become no true Church to wit when it shall so erre damnably But then it followes not There is now no saluation in it and therefore come out of it now When you shew that I shall account you haue done wisely to goe out of it Shew that in anie one point and take me with you In the meane while for my part I shall sooner trust that chapman that shall say to me Loe here is a perfect yard I will measure as truely as I can and when I haue done take the yard and measure it your selfe then him that shall say here is thus much yee shall not neede to measure it but take it on my word yea though one of his Apprentices should stand by and say he could not deceiue mee though hee would as Benedictus a Benedictus tels the present Pope Volens nolens errare non potes Where you relate your endeauour to defend the Church of England and tell of the Puritanes reiecting those Arguments you could vse from the authoritie of the Church and of the ancient Doctors interpreting Scriptures against them flying to their owne arrogant spirit I cannot excuse them for the former nor subscribe to your accusation in the latter Perhaps you haue met with some more fanaticall Brownists or Anadaptists whom here you call Puritans But these that are commonly so called which differ from the Church of England about Church gouernment and ceremonies onely giue indeede to little to the authoritie of men how holy learned or ancient soeuer Which is their fault and their great fault especially in matters of this nature yet they flye not to their owne spirit as you charge them That which you adde that you perceiued the most Protestants did frame the like euasions when you came to answere the Arguments against them on the other side when you shall shew this in particulars I shall beleeue it In the meane while I beleeue you thought so for commonly mediocrities are aggrauated with the hatred slandered with the names of both extreames But in the question betweene the Popish faction and vs you might easily haue discerned why the argument from bare authoritie is not of such validitie For ceremonies and matters of order may be ordered by wise men are not the worse but the better if they be ancient yea if they be common to vs with Rome which Puritans will by no meanes allow In doctrin if holy men yea if an Angell from heauen shall innouate any thing wee are not to admit it Now the controuersies betweene the Romanists and vs are most about doctrine and they exceede as much in extolling the authoritie of the ancients in their priuate opinions and incommodious and strained speeches as the Puritans in depressing them We hold the meane and giue as much to the authoritie and testimonies of the Fathers as may stand with the truth of holy Scriptures and as themselues deferre to the writing of others or require to be giuen to their owne Next you tell of your following their opinion who would make the Church of England and the Church of Rome still to be all one in Essentiall points and the differences to be accidentall Confessing the Church of Rome to be a true Church though sicke or corrupted and the Protestants to be derined from it and reformed This opinion is not onely as you write fauoured of many great Schollers in England but is the common opinion of all the best Diuines of the reformed Churches that are or haue beene in the world as I shewed in part of another worke which as I remember you had a sight of Wherein yet I feare you mistake the tearme accidentall which doth noâ— import that our differences are but sleight and of small confideration but that all those opinions and abuses which we reforme and cut off are not of the Faith but superfluous and â—oraine yea hurtfull and noisome to it as the weedes are to the corne which ouer-grow and choake it And to follow this similitude the state of the Church vnder the Romane obedience and that part which is reformed is like a field ouergrowne all with weedes thistles tares cockle some part whereof is weeded and clensed some part remaines as it was before which makes such a difference to the view as if it were not the same corne But being better considered it will be found all the difference is from the weedes which remaine there and here are taken away Yet neither here perfectly nor all where a like but acâ—ording to the industrie of our weeders or conueniencie of the worke with care of the safetie of the good corne By this Parable you may see what is to be hoped of your labour to reconcile most of our particular controuersies For although I doubt not but in some it may be performed where the difference is rather verball then reall and in the manner of teaching rather then in the substance of doctrine And if moderate men had the matter in handling the flame of contention in a great many more might be troden downe and slaked suppose the sparkes not all extinct yet in some other it is as possible to make the weede and corne-friends as your and our opinions where there is none other remedy but that of our Sauiour Euery plant that my heauenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted out Neither doth this impossibilitie arise more out of the nature of the things then the affection of the persons For the Pope and the Court of Rome which are those that domineere on that side doe no lesse out of the feare of their owne ruine deadly detest all reformation then the reformed out of their present view and former feeling the tyrannie of the Papacie which they see doth excommunicate and put to cruell death all that are of this way And which is a prodigious thing where they tolerate the blasphemous and professed enemies of Christ euen with allowance of the publike exercise of their Religion there doe they burne men professing Christs religion according to the ancient and common rule thereof with that vprightnesse of conscience that if they had as many liues as there be Articles thereof they would giue them all rather then renounce any of them As for the Protestants making the Pope Antichrist I know it is a point that inrageth much at Rome But if the Apostle Saint Paul if Saint Iohn in the Reuelation describe Antichrist so as they that doe but looke vpon the Pope well must be forced to say as the people did of the blinde man in the Gospell some this is â—e others he is very like him if himselfe and his flatterers doe and speake such things as if all others should hold their peace doe in a sort proclaime I am he what can the Protestants doe with the matter I will take the liberty here to relate to you what I saw while I was in Venice the rather because it is not impertinent to our present purpose And though perhaps you may
most Protestants they migâ—t in such a Councell erre and it were possible in their Decrees to be deceiued But if they may erre how should I know and be sure when and wherein they did or did not erre for though on the one side â— posse ad esse non valet semper consequentia yet 〈◊〉 valet and on the other side 〈…〉 potentia quae nunquam ducitur in actuâ— So that 〈◊〉 neither in generall nor in particular in puoâ—â—que 〈◊〉 priuate in head nor members ioynely nor â—euerally you haue no visible externall humane infallible Iudge who cannot erre and to whom I might haue recourse for decision of doubts in matters of faith â— pray let Master Hall tell me where should I haue fixed my foot for God is my witnesse my soule was like Noah Douâ— a long time houering desirous to discouer land but seeing nothing but moueable and troublesome deceiueable water I could find no quiet center for my conscience nor any firme foundation for your faith in Protestant Religion Wherfore hearing a sound of harmonâ—e and consent that the Catholique Church could not erre and that onely in the Catholique Church as in Noahs Arke was infallabilitte and possibilitie of saluation I was so occasioned and I thinke had important reason like Noahs Doue to seeke out and to enter into this Arke of Noah Hereupon I was occasioned to doubt whether the Church of England were the true Church or not For by consent of all the true Church cannot erre but the Church of England head and members King Clergie and People as before is said yea a whole Councell of Protestants by their owne grant may erre ergo no true Church If no true Church no saluation in it therefore come out of it but that I was loath to doe Rather I laboured mightily to defend it both against the Puritanes and against the Catholiques But the best arguments I could vse against tâ—e Puritanes from the Authoritie of the Church and of the ancient Doctors interpreting Scriptures against them when they could not answere them they would reiect them for Popish and fâ—ye to their owne arrogant spirit by which forsooth they must controll others This I found on the one side most absâ—rd and â—o bâ—eede an Anarchy of confusion and yet when I come to answere the Catholique Arguments on â—he other side against Protestants â—rging the like Authority and vniformity of the Church I perceiued the most Protestants did frame euasions in effect like those of the Puritanes inclining to â—heir priuate spirit and other vncertainties Next therefore I applied my selfe to follow their opinion who would make the Church of England and the Church of Rome still to be all one â—n essentiall points and the diffâ—rences to be accidentall confessing the Church of Rome to be a true Church though sicke or corrupted and the Protestants to be deriued from it and reformed and to this end I laboured much to reconcile most of our particular controuersies But in truth I found such contrarâ—eties not onely betweene Catholiques and Protestants but euen among Protestants themselues that I could neuer settle my selfe fully in this opinion of some reconciliation which I know many great Schollers in England did fauour For considering so many opposite great points for which they did excommunicate and put to death each other and making the Pope to be Antichrist proper or improper it could neuer sinke into my braine how these two could be descendent or members â—ound nor vnfound participant each of other Rather I concluded that â—eeing many of the best learned Protestants did grant the Church or Rome 〈…〉 true Church though 〈…〉 And contrarily not onely the Catholiques but also the Puritanes Anabaptists Brownists c. did all denie the Church of England to be a true Church therefore it would be more safe and secure to become a Romane Catholique who haue a true Church by consent of both parties then to remaine a Protestant who doe alone plead their owne cause hauing all the other against them For the testimony of our selues and our contraries also is much more sufficient and more certaine then to iustifie our selues alone Yet I resisted and stood out still and betooke my selfe againe to reade ouer and examine the chiefest controuersies especially those about the Church which is cardo negotij and herein because the Bearer â—taies now a day or two longer I will inlarge my selfe more then I purposed and so I would needes peruse the Originall quotations and Texts of the Councels Fathers and Doctors in the Authors themselues which were alleadged on both parts to see if they were truely cited and according to the meaning of the Authors a labour of much labor and of trauell sometime to finde the Books wherein I found much fraud committed by the Protestants and that the Catholiques had farre greater and better armies of euident witnesses on their sides much more then the Protestants in so much that the Centurists are faine often to censure and reiect the plaine testimonies of those Ancients as if their new censure were sufficient to disaucthorize the others auncient sentences And so I remember Danaeus in Commentarijs super D. Augustin Enchirid ad Laurentium Where Saint Augustin plainely auoucheth Purgatory he reiects Saints Augustines opinion saying hic est naeuus Augustini but I had rather follow Saint Augustins opinion then his ceâ—sure for who are they to controll the Fathers There are indeede some few places in Authors which prima facie seeme to fauour Protestants as many Heretiques alleadge some texts of Scriptures whose sound of words seeme to make for their opinions but being well examined and interpreted according to the analogie of faith and according to many other places of the same Authours where they doe more fully explaine their opinions so they appeare to be wrested and from the purpose In fine I found my selfe euidently conuinced both by many Authorities and by many Arguments which now I doe not remember all nor can here repeate those which I doe remember but onely some few arguments I will relate vnto you which preuailed most with me besides those afore mentioned First therefore I could neuer approue the Protestants euasion by Inuisibility of their Church For though sometime it may be diminished and obscured yet the Catholique Church must euer be visible set on a hill and not as light hid vnder a Bushell for how should it enlighteâ—â—nd teach her children if inuisible or how should Strangers and Pagans and others be conuerted vnto her or where should any finde the Sacraments if inuisible Also the true Church in all places and all ages euer holds one vniformitie and concord in all matters of Faith though not in all matters of ceremony or gouernment But the Protestants Church hath not in all ages nor in all places such vniforme concord no not in one age as is manifest to all the world and as Father Parsons proued against Foxes martirs Wickliffe Husse and the resâ— ergo the
This I presse that all those Writers and Councels and amongst them Pope Leo the second accursing Honorius did not then hold that which by Pighius and the Iesuites is vndertaken that the Pope is infallible Euen the Councell of Basil deposing Eugenius for obstinately resisting this truth of the Catholike faith That the Councell is aboue the Pope as an Heretike doth shew the sense of Christendome euen in these latter times how corrupt soeuer both in rule and practice And because you make this infallible Iudge to be also an infallible Interpreter of holy Scripture how happens it that Damasuâ— Bishop of Rome consults with Hierome about the meaning of sundrie Texts of Scripture when it seems himselfe might haue taken his pen and set him downe quickly that which should haue taught both him and the whole Church not onely without danger but euen possibilitie of error Sure wee are little beholding to the diligence of our Ancestors that haue not more carefully registred the Commentaries or because they haue had for sundrie Ages small time to write iust Commentaries the expositions which in their Sermons or otherwise the Bishops of Rome haue made of holy Scripture A worke which if this Doctrine were true were more worth then all the Fathers and would iustifie that blasphemie of the Canon Law where by a shamefull corruption of Saint Augustine the Decretals of Popes are inrolled amongst the Canonicall Scriptures I am alreadie too long in so plaine a matter yet one proofe more which is of all most sensible Being admonished by this your conceit of an infallible Interpreter I chanced to turne ouer the Popes Decretals and obserued the interpretation of Scriptures What shall I say I finde them so leud and cleane beside the purpose yea oftentimes so childish ridiculous both in giuing the sense and in the application that I protest to you in the presence of God nothing doth more lothe me of Poperie then the handling of holy Scripture by your infallible Interpreter alone Consider a few of the particulars and especially such as concerne the Popes owne authoritie To iustifie his exacting an oath of fealtie of an Archbishop to whom he grantâ— the Pall is brought our Lord Iesus Christ who committing the â—are of his Sheepe to Peter did put too a condition saying Sid diligis me pasce oues meas Christ said if thou louest me feede my sheepe Why may not the Pope say If you will sweare me fealtie you shall haue the Pall. But first hee corrupts the Text Christ said not If thou louest mee Then Christ puts not Peters loue as a condition of feeding but feeding as a proofe and effect of his loue And if the feeding of Christs sheepe were sought loue to him and them might suffice to be professed or if he would needs haue more then Christ required to be sworne What is this to the oath of fealtie Straight after to the obiection that all oathes are prohibited by Christ nor any such thing can bee found appointed by the Apostles after the Lord or in the Councels he vrges the wordes following in the Text Sweare not at all quod ampliâ—s est à malo est that is saith hee Euill compels vs by Christs permission to exact more It is not euill to goe from the Popes obedience to condemne Bishops without his priuitie to translate Bishops by the Kings commandement See the place and tell me of your Interpreters infallibilitie Treating of the translation of Bishops or such as are elected vnto other Sees hee saith That since the spirituall Bands is stronger then the carnall it cannot be doubted but Almightie God hath reserued the dissolution of the spirituall marriage that is betwixt a Bishop and his Church to his owne iudgement alone charging that whom God hath â—oyned man seuer not For it is not by humane but rather diuine power that spirituall marriage is dissolued when as by translation or cession by the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome whom it is plaine to bee the Vicar of Iesus Christ a Bishop is remoued from his Church An admirable interpretation of the Text Quos Deus coniâ—nxit by which the Pope not onely challengeth that which is proper to Gods iudgement onely as hee saith viz. to dissolue the bond of spirituall wedlock but because that is the stronger of â—arnall it seemes also when it shall please him The anointing of a Prince since Christs comming is translated from the head to the shoulder by which Principalitie is fitly designed according to that which is read Factus est principatus super humorum eius for signifying also whereof Samuel caused the shoulder to be set before Saul Who should euer haue vnderstood these Texts if your infallible Interpreter had not declared them But this is nothing yet to the exposition of those Texts which the Pope interprets in his answere to the Emperor of Constantinople as Subditi estote omni humanae oreaturae propter Deum c. He tells him that Saint Peter wrote that to his owne Subiects to prouoke them to the merit of humilitie For if he had meant thereby to lay the yoke of subiection vpon Priests it would follow that euery seruant were to rule ouer them since it is said omni humanae creaturae After Iris not barely set downe Regi praecellenti but there is put betweene perhaps not without cause tanquam And that which followes ad vindictam malefactorum laudem vero bonorum is not to bee vnderstood that the King or Emperor hath receiued the power of the sword vpon good and euill men saue onely those who vsing the sword are committed to his iurisdiction according to that which the Truth saith They which take the sword shall perish with the sword For no man ought or can iudge anothers seruant since the seruant according to the Apostle standeth or falleth to his owne Lord. For the loue of God consider this interpretation and compare it with Saint Chrystoâ—e vpon Rom. 13. Nay doe but reade the Text attentiuely and iudge of the infallibilitie of your Interpreter Straight after hee tells the Emperor that hee might haue vnderstood the prerogatiue of Priesthood out of that which was said not of euery man but of God not to the King but to the Priest not to one descending of the Royall stocke but of the Priestly linage of the Priests to wit which were in Anathot Behold I haue set you ouer nations and kingdomes to pull vp and destroy to build and to plant See the prerogatiue of the Priesthood out of Ieremies calling to bee a Prophet O if hee had beene high Priest This had beene a Text for the nonce But hee goes on It is said in Gods Law also Dijs non detrabes Principem populi tui non maledices Which setting Priests before Kings cals them Gods and the other Princes Compare this exposition with Dauids and Paules Psal. 82. and Act. 23. 5. and yee shall
to bee an euasion of Protestants THe first whereof is the dislike of the Protestants euasion as you call it by the inuisibilitie of their Church Giue mee leaue here to tell you plainly yee seeme to mee not to vnderstand the Protestants doctrine in this point Else yee would haue spared all that The Catholike Church must euer be visible as a Citie set on a hill otherwise how should shee teach her children conuert Pagans dispence Sacraments All this is yeelded with both hands The Congregations of which the Catholike Church doth consist are visible But the promise made to this Church of victory against the gates of hell the titles of the house of God the base and piller of Truth an allusion as I take it to the bases and pillers that held vp the veile or curtaines in the Tabernacle the body of Christ his Doue his vndefiled are not verified of this Church in the whole visible bulke of it but in those that are called according to Gods purpose giuen to Christ and kept by him to bee raised vp to life at the last day This doctrine is Saint Augustines in many placeâ— which it would bee too tedious to set downe at large In his third booke De doctrina Christiana among the rules of Tychonius there is one which hee corrects a little for the tearmes De Domini corpore bipertito which he saith ought not to haue beene called so for in truth that is not the Lords body which shal not be with him for euer but he should haue said of the Lords true body and mixt or true and fained or some such thing Because not onely for euer but euen now hypocrites are not to be said to be with him though they seeme to be in his Church Consider those resemblances taken out of the holy Scripture wherein that godly Father is frequent of chaffe and wheat in the Lords floore of good and bad fishes in the net of spots and light in the Moone Of the Church carnall and spirituall of the wicked multitudes of the Church yet not to be accounted in the Church Of the lilly and the thornes those that are marked which mourne for the sinnes of Gods people and the rest which perish which yet beare his Sacraments Consider the last Chapter of the booke De Vnitate Ecclesiae and that large Treatise which he hath of that matter Epist. 48. The place is long which deserues to bee read for the obiection of the Vniuersality of Arianisme like to that of Papisme in these last ages which Saint Augustine answeres in the fifth booke De Baptismo contra Donatistas cap. 27. That number of the iust who are called according to Gods purpose of whom it is said The Lord knoweth who are his is the inclosed garden the sealed fountaine the well of liuing waters the orchard with Apples c. The like hee hath l. 5. c. 3. 23. he concludes that because such are built vpon the Rocke as heare the Word of God and doe it and the rest vpon the sand now the Church is built vpon the Rocke all therefore that heare the Word of God and doe it not are out of question without the Church In the seuenth booke cap. 51. Quibus omnibus consideratisâ— Read and marke the whole Chapter Out of these and many more like places which I forbeare to mention it appeares that albeit the true Catholike Church is such as cannot bee hid yet considering that it consists of two sorts of people the one which is the greater part who doe not indeed properly belong to it the other the fewer truely and properly so called to whom all the glorious things spoken of the Church doe agree The face therefore of the mixt Church may be ouer-run with scandals as in all times almost The greatest number may sometime bee Idolaters as in the Kingdome of Israel vnder Achab. The principallest in authoritie may bee false teachers as the Priests and Prophets in Ieremies time the sonnes of pestilence may sit in Moses Chaire as they did in Christs time Yet still the Church is the ground and piller of Truth in the Elect Ipsa est praedestinata columna firmamentum veritatis The Sheepe heare not Seducers Iohn 10. 8. to wit finally and in any damnable point Thus was it before Christ thus since thus in the Church of England before yea and since it was reformed Thus in that of Rome it selfe at this day There is a distinction of Thomas of those that be in the Church which rightly â— interpreted agrees fully herewith There are some De Ecclesia numero tantum Some numero merito The former are such as haue onely fidem informem the latter formatam Now though the persons of such as be in the Church be visible yet the Faith and Charitie of men wee see not and to argue from the priuiledges of the Church numero merito to the Church numero tantum is a perpetuall but a palpable paraâ—ogisme of the Romish faction which is grosser yet when they argue to the Church representatiue and grossest of all when one man is made the Church and he as themselues grant may fall out a Deuill incarnate CHAP. IX Of lacke of Vniformitie in matters of Faith in all ages and places ANd in this selfe same Paralogisme you were beguiled with in the next point of Vniformitie and concord in matters of Faith The true Church yee say â—uer holds such Vniformitie It is vtterly false in the Visible and mixt Church both before Christ and since It is false in the Church of Rome it selfe whose new-coyned faith patched to the Creed by Pius the Fourth came in peece-meale out of priuate opinions and corrupt vsages nor euer was in any age vniformely holden or taught as matter of Faith euen in it as it is at this day So by your owne discourse it should be no true Church And taking matters of faith so largely as it seemes you doe in opposition to such things as bee cerâ—mâ—nies or of gouernment it is vntrue also of the Church of the Elect or properly so called For though the Faith in the principles thereof bee euer the same yet many conclusions of Faith haue sometimes lien vnsearched out and like some parts of the world vnknowne till by the industrie of Gods seruants occasioned also by the importunitie and opposition of Heretikes they were discouered Sundrie common errours also there haue beene which in succeeding ages haue beene cleered and reformed as the â—hiliastes That Angels haue bodies That children after they be baptized are to be communicated That Heretikes are to be rebaptized To the Assumption First the Protestants challenge not to themselues any Church as their owne which I must aduertise you of here because formerly also you doe vse this phrase The Church is Christs both the visible and inuisible Next taking matters of Faith for foundations or articles of Faith necessarie to saluation the Church of Christ hath in all ages had
by the Souldiers hand but at the beck of the Priest and bidding of the Emperor But the Pope in a Decretall Epistle pretending to teach the world in a point as he pronounces necessarie to saluation with such an interpretation as this argues little reuerence to the Word of God and a very meane opinion of the iudgements and consciences of christen men if they could not discerne this to be a strangers voice not Christs Besides that he changes Saint Bernards wordes and cleane peruerts his meaning For exerendus he puts in exercendus For ille Sacerdotis is militis manu sed sanè ad nutum Sacerdotis iussum Imperatoris Pope Boniface thinking iussum to absolute in the Emperor makes him to bee the executioner and ioynes him with the Souldier on this manner Ille Sacerdotum is manu Regum Militum sed ad nutum patientiam Sacerdotis Saint Bernard makes the executiue power to be in the Souldier the directiue in the Priest the commanding in the Emperor Pope Boniface makes the Kings and Souldiers to haue only the executiue the directiue permissiue to be in the Priest Yea sword he saith must be vnder sword For where the Apostle saith There is no power but of God que autem sunt à Deo ordinata sunt more fully in the originall text the powers that are are ordained that is appointed of God the Interpreter here dreames of order and subordination and cities a saying of Dionysius that the lowest things are reduced to the highest by the middlemost a conceit that makes nothing to the purpose of the Apostle in that place Hee proceeds and tells vs that of the Church and power Ecclesiasticall is verified the prophecie of Ieremy Behold I haue set thee this day ouer Kings and Kingdomes c. Tell me good Master Wadesworth what is to peruerâ— the Scriptures if this bee not to apply to the power Ecclesiasticall that which is spoken of the word and calling Propheticall Yet more The earthly power if it swerue out of the way shall bee iudged of the power spirituall but if the spirituall that is lesser of that which is superiour to it But if the highest it may bee iudged of God onely not of man the Apostle witnessing the spirituall man iudgeth all things but himselfe is iudged of none Wee are come at length as it were to the fountaines of Nilus to the originall of the infallibilitie of your Iudge and if hee haue here rightly interpreted Saint Paul we learne that no earthly power no Magistrate is a spirituall man vnlesse hee bee one of the Popes spiritualtie For these be Saint Pauls spirituall men that iudge all things Yet this must receiue limitation For no man may iudge the Pope the supreme Spirituall man for of him it seemes Saint Paul meant it his authoritie hee saith is not humane but diuine by the diuine mouth giuen to Peter and his successors when the Lord said to him Quodcunque ligaueris For conclusion whosoeuer resists this power thus ordered of God resists the ordinance of God vnlesse as Manichaeus he faine two beginnings which saith hee wee iudge to bee false and hereticall sith by Moses record not in the beginnings but in the beginning God created Heauen and Earth Who would not acknowledge the diuine authoritie and infallibilitie of your Interpreter both in confirming his purpose and conuincing heresies from so high a beginning as this first sentence of holy Writ What rests now but after so many testimonies he inferre Furthermore to be vnder the Bishop of Rome we declare say define and pronounce that to euery humane creature it is altogether of necessitie of saluation Thus saith your infallible Iudge and Interpreter of Scripture the center of your conscience and foundation of your Faith not as a priuate Doctor but as Pope in his owne Law intending to informe and bind the Church and that in matters with him of the greatest importance that may bee touching his owne authoritie and as hee pretends absolutely necessarie to saluation to all the sonnes of Adam I might heape vp many more but these may suffice for a sample You may and so doe by your selfe I beseech you obserue these kind of interpretations in other points also and in other the Decretals Breues of Popes which as I heare are lately come forth in great volumes You shall finde many mysteries in your faith that perhaps you know not of as That you cannot please God because you are married for so is that place of the Apostle interpreted qui in carne viuunt Deo placere non possunt That not onely the wine in the Chalice but the water also is transubstaniated first into wine then into Christs bloud That it was not watry moisture but the true element of water which issued out of Christs side You shall finde confession of sins to the Priest proued by the text Corde creditur a'd iustitiam ore autem fit confessio ad salutem That the good ground that receiued the seed in the Gospel is the religion of the Friers Miâ—â—rs That this is that pure and immaculate religion with God and the Father which descending from the Father of lights deliuered exemplariter verbaliter by the Sonne to his Apostles and then inspired by the holy Ghost into Saint Francis aud his followers containes in it selfe the testimony of the Trinitie This is that which as Saint Paul witnesseth no man must be troublesome vnto which Christ hath confirmed with the prints of his Passion The text is decaetero nemo mihi molestus sit ego n. stigmata Domini Iesu in corpore nemo porto It is maruell if Saint Paul were not of the order of Saint Frances That when Christ said Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus hee meant it of remaining and being with them euen by his bodily presence Saint Augustine vpon the same text denies this and saith that according to the presence of his body hee is ascended into heauen and is not here That the Father of the childe christened and his Godfathers wife may not marry because according to the Lords word the husband and the wife are made one flesh by marriage That the number of Foure doth well agree to the degrees prohibited in corporall marriage of which the Apostle saith The man hath not the power of his owne body but the woman nor the woman power of her body but the man because there are foure humours in the body which consist of the foure Elements For conclusion you shall finde it by a commodious interpretation concluded contrarie to many texts of Scripture out of Scripture it selfe that no simple and vnlearned man presume to reach to the subtility of the Scripture because well it was enacted in the law of God that the beast which should touch the mountaine should be stoned For it is written Seeke not things higher then thy selfe
and testifie that this first place was falsified Hee said in the page before that Plessis appeared at last with some foure or fiue Ministers on his side There were no Ministers appeared with him on his side No Protestants no creature did subscribe or was required so to doe The third Which at length they did viz. subscribe this place was falsified A vtter vntruth Whereof there is not a word in the said printed Narration The fourth as well in this as in all the rest There was no subscription as I said at all The Commissioners were all of the Roman profession sauing Causabon and he no Minister They neuer pronounced much lesse subscribed that any of those places examined were falsified Of the first place of Scotus they pronounced nothing Of the second of Durand That the opposition of Durand was alleaged for the resolution And this they would haue remitted also as the former to another time saue that the Bishop insisted saying it was in vaine to dispute if they would not iudge addressing his speech diuers times to the King to the intent hee should signifie his pleasure to the Commissioners and then his Maiestie drawing neere to them they gaue their opinions vpon that Article as before This was that which F. Parsons stumbled at when hee wrote The Ministers and Protestants there present subscribed and testified that it was falsified and so all the rest For being ouerioyed with this newes which hee did not well vnderstand to thinke the charitablest of him hee thought the Commissioners had beene part at least Protestants and Ministers and had subscribed whereas they pronounced their sentence viua voce by the mouth of the Chancellour neuer vsing the tearme falsification yea in some of the rest they acquited the L. of Plessis as in the passage of P. Crinitus though they said Crinitus was deceiued In that of Bernard that it had beene good to distinguish the two passages of Saint Bernard out of the same booke with an et caetera Not to stand now vpon that that in the rest of the places he hath a reasonable and iust defence with indifferent men for the omissions he was charged with in Chrysostome Hierome Bernard and Theodorit and in that of Cyril the King himselfe said aloud that both sides had reason but F. Parsons not hauing as it appeares receiued perfect information of the particularities of this affaire was so hastie to write according to the partiall intelligenâ—e he receiued at Rome that hee faults himselfe in the same kinde that hee imputes to another And if he should meete with some seuere aduersarie that would multiplie his falsehoods by his leaues and lines as he dealeth with Master Fox and then extend by proportion his pamphlet to the bignesse of Master Fox his Booke of Martyrs he would finde that he prouides very ill for himselfe that is to rigorous and censorious to other men But I leaue him and come to the fidelitie of the Popish faction whereof I shall desire you to take a taste in one of the questions which you name about the Church euen that which is indeede cardo negotij as you say the controuersie of the Popes authoritie For the establishing whereof First the Epistles of the ancient Bishops of Rome for the space of about 300. yeares after Christ are counterfeited The Barbarous not Latine but lead of the stile and the likenesse of them all one to another the deepe silence of antiquitie concerning them the Scriptures alleadged after Hieromes translation doe conuince them of falshood And by whose practice and procurement we cannot doubt if wee aske but as Cassius was wont Cui bono For at euery bout the authoritie of the Pope and priuiledges of the Roman See are extolled and magnified Next the Donation of Constantine is a sencelesse forgerie and so blazed by some of the learnedest of the Roman Church Reade it aduisedly either in Gratian or in the Decrees of Syluester with the Confession and Legend of Constantines baptisme and say out of your owne iudgement if euer any thing can be more fraudulent more sottish And because I haue mentioned Gratian his whole compilation is fâ—ll of falsification and corruption of Antiquitie take an example or two in the matter wee haue in hand The Mileuitene and after the Africane Councils vnderpaine of Excommunication prohibit appeales beyond the Seas Which Canons were made purposely to meet with the vsurpations of the Bishops of Rome of which I haue spoken some what before Now in the citing this Canon Gratian addes this goodly explication nisi forte Romanam sedem appellauerint thus excepting that abuse which these Councels directly sought to prohibit Againe Saint Augustine to informe a Christian man what Scriptures hee should hold for Canonicall bids Gratianâ—its â—its it thus inter quâ—â— Scripturas sane illae sunt quas Apostolica sedes habere ab ea alij meruâ—runt accipere Epistolas and accordingly the 〈◊〉 of that Canon is Inter Canonicas The Decretall Epistles are numbred amongst the Canonicall Scriptures True it iâ— that in the end of the next Canon Gratian addes a good limitation and worth the remembering that this must be vnderstood of such Decrees in which there is nothing found contrary to the Decrees of the Fathers foregoing nor the precepts of the Gospell Belike euen in Gratians time it was not holden impossible that in the Sanctions and Decretals of Popes something might be decreed contrary to the Gospel which may be added to your Iudges infallibility which hath beene touched before But these be old trickes of the Champions of the Papacie At this day perhaps it is better yes and that shall ye vnderstand by the words of the children of the Church of Rome themselues the Venetians But first ye are to know that among certaine Propositions set forth in defence of the state there was one the fourth in number of eight That the authoritie promised by our Sauiour Christ to Saint Peter vnder the metaphor of the Keyes is meerely spirituall For confirmation whereof after other proofe was said that the authoritie of the highest Bishop is ouer sinne and ouer soules onely according to the words of that prayer of the Church about Saint Peter qui B. Petro animas ligandi atque soluendi Pontificium tradidisti Cardinall Bellermine vndertooke to answere these Propositions and comming to this place he saith that peraduenture Gods prouidence to take away such deceipts whereby the author of these Propositions would deceiue the simple with the words of the holy Church misunderstood inspired into the reformers of the Breuiarie that they should take out of that Prayer the word animas as anciently it was not there nor ought to be because that prayer was formed out of the words of the Gospell Quodcunque ligaueris quodcunque solueris Now marke the reioinder that is made to him by Iohannes Marsilius who numbering vp his errors in the defence of euery proposition roundly tels him
insist for the present but admitting it as true that wickednesse of mens persons doth not impeach the holinesse of their functions which they haue receiued of God nor make Gods ordinances as his Word and Sacraments of none effect But tell me for Gods loue Master Waddesworth is it likely that this Monarchie thus sought thus gotten thus kept thus exercised is of God Are these men that wholly forsaking the feeding of the flocke of God dreame of nothing now but Crowns and Scepterâ— serue to the Church to no vse in the world vnlesse it be to breake the ancient Canons and oppresse with their power all that shall but vtter a free word against their ambition and tyrannie are they I will not say with you good heads of Gods Church but members of it and not rather limbes of Satan Consider those Texts My Kingdome is not of this world Vos autem non sic Consider the charge which Saint Peter giues to his fellow Presbyters 1. Pet. 5. 2 3 4. Now I beseech our Lord deliuer his Church from this tyrannie and blesse you from being a member of such a Head CHAP. XI Of lacke of succession Bishops true Ordinations Ordâ—rs Priesthood I Come now to your motiue from succession Where I maruell first that leauing the succession of Doctrine which is farre more proper and intrinsecall to the Churches being you stand vpon that of Persons and Offices Yea and about them too immediately passe from that which is of Essence to the externall formalities in consecration and ordination according to the ancient Councels Haue you forgotten what you said right now that matters of ceremonie and gouernment are changeable Yea but in France Holland and Germanie they haue no Bishops First what if I should defend they haue because a Bishop and a Presbyter are all one as Saint Ierome maintaines and prooues out of holy Scripture and the vse of Antiquitie Of which iudgement as Medina confesseth are sundrie of the ancient Fathers both Greeke and Latineâ— Saint Ambrose Augustine Seduliuâ— Primasius Chrysostome Theodorit Oecumenius and Theophylact which point I haue largely treated of in another place against him that vndertooke Master Alablasters quarrell Besides those Churches in Germanie haue those whom they call Superintendents and generall Superintendents as out of Doctor Bancroft by the testimonie of Zanchius and sundrie Germane Diuines you might perceiue Yea and where these are not as in Geneua and the French Churches yet there are saith Zanchius â—sually certaine chiefe men that doe in a manner beare all the sway as if order it selfe and necessitie led them to this course And what are these but Bishops indeede vnlesse wee shall wrangle about names which for reason of State those Churches were to abstaine from As for that you say Lay men intermedâ—le there with the making of their Ministers if you meane the election of them they haue reason for anciently the people had alwayes a right therein as Saint Cyprian writes to the Churches of Leon and Astorga there in Spaine Plebs ipsa maxime habet potestatem vel eligendi dignos Sacerdotes vel indignos recusandi and in sundrie places of Italie this vsage doth continue to this day If yee meane it in Ordination yee are deceiued and wrong these Churches as Bellarmine himselfe will teach you lib. De Clâ—ricis cap. 3. For amongst the Lutherans and Caluinists also saith hee which haue taken away almost all Ecclesiasticall rites they onely lay on hands and make Pastors and Ministers who though they be not Pastors and Bishops indeede would be so accounted and called In England you misse first the lesser orders and say we are made Ministers per saltum as if all that are made Priests among you were Psalmists Sextens Readers Exâ—rcists Torch-bearers Subdeacons and Deacons before Remember I pray what the Master of the Sentences saith of Deaconship and Priesthood Hos solos primitiuâ— Ecclesia legitur habuisse de his solis praeceptum Apostoli habemus Hee meanes in the Epistles to Tâ—â—othy and Titus Againe Subdiaeonos vere Acolythos precedeâ—te tempore Ecclesia sibi constituit What and were the Primitiue and Apostolike Churches no true Churches or neede wee to bee ashamed to bee like them Besides those Councels that yee speake of it should seeme were of no great either antiquitie or authoritie when not onely Presbyters without passing through any order but Bishops without being so much as baptized were ordayned As Nectarius of Constantinople Synesius of Cyrene Ambrose of Millaine Constantine II. of Rome it selfe This therefore is a very sleight exception Your next is well worse touching the Ordination at the Nags-head where the Consecration of our first Bishops as you say was attempted but not effected It is certaine you say and you are sure there was such a matter although you know and haue seene the records themselues that afterward there was a Consecration of Doctor Parker at Lambeth Alas Master Wadesworth if you bee resolued to beleeue lies not onely against publike Acts and your owne eye-sight but against all probabilitie who can helpe it I had well hoped to haue found that ingenuitie in you that I might haue vsed your testimony vnto others of that side touching the vanitie of this fable as hauing shewed you the Copie of the record of Doctor Parkers consecration which I had procured to bee transcribed out of the Acts which your selfe also at your returne from London told mee you saw in a blacke Booke Now I perceiue by your perplexed writing and enterlining in this part of your Letter you would faine discharge your conscience and yet vphold this lie perhaps as loth to offend that side where you now are and therefore you haue deuised this temper that the one was attempted the other effected But it will not bee For first of all if that at the Nags-head were but attempted what is that to the purpose of our Ordinations which are not deriued from it but from the other which as you say was effected at Lambeth And are you sure there was such a matter How are you sure Were you present there in person or haue you heard it of those that were present Neither of both I suppose but if it were so that some bodie pretending to haue beene there present told you so much how are you sure that hee lied not in saying so much more when you haue it but at the third or fourth hand perhaps the thirtieth or fortieth But consider a little is it probable that men of that sort in an action of that importance and at the beginning of the Queenes reigne when especially it concerned both them and her to prouide that all things should bee done with reputation would bee so hastie and heedlesse as to take a Tauerne for a Church Why might they not haue gone to the next Church as well They thought to make the old Catholike Bishop drunken Thus the Wisbich and Framyngham Priests were wont to tell the tale Is it likely that
lesser Orders and Subdeaconship according to the Master of the Sentences were instituted by the Church 3. The Deacons instituted by the Apostles Act. 6. were not Deacons of the Altar but of the Tables Widdowes 4. In Deaconship there seemes to be no certain forme for according to the old Pontificals the laying of hands vpon the Deacon hath no certaine forme of words but that prayer Emitte qâ—aesumus in eos S. Sauctum which according to the new Pontificals is to be said after the imposition of hands For the giuing of the Booke of the Gospels hath indeede a forme of words but that impresseth not the Character for before any Gospell was written the Apostles ordained Deacons by imposition of hands 5. In the Subdeaconship also there is no Pontificall which hath not the matter without forme viz. the deliuery of the emptie Chalice c. These things with more which hee there sets downe he would haue to serue to the instruction of the learned touching the vncertaintie of this whole matter to â—each men to be wise to sobrietie that is euery man to be content with the accustomed Pontificall of the Church wherein he is ordained And if ought be omitted of those things which be added out of the new Pontificals as for example that the Booke of the Epistles was not giuen with those words Take authoritie to reade the Epistles as well for the quicke as the dead there is no neede of supplying this omission by a new ordination for such new additions make no new law Learne then of your owne Caietane that the new additions of deliuery of the Chalice with wine and Paten with Hosts and authoritie to offer sacrifice for the quick and dead make no new Law Learn to be content with the Pontificall of the Church wherein you were ordained Wherein first is verbatim all that which your Pontificals had well taken out of the holy words of our Sauiour Accipe Spiritum Sanctum quorum remisseris peccata remittuntur eis quorum retinueris retenta sunt Which me thinkes you should rather account to containe the essentiall forme of Priesthood then the former both because they are Christs owne words and ioyned with that ceremonie of laying on hands which anciently denominated this whole action and do expresse the worthiest and principallest part of your Commission which the Apostle cals the Ministry of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5. 18. 19. Then because this office is not onely deputed to consecrate the Lords body but also to preach baptize which in your Pontificall is wholly omitted in a larger and more conuenient forme is added out of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 4. 1. and be thou a faithfull dispenser of the word of God and of his holy Sacraments In the name of the Father c. As to that you adde that we offer no sacrifice for the quicke and dead and therefore well may be called Ministers as all lay men are but are no Priests I haue met with sundry that pull this roape as strongly the other way and affirme that because by the very forme of your ordination you are appointed Sacrificers for the quicke and dead well may ye be Masse-Priests as ye are called but Ministers of the New Testament after S. Pauls phrase ye are none For that office stands principally in preaching the word whereof in your ordination there is no word said And as little there is in Scripâ—ure of your sacrifice which makes Christ not to be a Priest after the order of Melchisedech c. with much more to this purpose Where my defence for your Ministrie hath beene this that the forme Receiue the holy Ghost whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted c. doth sufficiently comprehend the authoritie of preaching the Gospell Vse you the same equitie toward vs and tell those hot spirits among you that stand so much vpon formalities of words that to be a dispenser of the word of God and his holy Sacraments is all the dutie of Priesthood And to you I adde further that if you consider well the words of the Master of the Sentences which I vouched before how that which is consecrated of the Priest is called a Sacrifice and oblation because it is a memoriall and representation of the true sacrifice and holy offering made on the altar of the Crosse and ioyne there to that of the Apostle that by that one offering Christ hath perfected for euer them that are sanctified and as he saith in another place through that bloud of his Crosse reconciled vnto God all things whether in earth or in heauen you shall perceiue that we do offer sacrifice for the quick and dead remembring representing mystically offering that sole Sacrifice for the quicke and dead by the which all their fins are meritoriously expiated and desiring that by the same wee and all the Church may obtaine remission of sinnes and all other benefits of Christs passion To the Epilogue therefore of this your last motiue I say in short Sith we haue no neede of Subdeaconship more then the Churches in the Apostles times in truth those whom wee call Clerkes and Sextens performe what is necessarie in this behalfe Sith we haue Canonicall Bishops and lawfull succession Sith we neither want due intention to depute men to Ecclesiasticall functions nor matter or forme in giuing Priesthood deriuing from no man or woman the authoritie of ordination but from Christ the head of he Church yee haue alleadged no sufficient cause why we should not haue true Pastors and consequently a true Church in England CHAP. XII Of the Conclusion Master Waddesworths agonies and protestation c. YEt by these you say and many other arguments you were resolued in your vnderstanding to the contrary It may well be that your vnderstanding out of it owne heedlesse haste as that of our first Parents while it was at the perfectest was induced into errour by resoluing too soone out of seeming arguments and granting too forward assent For surely these which you haue mentioned could not conuince it if it would haue taken the paines to examine them throughly or had the patience to giue vnpartiall hearing to the motiues on the other side Buâ— as if you triumphed in your owne conquest and captiuitie you adde that which passeth yet all that hitherto you haue set downe viz. That the Church of Rome was and is the onely true Church because it alone is Ancient Catholike and Apostolike hauing succession vnitie and visibilitie in all ages and places Is it onely ancient To omit Hierusalem are not that of Antioch where the Disciples were first called Christians and Alexandria Ephesus Corinth and the rest mentioned in the Scriptures ancient also and of Antioch ancienter then Rome Is it Catholike and Apostolike onely Doe not these and manie more hold the Catholike faith receiued from the Apostles as well as the Church of Rome For that it should be the Vniuersall Church is all one as yee would say the part is the