pious Princes and Lords Egfrid King of the Northumbers Anno 10. upon the fifteenth day before the Calends of October the eighth Indiction and Etheldred reigning over the Mercians the sixth year of his Reign and Adulphus being King of the East-Angles the seventeenth year of his Reign and Lodtharius being King of Kent in the seventh year of his Reign and Theodorus by the Grace of God Archbishop of the Isle of Britanny and of the City of Canterbury being President of the Synod together with the rest of the Bishops of the same Island venerable men sitting with him in Council and the holy Sacred Gospel being laid before them in a place called in the Saxon Tongue Hedtfield after treaty had they expounded the right Catholic Faith in this manner 24. Sicut Dominus noster Jesus c. As our Lord Jesus taking our flesh upon him did deliver unto his Disciples that saw him in person and heard his speeches and as the Symbolum or Creed of the holy Fathers have delivered unto us and as generally all whole and universal Synods and all the company of holy Fathers and Doctors of the holy Catholic Church have taught us so do We following their steps both Piously and Catholicly according to their Doctrin inspired to them from Heaven profess and believe and constantly confess according to the said holy Fathers Belief That the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are properly and truly a consubstantial Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity c. We receive also the holy and universal five Synods that have been held before our time by the blessed Christian Fathers our Ancestors to wit those 318 holy Bishops in the first Council of Nice against Arius and his wicked Doctrin and of the 150 other Bishops in the first Council of Constantinople against the Heresie of Macedonius and of the 200 Godly Bishops of the Council of Ephesus against Nestorius and his Errors and of the 230 Bishops in the Council of Calcedon against Eutyches and his Doctrin and of the other 165 Fathers gathered together in the second General Council of Constantinople against divers Heretics and Heresies c. We do receive all these Councils and we do glorifie our Lord Jesus Christ as they glorified him adding nothing nor taking any thing away We do anathematize and accurse also both by heart and mouth all those whom these Fathers did anathematize and accurse and we do receive them whom they received c. 25. Behold here the manner and form of Catholic Councils of old time who laid down first the Gospel in the midst and then after due examination of Scriptures considered that Antiquity of Fathers and Councils had determined in God's Church before them even from Christ and his Apostles downward and therein insisted agreeing all in one and rejecting and accursing all new contrary or different Doctrins and Doctors and by his means and by the assistance of the Holy Ghost promised by Christ unto his Church hath she continued now for 1600 years one and the self-same whereas Sectaries lacking this Humility Wisdom and Subordination but especially God's Grace are divided and consumed among themselves 26. But I will pass no further in this point this which I have said being sufficient to shew that there were more Learned men in England in these times of our primitive Church than fantastical Fox would have men believe which is greatly confirmed by that which Malmsbury writeth and Fox also confesseth the same That a General Council being gathered soon after this which we have mentioned in Constantinople both of the East and West Church against the Monothelites that deny'd two distinct Wills of Christ our Archbishop Theodorus with some other Learned men of our English Clergy was called for by Pope Agatho to be one of his Legats in the said Council where there were 331 Bishops gathered together by order of the said Agatho Bishop of Rome against the Patriarchs of Antioch Alexandria and Constantinople which thing sheweth the great Power and Authority of the Bishop of Rome even in Greece it self at that day the Emperour Constantine IV. being present himself 27. And to this Council as is said was the foresaid Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury with divers other Bishops called by name by Pope Agatho as we may see in his Letter to the said Council cited by Malmsbury in these words Sperabamus de Britannia Theodorum c. We did hope to have had from Britanny Theodore my Brother and Fellow-Bishop and Archbishop of that great Island and a Philosopher together with others which hitherto do remain there and then to have joined them to our Humility and for this cause we have hitherto deferred the Council Vides quanti eum fecerit saith Malmsbury ut ejus expectatione Universale Concilium differret You see of what account this Archbishop was with Pope Agatho that he would defer a General Council for his expectation Thus writeth he whereby every indifferent man will easily see that this time of our primitive English Church which Fox by contempt so often calleth Ignorant and Monkish was not devoid of rare Learned men and so hath continued until our days frustrà circumlatrantibus haereticis to use St. Augustin's words Heretics in vain barking on every side against it With whom John Fox thought good to bear a barking part also and not being able to find out any one hole or corner for his Church in those Ages except only among the Heretics before named he thought good at least to rail and spit at them as he passeth by and so will he do more and more the lower he goeth until at length he fall to plain Apostasie and forsaking them openly will join with the known condemned Heretics and Enemies of this Church which Church hitherto notwithstanding he will seem in some sort to follow tho' lazily and dragging behind and as it were weary of her Company and looking about him which way he may give the slip and betake himself to his heels as will better appear by that which ensueth CHAP. V. The fourth station or division of Times from King Egbert unto William the Conqueror containing the space of some 260 years and how John Fox his Church passed in these days and whether there were any Pope Joan or no. YOu have heard before how John Fox in his second Book promising to handle but 300 years touched in the Acts of 500 in less than a dozen Leaves shewing the small store of matter he had for his Church in those Ages Now his next Book is entituled thus The third Book containing the next 300 years from the Reign of Egbert unto the time of William the Conqueror So is his Title And yet if you count the years from the beginning of King Egbert his Reign Anno Domini 802 according to Stow or 800 according to others unto the entrance of the Conqueror Anno 1066 you shall find but only 264 years and
of Sathan which was 1000 years after the ceasing of the Persecution Fourthly followeth the time of Antichrist or the loosing of Sathan or desolation of the Church c. 2. Lo here John Fox maketh a different Account from the former as tho' the time of Antichrist and loosing of Sathan for overthrowing the true Church had begun much sooner than under Pope Gregory and Innocentius to wit from the year of Christ 900 which was almost 200 years before Gregory VII was born And yet doth he also contradict himself in this if you mark him for that he saith this loosing of Sathan was about the thousandth year after the ceasing of Persecution which ceasing being counted by Fox himself from the time of Constantine the Great when he saith Sathan was bound up for 1000 years the ending thereof must fall not upon the year of Christ 900 as in this his Account but rather upon the year of Christ 1300 at which time he was let forth again if we believe John Fox and had power given him not only to impugn but to overthrow the Church contrary to that which Christ had promised Matth. 16. That Hell-gates should not prevail against her 3. But let us see a third place where John Fox handleth this Mystery different from both these now alleged to wit in the beginning of his fifth Book from Wickliff downward where he maketh another Account yet of binding and loosing of Sathan and overthrowing the true Church And this forsooth out of the 20th Chapter of the Apocalypse by a large Text which having recited he saith thus By these words of the Revelation three special things are to be noted First the being abroad of Sathan Secondly his binding up and Thirdly the loosing out of him again after a thousand years consummate c. 4. Thus he hath there And then a little after he maketh his Account thus The binding up of Sathan after peace given to the Church counting from the 30th year of Christ was Anno Domini 294 which lasted for 1000 years until Anno 1294 about which year Pope Boniface VIII was made Pope and made the sixth Decretals confirmed the Order of Friars and privileged them with great freedom So writeth Fox and confirmeth his Sentence by certain old Verses written by a Monk as he saith which affirm that Cùm fuerint anni completi mille ducenti Et decies seni post partum Virginis Almae Tunc Antichristus nascetur Daemone plenus That is When a thousand two hundred and threescore years after the Virgins Child-birth shall be finished then shall Antichrist be born replenished with the spirit of Satan Which Fox will needs have to be meant by the foresaid Bonifacius VIII as tho' He above others had overthrown the Church and had been the first Antichrist among Popes Which if it were true then can it not fall either upon Gregory VII or Innocentius III. no nor upon Boniface himself named by him for that he was not made Pope 34 years after this devised Prophesie did appoint Antichrist to be born to wit 1260 seeing he was made Pope as Fox also confesseth Anno 1294. 5. But the best pastime is to hear what immediately followeth in Fox which are these words These Verses saith he were written as appeareth by the said Author Anno Domini 1285. Well Sir John and what of this doth not this overthrow all the credit of your Prophesie seeing it sheweth that these Verses were written 25 years after the day appointed by the Prophesie was past 6. So we see that this man having toiled so much to draw all that is spoken in the Apocalypse or Book of Revelation concerning Antichrist and the binding and loosing of Sathan to fall upon the Popes and Roman Church he cannot tell where to lay it but playeth notoriously the Fool and is contrary to himself as by the examination of the three places alleged may appear For in the first he affirmeth Christian Faith to have been extinguished either by Pope Gregory VII in the year of Christ 1080 or by Innocentius III. in the year 1215 and here he will have it to have been under Bonifacius VIII which was almost another hundred years after Innocentius 7. In the second place he will have the loosing of Sathan and consequently also the Fall of the Church to have been almost 200 years before Gregory VII that is to say in the year of Christ 900 and all the rest downward to have been under Antichrist which he calleth the time of Desolation and Reign of Sathan over the Church And he confirmeth the same again in the beginning of another Treatise following where repeating the division of his whole Work he saith That his intention is first to declare the suffering time of the Church for 300 years secondly the flourishing time for other 300 thirdly the declining time for other 300 years fourthly the time of Antichrist reigning and raging since the loosing of Sathan for other 400 years fifthly the reforming time of Christ's Church in these latter 300 since John Wickliff begun and after Luther and other like people Thus saith Fox wherein he agreeth somewhat as you see with his last former Account that Sathan was let loose to overthrow the Church about the year of Christ 900 which yet is quite contrary to that which he writeth in his first place before alledged that the foresaid Church was overthrown by Pope Gregory VII and Innocentius III. some hundreds of years after that time But much more contrary it is to that which he writeth lastly out of the Apocalypse in his fourth place alleged to wit That Sathan was bound up for a thousand years which number of years after the first Ten Persecutions he saith must begin from the year of Christ 294 which he endeavoreth tho' fondly to prove out of the 13th Chapter of the Apocalypse where it is said That Power was given by the Dragon to the Beast to wit to Antichrist to speak Blasphemy and to do what listed him for Forty two months which make as all men know three years and a half which is the time allotted by St. John according to all ancient Fathers Interpretations to the Reign of Antichrist in the end of the World. And it is so expounded in other places of this Revelation it self to wit by these words a time times and half a time and in another place by 1260 days and then again by 42 months All which numbers being examined do make up just the foresaid three years and a half prophesied and expressed in like manner by Daniel the Prophet 9. And in this there is no doubt or question among Catholics or ancient Writers but that Antichrist a particular person designed for that end from the beginning of the World shall appear and have power given him from the Devil to turmoil and afflict the Church of Christ for the space of three years and a half before the day of Judgment Only the Heretics of our time
with great difficulty Whereupon the said Parliament was continued in Disputation and Contention especially about this matter for the space of four Months and a half to wit from the 4. of November unto the 14. of March and in the mean space all was in suspence of what Religion England should be For as on the one side many that knew or suspected the Protectors inclination did think and lay Wagers that Zwinglianism would prevail so others hearing that Archbishop Cranmer and his party stood resolutely on the other side and had punished divers for speaking against the Mass and Real Presence in the Sacrament a little before to wit one Thomas Dobbe a Master of Art in Cambridge as Fox telleth us cast into the Counter by Cranmer and held there till he died and John Hume Imprisoned for the same Cause by the said Archbishop This I say made many to expect and Bett on the other side But especially this doubt and expectation was notorious in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge where Peter Martyr and Bucer had Read now for the space of a year and more and were oftentimes urged and pressed much by their Scholars whereof the far greater parts in those days were Catholics to declare themselves clearly of what Opinion they wear touching the Sacrament of the Altar and the Real Presence To wit whether they were Lutherans or Zwinglians But they kept themselves aloof and indifferent or rather doubtful so far as they could until the determination of the Parliament should come Yet was Peter Martyr put into a great strait thereby For that having taken upon him to Read and Expound to the Scholars of Oxford the first Epistle to the Corinthians wherein the Apostle in the Eleventh Chapter handleth the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament he had thought to have come to that place just at the very time when the Parliament should have determined this Controversie 34. But the Contention enduring longer by some Months than he expected he was come to the Eleventh Chapter long before they could end in London Whereupon many Posts went to and fro between him and Cranmer to require a speedy resolution alleging that he could not detain himself any longer but that being come to the words Hoc est Corpus meum he must needs declare himself a Lutheran or a Zuinglian But he was willed to stay and entertain himself in other matter until the Determination might come and so the poor Frier did with admiration and laughter of all his Scholars standing upon those precedent words Accepit Panem c. Et gratias agens c. Fregit c. Et dixit c. Accipite manducate c. discoursing largely of every one of these Points and bearing off from the other that ensued But when at length the Post came that Zuinglianism must be defended then stepped up Peter Martyr boldly the next day and said Hoc est Corpus meum This is my Body interpreting it This is the Sign of my Body adding moreover that he wondred how any man could be of another Opinion seeing this Exposition was so clear Whereas if the Post had brought other News himself also would have taught the contrary Opinion And this Story was testified whil'st they were alive by Dr. Sanders Dr. Allen Dr. Stapleton and others that were present at this Trifling and Tergiversation of this Apostate-Frier And thus began our Zuinglian Gospel in England under King Edward VI. 35. Now let us hear a word or two out of the Statute it self about this Communion Book and profession of Zuinglianism establish'd in England after two years strife among the Protestants Whereas of long time saith the Act there hath been in this Realm of England divers Forms of Common Prayer commonly called the Service of the Church as well concerning the Mattins and Even-Song as also the holy Communion called the Mass c. And whereas the King's Majesty with the Advice of his most entirely-beloved Vncle the Lord Protector and others of his Highness's Council hath heretofore divers times assayed to stay Innovations or new Rites concerning the premises yet the same hath not had such good success as his Highness required in that behalf Whereupon his Highness by the most prudent Advice aforesaid being pleased to bear with the frailty and weakness of his Subjects in that behalf of his great Clemency hath been not only content to abstain from punishment in that behalf but also to the intent that an uniform quiet and godly Order should be had concerning the premisses hath appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury and certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops to consider and ponder the premises and thereupon having as well an eye and respect to the most sincere and pure Christian Religion taught by the Scriptures as to the Vsages of the Primitive Church should draw and make one convenient and meet Order Rite and Fashion of Common-Prayer and Administration of Sacraments to be used in England Wales c. The which at this time by the Aid of the Holy Ghost with uniform Agreement is by them concluded set forth and delivered to his Highness's great comfort and quietness of mind in a Book entituled The Book of Common-Prayer and Administration of Sacraments c. 36. This is the Preface to that Act of Parliament whereby you may see that this communion-Communion-Book was devis'd first for bearing with the frailty of them that sought Innovations then that it was perform'd by uniform Consent Aid of the Holy Ghost according to the most sincere and pure Christian Religion taught in the Scriptures and lastly that the young Child-Prince received great comfort and quietness of mind thereby All which is ridiculous if you consider what a multitude of Errors and gross Absurdities the latter Protestants especially the preciser sort of them have gathered out against this Book yea after it was twice more reviewed altered and amended according to the pure Word of God as was pretended once in King Edward's days it self and then again in the beginning of her Majesties Reign whereof tho' I have spoken sufficiently in my Defence of the first Encounter against Sir F. Hastings yet cannot I omit to admonish the Reader in this place to read the ninth Chapter of the second Book entituled Dangerous Positions c. set forth by public Permission and printed in London Anno 1593. In which Chapter you shall see put together the words of divers new Gospellers concerning this Communion-Book affirm'd here in the Statute to be according to the most sincere and pure Christian Religion taught by the Scriptures But they say the contrary to wit that it is full of corruption and that many of the Contents thereof are against the Word of God the Sacraments wickedly mangled and prophaned therein the Lord's Supper not eaten but made a Pageant and Stage play that their public Baptism is full of childish superstitious toys 37. And finally not to stand any longer
hardness of heart for that they had not believed those who had seen him risen from death again Which doubt and hardness of heart in believing he cured wholly afterwards by sending the Holy Ghost 25. But yet hereby we may evidently see that Christ required humility and obedience of belief even in things where our reason or sense resisted requiring us to captivate our understanding to use S. Paul's own word unto his obedience in matters of faith and not only to himself immediately but to those also that teach and preach unto us by lawful ordination and authority from him albeit they deliver us matters above our capacity reach and understanding and this under pain of eternal damnation for that our Saviour himself having given the Commission of preaching in S. Mark 's Gospel aforesaid Ite praedicate Go and preach he addeth presently Qui non crediderit condemnabitur He that will not believe shall be damned And this is sufficient for the first Point about the obscurity of the Object of Faith and Causes thereof 22. The second Point of this consideration is That albeit Almighty God will have us to yield obedience of faith unto him as well for his due honor as for our own utility yet doth he not leave us without sufficient testimony of the truth nor requireth at our hands this obedience but as rationabile obsequium to use S. Paul's words a reasonable obedience or an obedience founded in all reason of probability inducement and credibility For proof whereof we must understand that albeit the most parts of Christian Belief do so surmount as in the former Point hath been shewed the reach and capacity of human reason as they cannot be comprehended thereby tho' of some other there may be also demonstration made as shall be shewed in the fourth Point of this consideration yet for satisfaction of our understandings his divine Piety and Providence hath left unto us so many other proofs and arguments of persuasion and inducement called by Schoolmen Argumenta credibilitatis Arguments of credibility which being laid together and well pondered may justly move any indifferent prudent and discreet man to yield his assent thereunto and to rest fully satisfied of the truth as learnedly you have seen proved these days past by a Treatise set forth in English for answer of the new challenges of the Minister O. E. this matter is handled more largely But for my present purpose it is sufficient to record unto you that of these arguments of credibility are full fraught all the books and volumes of the ancient Fathers thereby to prove the credibility probability and convenience of Christian Religion and of every part and article thereof thereby to leave them inexcusable that will not believe the same whereof it shall be sufficient that I allege only the example of S. Peter who going about to persuade his audience useth these words Non indoctas fabulas sequuti c. Not induced by vain fables as the Gentiles were have we believed and made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ but for that we have been made eye-witnesses of his greatness c. 27. Thus began S. Peter to persuade his Hearers alleging 2 or 3 strong Inducements of credibility for the same First that he and the rest of his Apostles had conversed with Christ himself upon earth and had been eye-witnesses of all his doings And secondly he allegeth that famous Miracle upon the Mount Thabor when he with S. James and S. John were present at his transfiguration and heard the voice from heaven This is my beloved Son hear him And thirdly he allegeth the Predictions of the old Prophets concerning Christ's coming life actions death and resurrection which S. Peter doth prefer before his sight knowledge and experience had with Christ and worthily for that the Predictions of the Scriptures and Prophets being written by God's Spirit so many Ages before Christ was born and now fufilled so evidently in his Person the Apostles sight and experience thereof was but a testimony to the others verity and nothing so certain as the foretellings of the said Prophets so evidently verifi'd in their sights 28. And yet were all these things but inducements and arguments of credibility as I have said and not demonstrations For albeit the truth of Scriptures be most certain and infallible in it self yet to me who must take them upon credit of others either concernings the books themselves traductions or interpretations or some other such circumstances they cannot have the clearness and evidence to convince our Vnderstandings which philosophical Demonstrations have albeit the assent of our Faith induced by these Arguments of credibility together with the help of our pious affection and assistance of God's grace be much more sure firm and immovable than that which is gotten by human knowledge which is partly seen in that a stronger reason coming against my knowledge I do change my judgment but not in Faith if it be sound The cause whereof is for that Faith is grounded upon a more certain foundation than is human science to wit upon the credit and authority of God himself wherein also is to be noted that these Inductions and Arguments of credibility may be much more evident to some than to others As for example the Miracles done by God in bringing home of the Jews from Egypt were much more evident to those Jews that then lived and were present and saw them than to others that came afterwards Albeit the Faith and Belief of some of the later might be as firm and constant as the former And so the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles were more evident to those that saw them than unto us that hear them only by relation tho' yet our Faith may be as good and firm yea more commendable and meritorious than theirs in that we believe them without seeing according to the aforesaid Saying of our Saviour to S. Thomas And this is the great Piety and Mercy of Almighty God that we that come after in the end of the World shall lose nothing if we will by our so late coming but may be equal in merit to the first 29. Well then this is the second Point what Arguments of credibility Christ hath left unto us for proof of Christian Faith whereof as I said all the ancient Fathers Books are full and you may see many in Eusebius's Learned Books De praeparatione demonstratione evangelica but especially in those that before him wrote Apologies for Christians in times of Persecution as Justin Martyr Tertullian and others S. Austin also in 22 excellent Books that he wrote De Civitate Dei gathered many And you may see good store laid up in our English Tongue in the first Book of Resolution c. 4. entituled Proofs of Christianity Which Arguments being indifferently weighed together with the absurdities of all other Religions besides the Christian do make our Faith most
that Easter-day must be kept upon the first Sunday after the first Full Moon in March as hath been said And furthermore forasmuch as this fourteenth day of the Moon must be that which falleth upon the very day of the Spring Equinoctial or immediately followeth the same which Equinoctium was observed by the Council of Nice to be in those days upon the 21st of March though since that time it fell back by little and little to the 11th day for correction whereof Pope Gregory XIII was forced to make his Reformation from the year 1582 by detracting ten days as all men know For this I say and for that if the fourteenth day of the Moon of March should happen to be Sunday the celebration of Easter must by the same ancient Fathers Prescription be transferred to the next Sunday For observing of these Points the Cycle also of the Sun or Circle of Dominical Letters containing the Revolution of 28 years was invented as necessary for this Observation I might add much more to this effect but this is sufficient to shew the grounds of many difficulties as also returning home to our Affair in hand to shew the beginning of the Eastern Custom among the Scots Picts and Britans not to be of that Antiquity which John Fox and his Fellows would pretend 14. But now besides this we may not omit another point of more consideration for the Reader 's Utility which is the small Piety or Religion of these Sectaries of our days who care not what they grant deny or say so they say somewhat against Rome her Bishops or Religion even in the first Ages or Primitive Church For to this end and with this good mine you shall see them here prefer in effect the foresaid Eastern Custom of celebrating Easter us'd by the Britans and Scots before the Catholic Custom of Rome albeit they well know how many Ages agone it hath been condemned not only for Error but also for Heresie yea tho' themselves do practise the contrary Custom at this day in England and Germany For that this is also a knack of these good men to speak one thing for advantage and practise another As for Example when the Question is about all those Books of the Old and New Testament which by Luther and Lutherans are rejected from the Canon of Canonical Scriptures as Ecclesiasticus Judith Hester Macchabees St. James Epistle the Apocalypse and other like When we reprehend the Lutherans for this point our Protestants of England take their parts and defend them stoutly as we see by the Writings of Fulk Chark Whitaker and others against F. Campian that objected the same to Luther and his Followers and yet on the other side they set the same Books forth in their English Bibles as Books of the Scriptures What dealing I pray you is this For either they be Scriptures and consequently of Infallible Truth or no. If the first then why do you defend the Lutherans that call them in doubt If the second why do you set them forth to the people among Scriptures 15. The like Example may be taken from Martin Luther who in his Book de Conciliis doth persuade the German Princes to observe Easter-day as an immovable Feast whensoever it falleth out without expecting Sunday as the Roman Church doth which point he saith is contrary to the Apostle forbidding us to observe Days Months and Years And yet I do not hear but that He and other Lutherans to this day do observe the Roman Use in practice of their Church concerning this point And the very same may be noted here of our English Calvinists who tho' in Practice of the English Church do observe the same Roman Custom as all men do know yet in their Writings they are content to impugn the same as a matter coming from Rome which you may see notoriously performed by John Bale a chief Gospeller in King Henry VIII and King Edward's days who treating of the former Disputation between Colman the Scottish Bishop and St. Wilfrid the English Abbot in the foresaid Council of Northumberland related by St. Bede praiseth highly the first to wit Colman together with his Learning and Piety in defending the Jewish Custom but scoffeth very contemptously and spitefully at the second that propugned the Catholic Roman Use notwithstanding that St. Bede as before you have heard calleth St. Wilfrid Virum doctissimum a most learned man and other ways also for his Holiness extolleth him exceedingly affirming among other points That for his rare Learning and great Vertue he was made Archbishop of all the Kingdom of Northumberland divided after him into two Bishoprics York and Lindisferne and when afterward as to the best men happeneth he was persecuted and driven out by violence of King Egfrid from his said Archbishopric he went and preached to the South-Saxons and converted all that Kingdom together with the Isle of Wight working many Miracles in like manner among them whereby he is truly called the Apostle of Sussex 16. Thus writeth Bede of St. Wilfrid Apostle of the South-Saxons who vanquished also in the former Disputations B. Colman and converted thereby King Oswyn from his former Rite of observing Easter with the Jews which he had learned during his Education in Scotland to follow the Roman Use But what think you saith John Bale thereof You shall hear in his own words Stulté respondit Wilfridus saith he c. Wilfrid answer'd like a Fool saying that the Apostle St. John did play the Jew in many things c. So saith Bale which words besides the Contumely contain a most false Lye and Slander also for that Wilfrid said not so as in St. Bede may be seen but only that St. John might tolerate perhaps for a time certain Rites of the Old Law as some of the other Apostles also had done and namely St. Paul in circumcising Timothy to bury the Synagogue with Honour c. 17. But hearken yet further how this new Gospeller and old Apostate-Fryer goeth forward against this holy Man Temporum saith he calculatores Evangelistis opponit Wilfrid did oppose the Roman Computists or Calculators of times against the Authority of the Evangelists This is an open Lye as the place in Bede will testifie for he saith only that perhaps one cause why the rude simplicity of the ancienter sort of Scottish Christians embraced the Jewish Custom at the beginning amongst other things might be for that no learned Calculator of the Roman Use had in those days arrived unto them He saith not one word of opposing this to the Evangelists and yet by the way do you note that this false Apostata would have his Reader think that this Jewish Heretical Custom is conform to the Evangelists than which nothing can be spoken more wickedly 18. But let us go forward and see what ensueth In fine saith he suis praevaluit Imposturis dementatis qui aderant Regibus
great and horrible Persecutions of Christians in Rome and of their often Martyrings and that they remained constant notwitstanding in their Christian Faith to all mens admiration and that their number did increase daily even of the chiefest Nobility and that two worthy Senators in particular Pertinax and Tretellius had been lately converted from Paganism to profess Christ yea that the Emperour himself Marcus Aurelius then living began to be a Friend to Christians in respect of a famous Victory obtained by their Prayers all which things Baronius sheweth the Emperour's Legat in England to have told Lucius For these causes I say and for that he hated the Romans and their Old Religion to whom he understood the Christians to be contrary he resolved to be instructed in that Religion And understanding the chief Fountain thereof to be at Rome contented not himself either with Instructions he might have at home by Christians there nor yet from the Christian Bishops flourishing then in France as St. Irenaeus Photinus and others but sent men to Rome to demand Preachers of Eleutherius the Pope who directed to him two Romans named Fugatius and Damianus by whom the said King and his Countrey were converted about the year of Christ 180 as John Fox holdeth but as Baronius thinketh 183 from whom Pamelius Genebrard Nauclerus and other Chronographers do little dissent tho' Marianus Scotus doth put it in the year 177. And this Conversion of Britanny under King Lucius is testified both by the ancient Books of the Lives of the Roman Bishops attributed by some to Damasus as also by the ancient Ecclesiastical Tables and Martyrologies yet extant as Baronius proveth and by St. Bede in his History of England and after him by Ado Archbishop of Trevers and Marianus Scotus anno 177 and all Authors since 3. This then being so and John Fox the Father of Lies not â—â—â—ing openly to impugn the same yet granteth he the thing with such difficulty and strainings and telleth the story with so many hems and haws ifs and ands Interpretations and Restrictions as a man may see how greatly it grieveth him to confess the substance thereof I mean of this second Conversion by Pope Eleutherius and therefore he turneth himself hither and thither now granting now denying now doubting now equivocating as is both ridiculous and shameful to behold For as on the one side he would gladly deny the Truth of this Story so on the other side being press'd with the Authorities before alledged and general consent of all Writers he dareth not to utter himself plainly but endeavoureth to leave the Reader in suspence and doubtful whether it were true or no which is the effect most desired commonly of Heretical Writers to bring all things in doubt and question and there to leave the Reader And to this purpose doth the Fox tell us first That divers Authors of later Times do not agree about the certain year wherein this Conversion of King Lucius did happen some saying more and some saying less But what is this to the overthrow of the thing it self For that about the particular times wherein things were done there is often found no small variety among principal Writers and about principal Points and Mysteries of our Faith as about the coming of the Magi and Martyrdom of the Infants about the time of Christ's Baptism yea also of his Passion what Year and Day each of these things happened which yet doth not derogate from the certainty of the things themselves 4. And this is his first Cavil or rather light Skirmish whereby he would somewhat batter or weaken the credit of the Story before he cometh to lay the full Assault which ensueth immediately with seven double Cannons planted by him which he calleth seven good conjectural Reasons against the Tradition of Antiquity about this Conversion of Britanny from Pope Eleutherius Wherein notwithstanding you must note That he proposeth the Controversie as tho' his purpose were only to prove that Pope Eleutherius was not the first that converted England which thing as it might be granted in the sense before often touched if he spake or meant plainly so finding him to deal guilefully and to go about to prove in the end as appeareth by his Conclusion that Eleutherius converted not King Lucius at all but only helpt perhaps to convert him or to instruct him better in Religion being a Christian before I am constrained to examin briefly the Force or rather Fraud and Folly of these his seven Arguments to the end you may judge thereby how he behaveth himself in so main a Volume as his Acts and Monuments do contain seeing that in this one matter he beareth himself so fondly and maliciously And for brevities sake I will reduce the said seven Arguments to three general Heads or Kinds shewing first that all are Impertinent secondly that some besides Impertinency have also gross Ignorance thirdly that others besides these two commendations have Fraud and plain Imposture in them 5. To the first kind of Impertinent do appertain his fourth fifth and sixth Arguments handled by me before against the Magdeburgians to wit that St. Bede said in his time That the Britans celebrated Easter after the fashion of the East-Church that Petrus Cluniacensis testifieth the same in his days of some Scots and that Nicephorus saith that Simon Zelotes preached the Gospel in England All which three Arguments as they do serve to no purpose here but to shew that Fox stealeth all out of the Magdeburgians so no other Answer is needful to be made unto them than that which before hath been written seeing that all being granted that here is said yet proveth it nothing that the Faith of Britanny came not from Rome and consequently all is impertinent 6. Of the second sort both Impertinent and Ignorant Arguments are his second and third probations My second reason is saith he out of Tertullian who living near-about or rather somewhat before this Eleutherius testifieth in his Book contra Judaeos that the Gospel was dispersed abroad by the sound of Apostles in divers Countreys and then among other Kingdoms he reciteth also the parts of Britanny c. Thus you see how impertinent it is to the purpose we have in hand for that it concludeth not but that Pope Eleutherius after the Apostles time might convert King Lucius and his People publicly by Fugatius and Damianus as we affirm And then secondly it includeth notorious Error and Ignorance in that he saith Tertullian lived before Eleutherius for that it is prov'd out of Tertullian's own Works and Words especially in his Book de Pallio wherein he yieldeth the reason wherefore he changed his Habit from a Gown to a Cloak as Christians were wont to do in those days that he was converted to the Christian Faith in the tenth year of Pope Victor that was Successor to Eleutherius which was Anno Domini 196. And moreover he wrote
his Book contra Judaeos cited by Fox divers years after that again as Pamelius and others do demonstrate in his Life So as Eleutherius reigning fifteen years before Victor as all Authors do agree it followeth that he was Pope twenty five years before Tertullian was a Christian And forsomuch as the Conversion of England is assigned to have been in the fifth year of Eleutherius it followeth that Tertullian was not a Christian in twenty years after that time And thus much for his second Reason now let us hear his third 7. My third probation saith he I deduct out of Origen whose words are these Britanniam in Christianam consentire Religionem That Britanny did consent in Christian Religion whereby it appeareth the Faith of Christ was sparsed here in England before Eleutherius Mark his own Contradiction mark his Inference and note his Imposture He affirmeth out of Origen That Britanny did consent in Christian Religion and yet he saith in his Inference Whereby it appeareth it was sparsed in England Sparsing importeth that particular men here and there were converted Consent importeth a general Conversion So that by Origen's words of consent it may seem that he meant the public Conversion made by Eleutherius and by Fox's own false Interpretation and foolish Inference he is made to say that there were only certain sparkles of Christian Religion in his days in Britanny But the true words of Origen corrupted by Fox do make the matter more clear who disputing against the Jews urgeth them with this Question Quando enim terra Britanniae ante adventum Christi in unius Dei consensit Religionem For when did the Land of Britanny agree in the Religion of one God Before the coming of Christ 8. Here you see the words of Origen first not truly but corruptly alledged before by John Fox and secondly that Origen doth speak them of a consent in Religion throughout all the Land of Britanny and thereby seemeth to signifie not the particular Conversion of several men before Eleutherius his Time as Fox would enforce it but rather the public Conversion as I have said under King Lucius and Eleutherius which Conversion according to the former Account of Fox himself who saith it was in the year of Christ 180 was about 76 years before the Death of Origen for that as Eusebius testifieth Origen died in the year of Christ 256 and was of age 69 when he died so as he was born seven years after our said Conversion under Lucius and consequently he might mean of this Conversion in his former Homily And it is not only Ignorance but wilful Malice and Imposture also in John Fox to make his Reader believe as before in Tertullian so in this Man that he was either Equal or Elder than Pope Eleutherius And for this cause that Origen in his foresaid Homily must needs mean of a former Conversion of Britanny that came not from Rome Consider the Man's Honesty and Wit in these shifts 9. And albeit this may be sufficient and more than enough to shew his false Dealing and lack of Fidelity in every thing he handleth yet will I add his two last Arguments which he calleth his first and seventh and in which as I said before that not only the former two qualities of Impertinency and Error are to be found but manifest Fraud also and wilful Deceit Let us hear his words But first I must both pray and prevent the Reader to take in patience the hearing of one and the self-same thing many times repeated for that we having to deal with three several Parties that do tell us Tales by retail one to another of them to wit Sir Francis Sir Fox and Messieurs the Magdeburgians we cannot well see or set down what each of them saith and borroweth one of another but by repeating the same things yet shall it be very briefly Thus then writeth Fox in that which he calleth his first probation against the first Conversion of England by Eleutherius 10. My first probation saith he I take out of the Testimony of Gildas who in his History affirmeth plainly That Britanny received the Gospel in the time of Tiberius the Emperour and that Joseph of Arimathea was sent by Philip the Apostle from France to Britanny Gild. lib. de Victoria Aurel. Ambrosii Here you see first not only crambe recocta according to the Proverb that is to say Coleworts and other Trash twice sodden but many times also both sodden and set before us for all this you heard before more than once both out of Sir Francis and the Magdeburgians And when all is granted yet is the whole Argument but a vain and childish Cavil for it proveth only that Damianus and Fugatius sent by Eleutherius were not the very first of all that preached Christian Faith in Britanny which we never affirmed but only that Britanny was converted publicly under Eleutherius which this impugneth not And secondly for the receiving of Christ's Faith under Tiberius the Emperour I have shewed before that it is unlikely seeing Tiberius lived but five years after the Ascension of our Savior and that the place alledged for it out of Gildas if he mean the true Gildas now extant proveth it not but only that Christ himself appeared to the World in the time of Tiberius and that the Faith of Christ entred Britanny afterward under Claudius as may appear evidently to him that will read and examin the place with attention Which the Fox perceiving thought it not best to alledge us the said true Gildas published by Polydor Virgil and allowed by all Learned Men of Christendom whose Title is De excidio Britanniae but runneth to a forged Gildas De Victoria Aurelii Ambrosii to confirm his Allegation withal of which Gildas the said Polydor after due Examination of the matter writeth as followeth 11. Extat item alter libellus ut tempestive lectorem nefariae fraudis admoneamus qui falsissimè inscribitur Gildae commentarium haud dubie à quodam pessimo impostore compositum c. Sanè is nebulo longè post homines natos impudentissimus c. There is extant besides another Book also that I may by this occasion advertise the Reader in time of a wicked Imposture which is most falsly entituled The Commentary of Gildas devised no doubt by some naughty Deceiver c. Truly he was the most impudent Knave that ever lived c. Thus said Polydor of the Inventer of this Book and as much would he have said of Sir John Fox that obtrudeth the same for a true Author if he had lived in our days And seeing that the Calvinists themselves of Heidelberg in Germany taking upon them to set forth all the British Writers Anno 1587 as Gildas Geffrey of Monmouth Ponticus Virunnius and others durst not set forth this feigned Gildas alledged by Fox but only the former true Gildas printed before by Polydor it is a token that Fox is
Roman in the next Ages after when St. Gregory sent St. Augustin to convert the English or that the Roman Religion brought in by St. Augustin should be different from the British except only in certain Rites or Reliques of Pelagianism which yet were not generally received of all as before hath been declared Reason V 8. The fifth Argument standeth upon some Observations taken out of Histories and other Monuments of Antiquity whereby it may be gathered more or less what points of Religion among such as are now called in Controversie by Protestants were believed in those days by the ancient Britans For albeit the Story of that Church before the coming of St. Augustin be not so left written by any authentical Writer as were to be wished and as other Countreys have and namely ours by St. Bede and this in respect of the manifold Wars great Miseries and continual Calamities fallen upon the British Nation for 200 years together before the Conversion of the English whereby neither the orderly Succession of their Bishops neither their meeting in Synods and Councils neither the observation of Ecclesiastical Discipline neither their Communication with the Churches of other Countreys and especially the See of Rome could be so well performed or recorded yet of the small Sparkles and Reliques that do remain it is not hard to guess besides the Reasons and Considerations before-alledged what Religion the Britans were of and whether their Faith agreed more with the Protestants of our days than with the Religion of St. Augustin brought in from Rome and continu'd by Catholics unto this present 9. For first if we will hear external Authors St. Chrysostom testifieth against the Gentiles in his days that in Britanny there were Altari a Christi dedicata Altars dedicated to Christ which Altars do infer Sacrifice and Sacrifice Priesthood as in his Books de Sacerdotio he proveth So as in St. Chrysostom's Age which was the very same wherein the Saxons entred into Britanny the Britans Religion was Catholic according to St. Chrysostom agreeing as well with the Western as Eastern Church whereof himself was For if they had been different or had followed any other Religion than the Common he would not so much have bragged of them as against the Gentiles he did 10. But let us return to British Authors themselves If we read over with attention the little Treatise or Epistle of Gildas which he writeth of the Destruction and Conquest of his Countrey he being the only Author indeed of entire credit which we find extant of those ancient times we shall find signs and footsteps enough what Religion the Britans were of tho' his purpose was not to write any Ecclesiastical History He lived a good while before the coming of St. Augustin and in the second part of his said Treatise reprehendeth grievously the most horrible sins of the Britans for which these Calamities of the Picts Scots and Saxons came upon them And he beginneth his complaint first of their Kings and Judges saying Reges habet Britannia sed Tyrannos Judices habet sed impios crebro jurantes sed perjurantes voventes sed continuò propemodum mentientes Britanny hath Kings but they are become Tyrants it hath Judges but they are impious swearing often but forswearing making Vows but presently almost breaking the same c. 11. Here we see that breaking of Vows was held for no small sin in those days But he goeth further talking of the said Princes Inter Altaria jurando demorantes haec eadem ac si lutulenta paulò pòst saxa despicientes cujus tam nefandi piaculi non ignarus est Constantinus They run to the Altar and swear when they are in necessity and a little after they despise the said Altars again as if they were but dirty Stones of which wicked Sacrilege King Constantine is not ignorant c. Here you see Altars made of Stone in those days and Princes accustomed to swear by Altars and to seek their Refuge in peril or necessity by running to them and staying by them in Sanctuary or when they would do any act with religious solemnity and that it was counted a heinous sin to break promises made upon Altars in those days which yet Protestants make no scruple of 12. But now what this Oath of King Constantine was whereof Gildas speaketh and in what form it was made it appeareth in the next words after which amongst other are these Hoc anno post horribile juramenti Sacramentum quo se devinxit c. Deo primum Sanctorum demum Choris Genetrici comitantibus c. latera Regiorum tenerrima puerorum vel praecordia crudeliter inter ipsa ut dixi sacrosancta Altaria nefando ense hastaque prodentibus laceravit ita ut Sacrificii coelestis sedem purpurea pallia coagulati cruoris attingerent c. Even this year after a most dreadful Oath whereby Constantine bound himself c. first to God and then to the whole Choir of Saints and the Mother of Christ accompanying the same c. he pierced with his wicked Sword and Spear the most tender sides and hearts of two young Princely Children and this so near to the holy Altars as their Purple Cloaks all besprinkled with Blood did touch the seat of the heavenly Sacrifice c. Behold here an Oath broken which was made to God upon the holy Altars in the sight of his Mother and of all the Saints of Heaven for the preservation of the said two Princely Children committed to Constantine and most cruelly murder'd by him even at the side of the said Altars so near that their Purple Cloaks did touch the seat of the heavenly Sacrifice Which is the same phrase that other ancient Fathers did use to describe holy Altars calling them the Seat of the blessed Sacrifice or which is all one the Seat of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Quid est enim Altare saith Optatus nisi sedes Corporis Sanguinis Christi What is an Altar but the seat of the Body and Blood of Christ 13. And now I would ask our men whether these speeches of Gildas do agree better to Protestants Religion or to Ours Would any Protestant speak or write thus But let us hear how he goeth forward against another Britan Prince of that time called Aurelius Among many other Crimes he objecteth this Propriâ uxore pulsâ furciferam germanam ejus perpetuam Deo viduitatis castimoniam promittentem suscipis Thou having driven away thine own Wife takest unto thee her wicked Sister which had promised to God perpetual Chastity of Widowhood And then to another wicked Prince Maglocunus he objecteth That having made a Vow to be a Monk he returned to the World again saying Coram omnipotente Deo Angelicis vultibus humanisque perpetuò Monachum vouisti c. O quà m profusus spei coelestis fomes desperatorum cordibus te in bonis permanente inardesceret ô qualia
discipline of your Confederation that your Bishops must sacrifice in Gold and dispense Blood in Silver Cups and that in your Night-Vigils you have Waxen Torches in Golden Candlesticks c. And thus much of St. Laurence whose Persecutor speaketh like a perfect Protestant which is an Argument that himself was none 9. Now as for the other glorious Martyr and Bishop St. Cyprian who suffered under the same Emperour and in the same year that Pope Sixtus and St. Laurence did as appears by Pontius his Deacon that lived with him we have shewed before that the Magdeburgians do reprehend him sharply I mean St. Cyprian for this very point about offering Sacrifice for that he saith Sacerdotem vice Christi fungi Deo Patri sacrificium offerre lib. 2. ep 3. That the Priest doth perform the Office of Christ and offereth Sacrifice to God the Father So as now we have here three Massing or Sacrificing Priests which is the highest Crime objected to Priests now in England and a Massing Deacon that helpeth to Mass and all four most glorious Martyrs within these first 300 years to wit St. Andrew the Apostle by his own Confession St. Sixtus Bishop of Rome by the testimony of St. Laurence St. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage by the accusation of the Magdeburgians and St. Laurence the Deacon by testimony of Prudentius St. Ambrose and others And it were over-long to pass any further in this examination for that the Examples would be infinite this be-being sufficient to shew how little it maketh for John Fox his purpose to have brought in this so large and particular a story of all the Martyrs of the first ten Persecutions they being so opposite to his late Protestant Martyrs as they are 10. Well then this is sufficient for these Martyrs But what shall we say to the whole intent and drift of John Fox which should have been as you know to lay before us the continual descent throughout these first three Ages of his poor oppressed and persecuted and yet the only true Church of Christ almost scarce visible or known to worldly eyes c This I say he should have shewed and laid open to us for that we find no other Christian Church known in the World in these first 300 years but only One which tho' it were much persecuted yet was it neither obscure nor hidden from the eyes either of good or bad but most visible and apparent to all the World. And in the end of these 300 years to wit under Constantine the Emperour and Silvester the Pope of Rome the same came to be so magnificent and glorious as all the World remained astonished thereat which appeareth partly by that which Eusebius and all other Ecclesiastical Writers do recount in the Life of the said Constantine especially Eusebius that wrote four whole Books of the said Constantine's Life and Actions who was a most excellent Christian Emperour And amongst other points of his most pious Devotion it is recorded that he builded four goodly Churches within the City of Rome carrying Earth to the first Foundation of them with his own hands and adorning them with holy Images endowing the same with rich Possessions Furniture and Ecclesiastical Ornaments and consecrated precious Vessels for Divine Service dedicating the one of them which was his own Palace of Lateran unto our Savior and St. John Baptist the other to St. Peter the third to St. Paul and the fourth to St. Laurence all which do remain unto this day and the very manner of building thereof with their Altars Fonts Pictures and other such-like Antiquities do well shew without Books what manner of Religion was then in use 11. This was the known visible Church then of Christians in those days as glorious and renowned as can be imagined Of which Church one wrote at that time to Constantine himself thus Quis locus in terra est c What place is there in the whole Earth which hath not received the Faith of Christ either where the Sun riseth or where it falleth where the North-Pole is elevated or where the South all is filled with the Majesty of this God. The same writeth Optatus Concedite Deo c. Yield this unto Christ who is God that his Garden spread it self over all the World Can you deny unto him now but that Christians do possess both East West North and South as also the Provinces of innumerable Islands And the same hath St. Basil in his 72d and 75th Epistle and the like St. Hilary lib. 6. de Trinitate This then was the greatness of this Universal Catholic Church at that day and of this Church were counted the head Bishops for all these 300 years the Popes and Bishops of Rome as appeareth by the deductions made by Irenaeus Tertullian and others before mentioned and in this Church was held to be all Catholic Truth and none out of it Which being so I would gladly know what poor obscure trodden-down Church neglected in the World not regarded in Histories and almost scarce visible or known which yet he saith to be the only true Church of God can John Fox find us out in these first 300 years especially seeing he saith also that it must be different from the Church of Rome as from the Devil's Chappel and that it must come down from the Apostles time and always hold some sparkles of true Doctrin 12. For Example or Proof whereof notwithstanding he mentioneth no one Man Woman or Child that was of that Church in all these 300 years and consequently he driveth us to imagin or seek out who they are that made up this obscure Church of his different and opposite to the Roman And I can find none except the known Heretics of these first three Ages to whom the description of his Church may easily agree for first none will deny but that albeit they were many in number as Simon Magus and his Followers the Nicolaits Cerynthians Ebionites Menandrians Saturnians in the first Age Basilidians Gnosticks Cerdonists Marcionists Valentinians Encratites Montanists and others in the second Age as also Helchesits Novatians Sabellians Manichees and many more in the third Age and that in divers Countries and Provinces they had their Followers their Churches their Assemblies under the name of Reformed Christians Elect People and men of more perfection than the rest yet in respect of the glorious Catholic Church that shined throughout the World they were just as John Fox describeth his People here to wit a poor oppressed and persecuted Church c. Oppressed by force of Truth and persecuted by the famous Writings of Catholic Doctors against them as after the Apostles themselves St. Ignatius Justinus Martyr St. Dionyse of Corinth St. Polycarp Irenaeus Clem. Alexandrinus Tertullian Origen Cyprian Ammonius Pamphilus Arnobius and others They were persecuted also by the Excommunications and spiritual Censures of all Catholic Bishops throughout the World but especially by the
certain Alterations did not take counsel nor direction from the new Gospellers to do it but rather set forth a Book of his own entituled thus Articles devised by the King's Highness So do testifie both Hall Hollinshead and Stow. And then Hall who lived in those days addeth further In this Book are especially mentioned but three Sacraments with the which the Lincolnshire men were offended And then again afterwards he writeth This Book especially treated of no more than three Sacraments where always before the people had been taught seven Sacraments c. Which Articles being delivered to the people the Inhabitants of the North parts being very ignorant and rude and not knowing what true Religion meant c. said Now you see Friends that four Sacraments of seven are taken from us and shortly you shall lose the other three also except you look about you c. Thus writeth Hall of the beginning of the Insurrection of Lincoln York and other Shires by occasion of these new-devised Articles in Religion Whereby notwithstanding we see that King Henry thinking best to make some alteration tho' he meant not indeed to take away any Sacrament as afterwards appeared yet disdained he to take his Platform from the Protestants or Gospellers of those days but devised of himself the Innovation which for the present he meant to make Whereof I have heard of a certain Story not unpleasant nor from the purpose which therefore here I will set down 17. A certain Courtier at that day some say it was Sir Francis Bryan talking with a Lady that was somewhat forward in the new Gospel about this Book of the King 's then lately come forth she seemed to mislike greatly the Title thereof to wit Articles devised by the King's Highness c. saying That it seemed not a fit Title to authorise matters in Religion to ascribe them to a mortal King's device Whereunto the Courtier answered Truly Madam I will tell you my conceit plainly If we must needs have devices in Religion I had rather have them from a King than from a Knave as your Devices are I mean that Knave Frier Martin who not yet 20 years agone was Deviser of your new Religion and behav'd himself so lewdly in answering his Majesty with scorn and contempt as I must needs call him a Knave tho' otherwise I do not hate altogether the Profession of Friers as your Ladyship knoweth Moreover said he it is not unknown neither to your Ladyship nor Us that he devised these new Tricks of Religion which you now so much esteem and reverence not for God or Devotion or to do Penance but for Ambition and to revenge himself upon the Dominican Friers that had gotten from him the preaching of the Pope's Bulls as also to get himself the use of a Wench and that a Nun also which now he holdeth And soon after him again three other married Priests his Scholars to wit Oecolampadius Carolstadius and Zuinglius devised another Religion of the Sacramentaries against their said Master And since these again we hear every day of other fresh Upstarts that devise us new Doctrins and there is no end of Devising or Devisers And I would rather for my part stick to the devising of a King that hath Majesty in him and a Council to assist him especially such a King as ours is than to a thousand of these Companions put together 18. It is true said the Lady when they are Devices indeed of Men but when they bring Scriptures with them to prove their sayings then are they not Mens Devices but God's Eternal Truth and Word And will you say so Madam quoth he And do you not remember what ado we had the last year about this time with certain Hollanders here in England whom our Bishops and Doctors could not overcome by Scriptures notwithstanding they held most horrible Heresies which make my Hairs to stand upright to think of them against the Manhood and Flesh of Christ our Savior and against the Virginity of his Blessed Mother and against the Baptism of Infants and the like wicked Blasphemies I was my self present at the Condemnation of fourteen of them in Paul's Church in one day and heard them dispute and allege Scriptures so fast for their Heresies as I was amazed thereat and after I saw some of these Knaves burned in Smithfield and they went so merrily to their Death singing and chanting Scriptures as I began to think with my self whether their Device was not of some value or no until afterward thinking better of the matter I blessed my self from them and so let them go 19 Oh said the Lady but these were Knaves indeed that devised new Doctrins of their own heads and were very Heretics not worthy to be believed But how shall I know quoth the Courtier that Your Devisers have not done the like seeing These alleged Scriptures no less than They and did one thing more which is that they went to the fire and burned for their Doctrin when they might have lived which your Frier and his Scholars before named have not hitherto done And finally Madam I say as at the beginning I said If we must needs follow devising we Courtiers had much rather follow a King than a Frier in such a matter For how many years Madam have Friers shorn their Heads and no Courtier hath ever follow'd them hitherto to therein But now his Majesty having begun this last May as you know to poll his Head and commanded others to do the like you cannot find any unshorn Head in the Court among us Men tho' you Women be exempted And so I conclude that the device of a King is of more credit than the device of a Friar And with this the Lady laugh'd and so the Conference was ended 20 And thus much for the first devising or setting up of new Religion in England Now for the going forward thereof let us hear a large testimony of John Fox himself and thereby judge how Apostolic the manner was of promoting the same To many which be yet alive saith Fox and can testifie these things it is not unknown how variable the state of Religion stood in those days how hardly and with what difficulty it came forth what chances and changes it suffered even as the King was ruled and gave ear sometime to one and sometime to another so one while it went forward and another season it went as much backward again and sometime clean altered and changed for a season according as they could prevail which were about the King c. 21. Here now you see both the beginning and progress of Fox's Gospel whereof in the Margin he maketh this Note The course of the Gospel interrupted by malicious Enemies Here you do hear him say that the Birth of his Gospel came forth hardly and with great difficulty and straining and then that it grew or went backward as the King was ruled by others and gave credit
aloud some in secret some in one form of words and others in an other And after Consecration some did hold up the Host to be Adored after the old fashion and some did not And of those that were present some did kneel down and Adore others did shut their Eyes others turned their Faces aside others ran out of the Church Blaspheming and crying Idolatry 28. And as this Confusion was in Spiritual Matters during these two first years of King Edward's Reign so no less was it in Temporal Affairs especially in tne City of London where a great Mortality and Pestilence was among the People as Stow saith And no less amazement to see three chief Bishops sent to Prison Gardiner of Winchester Bonner of London and Tonstall of Duresme But the greatest banding was betwixt the Protector and his Brother the Admiral and between their Wives Queen Katherine Parre and the Duches of Somerset In which Contention divers Chief Ministers and Apostate Friers were sticklers but especially Hugh Latymer that inveighed in his Sermons against the Admiral in favor of the Protector On the other side Frier Bale was wholly addicted to Queen Catherine and her praises having Printed and set her forth in those very days for a famous Writer and one of the Miracles of Womankind in his Book De scriptoribus Britannicis For so he saith Ingenii viribus literarum peritia verborum elegantia animi generositate foemine as dotes exuperat c. She doth exceed the Gifts of Womankind in the force of her Wit in the skill of her Learning in the elegancy of her Words and generosity of Mind And again Magnarum virtutum ac unicum hoc saeculo pietatis exemplar c. She is the only Example of great Virtues and Piety in this our Age. With which excessive praises the Duches of Somerset that thought her self as Wise and Learned as the other was so offended that Frier Bale could get no Preferment while her Husband was in Authority 29. But now came on the second Parliament which was upon the 4. day of November 1548. and second year of King Edward's Reign The Protector and his Gospellers had made all the preparation possible to get Voice therein for Establishing of that which they desired in Religion As it is no marvel if it were not hard to do seeing the chief Bishops were now restrained terrified or put in Prison some other of the Laity also disgraced as the Earl of Southampton Arundell and others The Lord Protector and Dudley Armed with the remainder of their Forces made for Scotland And the displeasure of the said Protector being held now for so dreadful a matter to any that resisted his Designs as it was expected daily that his own Brother the Admiral should be made away by him upon like displeasure 30. But to speak of this Parliament begun now as we have said two things as you remember were excluded in the last Parliament that could not pass though never so much desired and urged by the Protector and his Friends To wit the new Communion Book and the allowance of Priests and Friers Marriages but now both of them passed albeit the second with a greater limitation as you may see for the Title of the Statute is only this An Act to take away all Positive Laws of Man made against the Marriage of Priests Whereby you see that the Parliament being importuned by Priests and Friers that had gotten them Women to have them allowed by Parliament they only obtained to be free from Temporal Punishment appointed for the same leaving them to God for the rest whether after their Vows made of Chastity they were bound to observe the same or no. Nay in the very Act it self they do highly commend Chastity in Priests saying That it were not only better for Priests and Ministers of the Church to live Chast sole and separate from the company of Women c. But that it were most to be wished that they would willingly and of themselves endeavor to keep a perpetual Chastity and Abstinence from the use of Women Yet forasmuch as the contrary hath been seen c. Be it Enacted that all Laws Positive Canons or Constitutions heretofore made by Authority of Man only which doth Prohibit or forbid Marriage to any Ecclesiastical Person c. Shall be utterly void and of none effect together with the Pains Penalties Crimes Actions thereunto Annexed c. 31. Thus goeth the Statute Wherein you see there is nothing but Impunity given to Incontinent Priests and Friers to use Women without fear of Punishment in this World. And thereby you may consider that the first and chief endeavors of these new Gospellers tended principally to break down Hedges and to dissolve Catholic Discipline and to take away Punishments appointed as well to Heretics and Heresie in general as by the former Parliament you have seen as also to loose and Incontinent Clergy-men for their dissolute life And thus much of the first Point Let us come to the second about the new Communion Book 32. This Book though it were made new again by great diligence both of the Composers which the Protector and his Followers had chosen for that purpose as also by the view of Cranmer Ridley and others of chief Authority in the Clergy yet had it marvellous difficulty to pass as may appear by very Act of Parliament it self For that it was not only contradicted by Catholics but also by many Protestants themselves Misliking not only the Rites and Ceremonies therein appointed but the very Articles of Doctrin also And in this were most vehement the foresaid Faction of Hooper Rogers Latymer and some others being at that time Puritans as before we have noted 33. But the chiefest and hottest Contention of all whereof the principal Point of their new Religion seemed to depend was whether they should be Lutherans or Zwinglians concerning the blessed Sacrament Seeing they longer well could not dissemble the same as they had done in the former Parliament though otherwise as I have said it was somewhat hard to determin For that to the Lutherans enclined not only Cranmer Ridley and other in Ecclesiastical Authority that had lived and born Rule under King Henry VIII before But many of the Noble Men also and Counsellors that were half Catholics and half Protestants Protestants for liberty of eating of Flesh on forbidden days Possessing Church-Livings disobligation of Confession and Restitution and other such Motives But yet for other matters were rather Catholic in judgment and with these concurred such as were come out of Saxony and had Studied under Luther as Bucer Bale Coverdale and others All which seemed to stand for the real Presence at that time But against these were the Sacramentaries whose Profession being of the fresher Frame more pleased the Protector and some other itching Ears and thereby did overbear the other side at length by the number of some few Voices in Parliament but yet
upon this proof how the latter Gospellers according to their pure Word of God do reject and contemn the very pure Word of God of Cranmer and Ridley's time alleging for reason among other things as the Survey of pretended Discipline saith cap 28. That the Sun of the Gospel shineth more clear in these days than in those Not to stand I say upon this Fox himself doth sufficiently shew that this pure Communion Book and Order therein set down was mislik'd and rejected by the most zealous sort of Protestants even in those days as may appear by that which the said John Fox telleth us when he talketh of the Prophetical Spirit of John Rogers the Minister that was burn'd in Queen Maries days how he sent word to the Brethren by a certain Book-binder that except the Gospellers when they returned into England again for so saith Fox he prophesied they should did follow the Form and Plot set down by Him and Hoopâ—r different from this of Cranmer and others they should have as bad an end as he and his Fellows had that were burned under Queen Mary 38. But yet for the present this was the pure Word of God and the Work of the Holy Ghost and no man might mislike or reprove it without danger and great punishment especially if he was a Catholic for above all others they were to be punished especially the Catholic Bishops in Prison for resisting the former Book obtruded in the first Parliament which yet was pardoned to others for so saith the Statute immediately after in these words That all and singular person and persons that have offended concerning the premises other than such as now be and remain in ward in the Tower of London or in the Fleet may be pardoned thereof 39. But to return to our story and first planting of the Gospel under King Edward you must note That together with this Comedy of the new Book of Service disputed and passed in this Parliament wherein the Protector was a chief Part and Actor there was a bloody Tragedy handled in like manner whereof he was both Head and Instigator for that about the midst of the Parliament to wit upon the 16th of January he caused his Brother Lord Thomas Seymor High-Admiral of England to be suddenly arrested and sent Prisoner to the Tower being in Mourning-Apparel at that time for the late Death of his Wife Queen Catherine Parre and not suffering the said Brother of his to be heard or come to his Trial he caused a Condemnation to pass against him in the said Parliament which beginneth thus Whereas Sir Thomas Seymor Knight Lord Seymor of Sudley High Admiral of England not having God before his eyes c. Thus beginneth the Act and then followeth a long Narration of his Offences as That he desired to have the custody of the King was ambitions and married Queen Catherine Parre secretly before he told the King or his Brother of it and after help'd to make her away again with secret intention to marry the Lady Elizabeth if he could get her was ungrateful for many benefits both of the King and his said Brother the Lord Protector persuaded the young King to take the Government into his own hands and thereby to exclude the said Protector from his Dignity and Government It was inferred That the said Lord Admiral aspir'd to the Crown it self and to the Destruction of the King's Person Lands Realm Church and Commonwealth c. 40. All these things I say and many other are related in this Act of Parliament of Attainder against the Lord Seymor Sir William Sharington and other his Friends and Followers but not prov'd at all by any thing in the Narration But yet such was the force of his Brother and other chief Gospellers against him a doleful beginning of the new Gospel for him as he was condemned to be Hang'd Drawn and Quarter'd and upon favor was Beheaded upon the 20th of March following And presently the Protector as triumphing both over his Mother and Brother as one said in those days for that the Church was as well his Mother as the Admiral his Brother he made a Proclamation upon the 6th of April to put down the Mass throughout the whole Realm whereupon there ensued such Revel presently in London and in other places of the Realm as was strange and pitiful the blessed Sacrament being thrust out in hast of every Church and Altars pull'd down and upon the 10th of April being but four days after the whole Cloister of St. Paul's Church in London was thrown down and together with That a goodly Work of Antiquity cunningly wrought called the Dance of Pauls environing the said Cloister was beaten down and defaced also another goodly Monument in like manner of Antiquity belonging to the same Church called the Charnel-house of Pauls where the Tombs Bones and Memories of dead Men were was all beaten down by the fury of this time and the dead Mens Bones cast out into the Fields as both Holinshead Stow and other Chroniclers do relate 41. And for that the Protector had designed to raise a famous Palace worthy of his Greatness and Renown for his Habitation and perpetual Memory called Somerset-Place he first caused the Parish Church of the Strand without Temple-Bar together with Strand-Inn and Strand-Bridge to be pull'd down to give place to that Palace and to the end he might have Stone for the same more near at hand and with less Charges he caused the fair goodly Church of St. John of Jerusalem near Smithfield belonging in former time to the Knights of Rhodes to be undermin'd and with Gunpowder to be overthrown and the Stone thereof to be applied to the building of his said House and Palace 42. And this was the form of the first planting of the new Gospel in London by Gunpowder tearing and renting of ancient Monuments and overthrowing of Churches far unlike to the first planting of Christian Faith in England by St. Augustin and his Fellows before in part by us described And if this Revel was in London in the sight of the Prince and Council and where most Order and Law ought to be kept we may easily imagin what was practised throughout all the other parts of the Realm where less respect was born to the public Magistrate by no less unruly Spirits than were in London whereupon the poor afflicted Catholic people were forced to take Arms for their defence And from hence began the Commotions and Insurrections above mentioned of divers Shires for retaining their Religion But being overcome and oppressed by Martial Law and by the Troops of English and Foreign Souldiers made for the Scottish Voyage not long before there ensued infinite Misery Murther Massacre and Mortality in the Realm All which the Earl of Warwick with the help of others of the Nobility laying afterwards to the Protector 's charge in the end of the very next year to wit the 3d of King Edward's Reign
must prepare me c. And having thus spoken he kneeled down saying to them that were about him I beseech you all to bear me witness that I die in the true Catholic Faith. And then said he the Psalms of Miserere and De Profundis his Pater Noster c. 47. This is Stow's Narration whereby you see first the dishonesty and falshood of the other Chroniclers that leave it quite out and the cozenage of John Fox that only saith it in two or three Lines and lieth most shamefully affirming That he having Promise made unto him that tho' his Head were upon the Block he should have his Pardon if he would recant he consented thereunto Which yet you see the Duke protesteth the contrary upon his Death that it was not for Flattery or hope of Life or upon any Man's Instruction but only upon Conscience first to save his own Soul and then for desire to deliver his natural Country from the Infection of Heresie and Calamities thereon ensuing 48. And thus much of those Men and their Fruits who first planted this Gosael But now as for the Means whereby these things were wrought you have heard them before that they were all commonly by pulling down thrusting out dissolving of Discipline giving immunity from punishments to all sorts of Heretics and of Marriage to loose Priests and Apostate Friers and other like licentious Liberties far different from the purity severity and strictness of Life used by the first Planters of Christ's Gospel And as for the form and fashion of this new Religion set up under this Child-King it was as you have heard both their own Men and ours testifie compounded and patched up of all diversity of Sects and Religions as it pleased the Composers many things they took and retained of ours as well in Doctrin as in Rites and Ceremonies Some things of the Lutherans some others of the Zuinglians some of the Relicks of King Henry's mutation as that of the Supreme Head of the Church a singular Point of Doctrin proper to England above all other Nations But most of this Composition was of their own Inventions which yet neither the Protestants that remained in secret under Queen Mary did wholly allow as appeareth by that which I have cited before of John Rogers's Prophecy nor the other that began again under her Majesty that now is did wholly readmit the form and fashion but made a new one of their own as by their Communion-Book is evident nor do the purer sort of Calvinists in these days any way like or approve the one or the other as before we have shewed 49. Whereupon I may conclude as well this Chapter as also this whole Second Part that neither under King Henry the VIII nor King Edward the VI. nor Queen Mary had John Fox any distinct Church extant or known to the World especially if his Church be the Puritan Congregation as he will seem to signifie in many places of his Acts and Monuments But whether he have any such Church now visible under her Majesty at this day in England and in what state and condition it standeth I will not stand to enquire or discuss but do leave it to my Lords of Lambert and London whom most it concerneth being sufficient for me to have shewed throughout all former Christian Ages that John Fox hath had no Church of any Antiquity and consequently if he he have any now it must be a very young Church and of so tender Age as he may marry her to what Sect or Sectary he listeth for her Youth and that with hope of Brood and Issue And so much of all this matter CHAP. XIII The Conclusion of both these former Parts together with a particular Discourse of the notorious different Proceeding of Catholics and Protestants in searching out the truth of Matters in Controversie BY all that hitherto hath been written and discoursed good Christian Reader about the former Subject of discerning true Christian Religion and the way whereby to know and find the same I do not doubt but that of thy prudence thou hast observed a far different course holden by us that are Catholics and our Adversaries in this behalf we seeking to make matters plain evident easie perspicuous and demonstrable so far as may be even to the Eye it self whereas our Adversaries and namely John Fox according to that which by reading this Treatise you have seen doth altogether the contrary intangling himself and his Reader with such Obscurities Difficulties and Contradictions both about Times Matter and Men as he findeth not where to begin nor where to end nor yet how to go forward or backward in that he had taken in hand which I suppose to have been abundantly shewed by that which hitherto hath been written For whereas we for our parts begin clearly with the very first Corps or Body of Religion Instituted by Christ himself and the first Professors thereof that made a Church or Christian Congregation and do never after leave the same but do deduce it visibly and without interruption from that time to this and thereby do shew the beginning and continuance of one and the same Religion from their days to ours John Fox on the other side knoweth not well either where to begin where to insist or where to end as sufficiently you have seen tried For albeit in the Tile of his Book he tells us that he will bring down his Church from the Apostles time to ours and then after in his Protestation to the Christian Reader he doâ—h tell us farther that his true Church is different from the great visible Roman Church yet in the prosecution of his Work he setteth forth and describeth only the Roman Church as before we have declared and doth not so much as name any distinct visible Church of his own or other except only of such Heretics as himself also condemneth for such different from the said Roman Church for the space of almost 1200 years and then falleth he into such a strange extravagant humor of building a new Church for himself and his out of all sorts and Sects of later Heretics as being not able in all Points for very shame to allow their Opinions which in many Points are most absurd and contradictory both to him and us as also among themselves he findeth himself extremely intangled nor cannot tell which way to wind tho' he be a Fox nor which way to turn his Head but is forced to double hither and thither to go forth and back say and unsay and to cast a hundred shadows of wrangling glosses upon the whole matter thereby to obscure the same to the Eyes and Ears of his Reader 2. And finally it seemeth to me that the difference between us and him and his to wit between Catholics and Protestants in this behalf is not much unlike to that of two Cloth-sellers of London the one a Royal Merchant which layeth open his Wares clearly giveth into your