other countries or vvas there euer such a shamelesse writer as M. Abbot that blusheth not to set out in print such monstrous and notorious lies that in falshood exceede al fictions of Poets and Painters and in malice doe match vvith any deuilish deuise whatsoeuer Oh into what lamentable calamity is our poore Country fallen that must haue such cosening Companions such false Hypocrites and most impudent Liars for the guides of their soules to saluation and for the only teachers of al spiritual doctrine Can any man that injoyeth the right vse of his senses giue credit and trust vnto them vvho make no conscience but a cōmon custome to lie al manner of lies nay such a one if they be wise they should not beleeue when he telleth them a truth which they doe otherwise know For Demetrius Phaleius being asked what euil did follow a liar Marry saith he that no man afterward beleeue him when he telleth truth And good reason for how knoweth he vvhether he doe not lie then as he was accustomed to doe before He therefore that wil be sure not to be deceiued must neither giue credit vnto M. Abbot vvho is plainely conuicted to haue told very many grosse and palpable lies Any plaine honest man must needes much maruaile to behold or heare that he who maketh profession of Gods pure word and the truth of the Gospel should take such a special delight in lying but he must remember that al is not gold that glisters Al be not true Pastors of Christes flocke that come in sheepe-skinnes Al be not sincere teachers of Gods word that take vpon them to be Preachers And no one more assured touch of counterfaite coyne no plainer proofe of a rauening vvolfe and false teacher then such often and euident lying For as God is the truth it selfe and al his doctrine most true so are they vvith truth alone to be vpholden and defended Iob. 13. v. 7. What saith holy Iob hath God neede of our lies or that we should speake deceitfully in his cause no verily for the truth is strong enough of it selfe to confound falshood Fortis est veritas praeualet But the Deuils cause it is that needeth to be bolstered out and vnder-propped with lies Iohan. 8. vers 44. For he is a liar and the Father of lies And without lying no falshood can be deceitfully coloured and made to appeare and seeme truth He then that wil be fedde vvith lies let him take the Deuil to his Father and M. Abbot or some other such like of his lying Ministers for his Master A certaine Minister being told that M. Abbot was reputed much to blame and very hardly censured by many discreet persons for that he had vsed so much deceit and leasinges in his writinges answered forsooth in his defence that he could not bely the Papists and their cause too much What can be said vnto such shamelesse persons surely nothing else but that the new light of their Gospel is now growne to his perfection vvhen as the brochers of it doe not only vnder-hand colourably paint it out with lies but are not ashamed openly to maintaine that they cannot lie to much in that cause O holy cause that needeth the helpe of lies But good master Minister be better aduised I pray you and rather hearken vnto the graue counsaile of the auncient Preacher Eccles 4. vers 26. Ne accipias faciem aduersus faciem tuam aduersus animam tuam mendacium take not falshood that is the face of the Deuil against truth vvhich is the true face of euery reasonable creature made after the Image of God and doe not admit lying against thine owne soule Sapient 1. vers 11. For the tongue that lieth killeth the soule Yea it doth not only kil his owne soule that lieth but the others also that beleeueth his lies blinding him with errors and so leading him blindfold into hel fire Math. 15. vers 14. For when the blinde guideth the blinde they both fal into the ditch Wherefore good Sir if you wil not yet a while make open profession to cast away your owne soule vvilfully and to leade al your followers after you to eternal damnation doe not for very shame vphold and maintaine open lying But if it be Gods good pleasure that you your selues shal make kowne to the vvorld that yee doe not only vse lying but also defend it as lawful necessary to vnder-proppe your badde cause then my trust in Gods infinite goodnesse and mercies is that the Moone-shine of your obscure Gospel waneth a-pace and the daies of your deceit draw towardes an end For howsoeuer you like iniquity and allow of leasinges Psal 5. v 6. God as the Prophet Dauid teacheth doth hate al them that worke iniquity and wil destroy al them that speake lies by bestowing vpon his faithful and prudent seruants such heauenly light and grace as they may easily discerne the juggling and false trickes of Protestant teachers 2. Tim 3. vers 9. For not their folly only as the Apostle speaketh but their falshood also and trechery are now sufficiently discouered and made manifest vnto al men of any reasonable capacity and study Wherefore al that haue tasted of the true gifts of Christes spirit vvil follow them no longer in their most dangerous and damnable courses but fly as fast and as farre from such false Prophets as poore sheepe doe from the jawes of rauening wolues and with speede returne happily vnto the only true fold of Christes flocke the holy Catholike Apostolike and Roman Church there to learne and imbrace that sincere auncient faith and pure religion vvhich only can saue their soules and which being planted by Christ and his Apostles hath euer since continued and brought forth aboundance of diuine fruit al the world ouer Which God almighty of his incomprehensible bounty graunt through the inestimable merits of IESVS CHRIST our most gratious Lord and Sauiour to whom vvith the Father and the holy Ghost be al honour prayse and glory for now and euer AMEN PRINTED ANNO DOMINI M. D.C.VIII A BRIEFE ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER I Haue hitherto set downe M. Abbots owne text word by word that the juditious reader comparing it with my answere may truly discerne vvhat substance is in his writing And how farre forth he is to credit him in the rest that hath in the first and best part of his booke behaued himselfe so insufficiently in matter of learning and dealt so dishonestly in the manner of handling of it There remaines behinde in this answere vnto my Epistle some light skirmishes and vaine friuolous brauadoes vpon those points of controuersie which I in one sentence only touched in the same Epistle excepting much foule speech and many slanderous lies which he plentiful powreth out by the way in both vvhich masteries I willingly leaue to him the bucklers Now because those his discourses are as it vvere scopae dissolutae not arguments soundly knit togither and set in any good aray but a feeble loose idle and disordered kinde of wrangling besides also the very same questions be afterwardes handled againe distinctly and particularly I haue judged it farre better to handle throughly euery controuersie in his due place then first lightly to skimme them ouer in hast as he hath done and afterward like vnto one that had either forgotten or ouer-shotten himselfe to recoile and turne backe againe to treate of the same matter more orderly and substantially vvhich course I hope wil not be misliked of the wise Take courteous Reader this that is already finished in good part If thou finde any thing in it to thy liking giue the glory to God And if thou be Catholike helpe me vvith thy good praiers that he who hath giuen me grace to beginne may increase his blessings vpon me to bring it to a good and perfect end The end of the first Part. FINIS COVRTEOVS READER I must needes acquaint thee with a notable legerdemaine which by perusing the Authour I found out after the rest was printed M. Abbot to proue that the Pope had no authority in Scotland 1200. yeares after Christ auerreth Page 117. that Alexander the second vtterly for-badde the Popes Legate to enter within his Kingdome which is not true For his Authour Mathew Paris declareth In Hērico 30 page 667. that the King indeede did at the first oppose himselfe against that visitation of his Kingdome to be made by the said Legate not for that he did not acknowledge the Popes supreme authority in those Ecclesiastical causes but because it was needlesse the matters of the Church being as he said in good order and for feare of ouer-great charges Nay further the said King did write a large letter vnto the Pope himselfe as the very same Authour recordeth where he first acknowledgeth In Hērico 30 page 873. that very person to be his Holinesse Legate as wel in Scotland as in England and Ireland Moreouer the King confesseth that he himselfe his heires and subjects were and would be obedient vnto the Popes jurisdiction and censures with much more to the same purpose Which alone is sufficient to conuince M. Abbot to be so perfidious and without al conscience in alleaging auncient Authours that no man who wil not willingly be blindly ledde by him can repose any trust in his allegations Good Reader beare with faultes in printing which besides false pointing be not many The principal that I remember are these Page 169 line 21 For Constantius the fourth reade Constantine the fourth and so in al that matter following treating of Pope Agatho his obedience to the said Emperour Page 170 line 32 though Emperour reade although an Emperour Page 186 line 21 for Concilij Praesidijs reade Concilij Praesidibus page 198 line 8 in the allegation of S. Leo there wants in the margent the quotation of his 23. Epistle to Martianus Augustus for the vvorship of Relikes Pag. 213 lin 27 for passed reade possessed pag. 261 line 25 for and ego reade an ego page 272 line 16 for Vndoubtly reade Vndoubtedly
acknowledgeth his ability not to be such as that he might thinke himselfe to haue attained to that that the matter doth require which considering what he saith here seemeth to haue beene spoken only for manners sake to his Majesty For here he vaunteth as you see that he wil furnish truth with it whole strength and giue so ful satisfaction that the aduersary shal not haue a word further to reply Good Sir if you can boast of your owne doings so exceedingly without blushing yet in discretion you should haue beene more wary then to haue lied so grosly that euery child almost may conuince you of it euen by your owne testâ—mony You had forgotten belike the prouerbe Mendacem oportet esse memorem A liar had need of a good memory or else you would neuer haue let such contrary tales slippe out of your pen. Wel to stay the credulous readers that they be not ouer hasty in giuing credit to such vnreasonable and vaine vaunts I wil put them in mind of this worthy obseruation of the most prudeÌ„t King Salomon Prouerb 26. vers 12. Hast thou seene a man wise in his owne conceit a foole shal haue greater hope then he that is owne that taketh himselfe for very simple shal be able to performe much more then he that esteemeth himself to be so highly wise The waters be not there deepest where the streame runneth with greatest noise and as our English prouerbe is The greatest barkers be not the soarest biters Euen so among many Protestant vvriters I haue seldome seene any that promiseth more or performeth lesse then M. Abbot He floateth inflanting wordes but he is one of the shallowest for substance of matter that euer I read He alleageth diuers ancient Authours I grant but for the most part very impertinently many also of them most corruptly and falsly so that nothing is more absurd and notoriously false then this his conclusion More of the ancient writers be for vs then against vs. For not only the Romish sicophants as of his accustomed modesty he tearmeth vs but the most learned of their owne side both domestical and forraigne doe confesse compelled by euident force of truth that the auncient Fathers for most points in controuersie doe teach the very same doctrine that vve now doe Tâ—act 1. Sect. 3. See the Protestant Apollogy of the Roman Church where this is particularly verified yet M. Abbot that sticketh at nothing would faine beare the vnlearned in hand that the old Doctors fauour much their new learning but til he doe produce their testimonies more sincerely and to better purpose then he yet hath done few but fooles can beleeue him for hitherto as hath beene already shewed he hath not cited any one sentence either of ancient Father or of holy Scripture that vvas to the purpose Wherefore the discreet reader hath just cause notwithstanding his vaine bragges to thinke no better of the rest of his booke vntil he shal see the contrary wel verified for in deede he shal finde them to be but counterfaite dismembred and misapplied sentences vsed as men doe scar-crowes in a field of corne to amate and fright the vnskilful That which followeth consisting of the like crakes of their valour and our weakenesse needes no further refutation They haue beene hitherto so farre off from driuing vs out of the field as he craketh that we hauing by al manner of meanes endeauoured to bring them once out into the field to a publike disputation as it vvere to a ranged battel to try the matter could neuer obtaine it they vsing al the shifts that they could possibly deuise to hold vs from it And vvhereas he finally presumeth that he shal be no longer in giuing answere to my booke then the booke was in making his presumption is very vaine and friuolous for that booke was made in halfe a yeare as God he knoweth and many honest men can witnesse if time serued to produce them and the booke being of fiue and twenty sheetes he vvas holden occupied one yeare and a halfe with answering vnto the first sheete and halfe of it and since another yeare and halfe is past before his so vvorthy vvebbe be perfited The malignant humour that before troubled this jolly vvebsters eies is since belike fallen downe into his legges so that he cannot bestirre himselfe so speedily as in the heate of his spirit he presumed yet before this could be printed his whole worke came forth Robert Abbot A view of M. Bishops Epistle dedicatory to the Kinges most excellent Majesty VIVAT REX Anno 1608 ¶ Laus Deo Pax viuis Requies defunctis GOD SAVE THE KING William Bishop TO THE MOST PVISANT PRVDENT AND RENOWMED PRINCE IAMES THE FIRST BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING OF ENGLAND SCOTland France and Ireland defender of the faith etc. * DIEV ET MON DROIT MOST gratious and dread Soueraigne Albeit my slender skil cannot afford any discourse worthy the view of your excellency neither my deadded and daily interrupted and persecuted and persecuted studies wil giue me leaue to accomplish that little which otherwise I might vndertake and performe yet being emboldned both by your high clemency and gratious fauour euer shewed to al good litterature specially concerning Diuinity and also vrged by mine owne bounden duty and particular affection I presume to present vnto your Highnesse this short ensuing Treatise For your exceeding clemency mildnesse and rare modesty in the most eminent estate of so mighty a Monarke as it cannot but winne vnto you great loue in the harts of al considerate subjects so on the other side doth it encourage them confidently to open their mindes and in dutiful manner to vnfold themselues vnto their so louing and affable a Soueraigne And whereas to the no vulgar praise of your Majesties piety you haue made open and often profession of your vigilancy and care to aduance the diuine honour of our Sauiour Christ and his most sacred religion what faithful Christian should stagger or feare to lay open and deliuer publikely that which he assureth himselfe to be very expedient necessary and agreable towardes the furnishing of so heauenly a worke Moreouer if I your Majesties poore subject haue by study at home and trauaile abroade attained vnto any smal talent of learning and knowledge to whom is the vse and fruit thereof more due then vnto my gratious and withal so learned a Liege Finally for a proofe of my sincerity affection and dutiful loue towardes your Majesty this may I justly say that in time of vncertaine fortune when friendes are most certainly tried I both suffered disgrace and hinderance for it being stiled in print A Scotist in faction therein further employing my pen in a two-fold discourse which I hope hath beene presented to the view of your Majesty the one containing a defence of your Highnesse honour the other of your Title and interest of the Crowne of England And if then my zeale and loue of truth and obligation to your
or Predecessours erred he leaueth them to the counsaile of God but by the vvord of God learneth himselfe to be one of them Vers 16. that shal hate the whoore and make her desolate and shal eate her flesh and burne her with fire Albeit it is vtterly false vvhich he affirmeth that al his Majesties Progenitours Kinges of these Realmes of England and Scotland liued and died in the Romish faith that now our Romish factours labour so much to set vp Indeede he and his fellowes are vvont to be very lauish in their speeches of this matter as if from King Lucius of Britanny and Donaldus of Scotland the only religion that had beene professed had beene that vvhich now is practised by them vvhere as it shal afterwardes plainly appeare that at the comming in of Augustine the Italian Monke 400. yeares after the receiuing of the faith in this Iland the Bishops and Churches of Scotland joined with the Britanes against those new obseruations which the same Augustine brought from Rome and vvould by no meanes admit thereof for the space of an hundred yeares at least refused to communicate with the English that had receiued the same Yea in the time of King Henry the third 1200. Math. Paris in Hērico 111. Anno 1238. 1239. yeares after the incarnation of Christ when the Popes Legate vvould haue entred into Scotland to visit the Churches there the King of Scots Alexander the second forbadde him so to doe alleaging that none of his Predecessours had admitted any such neither would he suffer it and therefore willed him at his owne peril to forbeare so long vvas it before the Popes authority could gaine acknowledgment in that Kingdome which his agents would make vs beleeue hath beene in al ages vniuersally and vnquestionably receiued But they care not indeede vvhat they say or write so that it may carry a magnifical and braue shew to dazel the eies of them that are not wel acquainted with their leude and naughty dealing WILLIAM BISHOP PAGANS and Heretikes doe now and then like Apes counterfait true Christians And no maruaile for their great master Sathan 2. Cor. 11. vers 14. doth transfigure himselfe sometimes into an Angel of light and did alwaies and yet doth labour ¶ * Esai 14. vers 14. to be like vnto the Highest but it is easie to espy their apish trickes and to returne their fond subtleties vpon their owne heades Simmachus plaied but the part of a foolish sophister when he pleaded so with the Emperour Valentinian we are to follow our Fathers for the Emperours Father and neerest Predecessors were no Pagan Idolaters but professed Christians as al men know vvho are conuersant in those ancient histories To the point of the proofe I answere in briefe that it is a most sound inducement among vs Christians and to be dearely regarded of al To follow the foot-steppes of our fore-fathers in beleeuing if they before haue not degenerated from their Ancestors The base and ground of it is this As God is more ancient then the Deuil and Christ IESVS then al Heretikes so vvas the true seruice of God and the right faith of Christ planted sowne and tooke fast roote before Heresie and Idolatry sprong vp vvhich hath firme testimony from our Sauiour who teacheth Math. c. 13. vers 24. That the good seede was first sowne by the Father of the houshold and the cockle after and ouersowne by the enemy VVhence it followeth perspiculously that they who doe hold the same doctrine inuiolably vvhich was embraced by them of that stock who were first cōuerted to the Christian faith are true and sincere Christians Those children then vvho follow the holy steps of their Catholike Progenitors ascending from Sonne to Father successiuely til they ariue at the first Christians in that country are true Christians and they that doe not succeede their Predecessors in their faith and religion but either are fallen themselues or doe follow others vvho before fel from the faith of their fore-fathers are vndoubtedly slipt into errour and infidelity By vvhich discourse it is euident that I tendered a most reasonable request vnto his Majesty that he would imbrace and countenance that religion which al his Progenitors euen to the first Christian among them had liued and died in because they vvere al Catholike and not one of them can be named vvho changed the religion of his fore-fathers yet this notwithstanding Simmachus the Pagan vsing the like argument in shew vvas not to be heard the difference is because his fore-fathers for vvhose Idolatry he pleaded had before forsaken the true and sincere vvorship of the one liuing God and therefore their children vvere not to continue in their Idolatry but to returne vnto their former Ancestors true piety So vvere the Donatists children of whom S. Augustine cited by M. Abbot speaketh not to follow their Fathers in that sect and heresie but to leaue their late corrupted parents in their new doctrine and to looke back vnto their grandfathers ancient faith and religion from vvhose integrity their Fathers were degenerated Euen as now a-daies we exhort men that had or haue Parents turned Protestants not to be led away vvith their erring Parents opinions but happily to receiue their forefathers ancient faith from vvhich their Fathers reuolted vnaduisedly And so shal they returne vnto the roote and original of our Lordes tradition as S. Cyprian speaketh because they shal returne to that faith vvhich was receiued from hand to hand euen from the Apostles our Lordes most trusty and sacred messengers and cleauing fast to that shal not neede to regard what any man hath thought fit to be dine or said against it Now to that point vvhich followeth in M. Abbot Apocal. 17. There shal be a time when the Kinges of the earth shal giue their power to the beast and bend themselues to fight against the Lambe vvhich I doe willingly admit but vvhen that time shal be or vvhat Kinges it is very vncertaine for there shal be also a time Esai 60. Psalm 70. When the Kinges of the earth shal be as nurses to the true Church and shal most humbly both obey it and also enrich and defend it to the vttermost of their power Now by the very insinuation of the Text and the vniforme consent of ancient writers the good Kinges shal cherish exalt and magnifie the Church before those euil Kinges shal arise who falling away from their fathers faith and from the Catholike Church vvil lend their aide to her professed enemies to vvorke her ouerthrowe vvhich is a shrewd presumption that the Kinges of former ages stood farre better affected to the true Church of God then some of later times Wel this I leaue to vnderstanding mens judgement But I may not slippe M. Abbots exceeding grosse ouer-sight or rather hainous crime in ranking his Majesty among those Kinges mentioned in the Apocalipse for albeit Cap. 17. they shal hate the whoore and make her
desolate and naked and eate her flesh c. yet they shal be most vvicked and impious Kinges and shal adore the monstruous beast there described and fight against Christ IESVS These be the very vvordes of the Text And the tenne hornes c. be tenne Kinges c. these haue one Councel and force and their power they shal deliuer to the beast these shal fight with the Lambe and the Lambe shal ouerthrow them c. Vers 16. And the tenne bornes which thou sawest in the beast these shal hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked c. so that the very same tenne Kinges signified there by tenne hornes that did giue al their power to the beast did hate the harlot But how can it be saith one that they vvho hate the vvicked harlot should joine with the beast who was as wicked as shee Yes that may wel be for it is no newes that vvicked men fal out among themselues so that one vngodly and wicked Prince doth sometimes with al his might aide another more vvicked then himselfe and at the same instant perhaps or shortly after fight against a third the most wicked of al they doe fight against both good and euil as their owne rage passions or occasions carry them Which I say to stoppe a starting hole of the Protestants who to auoide this inconuenience say that first these ten Kings were bent to al mischief◠and then helped the beast against the Lambe but afterward repented them of their former iniquity then loe they hated the harlot and persecuted her which they would not haue done if they had beene hadde Princes this is a prety shift Wel say first that this sence could stand vvith the vvordes of the text yet they cannot be applied to his Majesty who was not in his former time any aider of our religion and now is fallen off from that to the Protestants wherefore this deuise if it could stand with the text wil not serue their turne But the spirit of God hath preuented and wholy cut off this vaine imagination for it saith in the next verse That the tenne Kinges who hated the harlot euen then and after too gaue their Kingdomes to the beast til the word of God be consummate that is til the end of al. Wherefore most manifest it is euen by the warrant of Gods sacred word that those Kinges mentioned in the Apocalipse were reprobates such did they liue and such shal they die Let then his most excellent Majesty censure what reward they are worthy off who feare not to thrust his Highnesse into that list of condemned cast-a-waies and that too after they had such faire warning as in my answere to M. Perkins I gaue them to beware how they did his Majesty that shame and despite If it please his Highnesse to take notice of it I doubt not but that he wil conne them little thanke for this their commendation of him M. Abbot hauing acquited himselfe so Clarke-like in the precedent part of his answere That we are not to imitate our fore-fathers descendeth to the subsequent to wit That his Majesties Progenitours Kinges of England and Scotland were not of our Roman faith which he wil proue hereafter at more leisure that is to say neuer For he doth not deny but that the religious and holy man Augustine sent into our country by Gregory the great Bishop of Rome to conuert our Ancestours the Saxons and English to the Christian faith did then teach the same Roman faith vvhich vve now professe so that aboue this thousand yeares by his owne confession his Majesties Progenitours haue beene of our Catholike Roman faith and religion and very few Kings now liuing I weene can deriue their pedegree much further Afterward he doth rake out of the chanels of Bale Page 198. Iewel Hollinshead and such like late partial vvriters which any man not past al care of his reputation would be ashamed to cite for sufficient witnesses in matters of controuersy where in they themselues were parties that there was great disagreemēt betweene Augustine the Italian Monke as he speaketh and the Churches of England and Scotland vvhereas venerable Bede a most approued authour and neare vnto those times vvho did as most diligently trace out those matters so record them most faithfully he I say whose authority is sufficient to put downe an hundreth late writers interessed in the cause affirmeth that there vvas no variance betwixt them in any one article of faith but only in some few points of ceremony namely in these two Beda lib. 2. histor cap. 2. Vpon what day the feast of Easter was to be kept and about the rites of Baptisme For S. Augustine offered them to beare vvith al other their different rites if they would yeeld vnto him in these two points Vt Pascha suo tempore celebretis That yee would keepe Easter-day at the due time appointed by the Councel of Nice and minister the Sacrament of Baptisme after the manner of the Roman and Apostolike Church And concerning these two points vvho can thinke but that the Sacrament of Baptisme vvas like to be administred in those daies in the most renowmed citty of Rome after a more decent and deuout manner Euseb in vita Const l. 3. 17. Epiphan l. 3. Haeres 70. then among the Britans that liued in a corner of the world now for the other of keeping the feast of Easter the 14. day of the first Moone with the Iewes It was many yeares before condemned in the first most famous general Councel of Nice and therefore it cannot be denied but that those Britans vvere either very ignorant in the Canons of the Church if they knew not so solemne a decree or else too too contentious and vvilful in refusing to yeeld vnto it A third clause was added by S. Augustine that the Britans vvould joine with him and his fellowes Beda ibidem in preaching the word of God vnto the English nation which also argueth yet more strongly that they agreed together in al articles of faith or else they vvould not haue required their helpe in instructing others in matters of faith And this is not only registred by S. Bede that holy Historiographer but also reported by their owne late vvriters Hollinshead Volum 1. page 103. and * Page 6. M. Godwine in his Catologue of the Bishops of England S. Bede also witnesseth further in the place aboue-said that the same Britan Christians euen then confessed that they did perceiue that to be the true way of justice which Augustine did preach Furthermore the principal Preachers and most Godly men that liued not long before S. Augustines arriual among the Britans as namely S. Dulcitius and S. Dauid vvere brought vp at Rome and one of them the Popes Legate too Iohn Baal in their liues as the aduersaries themselues confesse Wherevpon it followeth clearely that not only for these later thousand yeares but also in the former
alleage the ancient Fathers sentences most perfidiously and so to pester and infect the world with lies That no man I weene can deeme him to proue faithful to his Prince that is found to deale so perfidiously both with God and man Now to that rule of Bias which being vvel vnderstood cannot be much misliked For such is the vncertainty and mutability of our corrupt and fraile nature that he whom this yeare we loue most intirely may the next yeare deserue to be misliked of vs as extremely for of a most excellent and vertuous man he may become bad without measure but of his Majesty I haue alwaies had a farre better opinion and doe daily pray to God to preserue him from al such extremities And howsoeuer it shal happen I acknowledge my selfe bound and stedfastly purpose God willing to beare towardes his Highnesse the loial hart of a true subject and the charitable affection of a louing Christian neither is there any thing in the end of my booke to the contrary That which he so often graceth vpon is already cleered and shal be more fully handled in due place Now to that which M. Abbot here deliuereth for very certaine to wit That neither I nor any of my minde meant his Majesty any good vnlesse we could gaine him to our religion vvhich not only to be very vncertaine but also false I may vvithout more adoe proue euen by his owne confession in the next passage vvhere he saith That the secular Priests vnder an vncertaine hope of his Majesties fauour acknowledged and maintained his just title to the crowne of England and would haue offered him their helpe at the Queenes deceasse therefore by his owne verdict vve vvished and meant his Majesty much good no lesse then the crowne of England before we had gained him to be as vve vvould haue had him for being vnder an vncertaine hope of his fauour as he vvriteth vve vvished that inestimable treasure to his Majesty Now vvhen his owne sayings wil serue to confute himselfe I may spare my further labour I hope that his Majesty hath found contrary to this mans fond assertion many good offices of both loial subjects and affectionate seruants performed to his Highnesse by men of our religion Sure I am that other mighty Monarks doe employ in places of great charge men contrary to themselues and the state in religion and haue thereby giuen great contentment to others and reaped no smal profit to themselues Now to M. Abbots disproofe of my reason ROBERT ABBOT BVT vvhat is the proofe of that his sincerity which he alleageth forsooth in time of vncertaine fortune vvhen assured friendes are most certainly tried he both suffered disgrace and hinderance for his loue towardes his Majesty being stiled in print A Scotist in faction vvhere vve see that a false marchant needes no broker how cunningly he gloseth the matter to make shew of great loue where none vvas What vvas it for his Majesties cause that those hard fortunes that disgrace and hinderance did befal you nothing lesse the Iesuites forsooth and the secular Priests whilest each seeke superiority ouer other fal together by the eares The Iesuites procure an Arch-priest one that should be at their deuotion to be set ouer the Seculars the Seculars refuse to yeeld him subjection and by appeale referre the matter to the Pope for the prosecuting of which appeale M. Bishop with another in his company are sent to Rome there by procurement of Parsons both â—e and his fellow vvere clapt vp in prison and continuing there for many weekes were at length by the sentence of their Protectour banished England and the one of them confined to Lorraine the other to France This is now the maine tragedy of M. Bishops misfortunes not concerning the cause of the Kinges Majesty any whit at al only in the managing of these matters it came to passe according to the prouerbe that vvhen theeues fal out true men come by their goodes for vvhilest euery part sought to prouide the better for themselues here in England for the time to come the Iesuites for their aduancement laboured to intitle the Lady Infanta of Spaine to the succession of the crowne of England but the Seculars presuming that if the Infanta were set vp they must certainly goe downe and choosing rather to aduenture themselues vpon vncertaine hope then to giue way to certaine despaire shrowded themselues vnder the acknowledgment of his Majesties just title not for any loue to his Majesty but for hatred to the Iesuites and for the preferment of themselues For imagining that thinges vpon the death of Queene Elizabeth would grow troublesome and intending to make offer to his Majesty of their help forsooth for the obtaining of the crowne they thought by capitulations and conditions his Majesty preuailing to make al sure for their part thinking that the Iesuites by their traiterous practises had set a sufficient barre against themselues and should be no let vnto them Hereupon they fal a vvriting one against another and M. Bishop is stiled A Scotist in faction and to picke a thanke with his Majesty writeth his twofold discourse One for the defence of his Highnesse honour the other for his title to the crowne of England a vvorke of supererogation for his part for his Majesty needed no such Proctours as he neither vvas the wrangling of a company of base fugitiues sufficient to question either his Majesties honour or his title to the crowne WILLIAM BISHOP HERE is such a tedious tale so impertinent so improbable that I could scarce endure the vvriting of it out yet that he should not complaine that any thing is omitted I haue put it al downe That part of it concerning M. Archpriests ordination is wholy besides the purpose and therefore I omit it wholy though it be mixed with many vntruths which would giue me aduantage against him if I were disposed to stand about them To the other of titles M. Abbot acknowledgeth that we secular Priests stoode in defence of his Majesties just title against the pretensions made in behalfe of the Lady Infanta And therefore any man of meane intelligence of the state of those Catholike countries vvhere we then liued may easily conceiue that we could not but suffer disgrace and hinderance by standing for a Prince that was not Catholike especially when we wanted not others to amplifie vrge and enforce the matter against vs. But our kinde friend M. Abbot saith we stood for his Majesty not for any loue to him but for hatred of the Iesuites and for our owne preferment I answere that in true Christianity when good offices be performed they must be interpreted wel vnlesse there be apparant proofe to the contrary as al good men doe agree from which general rule the Ministers perhaps are to be excepted and so they may vvhen al other reasons faile them aime at the secret intentions of men and judging them after their owne inward dispositions say though they did neuer so
v. 8. Rom. 16. vers 19. Your obedience is published into euery place But no maruaile to the vvise though he did not then make mention of her Supremacy for that did not belong to the Church or people of Rome but to S. Peter vvho vvhen S. Paul wrote that Epistle vvas scarse vvel setled there neither did that appertaine to the matter he created of Of pardons S. Paul teacheth in formal tearmes which both the Church of Corinth and he himselfe gaue vnto the incestuous Corinthian that then repented these be his wordes 2. Cor. 2. vers 10. And whom you haue pardoned any thing I also for my selfe also that which I haue pardoned if I haue pardoned any thing for you in the person of Christ that we be not circumuented of Sathan What can be more manifest then that the Apostle did release some part of the penance of that incestuous Corinthian at other mens request vvhich is properly to giue pardon and indulgence And if S. Paul in the person of Christ could so doe no doubt but S. Peter could doe as much and consequently other principal Pastours of Christes Church haue the same power and authority The last of M. Abbots instances is That S. Paul saith nothing of traditions wherein he sheweth himselfe not the least impudent for the Apostle speaketh of them very often He desireth the Romans to Rom. 16. vers 17. marke them that make dissentions and scandals contrary to the doctrine which you haue learned and to auoide them but the doctrine that they had then learned before S. Paul sent them this Epistle vvas by vvord of mouth and tradition for little or none of the new Testament was then written vvherefore the Apostle teacheth al men to be auoided that dissent from doctrine deliuered by tradition And in the Actes of the Apostles it is of record how S. Paul vvalking through Siria and Silicia confirming the Churches Act. 15. v. 41 Commanded them to keepe the precepts of the Apostles and of the Ancients Item vvhen they passed through the citties they Act. 16. v. 4. deliuered vnto them to keepe the decrees that were decreed by the Apostles and Ancients which were at Hierusalem and the Churches were confirmed in faith c. Where it also appeareth that those decrees vvere made matter of faith and necessary to be beleeued to saluation before they vvere written He doth also charge his best beloued disciple Timothy 1. Tim. 6. vers 20. To keepe the depositum that is the vvhole Christian doctrine deliuered vnto him by word of mouth as the best Authours take it auoiding the prophane nouelty of voices and oppositions of falsly called knowledge Againe he commandeth 2. Tim. 2. vers 2. him to commend to faithful men the thinges which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses Was not this to preach such doctrine as he had receiued by Apostolike tradition without writing And further vvhich suppresseth al the vaine cauils of the sectaries he saith 2. Thessal 2. vers 15. Therefore bretheren stand and hold the traditions which you haue learned whether it be by word or by our Epistle where you see that some traditions went by word of mouth from hand to hand aswel as some others were vvritten and vvere as wel to be holden and stood too as the written proceeding from the same fountaine of truth Gods spirit Thus much in answere vnto the instances proposed by M. Abbot vvhich he very ignorantly and insolently auoucheth to haue no proofe or sound of proofe out of S. Paul I could vvere it not to auoide tediousnesse adde the like confirmation of most controuersies out of the same blessed Apostle as that 1. Tim. 3. vers 15. the Church is the pillar and ground of truth vvherefore any man may most assuredly repose his faith vpon her declaration That Christ gaue Ephes 4. v. 11. 13. Pastors and Doctors to the edifying of that his mistical body vntil we meete al in the vnity of faith c. Therefore the Church shal not faile in faith vntil the day of judgement nor be inuisible that hath visible Pastors and teachers Also Hebr. 5. vers 1. that Priests are chosen from among men and appointed for men in those thinges that appertaine to God that they may offer gifts and sacrifices for sinne That Preachers and 1. Cor. 3. v. 9. Priests are Gods coadjutors and helpers and not only idle instruments That S. Paul and Timothy 1. Cor. 9. vers 23. 1. did saue other men and therefore no blasphemy to pray to Saints to helpe and saue vs. That S. Paul did Tim. 4. vers 16. accomplish those thinges that want to the passions of Christ in his flesh for Christes body which is the Church therefore Christes passion doth not take away our owne satisfaction That he a Colloss 1. vers 24. 1. Cor. 9. vers 16. gloried in preaching the Gospel of free cost which was a worke of supererogation That b Ephes 5. vers 32. Marriage is a great Sacrament That c 1. Tim. 4. vers 23. grace was giuen to Timothy by the imposition of the handes of Priest-hood vvhence it followeth that Matrimony and holy Orders be true and perfect Sacraments But vvhat doe I I should be too long if I would prosecute al that which the Apostle hath left in vvriting in fauour defence of the Roman faith This I doubt not wil suffice to confront his shamelesse impudency that blushed not to affirme there vvas not a vvord in S. Paul that sounded for the Catholike but al in shew at least for the Protestant As for S. Peter I vvil wholy omit him because the Protestants haue smal confidence in him Here I may be bold I hope to turne vpon M. Abbot this dilemma and forked argument vvhich S. Augustine framed against the Manichean Adimantus Lib. 1. cont Adimant Hoc si imprudens fecit nihil caecius si autem sciens nihil sceleratius If M. Abbot did ignorantly affirme S. Paul to haue said nothing for the Roman Catholikes what could be more blind then not to be able to discerne any thing in such cleare light if he said it vvittingly knowing the contrary then did he it most vvickedly so to lie against his owne conscience to draw after him selfe other men into errour and perdition ROBERT ABBOT WEL M. Bishop let vs leaue Peter and Paul for heretikes let vs see vvhether those that succeeded did al teach the same doctrine that the Church of Rome now teacheth Hollinshead descript of Britan. ca. 7. Eleutherius the bishop of Rome being sent vnto by Lucius king of this realme for a copy of the Roman constitutions for the gouernement of this new conuerted Church and of the imperial lawes for the better ordering of his common wealth about 150. yeares after the death of Christ for answere writeth vnto him Annals of England by Iohn Stow. That hauing receiued in his Kingdome the law and