none otherwise of Faith then the Scriptures giue him warrant which it may bee in your opinion are but a strong fancie neither but had you as throughly read him vpon that point of Iustification by faith as Pighius did though with a mind to confute him you might haue had the grace to haue yeelded in opinion to him as hee did by the confession of Tapper in the 8th Article of his second Tome sometimes his fellow-pupil vnder Adrian the VI. Pope of that name neither doth hee in that Catechisme teach them to contemne all ancient learning and authoritie as you faine but fained authoritie and learning falsely so called For what learning haue wee more ancient then the Scriptures or what authoritie more binding and yet for authoritie of the most auncient Councels and godly Fathers I thinke hee voucheth more then euer Doctor Carrier read though hee built not his faith vpon them and teach others to doe the like in regard of such auncient learning and authoritie being but humane the aduise of the Prophet is to bee regarded or rather the command of God by the Prophets mouth to bee obeyed Thus saith the Lord Stand in the wayes and see and aske for the olde pathes where is the good way and walke therein and yee shall finde rest for your soules For it is true that with all wise and moderate persons that kind of antiquitie obtainâ—th that authoritie and reuerence as it is sufficient matter to moue them to make a stand and to discouer and take a viewe but it is no warrant to guide or to conduct them a iust ground I say it is of deliberation but not of direction but on the other side as it is well obserued by a writer whom Master Doctor himselfe before nameth with honour who knoweth not that time is truely compared to a streame that carrieth downe fresh and pure waters into the salt sea of corruption which enuironeth all humane actions and therefore if man shall not by his industry vertue and policie as it were with the Oare rowe against the streame and inclination of time all institutions and ordinances be they neuer so pure will corrupt and degenerate Finally for the iustifying of that which you haue deliuered touching Caluine and his proceedings you send vs to Bezaes narratioÌ„ of Caluins life but had you not in the perusal therof shut vp the eye of charitie and onely opened that of malice and enuie you might as easily haue seene and obserued in the same narration his wonderfull assiduitie in reading in preaching in writing in conferring insomuch that being aduised by his physicians and by his friends requested a little to forbeare in regard of the weakenesse of his body and his manifold infirmities his vsuall answere was that idlenesse to him was the greatest sickenesse or Vultis me otiosum à Domino deprehendi will yee that the Lord when hee commeth should finde me doing nothing his zeale to Gods trueth and courage in maintaining it such that he not only crushed the errors of the Church of Rome but quelled like another Hercules so many new monsters of opinions by the clubbe of Gods word that the very meÌ„tioning the names of the authors and summâ— of their seuerall heresies would take vp much time and many lines his sound and profound knowledge in his profession such that Melancthon no childe in Diuinitie was wont to style him by an excellencie The Diuine his temperance such that for many yeres he tooke but one repast a day his modesty such that by his will hee ordained after his death there should be no monumeÌ„t erected to him or so much as a Tombe-stone layed ouer him yet Beza his Colleague would not spare to bestowe this ensuing Epitaph on him which hee was as able as vpon that sad occasion vnwilling to afford and the other out of his deserts as worthy as out of his modesty the crowne of all his other vertues vnwilling to receiue Romae ruentis terror ille maximus Quem mortuum lugent boni horrescunt mali Ipsa à quo potuit virtutem discere virtus Cur adeo exiguo ignotoque in cespite clausus Caluinus lateat rogas Caluinum assidue Comitata modestia viuum Hoc tumulo manibus condidit ipsa suis. O te beatum cespitem tanto hospite O cui inuidere cuncta possint marmora After his death many of the citizens who had often seene him before yet much desired to see him againe and many strangers came from forreine parts purposely to know him and to bee knowen vnto him among whom was a worthy Gentleman at that time Ambassador in France for the Queen of England and howsoeuer malice haue found Lucianus in his name charitie hath found Alcuinus B. C. 28. Now it is the nature of all common people especially of Ilanders not onely still to affect more and more noueltie and libertie and to bee weary of their olde Clergie but also to admire any thing that comes from beyond the Seas and to cherish and comfort one another with reporting the good successe which Schismatikes and Rebels happen to haue against their lawfull Prelates and ancient gouernours and to impute all their good fortune to their new Religion Hence it is come to passe that that doctrine which is indeed the lawfull doctrine of the Church of England is neglected or contemned as a relike or a ragge of Popery and Caluins institutions being come from Geneua and fairely bound vp with the Preface of the Gospell is dispersed throughout all Schooles Cities and Villages of England and hath so infected Priest and people as although it bee against law yet is it cryed vp by voyces to be the only current Diuinitie in Court and Countrey in hope belike that it may one day serue the turne in England as well as it hath done in Geneua and in other places where it hath preuailed G. H. 28. Your Countrey-men are herein much bound to you in that you make Ilanders so much to affect nouelty ascribing their change of religion to the changeablenesse of their nature whereas other nations in the continent of Europe are by consent of those who are interessed in neither by nature more changeable then they That Polander who first by his pen encountred his Maiesties Premonition labouring to wype off the staine of the Powder-treason from the religion of the actours laid it vpon the nature of an English man whom in all religions he accuses to be naturally disloyall to his Prince to his imputation of disloyalty you adde the affectation of nouelty thereby to lay a staine vpon our religion But Qui mala non mutat in bonis non perseuerat The seruant is not aboue his lord nor the disciple aboue his master and we know that it was the question which the Iewes proposed to our Sauiour What new doctrine is this and of the Grecians to S. Paul May wee not know what this new
exposition published vpon the 7. 8. 9. and 10. verses of the 20. chapter of the Reuel or lastly his subscription to the confession of his faith in the yeere 1581 assoon as hee came to yeeres of discretion you would haue had little reason to haue presumed so farre vpon him for hearkening to any peace with the Church of Rome as long as her whoredomes and witchcrafts râ—maine yet in such abundance and being offered cure â—hat we might know she is Babylon she hath and still doth wilfully refuse to be cured But the sandie ground of the vaine presumption will yet more liuely appeare if the forme of that subscription bee well considered in which hauing rehearsed and renounced the chiefe points of Popery as namely the Popes vsurped authoritie ouer the Scriptures ouer the Church ouer the ciuill Magistrate and the consciences of men his deuilish masse his blasphemous Priesthood his profane sacrifice for the quicke and the dead and in a word the erroneous and bloody decrees of the Councel of Trent hee promiseth and sweareth by the great name to the Lord God to perseuere in that faith and to defend it all the dayes of his life to the vtmost of his power vnder paine of all the Curses contained in the Law and the danger both of bodie and soule in the fearefull day of iudgement and further straightly chargeth and commandeth all his officers and ministers to make the same subscription themselues and to take it of others vnder their charge and lest we should thinke that arriuing to riper age hee altered his iudgement in his instructions to his sonne he giues vs this assurance As for the particular points of religion saith hee I neede not to dilate them I am no hypocrite follow my footesteps and your owne present education therein B. C. 10. But when after my long hope I at the last did plainely perceiue that God for our sinnes had suffered the deuill the athour of dissension so farre to preuaile as partly by the furious practise of some desperate Catholikes and partly by the fiery suggestions of all violent Puritans hee had quite diuerted that peaceable and temperate course which was hoped for and that I must now either alter my iudgement which was impossible or preach against my conscience which was vntolerable Lord what anxietie and distraction of soule did I suffer day night what strife betwixt my iudgement which was wholly for the Q peace and vnitie of the Church and my affection which was wholly to enjoy the R fauour of your Maiesty and the loue of my friends and Countrey this griefe of soule now growing desperate did still more and more increase the infirmities of my body and yet I was so loth to become a professed Catholike with the displeasure of your Maiestie and of all my honourable and louing friends as I rather desired to silence my iudgement with the profits and pleasures of the world which was before mee then to satisfie it with reconciling my selfe vnto the Catholique Church But it was Gods will that euer as I was about to forget the care of religion and to settle my selfe to the world among my neighbours I met with such humours as I saw by their violence against Catholikes and Catholike religion were like rather to waken my soule by torture then bring it asleepe by temper and therefore I was driven to S recoile to God and to his Church that I might find rest vnto my soule G. H. 10. Q Certainely for their sinnes it was that God suffered them to plot so barbarous a designe but for our good wee hope if in nothing else yet in working in vs a stronger hatred of that religion which produceth such effects and in awakening vs to beware of the like mischieuous plot againe if it be possible the like may be plotted we excuse not our selues but in this businesse we haue rather tasted of Gods mercy which we deserued not then of his iudgements which wee must acknowledge we deserued R Quis tulerit Gracchos deseditione querentes what patient eare can endure him talking of nothing but peace and vnity who did euer blow the coales of dissention both in Court and Countrey as well in the Colledge where he liued a fellow as in the Church where he was a Canon S So it may well be gathered out of your owne words that the chiefe ground of your griefe was that you saw your ambitious humour was now crossed in as much as you could not keepe the olde wont and withall rise to place of honour T Your apostasie and forsaking the faith and Church in which you were baptized you call a recoiling to God and to his Church neither will I much stand vpon it since we know that Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God bearing himselfe as God B. C. 11. And yet because I had heard often that the practise of the Church of Rome was contrary to her doctrine I thought good to make one triall more before I resolued and therefore hauing the aduise of diuerse learned Physitians to goe to the Spaw for the health of my body I thought good to make a vertue of necessitie and to get leaue to goe the rather for the satisfaction of my soule v hoping to find some greater offence in the seruice of the Church of Rome then I had done in her bookes that so I might returne better contented and persecute and abhorre the Catholikes at home after I should find them so wicked and idolatrous abroad as they were in euery pulpit in England affirmed to be For this purpose before I would frequent their Churches I talked with such learned men as I could meet withall and did of purpose dispute against them and with all the wit and learning I had both iustifie the doctrine of England established by Law and obiect their superstition and idolatrie which I thought they might commit either with the images in the Church or with the Sacrament of the Altar G. H. 11. That is a trueth to auouch the practise of the Church of Rome to be more grosse then her doctrine howbeit we must confesse her doctrine in many points to be very grosse appeares by this that the better and wiser sort among themselues both in their iudgements and writings condemne many fopperies vsually practised by the people and winked at by their guides as their hallowing of graines and medalls and beads by touching some supposed Relique with opinion of merit Their praying to fained Saints and beleeuing forged legends and miracles Their permitting of publique Stewes and a Priest to keepe his concubine vnder a yeerely rent which Espencaeus wisheth were falsly thrust in among the grieuances of Germany Their setting of certaine rates vpon the most grieuous sinnes before they bee committed as appeareth in their Taxa Camera Their allowing of Sanctuaries for wilfull murder Their ordinary buying and selling of soules in Purgatory as a man would buy an horse in
alterum diem Deo volente Qui te seruet Illustrissime Domine Londini VIII Eid Sept. MDCXIII Tuae Reuerentiae obseruantiss cultor IS CASAVBONVS Right Reuerend my Gracious Lord I Send vnto your Grace the Letter whereof you haue heard The Letter was sent me with intent it should be communicated vnto the King but I thought it fitter to bee suppressed and to be shewed vnto none For I cannot approue the drift of that learned man who wrâ—te the Letter Wherefore I answered him forâ—â—with and with many words aduised him to desist from that purpose I brought him many reasons why I certainely beleeued it was folly or rather frensie to hope for any good from the Romish Phalaris for that very terme I vsed who laughs at our euils if there be any amongst vs. I laid before his eyes how auerse the Peeres of the Romish Church are from all equitie specially Bellarmine of whose impiety I wrote at large vnto him I set before his eyes with how great danger to himselfe he seemed to become the Popes Patron I alledged testimonies of Matthew Paris of the great misery of England when it was vnder the Popes obedience I added the example of that Narbonois who of late sent vnto the Kings MAIESTY a booke of the like argument that being commanded by the KING to say my mind I professed my detestation thereof and that it was his MAIESTIES will to haue some animaduersions set in the margent of the booke After which what became of Carier I know not This I thought good to signifie vnto your Grace but I expected vntill you were returned vnto the Citie for the publishing of my booke stayes meat home I haue other weighty matters whereof to aduise with your Grace within this day or two God willing who preserue you my gracious Lord. London Sept. 6. 1613. Your Graces most respectiue Obseruer ISA. CASAVBON B. C. 17. There is a statute in England made by King Henry the VIII to make him supreame head of the Church in spirituall and Ecclesiasticall causes which Statute enioynes all the subiects of England on paine of death to beleeue and to sweare they doe beleeue that it is true and yet all the world knowes if King Henry the VIII could haue gotten the Pope to diuorce Queene Katherine that he might marrie Anne Bullen that Statute had neuer been made by him and if that title had not enabled the King to pull downe Abbeys and religious houses and giue them to Lay men the Lords and Commons of that time would neuer haue suffered such a Statute to be made This Statute was continued by Queene Elizabeth to serue her owne turne and it is confirmed by your Maiestie to satisfie other men and yet your Maiestie yeeldeth the Church of Rome to be the mother Church and the Bishop of Rome to bee the chiefe Bishop or Primate of all the Westerne Churches which I doe also verely beleeue and therfore I doe verely thinke he hath or ought to haue some spirituall iurisdiction in England and although in mine yonger dayes the fashion of the world made me sweare as other did for which I pray God forgiue mee yet I euer doubted and I am now resolued that no Christian man can take that oath with a safe conscience neither will I euer take it to gaine the greatest preferment in the world G. H. 17. The Statute here intended can be none other then the Sâ—tute 26. of H. VIII Cap. 1. for that is the first Statute that medleth with the Supremacie which Statute is as the Common Lawyers terme it Statutum declaratiuum not introductiuum noui iuris as doth clearely appeare by the Preamble which hath these words Albeit the Kings Maiestie iustly and rightfully is and ought to bee taken and accepted supreame head of the Church of England and so is recognized by the Clergie in their Conuocation yet neuerthelesse for corroboration and confirmation thereof Be it enacted that the King shall bee taken and accepted Supreme head c. So that the Doctor is fowly mistaken to say that there was a Statute made by K. Henry the VIII to make him Supreme head for it was his ancient right that made him so and it was his Clergie that had acknowledged him to be so before the making of this Statâ—te nay the very phrase and letter of this Statute it selfe doeth purposely renounce the power of making and assumes onely the authority of confirming Whereby it is cleare that Henrie VIII made not a statute to make himselfe Supreme in Ecclesiasticall causes as Mr. Doctor affirmeth but to confirme those Statutes and Rights which his noble Progenitors as iuâ—tly challenged to belong to their Crown as the Bishops of Rome vniustly pretended to be annexed to their Myter And where he sayes that the Statute which according to his vnderstanding made him Supreme head did also enioyne the Subiect to beleeue and sweare it tâ— bee true it is manifest that there is not any mention at all of any oath in that Statute but it is true indeede that in the 28. of Henry VIII chap. 10. there is an oath of Supremacie ordeined the refusall whereof by some certaine persons enioyned by that Act to take it was made high Treason And herein againe is the Doctour deceiued nay which is worse seeketh to deceiue others for onely some certaine persons were bound by that Statute to take the oath and not all the Subiects of England as he falsely surmiseth Anno 35. Henry VIII cap. 1. the oath of Supremacie ordeined by 28. was repealed and a new forme of oath prescribed and extended to more persons but neuer to all in generall The same Parliament Cap. 3. enioyneth that the stile of Supreme head be receiued and vsed and this was all that was done by Henry VIII in the point of Supremacie by way of Statute So that to say as Master Doctor doth that all the Subiects in England are bound vpon paine of death to beleeue the Supremacie is a malicious fiction in two respects First touching the persons enioyned to take the oath and lyable to the punishment and then againe as touching the offence for that beliefe alone which is a secret inclination of the minde knowne onely to God the searcher of the heart and not issuable nor tryable by any Law humane should be made an offence punishable by death is in it selfe so absurde as it cannot but appeare to bee a false imputation to charge our Law-makers therewithall Lastly whereas hee sayes that Henry the VIII would neuer haue made that Statute if he could haue gotten the Pope to haue diuorced Queene Katherine that he might haue married Anne Boleine it is cleare and all the world may know that if King Henry would haue ioyned with Francis the French King in the warre of Naples against Charles the Emperour the Pope would not haue stucke to haue giuen way to that diuorce for the better procuring of which Combination hee did not onely
both they and their posterity might be at vtter defiance therewith and so hauing ouerthrowne and prophaned the good workes of the Saints it was necessary for them to get them Chaplins that might both dispute preach and write against the merits of good workes the inuocation of Saints the sacrifice of the Altar prayer for the dead and all such points of Catholike doctrine as were the grounds of those Churches and religious houses which they had ouerthrowen and prophaned And it was not hard for those Chaplines by some shew of Scripture to proue that which their Lords and followers were so willing to beleeue G. H. 23. The Abbies and Religious houses were growen to that height of idlenesse the mother of ignorance and luxurie within themselues and by reason thereof into that contempt and base estimation with the people that it was high time some blood should haue beene drawen from their swelling veines specially considering the little vse the Common-wealth had of them but chiefely for that they were so farre degenerated from the primitiue institution Their number was great it being 645. monasteries of men and women accounting the Priories and Frieries besides Chaunteries and free Chappels their seate commonly in the fairest and fattest part of the land their reuenues amounting to an inestimable summe as in the originall booke thereof taken by Commission and giuen to the King may appeare though at their dissolutions their values were fauourably and farre vnder rated in so much as in the raigne of Edward the first a statute of Mortmaine was made for the restraining of that excesse And had not Henry the fifth beene wisely diuerted vpon the French warres by Archbishop Chichly he had in all likelihood preuented Henry the eight in diminishing if not demolishing those houses being sâ—t on by his Parliament held at Leicester in the beginning of his raigne in which a bill was exhibited complaining how their reuenues giuen for deuotion were most desorderly wasted vpon Hounds and Hawkes and Horses and Whores which if better imployed would serue for the defence of the land and honour of the King and suffice for the maintenance of fifteene Earles fifteene hundred Knights sixe thousand two hundred Esquires and one hundred Almes-houses for reliefe of impotent and diseased persons and besides all this to the Kings Coffers there would thereby yeerely accrew twenty thousand pounds And to speake a trueth Cardinall Wolsey was the man who by pulling downe the smaller both shewed and made a way to the King Henry the eight for taking the like order with the bigger Neither did hee thinke his hands lesse bound towards his owne subiects then the Pope and French King did theirs for the rooting out of the rich and powerfull order of Templars through Christendome accusing them of like grieuous and vnnaturall offences as were in open Parliament layed to the charge of our monasticall professours vpon the relation of such Commissioners who were appointed to make search to that purpose no marueile then that as after the dissolution of that order which fell out in the raigne of Edward the second as Thomas de la More reportâ— is who at the same time liued as an officer in his Court the heires of the donors and such as had indowed them with lands reentred vpon those parts of their ancient patrimonies so in the downefall of Monasteries the Lords tooke their share of those lands which their ancestors had formerly bestowed to piouâ—â—vses but were at that time very much abused by the possesâ—ours But a great part of them about or somewhat aboue 600. yeeres since were thrust into the possessions of maried Church-men by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury so that if euery bird had his feather at their dissolution the greatest part of their lands had returned to the Clergie or at least their impropriations which were as improper to them though they held them by dispensation as now it may well bee disputed they are to the possessâ—urs of them A part whereof notwithstanding are so farre off from being at defiance with your Church that they are professed Romane Catholikes And in Queene Maries dayes among all those that intirely embraced that Religion not so much as one was found that could be drawen to disgorge those sweet morsels they had deuoured or to make restitution of a foote of land though the Queene her selfe the rather to draw them on had offered all she held in possession Then was your doctrine of good workes your Inuocation Saints your sacrifice of the Altar and your prayer for the dead restored which were the grounds you say of those religious houses yet the land which had bene their maintenance was not restored And as the reuiuing of those doctrines could not serue to giue new life vnto the carkasses of those ruined houses so the ruining of those houses was not the cause as you pretend of the impugning of those doctrines since they were impugned by the confession of your owne Writers by the Waldenses by the Albingenses by Wicliffe by Husse by Luther by Zuinglius by Caluin before those houses fell and continued for the most part during all the raigne of Henry the eight as may appeare by the sixe articles commonly called the whip with the sixe cordes And for any thing I finde he altered nothing excepting the taking downe of Monasteries and the Popes authority but onely the translation of the Bible and the singing and reading diuine seruice in our mother tongue so that it is cleare to any indifferent iudgement that the contradicting of those doctrines rather caused the ruine of those houses then their ruine as you would beare vs in hand the contradicting of those doctrines And it were no hard matter not by shew of Scripture but by Scripture it selfe to prooue their vnsoundnesse But an harder I am sure it were for his Holinesse Chaplaines from thence to proue their soundnesse in that sense as they are now defended in the Church of Rome howbeit you are as willing to beleeue the trueth of them for the aduantage you reape by them specially by the sacrifice of the Altar and prayer for the dead as any can bee vpon the like reason to beleeue the contrary B. C. 24. To the Commons was giuen great hope of reliefe for their pouertie ease of subsidies and the burden of so great a Clergie and many other goodly gay nothings And for the present they should haue liberty and the benefit of the common Law that is leaue to liue by such Lawes as themselues list to make and to contemne the authoritie of the Church which although it were for their benefit euery way yet because it crossed their affections like wayward children they could neuer abide it and was not this reason enough for them to hold out the breach and to study Scripture themselues that they might be able to confute Confession Satisfaction Penance and to declaime against that tyranny of the Church of Rome whereby
beene in the Easterne Church hee being worse then an Infidell that prouideth not for those of his owne houshold To conclude wee neither speake nor write against lawfull Vowes but the rashnesse of them and impossibilitie in performing them Not against true Virginity but the fained shew of it and the preferring it by so many degrees before the honourable estate of mariage Not against necessary Pouertie but the voluntarie choise of it when more good may be done by possessing and vsing those meanes God hath sent vs Not against Fasting but the pharesaicall vse of it and making it part of diuine worship Not against Praying but the performance of it in a strange tongue rather for custome then for conscience rather by number then by weight in drawing neere vnto God with our lippes when our hearts are farre from him Not against Watching but the pretended apish imitation and merit in it Not against Obedience but the abuse of it in the enterprising of damnable and desperate attempts Lastly not against austeritie of life but inciuilitie and that shew of wisedome which S. Paul censureth in the second to the Col. Consisting in voluntary Religion and humblenesse of minde and not sparing the bodie You doe well to adde that all these are required in a Monasticall conuersation but how they were or are performed God knowes and the world not vndeseruedly suspects B. C. 26. Vpon these conditions the Lords the Commons and the Clergie were content to beleeue that the King was Supreme head of the Church of England Not that they did thinke so indeed or that they desired to augment his authoritie but that they might bee protected by him freely enioy those commodities which they thought schisme had brought vnto them and feared the vnity of the Church might againe take from them Hence did arise a necessitie of inueighing against the Pope and the Church of Rome as against Antichrist and Babylon and the greatest enemies of the State of England Insomuch that that Clergie man was most acceptable to them and in their opinion most worthy of preferments that could most confidently preach and write the most foule and monstrous assertions of the Pope and the Church of Rome though they were neuer so false These and such like are those temporall respects which would faine seeme the daughters of those doctrines which themselues haue brought foorth and to be diuided from the Catholike Church by doctrine when they themselues haue caused the doctrine of diuision G. H. 26. Vpon these conditions you say that the Lords and Commons and Clergie were content to beleeue that the King was supreame head of the Church of England whereas your selfe before confesse that these conditions were afterward graunted to the Clergie who notwithstanding were the forwardest in perswading the King to accept and assume that title as may appeare by the booke set out by the whole Conuocation of England intituled The Institution of a Christian man besides the Treatises of diuers particular Bishops to the same purpose as namely Stephen Gardiners discourse of true obedience together with Bonners Preface annexed to it Longelands Sermon and Tunstals Letter to Cardinall Poole all which are extant to be reade and seene at this day and surely he that shall obserue their vehement protestations specially of Gardiner whom I hold the most sufficient among them for learning and withall the soundnesse and weight of the reasons which they enforce against the Popes pretended iurisdiction will easily beleeue that they thought in very deede as they wrote that their minds and their pennes concurred in one But from hence you say arose a necessitie of enuying against the Pope and the Church of Rome as against Antichrist and Babylon as if his Holinesse had neuer beene graced with the title of Antichrist before Henry assumed his title of supreame head nor Rome called Babylon before England was freed from that Babylonish captiuity Whereas your famous Cardinall hath none other proofe from Scripture that S. Peter was euer at Rome but by expounding Rome to be the Babylon from whence he dated his first Epistle And when the seuerall markes of Antichrist shall be applied to any so properly as to the Bishop of Rome I will confesse he is iniuriously so styled in the meane time I can hardly imagine any so foule and monstrous assertions which some of your Popes haue not deserued euen by the confession of your owne Writers it being enough to make a modest man blush in reading and relating that which they blushed not to act nay boasted of being acted in so much as I doubt not but I may confidently affirme that neither the Catalogue of Emperours taking in the Heathenish among the Christians nor any one succession of Kings in the world since the first creation of it to this present age euer afforded so many monsters of men so many incarnate deuils so expert in all kind of villanies as that of your Popes neither can any one King or Emperour be named whom some of your Popes haue not out-stripped And what needed then any imitation of your side in faining false assertions where true were so plentifull B. C. 27. In all these and all other doctrine of diuision men haue receiued great countenance and encouragement from Geneua For although M. Iohn Caluin were neuer any good subiect or friend to Bishop Duke or King yet hee did so fit the common people with new doctrine that no Gospel can be so pleasing to them nor so light some as his for finding Geneua to be fallen out both with their Bishop who was their ancient Prince and their Duke to whom they pretended against their Bishop and to bee all in a combustion amongst themselues for want of gouernment although he were then a stranger and a very young man of some sixe and twenty or seuen and twenty yeeres olde at the most yet he thought good vpon the opportunity to giue the venture and to step in himselfe to be founder of a new Church and state amongst them And for that purpose hee found them such a Catechisme as they might easily contemne all ancient learning and authority and saue themselues by a strong fancie which hee called faith And this pleased the Bourgers of Geneua so well that they called a meeting and caused all the Citizens to sweare that that Catechisme was true and all Popery false as may appeare in Caluins life written by Beza and prefixed to his Epistles And although the ministeriall Presbitery of Geneua haue lost much of M. Caluins greatnesse yet the Citie hath had the fortune euer since by the helpe of their neighbours to hold out against their Bishop and the Duke and all their ancient gouernours G. H. 27. You passe on in this Section and the next to passe your censure vpon Geneua and Caluin in as much as from them wee haue receiued great countenance and encouragement whereas neither Geneua nor Caluin were
G. H. 44. And wee are on the other side as confident that in going to the Church of Rome and forsaking your owne in which you were bred and baptized besides the indangering of your own soule you haue done no good seruice to his Maiestie neither in respect of himselfe nor his children neither of his Lords nor Commons in perswading vnitie with the Church of Rome vnlesse first shee could bee perswaded to the imbracing of the same veritie in Religion with vs. There is onely the Clergie left which if Popery should goe on and preuaile as you desire it should shall not in the next age bee left to bee satisfied or to giue satisfaction but there is little reason that any man that loues the Clergie should desire to satisfie such Clergie-men as your selfe while you were among vs who vnder hand fauour Papists and maintaine such points of doctrine as if his Maiesties authoritie were not would out of hand ouerthrow the doctrine established and in stead thereof reestablish the Papacie B. C. 45. There neuer was is nor shall bee any wellsetled State in the world either Christian or heathen but the Clergie and Priesthood was is and must bee a principall part of the gouernment depending vpon none but him onely whom they suppose to bee their God but where Caluinisme preuaileth three or foure stipendary Ministers that must preach as it shall please Mr. Maior and his brethren may serue for a whole city and indeede if their opinions bee true it is but folly for any State to maintaine more For if God haue predestinated a certaine number to bee saued without any condition at all of their beeing in the visible Church by Faith or their perseuering therein by good workes If God hath reprobated the greatest part of the world without any respect at all of their infidelity heresie or wicked life if the faith of CHRIST be nothing else but the assured perswasion of a mans owne predestination to glory by him if the Sacraments of the Church bee nothing but signes and badges of that grace which a man hath before by the carnall couenant of his parents faith if Priesthood can doe nothing but preach the word as they call it which lay Lay-men must iudge of and may preach to if they will where occasion serues If the study and knowledge of antiquity vniuersality and consent be not necessary but euery man may expound Scripture as his owne spirit shall moue him If I say these and such like opinions be as true as they are among the Caluinists in the world common and in England too much fauoured and maintained there will certainely appeare no reason at all vnto your Parliament whensoeuer your Maiesty or your successours shall please to aske them why they should bee at so great a charge as they are to maintaine so needlesse a party as these opinions doe make the Clergie to be They can haue a great many more sermons a great deale better cheape and in the opinion of Caluinisme the Clergie doe no other seruice they that doe in England fauour and maintaine those opinions and suppresse and disgrace those that doe confute them they although themselues can be content to bee lordes and to goe in Rochets are indeed the greatest enemies of the Clergie and it were no great matter for the Clergie they might easily turne lay and liue as well as they do for the most part but it is a thing full of compassion and commiseration to see that by these false and wicked opinions the deuill the father of these and all other lies doth daily take possession of the soules of your Subiects both of Clergie and laitie These kind of Clergie men I confesse I doe not desire to satisfie any other way then as I haue alwayes done that is by the most friendly and plaine confutation of their errours to shew them the trueth as for other Clergie men that are conformable to the religion established by Law as well for their doctrine as for their discipline if they be good Schollers and temperate men as I know many of them are they cannot but in their iudgements approue the truth of Catholike religion and if it were not for feare of losse or disgrace to their wiues and children they would be as glad as my selfe that a more temperate course might be held and more liberty afforded to Catholikes and Catholike Religion in England These Clergie men I am and euer shall be desirous to satisfie not onely in respect of themselues but also in respect of their wiues and children whom I am so farre from condemning or misliking as that I doe account my selfe one of them and I desire nothing more in this world then in the toleration of Catholike religion to liue and die among them and therefore I haue had so great care in this point as before I did submit my selfe to the Catholike Church I receiued assurance from some of the greatest that if his Maiesty would admit the ancient subordination of the Church of Canterbury vnto that mother by whose authority all other Churches in England at the first were and still are subordinate vnto Canterbury and the first free vse of that Sacrament for which especially all the Churches in Christendome were first founded the Pope for his part would confirme the interest of all those that haue present possession in any Ecclesiasticall liuing in England and would also permit the free vse of the Common Prayer booke in English for Morning and Euening Prayer with very little or no alteration and for the contentment and security of your Maiesty he would giue you not onely any satisfaction but all the honor that with the vnity of the Church and the safetie of Catholike Religion may be required which seemed to me so reasonable as beeing before satisfied for the trueth of Catholike Religion I could aske no more so that I am verely perswaded that by yeelding to that trueth which I could not deny I haue neither neglected my duety and seruice to your Maiesty and your children nor my respect and honour to your Lords and Commons nor my loue and kindenesse to my honest friends and brethren of the Clergie but rather that my example and my prayers shall doe good vnto all G. H. 45. That the Clergie should be a Principall member of the body popolitike we graunt but that they should depend on none but him only whom they suppose to bee their god wee denie Indeed where the authority of the Bishop of Rome swayes looke how many Clergy men there are so many subiects are exempt from the Iurisdiction of the secular power and wholy depend vpon his Holinesse who is to them in regard of the vniuersalitie of his commaund and the infallibilitie of his iudgement in stead of their God but for vs Non habemus talem consuetudinem neque Ecclesia Dei we depend
said for your deliuerance from thence but that you must presently iumpe into heauen I durst warrant the Iesuits among whom you died did not esteem you such a Saint Indeed Castellanus who made the funerall oration vpon Francis the 1. the French King was excepted against and accused by the Sorbonists for saying That he doubted not but the Kings soule was in heauen but his purgation was made by Mendoza that he thought he called by Purgatorie in passing but being as he was of a stirring disposition hee made no stay there but I thinke M. Doctor who offers to vndertake the iustifying of all Romish doctrine was not of this opinion We teach with S. Iohn that Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their labours But M. Doctor should haue remembred that the Church of Rome teacheth with Virgil whose authority Bellarmine solemnly quoteth to that purpose That the soules of the most iust except they die by Martyrdome or presently after Baptisme or doe some notable Meritorious worke as for the purpose the killing of a King whom that Church shall iudge a Tyrant are all to bee scoured in the flames of Purgatory fire before they enter into heauen But in the meane time you say you will reioyce in nothing but onely in the Crosse of Christ which is the glory of his Maiesties Crowne where if by the Crosse of Christ you vnderstand as S. Paul did Christ Crucified you do well hee being indeed not only the Glory of his Maiesties Crowne but the Crowne of his and our glory but if the materiall Crosse or a painted or carued Crucifix this could bring but a shadow of ioy to you and of glory to his Maiesties Crowne Lastly you conclude that you are not gone from his Maiestie to his aduersaries but before him to his Mother For the first of which I demaund who his Maiestie shall account for his aduersaries but those who condemne such Romane Catholikes censuring their Books and commaunding them to purge themselues who onely maintaine his Ciuill power in Temporall affaires and restraine his subiects from taking the Oath of meere naturall Allegeance which in effect is all one as if they absolued them from that Oath being taken and consequently incouraged them to rebellion For the second part of your conclusion we doubt not but his Maiesties Mother might find mercie knowing no better religion then that in which shee was borne and bred when such Apostates as our of discontent or for temporall respects forsake a knowen trueth which they haue preached in which they were baptized to which they haue subscribed shall finde heauen gates shut against them But wee iudge nothing before the time vntill the Lord come who will lighten things that are in darkenesse and make the counsels of the heart manifest and then shall euery man haue praise of God Who so confirme vs in that we are right and reforme vs in that we are amisse that passing through things temporall wee may not finally lose eternall Now prayse and honour and glory and power bee vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne and vnto the Lamhe for euermore B. C. Multum incola fuit anima mea cum his qui oderunt pacem eram pacificus cum loquebar illis impugnabunt me gratis Psal. 119. vers 5 6. G. H. The wordes of his mouth were smoother then butter but warre was in his heart his words were softer then oyle yet were they drawen swords Psal. 55. 21. AN ANSWERE TO THE MATERIALL POINTS of a second Letter of Dr. Cariers written also from Leige to his friends heere in ENGLAND WHen I had almost finished my former answere to the Doctors Letter to his Maiestie another Letter of his dated also from Leigâ— and directed to his friends in England came to mine hands wherunto are added certaine collections found in his Closet made by him as it is thought saith the Publisher of the miserable endes of such as haue impugned the Catholike Church to which is also annexed a briefe exhortation to perseuere constantly in the sayd Catholike Church what opposition soeuer may occurre and lastly a few examples of the admirable felicitie of such as haue defended the same Church First then for the Letter I must confesse I expected from Mr. Dr. some piece of greater value considering himselfe had promised vs in the last Section of his first chapter particularly to iustifie and make plaine froÌ„ point to point the Religion at this day practised and prescribed by the Church of Rome Pelitier for him that hauing consigned his writings into the hands of one of his friends wee should shortly haue that happinesse as to see them published to the ioy and comfort of Catholikes and the edification of those whom hee had forsaken But at last we haue receiued for payment in ful satisfaction of the whole debt as I conceiue this Letter with the appertenances which I would haue set downe intire as I found it the very sight of it being confutation sufficient but that I should haue done the Printer iniury in staying his presse and withall haue raised my booke to a bulk too far exceeding my purpose and it may be haue deceiued the reader too in offring that to his view which he would haue iudged scarce worth the reprinting In his entrance after his verball flourishes and the repetition of that which hath already been answered more then once if any way materiall hee settles at length vpon nine Propositions the very marrow and piâ—h of all his Letter all tending to draw what hee might from the authority of Scriptures and to cast it vpon the Church that is in his language the Romish Clergie as afterwards hee expresses himselfe I will examine the propsitions as they lie in order B. C. 1. That our Sauiour did leaue nothing in writing but taught his Religion to his Apostles by word of mouth G. H. 1. Doubtlesse our Sauiour was not of that Polish Cardinals minde who thought it had beene better for the Church had there beene no Scripture extant at all for though himselfe left nothing in writing touching his Religion yet by the Scriptures alone hee proues himselfe to be the Messias in his conferences his Sermons his disputations with it hee informes the ignorant confirmes the weake instructs his Disciples confutes the Pharisees puts the Sadduces to silence and the diuell to flâ—ght Not a booke of Moses and scarce a Prophet but hee either quotes some passages from him or at least alludes to some in him specially that of the Psalmes and the Prophet Esay Nay in the 24. of St. Luke it is said hee proued his passion and resurrection from Moses and all the Prophets Though it were hee that spake to the Patriarches in dreames and visions and Reuelations yet hee mentions none of them for proofe and except they were 〈◊〉 much lesse traditions but his ordinarie questions and exhâ—rtations and reprehensions are How readest thou and haue yee not
read and search the Scriptures and yee erre not knowing the Scriptures and for traditions he names them not but to reiect them Secondly it is acknowledged by the greatest Clerks and chiefest pillars of the Church of Rome that the Euangelists in writing their Gospels and the Apostles their Epistles were none other but the pens of a ready Writer the Secretaries of their Lord and Master now that which the Secretarie writes according to the direction and inditing of his Lord more commonly is more iustly ought to be called the writing of the Lord then the Secretarie it is St. Augustines reason in the last Chapter of his first booke of the consent of the Euangelists Cum Euangelistae saith hee Apostoli scripserunt quae Deus ostendit dixit nequaquam dicendum est quod ipse non scripserit quicquid enim ille de suis factis dictis nos legere voluit hoc scribendum illis tanquam suis manibus imperauit In as much as the Euangelists and Apostles wrote that which God manifested and spake it cannot be said that himselfe wrote not for whatsoeuer his pleasure was wee should reade touching his workes and words that he gaue them in charge to write as it had beene with his owne fingers Thirdly it is reported by Eusebius lib. 1. cap. 13. that our Sauiour left in writing a letter to Abgarus King of Edessa the copie whereof he there setteth downe at large affirming the originall to haue bene kept among the publique Records of that Citie but for mine owne part I must needs say that if it bee not fained I can not conceiue why it should not be receiued as canonicall Fourthly and lastly it may very well bee that our Sauiour wrote nothing himselfe in as much as those things which were to bee written were testimonies concerning himselfe for though it be true in regard of his diuine authoritie which hee deliuers in the eight of St. Iohns Gospel Though I beare record of my selfe yet my Record is true Yet in regard of the apprehension of flesh and blood it is as true which he hath in the fifth of the same Gospel If I should beare witnesse of my selfe my witnesse were not true B. C. 2. That our Sauiour commanded not his Apostles to write his Religion but to teach it Ite praedicate G. H. 2. As if a man might not teach as well by his pen as his tongue by writing as speaking nay doctrine deliuered by writing as it is conueyed more purely and certainely without mixture arising from humane frailtie and corruption so it spreads farther and lasts longer and if it degenerate is more easily reformed It is worthy to bee marked which St. Luke hath in the Preface of his Gospel to that noble Theophilus Hee confesseth that he had beene instructed in the doctrine of Religion yet hee thought to write vnto him from point to point that hee might haue the certainety of those things so that though hee had indifferent good knowledge before yet writing the storie was the meanes to beget certainety so saith Dauid This shall bee written for the generation to come Neither to my remembrance doe I reade of any that forbad their followers to write but onely the Pythagoreans and the Druides Once wee are sure that it pleased Almighty God to countenance the writing of holy Scripture by his owne practice in as much as hee wrote the Decalogue once and againe in tables of stone And as he led the way himselfe so in expresse termes he commanded his seruants the Prophets to doe the like Moses and Esay and Ieremy and Ezekiel and Habacuk Before the Law was written what vniuersall apostasies there were from the true worship of God the floud is a sufficient testimonie and after it was lost though the Priesthood continued what generall swaruings there were both of Prince and people as well in maners as religion appeares 2. Chro. 34. What forbids vs then to thinke that our Sauiour in commanding his Apostles to teach all nations should not by vertue of that command as well giue them in charge to publish their doctrine by writing as to deliuer it by word of mouth Besides whiles wee reade in the first of the Reuel at the 11. verse that he who was dead and is aliue commands Iohn to write those things which he saw in a booke and againe at the 19. verse Write the things which thou hast seene and the things which are and the things which shall come hereafter And againe in the second and third Chapters in particular to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write to the Angel of the Church of Smyrna write to the Angel of the Church of Pergamus write to the Angel of the Church of Thyatira write to the Angel of the Church of Sardis write to the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea write while I say we finde the charge of writing so often giuen to Iohn and that by him who was dead and is aliue I can neuer subscribe to the trueth of that Proposition that our Sauiour commanded none of his Apostles to write except I should denie S. Iohn to haue beene an Apostle or our Sauiour to be vnderstood by him who was dead and is aliue B. C. 3. That of the twelue Apostles seuen did leaue nothing at all in writing but taught their Successours the Religion of Christ by word of mouth G. H. 3. This Proposition supposeth the number of the Apostles to haue bene but twelue whereas Matthias made the thirteenth and Paul the fourteenth who proclaimes it in the front of the greatest part of his fourteene seuerall Epistles Paul an Apostle But it may be Mr. Doctor will not vouchsafe him that name because he wrote more then any of the Apostles Secondly in the fifteenth of the Actes wee reade that the Apostles met together in Councill wrote Letters the very tenour whereof there appeares neither can it be otherwise conceiued but that the whole number of them or at leastwise the greatest part was there assembled So that to say that seuen of them left nothing in writing is both derogatorie from the authoritie of Scripture and in it selfe vniustifiable Thirdly it may very wel be that seuen of them left nothing els but that Letter in writing not because they held it sufficient to teach only by word of mouth as Mr. Doctor would imply but because sixe of them had written which how needfull it was they should performe appeareth aswell by Saint Paul as Saint Iude. Fourthly and lastly though nothing of their writing bee come to our hands yet it is not certaine whether they left nothing in writing since it is probable that Saint Paul wrote another Epistle to the Corinth which is now no where extant B. C. 4. That Saint Marke Saint Luke and Saint Paul were not of Christs company whiles he was vpon the earth and therefore must needs learne