Harmonie of our confessions is this That subiectes are bounde to be subiect vnto all lawfull Magistrates hye or lowe good or euill and that not onely for angre that is for feare of the punishement whiche the Magistrate maie punishe the Rebellious with but also for conscience sake Whiche woordes of the Apostle for conscience sake we thus vnderstande Magistrates are ministers of God appoincted and ordeined by hym for defence and praise of the good and for iuste punishement and execution of the wicked Therefore he that shall resiste the Magistrate shal bee giltie in conscience of makyng resistance againste God Further also God in his moste holy Lawe of the ten Commaundementes vnder the precept of honoryng our Parentes doeth commaūde vs as to do to other all suche duties whiche for any perticuler respect we owe vnto thē as the Apostle expoundeth it in the same place so chiefly to yeeld vnto Magistrates all dueties belōgyng vnto them emongest whiche subiection and obedience is the principall By whiche commaundment as by all the preceptes of the Morall Lawe of God our conscience standeth bound before hym to giue to Magistrates whiche are the Ministers of his Iustice in punishmentes or rewarders properly cōcernyng this life suche duetie as by the right of their place ministerie and seruice vnder hym doeth appertaine vnto theim Of whiche sorte are subiection obedience loue honor paimentes seruice praiers and suche like declared by the worde of God to belong to their hye and honourable callyng And all suche we affirme Subiectes ought not against their willes and for feare but hartely and chearfully to giue vnto them for conscience sake as knowyng theim to bee appoincted of GOD and for conscience of Gods Commaundement whiche bindeth vs vnto it For God because he is our creatour and reedemer bothe of our soules and bodies hath iuste aucthoritie to giue lawes whiche should binde them bothe and as he hath right to commaund our soules and bodies so is he able to punishe bothe for the breache and transgression of his lawe Therefore worthely Saincte Iames saieth that there is one Lawgiuer who cā saue and destroye that is euerlastyngly and that but one onely For this conscience of the Commaundement of God all the Prophetes and Apostles yea our Sauior hym self was subiecte vnto Magistrates and so taught al men to giue to Cesar that which is his By whose doctrine and example we must willyngly euen for conscience of the ordinaunce and commaundement of God of what callyng soeuer we be that professe the Gospell submit our selues in all humilitie and reuerence vnto them and their lawes whatsoeuer not repugnaunte to the Commaundementes of almightie GOD. We seke not by any maner of pretēce to exēpt our selues from their Courtes and aucthoritie nor from bearing the burden and charges whiche thei lawfully laye vpō all their Subiectes for the necessarie seruice of the Commonwealthe We hold Princes notwithstandyng any censure of the Churche to remaine our lawfull Princes still in the possession and right of their Croune state and dignities as before and the subiectes bounde in conscience of the ordenance and commaundement of God to obeie them as their lawfull Princes yea though thei bee Heathen men and to performe al the good dueties of Subiectes vnto them bothe in their goodes and bodies And this by the grace of GOD is bothe our doctrine and practise well and soundly grounded vpon the holie worde of God contrary to which no churche professing the Gospell no good writer neither Caluine whom he noteth nor any other haue taught or mainteined any doctrine Now let vs compare the doctrine and practise of the pretended Catholikes with ours Their Cleargie howsoeuer as this man goeth about thei would binde heauie burdens like the Pharisies vpon other mennes shoulders yet would thei not touche theim with one of their fingers Thei would in deede haue other men beleue thei ought to haue a conscience not onely of the Lawe of God but of humaine Lawes whiche muste holde onely till the Pope doe discharge theim for then thei teache thei maie depose euen the highest from their places and that by force of Armes But their Cleargie that binde other men thus exempte theim selues from the Courtes of ciuill Magistrates from paiementes and other seruices due vnto them and giue all suche dueties to a forrain Ecclesiastical Court and to the Popes chamber Thei content not theim selues with suche Priuiledges as their lawfull Prince and Countrie shall see cause to bestowe vpon theim but challenge of right and dutie freedome from all Ciuill burdens by vertue of their Cleargie Thei compound with the Popes Chamber for suche thynges as thei paie and in all respectes carrie theim selues as subiectes to the Pope and to none other And thus thei vse the Ciuill Magistrate euen whē thei deale best with them and whiles thei are ministers of their superstition and crueltie But if thei once displease theim a little and that the Pope begin to Thunder and Excommunicate then thei depose kynges and Emperours from their Regall seates and Imperiall thrones thei holde theim no more for lawfull Princes thei absolue and sette free all their Subiectes from their othe and obedience due vnto them thei Excomunicate and curse all suche as shall obeye any their lawes or by any acte yeelde the duetie of a subiect vnto them Finally thei cōmaunde the subiectes to take Armes against suche their Princes and by force and violence to take their Crounes from their heddes and sette them vpon some other And thus as other heretofore haue dealte with the twoo Henries and Frederickes Emperours with Philip le Bell and other the Frenche kynges and with sondrie kinges of this noble lande So also he that of late did sitt and he that now sitteth in the chaire of Pestilence haue dealte with our Soueraigne Ladie and Queene Elizabeth This then being their doctrine and practise and ours so contrarie to it whereby according to the right due vnto Princes from God wee honour and obeye them and thei to the hye offence of God and men dishonor and depose euen at their pleasure How can any man touche vs in any respecte as wantyng duetie in this behalfe or excuse these Catholique Traitors and Heritickes from beeyng giltie of hye Treason against the Croune and dignitie of all lawful Princes as thei are also against the honour of God and his sonne Christ Iesus But this Author chargeth vs that Caluin saieth No law of man can binde the conscience Whereof saith he it must needes followe that the obedience wee yeeld is onely for pollicie and feare For aunswere whereunto I denie the consequent and affirme the first not to proue or inferre the second For the first if bothe Caluin and we saie that there is but one Lawgiuer Saint Iames hath taught it before vs and giueth an euident reason of it whiche is that there is but one who euerlastyngly is able to saue and to destroye For his law onely can binde the soule
the Subiecte from their othe and obedience to their lawfull Prince and filled their Countries with insurrection and rebellions againste them I neede not to vouche many authors for their so notorious actes whiche cannot bee forgotten whiles the famous memorie of the Henries and Frederickes Emperours and also sundrie Kynges bothe in Fraunce and in this noble lande so dishonoured and iniuried by theim shall continue But if all monumentes of tymes past were forgotten this present age doeth furnishe so many examples of their vnfaithful disobedience to Princes both in other partes and here at home as I can want no euidence againste hym in this matter For their continual practises of rebellion their procuryng of Bulles from Roome against her Maiestie their writyng of Libells and infamous bookes to the dishonour of her highnesse renowned Father and many other suche dealynges of theirs maie sufficiently beare witnesse hereof Therefore it is to late now for them to plaie the Hypocrites and pretende to aduaunce the honour and state of Princes whereas their Religion hath so intreated other Princes abroade as hath beene declared and so offended their owne naturall Prince at home as her Maiestie hath beene constrained to make straight lawes for her moste necessarie and iust defence against them They should now cūningly perswade they sought to aduaunce the ciuill authoritie of Princes whereas Kinges and Emperours haue had almost continuall warres with thē to keepe thetr own For through their ambition thei neuer contented themselues with their own place but would affect bothe the swordes seekyng and bearyng the honourable charges of the ciuill estate their Consistories vsurpyng the lawfull iurisdiction of Princes so as the Kynges of this lande haue been constrained to prouide for their authoritie by lawes of Premunire and suche like to bridle their intollerable and ambicious vsurpation Therefore of all other he might best haue left out this Article For it is manifest thei were neuer longer freendes to Princes thē thei might abuse them as their vassalles to bee the Ministers of their wickednesse And so muche for aunswere to this point Of sinnes veniall and mortall and of concupiscence The nineth Article is the differences of sinne and of concupiscences whiche he saith is of no smal importaunce to a Christian cōmonwealth whose ende saieth he is to kepe men within the limites of vertue and honestie All this I graunt with this addition that the duetie of the Magistrate is not onely to regard that the life of his subiectes bee ciuill and honest but also that it be religious and godly Therfore we are taught to praie for theim that wee maie liue vnder theim a peaceable life not onely in all honestie but also in all godlinesse or true worshippe of GOD as the woorde vsed by the Apostle doeth signifie And to the Roma the Magistrate is declared to be the Minister of God for the praise and punishement of those that doe well and ill without restraint Whereby the Apostle sheweth it to be the duetie of the Magistrate to protecte and incourage not onely quiet and ciuill men but also and that chiefly those whiche most endeuour to liue in the feare of God in his true worshipp and obedience Whiche duetie what Magistrate soeuer shall not performe but moste dislike with and discourage the godlie whiche shine as lights afore a wicked generation standeth giltie and aunswerable before God for the abuse of the aucthoritie he hath receiued of GOD especially for this purpose to bee a comfort to suche as moste zealously and sincerely seeke to serue him On the other part for the punishment of euil the Magistrate is boūd to punish transgressors accordyng to the qualitie of their offence not onely Theeues and Murderers and disturbers of the Common peace but also profane Atheistes contemners of all that is holy al Heretickes and obstinate recusantes to serue hym in the holie and publique excercises of true religion stubborne Idolaters whiche what Magistrate soeuer shall not do is guiltie of absoluyng the wicked whiche the Lorde will require at their hands Therefore the king was cōmaunded to take a copie of the whole lawe and not of the second Table onely that he should looke to the execution as well of the firste Table yea and that in the firste place as to the seconde Which we see in the holie Storie to haue beene executed by the zealous noble Kynges of Israell and Iuda commaunding by their authoritie the purgyng of the lande of Idolatrie the settyng vp and restoryng Gods true Religion and seruice and the iust execution of the Priestes of Baall And of Asa it is written that he made a lawe after he had restored the state of Religion that whosoeuer should not seeke the Lorde God of their fathers that is worship him in suche order as by the lawe of Moises was commaunded that he should dye for it Thus muche I haue thought necessarie by the waie to set doune touching this matter vpon occasion of the Magistrates office vnder God restrained by this author to the procuryng of a Ciuill life onely emongest their Subiectes referryng all abuses of the Churche and of the seruice of God to their supreme Pastour as thei call hym Now let vs see the diuerse doctrine of theim and vs touchyng bothe these poinctes Of sinne he saieth thei teache some are mortall and some veniall and we teach that al are mortall I graunt this to be their and our doctrine but the exposition of it and the conclusion he inferreth would bee well obserued If by mortall and veniall sinnes thei vnderstood onely that there is greate difference of sinnes and that some are more greeuous and therefore with greater seueritie to be punished then others some againe are lesse and not to bee punished with like horrible tormentes as the other we were well agreed For this appeareth to bee our doctrine by the confession of our Churches and all our good writers and that agreably to the holy scriptures For so our sauiour teacheth vs that the firste Table whiche is of dueties immediatly respectyng God is the greatest and cheefest commaundement and that the ignoraunt seruaunt is to be beaten but with fewe stripes but he that knoweth and yet doeth not his maisters will is to be beaten with many stripes Likewise of suche people and Cities as shall contemne and refuse the holie doctrine of the Gospell our sauiour saieth it shall bee easier in that daie for Tyre and Sidon for Sodom and Gomorrha then for that Citie Whereby it appeareth that there is a greate difference of sinnes Which we so acknowledge as that we graunt euery pretept to bee greater then other accordyng to the place it hath in the twoo Tables and consequently the transgression of it to bee greater then the breach of any that follow it Yet if the cōparison be made of sinnes in like degree and proportiō offendyng against both as of thought with thought acte with acte and these in their diuers kindes as
haue enough to do to prouide for themselues and their children as many times for all their care they are so little able to do as they leaue a nūber of poore orphanes behynd thē at the charge of the parish Touching thē I graunt it in part to be true that he saith of their hospitality offals buyldings but I deny their single life to haue bin the only cause or any greate cause of it For if they had contented themselues with such conuenient maintenance as had beene fit for their calling notwithstanding their single life they should neuer haue bin able to haue kept the houses he speaketh of haue builded churches with the surplussage of their liuings But this it was that made thē rich they woorshipped him that promised our sauiour Christ vpō like conditiō to giue him al the K. glory of the worlde They were neuer satisfied like the graue but heaped liuing vpon liuing office vppon office and that with the iniury and wrong of all the worlde They impropriated benefices and annexed them to their Abbeyes monasteries other places to their prelacies dignities a thing vtterly vnlawfull For how should it be lawful when the poore parish as he saith giueth the tithe of al they haue to the end they may haue a mā of God amongest them who may teache them the right way to serue and honour God and to saue their soules that this tithe should be taken from them and giuen to an idle cloyster of Friers or other that doe no duetie for it and leaue the poore people spoyled of their goodes and vnfurnished of one that should be their guide to euerlasting life By which prophane couetousnesse they made them selues guiltie not onely of their robbery of the goodes of the people which they enioyed without any iust title but also of the destruction of their soules in taking from them the meanes wherby they might be taught vnto saluation And shall wee then esteeme it a great liberalitie that if anie of the poore parishe had occasion to trauell by them that way to make him drinke or to giue him a meales meate Euen as one that had robbed a man shoulde giue him a pennie when hee mette him in the high way These are the cuppes and dishes for whiche our Sauiour Christ thundereth in the Gospell Yee Scribes Pharisies and Hypocrites you make cleane the outside of the cups and dishes but within they are full of robbery and wrong for indeede those theyr cuppes and dishes so filled were full of spoyle nay of bloud and that of the soules of menne whiche is one of the commodities they occupie as it is in the Reuelation Apoc. 18.3 with like impietie they annexed benefices vnto their Abbeyes and other houses and dignities by Popish dispensations of commendamus non residences Pluralities tot quots other more the like abhominations And not content herewith they had a thousande other cunning shiftes howe to drawe the riches of the people yea the wealth of all the lande into their handes as it well appeared at the putting of them downe in the late raigne of the renowmed K. Henry the eight It was signified to the King in a supplication how those iolly idle beggers as they are called there had robbed all the poore of the lande al the hospitalles and other almes houses and that they had drawn more then the third part of the whole lande into their possession With this manie times the common Wealth founde it selfe agreeued and prouided diuers and sundrie good lawes as of mortmayne mortuaries and sundry others against their couetousnesse because they gathered all to them as if they woulde haue dwelt alone in the lande and yet exempted themselues from the burdēs charges of the Common W. Therefore in this excesse couetousnesse and insatiable spoyle if for pollicy to keepe the more quietly the possession of so greate riches in their handes they spared some meales and offalles to the poore people or buylded Colledges and Abbayes they cannot bee esteemed to haue increased the wealth and riches of the people whom so diuersly they spoyled and impouerished It had beene as it is nowe without comparison more profitable for the common wealth that euery man had enioyed his propriety in suche a portion as the Lord by any good title shall blesse him with by tylling and manuring whereof hee might haue beene able to maynteyne the estate GOD hath called him vnto and not to stande wayting for offalles But this was indeede a politike poynt for theyr owne gayne For heereby they assured theyr estate by such benefits and pleasures and bound men the more to depende vpon them and to fauour their wicked superstition for the gayne sake Nowe if married ministers doe not the like what hinderance is this to the common wealth which hath in a great parte recouered agayne into her owne handes the landes and liuinges whereby that Hospitality was kept and these houses buylded whiche in all good reason must needes bee both more profitable and more honourable for the common wealth For that euery man sitteth at home in his owne house and eateth the fruite of his owne ground and drinketh his owne water is it not a thousand tymes more profitable and more to his iust contentation yea and more honourable then to seeke it els where and to haue it at an other mās doore Further if of that liuing they lawfully inioy the ministers prouide competently for their house childrē Doth not the lawe of God and of all nations allowe them so to doe Yea bynde them to it For he that prouideth not for his house sayeth the Apostle hath denyed the fayth and is woorse then an Infidell As for the pouertie of our ministery whereby hee obiecteth that many times they leaue a number of poore orphanes at the Parishes charges notwithstanding in the ministery a number be sufficiētly prouided Yet is it indeed to be acknowledge that our ministerie in many places is greatly vnprouided contrary to the cōmandemēt of God to the iust cause of feare of his indignation against vs for it if it bee not some way in tyme relieued But this especially ariseth of the spoile which they made by impropriating the liuing of so many particular churches to the maintenance of their cloisters nests of their superstitious corruptions for remedie wherof we are most hūmble cōtinuall suters to god the authority he hath set ouer vs as indeed it must be acknowledged that in all christiā dutie the minister ought to be mainteined For the Lord hath expresly cōmāded both in the law in the gospel that the Preachers of the Gospell should to liue of their holy labours To which duetie oftentimes the people are exhorted encouraged with promise of increase of blessing if they bee carefull that the Leuite which is amōgst thē be not forsaken And surely seeing they leaue as they ought all other trades wherein occupying thēselues they might thorow
God as it is now established amongst vs is a wicked a sinful act yet notwithstanding for feare of punishment they conforme themselues they offend and are guilty though not of sin against the holy ghost Howlet as some late Puritan Seminarist doth affirme yet of sinne great and grieuous not in doing the thing which is lawfull and good but because they do it not well and Christianly that is in faith and true perswasion that such their doing is pleasing to God but contrariwise condemning it in their heart as vnlawfull them selues of hipocrisie so that while they dwell in that perswasion they can do nothing that may be acceptable vnto God Therefore such as are desirous to please him are with prayer to examine this their perswasion by the holy scriptures whereby finding as vndoubtedly they shall in due time whom the Lord will saue that it is not according to god they ought to chaunge their mindes by true repentance and then doing the dueties requyred of them in faith and certaine knowledge of pleasing God in them their doings shal be godly and acceptable in Christ Iesus But if they cōtinew obstinat still yet is not authority to be blamed for compelling them as the noble Kings Asa and Iosia did commaund and compel the people by seueritie of their lawes and punishments to serue the Lord what ignorant and vngodly perswasion so euer they haue to the contrary For this duety God requireth at the Magistrates hand to whom hee hath not committed his sword in vaine and in it selfe it is so necessarie that if this pretence were sufficient cause why men should be respected not onely the Magistrate should become gilty of not doing the duetie which God requireth of them but also no Christian estate or pollicie coulde stand For this would soone bee euery mans answere in case of being enioyned any thing concerning God or men howe holy or iust so euer it were that did dislike him that his cōscience is against it Therefore it can be no cause by the word of God after the procuring of such meanes for their instruction by the Gospell sincerely duely preached vnto thē as our Sauiour Christ hath appointed for the calling of men from their errors to the knowledge of the truth why your H. should forbeare eyther to require so godly a duety of them or to punish the disobediēt as their offence may deserue At their own peril be it if thorow ignorāce or wilfulnes they take darkenes for light and light for darkenes Such commandement punishment for disobedience is not of it selfe hurtfull vnto them but rather greatly profitable both by telling them what they ought to do and by threatning and punishing the obstinat whereby some may be wakened more seriously to examine their conscience so come to yeald obedience vnto God and to the law And thus far haue I dealt with his circumstances Now remayn his two other reasōs which are of substance and weight in deede in this matter if he were able to make them good For the one is a iustification of their cause the other a chalenge of the punishment layd vpon them But first hee blameth her M. iustice as extreeme and keeping no proportiō with the offence wherewith they are charged and secondarily mayntayneth their cause not onely to deserue no such punishment but to be worthy of all fauor First therefore I am to examine what he sayeth agaynst her M. iustice You persecute heauely saith hee vnto your H. and that in such measure as the like hath scarce been mentioned in Christianitie before albeit in some poynts more couertly then some other did This persecution he setteth out after by comparyson of the discipline as hee wryteth of the Catholicke church namely in the time of Queene Mary affirming this persecutiō in all respects far to surmount ouerreach that to be both greater incōparably more greeuous To the same effect he addeth many other like speeches in the end of his epistle which there shal receiue their answere By which complaint a man would thinke that might worthely be thought so if it exceede so far as he affyrmeth that most cruell and bloudie persecution of the true Catholicks and constant Martirs of God in Queen Maries time But of this he geueth occasion to speake more fully hereafter Now to answere his most vniust and slaunderous accusatiō of the iustice done vpon them I deny this to be tru wherw t he would charge the present State which I deny not only because they are no Catholiques and therfore no punishment of them can be properly called persecution but a iust execution of obstinate heretickes but also because that for meere conscience and matter of Religion no such thing is done or hath been done to any man since her M. most peaceable and happy Raigne Hee complayneth of the rackinges and stretching of their ioyntes the renting and dispersing of their bowels the dismembring of the partes of their bodies and maketh many such like greeuous complaints What may be done to such of them as are wilfull and obstinate seducers I leaue to your wisdomes to consider This being true that such are Heretickes seducing and deceiuing in as dangerous matters for men to be abused in as euer did any Heretickes before them which both hath beene often heretofore and may at any time b◠sufficient argumentes and vnanswerable of their part be prooued against thē But yet I say further that notwithstanding that it is so far of that these tragicall complaints should be true that no one of all their Catholickes for cause of his conscience and religion onely being no otherwise an offēder against the lawes hath lost either life or limme since the happie day of her M. coronation vntill this time All which gracious time there hath not beene for recusance nor for being at masse nor yet for saying masse how often soeuer they so offend neither by former Statutes nor those of the last Parliamēt which they most complaine off any further punishment appointed then of los of libertie and goods True it is that her Maiestye by the Sage aduise of youre Honours and of her whole Nobility and Commons hath prouyded by lawe for the punishmēt of such pretended Catholiques as shal be found gilty of any treasonnable practise against her H. estate and person being forced by most vrgent causes and many dangerous attempts of theirs dayly pressing her thereunto For considering first the bloudy resolution of the Councell of Trent the dayly attempts to put it in execution there was great and most worthy cause why your H. should seeke by all godly prouision to preuent their intended mischiefe The secret and detestable decrée of that Tridentine conspiracy against God and against his annointed was to make a League amongst all the Princes whom they had made drunck with the golden cup of their fornicatiō Buch. rerum Scot. lib. 17. to confer their meanes and ioyne all their forces
Hostes is already come out against vs with his armies which we are in no sort able to encounter it were wisedome for vs while it is yet time to sēd out an ambassage of praiers of teares and of true repentance to make our peace and reconciliation with him to restore vs to his gracious and accustomed fauour againe Why shoulde we carry till the firste begotten in euery house bee slaine as it came to passe in the day of the vnrepentance of Egypt or til the Angel of Zennacharib be sent amongest vs and that thousands fall down besides vs at our right hand and at our left Thus I am bold as in the dutie of my calling to god to his church But yet with al humilitie an reuerence as speaking to thē of whō it is writtē You are Gods to stirre vp your godly wisedomes to the remembrance of the duety which at this time the Lord God requireth of vs. Now I returne to my answere againe wherein I haue alreadie shewed the R. fast not only to want commandement promise or exāple in the word of God to approue it but also to be ful of damnable and pharysaicall hypocrisie and pride further briefly proued referring the good Reader that is desirous to be more fully instructed herein to a godly and learned treatise written expresly of this matter in our own language both commandement promise example for the true and right order of fast Wherby it is euident that the one prouoketh vengeance against a superstitious people and the other mercy the blessing of God wherupō dependeth the good estate of euery common wealth to those which are truely humbled Therefore I will proceed now forward to the fift article of his comparison The fift point of sole life The fift is that their doctrine commandeth sole life to all cleargie men and religious people as he speketh meaning priests cloisterers such of the Laitie as were officers amōgst them wherof he noteth a double cōmodity But first for their doctrine I say it is expresly contrary to the woorde of God which doth declare the gifte of continencie to be giuen but to a few therfore not to so very great a number as he speaketh of accoūteth of Priestes Monks Friers Nuns other officers attendant vpon thē Wherupon I conclude this doctrine to be flat contrary to the rule of the apostle who saith for auoyding of fornication let euery man haue his owne wife and euery woman her owne husband And againe If they do not contein let thē marry Nowe let him tell mee what may come of disobeying the commandement of God despising his holy ordenance graciously prouided for remedie of incontinēcie Surely euē that which experiēce hath declared with was such as it is maruel the L. hath not iudged that filthie and whorishe Churche with the iudgement of an adultres many yeres ago But he supposing thē all to haue liued chast contrary to the doctrine of our Sauiour Christ as hath ben daclared sheweth a great commoditie of it in that the multitude of the people by such meanes was greatly diminished But Sal. commended by the holy ghoste for a wise pollitike prince saith the honor of a king is in the multitude of his subiects And common reason doeth sufficientlye teache it that the strength and power of a prince is in the great number of his people as the experience of al ages and stories of al times doth plainely testifie Therfore being so very great a number as he saith and as they were in deede what high point of policie this may be I think few can vnderstand Now of the other part our doctrine is such as we leaue it free to all men according as they shall finde them selues to bee called of God and beste able to serue him and his people in that place they ar appointed vnto either to marry or to abstaine If any man haue that rare gift of continencie while the Lorde continueth that fauour towards him he may vse his blessing Againe they that finde themselues to neede the help of marryiage that they may liue in holines and in honour as the Lorde hath commanded wee teach according to the doctrine of the Apostle that it is a diuelishe doctrine to forbid them marriage and affirme it to bee honorable amongst al men without any exception of degree or calling And surely if this commandement thou shalt not commit adultrie be giuen vnto all men If all bee to possesse by the commandement of God their vessels in honour then they which without marriage cannot liue chaste and holy not onely lawfully may but of necessarie duetie ought to marry In whiche estate to feare the increase of the L. people is to feare the blessing of the Lord. For as a blessing was it promised to Abraham that his seede should bee as the sande of the Sea in multitude and as the Starres of heauen which is oftentimes also noted as a greate fauour bestowed vppon the people of Israel both by Moses and by the Prophets Which being as it is a blessing to the land in any of the people so is it especially to the ministers of the word 1. Tim. 3. if according to their duetie the exhortation of the Apostle they bring vp their children in awe and feare of God free from any iust charge of ryot intemperance with all grace comelinesse and decent honestie who otherwyse are vnworthie to haue charge of the Church and house of God For then the common wealth shall bee happie not onely for that the people thereof are mnny but that they are both many and those both wise and godly And what greater strength can any state or P. inioy then then such a people As for his feare that there shoulde want prouision for them all if it were so no godlinesse nor wisedome coulde cast this inconuenience vpon them rather then others But this feare as it is voide of all reason so is it full of infidelitie and conuicted by the present experience For thorow the blessing of God the abundance of all store is heere so exceeding great notwithstanding both this increase of people nowe so many yeeres against which he disputeth and a greate multitude of godly strangers that our neyghbours also taste of the comfort of it Whereas in the late time of their fastes and sole life notwithstanding al their pollicies of sauing the prouision by their dayes of abstinence and fasting and forbidding the marriage of so great a number of the people yet the land was sore visited with famine And this for answere to his first commoditie The second commodity he presumeth to rise to the common Wealth of the single life of their cleargie is that they are able to keepe hospitalitie to spare the offalles of their liuings as leases copie holdes and suche like and to builde Colledges Churches and other Monumentes of pietie the contrarye inconuenience he sayeth the married life of our ministers bringeth who
who hath authoritie to punishe the soule for breakyng of his lawe But God onely is able to doe this as Sainct Iames here teacheth and our Sauiour Christe in the Gospell Therfore the soule and conscience can haue no other Lawgiuer but God alone Likewise his lawes onely can binde the conscience who can not erre in makyng Lawes which being the peculier honor of God his Lawes onely can binde vs in that respect Whiche if it were otherwise we should be as deepely bounde to keepe studie vnderstand and teach the Canons of the church the Statutes and Lawes of the lande as we are the Lawe of God Whiche if thei did in deede beleeue it is a maruell how euer these men that breake so ordinarily the the lawes of God and of man bothe of the Churche and commonwealth should hope to be saued by their workes and dreame of workes of superogation for the relief of others But though wee acknowledge no other bond of conscience to obserue any humaine Lawes whatsoeuer then the Lawe of the ten Commaundementes doeth laye vpō vs yet doeth it not hereof followe that our conscience is free from keepyng any Lawe of man For wee are bounde by the Lawe of God to yeeld vnto all men suche duetie as belongeth to theim and namely to suche as are in aucthoritie either in the Commonwealth or in the Churche honor loue dutie obedience subiection and suche like Therfore though the lawe of man do not binde our conscience to bee subiecte to princes their lawes yet doe we acknowledge the lawe of God doeth binde vs to all obedience whiche he hath commaunded to be giuen vnto theim For further clearyng of this matter it is to bee vnderstoode that all lawes are either simply good or euill or thei are suche in respect The lawes which are simply good are onely the tenne commaundementes of the morall lawe of God whiche binde the soule and conscience simply to obedience and so straitly without al exception that no circumstance or occasion maie make that lawfull whiche is there forbidden or vnlawfull whiche is there cōmaunded Now humaine lawes and ordinaunces of men whiche commaunde or forbidde the same whiche are commaunded or forbiddē by the lawe of God As thou shalt not murther commit whoredome steale or suche like are also simply good and binde the conscience yet not in any regard of the commaundement of men for suche reason as is before alledged but onely because thei are the same whiche were before commaunded by the liuyng God Of the other parte suche are simply euill Lawes as in commaundyng or forbiddyng are opposite and contrarie to the Lawe of the ten commaundementes And these as touching the keepyng of theim it is so farre of that thei should binde vs that contrariwise we stand bounde by the lawe of God to doe the contrarie There remaineth the seconde kinde of humaine Lawes whiche are not good simply alwaies and to all men but in a generalitie for a time and some good respect beyonde whiche boundes the weakenesse of man can not reache For that whiche is now good for the Commonwealthe maie fall out at an other tyme and in an other respecte whiche peraduenture was not thought of to be hurtful not onely to some perticuler man but euen to the Commonwealthe it self Further though thei be neuer so good for the tyme and neuer so wisely made yet euen for that tyme that thei appeare to bee beste are thei not of the same sorte with the Lawes of GOD and suche as are simplie good in theim selues that thei should binde the conscience For though menne haue sought to make suche Lawes moste agreeable to the generall equitie of the woorde of GOD yet haue thei no assuraunce to haue attained vnto it neither in deede can haue any warraunte that thei haue erred in no circumstaunce belongyng therevnto because of the weaknesse of man bothe in iudgement and in affection but that whiche maie binde the conscience is suche as proceadeth from an other that cannot erre in commaundyng I adde further herevnto that the Ciuill and Ceremoniall Lawe of the Iewes though thei were bothe expressely commaunded of GOD who could not faile in any poincte yet did thei not simplie binde the conscience For in case of antinomie and repugnaunce with the Morall Lawe as our Sauiour argueth by the example of Dauid in eatyng of the presence bread whiche otherwise it had not been lawfull for hym to haue eaten but in case of necessitie for sauing his life commaunded in the Morall Lawe a man was not guiltie of hauyng sinned by suche breakyng of the policie of the Churche And if these lawes notwithstandyng GOD were aucthour of theim who could not erre yet did not simplie binde the conscience muche lesse can those whiche are of men either in the Churche or Commonwealthe Whereby it appeareth wee are bounde to the keepyng of those kinde of Lawes that is to obeye theim with a Ciuill obedience without conscience of synne for any breache of theim whiche is proper to the Lawe of GOD excepte wee breake theim in suche sorte as wee make our selues thereby also guiltie of transgressyng the Lawe of God doyng it with hatred resistaunce contempt or other offence against aucthoritie whiche GOD hym self hath forbidden Which plainlie sheweth our Aduersaries argument that is Excepte wee beleeue the Lawes of men to binde our conscience wee haue nothyng to hinder vs from rebellion to bee rather a slaunderous surmise of his owne then any good consequent of reason For by the grace of GOD wee are staied from suche wicked and vnlawfull attemptes whiche are proper to our pretensed Catholikes whose mouthes are full of obedience and who vtter woordes as it is in the Psalme soft as Butter and smothe as Oile but their hartes are sharpe as twoo edged swordes and their deedes moste full of Rebellion and disobedience by conscience of the Commaundement of GOD who hath expressely forbidden theim But their perpetuall Rebellious practises against Princes dooe plainly shewe that this doctrine was deuised But all stories make mention that thei haue allowed them selues any thing to the dishonor of pinces kynges and Emperors haue been abused by them as their vassalls and seruaūtes and that to as base seruices as to leade the Popes horse and to hold his Stirruppe thei haue not vouchsaufed for a long tyme to admitte theim to their presence but kepte them at their gates Thei haue troden in their neckes and taken of and put on their Crounes with their foote Further thei haue taken vpon theim to depose theim from their Regall seates and Imperiall Thrones and place in theim whom it liked them The soonne hath been stirred vp by theim against his Father and the subiect and seruaunt against his Lorde and maister to take the Empire from him Thei haue made thē after a sorte to sue out their Liuerie as if thei had been his Wardes and forced them to paie full dearely for it ere thei could obtaine it Finallie thei haue freed
both he and al nations shoulde be blessed What discourses would a natural man here make to hinder with himselfe the credite of this promise Howe manye strong bulwarks and fortresses of fleshe and bloud and how many hie and mighty conceites of the naturall man as the Apostle saith were to bee ouerthrowne and beaten downe to the ground that Abram should beleeue this And how much more that by the death of Christ Iesu we should haue life euerlasting so many as beleeue in him by his shame and dishonour glory and praise by his woundse the cure healing of ours by his warres and agonies quietnesse and euerlasting peace Of all the things that God hath commanded this most needeth the mighty hande of God to worke it and maintaine it as in deede of all other it doth giue most glory vnto him But faith being so easy a matter with them they wel shew how little they vnderstande it For our doctrine that by fayth only in Christe al our sinns are forgiuen I acknowledge it to be true and glorifie God who hath wrought in vs by the powerfull work of his grace so to beleeue For this is our peace with him That this doctrine is holy and true it appeareth in that the Apostle hauing confirmed that Abraham was iustified by fayth inferreth vppon it that by the same Dauid pronounceth men to be happy namely because true happines is in hauing our sinnes forgiuen which we attaine vnto by faith in Christ Thus saieth the Apostle Peter to him al the prophets beare witnesse that forgiuenesse of sinnes is giuen to euery one that beleeueth in him Therefore the doctrine is sound and holy which when we teach we declare also in case of repentaunce what the fruites are of this faith whereby in deede we repent namely a sorrow for hauing sinned against God which striketh and woundeth the hart with a grief detestation of the wickednes committed and kindleth in it a loue and desire to doe those thinges which God hath commanded Finally such are the effectes of this fayth in repentaunce which the Apostle noteth to haue beene in those of Corinth 2. Cor. 10. As for auriculer confession which enforceth men of necessitie to confesse their sinnes one by one in the Priestes eare we teache it in deede for no parte of repentaunce because wee haue no commandement promise nor example for it In deede we bynde not men to this rehearsal and discouerie of their sinne vnto the minister which we esteeme to bee but a very tiranny ouer the conscience and exhort them onelye according to the example of Dauid to make their wickednesse knowne vnto God which suffiseth Yet if any bee so tempted as he standeth in need of councel of comfort and shall open his hart to the godly and faithfull minister they are not denied the comfort that may bee giuen them in this respect but vppon discerning of theire true repentaunce The minister is to assure his cōscience in his word of the forgiuenesse of their sinnes declaring the promise of the Gospell which is of grace and pardon to all that doe repent And this is the vse of that which Christe our Sauiour left vnto vs in the power of the keyes in regarde of particuler comfort A degenerate imitation wherof only is in their absolution which hee calleth a Sacrament without al reason For a sacramēt being a seale of the Gospell hath an outward creture applied to assure the promise vnto vs which shoulde haue some resemblaunce to the promise which is sealed by it as we see to be in the water of baptism and in the bread and wyne in the Lordes supper Another part of repentaunce they make to be satisfaction concerning which we teach that if it haue regard to the partie inquired be it eyther any priuate man or the whole congregation offended by so notorious offence then we teache I say that the discipline left vs by our Sauiour Christ doth require it For in such case bindeth that of our Sauiour tell the Church and leaue thy gift at the alter and be firste reconciled to thy brother much more therefore to the brotherhood which is the church and the felowship of all the brethren As for such a satisfaction as he mencioneth here of some temporall punishment in this lyfe to satisfie the iustice of God for sinne wee affirme and that moste truely according to the scripture that whatsoeuer is imagined of such satisfaction is highly derrogatory to the precious death of our Sauiour Christe who onely is the satisfaction for our sins which one point of their doctrine declareth they little vnderstand what the iustice of God and what sinne is that think it may so easely be satisfied for He nameth three satisfactory workes of praier almes affliction of the bodie wherby he saith they satsfy for their sins which are euen the depths of satan in this Rom. saith For what may be more derogatory to the crosse of our sauiour Christ and his sacrifice once offred vpon it for all wherby he hath fully satisfied for the sinnes of al that shall be saued and payed the vttermost farthing of their debt then that a man should take that vpon him which neither man nor Angell were able to beare that is to satisfie for his sinnes To whom it may be truely said which the prophet Ieremie saide to the hipocrite people of his time That is colour thy synnes neuer so well yet how shouldest thou say I haue not defyled me I haue not followed straunge Gods beholde thy way in that valley know what thou hast done Washe thy selfe with Snow water and make thee cleane with sope or the fullers scouring Hearbe yea gylt thy selfe ouer with Goulde And as Iob when hee had another manner of feeling of sinne and of the gilt of man in the sight of God then they seem to haue when they haue done all their satisfactory works and haue sought to washe them selues cleane with al as with snow water the Lord shal take and plunge thē into the ditch hee will tumble them in the myre and filth of the streetes that is discouer them to be most foule and vncleane Let S. Iohn teach suche men Apoc. 3. that tho they thinke they are rich yet that indeed they are naked and beggerly that they may seek to him for fine gold which shall indéede be able to enrich him with true riches that possesseth it and for a sute of apparel that shal indéed couer their shame giue them a comely presence in the sighte of God Prayer is a holy part of the seruice of God whereby we call vpon God according to his comandement in certaine assurance to be hearde of him but that this should be any work which God in iustice should receiue for satisfaction is a wicked fancy of the church of R. and from the beginning vnknowne in the Church of God Almes is a duety which God hath commanded in thankfulnesse of the loue and fauour we
and Massy crosses of siluer gold their Idols of finest mettals most exquisite workmanship the rather to deceiue the people as if they had been aliue Their other ordinarie charges of waxe incense Orgaines the plate and Iewels of their Abbeys Pryories other supersticious houses were of infinite valure and price as I think the court of augmentation might sufficiētly testifie Beside al these the extraordinary charges of appeals folowing sutes at R. the paimentes imposed by most tirannous oppression both of the king nobles al the people of this land to their most iust and gréeuous complaint as appereth by their letters drawn out of this other K. by names of Peter pence Palles collatiōs first fruits a 1000 such crafty and subtle titles most extreeme exactions did so impouerishe the state as both the K. the Nobles and all the people did often and greeuously cōplaine as finding in deed the Court of Rome to be the very leech that suckt the bloud of all the land and could neuer be satisfied Of this we haue sundry statutes testifying the popes proceedings here to haue beene to the defuming of the Kings person the derogatiō and minishing of the Kinges crowne and regalities the destruction of the law and all his realm the appayring confounding of the auncient lawes customs vsages franchises of the Realme Further that by them the nobilitie gentrie were impeached in their Patronages and other rightes The commons and subiectes trauailed in body and impouerished in their goods deuine seruice Hospitallity and Almesse deeds hindered the benefices of holy Church wasted and destroyed the riches and treasure of the Realme carryed away as also the leige Personnes of the Kinges councell with out his assent whereby the Realme was left destitute as well of councell as of substaunce to the destruction of the same Lyke complaint hath beene made in Fraunce also at sundry tymes and namely by Phillip le Bell in that famous act of his which was called Pragmatica sanctio Which paymentes are now greatly encreased Where accounting the Churches of the French tongue in the lowe Countries with them Le cabinet du Roy Des Finances the ordinary reuenue of the cleargie came to about a two hundred Millians of French Crownes Germany and the state of the Empyre helde at Norinberge made complaint of an hundred Greuaunces sent a note of them to the Pope with a request to be eased of suche exactions and practises of impouershing the people as the Pope and his cleargie did continually charge them with and that the people might be left in their auncient and lawfull freedome and libertie by his meanes or else they woulde aduise them selues how to helpe it because they coulde not nor woulde not anye longer beare suche theire intollerable burdens Whereby it may appeare howe contrarye this Romishe doctrine and practise is to all good estates and pollicies In deede in respect of their owne Antichristian kingdome I must needes confesse that for the establishment continuance security wealth and honour of it there coulde nothing haue beene deuised more politique or fit by anye Sathans meanes whose depthes their Popes and Prelates vnderstood then that which was deuised by them For what coulde be fitter for them then this doctrine of the Popes supremacie ouer all of his fulnesse of power of receiuing both the scriptures and their exposition of thē of obeying that hee commāded of not iudging him tho he carried ten thousand to hell of deuout ignorance of iudging heretickes who so euer spake against them of pursuing and persecuting them with fire and swoorde of purgatorie Auriculer confession priuiledges of his Cleargie the Pompe and idlenesse of his Hierarchie and of all their most subtle and Serpentlike contriued false worship The practises of Egipt toyling Israell with all base seruice and villanie and of killing their male children or of the barbarouse tyranny of wasting the West Indies was not nor is not more subtlely and diuelishly deuised to detaine those free Nations in perpetuall bondage and slauerie then their Romishe doctrine and practise was to haue established the kingdome of Antichrist and to haue detained the people of God in euerlasting seruitude and slauerie both of body and soule Thus then we see that for pietie and true religion the doctrin of the Church of Rome that is in effect of the Pope who is steare man of this shippe Concerning their power to make any writinges Canonicall scriptures to make new Articles of Christian fayth to appoynt God to be serued according to their owne deuises and imagination of men of ignoraunce to be the Mother of deuotion of worshipping of Idols and Sauiours of so many sortes Finally of all their false worship is a Pharisaicall leauen to be purged out of all Christian Churches and states the Cup of spirituall fornications that all Kinges and Princes are to take heede of to bee partakers of it that they bee not partakers of their plagues And for Christian honesty of lyfe and duetyes towardes men their doctrine of absolutions of dispensations of satisfactions and of Sanctuaries are for the impunitie or easie discharge of all malefactors so great causes of all abhominations and wickednesse and particulerly their sundry rules and orders of hypocrisie contention and idlenesse their constrayned abstinencie from marryage of all enormityes of vncleanenesse and infinite murders and such like other causes of speciall offences that the waters of Noe did not so high drowne all the olde worlde as those floudes of wickednesse which by such occasions had rysen did ouer flow all such kingdomes and Nations as this doctrine of theirs like a Sea of sinne mighte breake into For other thinges how much a doe haue our Pr. had to prouide by all the wysedome that was possible to be vsed to make lawes and statutes against the daungers that this their religion continually threatned against the state They sought to maintaine their lawfull and most iust authoritie by forbiding appeals from their courtes by premunire other such like seuere and rigorous lawes yet necessarie for the garding of their authoritie from the breaking in of these men whom yet no defence could hold out They sought to maintain the wealth of their people subiects by lawes of mortuaryes other such like necessarie lawes and statutes least these men shoulde draw all the riches of the land vnto them And yet neither coulde the premunire sufficiently represse their proud ambition nor the mortmaine their insatiable couetousnesse So that their wealth intelligence and power considered it appeareth to be the same mighty hand and stretched out arme of God that hath deliuered vs which freed Israell from the slauish subiection of Pharao and of the land of Egipt which being so no maruail the Christian princes whose eyes God hath opened to see the light of the Gospell doe not tollerate theire Religion and the practise of it For besides the impiety of it for which it is simply
thus established as it commeth to passe that one errour giueth occasion of another rose anew question and controuersie of transubstantiation which was maruailously increased by the Canonists schoolemen till at the last to make vp their impiety Innocencius the third made transubstatiatiō the thirtenth article of the créed As for the authors of the sundry peeces of their Masse I referre him to Platina and their owne schoolmen who name the authours of the Sanctus Lutroitus collects other the seueral parts peeces of it By whom he may see that their masse was not brought to the forme it hath now till Gregories time who gaue it in a manner that fashion and forme which it hath at this present He reckoneth here six other pointes and first these three Purgatorie prayer for the deade and intercession of Saintes Whereof it is a maruaile how the third can agrée with the two former For if they be in purgatory and néed our prayers why shoulde we pray for them and seeke for their intercession But for the time of the beginning of those opinions I deny that any of them were vniuersally taught beleeued and practised in the Church of any auncient time I graunt indéed some learned men following their owne peculier opinion wrote of these questions long agoe Yet not so long as the aduersarie would haue vs beleeue But such their particuler iudgement I deny to haue beene the general faith and practise of the Church at such time Of Praier for the dead we read not in the most ancient fathers For the prayers which are mencioned in thē were ouer not for the dead were prayers of thankesgiuing for their faithfull departure not any request for helping of thē Soone after in déed it crept in but Aerius and some other reproouing of it tho the corruption of the time preuailed against them That the dead pray for vs before Origens time no mā taught yet he reporteth it not as the publique fayth of the church But as an opinion of an auncient Master of his of whome he hearde it whose authoritie drew some of the other fathers after into that opinion But of inuocation of Saintes there is no example in Origine Chrisostome Athanasius Tertulianus Austen nor Ierome Nay four hundred seuenty yeares after that a bishop of Affrick was condemned for an heretique amongst other pointes for this that hee maintayned the blessed Virgin was to be prayed vnto as Nic. reporteth Therefore it appeareth that these opinions came not from Christ nor so many hundred yeres after as hath beene declared which is more then we need to shew it being sufficient that they cā not be prooued to be of Christ For purgatory it appereth to haue come from the Egyptians the old Greeke poets of whom Plato receiued it and after Virgill and diuers of the heathen Philosophers and Poets Whereof some after receiuing the faith of Christ began to moue question of that which they had beleeued in Paganisme As Clement of Alexandria did which after Origine and Ierome sought by allegoricall expositions of the scriptures to confirme But Austen examining the seuerall points that Origine and his followers had set downe of Purgatory did plainly and truly confute sundry of the braunches of that opinion and so shaketh the credite of the other as he sheweth they haue no certain foundation in the scripture But this purgatorie of Origine was statly condemned by the fift generall counsel Whereby it appeareth there were many that controled this hethenish fancy For the rest of their doctrine of saluation by works and grace inherent it is the late diuinitie of their schoolemen and vnknown to all antiquitie which in such sense spake not of merite and of grace For the number of Sacraments the auncients vsing the worde not in so straite a sence manye times as we doe now in this question diuersly reckon them but none that keepeth precisely their account to reckon all their seuen for Sacraments and neither more nor lesse Thus thē he may vnderstād for his satisfaction in these pointes and the like might bee shewed in their worshipping of images the Communion in one kinde and of diuerse of the rest that which hee required at what time and by whom they were brought into the church Wherein also hee maye see in sundrye of them who opposed themselues to the proceedings of their Churche Whereof if he desire to see yet more hee may reade that Iltiricas hath written expresly and largely of this argument Who sheweth that sometimes all the Churches of France somtime the Churches of the East sometime the Churches of Asia and in them diuerse reuerende Fathers and famous Clearks as Policarpus Ireneus Austen and sundry others opposed themselues to this misterye of iniquitie then working in the Church of Rome To whose large discourse leauing him for further satisfaction in this matter I proceede nowe to that which remaineth Now to the rest which because in effect it is nothing but a complaint of extream dealing with them which I haue answered before and a request to your Hh. for a mittigation of it which your H wisedomes are to cōsider of I haue not much to answere to it yet briefly I haue thoght good to touche the reasons For which he would perswade their cause to be worthy more fauor which I call God to witnes I doe not here nor in any part of this aunswere of anye malice and hatred to them For I acknowledge them for our Countrymen and brethren in the fleshe and would be glad my life might be giuen for them to bring them to the true knowledge of God in Christ to the saluation of their soules But my purpose herein is faithfullye to discharge some part of my duty to Almighty God and to her excellent Maiestye and your Hh. in maintening to my smal power this most holy honourable quarrell of Gods aganst his enimies therby strēgthning as much as lyeth in mee the right hand of a holy iustice armed of God with a punishing swoord against all euil doers and especially such as euen to the with drawing of their duetifull obedience from their gracious naturall P. giue it to a forrainer obstinately refuse to worship God and followe after Idols and as drawē and seeke to seduce the simple with all their endeuour to fall into the same destruction with them He complayneth of great extremities with tragical speeches as the like rigour had neuer beene heard of in the worlde that they suffer onely as he sayth for their conscience sake But I haue shewed a fore and am agayn to put the gentle Reader in minde that for their Romishe faith no one in all the time of her highnes happy raigne hath been touched at all in his body For Treason in deed whereby they deny their obedience to her highnes and acknowledge themselues subiectes to the Bishop of Rome in many and most waighty cases and for seducing other to like