calleth by the name of Counsell and so doth expound himselfe in his 3 booke de Doct. Christ c. 17. when he affirmeth alia omnibus communiter PRAECIPI alia singulis quibusque generibus personarum here is the vniversall or common and that proper or speciall precept distinguished he giueth the reason that God hath not in this only taken care for the generall infections sicknesse of sinne in al but particularly for the spirituall disease and infirmitie of every one Psal 103. he hath giuen medicine to heale these sicknesses and the directiō of the receipt is a Praecipi Conf. l. 10. c. 29.30 And not only here but in his Confessiōs he acknowledgeth that god doth command virginity and continency Imperas nobis cōtinentiam continentiam iubes da quod iubes iube quod vis The second and third places of S. Augustin may be so answered But in a word to either the former of the two in which I must aime at the worde for I finde no quotation of these places oft vrged I say the former of these * Evāg quaest 2. l. cap. 19. whence you would proue not only Counsells but supererogation meaneth nothing else but that a man may by grace outstrip the common iniunction enioined other men but that ex debito not ex consilio as in other places Austin holdeth And to his latter place Enchr. ad Laur. c. 121. Quaecunque ergo mandat Deus c. Danaeus answereth that howsoever Austin seemeth to distinguish Counsells and precepts there yet the very word in that place speciali Consilio doth sufficiētly manifest his meaning to bee of precepts For an especiall Counsell is only herein especiall as hauing reference to a generall but generall Counsells there bee none but only Precepts therefore it is plaine by speciali consilio he meant a speciall precept Thus you are left without authority the scabbard whereof you will presume to keepe for you see the sword is taken from you or else so vnedged that it serveth not for your turne Mr LEECH Precepts and Counsailes therefore differ thus Precepts are of necessity Counsailes arbitrary left to our free choice Both aime at the marke of heaven by shooting at the butt of Christian perfectiō but differ in the māner Both levell at the meanes of salvation that is perfection of charity yet Counsailes after a more exquisite and excelling perfection ANSVVER Counsels and precepts do differ no more then Genus and species for Counsailes bee but the braunches and species of Precepts neither bee they left to our free choice for we haue no free choice but in every good thing the directing hand of heavē doth dispose of vs. Secondly they be not Arbitrary simply If we graunt them to be Arbitrary in regarde of the things to bee vndertaken which be indifferent yet they be not so in regard of the persons vndertaking who are bounde to loue serue and feare God as much as they can with their best gifts and yet in the end bee vnprofitable servants Mr LEECH The stage of this worlde and the theater of the Church present vnto our free choice the worlds trash and heavēs true treasure the more man cleaveth to heauens permanent felicity the more perfit excellent is he nay to cast the worlds trash wholy away in lue of heauens treasure as seafaring men do their goods wares in danger of shipwracke when the life is in hazard this is no precept of necessity but only an advise of greater perfection ANSVVER The stage of the world and the Theater of the Church are very vnfit Phrases and more vnfit to bee coupled But these do not present to our free choice the casting away of the worlds trash for the Apostle necessitate praecepti Heb. 12.1 doth binde every man to cast away every thing that presseth downe And yet all Christians are not generally commanded to giue away all or cast away al but to imitate the merchant in a dangerous tempest to cast away all rather then hazard his life and this is but conditionall and when the danger is lesse hee will depart but with some part reserving the rest for helping forward his traffique So the Christian sea-faring man will vpon an extremity rather forsake all worldly profit then endanger the shipwracke of faith a good conscience Neverthelesse in the common course of his life which is ordinarily hazardous will not be wāting to throw daily some of his goods into the salt sea of other mens misery for their reliefe alwaies so giving that he may alwaies giue Mr LEECH Transgressors of the lawes precepts deserue punishment but they that performe not Counsailes sin not only they want some measure of perfection ANSVVERE They that performe not counsailes as Evangelicall precepts particularly inioined them sin peccato omissionis For a man must serue God as much as he is able obligatione praecepti as it is iterated in Matthew Mark Mat. 22.37 Mark 12.30 Luc. 10.27 and Luke Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule and with all thy minde which is not only by the Fathers Aq. 22ae q. 44. art 5. Com. in Math. 22. but by Aquinas and Caietā thus expounded that in the service of the heart is dedicated the affection in the soule the consecration of the life in the minde the sacrifice of the vnderstanding Yea scire is required in the heart velle in the soule posse in the minde all our faculties of soule and body are required by that precept delivered in the law confirmed in the Gospell and containing the very summe of Law and Gospell of Precepts and Counsailes and requiring the vtmost degrees of perfection that may be performed in this life Mr LEECH Observers of Counsailes shall haue greater reward yea they shall sit vpon thrones and not only iudge the twelue tribes of Israell but doome both men and Angels It was Christ his promise of remuneration made to his disciples for their consolation to encourage them to goe forwardes with the practise of Christian perfection embracing for his and heauens sake voluntary pouerty virginall chastity and humble obedience It was proclaimed also by that trumpet of the Apostles preacher of the world Apostle of the Gentiles and descrier of heavenly mysteries holy and blessed S. Paul know you not that we shall iudge the Angels c. The words are so pregnāt that all the wrāgling wits and contentious private spirits in the world cānot wrest them But law breakers without repentance shal haue greater punishment ANSVVER To the Saints in generall it is promised by the Oracle of truth Mat. 19.28 the truth himselfe not only in Matthew that they shall sit vpon twelue throanes and iudge the twelue tribes of Israell Luk. 22.30 but also in Luke that they shall eate drinke at his table in his kingdome sit on seats and iudge the twelue tribes of Israell And it is most true that
Pez p. 552. Pezelius noteth they make thē Perfectiores leges Evangelicas which be but Enarrationes decalogi But to your supposition how vmbragious soeuer you seeme to be it is manifest you never vnderstood the state of the question Counsells are precepts I can easily bring a Iurie of Fathers to proue it not such as you impanelled to condemne your selfe Precepts I say they be to particular men who exceed others in gifts of grace And because much shall bee required of him that hath much giuen him therefore a Counsell as a praecept doth oblige not all in generall but him that is particularly furnished by God for such a purpose and service and therefore he that hath the gift of chastity other circumstances concurring is bound sub poena not to marry S. Hierom doth only speake of generall precepts and the place in Gregory is oft cited and as oft answered but not quoted at all But I say the same of him Greg. mor. l. 26. cap. 25. as of Hierome for Gregory is most plaine in the point in the 25 Chapt. of the 26 booke of Moralls his words be specialis iussio and specialia praecepta and specialiter imperatur and the distinction of generale praeceptum speciale praeceptum is so often repeated about the midst of that Chapter as nothing can be more plain So that Ierome and Gregory come over to vs for they meane speciall precepts not generall And certainely as S. Basil speaketh if virginity were a generall command to all it would exclude marriage but being not some may marry some liue chast all doe well Mr LEECH This I demanded but hee then passed it ouer with silence and therefore I expect his answere now how hee cā avoid this consequence which followeth vpon his own learning ANSVVER Eccles 12. The words of the wise are like Goads like nailes fastened by the masters of the assemblies saith Salomon His words might haue satisfied you if truth and reason would haue yeelded you satisfaction but a false opinion once grounded is like poison fully setled or like Deianiraes shirt it wil hardly be shaken of without plucking the skinne with it Mr LEECH As for sending me vp to London to answere the point there my reply was that for my part I was ready to answere vnto the point and to iustify the doctrine either there or else where in what consistory soever in the kingdome Only for your own credit sake and place said I which you supply I wish that it would please you to bee better advised at least to conferre with some other doctors who heard the sermon as well as your selfe and maturely to deliberate whether there be scandalum datum or acceptum a scandall on my part iustly giuen or on your part vniustly taken and whether your exception against my doctrine will beare waight or no being poysed in an indifferent ballance of equity before you resolue vpon this precipitation Otherwaies you shall bewray great want of sound iudgement in opinion and disclose much oversight in discretion ANSVVER o Theod. in Plut. Pericl Pericles had that skill in wrastling that though he receiued a fall yet hee would perswade the wrastler that cast him and others that beheld him that he cōquered I know no such subtelty in you as you would haue your hearers to beleeue but sure I am you did not braue it so with the Doctor as you here relate In all these proceedings of D. Hutton you haue iniured him much but your selfe more you know what slayeth the soule and therefore ought to forbeare al insulting tearmes iniust imputations circumstantiall disparadgments false relations and to regard age and authority learning piety so are you bound by feare and conscience What other Doctors iudged concerning your sermon you knowe by those reverend Divines and governors among vs when you were censured about it and therefore it is an idle question whether you gaue or tooke the offence The doctrine you know was Papisticall therefore you ought not to haue obtruded such a point in the pulpit Christs speech is generall p ◠Mat. 18.6 whosoeuer shall offend one of these little ones that beleeue in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that hee were drowned in the depth of the sea Your weapons were made on the Philistims forges Aug. your arguments were neither de veritate nor pro veritate Neither truth of matter nor sobriety of speech had place in your tempestuous conceit disiointed sermon You were not so willing to answere at London nor so peremptory to accuse the Doctor for want of iudgement in opinion or ouersight in discretion Mr LEECH And farther I assure you call me whether you will into questiō I shall discharge my selfe with sufficient credit when you shall gaine little by questioning my doctrine or molesting me causelesly ANSVVER You wel ad the word farther for you never spake so farre as this you haue a strange gift of amplification you scarse spake the tēth part of that which you haue here so enlarged as is confirm'd and averred by wise honest witnesses that heard it This large discourse was not extant then You neither durst nor could babble so much in so short a time you durst not for your distraction that night observed by many was very much it shewd that then you had not altogether dispassioned your conscience but that there was some sparke which did feare and follow you observed by her owne eie though no other eie should perceiue her chased by her own foot though nothing either in heauen or earth should pursue her Relation tells me there was some ouerture of compunction then in you your looks gestures words gaue testimony that you durst not speake so peremptorily And that you could not it is plaine scarse three questions and answers passing between you and those rather commanding your Coppy then disputing the question Mr LEECH Here the kitchin-conference brake vp only in the loose he required a copy of that doctrine of Counsells delivered by me out of S. Gregory To this I voluntarily condescended adding these words to intimate my confident resolution Sir For the doctrine I will request no fauor at your hands only I hope that you will doe me iustice if not assure your selfe I shall right my selfe else where This was the last period of our conference at that time and so wee parted supper calling vs both away ANSVVERE So much for your saucy vnsauory kitchin-stuffe You need not againe to insist vpon the place a circūstance in that businesse lest materiall And the advantage of malice and hatred hence is very small if duly considered Therefore breefly to enforme the Christian indifferent Reader Concerning that aspertion of disgrace you call the kitchin conference thus it was as I haue receiued it from the mouthes vnder the hands of those it concerneth Presently vpon your sermon you were sent for because of the generall
Thyest quod nulla posteritas taceat sed nulla probet exceeding any particular Scythian Scillian Marian Tartarian Barbarian Iewish Turkish villany yet it was plotted by Catholiques Anticoton conspired by Catholiques acted Ioh. Mariana and to be acted by Catholiques and maintained as a lawfull doctrinall position by Catholiques Heretofore it was a Catholique doctrine held tyrannous in a king to kill a Priest but now it is thought a meritorious point in a Priest to kill a king and you must iustifie it If you iustifie not it they will not iustifie you Mr LEECH And if this blowe haue not hit home to the finall deciding of this quarrel depriving his heresie of al breathing let him or any or all his complices and especially those six well selected doctours who haue so farre engaged their credits by interessing themselues so deepely in the quarrell warde and answere the blow which they haue publikely received Doctor Benefield for all of them put togither haue not yet diverted the stroke Or if the cause which the principall Actor vndertooke will abide so much as the least touchstone of tryal let him vpon what grounds and confidence soever he stādeth as I dare boldly chardge challeng him he standeth vpon none but hereticall divulge his lecture vnto the cēsure of the world ANSVVER Your challēdge is received But why were not those many challēages answered by you which were offered by the ingenious and learned students of Christ-church and by the ingemminated motions of the Reverend Deane that you shoulde sit to answere or oppose in the scholasticall forme of Disputations about this point The sixe Doctors need not to raise their forces to encounter you One of them whom it most cōcerneth hath opposed more then you and Rome will ever answer His lecture is divulged to the worlds censure so it was desired by the Rightly Honorable and most reverend Bishop Ravis whose great care before his death was that your ignorant scandalous Pamphlet they were his owne wordes might receiue a rigid answere The learned and painefull lecture is able to satisfie any who giue i 1. Tiim 4.1 no heed vnto spirits of errour doctrines of Divels which speake not lies through hypocrisie having their consciences seared with a hot yron With that lecture the places of Scripture be truely expounded the question as in the sight of God truely discussed in the Appendix the ancient Fathers most sufficiently answered Mr LEECH Meane while for the honor of God confusion of Sathan to preserue Christ his word the word of verity from the infectiō of Heresie for the iust defence of this doctrine the due reproofe of hereticall innovatiō I haue thought good here to insert a true coppy of the Sermon preached by me in Oxford to iustifie Evangelicall Counsailes vpon the occasion aboue mentioned Anno Dom. 1608. 27. die Iunij ANSVVERE k Chem. in loc Commun loc de Cons Evang. Luther about to cōfute this very doctrine vseth these words In perpetuam rei memoriam maximè verò in Redemptoris gloriam ista sunt memori mente servanda exaggeranda adversus impudentissimos rabulas Papisticae abominationis defensores I wil not bee so bitter But to the glory of God dischardge of my conscience and satisfying of those great and honorable friends that did importune me to this businesse I follow you line by line to see whether your coppy bee right You say you haue endevored to reproue hereticall innovation I say so much dicit Scaurus negat Varius vtri creditis you must put your selfe vpon God and the Country Mr LEECH Reade it deare Christian brother severely iudge of it impartially and God graunt it may effect in thee what I wish hartily and that is if thou feelest thy selfe called and thy soule mooved effectually to practise the same Amen ANSVVER Wish faithfully pray religiously then no doubt God will giue you vnderstanding in al things which you must haue in your selfe before you cā wish it or teach it to others I lament you should so oppose your selfe to the doctrine of Christs holy Catholique Church in a mercenary respect and discontented humour burthen your soule with so fowle a sinne as this is truely iudged to be even Apostasie All such to the life S. Paule doth decipher and giveth order against such 1. Tim. 6.3 4.5 If any man teach otherwise and consenteth not to the wholesome doctrine which is according to Godlinesse he is puft vp and knoweth nothing he doateth or languisheth about questions and strife of words whereof commeth envy strife raylings evill surmises vaine disputations of men of corrupt mindes destitute of the truth which thinke that gaine is Godlinesse Fly such and feare such So I wish you so I counsell you so I pray for you and seale my counsell wishes and prayers with Amen Mr LEECH THE SERMON PREACHED IN defence of EVANGELICALL COVNSAILES and the Fathers ANSVVER It was and ever will be true Causa patrocinio non bona peior erit In that it is Bellarmines doctrine all your authorities gathered from him you are his advocat hee your author But I know not whose the Sermon is he made it but preached it not you preached it but made it not Mr LEECH AND I saw the dead both great and small stande before God Apoc. 20.12 the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their works This verse naturally floweth into three streames of Christian Doctrine The first is a generall citation of all And I saw the dead both great and smal stand before God The second is a particuler examination of all vpon a two-fold evidence brought in liber conscientiae librū praescientiae the booke of conscience and the booke of God his eternall prescience the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life A finall retribution involved in the act and particuler manner of the iudgement and the dead were iudged of those things which were writtē in the books according to their workes ANSVVER AS the Surgion seeking to heale some vlcerated partes of a corrupted body doth not apply his Kataplasmes vnto every mēber but vnto those that are worse affected so must I deale with your sermon seeke to cure only those partes that are most tainted In this first Passage if by the rules of Criticisme I should examine it I shoulde finde it guilty of diverse errors but chiefly of your mistake in calling the first part of your text a Citation which is an appearance or a vision of the appearāce the effect of the citation I saw the dead both great and smal your best helpe here wil be to let it be dispensed with per metonimiam satis impropriam Mr LEECH The generall citation more particularly wrappeth in it the persons appearing the dead the extent of
breake with the burden Did hee domineere over you whose care did pitty you and if in any thing he be partiall it is to his enemy Did he vilifie you who received many slanders many scandals nay many bitter imprecations O bloody against him and his And yet hated to pay these privat wrongs with the advantage of his publike office Was he mute who was as able and resolute in the Point as any whatsoever if you suffer your lawlesse Tōgue to walk through the dangerous Pathes of such false conceited suppositions Each eare will be weary of you you at lēgth weary of your selfe Mr LEECH Now if Doctor King will stand in denial hereof or any other be in doubt of my report I protest in the faith of a Catholique man that I write this from the immediate relation of the Doctor himselfe vnto whom I was ledde by the conduct of my good Angell Farther I am so well perswaded of his resolute iudgement and honest heart that I dare boldly say Doctor King shall never be able to procure his subscription against this doctrine ANSVVERE I will not bandy oathes with you but in the religion and faith and truth of a Christian I doe protest that from the immediate and proper personall speech and mouth of this monument of learning I receiued these circumstances following to satisfie all that see how you traduce him You came to enquire his opinion concerning the point as you falsly traduced D. King in the former Paragraphs and receiued this answere The distinction of Counsells may be vsed so that hence merit perfection or supererogation be not taught for this is erroneous Popish To which answere you replied that the Fathers were absolute for that point His wisedome sounding the depth of you and finding that your collectiō of the Fathers was but at the second hand blamed you much shewing how herein any may bee seduced and further told you plainely how worthy you were of censure and how vnworthy to deale in controversie that so impudently would assume authorities out of Bellarmin or any other Papist With these and other such goads as Salomon calleth the words of the wise Eccl. 11.11 you were prickt that you departed much discontented because all his words tended to condemne your iudgement yeelding no iot of encouragement as here you bragge And howsoever there needeth not so great meanes to convince your ignorant impudency as to seeke subscription from any for that which God himselfe hath subscribed yet I returne your owne wordes I am not only persuaded but I am sure such is the riches of his learning he is in argument so powerfull in knowledge so plentifull in truth so faithfull that he denieth defieth the least maintenance of the point and that all the meanes of the world shall not obtaine approbation from him of those Popish doctrines and consequences that you preached And this you might haue observed by his speech But the deaf Adder will not here charme the Charmer never so wisely CHAP. 6. Mr LEECH AS I alwaies had comfort in my wrongs because I suffred for righteousnesse sake so I conceiued good hope that the superiour Magistrate would rectifie the proceedings of his inferiour Wherefore being oppressed with the iniuries of the Vicechancellour I appealed vnto the Archbishop thinking that his house had beene as Hierusalem when iustice and iudgement were lodged therein Being admitted into his Graces presence I vnfoulded the whole processe of this busines acquainting him first with the doctrine which I had preached Secondly with the groundes and reasons wherevpon I built the same Thirdly with the entertainement which it and I for it had found within the vniversity of Oxford ANSVVERE PErsecution for righteousnesse sake is pronounced blessed but neither were you persecuted nor your cause righteous Your Appeale was needlesse causelesse your offence being cēsured not by rigor but favour of the proceedings You fled frō the Vicechancellour to the Chancellor but the higher the worse like Phaetō here you burnt your wings and received your fall The Asylum of iustice and iudgement you found in the Archbishops house but you iniure all you deale with Your admittance was an apparance and at your declaration what circumstances passed all tending to your disgrace I omit In your third you confessed how generall the mislike of this doctrine was in Oxford Mr LEECH The maine summe of his answere consisted in these two particulars First that he must defend the estimatiō of his Vicechancellour of whom a good opinion was generally conceiued Secondly that the Text of S. Math. commonly alleaged for that purpose doth not afford the doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes 19. 21. vade vende omnia c. And here his Grace falling into Calvins false and absurd exposition said that our Saviour doth not here giue any Counsaile of Poverty but only dismasked the hypocrisie of the young man being a proud boasting Pharisee c. ANSVVER First that it is the care of superiour Magistrates to defend the estimation of their deputies Piety in many causes and Policie in all doth command but then especially when the eie of the world doth beholde the integrity and dignity of the Governor Secondly it was not only Calvins exposition that this young man did maske vnder a vaile of hypocrisie but as I formerly shewed Hilary Hierom Ambrose Austin Theophylact and Beda doe all concurre in this opinion and therefore the Epithets of false and absurd belong not to Calvins interpretation Mr LEECH My whole reply was that as I sought not the impeachment of his Vicechancellours credit farther then he had wronged it himselfe by his indirect proceedings so if I could not make my accusations good against him I would be contēt to sustaine my former punishment with a greater augmentation ANSVVER How you sought the impeachment of the Vicechancellours credit and how many breaches you sought to make for invasion into the generall honorable reputation of him the former passadges doe testifie Your accusations what how many and how faulty they were I haue examined but had you bin so observant as you professe your iourney had been spared and the businesse ended at Oxford where your doctrine had beene brought to the touch and test and ballance by disputation Mr LEECH As for the text of S. Matth. I expounded it by Saint Marke who saith that Christ beholding the young man loued him which loue of Christ did cleere him from all suspition of hypocrisie and dissimulation Besides I humbly intreated his Grace to remit himselfe and me vnto the generall consent of Antiquitie in this matter ANSVVER The Text of S. Matthew compared with S. Marke doe both ioine to afford that interpretation which is proued true in my answere to your Sermon Pag. 176. that Christ loved that which he saw good in him and yet did descrie the covetousnesse of him And for your request to his Grace to remit you to Antiquity compare Ierom and Austin Theophylact c. with Basill and
froÌ„ robbing the Church of a Sonne the King of a Subiect and your selfe of a soule Your misapplication of that speech of God to Abraham I might dilate much vpon as hauing variety of interpretations which doe vnderstand that place of the devill the world the flesh But I come neerer to your purpose hoping that those wordes that you say God spake to you were receiued by no revelation a frequeÌ„t imposture amoÌ„g Papists filling the mouthes of many swaying the faiths of some But what is the blemish you see in your mother â—oth our Church deny the principles of ancieÌ„t Christianity Doe wee not receiue the Scriptures the Creedes and Fathers of the first 500 yeares Do we not build our Religion vpon the foundation Iesus Christ the corner stone Is the rule of our doctrine any other then Gods sacred will revealed in his word Is any iniury sustained by you for truth It is not iniury but true iustice to punish those that be stubborne in action precipitat in resolution and faulty in opinion not able to maintaine their cause but with much wresting of conscience their revolt ever attended with sedition scandall and humane respect Mr LEECH But I will pretermit good Reader here to make a speciall enumeration of my Motiues drawing me vnto my finall resolution for they will ensue orderly in the thirde last part of this Treatise Only consider with me now with what conflict of flesh bloud I could intertaine this resolution to come out of my Land from my kindred and from my Fathers howse with what griefe I could forsake a noble Vniversity the company of my kindest friends the comfort of my dearest familiars other emoluments which such a place doth actually yeeld and prepareth vnto greater ANSVVERE Your Motiues shall be answered as briefly as vrged because they be to bee scanned at a higher barre Your conflict was not with flesh and blood but you did agree with the world and the Diuell and applyed your selfe to the service of that painted but ill-favoured witch the church of Rome Neither did you forsake our Vniversity friends and familiars before they forsooke you They at length heard hated who at first obserued your folly and pittyed Mr LEECH Howbeit my Brethren since there is banishmeÌ„t indeed where no place is left for truth I esteeme al these things as dongue that I may gaine Christ for he is my sufficient reward I did not conceiue that when I preached my doctrine among you I shoulde haue giuen you such an example thereof in mine owne person But thankes be vnto him who disposeth all things sweetly for the benefit of his children Finally my brethren I wish that you may enioy your country which is aboue without forsaking that which is below But if you cannot by reason of the time theÌ„ looke vp vnto your eternity let not your excellent spirits abase themselues vnto the loue of transitory things For behold I shew you a more excellent way 1. Cor. 12.13 ANSVVER If in the world there be any sanctuary for truth it is there where shee may appeare without controll without colors or disguises Which you woulde willingly acknowledge to be true if ignorance were not the mother of your devotion To forsake all for Christ is blessed but to forsake eveÌ„ Christ himselfe it is most cursed He is a sufficient reward to all that feare follow him and will follow theÌ„ that fly from him How pervious you were to fly from your Country after you had fled from the truth your intent before and your practises since haue manifested But farre be it that God should be reputed as the disposer of you to this vnnaturall and vnchristian disobedience to the Church and State O what bitter punishment must attend that presumption that endangers a double perishing and is so far from having expresse commaund that it hath direct and iust inhibitions Your wish that we may enioy our countrey that is aboue is a wish aboue your charity We wish your admission into the heavenly Hierusalem which is aboue and would from our harts pray for your triumphant state there Luke 16.25 but that as Abraham said to Diues Remember thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasure and Lazarus paines therfore he is comforted and thou art tormented so we are willing to awake you with this that seeing you make your selfe of the Church triumphaÌ„t in earth you coÌ„tinuing this course are like to haue small part in the triumphant glory in heaven And while wee for our partes and stations are here wee will affect no pilgrimage but from nature to grace so to glory hoping to accompany them that are in possession of the lawrell And to this iourney we haue no other hie way 1. Kings 8.36 1. Sam. 12.23 Ier. 6.16 Ioh. 14 6. but the good way which God teacheth and the right way which Samuell describeth and the old way which Ieremy informeth al which be not as yours be Crosse waies but doe terminat in the way even Christ Iesus THE THIRD PART CONTAIning 12. Motiues which perswaded me to embrace the Catholicke Religion Briefely and naturally deriued out of the premises * ⎠* S. AVGVST In Psal contra partem Donati Scitis Catholica quid sit quid sit praecisum à vite Si qui sint inter vos cauti veniant vivant de radice THE THIRD PART CONTAINETH 12. Articles against you whereby your 12. Motiues are disproved as having not affinity with the faith of the 12 Patriarks or spirit of the 12. Prophets or doctrine of the 12. Apostles or beliefe of the 12. Articles of our Creed shewing that as Art doth imitate Nature and an ape a man so as many grounds as good Christians rely vpon for their faith Apostats boast to alleadge for their fall Wherein as in the premises the particular Apostasie is confuted condemned with much facility and breuity * ⎠* S. AVGVST In eod Psal Contra Partem Donati Ipsam formam habet sarmentuÌ„ quod praecisum est de vite Sed quid illi prodest forma si non viuit de radice Venite fratres si vult is ut inseremini in radice Dolor est cum vos videmus praecisos ita iacere Aug. de vnitate Ecclesiae cap. 2. De hoc inter nos illos quaestio versatur vtrum apud nos an apud illos vera Ecclesia sit Mr LEECH To the conscionable and Ingenious Reader THOVGH the generall motiues vnto the Catholique Religion are many and waighty yet the particular which issued out of this present businesse where such as conuinced my vnderstanding and swayed my affection to approue and embrace the same Wherefore courteous Reader aswell to procure thy good as to iustifie my selfe and to satisfie others I haue coÌ„municated them vnto thy view For matter they are the same now as when I conceiued them in the beginning for manner they are brought forth in somewhat a different shape Thus much
these words the truth is that some there haue beene in many ages Motiue 46. in some points of their opiniō in his next motiue that many points of Protestancie were long before and in divers places As also the Waldenses spoken of by many who were almost 400. yeeres since do manifest our Religion to haue beene more anciēt then so But we stand not so much vpon these as because we are certaine that from the time of Christ the profession and succession of the doctrine of Protestant religion hath with much happines continued and hath appeared in place and persons and time and Doctrine and from the beginning of the Churches declination there haue beene some ever who resisted the Church of Rome and refused their Doctrine and therefore you may conclude as you do that the Gospel hath beene miserably taught amōg thē who haue not sought after the purity of doctrin Scornefull and shamefull is that title you call vs by in the by-name of Lutherans we haue no other title but Christians And as vniust is your slander that Lutherans are men of carnall appetites and base condition whose regularity in life by integrity of conversation is farre aboue any sort of Papists And this your second consideration is my second confirmation that Papists having not true knowledge cannot haue true faith either Originally in the foundation or Doctrinally in their assertions because they want the assurance either evidentiae or inhaerentiae accounting the Scriptures subordinat and the Reformed Churches illegitimat Mr LEECH The third Motiue The Protestants brand the Catholique doctrine with the name of Popery Luther THe name of Papists was first deuised by a luxurious Apostata inventour also of the name of Sacramentaries for so both Catholiques and Zwinglians stand indebted vnto him in these respects By the insolency of this man it came to passe that as many other doctrines so particularly this had beene stamped with the imputation of Popery whence it was that my Calvinian Iudges calumniating both me and it were pleased to fasten the note of Popery vpon it and of a Papist vpon me But since my grounds are meerely Catholique as you see and since this doctrine it selfe is the common faith of ancient Church it followeth either that it is no Poperie as these mē tearme it or that Popery truely conceiued is the very Catholique faith But of the two the later is more probable Wherevpon I inferred this conclusion for my finall resolutiō that Popery was necessarily consequent vpon the true grounds of diuinity and therefore my Iudges betrayed their owne folly in this behalfe for asmuch What Pope did ever devise this and many other doctrines which are called Popepery as by a condemnation of this doctrine they must inevitably confesse that Popery well vnderstood is the doctrine of Antiquity and that the Fathers were no lesse Papists haue in then my selfe ANSVVER LVxurious Apostat you know is a scandalous title cast vpon Luther whose many volumes continuall sermons and indefatigable paines did receiue a better Testimony out of the mouthes of learned Papists as is before proved The sirname of Papists is among some of you gloried in and are you ashamed of it Seeing it commeth from the worde Papa that is the Pope to whom you all profess subiectiō as a matter necessary to salvation why should you abhorre it Indeede it is S. Hieromes rule aduersus Luciferianos If any which are said to belong to Christ wil be tearmed not of our Lord Iesus Christ but of some other Hier. advers Lucif c they are not the Church of Christ but the Synagogue of Antichrist But you reply that you do not approue and assume this name more learned and more wise Papists do Anast Cochel Palaestrit honoris 1. p. 9. 6. Cochelet is zealous in the defence of it if it bee odious to others it is glorious to him wee are Papists saith he and confesse it and glory in that name and to this purpose I coulde cite others Luther was the first Author you say of this name It were the abuse of my Reader to discourse about such impertinēcies but otherwise I could easily disproue this This doctrine was by Luther and your Calvinian Iudges called Popery It was some iniurie sure to ioine things of so dislike natures as to cal him Papist who holds popery and it had beene a great calumny to you if you had not become Papist because then you were tearmed so and now professe your selfe to bee so Is not this a good reason to make you Turnecoate to leaue the religion and Church wherein you were Baptised Or because we tearme your Catholique doctrine Poperie therefore you are so angrie you will leaue vs. But consider that Catholique Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Catholique Church and the true Catholique church by the signification of the word is the vniversal Church so called because it is over al the world is not tyed to anie Country place person or condition of men According to which sense the Romane Church cannot bee called the Catholique Church Boz sig Eccl. l. 19. c. 1. Bell. de Rom. Pont praef lib. 3. c. 21. For Bozius Bellarmine doe complaine that the Protestants doctrine possesseth many and large Provinces England Scotland Denmarke Norwey Sweden Germany Mag Gregor descrip 166. Poland Bohemia Hungaria Prussia Litvania Livonia And Maginus in his Geography saith that the Greeks lōg since departed frō the Church of Rome appointed thēselues Patriarks these provinces follow the Greeks religiō Circassia Walachia Bulgaria Moscovia Russia Mingrelia Brosina Albania Illyricum part of Tartary Servia Croatia and all the provinces living vpon the Euxine Sea And not only all these but how manifest is it that the kingdome of France and the low Countries florish in the Protestant beleefe besides many thousands in Spaine and Italy It is as easie to proue that Popery is not Catholike in time as it is plaine it is not vniversall in place for besides that Reynerius who lived three hundred yeeres agoe Refert Illyr catol. tom 2. doth acknowledge that the Waldenses which professed as wee doe were reputed to haue beene ever since the Apostles time so on the contrary it is open to all the world that the Romane Church hath receaued many new born bastardly opinions which were never before extant I knowe there was a time whē the faith of the Romans was published through out the whole world Rom. 1.8 But now the Angell hath told vs that Babylon is fallen many alterations from the state of that Church Who knoweth not howe strange the point of Supremacy was even in the time of Gregory the great how the Councells of Lateran and Trent giue the Pope so great a transcendency as that he is aboue a generall Councell that the Councell of Constance and Trent forbid the Cup to the lay people that Transubstantiation was made a matter of faith by Innocent
owne fellowes as this the advantage is small to take vp a tearme of contumely from any hot-brained railer to cast vpon the name of this Angell of his Church Your Paradoxes did not passe vnnoted both because of the rudenesse of the delivery of them the vnaptnesse of the tearmes as also your ignorance that as you would not truely preach as a Protestant so you knewe not how neatly to play the Papist All of any note noted your absurdity and insufficiencie either to shew yourselfe a friend or an enemie You aske why this distinction was so hatefull I answere the distinction so vsed as the Fathers interpreted was not denied but the cōsequēces of it as you vrged it were harmefull therefore hatefull Not because so many of our Religion be married for howsoever marriage is a most honorable state how many hundreds in our Vniversity haue consecrated themselues to God in the Ministrie that abhorre your opinion and yet be not matched or married but the cause of the contempt and loathing of the Doctrine is that it was derogatory to the law of God to the Church of God to the sonn of God a doctrine that hath bewitched many and led them Captiues into the habitation of darknesse the Cell or Hell of blindnesse a doctrine whose roote is heresie whose trunk vncommanded privacie whose branches be infidelity against truth violating the law contemning the Precept whose leaues be pertinacity hypocrisie whose fruits be idlenesse drowsinesse filthinesse This is the cause of the suppressing and choaking of this and such continuing weeds of heresie that seek growth in our Church no other cause of pleasure or profit God and his Angells be witnesses They that haue sould themselves to worke wickednes with greedinesse looking for the reward of Balaams wages are ready to resist all truth and if it fall within compasse of their itching humor willing to get a name will be the Patrons of bewitching error And therefore here I fasten my right constant determination to avoid that religion that corrupteth the knowledge with blindnesse and the heart with hardnesse Mr LEECH The ninth Motiue The Protestants doe vnconscionably impugne the knowne and manifest truth SInce the controversies of Religion are many in number and intricate in nature it was my desire from the beginning of my paines in the study of sacred Theology to finde out the true Church that so I might referre my selfe vnto her decision and rest within her bosome For which cause I wholly employed my selfe in turning ouer the volums of the ancient Fathers and whatsoever I found clearely expressed by their vniforme testimony I accepted that according to Vincentius his rule as the iudgement of the Church Among other Doctrines which seeme Popish vnto the new Evangelists I receiued this particular from their instruction so clearly taught so conformably witnessed so iointly approued that if the grounds of Religion be not vncertaine then this Doctrine is absolutely free from all exception And for proofe hereof I remit me vnto the sētences of the Fathers wherewith I thought it meete to conclude this discourse Wherefore since they that glory in the Fathers wāt neither wit nor learning for this matter doe impugne this doctrine and punish her professours how can I think that they doe not fight against their conscience and reasō And how can I thinke that any truth will finde entertainement at their hands when this truth so potent so irrefragable is thus fondly reiected by my Calvinian iudges But whome haue they condemned me a brother somtimes of their gospell a graduat of their schooles a Minister of their Church No but in me and with mee reverend Antiquity the gray headed Fathers the venerable Doctors yea holy scripture it selfe is censured by my vnworthy iudges Wherefore as Ieremiah See Apolog. Iusti Calvin pag. 11. 12. the Patriarch of Constantinople wrote vnto the Lutherans so may I testifie and proclaime vnto these men The ancient divines who were the light of the Church you intreate at your owne pleasure honouring and extolling them in wordes but reiecting them in deed endeauoring to shake them out of our hands whose holy and divine testimonies we should vse against you We see that you will never submit your selues vnto the truth Finally as the Patriarch concludeth that hee will haue no entercourse with the Lutherans forasmuch as hee is taught by S. Paul to avoid an heretike after the first or second admonition so I being persecuted by men of this condition am bound to a void them knowing as S. Paul speaketh that such as they are condemned by their owne iudgements ANSVVER THE controversies in Religion are many hence great alterations haue beene moved in Europe great changes through the world Controversies were in abundance raised by the infection of the smoake of the bottomlesse pit divers armies of Hereticks vanquished by the Reverend fathers yet al these as if but half dead are againe revived by Antichrist only this is the difference the former Heretikes were cōfuted because they opposed the fathers these later wiser in their generatiō seeke to confute all other that oppose them by the Fathers Each man among them at first asketh the way to the Church no Church can serue them but Rome that is their parish Church all other but Chappels they obserue not the alteration of many Christian nations from the sea of Rome or the occasion of this revolt the declination of that sea from the sincerity of the faith and the vnspeakeable corruption thereof Which seperatiō was made vpō these two groūds first because Rome did persecute the professors of this reformatiō with al bloody massacres secōdly because that Antichristian sea would admit no reformation of her corruptiōs but grew vncurable according to that of the Prophet We would haue cured Babilon but shee would not be healed And such hath beene the growth of this Reformation the Lords most holy name for ever be praised that the Church hath recovered more health in one age then shee had lost in two and the Romane Synagogue left infected as that it hath not only drunke the cup of all others abominations but breedeth heresies in it selfe inwardly and hath received such poysons by ambition such corruptions by want of reformation and such indelible markes of Antichrist by continuall persecution outwardly as now it is made plaine to all the world shee is not the Church But the Question of the church you aske of the fathers It is a worthy speech of Iob aske the fathers and they shall tell thee but how vnhappy is hee that perverteth all he readeth or that stomacke that turneth all into poisō that it receiveth you say you bestowed your whole time in turning over the volumes of the Fathers you did turne them indeed frō their meaning it was no more cōmēdable thē the cōtinuall praying of the Eutichae or the cōtinual reading of the Pharisies the one without care senselesse the other without knowledge fruitlesse and both superstitions
Vincentius rule is twice already interpreted and without any further answer to your clamarous repetitions interrogations You received not this point iointly from the fathers The Latin fathers how ever they retaine vpon mistake of S. Paul the word Counsel yet haue no part of your meaning the Greeke are so far from your meaning that they had not so much as the word They therfore that impugne your doctrin do it not vntruly or vnconscionably nor haue condēned you as a brother a graduat or a Minister but because you were a false brother and betraied truth and in your degrees like the Sun that went many degrees backward that in your ministry you were disobediēt you were no better then a Minister of Sathan to buffet the eares of Gods servantes with heresies and in a stubborne opposition contradiction you did repugne Authority and orders stoode out against the Iudges and Magistrates that confuted and censured you And how could you professe such reverence to the fathers you knew not when you were so opposite to your natural fathers as this is your Country Academicall fathers as this is your Vniversity spiritual fathers as this is Aust 48. epist your Church We answer your Patriarke with Saint Austin in his 48. epistle Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Hilarius aut Ambrosius aut Augustinus sed dicit Dominus We honor the fathers and where they bring Dicit dominus our eares and harts be open to entertaine them And as S. Austin vsing the same words which your Patriarch doth both vsing the words of Scripture Haereticū devita so this is my 9. irrefragable position to avoid that Religion which claimeth but hath no Antiquitie and only hath though it confesseth it not the most absurd and ridiculous Novelty for mainetenance of their positions Mr LEECH The tenth Motiue The Protestants for want of better meanes to convince the Catholiques propose vnto them questions of capitall daunger I haue often heard the Catholiques cōplaine that where as they are persecuted for righteousnes sake for their Religion yet they are traduced with the crime of obstinacy disobedience treason and such like odious imputations But aboue the rest their iust griefe arising from vniust vexations did seeme to deserue great compassion forasmuch as their life and liuelyhood is alwaies in the mercie of a most vnmercifull law touching Reconciliation and the Supremacie matters of high and capitall nature Touching the later of these two I can say more Doctor Aray because the bloudy hart of a Calvinist did seeke my ruine and subversion thereby For whereas in my sermons I continually gaue this stile vnto his excellent Maiestie viz in all causes and aboue al persons for iustice and iudgmēt supreme Head and Governour the Calvinist suspecting me not to stand throughly affected to the kings Supremacy according to the purport of the law whereby his Maiestie hath as much spirituall Iurisdiction as ever the Pope de facto had in England and 26. Henr. 8. chap. I. I. Edward 6.1 Elizab. See these things excellently discoursed by a Cath. divine against the 5. part of Sir Ed. Cookes Reportes by vertue of his saide supremacie power of Excommunication is graunted by the Lord Chancellour vnto the Delegates vpon Appeales from the Archbishop of Canterbury his courts wished M. Vicechancellour to examine me vpon this point and to require my opinion therein Which severity though it was then declined yet if that other Calvinist had beene in office as lately he was al mē may easily conceiue into what extremity of perill I had beene cast For though I ever did and shall attribute that right vnto his Maiestie which by the law temporal not dissenting frō law divine is annexed vnto his imperiall crown yet I must confesse that I did purposely moderate his title of Supremacie as the law hath established it because I alwaies conceived that the stile of Defensor fidei given vnto the Crowne of England by the Pope did more properly belong vnto him then the other which was translated from the Pope vnto the Crowne by the violence of a King and by the flattery of his subiects And if Doctor Airay had made a cōscience of his Masters iudgement he would rather haue condescended vnto the equity of my opinion then sought to draw my life into the certainety of such a danger But these men are so possessed with malice and adulation that they rather desire to satisfie their owne passions and to winne favour from their Superiours then to speak or doe according to the truth which pleadeth for it selfe within their corrupt hearts and dayly accuseth them before the throne of greatest iustice ANSVVER MAny complaine without a cause as the ful bellied Monks so fatte that they coulde scarsely breath yet cry Heu quāta patimur pro Christo The Protestants never persecuted your Religion but for the vnrighteousnes therof The mulct was inflicted for Popish opinion but execution never was threatned for Religion The oath of supremacy required is not as you treacherously cal it a most vnmercifull law if it were not required it were an vnwise vniust mercy Your accusation so vncharitable as to tearme him bloody who in his governement hath beene meeke as Moses nay in heavy iniuries cast vpō him hath beene as meeke as a Lambe and not opened his mouth I would you were as farre from bloodthirsting as his hart was frō the desire of your bloodshedding But if you remember the particulars as they bee discussed in my answer Pag. 262. it was most seasonable to sound how you stood affected to the kings Maiesty when you denied your faith and appealed from your Church The rather because in your Prayer you often left out the words supreame Head and Governor For howsoever you infer that you vsed all that belongeth to the Supremacie in acknowledging his most excellent Maiesty to be supreame Head and Governour in all causes and aboue all persons for iustice and iudgement yet seeing in the forme of the oath prescribed vnto al you were in particular bound vtterly to testifie declare in your Conscience that the Kings Highnesse is the only supreame Gouernor of this Realme and of all other his Highnesse dominions and countries as well in spirituall or Ecclesiasticall things or causes as Tēporall you ought for the avoidance of this suspition to haue spoken cleerely and plainely I knowe there be some that vse such manner of speech in their publike prayers for his Maiestie yet their forme is much more consonant to the required forme then yours is And howsoeuer Salomon was placed on his throne for iustice and iudgement as the Queene of Sheba told him and Doctor Raynolds in the end of the Preface to Harts Conference 1. Reg. 10.9 affirmeth that the Lords Annointed are the higher powers ordained to execute iustice and iudgement yet ever these words haue beene interpreted to containe not only ius Politicum
the 50. Paragraph of his way to the true Church doth proue And that we haue had the assistance of Councels in al ages to make laws against such positions witnesse the Greek Church against Bonif. his Supremacie the 6. generall Councell decreeing the marriage of Priests the generall Councell of Constantinople vnder Leo Isamus against Images the Councell of Constantinople vnder Constantine Capronymus of Franckford vnder Charles the great the second Nicene Councel and many others This doctrin of yours was repugned by doctrinall and legall authority and without reiecting of the fathers we reiected your Doctrines we maintaine that they never received it with Arrians or Donatists wee reiect not the fathers All that shall see the premises will witnesse that you were dealt with legally according to the statuts of our Vniuersity for the breach of that order which inhibited you to forbeare preaching this doctrine againe as also you were censured Canonically for infrindging that Canon made against the publicke oppositions of Preachers Your Pope Syricius and his Councell taxe no position that we hold if Ambrose had any more then what Doctor Benefield hath fully satisfied you had before this produced it Sathan was at your elbow when you wrote that hereticall imputation of singular pride and therefore you are culpable of iudgement if not of further punishment Stand to your promise come backe confesse repent retract if you be not convinced by truth which stirreth in your conscience and moaneth that you haue so repressed her then for ever forget the name of any thing but Hereticke Otherwise this shall be my 11. Motiue to abhorre that Religion that doeth so possesse any that they grow resolute in evill actiōs peremptory in talking fastidious in hearing hard-harted in obeying hypocriticall in professing the worde of God Mr LEECH The twelfth Motiue The superiour Magistrates amongst the Protestants concurre with their subordinates to suppresse the truth and to oppresse the patrones thereof against all equity and conscience Though there be a very neere connexion betwixt the superiour and inferiour Magistrate yet since all Magistracie is ordained for the conservation of truth and iustice aswell in the Church as in the common wealth nay much more in the first then in the second it is very requisite that the superiour shoulde yeelde redresse where the inferior hath done a wrong and that rather respecting the cause then the persons hee should minister equity vnto both with an impartill hand For which consideration when my petty iudges had oppressed me according to their owne humours and passions I appealed vnto my Lord of Canterbury his Grace in regard of his Academicall soveraignty over me and them being our honourable Chancellour and much more in respect of his Archiepiscopall dignity he being the Primat of our Church perswading my felfe also that as he is more high in place so he would haue beene more equal in iustice and specially in this cause since his Grace hath sufficientlie manifested himselfe and hath beene so generally reputed to be averse from Calvinisme Tempora mutantur nos mutamur in illis and my hope was that his present place had not changed his former vnderstanding To whom though I truely vnfolded the whole businesse and acquainted him with all circumstances therevnto belonging yet his Grace seeming to favour Calvins opinion but how conscionably it shall bee now referred vnto the iudge of all the world and he will reveale it in the appointed time put me of with continuall delaies But his Grace had iust reason to expect a strong resolution in me since I did appeale vnto him to doe me iustice only and much more to giue his verdict vpon the doctrine it selfe For otherwaies no favour nor benefit whatsoever could yeeld contentment vnto my greived soule I leaue it vnto others to consider how his Grace standeth affected vnto truth as for me I trust that I haue given a sufficient demonstration on my part that I would rather loose my liberty of speech then that shee should want my vttermost defence Here the indifferent Reader may also conceiue with me that if my doctrine had beene liable vnto a iust censure then surely his Grace would haue made no stay to cōdemne it in solemne manner especially since it was so publiquely taught so earnestly defended by me and since I did now entirely desire him to doe me iustice without any fauour But since this Doctrine was not subiect vnto his condemnation why then had his Grace so little reverence vnto the eternall truth of God and so smale respect of mee that he would suffer it to bee so indignely censured by his vicegerent and leaue me helplesse from such iniurious oppression his pretenses to the contrary if he haue any are nothing but smoaky euaporations I am nothing and worse then nothing But I pleaded for iustice In what In a point of faith When being violently oppressed Before whom my most proper iudge to whom the decision of these things doth most fitly appertaine For what ende the honour of God and his gospells sake which I truely delivered and for which I was shamefully intreated ANSVVER THis 12 and last motiue serveth rather to fill the number then the matter wherin is a Rhapsodie of insolent indiscretion and malapart irreligion wronging the living memorie of a dead monument of most honorable and reverend estimation the late worthie Chancellour of this Vniversitie who beeing appointed for the conservation of truth and iustice did iustifie the proceedinges of his worthie and onlie Vicechancellour and therfore you call in question his Truth first and then his Iustice For any aversenes in him frō Calvinisme by which you mean the Protestants religion it is to say no more of it a biting slander vnfit to proceede from the mouth of a Minister In another man it is a double sinne against his owne soule and doth proue him guilty not only of malitious slander to revile the innocent but of impudent and infamous libelling to dishonor the name of a personage so truely reverend But in a Minister it is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Philo speaketh not a twofold but a manifold offence bad in intent in act in example in consequence c. His workes follow him his iudgement proved him to be sound by his preferment of those that were sound by his government repressing the opinions censuring the Authors of any positions vnsound by his deere and neere respect of those that he foresaw were like to stand in the gap couragiously and victoriously against the Popish Philistims Truth hath lost a defender and the Church a father the one he maintained by precepts and constitutions the other he defended not only with praiers petitions but as Paul spake cū lachrymis suspirijs with sighes lamentations to see howe the venomous Gangren of Atheisme doth infect this age some flying frō the religion of the church others stealing from the possession of our Church thereby incurring that curse