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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	good_a	merit_n	merit_v	6,691	5	10.7705	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69250	Newes from France containing tvvo declarations of two new conuerts from the Church of Rome to the reformed churches of France: the former made by Master M. du Tertrf [sic], Lord de la Motthe Luyne, late preacher amongst the order of the Capucins vnder the name of F. Firmin, &c. at Saumur on the 27. of May last: the latter by the Marquise Boniuet, Lord of Creuecœur, &c. at Rochell on the seuenth of August last. Both translated out of the seuerall French copies into English by E.M. of Christ-Church in Oxford. Whereunto is added an English letter sent from Paris by an English gentleman to his friend in England, touching the late surprisall and imprisonment of the Prince of Conde, which happened on the 22. of August last.; Declaration and manifestation, of the chiefe reasons and motives of the conversion of Master M. du Tertre, Lord de la Motthe Luyne.	Bonnivet, Henri Marc de Gouffier, Marquis de, d. 1589. Declaration de Henri-Marc de Gouffier. aut; Meetkerke, Edward, 1590-1657, attributed name.	1616 (1616)	STC 7372; ESTC S117179	43,123	84

little to the purpose for to presume to merit of him by such workes it is as if a vassall that had receiued as a free gift from his chiefe Lord al the goods that he possesseth would challenge to merit of him yet more then he hath receiued for hauing giuen him some apple peare or other fruit which he had gathered vpon these grounds there being farre lesse proportion betweene all the good that we doe through the grace of God and the remission of our sins or life euerlasting which they thinke and pretend to merit by their workes then there is betweene an apple and many large possessions For to merit it is required that there be a proportion betweene that which we doe or giue and that which we challenge thereby to merit it is also required that that whereby we doe merit do come from our selues and be not giuen vs by him from whom wee pretend to merit for to merit by grace it is to merit without merit it is not to merit at all it is to renounce all merit grace and merit being in such sort opposed amongst themselues that they can by no meanes stand together for if it be by workes saith the Apostle then is it no longer by grace if it be by grace then is it not by workes else grace is no longer grace This spirituall pride is seene yet more cleerely herein that not being content to merit pardon and Paradise through good workes commanded by God they thinke and pretend to merit yet somewhat ouer by their workes not commanded which they haue forged for themselues of supererogation as they call it a name that witnesseth throughly their pride whereby they thinke that they bestow vpon God somewhat ouer and aboue that which he requires and demands at their hands or then they are bound to giue him as if God asking and requiring of vs that wee should loue him with all our heart with all our soule force and strength and our neighbour as our selues which is the vpshot of the whole Law we could doe any thing beyond that And yet what ar these goodly workes of supererogation that are of so great a merit They will come to this to weare a frocke an habit a cord the sandals of a Monke a Capuchin c. to goe bare-footed not to weare a shirt to vse the discipline and chasten the body to vse an haire-cloth to weare the cord of S. Francis Dominicke c. to be of the brotherhood of the Rosarie of the Beades c. and other the like workes in truth not commanded nor appointed by God but of which also one day iustly and with good right he will say Who hath required this at your hands In vaine doe they honour me with their workes and their feare towards me is an humane commandement inuented by men And yet notwithstanding what is it that they make account of or commend in your Church but these workes of supererogation Is it not therein that you put all the marrow and iuice of pietie deuotion perfection holinesse and seruice of God And what doe you make for the most part of all the workes commanded and ordained by God in respect of those which men haue inuented but hay and chaffe which no man regardeth 2. They rob Christ of the glory of his merit in that they teach that wee must our selues satisfie for the temporall punishment of our sinnes and offences our Sauiour hauing by their saying onely taken away the eternitie thereof Whereupon they haue deuised and kindled in their braine the imaginarie fire of Purgatorie which they set in the very next place and as it were in the suburbs of hell for therein after this life to satisfie in our owne persons the iustice of God for our sinnes as if the bloud of Iesus Christ which cleanseth vs from all sinne were not a soape and lye as it were strong enough for to wash away all this filth and that we needed another scouring more rugged and purgatiue of fire altogether as hot and violent say they as hell-fire it selfe for they must needs know much certaine and assured newes thereof in particular by the relation of so many soules as returne from thence as they say But to what end I pray you Is it for to haue Masses sung for to haue seruices and obits said for the dead for their deliuerie from this so boiling a fire Alas poore fooles that suffer your selues to be deceiued and cousened by these tales fables and gulleries and to be muffled by these weake terrours and humane inuentions No no it is for to fill their purse and belly and to make good cheere at your cost and vnder the name and pretence of the poore deceased But though it were true that there were such a fire and place appoinred by diuine iustice for the satisfaction of sinnes after this life whereof notwithstanding wee haue not nor can they produce any true sound and cleere ground and testimonie in the Scripture is there any thing amongst all those which they giue and offer you for to deliuer you yea also for to keepe you quite from the comming therein such as are anniuersarie Masses and obits testamentarie legacies and foundations c Is there I say any of these things yea any other that might possibly be deuised or imagined which can counterpoise the greatnesse of these torments which they faigne to be in this pretended and supposed Purgatorie Truly if that which the Deuill maliciously said of the holy man Iob be true though spoken by him to a very bad end Skinne for skinne and all that a man hath he will giue for his life how much more shall it be true in this respect and what will not men giue for to free themselues from such a fire and to redeeme themselues from such torments if possibly it could bee done Truly they wo●●● giue all their goods euen to their very shirt yea euen to their skinne And thus it is and vnder this faire cloake and pretence that they cosen folkes and deceiue and abuse poore silly people squeesing out and drawing to themselues all their goods and substance for to make their owne hearts merry withall and to make their flesh-pot to boile An horrible wickednesse beyond all comparison and more then detestable mischiefe and impietie for to make way for their auarice and gluttonie vnder pretence of pietie deuotion and compassion towards the deceased No no if it were so as I haue said before which notwithstanding is not that this Purgatorie and the fire thereof were true nothing of this world nor any humane action would be able and sufficient to bring deliuerance and freedome and to counteruaile the paines and torments and we ought therein as saith our Sauiour but to another sense then they vrge and alleage him for to satisfie the rigour of Gods iustice euen to the vtmost farthing and to the smallest fault before we should come out from thence which notwithstanding

the Law And in the fift chapter verse 1. Therefore being iustified by faith wee haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ There is iustification by faith And as for the imputation of the merit of Christ hee sheweth it there also in the fourth chapter when as telling how God had imputed to Abraham his faith for righteousnesse hee addeth Now in that that this was imputed to him for righteousnesse c. This faith is not an idle imagination or false illusion and perswasion or fantasticall speculation in the beleeuers braine as your Doctors doe slanderously say but an holy assurance and firme confidence in the bounty and mercy of God by the which we beleeue that according to the truth of his infallible promises hee will be gracious and mercifull vnto vs in Iesus Christ his Sonne freely for his sake pardoning vs all our faults Such a beleefe is not idle nor fruitlesse in those who haue it but fructifieth vnto all manner of good workes righteousnesse godlinesse holinesse loue c. Not for to merit and obtaine that pardon which is already wholly gotten but for to shew towards God that we acknowledge this so vnestimable a benefit This faith is not from our selues but is a speciall gift of God who hath giuen vs freely through his Sonne not onely to beleeue in him but also to suffer for his sake as saith S. Paul Philip. 1.29 God hauing thus iustified vs freely through faith in his Son he sanctifieth vs also through his spirit which is the second benefit that wee haue obserued to be gotten for vs in Iesus Christ and which he hath merited and obtained for vs by his death as we haue said and doth bestow it vpon vs by the vertue and efficacie of his Spirit of regeneration and sanctification by the which mortifying daily more and more the naturall corruption in which we all are borne he makes vs by little and little to renounce and to die to all sinne for to liue to righteousnesse and holinesse all the dayes of our life vntill that in the end he doe sanctifie vs fully when as after this life hee shall receiue vs into that other in his heauenly glory This is briefly that which concernes these two great benefits of our Lord accordingly as the Scripture and Gods holy word doe shew and teach vs. It is a pitifull thing to see after how many sorts and manners Satan hath lamentably spoiled sophisticated falsified peruerted and corrupted in your Church by your Pastors and Doctors this doctrine being so wholsome and full of comfort touching these two benefits of Iesus Christ our Sauiour first by extenuating as much as they could and can the greatnesse of these graces and fauours secondly by taking from him and robbing him of all what they can for to attribute it to the merits either of themselues or of others and to their owne satisfactions and papall Indulgences They extenuate the greatnesse of grace two wayes first by lessening and diminishing the greatnesse of our offence and sinne secondly by debasing the excellencie and perfection of Christs merit They doe lessen and diminish the greatnesse of sinne first in denying that originall sinne deserues eternall death contrary to that which the Apostle teacheth vs to the Rom. 6.23 that the wages of sinne is death and to the threatning of the Law which sounds thus Cursed is he whosoeuer doth not continue and perseuere to obserue all things written and deliuered in the booke of the Law Secondly by their distinction of sinnes veniall and mortall teaching that there are some pettie sinnes which doe not deserue eternall death and damnation but rather pardon which is directly against that very sentence of S. Paul that the wages of sinne is death and that menace of the Law Cursed is hee c. They debase the excellencie of Christs merit when they teach first that he hath not satisfied for those sinnes and offences which they call veniall but onely for those that are mortall contrary to that which Saint Iohn hath in his first Catholike Epistle chap. 1.7 That the bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne Secondly that as for mortall sinnes he hath only changed the eternall into a temporall punishment which is by them affirmed and maintained not onely without any ground vpon the holy Scripture but also is much repugnant to the goodnesse and mercy of God who in so doing would pardon but by halfes Thirdly that by the death of Iesus Christ wee obtaine only remission of the guilt and not of the punishment which is as much as openly to mocke with God and to disanull altogether the merit of our Lord for what is it I pray you to remit and pardon the guilt but not the punishment As if a Master should say to his seruant a Lord to his subiect a King to his vassall that had grieuously wronged and offended him Goe thy wayes I pardon and forgiue thee thy fault but I will punish thee howsoeuer when I see time for that that thou hast done according as thou deseruest What pardon would that be nay would it not rather be a mocking of him It is euen so with God according to them They doe take from Iesus Christ and rob him as much as in them lieth of the glory of his merit for to attribute it to the merits of another when as refusing the true pardon of God by faith in the bloud of his sonne they will themselues deserue of God by the power of their workes this pardon and the fruition of life euerlasting wherein they doe iust like a wicked malefactor who being in the hands and power of his Iudge ready to be executed would refuse the grace and pardon of his Prince and would make no vse of it but would thinke that hee could merit yea would stifly maintaine that hee had iustly merited by his good deeds both his freedome and the expiation of the punishment which was prepared and made ready for him and to be one of the chiefe officers and best furnished houshold-seruants of his Lord wherein besides the intolerable arrogance whereof they cannot nor you cleare themselues they fall into a grosse foule and palpable ignorance first in that they thinke that they can of themselues doe any worthy thing and such as can deserue at Gods hands that which they thinke they doe deserue although notwithstanding it stands so that of our selues as of our selues we are not able to thinke any thing but all our abilitie is and proceeds from God as speaketh the Apostle in the second to the Corinthians chap. 3. yea euen all the most iust actions of man which God worketh in him through his grace are so marred infected and tainted with our naturall corruption that they are all as saith Esay 64. as a menstruous cloth Secondly when as for a refuge they say that those good workes which they doe are not from themselues but from the grace of God working in them for it is

to send me some good if he hath made mee poorer it was for to make mee richer then euer I was before and that in better riches in those namely that are the onely true ones if hee hath made my body to bee cast into prison it was for to make my soule to come out of thrall if hee hath suffered mee to fall into the hands of such men as hated me it was for feare that I should fall into his hands yea into his hands as he is a rigorous Iudge and yet to the end that I might fall into his hands as hee is a kinde and mercifull Father and that I might learne to my cost being I could not doe it by the example of others to feare him to reuerence him to giue him the glory and to consecrate to him whatsoeuer belongs to me without any reseruation as I acknowledge my selfe truly and after an infinite number of sorts to be bound to doe and acknowledge likewise that it was the pure mercy of God that I was not consumed because that his compassions did not faile me And seeing that God hath done mee that fauour that his word doth serue mee at this day in stead of a lampe for my feet and of a light for my steps to this word and to this Scripture diuinely inspired I purpose to keepe mee without euer any more repairing to the traditions of men seeing that God hath giuen Iesus Christ for to be the head to his Church of the which I am a member for to bee the onely Mediatour betweene him and men and our Aduocate towards his Father for to be the onely Priest for euer for to haue an euerlasting Priesthood and for to offer as hee hath offered one onely sacrifice for sinnes for to bee the Lambe of God whose bloud doth cleanse vs from all sinne for to sit for euer at the right hand of God and to be held in the heauen vntill the time of the re-establishing of all things and vntill that hee shall come from thence for to iudge the quicke and the dead I acknowledge from henceforth no more to the preiudice of him any ministeriall head of the Church on the earth nor Aduocate taken from among either men or Angels nor any Priest sacrificing his body nor Masse seruing for a propitiatorie sacrifice for the sinnes of the liuing and the dead nor Purgatorie after this life nor reall presence of the body and bloud of Iesus Christ in the Sacrament vnder the kindes of bread and wine And because that the Spirit of God doth teach mee that no flesh is iustified by the workes of the Law but only by faith in Iesus Christ I will no longer forge vnto my selfe any merit of good workes and much lesse of supererogation and I will account the good workes of the faithfull to haue beene prepared by God to the end that wee may walke therein and will esteeme them to be the way to the Kingdome of heauen and not the cause of raigning And it is in this truth and in the profession thereof that I desire and that I promise here before God his Angels and his Church to bee willing to liue and to die detesting with all mine heart all Idolatries superstitions and errors which are contrary to the confession of faith of the Churches of this Kingdome and protesting to submit my selfe wholly to that which concernes the order and discipline of the Church Thus signed Boniuet FINIS THE COPIE OF A LETTER SENT from PARIS by an English Gentleman to his friend in England Wherein are briefely touched those occurrences which lately fel out in Paris about the Prince of CONDE on the 22. of August this present yeere 1616. Laus Deo August 22. 1616. I Haue with the first conueniency sent ouer vnto you the newest and heere most knowne newes dated as before hauing receiued no letters from you since the tenth of the same And whereas not onely in many before but especially in your last you seriously importun'd mee knowing what windes blew heere to giue you intelligence of French present occurrences as they shall happen I haue done so rather to satisfie your minde desirous of nouelties than to please my selfe in setting downe the troubles of others that haue too many of mine owne France as you know is to mee nothing in regard I am an Englishman and a stranger to her factions Shee is as one of her Vineyards rob'd by French-men in my sight which stelth is no losse to mee I stand safe on the shore and beholde her sides beating vpon a rocke the wracke I feele not yet am I bound in common humanitie to compassionate my neighbours sorrow seeing his house burning about his eares And doe therefore protest to you that I suffer as much as if I were a naturall French-man borne in being present within so goodly a Citie as Paris is when shee is full at least looking howrely to bee so of turmoiles vproares and ciuill combustion and to see so many thousands of the French I meane the Parisiens walke vp and downe with such amazed wilde and distracted faces that if tenne be in a troupe together not three of them can safely sweare that a fourth man is his friend In euery street yea at euery corner the people flocke in heapes muttering and murmuring and whispering one to another and nothing is more expected nay more desired by some than that a sword may be drawne to the end that pell mell they may fall to cutting of throates The Townes of France are rich and spoiles would now taste sweetly especially to the Pesant who wisheth to build vpon his countries ruines and to set an edge vpon his fury this occasion gaue aduantage For vpon the twentie two of August now present euen this day in which I write vnto you the Prince of Conde being in Paris well accompanyed came to the Court where hee had not beene long but he was surprized and carryed prisoner to the Louure why hee came and whether of himselfe or sent for is not in my knowledge and if I should set downe all which I heare touching the causes of this surprizall of whose true notice I desire not to bee guiltie you might thinke mee either very idle to call euery shadow a substance or else very busie to bee so inquisitiue in the affaires of a kingdome when mine owne are altogether priuate I had rather walke vp and downe the streets of Paris albeit with some feare of danger than thrust my head into their Councell chambers and to meddle with Princes matters which no whit concerne mee And therefore doe I sparingly deliuer you these vproares not searching into the ground and reaches of them as hearing various and inconstant reports I giue eare to many but credit few and dare not albeit I might vtter my owne opinion because I am as loth to wrong you by this of mine as that you should doe the like to your friends in England by a second relation The Prince of

resort and haue our refuge to the Saints and blessed ones and that a thousand other such like things which you beleeue and your Doctors teach and preach ought to be held for Articles of faith there not being any trace or ground of them in the sacred Scripture the true rule of that which ought to be beleeued and done Not being able I say to perswade my selfe that that was the true Church in the which the true faith and the doctrine of the Gospell was held and taught wherein the manners life and actions were so contrary and opposite vnto them and the corruption so great and vniuersally diffused and extended throughout But those were but small light and vaine Ideaes which went no farther by reason of the negligence as I beleeue in the which the watchings which I bestowed on my studies and other businesses kept me asleepe as also by reason of the age whereof I was which for that time did not giue me more liuely conceits thereof for want of some body that might haue heartened them on farther as indeed I was bred in the midst of them who beleeued and did the quite contrary Thus did my simplicitie hatch my ignorance wherein I liued fiue or six whole yeers since this first glimpse of light which did kindle in my soule and heart this desire and affection of the truth and to returne to this first spring and originall of the faith and manners of the Apostles and Disciples of the Sonne of God our Sauiour yet of that very Sauiour from whom by processe of time euen your Church hath swarued At the end of which yeeres finally it hath pleased that supreme goodnesse and maiestie which doth impart and communicate his graces and fauours to whom he thinkes good yea oftentimes to least worthy and capable subiects and makes the splendor of his euerlasting light to cast his beames on those soules that are deepest plunged into the obscuritie of darknesse to poure out on mine the amplitude and greatnesse of his heauenly and diuine benedictions and to make mee to see abundantly purely and to the full in their owne essence and naturall day both the truth and falshood and to harden strengthen and encourage my minde for to embrace valorously the one and to reiect the other against all the obiects and representations of humane reason the attractiue and alluring perswasions of nature the impetuous assaults of flesh and bloud and the strong suggestions and temptations of the deuill and the furious and bloudy combats of hell Whereupon I am and shall alwayes be obliged vnto him ouer and aboue all the obligations which I owe vnto him already in number almost infinite and I doe blesse praise wil praise him to al eternitie yea all the holy Angels of heauen and iust men of the earth which whereas the enuious hatefull and ill willers haue their foreheads wrinkled will be glad for me and reioyce at my departure and conuension This my change then hath no other scope and aimeth purely and simply as I haue already said at nothing but the glory of my God and the assurance of my saluation which I haue truly found out and sweare and protest that I could not haue attained vnto and wrought out in that state wherein I was vnderstand I pray you and hearken to the reasons thereof The two grounds and foundations of all Christian religion and consequently of euerlasting saluation are faith and charitie without which neither one nor the other can remaine and continue standing faith I say in Christ He that beleeues in me saith he shall not come into iudgement but he that beleeueth not is already condemned Not any faith whatsoeuer but such as God and the holy Scripture doe demand and require of vs not languishing dead grounded on humane inuentions and traditions but purely and simply on Gods word animated and quickned by the spirit of grace accompanied with good workes Charitie not fained dissembled in shew only but as the Apostle saith proceeding from a pure and cleane heart from a good conscience from an vnfained faith and a loyaltie not counterfeted The same S. Paul speaking of the first in the 1. Epist to the Corinthians chap. 3. saith it clearely and in very expresse termes According to the grace of God which is giuen vnto me as a wise master-builder I haue saith he laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon But let euery man take heede how he buildeth thereupon for other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Iesus Christ Now if any man build vpon this foundation gold siluer c. Where you see cleerely how vnder the metaphore and comparison of a materiall edifice and building which that it may be firme sound and lasting hath necessarily neede of a good strong foundation of firme and hard stones laid very farre and deepe in the ground he declareth signifieth and giueth cleerely to vnderstand that the true faith and beleefe in Iesus Christ our Sauiour such as he teacheth and sheweth vs in his writings is the true sure and onely foundation and the solid and setled ground-worke of all Christian religion and consequently by a necessary sequele of euerlasting saluation according to my proposition which for this first point remaines enough by this place and sufficiently proued As also no man doth deny it and call it in question but all generally doe admit and receiue it for a certaine and assured ground Let vs come to the proofe of the second point thereof to wit of Charitie I had need of more time then the shortnesse of this discourse can affoord mee for to relate all the places of holy Scripture making for this purpose That namely is manifest and cleare by the very words of our Sauiour when as being asked of that Doctour of the Law or Scribe and Pharisie which was the first the greatest and chiefe commandement thereof and hauing made answer that it was to loue God with all his heart with all his soule c. and his neighbour as himselfe he addeth that in these two points were comprised and contained closed and shut vp the whole Law and the Prophets and consequently by a necessary sequele and infallible conclusion all religion grounded and saluation established as on two solid and firme foundations without the which neither one nor the other as I haue already said can remaine and continue standing Now let vs see whether those two grounds and bases of saluation be or can be found in your Church and in the state and condition from whence I am departed to the end that from thence you may know and iudge whether I haue had iust cause and lawfull occasion to doe this or no and that the tongues that make themselues malicious and slanderous may cease from their calumnious assaults and pursuits And to begin with the faith and beleefe in Iesus Christ wee haue amongst many others three things to be considered in him 1. his person 2.

would sauour rather of a cruell Tyrant then of a louing pitifull bountifull and compassionate God such a one as ours is But to their account they doe deliuer themselues yet more easily and at a cheaper rate then the aforesaid by meanes of the Popes Indulgences and Pardons by wearing a paire of Beades or an hallowed Medaill and saying three Pater-nosters or some such other the like meere fooleries bables and inuentions proceeding out of the forge and shop of some superstitious braine or rather couetous and desirous of gold and siluer very fit in truth and conuenient for to helpe towards the charges and expences of the Popes Court and of other Ecclesiasticall persons his deputies But as I haue said an impious wickednesse and detestable impietie nay an horrible and execrable blasphemie thus to disrobe and depriue Iesus Christ of the glory of his merit and to imagine by such meanes to satisfie the rigour of Gods iustice better then by the effectuall and diuine vertue of his precious bloud shed for the sinnes not only of the whole world but of an hundred yea of a thousand if so many there were I giue leaue to all truly Christian and religious soules desirous of their owne saluation and zeale to the honour and glory of their Sauiour to thinke well of it and to iudge whether this be to giue him the entire glory of our saluation and whether he be well assured leaning and being built vpon such foundations The time would faile me if I discouer and my heart would ake and pant at the sight of all the filth and abominations that are couered and hidden vnder this cloake of merits and satisfactions which are taught and preached in your Church farre more then the grace goodnesse mercy and free pardon of God yea by the which merits and satisfactions this grace goodnesse mercy and free pardon of God and the merits of Iesus Christ are not onely darkned and disfigured but quite defaced and altogether abolished as much at least as in them lieth Let that which hath beene said be enough and suffice for this time for to shew and make you to see how the benefit of our iustification by Christ Iesus our Sauiour is set as it were at naught by the doctrine of your men Let vs now come to the benefit of sanctification which hee hath likewise as I haue already said and repeated twice or thrice obtained and merited for vs by his death and passion and by the effusion of his pretious and diuine bloud This is no lesse peruerted corrupted and abolished then the former For in stead of acknowledging with the Scripture which teacheth it vs that of our owne nature being dead in our sins vnable to frame euen a good thought and bring forth of our selues any good thing by reason that the whole imagination of mans heart is set vpon nothing but euill at all times euen from his youth God hereupon doth baptise vs not onely with water but principally with the holy Ghost by the which correcting and mortifying by little and little the corruption of our nature infected with the sinne which we bring with vs from the belly of our mother of vnbeleeuers impenitent rebellious wilfull and disobedient to his commandements and precepts such as wee are of our selues and of our owne nature he makes vs to beleeue his truth takes from vs the hardnesse of our hearts makes vs flexible and pliable vnder the yoake of his lawes and of his obedience that so renouncing all vnfruitfull workes of sinne and darknesse we may liue as true children of light in righteousnesse and true holinesse in stead I say of acknowledging teaching and carefully vrging this they doe the quite contrary 1. extenuating as I haue already said and diminishing as farre as they are able this naturall corruption and originall sinne which is in vs saying that it is but a light infirmitie spirituall languor and weaknesse of nature which makes vs indeed backward and slow in good but not dead to all good and quicke and ready to all euill 2. attributing to the water salt and spittle and other such like things of baptisme the mortification of that naturall corruption in vs and not rather to the merit of Iesus Christ our Sauiour and to the power and efficacie of his death and passion 3. in that that seeming to acknowledge the grace of God to be necessary for the healing of this euill yet in effect they doe quite disanull this and attribute it to themselues and to the force and power of their free-will 1. in that they imagine that in man by the force and power of his nature there are some preparatiues and dispositions to receiue this grace and consequently that there are in him certaine merits of congruitie so that with them the cause why God offereth and presenteth his grace to one and not to another is because the one is well prepared of himselfe you must vnderstand and not by the grace of God seeing he prepares and disposes himselfe for to receiue it and the other is not as if man being so miserably corrupted as hee is could of himselfe doe any thing that might deserue grace de congruo as they speake that is might binde God by way of honestie and conueniencie to bestow vpon him his grace 2. in that they make this grace to bee such as that all the vertue and efficacie thereof depends wholly vpon the libertie of man which in effect is to make this grace idle and vnprofitable for how can any man call that medicine sufficient and effectual for the healing of a maladie which can doe no good without one certaine ingredient Now do they make the grace of God like to this medicine it can doe nothing as they say nor worke in vs without the force and vertue of our free-will which is the chiefe ingredient according to them which giueth force and efficacie to this spiritual medicine Is this to recommend the grace of God vnto vs or to exalt it and is it not rather to exalt man and his abilitie Is not this to take from God for to giue to man to rob the Creator for to couer decke and enrich the creature Thus you see that those of your Church especially your Doctours directours and Prelates like to children of a peruerse neglectfull and vngratefull nature with a presumption that shuts to their heart and puffes vp their spirit they hate nothing so much as to acknowledge auouch and confesse their fault passe condemnation vpon it cry for mercy aske pardon and acknowledge that all their good and eternall happinesse consists in the goodnesse mercy grace and meerely free pardon of God but doe extenuate as much as they can their fault and offence doe plucke downe grace and abolish as much as in them lieth all pardon that so they may not seeme to be beholden to God they do preach and extoll the greatnesse of their merits by the which they pretend to make God