inflicted on those that denied the Queens Supremacy ann 1559. but the loss of their Goods and such as refused to take the Oath did only lose their Imployments Whereas to refuse the Oath in King Henrys time brought them into a Premunire and to deny the Supremacy was Treason But against this Bill of Queen Elizabeths first Parliament the Bishops made Speeches in the House of Lords the rest of the Bishops opposed it the rather because they had lately declared so high for the Pope that it had been very indecent for them to have revoked so soon pag. 386 387. 2. vol. The Bishop of Chester said in Parliament that the Bill was against both Faith and Charity meaning the Bill for the new Service that Acts of Parliament were no Foundations for a Churches Belief that it was an insolent thing to pretend that all our Fathers lived in Ignorance That the Prophets oftentimes directed the Israelites to enquire of their Fathers Matters of Religion could not be understood by the Laiety Jeroboam made Israel to sin when he set up a new way of Worship Gallie by the Light of Nature knew that a Civil Judge ought not to meddle with matters of Religion In the Service-Book that was then before them there was no Sacrifice for Sin c. and for these reasons says Burnet he could not agree to it But if any thought he spoke this because of his own concern or pitied him for what he might suffer by it he would answer in the words of our Saviour Weep not for me weep for your selves p. 393. After him spake Fecknam Abbot of Westminster he said There had been great Order and Obedience in Queen Marys Reign but now every where great Insolencies were committed by the people with some very indecent Prophanations of the most holy things He recommended to them in St. Austins words the adhering to the Catholique Church the very name Catholique which Heretiques had not the confidence to assume shewed their Authority The Consent of the whole Church in all Ages with the perpetual Succession of Pastors in St. Peters Chair ought to weigh more with them than a few new Preachers who had of late distracted both Gemany and England Burnet pag. 393. 2. vol. Then see his Appendix to 2. vol. p. 408. where setting down these words of Nicholas Sanders That the Laws concerning Queen Elisabeths Supremacy passed the House of Lords with great difficulty all the Bishops opposing them Burnet answers It is true all the Bishops did oppose them c. But to all the Changes that were made in King Edwards time they submitted c. Why then were they turned out by King Edward and Protestants substituted in their places Thus Reader it appears by Burnets own Confession that the Reformation was not the Act and Deed of the old Clergy or Convocation of England or the major part thereof but impos'd on the Nation by the Power and Interest of a few persons And so I leave you to think what you please of Mas William Kings Confidence the Preacher of St. Warbroughs affirming as you have heard that Cranmer in all he did had the unanimous Consent and Vote of the major part of the Convocation the universal Submission of the Clergy c. Answ p. 25. A. But supposing he had the major Vote of his side as he had not could that have justified his Reformation B. Not at all for being all made Priests after that Form Accipe Potestatem offerre Sacrificium Deo missasque celebrare tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis c. they had no more Authority to abrogate the Mass than the present Archbishop of Canterbury with the major Vote of the Protestant Bishops to abolish the Common Prayer By their Protestant Orders they cannot do it A So much for his Priesthood You said he was consecrated Bishop in the year 1533. what were the Words of his Consecration B. You may find them in the Roman Pontifical First he was interrogated Vis Traditiones orthodoxorum Patrum Decretales sanctae Apostolicae sedis constitutiones veneranter suscipere docere ac servare R. Volo Vis beato Petro Apostolo cui à Deo data est Potestas ligandi ac solvendi ejúsque Vicario Domino nostro N. Papae suisque Successoribus Romanis Pontificibus fidem subjectionem obedientiam secundum Canonicam Auctoritatem per omnia exhibere R. Volo Credis sanctam catholicam Apostolicam unam esse veram Ecclesiam in qua unum datur verum Baptisam vera peccatorum omnium Remissio R. Credo That is Will you reverently receive teach and keep the Traditions of the orthodox Fathers the Decrees and Constitutions of the holy and Apostolique See He answered I will. Will you shew Fidelity Subjection and Obedience to St. Peter the Apostle and his Successors the Bishops of Rome in all things according to the Canons He answered I will. Do you believe one holy Catholique and Apostolique Church in which there is true Baptism and true Remission of Sins He answered I believe After which the Bishop consecrating authorizes him in these Words viz. Accipe Evangelium vade praedica populo tibi commisso Receive thou the Gospel go and preach to the people committed to thy charge R. Amen A. Why by this Consecration he had no more Authority to preach the Doctrine of 39 Articles than the present Archbishop of Canterbury to preach the Doctrine of the Council of Trent B. No more You see how he obliged himself to pay Fidelity Subjection and Obedience to the Bishops of Rome in all things according to the Canons then in force And reverently to receive teach and keep the Constitutions of the holy and Apostolique See. And upon these terms he receiv'd his Commission to go and preach the Gospel A. The matter is plain All his Changes were unwarrantable and his Reformation but a Castle in the air without a Foundation if you set aside Acts of Parliament B. And besides all this he swore that Oath to the Pope which you have heard page 28. of this Catechism Then what if all the Bishops had consented with him they had but violated their Engagements and Vows as he did being all sent and ordained after that Form. Reader I pray look into the Form and Manner appointed by the Church of England for consecrating of Bishops and Archbishops and there observe how Protestant Bishops do oblige themselves to preach Gods Word according to the Authority committed unto them by the Ordinance of this Realm and no otherwise that is to say according to the Doctrine of Thirty nine Articles Then enquire a little further what Commission had Cranmer or Matthew Parker to impose or preach the said Articles A. Enough of Cranmer What is Burnets Character of those few Bishops that were of his Party B. Those were Latimer Shaxton Barlow who were rather Cloggs than Helps to Cranmer says Burnet Latimers Simplicity and Weakness made him be despised Shaxtons proud and litigious
reason pag. 38. It was not only Cranmers Opinion but the Opinion of most learned men in Europe that her Mothers Marriage with King Henry was null Now whether he understands this matter so well as he thinks shall appear in the second part of this Catechism Good Reader I humbly desire this Favour of thee to set aside Prejudice and Interest for the space of two or three hours whilst thou art reading this Book which are but Pearls upon both thy Eyes that will hinder thy sight Remember that Prayer of the Church of England From Heresie and Schism good Lord deliver us Hadst thou never so many Vertues yet to live and dye in Schism is as much as thy Soul is worth Think upon the difference betwixt Time and Eternity the consideration whereof must oblige thee to slight and despise all those things that concern thee only during this momentary Life in comparison of those things that relate to thy future estate What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own Soul That there is a Schism in the Christian world is but too apparent now you shall find very learned and moderate Protestants acquitting the Church of Rome from erring in the essentials of Religion and very few now a days except rank Fanatiques denying her to be a Christian Church Why then in the name of God should there be a Schism about matters of no vital importance Enquire a little further into matters Read the Mass it self and other Books of Devotion written by Roman Catholiques pray to God to inflame your heart with the fire of Charity and to bestow upon you the Grace of Humility and contempt of your own private Spirit Listen now and then to the inartificial Sermons of Roman Catholique Priests and Fryars and by the Grace of God you shall find Popery another thing than you take it for Remember that Popery appears not with so ridiculous a Face to the eyes of Protestants but the Protestant Principles look as absurdly to the eyes of a Papist The Intention of this Book is to present thee with a Synopsis of the Reformation and that for the most part not my own but Dr. Burnet's Words because the Words of an Author so licensed and commended by the Two Houses of Parliament 1680. cannot doubtless but be obliging to most Protestants This Favour I desire of thee that the Printers Mistakes if any there be may not be imputed to me In short as for Mas William King observe his modest way of writing against Popery and thou shalt find therein a double portion of Dr. Burnets Spirit Farewell A REFORMED CATECHISM OR A PROSPECT OF THE ENGLISH REFORMATION c. THere is no part of History better received says Dr. Burnet than the Account of great Changes and Revolutions of State and Government Of all Changes those in Religion that have been sudden and signal are enquired into with the most searching Curiosity where the Salvation of Souls beeing concerned the better sort are much affected And the Credit Honour and Interest of Parties draw in others who though they care not much for the Religious part yet make a noise about it to serve their ends The Changes that have been made in Religion the last Century have produced such effects every where that it is no wonder if all persons desire to see a clear Account of the several steps in which they advanced of the Councils that directed them and the Motives both religious and political that inclined men of all conditions to concur in them Burnets Preface to his first vol. pag. 1. A. THe Doctor observes very well and therefore I pray you tell us some of those memorable passages that have occur'd to you in reading that History which Protestants say he hath compiled with so much Industry and Integrity B. I shall very willingly comply with your desires provided you will give me leave to do it in my own method A. What method will you observe B. In the first place to entertain you with the Characters of the first Apostles and Evangelists of Reformation under the famous King Henry VIII and his Son Edward VI. and that in the Doctors own words which I remark to this end that it may appear how likely Persons they were to have been sent or raised up by God for the Reformation of the World and Restoration of the ancient Piety In the next place to give you an Account of the Reformation it self which began with King Henry's divorcing of Queen Katherine and Marriage with Ann Bolen with some Observations of my own as I go along A. Take your own Method and since you think it convenient to relate their Characters I would fain know the Doctors Opinion of King Henry himself whom I am told he calls the Postilion of Reformation B. Take it it in his own words viz. I am not to defend him nor to lessen his Faults The vastness and irregularity of his Expence procured many heavy Exactions and twice extorted a publique Discharge of his Debts His proud and impatient Spirit occasioned many cruel proceedings The taking so many Lives only for denying his Supremacy particularly Fisher's and More 's the one being extream old and the other one of the Glories of his Nation for Probity and Learning His extream Severity to all Cardinal Pools Family His cruel using first Cromwell and afterwards the Duke of Norfolk and his Son besides his unexampled proceedings against some of his Wives Preface to his first vol. pag. 7. The Faults of this King being so conspicuous and the Severity of his Proceedings so unjustifiable particularly that heinous Violation of the most sacred Rules of Justice and Government in condemning men without bringing them to make their Answers most of our Writers have separated the concerns of this Church from his Reign and imagining that all he did was founded only on his Revenge upon the Court of Rome for denying his Divorce have taken little care to examine how matters were transacted in his time Preface pag. 6. A. What further account does the Doctor give of him B. He thought the German Princes and Divines should have submitted all things to his Judgment and had such an opinion of his own Learning and was so pufft up with the flattering Praises that he daily heard that he grew impatient of any opposition and thought that his Dictates should pass for Oracles pag. 196. of his first vol. He never hated nor ruined any body by halves pag. 346. and p. 362. I do not deny that he is to be numbred among the ill Princes yet I cannot rank him with the worst He is rather to be reckoned among the great than the good Princes ibid. A. Does the Doctor say nothing in excuse of him B. Yes the Reader may observe Burnet straining all his Wit and Learning to find out Apologies and Excuses for him and the rest of the Reformers If we consider saith he the great things that were done by him we must
and she had such different Interests that they could not both subsist together resolved upon that course which Nature and Self-preservation seemed to dictate to her but finding that the Pope was too well intrenched to be dislodged upon the sudden it was advised by Cromwell made Master of the Rolls upon her Commendation to begin with taking in the Outworks first meaning the lesser Monasteries to the number of about 376. which being gained it would be no hard matter to beat him out of his Trenches p. 262. Those Houses were dissolved by Act of Parliament anno 1535. to the passing whereof the Bishops and Mitred Abbots which made the prevalent part of the House of Peers contributed their Votes and Suffrages as others did whether it were out of Pusillanimity as not daring to appear in behalf of their Brethren or out of a weak hope that the Rapacity of the Queen mark this and her Ministers would proceed no further it is hard to say Heylin page 263. Certain it is says he that by their improvident assenting to the present Grant they made a Rod for their own Backs as the saying is with which they were sufficiently scourged within sew years after though the new Queen observe for whose sake Cromwell had contrived the Plot did not live to see it Ibid. page 263. NOTE She makes Cromwell Master of the Rolls and he to serve her Interest advises the King to suppress the Religious Houses Heylin remarks further When she thought her self most safe and free from Danger she became most obnoxious to the Ruin prepared for her It had pleased God on the eighth of January 1535. to put an end unto the Calamities of the Vertuous but unfortunate Queen Katherine into whose Bed she had succeeded The News whereof she entertained with such Contentment that she caused her self to be Apparrell'd in lighter colours than was agreeable to the season or the sad occasion Whereas if she had rightly understood her own Condition she could not but have known that the long Life of Katherine was to be her best preservative against all Changes page 263. A. I pray let us hear Doctor Burnet's Character of Queen Katherine B. She was a devout and pious Princess and led a severe and mortify'd Life In her Greatness she wrought much with her own Hands and kept her Women well employed about her as appeared when the two Legates came once to speak with her She came out to them with a Skein of Silk about her Neck and told them she had been within at work with her Women She was most passionately devoted to the Interests of the Court of Rome and in a word she is Represented as a most wonderful good Woman But Queen Ann did not carry her Death so decently for she expressed too much Joy at it both in her Carriage and Dress Burnet page 192. 1 Vol. When Queen Katherine found her Sickness like to prove Mortal she made one about her write a Letter in her name to the King. In the Title she called him her Dear Lord King and Husband She advised him to look to the Health of his Soul She forgave him all the Troubles he had cast her into and concluded I make this Vow that mine Eyes desire you above all things Ibid. page 192. A. Does he relate nothing further of Queen Katherine B. When her Cause was to be heard before the Legates Anno 1529. the King and she came personally into the Court. When the King and Queen were called on the King answered Here. But the Queen left her Seat and went and kneeled down before him and made a Speech She said ' She was a poor Woman and a Stranger in his Dominions where she could neither expect good Council nor indifferent Judges She had been long his Wife and desired to know wherein she had offended him That she had been his Wife twenty years and more and had born him several Children and had ever studied to please him and protested he had found her a true Maid about which she appealed to his Conscience She said her Lawyers who were his Subjects and assigned by him durst not speak freely for her So she desired to be excused till she heard from Spain ' Then she rose up and made the King a low Reverence and went out of the Court and although they called after her she made no Answer but went away and would never again appear in Court. She being gone the King did publickly declare what a true and obedient Wife she had always been and commended her much for her excellent qualities Burnet page 73. 1 Vol. A. Do you find that Ann Bolen ever repented her Carriage in reference to this good and vertuous Princess B. Not a Syllable of that have I met with in Burnet or Heylin After Queen Ann's Death a Parliament was called to Repeal an Act of a former Parliament concerning the Succession of the Grown to the Issue of the King by her In this Parliament saith the Doctor the Attainder of Queen Ann and her Complices is confirmed In the new Act of Succession she is said to have been inflamed with Pride and Carnal desires of her Body and having confederated her self with her complices to have committed divers Treasons to the danger of the King 's Royal Person for which she had justly suffered Death and is now attainted by Act of Parliament Burnet page 210. 1 Vol. A. I pray of what Church did she dye B. The Doctor says nothing of that the Church of England was not then in being Mass being said at that time in all Churches of the Nation and above ten years after The Church of Romes Authority was then excluded by Act of Parliament and that by her interest So that of what Church she dyed I cannot resolve you unless it were King Henry's Church and that was no Protestant Church the Doctrine of the six Articles being then in request However she dyed 2 Saint if you believe her own words And some think 't is no matter of what Church they Live or Dye provided they be no Papists But King Henry's Church was then scarcely three years old A. Enough of your first Reformer Ann Bolen for whose sake King Henry fell out with the Pope and made a Rupture in the Catholick Church She was not the first nor will be the last Female Incendiary of Mischief and Quarrels in the World. Who was the next Reformer under Henry VIII B. Thomas Cromwell A. What Tokens of an extraordinary Mission does Burnet observe in him B. He was a Man of mean Birth but noble Qualities only he made too much haste to be Great and Rich. He joyned himself in a firm Friendship to Cranmer and did promote the Reformation very vigorously Burnet 1 Vol page 172. The Suppression of the Abbies was wholly laid at his door page 276. He was attainted by Act of Parliament Anno â—540 Wherein it is said expressly that the King having raised Thomas Cromwell from a base degree to
great Dignities and high Truâ—…s yet he had now by a great number of Witnesses persons of Honour found him to be the most corrupt Traitor and Deceiver of the King and the Crown that had ever been known in his whole Reign That he had received several Bribes and for them granted Licenses to carry Mony Corn Horses and other things out of the Kingdom contrary to the King's Proclamations that he being also an Heretick had dispersed many Erroneous Books among the King's Subjects particularly some that were contrary to the belief of the Sacrament and when some had informed him of this and had shewed him these Heresies in Books printed in England he said they were good and that he found no fault in them and said it was as lawful for every Christian Man to be a Minister of the Sacrament as a Priest And whereas the King had constituted him Vice Gerent for the spiritual affairs of the Church he had under the Seal of that Office Licensed many that were suspected of Heresie to Preach over the Kingdom And had both by Word and Writing suggested to several Sheriffs that it was the King's pleasure they should discharge many Prisoners of whom some were indicted others apprehended for Heresie And when many particular Complaints were brought to him of detestable Heresies with the names of the Offenders he not onely defended the Hereticks but severely checkt the Informers And vexed some of them by Imprisonment and otherways And he having entertained many of the King's Subjects about himself whom he had infected with Heresie and imagining he was by force able to defend his Treasons and Heresies on the last of March in the 30th year of the King's Reign in the Parish of St. Peters in London when some of them complained to him of the new Preachers such as Barnes and others he said their Preaching was good and said also among other things that if the King would turn from it yet he would not turn And if the King did turn and all his People with him he would fight in the field in his own Person with his Sword in his Hand against him and all others And then he pulled out his Dagger and held it up and said or else this Dagger thrust Me to the Heart if I would not dye in that quarrel against them all And I trust if I live one year or two it shall not be in the King's power to resist or let it if he would And Swearing a great Oath said I would do so Indeed He had also by Oppression and Bribery made a great Estate to himself and extorted much Money from the King's Subjects and being greatly enriched had treated the Nobility with much Contempt For all which Treasons and Heresies he was attainted to suffer the pains of Death as should please the King and to forfeit all his Estate and Goods to the King's use These are the Words of the Act. Burnet page 278. 279. A. How does the Doctor excuse him B. Most of these things relate to Orders and Directions he had given for which it is very probable he had the King's Warrant And for the matter of Heresie it has appeared how far the King had proceeded towards a Reformation so that what he did that way was most likely done by the King's Orders But the King now falling from these things it was thought they intended to stifle him by such an Attainder that he might not discover the secret Orders or Directions given him for his own justification page 279. NOTE It is very probable it was most likely it was thought is all the Defence which the Doctor makes for him Who having seen all his Papers found it seems none of those Orders or Directions How far the King had proceeded towards a Reformation was then apparent by the Statute of Six Articles made purposely against the insolence of the new Preachers anno 1539. And the King's aversion to Heresie no Man understood better than Cromwell For in his Heart he continued as is confessed by the Doctor addicted to some of the most extravagant Opinions of the Roman Church as Transubstantiation c. so that he was to his Lives end more Papist than Protestant so the Doctor is pleased to express himself Pref. to 1 Vol. A. What Religion did Cromwell dye of B. When he was brought to the Scaffold he acknowledged his Sins against God and his Offences against his Prince who had raised him from a base degree he declared that he dyed in the Catholick Faith not doubting of any Article of Faith or of any Sacrament of the Church he denyed that he had been a Supporter of those who delivered ill Opinions He confessed he had been seduced mark this but now dyed in the Catholick Faith. Burnet page 284. By what he spoke at his Death he lest it much doubted of what Religion he dyed But it is certain he was a Lutheran says Burnet page 285. The term Catholick Faith used by him in his last Speech seemed to make it doubtful but that was then used in England in its true Sence in opposition to the Novelties of the See of Rome page 285. ibid. So that his Profession of the Catholick Faith was strangely perverted says Burnet when some from thence concluded that he dyed in the Communion of the Church of Rome ibid. NOTE He dyed a Lutheran equivocating with the words Catholique Faith he knew Lutheranism was not allowed for Catholique Faith in England King Henry and his Bishops being more Papists than Lutherans He promoted the Reformation vigorously saith the Doctor so that if the truth were known he dyed of Ann Bolens Church and that was a Church yet unborn for in King Henrys time as Burnet observes the English Reformation was rather conceived than brought forth Verily the Reformation seems to me a Riddle from first to last If Cromwell was a Lutheran he was at the same time both Vicar General and Heretique to King Henrys Church as you may find in the Act of Attainder compared with the Statute of Six Articles A. Did he at his Death express any Remorse for destroying the Religious Houses and alienating the Estates of the Church B. Not a word of that I verily believe he thought he did God good Service and perhaps had done himself some Service out of those Estates A What reason have you for that B. It is not unlike says the Doctor that some Presents to the Commissioners or to Cromwell made those Houses outlive this ruin he means some few Houses which K Henry had restor'd to the Monks for I find great trading in Bribes at this time which is not to be wondred at when there was so much to be shared p 224. 1. vol. And the Act of Attainder says that he had by Oppression and Bribery made a great Estate to himself and extorted much Mony from the Kings Subjects and being greatly enriched had treated the Nobility with much Contempt But the Doctor excuses him pag. 279. For
suffering such Contention should arise and ensue in the Realm amongst his Subjects that thereby might spring horrible Rebellions and Uproars like as in some parts of Germany it happened not long ago the Enormity whereof they could not impute to any so much as to the Archbishop of Canterbury p. 641 642. But the King says Fox most entirely loved him and always stood in his defence whosoever spake against him and once said to some Lords of his Council I protest solemnly laying his hand upon his breast by the Faith which I ow to God I take this man my Lord of Canterbury to be of all other a most saithful Subject to us and one to whom We are much beholding p. 643. A. Wherein had he obliged the King B. Doctor Burnet tells you page 127. that in the year 1533. the King seeing of how great importance it was to the designs he was then forming namely his Divorce from Queen Katherine his advancement to the title of Supream Head of the Church and seizure of Abby lands c. to fill the See of Canterbury with a learned prudent and resolute man but finding none in the Episcopal Order that was qualified to his mind these are Burnets words and having observed a native simplicity joyned with much Courage in Dr. Cranmer he designed to raise him to that Dignity and gave him notice of it ibid. A. Pray what did they lay to his Charge in Queen Marys time and what Defence did he make B. In Saint Mary's Church at Oxford on the 12th of March anno 1556. Doctor Brooks Bishop of Glocester charged him as followeth My Lord at this present we are sent by Commission partly from the Popes Holyness partly from the King and Queens most excellent Majesties not to your utter discomfort but to your comfort if you will your self not to judge you but to put you in Remembrance of what you have been Neither come we to Dispute with you but to Examine you in certain matters which being done to make Relation thereof to him that hath power to judge you And first as Charity doth move us I think good to exhort you by the words of Saint John. Remember from whence you are fallen and do your first works You have fallen from the universal Church of Christ from the very true and received Faith of all Christendom and that by open Heresie You have fallen from your promise to God from your Fidelity and Allegiance and that by open Preaching by Marriage and Adultery You have fallen from your Sovereign Prince and Queen by open Treason c. and although it may be conjectured that in all your time ye were not upright in the Honour and Faith of Christ but rather set up of purpose as a fit instrument note this whereby the Church might be spoiled and brought into ruin yet it may appear by many your doings otherwise and I for my part as it behoveth each one of us shall think the best For who was thought to have more Conscience of observing the Order of the Church More earnest in the defence of the real presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar than yee were Then all things prospered with you your Prince favoured you your Candlestick was set up in the highest place of the Church and the light of your Candle was over all the Church But after ye began to fall by Schism and would stoutly uphold the unlawful requests of King Henry VIII then began you to fancy unlawful liberty When yee had exiled a good Conscience when you had forsaken God God forsook you and gave you over to your own will and suffered you to fall into Schism and Heresie and from that to Perjury and from Perjury to Treason and so in conclusion into the full Indignation of our Sovereign Prince which you may think a just punishment of God for your other abominable Opinions But here peradventure you will say to me what Sir my fall is not so great as you make it I have not yet fallen from the Catholick Church for that is not the Catholick Church that the Pope is Head of there is another Church To which I answer you are as sure of that as the Donatists were for they said they had the true Church and that true Christians remained only in Africa where only their Seditious Sect was preached And as you think so thought Novatus that all who did acknowledge the Supremacy of Rome were out of the Church of Christ Saint Cyprian defending Cornelius Bishop of Rome against this Novatus Lib 2. Epist 6. saith Ecclesia una est quae cum sit una intus foris esse non potest So that if Novatus was in the true Church then was not Cornelius who by lawful Succession succeeded Pope Fabian Here Saint Cyprian intends by the whole process to prove and concludeth thereupon that the true Church was only Rome But you will say perhaps that you fell not by Heresie so said the Arrians alledging Scripture for themselves and going about to perswade their Heresie by Scripture So did the Marcions appeal to Scripture to Scripture not truly interpreted but wrested according to their own Fancies And the Church replyeth against them qui estis vos from whence came you What right have you to the Scriptures which are the Churches Inheritance Also yee will deny that yee have fallen by Apostacy and breaking your Vow and so Vigilantius said and would admit none to his Ministry but such as had their Wives bagg'd with Children What then shall we say that Vigilantius fell not that Donatus and Novatus were no Scismaticks because they pretended Scripture in their own Defence then let every Man believe as he lists and quote Scripture for it So that your denyal will not avail you Therefore I tell you remember from whence you are fallen Age paenitentiam prima opera fac If yee remember how many yee have brought by abominable Heresie into the way of Perdition I doubt not but very Conscience would move you as well for them as for your self to return again qui convertere fecerit peccatorem ab errore vitae suae salvam faciet animam suam a Morte operiet multitudinem peccatorum suorum He that shall convert a Sinner from his Wickedness shall save his Soul from Death and shall cover a multitude of Sins So on the contrary it must needs be true he that perverteth a Soul and teacheth him the way of Perdition must needs be Damn'd Berengarius seemed to fear that danger provided for it in his Life time and did not only repent but recant and not so much for himself as for them whom he had infected by his abominable Heresies For as he lay on his Death-bed upon the day of Epiphany he demanded of them that were present is this the day of Epiphany and appearing of our Lord They answered him Yes then said he this day shall the Lord appear to me either to my
comfort or discomfort This Remorse argues that he seared the danger of them whom he had seduced from the Faith of Christ Let this move you even at the last point as your Case is not unlike to Berengarius so let your Repentance be like his unless you will according to the hardness of your Heart treasure up wrath against the day of Wrath. Well what is it then perhaps shame to unsay what you have said may hinder your return But Saint Paul St. Cyprian and St. Austin thought it no shame to repent and agree with the Catholick Church You will say perhaps your Conscience will not suffer you But what Conscience is it that would separate you from all the rest of the Christian World to a liberty which hath no ground in the Holy Scriptures If you judge this liberty to be good then you judge all Christendom to do evil besides your self O what a presumptuous Opinion in this whereupon to forsake the Church of Christ what is your colour or pretence for this the Abuses of the Church as though in your Church there were no Abuses yea that there were And if you forsake the universal Church for Abuses why then do you not forsake your own Church and so be flitting from one to another if you had seen Abuses the way to reform them was not to make a defection from the Catholick Church He is not a good Chirurgion who for a little pain in the Toe would cut off the whole Legg Ye are like Diogenes who upon a time envying the Garments of Plato said Ecce calco fastum Platonis Plato answered Sed majore fastu But some peradventure have animated you to stick to your Tackle bearing you in hand that your Opinion is good and that yee shall dye in a good Quarrel and God will accept your Oblation But hear what Christ faith if thou come unto the Altar to offer thy Oblation and knowest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift and go and be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift This he said to all the World to the end they might understand upon what terms their Offerings should be accepted Remember therefore before you offer up your Offering what not one Brother but many Brothers even all the Church of Rome and Church of England have to say against you I say no more than what the Church hath allowed me to say The Sacrifice that is offered out of the Church is not profitable The Premises therefore considered for God's sake I say Memor esto unde excideris age paenitentiam prima opera fac Cast not your self away Spare your Soul Spare them also whom you have seduced and let not the Blood of Christ be shed for you in vain harden not your Heart submit to the received verity of all Christendom stand not too much in your own conceit think not your self wiser then all Christendom besides leave off your unjust Cavils and believe as the Catholick Church Believes and Teaches you perswade your self that extra ecclesiam non est salus And thus much have I said of Charity if this poor Exhortation of mine may sink into your head and take effect with you then have I said as I would have said otherwise not as I would but as I could for this present Fox page 650 651. The Bishop of Glocester having ended his Speech Doctor Martyn takes Cranmer in hand viz. These two Princes meaning Philip and Mary finding this noble Realm perverted from the unity of the Catholick Church and perceiving also that you do persist in your detestable Errors have made their humble Request unto the Popes Holiness Paulus IV. as Supream head of the Church under Christ declaring to him that whereas you Archbishop of Canterbury and Metropolitan of England at your Consecration took two solemn Oaths for your due Obedience to the See of Rome to become a true Pastor of the Flock yet contrary to your Oath and Allegiance instead of unity have sowed discord instead of Chastity Marriage and Adultery instead of Obedience Contention and instead of Faith ye have been the Author of all Mischief The Popes Holyness considering their Request and Petition hath granted to them that Process should issue against you And whereas in this late time yee have excluded both Charity and Justice yet hath his Holyness decreed that yee shall have both Charity and Justice shewed unto you Also the King and Queens Majesty have appointed us Doctor Story and Me their Attorneys Wherefore I here offer my self as Proctor in the Kings Majesties behalf I exhibite certain Articles containing manifest Adultery and Perjury Also Books of Heresie made partly by him partly set forth by his Authority and here I produce him as party principal to Answer to your good Lordship A. Before you go further I desire to understand upon what account they laid Treason to his Charge B. In his Tryal set down at large by Fox you shall find him Answering or rather evading all the other particulars of Heresie Incontinency Perjury but scarce a word of defence as to the matter of Treason A. What should be the reason of that B. You must know that Edward VI. dying in the year 1553. all his Privy Council the chief of the Nobility the Mayor and City of London these are Foxes words almost all the Judges and chief Lawyers of the Realm Justice Hales only excepted Cranmer and Ridly Bishop of London conspired to advance the Lady Jane Grey and exclude their lawful Sovereign the Princess Mary eldest Daughter to King Henry VIII Their grand pretence being that otherwise the Protestant Religion could not stand and having Proclaim'd Lady Jane the Lords of the Council writ a Letter to the Princess Mary dated July 9th 1553. a Copy whereof you may see in Fox 3 Vol. Cranmer Subscribing the first Man. The Letter begins thus Madam We have received your Letter the 9th of this instant declaring your supposed Title to the Imperial Crown of this Realm For Answer whereof this is to advertise you that forasmuch as our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane is after the Death of our Sovereign Lord Edward VI. a Prince of most noble Memory invested and possessed with the just and right Title in the Imperial Crown of this Realm you surcease by any pretence to vex and molest any of our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane her Subjects c. A. How does Burnet Apologize for this B. Nothing at all for this Letter which is too palpable and too unfortunate to admit of any colour He confesses the Archbishop of Canterbury was the first Man that Subscrib'd it A. But I have heard that he refused to set his hand King Edward being yet alive to certain Articles for Disinheriting the Daughters of Henry VIII after they were signed by all the Privy-Council all the Judges and chief Lawyers except Justice Hales B. Take the account of it thus fairly out of Burnet Dudly Duke of Northumberland
there hath been these Orders of Ministers in Christs Church Bishops Priests and Deacons which Offices were evermore had in such reverent estimation that no man by his own private Authority might presume to execute any of them except he were first called c. And Bishop Bramhall affirms with great assurance Among all the Eastern Southern and Northern Christians who make innumerable multitudes there neither is nor ever was one formed Church that wanted Bishops among all the Western Churches and their Colonies there never was one formed Church for 1500 years that wanted Bishops If there be any persons so far possessed with prejudice that they choose rather to follow the private dictates of their own Phrensy than the perpetual and universal practice of the Catholique Church enter not into their Secrets O my Soul. Bishop Bramhall Consecration of Protestant Bishops vindicated p. 431. of his Works printed at Dublin And you know the Church of Englands practice at this day which admits of no Calvinian Ministers into her Clergy without Episcopal Ordination NOTE Thus it appears by an Induction of all the several Denominations of Christians that in Cranmers opinion there could be no such National or Catholique Church extant upon the face of the earth anno 1556. as that which the Church of England defines Article 19th The visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same So that his saying I reverence the Authority of the Catholick Church was but an illusion or vain pretence to avoid the Censure of Heresie his Catholique Church at that time being like Terra incognita in our Maps not as yet found out What tolerable excuse Good Reader canst thou invent for this Reformer have Lutherans Papists Calvinists Anabaptists Socinians Greek Church c. all those things that of necessity are requisite to the preaching of Gods pure Word and due Administration of Sacraments according to Christs Ordinance If so then shew me a solid reason if thou canst why a Church of England man should not receive the Sacraments of all or any of these Sects If the Church of Rome have all those things that of necessity are requisite c. how or where shall Cranmer appear at the day of Judgment If she have not then how is she a Member of Christs visible Church as Protestants say she is A corrupt Member perhaps you will call her but if she wants any thing necessary or essential to a Christian Church she is no Member at all If she errs only in matters not Fundamental or non essential as is confessed by very learned Protestants she is secure still but thou art not secured from Schism If she holds all things necessary to Salvation and no Error that destroys the Christian Faith she may be saved and what more wouldst thou have But whether she does or does not hold any Errors destructive of Salvation I pray who shall be Judge Answer that short Question if thou wouldst say any thing to the purpose What Authority had Cranmer to call the Pope Antichrist more than the Pope had to pronounce him an Heretick He swore Obedience to the Pope which the Pope never did to him He divorced Queen Katherine styling himself Legatus a Latere as you may find in Burnet A. But he appealed to a General Council what did he mean by that B. Nothing but to divert the proceedings of the Court for he valued the Authority of General Councils as little as he did that of the Catholick Church A. Pray make that out B. Burnet acquaints you page 176. 1 Vol. He viz. Cranmer said some General Councils had been rejected by others and it was a tender point how much ought to be deferred to a Council And as all God's Promises to the people of Israel had this Condition implyed within them if they kept his Commandments so he thought the Promises to the Christian Church had this Condition in them if they kept the Faith Therefore says Burnet he had much doubting in himself as to General Councils and he thought that only the Word of God was the Rule of Faith which ought to take place in all Controversies of Religion This be said in the year 1534. NOTE The word of God admits of various Interpretations the Question is Who shall determine which is the true Interpretation a General Council or Cranmer 's private Spirit in Opposition to that Council But his Opinion of General Councils appears further from the XXI Article of the Church of England viz. General Councils when they are gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of men whereof all be not governed by the Spirit and Word of God they may err and sometime have erred in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things Ordained by them as necessary unto Salvation have neither strength nor Authority unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture NOTE But who shall take upon him to judge of the Decrees of General Councils whether they be Consonant to Scripture or not shall any single Person Or any particular Church Where is the Modesty of that Shall any inferiour Authority take upon it self to contradict or reverse the Decrees of a Superiour If so then why may not any single Minister or Bishop of the Reformed Church protest against the Judgment of a Protestant Convocation If he may not do it without Censure how shall the Church of England being but a particular Church take upon her self to damn and contradict the Faith of all the rest of the Christian World A. Shew me where she assumes any such Authority B. Read her XIX Article viz. as the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and manner of Ceremonies but also in matters of Faith. Then see the third part of her Homily against peril of Idolatry and observe these words So that Laity and Clergy learned and unlearned all Ages Sects and Degrees of Men Women and Children of whole Christendom an horrible and most dreadful thing to think have been at once drowned in abominable Idolatry and that by the space of eight hundred years and more NOTE Here the Doctrine of the Church of England that Christ had no Church upon earth for the space of eight hundred years and more before Cranmer The same Homily teaches further viz. and at the last the learned also were carried away with the publick Error as with a violent stream or flood And at the second Council of Nice the Bishops and Clergy decreed that Images should be worshipped and so by occasion of these stumbling Blocks not only the unlearned and simple but the learned and wise not only the People but the Bishops not the Sheep but also the Shepherds themselves who should have been Guides in the right way
Pseudo-Apostoli false Apostles But how shall we know them Christ teaches us saying ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos by their fruits ye shall know them Why what be their fruits St. Paul declareth Post carnem in concupiscentia immunditie ambulant Potestates contemnunt c. they walk after the flesh in concupiscence and uncleanness they contemn Dominions Again in diebus novissimis erunt periculosa tempora erunt seipsos amantes cupidi elati immorigeri Parentibus Proditores c. in the later days there shall be perilous times men lovers of themselves covetous proud disobedient to Parents Treason-workers c. Whether these be not the Fruits of your Gospel I refer me unto this worshipful Audience whether the said Gospel began not with Perjury proceeded with Adultery was maintained with Heresie and ended in Conspiracy Now Sir two points more I marked in your raging discourse that you made here the one against the holy Sacrament the other against the Popes Jurisdiction and Authority of the See Apostolique Touching the first you say you have Gods Word yea and all the Doctors I would here ask but one Question of you whether Gods Word be contrary to it self and whether the Doctors teach Doctrine contrary to themselves for you Master Cranmer have taught concerning this high Sacrament of the Altar three contrary Doctrines and for every one ye pretended Verbum Domini Cranmer Nay I taught but two contrary Doctrines in the same Martyn What Doctrine taught you when you condemned Lambert the Sacramentary in the Kings presence at Whitehall Cranm. I maintained then the Papists Doctrine Martyn That is to say the Catholique and Universal Doctrine of Christs Church And how when K. Henry died did you not translate Justus Jonas's Book Cranm. I did so Martyn There you defended another Doctrine touching the Sacrament by the same token that you sent to Lynne your Printer that whereas in the first Print there was an Affirmative that is to say Christs Body really in the Sacrament you sent then to your Printer to put in a not wherby it came miraculously to pass that Christs Body was clean conveyed out of the Sacrament Cranm. I remember there were two Printers of my said Book but whether the same not was put in I cannot tell Martyn Then from a Lutheran ye became a Zwinglian which is the vilest Heresie of all concerning the high Mystery of the Sacrament and for the same Heresie you did help to burn Lambert the Sacramentary which you now call the Catholique Faith and Gods Word Cranm. I grant that then I believed otherwise than I do now and so I did until my Lord of London Dr. Ridley did confer with me and by sundry Persuasions and Authorities of Doctors drew me quite from my Opinion Martyn Now Sir as touching the last part of your Oration you denied the Popes Holiness was Supream Head of the Church of Christ Cranm. I did so Mart. Who say you then is Supream Head Cranm. Christ Mart. But whom hath Christ left here on Earth his Vicar and Head of his Church Cranm. No body Mart. Ah why told you not King Henry this when you made him Supream Head and now no body is This is Treason against his own Person as you then made him Cranm. I mean not but that every King in his own Realm and Dominion is Supream Head and so was he Supream Head of the Church of Christ Reader Observe here how he makes the Catholique Church an Hydra of many Heads instead of that one holy Society which he pretended to believe in the two Creeds Martyn Is this always true and was it ever so in Christ's Church Cranm. It was so Martyn Then what say you to Nero was he Head of Christs Church Cranm. Nero was Peters Head. Martyn I ask whether Nero was Head of the Church or no If he were not it is false that you said before that all Princes be and ever were Heads of the Church within their Realms Cranm. Nay it is true for Nero was Head of the Church that is in respect of the temporal Bodies of Men of whom the Church consisteth for so he beheaded Peter and the Apostles And the Turk too is Head of the Church in Turky Martyn Then he that beheaded the Heads of the Church and crucified the Apostles was Head of Christs Church and he that was never Member of the Church is Head of the Church by your new-found understanding of Gods Word Fox pag. 655 656 3. vol. NOTE If the Turk be Head of the Church under Christ he must be so in all Spiritual things or causes as well as temporal according to the Oath of Supremacy contrived by Cromwell and Cranmer and at this day sworn by Protestants A. What is Foxes opinion of this Dialogue B. It is not to be supposed otherwise but much other matter passed in this Communication between them especially on the Archbishops behalf whose Answers I do not think to be so slender nor altogether in the same form of words framed if the truth as it was might be known But so it pleased the Notary thereof being too partially addicted to his Mother See of Rome in favour of his Faction to diminish and drive down the other side either in not shewing all or in reporting the thing otherwise than it was as the common Guise is of most Writers and of Fox himself to what side their Affection most weigheth their Oration commonly inclineth Fox p. 657. 3. vol. A. It seems then Fox likes not these Answers given by Cranmer and therefore suspects the Pen-man or Notary of partiality in reporting the same B. But I believe it a true Report for two reasons first the cause would admit of no satisfactory answers 2. Let the Reader see the Contents of Cranmers Appeal set down by Fox and there observe these words viz. And when I refused the Bp. of Glocester to be my Judge for most just causes which I then declared he nevertheless went on still and made Process against me contrary to the Rules of Appealing which say A Judge that is refused ought not to proceed in the cause c. And with this my Protestation made and admitted I made answer but mine Answer was sudden and unprovided note this and therefore I desired to have a Copy of mine Answers that I might put to take away change and amend them and this was also permitted me nevertheless contrary to his promise made unto me no respect had to my Protestation nor license given to amend mine Answer the said reverend Father Bishop of Glocester as I hear commanded mine Answers to be enacted contrary to the equity of the Law in which thing again I feel my self much grieved Fox p 664. NOTE Here he excuses the weakness of his own Answers by saying they were sudden and unprovided But let the Reader imagine what better Answers in brief could be returned to the Questions of Dr. Martin Cranmer having sworn that the King was Supream
Humour drew hatred on him Barlow was not very discreet Burnet pag. 255. 1. vol. And then it follows Many of the Preachers whom they cherished meaning the new Preachers whether out of an unbridled forwardness of Temper or true Zeal that would not be managed and governed by politick and prudent measures note this were flying at many things not yet abolished See the rest Burnet ibid. This was in the year 1538. A. Give me leave to ask you one Question B. What 's that A. What is your meaning by all this History of Cranmer and his Associates B. Nothing but to shew the unwarrantableness of all the Changes they made in Religion having neither extraordinary nor ordinary Mission to recommend them nor yet the major Vote of the Convocation Ordinary Mission they had none but what you have heard out of the Roman Pontifical Extraordinary things they never pretended to besides what I have told you out of Burnet and Fox Now Reader remember that wonderful Answer of Mas William Kings page 18. viz. Although therefore the first Reformers had their Orders from Bishops in Communion with the Church of Rome Yet it was as Christian Bishops they ordained and as English Bishops that they admitted the first Reformers to their Charges But suppose they the first Reformers had no other Orders but what they received from the Bishop of Rome himself all that can be concluded from thence is that we are obliged to own that the Orders of Priest and Bishop given by Roman Catholicks are valid and capacitate a Man to perform all the Duties belonging to those Offices in a Christian Church which we readily acknowledge observe that and charge the Popish Priests and Bishops not with want of Orders but with abusing the Orders they have to ill intents and purposes by whose Authority do you pass this Censure The Roman Catholick Bishops do not confer Orders as Roman but as Christian Bishops their Orders are Christian Orders Mark Reader what he says Roman Catholick Bishops are Christian Bishops and their Orders Christian Orders why then did the first Reformers so notoriously transgress them And those we hold sufficient to all intents and purposes of the Reformation and must do so till Mr. Manby or some body else prove them insufficient In short a Man is ordained neither a Protestant nor a Papist but a Christian Bishop his Mission is a Christian Mission page 19. Now Roman Catholicks will be apt to ask what needs any more to recommend their Doctrine then Christian Bishops and a Christian Mission Mr. King allows their Mission and denyes their Doctrine They deny both his Mission and his Doctrine When Doctrines are disputed and Scriptures alledged by both Parties how shall a Church prove the verity of her Doctrine but by the certainty of her Mission Did not our blessed Saviour answer that question of the Jews by what Authority doest thou these thing by appealing to the Evidence of his Mission The works that I do testifie of me that I am sent from God A. But Mr. King's meaning is this that Roman Catholicks have exceeded their Commission by teaching false Doctrine B. But I would fain know of him who shall be Judge of that he knows very well that 's as easily deny'd as 't is affirm'd And I appeal to the indifferent Reader which of the two Parties have been the greatest Transgressors of those Orders now mentioned A. But don't you observe one admirable passage in him B. What is that A. Why that Mr. M. proceeds on an ignorant supposition that every Man is ordained to preach the Tenets of his Ordainers Whereas the ordained are no more accountable to their Ordainers upon the account of being ordained by them then a Man is accountable to a Lord Chancellor for the use of his power because he set the Seal to his Patent by which he claims his power page 19. B. Very good then if Mr. King were ordained by the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin or of Tuam he is not accountable to them for his Doctrine because the Ordainers are only instruments but his Power is from Christ A. Mark what he says he is not accountable to his Ordainers upon the account of being ordained by them page 19. What can be the meaning of this but that Ministers are not bound to preach the Tenets or Doctrines of those that sent them although Our Saviour himself says my Doctrine is not mine but his that fent me John 7.16 B. I observe he may prove a shew'd Man if he lives and set up for a new Reformer and then justifie it by saying It s an ignorant supposition to think every man is ordained to preach the Tenets of his Ordainers or else must have no Mission The Ordainers being only instruments but the Power from Christ page 19. Reader May not a Man receive Orders from the Church of England and afterwards make a step to New England and there preach against Common Prayer by vertue of this assertion A. But what say you to that scurrility and uncleanliness of Language wherewith he treats Mr. M. from one end of his Answer to the other B. You must Pardon him he had many Reasons for that first to shew a good example to his Flock 2. To prove himself a Gentleman and a well bred Scholar 3. To entertain his Friends with whom that sort of Language may be more taking perhaps then the most modest Expressions 4. To shew his Zeal for the Church and how much better a Dutiful Child may love a good Foster Mother the Church of Ireland then his own natural Mother the Church of Scotland c. A. Let us adjourn this Discourse till to Morrow And Conclude this first Dialogue with Burnet's Character of those two worthy Persons that dyed for the Catholick Religion under Henry VIII Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester On the first of July anno 1535. Sir Thomas More was brought to his Tryal The special matter of his Indictment was that on the 7th of May preceding before Cromwell Bedyll and some others that were pressing him concerning the Kings Supremacy he said he would not meddle with any such matter And was fully resolved to serve God and think upon his Passion and his own passage out of this World. That he had also sent divers Messages by one George Gold to Bishop Fisher to encourage him in his obstinacy and said the Act of Supremacy is like a Sword with two Edges for if a man answer one way it will confound his Soul and if he answer another way it will confound his Body That he had said the same thing on the third of June in the hearing of the Lord Chancellor the Duke of Norfolk and others And that he would not be the occasion of the shortening his own Life This and other particulars which passed betwixt him and Rich the Kings Sollicitor were laid together and judged to amount to a Denyal of the Kings Supremacy Judge Spelman writes that More being on
if we should grant them their Desires But they are the Legacies of those Testators who have given them to the Church for ever under the Penalty of a heavy Curse imposed on all those who shall any way go about to altenate their Property from the Church And besides if we grant the smaller Abbies to the King what should we do otherwise than shew him the way how in time it may be lawful for him to demand the greater Wherefore the manner of these Proceedings puts me in mind of a Fable how the Ax that wanted a Handle came upon a time to the Wood making his moan to the great Trees how he wanted a Handle to work withal and for that cause he was constrained to sit idle Wherefore he made it his request unto them that they would grant him one of their smaller Saplings to make him a Handle They mistrusting no guile granted him one of the smaller Trees so becoming a compleat Ax he so fell to work within the same Wood that in process of time there was neither great nor small Tree to be found there And so my Lords if you grant the King these smaller Monasteries you do but make him a Handle whereby at his own Pleasure he may cut down all the Cedars within your Libanus And then you may thank your selves after ye have incurred the heavy Displeasure of Almighty God. His Speech concerning many severe Objections against the whole Clergy anno 1529. My Lords HEre are certain Bills exhibited against the Clergy and Complaints against the Viciousness Idleness Rapacity and Cruelty of Bishops Abbots Priests and their Officials but my Lords are all vicious all idle all ravenous and cruel Priests or Bishops Are there not Laws already provided against such is there any abuse that cannot be rectified or can there be such a Reformation that there shall be no Abuses are there not Clergymen to rectifie the Abuses of the Clergy or shall men find fault with other mens manners whilst they forget their own or punish where they have no Athority to correct If we be not executive in our Laws let each man suffer for his Delinquency Or if we have not Power aid us with your Assistunce and we shall give you thanks But my Lords I hear there is a Motion made that the smaller Monasteries should be taken into the Kings hands which makes me apprehend it is not so much the good as the Goods of the Church that are aim'd at Truly my Lords how this may sound in your ears I cannot tell but to me it appears no otherwise than as if our Mother the Church were now to be brought into Servility and by little and little to be banished out of those dwelling places which the Piety Liberality of our Ancestors have conferred upon her Otherwise to what end are those portentous and curious Petitions of the Commons To no other intent and purpose than to bring the Clergy into contempt with the Laiety that they may seize their Patrimony But my Lords beware of Your Selves and of Your Countrey Beware of Your Mother the Catholick Church The People are addicted unto Novelties And Lutheranism spreads it self amongst us Remember Germany and Bohemia what Miseries are befallen them already and let our Neighbours Houses that are now on Fire teach us to beware of our own Disasters My Lords I will tell you plainly what I think that except ye resist manfully by your Authorities this violent Stream of Mischiefs offered by the Commons you shall see all respect first withdrawn from the Clergy and secondly from Your * * This Prophecy was fulfilled anno 1649. when the House of Lords was voted useless and dangerous by the Commons Selves But if you search into the true causes of all these Mischiefs that Reign amongst them you shall find that they all arise through want of Faith. His Speech to the Lords concerning the Kings Supremacy My Lords IT is true we are all under the King's Lash and stand in need of the King 's good Favour and Clemency Yet this argues not that we must therefore do that which will render us both ridiculous and contemptible to all the Christian World and hissed out from the Society of Gods Holy Catholick Church What good will it do us to keep the Possession of our Houses Cloysters and Convents and to lose the Society of the Christian World To preserve our Goods and lose our Consciences Therefore My Lords I pray let us consider what we are doing and what it is we are to Grant with the Dangers and Inconveniences that will ensue thereupon Or whether it lyes in Our power to grant what the King requires at our hands Whether the King be an apt person to receive this Power that so we may go groundedly to work and not like Men that had lost all Honesty and Wit together with their Worldly Fortune As concerning the first point viz. What the Supremacy of the Church is which we are to give unto the King. It is to exercise the Spiritual Goverment of the Church in Chief which according to all that ever I have learned both in the Gospel and through the whole course of Divinity mainly consists in these two points First In Binding and Absolving Sinners according to that which our Saviour said unto Saint Peter when he ordained him Head of his Church viz. To thee will I give the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven Now My Lords can we say unto the King Tibi to thee will we give the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven If ye say I where is your Warrant If you say No then you have answered your Selves that you cannot put such Keys into his hands Secondly The Supream Government of the Church consists in feeding Christ's Sheep and Lambs according to that when our Saviour performed his promise to Saint Peter of making him universal Shepherd by such unlimited Jurisdiction feed my Lambs and not only so but feed those that are the feeders of those Lambs feed my Sheep Now my Lords can any of us say unto the King pasce Oves God hath given unto his Church some to be Apostles some Evangelists some Pastors some Doctors for the Edifying of the Body of Christ So that you must make the King one of these before you can make him Head of the Church He must be such a Head as may edifie the Members of Christ's Body and it is not the sew Ministers of an Island that must constitute a Head over the Universe or at least by such example we must allow as many Heads over the Vniverse as there are Sovereign Powers within Christ's Dominion Every Member must have a Head. Attendite vobis was not said to King's but Bishops 2. Let us consider the Inconveniencies that will arise upon this Grant We cannot grant this unto the King but we must renounce our Unity with the See of Rome And if there were no further matter in it then a renouncing of Clement VII now Pope
cometh hurt to all men for it wearieth the stedfast troubleth the doubtful and ensnareth the weak and simple yet because he saith he is not bound to answer your Lordship sitting for the Popes Holyness because of a Premunire and the Word of God as he pretends I think good somewhat to say that all men may see how he runneth out of his race of Reason into the rage of common Talk. And as the King and Queens Majesty will be glad to hear of your most charitable dealing with him so will they be weary to hear the blundering of this stubborn Heretick And where he alledgeth Divinity minling fas nefásque together he should not have been heard For shall it be sufficient for him to alledge the Judge is not competent and shall we dispute contra cum qui negat principia Although there be here a great company of learned men that know it unmeet so to do yet have I here a plain Canon whereby he is convicted ipso facto The Canon is this Sit ergo ruinae suae dolore prostratus quisquis Apostolicis voluerit contraire Decretis nec locum deinceps habeat inter Sacerdotes sed exors à sancto fiat Ministerio c. He hath alledged many matters against the Popes Supremacy but maliciously Ye say that the King in his Realm is Supream Head of the Church Well Sir you will grant me that there was a perfect Catholique Church before any King was Christened Then if it were a perfect Church it must needs have a Head which must needs be before any King was member thereof For you know Constantinus the Emperor was the first Christian King that ever was and although you are bound as St. Paul saith to obey your Rulers and Kings have Rule over the People yet doth it not follow that they have Cure of Souls For à fortiori the Head may do what the Minister cannot do but the Priest may consecrate and the King cannot therefore the King is not Head of the Church And where the Apostles do call upon men to obey their Princes cui Tributum Tributum cui Vectigal Vectigal the Exhortation extendeth only to Temporal matters they perceiving that men were bent to Liberty and Disobedience were enforced to exhort them to Obedience and Payment of their Tribute And again where you say that the Bishop of Rome maketh Laws contrary to the Laws of the Realm that is not true for this is a maxim in the Law Quod in particulari excipitur non facit universale falsum And as touching that monstrous talk of your Conscience that is no Conscience that ye profess it is but privata Scientia and Secta As yet you have not proved for all your glorious Babble that by Gods Laws ye ought not to answer the Popes Holiness The Canons which be received in all Christendom compel you to answer And although this Realm of late time through such Schismatiques as you were hath exiled and banished the Canons yet that cannot make for you for you know your self that pars in totum nihil statuere potest Wherefore this Island being indeed but a member of the whole Church could not determine against the whole And the same Laws that were put away by Parliament are now received again by a Parliament having as full Authority now as they had then And these Laws will now that ye answer to the Popes Holiness Therefore by the Laws of this Realm ye are bound to answer him This was materially replied to Cranmers words that he would never consent that the Bishop of Rome should have any Jurisdiction in England Wherefore my good Lord all that this Thomas Cranmer I cannot otherwise term him confidering his Disobedience hath brought for his Defence shall nothing prevail with you Require him therefore to answer directly to your good Lordship command him to set aside his Trifles and to be obedient to the Laws and Ordinances of this Realm take witness here of his stubborn Contempt against the King and Queens Majesties and compel him to answer directly to such Articles as we shall here exhibit against him and in refusal your good Lordship is to excommunicate him Thus Dr. Story Fox page 654 655. NOTE Here his Fidelity to the Laws so long as they serve his turn the King Queen Parliament and Laws were then Popish He was for the Laws made by himself and the Duke of Somerset under the Childhood of Edward 6. A. Did he answer nothing further to the Charge of Heresie B. Nothing but this He pulled an Appeal out of his left Sleeve says Fox which he dellvered to the Court saying I appeal to the next General Council And further I intend to speak nothing against one holy Catholique and Apostolical Church or the Authority thereof the which Authority I have in great Reverence and whom my mind is in all things to obey pag. 663. 3 vol. The very words of his Appeal A. What did he mean by one holy Catholique Church B. His Definition of it you may find in the Thirty nine Articles of the Church of England which Articles were framed as Burnet thinks by him and Ridley and first published anno 1551. p. 166. 2. vol. The visible Church of Christ saith the 19th Article is a Congregation of faithful men in the which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly ministred aceording to Christs Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same Now in the year 1556. when Cranmer presented this Appeal there could not be in his opinion any such National or Catholique Church visible on the face of the Earth A. I pray make that appear B. By an Induction of all the Churches in the world that then professed themselves Christians as the Roman the Eastern the Church of England the Lutherans Calvinists Anabaptists c. the Roman in his opinion was but the Synagogue of Antichrist The Greek Church consented with the Roman in most of the Doctrines controverted betwixt Papists and Protestants as the Sacrifice of the Mass Adoration of the Eucharist Veneration of Images Invocation of Saints Prayer for the Dead c. and do consent at this day The Church of England was then newly reconciled to Rome and Catholique Bishops restor'd to their own Sees by Act of Parliament The Lutherans did then and at this day adore a corporal presence in the Sacrament and therefore cannot be said in his opinion to have the pure Word of God preached and the Sacraments duely administred according to Christs Ordinance The Calvinists had no Orders of Priests and Bishops consequently no Church at all A. How no Church at all for want of Priests and Bishops let that appear I pray you B. Read the Church of Englands Preface to the Form appointed by her for making and consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons and there observe these words viz. It is evident unto all men diligently reading holy Scripture and ancient Authors that from the Apostles time