suffering such Contention should arise and ensue in the Realm amongst his Subjects that thereby might spring horrible Rebellions and Uproars like as in some parts of Germany it happened not long ago the Enormity whereof they could not impute to any so much as to the Archbishop of Canterbury p. 641 642. But the King says Fox most entirely loved him and always stood in his defence whosoever spake against him and once said to some Lords of his Council I protest solemnly laying his hand upon his breast by the Faith which I ow to God I take this man my Lord of Canterbury to be of all other a most saithful Subject to us and one to whom We are much beholding p. 643. A. Wherein had he obliged the King B. Doctor Burnet tells you page 127. that in the year 1533. the King seeing of how great importance it was to the designs he was then forming namely his Divorce from Queen Katherine his advancement to the title of Supream Head of the Church and seizure of Abby lands c. to fill the See of Canterbury with a learned prudent and resolute man but finding none in the Episcopal Order that was qualified to his mind these are Burnets words and having observed a native simplicity joyned with much Courage in Dr. Cranmer he designed to raise him to that Dignity and gave him notice of it ibid. A. Pray what did they lay to his Charge in Queen Marys time and what Defence did he make B. In Saint Mary's Church at Oxford on the 12th of March anno 1556. Doctor Brooks Bishop of Glocester charged him as followeth My Lord at this present we are sent by Commission partly from the Popes Holyness partly from the King and Queens most excellent Majesties not to your utter discomfort but to your comfort if you will your self not to judge you but to put you in Remembrance of what you have been Neither come we to Dispute with you but to Examine you in certain matters which being done to make Relation thereof to him that hath power to judge you And first as Charity doth move us I think good to exhort you by the words of Saint John. Remember from whence you are fallen and do your first works You have fallen from the universal Church of Christ from the very true and received Faith of all Christendom and that by open Heresie You have fallen from your promise to God from your Fidelity and Allegiance and that by open Preaching by Marriage and Adultery You have fallen from your Sovereign Prince and Queen by open Treason c. and although it may be conjectured that in all your time ye were not upright in the Honour and Faith of Christ but rather set up of purpose as a fit instrument note this whereby the Church might be spoiled and brought into ruin yet it may appear by many your doings otherwise and I for my part as it behoveth each one of us shall think the best For who was thought to have more Conscience of observing the Order of the Church More earnest in the defence of the real presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar than yee were Then all things prospered with you your Prince favoured you your Candlestick was set up in the highest place of the Church and the light of your Candle was over all the Church But after ye began to fall by Schism and would stoutly uphold the unlawful requests of King Henry VIII then began you to fancy unlawful liberty When yee had exiled a good Conscience when you had forsaken God God forsook you and gave you over to your own will and suffered you to fall into Schism and Heresie and from that to Perjury and from Perjury to Treason and so in conclusion into the full Indignation of our Sovereign Prince which you may think a just punishment of God for your other abominable Opinions But here peradventure you will say to me what Sir my fall is not so great as you make it I have not yet fallen from the Catholick Church for that is not the Catholick Church that the Pope is Head of there is another Church To which I answer you are as sure of that as the Donatists were for they said they had the true Church and that true Christians remained only in Africa where only their Seditious Sect was preached And as you think so thought Novatus that all who did acknowledge the Supremacy of Rome were out of the Church of Christ Saint Cyprian defending Cornelius Bishop of Rome against this Novatus Lib 2. Epist 6. saith Ecclesia una est quae cum sit una intus foris esse non potest So that if Novatus was in the true Church then was not Cornelius who by lawful Succession succeeded Pope Fabian Here Saint Cyprian intends by the whole process to prove and concludeth thereupon that the true Church was only Rome But you will say perhaps that you fell not by Heresie so said the Arrians alledging Scripture for themselves and going about to perswade their Heresie by Scripture So did the Marcions appeal to Scripture to Scripture not truly interpreted but wrested according to their own Fancies And the Church replyeth against them qui estis vos from whence came you What right have you to the Scriptures which are the Churches Inheritance Also yee will deny that yee have fallen by Apostacy and breaking your Vow and so Vigilantius said and would admit none to his Ministry but such as had their Wives bagg'd with Children What then shall we say that Vigilantius fell not that Donatus and Novatus were no Scismaticks because they pretended Scripture in their own Defence then let every Man believe as he lists and quote Scripture for it So that your denyal will not avail you Therefore I tell you remember from whence you are fallen Age paenitentiam prima opera fac If yee remember how many yee have brought by abominable Heresie into the way of Perdition I doubt not but very Conscience would move you as well for them as for your self to return again qui convertere fecerit peccatorem ab errore vitae suae salvam faciet animam suam a Morte operiet multitudinem peccatorum suorum He that shall convert a Sinner from his Wickedness shall save his Soul from Death and shall cover a multitude of Sins So on the contrary it must needs be true he that perverteth a Soul and teacheth him the way of Perdition must needs be Damn'd Berengarius seemed to fear that danger provided for it in his Life time and did not only repent but recant and not so much for himself as for them whom he had infected by his abominable Heresies For as he lay on his Death-bed upon the day of Epiphany he demanded of them that were present is this the day of Epiphany and appearing of our Lord They answered him Yes then said he this day shall the Lord appear to me either to my
cometh hurt to all men for it wearieth the stedfast troubleth the doubtful and ensnareth the weak and simple yet because he saith he is not bound to answer your Lordship sitting for the Popes Holyness because of a Premunire and the Word of God as he pretends I think good somewhat to say that all men may see how he runneth out of his race of Reason into the rage of common Talk. And as the King and Queens Majesty will be glad to hear of your most charitable dealing with him so will they be weary to hear the blundering of this stubborn Heretick And where he alledgeth Divinity minling fas nefásque together he should not have been heard For shall it be sufficient for him to alledge the Judge is not competent and shall we dispute contra cum qui negat principia Although there be here a great company of learned men that know it unmeet so to do yet have I here a plain Canon whereby he is convicted ipso facto The Canon is this Sit ergo ruinae suae dolore prostratus quisquis Apostolicis voluerit contraire Decretis nec locum deinceps habeat inter Sacerdotes sed exors à sancto fiat Ministerio c. He hath alledged many matters against the Popes Supremacy but maliciously Ye say that the King in his Realm is Supream Head of the Church Well Sir you will grant me that there was a perfect Catholique Church before any King was Christened Then if it were a perfect Church it must needs have a Head which must needs be before any King was member thereof For you know Constantinus the Emperor was the first Christian King that ever was and although you are bound as St. Paul saith to obey your Rulers and Kings have Rule over the People yet doth it not follow that they have Cure of Souls For à fortiori the Head may do what the Minister cannot do but the Priest may consecrate and the King cannot therefore the King is not Head of the Church And where the Apostles do call upon men to obey their Princes cui Tributum Tributum cui Vectigal Vectigal the Exhortation extendeth only to Temporal matters they perceiving that men were bent to Liberty and Disobedience were enforced to exhort them to Obedience and Payment of their Tribute And again where you say that the Bishop of Rome maketh Laws contrary to the Laws of the Realm that is not true for this is a maxim in the Law Quod in particulari excipitur non facit universale falsum And as touching that monstrous talk of your Conscience that is no Conscience that ye profess it is but privata Scientia and Secta As yet you have not proved for all your glorious Babble that by Gods Laws ye ought not to answer the Popes Holiness The Canons which be received in all Christendom compel you to answer And although this Realm of late time through such Schismatiques as you were hath exiled and banished the Canons yet that cannot make for you for you know your self that pars in totum nihil statuere potest Wherefore this Island being indeed but a member of the whole Church could not determine against the whole And the same Laws that were put away by Parliament are now received again by a Parliament having as full Authority now as they had then And these Laws will now that ye answer to the Popes Holiness Therefore by the Laws of this Realm ye are bound to answer him This was materially replied to Cranmers words that he would never consent that the Bishop of Rome should have any Jurisdiction in England Wherefore my good Lord all that this Thomas Cranmer I cannot otherwise term him confidering his Disobedience hath brought for his Defence shall nothing prevail with you Require him therefore to answer directly to your good Lordship command him to set aside his Trifles and to be obedient to the Laws and Ordinances of this Realm take witness here of his stubborn Contempt against the King and Queens Majesties and compel him to answer directly to such Articles as we shall here exhibit against him and in refusal your good Lordship is to excommunicate him Thus Dr. Story Fox page 654 655. NOTE Here his Fidelity to the Laws so long as they serve his turn the King Queen Parliament and Laws were then Popish He was for the Laws made by himself and the Duke of Somerset under the Childhood of Edward 6. A. Did he answer nothing further to the Charge of Heresie B. Nothing but this He pulled an Appeal out of his left Sleeve says Fox which he dellvered to the Court saying I appeal to the next General Council And further I intend to speak nothing against one holy Catholique and Apostolical Church or the Authority thereof the which Authority I have in great Reverence and whom my mind is in all things to obey pag. 663. 3 vol. The very words of his Appeal A. What did he mean by one holy Catholique Church B. His Definition of it you may find in the Thirty nine Articles of the Church of England which Articles were framed as Burnet thinks by him and Ridley and first published anno 1551. p. 166. 2. vol. The visible Church of Christ saith the 19th Article is a Congregation of faithful men in the which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly ministred aceording to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same Now in the year 1556. when Cranmer presented this Appeal there could not be in his opinion any such National or Catholique Church visible on the face of the Earth A. I pray make that appear B. By an Induction of all the Churches in the world that then professed themselves Christians as the Roman the Eastern the Church of England the Lutherans Calvinists Anabaptists c. the Roman in his opinion was but the Synagogue of Antichrist The Greek Church consented with the Roman in most of the Doctrines controverted betwixt Papists and Protestants as the Sacrifice of the Mass Adoration of the Eucharist Veneration of Images Invocation of Saints Prayer for the Dead c. and do consent at this day The Church of England was then newly reconciled to Rome and Catholique Bishops restor'd to their own Sees by Act of Parliament The Lutherans did then and at this day adore a corporal presence in the Sacrament and therefore cannot be said in his opinion to have the pure Word of God preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs Ordinance The Calvinists had no Orders of Priests and Bishops consequently no Church at all A. How no Church at all for want of Priests and Bishops let that appear I pray you B. Read the Church of Englands Preface to the Form appointed by her for making and consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons and there observe these words viz. It is evident unto all men diligently reading holy Scripture and ancient Authors that from the Apostles time
there hath been these Orders of Ministers in Christs Church Bishops Priests and Deacons which Offices were evermore had in such reverent estimation that no man by his own private Authority might presume to execute any of them except he were first called c. And Bishop Bramhall affirms with great assurance Among all the Eastern Southern and Northern Christians who make innumerable multitudes there neither is nor ever was one formed Church that wanted Bishops among all the Western Churches and their Colonies there never was one formed Church for 1500 years that wanted Bishops If there be any persons so far possessed with prejudice that they choose rather to follow the private dictates of their own Phrensy than the perpetual and universal practice of the Catholique Church enter not into their Secrets O my Soul. Bishop Bramhall Consecration of Protestant Bishops vindicated p. 431. of his Works printed at Dublin And you know the Church of Englands practice at this day which admits of no Calvinian Ministers into her Clergy without Episcopal Ordination NOTE Thus it appears by an Induction of all the several Denominations of Christians that in Cranmers opinion there could be no such National or Catholique Church extant upon the face of the earth anno 1556. as that which the Church of England defines Article 19th The visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same So that his saying I reverence the Authority of the Catholick Church was but an illusion or vain pretence to avoid the Censure of Heresie his Catholique Church at that time being like Terra incognita in our Maps not as yet found out What tolerable excuse Good Reader canst thou invent for this Reformer have Lutherans Papists Calvinists Anabaptists Socinians Greek Church c. all those things that of necessity are requisite to the preaching of Gods pure Word and due Administration of Sacraments according to Christs Ordinance If so then shew me a solid reason if thou canst why a Church of England man should not receive the Sacraments of all or any of these Sects If the Church of Rome have all those things that of necessity are requisite c. how or where shall Cranmer appear at the day of Judgment If she have not then how is she a Member of Christs visible Church as Protestants say she is A corrupt Member perhaps you will call her but if she wants any thing necessary or essential to a Christian Church she is no Member at all If she errs only in matters not Fundamental or non essential as is confessed by very learned Protestants she is secure still but thou art not secured from Schism If she holds all things necessary to Salvation and no Error that destroys the Christian Faith she may be saved and what more wouldst thou have But whether she does or does not hold any Errors destructive of Salvation I pray who shall be Judge Answer that short Question if thou wouldst say any thing to the purpose What Authority had Cranmer to call the Pope Antichrist more than the Pope had to pronounce him an Heretick He swore Obedience to the Pope which the Pope never did to him He divorced Queen Katherine styling himself Legatus a Latere as you may find in Burnet A. But he appealed to a General Council what did he mean by that B. Nothing but to divert the proceedings of the Court for he valued the Authority of General Councils as little as he did that of the Catholick Church A. Pray make that out B. Burnet acquaints you page 176. 1 Vol. He viz. Cranmer said some General Councils had been rejected by others and it was a tender point how much ought to be deferred to a Council And as all God's Promises to the people of Israel had this Condition implyed within them if they kept his Commandments so he thought the Promises to the Christian Church had this Condition in them if they kept the Faith Therefore says Burnet he had much doubting in himself as to General Councils and he thought that only the Word of God was the Rule of Faith which ought to take place in all Controversies of Religion This be said in the year 1534. NOTE The word of God admits of various Interpretations the Question is Who shall determine which is the true Interpretation a General Council or Cranmer 's private Spirit in Opposition to that Council But his Opinion of General Councils appears further from the XXI Article of the Church of England viz. General Councils when they are gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of men whereof all be not governed by the Spirit and Word of God they may err and sometime have erred in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things Ordained by them as necessary unto Salvation have neither strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture NOTE But who shall take upon him to judge of the Decrees of General Councils whether they be Consonant to Scripture or not shall any single Person Or any particular Church Where is the Modesty of that Shall any inferiour Authority take upon it self to contradict or reverse the Decrees of a Superiour If so then why may not any single Minister or Bishop of the Reformed Church protest against the Judgment of a Protestant Convocation If he may not do it without Censure how shall the Church of England being but a particular Church take upon her self to damn and contradict the Faith of all the rest of the Christian World A. Shew me where she assumes any such Authority B. Read her XIX Article viz. as the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and manner of Ceremonies but also in matters of Faith. Then see the third part of her Homily against peril of Idolatry and observe these words So that Laity and Clergy learned and unlearned all Ages Sects and Degrees of Men Women and Children of whole Christendom an horrible and most dreadful thing to think have been at once drowned in abominable Idolatry and that by the space of eight hundred years and more NOTE Here the Doctrine of the Church of England that Christ had no Church upon earth for the space of eight hundred years and more before Cranmer The same Homily teaches further viz. and at the last the learned also were carried away with the publick Error as with a violent stream or flood And at the second Council of Nice the Bishops and Clergy decreed that Images should be worshipped and so by occasion of these stumbling Blocks not only the unlearned and simple but the learned and wise not only the People but the Bishops not the Sheep but also the Shepherds themselves who should have been Guides in the right way
his Disciples Feet saying Si ego lavi pedes vestrâ—s c. If I being your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash the feet of one another This was a Precept yet hath the Church altered it lest the simple people should think a Re-baptization in it Why do not Protestants observe Christs Institution of washing one anothers feet before they receive the Sacrament So because the Apostle saith Accepi a Domino quod tradidi vobis c. I have received of the Lord the same which I delivered unto you that our Lord the same night that he was betrayed c. notwithstanding Christs Precept that the Sacrament should be administred after Supper the Church hath commanded it to be received fasting and Protestants do receive it before dinner And where Christ did break the Bread we receive the whole Host Christ ministred sitting at the Table we standing at the Altar Likewise it is commanded in the Acts that Christians should abstain à suffocato sanguine from things strangled and from blood but the Church hath altered it nor do Protestants observe it God commanded the Sabbath or Seventh day to be kept holy the Church hath altered it to the Sunday If then the Church may change things so expresly appointed in Scripture she may also change the form of the Laitys receiving under both kinds and that for divers reasons First That in carrying it to the Sick the Blood may not be shed lost or misused Next That no occasion might be given to Heretiques to think that there is not so much under one kind as under both But why would you have it under both kinds only to pervert and contradict the Practice of the Church For when you have it under both kinds ye believed in neither meaning a real presence in neither Now Sir as concerning the Sacrament of the Altar where you say you have a number of Doctors on your side and we none of ours indeed one to stop your mouth I think it not possible to find Nevertheless whereas your desire is to have one shewed you and then you will recant I will shew you two Ferebatur manibus suis saith St. Austin super Psal 33. I find not how this is true in David saith he literally that he was born in his own hands but in Christ I find it true literally when he gave his Body to his Apostles at his last Supper Again St. Cyprian de Coena Domini saith Panis quem Dominus Discipulis porrigebat non effigie sed natura mutatus Omnipotentia Verbi factus est Caro. What can be more plain than this yet to you it is not plain enough But give me your figurative significative and such other like terms and I will defend that Christ hath not yet ascended no nor yet that he was incarnate Wherefore I can only put you in the number of those whom S. Chrysostom speaks of Audi homo fidelis qui contra Haereticum contendis c. Hear O thou Christian canst thou hope to do more than Christ Christ confuted the Pharesees yet could not put them to silence Et tu fortior es Christo Wilt thou go about to silence him that will receive no Answer Thus much have I said not for you Mr. Cranmer for my hope that I conceived of you is now past and gone but somewhat to satisfie the rude unlearned people that they perceiving your Arrogancy may the better eschew your detestable and abominable Schism Fox pag. 658 659. Thus spake the Bishop of Glocester like a Catholique understanding Prelate After whom Dr. Story saith Fox thus inferred in words Master Cranmer you have made a goodly Process concerning your Heretical Oath made to the King but you forget your Oath made to the See Apostolique As concerning your Oath to the King if you made it to him only it took an end by his Death and so it is released if to his Successors well Sir the true Successors have the Empire now and they will have you to dissolve the same and become a member of Christs Church again it was no Oath for it lacked the three points of an Oath that is to say Justiciam Judicium Veritatem Thus Dr Story ibid. p. 659. Protestants will needs swear the King to be Supream in all Spiritual things or causes whether the King will or no and when they have sworn it they will obey him in such matters so far as they think good when he happens to be a Papist A. What followed after this B. After all this Cranmer made that Recantation which you have heard and retracted it again when he saw no hopes of his Pardon He had this reason to rejoyce says Fox that dying in such a Cause he was to be numbered amongst Christs Martyrs although he had no mind to be a Martyr much more worthy the Name of Saint Thomas of Canterbury than he whom the Pope had falsly canoniz'd meaning Thomas Becker p. 672. A. Of what Church dyed he a Member B. I cannot tell the Church of England being then abolished and Catholique Religion restored by Act of Parliament A. One Question you have not answered what were the Words of his Mission and Consecration both as Priest and Bishop B. That you shall hear by and by Give me leave to observe one or two passages more out of Dr. Burnet A. As to what Point B. As to that Candour and Simplicity which Burnet admires in him page 172. 1. vol. The Story is thus Burnet p. 172. second volume viz. In the year 1551. the fifth year of Edward the Sixth the business of the Lady Mary was taken up with more heat than formerly The Emperors earnest Suit that she might have Mass said in her House was long rejected Yet the State of England making his Friendship at that time necessary to the King and he refusing to continue in his League unless his Kinswoman obtained that Favour it was promised that for some time in hope she would reform there should be a Forbearance granted The Emperors Ambassador pressed to have a License for it under the great Seal it was answered that being against Law it could not be done The two grounds she went upon were that she would follow the ancient and universal way of Worship and not a new Invention that lay within the Four Seas these were her words and that she would continue in that Religion in which her Father King Henry had instructed her To this the King sent an Answer he was then scarce 14 years of age telling her that she was a part of this Church and Nation and so must conform her self to the Laws of it the Laws made by Cranmer Sommerset Dudley c. and that the way of Worship now set up was no other than what was clearly consonant to the pure Word of God that was King Edwards first Common Prayer Book which expresly commanded Prayers for the dead After this she was sent for to Court and
inflicted on those that denied the Queens Supremacy ann 1559. but the loss of their Goods and such as refused to take the Oath did only lose their Imployments Whereas to refuse the Oath in King Henrys time brought them into a Premunire and to deny the Supremacy was Treason But against this Bill of Queen Elizabeths first Parliament the Bishops made Speeches in the House of Lords the rest of the Bishops opposed it the rather because they had lately declared so high for the Pope that it had been very indecent for them to have revoked so soon pag. 386 387. 2. vol. The Bishop of Chester said in Parliament that the Bill was against both Faith and Charity meaning the Bill for the new Service that Acts of Parliament were no Foundations for a Churches Belief that it was an insolent thing to pretend that all our Fathers lived in Ignorance That the Prophets oftentimes directed the Israelites to enquire of their Fathers Matters of Religion could not be understood by the Laiety Jeroboam made Israel to sin when he set up a new way of Worship Gallie by the Light of Nature knew that a Civil Judge ought not to meddle with matters of Religion In the Service-Book that was then before them there was no Sacrifice for Sin c. and for these reasons says Burnet he could not agree to it But if any thought he spoke this because of his own concern or pitied him for what he might suffer by it he would answer in the words of our Saviour Weep not for me weep for your selves p. 393. After him spake Fecknam Abbot of Westminster he said There had been great Order and Obedience in Queen Marys Reign but now every where great Insolencies were committed by the people with some very indecent Prophanations of the most holy things He recommended to them in St. Austins words the adhering to the Catholique Church the very name Catholique which Heretiques had not the confidence to assume shewed their Authority The Consent of the whole Church in all Ages with the perpetual Succession of Pastors in St. Peters Chair ought to weigh more with them than a few new Preachers who had of late distracted both Gemany and England Burnet pag. 393. 2. vol. Then see his Appendix to 2. vol. p. 408. where setting down these words of Nicholas Sanders That the Laws concerning Queen Elisabeths Supremacy passed the House of Lords with great difficulty all the Bishops opposing them Burnet answers It is true all the Bishops did oppose them c. But to all the Changes that were made in King Edwards time they submitted c. Why then were they turned out by King Edward and Protestants substituted in their places Thus Reader it appears by Burnets own Confession that the Reformation was not the Act and Deed of the old Clergy or Convocation of England or the major part thereof but impos'd on the Nation by the Power and Interest of a few persons And so I leave you to think what you please of Mas William Kings Confidence the Preacher of St. Warbroughs affirming as you have heard that Cranmer in all he did had the unanimous Consent and Vote of the major part of the Convocation the universal Submission of the Clergy c. Answ p. 25. A. But supposing he had the major Vote of his side as he had not could that have justified his Reformation B. Not at all for being all made Priests after that Form Accipe Potestatem offerre Sacrificium Deo missasque celebrare tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis c. they had no more Authority to abrogate the Mass than the present Archbishop of Canterbury with the major Vote of the Protestant Bishops to abolish the Common Prayer By their Protestant Orders they cannot do it A So much for his Priesthood You said he was consecrated Bishop in the year 1533. what were the Words of his Consecration B. You may find them in the Roman Pontifical First he was interrogated Vis Traditiones orthodoxorum Patrum Decretales sanctae Apostolicae sedis constitutiones veneranter suscipere docere ac servare R. Volo Vis beato Petro Apostolo cui à Deo data est Potestas ligandi ac solvendi ejúsque Vicario Domino nostro N. Papae suisque Successoribus Romanis Pontificibus fidem subjectionem obedientiam secundum Canonicam Auctoritatem per omnia exhibere R. Volo Credis sanctam catholicam Apostolicam unam esse veram Ecclesiam in qua unum datur verum Baptisam vera peccatorum omnium Remissio R. Credo That is Will you reverently receive teach and keep the Traditions of the orthodox Fathers the Decrees and Constitutions of the holy and Apostolique See He answered I will. Will you shew Fidelity Subjection and Obedience to St. Peter the Apostle and his Successors the Bishops of Rome in all things according to the Canons He answered I will. Do you believe one holy Catholique and Apostolique Church in which there is true Baptism and true Remission of Sins He answered I believe After which the Bishop consecrating authorizes him in these Words viz. Accipe Evangelium vade praedica populo tibi commisso Receive thou the Gospel go and preach to the people committed to thy charge R. Amen A. Why by this Consecration he had no more Authority to preach the Doctrine of 39 Articles than the present Archbishop of Canterbury to preach the Doctrine of the Council of Trent B. No more You see how he obliged himself to pay Fidelity Subjection and Obedience to the Bishops of Rome in all things according to the Canons then in force And reverently to receive teach and keep the Constitutions of the holy and Apostolique See. And upon these terms he receiv'd his Commission to go and preach the Gospel A. The matter is plain All his Changes were unwarrantable and his Reformation but a Castle in the air without a Foundation if you set aside Acts of Parliament B. And besides all this he swore that Oath to the Pope which you have heard page 28. of this Catechism Then what if all the Bishops had consented with him they had but violated their Engagements and Vows as he did being all sent and ordained after that Form. Reader I pray look into the Form and Manner appointed by the Church of England for consecrating of Bishops and Archbishops and there observe how Protestant Bishops do oblige themselves to preach Gods Word according to the Authority committed unto them by the Ordinance of this Realm and no otherwise that is to say according to the Doctrine of Thirty nine Articles Then enquire a little further what Commission had Cranmer or Matthew Parker to impose or preach the said Articles A. Enough of Cranmer What is Burnets Character of those few Bishops that were of his Party B. Those were Latimer Shaxton Barlow who were rather Cloggs than Helps to Cranmer says Burnet Latimers Simplicity and Weakness made him be despised Shaxtons proud and litigious
Pseudo-Apostoli false Apostles But how shall we know them Christ teaches us saying ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos by their fruits ye shall know them Why what be their fruits St. Paul declareth Post carnem in concupiscentia immunditie ambulant Potestates contemnunt c. they walk after the flesh in concupiscence and uncleanness they contemn Dominions Again in diebus novissimis erunt periculosa tempora erunt seipsos amantes cupidi elati immorigeri Parentibus Proditores c. in the later days there shall be perilous times men lovers of themselves covetous proud disobedient to Parents Treason-workers c. Whether these be not the Fruits of your Gospel I refer me unto this worshipful Audience whether the said Gospel began not with Perjury proceeded with Adultery was maintained with Heresie and ended in Conspiracy Now Sir two points more I marked in your raging discourse that you made here the one against the holy Sacrament the other against the Popes Jurisdiction and Authority of the See Apostolique Touching the first you say you have Gods Word yea and all the Doctors I would here ask but one Question of you whether Gods Word be contrary to it self and whether the Doctors teach Doctrine contrary to themselves for you Master Cranmer have taught concerning this high Sacrament of the Altar three contrary Doctrines and for every one ye pretended Verbum Domini Cranmer Nay I taught but two contrary Doctrines in the same Martyn What Doctrine taught you when you condemned Lambert the Sacramentary in the Kings presence at Whitehall Cranm. I maintained then the Papists Doctrine Martyn That is to say the Catholique and Universal Doctrine of Christs Church And how when K. Henry died did you not translate Justus Jonas's Book Cranm. I did so Martyn There you defended another Doctrine touching the Sacrament by the same token that you sent to Lynne your Printer that whereas in the first Print there was an Affirmative that is to say Christs Body really in the Sacrament you sent then to your Printer to put in a not wherby it came miraculously to pass that Christs Body was clean conveyed out of the Sacrament Cranm. I remember there were two Printers of my said Book but whether the same not was put in I cannot tell Martyn Then from a Lutheran ye became a Zwinglian which is the vilest Heresie of all concerning the high Mystery of the Sacrament and for the same Heresie you did help to burn Lambert the Sacramentary which you now call the Catholique Faith and Gods Word Cranm. I grant that then I believed otherwise than I do now and so I did until my Lord of London Dr. Ridley did confer with me and by sundry Persuasions and Authorities of Doctors drew me quite from my Opinion Martyn Now Sir as touching the last part of your Oration you denied the Popes Holiness was Supream Head of the Church of Christ Cranm. I did so Mart. Who say you then is Supream Head Cranm. Christ Mart. But whom hath Christ left here on Earth his Vicar and Head of his Church Cranm. No body Mart. Ah why told you not King Henry this when you made him Supream Head and now no body is This is Treason against his own Person as you then made him Cranm. I mean not but that every King in his own Realm and Dominion is Supream Head and so was he Supream Head of the Church of Christ Reader Observe here how he makes the Catholique Church an Hydra of many Heads instead of that one holy Society which he pretended to believe in the two Creeds Martyn Is this always true and was it ever so in Christ's Church Cranm. It was so Martyn Then what say you to Nero was he Head of Christs Church Cranm. Nero was Peters Head. Martyn I ask whether Nero was Head of the Church or no If he were not it is false that you said before that all Princes be and ever were Heads of the Church within their Realms Cranm. Nay it is true for Nero was Head of the Church that is in respect of the temporal Bodies of Men of whom the Church consisteth for so he beheaded Peter and the Apostles And the Turk too is Head of the Church in Turky Martyn Then he that beheaded the Heads of the Church and crucified the Apostles was Head of Christs Church and he that was never Member of the Church is Head of the Church by your new-found understanding of Gods Word Fox pag. 655 656 3. vol. NOTE If the Turk be Head of the Church under Christ he must be so in all Spiritual things or causes as well as temporal according to the Oath of Supremacy contrived by Cromwell and Cranmer and at this day sworn by Protestants A. What is Foxes opinion of this Dialogue B. It is not to be supposed otherwise but much other matter passed in this Communication between them especially on the Archbishops behalf whose Answers I do not think to be so slender nor altogether in the same form of words framed if the truth as it was might be known But so it pleased the Notary thereof being too partially addicted to his Mother See of Rome in favour of his Faction to diminish and drive down the other side either in not shewing all or in reporting the thing otherwise than it was as the common Guise is of most Writers and of Fox himself to what side their Affection most weigheth their Oration commonly inclineth Fox p. 657. 3. vol. A. It seems then Fox likes not these Answers given by Cranmer and therefore suspects the Pen-man or Notary of partiality in reporting the same B. But I believe it a true Report for two reasons first the cause would admit of no satisfactory answers 2. Let the Reader see the Contents of Cranmers Appeal set down by Fox and there observe these words viz. And when I refused the Bp. of Glocester to be my Judge for most just causes which I then declared he nevertheless went on still and made Process against me contrary to the Rules of Appealing which say A Judge that is refused ought not to proceed in the cause c. And with this my Protestation made and admitted I made answer but mine Answer was sudden and unprovided note this and therefore I desired to have a Copy of mine Answers that I might put to take away change and amend them and this was also permitted me nevertheless contrary to his promise made unto me no respect had to my Protestation nor license given to amend mine Answer the said reverend Father Bishop of Glocester as I hear commanded mine Answers to be enacted contrary to the equity of the Law in which thing again I feel my self much grieved Fox p 664. NOTE Here he excuses the weakness of his own Answers by saying they were sudden and unprovided But let the Reader imagine what better Answers in brief could be returned to the Questions of Dr. Martin Cranmer having sworn that the King was Supream
under a necessity of either marrying or committing the sin of Fornication notwithstanding his Vow of Coelibate See Fox p. 657. A. So much for his Charge and Defence before the Bishop of Glocester anno 1556. What did the Bishop say upon the upshot of the Tryal B. He made a long Speech the effect whereof was this Master Cranmer I cannot otherwise term you considering your obstinacy I am right heartily sorry to hear such words escape your mouth so unadvisedly I had conceived a right good hope of your amendment I supposed that this obstinacy of yours came not of vain Glory but rather of a corrupt Conscience but now I perceive by your foolish babble that it is far otherwise Ye are so puffed up with Vain Glory there is such a cauterium of Heresie crept into your Conscience that I am clean void of hope God would have you to be saved and you refuse it You have uttered such erroneous talk with such open malice against the Popes Holiness with such open lying against the Church of Rome with such open Blasphemy against the Sacrament of the Altar that no mouth could have expressed more maliciously more lyingly more blasphemously To reason with you although I would of my self to satisfie this Audience yet I may not do so by our Commission neither do I find how I may do it by the Scriptures for the Apostle commandeth Haereticum hominem post unum aut alterum conventum devita c. an heretical person after once or twice conferring shun knowing that he is perverse and sinneth being of his own Judgment condemned Ye have been conferred withal not once or twice but oftentimes ye have oft been lovingly admonished ye have oft been privately disputed with and the last year in the open School in open Disputations ye have been openly convict Your Book which ye bragg ye made seven years ago and no man answered it Marcus Antonius hath sufficiently detected and confuted yet ye persist still in your wonted Heresie Wherefore being so oft admonished conferred withal and convicted if ye deny your self to be the man whom the Apostle noteth hear then what Origen saith who wrote above 1300 years ago and interpreteth that saying of the Apostle in this wise in Apologia Pamphili Haereticus est omnis ille habendus qui Christo se credere profitetur aliter de Christi veritate sentit quam se habet ecclesiastica Traditio Ye rehearsed the Articles of your Faith to what end I pray you but to cloak that Heresie rooted in you and to blind the poor simple and unlearned peoples eyes for unless as Origen saith ye believe all things that the Church hath decreed ye are no Christian man in the which because ye do halt and will come to no Conformity from henceforth ye are to be taken for an Heretique whom we ought to eschew and avoid And first where you accuse me of an Oath taken against the Bp. of Rome I confess it and therefore do say with the rest of this Realm good and Catholique men the words of the Prophet Peccavimus cum Patribus nostris injuste egimus iniquitatem secimus We have sinned with our Fathers we have done unjustly and wickedly Delictâ—… juventutis meae ignorantias meas ne memineris Domine The sins of my youth and my ignorances O Lord do not remember I was then a young man and a young Scholar here in the University I knew not what an Oath did mean. And where you say I took two Oaths the one contrary to the other It is not so for the Oath I made to the Popes Holiness appeartains only to spiritual things the other that I made to the King pertains only to temporal things that is to say that I do acknowledge all my Temporal Livings to proceed only from the King and from none else but all men may see as ye agree in this so ye agree in the rest of your Opinions Now Sir as concerning the Supremacy due to the See of Rome although there be a number of places to prove that Christ appointed Peter Head of the Church yet this place is most evident when Christ demanded of his Apostles Whom do men say that I am They answered Some Elias some one of the Prophets c. but to Peter he said Whom savest thou that I am Peter answered Tu es Christus fiilius Dei c. Christ replied Tu es Petrus super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam The Doctors interpreting this place super hanc Petram expound it id est non solum super Fidem Petri sed super te Petre. And why did Christ change his Name from Simon to Peter but only to declare that he was to be under Christ the Foundation and Head of the Church Again where Christ demanded of Peter being amongst the rest of the Apostles three times Petre amas me he gave him charge over his Sheep Pasce Oves meas pasce Agnos meos pasce Agnos meos three times Which place Saint Chrysostome interpreting saith Pasce hoc est loco mei esto Praepositus caput fratrum tuorum And when they came that required Didrachma of Christ he commanded Peter to cast his Net into the Sea and to take out of the Fishes Mouth stateram hoc est duplex didrachma da inquit pro te me Petre. Which words do signifie that when he had paid for them two he had paid for all the rest So St. Austine in 75 quaest veteris novi Testamenti Salvator inquit quum pro se Petro dari jubebat didrachma pro omnibus dari censuit ipsum enim constituit caput eorum Our Saviour Christ saith St. Austine commanding the Tribute to be given for Him and for Peter meant the same to be given for all the rest For he appointed him Head of the rest what can be more plain then this But I will not tarry upon this matter Now as touching the Popes Laws which be contrary as you say to the Laws of God because the Service is in Latin which ought to be in English I Answer whosoever will take the pains to peruse that Chapter 1 Cor. 14. shall find that his meaning is concerning Preaching and obiter only of Praying Again Where you say that the Popes Holyness takes away one part of the Sacrament from the Laity which Christ commanded to be given under both kinds saying Bibite ex hoc omnes Now if a Man would be so proterve with you he might say that Christ commanded it to be given only to his Apostles into whose places succeeded Priests and not Laymen And admit that Christ commanded it to be received under both kinds So he commanded his Apostles saying Ite praedicate Evangelium omni nationi Baptisantes in nomine Patris Filii spiritus sancti But the Apostles being desirous to publish Christs name every where did Baptise only in Christ's name Again Christ before his last Supper washed