prophane nouelties of heresies Had they knowne of this infallible Iudge should wee not haue heard of him in this so proper a place and as it were in a cause belonging to his owne Court Nay doth not the writing it selfe of such bookes shew that this mattter was wholly vnknowne to Antiquitie For had the Church beene in possession of so easie and sure a Court to discouer and discard heresies they should not haue needed to taske themselues to finde out any other But the truth is infallibilitie is and euer hath beene accounted proper to Christs iudgement And as hath beene said all necessarie Truth to saluation hee hath deliuered vs in his Word That Word himselfe tells vs shall iudge at the last day Yea in all true decisions of Faith that Word euen now iudgeth Christ iudgeth the Apostle sits Iudge Christ speakes in the Apostle Thus Antiquitie Neither are they moued a whit with that obiection That the Scriptures are often the matter of Controuersies For in that case the remedie was easie which Saint Augustine shewes to haue recourse to the plaine places and manifest such as should need no interpreter for such there bee by which the other may bee cleered The same may be said if sometimes it be questioned which bee Scriptures which not I thinke it was neuer heard of in the Church that there was an externall infallible Iudge who could determine that question Arguments may be brought from the consent or dissent with other Scriptures from the attestation of Antiquitie and inherent signes of diuine authoritie or humane infirmitie but if the Auditor or Aduersarie yeeld not to these such parts of necessitie must needes be laid aside If all Scripture be denied which is as it were exceptio in iudicem ante litis contestationem Faith hath no place onely Reason remaines To which I thinke it will scarce seeme reasonable if you should say though all men are liers yet this Iudge is infallible and to him thou oughtest in conscience to obey and yeeld thy vnderstanding in all his detâ—rminations for hee cannot erre No not if all men in the world should say it Vnlesse you first set downe there is a God and stablish the authoritie of the bookes of holy Scripture as his voyce and thence shew if you can the warrant of this priuiledge Where you offiâ—me the Scriptures to be the law and the rule but alone of themselues cannot bee Iudges if you meane without being produced applied and heard yee say truth Yet Nicodemus spake not aâ—isse when hee demanded Doth our law iudge any man vnlesse it heare him first hee meant the same which Saint Paul when hee said of the high Priest thou sittest to iudge me according to the law and so doe we when wee say the same Neither doe wee send you to Angels or God himselfe immediately but speaking by his spirit in the Scriptures and as I haue right now said alledged and by discourse applied to the matters in question As for Princes since it pleased you to make an excursion to them if wee should make them infallible Iudge or giue them authoritie to decree in religion as they list as Gardiner did to King Henry the eight it might well bee condemned for monstrous as it was by Caluin As for the purpose Licere Regi interdicere populo vsum calicis in Coena Quarè Potestas 〈◊〉 summa est penes Regem quoth Gardiner This was to make the King as absolute a Tyrant in the Church as the Pope claimed to bee But that Princes which obey the truth haue commandement from God to command good things and forbid euill not onely in matters pertaining to humane societie but also the religion of God this is no new strange doctrine but Calums and ours and S. Augustines is so many words And this is all the Head-ship of the Church wee giue to Kings Whereof a Queene is as well capable as a King since it is an Act of authoritie not Ecclesiasticall Ministery proceeding from eminencie of power not of knowledge or holinesse Wherein not onely a learned King as ours is but a good old woman as Queene Elizabeth besides her Princely dignitie was may excell as your selues confesse your infallible Iudge himselfe But in power hee saith hee is aboue all which not to examine for the present in this power Princes are aboue all their subiects I trow and Saint Augustine saith plainly to command and forbid euen in the religion of God still according to Gods Word which is the touchstone of good and euill Neither was King Henry the eight the first Prince that exercised this power witnesse Dauid and Salomon and the rest of the Kings of Iudah before Christ And since that Kings were Christians the affaires of the Church haue depended vpon them and the greatest Synodes haue beene by their Decree as Socrates expresly saith Nor did King Henry claime any new thing in this Land but restored to the Crowne the ancient right thereof which sundry his predecessors had exercised as our Historians and Lawyers with one consent affirme The rest of your induction of Archbishops Bishops and whole Clergie in their Conuocation house and a Councell of all Lutherans Caluinists Protestants c. is but a needlesse pompe of words striuing to win by a forme of discourse that which gladly shall bee yeelded at the first demand They might all erre if they were as many as the sand on the sea shoare if they did not rightly apply the rule of holy Scriptures by which as you acknowledge the externall Iudge which you seeke must proceed As to your demand therefore how you should be sure when and wherein they did and did not erre where you should haue fixed your foot to forbeare to skirmish with your confirmation That though à posse ad esse non valet semper consequentia yet aliquando valet frustra dicitur potentia quae nunquam dueitur in actum To the former whereof I might tell you that without question nunquam valet and to the second that I can verie well allow that errandi potentia among Protestants be euer frustra This I say freely that if you come with this resolution to learne nothing by discourse or euidence of Scripture but only by the meere pronouncing of a humane externall Iudges mouth to whom you would yeeld your vnderstanding in all his determinations if as the Iesuites teach their Schollers you will wholly deny your owne iudgement and resolue that if this Iudge shall say that is blacke which appeares to your eyes white you will say it is blacke too you haue posed all the Protestants they cannot tell how to teach you infallibly Withall I must tell you thus much that this preparation of minde in a Scholler as you are in a Minister yea in a Christian that had but learned his Creed much more that had from a childe knowne the holy Scriptures that are able to make vs wise to saluation
the Communion of the Ecclesiastical vnity for while he thinks he can separate all from his communion he hath separated himselfe onely from all He taxes him for calling Saint Cyprian a false Christ a false Apostle and a deceitfull workeman which being priuy to himselfe that these were his owne due preuentingly hee obiected to another No maruell if this geare could not passe the Presse at Rome In S. Cyprians Epistle De Vnitate Ecclesiae these words Primatus Petro datur c. after Vnam Cathedram constituit and againe Et Cathedra vna are foisted into the text in that Romane edition In that of Pamelius also besides these another clause is added forsooth out of Gratian and a Copie of the Cambron Abby Qui Cathedram Petri super quam fundata est Ecclesia deserit These patches being all left out the sense is neuerthelesse complete and perfect and for the last which speaks most for the Popes Chaire the Superuisors themselues of the Canon Law by the commandement of Gregory the thirteenth acknowledge that in eight Copies of Cyprian entire in the Vaticane Librarie this sentence is not found but besides these there is one wherein his opuscula alone are contained and another at Saint Sauiours in Bologna in which it is found But what account they make of it appeares by this that supplying the whole sentence in another place of Gratian they leaue it out Wherein as their conscience is to bee commended and Manutiâ—â— his modestie or theirs who surueied that edition that would not follow one Copie against eight so is Pamelius boldnesse to be corrected that out of one and that not fully agreeing with Gratian neither shames not as himselfe sayes veriti non sumus to force in this reading into the text against all the rest printed and manuscript which he vsed aboue twentie in number as he sets them downe in a Catalogue in the beginning of his edition It is now little more then two hundred yeeres agoe that Frier Thomas of Walden wrote against Witcleff He in the second Booke of his first Tome the first Article and second Chapter cites this verie place of Cyprian and cites it to fortâ—fie Witclefs assertion of his owne minde For hauing recited Witclefs words he concludes them thus Haec ibi and then proceeds Addamâ—t nos quod Cyprianus dicit omnes Apostolos pares fuisse poteâ—tate hoâ—â—re Addamus quod Hieronymus dicit super omnes Apostolos ex aequo fortitudo solidatur Ecclesiae c. Yet neither in that Chapter nor in that whole discourse doth he once mention these words now conueied into Cyprian nor any where else that I can find in all his Work though hee cite this Tractate often vnder the name of Liber contra haereticos schismaticos How fit had it beene to answere the obiection out of Cyprian by Cyprian if hee had not found that Gratian after his manner had been too bold or negligent in this passage The same Author in his third Tome De Sacramentalibus Doct. 10. cites a long place out of this same Treatise beginning at those words An esse sibi cum Christo videtur qui aduersum Saceâ—dotem Christi facit c. Againe Cap. 81. two places one immediately before the sentences charged with those former wordes another after The one beginning Loquitur Dominus ad Petrum Ego tibi dico quia tu es Petrus c. the other Vnitatem tenere â—irmiter vendiâ—are debemus c. Certainely vnlesse Waldensâ—s meant by faiâ—t-pleading to betray the cause hee vndertooke hee would neuer haue omitted so pregnant passâ—ges as these be for Peters Primacie and the Popes Chaire had they beene extant in Cyprians worke when hee wrote But wee cannot doubt of his good affection to the See of Rome either for his orders sake oâ— his dedicating that worke to Pope Martiâ—e the Fiâ—th or his approbation of the two first Tomes which hee saith hee caused to bee seene and examined per sollennes viros and testifies of to bee commended of all encouraging him to write the third It remaines therefore that Cyprian hath receiued this garnishment since Waldens time And here with this occasion of his silence about those things which are thrust into Cyprian I will though besides my purpose vse his testimony about a certaine sentence of the Author of the imperfect worke vpon Matthew ascribed to Saint Chrysostome which the Romish faction will needs race out It is in the eleuenth Homily about the middle The words are these Si enim vasa sanctificata ad priuatâ—s vsus transferre peccatum est periculum sicut docet Balthasar qui bibens in calicibus sacris de regnâ— depositus est de vita Si ergo haec vasa ad priuatos vsus transferre sic 〈◊〉 est in quibus non est verum corpus Christi 〈◊〉 mysterium â—orporis eius continetur quanto magis vasa corporis nostri quae sibi Deus ad habitaculum praeparanâ—â— non debemus locum dare Diabolo agendâ— in ijs quae vult In this sentence the wordes that I haue eâ—closed from the rest are inserted saith Bellarmâ—e by some Scholâ—er of Berengarius for they are not in all Copies No maruell That is more maruell that they are in any since the Canonizing of Transâ—bstantiation But in Waldeâ—s time and before the words were thâ—s read for in his third Tome Cap. 30. they are thus cited saue thaâ— by the error of the print ministerium is put for mysterium and hee addes there 〈…〉 But saith Bellarmine These words 〈◊〉 not to the matter in hand for the Author of the 〈◊〉 spake of the holy vessels of Salomons Temple which 〈…〉 and in those vessels neither was the Lords true body nor yet the mystery thereof Well if they be not to the purpose if they speake of the vessells of Salomons Temple let them stand in the Text still What need yee purge them out of the newer editions at Antwerpe and Paris Belike Father Iohn Matthews saw further into this matter then Bellarmine for hee casts out this sentence with the dregs of the Arians although there bee no Arianisme in it that I can perceiue The truth is the Author speakes of the Vessels vsed in the Lords Supper in his owne time For those wordes sicut docet Balthasar c. are brought in by the way for a confirmation from a like example the sense hanging in the meane while which is resumed againe when hee goes on Si ergo haec vasa as any indifferent Reader may perceiue Yea take away these words the sinewes of the sentence are cut for the force of the argument lies in the comparison of the prophaning of the holy vessels and of our bodies That is a sin yet Christs body is not contained in them but the mystery therof but God himselfe dwels in these These examples to omit some other doe make mee thinke that howsoeuer the corrupting of the texts of the
passage of holy Scripture For your conceit or desire that such a Iudge there should be to whom you might in conscience obey and yeeld your selfe because he could not errâ— doth not proue it You would know the Truth onely by the authoritie and sole pronouncing of the Iudges mouth A short and easie way which to most men is plausible because it spares the paines of studie and discourse To such especially as either out of weaknesse dare not trust their owne iudgement or account it shall haue the merit of humilitie to bee led by their Teachers But what now if God will haue you call no man your Father vpon earth If he will send you to his Word and after you haue receiued the Faith by the Churches testimonie out of the easie and plaine places thereof bid you search the Scriptures to finde the Truth in the remnant and pick it out by your owne industrie The rich man being in hell torments in whose wordes I doubt not but our Sauiour doth impersonate and represent the conceits of many men liuing in this world presumes that if one were sent from the dead his Kinsmen would hearken to him but he is remitted to Moses and the Prophets The Iewes as I perceiued by speech with some of them at Venice make it one of their motiues that our Lord Iesus is not the Christ. He should not say they haue come in such a fashion to leaue his owne Nation in doubt and suspence and scandalize so many thousands but so as all men might know him to be what he was Miserable men that will giue lawes to God Of which fault be you a ware also good Master Waddesworth and be content to take not to prescribe the meanes by which you will be brought vnto the knowledge of the Truth to vse what hee hath giuen not to coniecture and diuine what he must giue But God failes not his Church in such meanes as be necessarie Let vs therefore consider the necessitie of this Iudge Where I beseech you consider for I am sure you cannot but know it that all things necessary to saluation are euidently set downe in holy Scripture This both the Sciptures themselues doe teach and the Fathers auouch namely Saint Augustine and Saint Chrysostome and others I forbeare to set downe their words or further to confirme this Lemma which I proued at large against another aduersarie and shall at all times make good if it be questioned Besides these points there are a great manie other though not of such necessitie yet euidently laid downe also in the same Scriptures by occasion of them Manie by iust discourse may be cleared from these and the former If any thing yet remaine in suspence and vnknowne yea or if you will erred in so it be not wilfully and obstinately yet shall it be euer without perill of damnation to him that receiueth what the holy Ghost hath plainely deliuered What necessitie then of your imaginarie Iudge Yes for Vnitie is a goodly thing not onely in matters necessarie but vniuersally in all Controuersies must not bee endlesse But how comes it to passe then that your Iudge whosoeuer hee be doth not all this while decide the question touching the Conception of the Blessed Virgin that is betweene the Dominicans and Franciscans nor that betweene the Dominicans and Iesuites touching Grace and Free-will and all other the points that are controuerted in the Schooles to spare contention and time a precious commoditie among wise men and giue this honour to Diuinitie alone that in â—t all doubts should be reduced to certainties Or if it seeme no wisedome to bee hastie in deciding such questions wherein wittie and learned men are engaged least in stead of changing their opinions they should fall to challenge not onely the infallibilitie but which were more dangerous the authoritie of their Iudge If it be thought better to leaue scope to opinions opposition it selfe profitably seruing to the boulting out of the truth If vnitie in all things bee as it seemes despaired of by this your Gellius himselfe why are wee not content with vnitie in things necessary to saluation expresly set downe in holy Scripture and anciently thought to suffice reseruing infallibilitie as an honour proper to God speaking there Why should it not be thought to suffice that euery man hauing imbraced that necessarie truth which is the rule of our faith thereby trie the spirits whether they be of God or no. If hee meete with any that hath not that doctrine receiue him not to house nor salute him If consenting to that but otherwise infirme or erring yet charitably beare with him This for euery priuate man As for the publike order peace of the Church God hath giuen Pastors and Teachers that we should not bee carried about with euery winde of doctrine and amongst them appointed Bishops to command that men teach no other or forraine doctrine which was the end of Timothy his leauing at Ephesus 1. Tim. 1. 3. Then the Apostles themselues by their example haue commended to the Church the wholsome vse of Synodes to determine of such controuersies as cannot by the former meanes be composed but still by the holy Scriptures the Law or Rule as you say well by which all these Iudges must proceede Which if they doe not then may they be deceiued themselues and deceiue others as experience hath shewed yet neuer bee able to extinguish the truth To come to Antiquitie There is not any one thing belonging to Christian Religion if wee consider well of more importance then how the puritie of the whole may bee maintayned The Ancients that write of the rest of Christian Doctrine is it not a miracle had they knowne any such infallâ—ble Iudge in whose Oracle the securitie of all with the perpetuall tranquillitie of the Church is contayned they should say nothing of him There was neuer any Age wherein there haue not beene heresies and sects to which of them was it euer obiected that they had no infallible Iudge How soone would they haue fought to amend that defect if it had beene a currant doctrine in those times that the true Church cannot bee without such an Officer The Fathers that dealt with them why did they not lay aside all disputing and appeale them only to this Barre Vnlesse perhaps that were the let which Cardinall Bellarmine tells the Venetians hindered Saint Paul from appealing to Saint Peter lâ—st they should haue made their Aduersaries to laugh at them for their labour Well howsoeuer the Cardinall hath found out a merrie reason for Saint Paules appealing to Caesars iudgement not Peters lest hee should expose himselfe to the laughter of Pagans what shall wee say when the Fathers write professedly to instruct Catholike men of the forepleadings and aduantages to bee vsed against Heretikes euen without descending to triall by Scriptures or of some certaine generall and ordinarie way to discerne the Truth of the Catholike Faith from the
subdued my will to relent vnto my vnderstanding by meanes of prayer and by God Almighties grace principally I came to breake through many tentations and impediments and from a troubled vnquiet heart to a fixed and peaceable tranquilitie of minde for which I doe most humbly thanke our sweet Lord and Sauiour Iesus before whom with all reuerence I doe auouch and sweare vnto you as I shall answere it in the dreadfull day of iudgement when all hearts shal be discouered that I forsooke Protestant Religion for very feare of damnation and became a Catholique with good hope of saluation and that in this hope I doe continue and increase daily and that I would not for all the world become a Protestant againe And for this which here I haue written vnto you in great haste I know there bee many Replyes and Reioynders wherewith I could neuer be satisfied nor doe I desire any further Disputation about them but rather to spend the rest of my life in deuotion yet in part to giue you my deare good friend some account of my selfe hauing now so good an occasion and fit a messenger and by you if you please to render a reason of my Faith to Master Hall who in his said printed Epistle in one place desires to know the motiues thereof I haue thus plainly made relation of some points among many Whereunto if Master Hall will make any Reply I doe desire it may bee directly fully to the points and in friendly termes vpon which condition I doe pardon what is past and of you I know I neede not require any such circumstances And so most seriously intreating and praying to our gracious Lord to direct and keepe vs all and euer in his holy Truth I commend you vnto his heauenly grace and my selfe vnto your friendly loue Seuill in Spaine this first day of Aprill 1615. Your very affectionate and true louing friend IAMES WADDESWORTH To the Worshipfull his respected friend Master WILLIAM BEDELL at his house in Saint Edmundsbury or at Horinger be there deliuered in Suffolke Kinde Master BEDELL MIne old acquaintance and friend hauing heard of your health and worldly well-fare by this Bearer Master Austen your neighbour and by him hauing opportunitie to salute you with these few Lines I could not omit though some fewe yeeres since I wrote you by one who since told mee certainly hee deliuered my Letters and that you promised answere and so you are in my debt which I doe not claime not vrge so much as I doe that in truth and before our Lord I speake it you doe owe me loue in all mutuall amitie for the heartie affectionate loue which I haue and euer did beare vnto you with all sinceritie For though I loue not your Religion wherein I could neuer finde solide Truth nor firme hope of saluation as now I doe being a Catholique and our Lord is my witnesse who shall be my iudge yet indeed I doe loue your person and your ingenuous honest good morall condition which euer I obserued in you nor doe I desire to haue altercations with Master Ioseph Hall especially if he should proceede as Satyrically as he hath begun with me nor with any other man and much lesse would I haue any debate with your selfe whom I doe esteeme and affect as before I haue written nor would I spend the rest of my life which I take to be short for my lungs are decaying in any Questions but rather in deuotion wherein I doe much more desire to bee hot and feruorous then in Disputations beseeching our Lord to forgiue my coldnesse yea my neglect therein and to pardon and free me from all sinne and to guide and keepe you in all happinesse euen as I wish for mine owne soule through the Redemption of our sweet Sauiour and by the interâ—ession of his holy Mother and all Saints Amen Written in haste from Madrid 14. Aprill 1619. Your assured true friend IAMES WADDESWORTH Receiued Iâ—ne 4. 1619. To the Worshipfull my very good friend Master IAMES WADDESWORTH at Madrid deliuer this Salutem in Christo Iesu. THe late receipt of your Letters good Master Waddesworth did diuersly affect me with ioy and shame and I know not with whether most I was glad to heare of you and your prosperous state much more to receiue a kinde Letter from you Ashamed therein to be called vpon for debt who haue euer endeuoured to liue by that rule of the Apostle Owe nothing to any man Yet not so much for that which you must vrge the debt of loue sith by that Text it appears that it can neuer be so discharged as there should not be more behinde to pay And your selfe who challenge this of me doe owe me as much or well more For let me tell you I haue the aduantage of you herein by my profession for where your loue is to me as to a man or to an honest man nor can by your present perswasion goe any further I can and doe loue you as my deare brother and fellow member in the mysticall body of our Lord Iesus Christ. And from this ground to his knowledge I doe appeale I doe heartily pray for you and beare with you and as the Apostle enioynes Rom. 15. 7. Receiue you with a true brotherly affection I am not therefore ashamed of this debt but doe reioyce as much in the owing of it as in the payment But my shame growes from the being behinde with you in the office of writing Wherein yet heare my honest and true excuse Neither will I goe about to set off one debt with another For you may remember how at our parting you promised to write to me touching the state of Religion there which if wee shall make out a perfect reckoning I account to be a good debt still But this I say when your Letters of the first of April 1615 came to my hands I purposed to returne answere by the same Bâ—arer who as hee told mee was to returne about the Midsommer following But I had a sodaine and extraordinarie iourny which came betweene and kept me from home till after the Commencement so as that opportunitie was lost Besides vpon the reading of your Letters I perceiued your intention was to haue them imparted to Doctor Hall expecting in a sort some reply from him To him threfore did I send them After some moneths I receiued this answere which though I had once purposed to conceale as not willing to be the meane of any exasperation betweene you yet now hoping of your wisedome and patience I send you inclosed that it may be some euidence of my true excuse Vpon the receipt of it I began to frame an answere to the points of your Letter according to your desire full and in friendly termes I had well-nigh finished it when I was presented to this Benefice and thereby entered into a world of distractions These together with the labour of writing it ouer and vncertaintie of safe conueighing my
die neuer so wickedly shall be saued and punished with a long but not eternall fire he thinkes them to be deceiued out of a certaine humane pitâ— for this opinion is flatly contrarie to other Scâ—rptures II. He interprets the place of Saint Paul touching the trying of euery mans worke by fire of the fire of tribulation through which as well he that builds gold and siluer that is mindes the things of God as he that builds hay and stubble that is too much mindes the things of this life must passe III. He saith that it is not incredible that some such thing is done after this life also and whether it be so or not may be enquired of IIII. But whether it be found or no that some faithfull people according as they haue more or lesse loued these perishing things are later or sooner saued yet not such as of whom it is said that they shall not possesse the Kingdome of God vnlesse repenting as they ought they obtaine forgiuenesse as for the purpose be fruitfull in almes which yet will not serue to purchase a licence to commit sinne V. That the daily and lighter sinnes without which we are neuer in this life are blotted out by the Lords Prayer And so the greater also if a man leaue them and forgiue others his enemies which is a worthy kinde of almes but the best of all is a sinners amending of his life Loe how plainly Saint Augustine auoâ—cheth Purgatorie Of which he doubts whether any such thing can be found or no. Expounds that Scripture that seemes most strong for it all otherwise and so as it cannot agree thereunto If it be found is sure it will not serue for greater sinnes And for lesser defects yea the greatest shewes another a surer remedy which intruth makes Purgatory superfluous In this doctrine Danaeus is so farre from controuling Saint Augustine that he applauds him and saith that declaring his owne opinion of Purgatorie he pronounceth plainely that the whole defining of this matter is vncertaine doubtfull and rash which since that Augustine wrote being now an old man certainely it cannot be doubted but that hee did altogether reiect Purgatorie yea and he shewes this fire it selfe to be vnprofitable Thus Danaeus there But the censure that was in your minde I beleeue is that vpon another passage of Saint Augustine in the same Booke where hee treates whether the soules of the dead are eased by the pietie of their friends that are liuing And thus he determines it That when the Sacrifices either of the Altar or of whatsoeuer almes are offered for all such as are deceased after Baptisme for such as are very good folke they are thankesgiuings for such as are not very euill they are propitiations for those that are very euill though they be no helpes to the dead yet they are consolations such as they be to the liuing And to such as they are profitable vnto it is either that they may haue full remission or that their very damnation may be more tollerable Vpon this Chapter thus saith Danâ—us Hoc totum caput continet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Augustini and after hee addes Itaque hic foenum stipulam aedificat vir pius magnus But you yee say had rather follow Saint Augustines opinion then his censure Perhaps as one saith rather erre with Plato then hold the truth with others If that be your resolution what should we vse any more words Beleeue then if you please that the commemoration of Christs sacrifice in the Lords Supper or the oblations of the faithfull are to be made for all that decease after Baptisme in the attempting of whatsoeuer sinne they die yea suppose in finall impenitence of any deadly crime That such as be damned may thereby haue their damnation made more tollerable Beleeue that without any improprietie of speech the same forme of words may be a thanksgiuing for one and an appeasing of Gods wrath for another Beleeue also if you can beleeue what you will that Saint Tecla deliuered the soule of Falconilla out of hell and Saint Gregorie the soule of Traian and that as may seeme saying Masse for him sith he was forbidden thence forth to offer any hoste for any wicked man Beleâ—â—e that Macarius continually praying for the dead and very desirous to know whether his prayers did them any good had answere by miracle from the scull of a dead man an Idolater that by chance was tumbled in the way O Macarius when thoâ— offerest prayer's for the dead we feele some ease for the time Beleeue that on Easter euen all the damned spirits in hell keep holy day and are free from their torments Saint Augustine such is his modestie will giue you leaue to beleeue 〈◊〉 as well as Purgatorie if you please as hee is not vnwilling to giue as large scope to other mens opinions as may be so they reuerse not the plaine and certaine grounds of holy Scripture In all these you may if you please follow authors also as Saint Damasceâ—â— Paladius Prudentius Sigebert and others But giue the same libertie to others that yee take Compell no man to follow your opinion if he had rather follow Danaeus reasons For my selfe I would sooner with Saint Augustine himselfe whose words touching Saint Cyprian Danaeus here borrowed confesse this to be 〈…〉 coopertum 〈…〉 then be bound to iustifâ—e his conceit touching the commemoration of the dead in the Lords Supper And as hee saith of Saint Cyprian so would I adde Ego hâ—ius libri authoritate non teneor 〈…〉 Augustini non vt Canonicas habeo sed eas ex Canonicâ—s considero quod in ijs 〈◊〉 scriptur 〈…〉 cum 〈…〉 quod non congruit cum pace eius respâ—â— Which words I doe the rather set downe that they may be Luthers iustification also against F. Parsons who thinkes he hath laid sore to his charge when hee cites very solemnely his Epistle ad Equitem Germ. Anno Domini 1521. where he saith he was tyed by the authority of no Father though neuer so holy if hee were not approued by the iudgement of holy Scripture Surely this is not to denie and contemne as he cals it or as you to controll the Fathers to account them subiect to humane infirmities which themselues acknowledge But the contrary is to boast against the truth to seeke to fore iudge it with their mistakings which needes not so much as require their testimonies I will forbeare to multiply words about that whether the testimonies of Antiquitie which fauour the Protestants be many or few whether they doe indeede so or onely seeme prima facie whether they be wrested or to the purpose whether all this may not by iust or reason be affirmed of the passages cited by 〈◊〉 Romanists out of Antiquitie setting aside matters of ceremony and gouernment which your selfe confesse by and by may be diuers without empeaching vnitie in Faith and opinions euer to be subiected to the triall of
there were scarce two or three bookes found that deliuered the same thing Quot libri tot varietates Ille deficit hic superabundat alius nihil omnino de eâre habet raro ant nunquam conueniunt saepe obscuri implicati librariorum vitio plerung mendosi And in truth in this your essentiall forme of Priesthood the old Pontificals before that which he set forth either had other words at the giuing of the Chalice and Paten as may seeme or wanted both that forme and the matter also together The Master of the Sentences declaring the manner of the Ordination of Priests and the reason why they haue the Chalice with wine and Paten with hosts giuen vnto them saith it is Vt per hoc sciant se accepisse potestatem placabiles Deo hostias offerendi Hugo in like manner Accipiunt Calicem cum vino Patenam cum hostia de mann Episcopi quatenus potestatem se accepisse cognoscant placabiles Deo hostias offerendi Stephanus Eduensis Episcopus in the same wordes Datur eis Calix cum vino Patena cum hostia in quo traditur ijs potestas ad offerendum Deo placabiles hostias So Iohannes Ianuensis in his Summe intituled Catholicon verbo Presbyter If yee ascend to the higher times of Rabanus Alcuinus Isidorus you shall finde that they mention no such matter of deliuering Chalice or Paten or wordes vsed at the deliuerie and no maruell for in the Canons of the fourth Councel of Carthage they found none Dionyâ—ius falsly called Areopagita whom I mentioned before setting downe the manner of ordaining in his time The Priest vpon both his knees before the Altar with the Bishopâ— right hand vpon his head is on this manner sanctified by his Consecrator with holy inuocations Here is all sâ—ue that he saith after he hath described that also which pertaines vnto the Deacon that euery one of them is signed with the crosse when the Bishop blesseth them and proclaimed and saluted by the Consecrator himselfe and euery one of that sacred Order that is present The Greeke Scholâ—ast very lâ—uely shewes the meaning and manner of this proclaiming Her saith The Ordayner pronounceth by name when hee signeth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such a man is consecrated from beinâ— Presbyter to be a Bishop in the name of the father c. and s. in the Presbyter and Deacon Clemens Romanus â— F. Turrian and the rest of the Romish â—action deceiue vs 〈…〉 be not deceiued themselues in attributing to him the 〈◊〉 bookes of the Apostolike Constitutions that 〈…〉 name cuts the matter yet more short and without 〈◊〉 crossing or proclaiming appoints the Bishop to lay his 〈◊〉 vpon him in the presence of the Presbyterie and the Deacorâ— vsing a Prayer which you may see at length in him 〈◊〉 the increase of the Church and of the number of them that by word and worke may edifie it for the partie elected vnto â—he â—â—fice of Priesthood that being filled with the operations of healings and word of Doctrine he may instruct Gods people with meeknesse and serue him sincerely with a pure minde and willing heart and performe holy seruices without spot for his people through his Christ to whom c. These last words which are in the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Carolâ—â— Bouius Bishop of 〈◊〉 interprets sacrificia pro populo tuo immaculata 〈◊〉 Maruell that he added not tam pro 〈◊〉 quam pro defunctis Sure if Saint Paul Rom. 15. 16. had not added the word ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee had sacrificed also This was the â—â—cient and Apostolike manner of ordination if the Author be worthy of credit But that ye may perceiue what tampering there hath beene to bring ordinations to the forme which the present Pontificall prescribes consider with me the words of Amalarius Bishop of Triers in his second Booke de Ecclesiast Officâ—s where in the office of the Subdeacon thus hee writes Miror quâ de re sumptus vsus in Ecclesia c. I maruell whence the vse was taken in our Church that very often the Subdeacon should reade the Lesson at Masse since this is not found committed vnto him by the Ministry giuen him in consecration nor by the Canonicall writings nor by his name And straight after Nam primaro tempore For in ancient time the Deacon read not the Gospell which was not yet written but after it was enacted by our Fathers that the Deacons should reade the Gospell they appointed also that the Subdeacon should reade the Epistle or Lesson It appeares then that in Amalarius time who liued with Charles the great and Lewes his Sonne that ridiculous foâ—me was not in the Pontificall where the Booke of the Epistles is giuen to the Subdeacons and power to reade them in the holy Church of God as well for the quicke as the dead The same Author comming to speake of Deacons telleth of their consecration by praier and imposition of hands confuteth that in the present Pontificall which he saith he found in a little Booke of holy Orders made he knowes not by what Author that the Bishop alone should lay hands on the Deacon At last he addes There is one Ministrie added to the Deacon viz. to reade the Gospell which he saith doth well befit him quia Minister est But of the deliuerie of the Booke of the Gospels with authoritie to reade the Gospell for the quicke and dead not one word In the next Chapter of Presbyters hee expounds their name and saith further hunc morem tenent Episcopi nostri Our Bishoppes haue this fashion they annoint the hands of Presbyters with oyle which ceremonie he declares touching imposition of hands vpon them he remitâ—â—s to that he said before in the Deacon Then he shewes out of Ambrose and Hierome that these are all one Order with Bishops and ought to gouerne the Church in common like Moses with the seuentie Elders as for deliuerie of Chalice and Wine or Paten and Host with power to sacrifice so well for the quicke as the dead he makes no mention Iudge you whether these were thought to be the matter and essentiall forme of Priesthood in his time Yet one Author more wil Iname in this matter not onely because hee is a famous Schooleman and one of Luthers first aduersaries and therefore ought to be of more account with that side but because he professeth the end of his writing to be circa Sacramentum ordinis cautos reddere ne pertinax quisquam aut leuis sit circa modum tradendi aut recipiendi ordines It is Cardinall Caietane in the second Tome of his Opuscula Tit. De modo tradendi seu recipiendi Ordines Reade the whole where these things I obserue for our present purpose 1. If all be gathered together which the Pontificals or which reason or authoritie hath deliuered the nature of all the rest of the orders except Priesthood onely will appeare very vncertaine 2. The
whole one Citie the world Hath it onely succession where to set aside the inquirie of Doctrine so manie Simoniacks and intruders haue ruled as about fiftie of your Popes together were by your owne mens confession Apostaticall rather then Apostolicall Or Vnitie where there haue beene thirtie Schismes and one of them which endured fiftie yeares long and at last grew into three heads as if they would share among them the triple Crowne And as for diffentions in Doctrine I remit you to Master Doctor Halls peace of Rome wherein hee scores aboue three hundred mentioned in Bellarmine alone aboue threescore in one onely head of Penance out of Nauarrus As to that addition in all ages and places I know not what to make of it nor wherâ—o to refer it Consider I beseech you with your wonted moderation what you say for sure vnlesse you were beguâ—led I had almost said bewitched you could neuer haue resolued to beleeue and professe that which all the world knowes to be as false I had welnigh said as God is true touching the extent of the Romish Church to all ages and places Concerning the agonies you passed I will say onely thus much if being resolued though erroniously that was truth you were withholden from professing it with worldly respects you did well to breake through them all But if besides these there were doubt of the contrarie as me thinks needes must be vnlesse you could satisfie your selfe touching those many and knowne exceptions against the Court of Rome which you could not be ignorant of take heede lest the rest insuing these agonies were not like Sampsons sleeping on Dalâ—lahs knees while the locks of his strength were shauen whereupon the Lord departing from him he was taken by the Philistims had his eyes put out and was made to grinde in the prison But I doe not despaire but your former resolutions shall grow againe And as I doe beleeue your religious asseueration that for very feare of damnation you forsooke vs which makes mee to haue the better hope and opinion of you for that I see you doe so seriously minde that which is the end of our whole life so I desire from my heart the good hope of saluation you haue in your present way may be as happie as your feare I am perswaded was causelesse For my part I call God to record against mine owne soule that both before my going into Italie and since I haue still endeauoured to finde and follow the truth in the points controuerted betweene vs without any earthly respect in the world Neither wanted I faire opportunitie had I seene it on that side easily and with hope of good entertainment to haue adioyned my selfe to the Church of Rome after your example But to vse your words as I shall answere at the dreadfull day of iudgement I neuer saw heard or read any thing which did conuince me nay which did not finally confirme me daily more and more in the perswasion that in these differences it rests on our part Wherein I haue not followed humane coniectures from forraine and outward things as by your leaue mee thinkes you doe in these your motiues whereby I protest to you in the sight of God I am also much comforted and assured in the possession of the truth but the vndoubted voice of God in his word which is more to my conscience then a thousand Topicall Arguments In regard whereof I am no lesse assured that if I should forsake it I should be renounced by our Sauiour before God and his Angels then in the holding it be acknowledged and saued which makes me resolue not onely for no hope if it were of 10000. worlds but by the gracious assistance of God without whom I know I am able to doe nothing for no terrour or torment euer to become a Papist You see what a large distance there is betweene vs in opinion Yet for my part I doe not take vpon me to foreiudge you or anie other that doth not with an euill minde and selfe condemning conscience onely to maintaine a faction differ from that which I am perswaded is the right I account we hold one and the same faith in our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ and by him in the blessed Trinitie To his iudgement we stand or fall Incomparably more and of more importance are those things wherein wee agree then those wherin we dissent Let vs follow therefore the things of peace and of mutuall edification If any be otherwise minded then he ought God shall reueale that also to him If any be weake or fallen God is able to raiâ—e him vp And of you good M. Waddesworth and the rest of my Masters and Brethren of that side one thing I would againe desire that according to the Aposiles profession of himselfe you would forbeare to be Lords ouer our Faith nor straightway condemne of heresie our ignorance or lacke of perswasion concerning such things as wee cannot perceiue to be founded in holy Scripture Enioy your owne opinions but make them not Articles of our Faith the analogie whereof is broken as well by addition as subtraction And this selfe same equitie we desire to find in positiue Lawes Orders and Ceremonies Wherein as euerie Church hath full right to prescribe that which is decent and to edification and to reforme abuse so those that are members of each are to follow what is enioyned till by the same authoritie it be reuersed And now to close vp this Account of yours whereof you would haue Doctor Hall and me to be as it were examiners and Auditors Whether it be perfect and allowable or no looke you to it I haue here told you mine opinion of it as directly plainely and freely as I can and as you required fully if not tediously I list not to contend with you about it Satisfie your owne conscience and our common Lord and Master and you shall easily satisfie me Once yet by my aduice review it and cast it ouer againe And if in the particulars you finde you haue taken manie nullities for signifying numbers manie smaller signifiers for greater correct the totall If you finde namely that out of desire of Vnitie and dislike of contention you haue apprehended our diuersities to be more then they are conceiued a necessitie of an externall infallible Iudge where there was none attributed the priuiledge of the Church properly called to that which is visible and mixt If you finde the reformed Churches more charitable the proper note of Chists sheepe The Roman faction more fraudulent and that by publike counsell and of politicke purpose in framing not onely all later writers but some ancient yea the holy Scriptures for their aduantage If you finde you haue mistaken the Protestants doctrine touching inuisibilitie your own also touching vniformitie in matters of Faith If you haue beene misinformed and too haâ—â—ie of credit touching the imputations laid to the beginners of reformation For as touching the want of Succession and the