or in commendation of my selfe God is witnes But the truth is that the preiudicies and euidences for the Catholike faith against all Heresies are innumerable and insuperable and my chaunce it hath beene through the mercifull prouidence and goodnesse of God to liue certaine yeares in companie with Catholike men of great vertue wisedome knowledge blessed of God most liberally with his graces such as our miserable Countrie is not worthy of whose daily familiar talke of such thinges I haue vsed to heare as to my great admiration so likewise with all diligence and attention And what I haue through such communication at sundrie times or of my selfe at other times by meanes thereof obserued I purpose as memorie shall serue me God assist me being therevnto both iustly mooued and earnestly required in this booke at once to vtter it in part rather for a little taste then for a full iust discourse and that onely to Gods glorie lightning of mine owne sinfull burden and soule-health of my deare Countrimen knowing both their exceeding great need of such helps and also the vndoubted and present vertue of the remedies to such as will receaue them And therfore wheras againe there be many which for worldly feare or reachlesse negligence or proud disdaine will not read bookes vpon whom yet good may be done in talke and conference by Catholike charitable men that haue or may haue accesse vnto them knowing meanes and wayes of perswasion this Treatise vnto such Catholikes may be a Manual or Enchiridion readie alwaies at hand to minister vnto them for the perswading of such their friends choise of inuention Wherein I beseech all Catholikes for the loue and mercie of God to be earnest and diligent knowing that as Saint Iames saith He that causeth a sinner to turne from his errour into the way of truth shall saue his soule from death and couer a multitude of sinnes Wel then in the name of God to perfourme these premisses this first is certaine generally confessed that wheras al which professe the name of Christ be in respect of their beleefe either catholikes or Heretikes for finding of the truth of Christ as our Sauiour said then to the Samaritan woman Salus ex Iudaeis est Saluation is of the Iewes and not of the Samaritans so now Catholikes must be sought vnto and Heretikes as corruptors of the same truth must be auoyded For vnto this purpose saith Saint Paule to Titus his Disciple and Bishop of Crete Aman that is an Heretike after one or two admonitions doe thou auoide knowing that such a one is subuerted and sinneth being by himselfe condemned euen so as some malefactours in prison hang themselues before the Assise being so their own iudges and not abiding for the sentence of the ordinary Iudge that cometh in circuite For so Heretikes cast them-selues by running out of the Churches vnitie of their owne accord whereas murderers aduouterers theeues and such others abide within vntill by excommunication they be throwen out And to the same purpose in an other place hee rekoneth vp Heresies amongst the works of the flesh togeather with fornication aduoutrie idolatrie sorcerie murder and such like saying of them all in generall that who so doe such things shall not inherit the kingdome of God But on the other side the Catholike Church wee doe all in the Creede of the Apostles professe to beleeue saying as the sayed Apostles haue taught vs I beleeue the Catholike Church And the same with more wordes in the Crede of S. Athanasius Whosoeuer hath a will to be saued before all things it is requysite that he hold the Catholike faith which vnlesse a man keepe whole sound without doubt for euer shall he perish This profession make not we only but our aduersaries also with vs publikely solemnely in their coÌ„gregations So that it is as I haue said sure in it selfe and also of vs both confessed that as with the Catholikes is truth and saluation so with the Heretikes are errours and damnation If therefore I proue that we be Catholikes and they Heretikes it will follow therevpon necessarily that we haue the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth and that they are farre from the truth and without against the truth wee therefore to be beleeued and folowed they to be forsaken and detested This then with Gods helpe will I most plainly shew diuerse and sundrie waies and euery one way by himselfe so euident so sure so vndoubted as the walker therein shall see that there is no feare of misleading Name of Catholikes AND to begin with three most certaine waies all of one sort who so that will consider well vppon our verie names and callinges hee shall know by them who are Catholikes and who are Heretikes as readily easily certainely as such a Citie is knowen by the name of London and such a Countrie by the name of England Then first I say that whosoeuer are in the world commonly called Catholikes or knowen by that name they vndoubtedlie are Catholikes and so at length haue alwaies of all men beene knowen and confessed to be whatsoeuer smoke for a while their enimies make against them by putting other names vpon them Or let our aduersaries shew the contrarie let them if they can out of anie Historie bring forth a companie of men at any time since Christs AsceÌ„tion knowen commonly by the name of Catholikes which notwithstanding were not Catholikes but prooued Heretikes Certaine it is that they cannot bring forth any such companie For neuer was there such nor neuer shall there be And therefore was S. Augustine bold in aledging to the Manichees the causes that held him in the lap of the Catholike Church after others thus to say Tenet me postremo ipsum Catholicae nomen â—on Ep. fund ca. 4. quod non sine causa inter tam multas haereses sic ista Ecclesia sola obtinuit vt cum omnes haeretici se Catholicos dici velint quarenti tamen peregrino alicui vbi ad Catholicam conueniatur nullus Haereticorum vel Basilicam suam vel domuÌ„ audeat ostendere In the Catholike Church there holdeth me finally the very name of Catholike vvhich not without cause amongst so many Heresies this Church only hath so obteined that whereas all Heretikes would haue themselues to be called Catholikes yet to a straunger asking where I pray you doe the Catholikes meete at seruice none of the Heretikes dareth to shew their owne meeting place As also at this day wee see traueiling in Cities of Germanie vvhere are Churches of both sorts that if vvee aske anie Heretike there vvhich I pray you is the Catholike Church he directeth vs by and by to the Church vvhere Masse is said And that this Motiue of S. Augustines leaneth not only vpon his authoritie which yet were sufficient in this case to any reasonable man but also vpon very good and true reason it may be soone perceiued by this
questions with how long preparation cōtinuance with how great disturbance resistēce offered made by their enimies they are assēbled holden and concluded namely this late Coūcell of our time which was gathered and kept at Trident. But on the other side for the Heretikes of our time lacking Gods asistance it hath bin a thing so impossible out of their so many corners where their infection lurketh or reigneth to assemble themselues yea or so many persons of the basest ministers as at Trent were very Bishops into any one place for the like purpose that to my knowledge they haue not hitherto somuch as gone about it or once thought therevpon And in some peeces of Germany alone where with great diligence and charges of their deceaued Princes some few of them for a short time about not many matters haue binne assembled and kept together what agrement could there euer be made betwene them more then betwene your Protestants Puritans cattes and dogges as the world wel knoweth and plainly seeth And in old time when the Arrians vvere able by meanes of theyr Emperour to hold certayne Councells vvhat one of them euer toke place and that bycause they lacked the B. of Rome his confirmatiō In somuch that Constantius the Arrian Emperour hauyng by a Synod of hys Bishops deposed Saint Athanasius and also thrust him actually out of hys Bishoprycke yet laboured tooth and nayle and desired it most feruently to haue the same confirmed with the Bishops of Romes authoritie Ammia Marcel li. 15. as witnesseth also an heathen wryter of that time in these words Id enim ille Athanasio semper infestus licet sciret impletum tamen authoritate qua potiores aeternae vrbis Episcopi firmari desiderio nitebatur ardenti The matter of casting Athanasius out of hys priestly See although Constantius his mortall enymie for euermore knew that it was fulfilled yet to haue it confirmed with the authority in which the Bishops of the eternal Citie are better hee laboured vvith feruent desire But now the Councel of Trent was in all respectes like to those old Catholike and General Councels so called together so proceeded so confirmed Such Councels I say alwaies in the end preuailed euer were of Catholike men obeyed neuer of any stubbornely resisted but only of Heretikes Therefore Protestants and Puritans be Heretikes they be not Catholikes and so vvill all men at the length take them to be for resisting of the Councell of Trent as they haue taken al other resisters of other like Councels But what say I for resisting of the Councel of Trent only Whereas they resist also and that by their owne confession so many other General coūcels as the second of Nice the Florentine those of Lateran of Vienna and finally al that these thousand yeares haue binne holden allowing none but onelie the first foure of Nice of Constātinople of Ephesus of Chalcedone And trow ye that them also they allovv in deed will they be content by them to be tried in the matters that are betwene vs you may be sure they will not knowing that they were of the very same faith that the Councels afterward and that they make against them no lesse then these as if need be I can and will by Gods grace most clearely shew But it needeth not they confesse asmuch them-selues For els why suffered they one Lewis Euans of late yeares to set out a naughty boke wherein amongest many others his blasphemies and abhominations hee called one of those foure Coūcells that same of Chalcedon a blasphemous proude sacrilegious Antichristian Councel with many moe wordes of like detraction If therefore going against any one such lawfull Councel as I haue said hath alwaies binne a most certaine and peculiar propertie of open Heretikes the Protestants that stand against all such Councels as well within these thousand yeares as afore are they not plainly prouen Heretikes Is there any man that so litle careth for his soule as to venture it with such Maisters condemned cōdemners of al holy Councels no Councell new nor old being on theyr syde God of his goodnes deliuer all men and namely our deare Countriemen from such blindnes It was the manner of blind Heretikes it was neuer the maner of Catholikes so to doe For example Eutyches the Heretike condemned the Councell of Ephesus as witnesseth Flauianus Patriarch of Constantinople In ep ad Leonem but Catholikes euer had the maner vvith al reuerence straight waies to yeeld yea and that not only seuerall persons but whole Countries with their Prouinciall councels vvhen a generall Councel had otherwise determined De bap con Don. li. 2. ca. 3. Et ipsa Concilia saith Saint Angustine quae per singulas Regiones vel Prouincias fiunt quis nesciat plenariorum Conciliorum authoritati quae fiunt ex vniuerso orbe Christiano sine vllis ambagibus cedere Who knoweth not also the very Councells which are holden of seuerall Countries or Prouinces without any exception to yeld vnto the authority of plenary Councels which are holden of al Christendome Wee therefore that obediently receaue al such Councels reiecting no one of them in no one point what so euer is it not manifest that wee are of the same one catholike Church and society that they were of And the Protestants beleuing no one of them indeed at least in all pointes and very few of them also in word is it not euident that they dravv in one line with Eutiches and all other Heretikes that were before them who soeuer will consider this much with the feare of God with care of his soule with aduise of true reason must neeeds confesse it The Fathers NOVV for another most certayne argument that the truth is of our syde and that the Protestants be Heretikes this I desire to be of reasonable men quietly considered whether euer any Catholike man in matters of our faith did obstinatly refuse to beleue the old Fathers consenting in one and agreing togeather or whether any euer did so but only Heretikes Certayne it is that it neuer was the maner of none but Heretikes as of Paulus Samosatenus by the witnesse of the Councell of Antioche holden against him The Bishops and Pastors there assembled reporting in their Epistle his maners and fasshions for vvhich they condemne hym and would haue all others to condemne him likewise doe tel amongest others Eus li. 7. hist ca. 24 that his manner vvas in hys open sermons vvithout honestie or shame to rayle against the Interpreters of Gods vvord that were departed In verbi Dei interpretes qui e vita excessissent dum in hominum frequentia palam praedicaret petulanter importune debacchari Of Nestorius also Socrates writeth Li. 7. ca. 251. that the cause of his Heresie in denying our B. Lady to be Gods Mother was that hee despised the reading of the Fathers writings thinking himselfe because of his fine and rolling tongue to passe all
will they nil they a false point this is and to be found as I haue saied in none but Heretikes And therefore they doe well to be good to their companions in the case of S. Iames Epistle Saint Lukes Gospel and others moe bycause they are plainly vnder the same iudgement themselues specially for the bookes of the Machabees We on the other side most obediently receaue and beleeue all Scriptures Canonicall Whereby to any reasonable man yt may be manifest which in it selfe is most certaine that of the same there is no part to our doctrine repugnant but all without exception to vs agreing all against heretikes vndoubtedly and that in some partes so openly that they haue no other shift but by denying Traditions most certaine THE true Church alwayes hath together vvith the whole Scripture beleeued and embraced Traditions and vvhatsoeuer companie there euer vvas vvhich was faine to crie for onlie Scriptures and to denie most certayne Traditions of the Apostles theyr doctrine for whose defence they were fayne so to doe vvas euer Heresie and they most surely Heretikes and for such at length holden by all Christendom what so euer deceaued followers for a vvhyle they had For this cause saith Saint Paul to the Church of the Corinthians Laudo autem vos fratres 1 Cor. 11. quod per omnia mei memores estis sicut tradidi vobis praecepta mea tenetis I commend you brethren that in all things you remember me and euen as I deliuered vnto you you keepe my Traditions Tas paradoseis And to the Church of the Thessalonians Itaque fratres 2. Thes 3. state tenete Traditiones quas didicistis siue per sermonem siue per Epistolam nostram Therefore be constant brethern hold fast the Traditions which you haue byn taught either by our word or by our Epistle And for the same cause saith Saint Basile Dogmata De Spiritu san ca. 27. quae in Ecclesia praedicantur quaedam habemus e doctrina scripto tradita quaedam rursus ex Apostolorum traditione in mysterio id est in occulto tradita recepimus quorum vtraque parem vim habent ad pietatem Nec his quisquam contradicet quisquis sane vel tenuiter experous est quae sunt iura Ecclesiastica The matters of doctrine and preaching vvhich in the Church are kepte some of them vvee haue by teachyng committed to wryting some againe we haue receaued by the Apostles tradition in mysterie that is to saie in secret delyuered vnto vs both which are of like weight touching Gods seruice Neyther will anie man gaine-say these whosoeuer surely hath any sight in the Churches orders And that Saint Basile herein is not singular it is manifest by thys besides much els that might be sayed that the vvhole Church Aug haer 84. Epiph. haer 78. and the Protestantes also them-selues holde for Heretykes the Heluidians for the denying the Apostolicall Tradition of our Blessed Ladies Euer-more remayning a Virgin to say nothing of many other lykevvise condemned Heretikes for the like denying of Traditions So then hath the Church bysides Scripture certayne Traditions and them alwaies in great estimation But Heretikes contrariwise haue had the custome to make exceptiō against Tradition allowing nothing but only Scrypture Thereupon saied Maximinus a Bishopp of the Arrians to Saint Augustine Con. Max. li. 1. Si quid de diuinis Scripturis protuleris quod commune est cum omnibus necesse est vt audiamus Hae vero voces quae extra Scripturam sunt nullo casu a nobis suscipiūtur c. If thou bring any thing out of the Diuine Scriptures vvhich is common with all we must needes heare it But these wordes which are without Scripture in no case are of vs receaued And to the same effect did Constantius the Arrian Emperour gyue out an Edict Epiph. hae 72. Hila li. con Const Vt Episcopi nihil praeter diuinas Scripturas Ecclesiasticae fidei adderēt That Bishops should besides the diuine Scriptures put nothing to the Churches faith Many other Heretikes might here be brought forth vvith the lyke sayings but that my purpose is here rather to set short Conclusions plainly directing the meeke and humble into the truth and mightily cōfounding the stubborne enimy than with heaps of exāples to make great Volumes Now then that these Traditions be with vs and against the Protestants although it be manyfest ynough by this that we obediently embrace Traditions and they vnfaithfully refuse them and also otherwise vvell knowen to most men neither of themselues denied yet to satisfie all men it may for examples sake be remembred that S. Chrysostome saieth Ho 69. ad populum Antiochenum Ab Apostolis haec sancita fuerunt vt in tremendis Mysterijs defunctorum agatur commemoratio c. It hath byn by the Apostles decreed that at the dreadful Misteries so he calleth the holy Canon of the Masse there should be made a commemoratiō of the dead c. And that Saint Ierome calleth it Munus quod necessitate offertur Ep. 54. an oblation which we are bound to offer vnam quadragesimā secundum Traditionem Apostolorum toto anno ieiunare to fast one fourtie dayes in the yeare according to the Apostles Tradition And that Saint Ciprian saieth it is Dominica Traditio Li. 2. ep 3 our Lords Tradition that in offering the Chalice the wine be mingled Epi. 118. cap. 6. And that Saint Augustine saith of Saint Paul Totum illum agendi ordinem quem vniuersum per orberi seruat Ecclesia ab ipso ordinatum esse c. That by him was ordayned this order of doyng vvhich through the whole world the Church doth keepe in doing of Masse with sundrie other Traditions which I omitte plainly witnessed by antiquitie to haue come from the Apostles and in our Church to this daie vsed and of the Heretikes quite reiected A plaine Argument that ours is the Church that foloweth the steppes of Christ and his Apostles and theirs to be the heire of the Arrians and other damned Heretikes a lymne and Messenger of that lost sonne Antichrist The Churches Commaundement ALwaies since Christes Ascension who-soeuer haue at any tyme resisted the common knovven Visible Church graunting that in the beginning it was to be seene and to be obeied for that is so plaine in the Holy Scripture it selfe of the Acts of the Apostles that they cannot denie it but that afterward it became inuisible and fell from Christ and therefore no longer to be obeied who soeuer I say haue thus done and spoken they were euer Schismatikes and Heretikes and in the end forsaken of all Christian men one and other how soeuer for a time they deceaued the world Let our aduersaries bring forth if they can one example to the contrarie sure it is that they can not And therefore they are themselues such as I haue sayd Schismatikes and Heretikes and for such no doubt at length will generally
ioyne vvith mee issue vpon this who will They were alwaies Schismatikes and Heretikes I say that pretended the common knowen Church at any time to haue failed and that stubbornely resisted the same And therfore Protestants and Puritans be such and for such of our Countrie and of all the world wil one day be takē Which God graunt of his mercy spedily that they bring no more poore soules to hell The Churches Practise TO this former obseruation of finding out the truth by the Churches iudgement as well vvhich novv is as which was in the first beginning being both but one Church no lesse then one Tree it is that vvas planted 16. hundred yeares ago and euer since that time groweth vp and spreadeth it selfe vpon euery side abrod may be ioyned another no lesse infallible and more sensible way by obseruatiō of the churches vse and practise Which way is so certaine and so vndoubted 1. Cor. 11. that S. Paule himselfe after that to proue that women should not be bare headed and vncouered in the Churches hee had vsed all kinds of arguments taken out of theyr creation of significations of similitudes of Scriptures of naturall reason to put the matter out of all peraduenture if any man perhappes would contentiously denie the said his arguments to this inuincible Fort hee recoyleth saying Si quis autem videtur contentiosus esse nos talem consuetudinem non habemus neque Ecclesiae Dei But and if any man doe seeme to be contentious wee haue no such custome for women to pray vncouered nor the Church or Churches of God And conformably to this said S. Augustine likewise for the same cause Ep. 118. cap. 5. Si quid tota per orbem frequentat Ecclesia hoc quin ita faciendū sit disputare insolentissimae insaniae est If the whole Church throughout the world doe vse any thing only to cal it in question whether that thing should be so done is a point of most proude or most straunge madnesse And therefore against the Pelagians hee maketh verie commonly his argumentes out of the Churches Practise Ep. 105. prouing that childrē be borne in sinne because the Churches Practise is to Baptize them for remission of Sinnes And this Practise he calleth Pondus veritatis weight of truth apertissimam molem veritatis a most plaine huge great bignes of truth Because likewise by the Churches practise exorcizantur exufflantur infantes in the ceremonies of Baptisme children are exorcized blowen vpō quiae Diabolus eis dominatur per quid nisi per peccatū because the diuell hath power ouer them by what but by sin And of this practise he boldly sayeth Secundum suam calliditatem non inueniunt quid ad hoc respondeant the Pelagians with all theyr craft finde not what to this to answere Non audent dicere haec in Ecclesia mendaciter geri they dare not say that these thinges are done in the Church fainedly He proueth likewise against them by practise of the Churches praiers that a mā can neither come to Christ our Lord in the beginning nor cōtinue in him till the ending by his owne power De bo pers cap. 23. but by the grace of God Quando enim non oratum est in ecclesia pro infidelibus atque inimicis eius vt crederent For when saith he was not prayer made in the Church for Infidels and for her enimies that they might beleeue Quando fidelis quisquam amicu proximum coniugem habuit infidelē ei non petiuit a Domino mentem obedientem in Christianā fidem When had any christian a friend a kinsman a wife that was an Infidell asked not for him of our Lord a minde obedient vnto our christian faith Quis autem sibi vnquam non orauit vt in Domino permaneret And who euer praied not for himselfe that hee might continue in our Lord Aut quis Sacerdotem super fideles Dominum inuocantem si quando dixit Da illu Domine in te perseuerare vsque in finem non solum voce ausus est sed saltem cogitatione reprehendere ac non potius super talem eius benedictionem corde credente ore confitente respondit Amen Or the Priest making inuocation of our Lord vpon the faithfull if at any time he saied giue thē O Lord to continue in thee vnto the end vvho hath dared not onely in worde but as much as in thought to reprehend him and hath not rather vpon such his benediction both with hart beleeuing and with mouth confessing answered Amen As if we now should against the Heretikes of this time reason out of priuate mens beades and out of the publike praiers vvhich are in the Portuise or Breuiary in the Missal other Church bookes Eus Ec. hist lib. 8. ea 24. 27. Amb. de virgin li. 3. Hier in Iou 1. Aug. de Ciui Dei li. 1. ca. 6. Note they this that for causes nothing so iust contemne other Saintes of the Church I omitte for desire of breuitie vvhat many of the auncient Fathers haue written of certaine holy women which in time of persecution being sought for to be abused killed themselues constantly and vniformely holding them for Martyrs because of the Churches practise in most solemne honouring of them and thinking rather that the Church did know the said women to haue had some plaine reuelation from God so to doe then that she erred in her practise But and if any man here be so folish to say or to thinke or to feare that now the case is altered because wee liue so long after the saying of those wordes by Saint Paul and S. Augustine let him consider first that S. Augustine also liued almost foure hundred yeares after S. Paule and yet so thought he not the case then to be altered that hee vttered the matter vvith more weight of wordes by a great deale as you see Secondly that if it were a case which by any space of time might be altered then had both Saint Paules Saint Augustines foretresse beene pregnable and not inuincible as they made it therefore would neyther Saint Paule in all the Churches of God nor Saint Augustine in the whole Church throughout the world haue put more confidence then in any one particular Church of some speciall place Or let any man giue me a reason why they did sticke to say as much of euery particular Church which they did see then to be in the right way but only because that although such a particular Church were then in the right way no lesse then the whole Church yet did they knowe that the particular Church might afterward stray out of the way but the whole Church might neuer goe astray Thirdlie let him consider that no Aduersarie of ours is able well to charge the Church sith Saint Augustines time with any alteration made all this while but we will shew that the same pretensed alteration was not an alteration
auncient vndoubted writers that no man can possiblie with any reason make answere vnto it or exception against it Vide sermones nouos Aug. editos 1564. Louanii cum Epistolis Aniti Luciani duâ—bus libris Euodii de signis S. Stephani In S. Augustine alone may be seene examples very many of such helpe done to such men by this Martyr if anie man please to read his two twentith Booke De Ciuitate Dei the eight chapter his Sermons De diuersis in the tenth Tome from the Sermon 34. to the Sermon 40. of which Sermons he maketh mention himself De Ciuitate Dei in the place which I haue said and also Posâ—idonius in Indiculo operum Augustini There shall you finde how that by S. Steuens Relickes was cured a Bishop of a Fistula by the same was reuiued perfectly restored a boy that with a wheele was killed and crushed many likewise reuiued by thinges that had but touched his Relickes Six reuiued there as by oyle clothes and floures One of those exaÌ„ples because it serueth well to many good purposes I thinke it good to recite here at large in Saint Augustines owne wordes Such a Miracle doe wee know saith he amongst many others to have beene done at Vzalis a citie here in Africke Ser. 38. in Diuer To. 10 qui est Ser. 10. in noua edit A certaine woman lost in her lap her sonne by sicknes being a Catechumen or one appointed to be christened a sucking babe Who seeing that he was lost and irreparably perished began to weepe for him more of faith then as a mother For she did not desire the life of her Sonne but in the world to come and that life she bewailed the losing the perishing of it and full of confidence vp she took him dead as he was and ran to the Memorie of the blessed Martyr Steuen and began of him to require her Sonne and to say O holy Martyr thou seest that I haue no comfort left For I can not say that my sonne is gone afore whom thou knowest to be perished For thou seest why I doe make this lamentation Restore vnto me my Son that I may haue him in the sight of God that crowned thee As she in these other like words made her petition with teares after a sort not desiring but as I saide requiring him her sonne reuiued and because she had said thou knowest wherefore I seeke him God would also shew forth the truth of her minde and meaning By and by to the Priestes shee brought him baptised he was sanctified he was anointed hee was Imposition of handes was done vpon him Completis omnibus Sacramentis assumptus est and all the Sacraments being so fulfilled he was assumpted or taken out of this life vp to Heauen But shee then with such a countenaunce followed him as though shee brought him not to the rest of buriall but to Steuen the Martyrs bosome Probatum est cor fidele mulieris and so was proued faithfull the heart of the woman Here haue we that children although theyr Parentes be Christians perish without Baptisme We haue also that in baptisme they must be anointed after baptisme also an other Sacrament of coÌ„firmation by a Bishoppe or Imposition of handes Finallie wee haue here praying to Saint Steuen and by the two straunge miracles of the childe 's both reuiuing and assumpting wee haue the same confirmed both by Saint Steuen by God himselfe Wherupon who seeth not how plainely it followeth that Saint Steuen was no Protestant but cleane of the other side all against them And certaine it is I say that Saint Steuen and all the other Holy martyrs were of one Religion Therefore certaine it is also that no one of all those martyrs vvas a Protestant Which is so plaine a demonstratioÌ„ that the simplest of all may see it so sure a knot that not the cunningest of all our Aduersaries can euer possiblie either vndoe or breake it As the partie I say which prayeth to the martyrs so likewise the martyrs them-selues that with such miracles answere such praiers be both against the Protestantes And therefore be all the true Martyrs of old time against the Protestantes Quia per totum orbâ—m in locis sanctis quae frequent at nostra communio tanta mirabilia vel exauditionum v l sanitatum fiunt c. Seeing ouer all the world in the Holy places which our companie doth frequent so great Miracles of hearinges and healinges be wrought c. Aug. de vni Ecc. cap. 10. So that all men may easily see that if they desire to be with those Martyrs they must not be with the Protestantes Whereby againe may all men see what are these new Martyrs of theyrs of whome they are wont so much to brag whose worthie Actes and Monumentes Foxe the Martyrmaker hath put in writing For a full answere to them all although the very naming of our Catholike Martyrs euen of this our time to any reasonable man may suffice as the Bishoppe of Rochester Sir Thomas More the Monkes of the Charterhouses with very many moe vnder K. Harry and now of latter time all our holie Martyrs that haue beene and daily are made vp by losse of their liuings Let Elâ—â—â— remember his Tragedie of the Scottish friar at Lincol. by prison by poyson by whipping by famishing by bannishment Bishops Priests Deanes Archdeacons Canons Ecclesiastical persons of all sortes Knightes Esquires Gentlemen Laymen likewise of all sorts so many likewise that haue openly suffered the good Earle of Northumberland D. Storie Felton the Nortons M. Wodhouse M. Plumtree and so many hundreds of the Northern-men such men both in their life and at their death that neither the enimies haue to staine them as their owne consciences their own talke and the world it selfe doth beare good witnesse many of them also and therefore all of them bycause of their owne cause beyng by God himselfe approued by Miracles most vndoubted although I say no reasonable man will thinke those stincking Martyrs of the Heretykes worthy in any respect to be compared with these most glorious Martyrs of the Catholikes yet supposing that otherwise they were equall and ours not sensibly better then theirs this one consideration were notwithstanding inough to declare most plainly that ours are Gods Martyrs and theirs the Diuels bycause that ours as you see died in the faith of S. Steuen the first Martyr and of all his fellowes and theirs cleane against the same If a man be an heretike although he suffer death euen for Christ yet goeth he vnto damnatioÌ„ as S. Paul doth plainly say 1. Cor. 18. If I deliuer my body to be burned and haue not charity it profiteth me nothing vvhat then must we thinke of them that burne against Christ and against his truth No doubt as they that suffer death for him haue the greatest croune in Heauen so they that hold against him and that to leese their
qui vos vocauit in gratiam Christi in aliud Euangelium I maruaile that so soone and so lightlie ye are turned awaie from him that called you into the grace of Christ to be a meÌ„ber of his Church into another gospel which God wotteth is not another is not a gospell or good tidings of Saluation but that some there are that trouble you and that vvill turne in and out the Gospell of Christ He may well charge vs with leuitie for being lightly turned awaie from the truth that he planted so surely and so mightily amongst vs that it lasted nine hundred yeares vnchanged as it doth still also in them that be constant For what lightnes could be greater then froÌ„ so sure a ground whereon wee vvere so fast sett vvith such diuine Miracles to remoue our selues vvith euery puffe of wind blowen by none other but by flesh and bloud and that to the so certaine perdition of our soules destruction of our Countrie as was the former standing to the vndoubted Saluation of the one and triumphant glorie of the other in all affaires so many worldes and ages togeather And therefore may he yet say farther vnto vs as it foloweth in Saint Paul O insensati Galatae Gal. 3. quis vos fascinauit non obedire veritati c. O ye senselesse Galathians who hath bewitched you not to coÌ„tinue in obedience of the truth Sic stulti estis vt cum spiritu coeperitis nunc carne consummeâ—nim Are ye so without sence or vnderstanding that hauing begon in spirit you will now make vpp your selues in flesh Currebatis bene quis vos impediuit veritati non obedire Gal. 5. you did runne well who hath stopped your race not to obey the truth Ego coÌ„fido in vobis in Domino quod nibil aliud sapietis qui auÌ„t coÌ„turbat vos portabit iudiciuÌ„ quicunque est ille I trust in you with the help of our Lord that you wil be of no other meaning then in the beginning you were taught that they which be wil come home againe As for him that troubleth you he shal sustaine iudgemeÌ„t or damnation whosoeuer hee be high or low man or woman one or other And vpon that damnation most intolerable most certaine most nigh at hand God gyue them grace to thinke them deepely that they fall not in to it 2. Thes 2. But to receaue the truth and to loue it that they may be saued denying euery man witâ— Moises to be the sonne of Pharaoes daughter Heb. 11. and chusing rather to be afflicted vvith the peeple of God then to haue the swete of Transitorie sinne esteeming for greater riches then the treasures of AEgypt the reproche of Christ. Asâ—â—ciebat enim in remunerationem For he loked vpon the reward in the end saieth Saint Paul Which that al men may yet more plainly se how many how good causes they haue to doe let vs procede yet to moe other Motiues Going out AND for the next Motiue lett this be coÌ„sidered whether our Church did euer depart cut it selfe or violently breake out of any other company of Christians elder then it selfe by disobedience tumult seuerall packing and faction forsake contemptuosly their ordinary Superiours and into another syngular societie knitte asunder And whether the company that all the world knoweth to haue so done the time wheÌ„ the place where the Superiours from whome they brake all well knowen be not Schismaticall Or let a companie be named that euer since the Apostles time so did that was not schismaticall Thys very same consideration gaue Optatus to know the Donatistes to be schismatikes Li. 1. Videndum est quis in radice cuÌ„ toto orbe manserit quis foras exicrit quis Cathedram sederit alteram quae ante non fuerat quis altare contra Altare erexerit quis ordinationem fecerit saluo altero ordinato It is to be considered who hath remained in the roote with the whole world who is gone forth who is sitten him in another Chaire which Chaire was not afore who hath erected an Aultar against the Aultar who hath placed Bishops there where others were placed afore which are yet aliue In which his wordes that hee might not seeme to speake them of his owne head hee alludeth to many Scriptures which in many places liken the Church to a tree rooted in the Patriarkes Rom. 11. Ioan. 15. Mat. 13. Prophets Apostles and singularly in Christ himself that groweth from the first plaÌ„ting allwaies to the end of the vvorlde spreading it selfe ouer all Nations the braunches whereof that sticke not to it but fall off and breake themselues from it are none but Heretikes Schismatikes and Apostataes They doe likewise in many places describe such vnto vs by the terme of goers out 1. Ioan. 22. as where S. Iohn saith Ex nobis prodierunt sed non eraÌ„t ex nobis nam si fuissent ex nobis permansissent vtique nobiscum sed vt manifesti sint quoniam non sunt omnes ex nobis They went out of vs that are in the church but they were not of vs that shall be saued for if they had bin of vs that shal be saued verilie they had remained vvith vs in the Church But that they may be made manifest because all be not of vs that shall be saued And againe Omnis qui recedit 2. Iohan. non permanet in doctrina Christi DeuÌ„ non habet Euery one that departeth abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not Gods fauour S. Paule likewise 1. Tim. 4. Disâ—â—ndent quidam a fide Some will depart from the saith Hee alludeth also to the story of Ieroboam the first king of the ten Tribes 3. Reg. 12 13. who in Dan Bethel set vp an other Aultar against the only true Aultar which was at Ierusalem therefore was vndoubtedly a Schismatike Now it is euident that al this agreeth no lesse to the Protestantes then to the Donatistes and all other the like aforetime Who knoweth not the Tree whereon afore they grew and now deuided from the roote thereof lie withering by themselues Who knoweth not the companie out of which they are departed Who seeth not the chaire and preachers both that were afore that now they haue a new erected Who is ignorant that all the Bishoprikes which they now occupie were before by Catholikes possessed who with wonderfull consent and vnseparable vnitie stoode all most constantly to the Catholike faith as it became true Pastours not shrinking away at the Wolues inuasion and were for that cause throwen out of their charges cast into prisons there are now all almost made vp by Martyrdome This I say is a plaine declaration that the Protestantes be Schismatikes as the Donatists were before them for the like cause Finally let them shew any person or persons of old that did the like and were not Schismatikes certaine it is that they can shew none Rising
to make against this third note For that it is no good exception you may hereby perceaue because the Fathers make both notes as I haue declared Wherefore the one destroyeth not the other but they stand both well together The cause thereof is this for that christians and catholikes are both but one name and so of the Fathers vsed and accompted who therefore commonly deny Heretikes to be Christians because they are not Catholikes that is to say Christians of all Christendome but only of some peece The difference only is that the name Catholike is plainer in this case and inuented to be ioyned as a very singular Epitheton vvith Christians so to put all out of doubt in saying Catholike Christians For if they were not all one a man might as vvell say Heretike Christians which no man vseth to say And so haue I by the verie common names both of them and vs made three most easie most certaine probations vnpossible of them to be coÌ„trolled that we are of the truth and they out of the truth Old Heresies TO proceede now to another like probation whatsoeuer was Heresie in time past the same is Heresie now also and the holders of it Heretikes as they were of old vnlesse any man be so vnfaithfull or rather mad to thinke that truth of Religion chaungeth with the time and that it is false vvhich Saint Paule saith Christ Iesus yesterday and to day the same also for euer Heb. 13. As certaine therefore as this is that Christ truth chaungeth not so certainely shall it be proued in this part that these men be Heretikes and their doctrine Heresie Which may be done and God willing shall be done hereafter if need be in very many points of their doctrine But because anie one point is sufficient to shew that we must auoide them as in the Arrians Sabellians and in manner all other olde Heretikes it is manifest who alwaies for only one point were accounted damnable it shall be enough specially in this my breuitie to bring forth one or two examples Well then Heresie it was aforetime to deny as these men doe that praier or offering may be made for the dead And that we plainly shew out of all Recordes of Heresies left vnto vs by the writing of most approued Notaries For the Greeke Church let Saint Epiphanius Epip her 75. Aug. haer 53. bee seene for the Latin Church Saint Augustine who both haue recorded it for the Heresie of a certaine Arrian named Aerius Saint Augustines wordes are these In Arrianorum haeresim lapsus propria quoque dogmata addedit nonnulla dicens orare vel offerre pro mortuis oblationem non oportere c. This Aerius being fallen into the heresie of the Arrians ioyned also thereunto certaine positians of hys owne saying that we must not pray or offer oblation for the dead c. Our men therefore hauing the same Position it followeth plainly that they are Heretikes as holding that which before was heresie so accompted in al Churches both Greeke and Latin And this were they neuer nor neuer shal be able to answere For another example I chuse that cruell Heresie of theirs against the necessitie of Childrens Baptisme through the which they haue suffered and stil do suffer to perish many thousands of those poore soules not able to helpe theÌ„selues It was of olde the Heresie of the PelaÌ„gians that children might come to lyfe euerlasting without the Sacrament of Baptisme Aug. haer 88. de pec mer. lib. 3. ca. 5 Cip. lib. 3. Ep. 8. de iâ—fant baptizaÌ„d as Saint Augustine in sundrie places witnesseth mightily by the scriptures confuting the same allegeing also against it the testimonie of Saint Ciprian with a Councell of 66. Bishopps in his tyme that they which suffer children to die without Baptisme Deny Gods mercie and grace to men and destroie soules Wheras Filius hominis non venit animas hominum perdere sed saluare Luke 19. The Sonne of man came not to destroy soules of men but to saue them And in another place S. Augustine sayeth De orig can lib. 3. cap. 8. Ep. 28. that if a man wil be a Catholike he must not so beleeue speake nor teach Againe in another place that whosoeuer so saith Tanquam pestis communis fidei detestandus est he must be detested as the pestilence of common faith Qui profecto contra Apostoli praedicationeÌ„ venit totam condemnat Ecclesiam Hee verelie both goeth against S. Paules preaching and condemneth the whole Church Therefore our Protestantes and Puritans for this their vnmercifull opinion are not Catholikes they are contrarie to the Apostle they condemne the vniuersall Church of GOD they are to be detested as corrupters of our Faith as Heretikes as Pelagians and in deede farre worse than Pelagians For vvee reade not that they vpon their Heresie leaft anie child vnbaptized as these doe great numbers because they although they promised them without Baptisme life euerlasting falslie yet not the kingdome of heauen also foolishly for they thought that one might be in life euerlasting without the kingdome of heaueÌ„ therefore thought they good to baptize them for the getting of that kingdome though not for euerlasting life whereas our Heretikes much more falsly than those promise them both life euerlasting and the kingdome of heauen all and therefore suffer them very often to goe awaie vvithout Baptisme as a thing for them at all vnnecessary O vnmercifull and cruell Heretikes All good people for the loue of God for pitties sake see better vnto them be euerie man vvith his acquaintance vvho so hath anie amongst them diligent earnest instant that their poore babies die not vnchristened Thus haue I by two examples of old Heresies most vndoubted prooued most plainely that they are Heretikes being both able and readie as I haue said if need be to doe the like by many examples moe Which examples for this time omitting leauing them to the remembrance of euerie man that is but meanely read in Diuinitie I will now shew forth some other waies Miracles Dogmaticall TWo waies therefore most plaine and readie will I shew by miracles vvhich are all for vs and none for them Wherein although I might be so copious as of this only matter to make great Volumes for our defence to their confusion yet will I say very little as my purpose and yet sufficient as my promise requireth Being then for vs as it hath pleased God our Lord two sortes of Miracles the one that may be called Dogmaticall the other Personall Of the first sort I set this Conclusion whosoeuer haue at any time set them-selues against any Doctrine confirmed by Miracle they haue beene against the truth There can to this no instance be giuen So that if it be shewed our Doctrine vvhich these men resist to haue beene so confirmed plaine it is that they are enimies of the truth But that can I easily shew in
diuers sundrie pointes of that our doctrine as that with Miracles hath beene confirmed and vvith great numbers of Miracles our doctrine of the Signe of the Crosse our doctrine of Images our Doctrine of Reliques our doctrine of Pilgrimage our doctrine of praying to Saintes of the necessitie of Baptizing children of Confirming by a Bishop and of very many other things by vs taught beleeued by the Heretikes denied and derided But because about so many pointes I should be too long I will be content with one or two and them out of such Authours as the Heretikes cannot denie nor answere with their peeuish scoffing at some vncertaine or false Miracles which they read in I know not what Legenda Aurea and such other obscure apocryphal writinges As if that because of certaine Gospelles fained in the name of Saint Thomas Nicodemus the Twelue the Hebrues c. they would thinke therefore to scoffe out the authoritie of the vndoubted Gospels of S. Matthew Marke Luke and Iohn And because about the holy Sacrifice of the Masse is our greatest variance they hauing by open Edict set thereon the losse of an hundred markes to euerie one that frequēteth the same the Masse shall be my first example and Purgatory my other because that is of them no lesse contemned then the holy Masse and one Miracle will I aleadge prouing them both And first for the Sacrifice of the Masse Saint Augustine is witnesse of a notable Miracle wrought therby in his owne time in his owne Dioces by a Priest of his owne VVhich thus hee writeth De ciuit Dei li. 22. ca. 8. See there a number of miracles for vs Vir Tribunitius Hesperius qui apud nos est habet in territorio Fussalensi fundum Cubedi appellatum Vbi cum afflictione animalium seruorum suorum domum suam spirituum malignorum vim noxiam perpeti comperisset rogauit nostros me absente presbyteros vt alquis eorum illo pergeret cuius or ationibus cederent Perrexit vnus obtulit ibi Sacrificium Corporis Christi orans quantum potuit vt cessaret illa vexatio Deoque protinus miserante cessauit Hesperius a man of good worship who is here with vs hath nere about Fussala a Farme named Cubedi where finding by the affliction of hys cattaile and seruantes that his house was yll troubled with wicked spirits he besought our Priestes for I was absent that some one of them would goe thither The forfait of an hundred markes was not then as yet enacted with his prayers to driue them away There went one he offered there the Sacrifice of the body of Christ praying with all hys power that the same vexation myght ceasse and strayght waies through Gods mercie it ceassed Now another Miracle for both the Masse and purgatorie together Hist Angli li. 4. ca. 22. I will recite out of our owne Countrie-man Saint Bede which chaunced in his time in our owne Countrey no lesse certaine then merueilous A notable thing hee saith is * Constat certainly knowen to haue bin done in the battaile wherein was killed King Elbuine vvhich I in no wise thinke should be least vntold but that it wil be profitable to the saluation of manie to rehearse it In that battayle was slaine amongst others of Elbuines souldiers a young man named Imma who hauing that day and the night following amongest the bodies of the slayne lyen as dead at length receauing breath againe reuiued and sitting vpp bounde hys woundes himselfe as well as he could Then resting awhile gat him vpp and began so to goe his waie where hee might finde frindes to see vnto him In so doyng found hee was and taken by him of hys enimies hoast brought to their Lorde an Earle of King Edilredes of vvhom being asked what he was hee feared to confesse that he was a souldier and rather answered that he was a poore man of the countrie and one that had a wife saying that hee came with others such as he was into the Campe to bring victuals to the Souldiers But the Lord for all this took him to him bidding his woūds to be seene vnto and vvhen hee waxed whole in the night for running awaie he commaunded him to be bound but yet bound he could not be for straight as they were gone that had bound him the same his bonds were loosed for hee had a brother whose name was Tunna a Priest and Abbot of a Monasterie in the Cittie which vnto this daie of his name is called Tunnacester Who hearing him to be killed in the fight came to seeke if perhaps hee might finde his body and finding another in all pointes very like vnto him thought it had bin he and brought the same vnto his Monasterie buried him honorably and for the loosing of his soule was diligent often to say Masse By the saying whereof vvas done the thing that I haue tolde that none could bind him but straight he was loosed In the meane time the Earle that kept him began to meruaile asking how it was that hee could not be bounden whether perhappes hee had about him loosing letters such as fables speake of for which he might not be bounden But he answered that hee knew nothing of such sorceries But a brother I haue said he a Priest in my country sure I am that he thinking me to be slaine saieth often Masse for me And if I were now in the other life there should my soule by his intercessions be loosed from paines After this when he was throughly recouered the Earle solde him for London to a certaine Frisian but neyther of him nor in the way thither could he by any meanes be bounden but still his enimies laying on him sundrie kinds of bondes still vvere they loosed When then hee that had bought him saw that in bondes hee could not be holden hee gaue him leaue to ransome him-selfe if hee could For after * Counting from the sunrysing the third houre at vvhich the Masses were vvont to be said verie often were his bands loosed So then he found meanes to pay his ransome And after this returning into his countrie and comming to his brother he vp and told him in order all the aduersities and comfortes in aduersitie that had chaunced vnto him And by that his brother told him hee knew at those times specially his bandes to haue bin loosed at which for him the Masses vvere celebrated And other thinges also vvhich to him in daunger had happened profitably prosperously hee vnderstood that by his brothers intercession and offering of the Sauing Hoste they had from heauen bin giuen him And manie hearing these things of the foresaid man were in faith and godly deuotion enflamed to pray or to giue almes or to offer to our Lord Victimas sacrae oblationis pro ereptione suorum qui de saeculo migrauerunt Hostes of the Sacred oblation for the deliuerie of their friendes that were departed this world For they