beleâ—ue If so then as it is no injurie unto them that we joyne with them in an enquiry after Truth which with such diligence they sought so neither if wee take another and a nearer way unto it when wee perceive them eyther through errour or infirmitie to have gone aside Their Names as oft as I haue cause to use them I shall not mention without honour their words I shall lay downe ingenuously and as I find them without censure Their reasons I shall examine modestly and with due regard such as their persons doe deserve Those Authors with whose weapons I haue made choyce to fight this battaile I shall use also in the same manner assigning every man his time giving to every one his due not sparing those which make most for mee if I find them faultie 6 My method shall be this I know the Church of Rome too full of libertie in framing of the Legends by mixing Truths with Fictions and suffering the corrupt and dangerous tales of Heretickes to be wrought in with both hath given the cheife occasion that this our Saint with others have in these latter dayes beene brought unto their tryall First therefore I shall make a short relation of such unwarrantable tales as are found of him in the Legend or set abroad by some late Fablers of our owne or obtruded on the Church by heretickes That done I shall report in their owne words the severall concâ—its of them who have endeavoured to perswade us that there was never such a man as our St. George and next of them who have beene diligent to prove our Saint to bee an Arian Bishop a bloudy Butcher as one calls him of the true Christians Not that I shall produce them all but some onely of the cheifest some fiue or sixe perhaps of each of the opinions Et magna partium momenta the founders and abettours Their arguments which are not many I shall quickly answere proceeding so to such records as yeild most testimonie to our Saint the time and manner of his Death the honour done unto his Relickes to his memory not onely by the Church but by the greatest Kings and Princes of the Christian world In which I shall adhere especially to the plaine words and meanings of those Authors whose authorities I urge not wresting them aside or stopping of their mouthes when they speake not to my purpose My study is for truth not faction And if at any time which is but seldome I shall take liberty to use conjectures in the explaining of some passage which else might give occasion of exception I hope it will be said that I am only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ingenuously bold not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 audaciously presumptuous 7 The whole worke as it is consecrated next under GOD unto the service of his most excellent Majesty and of this flourishing Church whereof wee are both which are principally interessed in this cause by reason of the Honours which they have conferr'd upon our Martyr so from them cheifly I expect my censure yet so that I submit it also to the censure of all honest learned and religious men whom I beseech with all respective reverence to pardon such mistakes if any bee which their more able knowledge shall discover to them and though they thinke not fit to approve the worke to commend my purpose Those selfe-conceited ones which are so stiffe as King Harry used to say in their new Sumpsimus and whose opinions hang upon anothers sleeve not to bee taken off with reason I leave unto the jolly humour of their singularities Against such men I am resolv'd to entertaine the resolution of Mimnermus as hee hath thus expressed it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reioyce my Soule though some offended bee And speake thee foule others will cherish thee 6 I cannot but be conscious to my selfe that there are many things omitted in this following Discourse which might adde further lustre to the cause and vindicate St. George's honour with the more applause and satisfaction Yet I must say withall that nothing is omitted in it which eyther my memory could prompt unto mee or which by diligent enquirie into all kind of Authors which I thought likely to afford me any helpes might possibly be met with If any one who shall vouch safe to cast his eye upon it will please to let mee know wherein I am defectiue and give mee such directions as may be serviceable to the perfection of this worke I shall with joy and thankfulnesse accept them and willingly make knowne by whom I profit Which if they doe and that they would be pleased so farre to grace mee is in the chiefe of my desires I doubt not but St. George will bee againe as high in our opinion as in the Times before us most affected to his memorie This as I then should happily presume of so I despaire not of it now submitting as before I sayd my selfe and my performance unto all honest learned and religious men and to them onely As for the rest O di profanum vulgus arceo CHAP. I. 1 Three kindes of Imposture 2 The first Author of Scholasticall or fabulous Historie 3 The three ages of the Church in these later times 4 Iacobus de Voragine the Author of the Golden Legend his time and qualitie 5 His fiction of St. George's killing of the Dragon 6 The remainder of the Legend continued out of Ovid. 7 The fable of St. George's Birth in England 8 Poetically countenanced by Edm. Spencer 9 The Legend of the Dragon reiected by the learned Romanists 10 Defended by Geo. Wicelius 11 The Scene thereof removed from Africke into Asia 1 THat excellent though unfortunate Sir FRANCIS BACON created afterwards Lord Verulam and Vicount St. Albons in his religious Essayes thus informes us There are saith hee three formes of speaking which are as it were the style and phrase of imposture By the first kind of which the capacitie and wit of man is ferter'd and intangled by the second it is trained on and inveigled and by the third astonish'd and inchanted The first of these he attributes unto the Schoole-men the last to those which trade in mysteries and parables The second is of them who out of the vanity of their wit as Church-Poets doe make and devise all varietie of Tales Stories and examples whereby mens minds may be led into beleefe from whence grow the Legends and the infinite and fabulous inventions and dreames of the ancient Hereticks So that wee see two severall diseases or corruptions of Storie rather to proceed from one and the same Fountaine Vanitie of Wit though after they have diverse ends and different purposes the purpose of the Legend being to advance the reputation of the Saint the project of the Hereticke to make the Saint a countenance and Patron to his Cause With each of these diseases the Storie of our Saint and many others also of that glorious Company are deepely
of Saint George but onely relatively in reference to one particular passage inserted by the Arians into his Historie The processe of the whole is this The Cardinall makes mention of the Decree Canon of Gelasius wherein the Historie of George the Martyr is râ—ckoned as Apocryphall and thereupon goeth on to tell us what paines himselfe had taked in search of that exploded storie so branded by Gelasius At last saith he tumbling about the Vatican I found a certaine Historie of St. George full of prodigious lyes and such as have not any likelinesse with other myracles Insunt praeterea illic quaedam accepta ab haereticis atque Gentilibus ut conflictus ille Georgij cum Athanasio Mago Alludit nimirum impius author ad Georgium Arianum Episcopum invasorem sedis Alexandriae c. Athanasium enim Magum ab Arianis appellatum Acta conciliabuli Tyrij satis docent Besides saith hee there are some passages therein borrowed no question from the Hereticks as how that George should have great bickerings with the Magitian Athanasius the impious Author questionlesse alluding unto George of Alexandria and that extreame hatred which he bare to holy Athanasius whom in the Conventicle of Tyre they accused of Sorcery Thereupon hee inferres ex quibus sanè apparet totam illam fabulam de actis Georgij fuisse commentum Arianorum Construe me this and we shall finde Baronius himselfe no enemie unto St. George but onely to the Arian Legend which was extant of him Thus have wee seene how much Baronius himselfe hath affirm'd though not in such plaine termes as we expected what Dr. Reynolds proves we shall see hereafter CHAP. IIII. 1 A Coniecture at those reasons which may make the History of St. George suspected 2 The Church of Rome too prodigall in the bestowing Divine honours 3 False Saints no preiudice vnto the true 4 The lives of Saints how fabulously and vainely written 5 What might induce the Church-Historians to that veine of writing 6 The vndertaking of Aloysius Lippomanus and how well performed 7 The inter-mixture of vaine Fables no preiudice to truth of Story 8 Of Arthur Guy of Warwicke and Sir Bevis 9 Haereticall dreames and practices not able to beare downe the Truth 10 An application of the whole vnto St. George 1 THus are wee come at last to the maine shocke and furie of the battaile wherein if our successe bee answerable to the beginnings wee need not doubt but that St George may keepe his place in the heaven of glories A matter which I have lesse cause to feare because I finde not heere in the first place eyther authorities or reasons set to charge upon mee Onely a single name and a bare assertion stand ready to defend it selfe and make good the day as Scaeva once opposed himselfe in the defence of Caesars trenches against the whole force of the Pompeians A name I must confesse which I gladly honour and doubt not but there was as hee conceived it reason inough to justifie and confirme his saying although hee pleased not to expresse it Yet give me leave to say that it is Reason and Proofe chiefly which ennobleth and commends an Author and not the greatnesse of his Name or confidence of affirmation Et quanquam in autore satis rationis est ratio tamen quemlibet magnum autorem facit as wee reade it in Velleius I say I doubt not but that Reverend and famous man who first declar'd himselfe openly and in tearmes expresse against our blessed Saint and Martyr did not oppose himselfe against an Historie so generally receiv'd as this without some reasons which might incline and moove him to it Which reasons since it hath not pleased him to deliver to us in his writings wee will make bold as neere as possibly we can to conjecture at them A worke of no great difficultie unto any who hath the least acquaintance with the affaires and passages of the Roman Church as they then stood when first the Storie of St. George was call'd in question I conceive it thus The Romish Legends and not those onely but even the publicke service of that Church had made St. George just like to Perseus in the Poët in killing of a monstrous Dragon and freeing of a Lady sole Daughter to a King from his unmercifull crueltie Those stories also which reported of his Death and Martyrdome had in them as it might be thought many grosse and notable absurdities as that hee suffred under I know not what Dacianus King of Persia a Monarch that had under him no lesse than 70. tributarie Princes though others have it under the Emperour Diocletian this Dacianus being then President or as it were Proconsul Now being so that they agreed not with themselves and that there never was at or about that time a King of Persia of that name and greatnesse of command nor any such like action to bee found in true antiquitie as his encounter with the Dragon This might occasion and not without good reason that the whole Historie became suspected and therefore that S. George might fairely be dismissed out of the Calendar Adde unto this that shamefull libertie which the Man of Rome had tooke unto himselfe of Canonizing Saints and ordering the dignities and powers of Heaven and that profuse and lavish prodigalitie wherewith hee did conferre the divinest honours on unworthy persons and sometimes such as had no beeing and wee shall quickly see that Calvin had some reason why hee reputed our St. George among his Counterfeits or Larva's though as before I said it did not please him to expresse it These are as I conceive it the reasons of especiall moment and these we can as easily conjure downe as we rais'd them up 2 And first not to say any thing of that arrogant libertie assum'd by them of Rome in making Saints nor of those many Ceremonies which they use in that solemnitie both of them borrowed from that so famous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of heathen Rome whereby their Emperours were inroll'd among their Gods not to say any thing of these it is not to bee question'd but that the Church of Rome hath beene exceeding prodigall of that greatest and most heavenly honour Wee know indeed that innocent and pious Christianity in the first times registred those as Saints and those onely which had confessed their Faith in CHRIST even to the death and lost their Lives in testimony of a good Conscience or else had otherwise nobly deserv'd of their common Mother by their paines in writing or assiduitie in Preaching in the defence of Sacred truth against the growth of Heresie But afterwards the Church of Rome advanced into the roome of Christ and equall in her owne conceit unto all that was called God if not above proclaim'd them also to bee Saints which had contested in her quarrels how unjust and treacherous soever So that the most rebellious sort of Subjects became at last most capable of this high Honour the greatest
putting his Lady Alexandra to the sword but then it hath no reference unto our Martyr who had not any intercourse with the affaires of that tumultuous City We therefore must conceive it that under this Cloud and Parable the Arians have involv'd the state of Alexandria under George their Byshop A City which he found devoted to the memorie of their godly Prelate Athanasius and therefore dead to him and to the Arian party This City he restor'd as they would have us thinke unto a right and lively faith by his continuall prayers and preaching A City which when himselfe was by the fury of the people ledde unto his death he boldly comforted and establish'd in the grounds of saving knowledge so farre that for Religions sake they were even ready to render up their lives and to suffer with him The first of these reflects upon the Fable as it is related by Nicephorus the later as it is intimated in the words of Bede As for the execution done upon that Ladie in the report of Metaphrastes it hath relation questionlesse to that great wrath conceiv'd against this Citie by Iulian the Apostata for their tumultuous killing of their Byshop whom he greatly favour'd A wrath so deepely rooted that had hee come with life and honour from his Persian expedition hee might perhaps have turn'd his forces upon them 8 This I conceive to be the meaning of the Arian Legends in this passage wherein as also in the former I could have gladly wish'd that those who have delivered to us the lives and stories of the Saints had sav'd me harmelesse from the least occasion of conjecture I meane if those which have committed unto memory the sacred Monuments of the Christian Church had not so mingled truth with falshood light with darknesse unwarrantable Tales with Stories undeniable and in a word confounded as it were into one masse the Temple of the living God with Idols It therefore was an excellent caveat of Melchior Canus to his Historian that he should neyther canvasse over idle Pamphlets nor give beleefe to old wives Fables Nec prius lecta auditave describat quà mea prudenti atque accurato iudicio expenderet ac seligeret nor put downe any thing into the body of his History before he had examined it whether or no it were agreeable to truth For the defect of which both judgment in the choice and industrie in the examining as he doth seeme to touch a little at Beda in his English Historie and Gregorie in his Dialogues so doth hee fall more freely on Vincentius and on Antoninus Florentinus Vtrumque horum non tam dedisse operam ut res veraâ— certasque describerent quâ—m ne nihil omnino praeterirent quod scriptum in schedulis qubuslibet reperiretur It seemes saith he to bee the chiefe designe of those two Authors not so much to register things true and certaine as not to leave out any thing which they had seene recorded As for Iacobus in his Legend wherein the Arian fable of the Magitian Athanasius and that old weather-beaten fiction of the Dragon are made up together we may affirme with reason that hee concluded with himselfe to set downe nothing faithfully in the whole Storie of St. George but his name and Country CHAP. III. 1 A proposition of the two contrary opinions 2 Calvin the first that ever bid defiance to St. George 3 Melanchthon mis-reported by the Papists 4 Calvins opinion in it by whom seconded 5 Saint George by whom first made an Arian Byshop 6 The principall abettours of this last opinion 7 No enemie more dangerous to the Truth than a great mans errour 8 An examination of the Arguments drawne from the Canon of Pope Gelasius 9 And the Authority of Cardinall Baronius 1 THus have we shewne how St. George hath suffered even a second Persecution how he is made a Martyr not in his person onely but in his History Yet all that hath beene spoken of him hitherto is but an easie Purgatorie in reference to that Hell which is to follow For if the Legend did belye him it onely was as they conceiv'd it to his greater credit or if the Arians mingled any of their leaven with his storie it was to keepe alive in him the memory of a stout Champion of their owne to shrowd him under the protection of our blessed Martyr But now St. George must eyther poast away unto the Land of Faeries and there remaine for ever with other the Chimaeras of an idle head or which is worse be layed for all eternitie in the pit of horrour with Heretickes and Atheists The onely favour which this our curious and quicke-sighted age can possibly vouchsafe him is to affirme it by his friends that he had never any being on the earth for if he stand to that it is concluded by his enemies that without hope of Bayle or any mercie of mainprise he must be in Hell Durus est hic sermo This is a hard saying who can beare it 2 And first beginning with those enemies of his which are most favourable to him wee find how they resolve it that there was never any such man as St. George the Martyr I say which are most favourable for as it is farre better to be well than simply to be so is it a more fortunate and blessed state not to be at all than to bee alwayes miserable A founder this opinion had of as large abilities as ever the French Church enioy'd since the time it enjoyed him So saith incomparable Hooker A man whose bare assertion is by some thought of greater credit than proofes and reason in an other But we that are not sworne unto him exempt him not from possibility of errour This were not to crie downe the pretended priviledge of St. Peters Chaire the cause of so much mischiefe in Christian Church but to translate it to Geneva Hee in his third booke of the Institutes of Christian Religion doth justly and with good reason taxe the Papists for attributing to the Saints those honours which are due onely unto CHRIST In which abuse saith he they have so farre proceeded that now our Saviours Intercession is conceiv'd unprofitable unlesse Hippolitus or George or such like counterfeits concurre with him Nil eos Christo reliquum facere qui pro nihilo ducunt eius intercessionem nisi accedant Georgius aut Hippolitus aut similes larvae So he and this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great deale of resolution in a litle Language Now lest we should mistake our selves in this word Larva the learned Doctor Raynolds tells us that his meaning in it is Georgium similesque nunquam extitisse that neyther George nor other Saints of that condition had ever any being And this construction he affirmes out of Canisius the Iesuite in his fifth Booke de Maria Virgin where he upbraids it unto Luther Calvin and Melanchthon that they had left St. George no place nor roome in nature Certè Canisius
those stories to bee true because of many certaine truthes than reckon them as false because of some suspected falshoods which are noted in them 8 For proofe of which and that the intermixture of vaine fables ought not to bee a prejudice to the truth of storie we cannot meet with more faire instances than here at home Polydore tells us that the British Bards and Chroniclers had made their Arthur not much unlike Orlando one of the twelue Peeres so much talk'd of the stories of them both equally fabulous and foolish De hoc Arthuro propter ingentes pariter corporis vires atque animi virtutes posteritas ea ferme praedicavit quae de Rolando memoriâ nostrâ apud Italos decantantur And to that purpose Malmesbury Hic ille est Arthurus de quo Britonum nugae hodicque delirant Caxton hath made a volume of his noble Acts and of the Acts of his so memorated Knights of the Round Table collected out of all the vaine reports which the world made of him And in the Spanish Romances it is delivered that after his great battaile fought with Mordred he was turned into a Crow and that hee is expected daily by his people and that for this cause England is so full of Crowes it beeing of a truth say they that since that time no Englishmen durst ever kill them What then Shall wee conclude that therefore there is nothing true of Arthur that therefore there was no such man This were to vilifie the credit of our best Historians who tell us of twelve notable and famous overthrowes which he gave the Saxons This were to frustrate altogether that ample testimonie given of him by the Monke of Malmesbury aforesaid who calls him the support and stay of his expiring Nation Dignus plane saith he quem non fallaces sominarent fabulae sed veraces praedicarent historiae quippe qui labantem patriam diu sustinuerit infractasque civium mentes ad bellum acuerit The like may also be affirmed of Sr. Guy of Warwick whoÌ„ in our English Pamphlets we have made enamoured of a faire Ladie named Phillis for love of whoÌ„ or rather upon whose displeasure he became a Kt. adventurer famous in forreine Countries for his brave exployts against the enemies of our Religion not to say any thing of the Dun-Cow of Dunsmorâ—-heath and others of that nature And yet for certaine such a man as Guy there was a noble Champion of the English against their enemies the Danes and of eternall memorie for his fight and vanquishment of the Gyant Colebrond This Camden testifies and with him others of our Antiquaries no friends to fond traditions and ungrounded Fables Thus have they also dealt with Beavoyse Earle of Southampton at the comming in of the Normans Vir bellica laude florentissimus as Camden calls him A man of rare abilities in the arts of warre and one that gave the Normans a great overthrow in the battaâ—le of Cardiffe anno 1070. Yet looke upon him in those idle Rhythmes which are extant of him his many victories upon the Saracens his prosperous loves with the Lady Iosian the Soldans Daughter his fight with Ascapart and entertaining of him for his Page his good Horse Arundell from whence the ancient Castle of that name must neede be call'd so and other such like follies and then what shall we find in the whole storie but infinite absurdities So true is that of Camden Dum Monachi fabellis fictis commentitijs Beavoâ—ium hunc sudarunt celebrare fortissima eius facta crassis occultarunt tenebris And to this purpose Milles in the Catalogue of Honour This is that Beavoys of Southampton whose valour was so great that the Monks thought they could not extoll him sufficiently unlesse they besmeared his praises with fictions and Fables 9 As litle able are the vaine dreames and practises of Heretickes to beare downe the truth as are the fictions of the Legendaries or such traditions as have found acceptance with the vulgar It is conceived that Peters travailes or the Itinerarium Petri ascribed to Clement was composed by Heretickes certaine it is that it is branded in Gelasius Canon for Apocryphall Yet questionlesse this were an Argument not worthy any answere but contempt and laughter should any hence inferre that therefore St. Peter never cross'd any Seas or made any journeys for the inlargement of the Faith Pope Leo the first and best of that roaring name was by the Arians said to favour their opinions and in the golden Legend it is reported of him that indeed he was inclined at least unto that partie but I should reckon him of more Faith than Charitie that would beleeve it on such weake and faultie grounds In like manner The Fathers of the sixt Councell of Carthage among whom was Saint Austin found by much industrie and search that they of Rome for the advancement of their pride and affected tyranny had falsifyed the Canons of the great Councell held at Nice Should therefore they have publikely abjur'd that famous Councell Or judge the whole Hereticall because one passage of it was corrupted This had beene such a manner of proceeding as might have made those Reverend Fathers for ever odious and their memories condemned in all publike monuments They therefore made enquirie at Alexandria and Constantinople for the true Canons of that Councell and having found them out without impeaching in the least manner the honor of that famous Synod return'd such answer to the Pope as his fact deserved This also ought to bee our method in the examining of Stories not to suspect and much lesse to condemne the whole because of some one part corrupted and unsavorie but rather to cut off the part infected and to cast it from us ne pars sincera trahatur that so it be no prejudice or danger to the rest of it which continueth sound So shall wee perfectly make good that saying of St. Paul commended to us in this present businesse by Gelasius viz. Omnia probate c. Try all things but hold fast that onely which is good 10 To draw unto an end and to apply this whole discourse unto the present argument wee conclude it thus Wee grant St. Longesse and St. Loy to bee false and counterfeit not to say any thing of those who are suspected onely but not so well convicted of the like intrusion and that the Pope hath beene too prodigâ—ll of those Celestiall honours of which hee hath usurped a disposing power But this as I conceive it no prejudice unto St George who was acknowledg'd for a Saint before the Popes usurped that lawlesse power of doing any thing in Heaven before those Counterfeits had any place in the common Calendar Wee grant that many of the lives of Saints are fabulously and vainely written and that scarce any of that sacred company hath suffered more extreamely in the ordinary Legends than our blessed Martyr But yet wee cannot yeild that therefore there was no such
man because his Actes are misreported Were this an argument of force wee must not onely empty Heaven of many of its Saints but must correct our Chronicles and raze out many of those famous Princes which are mentioned in them How much more equall is the resolution of Du Moulin touching St. Francis of Assise in Italie the Founder of the Friers-Minors called vulgarly Franciscans which is that hee doth verily beleeve that such a man there was though in his Legend many things are attributed to him voyd of sense Nous ne doutoùs point que Francoys d' Assise inventeur et patron de l'ordre des Cordeliers so the French call them n' ait esâ—é Mais sa Legende et les Chroniques de St. Francoys lui attribuent mille actions destitues de sens commun So hee and these his words are next in order unto those where hee accuseth our St George of Arianisme from which by this his owne rule and so soone did he forget himselfe we may most easily acquite him And last of all wee grant that many of the lives of Saints have beene abused by Heretickes and that St. George hath suffered from them in his Historie as much as any but yet we must not yeild that therefore that is onely true which Heretickes have trifled of him It is confessed by Doctor Reynolds one of the greatest adversaries of St. George that many of the Saints had beene thus injured and that Gelasius therefore might more easily bee couzened in giving credit to the Storie of this our Martyr At verò progressu temporis passio Georgij à sectatoribus eius composita multos sic fefellit vt Gelasius etiam tametsi fraudem hanc olfaceret ipsum putaret nihil ominus sanctum fuisse Martyrem nec sine probabili ratione quandoquidem aliorum qui veri Sancti extitissent passiones similem in modum ab haereticis mendaciter scriptae essent If so then eyther was Gelasius a very dunce that could not see so farre into the couzinage of his owne times as Doctor Reynolds or else St. George was most unluckie to have his Storie onely question'd and all the rest no lesse suspected passe for currant CHAP. V. 1 Vndoubted Truths the ground of fabulous reports 2 The priviledge of two French Churches and the Fables thence arising 3 The Barons case of Gascoyne 4 St. Georges killing of the Dragon how farre it may bee iustified 5 The Portraiture of Constantine 6 The Order of the Dragon and of St. Michael 7 St. George how pictured commonly and what it signifieth 8 The memorable storie of St. Georges Horse 9 The picture of St. George how made a Fable and by whom 10 The entertainment of it in the Church of Rome 11 The Reformation of the Missall 12 A finall answere to all those on the part of Calvin 1 THus haue we made reply to such generall arguments as might bee urged on the behalfe of Calvin against the Story of St. George as namely the vaine and fabulous tales which are frequent of him and extant in his Legend the dreames and practises of heriticks by which the lives of Saints haue beene corrupted and that unlawfull power which they of Rome haue so abused in filling of the Calendar with wicked men and fained persons We next descend to that particular exception which is made against him viz. That so much celebrated act of his encounter with the Dragon which being not uppon record in true antiquitie hath made some thinke that Perseus in the Poet hath onely chang'd his name and by the change possess'd a place among the Saints To this wee have already answered in the generall and in particular reply That true indeed it is no such exploit of his and the encounter with the Dragon is to bee found in true antiquitie Yet wee must say withall that true antiquitie doth give us such a ground of this report as may perhaps a little qualifie the boldnesse of the Legendarie though not quite excuse it The tale of Perseus hath some good ground in truth of Storie although expressed Poetically and with liberall additions so also hath the Fable of Medusa and her inchanting haires than which almost nothing lesse probable What fiction more unlikely than the tale of Phaëton and that great conflagration of the world by his presumptuous undertaking of his fathers Chariot Yet Bergomensis other Authors of good credit doe report That under an Egyptian King so called a great part of the world was destroyed by Fire and such a generall heate and drowth uppon the rest Vt neque quas posset terris inducere nubes Tunc habuit nec quos coelo dimitteret imbres That Iove for wasted clouds did seeke in vaine To shade or coole the scorched earth with raine In like manner as dealt the ancient Poets with such passages of Storie as were most serviceable to their purpose So dealt the Legendaries which are Church-Poets with the lives and historie of the Saints Some thing there was which they had heard of which might occasion them to ramble from the truth and please themselves in their owne inventions wherein as commonly the people reported fabulously of true matters so they the Legendaries extoll'd those fables as a truth 2 Two fairer instances of which wee can hardly meet with than two especiall priviledges of two Churches in the realme of France and the vaine Fables thence arising At the first entrance of a new Byshop into the Byshopricke of Orleans he hath a priviledge of setting free any one prisoner of the Gaole for what great crime soever he doth stand committed A priviledge conferr'd upon them as Du Chesne hath told us first in the person of St. Aignan once Byshop of this City for his exceeding paines and care in the defence thereof against Attila the Hunne But if we will beleeve the people and the ordinarie Fables which are grounded on it we must take it thus At the first entrance of St. Aignan into the Towne he made request to Agrippinus then Governour that for his sake hee would set open all the Gaoles and release the Prisoners Vt omnes quos pro varijs criminibus poenalis carcer detinebat inclusos insui introitus gratiam redderet absolutos saith the latter storie Vpon deniall of this suite a stone falls presently upon his head from whence none knew but as it was concev'd from Heaven wounded and terrified wherewith he grants the Byshop his desire is suddainely made whole and ever since the Custome hath continued in full force and vertue In like sort the selfe same Priviledge was granted by King Dagobert the first he began his reigne anno 632. unto the Canons of the Church of Nostre Dame in Roan of Normandy and since confirmed by his successors A priviledge confirm'd upon them as that age and the rest that followed were prone to superstitious bounties in memory of St. Romanus whose Festivall is heere observ'd with all solemnitie upon the 23. day
to that Heresie than any other of their fellow-names or neigbour Nations So truely said Lactantius Adeo argumenta ex absurdo petita ineptos habent exitus But of this argument if so it may be call'd a litle is sufficient 12 To end this tedious disputation for I will borrow both the resolution and the words of Sir Walter Raleigh in a case of equall controversie I hold it a sure profe in examination of such opinions as have once gotten the credit of being generall so to deale as Pacuvius did in Capua with the multitude finding them desirous to put all the Senators to death He locked the Senators up in the State-house and offered their lives to the peoples mercy obtaining first thus much that none of them should perish before the Commonalty had elected a better in his place As fast as any name was read all of them cryed out instantly Let him die but in the substituting of another some notorious vice of the person or basenesse of his condition or insufficiencie of his qualitie made each new one that was offered to be rejected So that finding the worse and lesse choyce the further and the more they sought it was finally agreed that the old ones should be kept for lacke of better To which the resolution of an English-man we will adjoyne this Caveat of a Spaniard Sine ergo plebem probabilissimam opinionem praesertim quae penitus insedit inveteravit cum maioribus suis retinere 13 Thus have we done our parts in the defence of St. George's Historie so farre as it concern'd the beating downe of that strong opposition which was made against him Our next care is to justifie his story out of such monuments of Learning and Antiquitie as may for ever keepe it free and fearlesse of the like assaults In which I have directed my discourse according to the observation of Lactantius and the method of the Ancients The observation of Lactantius that in the search of knowledge and pursuit of wisdome we first doe labour to discover that which is false and after to instruct our selves in that which is the truth Primus sapientiae gradus est falsa intelligere secundus vera cognoscere And as his observation was so also was his method For in his first of Institutions having detected the vanitie of the Gentiles in their Idolatries and impious worship of such a Heard of GODS in the foure last hee leades them in the way of Truth the way of perfect Knowledge and true Religion This also is Saint AVSTINS method in his most excellent worke De civitate Dei a worke of which wee may affirme that all the treasures of Learning both humaine and divine are amassed in it Their reason is ut refutatis ijs quae veritati videntur obstare rectiùs asserere possimus veram religionem Dei cultum This also is the method of ARISTOTLE of AQVINAS and of whom not And thus it also is in our present businesse Wee have already satisfied such arguments as were made against us and thereby overthrowne those Workes and Ramparts raiz'd by our Adversaries Wee now proceed to strengthen and confirme our owne Or else wee may bee justly subject to that scoffe which by the same LACTANTIVS is put uppon ARCESILAS Nae rectè hic aliorum sustulit disciplinas sed non rectè fundavit suam Which that wee may the better doe wee will repose our selves a little till wee have taken out Commission for the examination of Witnesses on Saint GEORGE'S side Concluding heere the first and most adventurous Part of this Discourse this partem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they use to call it The end of the first Part. THE HISTORIE OF St. GEORGE asserted c. The Second Part. CHAP. I. 1 The Name and Etymologie of GEORGE 2 The Storie of St. George by Metaphrastes 3 The time of that Author and the reason of his Name 4 The opinion of him in the Greeke-Church 5 This Metaphrastes not the same with Simeon the Schoole-master 6 The Countrey Parentage and first fortunes of St. George 7 The State of the Roman Empire at that time and Persecution then beginning 8 The speech of George vnto the tyrants the torments which he suffered and his death 9 The manner of his death according to Frier Anselme and the English Storie 10 A reiection of the residue in Metaphrastes 11 Arguments Ab autoritate negativè of what credit in the Schooles 1 WEe are now come unto the latter part of St. George's Historie a part wherin wee shall finde many friends and few enemies for now wee are to deale with those that speake for us and will not sticke to justifie the Storie of this blessed Martyr upon their oathes But first wee will dilate a little on his Name lest else mistaking there wee may perchance have all our processe overthrowne and this wee will the rather because the name doth seeme to carry with it the Osse or Omen of good lucke and in a manner did presage him for a Martyr The Name of GEORGE not to proceed in it more Grammatically is originally Greeke derived ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is To till the Earth or to play the Plough-man It signifieth an Husband-man and therefore Suidas doth expound the name by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Tiller or labourer of the Earth So Camden in his Remaines George gr Husband-man the same with Agricola and thereunto the famous Spencer thus alludeth in the wordes before recited There thee a Plough-man all unweeting found As hee his toyle some teame that way did guide And brought thee up in Plough-mans state to bide Whereof GEORGOS hee thee gave to Name c. To this the learned Doctor Reynolds hath alluded also as before I noted where hee informes us That all true Christian people Quos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dei appellat Apostolus 1. Cor. 3. whom the Apostle calls GODS Husbandrie ought to make warre against the Dragon mention'd in the Apocalypse But this allusion or conceit noted before him by George Wicelius in these wordes Esto tu quicunq censeris Christianus Georgius idque reipsa Pater enim Coelestis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est inquit Evangelista Nos huius mystici Agricolae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sumus sicut ait Apostolus Bee thou saith hee whoever thou art that art called a Christian be thou a GEORGE and not in Name onely but in very deed For as wee have it in the Gospell Our heavenly Father is an Husbandman And wee as the Apostle tels us are Gods husbandry 2 But of the Name inough The Storie of our Martyr wee have made choyce to borrow out of Simeon Metaphrastes For notwithstanding that wee find the Historie set downe at large by others of the later times and that not few of those that went before him both in time and learning have touch'd at it yet wee have taken him to speake first for us to open as it were
where dissembled adventur'd boldly to cōfesse the name of GOD to whom it pleas'd the Lord to give so much of Heavenly grace that he not onely scorn'd the tyrants but contemned their torments This I find cyted by Hermanus Schedel in his Chronica Chronicorum and out of him by Bergomensis since by Molanus jn his Annotations upon Vsuards Martyrologie Iacobus de Voragine relyeth also in one passage on the authority of Ambrose so doth Vincentius and Antoninus Florentinus The treatise out of which his testimonie is avouch'd is by them call'd Liber praefationum not now extant Wicelius who doth also build on the authoritie of this Reverend Father saith that the booke is long since perish'd so perish'd as it seems that there is nothing left of it but the name and some scattered remnants Whether St. Ambrose were or not the Author of that treatise I cannot easily determine because in Possevin I find no mention of this tract who yet hath tooke upon him to marshall all the Workes of that excellent man even those also which are lost Yet on the other side his testimony vouch'd by Authors of that antiquity as those before recyted assure mee at the least so farre that such a worke was in their times receiv'd as his Adde unto this that Vossius reckoneth him with the Latine Historians in his late booke of that argument as having writ the lives of many of the Saints of Theodora namely of St. Celsus and Nazarius of St. Gervase and Protasius and as the Papists say of Agnes Which being so I must crave longer time before I shall reject these words ascribed unto him or not esteeme them true and worthy to be credited though not so fully as to build upon them altogether 8 But of our next witnesse there is lesse doubt and a larger testimonie though in his words we meet with somewhat which requires a Commentarie A witnesse which hath beene examined on the adverse part already where he was able to say nothing I meane Gelasius Pope of Rome and his so memorated Canon This Pope began his Papacie Anno 492. and dyed in 96. some foure yeares after About his time and long before it the Heretickes had busily employed themselves to falsifie the publike Acts and writings of the Church w ch thing they had effected so according to their wish that now it was high time to have a carefull eye upon them or else it may be they might have growne too potent to be easily suppress'd For this cause Pope GELASIUS having assembled 72. of his neighbour Prelates unto Rome did then and there with their advise and by their diligent assistance contrive a Catalogue of all such dangerous writings as were thought fit to be rejected giving to those which they accounted true orthodoxe the place and honour due unto them Which Canon since it is alleaged against us thereby to overthrow the History of our St. GEORGE we will in this place bring into the open view as much of it as concernes the businesse now in hand that so we may encounter them with their owne weapons The Canon is as followeth Gesta S. Martyrum qui multiplicibus tormentorum cruciatibus mirabilibus confessionum triumphis irradiant quis ita esse Catholicorum dubitet maiora eos in agonibus esse perpessos nec suis viribus sed dei gratia adiutorio universa tolerasse Sed ideo secundùm consuetudinem antiquam singulari cautela in Sancta Rom. Ecclesia non leguntur quia eorum qui scripsere nomina penitus ignorantur ab infidelibus idiotis superfluè vel minus aptè quam rei ordo fuerit scripta esse putantur Sicut cuiusdam Quiriaci Iulittae matris eius sicut Georgij aliorumque passiones huiusmodi quae ab haereticis perhibentur conscriptae propter quod ut dictum est ne vel levius subsannandi occasio oriretur in S. Romana Ecclesiâ non leguntur No◠tamen cum praedicta Ecclesia omnes Martyres atque eorum gloriosos agones qui Deo magis quam hominibus noti sunt cum omni devotione veneramur So farre the very words and letters of the Canon 9 By this it doth appeare that as the Saints in generall so also particularly St. GEORGE had beene abused and counterfeited in his Story in the close of the same Canon therefore it is reckon'd as Apochryphall as were a great many others of the same temper The reason why it was so reckon'd is by our latter writers diversly related Raphael Volaterran makes it to bee rejected onely so much of it as concernes St. Georges combat with the Dragon which also is assign'd by Antoninus amongst other causes but by neither rightly For in those times and many hundred yeares behind them the fable of the Dragon was not so much as thought of in the Church Christian. Iacobus de Voragine more nearely to the truth Ex eo quòd Martyrium eius certam relationem non habet because the storie of his death is told us in most perplext and uncertaine manner In Calendario n. Bedae c. For in the Calendar of Bede we find saith he that he was martyred in Diospolis a Towne of Persia in others that he lyeth buried in Diospolis not farre from Ioppe In some that he did suffer under Diocletian and Maximinian Emperours in others under Diocletian King of the Persians no lesse than 70. tributarie Kings being in presence Somewhat I say of this was rightly aym'd at by this blind archer but Bede is brought in by him somewhat too early as beeing a Post-natus scarce borne within two centuries of yeares succeeding But what need more conjectures or what use indeed is there of any since the same Canon which hath decreed the History of George then extant to be Apocryphall hath also told us that it was generally beleev'd to have beene writ by Hereticks This is inough to make the History of any S. suspected Apocryphall and that it was so written may easily appeare by that which was related in it touching Athanasius and the Empresse Alexandra not to omit that terrible massacre which by a cheating tricke he made of many of the people branded by ANTONINUS as before we noted 10 Hitherto have we spoken of GELASIUS Canon and nothing all this while which may redound from thence to St. GEORGES credit Nothing indeed in that which hath beene spoken hitherto because we were to lay our ground before we rais'd our building But that now done and the full meaning of the Canon duely pondered it will appeare for certaine that though Gelasius taxed the storie of St. GEORGE as dangerous and Apocryphall yet he hath done the Saint himselfe all due respects and confirm'd him to us This I did note before ou◠of the words of Bellarmine in a reply to Dr. Boys who needs would have both Bellarmine and Pope Gelasius speake for him in making our St. GEORGE to be a meere Chimaera or thing of nothing
which God knowes they never meant This I say we did note before from Bellarmine but now we note it out of Gelasius himselfe and the very letter of his Canon For having told us that the actions of many of the Saints were writ by Infidels or rather Misbeleevers and in particular that the passion of St. GEORGE was compos'd by Heretickes hee states it thus that notwithstanding this he and the Church with him did reverence all those sacred Martyrs and their glorious sufferings for the Truth knowne better unto God than any of his people Nos tamen cum praedicta Ecclesia omnes Martyres atque eorum gloriosos agones qui Deo magis quam hominibus noti sunt cum omni devotione veneramur So saith Gelasius So saith Gelasius and that we doe not mis-report his meaning is easie to be seene by the concurrent suffrages of Beda Antoninus Hermannus Schedell Bergomensis Notgerus and Vsuardus all which as we shall see in the next Chapter doe so conceive it But we might well have say'd this labour For Doctor Reynolds also cannot but acknowledge that without further question Gelasius did beleeve Saint GEORGE to be an holy Martyr although hee found the storie had beene writ by Heretickes Gelasius etiam tamet si fraudem hanc olfaceret ipsum putabat in hilominus sanctum fuisse Martyrem If so then I perswade my selfe it were much safer to give credit to Gelasius who liv'd so neere the time of St. GEORGES suffering than any Doctor of what eminent ranke soever above a thousand yeares below him To bring the matter neerer home Gelasius in that Canon hath reckoned as Apocryphall the Itinerarie of St. Peter the Actes of Paul and Thecla the Recantation of Adam Origen and Cyprian and many others What then Shall therefore wee conclude that Peter never travail'd or that there never was a woman of the name of Thecla or that St. Cyprian or Origen or Adam never recanted their impieties and errours Nay we conclude from hence that questionlesse St. George is to be reckon'd as a Martyr because the storie onely is condemn'd and not the Saint just as we may resolve that there was such a noble Prince as Arthur because the Monke of Malmesburie hath told us how much his famous deeds were over-acted by his Country men the Brittons 11 For certainly had there beene any meaning in Gelasius to have exploded the Martyr together with his History he might as easily have done it as have spoke the word Hee might I say have done it with as much ease as have spoke the word by adding onely this of Doctor Reynolds to the Canon Fuit enim hic Georgius homo improbus haereticus Arianus This had for ever beene enough to have made his memory as odious as his Storie was suspected and to have razed his name not onely out of the publicke Calendar but out of the good opinion of all honest men Nor is it to be thought that George the Arian Hereticke could bee so cunningly inserted into the Calendar and passe so currantly among the Saints so soone upon his most deserv'd though cruell execution the Church especially keeping an eye so watchfull over them and their designes that all their practises were assoone brought to light almost as they were conceiv'd For froÌ„ the death of George unto the Popedome of Gelasius are but 130. yeares or thereabouts too scant a time to have his Villanies forgotten and himselfe reputed for a Martyr Likely indeed it is that if the Arians had prevail'd they would have given their George a principall habitatiion in the Heaven of glories above Eusebius of Nicodemia or Maris or Theognis and perhaps next unto their founder Arius himelfe But that the Christian Church should in so short and small a space ranke him among the Saints this I can hardly be perswaded unlesse perchance we may beleeve that in the same times she could condemne the Heresie and adore the Heretickes I know it was a frequent custome with the ancient Romans to honour and adore the Gods of those many nations which themselves had vanquish'd Religionibus servire victis captivas eas post victorias adorare as Octavius in the Dialogue But this they did not on mistake or any couzinage put upon them by the vanquish'd Nations No. It was onely on a superstitious conceit that having in their Citie all the GODS whose people they subdued and placing them in their most rich and sumptuous Temples they might by their assistance the better bring the residue of the world under their subjection Sic dum universarum gentium sacra suscipiunt etiam regnare meruerunt So saith Cecilius in the same Author Not to say more I thinke it as impossible altogether that in so small a tract of time if at all ever the Arian George should bee reputed for a Saint amongst the Orthodoxe Professours now victorious as that our Reverend Praelates Cramner Latimer and Ridley should in an equall space of time bee taken into the Roman Martyrologies or that their Henry Garnet Iames Clement or Nicholas Sanders by them honoured should be accounted Martyrs in the Churches Protestant in case that eyther side prevaile and suppresse the other 12 To bring this Chapter to an end it is the last of Doctor Reynolds two Conclusions Nullius Georgij Cappadocis ut Martyris nisi Ariani mentionem ab ullo idoneo auto re fieri that never any GEORGE of Cappadocia was reputed as a Martyr in any Author worthy credit but George the Arian In generall answer to which generall chalenge I have thought good before we further labour in particular proofes to draw together in a Table the names of all such Authors cited in this worke by all of which St. GEORGE is reckoned as a Martyr by many of them said to be of Cappadocia Most of them I perswade my selfe worthy of credit and the ornament of the age in which they lived Yet lest their affirmaâ—â—â— should be question'd and controu'ld by our choycer judgments I have tooke care to mingle with them such famous Princes and Prelates celebrated for their goodnesse as have done him publicke honours all which I have digested according to their severall times and ages in the forme that followeth The Catalogue 374 SAint Ambrose if at the least the worke be his 492 Gelasius Pope of Rome 515 Childebertus R. Francorum 527 Iustinianus Imp. Procopius Caesariensis Sidonius Archbyshop of Mentz 570 Venantius Fortunatus 596 Gregorius Turonensis 600 Greg. 1. Pont. Rom. 660 Hildericus R. Austrasiae 698 Cunibertus R. Longobard 730 Beda Venerabilis 752 Zacharias Pont. Rom. 774 Paulus Diaconus 812 Vsuardus Monachus 835 Rabanus Maurus 837 Aimonius Monachus 850 Simeon Metaphrastes 912 Notgerus Monachus 963 Nicephorus Phocas Imp. Const. 975 Tribunus Mevius D. Venetorum 996 Hedinge Ducissa Bavariae 1005 Henr. 2. Imp. Germ. 1043 Ioh. Euchaites Ep. Orient 1070 Geo. Cedrenus 1074 Rob. D' Oyley nob Anglus 1098 Godfrey of Bouillon 1120 Robertus Monach.
Voragine and Antoninus The yeare thereof limited more particularly by the Fasciculus temporum ad ann 291. and by Oraeus to the yeare 289. to which wee will adjoyne Baronius who places it in his Annals and so reports it in his Annot. on the Calendar ad ann 290. A difference not observeable And last of all the day thereof assigned upon the 23. of Aprill 9. Kal. Maij. by Venerable Bede Rabanus and Notgerus as also by Vincentius and Antoninus and by the Martyrologies both Greeke and Latine not yet produced the manner of his death being affirmed also by the loosing of his head by Metaphrastes Bede Rabanus and Notgerus by Vincentius de Voragine Nicephorus Antoninus Schedell and Bergomensis Which being so wee may the better and with more justice apply the old complaint of Canus to the businesse now in hand Si namque in duorum ore vel trium firmum stat omne verbum cur adversus hanc legenâ— plurimis testibus rem tandem olim gestam contestantibus fidem Theologus abnegabit Since GOD saith he hath told us that out of the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word shall be established with what pretence of reason may a Divine oppose this Law and not give credit unto many witnesses affirming all together the same Historie For our parts so confident are we that our cause is just and true that if the adversaries of St. GEORGE are able to produce one single testimonie out of any ancient Author or out of any Author borne before the time of CALVIN to make good their affirmavit we will forsake our colours and revolt to them But I am bold to say they cannot For had the thing beene possible the learned Doctor Reynolds who spared no labour in the search would have produced it CHAP. IIII. 1 Foure severall wayes used by the Church to keepe alive the memory of the Martyrs 2 The way of Martyrologies how ancient 3 The Roman Martyrologie and what it testifieth of St. George 4 Natale what it is in the construction of the Church 5 The testimonie given vnto St. George in the Greeke Church 6 St. George why called Tropaeophorus 7 Commemoration of the Dead how used in the Church primitive 8 The depravation of the ancient use of it in the Church of Rome 9 The publike service of that Church on St. Georges day 10 Arguments drawne from the Church service of what validitie 11 Saint George continually famous in the Church Christian. 12 And among the Turkes 1 THus have we drawne together the suffrages of such which eyther positively have affirmed or Historically related any thing of St. George the Martyr In which wee finde sufficient proofe as of his Country so of the time and day and manner of his death and that so punctually so agreeably both to their foreman and themselves that never any Iurie agreed bettâ—r on a Verdict This done we now addresse our selves to make inquiry of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The pillar and the ground of Truth as Saint Paul calls it to learne of her what she hath practically done in St. Georges honour For to the positive affirmations of some men in St. Georges cause and the historicall relations of some others if wee can also get the countenance and practise of the Church wee then may have some good assurance that no man will hereafter stirre against us Now in the practise of the Church we may observe foure wayes or courses whereby she hath continually endeavoured to keepe alive the memory of the blessed Martyrs in none of which she hath beene wanting such is her tender care and respect of him unto our St. George The first of these is the common Martyrologie or Calendar in which their Names and Passion briefly but unto all eternity are registred The second is by giving them some speciall place in her publicke Liturgies The third by recollecting up their Reliques and laying them with all due honour in some place fit for them And last of all the calling of such Temples by the names of these most blessed Spirits which she had solemnely erected to GODS speciall service and Consecrated to his honour How much the Church hath done in all and every one of these to keepe the memory of Saint GEORGE the Martyr alive and flourishing wee shall best see by taking of them every one in their severall Order and speaking of them in particulars 2 Beginning with the first wee finde it on Record in Tullie that in the very first beginnings of the Roman State it was the Office of the chiefe Priest or Pontifex Max. to keepe a Register of all publike occurrences and to preserve them in some tables openly that so the people might peruse them Ab initio rerum Rom. saith he usque ad Publ. Mutium Pont. Max. res omnes singulorum annorum mandabat literis Pontifex Max. efferebatque in album proponebatque tabulam domi potestas ut esset populo cognoscendi Which Office discontinued in the time of Publ. Mutius was afterwards reviv'd by Iulius Caesar in his first Consulship being at that time chiefe Byshop of the Romans An institution of especial use service in that state as also in others there being not a greater spurre to vertue and Heroick undertakings than an assurance that the Fame of our atchievments well-deserving shall not be buried in the same grave with us perish w th our bodies For certainly the care both to live vertuously and if occasion so require to dye noblely must needs be much augmented in the minds of good and honest men when once they know that their performings shall not be folded up in silence but openly presented to the eyes and eares of all the people Vpon which grounds it was the custome of the faithfull in the first times and specially of those which were for place and power moâ—â— eminent amongst them to commit to publike memory the sufferings of all them which had confess'd the faith of CHRIST in the midst of tortures and continued constant in it even unto the death Not that they thought to adde thereby unto their glories who now were glorious in the Heavens but by preserving in continuall remembrance their infinite indurances for the truth and testimony of Religion to make the remnant of Gods people yet alive more apt to run that course and so to runne it that at the last they might attaine an equall guerdon Of which kinde of memoriall or publike Register is the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna extant in the fourth booke of Eusebius Historie that of the Lugdunenses and Viennoys in the fifth and lastly that also of Dionysius Byshop of Alexandria in the sixth and seaventh of the same Author 3 Of this kinde specially I meane in reference to the first times of Christian Religion were the two publike Martyrologies of the Greeke and Latine Churches The first originall of which not to looke further and perhaps fare worse may be referr'd most probably
St. GEORGE thy blessed Martyr dost rejoyce our Soules grant we beseech thee that those benefits which by him we crave may by the favour of thy grace bee given unto us through IESVS CHRIST our Lord. The Epistle taken out in part out of the second unto Timothy and the 3. Chapt. Where the Apostle telleth him that he had knowne his doctrine manner of life purpose faith long suffering charitie patience Persecutions and afflictions which came unto him at Antioch at Iconium at Lystra out of all which the LORD delivered him c. The Gospell taken out of the 15. Chapt. of St. IOHN Ego sum vitis vera I am the true Vine c. The close of all is this after the whole Masse ended which they call the Postcommunion Supplices te rogamus omnipotens Deus ut quos tuis reficis sacramentis c. Almighty GOD we humbly beseech thee that we which are refresh'd by thy holy Sacraments may by the intercession of thy blessed Martyr George serve thee heereafter in all godly motions c. To which the Liturgie of the Church of Rome I will here adde a Collect of the old Missall See Vsum Sarum which piously interpreted hath nothing in it savouring of Superstition and is withall more proper to St. Georges storie Viz. Offerimus tibi Domine solenne sacrificium pro veneranda S. Georgij mart tui passione deprecantes clementiam tuam ut per haec S. S. mysteria antiqui hostis tentatamen te triumphante vincamus et aeternae remunerationis praemium te largiente sequamur We offer unto thee O LORD the solemne Sacrifice of praise and Thankesgiving for the death and passion of St. George thy Martyr beseeching thy divine clemencie that by these holy mysteries we may in thee subdue the manifold temptations of our old enemie the Divell and be rewarded by thy grace with life eternall The first of these two Prayers taken out of the Roman Missall I finde also in the Breviarie the Diurnum and the Officium B. Mariae Virginis so copious is that Church in the memoriall of our Martyr 10 I doubt not but it will be here objected that we are driven to hard shifts when wee are faine to repaire to Rome from thence to prove St. GEORGE'S Saint-ship This wee expect to heare of and are ready to reply that this is hardly worth objecting For here we draw no argument to prove how lawfully St. GEORGE may be invoked or that his intercession may be used for the more quicke dispatch of our affaires in the Court of Heaven Onely wee note from hence that anciently and in the purer times of the Roman Church St. GEORGE was constantly commemorated and in his proper course as a noble Martyr Vpon which ground which in it selfe is good and commendable if they have built out of their owne Wood and Hay and Stubble a dangerous and erronious practise not warrantable in the Church I hope without offence it may be lawfull for me or any else to make the profitablest use out of their errours and to verifie the truth and goodnesse of the ancient practise in this case out of the faultie and erroneous corruption of the present For I perswade my selfe that in points onely of Historicall faith wee may relie in part upon their publike Liturgies and that we may conclude that surely such a Saint there was as GEORGE or MAURICE or SEBASTIAN or the rest there honoured because I finde them in the Missall and the Breviarie no man of this or any age having as yet inform'd mee that they have lately beene inserted into the bookes of Common-Service Nay as in nature there must be first an habit before we can admit of any privation and that in things corrupted wee must suppose a true and reall being of that thing thus fallen into corruption so we may well inferre upon a view of the corruptions in their Liturgies that certainely there was some excellent use at first of such a ceremonie or such an institution how ever that the foule corruptions of the present have polluted and defiled it I would not wish me thinks an argument of more validitie to prove the act of kneeling at the Lords Supper to be of good Antiquitie in the Church of Christ than from the adoration of it or of the Hoste rather as they call it exacted in their Rituals which is no doubt a superstitious if not idolatrous corruption of that ancient and reverend use of Kneeling Nor would I choose a fairer way of disputation to justifie the honourable estate of the married Clergie against the clamours of the Papists than to returne upon them that in the publike service of the Church of Rome it is reputed commonly though falsly for a Sacrament which false conceit of theirs is a corruption onely of the just and pious meaning of the Fathers who therefore did extoll it in the highest measure the better to beate downe those Hereticks which had disgraced it More might be said in affirmation of this manner of proceeding had I now either place or leisure At this time only this that I should more relie in matters meerely Historicall of being upon the Liturgie of Rome which certainly is not contrived upon no other ground than lies and Fables than upon any mans bare word which saith the contrary or such weake arguments as are not able to conclude the matter controverted And so farre I dare goe with Canus conceive me still in matters of this qualitie Nullas huiusmodi rationes ab antiqua patrum traditione quam communis ecclesiae consuetudo in divin◠officio hymnis antiphonisque confirmavit potuisse me movere 11 Which being so and that St. GEORGE had anciently his proper time and place of Commemoration how ever now that laudable and pious custome bee degenerated we may affirme more confidently that he hath beene continually in especiall credit with the Church In the Greeke Church we find him on record in their publike Calendar where they have honoured him with the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the great Martyr Baronius tells us that this Saint is very famous in the Countries of Galatia In Galatia celebris fuit eiusdem Sancti memoria more generally Wicelius Celebritas D. Georgij apud Graecos prae caeteris perquam eximia est that he is honored more than any of the rest among the Grecians Ioh. Euchaites a Greeke Byshop hath given an honourable testimony of him and Cyrus Theodorus of whose time and qualitie I am yet to seeke hath plaid the Epigrammatist upon his portraiture cut in white stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the title hath it Adde hereunto Hierax one of great power in the Greeke Empire upon his reconciliation with Contacuzenus gave him in token of his future faith and loyaltie St. GEORGE his picture Imaginem praeclari Mart. Christi Georgij fidei suae sinceraeque erga Imperatorem voluntatis pignus quoddam dedit The thing related by the Emperour Contacuzenus
numeratum eoque nomine ab Ecclesia Rhegiensi erecta nominis eius titulo insignita Basilicae et die festo Ian. 17. honoratum c. It may be hence objected that all which we have spoken hitherto is of little value those honors having beene communicated even to Heretickes such as St. George is said to be by Doctor Reynolds To this we answere first that this was onely a particular Act of the nationall Church of France their Faustus never being received generally as St. George was in the Church-Catholique And therefore it is said by my said Lord of Salisburie that these honours were accumulated on him spectante orbe Christiano tacente Rom. Ecclesia contradicente nemine not by the approbation of the Church in generall but onely a connivence at it in regard of those of France Secondly that Faustus though accounted for an Hereticke abroad might yet be otherwise an honest and religious man and so reputed in his owne Citie where afterwards hee had his Temple For I have seene it somewhere cyted out of Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that even an Hereticke may have a very faire and commendable conversation And last of all that Faustus was not such an Hereticke that his memoriall should be blasted for it in all generations Not such an Heretique as aimed at the foundation of the Faith as did the Arian nor such as overthrew the vertue of Gods grace as did Pelagius Onely he is accused that undertaking to confute the writings of Pelagius he did not runne a course quite contrary to the other but in some tollerable manner and in some points of lesse consequence did seeme to trench upon his tenets 12 As for the Pseudo-Martyr in Sulp. Severus he is by Dr. Boys brought in to prove against the Papists how much they have abused themselves all the Church in Canonizing those for Saints who could be no better thā divels And in the next words the Papists adore others who were neither Saints in Heaven nor men on earth as St. Christopher Saint George c. The cases here are Parallell but sure it were a taske too weighty either for him or any other to prove this Pseudo-Martyr to have beene Canonized a Saint or that hee was reputed one in the opinion of the Church All which Sulpitius doth report is this Not farre from Tours whereof St. Martin then was Byshop there was a litle Oratorie much frequented by some simple people upon opinion that some holy Martyr had beene there buried Saint Martin who suspected presently that there was some Imposture in it repaires unto the Chappell and calling upon GOD to manifest the truth a certaine shape passed by them who confessed that he was once a Theife but by the simple people reckoned as a Martyr there being nothing in his life or death to merit that opinion Ille antem nomen edidit de crimine confitetur latronem se fuisse ob scelera percussum vulgi errore celebratum sibi nihil cum Martyribus commune esse cumillos gloria se poena retineret This is the whole and then a few poore simple people must bee reputed for the Church in generall or else this inference is nothing to the purpose 13 There is a rule in Lerinensis that that is to be counted true in the Church Catholicke which hath beene so beleeved by all sorts of men in all times and in all places In Ecclesia Catholica illud magnopere curandum est ut teneamus id quod ab omnibus quod semper quod ubique creditum est Vnles we can apply this rule unto the businesse now in hand it is not our desire that any man should thinke St. GEORGE to be a Martyr And first if we consult the testimonies of all sorts of men we find St. George to bee thus reckoned both by Turkes and Christians by the West Churches the Easterne by the Papist the Protestant by Princes Prelates and their people by writers ancient and by moderne If we expect the generall consent herein of all the times and ages since his death and Martyrdome we have already made it plaine by way of a Chronologie that there hath beene no age no not that Seculum infelix as it is call'd by Bellarmine in which wee have not plentifull assurance of our cause And for the close of all looke into all parts of the world and tell me which of all the three hath not afforded honour to him as an holy Martyr His name commemorated in the Martyrologies of Rome and Greece his Reliques reverenced in Spaine Constantinople France and Germany Temples erected to his honour in Rome Constantinople Ramula Diospolis Alexandria Caire and Aethiopia and in other places by Prelates Popes and Emperours Temples in Asia Europe and in Africa And in the principall Cities also of the East and West and Southerne parts of the whole world Then certainly we may affirme of our St. George as the Historian did of Pompey Quot partes terrarum sunt tot fecit monumenta victoriae suae So then the storie of St. George and the opinion of his being Martyr having beene entertained by all sorts of men in all the ages of the Church and all the quarters of the world we may maintaine according to the rul of Lrinensis that therefore it is to be counted true without more disputing The one affirmed by Doctor Reynolds Georgius quem Orientalis Occidentalis ecclesia pro martyre colit and in another place universalem ecclesiam hoc est Orientalem Occidentalem Georgium pro Martyre coluisse out of which one so granted we will without demanding leave conclude the other CHAP. VI. 1 St. George how he became to bee accounted the chiefe Saint of Soldiers 2 St. George when first esteemed a chiefe Patron of Christianitie 3 The expedition of the Westerne Princes to the Holy Land 4 The storie of the succours brought unto their Armie by St. George 5 His second apparition to them as the Leaguer of Hierusalem 6 The Probabilitie of the former miracle disputed 7 An essay of the famous battaile of Antiochia by way of Poeme 1 HItherto have we spoken of Saint GEORGE according as hee is esteemed and honoured as a Saint in the generall opinion of the Christian world and of the publike honours done unto him in the Church of GOD the ground and pillar of truth as the Apostle calls it Our method now doth leade us on to marshall in those honours which have beene also done unto him by the Kings and Princes of the earth that so unto the testimony and suffrage of the Church we may adde also the full authority and power of the civill Magistrate But since the honours done by them unto Saint George consider him some of them as a Saint in generall some as a principall Patron of the affaires of Christendome and others as the tutelary Saint or Guardian of militarie men wee must in briefe declare the reason why he was
conspicuas pallas Rhodus Alcala Elba Solaque militiae sit gloria splendida vestrae Windsore relate no more the glorious things In thee thy gilded roofes and Tombs of Kings Or that thou art so honour'd in the rites Of George the Cappadocian Martyrs Knights Who clad in mantles rich and circled round The leg with that the Garter so renown'd Doth so advance thy name and with its raies Splendant and glorious so the world amaze That Burgundie her Golden-fleece neglects And France St. Michaels Collar disrespects And Spaine and Malta both esteeme but small Their Crossed robes thy Order dimmes thē all Hence is it that the Knights of this most honourable Order are called in Latine Equites Georgiani St. George's Knights and sometimes also in the English as in that passage before noted out of the Poly-Olbion The Temple of S. George whereas his honor'd knights Vpon his hallowed day observe their ancient rites And in many others also of our better sort of Authors 11 The other ornaments and habit belonging to this Order besides the Garter are a Gown a Kirtle a Chaperon a Cloak a Girdle a Collar all stately magnificent both for stuffe fashion but worne onely upon dayes of extraordinary solemnitie For ordinary use besides the Garter which is for every dayes wearing and their Cloake with the Sunne on the left shoulder of it in his full glorie which last was added by his most excellent Majestie now being they have a blew Ribbon which they weare about their neckes with the picture or rather portraiture of the GEORGE appendant to it This portraiture or GEORGE as they use to call it Sir Walter Raleigh against the streame of most Writers makes to be Historicall I say against the streame of most writers because I have not met with any others which doe so conceive it but Wicelius onely as before I noted Sir Walters reason this And though saith he for the credit of the killing of the Dragon I leave every man to his owne beleefe yet I cannot but thinke that if the Kings of England had not some probable record of that his memorable act among many others it is strange that the Order full of honor which Edward the third founded and his successours royally continued should have borne his name seeing the world had not that scarcity of Saints in those dayes as that the English were to make such an erection upon a fable or person fained So hee And this I well allow of in relation to the Saint whose being and whose being of a Saint of speciall eminencie it justifies sufficiently But I perswade my selfe it cannot well be used in the defence of his killing of the Dragon which being thrust into the Legends by Iacobus de Voragine as before we noted found afterwards a generall entertainment in the Christian Church and amongst other places here in England also 12 As therefore some have made the whole storie of St. GEORGE to be symbolicall so have some others made it to be also of the same nature in particular relation to this Order Thus Doctor Reynolds in his first of the Idolatries o◠Rome Verùm illustres eius Ordinis Heroes melius iam edocti atque cruditi intelligunt Georgium suum non Cappadocem esse sed symbolicum quo excitantur monentur ut Draconem oppugnent bestiam Id est Romanum Antichristum The Nobles of that Order saith he instructed better than before conceive it rightly that this their GEORGE hath no relation unto him of Cappadocia but meerly is symbolicall by which they are advised and lessoned to labour to destroy the Beast and Dragon mention'd in the Apocalypse id est the Roman Antichrist And to this purpose Dr. Boys late Deane of Canterbury I write not this saith hee to dishonour that noble Order of the Garter For under correction salvo semper honore Ordinis I take the GEORGE which adornes those right honourable Worthies to be symbolicalll onely signifying that a valiant Knight should alwayes be ready to fight against the Dragon and other enemies of the Church and state whatsoever Which words of theirs may bee approved also so farre as that this use may commendably bee made of it but if they were thus spoken as in relation to the first intention of the founder there is not any thing more false nor lesse agreeable to the truth of storie I say this use may commendably bee made of it For by the Charter of the Institution it apppeares plainely that this most excellent Order was first ordained unto the honour of Almighty GOD and to the exaltation of the Holy Catholicke Faith And in the Statutes of the Order it is a cause sufficient for a Knight to be refused at the Election yea and degraded after his Installation that hee hath beene convicted and attainted of Heresie and errour against the Faith Catholicke or hath for any such offence suffred any paine or conviction publicke Adde hereunto that when it is appointed that their Banners Swords and Helmets shall bee placed above their stalls it is to this intent and purpose to signifie so saith the Statute that they doe beare them in defence of holy Church as all true knighthood doth require So that we see that all the purpose of the Order is to instruct and lesson them still to oppose the Divell that old Dragon and all his instruments what ever in maintenance of the Gospell and Gods true Religion For which cause doubtlesse doth Chaucer in a Sonnet to the fellowes of the Order thus counsaile and advise them But for Gods pleasance And his Mother and in signifiance That yee beene of St. GEORGE'S liverie Doeth him service and knightly obeysance For Christs cause is his well knowne yee So farre our English Homer the Father of our English-Muses I am not able to affirme it but possibly it may be so that some such matter was intended when it was ordered so precisely in the Statutes that none of this most noble Order shall be seene openly without his George and that it may not be ingaged aliened nor sold nor given away for any need cause or necessitie whatsoever Whereas the other of the Ornaments are for solemne dayes onely and that the Garter may sometimes be layed aside as in case of taking any journey for then it is sufficient to weare a blew ribband under their bootes to denote the Garter I say perhaps some such might bee purpose of it but I affirme it not for certaine This I am sure of that this their constant and continuall wearing of St. GEORGE'S Image may be a faire instruction unto all of this Heroicke Order never to lay aside St. GEORGE'S resolution of encountring with the Dragon that old Serpent that so they may at last receive the blessed and immarcessible Crowne of Glorie 13 I said before that many of the mightiest Princes of Christendome have reputed it among their chiefe honours to be chosen and admitted into this fellowship For