by the mouth of Peter from whom you deriue your clayme of supreme Byshop Bee ye subiect sayth hee to euery humane creature for the Lord whether it bee to the king as chief ouer the rest or to the Magistrates whiche are appointed by him to the punishment of the euill doers and the commendation of well doers for this is the will of God c. Behold how playnly how distinctly and how plētyfully Peter doth aunswere you which by expresse speache hath settled the Maiestie of kynges in the highest place aboue all vnto whom hee commaundeth vs to be subiect for the Lord. Then next vnder that authoritie he placeth other Magistrates whom notwithstandyng he ordeineth to be Ministers of his highe power Besides this heé instructeth vs withall how commodious this authoritie of kynges is and whereunto it ought to belong Lastly to take away all doubt he concludeth that this Is the will of God If you had any droppe of shame at all in you Osorius You would not haue moued this question so malapertly Why we doe acknowledge a kynges authoritie vpon earth When as ye can not be ignoraūt of this doctrine of Peter nay rather of the holy ghost being so euidēt so firme so notable so plētyful and so of all partes defensible When as also Peter a litle after cōmaundeth in this wise Feare God honor the king When as Paule likewise doth pronounce that A king is the Minister of God to whom he commaundeth euery soule to bee subiect to whom hee geueth the sword and willeth Tribute to be payde in euery of which thynges most royall and principall souereignetie is conteined And to the end the sentēce of Paule should stand firme out of all controuersie he commaundeth That prayers intercessions petitions thankesgeuynges be frequented for kinges and all others that are set in authoritie What say you now brablyng Sophister what cā you hisse out agaynst so many so strong and so notable testimonies approuyng the authoritie of kynges What shal be done vnto you brablyng Sophister that will so maddely so proudly so blasphemously kicke agaynst the doctrine of the holy Ghost But ye allowe of the authoritie of a kyng say you in some respect so that we will likewise admit the supremacie of the hyghe Byshop We haue already iustified the authoritie of a kyng by the inuincible testimonies of the holy scriptures if you can in lyke maner coyne vnto vs out of the same Scriptures a chief Byshop we will yeld But you can not for there is not one sillable of chief Byshop to bee founde in the Gospell besides our Lord Iesus alone and besides that question moued of the rites and
ceremonies of chief Priest vsed of old amongest the Iewes Sithence therfore these thynges are so apparaunt either you doe wickedly dissemble the truth or you bee shamefully ignoraunt in all Diuinitie when as in the meane time you being an old man and a Bishop will neédes be accoumpted a most passing Deuine Here our Ierome tosseth and tumbleth to and fro and snatcheth after Sophisticall shadowes but the more he trauaileth to get out the more he is entangled in perplexities He sayth that we defende the title of kyngs not the authoritie bycause many are foūde aswell in Portingall as in England which do exercise kyngly authoritie without the name of kyng and those a Gods name he thinkes must be called petty kynges Truely I am not able to speake any certeintie of your vsage in Portingall But of Englād I dare affirme that no mā as of him selfe doth presume vpō authority royall further thē he is thereunto authorized by the kyng neither doe we know any such pettye kynges but of your shamelesse custome in lyeng we are most assured the same can not choose but abhorre in respect of your person Like idle tyme ye bestow vpon debatyng of your Monarchie As though it were as necessary that there should bee one chief supreme Byshop ouer the vniuersall Church of Christ as we defende in England the supreme power of the kyng O most senselesse Sophister Perceaue ye not how your comparison is wrested to thynges that are meére contrary eche to other Can you not seé that the one part of your comparison cōcerneth the particular Churche of England the other part indirectly altogether all the whole Churches of Christendome And yet sufficeth it not that you play the foole mōstruously your selfe vnlesse with your supposall ye make me partener also of your errours which all and euery of my senses doe vtterly abhorte and detest nay rather your cōparison ought to haue bene framed contrarywise As bycause in all seuerall cōmon weales seuerall kynges haue the principall and chief preheminence so in all seuerall Churches seuerall Priestes should gouerne who ought to haue singular authoritie in matters of Religion After this maner should your cōparison haue proceéded if you had followed herein the aduise of Philosophie But sithēce we argue now as Deuines settyng Philosophie apart we must enforce onely the testimonies of holy Scriptures wherein bycause we finde cōmaūded by expresse wordes that it is the will of God That we must honour the king that we must obey the king that we must be subiect to the king that we must feare the kinges sword that we must pay Tribute to the king that we must make our supplication and prayers to God first and chiefly for the king We can not choose but acknowledge reuerēce this chief royall kyngly authoritie so oftē in so many sondry maners mētioned in the Scriptures As for your high chief Byshop we will make no more accoumpt of then of a straunger vntill ye can iustifie his supremacie by the authoritie of the holy Scriptures And yet in the meane tyme shall you finde amongest vs all degreés of Iurisdiction Ecclesiasticall by the which all matter apperteining to the Church is duely and orderly executed Which albeit can not cōtent our troublesome Prelate yet we doubt not but will throughly satisfie all vertuous wise well disposed persons I did write that the garmēt of Christ was not cut in peéces amongest our Deuines as you seémed to conster of vs but that the Byshop of Romes Pall peraduenture was somewhat scratchte What do you say to this Do you make any demonstration by holy Scriptures that we have deuided or rente asunder the vnitie of the Church I meane alwayes the Catholicke Apostolicke church do you alledge any argumēts hereunto do you proue it with exāples you do nothyng lesse What do ye then truly euē as you are wont and as you haue accustomed to doe as ye haue learned of your father the deuill that is to say you doe continually throw out of that foule mouth most noysome poyson of slaūderous lyeng Wherein though ye be so nooseled that hee haue stuffed vp the greater part of your Inuectiues with false venemous accusations Yet bycause this place doth bewray your mōstruous insolēcie by singular demōstratiō I will set down here your own wordes as you haue pēned thē that the Christiā Reader may by the same discerne the meékenes of a Byshop the modestie of an aunciēt Deuine and with what spirite also ye were inspired when ye vomited out this foule filthy cholericke baggadge And these are your wordes When as ye do dayly behold swarmyng rounde about you such pestiferous dissensiōs of sectes and so horrible diuisions whereas you haue no sure fayth no agreement in Religion whenas dayly almost you bryng in newe confessions Articles of the Creede amended old places blotted out and new places propte vp in their places when as many sundry sectes growe and encrease and the auncient Churche is rent and cut in so many gobbettes dare ye yet say that this fallyng awaye hath not cut the garment of Christ in peeces When as also ye see with your eyes insolencie arrogancie rebellion lauishnes of toung slaunderous backbyting lust wickednesse vncleanesse tumultes and vprores to attempt all thynges in all places boldly wheresoeuer your maisters take once footyng with what face dare ye affirme that your maners and conuersatiō of lyfe hath bene well ordered amiddes all this rebellion The matter declareth it selfe euidently dayly examples make good profe therof the places of publicke gouernemēt yea the most secret closettes do bewray the same Behold here good Reader the liuely paterne of Osorius his eloquence Behold a mighty vnconquerable champion of the Romish Seé is not this felow worthie to be made a Cardinall suppose you that in so many choloricke sharpe venemous and Scorpion-like wordes hath vttered nothyng but that the most Rogishe Rascall commyng out of some Brochellhouse would haue bene halfe ashamed of hath hee not made a trimme speake agaynst vs proued thereby that we haue most haynously scattered abroad and torne in sunder the vnitie of Christes Churche in this that he doth nothyng els but exclaime agaynst vs backebiters insolent slaunderous lecherous wicked vncleane and rebelles O franticke and mischieuous raylour of whose cursed speach bycause I haue deliuered this litle tast I will from henceforth as much as I may in silēce despise passe ouer his infinite accusatiōs will deale with his pretty poppet Argumentes briefly I dyd cite out of Paule One God one Fayth Now sayth he neither one God nor one Fayth is receaued amongest the Ministers of your Gospell First of all I did not signifie of what opinion euery of vs were particularly but I shewed what ought to be receiued of all Christiās generally Then where you affirme that we do not worshyp one God onely nor professe one fayth onely how can you persuade so incredible