breathe Nick. Had I beene his Herald hee should haue borne a Lady cow for his Crest It had beene a fit Embleme for a faire out-side Though his pen made him admirable in his age yet did his c Dumque moror mirorque simul fugit omnis in vndas miraculous lies make him ridiculous in his dotage d Suspendit calamum Marianae Lipsius arae Suspendi meruit c. Well did his pen deserue to hang at Maries Altar But of the twaine himselfe did best deserue the haltar He best deserued the whetstone for his lying That could not leaue the trade-when he was dying Ma. When Lipsius wrote did he sit stand kneele or leane Hee did lie most that 's flat witnesse his last Scene Min. Then I see you meane not to die in Iabals debt for an Epigram In lieu of his Ladies gloues you haue returned him a Cow with two prettie Calues by her side Lipsius will neuer bee dead as long as they liue Iab Among manie e Pag. 130 deuises the enemie of Mankind hath set abroach in this age to infect the world with Irreligion and Atheisme none seemeth to mee more potent then the deniall of miracles together with those shifts which Heresie hath inuented to discard those both of ancient fresh memorie which please not your tast Ma. That it doth so seeme vnto you seemes not strange vnto vs who doe assure our selues of your forwardnesse in aduancing the state and dignitie of your grand Bel-peor The point is whether our Sauiour his Apostles and the Fathers of the Church held the deniall of your vpstart Lapsian miracles such a potent meanes to infect the World with Atheisme and Irreligion If you will bee tried by these holde vp your f Ecce purissimas meas manus Praeceptor quoth the boy with the scabbed fingers hand A match Doth not Moses g Deut. 13.2.6 forbid vs to judge of the Doctrine by miracles Saith hee not that if any man shall giue vs a signe or a wonder which he told of should come to passe yet we must not hearken vnto him if he once say Come and let vs goe serue other Gods The h Ier. 23 Prophet complaines in the person of Almightie God against these Miracle-mongers Seduxerunt populum meum in mendacijs suis in miraculis suis Our Sauiour i Mat. 24. v. 23.24.25 forewarneth vs not to beleeue such For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and they shall shew great signes and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceiue the verie Elect. Saint k 2. The. 2.9.10 Paul prophetically auerreth that the comming of the man of sinne shall be after the working of Sathan with all powers and signes and lying wonders And with all deceiueablenesse of vnrighteousnesse in them that perish because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued And that for this cause God shall send strong Delusion that they should beleeue a lie What greater contrarietie can be imagined then there is betweene your position and these textuall verities Min. The Ancient Fathers haue likewise ioyned their forces in the same Encounter Doth not Saint l In Mat. hâ— 49 Chrysostome manacle these Quack-saluers for playing their Leger-de-main trickes Per signacognoscebatur saith hee qui essent veri Christiani qui falsi Nunc autem signorum operatio omnino leuata est magis autem inuenitur apud cos qui falsi sunt Christiani Saint m De Ciuit. Dei lib. 22. cap. 8 Augustine makes a monster of him who doth now desire wonders for the kindling of his faith after so cleare a demonstration of Euangelicall miracles Contraistos Mirabiliarios saith n In Iohan. tract 13. hee cautum me fecit Deus meus My God hath armed mee against such To what end doth hee say Behold I haue tolde you before but that his Spouse should not be entrap'd with such Sophisticall miracle Yea hee blasteth both Lipsius and his Shrine with a o Aug. de vnit Eccles cap. 19. Remoueantur Away saith hee with this geare p Miracula fiut aliquaado humana procuratione aliquando diabolica operatione Al. Hale Quast 53. Art 3 which is eyther the iugling of deceitfull men or the Illusion of lying Deuils It is in my opinion the next way to make men Atheists to see Papists so much distrust the efficacie of the word and the soliditie of Euangelicall truthes that they are euerie day driuen to seeke new supporters of their faith which they easily discerne to bee hammered by the hand of fraud Iab As no q Pag. 130 age since the Creation hath beene without prophane fellowes prone to denie Gods prouidence ouer mankind to iest and scoffe at his seruants so likewise the same prouidence hath not permitted anie age to passe without Miracles and markes of his power keeping the impious in awe by punishments miraculously inflicted vpon their mates and comforting his true worshippers with extraordinarie fauours and benefits bestowed on them aboue natures reach Ma. What authoritie you haue to Canonize them that worship your Ladie of Hall for true worshippers as your supposition intendeth wee will not dispute It would put you to a plunge to proue image-Image-worshippers true worshippers Christ r Ioh. 4.23 Da medium lunae Solem simul canis iram saith that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth and not the Mother of Hall in stocke or stone Not to stand vpon this I doe not see how you can excuse your presumption in aduenturing to teach the Å¿ A posse ad esse non sequitur argumentum Almightie how hee should awe the impious and comfort his seruants The state of the Church were in a lamentable case if there were no other means for the producing of these effects besides the working of new t Miracula persequentes fugiunt fugientes persequuntur Aeneas Siluius miracles The persecutors of Gods people may be stricken with terrour when they heare the successe which Pharao Antiochus Senacharib Herod and the rest had If with the Adder they stoppe their eares against these neyther would they beleeue though an Angell should come with a fierie sword from Heauen The Lord is able by his secret Iudgements to preuent their malice and confound their deuices The patience which hee giueth vnto his seruants is a miracle which more astonisheth their Enemies and addeth a greater measure to their owne glorious reward then if they were rescued by a miraculous supply To you that desire fire and bullets to strike off the noses of your Enemies I may say with our Sauiour in the like case Nescitis cuius spiritus sitis Iab In what u Pag. 131 age since the comming of Christ hath eyther pietie more needed a spur or impietie a curbe then in this we liue in The Wolfe is said to be so stiffnecked and greedie of his prey that he neuer looketh back but when
Globes as Whales do with barrels which they tosse vp and downe at their pleasures Min. Yet as if these things were nifles no whit preiudiciall to a Common-weale he complaineth of want of the Knights Charity u Pag. 5. Can any noble bloud saith hee harbour in that heart that is so greedy of Innocent bloud The Lion spareth his prostrate enemie whereas you long to teare out our hearts in which you cannot finde any sinne besides an ouer-feruent desire to * Viam Veritatis nescierunt helpe you to heauen Ma. An ouer-feruent desire indeede Calescunt plus satis Rather then faile if there be any powder in a Country they will send fiery Chariots to hoise vs vp into the Clouds Nick. It were better in my opinion to trauel thither on foot hee shall bee sure to lose much lether who spurres Cut so fast but by his leaue I will not hyre such a blind Guide at so deere a rate When I come to St Omers Doway or Rome he will beare mee in hand that I haue a little further to trauell as being in the Suburbs of Paradise whereas God wot I shall haue gone so farre out of my way and then stand in need of a new helpe to bring mee out of the Deuills mouth Min. Wee shall heare anon what ghostly directions hee will giue vs to further vs in this voyage In the meane season it is not amisse to obserue what skill hee vseth in peruerting the Knights meaning The Knight indeed professeth irreconcilable detestation but of whom Of the Incendiaries of the Romish forge Hee proclaimes not warre against the Inueagled Ladies and other poore seduced soules his discretion hath taught him not to bind the nocent and innocent in one bundle They are Incendiaries whom hee brandeth as worthy perpetuall detestation Et quamdiu tales as long as they deserue that denomination I cannot see how the most regular Charity dare bid them God speed neither doth he malitiously desire but rather vpon more then probable coniecture by way of caution foretell the x Pag. 6. damnation of their soules who second those hellish Pyoners in those diuellish courses which are so odious in the sight of God and man Reason he had to expresse his dislike as pathetically as he could for that hee feared the like incouragements and meritorious attributes to such future attempts from the Papall Sea by whose Agents that plot is now in shew disclaimed though rather for the y Proditionem amant Proditores infelices odisse simulant contrary successe then the barbarous immanity thereof Ma. I am verily perswaded the most Christian Charity would not sticke to professe eternall opposition to that viperous brood whose hearts harbour dangerous factions whose tongues are tip'd with malitious scandalls whose hands are imbrued in a Sea of innocent bloud If the great Iudge haue z Foris canes Apoc. 22.15 shut the gates of heauen against such inueterate and impenitent Murtherers I cannot see how mercy can be hired by the Popes Indulgences to lend them a key for their entrance into life Nick. Tempora mutantur It was no cruelty of yore to cast a poore harmelesse a Acts and Monuments infant springing from the scorched womb of the mother into the fiery flames there to be consumed but now the very speech of Parliament seuerity against notorious traytours and matchlesse Malefactors argues want of Nobility and valour the truth is our Iustices may be wel suspected for both as being according to Iabals account b Pag. 8. taller men of their tongues then of their hands Did they imploy their authority in suppressing them in their particular Shires as well as they vse their wits in decreeing against them in the Parliament house they should gaine more honour and the Countrey reape farre more good Min. Quae supra nos nihil ad nos I dare say you long till you heare how he laies about him in the defence of Purgatory but his meaning is to try your patience The second part of his Apology touching certaine exceptions against himselfe taketh vp the remainder of his first Chapter For the dispatch of these c Pag. 11. toyes so hee tearmes them as if hee were challenging his Copes-mate at tria sequuntur tria hee doth methodically diuide this sequele into Flies Fies and Lies Nick. The rime may well beseeme Skelton the Poet or d There was a wife of Croyden And she rid a stroyden c. Elderton the Ballad-maker but I would gladly see the reason what meanes he by Flyes Ma. Sir Edward I remember to abate the pride of his spurtling quill in blemishing the worth of other mens lines giues him a tast of such an indecorum wouen throughout that work as would inforce true Literature to blush at the very first sight therof there being very few leaues wherein the Reader shall not meet with a Cobweb a Spider or a Flye Some of which he there paged to saue himselfe a labour in the discouery of those many other Solaecismes Incongruities and Iobbing Parentheses which any curious eye without the helpe of Spectacles might easily discerne Nick. And what flappe hath he gotten to free his paper from these magotting creatures whose blowing hath made his periods so vnsauory Ma. He doth confesse and auoid He forsooth had rather vtter his minde in a crabbed then a new created phrase as being e Pag. 12. more curious that his doctrine be true then his speech smooth Ma. Hee that will take vpon him to Minorize the learning of Authors and to dedicate his workes vnto persons of that extraordinary note and superlatiue iudgement must not onely weigh his positions in the ballance of the sanctuary that they bee consonant to the truth but f Omne tulit 〈◊〉 qui misâ—â— vâ—ile dulci. polish them also with a Rhetoricall file that they want not those comely g Oratoris proprium apte distincte ornateque dicere ornaments which are requisite in the Professors of Art The fabricke of Theologicall worke ought to bee raised ex lapidibus politis Ragged and rugged stones are fitter for the wild Quarry then to stand in the beautifull gate To runne a poore silly heartlesse Metaphor out of h Crambe bis cocta breath argues little variety of wit and lesse solidity of iudgement Min. Will you see wit play her prize then listen how pretily Rachil can defend Solacismes i Pag. 14. Such seeming faults saith he are by indicious censures esteemed not to be blemishes but rather ornaments in the purest Writers The stile is childish which still feareth the rod not daring to depart one sillable from the rules of Grammar As in a Consort of sweet voices a Discord now and then doth make the Musicke more pleasing so the worthiest writers haue let some iobs passe in their workes which rather delight then offend a Iudicious Reader Nick. Heere is a Ladde for the nonce to helpe a lame dogge ouer a stile O thou rarely
denies it expressely y Pag. 49 neyther is Lyraes Doctrine to the purpose Min. If you grant that Saint Augustine was one of the principall Doctors of the Church then listen a while to Ludouicus Viualdus z De veritate cōtritiouis fol. 52. De Razia saith he nobilissimo milite legimus in 2. lib. Mach c. quòd scipsum a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 animose ac magnifice in mortem dederit cuius mors commendatur ac landibus extollitur A DOCTORIBVS CATHOLICIS eo quod ob reuerentiam Dei atque ob salutem boni publici consummata fuerit We read of Razias c. Whose death is commended and highly extolled by the CATHOLIQVE DOCTORS Ma. Was this the opinion of Catholique Doctors in Viualdus his age then it seemes Saint Augustine was either not well vnderstood or not reputed in that ranke or that those Doctors haue since changed their mindes Howsoeuer the Minor viz. that Razias is commended for that fact hath the warrant of the Catholique Doctors as also of Ludouicus and Lyra maugre the spurning of your Wilde Asses b Pag. 62 Colt Therefore the conclusion that the Macchabees are not Canonicall must by vertue of Augustines ground bee returned with the c Pag. 46. Goose and Woodcock vnto your owne keeping Nick. Saint d Ibid. Augustines Eagle hath alreadie pick't out their eyes and put them to flight they beginne to droop and hang the wings so that they will haue little maw to shew their heads any more on this Coast Iab Is e Pag. 58 it not credible that some fathers who denie these bookes were ignorant of the Churches warrant rather then Saint Aug. so rash and presumptuous as to canonize them without it Ma. Lord what shift the Doctor makes to get loose his strugling makes mee remember the complaint of an f Laurent Valla de volup l. 1. elegant writer which may well beseeme Master Rachils eares Quid facias prauis ingenijs quae tergiuer santur manifestis rationibus repugnant nec se à veritate capi sinunt Min. Nay on my word hee begins to deale more plainly then I expected For whereas before he did set Saint Hierome and Sant Augustine at oddes making no more account of Caietans pearles then ordinary pebbles it is to be attributed to the chollericke fit wherewith he was ouertaken But now vpon better and more mature deliberation hee speakes by the book and tels vs that some Fathers deny these books Yet heerein he is not well aduised in that to free S Augustine from rashnesse and presumption hee sticks not to charge the rest with ignorance Ma. In very deede Doctor you are an vngratious child not worthy of your Mothers blessing Wil you make the Fathers of your Church ignorant in the warrant of your Church Shall they bee admitted to teach others in doubtfull controuersies of faith who are themselues to seeke in the Canon of Hagiographicall Scripture which is the ground of faith I cannot thinke that if the foure first generall Councels had receiued these books into the Canon they would haue beene eyther so ignorant or so rash and presumptuous as to haue disallowed them Iab Why g Pag. 50. should not the Bookes of Machabees be sacred though they prayse Razias for this fact as well as the Booke of Iudges where Sampson is praysed who did the like If this be Saint Augustines sentence which the Knight cites out h Ibid. of Lyra that hee did that fact by speciall instinct of the Holy Ghost who doth not see that your argument to proue the Machabees not to be Scripture is not worth a rush Min. Whether Saint Augustine were of this mind or no the Knight referred it to Lyraes report who there relates as he i Counters p. 45 sayth eyther the verie words or the receiued sence The Knight doth not peremptorily take vpon him to iustifie the words to haue proceeded from Augustines pen hee only presumed so farre vpon the Readers patience as to write out what Lyra there wrote without any distinction of Character touching the general opinion of the commendation of Razias his fact wherein as Lyra k Lyra in 2. Mach. cap. 14 speakes some thought Saint Augustine did beare a part Nick. Whether it were Augustines assertion or Lyraes relation it was sufficient to proue the Minor viz. That Razias his murther was there praysed But how will you answer the like of Sampson which Iabal bringeth out of the Booke of Iudges this maie seeme to inferre a secret addition to Augustine his ground Where hee sayth No Canonicall Booke doth commend or praise killing ones selfe Iabal by way of supposition annexeth this clause viz. without speciall instinct of the Holy Ghost Ma. Master Vicar you thinke Beggars haue no Lice VVho would haue looked for this from the Groome It is fit you should stop this gap Min. Had Razias killed himselfe by that speciall instinct then would not Saint Augustine haue ventured to censure this fact as worthie reproofe but as you say he proues against the Circumcellians that Razias was l Pag. 51. not commendable for that fact which the Scripture did report not praise Besides the text ascribes it to his own choice saying Eligens potius nobiliter mori that he chose rather to die m 2. Mach cap. 14. vers 42. nobly Thomas Aquinas also frees the spirit from that motion in this verdit Quidam saith hee seipsos n Secund. 2 Quaest 64. art 5. ad Quint. interfecerunt aestimantes se fortiter agere de quorum numero Razias fuit non tamen est vera fortitudo sed magis quaedam mollities animi Thus doth hee brand it as an aberration from true fortitude which defect is not incident to that spirit which leades into all truth Ma. You may spare your paines for anie further proofe the Doctor I thinke is of your minde in this It pleased him by occasion of that report which the Knight laid vpon Lyraes penne touching some mens construction of Augustines sence and Razias his fact to play the Questionist and to make a doubt of that wherein it seemes by his silence hee holds himselfe now satisfied Nick. Then cannot the Booke of Machabees bee sacred which both by euidence of the text and th' assent of the Catholique Doctors doth prayse Razias for that whch true fortitude doth disclaime and Canonicall Scripture disallow Iab Truly Saint Augustine o Pag. 52. doth so often clearly and peremptorily auouch the Charter of the Machabees which confirmeth Purgatorie to bee sacred that I wonder any man that hath read his workes wil vndertake to proue the contrarie When he makes the Catalogue of Canonicall Bookes doth not he ranke these with the rest Did hee not subscribe to the Councell of Carthage where those Bookes were canonized Ma. This is that which the Knight did wisely foresee and cautelously labour to preuent Hee feared least his aduersarie might be ouer-swayed