can not thinke that you confessed the transgression of anie one of the Commanndements of God But that you had béene at the Sermons of the protestant Preachers and had heard them and taken the notes of them and had framed your selfe in some points to follow them although in very déede but verie little Yea and that you had not holden defended to the vtter most of your power the Romish Catholike Religion but had willinglie heard and read and sometimes your selfe vttered vnreuerent spéeches both by word and by writing to the derogation of that high dignitie of your most holie Father the Popes holines Gods Vicar vpon earth and the vniuersall head of the vniuersall Catholique Church of Christ Yea and in derogation of that holye Order that you your selfe doo now professe If I had béene with you when you made that confession of your sinnes I coulde haue put you in mind of that English Enterlude that you wrote wheÌ„ you last dwelt in my house wherein you appointed my little kinsman to play one parte in the habite of a Fryer with this spéeche Deus hic Deus hic and God be héere is not this an holie spéech for a Fryer You confessed I thinke that you neuer tooke ashes on Ashewensday nor beare Palme on Palme Sondaie nor crept to the crosse on good Fridaie nor fasted on the Ember daies nor on anie saints vigill nor yet on anie Friday in the whole yéere But I feare mee you did forget that blasphemy that in your forenamed Enterlude in that part that you appointed for your fellowe John Goughe in these wordes to be spoken in the person of the mother of Christ in the derogation of the Popes dooings in that he tooke vppon him to alter the Calender of the yéere The words are these What meaneth this foolish man to prate Nowe surelie I maruaile much What dooth him cause this wise to chat As though there were none such As he himselfe throughout the world Upon him so doth take As though that he the heauens and earth And eke the sea did make Hee changeth my byrth day And wyll my child bed rule at his will Which he shall neuer bring to passe Whilst world remaineth styll If you did in your shrift forget these wordes of blasphemy breathed out against your holie father the Popes holines your confession that you then made was vnperfecte and so all that then was doone not woorth a drye Walnut Yea and although you did not forget to confesse it yet if the Priest your ghostlie Father that gaue you absolution had not a more large Commission then commonlie your holie father vseth to giue to such single soled sir Johns as they be which in these daies come from Rome he hadde no power to absolue you for so horrible a sinne committed against your holie Fathers owne personne his triple crowne and dignitie No remedie you must to Rome for that absolution that you haue already receiued is not worth the leanest â—owse that euer crawled in the cowle of a Francisean Fryer But to let these things passe till you and I shall méete together againe I would gladly knowe wherein you can note Barber to be so mischieuous an hereticke Is it because hée taught you a Lesson of the Hebrewe tongue or was it because hee did it gratis and tooke no reward of your father for his paines taken therein Surely his meaning was good to you wardes and that reward that you render vnto him nowe saueureth of too too great ingratitude A vice that all honest men doo abhorre But let this passe also till Master Barber you may come to talke together I doubt not but you shall then 〈…〉 de him more fréendlie to you then by those words written by you you haue deserued I meruaile howe you could stay your laughter when you saâ—e the iestures and behauiours that the priest vsed in the first masse that euer you heard Dyd you not laugh in your slaeue to sée an olde foole or a young boy for I knowe not of what age the Priest that said the masse was play with a white round cake as a young Catte vseth to play with a Mouse that is more then halfe dead Dyd you not smyle wythin your selfe to sée him in his Plaiers garments and to vse his turnes and halfe turnes his winckings his staringes his liftinges and his layings downe and in the ende the eating vp and his slouenly supping vp of all himselfe and blessing such as were present with the emptie Cup Or if he did vouchsafe to make you Communicants with him did you not marke howe hée gaue you Wine ouer which he had vsed no words of coniuration or as they doo terme it consecration as he had doone ouer the other Wine which hée had lifted ouer his head and supped vp himselfe If none of all these thinges could cause you to laugh or simyle then vndoubtedlie you had loste that accident which the Logicians call Proprium hominis An accident proper to man to be apt to laugh or smyle But let vs sée now what you did on May day next after your departing from your mother The Fryaer From thence I departed vpon May day earely in the morning on horâ—backe toward Sussex I was in Sussex and Hampshire three monthes Good Gentlemen gaue mee when I departed from London fortie or fyftie shillings to come ouer Seas The danger was so great and the examinations at the Sea shore so straight that I knewe not what to dog Againe other letts I had that I could not take shipping vntill the ende of lulie welnere All this whyle I thanke God I wanted nothing neither apparrell meate nor drinke nor money Vpon S. Iames euen I tooke shipping at mydnight with a Gentleman a good Catholicke or as you would terme him a Papist I being a Papist with him So we two Papistes tooke shipping at Arundell Hauen in Sussex to goe to Rome We were in great hazard of our liues vpon the Seas from Sunday night vntill wednesday afternoone At what time wee arriued bothe in Fraunce at Diepe in Normandie From Diepe wee came to Roane in Normandâ—e where I stayed a fortnight After that I came to Paris the cheefest Cittie in Fraunce from thence to Rhemes where I stayed a tweluemonth and aboue So I trauelled in Fraunce before I came to an abyding place welnere fourescore leagues that is to say eightscore miles almost Being at Rhemes I went or at the least I should haue gone euerie day to the morning masse After which masse our custome was to breake our faste and after that to goe studie I was in the English Colledge at Rhemes where wee were welnere two hundred English men I liued there passing well as concerning meate drinke and other necessities Crovvley By this discourse of your peregrination it appeareth that Antichrist hath his fréendes amongst English men bothe in and about London and also abroade in other partes of y e Realme and in Fraunce also Good
seauen golden candlesticks are y e seauen Congregations Yea we say with saynt Paul 1. Cor. 10. Calix benedixionis cui benedicimus nonne communicatio sanguinis Christi est Panis quem frangimus nonne participatiò corporis Domini est The Cuppe or as you call it the Chalice that we blesse is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread that we breake is it not the partaking of the bodye of the Lord Quoniam vnus panis vnum corpus multi sumus Omnes quidem de vno pane de vno calice participamus For we being many are but one loafe of breade and one body And we doo all take part of one loafe of bread and of one cuppe If you therefore would deny that the Sacramentall cuppe is the Communion of the blood of Christ or that the sacramentall breade is the partaking of the bodie of the Lorde we would say that you doo lie and doo make the Apostle Paule a lyar and so consequently God himselfe for the spéeche that Paule vseth is not his but Gods that spake in him We doo beléeue that the body and bloud of Christ are giuen taken eaten and drunken of the faithfull in the Lords supper after a heauenlie and spiritual manner but yet verily and indéede Yea and that faith is y e meane whereby the bodie and bloud of Christ are receiued in the Supper All this we beléeue and confesse and your selfe Frier John had once learned this and did confesse it in my Church without Creplegate of London before many witnesses You doo vs open wrong therefore in that you say that we make God a lyer and say that he gaue not his body to his disciples but bread onely which is fully contrarie to the foresaid texts of Scripture And as touching the sentences that you cite out of the sixt Chapter of S. Iohn we acknowledge Christ to be that bread that came downe from heauen And that whosoeuer shall eate of that bread shall liue for euer And he that eateâ—h not the flesh of the sonne of man and drinketh not hys bloud shall not haue life in himselfe But he that eateâ—â— the flesh of Christ and drinketh his bloude shall haue life euerlasting and Christ will rayse him vppe in the latter day But héere you must gyue vs leaue to sale as S. Austen dooth and we must request you to thinke no worse of vs then you doo of him so long as we shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him For hee is a Catholick docter and I thinke you doo take him so to be If we therefore shall shewe our selues to be of one minde with him I hope you will take vs for Catholickes also First I must tell you that in the place that you cite the words be thus Ego sum panis viâ—â—s and not panis vâ—tae That is the liuing bread and not the bread of life I note this because the meaning of our Saâ—â—our Christe was as you haue said to bring the Jewes to the knowledge of his diuinity by considering that the Manna which fell from heauen and was accounted to be the bread of life was not that liuing bread that liueth and hath life of it selfe and is the fountaine of life to al liuing creatures y t they might be occasioned to sée that the Manna was to the Fathers as our Sacrament is to vs a visible â—â—gne representing vnto theÌ„ this liuing bread as â—ur Sacrament dooth represent the same vnto vs. Concerning this matter saynt Austen wryteth thus in his 26. treatise vpon the Gospell of saint Iohn Patres vestri Manna manducaueruÌ„t mortui sunt noÌ„ quia maluÌ„ erat MaÌ„na sed quiamale maÌ„ducaueruÌ„t Hic est panis qui de coelo desceÌ„dit Hunc paneÌ„ significauit manna Hunc paneÌ„ significauit altare Dei SacrameÌ„ta illa fueruÌ„t in signis diuersa sunt sed in re que significatur paria sunt ApostoluÌ„ audi Nolo enim vos inquit ignorare fratres quia patres nostrâ— omnes sub nube fueruÌ„t omnes mare traÌ„sieruÌ„t omnes per Mosen baptizati sunt in nube in mari omnes eandeÌ„ escaÌ„ spiritu alem manducauerunt Spiritualem vtique eandeÌ„ nam corporalem alteraÌ„ quia illi Manna nos aliud spiritualem veroâ—quam nos Sed patres nostri non patres illorum quibus nos similes sumus non quibus illi similes fuerunt Et adiungit Et omnes eundem potum spiritualem biberunt Aliud illi aliud nos sed specie visibiliquidem tamen hoc idem significante virtuâ—e spirituali Quomoâ—o enim eundem potuÌ„ Bibebant inquit de spirituâ—li sequeÌ„te pâ—tra petra autem erat Christus Indepanis inde potus Petra Christus in signo verus Christus in verbo in carne That is to say Your Fathers did eate Manna and are deade not because Manna was an euill thing but because they did not eate it aright This is the bread that came downe from heauen Manna did signifie this breade The Lordes Altare did signifie thys breade Those thinges were Sacraments in signes they be dyuers but in the thing that is signified they are alike Gyue care to the Apostle For he sayth Brethren I would not haue you ignorant that all our Fathers were vnder the Clowde and that they did all passe thorow the Sea and that they were all baptized by Moses in the clowde and in the Sea and that they did all eate one and the same spirituall meate The same spirituall meate indéede for the corporall was another for they did eate Manna and we an other thing but the spirituall was the same that we doo eate But these were our Fathers not theirs They to whom we are like not they to whom they were like And hée addeth to this And they did all drinke of one spirituall drinke but in the visible kind they did drinke one thing and we another and yet signifying the selfâ— same thing in spirituall vertue But howe was it the same drink They dranke sayth he of y e spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rocke was Christ Hence was the bread and hence was the drinke In a signe the Rocke is Christ but Christ indéede is in the word and in the flesh Can any man wryte or speake more plainly on our side in this matter then S. Austen hath doone in these wordes that I haue héere â—ited Doth he not plainly affirme that the Manna was to the faithfull Fathers in the wilderâ—es euen the selfe same thyng that the sacramentall breade in the Lordes supper is to vs nowe And that the Rocke in the Wildernes was vnto them the same thing that the cuppe in the Lords supper is vnto vs nowe And what wyll you haue vs to grant you a reall presence of Christes bodie and bloode in the Manna and in the Rocke And howe can you then require vs to grant it in the sacramentall bread wine S. Austen sayth that they and
the great ioy of them that yet loue you in the Lorde to your endlesse saluation and to the consusion of that Antichristian swarme amongst whom you doo nowe lyue Amen But to gyue you yet a further occasion to consider better of your reall presence I wyll let you sée somewhat more out of this auncient Fathers writingâ—s and out of the wrytings of some others more auncient and some not so auncient First S. Austen wryting vpon the 98. Psalme sayth thus Spiritualiter intelligite quod locutus sum Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis et bibituri illum sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendaui spiritualiter intellectum viuificabit vos Understande spiritually that which I haue spoken You shall not eate that bodie which you doo sée neither shal ye drink that bloud which shall be shedde by them that shall crucifie me I haue commended vnto you a certaine Sacrament which being spirituallye vnderstanded will quicken you Basilus Magnus somewhat more auncient then Austen dooth shewe himselfe to be of this minde That whatsoeuer may be reallie present in moe places at once then one is no creature but is God in nature To prooue the holy Ghost to be God he wryteth thus De spiritu sancto Cap. 22. Angelus qui astiâ—it Cornelio non erat in eodeÌ„ tempore etiam apud PhillippuÌ„ Neque qui ab altari ZachariaÌ„ alloquebatur eodem tempore etiam in coelo propriam sedem ac stationem implebat At verò spiritus simul in Abacuc in Daniele in Babilonia operari creditus est Et in Cataractae cum Hieremia esse dictus est Et cum Ezechiele in Chobar The Angell that stoode before Cornelius was not at the same time with Phillip also Neither did he that from the Altare spake vnto Zacharie at the same time occupie his owne place and order in heauen But we beléeue that the holy Ghost did at one time worke in Abacuc and in Daniell béeing in Babilon And it is sayde that he was with Ieremie in the dungion and with Ezechiell in Chobar Basill thought this sufficient to prooue the holy Ghost to be God And shall not we thinke then that you affyrming the body of Christ to be really present in the sacrament doo affyrme it to be God because it is present in so many places at once and so deny iâ— to be a creature But sée what another Father more auncient then Basill dooth saye to thys matter Origen wryting vpon the 25. Chapter of S. Mathewe sayth thus Secundum hanc diuinitatis suae naturam non peregrinatur sed peregrinatur secundum dispensationem corporis quod suscepit As touching this his diuine nature he is not gone into a strange Countrey but concerning the disposition of that bodie which he hath taken vpon him he is gone into a strange Countrey S. Austen wryting to Dardanus Epistola 57. sayth thus Cauendum est enim ne ita diuinitatem astruamus hominis vt veritatem corporis auferamus For we must take héede that we doo not so set vp the diuinitie of the manhoode that we take away the truth of the bodie These wordes of saint Austen are plaine enough and yet to make them more plaine he addeth Vna persona Deus homo est et vtruÌ„que est vnus Christus Iesus Vbique per id quod Deus est in coelo autem per id quod homo One person is both God and man and bothe these is one Christ Jesus In all places in that he is GOD but in that he is man he is in heauen In his 30. treatice vpon saynt Iohns Gospell S. Augustine wryteth thus Corpus domini in quo resurrexit in vno loco esse oportet veritas eius vbique diffusa est The Lordes bodye wherein he arose must be in one place but hys trueth is spread abroad in euery place S. Ambros also wryting vppon saynt Lukes Gospell hath these wordes Lib. 10. capit 24. Quae sursum sunt sapite non quae super terram Ergo non supra terram nec in terra nec secundum carnem te quaerere debemus si volumus inuenire Sauoure those thinges that are aboue and not those things that are on earth If we therefore wyil finde him we must not séeke him vpon the earth nor in the earth nor after the manner of flesh Cyrill also who being in the dayes of saynt Ambros Bishoppe of Alexandria wryteth vpon the Gospell of saynt Iohn and sayeth thus Lib. 6. capit 14. Et si Christus corporis sui praesentiam hinc sub duxit mai state tamen diuinitatis semper adest sicut ipse a discipulis abiturus policetur Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus vsque ad consummationem soeculi Although Christ haue conueighed hence the presence of his body yet is he alwayes present by the maiestie of his diuinity euen as when hee was departing from hys Disciples he promised Beholde I am with you euery day euen to the ende of the worlde S. Gregorie also in his 21. Homelie writeth thus Christus noÌ„ est hic per praesentiam carnis qui tamen nusquam deest per praesentiam maiestatis Christ sayth he is not héere by the presence of hys flesh which notwithstanding is absent from no place by the presence of hys maiestie Fulgentius also in his seconde booke Ad transimundum regem writeth thus Christus vnus idemque homo localis ex homine qui est deus immensus ex patre â—nus idemque secundum humanam substantiam absens coelo cum esset in terra derelinquens terram cum ascendisset in coelum Christ is but one and the same is placible man of man which is of hys Father GOD that can not be measured One and the same as touching his humane substaunce was absent from heauen when he was on earth and leauing the earth when he ascended into heauen The last of these wryters hetherto cited lyued within 500. yéeres after Christes ascention Consider I pray you the places that I haue héere set downe in wryting taken out of the most auncient learned and godly writinges that these Fathers haue left behinde them And be no longer ledde by such as first seduced you and doo stil beare you in hand that all the auncient Fathers did beléeue and teach such a reall presence of Christ Iesus to be in the Sacrament of the Altare as they haue taught you to beléeue and that al we that doo deny that there is any such reall presence of Christ in that Sacrament doo make God a lyar and doo holde an heresie most horrible detestable and abhominable Where as in very déede we doo beléeue and teache the true auncient Catholicke and Apostolicke fayth concerning the true vse of the Sacrament of the body and bloude of our Sauiour Christ And that which they doo holde and teache is schismaticall deuillish and damnable Come out from amongst them hearken no more to
to tell him somewhat Syracke 19 But wyll you sée what opininion S. Austen hath conceiued of these ghostly fathers that you speake of Quid mihi ergo est cum hominibus vt audiant confessiones meas quasi ipsi sanaturi sint omnes laÌ„guores meos Curiosum genus ad cognoscendam vitam alienam desidiosum ad corrigendam suam Quid a me quaerunt audire qui sim qui nolunt a te audire qui sint Et vnde sciunt cum a meipso de meipso audiunt an verum dicam quandoquidem nemo scit hominum quid agatur in homine nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso est Augustinus confessionum libri 10. cap. 3. What haue I to doo with men y t they should heare my confessions as though they should heale all my langors A kinde of men curious to knowe the life of another man but slack to amende their owne Why doo they séeke to heare what manner of man I am which are not wylling to heare thée declare what manner of men themselues be And when they doo heare me make report of my selfe howe doo they knowe whether I doo say true or not For no man doth knowe what is doone in man but the spirite of man which is in him Austen in the 10. booke of his confessions the 3. Chapter I hope you wyll not blame your mother though she followe not your counsell sith both S. Austen and Iesus Syracke haue aduised her to doo the contrary She doth confesse her sinnes to God euery day because she is assured that he doth knowe when she speaketh trueth And that he is able to pardon and to forgiue her sins and that being vnfaynedly penitent for her sinnes he doth and wyll pardon forgiue and forget her sinnes according to the saying of the Prophet Ezechiel Chap. 18 At what time soeuer a sinner shall repent him of his sinnes from the bottome of his hart I will put all his wickednes out of my remembraunce Your mother and all we Protestants are and wilbe ready to doo as saint Iames teacheth in his 5. Epistle where he sayth thus Confesse your sinnes one to another When we haue trespassed one against another we acknowledge our faultes one to another We aske forgiuenes one of another We satisfie make a mendes one to another if our habilitie will stretch so far if not we know that God wyll require no more of vs then hee will make vs able to doo And as touching faults that are committed against vs wée forgiue them as Christ hath commaunded and taught vs. Yea though our brother shall trespasse against vs seauen times in a daie and shall saie seauen times in a day it repenteth me we forgiue because we knowe that otherwise our heauenly father wyll not forgiue vs. And when the horrour of our sinne is so great before our eyes that we can not otherwise be satisfied and assured of forgiuenes at Gods hande but by such comfort as some that wee thinke to be of more knowledge and of better life then we knowe our selues to be of can minister vnto vs then we make choyse of some such one as can certifie vs indéede by the mercifull promises of God contained in the holie Scriptures made to peniseÌ„t sinners and not by popish penaunce enioyned and popish absolution pronounced by vertue of anie power giuen by that most holy Father of yours the Romish Antichrist Wée are not so madde as you were when you hauing tasted of the swéete mylke that our Mother the true Catholicke and Apostolicke Church did minister vnto vs by her pappes that she offered to vs at the Spittle in Easter wéeke 1583. woulde on the Saterday following as your selfe doo write runne into a corner like a Waltams Calfe séeking to bee satisfied with the mylke of a Bull. Giuing credite to a false forsworne Traytor that without all manner of proofe told you that all the healthful milke that you had sucked before was poyson and that if you would finde milke that might féede you to euerlasting life you must runne to Rhemes or to Rome for there it is to bee had and not els where But I hope you will remember your selfe better and returne to your first fayth from which you are for a whyle fallen that rysing againe you may confirme others stay them from the like horrible fall You wyshe your mother to leaue this worlde that is so disceitful and to sticke vnto God So she did before you were borne and doth still so purposeth to continue all the daies of her life though she minde not to shake of the yoke of duetie towards her husband your father and professe herselfe a Nunne as you haue professed your selfe a Fryer and haue shaken of the yoke of duetifull obedience to her and to your aged Father and to the Common weale of your Countrey that hath nourished you vp whervnto you doo by naturall order owe a third part of that seruice that GOD hath made you able to doo Your mother knewe before she did knowe you that this worlde is disceitfull and therefore shee neuer did repose any trust in it She hath learned to liue in the worlde and not to be of the worlde neither to serue the worlde but to serue him that made her and the worlde giuing his creatures to her and others his children in the world for whose cause he hath made all his creatures that are in this worlde And she hath learned to be thankfull to God for the vse of his creatures in the world and not to be in loue with thys worlde or with anie thing in it but to haue her affection styll fixed vpon that other worlde where shee is assured that she shall for euer dwell with him that hath made both this and that world She is not so madde as to thinke that there is none other way to heauen but thorowe Rome gates She knoweth that Christ Iesus is the way the trueth and the life and not the Pope nor your Frauncis nor any other father of your nâ—we founde Religions Although you say that your Religions are auncient and ours newe yet she knoweth that yours are new and ours is auncient And although you charge vs with many Religions yet she knoweth that our Religion is but one and yours is manifolde You haue written that your Order is called the Order of S. Frauncis of Paula what that Frauncis was or in what time he liued I can not finde in any History Sabellicus and other Historians haue noted that about 400. yéeres past there liued in Italie one Franciscus Asisias a man of singuler vertue as they reporte and that this man beganne a newe Order of Fryers whom he named Minors And after that he instituted an other Order whom he called Pauperes or poore Friers There spronge from him a thyrde Order also which were called Poenitentes or repenting Friers By all likelihoode your Order is of that sort of Fryers But let it be of which you
your Antichrist of Rome and so shoulde she be in worse case then now she is or that you doo now suppose her to be For hauing forsaken God as you doo aduice her to doo she should not be receiued of Antichrist and so should she be as a masterles hownde that smelleth to euerie mans garment and neuer findeth any that will accept of his seruice And where as you wishe her in any case to burne her hereticall bookes you might haue doone wel to direct her to places persons where and by whose meanes shee might come by such bookes y t you doo allow for Catholick c. But in that which followeth it appeareth what your meaning is For she may neyther vse the Bible in English nor heare the Protestants preache neither doo you direct her which way she may take to come where she may heare Catholick preachers Your meaning therfore must néedes be to bring her into the darke dungion of ignoraunce which menÌ„ of your sort doo vse to call the mother of deuotion obedience And this your meaning is opened in these words following Buy a paire of Beades c. What man or woman that hath any maner glimmering of Christian knowledge can like of that manner of praying y t they doo vse which pray vpon Beades First they perswade theÌ„selues that they pray to our Lady And so doo you exhorte your mother to doo for you say Bie a paire of beades and pray our blessed Ladie to help you But can you perswade your selfe that you pray to our blessed Ladye when you saye Our Father which art in heauen c. And hayle Mary full of grace c. And I beléeue in GOD the Father c There is not one petition in the Lordes prayer that may anie way be thought to bee a petition made to that blessed Virgin except you can imagine that shee is that Father which séeth in secrete to whom our Sauiour Christe commaunded hys Schollers to pray when hee taught them howe they shoulde pray saying When you pray you shall say Our Father which art in Heauen c And in that salutation which the Angell Gabriell vsed to the blessed Virgine there is not one word of petition or prayer made eyther to her or to any other And as for the Créede it is a confessyon of beléefe wherein are contayned the speciall Articles of the Christian fayth but there is not one worde therein that can be by any meanes wrested to serue for petition or prayer Nowe the order of your praying vpon Beades is thus Fyrst you say one Pater noster Then the Aue Maria tenne times and then one Pater noster and agayne the Aue Maria ten times and so forth tyll you haue rehearsed the Pater noster fiue times and the Aue Maria fyftie times And then you rehearse Credo in Deum Patrem once And this is the order of your praying vpon Beades And when you haue gone ouer your Beades three times in this order then you haue sayd our Ladies Psalter as you doo terme it I meruaile y t you did not aduise your Mother to forget the Lords Prayer and the Creede that she hath learned in the Englishe tongue and learne the Pater noster the Aue Maria and the Credo in Deum in the Latine tongue For our Englishe Prayers can not agrée with your Italian Beades Neither is it possible for that person to be deuout in that kind of deuotion that is not so ignoraunt that he vnderstandeth not one word of y e prayers that he vseth I meruayle therefore that you which doo vnderstand the Latine tongue can be so blinded that you can allowe of that manner of praying I feare me that you haue so prouoked God to wrathe by your wylfull Apostacie that in iustice he hath so blinded your vnderstanding that you take darknes for light and ignoraunce for knowledge the deuill for God and GOD for the deuill And then is your case most miserable as sayth the Prophet Esay V ae qui dicitis bonum malum malum bonum c. Esay 5. Woe is vnto you or alas for you that doo say that good is euil and that euyll is good If thys be your case I doo not hope that thys which I nowe doo or that can be doone by any other can helpe any thing at all to drawe you out of your darke dungion of ignorance But hoping better of you and that though my laboure coulde not profite you yet some other may bee profited thereby I haue thought good to make thys matter as plaine as I can that the manifest truth may if it be possible preuayle with you and bring you backe agayne to your former happy estate wherein you were once and séemed to be setled therein If that can not bee yet I hope this labour of mine may be a meane to stay some such as you were from running headlong after you into that pytte of destruction that you are fallen into You teache your mother to craue helpe at the handes of the blessed virgin that was neuer able to helpe her selfe Shee her selfe sayth That her spyrite reioyced in God her Sauiour and woulde you that your mother shoulde nowe put that blessed virgin whom God hath saued in the place of that God that saued her by crauing that helpe at her handes which can not be had at the handes of any but of God himselfe Your mother had learned before shée bare you that it is God that draweth the Infants out of theyr mothers wombe and that it is he that sustaineth them whylst they hang vpon their mothers dugges Psalm 22. And when she trauelled of Chylde she called vpon him and not vpon the blessed virgin And whence came thys calling vppon the blessed Virgin in that case but from the custome of the Heathen women which beeing perswaded that the Moone hath a naturall dominion in moyst matters called vppon her vnder the name of Iuno lucina And when Christians beganne to declyne from that perfection of Christian knowledge that had beene taught by the Apostles and theyr immediate successors Christian women thought they should not doo amisse to put the blessed mother of our Sauiour Christ in y e place of this Iuno and so they fel to calling vpon her in their peril in the trauayle of Childbyrth And wyll you bring your mother backe agayne to this superstition If you wyll giue any credite to saint Augustine hee wyll fell you that the blessed Virgin dooth neyther require nor allow of anie such honour to be giuen vnto her In his Booke intituled of true Religion and in the last Chapter thereof hee wryteth thus Non sit â—obis Religio cultus hominuÌ„ mortuorum quia si pie vixerunt non sic habentur vt tales quaerant honores sed illum a nobis coli volunt â—uo illuminante laetantur meriti sui nos esse consortes Honorandi ergo â—unt propter immitationem non adorandi propter Religionem Let vs not haue a
force of the fire of Gods spirit which in hys good time wyll trye all that men haue builded vpon thée which art that foundation that all the builders which wyll buylde the Temple of GOD must needes builde vppon because there is none other foundation to builde vppon 1. Cor. 3. O swéete Iesus thou haste commaunded mee to searche the Scriptures Iob. 5. And thy holy Euangelist saynt Luke reporteth that in Berroaea such as receiued the doctrine of the Gospell gladly dyd searche the Scriptures daily Acts. 17. But my sonne Samuell forbyddeth mée the vse of the Byble in English And hée knoweth that I vnderstande none other language Hys meaning therefore must needes bée to forbydde that which thou hath commaunded O swéete Iesus suffer mée not to be seduced by my sonne Samuels flattering and hypocriticall spéeches Hée teacheth mée to beseeche thee to bée mercifull to mée a most wretched sinner for thy name sake A better lesson then this no man can teache O swéete Lorde Iesus doo thou imprint thys lesson in my harte that I doo neuer forgette it And worke thou in my hart by thy holye spyrite that I may haue a ready good will dayly to vse it But alas he beléeueth that thy blessed Mother Mary is able to helpe such as call vppon her and therefore hée teacheth me to pray vnto her to helpe mée But thou hast taught me a lesson contrary to that When you pray you shall say O our Father which art in heauen hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy wyll be doone in earth as it is in heauen c. O swéete Iesus let me neuer forgette that forme of prayer Gyue mée grace I beséeche thee to vse it nyght and day to craue continuallye at the handes of thy heauenly Father which through thee is become my heauenlye Father all those thyngs that in that forme of Prayer thou haste taught mee to craue Let mee not so hearken to my Sonne Samuell as that following hys counsell I shoulde doo contrary to thy commaundements Blessed Lorde Iesus I doo knowe that thy blessed mother is a most blessed creature But thou with thy Father and the holye Ghoste art her Creator and mine and the Creator of all creatures Wée must say of her as the Prophette Esay sayde of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Abraham neuer knewe vs Israell is ignoraunt of our case but thou art our Father thou art our deliuerer Esay 63. Thinkest thou oh thou blynde Fryer Iohn that thy mother that bare thee is so blinded with affection towardes thee that shee wyll turne her backe vppon Christe Iesus to follow thee Thou teachest her to vse daily a forme of prayer which in the first words is swéeter then honnie to the taste of a faithfull Christian but in all the wordes that followe it is full of most pestilent and deadlye poyson She wyll none of it therefore She wyll pray to the heauenly Father in such sorte as Christ Iesus the sonne of God hath taught her and not to creatures as thou doost exhort her Though she coulde yet she wyll not goe to shryft to make confessyen of her sinnes to a Priest Shée knoweth who it is against whome shée hath sinned To him alone she wyll confesse all her secrete sinnes At his handes onely she wyl aske forgiuenes of her sinnes because she knoweth that he onely is able to forgiue them And when she shall sinne against men she wyll confesse those sinnes to those men agaynst whom she shall committe them Shee will doo all that shée shall bee able to doo in making satisfaction to them Shée wyll craue forgiuenes at their handes and beséeche them to pray to GOD for her that she may obtaine forgiuenes at hys handes also The blessed body and bloude of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christe shée will receiue as often as shée may but not after so bloudy a manner as you imagine that you doo Shee hath learned to receiue an outwarde Sacrament into her mouth and stomache and by fayth to receyue spirituallie into her soule the thing that is signified by that outwarde Sacrament Shée knoweth that if shée dwell in Christe and haue Christ dwelling in her shée dooth at the Lordes Table receiue eate and drinke the Lordes bodye and bloude in the Sacrament exhibited to her and to the reste of the faithfull But if shée shoulde intrude herselfe into the companye of Christians not dwelling in Christ neyther hauing Christe dwelling in her she knoweth that though she shoulde receiue the Sacramentall breade and drinke the Sacramentall wyne neuer so often yet shée shoulde neither eate the bodye nor drinke the bloude of Christe but the Sacrament of so excellent a thing to her owne condemnation August in sermone de Sacramentis fidelium Feria 2. Paschae Thys is the iudgment of saynt Augustine in hys Sermon that he made of the Sacraments of the faythfull the seconde day of Easter And Fryer Iohn I must aduise you to call to remembraunce that dealing of yours when you presumed to bée partaker of the Sacrament of the body and bloude of Christe in company wyth your mother the morrowe after you hadde béene at shryfte and were as your selfe haue in these your Letters confessed reconciled to the Romish Catholicke Church If Christe did then dwell in you vndoubtedly bothe Christ and Antichrist may dwell together which is knowne to bée a thing impossible You were reconciled to Antichrist therefore hée dwelt in you and not Christ You presumed with Iudas to eate the Lordes breade against y e Lord as Iudas did when he had before bounde himselfe by promise for money to deliuer the Lorde into the handes of the high Priestes and Elders of the people Euen so had you compacted with your new fréendes and made promise to forsake the Protestants Religion as you terme it and to embrace the Romish Catholicke Religion during the whole time of your transitory life And howe durst you then thrust your selfe into our Communion the next day after you hadde made thys promise to your ghostly father that had béene the meane and instrument of your reconciliation and so dissemble both wyth your newe and your olde fréendes as a Newter or Iacke on both sides But it may be that your ghostly Father had some large Commission from the holy father of Rome to disspence in such cases For such doo account our Sacrament to bée but a péece of breade and a cuppe of wyne and that therefore there is no danger in the receiuing of it in such manner as you did then receiue it But that dispensation can not helpe you for it was Panis Domini the Lords breade as well to you as that other was to Iudas And you receiued it Contra Dominum against the Lord as Iudas did euen to your owne condemnation because you made no difference of the Lordes body To your mother and to other the faithfull that dyd at that time receiue that Sacrament it was Panis Dominus The breade which is the Lorde
and it did nourishe them to euerlasting life although it were to you a condemnation But hasting to an ende of your exhortation and so of the whole matter you thought méete to impart to your mother in these your Letters you say thus as followeth The Fryar If you be persecuted reioyce with S. Paule in your persecutions remembring that sentence which our Lorde hath spoken saying VVhosoeuer wyll come after me let hym deny himselfe let him take vp hys Crosse and follow me Saint Paule sayth that the Passions and tribulations of thys world are not worthy of that glory which GOD wyll gyue vs. Thus I commend you to God From our Fryery at Nigeon a myle from Paris the seauenteene day of Marche 1586. Your sonne carefull for your soules health Fryer Iohn Frauncis And then you write thus in the margine I haue changed my name I am no more called Samuell Debnam but Fryer Iohn Frauncis If you sende any Letter to mee wryte on the backe of it A frere Jehan Francoys Minime a Nigeon aupres de Paris ces Lettres soyent donnees Crowley To comfort your Mother against persecution you put her in minde of the words of our Sauiour Christ in the ninth Chapter of Luke And of the wordes of S. Paule in the 8. to the Romaines I hope shée wyll remember these sentences when you shall come into Englande as you say your hope is shortly to doo and shall there sette vp that Order of Bone homes which you haue professed and bée an Inquisitor there that shee may stande constantlie to the professyon of that auncient Catholike and Apostolick fayth which shée hath by hearing learned and by the assystaunce of Gods spirite professed and practized before and euer since she bare you a babe of whom shée hoped to haue had such ioy as naturall Parents doo naturally hope to haue in their naturall Children But nowe that you are degenerated and become an Apostata forsaking that right Religion wherein you were baptized and Catechized shée hath iust cause to wysh that she had neuer nourished you with the milke of her breasts if the Lords will hadde béene so but rather that her wombe hadde béene your graue It is true as you say that whosoeuer will come after Christ must take vppe theyr Crosse and followe him It is true also that the passyons and tribulations of thys worlde are not woorthye of that glory which GOD wyll giue vnto vs. But sir if your mother should hearken to you and by going to shrift and hearing of masses and professing of Popery pull such a Crosse vpon herselfe as they doo beare which willingly and wittingly doo put theÌ„selues into the danger of y e iust Lawes of our Country she should beare a heauy Crosse indéede but not after Christ For not Christ but Antichrist calleth men and women from their due allegiaunce to Princes and dispenseth with theÌ„ for their lawfull othes of faythfull obedience which they haue taken to be true to theyr princes The passyons tribulations that your Seminary men and such as follow them doo suffer are not persecutions but iust executions euen such as GOD commaunded to be executed vpon false Prophets and Idolators Deu. 13. If you may haue your wished hope I doubt not but you wyll put both your Father and mother and all others that haue béene your fosterers to their tryall for yeeare become an hungry whelpe of that bloudie Butchers curre that ruleth in Rome and thyrsteth after the bloude of the English Nation But that God that hath the hartes of all Princes in his hande wil I hope worke so in the hart of that Noble Prince that nowe raygneth in that noble Realme of Fraunce or in the hart of some of hys surcessors that all the Romysh rabble shall by them be rowsed out of theyr dennes as in the dayes of our noble King Henry the eight they that then were in England were rowsed And then that hope of yours will be at an ende But sir what meane you by thys that you say that God wyll gyue vs that glorie whereof the passions and tribulations that wée suffer héere are not worthy Howe standeth this with that which you haue written before by occasion of the wordes of our Sauiour in the xxv of S. Mathewe where you say that the féeding of the hungry c. are the cause of that ioyfull sentence Come ye blessed of my Father c. For there you say that thys glorye is due to those and such like workes and nowe you affyrme that it is Gods gyft God wyll giue it say you Mendacem memorem esse oportet A lyer must not bée forgetfull You lyed before but now you affyrme the trueth For that glorye which you speake of is indéede the frée gyfte of GOD through Iesus Christe our LORDE and canne not bée deserued either by our working or by our suffering And that was the meaning of the Apostle Our workes though they be neuer so many neuâ—r so good neuer so orderly doone yet can they not be worthy of that glory Our passyons and tribulations although they be neuer so greate neuer so vndeserued yet they can not bee woorthy of that glory which GOD hath prepared for them that loue him And thus you commende your Parents to GOD in as courteous manner as you saluted them at the firste That is euen as though they had béene some of your companions and not your Parents Such is the Arrogancy of Fryer Iohn Frauncis But yet hée is the sonne of those ouermeane Parents and careful for their soules health It were well if you had a care for your owne soules health which you can not haue so long as you haue no care to doo any duety either to your naturall Parents or to your natiue Country or to any others to whom you doo owe duety both by the Lawe of GOD and of nature You haue renounced that obedience that GOD hath commaunded all naturall Children and Subiects to shewe towardes theyr naturall Parents and Princes and you haue chosen a new obedience and vowed to obserue that Your Pryor and your Subpriors in the Minimes Religion must be obeyed The holye Father the Pope must haue his commaundements obserued You may not doo that which GOD commaundeth to bée doone except the same be commaunded by your holy Father the Pope the Pryor and your Subpriors If the Popes holines your father Pryor and your Subpriors commande any thing that you may and must doo and you may not mooue any question at all whether God haue not commaunded the contrary Yea though you know that GOD hath forbidden the dooing of it yet you must néedes doo it for you haue vowed obedience c. You know that GOD hath forbidden the worshypping of Images and all vse of Imagry in the exercise of Religion Exo. 20. And yet you must néedes haue them and worship them because they to whome you haue vowed obedience doo commaund it Christ hath sayd Patrem nolite vocare vobis super terram vnus est enim Pater vester qui in coelis est Call no man your Father vpon earth for one is your Father which is in heauen Mat. 23. But you must haue a most holy father which is the Popes holines And he must bée called Papa That is Pater pâ—trum Father of Fathers If your eyes bée not altogether blinded your eares stopped your vnderstanding doubled and your hart hardened you can not but sée perceiue and vnderstand into what miserable case you haue brought your selfe Repent therefore betime receaue againe your first name leaue Fryer Iohn Frauncis in Nigeon Let Samuell DebnaÌ„ come ouer into England againe Iohn and Catherine wyll embrace their Prodigall and lost sonne All theyr and your fréendes wyll reioyce together with them when they shall sée Samuell Debnam that was lost founde and brought home agayne Your fall hath caused greate gréefe your rysing agayne shall cause greater ioy The meanest seruaunt in your Fathers house is in better case then the happyest amongst your superiors in Nigeon You thinke your selfe to bée in the way of saluation but in very déede the ende of your way is destruction Come vnto Christ that calleth Math. 11. Open vnto Christ that knocketh Apoc. 3. Forsake the whore of Babilon Defie Antichriste and his whole Religion From London the sixt of August 1586. ⸪ Your instructer euery way carefull for your soule health Robert Crowley ⧠Faultes escaped FOlio 3. B. line 13. Reade to bée the right Religion Fol. 6. A. line â—1 Reade Papistes Fol. 7. B. line 16. Reade after Fol. 22. A. line 4. Reade did bidde B. line 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 23. A. line 19. Reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 23. B. line 33. Reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fol. 24. B. line 2. Reade and had chosen to walke in Fol. 32. A. line 11. Reade Gorgias Fol. 34. A line 12. Reade dilectionem Fol. 52. B. line 9. Reade haue her to confesse Fol. 55. A. line 11. Reade Arrogating