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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68023	A briefe examination for the tyme, of a certaine declaration, lately put in print in the name and defence of certaine ministers in London, refusyng to weare the apparell prescribed by the lawes and orders of the realme In the ende is reported, the iudgement of two notable learned fathers, M. doctour Bucer, and M. doctour Martir ... translated out of the originals, written by theyr owne handes, purposely debatyng this controuersie.	Parker, Matthew, 1504-1575.; Bucer, Martin, 1491-1551.; Vermigli, Pietro Martire, 1499-1562.; Hooper, John, d. 1555.	1566 (1566)	STC 10387; ESTC S101661	56,521	86

of Moises and that in the Temple to wynne to Chryst the obstinate Jewes The histories Ecclesiasticall also haue diuers experiences howe much our auncient fathers increased Christes Churche by such godly pollicie Hence it was that they plucked not downe all the Jewyshe Sinagoges and Heathenyshe Temples but turned them to the seruice of God that they altered theyr feast dayes that they chaunged their rites to Godlye purposes And that this myght be done it appeareth by S. Augustine to Publicola saying Cum vero ista vel in honorem veri dei conuertuntur hoc de illis fit quod de ipsis hominibus cum ex sacrilegis et impiis in veram religionem mutantur When these thinges be conuerted vnto the honour of the true God it is of them as it is of the parties them selues whan they were before committyng sacrilege and impietie nowe they be conuerted into true religious persons These fathers thought not them selues in suche thynges vnder the commaundement which God gaue his people to practise in the land of Canaan therfore durst not with an herotcal spirite destroy all that the Heathen had inuented before But dyd Vindicare tanquam ab iniustis possessoribus in vsum suum clayme to theyr owne ryght vse as it were from the iniust possessours such lyke thynges as you talke of in this declaration Neyther dyd almyghtie God wyll his people to ouerthrowe the Cananites images and aulters leste those Gentyles shoulde be made more obstinate in their false religion as you alleage the cause but rather as the text declareth leste Gods seruauntes shoulde thereby fall vnto their idolatrie For they were charged not to bryng that heathenyshe people to Gods true seruice but to rote them cleane out of the land which they had so wickedly polluted Wherfore you do wrye this place from his naturall sense Upon this text you adde a note in the margent That al monumentes of Idolatrie must be destroyed signifing what your auditours and readers shoulde iudge of these orders which yet you your selues sometimes acknowledge to be indifferent and maye be vsed when occasion shall serue If these thynges required at your handes be preciselye vnder that commaundement of God to his people enteryng the lande of Canaan then is all this controuersie at an ende Proue that and al is done It woulde helpe you very much in this matter to consider that there is great difference betwixte those thynges that were meerly inuented of the Heathen to the worshyp of Idols and to maynteyne idolatrie and those that haue ben abused of papistes specially these fewe thynges beyng first institute for no such intent From this argument of not edifiyng wherein you would haue vs rather yelde to your saying then be perswaded by your reasons you fall to speake against pollicie without the compasse of Gods word vnder the which you would comprise these orders not impius wicked And for want of matter thorow your spirite of ironie you must as you do to the Prince the Counsayle the Byshops the learned men ● wyse geue also to the aduertisementes theyr gyrde and nip whiche very prudently thinketh it well yf Ministers receyuyng these orders teache and protest for what ende and purpose they take and vse the same wherby others may learne what difference there is nowe when these thynges are set forth for decencie and order and the tyme when suche lyke were inforced as the seruyce of God What fault you fynde with this rule you declare not Peraduenture you thinke those garmentes yet stayned with Idolatry and therefore not to be receyued by any protestation wherein you are contrary to your selues to all learned men and to the scriptures Or els you thynke not this declaration suffient in these thinges indifferent that they be not vrged of necessitie that they be onlye appoynted for decencie and order wherevnto you maye adde more circumstaunces yf you wyll but they are contayned vnder those two whiche yf the Minister both holde hym selfe and diligently declare to other he may with discharge of conscience obey his Prince knowyng that comelynes and order edifie the Churche of Chryst. Well the aduertisements must be defaced with the infamous title of the inuention of man and such lyke And vpon what reason shall this be done Forsoth it is lyke the wysdome of them that woulde haue ymages you say in Churches to exercise theyr strength in refraynyng from the worship of them whiche thyng is agaynst the wysdome of God Deut. 7. You shoulde haue done the dueties of discrete preachers yf you had vttered this your vnlykely lykelyhood to them that stande in so fonde defence of ymages whereof what the doctrine of this Realme is it is publykely declared And as for these orders all obedient men well vnderstande that they are not geuen to trye any mans perfection Neyther do they passe the wysdome of God whiche in the Scriptures willeth all thynges to be done decently and orderly whiche graunteth the godly magistrate aucthoritie of makyng ecclesiasticall lawes whiche hath geuen also power to the Churche whiche promiseth his spirite to Synodes yea for ordeynyng rytes and maners But to beate downe this pollicie of mans brayne you say very lytle nay nothyng at all to the purpose that in thinges neyther commaunded nor forbydden we must not folowe our owne phantasies lest we heare In vayne do they worship me teaching doctrines the preceptes of men These preceptes of men wherewith the Prophete and the Apostle saye God is not worshipped were such as Chrisostome wryteth whiche the seniours had made newe other wayes then Moyses commaunded and preferred them in Gods seruice before the lawe of the Lord and added them to Gods worde as iudgeyng it otherwayes vnperfect for the saluation of Gods people On this maner no man at this tyme vrgeth these orders That holsome lawes of godly magistrates whiche seruing God as S. Augustine affirmeth they make not onlye for humayne societie but also for Gods religion which furthermore he truely tearmeth Clensing instrumentes of the Lordes barren floure profitable terrours commodious admonitions healthsom boundes medicine right phisical That these I say are not to be thought the preceptes of man it needeth not to call together here all the auncient felowship of fathers Doctour Bucer vpon this place may teache you the same who most godly pronounceth thus Quicquid homo statuerit quod quomodocunque ad vsum proximorum faciat c. Whatsoeuer man shall decree whiche by any meanes may make to the vse of his neighboures for that the same is deriued from the rule of charitie as be lawes ciuill domesticall statutes ceremonies and rytes whiche Christian men vse thereby to teache or heare Goddes worde more commodiouslye or to praye and about the Lordes Supper and Baptisme yea whatsoeuer shalbe a furtheraunce to passe our lyfe here more profitablye and decently That thing ought not to be esteemed as a tradition or precept of man though

by men it be commaunded but as the tradition or precept of god Thus farre Doctour Bucer With whom Maister Caluine very wel agreeth saying ‡ That which is part of decencie commended vnto vs by the Apostle though it be prescribed by man is Gods tradition and not mans as kneelyng at solemne prayers and suche lyke So then if you woulde haue rested vppon the censures of these godly learned men you shoulde not haue needed thus vnwysely to haue skoffed at this wysdome of man contaynyng her selfe within the limittes of the wysdome of God as is before proued and myght be fully iustified by infinite places of Germayne wryters and by theyr letters of late sent into the Realme to dyuers godly but for prolixitie The thyrde mayne reason you vse is That none of Christes litleones must be offended Whiche thyng accordyng to your vsage you augment with sundrye textes of Scripture as yf all the men of vnderstandyng in this Realme were yet aslepe and neyther saw nor harde the voyce of theyr maister Christ and his holy Apostle But you passe ouer with silence that whiche you shoulde haue substauncially waded through Vz That these orders nowe taken do iustly offende the weake lambes of Christes folde Wherfore to aunswere to the generall proposition it is not expedient seeing it is holden as most true of all men But concerning the offendyng of the weake briefely In indifferent thynges if lawe for common tranquilitie haue prescribed no order what ought to be done a Christian man ought to haue a great regarde of his neyghbours conscience accordyng to S. Paules doctrine But yf lawe foreseeyng harmes and prouiding quietnes haue taken lawefull order therin offence is taken and not geuen when the subiect doth his duetie in obedience so seuerely enioyned hym by Gods worde Notwithstandyng you say that a wyse shipper in saylyng wyll not come nygh rockes and flattes yf he may but take sea rowme ynough In deede the wyse shipmen of our Churche haue spyed the rockes of false doctrine superstition and errour wherevpon many haue ben cast away and to auoyde them haue taken rowme ynough in the scriptures of God For outwarde apparell of them selues are not suche rockes and flattes as you do phantasie neyther euer harde you any of Christes seruauntes to be in daunger of perishing iustly by them as they be now appoynted Yea you may beholde many a godly passenger vnder these orders saylyng with a straight course towarde that heauenly Hauen whervnto he trusteth safely to arriue Al these men in this ship of Christ takyng example by the politike gouernour S. Paul crye out aloude and say Non omnia papistica edificant All popery doth not edifie and are marueylous circumspect and carefull lest any of Christes deare flocke should be offended As for the place alleaged by you where S. Paule forbyddeth Cōmunion with the Gentyles in their idolatricall worshyppyng yf you had applyed it you shoulde haue perceyued no sequele therof For thankes be to God we dwell not among the Babilonians and Chaldies we haue in our Church no publique worshyppyng of Idolles no Heathenishe or idolatrical sacrifice as were in some place of the citie of Corinth whose societie contagion we ought to auoyde And yf there be in a Church where Christes Gospel is purely preached and his sacraments rightly ministred some euyl among the good as in one net diuers sortes of fishes in one fielde wheate and tares in one barne corne and chaffe yet the good are not sayde to communicate or be defyled of the badde as long as they consent not to theyr wickednes but depart from among them not by corporall separation but by dissimilitude of life and diuersitie of maners though they both vse the same temple the same table the same sacramentes as S. Augustine setteth out at large It is one thyng to flee from communicatyng with open professed idolatrie theyr prophanes rites and deuylyshe orders though in hart we worshyp God and another ryghtly to vse rites and fassions abused all the abuses beyng clearely condempned Of the one we haue an expresse commaundement in Scripture the other our auncient fathers haue practised before you and Gods holy worde hath not forbydden it The fourth foundation or grounde that you lay is That you must needes cast away and forsake all those thynges as haue ben brought into the Church besides or contrary to the Scripture This platte you enlarge with a dosen seuerall sentences all which paynes you myght well haue saued yf you had not mynded to haue ben bytyng and snappyng by the way at your superiours This trueth all faythful Christians confirme with you That concernyng fayth and doctrine concernyng remission of sinnes and eternall saluation nothing ought to be taught or receyued which is contrary or not grounded in the Canonicall Scriptures For holy writ geuen by the inspiration of God is not only a lyght to our feete as Dauid sayth but also so profitable that thereby the man of God maye be absolute beyng made perfecte vnto all good workes as Saint Paule testifieth And though this be most true touchyng the substaunce of Christian religion yet the maner and order of settyng of it foorth is not particularly expressed but generally left to the disposition of Christes Churche from tyme to tyme accordyng to those wordes of Saint Paule * Let all thynges be done comely and orderly Wherein whatsoeuer shalbe lawfully done to those purposes is not to be iudged besydes the Scriptures As for example Fastyng is commaunded in Gods worde But what dayes we shoulde fast or what dayes we shoulde not beyng not there determined yf the Christian Churche decree it is not besydes the Scripture The ministryng of Baptisme the Lordes supper is commaunded in Gods worde But what dayes what tymes what places in what companye with what prayers before and after yf the Christian Churche decree it is not besides the Scriptures And accordyng to this Saint Augustine wryteth touchyng the receyuyng of the Sacrament of the body bloud of Christ fastyng in the mornyng Saluator ideo non praecepit quo deinceps ordine sumeretur vt Apostolis per quos Ecclesias dispositurus erat seruaret hunc locum Our Sauiour therfore hath not cōmaunded in what order the Sacrament shoulde be afterwarde receyued because he myght reserue this place to his Apostles by whom he woulde order the Churches Thus also the preachyng of the Gospell is commaunded in Gods worde but howe to do this office in Pulpit or otherwayes in mornyng or after noone and so forth yf the Christian Churche decree it is not besides the Scripture The lyke may be sayde concernyng lawes politike of Princes affayres and trafficke betwixt man man whose groundes and rules are in Gods worde and yet the particular circumstaunces in practising them being diuers in sundry Countreys accordyng to the iudgement of magistrates are not besides Scriptures when al those diuersities haue Gods worde for theyr

generall rule and ende And blessed be God our tymes are here suche that no man in our Churches presumeth to adde to Gods word as acknowledgyng the perfitnes therof to our saluation And that our gouernours in the feare of God eschewe Saules disobedience and by ryghteous clemencie flee the tyrannye of Reboam and through the direction of Gods spirite walke zelously in the pathes of godly Ezechias in all those thinges whiche they fynde wrytten in the booke of Gods lawe to appertayne to his true seruice and worship not so much weyhing the displeasures of worldly potentates as the curses that the most mightie God powreth vpon all suche as truely and sincerely regarde not his religion and glory And blessed be the name of the Lorde for euer that hath stirred vp such Bishops and preachers among vs whiche neyther haue nor do flatter Princes to set vp theyr pleasures aboue the wyll and commaundement of God though some surmise the contrary As Audiam certayne sectaries layde to the Fathers charge of Nicaene counsell that they tooke an order in the troublesome dissention for keping Easter day to please and flatter Constantine the Emperour whereas they dyd it vpon inst consideration and to auoyde scisine Surely the examples whiche you bryng in of wycked Kinges and false Prophetes myght haue well at this tyme in this cause ben pretermitted as whiche concerne matters expressely forbydden or commaunded by God but that you woulde intimate to some not well stayed that the Prince in these thinges suffereth them contrary to Gods word and her lawfull aucthoritie whiche thankes be to our heauenly father for his aboundaunt blessynges most rychly powred vppon her is altogether otherwayes or that all preachers and subiectes obeyng so orderly demaundes are but false Prophetes and flatterers This is very sore iudgement to condemne all your brethren for manpleasers that obey their supreme gouernour vnder god in matters indifferent of whom as you knowe a great number when flatterye was muche more gaynefull refused to do it with no small daunger And if you marke your note well Flatterie hath not ben alwayes the sure marke of false teachers For you shall reade S. Jude foretell of some that should despyse them that were in aucthoritie You shall reade of the Donatistes Rogatians Circumcellions and Papists that are rather disobedient to iust and good lawes of Princes for that as they say they see not in the writinges of the Euangelistes and Apostles any suche example Nowe for the maner and condition of true Prophetes whiche you assure vs is to aduouche alwayes Haec dicit dominus Thus sayeth the Lorde It is maruayle you remembred not in what thynges that was then necessary and wherein it is required nowe Truely you are not so vnskilfull but that you knowe sundry seuerall thinges to be left to their iudgement who may for the more handsome feeding of Christes sheepe and not for their owne purse belly or kitchin say with S. Paule * Other thynges when I come I wyll set in an order Al rites and fassions which euery nation beleuing may stablishe and vse are not distinctly rehearsed in Scripture that the minister may say of euery one of them Thus sayeth the Lorde It is sufficient in suche thinges yf they truely serue to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is seemly order to retayne the which the Church hath power to abrogate olde and make newe lawes Wherein sayeth Doctour Peter Martir these conditions must be obserued ‡ Fyrst that they be not contrary to Gods word Then that iustifitation and remission of sinnes be not sought for in them Thyrdly that the multitude ouerwhelme not the Churche Fourthly that they be not decreed as necessary and not to be changed Last of all that they be not so vrged as yf he sinned dampnablye that sometyme omitteth them without offence or contempt Suche lawes then albeit they be not in playne termes and wordes mentioned in the scripture yet hauing these properties they are not to be reiected as yf they were by no maner of meanes in the worde of God It is a pitifull case to see howe you trouble your selues in comparing Chryst preaching the wyll of his father and the Phariseys teachyng theyr owne traditions as yf any man inforceth nowe mans lawe as part of Gods diuine seruice or as if these orders vppon necessitie of saluation must be receyued and Gods blessed worde froden vnder foote Yet S. Augustine is this bolde touchyng the obseruation of profitatable rites in Christes Churche that he thynketh the contemptuous breaker of Ecclesiasticall orders to be corrected as transgressours of Gods lawes The Apostles you say preached not the dreames of their owne heades and yet for all that they made orders for the Churche whiche continued theyr tymes and season whereof we reade not theyr particuler commission True it is as you report that S. Paule willed not men to followe his deuises neyther preached he hym selfe at any tyme. What then Did he not appoynt temperall rites in the Churche which he had not Verbatim expressely at his masters hands and whiche nowe ceasse and are not in vse The lyke is said of suche doynges of the other Apostles whose constitutions were altered after theyr death You conclude thus Because these thynges haue no commaundement nor grounde in Gods worde therefore you refuse them Fyrst speciall commaundement needeth not in this part of Ecclesiasticall discipline Then edification order decencie aucthoritie of supreme magistrates haue grounde sufficient in the newe Testament and olde Last of al you should haue proued that they had no grounde in Scriptures But that thyng you neuer once touched but ranne a rouyng vpon the Maior to bleare the simple Christians eyes as yf you had sayd much of the matter when you neuer came towarde it Passyng from this fourth reason you frame an obiection vnto your selues as it liketh your selues and aunswere vnto it as you lyste Your obiection is That the Prince commaunding a thing indifferent and profitable for the state of the Churche may be added must be obayed Wherevpon you say it must folowe you disobeyng therein must both your selues offende and be a stumblyng blocke for others In aunswere herevnto howe sclenderly you excuse your selues and auoyde blame howe daungerously you passe ouer other matters it had not ben greatly amisse to haue quietly left but that this place as well as others would haue somethyng spoken of it The aucthoritie you affirme of a Prince in these thinges indifferent is to commaunde theyr good vse and forbyd the contrary Upon which your resolution a man may reason with you thus The good vse of indifferent thinges is gods commaundement whiche a Prince must execute But this may be a good vse of these orders now taken as the contrary is not proued by you so consequently the magistrate may call vpon the execution of the same Touching the Minor this much we haue of your graunt that a time may

second foundation of your reasons is that these diuersities of vestures were inuented of Antichrist therefore we ought not only to forsake the Pope but all his inuentions Besydes this ye woulde haue all maner of difference of vestures and apparell of Ministers to be taken away Wherefore seyng these two be the chiefe strength of your argumentes I wyll fyrst intreate of them Afterwarde I wyll adde what soeuer it be yf I can call to my remembraunce any other thyng brought in of you to confirme your opinion In Moses lawe or Priesthood after Aarons order there were sacramentes with the whiche it pleased God to confirme as I myght say by puttyng his seale to them the promises made of Chryst commyng I knowledge do graunt that all these thynges be abrogated neuer to be brought in agayne for we beleue that Christ is alredye come and not that he wyll come And we haue other seales in Scripture delyuered to vs of Chryste hym selfe in the Gospell bread wyne and water therfore we neede not call agayne signes for this purpose vsed in the olde Testament There were also in that lawe other signes actions so ordeyned that they could not be properly called Sacramentes and yet they had some respect to comelynesse to order and to some commoditie And these I iudge may be restored retayned as thinges agreeyng to the lyght of nature and inducyng to some profitable vse Who doth not see that the Apostles to the intent they that beleued myght lyue more peaceably and quietlye dyd commaunde the Gentyles to abstayne from bloud and strangled And yet these thynges without all doubt were fetched frō the order of Aaron if ye wyl comprehend generallye all thynges whiche was in the olde lawe And there is none of vs ignoraunt but that the tenthes was fetched from thence which now in our dayes be appoynted to fynde the Ministers of the Church thorowout Christendome You can not wel proue by the Scriptures of the new Testament that Psalmes and Hymnes were songue in the Churche at publique seruice which thyng yet appeareth most playnelye to be done in the olde Testament I wyll here omit that Saint Ambrose in his exposition vpon the. xiiii Chapter of the fyrst to the Corinthians sayth moste playnely that the maner of prophesying whiche Paule teacheth was deryued out of the Sinagoges into our Churches To these I could bryng foorth other thynges and that not a fewe in number yf tyme suffered me to consider diligently the matter which our Church haue borowed out of Moses decrees And that I may speake only of holy dayes which we kepe in memory of our Lordes resurrection byrth and death of Chryst Pentecost shoulde we therfore abolyshe them because they be the reliques of the olde law You see as I suppose by all these thynges howe that not all that pertayned to the Priesthood of Aaron is so abolyshed that nothyng of it maye be retayned or vsed of vs at these dayes Nor here ye shal not by and by saye that this is nothyng els but to open a wyndowe to all abuses as to holy water sensynges in the Churche and to infinite suche other For the aduersaries wyll strayght shape you this aunswere Fyrst of all that there must be limitted a measure in any case as well of those that be reserued as those that shalbe brought agayne into the Churche And secondarylye that no opinion or vertue of religion is at all to be attributed vnto them contrarywise to that we see is done of the papistes in theyr holy water sensyngs Last of all there must good heede be taken lest our Christian libertie be brought into some daunger which shoulde be in ease yf y t such thyngs as be reserued or restored be appoynted necessarye meanes for to obteyne saluation For so are such thynges to be brought in agayne or to be tollerated that they be layde away when they appeare not to be put to good vse And so it seemeth to me we must do at this tyme with this diuersitie of apparell accordyng as I declared my mynde before For I woulde and nowe wyshe that they were layde asyde but forsomuch as yet hytherto it hath not preuayled vntyll better may be I thynke we ought to beare them And yf it pleased God I woulde that the Churches of Germany myght redeeme theyr libertie with this one inconuenience although I wishe by al meanes that no superstuous thyng shoulde be forced vpon them But let vs consider your other argument that is to say It is not lawfull to vse these kinde of vestures because they were inuented of the popes tiranny In this poynt I do not well perceyue howe it maye be affirmed for a suretie that we can vse nothyng that perteyned to the Pope and is vsed in popery Truely we must take good heede that we bryng not the Churche of Christ into such bondage that it may not vse any thyng that the Pope vsed It is very true that our forefathers toke the temples of Idols turned them into holy Churches where Christ should be worshypped And they toke also the salarie and reuenues consecrated to the Idolles of the Gentyles to theyr wicked shewes and playes and to theyr holy votaries virgins transposed it to finde the Ministers of the Church And yet all these thynges dyd not onlye seruyce vnto Antichrist but vnto the deuyll Yea the holy Ecclesiasticall wryters dyd not sticke to take the Uearses of Poetes which had ben dedicated vnto Muses and to other diuers gods goddesses for to be played in playes and spoken in shewes to obteyne the fauour of theyr gods I saye they dyd nothyng stycke or feare to vse them when it seemed to them conuenient imitatyng Paule the Apostle who stocke nothyng at all to rehearse for his purpose Menander Aratus and Epimenydes that he did in intreatyng the holy Scripture appliyng prophane wordes to set forth gods religion We reade also howe that Wyne was consecrated vnto Bacchus Bread vnto Ceres Water vnto Neptune Oyle vnto Minerua Letters vnto Mercury Song vnto the Musis and vnto Apollo and many other thynges Tertullian rehearseth in his ▪ booke entituled de Corona militis Christiani where almost he entreateth this selfe same argument Yet for al that we stycke not to vse all these thynges freely aswell in holy as in prophane vses although at one tyme or other before they had bē consecrated to Idolles and to deuyls Howbeit I wyll not graunt that these diuersities of vestures haue their begynnynges of the Pope forsomuch as I reade in the Ecclesiasticall Hystory howe that John the Apostle wore at Ephesus where he dwelled a byshops apparell tearmyng it Petalum seu lamina Pontificalis As touchyng Saint Ciprian the holye Martir Pontius the Deacon writeth that a litle before he shuld be beheaded he gaue vnto hym that was appoynted to behead hym his vesture called Birrus after he had put it of to the Deacons he gaue his other vesture

the same as they may rightlye of them by whom chiefelye all Romyshe religion with superstition and errour was through the spirite of God bannyshed this Realme Well howesoeuer it hath pleased you for spite agaynst some one to bryng a great number of very godly in obloqui and suspition yf the thynges required be indifferent in themselues and not so horrible daungerous for this Churche at these dayes as the prudent and chare ouerseers iudge euen as it were in the syght of Chryst to whom they must render an accompt for his deare flocke what matter is it who they be that call vpon you to accomplyshe your duetie Unlesse you thinke that no man ought to make general lawes in the lyke cases but let euery Curate be supreme gouernour in his owne paryshe Which loose imagination what inconuenience it wyll drawe with it you may well consider Howe innocent handes they haue from the bloud of all Gods Saintes who vnder a most godly vertuous and pure regiment deale with you al maner of wayes that you slippe not from your loyall obedience yea though they shoulde vse towarde some of you charitable seueritie terrible lenitie auengement medicinal as S. Augustine setteth out the true ecclesiastical discipline not only the wise within this Realme vnderstande but the enemies also without confesse But because your enemies as you surmize put you in mynde of your duetiful subiection you wyll not be cowards you saye yeeldyng your weapons to your aduersaries handes As yf by wearyng this apparell the sword of Gods worde were wrested out of your handelyng where as you knowe well enough in these orders you may manfully caste downe strong holdes ouerthrowe imaginations and euery hygh thyng that exalteth hymselfe agaynst the knowledge of God and bryng into captiuitie all vnderstandyng to the obedience of Christ yea and take vengeaunce of all disobedience as S. Paule describeth at large the faythful preachers weapons and fyght Nay God graunt this vndiscrete dealyng of yours be not a voluntarye throwyng awaye of your weapons in deede marueylous daungerous also to Christes people committed to your charge whyles you open thus a gappe for hirelynges to creepe in and defende not your flockes from the great peryls of heynous errours and vngodlynesse of lyfe because some hauyng interest aswellas you in your sheepe shewe vnto you an orderly poynt or two Last of all you request two thynges The one That you may kepe your conscience vndefiled This your petition in some thynges touchyng the worshyp of God myght haue his place But in these matters which you call indifferent what is it that shoulde defyle you the thyng itselfe or your weake opinion of it The thing itselfe doth not pollute you For as S. Paule sayth to the pure all thynges are pure And agayne Nothyng is common or vncleane of itselfe Nowe as concernyng your weakenes thankes be to God that which the same S. Paule reporteth of the Corinthes may be verified of you We all haue knowledge And We are sure that an Idoll is nothyng in the worlde and that there is none other God but one It were to be wyshed and would to God there were no examples now of it that none of them which pretende herein a straytnes of conscience dyd strayne a Gnat and swallowe a Camell Next you require freedom to teach your flockes by doctrine This thyng your bounden obedience may easylye obtayne where as by your owne wylfulnes you depriue yourselues therof Then you would go before your sheepe in that which you haue taught If it be as farre as becommeth your owne persons and degree you shall deserue thankes whensoeuer you perfourme it â–ª For though it chaunce so oftentymes that many thynges are to be taught of themselues indifferent yet in your example it shall not be lawefull for you to vse them before your paroeces as you lyst Meete is it that Christian people heare dyuers tymes of the freedome of conscience in meates places tymes and dayes and yet neyther you nor they ought to disturbe politicall order lawfully taken Whiche disturbaunce of publique quiet in rites and ordinaunces which may be for the varietie of places diuers and yet to be straytly obserued what a great offence it is not only the Scriptures may teache you the vsage of Christes true Church but also the determination of this Church in Englande both agreed vpon in kyng Edwardes dayes also testified and subscribed by them themselues who nowe woulde gaynsay theyr owne doynges then The wordes which the whole Sinode were well pleased withall whervnto all the Cleargies handes are set to be these It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or vtterly lyke for at all tymes they haue ben dyuers and maye be chaunged accordyng to the diuersities of Countreys tymes and mens maners so that nothyng be ordered agaynst the worde of God VVhosoeuer through his priuate iudgement wyllyngly and purposely doth openly breake the traditions and ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnaunt to the word of God and be ordeyned and approued by common auctoritie ought to be rebuked openly that other may feare to do the lyke as one that offendeth agaynst the common order of the Church and hurteth the auctoritie of the Magistrate and woundeth the consciences of the weake brethren After these Godly mens iudgementes yf you go before your flocke in this quiet maner your example veryly shall edifie much Thus therfore if we al shalbe faithful wise seruauntes geuyng our maisters housholde theyr duetie of meate in due season and also be founde by our Lorde when he commeth so doyng happy shall we be and we shall haue our portion not with the hypocrites where is weepyng and gnashyng of teeth but with the blessed in the kyngdome of the most mightie God which is kyng of kynges and Lorde of Lordes to whom be honour and rule euerlastyng Amen Ephes. 4. But let vs folowe the trueth in loue and in all thynges growe vp into hym which is the head that is Christ. Phil. 3. Neuerthelesse in that wherevnto we are come let vs proceade by one rule that we may be of one accorde A prayer to be said dayly of a Christian man for the Churche Promissam pacem tua nunc ecclesia Christe Insano mundi turbine pressa petit â–ª Euigila tandem fluctus compesce furentes Fac tibi non pereant quos pater ipse dedit THe Churche O Christ thy spouse opprest with worldly spight Thy ioyfull peace doth craue by thee to her behight Awake sweete Lorde awake and styll this raging sea That thyne elect he saude whiche once were geune to thee FINIS Doctissimo viro D. Martino Bucero Theologiae in Academia Cantabrigiensi professori Regio Thomas Cantuariensis AFter my hartie salutations ryght welbebeloued Master Bucer I haue read that booke whiche ye haue sent to Doctour Peter Alexander concernyng the controuersie betwixt Master Hoper and the