like tale is that of those in Leyden and the note in the margent out of Lyndā insinuating plainly to the world that Caluinists worship the Image of the diuel maintain worship that together with the images of the theeues hanged with Christ but abolish al other Saints both he Goddes and shee Gods But the truth is and doth appeare to all that feare him that the whole lumpe of Poperie is nothing els but a heape of Idolatrie and hauing no commandement from God either for the setting vppe or adoring of Images it muste needes bee that they adore their owne imaginations suggested by the Diuell and so honour not God in truth but the Diuell from whome is all falshood and lyes And from that spirite proceeded those monstrous and ridiculous lyes wherewith hee hath filled his whole booke as that Luther vnder pretence of keeping some fewe ceremonies hath consumed al the florishing 〈◊〉 of the Lordes garden and that retayning the others hee hath done it to deceiue the simple that 〈◊〉 as hee calleth them become Turkes that Caluine Beza and Marlorate were Arrians denying the Diuinitie of Christe and therewith also they charge Luther affirming him to haue trusted more in his Kate Philip then in Christ. So they begge at our handes that we holde that the Gospel of Christe and the worde of God hath failed in the Churche of God and beene a straunger from it as though they were the Churche of Christe and that Caluine and Luther teache that God compelleth men to all kinde of iniqeitie that Melancthon woulde haue all the liberall artes vtterly taken away and onely 〈◊〉 to remaine It woulde wearie a man to reckon vp all their abhominable slaunders and lyes which no man will beleeue 〈◊〉 it be such as God hath giuen vp that forsaking the truth in his iust iudgement being lead by lyes they may in the ende receiue with their father the Diuell a lyer from the beginning euerlasting damnation But admit that thinges had beene set downe by some particuler fewe men yea euen by the best men that might haue beene controuled by the worde of God what reason is there to charge our Churche or vs with all that neither maintaine nor hold nor by the grace of God will maintaine or hold any errours in them or in our selues if we shalbe conuicted by the woorde of GOD Whiche seeing it is so why shoulde wee bee driuen to defende the errors of men standing against your falshoodes for the truth and why shoulde mens faults preiudice the trueth whiche whatsoeuer men shall be the truth of GOD shall stande againste whiche whosoeuer set them selues they shall knowe that they fighte not with men but againste God But he saith that for the Diuels crying out in Luthers mouth M. Charke bringeth not one syllable to disproue it Cocleus hauing affirmed it that liued in Germanie with Luth. no Lutheran euer hauing beene able to reproue it The reasons are set before handeled more at large by M. Charke why Cocleus shoulde not bee credited in suche a case no more then Lyndan Staphilus and the rest Besides though Cocleus liued in Germanie yet I am sure he liued not so with Luther as hee coulde say hee hearde it and therefore his master that taught him and the rest of his fether to lye in that taught him to lye in the other His modestie in other of his woorkes stande as a scarre in his forehead or rather as a hole in his care to declare what credite hee ought to haue in this and so doe these ruffianlike woordes of yours in this place and els where of coping with Nunnes set foorth of what spirite you are calling lawfull matrimonie 〈◊〉 letcherie which the Lorde hath ordeined as a remedie against sinne to all men that haue not the gift of continencie either in the ministerie or out of it of what calling soeuer they are as may appeare by those places set downe before out of the scriptures farre aboue the credite of any councels or doctors whatsoeuer As for Luthers doctrines whereof you haue not beene the first gatherer but haue stolne them out of such as were before you and therefore are answered by such as answered them and neede not so often to bee repeated yet that you may see our minde to bee as it was wee say concerning Luther Melancthon 〈◊〉 Beza and all the rest that howesoeuer we esteeme them as rare singuler instrumentes of God whome hee hath vsed against your Pope that Antichriste for the worke of the ministerie to the edifiyng of his Saints whose prayses shall indure maugre your beardes as long as Christes Churche shall endure yet wee esteeme them but as men and this honour we giue onelie to God that he is onely wise absolutely holy without sault and his woorde without may me or impersection and therefore we say that all mens writings are to bee examined by that worde and if any gooe from it therein wee leaue them as men that might bee deceiued As for Luthers doctrine which you haue so often charged wee protest in the feare of God that the most thinges wherewith you charge them are malitiously gathered contrarie to the true meaning of them and otherwise then euer Luther intended As first in that doctrine of incredulitie though M. Charke haue cleered the matter by conferryng other places of Luthers writings yet Syr Robert this blind bayard kicketh and wincheth as if hee were madde and will needes haue it that Luther must say there is no sinne but incredulitie that no other sinnes can damne a man and that the poore man must say somewhat for credites sake in ther broken cause This you may see though Bayarde be blinde yet hee is bolde and in deede past all shame For whosoeuer will reade M. Charke shall finde that hee hath cleered Luther both in the one and the other Neither are M. Chark and M. Hanmer at such ods in this matter but that the poore wretch in deede must needes say somwhat though it be not to the purpose For M. Charke denieth not Luthers wordes but sheweth his meaning by other places and M. Hanmer saith truly that you haue maliciously racked Luthers wordes But that all other sinnes lye soking in the roote of infidelitie it is too fine for your grosse head Surely I thinke so who are disposed to vnderstand nothing as you ought to vnderstande but aboue that you ought which hath carryed you so farre beyond the listes of truth and true religion But it myght haue pleased you to vnderstande if God had opened your vnderstanding that infidelitie as Augustine calleth it is the mother of sinnes that it is the onelie sinne that separateth from God and though there bee many sinnes all which fall in account in the wicked yet in the elect of God if they beleeue in Christe though all sinnes are sinnes in them and they are condemned by the lawe and to bee condemned
also but he wold not haue their good offices to be condemned for their euill liues Surely no more would we But in that he matcheth Bishoppes and princes with Monkes and Friers as though they had a like warrantable calling out of the worde he is besides the cushin For we know that the office of princes whatsoeuer their liues be is of God so is the office of Bishops or ministers but let him proue with all the Logike he can out of the worde of God that his Pope Cardinalles Iesuites Friers of al sortes are officers in the Church of God that is haue their places in Christ his bodie which is his Church by the appointment of God and then the controuersie is at end That concession of M. Fulkes doth not hinder this cause for hee matcheth the old Mōks with the new but he speaketh not of the lawfulnes of their calling and though he did as being lawfull in them who like Studēts liued for the supplie of the ministery yet these latter doe not so vnlesse it be to the supplye of a blasphemous priesthood against Christe and his Church Neither doth the name alwayes warrant the vocation no more then the name of Popish Bishops who are Lords ouerrule the church like tyrants doth warrāt their office to be agreeable with that of bishops and pastors in his church or to be that very office wherein they haue nothing but the bare name As for that he boasteth of their learnednesse painfulnesse and holinesse iustifiyng them against M. Charke he remembreth not that this maketh litle for the iustification of their office besides he shamefully beggeth at our doors that which we wil neuer graūt him For their learning leading thēselues others from God maketh them neuer the better Christians as for their painfulnesse if they take any it is not to bring any to God but to the Diuel their holines is no true holines but hipocrisy because it is without the holines of Christ from whō they derogate in the greatest point of his glory euen in the matter of saluation As for their being preachers they of whō M. Chark writeth were preachers of the truth these of whom you write are preachers of lies running from place to place where they haue no calling in the Churche of God because the Church of Rome is not that church of God neither doth M. Charke nor any other of vs iudge of them otherwise then wee ought as the scriptures haue taught vs wee iudge the fruites by the trees we condemne them as they are and continue in their errors And for labouring with their handes wee doe not bynde all men vnto it For we know y t he that laboreth in his calling doth please God thogh he hold not the plow You might as wel haue brought in their scullions cookes gardiners but we say that these old Monks laboured with their hāds to shew a differēce betwixt thē you They were not the Lords of the earth they had no such faire houses possessiōs as you haue gotten through your hipocrisie wrōg frō the iust possessors Againe though Pius 5. other your popes shold haue thousāds of thē out of their houses his erected seminaries to supplye his churche as you saye not as M. Chark doth to serue but to gouerne the church within so little space yet al this helpeth not your caufe For their head is Antichrist the pope that is that aduersary not Iesus christ into whose body if they were iustly knit cōpact as the Apostle speaketh they should draw their life beeyng from him but that they do not they are but of yesterdaies hatching and whē that king of glory in the day as it were of his coronation ascending into glory did giue giftes vnto men for the ful furnishing of his church these were not found in his bande nor a manye more besides whiche the Pope hath since deuised by the counsaile of Sathan for the 〈◊〉 of his kingdome As for that girde at M. Charkes benefice the trueth is hee hath none if he had as he is wel worthy of one yet 〈◊〉 might haue missed in such an obscure place belike hee vnderstood this in some Barbers shop among other newes comming as disguised thither in his apparrel as Campion did when he was taken and whether he did or no for the truth of it there he might haue had it Besides he stil boasteth of that he hath not for though Christendome containe al such places countreies as are separated by the profession of Christ from the Turke other infidels yet neither is popery or Iesuitical Monkery christianity therefore he iudgeth no otherwise of them then he ought As for his three sortes of vowes to wit of pouertie obedience and chastitie which he maketh to be the essential points of a religious life he might haue remembred his own answeare that they who haue not made these vowes haue yet their places amongest the religious and it was necessary for Christ being asked of one that stood vpon the keeping of the law and would be saued by it that he should knowe the perfection of it though he could not doe it that he might haue sought vnto Christe And howsoeuer those old Monks vowed pouertie obedience chastity whiche yet resteth to be proued by that authority that cannot bee replied against yet it followeth not bicause they did naught therfore we must do so For good men haue done many things amisse And what warrand had they or haue any now to take vpon thē to do that which they cānot performe or which they ought not to do Christiā religiō in the greatest perfection letteth not men to inioy the commodities of this life neither did these votaries specially the later abandon them but rather vnder that pretence inioy thē more rob al the world besides of thē And as for obediēce if it be not in al christiās their professiō is in vaine but if you meane it of submitting thēselues to their rules that are y e deuises of mē why thē it is a slauish subiection to men against God his word in those thinges wherein God hath set thē free The other of chastity is no more in anye mās power to perform without those meanes lawful remedies y t God hath appointed thē as if a mā wold vowe to fly without winges or with wings of his own making It is a rare special gifte of God And whilest men haue attēpted that which was not in their power in steed of chastity they haue euen filled the worlde teinted it with al impurity villany And this was the complaint of those fathers whom you bring in for the maintenance of your forgerie calling it by an vnciuil name better becomming your mouth to vtter it considering your parson quality thē to be verified by M. Charke who vseth neither cogging nor foysting that is
with damnable wickednes open shame reproofe of all y e godly slaūderous false lies against gods saints namely against Luther And first he wil examine the reports with a perhaps that they wil yeeld som occasiō of iustifiyng their reporters nay surely not a whit For if the reporters be such branded knaues their reports must needes be suspected of al good men This Parsons is no Eagle for he is still catching at flies yet he misseth thē or els rather is become a flie himself for he is alwaies vpō other mēs soares For that which M. Chark thought he had omitted of modesty wherein he was yet deceiued Concerning Prateolus report of Luthers being begottē of a diuel he followeth as thogh it 〈◊〉 needs be so because Prateolus was so impudēt to set it down for sooth by the report of as very knaues as himself by a matrone of Lipsia that belike was som popish drab that loued rather the cōpany of such lecherous 〈◊〉 thē the asseblies of the righteous And y t which is shameful in Prateolus to set downe reports in print especially against Luther a publike person is yet made a vertue by him in cōparisō of vs Protestāis who are wont as he saith to set downe things as absolutely done when we do but 〈◊〉 thē he set this downe but by heare say But what impudencie is this in M. Charke to say that Prateolus 〈◊〉 uoucheth it when he doth but set it downe as reported but first gentle Syr Robert tel vs where M. Charke saith he doth aduouch it and then 〈◊〉 vs also if to set a thing downe in print by report be not as much as to aduouch a thing by report his meaning is plaine that he would haue it left in the minde of the hearers that Luther being begotten of a Diuel his doctrine and all his doings was from the Diuell But where should Antichristes state haue been then This had beene to put the pope out of his inheritance and to doe him open wrong who though hee be not begotten of the Diuel in any corporall generation yet he is his eldest sonne in nature bearing his image in himselfe and in his members euen as Christe is the image of his father and beeing the only head of his Churche beareth his resemblance in him selfe and all his members As for that hee leapeth at out of an Epistle of Erasmus ad Epistolam 〈◊〉 non sobriam which his sobre spirite englisheth to Luthers drunken 〈◊〉 whereby hee woulde insinuate that Erasmus shoulde confesse some such thing or seeme to bee priuie to it it is but 〈◊〉 Hee that shall reade that Epistle cannot but thinke him to bee 〈◊〉 that will gather any suche thing out of it Besides it is well knowen that howesoeuer Erasmus houered betweene the gospel and poperie and kept him selfe close that hee might retaine his libertie yet hee thought wrote and spake honorably to great princes of Luther and iustified his doctrine so farre foorth as the Papists thēselues disclaime him for an heretike which he would neuer haue done if he had thought that he had been begotten of the Diuell And because Syr Robert will preuent all daungers vppon his owne imagination he deemeth that M. Charke will denie it in regard not so much of the fact for sooth as of the nature of the thing it self to wit that spirites can so abuse lewde women c. I thinke if I should deny it I should put him to his shiftes to proue it For although there may be strong delusions of Satan yet there cannot be any generation or com mixtion of such vnequall substances I know that not onely Augustine and Ludouicus vines vpon him but many others tell strange thinges of Incubi and succubi of such filthie spirites but doth this follow such a thing may bee therefore it is so or such strange thinges haue happened among Paganes and infidels therefore Luthers mother was oppressed so and he was begotten by the Diuell or els pratling Prateolus saith it was reported by a woman For as impudent as hee was yet he durst not say it for shame and from him and from others deadly affected 〈◊〉 the truth of the Gospell others haue receiued that horrible lye by tradition therefore it must needes bee true that these enemies to God and all good men affirme to deface the truth But for farther answere herin I referre him to that learned booke of Wierus de Praestigiis demonum and also to his booke de Lamiis Chap. 13. Wherein hee shall finde plainely proued against Malleus Malleficarum and all the pack of those fooles that it is a phansye and when he hath answered those reasons he shall heare what I can say farther in that point both against him and all the rest that are so 〈◊〉 to defend it The like may bee saide of the Thunderbolte which whether there were any such thing or not it neither helpeth nor hindereth the cause It rather sheweth by what meanes Luther beeing then ignorant and yet desirous to serue God as hee thought first after the studie of the Lawe bent himselfe to enter into a Monasterie And this beeing done in an vnsetled state when hee knewe not God and yet fauouring his iudgements was desirous to enter a religious life as it is to his speciall prayse so it disaduantageth your superstitious religion and your whole faction that by such deuised and voluntarie seruice that hath no warrant or ground in Gods worde thinke to please God As for 〈◊〉 credite and Coclaeus and the rest M. Charkes reasons stande yet vn touched which hath broken their heades and yet Syr Robert hath not healed them All men who haue any sparke of Gods feare whome the God of this worlde hath not blinded may easily see in all their bookes and writings that they haue written not only against Luther but against others the seruants of God that they make no conscience of lying Let them but reade Staphilus Apologie against Smideline of the dissentions of Lutherans as hee calleth them and that same pestilent booke of Pratcolus entituled Elenchus Heraeticorum Staphilus his Table of heresies and Coclaeus seuen headed beast with Fabius Antiologies with this booke of Lyndanus and the rest you shall finde nothing but horrible lyes gathered either directly against the meaning of the authours or els craftily and colourably against the truth to bring it into discredite And yet this monster amongest men saith wee belie Lyndan when wee say that he chargeth English men that professe the Gospel to worship the Diuell when yet it is euident that he saith casting down other images wee yet fauour the Image of the Diuell telling a tale of a 〈◊〉 that in Paules Churche looking about for images and finding none but the Image of the Diuel whiche was brought in by Papistes themselues and placed amongest their saintes drewe out his swoord thrust the diuel through bidding him to pack with the rest The
consisted not in those thinges whiche papistes take to bee their greatest glory For it was not so much for the virgine to haue borne Christe as to beleeue in Christe nor for the Apostles to haue seene Christe in the fleshe and to haue beene presente at his myracles as to see him in spirite and faith beeing assured that he was the true Messias Euen therefore like as all the members of a bodie being knit in the same body are partakers of the gouernement direction grace righteousnes glory of the head to that whole bodie so the members of Christ are alike directed gouerned iustified sāctified and saued howe soeuer their places bee different in that mysticall body the grace and merite of Christe are equally dispensed to all that are his The saints that were then the saints that are nowe are alike sainted And as for our merite wee knowe none nor claime it howsoeuer the saints of God haue difference of giftes doe differ by offices by times and places and according thereunto shall differ in glory one from another And this is the inequalitie that the Doctors which you speake of doe mention And therefore Christe our best scholemaster hath taught vs which also is to bee learned of you when the woman cryed out that the wombe was blessed that bare him and the paps that gaue him sucke hee replied Yea blessed are they that heare the worde of God and keepe it Againe when they tolde him that his mother and brethren were without to seeke him hee replyed they are my mother and my brethrē that doethe will of my father Euen as they are the right sonnes of Abraham that are his sonnes not according to the fleshe but according to faith and the promise of God And as for your Dionisius Areopagita whome you woulde of a forrenner make a free 〈◊〉 by the bare mention of his name in two generall councels and yet name but one and infinite other testimonies wherof you name none yet it is plaine by the starre in his forehead that hee is not that Dionysius but some bastard and stranger in deed far from that natiue knowledge sinceritie iudgement religion that the other was like to bee of As for the place out of the first Epistle of Iohn the thirde Chapter whereby you woulde proue that they onely are holy and righteous whiche so woorke righteousnesse that they comprehende all righteousnesse If this be true then not onelie Peter and Paul and the blessed virgine but also all the saints of God are without this working iustice and so not iust But if this bee true righteousnesse to beleeue in Christe who fulfilled all righteosnesse not for him selfe but for vs who by faith communicated the same righteousnesse vnto vs which is not of vs nor cleauing in vs but in him who is made our righteousnesse then no onelie they but also wee doe exercise that righteousnesse and walking as the children of God the time that wee are heere fighting against 〈◊〉 and expecting his glory we shal be glorified together with him for euer Thus you might see if God had opened your eyes what smal cause you the rest haue had thus to storme vniustly to carp against the doctrine of that excellent man of God Martyn Luther whose flaunders howe you haue iustified I leaue it to the iudgement of the Churche of GOD and howe M. Charke hath dealte it is set downe and cannot bee carried with the preiudice of an aduersarie with blustering and storming lying and facing to deface it but beeing the truth shall cleere it selfe and stande when suche poore deuises and beggarly shiftes shall fall and come to nothing For the truth beeing of God must needes bee true Diuinitie against whiche though Satan rage and bestirre himselfe neuer so busily to ouerthrowe yet the more hee sweateth the greater glory shall bee set vpon it tyll it bee beautified sined and cleered from the corruption of man and all his 〈◊〉 Againe that whiche is from the Diuell though it come into the worlde with strong winges and as a mightie streame with great beautie as he is a very cunning painter and that which is nought needeth greater curiositie to set it out That whoore is a rose coloured whoore and that whiche is in the cuppe though it bee a cuppe of golde to allure the wicked though the mouth of the beast speake great and terrible things and the whole worlde be taken with the hewe of it yet in the end it shall appeare from whence it came and take such foile fall as truth can giue If the doctrine that M. Luther taught had beene suche black diuinitie learned from the Diuel which this blasphemer aduoucheth it neither had proceeded from God could haue stoode so long nor haue endured such tryall nor haue so ouerthrowne Satans kingdome nor weakened the power of Antichriste as thanks bee to God it hath done and shall doe daylie more and more All heresies that haue proceeded from the Diuell and from his instruments carrie with them a sufficient marke who was their father As they had a beginning so they haue had shall haue an ending but the truth of God which is without beginning which is not learned from man as the authour of it it cannot perishe because GOD cannot perishe and whatsoeuer man builde vpon it whiche may perishe yet the foundation shall remaine sure Therefore to call this a licentious and carnall doctrine is to blotte not Luther but God seeing it hath beene prooued according to the trueth of God that incredulitie is the roots of all finne and iniqnitie that true christians truely beleeuing in Christ howsoeuer they sinne there canbe no dānation vnto them that 〈◊〉 soeuer the 〈◊〉 of god belong vnto vs there is no iustificatiō but by the keeping of thē yet forasmuch as Christ hath fulfilled thē satisfiyng y e righteousnes of his father for vs we are discharged from that yooke of death and condemnation so as their power cannot come neare vs. As for the other thinges heaped vp in the conclusion the premisses beeing confuted they are also confuted And therefore this is but a countrie Bagpype whereupon Syr Robert stil bloweth and as it were is stil twanging vpon one string like a Iesuiticall Friar to delight those that followe the diuels daunce to bring them to vtter destruction As touching that whiche followeth concerning other absurde doctrines whiche M. Charke thought that Parsons passed ouer by an hyperbole that hee may not bee founde a 〈◊〉 as hee is he taketh vpon him yet to 〈◊〉 many grosse absurdities first generally accusing M. Luther that of all other writers he hath written the most absurdly Whiche by threatening some kindnesse vpon M. Charke hauing reade some of his workes hee saith hee must needes knowe In deede the truth is that the nearer he was vnto his Friers coule the more appeared his weakenesse But as God drew him further out
AN Answeare for the time vnto that foule and wicked Defence of the Censure that was giuen vpon M. Charkes Booke and Meredith Hanmers Contayning a maintenance of the credite and persons of all those woorthie men namely of M. Luther Caluin Bucer Beza and the rest of those Godlie 〈◊〉 of Gods worde whom he with a shamelesse 〈◊〉 most slanderously hath sought to deface finished sometime sithence And now published for the stay of the Christian Reader till Maister Charkes Booke come foorth Exod. 20. 16. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour Receiue not an accusation against an Elder but vnder two or three witnesses 1. Tim. 5. 19. ⧠Imprinted at London by Thomas Dawson and Tobie Smith 1583. ⧠To the Christian Reader Grace and peace from God the father and from our Lorde Iesus Christ by the holie Ghost sealed in thy heart for euer Amen MAruel not good Christiā Reader that I haue taken vpon me before the publishing of M. Charkes fuller answere to say somewhat vnto that same shameles impudent defender of his proud vngodly Censure For first I cōsider the great hurte that may come by reason that the common sort lacke iudgement when such outragious vniust slāders are spewed foorth the common sort being giuen rather to measure the truth by mens persons then their persons by the truth which is a very absurd vnequal trial to trye the trueth by For why should the naughtines of men preiudice the truth of God Why should Iudas a 〈◊〉 tor deface the doctrine of Iesus Christ or discountenance any of the rest of the Apostles Why shold Peters inconstancie feare in denying his Maister disaduantage the constant truth for which he afterwards suffred al the rest of the Apostles so constantly aduouched Marke therfore good Reader that this wretch against whom I write that he may deface the Gospel of thy redēption laboureth for nothing more then to deface their persons that haue bin some of the most singuler instruments that euer God raised vp in his church since the Apostles times With what truth grounds he chargeth thē vpon what testimony we shal see afterwards when we come to it In the meane time I doubt not but the whole Church specially M. Charke will take it well that I keepe his hands from raking in their filth ease him of this foule work wherunto though I be drawn by the aduersary against my wil yet it shal appeare that we haue athousad for one to charge them with in the persons not only of their late restorers of Romish religion but in their very fathers founders wherin also if they haue made me to rake deeper 〈◊〉 was meete to the raysing vp of such a filthy sauour that al the world may be annoyed with let thē thāk thēselues If they say it be against charitie let them remember that it stādeth with charity to mainteine innocēcie against their cursed teeth and if it be against charity in vs why was it not so in themselues who yet are most guilty in giuing the first example let thē learne the 〈◊〉 betwixt the truth error betwixt the light the darknes In very deed we do not measure Gods trueth by men nor religion simplye by mēs liues as they do We know that al mē are liars in the professiō of the Gospel there are haue been shalbe many Hypocrites such as cause the euerlasting truth of God to be euil spoken of amongest such as are without and such as they are 〈◊〉 to whō they are stones of offence set vp in Gods iust iudgement that they may stūble at them forsake the truth and be confirmed in error cōfounded to their vtter destruction But why should this withdraw from truth Why should the darknes of mē put out the cleere light of the gospel seeing it shineth not only to discouer the vnrighteousnes of the world but also 〈◊〉 chase away errors euē in the best Why shold we be charged with the faults of mē priuate mē which our profession doe not allowe neither in our selues nor others Nay rather we teach according to the doctrine ofregeneratiō mortificatiō sanctification that holines of life which is not in our selues yet we wish in others We teach the killing of the corruption of old Adā newnes of life which these men neuer vnderstood to whō if the professors of the gospel be 〈◊〉 if conuersation be layd with cōuer satiō in theirs ours in their seueral professiōs ours their holines with ours we shalbe Angels they diuels we may as we are 〈◊〉 shew our infirmities but they as they are men al their abhominations not of men but of Antichrist that both in life doctrine set thēselues against Iesus Christ the 〈◊〉 of God that same blessed spirit of 〈◊〉 We in professing the truth acknowledge our errors find them out and iudge them by the truth condemne them in our selues and in others yea we condēne the very motions and should or doe punish according to Gods worde both priuate and publike offenders to the vttermost of our powers these in professing falshood and false religion doe mainteine euery cursed abhomination and though they say they haue free wil cā fulfil al the cōmandeméts of God yet boldly impudently they breake thē al they make no accoūt of concupiscéce vnlesse they cōsent vnto it and though the fome breake foorth into cursed attemptes into idolatry swearing and blasphemy into prophaning the 〈◊〉 Sabaoths with their deuised religiō contrary to his word though they dishonour them to whom honor belongeth commit adultery buggerie sodomitrie al kinde of filthines thogh they kill steale lie and slaunder beare false witnes and suffer euery affectiō to roue at his pleasure yet these with them are either no sinnes or very light sinnes which they wil satisfie for with a litle bodily punishment which they hypocritically and voluntarily deuise and lay vpon thēselues Wherefore good Christian Reader I be seech thee in the bowels of Iesus Christe beware of these pestilēt hissing adders whose poyson is not only in their cursed doctrine manifestly against gods euerlasting word but also in their sinful shamefull abhominable liues their head beeing that mā of sin childe of perdition And albeit in vs our sinnes ought not to weigh against the truth which the truth condēneth punisheth we condemne in our selues neither to discredit it nor shake thy faith because we measure it not by mens liues which were to measure light by darknes yet in them it ought in whom both are ioyned together false doctrine euill life and of these thou oughtest to be warned y t thou maiest learne to iudge thē to know thē by their fruites For as their professiō is wicked so their liues are accursed as they are Idolaters so they
to the people which you set out tragically The third that he did these to get commendation of the people The fourth that master Norton whom you cal foole wisely the racke master vrged his arguments for his owne purpose The fift that when he was brought to a non plus in arguing yet hee caused the dores to be shut and no man to bee let out tyll with one consent they had ioyned with him in prayer to giue thanks for his victorie Will you neuer bee ashamed so impudently to set out your lyes when your owne side if there bee any sparke of modestie or honestie in them can conuince them I speake not of Campions breuitie that in lesse then halfe three woords for sooth dispatched his arguments Why did you not set downe his inciuill wordes the weaknesse of his reasons vpon what credite you had receiued these informations Some Papist told you and you beleeued it yet concerning master Norton Campion confessed that hee tooke his meaning rightly and was in truth as indifferent for that matter to the one as to the other As for prayer though Papists like it not but turne it to a certaine coniuring charming and crossing themselues yet we are taught neither to begin nor end such solemne Actions but with prayer and to doe those things that we do in the name of the Lorde If the dores were shut that such of your sort which yet had crept in and were present at the conference could not get out when they would it was not long of M. Charke who though he were a disputer and might prouoke to prayer as was meete yet he was not the porter As for the setting out of the disputations it is not in you to appoint it may be they are come or euer they be welcome to you nowe they are come I warrant you for an egge at Easter of any gaine that you can win by them Now with an O ysse M. Charke is cryed out vpon for greedinesse of vaine glory and how is that confirmed Forsooth there be men that haue iudgement in the worlde abroade so in deede there are or els such blinde bayards as your selfe woulde triumph before the victorie O many smiled in their 〈◊〉 to behold this bypocrisie So there are that will reioyce at their owne shame and as the Prophete saith Laugh in theyr owne vomit Yea but if wee had parted with an euen hand as we ioyned with him in al inequalitie then we shold haue had bookes of triumph set 〈◊〉 before now Alacke Campion was not the man that was to be enuied but pitied What triumph was there to be had ouer a dead dog and ouer a shamelesse impudent Iesuit The men that were matched with him hee was not worthie to lick the dust of their feete It hath bin erst shewed why the disputatiōs were not published soner as for doctor Fulkes looking in Wisbitch neither was that published to shew any triumph of his but rather to pitie these poore beggerly wretches that being many durst not match with one which they woulde neuer haue doone if their cause had been good but they are greate crakers and small 〈◊〉 All must bee as they will haue it They must first bee set at libertitie haue all their companie together as Campion set downe to come from beyond the Seas to ioyne with them The Queene must lay downe her crowne disanul her lawes ouerthrowe the truth and set them in equall hope together with vs and then the matche is equall As for Campions racking of which you so often speake it was for treason and not for religion Wee are not to bee charged with it but his owne wickednesse whome the Lorde founde out in his sinnes and brought a iust iudgement vpon him If it were possible that you might bee brought in an equall hande to deale against vs we feare you not wee knowe your learning your time and standing wee come not with Saules armour but with Dauids slyng and though the oddes were as great betwixt you and vs as in deede it was betwyxt Dauid and Goliah to the eie of man yet wee feare you not For wee come not in the strength of flesh and blood with degrees and time vpon our backes although all knowe we haue had as muche and as many as you but in the name of the Lorde armed with truth and with your owne swordes we shall be able and haue beene to cut your own throtes in the name of the Lord of Hostes we shal vanquish you put you to flight Concerning your proud challendge made in the name of all your 〈◊〉 when we know your commission and what safe conduit you can graunt vs haue you bound for our charges wee will tell you what wee will do You are like vnto a man that will cast his gloue in defiance and no man will file his hands vpon you And as for your liberalitie wee knowe it is not with sinceritie there is a hooke within the baite and the offer is but to allure vs to your spray Againe if wee haue dealt with Campion and Sherwin whome you so highly commend 〈◊〉 them be as they were with their fathers and masters I think we shal not neede to feare you For if the masters be so weak what are you their punies and schollers But one thing I had almost forgotten that you do not onely request vs but euen coniure vs to graunt your request I had not thought you had been such coniurers before now But to whome speake you to a prince or subiectes Is it in our power when we will after the truth established and receiued to open our gates and portes to such Runnagates and Traitors Were you euer refused Did you euer come in and were not receiued You coniure vs to come and appointe the place then you run from vs and mock vs drinke you would but draffe is your arrand O but feare moueth vs to denie this request In deede as you say who are most afearde they that come out and stand 〈◊〉 keeping that possession by the grace of God they haue of the truth or you that when you haue prouoked are not to be found If you bee free from treasons come in deede with a minde to finde out the truth are in doubt and woulde bee resolued 〈◊〉 then I doubt not but you may bee hearde But there is nothing in your mouthes but lyes For whatsoeuer you crake you meane it not If wee haue not truth conuince vs of error by Gods worde laie your heads together examine euerie point by opening and clearing the controuersies betwixt you and vs Doe it by short argumentes and sillogismes rightly drawen from the autoritie of the scriptures so you shal reclaime such as you think are 〈◊〉 from you confirme such as cleaue to you and stop our 〈◊〉 for euer heereafter for speaking any thing against you Then you shall neither bee at that cost 〈◊〉 endure that danger
These are known almost to al writers and as these heads are out of order and vnitie so are their Canons and their decrees sometime as hereticall as they cal it as any of our propositions and sometimes as ouerthwart direct against the Gospel For that which they graunt in one Canon they foribid in another that which they build vp to day they throwe downe to morrow As for example in some Canons their popish Bishoplike authoritie is mittigated and all the rest are made equall vnto them But in others it is so extolled that all men what state or calling soeuer they bee of what giftes soeuer God hath blessed them withall yet they must be subiect vnto thē and contrary to that order which God hath appoynted they muste ryde men and vse them at their pleasures Somtime they say it is lawful for a Christian that is vnmarried to haue a Concubine and in others they cōdemne against Gods truth But your owne bookes as full as they are of leaues or rather lines so full they are of outragious and malicious lyes slaunders reproches reuilinges and raylings And let all the Papistes bring forth their whole packe of pelting and lewd writings inuectiues let them lay them to this learned godly and milde reply of M. Charkes who as 〈◊〉 of purpose laboured but too much considering with whom he had to deale to cut off that sharpnesse which had ben meet he had more vsed against such enemies of God as you are thē they shall see the differēce and therfore this lie in the entrāce cōcernig his entrāce sheweth y t before you begin you are a mā 〈◊〉 spēt of al truth mo 〈◊〉 such is that you say he begā so hotly with Cāpion But that his quiet behauiour cooled him with shame alacke there while They that knewe Campion as well as euer Parsons did knewe his milde spirite well enough And it is euident that both in the first second and third dayes disputation generally in all howesoeuer there were som difference he behaued him selfe more like a man of defiance that had beene at libertie in grace fauor both of God Prince then like a prisoner in the tower of London that in the testimonie of his owne conscience had to answer at another barre and felt the gilte of his own treasons which if any thing might haue cooled him no doubt that might haue done it And whatsoeuer you speak of humilitie it was not humilitie nor the assistance and confidence of a good cause sealed with that comfortable spirite of gladnesse aboue the rest that made him either gentle or soft but his owne naughtie cause and conscience that made him to counterfaite sometimes as I haue alreadie alleadged As for that note of the conference with those of Wisbitch which by your magisteriall authoritie you call a vaine pamphlet charging that reuerende man who hath taken such notable paines in the Church of god against your heresies It was not set foorth for any such cause as your malice pretendeth nor by him it was writen to a priuate friende as a report of it procured to be published before master Fulke knew of it was also sufficient to witnes how distrustfull they were of their cause or at least that they are not at concorde with you in the opinion concerning disputing with vs whom they deeme as you doe heretikes I haue saide of this before and therefore nowe speake the lesse of it againe But in your wise Censure those reuerend and learned fathers as you call them did very wisely in contemning his pride comraing thither vpon vanitie without warrant and yet it is euident by good testimony that hee went by commission from the Bishop of Eley and had better warrand for that his so dealing then you who for ought that wee know haue no warrand thus to prouoke vs. And if you say that Campion had a commaundement from his superiours we answere that the acknowledging of those forraigne superiours and powers contrary to the prerogatiue of our prince and lawes of our countrie brought him to the gallowes and so it will you if you come not with better priuiledge But you say the falshood of that scroule hath beene discouered to you since by letters from the parties themselues and that there is nothing in it that maketh not to our discredite that it is confessed therein that after wee had depriued them of all bookes yea of their very note bookes whiche to learned men are the store house of memorie then we asked whe ther they woulde come to Cambridge to dispute if leaue might be procured And because they contemned so pearte and cockish a 〈◊〉 c. Therefore wee say they refused disputation c. For the firste I woulde haue it marked that where you are wont so to complaine of streight and hard dealing by your owne confession heere there is entercourse of writing betwixt which because your lauish penne hath not spared to vtter it may bee a meane in good pollicie to cause them to bee streightlier looked vnto heereafter and your selfe to be sought out seeing their letters can finde you out But if it bee false why is it not confuted and the truth from themselues declared Perhaps you will say they haue written in deede so I haue heard they haue but as much to the purpose and according to the 〈◊〉 in deede as it was as men that had neuer heard of it And though their followers that hang vpon mens persons without looking to the veritie may be carried with suche poore deuises yet you must consider that wee are not to beleeue them in 〈◊〉 owne cause As for taking away their bookes wherof they and you so often complaine it is answered that they were suche as had beene lately written by those of your heresie The bookes of the holy scriptures and auncient Doctours were neuer denied you and though they made a shewe of readinesse to disputation yet they added such conditions as were not in any subiect to perfourme For they woulde bee all set at libertie they woulde haue all their scattered armie gathered together and then they woulde pitche the fielde the rather that they might get that by strength perforce and with multitude that they coulde neuer winne by truthe knowledge and learning And yet these men of whose readinesse and suite nowe to dispute you make so much vaunte at the first they would none of it and your greatest forefathers as I haue saide haue vtterly shewed themselues against it Master Fulke therefore neither went of his owne head nor for any such matter as you dreame of This you and those of your sort haue alwayes hunted after as men pusfed vp that make more reckoning like hypocrites of a little prayse and vaine glorie before men then of being approued vnto God And therefore you carry all men their persons and learning with the tempest of a
vnder shadow of a truth to vtter two or three lies together But hee that cannot catch a sishe is glad of a frog M. Charke quoteth those places out of Augustine to prooue what the Monkes were in his time First that they were farre vnlike ours And then that hauing vowed and yet lyuing lecherously as some of them did not following that whereto they had consecrate them selues but running with others of the worlde into lewde and lecherous life he put 〈◊〉 them in remembraunce therof But if he had seene that which we haue seene sithence he would haue cried out vpon such filthy Votaries as yours haue beene who vnder pretence of their vowed virginitie haue beene the verye goates and boares of the worlde and woorse too committing those sinnes that are not to be named Augustins telling thē of their sin doth not impeach the remedy of their sinne whiche is that whiche God hath set downe in his woorde He that cannot contayne let him marrie Besides you clyppe S. Augustines sentence For though he put a difference betwixte them that haue vowed and others yet in the same place hee teacheth that these are not the best vowes but he would rather that we should vowe our soules to God answearing an obiection and telling vs how to doe it by holy manners by chast thoughtes and fruitful workes by departing from euill and doyng that which is good I graunt that good and holy vowes are to be performed but if this be the way to perfection and a thing that pleaseth God best more to liue vnmarried then married although I deny not but it is an excellent gift of God and a thing that may make a man to go more cheerfully thorow that seruice God hath layd vpō him specially in the time of persecutiō why thē it ought to be followed of all religious men without exception but this cannot be For euen amongest the Apostles some were married men so were diuers holy men since both mynisters others And though you cānot suffer by any meanes this holy ordinance of God which yet you make a Sacrament which God hath appoynted and sanctified for the preseruation of mankinde and for a mutuall helpe and comfort one towardes another and a remedie against sinne to all men and women excepting none to be in place yet me thinkes it is horrible that you shoulde eyther preferre whoredome before it as you haue done or account it sinne when such as cannot contayne do takt it S. Aug. though you alleadge him afterwards that though a Nunne 〈◊〉 not marry but onelie haue a will to marry it is damnable yet he saith in the Chapter following and els where that such a marriage after such a vow is yet a lawful marriage he blameth them that call them adulteries And Epiphanius also though he blame such breaches of vowes and complayne of their rashnes yet he saith that iudgement is better then cōdemnation Those that play the 〈◊〉 secretlie or liue in whoredome vnder the colour of sole life and continencie to the ende they bee not shamed before men yet he sayeth God seeth them that seeth al secrets and wil finde out all their abhominations But hee concludeth that they were better to marry against their vowe and so after repentaunce be reconciled to the Churche then to adde sinne vnto sinne As for Basill though hee were ouer partiall in this poynt making Adam to bee of a mortall seede by marriage and Iesus Christe of an immortall seede by the incorruption of Virginitie as though heauen were prepared for none but for virgins which yet should help your rable of Friers 〈◊〉 but very little because vnder the colour of virginitie they were filthes brothels yet in the same book he wold haue such rather to marry and in the feare of God to gouern their families thē to do as they do And therfore he exhorteth thē to auoid these wanton baits wherby they wer allured takē He would not haue thē to trot vp down to bridals nor to giue ouer thēselues to filthy lusts As for Chrisost. authority Hieroms it is meet that when God speaketh they shold hold their peace herein they were marked knowen to dissent from the holy scriptures as men erring whilest they durst affirme that the marriages of such were woorse then adulteries and therefore M. Charke need not to blush at any thinge by you alleadged It is no new stuffe that you bring but such as hath bin worne out long agoe As for the lye you lay vpon M. Charke it is your owne and not his For he speaking of the old Monks onely saith they liued in their houses without superstitious vowes but he denieth not simply that they made vowes and the question is not whether they made any but how wel they did when they made them hauing neither abilitie nor warrant so to doe from God Concerning that whether Augustine the Doctor were a Frier or no which you would seeme to proue out of the 94. Sermon of Ambrose where mention is made of a blacke cowle and gyrdle of Lether your note booke deceiuing you For it is the 92. de Baptismo it prooueth no such thing but rather that he being chaunged from an Infidell and becomming a Christian his garmentes were also changed Besides that there is no mention in that place of the name of Monke and if there were both in that and others yet it prooueth not that Monkes were Fryers and if Augustine the Doctour were the founder of any monasteries yet these monasteries were far vnlike those Abbeyes that superstition erected afterwardes If any suche were they were schooles and Colledges for the rearing vp of a holie seed that migh 〈◊〉 afterwards supply the work of the ministery As for the other Frier Augustine if you wil needs haue him a Frier a foūder of Friers it appeareth by the booke of their order which I haue seene that it is of a later brood then Aug. the doctor it is plaine by histories written by men of your owne that the later Augustine which you wil haue to be our apostle was as ill a man in euery respect as M. Fulk hath reported him to be therfore I wil blot no more paper about him But if it be a vertue to haue beene a Frier mee thinkes you shoulde not twyte men with it so repochfully no more then you should charge Paule to haue been a Pharisey and if it be a wicked order as it is it is no shame to haue left it rather to haue chosen in the feare of God to be coupled with an honest wife then with a lewde strumpet and thus much in defence of him whom you call my L. of Hereford Concerning Christes spirit of voluntary pouerty which you are so often in hād with your exception against M. Charks reply is nothing He asketh whē Christ whipped himself Your Reply is he needed not because he had not
He speaketh it not simplie as though Christians setting themselues against the Turke fighting against him doe therein sette them selues agaist GOD and fight against him But he saith that vnlesse Antichrist be ouerthrown and brought into order vnlesse wee forsake our sinnes and turne vnto God we striue in vaine against him being Gods rodd and not couching vnder it we fight against God hee sheweth that by our warres which haue beene made as couers to maintaine the Popes Cuppe he his forces haue beene mightely increased and the Pope hath established his tyrannie by his often consultations by his often prouocations to warre against the Turke and by gyuing out his Bulles and Pardons he hath sucked from all Christendome the fatte and wealth of it so hath weakened it against the Turk and hindered al reformation when it hath pleased God to lighten the harts of any Princes to see the trueth And good S. Robert is this to make a path to the Empire of Infidellitie The fift absurditie also is set down with no lesse malice then the former For whereas Parsons woulde beare men in hand that Luther shoulde dislke the Pope for holding that the soule is immortal the truth is that Luther disliketh that he should take vpon him beside the scriptures to make any new articles of fayth amongst which he reckoneth this to bee one as though it had no ground in the scripture that the soule is immortall but only rested vpon the Popes authoritie So the Pope doth also in other great matters of our fayth as in the misterie of the holy trinitie in the proceeding of the holy Ghost in the 〈◊〉 of Infants In al which he beareth vs in hand that we haue no scripture because we haue not their very words set downe though the matters be sufficiently confirmed by it These and such like Luther indeede calleth 〈◊〉 of the Romish dounghil And as for the last which hee citeth 〈◊〉 of his booke De captiuitate 〈◊〉 in the title of baptism this he hath taken 〈◊〉 of railing Staphilus for in that 〈◊〉 there are no such words in Luther and thereupon I wil gage my credit For wheras he saieth that neither 〈◊〉 nor angel on earth can lay any law vpon any Christian furder then he wil him selfe whereby he would insinuate the 〈◊〉 of al politike lawes and common weales by which they stande the trueth is that Luther speaketh of vngodly lawes brought into the Church by the Pope and such like besides the word of God superstitious in them selues and against Christian 〈◊〉 whereof hauing reckoned vp some in baptisme at last he commeth to this conclusion these are his words I say therfore neither the Pope nor the Byshop nor any man hath any right of ordaining or establishing any one sillable ouer a christian man vnlesse it be by his own consent and what soeuer is done otherwise is done by a tyrannicall spirit Therefore prayers fastinges donations and whatsoeuer other thinges else the Pope hath established in all his decrees not so manye as wicked hee hath ordayned them and exacted them by no right at all and as often as hee doth attempt any of these thinges so often he sinneth against the libertie of the Church c. We may therefore here see the monstrous malice of these wretches that thus pinch Luthers workes to bring him into disgrace with Christian Princes as though he were a subuerter and an ouerthrower of al wholsom lawes and good common weales Wheras he will not be aunswered but will needes haue it so that Martin Luther had bodilye conference with the deuill because lying Lindane and the rest of that Popish crue hauing receiued it by a lying tradition one from an other do aduouch it and because by a certaine Prosopopaeia Luther him selfe in that same booke De Missa Angulari translated by Iustus Ionas whome he calleth Luthers Cooke though hee were a Doctour of Diuinitie Whether this were so or no I must leaue it to the iudgement of all that feare God neyther dooth it any whit disaduauntage the matter though Luther had had euen such a strong assault that the Deuil might haue made semblaunce to haue appeared vnto him in some shape For he hath not onely assaulted many notable and godly men but also hath in some sorte appeared vnto them before our Sauiour Christ and euen since to Christe himselfe and to others hee hath appeared sundry times but yet he could neuer vanquishe them Why therefore should they obiect this against Luther who setteth out but the spiritual conflictes that he had with him which by the grace of God he ouercame And therefore alwayes keeping him selfe fast vnto the trueth was neyther possessed nor vanquished of that foule and wicked spirite It is not denied but that Luther according to his own reporte had many a sharpe combatte with the suggestions and tentations of that foule and wicked fiend as al the godly haue had haue and shal haue to the end of the world But what maketh this to proue a reall and sensible conference together with them Or how standeth it that therefore Luthers knowledge in diuinitie should be from the Deuil when beeing shaken of the Deuil in those false groundes wherein hee had stoode of Poperie and Idolatrie he betooke him selfe to the word of God and to such a ground as put Satan to flight Wherein he found rest and peace and exceeding comfort to his soule which he hath left in his writinges as a fauour of life vnto many that haue beene likewise afflicted His comfortable Commentaries vppon the booke of Genesis vppon the Psalmes and specially vpon those Psalmes of degrees and vppon the Epistle to the Galathians wherein as in a myrrour they may see the mans spirite shall testific to all posteryties that that which he learned hee learned not from the Deuill nor from man but from God and his holye and blessed worde And therefore Parsons aduise thy self wel take heede least in speaking against a man for man that is to vphold the kingdome of Antichrist thou do not open thy foule mouth against G O D. Though Luther be dead and man cannot requite it yee God will bee auenged of it If malyce had not blinded thine eyes and hatred sharpened thy tuskes to strike agaynst the trueth thou wouldest haue beene ashamed of the fome that hath falne from thee Thou myghtest haue seene that thyne owne Popes not one but many haue had familiar acquaintaunce with the Deuil haue had him at their commaundement to helpe them to their Popedoms and to assist them in other their accursed and abhomynable attemptes for the confirmation of their false and abhominable relygion And in trueth I doe not onlie saye it but by the grace of God will bee redie to proue it against thee and all the rest of you that the Deuil is not onely the Authour of al your religion the Father of Antichriste who is the Pope
other a Popishe startvppe bored through the eare whose writinges you may iudge not onely by this monstrouslye but also by many others receyued by tradition fom his predecessours Hosius Staphilus Lyndane and the rest as impudente and sclaunderous wretches And as true is this reporte as the rest wherewith their predecessours the Scribes and the Pharisees haue charged not onelye Christe and his Apostles but also these seruaunts of Christe that followed him long after They charged Christ that hee had the Deuill that he wrought his myracles by Beelzebub the chiefe of the Deuilles They charged his Apostles with the like and after them the Christians in the primatiue Church with many enormities and detestable factes whereof yet they were neuer guiltie and so yet they cease not to spue out their venim without all colour and grounde of trueth against those excellent seruauntes of God whose shooe 〈◊〉 they are not woorthy to loose and al because their crowne is reached at and theyr belly is pynched which yet must downe tugge they neuer so harde for it And hence come all these deuises of Satan being lewde and lowde lyes without all colour of probabilitie or coniecture Hence it is that 〈◊〉 must needes beethe sonne of the deuill that he must dye drunke that 〈◊〉 must needes eyther be killed by him or by his owne handes that Peter Martyr must haue a familyar Martin Bucer must consulte with his Cowe and his Calfe Iewel must haue all his knowledge from his Cat or from a Wesel and muste dye recanting his opinions imbracing a popishe Crosse with protestation that hee sinned against his owne conscience and knowledge with a thousand such other deuises and fictions And he that can be the firste to deuisesuch a ground for thē to worke vpō that they may deface god his truth these mē thogh they be the 〈◊〉 rascals landlopers y t are amōgst men though they be so branded y t they deserue no credit amōgst honest men especially amōgst godly mē yet these they receiue 〈◊〉 aboue the skies And suche a one is this Pontacus whome hee woulde boarde in steede of Iustus Ionas Such a one is Bolsecke of whome hee speaketh afterwarde an impure Apostata and a trouble coast an enuious and malicious wretch as afterwards shall more plainely bee proued And for the credite of this reporte concerning Luthers death I referre the Reader to that story written by Iustus Ionas and testified by Selius and others that Martyn Luther died in a good age with great peace and excellent 〈◊〉 of great personages and godly men who being sicke not vpon the sodaine but as he was in his iourney towardes Islib at the instant request of the noble Earles of Mansfielde departed from Wittenberge the 23. of Ianuarie in the yeere 1546. The first night going to Bitterfielde the next day comming to Haulis about eleuen of the clocke hee remained there that day and three dayes after in the house of this Iustus Ionas being a Doctor in Diuinitie whom this sorte and the rest woulde make to bee his cooke On the twentie eight day after he departed from Haulis with his good hoast and his three sonnes 〈◊〉 him and 〈◊〉 ouer a dangerous flood in a small 〈◊〉 by and by afterwardes hee fell so sore ficke y t euerie man thought him in great danger and thereupon not only tooke vp the next harborow but made such necessarie prouisiō as was fit till hee was som what better relieued recouered Afterwhich though he were not fully cōfirmed yet he folowed y t matter about which he wēt he oftentimes preached was euermore occupied about the affaires of y t Church And for the aduācement of the kingdō of Christ his exercises in study in expoūding the Scriptures in writing in prayer were wonderful All done with wōderfull zeale singuler 〈◊〉 But all this 〈◊〉 hee was as a crased man and thereupon was desired by those princes and many others to take vp his chamber aforehande that his health might bee the better prouided for but hee woulde not but thought it a great dutie still to be occupied in thinges appertaining to his function And therefore as a prediction of his ende hee made a worthie Sermon of death and of the ioyes of the life to come of the great tentations that euerie Christian indureth and when afterwardes hee waxed sicker and sicker hee was often founde in prayer hee was visited by the Earle Albeis and receiued medicines such as were appointed for him beeing had to his bed hee vttered these wordes The euerlasting God bee my comfort for now I goe to my bedde Into thy handas O Lorde I commende my spirite And whereas this wretch reporteth that hee should will thē to pray to God for our Lord God for his Gospell it is a foule lye fit for the mouth of a Papist For the storie is thus that whē his clothes were done off he was layd in his naked bed he gaue each of thē his hand and said Farewell to you all sweete brethren in the Lord pray for the congregation and holy Gospell of God that they may haue prosperous successe for that wicked councell of Trident and that abhominable Pope hath sought and yet seeketh to do them both great harme What villanie therefore is this not onely to lye vppon a man that is dead but that the lye may bee credited to father it vpon Iustus Ionas beeing reported by Pontacus Howe woulde this impudent Friar haue triumphed against M. Charke that hauing but a little holde in a matter of diuorce for that M. Charke sawe not the latter ende of Luthers wordes as hee did the beginning and maketh yet such styrre about it if hee had had the like aduantage as heere hee hath yeelded But God and his holy angels heauen and earth men and all creatures must needes beare witnesse against such a false witnesse If hee will say still that these Reporters are partiall what are his If these that were present coulde not tell the truth because they imbraced true religion can Papists tell it that are absent imbracing superstition Can this Harlots forehead say that any Papist did heare it howesoeuer they haue shamelesly reported it Or is there any publike seale of the states present that euer did confirme it No no for the storie saith that afterwards hee fell a sleepe and beeing awaked when 〈◊〉 was asked howe hee did hee aunswered not like a drunken man but thus O my Lord God how sicke am I this houre Oh M. Ionaes I make no other account but here in Izlibe where I was both borne baptised to lay my mortall bones And afterwardes beeing desirous to bee carried into a stoue when they began to comfort him hee still cryed out O Lorde into thy handes I commende my soule as before c Then going to his bed againe beeing visited with Phisitions Noble men and Ladies and others of all sortes
studying therewithall 〈◊〉 onely the tongues but also as hee could Diuinitie and after the death of his father by that occasion returning to Noyon hee was whilest he was yet not throughly deliuered from that blindnesse sent to Paris to bee preferred in the Courte vpon occasion of a sedition-and if God had not drawen him to a worke whereunto he was sanctified from his mothers wombe for the ouerthrowe of the kingdome of Satan he had not beene of meanest place and condition amongst themselues But God had shewed mercy vpon him and those great troubles in Fraunce increa sing he chose rather to bee a dore keeper in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of princes and therefore he departed out of Fraunce in the yeere 1534 and was at Basill before hee went into Italie for there hee caused to bee printed his first instruction dedicated to Fraunces the first French king of that name In deede afterwardes hee went into Italie where that worthie Ladie the Dutches of 〈◊〉 hauing heard seene him was confirmed in the knowledge of the truth and loued him 〈◊〉 well for his singuler learning and vertues all his life long from whence hauing onely seene the borders of Italie and by the grace of god hauing not drawen that strong poyson of Godlesnes that men are wont to bring from thence that dwell there too long he returned into France hauing set his thinges in order being also careful for his brother he thoght to bring him together with himself either to Argentine Strausbourge or to Basil where he minded to follow his studie But the Lorde who hath a hand ouer all his workes who disposeth howsoeuer men do purpose according to his owne good will the warres growing hotte in France he was constrained to passe through Geneua where thinking of no such matter the gospell hauing beene there brought in myraculously by the meanes of M. Farrel of worthie memorie and M. Uiret where also this worthie M. 〈◊〉 was though blinde in body yet one to whom God had giuen the spirituall sight hee was so sore charged to ioyne with them in that businesse that at length hee yeelded himselfe to such lawful calling as by Gods word receiued in their church though discipline were not yet throughly 〈◊〉 was appointed And before 〈◊〉 played not the Minister as this sycophant would insiouate but executed the function of a Doctor and reade 〈◊〉 amongest them in the yeare of our Lord 1536. As for these notable men whome in the cankered malice of his hearte hee calleth seditious Ministers it may 〈◊〉 appeare that they were notable and singuler men For whosoeuer shall reade M. Caluines Epistles and M. Beza his which howesoeuer these cankred wretches will not allow as sufficient testimonie yet they shall bee of credite with all the godly though they woulde burst for anger hee shall see I say first for M. Farrel that hee was a man of a rare 〈◊〉 far frō any seditious practises for these are the practises of Prelats as for y e other he was a mā of such holinesse of life that his death was wonderfully lamēted of all the godly Caluine witnesseth that his death was so heauy vnto him that he coulde put no end to his sorow If therefore there were any tumults stirres in the Citie it came from the vnqui 〈◊〉 hāmering heads of papists such corrupt ones as would not 〈◊〉 the Lords yoke As 〈◊〉 it falleth out in y t foūding of any church where men louing darknes more then light striue to maintaine it 〈◊〉 the light and so it hath fared in other places as well as in Geneua that famous most happie Citie of the world whō the Lord hath made so glorious a mother of so many excellēt beautiful childrē Whē Christe was born Herod was troubled all Hierusalē with him When the Diuell is to bee cast out he throweth the childe into the fire and his rage is greatest when hee is most disturbed Whom hee possesseth he holdeth 〈◊〉 peace but when hee hath any to winne or to loose hee bestirreth him like a Diuell and so doe all his diuelish instruments The banishment of Caluine therefore was not for any euill but because the wicked had for a time preuailed whom God yet afterwardes found out in their sins so that 〈◊〉 no manlaide hande vpon them yet they went not downe in peace to their graue For when Caluine was gone those that were in the chiefest place of office being called Syndiques and had byn the cause of M. Caluins banishment and M. Farrells the one being giltie of a 〈◊〉 and thinking to saue himselfe through a window when he was sought after burst himselfe all to peeces another of them hauing committed a murder was by order of iustice beheaded the other twaine beeing conuinced of treason and disloyaltie against the state of the towne fled away and were condemned in their absence Concerning that the dogge howleth of his recall againe to Geneua by practise and that by the meanes of some noble both Dutch French whom hee had made as he saith Caluinists it is euident that hee came againe to the towne as sore against his owne will as coulde bee hauing been ouerweeried whelmed with the troubles difficulties that had beene there before which appeareth by many of his letters and specially by one written to M. Farrel wherein hee hath these wordes As often saith hee as I remember in what miserable case I was there I cannot but abhorre from my hearte that there shoulde bee any dealing for my calling againe I let passe that same vnquietnesse wherewith I was continually tossed vp and downe euer since I was 〈◊〉 a companion with thee in labour for I knowe that wheresoeuer I shall become that there are infinite troubles prepared for mee if I will liue to Christe that this world shal alwaies be a trouble some world vnto me and that this present life is a continual battaile but whilest I way with what torments my conscience was continually vexed with what cares it was heat pardon mee if I feare that place as fatall vnto mee Thou thy self art the best witnesse together with God that I was not so long holden there with any other bande but that I knewe that the yoke of my calling was laide vpon mee by the Lorde whiche I durst not shake off As long therefore as I was bounde there I had rather indure anye thing then once to thinke of changing my place although I had many times such thoughtes But seeing nowe by the goodnesse of God I am deliuered who will not pardon mee If I do not willingly draw my selfe againe into that gulfe whiche by experience I haue knowen to bee so dangerous c. Reade out that whole Epistle and also diuers other places it shall euidently appeare that M. Caluine came backe againe as one drawen with the strength of a lawfull and godly calling according to the
can make any satisfaction for it No no his purpose is to spue out his poyson that it may haue a perfect effect in the children of darkenesse and as muche as lyeth in hym also that hee might steale the heartes of faithfull men not onelie from the loue of their persons who are their chiefe fathers and professours but also from the truthe which they teache and professe But thankes bee to God howesoeuer the wicked doe greedily sucke in suche poyson to their own destruction yet the children of God haue this preseruatiue that no suche poyson can hurt them They honour men for the truth but they honour the truth and loue it because it is of God and is the healthfull meanes of their saluation they knowe that the Diuel is a lyar and so are his instrumentes that wyll doe their best to staine the beautie of Iesus Christe in his blessed and holy members But first let vs heare what this furie saith concerning Beza For sooth first that he was borne at Uezels in Fraunce that his father was the kinges Lieuetenant and that when hee came to die seeyng the most wicked disposition of his sonne hee did vppon his death bed curse him disclaime him for his sonne and disinherite him and that vnder the hande of a publike Notarie and in the presence of many witnesses c. A heauie case if it were true that so good a sonne shoulde haue so euill a father But shall wee beleeue it because bablyng Bolsecke only saith it vppon his bare woorde If there were any such thing why is not the publike instrumente set downe Or if that coulde not bee doone conueniently why are not the causes declared that made his father so egar against him O it was his euill disposition O I smell a ratte perhaps you woulde say his religion It may bee the 〈◊〉 according to those times was ledde with common errour and superstition and because his sonne did not continue in Babylon together with him that in steede of blessing him hee woulde haue cursed him but this curse if any suche were was a singuler blessing His father forsooke him but the Lorde tooke him and blessed was hee if he were cursed for righteousnesse sake As touching that which he addeth that his father brought him vp in the studie of learning both at Paris and Orleans procured for him a Priorie it confirmeth that which I haue saide before that hee was ignoraunt and superstitious that I say no worse and that it was the Lordes singuler mercy to drawe him out of that sincke of Poperie Againe where hee saith that of all other wickednesse hee abounded in the excesse of carnalitie not onelie offending God himselfe but also infecting others into whose companie hee came which hee proueth by an Epigram which hee made as he saith but most vntruely in comparison of the two sinnes of adulterie and sodometrie betweene aboye whiche hee shoulde abuse and a mans wife c. And that this 〈◊〉 beeing printed by Robert Stephanus 〈◊〉 so offend the Councell of Paris that processe was awarded out against him whiche hee vnderstanding not onelie solde and let out his Pryorie taking double money and so betaking hym to his heeles tooke Candida a Taylours 〈◊〉 dwelling in Calenders streete with him she stealing what she coulde from her husbande they both were receiued at Geneua by 〈◊〉 and Beza soone after was placed by him as chiefe minister and publike Reader of diuinitie in Lausanna Would not a man thinke that this were the mouth of the Diuell that coulde belch and vomit out suche wicked lyes and yet this drumbe is played vppon by euery Papist in their rayling and lying bookes though in truth they myght haue been satisfied and had their mouthes stopped long agoe concerning these falshoods And though I cannot in euery particuler make that answere that Beza can yet concerning the generall which is the Epigram let vs heare what hath beene set downe and published in printe a good while since by himselfe concerning this matter And then I doubt not good Christian Reader but if thou shalt heare with an indifferent eare weigh with an vpright heart that which he saith in his owne 〈◊〉 thou wilt learne to detest the malice of such sclandering lyers and also imbrace the truth of God which thou regardest for it selfe and not in respect of mens persons In that preface therefore set before his Poemes and Epigrames with thirtie Psalmes of Dauid reuised and corrected hee preuenteth both that that hath beene or heereafter might bee obiected against him concerning those Epigrams which this monster maketh mention of in this place First hee saith that hee was giuen to Poetrie euen from his youth vp whiche hee did 〈◊〉 very studiously partly by a certaine instinct of nature that drewe him that way and partly his learned and notable master Melior Volmarius exhorting him both to those same other studies that became that age as also to the exercising of his wit in this kinde of stile Whereupon hee saith that vppon the seuenteenth yeere of his age when by his 〈◊〉 appointment hee was come to Orleans to studie the ciuill lawe and there did finde certaine learned men nowe alreadie confirmed in iudgement and excellent in that kinde of learning and so reckoneth vp a great sorte of their names hee did not onelie not forsake that studie of Poetrie but rather as it were with a certaine emulation sproung vp amongst them followe it with greater contention and so profited in it that euen by the testimonie of those same learned men hee attained to an exacte knowledge in it He witnesseth that though hee were taken with the loue of these same Poets with their iestes and pleasant speeches yet hee detested theyr filthinesse euen in that same brittle and fraile time of his youth when if euer the exercise of suche follies myght haue corrupted him and brought him to a practise of wickednesse it was then In this studie hee continued not as in the chiefest for hee vsed it rather as a pastime and recreation from other that were more weightie but when he returned from Orleans to Paris againe among other great learned men of that profession hee was famous And when hee was called vppon by his M. Uolmarius to publish those Epigrams he was in the beginning so farre of from hauing any minde or purpose to publish them that they were now all scattered and in his friendes hands and hee was faine as it were to begge for them and yet coulde neuer altogether recouer them Nowe when it pleased GOD to awaken him and to kindle in him the loue of his truth which then in France he could not professe without danger of his life hee be thought himselfe to ioyne with Gods people in a sincere and a reformed Churche and therefore Christe calling him forsaking all things that hee might followe him as oneled by his hande together with his deare wife whome hee had marryed a
in that cankered heart of yours for all men of God know by the grace of God wilconfesse that these men in deed were holy men and Saints of God and whatsoeuer infirmities they had yet the Lorde hauing appointed them to a singuler work did inrich and beautifie them with 〈◊〉 and singuler giftes neither yet do we say that these men were the first beginners or restorers of our Gospell For our Gospell was before all beginnings deliuered and restored to the Churche of God in all ages 〈◊〉 in it selfe and shining into the hearts of all the faithfull from time to time to their euerlasting saluation In deede some of these men were rare instrumentes in the generall Eclipse of the worlde when Antichriste your Pope had preuailed and had now corrupted and confounded the truth and true religion of God these were instruments to scatter that doctrine to scoure of that filth and rust that in length and continuance of time was growne vpon it bringing foorth that worde of God that long had lyen hidden and the Lorde gaue a singuler blessing vnto their labours reclaiming a great part of the world from your heresies and being also godly vertuous men your supposition being false all that you inferre vpon it must likewise bee false And as for your recapitulation it is proued before vpon occasion of that you haue obiected that the vocation life and doctrine of M. Luther was from God not from Satan as you blasphemously speake from whome can proceede no good thing but the religion of Iesus Christe which by the 〈◊〉 of God Martyn Luther professed was as I haue saide the wisedome of God hidden in a misterie with God from before all beginninges Of the publishing whereof although it pleased God to make Martin Luther an instument and others after him yet were they not neither 〈◊〉 nor beginners As for that you 〈◊〉 in Carolostadius with Occolampadius and 〈◊〉 the one beeing in deede an heretike and the other sounde and godly learned fathers It is but your olde practise to the ende you might deface them For concerning Carolostadius hee was a man so corrupt and euil in religion as hee was instly sequestred from their vnity and in that Sleidan our owne historiographer doth set foorth his banishment and miserable ende it sheweth how both hee and wee did like of it The other two in deede were hardly thought of by Luther and there was some difference betwixt them concerning a poynt of the sacrament but this was not in any suche matter of substance as coulde or did break that same vnitie that is amongest the children of God As for 〈◊〉 hee was a worthie man and it cannot bee shewed by any testimonie that hee came to any suche death that was an ende that 〈◊〉 out to some of their Popes who were carried as their stories witnesse euen as a man may say quicke to the Diuell Of like truth is it that out of lying Lyndan who hath laboured to discredit all religion and to bring the scriptures of God into doubt concerning the originalles both Heberwe and Greeke that hee deliuereth vnto vs that he should kyll himselfe with his owne handes for that is the ende of that desperate doctrine of poperie which teacheth satisfaction to the iustice of God by their owne 〈◊〉 which when any of them haue felt them selues too short of they haue bin their own hangmen and come to miserable ends Mention hath beene made before of some and I referre the reader vnto those places that are quoted If I would enter into that field and make comparison betweene both the one and the other euery man should see what litle cause Parsons hath to speak of the end of anye that prosessed the Gospel of Iesus Christ For a man might reckon vp al sortes amongst them that haue died most wretchedly in great dispaire in 〈◊〉 of conscience in doubtful wauering of their saluation the most smitten by the hand of God and for lacke of peace smiting them selues wheras the others died ioyfully in great peace and assurance of the fauour and mercye of God And so did not onely Oecolampadius but also Zwinglius whom impudently also hee would make to haue receaued his doctrine of the Sacrament from a spirit as hee had charged Luther before him whose ende though it were in the field hee dooing the duety of a good Pastor and not forsaking his flocke died gloriously because hee dyed in mayntenaunce of the trueth against the enemies of the Gospell And as for Caluine besides that that hath beene said the noble 〈◊〉 of his woonderful learning great paines excellent knowledge sincere iudgement c. shall be enough to stoppe the mouthes of al his enemies whose doctrine though hee would seuer and set at oddes from that which Zwinglius taught by the testimonie of two false witnesses like him self Andreas Sebedeus preacher of Noion and Iohannes Angelus pracher of Burtin both zwinglians which they did take vppon them to prooue against Caluine beefore the Magistrates of Berna Caluine him selfe beeing present whereupon should proceede a decree from those Magistrats in the yeere 1555. that none of their dominions should go and communicate with Caluine at Geneua c. It is euen as true as the rest for if there had beene such difference in so many Articles why are not those Articles sette downe Why is not an extract of that edict also set forth that men might see the causes of that restraint But all this is nothing but malice For shall we thinke that the Lords of Berne who are ioyned to the other Churches in the same profession and maintaine the Gospel that there should be suche difference betwit them Indeede in well reformed Churches the people are bounde not to runne where they lyst and to communicate where they will but they are sorted into flockes and euerye flocke hath their owne Pastors and such an edicte might passe from the Magistrates But whoe is this Pontas by whose credit this is deliuered vnto vs If it be your lying Potacus which you haue mentioned before hee deserueth as little credit in this as in the other thinges that he brought before As concerning Beza who you say hath brought our doctrine to perfection that is as you expound to Puritanisme in whom you say M. Charke may greatly reioyce for that he sheweth him selfe in his reply a most zealous Puritane I aunswere that wee thanke God for those notable helpes which we haue receiued by the excellent ministerie of that worthy man M. Beza The trueth of God though it be so perfect in it selfe as no man can bring perfection to it yet then it is moste cleare and gloryous when it is separated and purified from the corruption and 〈◊〉 of Poperie wherein if M Bexa his paynes haue beene further imployed then others why shoulde this bee imputed vnto him as worthy of blame and as if hee were an heretique he be