Scripturas then did hee open their vnderstandinges to vnderstand the Scriptures Can these be the Protestants vvho euen in their very Commentaries vpon the old Testament take their vnderstanding out of the blind commentaries of the obstinate Iewes professed enimies to our Sauiour Iesus Christ and therefore make they very few Prophets very few Scriptures and in very few places to speake of him euen so much in maner as hath pleased the Iewes their masters and not all the Prophets as S. Peter saith nor all the Scriptures Act. 10. almost in all places to belong to him so as he himselfe declared and so as both his Apostles and his Church to whome hee gaue the gift to vnderstand the Scriptures haue euer taught still doe teach vs. It is our Church I say whose very Seruice doth this very well declare It is our Church that by her very Seruice doth euery yeare Praedicare annum Domini acceptabilem Luke 4. preach the gracious yeare of our Lord by yearely recording at most conuenient times all that he did and suffered for vs any yeare and all his yeares that he was with vs vpon earth his Precursour and Baptists Natiuity his owne Conception his Aduent his Natiuitie his Circumcision his Manifestation too and adoration of the Gentiles his Presentation his Baptisme his Fasting his temptation his Preaching his Miracles his Passion his Death his Burial his Resurrection his Ascension his sending of the Holy Ghost to be with vs for euer and againe his Aduent besides the birth dayes not into this world but into Heauen of his Apostles Martyrs Confessours Virgins and other most Holie witnesses By all which thinges the Church maketh her Spouse and Redeemer with all his Misteries euen to be seene felt and palpate of all his people Was this the Protestantes vvorke Or is not that Christes Church which hath done this for Christ Looke to the very names of these Feasts see whether they speake not our Church Candlemas day Corpus Christi day Al-soules day Al-hallowes day Ash-wensday Tenebre-wensday-Maunday-thursdaie Passion-sondaie Passion-weeke Goodfriday Holyroode day Shroue or Shrief-tide fastinges Eaue This is Ember that your blind Apostls do boldlie say to haue bin the Popes Lemman Lent Ember-dayes or according to the Dutch the root of our English Temper-dayes Quatuor Temporum Palmesondy Dâ—minica in Albis Sondaie in whites with many more speake they Protestancie or speake they as you call it Papistrie Or were not these Feastes by the same Church ordained that appointed vs to keepe Christmas Easter Whitsonday Trinity sonday the TraÌ„sfiguration of our Lord and the rest All these to haue bin by our Church instituted it wil be easily proued if need shal be and the Protestants doe manifestly declare while that in many of their places infected specially where their Puritans doe raigne they keepe no better Christmas day it selfe nor any Sonday then they doe Ash-wensdaie Which they declare againe most plainly in laying away not only all the dayes of Saints which were not Holy daies but manie also that were Holy daies as still in the Catholike Church they are For was not Saint Laurence day brought in and euer obserued by the same Chruch that commaunded Saint Steuens daie Was it not the same Church that honored our B. Lady Gods Mother with holydaies vvhich made holie the Apostles dayes Of that same one Church therefore are not the Protestants who haue put downe S. Laurence day all the dayes of our B. Ladie with very manie moe all the dayes I say of our Ladie euery one none excepted For the Annunciation of our Ladie is the Conception of our Lord the Purification of our Lady is the Presentation of our Lord neither of them more properly our Ladies day then Christmas day is our Ladies day Christ being that day borne she deliuered But the proper dayes of our Lady are her Conception her Natiuity her Visitation specially her Assumption which the Protestants haue laid all away as though Christ were worshipped by keeping his Precursors or Baptists Natiuitie and dishonored by keeping his Mothers Natiuitie honoured by keeping his other Saints Assumpting out of this life to heauen dishonored by keeping his mothers Assumption a faulte most absurdly by them committed that whereas in all Saints we keepe specially their Natalitiae or taking hence vnto Christ his owne mothers day that shee was by death assumpted in soule onely as other Saints or in body also although it be certaine I doe not here say that this day of Gods Mother the Lady of Saints and Angels they keepe not it is I say for them an intollerable foule absurditie So do they many waies as I haue said manifestly declare that which also in it selfe is euident that they be not the Church vvhich vvith such daies obseruations hath commended all christendome for to be Regnum Sacerdotale a Kingdome Priestlike 1. Pet. â— and heauen vpon earth Christ with his Saints Angels being by such meanes continually seene here by representation remembrance as there in face and fruition but that they be the Rebelles of that Church the defacers of christendome the coolers of deuotioÌ„ in christian harts enuiers of the honour remembrance of Saints and of Christ himselfe That and if they might or would be but present once at the Reuerend solemne doing of the foresaide Catholike Seruice specially at Christmas Easter such other more festiuall times I doubt not but that most of their stony harts would melt for ioy with the loue of Christ so as Saule also himselfe did Prophecy 1. Reg. 10 19. comming in place where the Prophets were if I say they would come in and leaue their standing without with him in the Parable Qui audiuit symphoniam choruÌ„ Luke 15. c. nolebat introire who heard the singing melody c. and would not come in And much more would the colde hearts of many Catholikes be enflamed therewith which now for feare of the world for lacke of the feare of God doe to their owne damnation appeare at this new paltrie Wherewith how wel God is pleased they may learne of Saint Ierome saying thus In Amos. 5. Haeretici quotiescunque sub nomine Domini fuerint congregati detestatur faetorem eorum claudit nares suas c. Whensoeuer Heretikes be gathered together vnder the Lords name he abhoreth their stinking and stoppeth his nose c. Iudaeorum quoque oratio Psalmi quos in Synagogis canunt Haereticorum composita laudatio tumultus est Domino vt ita dicam grunnitus suis clamor AsinoruÌ„ c. Also the Iewes praying and Psalmes which they sing in their Synagogues and the Heretikes fine composed praysing is a great disquieting to our Lord and that I may so say a grunting of Swine and a braying of Asses c. The cause thereof is for that he hath appointed only the Catholike Vnitie to be serued in Ephes 4.
as here the vse of people is by reason of the exceeding great multitudes which resort to such solennities Masse being now begonne shee fealt immediatly such an-horror and trembling in all her bodie such stretching and strayning such haling and pulling cold sweat following also thereof in much aboundance her memorie senses beginning thereupon to faile her that it seemed vnto her nothing more like then death it selfe to be neare at hand Yet bearing it a while the best that she could for reuerence of the place companie and resigning herself into the handes of God after the Epistle was read shee began to feele some more ease both in mind and body And at the tyme of the Gospell standing vp with others by helpe of her crouch shee seemed to her self when she was stoode vp that shee had not as then needed that helpe but that she could haue riseÌ„ without it and began to thinke within herselfe that shee now stood vpon both her legges without it her short legge touching now the grouÌ„d no lesse theÌ„ her other Wel the Gospell being ended she kneled her doune againe in silence after the maner vntill the end of Masse and the Bishopps blessing Then for greedines of Holie-water which there is wont at the end of euery Masse to be sprinkled vp she rose sodainly because shee would leese no spirituall helpe which at that Masse might be had and did forgett for hast both her crouch her hat her beads and her handkerchef Her hat an husbaÌ„d man that stode by her at Masse brought by by vnto her the rest in the throng except her staffe were lost She feeling herselfe fully and wholly deliuered both from all payne and also from all cause of halting and lamenesse for this her strange chaunce first being sore amased and halfe crying out withall but anon remembring better her selfe and much reioysyng for that which had happened going or rather runnyng out of the Church before the Procession as she met in the multitude here and there with her acquaintaunce they wondering to see her goe vpryght and without her crouch shee told them with great ioy that by vertue of the B. Sacrament of Miracle she was as they saw wholly restored Which while she told thus to very few thinking still that it had beene secret the fame thereof did immediatly so encrease specially by the meanes of theÌ„ that at Masse time kneeled about her marked wel the whole order of her straÌ„ge moods that her staffe by and by vvas taken vp in the place where shee left it and hanged vp forthwith after the manner there beside the place of the said blessed Miraculous Sacrament by the Chaplaine that hath the custodie of the same Afterward the miracle of her healing being more famously knowen and proclaimed in pulpits to the hearing also of other Citties round about certaine Englishmen that lay at Mechlin twelue miles off vnderstanding of it thought it good for the honor of God in respect of her pouertie to call her to Mechlin vnto their seruice Which iourney shee went so lustily that certaine of our couÌ„trymen very good on foote had much a doe to keepe her company as euer since in deed her agilitie is such that shee rather seemeth to flie or at least to runne then to goe as others doe As touching her vnfaithfull husband of whom before I spake he very shortly after this Miracle of her healing falling out with another young fellow receaued of him a very grieuous wound whereof within a few dayes after he died And this much haue I said of Doâ—maticall Miracles Miracles Personall NOw of the other sort of Miracles which I called Personall I make this Conclusion Whatsoeuer persons at any time since Christes Ascension haue had the grace of Miracles they were the Ministers of Christ I say not alwaies iust and holy but alwaies Preachers of his truth and consequently whosoeuer set themselues against such persons they were against Christ and against the truth Neither vnto this can they possibly giue me any instance as I will by Gods grace most plainely shew in answering such instances if any of them shall venture to giue any For what they can doe I am not ignorant Only this that some miscreantes haue made boast and shew of Miracles Trac 13. in lo. as Simon Magus Mahomet the Donatistes whome for that cause Saint Augustine tearmeth Mirabilarios Meruailousers so to say and as certaine Heretikes of this tyme doe Foxe Humpherie and others and as Anti-christ shall doe hereafter in his lieing signes wonders 2. Thes 2. in omni virtute signis prodigijs mendacibus being able none of them but such only as some-time they haue wrought in plaine confirmation of our Catholike truth being therefore Dogmaticall and not personall to abide the touch or examination no better then the Iugglings of Iannes and Mambres Exo. 7. the Magicians of Pharao vvhose roddes were straight deuoured by the rodde of Moises Exo. 8. and they at the third plague of Ciniphes or gnattes compelled to confesse Digitus Dei est hic The finger of God is this and so their foly as Saint Paul saieth manifested to all men 2 Tim. 3. Moyses and Aaron proceeding yet styll and multiplying their strange mighty wonders So I say true Miracles last and continue fained trickes doe vanish sone awaie as the sluttish feate of Lane the Minister at Westchester But yet because for a time they maie chance to deceaue some fooles others also that know not the power of Nâ—ture and of the Diuell S. Augustine hath noted vnto vs out of our Sauiours wordes a very good ready present Mat. 13. and certaine rule saying Tene amus ergo vnitatem In Io. tr 13. vide de vnit Ec. cae 16. fratres mei praeter vnitatem qui facit miracula nihil est Let vs therefore keepe the vnity my brethen out of the vnitie hee also that worketh Miracles is nothing So as S. Paul also said Gal. 1. Sed licet nos aut Angelus de coelo euangelizet vobis praeter quam quod euangelizauimus vobis praeter id quâ—d accepistis anathema sit But although wee or an Angel from heauen should gospel vnto you contrarie vnto that which wee haue gospelled vnto you contrarie vnto that which you haue receaued accursed be he Not because there is any such danger of an Angel of Heauen but because folish light persons are alwaies readie to crie as they did at Poules when they saw Bradford the Heretike after their seditious hurling of the dagger steppe vp in M. Bournes place my Lord afterward of Bathe and Welles an Angell an Angell I say then that innumerable holy men of our vnitie haue in all ages had the grace of working true Miracles not disprooued not able to be checked as S. Thomas Aquinas Saint Bonauenture Saint Bernard Saint Thomas of Canterburie Saint Frauncis Saint Dominicke and inâ—inâ—te others Wherefore I
to make against this third note For that it is no good exception you may hereby perceaue because the Fathers make both notes as I haue declared Wherefore the one destroyeth not the other but they stand both well together The cause thereof is this for that christians and catholikes are both but one name and so of the Fathers vsed and accompted who therefore commonly deny Heretikes to be Christians because they are not Catholikes that is to say Christians of all Christendome but only of some peece The difference only is that the name Catholike is plainer in this case and inuented to be ioyned as a very singular Epitheton vvith Christians so to put all out of doubt in saying Catholike Christians For if they were not all one a man might as vvell say Heretike Christians which no man vseth to say And so haue I by the verie common names both of them and vs made three most easie most certaine probations vnpossible of them to be coÌ„trolled that we are of the truth and they out of the truth Old Heresies TO proceede now to another like probation whatsoeuer was Heresie in time past the same is Heresie now also and the holders of it Heretikes as they were of old vnlesse any man be so vnfaithfull or rather mad to thinke that truth of Religion chaungeth with the time and that it is false vvhich Saint Paule saith Christ Iesus yesterday and to day the same also for euer Heb. 13. As certaine therefore as this is that Christ truth chaungeth not so certainely shall it be proued in this part that these men be Heretikes and their doctrine Heresie Which may be done and God willing shall be done hereafter if need be in very many points of their doctrine But because anie one point is sufficient to shew that we must auoide them as in the Arrians Sabellians and in manner all other olde Heretikes it is manifest who alwaies for only one point were accounted damnable it shall be enough specially in this my breuitie to bring forth one or two examples Well then Heresie it was aforetime to deny as these men doe that praier or offering may be made for the dead And that we plainly shew out of all Recordes of Heresies left vnto vs by the writing of most approued Notaries For the Greeke Church let Saint Epiphanius Epip her 75. Aug. haer 53. bee seene for the Latin Church Saint Augustine who both haue recorded it for the Heresie of a certaine Arrian named Aerius Saint Augustines wordes are these In Arrianorum haeresim lapsus propria quoque dogmata addedit nonnulla dicens orare vel offerre pro mortuis oblationem non oportere c. This Aerius being fallen into the heresie of the Arrians ioyned also thereunto certaine positians of hys owne saying that we must not pray or offer oblation for the dead c. Our men therefore hauing the same Position it followeth plainly that they are Heretikes as holding that which before was heresie so accompted in al Churches both Greeke and Latin And this were they neuer nor neuer shal be able to answere For another example I chuse that cruell Heresie of theirs against the necessitie of Childrens Baptisme through the which they haue suffered and stil do suffer to perish many thousands of those poore soules not able to helpe theÌ„selues It was of olde the Heresie of the PelaÌ„gians that children might come to lyfe euerlasting without the Sacrament of Baptisme Aug. haer 88. de pec mer. lib. 3. ca. 5 Cip. lib. 3. Ep. 8. de iâ—fant baptizaÌ„d as Saint Augustine in sundrie places witnesseth mightily by the scriptures confuting the same allegeing also against it the testimonie of Saint Ciprian with a Councell of 66. Bishopps in his tyme that they which suffer children to die without Baptisme Deny Gods mercie and grace to men and destroie soules Wheras Filius hominis non venit animas hominum perdere sed saluare Luke 19. The Sonne of man came not to destroy soules of men but to saue them And in another place S. Augustine sayeth De orig can lib. 3. cap. 8. Ep. 28. that if a man wil be a Catholike he must not so beleeue speake nor teach Againe in another place that whosoeuer so saith Tanquam pestis communis fidei detestandus est he must be detested as the pestilence of common faith Qui profecto contra Apostoli praedicationeÌ„ venit totam condemnat Ecclesiam Hee verelie both goeth against S. Paules preaching and condemneth the whole Church Therefore our Protestantes and Puritans for this their vnmercifull opinion are not Catholikes they are contrarie to the Apostle they condemne the vniuersall Church of GOD they are to be detested as corrupters of our Faith as Heretikes as Pelagians and in deede farre worse than Pelagians For vvee reade not that they vpon their Heresie leaft anie child vnbaptized as these doe great numbers because they although they promised them without Baptisme life euerlasting falslie yet not the kingdome of heauen also foolishly for they thought that one might be in life euerlasting without the kingdome of heaueÌ„ therefore thought they good to baptize them for the getting of that kingdome though not for euerlasting life whereas our Heretikes much more falsly than those promise them both life euerlasting and the kingdome of heauen all and therefore suffer them very often to goe awaie vvithout Baptisme as a thing for them at all vnnecessary O vnmercifull and cruell Heretikes All good people for the loue of God for pitties sake see better vnto them be euerie man vvith his acquaintance vvho so hath anie amongst them diligent earnest instant that their poore babies die not vnchristened Thus haue I by two examples of old Heresies most vndoubted prooued most plainely that they are Heretikes being both able and readie as I haue said if need be to doe the like by many examples moe Which examples for this time omitting leauing them to the remembrance of euerie man that is but meanely read in Diuinitie I will now shew forth some other waies Miracles Dogmaticall TWo waies therefore most plaine and readie will I shew by miracles vvhich are all for vs and none for them Wherein although I might be so copious as of this only matter to make great Volumes for our defence to their confusion yet will I say very little as my purpose and yet sufficient as my promise requireth Being then for vs as it hath pleased God our Lord two sortes of Miracles the one that may be called Dogmaticall the other Personall Of the first sort I set this Conclusion whosoeuer haue at any time set them-selues against any Doctrine confirmed by Miracle they haue beene against the truth There can to this no instance be giuen So that if it be shewed our Doctrine vvhich these men resist to haue beene so confirmed plaine it is that they are enimies of the truth But that can I easily shew in
God doe either flatly denie or call in question and leaue in doubt as a thing indifferent for any man to affirme it or to deny it which the learned know to be so and I will by Godds grace shew to be so when it shal be required And therefore it is not the Protestants Church whereof Saint Augustine there speaketh but a Church it is that the protestants do impugne a Church that no lesse biddeth vs not to beleue the protestants and to beleeue those Scriptures than it did bid S. Augustine not to beleeue the Manichees as hee there doth say and to beleue those Scriptures Storehouse of the Scriptures FOR furder declaration hereof consider againe what Church it is ours or the Protestantes which hath had the custodie and construing both of the forsaied and of the other Bookes of the holy Bible euer since the Apostles tyme into the vvhich the olde Testament dyd fall by iust descent and alteration of the spirituall State from the Ievves vvhich hath noticed to the vvorld the Autoritie and Canon of the holy Books of the new Testament also which hath so many worldes and in such alterations of mortall thinges saued from destruction and corruption of all Heretikes Iewes and Infidels the whole autentical Corpes of Scripture which no Heretike aliue can charge for adding or minishing any iot thereof Will any man doubt therefore whether this be the true Church which is the olde and only Treasure-house of so precious a Monument which hath kept the iust possession of it these fiftene hundred yeares and hath lost neither leafe nor line thereof Or wil any man be so mad to thinke that to be the true Church which occupied no Bible nor had not to doe with holy Scripture as they cōfesse themselues for a thousand yeares together which now forcibly and violētly plucking it out of the iust possessours handes hath in little more then fortie yeares of their restlesse spoiling raigne robbed vs of so many vvhole Bookes thereof and of many a particular portiō more Tantae igitur ostensiones cum sint haec Iren. li. 3. cap. 4. non oportet adhuc quaerere apud alios veritatem quam facile est ab Ecclesia sumere cum Apostoli quasi in depositorium diues plenissime in ea cōtulerint omnia quae sint veritatis vti omnis quicunque velit sumat ex ea potum vitae Haec est enim introitus vitae omnes autē reliqui fures sunt latrones Propter quod oportet deuitare quidem illos quae autē sunt Ecclesiae cum magna diligentia diligere apprehendere veritatis traditionem Being therfore these so great so many demonstrations a man must not yet saith S. Ireneus seeke the truth amongest any other which it is easy of the Church to take because the Apostles haue in her as in a rich storehouse laid vp most plentifully al that true is so that euery one that listeth may out of her take drinke of life For shee it is that is the doore of life all other are theeues and robbers Wherefore a man must auoyde them I say but the Churches thinges he must most earnestly loue take hold of her Tradition of truth Studying and teaching of all diuine truth AND better yet to know both the plentie of this rich Storehouse and the Emptines of the beggarly Dennes of Heretikes consider againe vvhat Church it is whose maisters teach and children study the whole body of Christian truth taking no lesse paines to seeke out and to know what God hath reuealed about the Blessed Trinitie the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost and yet their vnity equalitie consubstubflantialitie in one Godhead about the Incarnation of Godds Sonne ioyning two most different natures of God and Man both intiere both complete no commixion no confusion into the vnitie of one Person about all the same one persons in his humaine nature perfections and defects doings and sufferings for our sakes about the creation of the world in the beginning of things visible and inuisible of men and Angels what they were both made by God and what they made themselues by sinne about the Resurrection and Iudgement that shal be in the ending and state of things both in earth and hel and heauen for euer afterward finally about all parts of faith Religion no lesse then about the Questions of this time And againe who they be on the other side that know very little euen of their owne Questions that they haue moued vnto our Church in these their dayes as they can not possibly knovv much being occupied rather about wyning then in studying and taking vpon them to be teachers before they haue bin lerners husbandes and Ministers both so sone as they can get them wiues and benefices so yong fathers so yong Doctors that the common Wealth is forsooth greatly strengthned by their multiplying and the Church substantially edified by their preaching But in other questions of our beleefe such as before I rehearsed so ignorant they be that they are scarse euer heard and very few of them to preache or teache vpō them the people thereby remaining vtterlye vnskilfull of Mysteries that they are bound to know vpon paine of damnation Yea Caluin himselfe the learnedst of them al and their master of masters compelled also to study the Mysterie of the Trinity for to answere his Polonion Trinitaries yet is hee found so ignorant therein that his errors are intolerable as that Gods Sonne is autotheos God of himselfe and not GOD of his Father Iust li. 1. cap. 13. nu 23. 24. Vide Geneb de Trin. li. 1. pag. 43. as the great Nicene Councell hath professed Deum de Deo Deum verum de Deo vero God of God very God of very god whereof it ineuitably foloweth that they are two Gods not one God vnlike in substance not consubstantiall beside many other his ignorant errors Such was Iuels ignorance also that Christ is a priest according to his Godhead being yet I say studied in the matter What then must be the blindes of our Countrie Heretikes that neuer trouble their braines about those Mysteries Loke to theyr Vniuersities and see vvhether there be any appointed publicke Readers or Teachers of such matters any that priuatly make them their studye whether they doe not all in maner study nothing at all but the arte of speaking or els but certaine new bookes of common places for a few pointes of their new Doctrine and them so lightly that the cōmon sorte of Catholikes are able to answere all there argumentes and to say also more for them then they can say for themselues and yet it serueth them to be Doctours there of Diuinitie a Goddes name how be it both in lawe and truth they are no Degrees that men seeme there to take Is such a Church trovv you that Rich Storehouse Li. 3. c◠4. in the which the Apostles laid vp for euer most plentifully al truth
telling these that they should doe otherwise to the heauy iudgement of both the counâ—el giuers and the counseltakers yet no doubt for all this as the lay ministers were figured in the pristes of Ieroboam of whom it is written Fecit phana in Excelsis 3. Reg. 18. Sacerdotes de extremis populi qui non erant de filijs Leui He made Lofthouses and priests of the rascall people who were not of the sonnes of Leui so were these ministring priestes plainely figured in that couetous wordly Leuite Iud. 17.18 that first for a litle monie serued new-found Idoles in the house of Michas and afterward for more lucre and honor did the same in the Tribe of Dan. Plaine it is that our Sauiour in the Gospel maketh but three kindes of Ministers two that minister after the right maner one for Gods glorie the other for his owne commoditie Ioan 10. Vide Aug. de ver Do. Ser. 49. which are there called Pastor and Mercenarius the Shepeard and the Hierling the third whose ministration is wrong and to the shepes destruction vvhich is there termed Lupus fur Latro the wolfe the stealer and the robber VVhereby these flatterers of themselues of whom I speake vvho seeing the vvolfe come did neither stand constantly in the right ministration vntill they should haue beene thrust out of all by the vvolfe or cleane forsaken of the sheepe as the Shepeheard nor did not forsake the Sheep and runne away as the Hireling but did and doe abide stil and ioyne with the wolfe and minister after his tradition may see most euidently in vvhat part of our Sauiours iust diuision they haue placed them-selues And therefore if they list vnsensibly desperatly and damnably to hold on with the wolfe as they doe and to take no charitable holesome warning the Sheepe must notwithstanding marke well this forsaid diuisioÌ„ made by the good Shepheard and Prince of Shepeheardes and consider Ioan. 10. 1. Pet. 5. that what he hath said of wolus the same hee hath said of these also telling the shepe their dutie in these words Oues pastorem sequuÌ„tur quiasciunt voceÌ„ eius Alienum autem non sequutur sed sugiunt ab eo quia nou nouerunt vocem alienorum The shepe follow the Sheepeheard because they know or like well his voice But the alien they follow not but they flee from him because they know not the voice of aliens By vvhich admonition of our Sauiours the doubt also of certaine shepe is answered vvho thinke it lavvfull for them to heare the vvolues Sermon though not his Seruice But our Sauiour telleth them that the true sheepe know not neither the voice of the wolfe but that they will flee from hym So as by vertue only of Tradition vvithout Scripture did those Christian peoples of the Barbarous languages of whom S. Irenee saith thus Li. 3. ca. 4 Quibus si aliquis annunciauerit ea quae ab Haereticis adinuenta sunt proprio sermone corum colloquens statim coÌ„cludentes aures longo longius fugiunt ne audire quideÌ„ sustinentes blasphemum colloquium Sic per illam veterem Apostolorum TraditioneÌ„ ne in conceptionem quid m mentis admittunt quodcunque eorum portentiloquium est If any man wold preach vnto them the things that by Heretikes haue beene inuented talking with them in their owne language they wil flee away farther farther not abiding so much as to heare the blasphemous talke So through that olde TraditioÌ„ of the Apostles they admitte not so much as into the cogitatioÌ„ of their mindes any monstrous speache of theirs whatsoeuer it be And besides that admonition this ensample also very good reasoÌ„ so to do because those Sermons are as no Catholike will denie most blasphemous against al persons and thinges most holy and most honorable both in earth and in heauen Psal 82. according to the psalme Posuerunt in coelum os suum lingua eorum traÌ„siuit in terra They haue put into heauen their mouth and their tongue hath passed ouer all the earth And therefore solemnely to heare such Sermons must needes be horrible sinne seing that the only priuate patient hearing of one detraction against some one neighbour of ours deserueth damnation as Saint Bernard Li. 2. de Conâ—ad Eugen. according to many holy Scriptures hath noted Detrahere detrahentem audire quid herum damnabiliuâ— sit non facile dixerim To detract and to giue eare to a detractor which of these is more damnable I may not easily say Whereupon the Prophet Dauid saith Psa 100. DetraheÌ„tem secreto poximuÌ„ suuÌ„ hunc persequebar Him that speaketh detractioÌ„ secretly against his neighbour him did I persecute S. Augustine writeth of Innocentiareligiosissima foemina de primarijs ipsius ciuitatis De Ciuit. Dei li. 22. cap. 13. a most religious woman of Carthage one of the chiefe of that City who as she told him herselfe vpon a vision that she had caused a woman newly baptized to make the signe of the Crosse vppon her brest infected with an incurable canker and thereby immediatly was healed that when her Physitian being an Heathen did afterward see it and aske her earnestly by what medicine she was holpen which his maister Hyppocrates knew not of she telling him how it was done hee with the voyce and countenaunce of one as it vvere contemning so that shee feared least that hee would vtter some contumelious vvord against Christ answered with deuout ciuilitie I thought quod hee that you would haue told me some great matter Atque illa iam exhorrescente mox addidit Quid grande fecit Christus sanare cancrum Ioan. 11. qui quatriduanum mortuum suscitauit And shee now shyuering for feare hee by and by did adde what great matter did Christ to heale a canker who raised one that had beene foure dayes dead Whereby vve see that good folke which loue Christ when they se so much as one word about to be spoken against him wil be readie to swound and to dye for feare What then are they which wil go to the place where they know that he is blasphemed there to stand so quietly so long so often to heare such blasphemies Certainly they are more senselesse and more dead then was that foresaid Lazarus I pray Christ to call them likewise forth of their stincking graues Lazare veniforas Lazarus come forth and so to giue them to his ministers to be loosed Soluite cum sinite abire Loose ye him and let him go And againe let them tel me whether a Sermon be not part of the Seruice Which is so euident that they see the Puritans would haue no other Seruice but a Sermon And therefore loke for what causes it is vnlawfull to heare their Seruice for the same vnlawfull it is also to heare their Sermons Doe they not knovv what many our Holy Fathers the Popes and Councels and namely the Councel of Trent hath enacted
quite rotted out the contrary But the rule of Truth cannot be false Omne regnum diuisum contra se Mat. 12. desolabitur omnis ciuitas vel domus diuisa contra se non stabit Euery kingdome diuided against it selfe as they be into Protestantes and Puritans and as all other great Heresies euer haue beene to theyr owne destruction shall come to desolation and euery Citty or house diuided against it selfe shall not stand And so by this consideration you may perceaue the truth of Luthers proude Prophecie in his Booke against King Henry Luther a falâ—e prophet Certui sum dogmata mea habere me de coelo dogmata mea stabunt Papa cadet Deus viderit vter primo fessus defecerit Papa an Lutherus Sure I am that I haue my Doctrines from heauen My Doctrines shal stand and the Pope shall fall Let God see whether wil first be wearie and faile the Pope or Luther Yea God and the world seeth that thou art comen already almost to nothing euerie vvhere in maner forsaken of thine owne Disciples by Zuinglius Caluin and others wel-neare consumed the See Apostolike in the meane while more and more continually increasing in honour and glorie And therefore may our countrie men if they list of God him-selfe take plaine warning of thee and those others that in our countrie would be accounted thine adherents Thus said God first of all The Prophet Deut. 18. which corrupted with pride will take vpon him to speake in my name such thinges as I haue not commanded him to say or in the name also of other Gods he shall be put to death And then further Moyses saith If thou answere within thy minde and say But how may I vnderstand the word that our Lord hath not spoken This signe shalt thou haue looke what the same false Prophet hath foretold in our lords name and if it come not to passe that thing our Lord hath not spoken But through the swelling pride of his owne hart the false Prophet fained it therefore thou shalt not feare or folow him How to make plaine demonstration that the Heretikes haue no euidence and that we haue all TO conclude at last and to breake off all other the like considerations vvhich might yet be manie more proponed and shall be hereafter if God will and necessitie so require yet one thing more heere in the end would I haue by a Catholike man proponed to his friend that is an Heretike to be considered Whereas it is most strongly prooued by all this which I haue here said also euident in it self to any man of wisdome that is not quite forsaken of God that there maketh most plainely for vs and against the Heretikes all that euer vvas or can be of any christian man required Holy Scriptures Approued Traditions See Apostolike Generall Councelles Auncient Fathers Ecclesiasticall Histories Christian Lawes Diuine Miracles Heauenly Visions Gods Church the very names of Catholikes of Heretikes of Protestantes theyr Going out theyr Comming of them selues vvithout sending Our Vnitie Vniuersalitie Antiquitie Succession Euerlasting theyr reuiuing of old condemned Heresies finally al Monuments all substance all accidents of Christianitie all this being most certaine most plaine most euident and yet the Heretikes still in all pulpits crying the Gospell the Word of the Lord the touchstone of Gods book I vvould haue all men here to knowe theyr impudency for to consider vvell with them-selues vwhat should be the true cause of that theyr shamelesse and deceitfull crie First plaine it is that all these former euidences make for vs and so must the Heretike that you will deale withall be made in the beginning to coÌ„fesse which they doe all confesse many waies indirectly as in that they vse not the same euidences themselues in their declarations againe in that they admit no euidence but only Scripture c. In these theyr sayings and doings they confesse indirectly and in generall termes that al those euidences make for vs. But you must make your friend confesse as much directly and particularly Or els let him say eypresly to euery one of them whether he will be coÌ„tent to be tried by theÌ„ as by the motiue of old condemned heresies himselfe I meane to be an Heretike if you proue him an Aerian for denying prayer for the soules departed If he be content then ioyne with him vpoÌ„ that issue Againe whether he wil be coÌ„tent to be tried by approued traditions by Miracles by Councels by Fathers vvith the rest And if hee consent then ioyne vvith him in like sort vppon that point through all and each of them in manner as this Treatise hath shevved you the vvaie Whereby you shall still be sure to haue the victorie as I vvill vvith Gods helpe more copiously declare hereafter if any of them doe ioyne vvith me vpon them And that they know themselues full well fleeing therefore euermore from them all to their vveake and false Castle of onelie Scripture But you muste still labour to gette them and if you can vvith their consent out of that Castle into the plaine fieldes aforesaide to make them graunt expreslie that there in your handes they can not stand Verie hard it is for you I know to bring anie proude obstinate Heretike to that humilitie to confesse so much although hee thinke it yet is it good vppon sure confidence of Gods mighty help so to assay the worst of them all if peraduenture God vvill saue him or any other that by that meanes shall vnderstand theyr cowardlines and naughtines of their cause But specyally this vvay shall serue you to doe good vpon men more Humble more tractable more reasonable content to learne the truth and to saue theyr soules Such a one shal you sone by the grace of God and your owne deuout prayer perswade to come forth vnto you vpon those Playnes afore sayed and there to proue to see and to confesse theyr falling and our preuailing Which when he hath so done he will neuer I warant you returne to his former castell trusting there to speede any better so euidently shall hee perceaue those playnes into the which with his coÌ„sent you called hym out to be the most certaine places where the truth of christian Religion is to be tryed and to be found But yet for the farther confyrmatyon of our Catholyke truth and of hym therein you may then aftervvard will hym to retire hym to the sayed castle of the Scrypture And then to shevv hym that there hee can no better vvith-stande our assaulte bidde him consider vvhether the holy Scripture be agaynst these foresaid euidences yea whether it doe not beare them al plaine witnesse as in the seueral places I haue partly shewed Agayne therefore to consider whether Holy Scripture be in any thing contrary to it selfe And yet once againe whether that if Scripture with Protestants were good euidence we allege not for vs Scriptures most plainly most mightily most abundantly For
example is not this Scripture manifest enough Mat. 26. Hoc est corpus meum c. Hic est sanguu meus c. This is my bodie c. This is my bloud c. Is not this Scrypture also most manifest Ex operibus iustificatur homo Iac. 2. non ex fide tantum By workes a man is iustified and not by faith only Is not this againe playne ynough Iac. 5. Infirmatur quis in vobis Inducat Presbyteros Ecclesiae orent super eum vngentes eum oleo in nomine Domini If any amongst you be daungerously sicke let hym send for the Priestes of the Church and they to pray ouer him aneling him with the oyle in the name of our Lord c. This Scripture againe is it not most manifest Salubris est cogitatio 2. Mac. 12. pro defunctis exorare vt a peccatis soluantur It is a good meaning to pray for the soules departed that they may be deliuered from their sinnes These likewise could they be plainer Multum orat pro populo vniuersa sancta ciuitate 2. Mac. 15. Ieremias Propheta Dei Ieremie Gods Prophet dead long afore prayeth much for the people and the whole holy Citie Gen. 48. Deus qui pascit me ab adolescentia mea vsque in presentē diem Angelus qui eruit me de cunctis malis benedicat pueris istis saith Iacob the Patriarch of Iosephs two children God who hath fead me from my youth euē to this day The Angel who hath deliuered me out of all aduersities blesse these childrē as if one now would say God and our Lady blesse them Finally in the learned bookes of Catholikes of this tyme any man may see infinite manifest Scriptures for vs alleged and all that the Heretykes do alege most clearely answered as most certaine it is that no Scripture from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Apocalipps maketh for them no Scripture against vs but all for vs and very many of them so euidently that the Heretikes haue no way to answere them but by plucking if they could the pen of the Holy Ghost out of his hand that wrote them For either are they proued inuincibly to be of the Holy Ghostes endighting or no Scripture at all is proued to be such as you may remember the common saying of S. Augustine Con. ep fūd ca. 5. Ego Euangelio nō crederem nisi me Ecclesiae Catholicae commoueret authoritas I should not beleeue the very Gospell it selfe vnlesse the Catholike Churches authoritie did compell me Seing then that al this is so I appeale me so may any Catholike man boldly with me to the iudgement of any indifferent man and to the wisedome of any that hath intelligence whether it be not certayne that the Protestantes prating somuch of scripture proceedeth not of this that it beareth them at al any recorde but of that thing only which Saint Peter hath sufficiently warned vs of if at least wise we wil take any warning and not wilfully impugne the truth and destroy our own soules His warning is this In the Epistles of our brother Paul 2. Pet. 3. Sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu quae indocti instabiles deprauant sicut caeteras Scripturas ad suam ipsorum perditionem There are certaine things hard to be vnderstod which the vnlearned and vnstable doe depraue wrest as they do also the other Scriptures to their very own perdition So then the true cause why these men be so busie in wreasting and writhing both of S. Pauls most learned and most Diuine Epistles who be wreasters of the Scriptures and of the other Holy Scriptures is theyr owne vnlearnednes who are become Maysters hauing neuer bene scholers ioyned togeather with their vnstablenes by which they are so lightly lewdly runne out of the Catholike Churches Vnity Vniuersality to the Schisme and peece of Luther and from thence againe to the peece of his peece broken off by Caluine and from Caluine againe to the singularity of English Protestants and yet agayne from Protestāts to make another peece of Puritans neither there vndoubtedly nor no where els euer to leaue their flitting vnconstācie but only by returning to the setled vnmoueable rock whervpon both they before vvith vs and wee stil yet thorough the only grace of God doe stand vs steadfast And once there standing they shal sensibly see this to be most certaine that I say no Scripture no truth to be against the Catholykes neither any at all to be for Heretiks For that is the place where God appointed Moyses to stand and there to see all those Mysteries which in this life he reuealeth that he might afterward in heauen see his Glorie Ecce inquit est locus apud me Exo 33. stabis supra Petram c. Behold quod he there is a place with me and thou shalt stand vpon the Rocke c. And therefore doth S. Peter immedyatly after his wordes afore recyted thus inferre Vos igitur fratres praescientes custodite ne insipienetium errore traducti excidatis a propria firmitate You therefore brethren knowing this much afore hād by my warning beware that ye be not caryed away togeather with the erring and straying of foolish losels falling out away from your ovvne sure steadines For euen as any branch of a tree leesing once the sure hold that hee had in the trunke and cleauing no more vnto it must needs wither away and die foorth right and can not possibly grow on any longer so a man that falleth him off frō the deepe rooted continually standing and euer growing Tree of the Catholike Church he straight waies fadeth away vanisheth dieth in himselfe and howsoeuer sometimes he semeth to grow in goodnes or in knowledge as the braunch cut of his own tree and planted in another place it is al out of the roote all in vaine all but downward like a cow taile and as a man that runneth very fast out of his way therefore all but backward Wherefore vnto them only that kepe their standing saith S. Peter Crescite vero in gratia in cognitione Domini nostri Saluatoris Iesu Christi But keepyng your hold grow ye on in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ And so be his conclusion also our conclusion ipsi gloria nunc in diē aeternitatis To him be glory both now and vnto the day of eternity AMEN Bristow to the Reader AL persons of our Nation that with Gods grace shal chaunce to be remembred or confirmed in the Catholike faith or reduced thereunto by this Treatise vouchsafe of theyr charity to requite my Goodwill with theyr deuout prayers for my sinnes Faultes escaped in the printing In the first page line 6. for cognossimus read cognoscimus fol. 16. b. line 12. for protenus read protinus fol. 56. line vlt. in some bookes for