These thinges being thus determined I wil aske you a question what came into your braines to be so desirous to take al the volumes of the holy Scripture and without anie necessity ye with no smal daÌ„ger of the vnlerned people to coÌ„mit them to euerie iackestraw to expounde did you it to restreyne the pride of such as are base No you haue rather puffed vp their hartes incredibly causing them to coÌ„ceiue a false opinion of wisedome in them selues Was it done to cause a more feruent charitie emongest them No you haue rather forced the weake mindes to fall out within them selues through your diuers yea and contrary expositions of the law of God Was it done to set all thinges in good order No you haue rather ouerthrowen all good and auncieÌ„t order For now euery man is a prophete euerie man is a shepeheard euery maÌ„ is a doctour euerie man will prate in euerie place very vnsemely of matters of diuinitie euery maÌ„ wil babble what him listeth of the highest Mysteries the lowest pointe whereof is farre aboue his capacitie This is by like your prouidence wherby you haue taken quite awaie that silence which was vsed of olde time in the churches that bashfulnes whiche became honest matroues meruelously wel that modesty which kept the simple people verie wel in their dewtie And so it is come to passe that wheras you pretend to folow the wordes of S. Paul you bend your selues ernestly against his meaning What lacked there I praie you in the olde time that was necessarie to keepe honest heartes in a sobre discicipline Were there not lerned Priests the which were able to choose out of the holie mysteries so muche as was needful to saluation and so muche as they might declare vnto the ignorant people without daâ—nger Were there none to supplie the place of the vnlerned man and to answere Amen Was the sownd and wordes of the Latine tongue so straunge that no man vnderstoode it in all your Churches Needed there the authoritie of the Apostle to breake vp that disordered confusion of many tongues together when there was heard in the commoÌ„ praiers of the churches but one kind of speach only and that by long custome verie well knowen and commonly vsed If the vse of one common tongue ioyneth the mindes of men in one then was there nothing more agreable to the rule of Christ then that the seruice of God should be openly saied in one only tongue the which was in all churches of the west part of the world learned in scholes and practised in the dailie affaires and nothing lesse conuenient then that the seruice is now saied in so manie tongues as there are nations emongest whome men without learning without witte without religion take vpon them the office of expounding the holie Scriptures Wherfore neither was our simplicity so vnprofitable as you wise men thought it was neither is your prouident warines so wholesome as your maisters imagined it would haue ben For out of it are risen errours and disorders and a false opiuioÌ„ of wisedome whiche is the greatest madnes in the worlde with manie other discommodities Then you goe forewarde in the declaration of the doctrine of your Church saying We vse at the laying on of handes the celebration of mariage the churching of women after child bearing the visiting of the sicke and the burying of the dead solemne and publike seruice set out according to the truth of the ghospell Al the rest you comprehend verie briefely in one sentence perswading your selfe that it is sufficiently declared that you are not destitute neither of Sacramentes neither of anie other thinges apperteyning to religion You confesse plainely after that that you haue shaken of from you the yoke of the high Bishop or Pope bicause it was heauier then that either you or your fathers could beare it Your fathers and auncetours I know did beare it verie well and with great commeÌ„dation but youâ— graunt were not able to beare it For how had it ben lawful for you to breake violently into the monasteries to disanull the rules of monkes to deflower the holy and chast Virgins to deface like vngodlie and furious men al orders of religion to laie your greedy and violent handes vpon the Churche goods appointed to holie vses to pul â—owne all monumentes of vertue and godlines to ouerthrow the auncient Churche and to botch vp an other at your plesure if this yoke had not ben first taken of from your neckes You bring in a litle after Neither doe we acknowledge anie Bisshop but onlie our Lord Iesus Christe to whom the holy scriptures appoint this peculiar honour O worthie saying full of wonderful godlines and conteyning in it a most euideÌ„t proufe of heauenlie life What shal we doe to these meÌ„ which are so holie so vtterly void of al care of this present life that for the desire and loue of the presence of Christ him selfe they can not abide to see any Vicare of Christ vpoÌ„ the earth But lette vs see a litle This name of Christ doth it import the dignitie and office of a bishop only or elles doth it comprehende also the authoritie and maiestie of a King Surely it can not be denied that by the worde and meaning of Christ in this name of Christ is conteined the power both of a bishop and of a King Whie then doe you acknowledge any other king beside our Lord Iesus Christ Whie are you not so free and earnest to shake of this yoke that remaineth Whie suffer you this freedome of your gospell to be hindered through the power and authoritie of a King Whie doe you not as it hath ben already attempted in other places whiche are infected with the selfe same religioÌ„ bend your selues earnestly to make away the maiestie of a King for as you acknwolege one only high bishop so is it necessarie to obei one only King If you thinke it mete to haue an other king in th' earth as Vicare of that high and almightie king what is the câ—use whie you wold not haue an other bishop as Vicare of that most high and holy bishoppe But you wil say We haue bishops but we wil haue no high bishop Whie then it is not the name of a bishop but of a high bishoppe that offendeth you Wherefore thinke you then that the authoritie of a Kinges power whiche dowbtles is the highest is to be borne in England Are there not magistrates emongest you Is there not a publike counsel Haue you not Princes and Lordes Then take awaie the controuersie of the name and ther are in England a great many as there are also emoÌ„gest vs the which haue the authority of kinges although thei be not called by the name of Kinges Ymaginâ— therfore that they were certaine litle kinges What needed it then being so many kinges emongest you that there shuld be any one high or supreme king to restraine by his authority the other inferiour kings For if you
thinke that this word high mai not be born in the dignitie of a bishop why do you not in like maÌ„ner detest the name of highnes in the Maiestie of a king No say you it was very wisely prouided that al the magistrats and Princes in EnglaÌ„d shuld haue one supreme Prince whom they shuld al reuereÌ„ce and by whose power aÌ„d autority they shuld be al restrained for otherwise it cannot be chosen but that there would be stirred vp muche trouble and discord to the great peril of the whole realme I thinke you say truly And therefore I affirme in like manner that in the Churche whiche ought to be alwaies one it is necessarie that there be one supreme power of a high bishop whose authoritie all other Bishops should reuerence For otherwise it must needes be that there arise much debate and manie pestilent sectes to the great ruine and decaie of the Churche and that the Church be brought therby into verie great daunger For if within the space of fourtie yeares sence a great peece of Germanie and afterwardes England fel from the Bishop of Rome so many sâ—ditions haue risen emongest the Princes of your Religion that they caÌ„ not possibly agree neither with other meÌ„ neither yet within them selues what ende thinke you wil ensew in case al Christendome the which God forbid being thereunto procured and moued by your diligence and vnreasonable meanes should rebel with the like outrage and madnes It remaineth therefore that as in England there is one supreme power whiche comprehendâ—th al other Princes vnderneth it so there be also in the Churche one supreme authoritie the whiche al other inferiour powers must willingly and diligently obeie For otherwise it is not possible that the crewel tempestes risen in the Churche should euer be slaked or the flames of discord quenched or the ciuile warres ended Now for so much as Christ is the authour of peace Whosoeuer wil saie that they wil haue but one only bishop which is our Lord Iesus Christe and by the religious preteÌ„ce of this worde wil open a gap to so manie opinions and to so much pestilent dissensioÌ„ thei are lyers No they doe rather fight against Christ and worshippe Satan the authour of debate and discorde But contrarie wise such as honour and reuerence the bishoppe of Rome as the Vicare of Christ for that respect only bicause he is the lieutenant of Christ in the earth they doe in deede acknowledge only Christ to be the high Priest And yet you saie that by this your rebellion and contempte you doe not cut and maÌ„gle the coate of Christ but only geue a touch at the Bishop of Romes cloke And by and by after you bring in these wordes Neither doe we laie open the waie as you saie to sedition but we doe daÌ„me vp the path the â–ª which goeth downe through his licâ—ntious lead to the great decaie of good manners Of this lead and of your notable reproch I haue spokeÌ„ before with as much modestie as the matter would suffer me But of this your base vile and shamelesse boldnes when you say that you haue not rent and torne the coate of Christ but rather that you haue by this your most wicked rebellion made a goodlie prouision that good manners should not decaie I can not wel tel what to say to you Dare you seing euerie where as you doe that there are so many diuisions of pestileÌ„t sectes with so much debate and discord that there is no certaine faith emoÌ„gest you no agreemeÌ„t in ReligioÌ„ that your confessioÌ„s are changed almost euerie day your beleefes and Creedes corrected that the olde places of doctrine are disanulled and new set vp that manifold sectes ariseth daily and the old Church is diuided in many parts how dare you I say report that this your falling from the Church hath not maÌ„gled the coate of Christe When you see with your eyes that pride arrogancie disobedience stubbernes saucie talke slaunderous report fleshlie pleasure naughtines dishonesty tumult and sedition goeth vp and downe freely and vncoÌ„trolled wheresouer your maisters put their foote with what face dare you say that you haue after this rebellion set the manners of men in good and seemelie ordre The thing it selfe speaketh dailie examples declare neither doe the open assises no neither secret parlars hold their peace But let vs now see howe worshipfully you confute that my discourse as touching the Monarchie of the holie Church You say In the best time of the Church there was one God and one faith That is true But now neither is there one God nor one faith emongest the ministers of your gospel For one offereth vp diuine honour to pleasure an other to madnes some to the bealie and some to railing Luther hath one faith Bucer an other Zwinglius hath one and Caluin an other And yet you say Peter had his Prouince Paule had his and Iames his and other had other Prouinces And yet did not this separation of their persons disioine the vnitie of their saith What conclude you then maie it be gathered by these things that you saye that Peter when he was resident in one Prouince had no preeminence ouer the rest of the Apostles That is not wel coÌ„cluded of these things that you haue spoken For now euery Bisshoppe hath his Prouince and the Bisshop of Rome hath his And yet are we all subiect vnto him by the lawe of God It foloweth In processe of time many of the Bishops of Rome were Martyrs and were sacrificed vnto God by prophane and vngodlie Princes but Crownes had they none vnlesse it were the Crownes of Martyrdome This extraordinarie soueraintie of Popedome they knew not Yes M. Haddon it is wel knowen that the most blessed Princes and soueraignes of the Church of Rome them selues to witte Clement and Euaristus and Lucius and Marcellus and Pius the which atteyned the Croune of Martyrdome with very great glory whom neither ambition nor any other vnlauful desire moued to seke for that supreme honoure do beare witnes against you For their writinges declare plainely that their iudgement was that the soueraintie of the vniuersal Churche was euer in the Church of Rome What should I here reherse Ireneus Augustine and al other holy Fathers What shoulde I here vnfolde the memorie of al the antiquitie Of the new writers reade if it please you Eckius the B. of Rochester Cocleus Pighius and such other most excelleÌ„t men both for vertue and learning and you shall see how ignorant you are in this mater of the supremacie They dispute and contend not with reprochful wordes not with lies not with impudeÌ„cy but with testimonies of the holie Scriptures but with the authorities of the holy Fathers but with examples of the vnspotted antiquitie and they presse their aduersaries and proue them to be not onely wicked felowes but also very mad and frantike meÌ„ But how is it possible that you should vnderstand these thinges What time could
or greuously inuried any of the Kinges subiectes No suche matter But onelie bicause â—e woulde not claw and flatter the â—ing but rather woulde speake his â—inde freelie they chopped of his head before al the people as though he had ben a fellon or traitour But now what saie you to the CarthusiaÌ„s most vertuouse godly and religious Fathers men in pleading at the barre vnacqueinted in the coÌ„mon affaires and practises of the world vnskilful Why were thei so cruellie handled Why were they trussed and hanged vppon gibbets Whie were they dismeÌ„bred and quartered in peaces Whie were they finally burned and coÌ„sumed with fier dowbtlesse bicause they would not with their voice allow and make good a thing that vnto them seemed wicked heinouse and vnworthie to be named What shal I say of the holie bishops whom you haue lodeÌ„ with yroÌ„s fetters and chaines whom you haue shut vp in darke and close prisons whom you haue robbed both of goods and honour Haue you any thing elles to laie to their charge but that they would not geue their asfent to your statutes which semed to them vniust And therfore it is no wonder if other men being with such cruel and horrible punishments put in extreme feare be not ouer bold to declare their mind freelie in open place For where the geuing of voices is not free but forced of men by feare and terrour there reigneth not the couÌ„sel of the whole but the lust and outrage of a few You doe not therefore sufficiently proue that those lawes were made and allowed by the coÌ„mon agreement and consent of al states For it is manifest that they were violently forced and that who so euer did gainesaie them was extremely punished As touching my humble suite vnto the Queene wherein I besought her Maiestie that if I were able by good argumeÌ„t to proue that these authours or brochers of newe fanglednes did most daungerously and perniciously erre it might please her to esteme and hold their doctrine as vngodly and detestable you say that it is a false accusation without strength of argument that it procedeth of stomake and not of loue towardes the trewth that it is grounded vpon a slaunder and not vpoÌ„ reason that it is a reproch and not a disputation laied vpoÌ„ the ground worke of religion â–ª You require of me the verie same thing as I required of your Quene that is to wit that if you were able to shew that I had without good cause found fault with the gouernement of your common weale I should repent me of myne offence First of al I take Christ Iesus to witnes who only knoweth the secrettes of my hart that I wrote those my letters neither for hatred neither for displeasure neither for reproche as you say but for earnest good zeale and loue I beare to the trewth and to the welfare of the whole realme For what haue Inglish men hurt me more then other men What wrong or displeasure haue thei done me Trulie neuer a whit But contrarie wise I haue ben informed by the letters both of Antonius Augustinus Bishop of Ilerda a man for his excelleÌ„t vertues and singular knowledge in the liberal sciences wel deseruing the dignitie of a bishop together with immortal fame who was sometime sent from the bishop of Rome legat vnto Quene Marie as also by the letters of Iohn Metellus a Burgonion a man whom for his courteous and swete conuersation ioyned with rare giftes of learning I loue verie intierly that manie great learned men in England did geaue mâ— a verie honourable report Wherefore there was good cause whie I should rather loue English men then malice or reuile them Neither did I euer thinke to reprooue your common weale but the corrupt lewdnes of a fewe which disquieteth the whole realme And whereas you charge me with curiositie for medling in a straunge common weale I thinke it is no straunge common weale but myne owne For I did not reason of the lawes of your Realme and ciuile ordinaunces but of ChristiaÌ„ religion for the which I am not afraid to loose my life And therefore shal I neuer thinke any thing to be impertinent to me whereby I may mainteine and set foorth the honour of this common weale Consider now M. Haddon how iust your request is This is your demaund If you can conuince and manifestly prooue not that I am in any errour for that were tolerable but that I wrote my epistle for hatred euil wil and reproch you require of me to confesse my fault and to saie that I was ouer rash when I tooke vpon me to control your matters whiche I knew not Can you on the other side prooue whereas I meaÌ„t louingly frindly and religiously that it was done slaunderously enuiously and vntruly But lest you should say I deale to straightly with you this much I promise you faithfully If you be able to proue not that I wrote for any euil intent for that is impossible but that the rearing vp of this your newly framed religion is without all fault and blamelesse I wil repeÌ„t me of my doyng I am not ignorant how daungerous a matter it is to promise thus much to a man of law But bicause I haue a good affiaunce that you shal not be able to circumuent me with any malicious and crafty fetch of the law and my desire is to discharge honest men of slaunderous reportes I promise you thus much of myne honestie if you be able to proue that those felowes be honest godlie and religious men whiche I take to be lewde and wicked verlettes I will neuer speake one word against you You take it in snuffe M. Haddon that I deale so boisteously with your new maisters saing that I doo oftentimes thunder out against them most horrible and fyerie reproches yea so much that mans hart can not deuise any thing more detestable Wherin I perceiue that you can not well discerne what an argument and what a reproch is For I contended not with reprochful woordes but with argumentes such as you can not yet answere Than you saie Where are these monsters of Religion What are thei How long haue they continued Where are those misshapen felowes to be found If you thinke to shift the manifold argumeÌ„tes which I haue vsed with such a glittering shew of wordes you are much deceiued For I loke for reasons and not for a vaine noise of wordes But that that you bring in vpoÌ„ this is a very toy and mockerie Your woords be these Declare the thinges name the persones note the times adde the circuÌ„stances that we may haue some certaintie wherin to staÌ„d with you as also to withstand you I thinke M. Haddon it was longe ere you were set to the Rhetorike schole and that ye were not verie apte to learne it You would be counted a Rhetorician and yet you know not that Rhetorique is a prudencie or discretion in speaking so that what so euer is against discretion is not conuenient
trust no more to fraude deceit and lying For it is like that hauiÌ„g receiued the brightnes of heauenly light ye dispised foorth with al worldly thinges and were inflamed with the desire of heauenlie life yea and that more is of the diuine nature it selfe Who caÌ„ deny if this be so but that so wonderful an alteration of life doth most manifestly declare the verie presence of Christ him selfe But I would faine learne this of you whether you alone in al England doe enioye these so great benefites or whether thei be common to al suche as haue receiued the brightnes of your new gospel If you alone haue the fruitioÌ„ of this light with so great fruict of the heaueÌ„lâ— vertue the glittering of this newe gospel hath brought no great commoditie to your couÌ„trei for it should haue furdered not any one particular maÌ„ but the whole coÌ„mon weale Oh say you euerie one for as the sonne rising driueth awaie the darkenes from the eyes of al men euen so the brightnes of this gospel putteth awaie the myste that was cast ouer all mens heartes Al thinges are now laid open al thinges are come to light Ther are no faultes in the worlde no wicked offences no heinouse crimes no none at al. Ther is great good cause if this tale be true whie we should forsake our owne countrei and come to dwel in EnglaÌ„d that we might be partakers of this your felicitie with you For what could a man desire more of God then alwaies to behold suche a countrei where for the greater part neither coueteousnes norsensualitie nor hatred nor pride nor contention nor rashnes nor any other spot of vncleane life may take place But Sir I praie you What was the let whie you vsed no iustice or godlines before this new sonne beames shone vpon you Horrible superstition you saie for we beleeued that through the vertue of a peece of lead and the mumbling of a few praiers whiche we vnderstoode not al our offences were forgeauen vs what soeuer we had done in this worlde What saie you is it to be thought you were al so mad that you wolde thinke a sinne conceiued in the hart to be forgeauen through the vertue of a peece of lead or by the pronouncing of praiers the mind being otherwise occupied What a great dulnes of witte was that what a straunge folie who had put that errour into your hartes Were there no men emongest you learned in the holie scriptures to teach you that al the hope of saluation consisteth in the grace and mercie of Christ Trulie I hold vp my handes most humbly vnto the immortal God as you pretend to doe yeelding him most hartie thaÌ„kes that it was my chaunce to be borne and brought vp in Spaigne where no man if he be a Christian was euer so foolish as to thinke that there is any other waie to pourge synne but only by the grace and goodnes of Christ The which to atteine the necessarie and onely meane is according to the doctrine of Christ him selfe to detest and forsake vice to confesse our sinnes coÌ„mitted with bashfulnes and sorow to withdraw our selues froÌ„ sensualitie to coÌ„tinencie froÌ„ vice to honestie froÌ„ malice to charitie to enter into a new trade of life and to exercise our selues in holy workes Now sir of you trusted so much to lead that ye thought it of force to blot out sinne you were not wel in your wit If you saie that al England was in the like blindnes you bring a great slaunder of madnes vpon your countrie that hath brought you vp and placed you in so great worship No say you I saie not so But I meane by the name of lead in the whiche we saw the name and image of the bishop of Rome engraued the authoritie and iurisdiction of the Pope him selâ—e the which manie hundred yeres agoe was holden and esteemed as a thing verie holie of our Fathers and afterward of vs. This authoritie which we sometime reuerenced being now instructed by the most cleere doctrine of this gospel I doe neglecte despise contemne and thinke it to be esteemed as a thing of naught of all wise men Whie then M. Haddon what needed you the name of lead to signifie this authoritie Did you it to make it more odiouse Or rather thought you by iesting at the woord to gette the greater applause of your compagnions For I knowe that pleasaunt sporters as you be are muche delighted with iesting and like to contend not so much with argumentes and sentences as with scoâ—fing and as it seemeth to me with an vnsauerie kind of pratling In suche like scoffes and tauntes Martine Luther your youthlie Patriarke and olde wanton was a great doer And I dowbt not but some of your clawebackes when he came to this place tooke vp a great laughter and bound it with an oth that it was meruelous pleasauntly spoken and excellently wel handled For al thinges are so farre out of course and dew order that it is a verie easie matter for a sawcie reprochful scoffer to get the name of a merie felowe and pleasaunt compagnion But as concerning this matter although the Bishop of Angra hath disputed verie learnedly of the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome yet wil I reason with you as with a seculare man and ciuilian of the said matter in few wordes First of al let this be a grounde worke or foundation The Church of Christ is one and not manie Then let this be agreed vppon It is not ynough for a Prince whiche maketh lawes to establish a common weale to set them out except he also appoint gouernours and inferiour magistrates Let this also be the third ground for so much as you like wel myne opinion as touching the order of a Monarchie that it is most expedient for a common Weale well appointed with customes and lawes to be vnder the rule of one Prince For many doe teare and dismembre a coÌ„mon weale but one by supreme authoritie vniteth and as it were with glew ioineth together the heartes of the people It was therfore most agreable to the best maner of gouernement when the Prince of al Princes vnder whose euerlasting Empire are subiected both heauen and earth intended to set vp a heauenlie coÌ„mon weale in earth that he should first make Lawes and then creat Princes and Magistrates which might according to the prescribed order of Lawes and equitie rule this common weale Suche were the Apostles and the rest of the Disciples of Christe Last of al lest the band of this societie might be dissolued and the peace of the Citie distourbed he appointed a Monarchie and gaue the supreme gouernement thereof vnto Peter Are not these thinges commonly knowen of all men Ymagine you to obscure and darken thinges most clearely spoken Trust you so muche to your malice that you thinke your selfe able to wrest the wordes of the Gospell from the true meaning to serue the filthie appetite and lust of
you and your companions I pray you what can be spoken more plainely and cleerelie then those woordes Thou arte Peter saith Christ and vpon this rocke I wil build my Churche And what so euer thou shalt bind vpoÌ„ the earth it shalbe bouÌ„d in heauen And againe I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not and thou being turned confirme thy brethren And many other places of like effect which do manifestly proue that Peter had a Prerogatiue aboue the rest of the Apostles But you wil saie for al this that these testimonies of the holy scriptures which we haue alleged are expouÌ„ded farre otherwise of the new Apostles I wil set against the authoritie of your Apostles the authoritie of S. Ambrose Augustine Hierome Basile and all other holie men that haue with their writings geuen light to the Church of Christ But now your Doctours wil answere that although it be true that the supreme authoritie was graunted to Peter yet foloweth it not that it was geuen to his successours also Why then I aske you an other question Did Christe set vp a Church to continue but for one mans life Or els minded he to establish it for euer If he appointed that his Church should stande so little time he didde not so great a thing as was to be looked for of his infinite bountie and wisedome for so muche as he bestowed so much labour and diligence yea and shedde so muche bloud about a coÌ„mon weale whose coÌ„tinuance was limited within the bounds of so short time If he minded that his church should coÌ„tinue for euer then doubtlesse he set it in such order as should in al chaunges and alterations of times be mainteined and kept If it be then euident as it is most euident and plaine that Peter had a Superioritie ouer the rest of the Apostles it must needes folowe that the same preeminence or principalitie of right apperteineth to al suche as haue succeded in Peters roome and charge Or els in the Church of Christ which is one it might seeme there was ordeined not the order of the heaueÌ„ly Monarchie but the gouernement of manie And then what knot or band of concord were there in the Churche By whose authoritie shoulde the tempestes risen in it be asswaged By whome should seditious opinions and sects be rooted out By whom should pride and stubbornes be restreined and kept vnder if there had ben no man appointed in the Church from the beginning by whose authoritie all men should be kept in order No we for so much as the church of Christ is simple and one and one it can not be vnlesse there be in it one only Prince furthermore being euidente and plaine that Christ ordeined one onely ruler in his Church whom al men should acknowledge and obeie finally being out of al doubt that this preeminence apperteineth to the Successours of Peter and that none of al the auÌ„cient Fathers endewed with the spirit and grace of God euer doubted but that the bishops of Rome were the successours of Peter as bothe their writinges and the common agreement of the vniuersall Church declareth with what sprite were your newe Apostles moued to bring in this new Gospellish doctrine to distourbe the order appointed by Christe to breake the bande of vnitie and concord to shake the very Rocke and staie of the Churche But lest some man shuld thinke that these thinges were wrought of them without any cause in the world I wil briefly declare what their deuise or rather what the fetch of SataÌ„ was in this enterprise It was vnpossible that euer the pestileÌ„t sects should gather any streÌ„gth except the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome had ben first weakned For how could the mischieuous weede haue growen any long time whereas it was a very easy matter with the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome â–ª forthwith to cut it doune so soone as it appeared aboue the grouÌ„d Take vs saith the spouse of Christ the litle foxes that destroy the Vineyardes This request of the spouse who shalbe able to fulfil if noman haue authoritie to suppresse the malice and lewdnes of heretikes before it waxe great For it is manifest that by the foxes are vnderstode heretikes And therfore S. Paul in his second epistle to the ThessaloniaÌ„s saith that Antichrist shal not come before he great reuoltiÌ„g or departure froÌ„ the catholike Church of Christ It is therefor necessari for these yong Antichrists which as S. Iohnsaieth do in figure and significatioÌ„ represent the great Antichriste to come before they can bring their purpoâ—ed mischief to passe not only to depart them selues froÌ„ the Church and from the supreme ruler of it but also to solicite and procure to the like departure all such as they mind to carie away and make their disciples and this is the cause that al heretikes whose chiefe endeuour and principal intent is to ouerthrowe the catholike Church do first of al assaile this fortresse do here plant their ordinaunce doo here make their battery do here vndermine to ouerrhrow the forte For they see that if this fortresse were once ouerthrowen and wonne they may frely sow the seades of al naughtines and to the ruine and decaie of manie flee vppe and downe through the worlde whether so euer thei list without any coÌ„trol or checke And to passe ouer the olde Heretikes this was the cause whie Husâ—e endeuoured to ouerthrow the authority of the Bishop of Rome This was also the meaning of Hierome of Prage when he went about to weaken the authority of the said bishop This was the way by the which FrierLuther thought vtterly to destroy the Catholike church This was the traine by the whiche in EnglaÌ„d a gap was vnaduisedly opened to al suche errours as sence that time haue followed Nowe the railes and barres being after this manner broken downe and the gates laid wide open it was a very casie matter for al vile and desperate felowes to rush in to mangle and teare in peeoes the vnitie of the Churche to bring in so many wicked errours suche horrible sectes suche a rable of pestilent opinions one directly against an other â–ª The Zwinglians fight against the LutheraÌ„s The Anabaptists kepe continual warre with the Zwinglians What should I here reherse the heretikes called heauenly Prophetes the Interimnists and such other names of sectaries What should I saie of the hatred malice brawling and discorde within them selues What shoulde I speake of their variety and incoÌ„stancy in opinioÌ„s Yea and such as are of one sect are not al nor alwaies of one opinion Many points of their Doctrine they correct they alter and chaunge theâ— turne in and out they blot out the old they make newe nowe they pull downe and now they set vp they can not wel agree neither with other men nor yet with them selues What saye you to this Sir Are not these thinges true Can you saie that al such as are sproÌ„g of Martine
you spend in the studie of Diuinitie being a maÌ„ alwaies coÌ„uersant in the law court and hindered with many affaires And so me thinketh that you are not so muche to be blamed as your maisters the whiche haue nouseled you in so mani errours How be it you are also to be blamed for two points The first is lightnes for that you haue so lightly geuen credite to naughty meÌ„ The other is impudeÌ„cy for that you haue so rashly auouched thinges that you neuer read Tel me I pray you where haue you read that Gregorie did abandone this supreame dignitie of the B. of Rome And yet you put it in your oratioÌ„ affirming it ful stoutly and are neuer a whit ashamed of your lying At the length you conclude thus Wherfore if the best state of the church was without this Monarchy may also lack it ful wel yea we ought to lacke it not only bicause it is expressely forbidden by the Gospel but also bicause it standeth wel with reason What a rashnes and impudencie is this in you to conclude an Argument after this sorte without al reason You must bring in your conclusion vpon thinges that are true knowen and agreed vppon not vppon thinges that are false and not graunted If you be ignorant in this you are a very dolt if you know it and yet will goe about to conclude your argument vpon false propositioÌ„s without any proufe going before you are to be taken as a very shamelesse sophister For emongest the guyles and subtilties which the babling sophisters are wonte to vse this is accounted for one of the first to goe aboute to conclude what them listeth vppon thinges that are not true neither graunted neither agreed vppon If the best state of the Church saie you was without this Monarchie we may also lacke it full well What if the best state of the Churche was neuer without this Monarchie may you then lacke it I thinke not If it be then proued by writinges and records yea and by the ful agreement of al the holy Fathers that the best state of the Church was neuer without this Monarchie if you are able neither to coÌ„fute the authorities neither to make any good proufe for your selfe neither to bring any sure ground of antiquitie but only in bare wordes to saie what ye list doe you not see that all youâ— talke is fainte and weake and that it is pitifully shaken and battred of it selfe without gonneshotte And yet as though you had already contriued the whol matter according to your hearts desire you say moreouer Yea we ought to lâ—okd it How proue you that it is of duâ—tie What fruict can you shew of this your wicked rebellion What light haue you shewed to the worlde by this your outrage and madnesse so wonderfull that you may wel say that you haue discharged your duetie and office commendably Nowe whereas you say that the Gospel forbiddeth it expresly you declare the verie true cause of all your doinges For it seemeth that you are minded to doe that onely that the Gospell of Christe forbiddeth you to doe How be it you woulde not saie so but rather that you do by the warrant of the Gospel refuse the authority of the B. of Rome Suche is your eloquence that you are not able marlie times to vtter your owne meaning But by what testimonie of the Gospel by what authority haue you proued it Bring foorth the place presse vs with the wordes coÌ„uince vs with the commaundement shew where the Gospel hath forbidden not darkely but by expresse and plaine words that we shuld not acknowledge any one man as the high Vicare of Christ in the earth You saie moreouer that it standeth with reason whereas you neuer shewed before how reason and this your lewdnes may stande together And yet as though you had moste plainely and inuincibly proued the matter you do not only coÌ„clude veri much besides the purpose but also vauÌ„t your self beyond al modestie Some il hap come to that felow your Schoolemaister that brought you vp so il It is like he toke vpon him to make you eloquent and he made you not only a babe but also an vntoward and a 〈…〉 Wherfore I would geue you 〈◊〉 to take an action against him to make him repaie his waiges that he tooke of you For you bestowed your time very il with him the which might haue ben better spent in drawing out writes and processes in the Law But let vs see what reason you bring You saie Neither can the head so far froÌ„ the meÌ„bers disagree coÌ„ueniently What are you yet to learne to speake Latine What meane you by this What is to disagree conuenientlie For the thing that is in it selfe conuenient is nothing disagreeable Whereas you saie therfore that a thing doth disagree conueniently you speake not pure and cleane Latine but you vse a monstruouse kinde of Latine speache For this cause I am not ashamed to confesse so often that I doe not vnderstand what you saie I suspect you would saie in this place that it is not possible that the heade should 〈◊〉 be ioyned vnto the members being so farre a sunder If you say so you are much deceiued if you beleue that the coÌ„iunction of the church consisteth in the nighnes of places and not in the consent of faith and agreement in one Religion But if you doe comprise vnder this disordered kinde of speach some other more secret mysterie When you haue exponnded your self then peraduenture I wil answere you You say afterward Especially for somuch as this Monarchie or only soueraintie for the which you laboure so much we haue it at hand at home with vs in Englande so that we neede not to seeke it abroad It is not my part to rehearse al your woordes after you like a childe But I will aske you this one thing what only power or souerainty is that We haue say you the absolute authoritie of a Kinges Maiestie wherein is conteined fully and wholly the Princelie estate of our common weale What would you also that the supreme authoritie of the Church should be subiect vnto this Kingly Maiestie as you saie For no man euer said that your common weale ought to be gouerned by the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome in matters coÌ„cerning the state of your ciuile affaires but only that the Churche of Englande can not refuse by any means without great offence the authority of the Bishop of Rome For this doe we contend and as you saie labour so earnestly This is that which you saie is nothing necessarie for so much as the Kinges Maiestie hath an absolute authoritie emongest you and therefore you neede not seeke any other abroad You say therfore expressely that your Quene doth rightfully take vpon her the gouernement of Englande in spiritual matters And the more hardelie to presse me therewithal you reason with me after this forte But surely this seemeth vnto you a thing not to be borne
from God for if they had ben sent from God doubtles they had tourned those men that honoured them as goddes from their wicked life Moreouer for so much as there is no disagreement in the spirite of God if they had ben sent from God there must needes haue ben a most perfecte cōsent and agreement emōgest them But the world knoweth that there is a most bitter dissension emongest them wherfore it foloweth necessarily that they were not moued by the instincte and inspiration of the holie ghost but driuen with burning fyer brandes of the findes of hell and that they applied them selues not to instruct men but to ouerthrow them You saie that there is a meruelous goodlie agreement emongest you I speake not of you as nowe For it maie be that you maie by feare of pounishmente staie for a lytle time the furie of raging felowes the whiche remedie when the minde is not well settled can not endure longe But of others see you not howe great dissension there is emongest them that sprange of Luther See you not howe they fall out about woordes How they alter and chaunge their opinions Howe confusely doubtfully and intricately they speake With what fond reasons they labour in vaine to prooue that thing which they are bent to mainteine in so muche that they can neither agree with other men neither yet within them selues They choppe and chaūge their Creedes they affirme now one thing and now an other they are established in no one opinion They can neuer agree within them selues to whome they maie referre the determination of dowbtes You referre the matter to your parlament as you terme it or els to your babling Bucerans as the Bishoppe of Angra not vnsittely termeth them Diuers men referre the decision of questions in religion to diuers Confessions of the faith which are wont now and then to be altered and chaunged Thinke you M ▪ Haddon if as I doe now reason with you in writing so I mighte be presente wyth you and presse you with wordes and wind you to and fro by the force of argumentes that you were able to stande to your tackelinges No without dowbt But you woulde deuise a hundred diuers shiftes of descant to face out the matter and seeke out all the starting holes and blind corners in the world in such sort that it might easily appeare that neither your tongue neither yet your wit were in perfecte good plight Howbeit one poore shifte you would finde which is a singular good helpe to you in all your distresses that is to brawle chide schold and reuile You saie afterward That you maie acknowledge the authoritie of this Churche if you dowbt of it I referre you to the Apologie I know you haue writen an Apologie wherwith you labour to set out your Churche meruelously If you haue written it more wittyly and finely then this booke which you set out against me surely you haue done me great wrōg For you made light of me and therefore did not vouchesafe to put out the vttermost strength of your eloquence when you encountered with me If you vse the like stile and the like argumentes that is to saie if you contend with the like arrogancie and reprochful language I haue not so much time to spare that I wil desire to take it once in my handes For you define nothing you speake ▪ nothing sincerelie you conclude nothing by good argument You saie at the length Confute it if you can But you can not That was verie arrogantly spoken Who hath made you so loftie and high sprited Your eloquence Or elles the loue of the truthe If you truste to your eloquence you are a very babe If you beare your selfe vppon the truth you imagine manie thinges to be true that are not You saie that one hath barked againste your Apologie I haue not reade it and yet I knowe that your Apologie whiche you saie can not possiblie be confuted is alreadie excellentlie well confuted by a manne of muche grauitie godlines and learninge which thing you denie But this lesson haue you learned of your maisters who beinge openlye conuinced fall a crying being sette a gogge kepe a raging stirre and when they are able to saie nothing to the grownde of the matter they heape together manie woordes without order and besides the pourpose and yet they vaunte them selues emongest their adherentes beyond all measure and modestie But I regard not your brauerie and Iustines I esteeme not your haughtie and prowde vauntes I weye the truthe reason and argumentes And suche is the noblenes of this your Ilād the glorie and renoum◠of your kingdome so bright that neither can anie vice lie hidden in it neither yet anie vertue vnknowen Wherfore you labour but in vaine to conceale that thing whiche is euerie where cōstantly reported What you say touching the immortality of soules I wote not I neuer saied that your maisters denied the immortalitie of sowles Howbeit I am not ignorant by what degrees or steppes men are wont to clymme vp vnto the highest point of that most detestable opinion Whereas you saie that there hath ben manie men emongest you which haue confirmed the truth of the gospel by banishment nakednes hungre yea by sheading their bloud and yealding their liues I graunt it For so did the Bishop of Rochester so did Moore so did the holy Carthusians to passe ouer a numbre of others these men died a most honourable death for the glorie of Christ So doe your holy Bishops whō you haue defeated of their goods depriued of their dignities and cast into prisons So do we see many others Bishops Priests and Monks very godlie and Religiouse persons driuen out of England and Ireland liuing like banished men and outcastes the which if they had not ben able to escape out of your clammes had peraduenture ben put to a most orewel death by the ministers of this your Gospel If you meane any other of your men heare what S. Cyprian saith that such as being without the bowndes of the Church doe suffer death for the glory of Christe they doe not receiue the Croune of Martyrdome but beare the punishment for their vnbeleefe If thei therefore that breake vp the inclosure of the Church and seperate them selues from it although they yeld their bloude and liues for the Religion of Christ which the Church holdeth are not to be accounted as Martyrs but as naughty packes and Church robbers what is to be thought of such as being without the Church are not ashamed to spil their bloud and liues in the main tenance of rebellion and vngodlines I am nowe come to that place whiche is by you who are a man naturally abhorring the sleightie occupation of flatterie and lying verie clerkely handled Your woordes are these You confesse that you haue gone further in the matter then you had thought to doe Truth it is that you haue gon a great deale further then it became you to doe especiallie in the most