Christmas and at our Wakes If that which Doctor Fulke Bishoppe Iuel Maister Nowell Doctor Reynolds and others haue written at large of the Popes either touching their supremacie their erring or their liues will not satisfie your Couzen and you I know not what to say to you yet because you refuse not to conferre with me I will tell you my mind plainely and that in fewe words First for Christs Vicar generall I know none worthie to be so called as the Holy Ghost whom Saint Austin calleth the Porter yea I cannot see how it can belong to any besides I prooue it thus He whome the Sonne Christ promised to send from his Father Nondedignater spirit as sanctus esse osâ—oarius in Io tract 4. not only to Peter but to the rest to comfort them and to abide with them for euer is only Christs Vicar generall Io. 14.16 But this was the Holy Ghost only 1. Argument Therefore he only is that Vicar For to be thus sent doth nothing diminish his deitie He which is the Spirit of trueth whom the world receiueth not 2 Argu. though he dwelleth with the faithfull is alone worthie to be called Vicar to him which is the trueth But such a one is the Holy Ghost 3. Argu. Ergo he whome the Father sent in Christs name to teach all thinges and to bring all thinges to remembrance that Christ told is Chrsts Vicar generall but such a one is the holy Ghost alone therefore he only is Christ his vniuersall Vicar Tell vs plainly Maister Tractable can you or any man apply these things to any Pope or to Peter himselfe if any of you would say yes then it should follow that Peter should not néed to haue béene comforted and confirmed himselfe ere hee went about to confirme others Tract But is it not some supremacy to be a strengthner of others after he himselfe was confirmed Guid. It is a good worke and a good fruit of repentance when a man hath shewed his weaknesse in denying his maister and that with cursing and swearing after his conuersion to exhort them to take héed they confesse Christ constantly lest with him they féele that which made him wéep bitterly This Apostle was forward in answering when our Sauiour asked any question forward in louing and no doubt forward in feeding Christs shéepe where he came as the rest did where they came But that hee had more authority to censure the other two Pillers Iames and Iohn then they him I cannot finde in the Holy Scriptures I bring not this as misliking degrées in gouernment thought fit for the better preseruing of the safety and peace of any land but as wishing you to remember to shew that Peter called himselfe and his fellowes witnesses of the resurrection of Christ Act 10 39.4â— but no Pastor of Pastors or head of the vniuersall Church Tract Christ bade him feede his sheepe Ergo that belongeth to him and his successors more then to others Guid. Christ bad Peter to pay that for tribute for them two as he should find in the Fish he said not so to the rest ergo if your argument halt not Christ and Peter with his successors to auoyd offences are more bound to pay tribute to Caesar then any others I thinke you will not grant this willingly Our Sauiour knowing that Peter had denyed him thrise Aug. in Io tract 1 2 3 though he promised to sticke to him though all the rest should forsake him bad him if hee loued him more then the rest did to shew it by his diligence in feeding his sheepe and his Lambes yet ye know these words Mat. 28.16 19 Mat. 27.5 Acts 1.11.22.26 Goe and teach all Nations were spoken to ten others besides Peter I say ten others because at that time there were but eleuen for Iudas had hanged himselfe before and Matthias was not chosen to bee a witnesse of the Resurrection of Christ with the rest till after Christ was taken vp from his Disciples into Heauen Tract Well let vs leaue this and returne from whence we digressed If you will haue the holy Ghost the Guide and Teacher of the whole Church militant for of that we spake where shall we finde the holy Ghost which is inuisible guiding and teaching that we might hearken vnto him Guid. In the holy Scriptures He shall testifie of me you shall beare witnesse also Io. 15.26.27 which are in the mind in the mouth of euery godly faithfull sound discréete zealous teacher that teacheth according to the same scriptures not séeking their owne glory but the glory of God and the edifying of his people S. Peter saith speaking of prophesie in the Scripture 2 Eph. 2. Peâ— 1.20.21 See the 2. of Tim. 3.16 that holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghost The Apostle to the Hebrews citing these words of the 95. Psalme To day if you will heare his voyce saith the holy Ghost spake them S. Peter saith Heb 3.7 2. Pet. 3 16. 1. Cor. 7.40 Ioh. 14 17. that S. Paul wrote according to the wisedome giuen vnto him S. Paul himselfe saith I thinke that I haue also the Spirit of God Our Sauiour told his Disciples that the Spirit of truth should dwell with theÌ„ be in them Wicked men by the help of some Spirituall gifts prophesie 1 Cor 6.19 oâ— and yet profit no more themselues then the bell that calleth others to hearing heareth nothing it selfe But if the body of each faithfull Christian bee the Temple of the Holy Ghost which they haue of God then no doubt he is also in that teacher which hath a care of these things following First not only to leade into some truth but into all truth I meane that is reuealed in the word S Paul saith Act. 20. that he kept nothing back For in fit time place euery thing reuealed in the holy scripture as occasioÌ„ serueth is to be laid open in a discréet maner Secondly as the holy Ghost extolleth not the wisdome power and merits of man but glorifieth Christ so doth euery good teacher according to that is measured vnto him endeuour to glorify the son of God Ioh. 16.13.14 yea the blessed Trinity whose loue is made manifest in Christ not only by his doctrine but also by his déeds Thirdly as the holy Ghost sheweth things to come so doth the true teacher tell what the holy Ghost saith shal be in the later daies 2. Thes 2 for this is part of the truth as to tell that the man of sin shall be disclosed 1. Tim. 4. Some shall speake lies through hypocrisie 2 Tim. 3. forbidding to marry Some creeping into houses shall leade captiue simple women â—ou 18.21 The great Cittie Babylon shall bee Cast downe Reu. 21 2. The new Ierusalem shal be prepared as a Bride for her husband c. These and the like things such as bee guided by
be more carefull to possesse it he speaketh by way of supposition supposing that which cannot bee saying that I may vtter it Paraphrastically If I had all faith not onely that faith by which men worke miracles but also if it were possible it might bee separated from charity that faith by which wee apprehend Christ Iesus our iustification and righteousnesse and had it without loue 1. Cor. 13.4 5 6 7 8 it would profite me nothing towards long suffering bountifulnesse the audiding of enuy boasting disdaining c. no more then either féeding of the poore with all my goods doth profite me if I do it for vaine glory not of compassion pittiyng the miserable estate of the néedy or yéelding my body to the fire not for loue of truth which cannot but bee in him that hath the iustifying faith but because I would bee reckoned in the number of the Martyrs if I say it were possible to haue all kind of faith and had not loue I were nothing Thus you sée a man might make a shift to say somthing to such as will néeds haue all faith to comprehend the iustifying faith also but I like S. Chrysostomes exposition best Chap. But if men been so froward that they will not admit his exposition then some other must bee framed and that of yours would perhaps be the better liked if such as so earnestly vrge Omnem fidem all faith if in some other place the same Apostle doth presuppose a thing vnpossible Salt In the 1. to the Galath he saith Though wee that is Gal. 8. â— if it were possible that we or an Angell from Heauen preach vnto you otherwise then that which wee haue preached let him be accursed Chap. I pray tell me what you doe note in those words Though wee or an Angell c. Salt You shall heare what Saint Austin expounding that Chapter saith the truth is to be beloued for it selfe not for the man or Angell by whom it is set forth for he that loueth it propter annuntiatores for their sakes which shew it may also loue lyes if perhaps they will bring any of their owne Chap. I perceiue this Father would haue truth to be liked and lyes to be loathed for themselues and not to be receiued or refused according as wee like or dislike the men that bring them Salt True yet this fault is too common to heare or not heare the Sermons to read or not reade the writings to receiue or not receiue the Sacraments at the hands of men but as we like them it is great weaknesse that the faults of men but greater weaknes that the coates and colours should driue vs from hearing and receiuing that which in it selfe is sound and faultlesse holsome and harmelesse the word of God is most pure the Sacraments full of comfort though we be sinfull men and vnworthy to minister such holy things The teacher and hearer are to pray one for another that the one may minister the other receiue in some measure worthily and as is fit for their calling lest both smart for their negligence herein Chap. Some say where teachers vary it is hard for the vnlearned to iudge what Doctrine is to be followed and which Teacher is true Salt None are allowed to set forth any doctrine that is not warranted in the word of God if any doe hee which is called the truth sheweth how we shall know the true teacher in these words If any man will do his will Chap. Doth the meane the Popes will Salt I maruaile why you interrupt me I am sure you are not so ignorant to thinke there were Popes in our Sauiours time He meaneth by his will his fathers will Ioh. 7.16 that sent him as appeareth by the verse aforegoing Chap. Say on then Salt If any man will know his will hee shall know the doctrine whether it bee of God or whether I speake of my selfe He that speaketh of himselfe seeketh his owne glory but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no vnrighteousnesse is in him Now al-be-it our Sauiour speaketh chiefly of himselfe in whom is no vnrighteousnesse yet he setteth downe these as notes whereby wee may know both who shall finde the â—â—ue doctrine euen he that doth his will and also how we shall know the true teacher which is not hee that séeketh his owne glory but the glory of him that sent him Chap. But how shall wee know the Fathers will Salt The voyce that came out of the cloud at the transfiguration Math. 17 â— where Moses the Minister of the Law and Elias a chiefe man among the Prophets appeared as it were to resigne the right and to shew that Christ whose face did then shine as the Sunne c. was hee that must fulfill the Law and the Prophets that voyce I say did make knowne the Fathers will saying This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him If then wee will giue eare to the Sonne hée will teach vs what we should do It is the will of his Father we should heare his Sonne and his Sonne teacheth vs in his Testament that we must amend our liues beléeue in him and loue one another But by digressing to speake of all faith I thinke you haue forgotten all cruell Creditors for the seasoning of whom you said you would craue some Salt ere you went Chap. I would haue some not onely for them but for all such as are so carryed away with hatred that they cannot frame themselues to forgiue such as haue offended them though when they say the Lords prayer if the searcher of hearts could bee mocked they would make him beleeue they forgiue like good charitable people Salt Here is very good Salt for such if they would taste it and not spit it out againe as many do whatsoeuer their sicke taste liketh not Then came Peter to him Math. 18.21 and said Maister how oft shall my brother sinne against me and I shall forgiue him vnto seauen times 22 Iesus said vnto him I say not vnto thee vnto seauen times but vnto seauenty times seauen times â—3 Therfore is the kingdome of heauen likened vnto a certain King which would take account of his seruants when he had begun to reckon one was brought vnto him which ought him ten thousand talents and because he had nothing to pay his Maister commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had and the debt to be payd The seruant therefore fell downe and besought him saying Maister appease thine anger towards me and I will pay thee all Then that seruants maister had compassion and loosed him and forgaue him the debt c. to the 32. verse where it is said that Then his maister called him and said vnto him ô thou euill seruaÌ„t 32 I for gaue thee all that debt because thou praiedst me oughtst not thou also to haue had pitty on thy
since his friend made no question of the rising againe of Lazarus the fourth day or of Christ himselfe the third day hee would count that which is written of Ionas a matter so vncredible as if it were more easy for a dead man to bee raised out of his graue then for a liuing man to bee preserued in tam vasto ventre belluae in that so large a belly of the Whale then omitting to shew how huge certaine sea-beasts are iudged to be by such as haue experience hee saith a man might guesse by those ribs which beeing fastened in a publicke place in Carthage were knowne to the people how many men the belly of that fiâ—h might containe and also how wide that mouth might gape which was as a gate to such a den Chap. What more Salt A little after hee saith that if it should bee said that Apuleius Madaurensis or Apollonius Tyaneus whom laudibly they name wise men and Phylosophers had done that which is writen of Ionas they would not haue made such a laughing though the diuels also doe many things like to the holy Angels not in truth but in shew not by wisedome but by plaine deceit Chap. What are the last words Saint Austine vseth in answering that question touching Ionas Salt Quod autem latuerit sine salutis dispendio tolerandum Chap. So now I see you had not this at the second hand But what saith he to those that cannot be perswaded that the bodies of the damned should alwaies bee in torments and neuer dye Salt First he saith that those vnbeléeuers De ciuitate Dei li 21. 〈…〉 will not haue vs to referre this to the power of the Almighty but require vs to perswade them by some example vnto whom if wee shall answere that there bee some liuing creatures corruptible because mortall which yet liue in the midest of the fire some kind of wormes found in the breaking forth of hot waters which no man can touch without some paine the wormes not onely beeing there without hurt but not able to bee out of it either they will not beléeue if we cannot shew it or if we be able to set the things themselues before their eyes or bring forth fit witnesses they will say this is not a fit example for the matter in question because these creatures liue not alwaies besides this they liue and grow without paine in that heat as beeing agreeable to their nature as if saith Saint Austin it were not more vncredible they should be liuely and grow there then not be tormented It is a miraculous thing to feele paine in fire and yet liue but it is more maruailous to liue in fire and not to feele paine if this then be beléeued why not that also In the 3 chapter of that bookâ— hee laboureth to proue that Aug. de ciuit dei l. 21. c 3. Dolor is not necessarium argumentem futurae mortis that is to say It doth not follow necessarily That all that feeleth paine should dy And hee giueth an instance in the soule the soule saith he is grieued with the body in that place where it is pained and it is grieued it selfe alone though it bee in the body being it selfe sad for some cause inuisible the body beeing safe and sound It is grieued and pained also non in corpore constituta not beeing in the body for the rich man saith he being in hel was grieued and pained when he said I am tormented in this flame Aug. de ciuit dei l. 21. c. 4. In the next chapter the same Father sheweth of the Salamander that liueth in the fire and of certaine hils in Sicilia well knowne which continued a very long time burning and yet were not consumed in his time For saith he integri perseuerant they continue whole and these saith he are fit witnesses that not euery thing which burneth is consumed In the same fourth chap. he speaketh of Peacocks flesh which after long kéeping as hee had tryed did not putrify though somewhat shrunke and of chaffe kéeping snow and ripening apples to omit other things hee commeth at last to the Loadstone vnto which he himselfe saw an iron ring put and there stay and so a second ring put to the first a third to the second and a fourth to the third one ring sticking though not linked to another through the vertue of the same stone Chap. Doth hee write any thing else of that stone in that Chapter Salt Yes he saith that one whom there he calleth brother and fellow Bishop told him that he saw one hold the Loadstone vnder siluer vpon the which siluer was put yron which moued too and fro as he that held the stone vnder the siluer moued his hand the siluer that was betwixt the Loadstone and the iron mouing no whit at all he saith also that he hath read that if the Adamant bee set neere to the Loadstone then the Loadstone doth not draw yron De ciuitate dei li. 21. c. 5. and that if it hath pluckt any yron to it before it letteth it go when the Adamant appeareth In the 5. chapter he speaketh of the salt of Agrigentum in Cicilie which melteth in fire and cracketh in water of a spring amongst the Garamantes that is so cold in the day time that it cannot be drunk so hot in the night that it cannot bee toucht of a stone in Arcadia called Asbeston which beeing once set thorougly on fire cannot be quenched of another stone called Selenites whose inward whitnesse increaseth and decreaseth with the the Moone of Mares in Capadocia which conceiue by the wind and of Iland in India called Tilon the trees whereof neuer loose their leaues these with others he setteth downe to shew that the same diuine power that gaue such properties to these things can also bring to passe that men shall be in paine al waies and neuer dye and that their flesh shall euer burne neuer consume Chap. I know not what reckoning the men I named will make of these things which you haue mentioned but I much meruaile they will serue no God at all sith all the heathen for the most part as I haue heard worship either one God or other either the Sunne Moone and starres or fire or water or the earth or some other thing which did good to man and was not made by man Salt They did so and therefore how wise soeuer your men thinke themselues to be yet those other which tooke that which did giue them light either by day or night or did heate them or coole them or yeeld any fruite vnto them and was not made by man to be some God that is some diuine power worthy of worship were in my iudgement wiser then the Atheist For though they fayled in this that they stayed in the creatures worshipping them and searching no further for the Creator that is inuisible as if one that commeth into a mill and finding no man there but his grist
all respects am farre inferior vnto him but the truth is I haue read it my selfe in Saint Augustine his 18 booke and 23 chapter of the Citty of God the first word of which chap-chapter is eodem and the last word scripserunt Chap. Are the verses you spake of set downe in that Chapter Salt Yes in Lattine Iudicij signum c. Chap. I would I had them in English Salt If you will haue them Englished in the best manner you must craue it at the hands of some other but if you will see the sence as I haue giuen it after the plaine fashion thus it is The earth it selfe shall sweat through feare To shew that iudgement doth draw neere The eternall king from heauen shall come In flesh to iudge at day of dome Faithfull and faithlesse then shall see The glorious God and Saints set free When earth vntilled shall bryars beare TheÌ„ soules with flesh that Iudge shall heare Reijcient simulactra viri cunctam quoque gazam Exuret terras ignis pontuÌ„que poluÌ„que inquirens c. Then shall men cast false Gods away With treasures rich and iewels gay The earth shall burne with fiery flame That shall search sea and heauenly frame The dores of dreadful diuels then Shall broken be in sight of men The bodies of Saints in light shall shine When wicked men in flame shall whine Things done in secret and by night Shall then be knowne and brought to light Then men shall cry alasse and woe And wayling gnash their teeth also The Sun and Moone shall loose their light The heauens dissolue no starre in sight The hils shall downe the vallies rise Each thing made euen in wonderous wise The course of all things then shall stay The earth sore crusht shall quite decay The fountaines then shall dry be found And Trumpets giue a dolefull sound Bemoning then mans misery When hell shall gape most horribly Before the Lord at that same hower Shall Kings be brought and men of power A fearfull fire from heauen shall burne With store of brimston for that turne Chap. In whose time liued that Sibyll Salt He that compareth the 23 Chapter of the 18 booke De Ciuitate Dei with the Chapter aforegoing shall finde that she was in the daies of Romulus and Ezechias Romulus was some 700 yeares before Christ but in the end of that Chapter hee saith some wrote that she was belli Troiani tempore in time of the Troiane warre Chap. Did she write such things so long before the Incarnation of our Sauiour Iesus Christ Salt It should seeme so by S. Austin but since your comming was not for Sibyl-Salt but for Salt Canonicall tell mee how much you will haue Chap. Marry friend Salter tell me first I pray thee what I shall say to these Atheists if they should aske mee how I know that this Salt which coÌ„meth from Bible-Spring doth passe all other Salt Hee which for that matter hath not the inward testimony of the spirit which is the chiefest must bee exhorted to seeke for some outward testimony in the fountaine it selfe whereof the first may be the maiesty of the doctrine euery where appearing in those sacred and Canonicall bookes Vide Whita in dis de sacr Scrip. contren 1. Qâ—aest 3. cap. 3. sect 5. The â—econd the simple pure and heauenly kind of writing neither Plato Aristotle nor Demosthenes nor Cicero nor any other that wrote so purely so holily and so diuinely The third is the antiquity of them for the bookes of Moses are more ancient then the writings of all men other Writers were vtterly ignorant of the History he deducteth from the creation or had it from thence or else bee sprinkled with many fables The fourth testimony is the Oracles which confirme the authority of those books to be very sacred as the which must needes bee diuine for that in them are fore-told some things which came to passe manâ— ages after and names were put vpon somâ— men before they were borne certaine hundreth of yeares as in 1 Kings 13 Chapter the man of God which came out of Iudah by the commandement of the Lord cryed against that Altar in the presence of King Iereboam and said O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord behold a child shal be borne vnto the house of Dauid Iosiah by name and vpon thee shall hee sacrifice the Priestâ— of the high places this he spake more therâ— 300 yeares before Iosiah was borne 44.28 45. â— thâ—â— Prophet Esaie in like manner nameth Cyrus some 100 yeares ere he was borne Chap. How can you proue that Iosiaâ— and Cyrus were named so long before they were borne Salt I find in the 2 Chronicles 13 20. that Ieroboam in whose daies Iosiah was named by the man of God aforesaid being plagued of God died in the daies of Abijah who was then King of Iudah now he that will reckon how many yeares each King of Iudah from Abijah to Iosiah did raigne shall finde the yeares when he fetteth down the whole sumine to be more then 300. And as touching Cyrus named by the Prophet Isay know you that this Prophet prophesied in the daies of Vzziah Iotham Ahaz Isay 1.1 and Hezekiah Kings of Iudah now presuppose that the Prophet Isay named not Cyrus till the last yeare of Hezekiah his raigne and that Cyrus was borne in the 11 yeare of Iehoiakim about which time beganne the captiuity of Babilon if yee reckon the yeares of the raignes of the Kings of Iudah that raigned betwixt Ezekiah 2. Chro. 26.6 Iehoiakim you shall finde them as I said to amount to some hundred yeares lacking some nine monthes for Manasses who succeeded Hezekiah raigned 55 years Amon two yeares Iosiah 31 yeares Ioachas 3 monthes Iehoiakim 11 yeares Chap. Go on now with the rest of the testimonies for the authority of the Scriptures Salt The fift is the number of miracles Chap. What miracles if you meane such are found in the Scriptures assure your selfe that they which doubt of or set light by the Scriptures make little accompt of the miracles or any thing else contained in them though they were not faigned Salt If that testimony seeme weak take the sixt Do. Whitak in dis de sacr Scrip. contro 1 Qu. 3. ca. 3. sest 5 which is the enemies themselues who though they haue oft gone about to take away all the Scriptures from the sight of men yet they could neuer bring it to passe but by their owne paines and punishments vnderstood that it was the word of God that they oppugned The seuenth is the testimony of the Martirs which by their confession and death sealed the doctrine deliuered and set forth in those bookes The eigth the Writers themselues who wrote theÌ„ bring great credit vnto theÌ„ for if ye consider what manner of meÌ„ they were before they were stirred vp by the holy Ghost to take this vpon them wee shall finde that they were very vnfit for such
they fell on sleepe or rose vp and tooke it But to let this goe I wonder you or any other should be so fond to thinke that the blessed Virgin enioying the true light is honoured with lights of mans making she requireth no such honour The Angell bad Iohn worship God and our Sauiour sayth not that he is worshipped with setting vp of Candles but in spirit and trueth that is with a true Spirituall worship In a word we are not bid to make lights for God or the Virgin but while we haue light to beleeue in the light But I pray you tell me do you know how this carrying of Candles on that day came vp first Ro. No not I it may be my Cozen Tractable doth If you doe Couzen I pray let vs heare it Trac I am wearie now with sitting here so long If this company will come againe to morrow you shall heare what I haue read of it Guid. If it please you Madam let vs returne to morrow Mad. If it please God I will not so much to heare this as some other talke that you may fall into Mad. Howe where be you Rom. Who is there Mad. Here is a Fryer Rom. You are welcome Mad. Why because I come in the name of a Fryer I thinke the answere here is a Fryer so much vsed of those that knock at mens dores did rise of this that of all other men Fryers were most welcome in times past Guid. I thinke they were as welcome then as those which call themselues Iesuits haue of late been welcom to Recusants but I see no reason why they should be so welcome now seeing it is very likely they haue had a strong hand in this monstrous intended murder whereby some of their Schollers are fallen into the pit they made for others Their plot was by powder and powder to put them in minde of their sinne and to forewarne them of their fall as it is said scarred some of them in drying of it And as Senacherib was slaine by his owne sonnes so these by their owne plots wrought their owne woe When there is some speciall matter to bee noted the holy Ghost to the end of certaine verses addeth this word Selah the which word some Hebrew readers say is as much as O rem notatu dignam eleuetur hic vox O matter worthy to bee noted let the voyce be lifted vp here This word is vsed thrise in the 140 Psalm They haue sharpened their tongues like a Serpent Adders poyson is vnder their lippes Selah The proud haue laid a snare for mee and spred a not with cords in my path way and set grins for me Selah Let not the wicked haue his desire ô Lord performe not his wicked thought least hee be proud Selah Blessed bee God which hath deliuered our King and many others out of cruell Faux his bloudy iaw not suffering him to performe that wicked thought but marred all his mischeuous matches Mad. Amen Amen Truly mistresse Romana me thinkes if there were nothing else to draw you from your Popish superstition that same inherent cruelty which is in those that fauour it against such as will not play with puppets as they themselues do might driue you out of that bloudy Babylon and cause you to ioyne with such as embrace the glorious Gospell of Iesus Christ sincerely Tract You would haue my cozen and me to go from the Catholicks Was not S. Austin a Catholicke and were not all those against whom he wrote Heretickes Guid. What if it were so can you proue that we hold any opinions that S. Austin sodainly confuted by the Scriptures do you not know that the summe of the auncient Catholicke faith so much as is needfull to saluation is contained in that Creed Quicunque vult c. Whosoeuer will bee saued c. and that this Creed is read oft-times in our parish Churches yearely Rom. Come cozen come let vs sit down I pray you and tell vs how Candlemasse day came vp for that was your promise yesternight Tract Iacobus Passanantius in his additions to the Commentaries of Thomas Valois and Nicholas Treuet on the sixth booke of S Austin de Ciuitate Dei cap. 7. Guid. Stay a little Tell mee the first word and the last of that Chapter that I may know whether you haue read it your selfe or had it at the second hand Tract Doth euery one that readeth a Chapter remember at all times the first and last word of it I promise you I doe not yet I remember the first word of that Chapter is Reuocatur and the last Obscoenitas Rom. On Cozen this is but to trouble your tale This Iacobus sheweth out of Ouid that after Pluto the God of Hell beeing wounded with that dart which had the golden point had by violence taken away Proserpina the daughter of the Goddesse Ceres and placing her with him in his blacke Chariot had brought her to Hell and made her Queene of the same Her mother Ceres who could not stay Pluto with her out-cryes and piteous moane sought her Daughter euery where day and night with lights and fire-brandes which shee had in Mount Etna By occasion of this Fable faith he there sprang vp superstition in Rome For the women there representing this taking away of Proserpina by force and Ceres seeking her with lights in the Kalends of February which moneth was said to bee consecrated to the God of Hell Pluto which by another name was called Februus from whom the moneth was called February went about with lights ouer Hilles and Vallyes with Ceres seeking Proserpina Now to take away this superstition obserued in the Honour of the Queene of Hell the Church appoynted that in honour of the Queene of Heauen the second day of February to wit on the feast of the Purification the Faithfull people should carry in their handes lighted Candles And hence it is saith hee that that day is called Candelaria We call it Candlemas Guid. And so one superstition gaue place to another Cath. I perceiue this custome or tradition or whatsoeuer you call it is nobly descended and of a very auncient House Her Grand-mother was the Lady Fable her mother was a great Lady in Rome called Madame Superstition who was very fruitfull She hath brought forth many Sonnes and many Daughters many Nephews and many Neeces which yeerely after sheep-shearing giue her many golden fleeces Rom. Alacke for you are you come in with your néeces and fléeces all is but fables with you Tract I thinke in a while they will say as one sayd O quantum nobis profuit illa Fabula dech See the defence of the Apol pag. 273. printed 1570 Guid. Stay betimes Maister Tractable least you marre all for that is no speech of ours but a lesson that one of your late Popes as it is reported taught his Cardinalls Tract Whosoeuer taught it it was a wicked lesson for it was a naughty speech and sauoured of impietie Guid. You cannot for shame
God according to their gift haue a care to do Tract But when men â—arre and do not agree about the sense or meaning of some hard places of scripture is it not good and great quiet to the Church that some one in authority should strike the stroke and say Let it be taken thus Guid. What if one mans exposition proue worse then ail the rest shall we build our faith for quyetnesse sake vpon a false interpretation Indeed it were a blessed thing if any one might be found any where that could and would alwaies hit aright and neuer misse but because you cannot name any such a one on earth the safest and surest way is for each Christian King in his owne dominion to call vnto hinâ— the greatest godliest and best learned and so they altogether to vse the meanes which the learned professors of the Gospell iudge to be best for the vnderstanding of the darker places and so through Gods helpe finding the truth hold the people to it by such discipline as shall be thought most fit for the glory of God and the good of the Church Tract By that meanes it may bee that each particular Church may yeelde to that which the chiefe in that church shall affirme to bee soundest But yet one particular Church may for all that dissent from another as England froÌ„ Spaine in many points especially if any Church would notwithstanding they would seeme to vse that meanes bow the sense to the opinion they haue long fauoured and not their opinions to that sense vnto which the meanes you spake of if they would suffer it would draw it And so mens affections ouer-ruling the meanes though there may be some vnity in the particular yet there will be still a war in the vniuersall and therfore if you wil haue a generall vnity there must be a generall Councell in which some godly learned men out of all parts of Christendome must meete and all shew themselues willing to the truth and to embrace vnity and vniformity So might we haue one translation and one interpretation throughout all Christendome which though they differed in Language should be all one in sense Guid. If any in that generall meeting will be froward and labour to draw as you said the sense to their opinion they may all goe home againe and conclude nothing It is well knowne that latter Councels haue vndone that which some former haue decréed and that there hath béene iarring and erring in Councels Tract Haue Councels erred Guid. If one decrée for the obseruation of any thing and an other decree against the same thing one of these must needes erre Rom. You must needs grant that cozen Guid. Your cozen may sée this proued to be true in the writing of sundry men if it please him Tract Well it may bee that men seeing the inconueniency of such iarring and varying will be wiser now and take heed they decree nothing which others in time to come shall haue iust cause to gaine-say and vndoe And they shal the better effect this if they begin with prayer and some ancient godly man to exhort the rest that as they haue the feare of God any sound faith in Iesus Christ any true zeale any loue to Gods Church any care to quiet mens consciences they should laying aside all bitter and biting words all partiality all hunting after vaine-glory earnestly carefully painfully and charitably conferre and trauell to bring one sound Translation one forme of sound doctrine and one good gouernment in the Church in all Nations Guid. I doubt the Protestants will hardly be drawne to goe among such as not onely count them Heretikes but also hold that no promise no faith is to be kept with them Your dealing heretofore with Iohn Husse and Hierom of Prage and your late Powder plots are able to make any were he neuer so willing to seeke peace to be a fraide to come among you You talke much of Charitie it is a monstrous charity that is still seeking for bloud Our louing Redemer found fault with Peter for striking off a Seruants eare Mat. 26 51. and did you thinke to please him with blowing vp so many not Seruants but Maisters Lords yea the Lords Anoynted Wretched Fauxe neyther thou Mat. 5.36 nor any man can make an haire white or blacke Tract Good Maister Guide-well talke no more of such Catholike conclusions I for my part am ashamed of them and so I thinke are all such as haue not their consciences seared with a hotte Iron let such bloudy deuises returne to Hell from whence they came let vs now here what is thought of the Learned to be the best means to coÌ„e by the true sense of the Scriptures which as Saint Peter sayth P 3. 316. are peruerted by such as are vnlearned and vnstable Guid. There be diuers meanes which if they be rightly vsed will no doubt further vs well in that search The first is Prayer Aske and it shall be giuen you The second is the knowledg of the originall tongues chiefely required in translators for except we vnderstand the words how shall we find the sence The third is the Word to consider what is spoken properly what figuratiuely VVhit controuer l. p 349. 350. 351. c. It is a miserable bondage of the Soule sayth Austin to take the Signes for the Things That is to interpret those things properly that are spoken figuratiuely The fourth is to consider the scope the end the matter the circumstance what went before and what followeth after If thou wilt enter into life saith Christ keepe the Commandements Here-hence our Aduersaries do gather that we are iustified by works not marking to what man our Sauiour Christ made that answere euen to him verily which leaning to the opinion of his owne righteousnes demaunded what thinges he might doe that he might obtaine eternall life such men as trust to their own workes are worthily sent to the Law the so they may vnderstand how farre they bee from perfect righteousnesse The fift meane is to conferre one place with another the obscure with such as bee more plaine Saint Iames saith Abraham was iustified by workes Ia. 2.21 Saint Paul saith Abraham was not iustified by workes for then he should haue wherein to boast Rom. 4.2 And that Paul spake in that place of workes which followed the calling of Abraham it is euident first because it is said AbrahaÌ„ beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse which all men know to haue bene long after his calling Secondly because Saint Paul commeth afterward to the example of Dauid who was an holy man renued by the Spirit of God called of God Wee must needs therefore grant that the word of Iustification is taken diuersly So that to be iustified with Iames is to bee declared iust as Thomas Aquinas himselfe vpon that place granteth but to be iustified with Paul is to bee absolued from all sinnes and to be