trouble when he was in the Tower other men ruled his howse I was willed to receaue the Communion or to depart if I would haue yeelded I had verye large offers which I neede not tell It pleased God to staye me so with his grace that I chose rather to forsake all then to doe agaynst my beleefe against my knowledge agaynst my conscience agaynst the law of almightie God For a time I lay secretly in England afterwards I came beyond the seas into these catholicke countries out of schisme and heresie for the which I do thāke almighty God much more then for all the estimation that I had or mighte haue had in Englande Whatsoeuer my estate is here I doe more esteeme it then all the riches of England as it now standeth And were I so mad thinke you to forsake all preferment all liuinges all estimation to liue from my good Mother from you my louinge Sisters and your husbandes from other my deere frendes and companions out of mine owne most pleasant countrie would I doe this thinke you but that my learning my conscience telleth me that to solow your religion is present danger of body and soule and to be in the CATHOLIKE CHVRCH is the onely way to saluation Fye vpon all worldy ryches when the soule is in danger nothing is so precious as the soule first seeke for the kingdome of heauen for other things as it pleaseth God O that I might vnderstand once that you were of my mind and of the catholike religion O my harte would leape for ioy to consider that althoughe we can not lyue together vpon earth yet we may hereafter meete in heauen which is vnpossible as long as we disagree in fayth S. Paule sayeth There is one God one fayth one baptisme S. Austen sayeth speaking of one Emeritus He can not be saued but in the Catholicke Church Doe you thinke it sufficient to beleeue in the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Vpō the 88 psalme Harken what S. Austē sayth VVhat doth it profit thee if thou consesse the Lord If thou bonour God If thou preach and praise him If thou acknovvledge his Sonne If thou confesse that he sitteth at the right hand of his father VVhat dooth this profit thee if thou blaspheme his Churche S. Athanasius in his creede saith VVhosoeuer vvil be saued it is necessarie that he holde the Catholicke faith vvhich faith vnlesse a man beleeue in all points and euery article vvithout doubt sayth he he shall perish euerlastingly One poynte is good Sisters that Christ gaue vs at his laste supper his owne blessed bodye and bloude to feede vpon in the remembrance of his bitter death he that saith it is not so doth he beleeue in Christ Doth he not in effecte say that Christ was not able to doe it and by that reason that he was not omnipotent For when the three Euangelists reporte it so playnly Mat. 26. Mat. 14. Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 11. S. Paule after them Take eate THIS IS MY BODY that shall be delyuered for you THIS IS MY BLOVD that shall be shed for you What maketh a man to doubt but that it is so in deede O you will say I see nothing but bread and wine If you should see his body no god a mercy if you did beleeue it But Christ sayed to Thomas Thou Thomas doest beleeue because thou hast seene 10.20 but happy are they that beleeue vvhen they see not Mat. 2. I pray you when the three wise men came from the East to worship Christ what did they see in him Forsooth a yong infant not able to helpe himselfe suckinge his mother a poore carpenters wyfe and that in an oxe stawle yet they fell downe and worshipped him as a God Is it not as easie to beleeue the body of Christ is vnder the forme of bread as that almightie God himselfe was then vnder the shape of a seely weake infante O good Sisters vnlesse you beleeue you shall neuer vnderstande beleeue once Ghrist his wordes and that he is Almightie and that he is able to doe what soeuer he sayeth and you will thinke that all is easye returne to the CATHOLIKE CHVRCH and be content to learne that which you know not of them that wil not for all the world deceaue you and you shal fynde exceeding comfort When Christ shall say at the later day as it were in this maner Was it not of my great kyndnes that I lefte vnto you mine owne body and bloud And was it not of my exceedinge goodnes and wisdome to leaue it not in the forme of flesh and bloud least your nature should abhorre it but of bread wyne which can be lothsome to no man and you make me this gaye recompence saying that it was nothing but bread wyne because you could tast nothing els in your mouth and because your new preachers tould you so whom I sente not Were not you christened in an other fayth Did not my church vvhich is my spouse and the piller of truth Apoc. 21 1. Timo. 3. alwayes teach otherwayes What haue you to saye for your selfe but that you haue most vukindly abused that BLESSED SACRAMENT and heauenly misterie and make me a lyer and deny my omnipotencie and therefore deserue eternall damnation with all such as haue deceaued you When Christ shall say this will it not be a heauye case When Cyprian Ambrose Chrisostome Austen Ierom Gregorie Bernard all the olde Fathers now Saints in heauen shall come and beare witnesse against you and say that they taught otherwise When your Bishops that are now partly deade and partly in prison for the defendinge of this cause shal condemne you because you did not folowe their good example When your owne doctors teachers shall not be able to answere for themselues will it not be a pitifull case But I hope better of you good Sisters I can not mistruste your good natures but that you will be glad to learne the truth which almighay God graunt vnto you for his deere Sonnes sake who died for vs and that I may heare some comfortable newes from you Doe but signifie vnto me that you are content if any thing be amisse to be better instructed Proue me what I can say for any thinge that trowbleth your consciences It shall be farre better newes vnto me to receaue two lines from you to such a purpose then to vnderstād that your husbands were made Lords and you Ladies He is rich that is in the Catholike Church and he is honorable that is in the fauour of God Sisters if I might doe you good to God-warde I would not sticke to aduenture this body of myne to saue your soules to come and talke with you my bodye is not more precious vnto me then your soules How you are disposed what you would haue me to doe for your sakes let me vnderstand by the next Deale wisely I pray you warily both for
Pharisees did their ten commaundementes in the brode hemme of their garments and therfore are checked of our Sauiour It would requyre a iuste volume to reckon the enormities crepte in among religious tytes and customes in all ages since the ascensioÌ„ of Christ and as the number of Christians multiplyed so as it happeneth in a multitude the more abuses whereof the aunciente Fathers make often mention and lament it Ad. Rustmona As when S. Hierome sayeth Vidimus nuper planximus we hane seene of late and it greeued vs not a litle And agyne piget dicere Ad Eustochium I am loth to tell how many virgins dayly fall from their porpose and profession And agayne Ad Sauinâ— Diacoâ—um prorumpunt lacrimae antequam verba O villanie I can more easelye weepe in this case then speake Of all the which things as also the vnprofitable ceremonyes and superfluous deuotion which are the priuate fansies of vnskilfull persons not the publicke ordinances and decrees of the Church the first Councel of Nice and after it S. Ep. 11â— Austen geueth this generall rule which at all tyme taketh place and is our warrantyse what so euer is agaynst fayth or good lyfe that the Church of God nec approbat nec tacet nec facit doth neither allow nor dissemble nor put in practyse And this much mighte well be answered if happely there be any sinfull abuses at this day First that we can not be happyer theÌ„ the Primatiue Church which in all points had the like as I wil shew if it be needefull Secondly all good Catholicks that see any such faultes much more lamente them then the hereticke doth blame them the more it greeueth them that by such offences the truth is ill spoken of among our enimies and suspected of them that are indifferent to both Thirdly the words of our Sauiour must needs be fulfilled Necesse est vt veniant scandala Offences must necessarely come there is no remedy such is the sinfull frayletie of mans nature Psal 118. But Pax multa diligentions eum non est illis scandalum They are at greate peace which loue him and nothing can offende them or make them to fall from the truth Loue Christ and his Catholicke Church as thou shouldest doe and no abuse be it neuer so greate shall be able to moue thee one iotte from the pure profession of all laudable customes Howbeit to say truly Of supersti 〈…〉 so called I thinke heresie hath partly so extinguished and partly so cooled the feruent deuotion of ryght good earnest Catholicks that if there be any religious zeale lefte in some few more then in others which therefore seemeth superstition because it is rare and singuler the same is so farre from heynous crime or greeuous fault Adue vigil that I may compare it rather with their deuotion which in S. Hieroms time lyghted tapers at the Ghospell tyme and burned wax candels before Martyrs tombes of whom he geueth sentence that ech one had rewarde according as they were deuoutly disposed or with their persuasion that at the same tyme also were wont to shew Pilgrims comming to HierusaleÌ„ Comâ—in matth the pauement of the Church as yet imbrewed with Zacharias bloud as it was thought and therefore visited not without reuerence which their godly affection albeit they were possibly deceaued S. Hierome did not mislyke toward that glorious Martyr whose death was so pretious in Gods sight that it was one cause of the Iewes extreme desolation as our Sauiour himselfe witnesseth So lykewyse it maye fortune that in some Churches or Chappels there is proposed some false relike Of doubtful relikes and so honored as the relike of that saynt whose it is not which thinge if it were done rashly vpon light credit and if it might easely be discerned were a faulte in no wyse to be suffered but be cause it hath from tyme to tyme bene esteemed so nothing knowen to the contrary not disalowed of the Bishop whose diligence in examining such thinges is to be wished and in Fisher Bishoppe and Martyr of Rochester is greatly commended and especially because the honor resteth not in the Relike but is wholy referred to that saynt whose Relike it is esteemed For these causes I say their is no more feare of superstition or Idolatry in this case Mare 10. then if Bartimens the blinde man in the Ghospell had sayed to anye other man in steede of Christ Misertre mei fili Dauid Sonne of Dauid haue mercye vppon me as he might quickly haue done being blind if they had mocked him and shewed an other for Christ Or if a Catholicke should adore that hoste which a preist at the tyme of eleuation lifteth vp not consecrated or worshippe one of the theeues crosses for the Crosse of our redemption if one sodenly were changed for the other In all these cases and the lyke ignorance doth excuse being neither rashe nor wilfull and sincere meaning hath rewarde before him that knoweth the harte of the worshipper that he honoreth vndoutedly the priÌ„cipall it selfe in heauen howsoeuer he be deceaued agaynst his will in mistaking some earthly monumente or remembrance therof For example thou meanest to honour the Kings Lieutenant as if he were the King him selfe among a number thou doest not know him it is tould thee sadly that it is he that weareth the gay cote perhaps he is of his meanest gentlemen yet no doubt thou hast done thy dutifull obeisance to thy Lorde and Prince howsoeuer thou be deceaued in this person or that which is sayed to represent him How be it in sacred thinges more heede is to be taken and greater discretion to be vsed Psal 89. Honor Regis iudicium diligit In honoring the Kinge of Kings and his seruants there is much iudgement required Psal 46. We are commauÌ„ded to sing to our Lord but sapienter wysely 150. and in an other psalme in cimbalis bene sonantibus vpon well sounding cymbals They sound well when euery string is in tune without discorde neither to high nor to lowe but in a golden meane which all good Catholicks in all poyntes of religion most hartely wish and pray for Tit. 2. vt is qui ex aduerso est vereatur nihil habens malum dicere de nobis That the aduersary may be afrayed to open his mouth agaynst vs when he is able to say no euill of vs. Thus I haue breifly touched certen poynts concerning Relikes and pilgrimage the name the cause the grouÌ„d the fruite the myracles the vse and abuse which may be an interim to thee Christian Reder agaynst the odious termes of Idolatrye and superstition deuysed by heretikes as buggishe baubles to feare babyes A full discourse of this matter I reserue as not necessarie if after these fewe the aduersarie be quyet if not then I meane God willing to opeÌ„ the whole paÌ„cke And to shew such a glorious sight of vniuersall practise and
his Apostles neuer to fayle but to appeere and be seene still as a citrye vpon a hill or a light in the world Mat. 28. For Christ said I vvill be vvith you vnto the ende of the vvorld And againe I vvill sende you an other Comforter the spirite of truth vvho shall remaine vvith you for euer And vnto Peter Vpon this rocke vvill I build my Church Mat. 16. and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it That is to say the deuill and all his ministers shall neuer so preuayle against this church but that it shall still appeere and professe one and the same fayth So that there shall be no time wherin this fayth and this church is not Now marke good Sisters I pray you hartely whether your Englishe church and your Englishe religion hath bene alwayes in the worlde since Christ his time I will speake vnto you as before God and as I shall answeare before him at the later day and therefore I requeste you to marke well my wordes and to consider of them A whole thowsande and fiue hundred yeres after Christ your English religion was not heard of in any parte of the world but I tolde you before that the true church must continewe for euer appeare alwaies vnlesse you thinke Christ is false of his promise When began your religion then Forsooth about fiftie veres agone by one Marten Luther in Germanie a frier who aswell for other vngodly respects as also because he would needes marie and breake his vow which he had made of chastitie began to preach against the POPE and against the CATHOLIQVE CHVRCH and because he taught great libertie as that Princes ought not to reuerence the POPE that all Preestes might mary that no man neede to fast and such like he found many disciples in Germanye and hath vnto this day carnall and fleshly men that loue their owne pleasure more then the will of God and his holy church But will you know what manner of man this was Forsooth being examined by learned men concerning his doctrine he was so prest and so angred with the force of truth that he sayd in a great rage This quarrell vvas neuer begon for Gods sake neither for his sake shall it be ended Will you know further that he wrote against the POPE for malice and not for conscience himselfe in his letter to Argentmenses fayeth I neither can deny neither vvill I that if Carolstadius or any other man could fiue yeares agone haue persvvaded me that in the Sacrament is nothing but bread and vvine he might haue deserued of me great thankes for I labored in that matter very carefully knovving righte vvell that by that meanes I might much haue hindred the Popes authoritie Marke that this man would gladly haue fouÌ„d some-what agaynst the BLESSED SACRAMENT but a long time he could not till at length the deuill had taught him to wryte agaynst the Masse De missa angulari as him selfe witnesseth in his bookes where he telleth what talke he and the deuill had together Much more could I tell you of this man but of this little you may iudge whether you may aduenture to build your faith vpoÌ„ this man who lyued within these fiftye yeares and to forsake the auncient fayth of all Christendome continewed from Christ vntill this day for it is moste certen that from this man came your new religion into England but not immediatly at the first when he began to preach for Kinge Henrye the eÌ„ight wrote a learned booke very earnestly against him The Quenes M. father wrote a learned booke a gaiust Luther for the pope Afterward he forsooke him not vpon religion or conscience but vpon displeasure which is common to be seene but long after partly when the King began to take displeasure against the POPE because he might not be maried and vnmaried as he list Partly and especially when King Edvvard being in the beginning of his raigne but a very child was oueruled by wicked couÌ„sellers to maintayne such a religion as might best agree to their carnall appetite This was the beginning of your religion the beginning I say for as for King Heury he wente nothing so farre as they are now come but whereas for his pleasure he had put awaye the Popes authority and for his profit had plucked downe Abbaies he let all other poyntes in manâ—r remayne as before and of this also repâ—nted before he died as it is knowen if not wo be vnto him that euer he was borne for there in the next world good Sisters Kings and Queenes come to their accompts as well as you and we poore folkes I could here tell you of many learned and vertuous men that were then put to death because they would not yeeld to the King in his vnlawfull doings knowing right well that it was all contrary to the lawe of God Amongst whom were these two The Bishop of Rochester the most vertuous and best learned of all the Clergie as appeareth by his books And Sir Thomas Moore Lorde Chauncel or of England a lay man who for his vertue wisdome and learning passed all temporal men that euer were in that Realme as appeareth by his learned workes written in the Englishe tongue but now not suffered to be redd because they teach the CATHOLIQVE FAYTH Some man will tel you that they were behedded for treason but beleeue him not vnlesse it be treason to obay God rather then Princes surely other treason they committed none One Marke more I will shew you to discerne the true Church The thirâ—e marke is â—nitie that in few wordes but so playne that your selfe will confesse it To know the CATHOLIKE CHVRCH this is a certayne and an vnfallible marke if it be in vnitie and concorde if it haue an agreement and consent of hartes and opinions that is to saye if it haue but one fayth and one religion Act. 4. For of the true Church it is sayd The vvhole multitude of beleeuers had one hart and one mynd Ephe. 4. And S. Paule sayth One God one fayth one baptisme And againe 1. Cor. 14. God is not a God of dissention but of peace and vnitye Looke now consider the state of your Protestants in England onely are they all of one religion Haue you not among them some Lytherans some Caluinists some Puritanes all agreeing against the POPE and ech disagreeing one from the other Do not your Lutherâ—Ì„s preach yea before the Queene not with-out great thankes for their labour that the body of Christ is really present in the Sacrament And doe not your Caeluinists preach cleane contrary that there is onely breade and wine And as for your Puritanes doe not they preach and wryte so farre contrary from the other two that they are now forbidden to preach and cast into prison and put from all liuings Yea the communion booke it selfe doth it not nowe saye cleane contrary to that which it sayed in
the later end of King Henry his time Then you were expreslye commaunded to beleeue that vnder each kind of bread and wine are conteyned the body and bloud of Christ now it is petty treason to fay so I speake not here of Dermarke of Geneua of other cities in Germanve who are all Protestants and all differing among them selues and from you I haue onely declared how great diuersitie and disagreeing their is amonge your Protestantes at home within one little Ilande which is so euident and so farre from good christianitie that it may be vnto you a very certen and suer token that the true fayth can not be amonge them which hitherto can not agree in one fayth each condemning the others opinion Thus derely beloued and my very louinge Sisters I haue geuen you certen generall Markes to learne the true Church To wryte all were infinite because all bookes are full of our religion I trust hereafter to instructe you in euery pointe as you would desire and I pray God geue you grace that you may desire it All at once woulde be to tedious In the meane time remeÌ„ber these two things VVhen your religion began and by vvhom and how it came at length into England This is the yeare of Christ a thowsand fiue hundred eyghty and three Luther began to preache with-in these fiftye yeares If he preached the truth and all before him were deceaued where was the Church of Christ in all the worlde for a thowsande and fiue hundred yeares before and how is Christ â—â—ue of his promis that sayd I vvill remayne vvith you for euer and the holy Ghost shall teach you all truth and the gates of hell shall not prcuâ—â—ile against it But for out Church that is to say the CATHOLIKE CHVRCH we can shew how it is grown and continued from the Apostles vntill this day and neuer fayled We can reccon you from time to time Councels Bishopps Doctors infinite numbers of good christians of all ages that were all of our fayth and of our Church Can your Ministers denye but that S. Chrisostome alloweth praying to Saints or that S. Ierome calleth the Bishoppe of Rome Supreme head of the vvhole Church vnder Christ or that S. Austen prayed for his mother being dead or that he honored the Reliques of S. Steuen or that S. Gregory sayd Masse or that S. Ambrose sayeth hefore the vvords of consecration it is bread and vvine but after the vvords are spoken by the preist it is the very body and bloud of Christ or that all christians in S. Austens time did vvorship the blessed Sacrament or that the second Councell of Niceâ— did many hundred yeares agoe allovve the vse of Images for the memorie and representation of Christ and his sayntes condemning Image breakers or that S. Barnerd was an Abbot and had monkes vnder him as in catholike countryes now a dayes can they deny but that all this is true and dare they deny these vertuous Fathers and Doctors of the Church to be now Saints in heauen O my good Sisters that you could vnderstand their books and their writinges that you might your selues see what they say and what wonderfull men they were endued with the spirit of God exceedingly aboue other euen good men much more then your licentious leaders I doubt not but you would suspect your new doctors and folow these you should perceaue they had the scriptures at their fingers eds they knew right well the meaning and sense thereof night and day by fasting and prayer and chast lyfe beseeching God that they might vnderstand and truly expound his word O what a difference is there betweene them and these new Preachers Sisters I appeale to your consciences whither wil you or ought you to truste in the expounding of Scripture your yong vnlearned fleshly Ministers or these auncient most skilfull and most vertuous Fathers When Christ sayed Mat. 26. Take eate this is my body Al these Fathers say and agree that it was his bodye in verye deede Your ministers tell you it was but bread and wine Mat. 16. When Christ sayed to Peter thou art Peter that is a rocke and vpon this rocke vvill I build my Church These Fathers say that Peter was made Head of the Church and after him all his successors in the See of Rome where Peter was the first Bishopp Your Ministers tell you that Peter had no more preheminaunce then the other Apostles therfore the Bishop of Rome hath no more authoritie then an other bishop hath When Christ sayed to his Apostles Receaue ye the holy ghost Io. 20. vvhat soeuer ye doo loose in earth shal be loosed in heauen and vvhat soeuer ye doe binde in earth it shal be bounde in heauen These Fathers saye that Christ gaue to his Church authoritie to remit sinne by the ministrie of the preist to all such as doe truely repent and therefore will haue the people goe to Confession Your ministers haue taken that comfortable SacrameÌ„t of penance away altogether WheÌ„ Raphael the Angel sayth in the twelfth chapter of Tobias That he did offer vp Tobias prayer to almightie God And when in the second booke of Macchabees the fifteenth chapter Onias the priest saith of Ieremie being dead This is he that prayeth much for his people and for the holie citie these fathers say that the Angells and Sainctes doo praye for vs and that we may pray to them your ministers doe not stricke to say that these books of Tobie the Macchabces are scant good scripture Many other things lyke vnto these I could reccon but I should be to loÌ„g fearing least I should werie you these fewe are sufficient to geue you to taste of such marks as may shew you the CATHOLIKE CHVRCH These and many other great reasons doe keepe all good christians within the Church These thinges make so many catholiks partly to haue suffred death partly to haue died in prison partly to continew in prison so many yeares partly to forsake their pleasant countrie their dere frends and to liue to their conscience among strangers being thought of many worldly men to be very fooles for so doing but they know right wel that the wisdome of this worlde is foolishnes before God Mat. 10 And Christ sayth He that loueth father and mother sister and brother better then me is not vvorthie of me Sisters geue me leaue to tell you some-what of my selfe not for anye bragge but the more to moue you and to geue God all the praise for his great goodnes towardes me It pleased my parentes to bring me vp in learning as you know as I was not the best so I was at al times not compted the worst among my felowes and companions some small estimation I had in Oxforde aboue my desert more afterwards wheÌ„ it pleased the Duke to make me though vnworthy Tutor to the Erle his sonne as long as his grace did prosper I liued in his howse to my conscience without