for their defence also as appeareth playnly by their bookes but I enterlaced this withall that if our writers had vsed scriptures onely they had followed herein the example of Iesu Christ and his Apostles What sayth our graue father to this Forsoth he Preacheth much of the Diuine power of Christ our Sauiour how that he was the mynde and wisedome of the father and the accomplisher of the Law and did make new ordinaunces of our Religion which were not expressed in the whole course of the old Law First of all this vnweldie old man perceiueth not how hee hath ouerthrowen him selfe in his owne turne for if Christ be the mynde and wisedome of the father as he hath most truely sayd hereupon consequently followeth that all the particular testimonies of Christ are speciall Oracles of the truth and that all his particular sayinges ought to be engrauen in our harts as heauenly Oracles This did our heauenly Father pronounce vnto Moyses and Moyses declared the same vnto the people in these wordes The Lorde thy God will rayse vp a Prophet lyke vnto me from among you ouer thy brethren him shall ye barken vnto Wherfore if we must harken vnto Christ as vnto Moyses then are we bounde as necessarely to his preceptes as to the ordinaunces of Moyses Behold the same more playnly yet in the Gospell Iesus beyng baptised came forth of the water and behold the heauens were opened and he saw the spirite of God descendyng as a Doue and standyng ouer him and loe there came a voyce from heauen This is my welbeloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Therfore sith the authoritie of Iesu Christ is sealed vnto vs by the mouth of almighty God what greater Maiestie of Scriptures may be pronoūced in the Scriptures taught or imagined more excellent then this doctrine Iames doth recorde That our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ is the onely Lawmaker which can saue and destroy Wherfore in his onely right and interest he did partly establishe new lawes partly amend the old partly expoūde the obscure partly restore them that were worne out of mynde and partly abolishe them that were receaued But what maketh this to your purpose when our Lord Iesus doth vse Scriptures doth he alledge any other then the sacred testimonies of the old Testament it could not otherwise bee say you doth he vouche any other interpreters then the holy Ghost sent downe from heauen he neéded not say you For he whom God hath sent speaketh the wordes of God for God doth not geue him the Spirite by measure The Father loueth the Sonne and hath yelded all thynges vnto his hand This is a true saying of Iohn concernyng Christ which beyng so in deéde that must bee also true whiche I enterlaced That Iesus Christ beyng contented with the testimonie of the holy Scriptures alleadged none other interpretour besides him selfe This is also vndoubted true at the last That you are a very vnskilfull and blockishe Deuine whiche professing the knowledge of God do wauder so erroniously in the nature and power of God If I should sift out the examples particularly that you haue taked together for this purpose I should finde them altogether voyde of all maner probabilitie stuffed full with grosse errours Two onely will I shake out amongest all the rest which shall condemne you of your disguised maskyng You deny that this sentence can be founde in the Law in the Prophets or in the Psalmes that the way is narrow that leadeth to saluatiō or that we must turne the left checke to him that hath striken on the right If you exact wordes you play by that Sophister If you require substaūce or sentence I do affirme it to be found euery where both in the Law in the Prophetes and in the Psalmes The old law hath an expresse commaundement That we shall not bow to the right hand nor the left hand nor adde to the Law nor diminishe there from Is it not apparaunt therfore that we are placed in straightes Truly Dauid perceaued it well who beyng a kyng and a Prophet chosen by that singular prouidence of God to gouerne the people of Israell yet doth greuously complayne that hee was partly placed in narrowe straightes partly forsaken in the darke and sometymes maketh most humble supplication to God to direct his feete in the right way but very often confesseth that the word of the Lord is a Lanterne to his feete and a light to his pathes But what neédeth a Lanterne but in combersome and narrow straightes where a man may easely goe amasked if you be ignoraunt in all those places what doe ye vnderstand that is requisite in a Deuine and Byshop or if ye know them and dissemble them what can be more wayward then you Likewise you obiect that saying of geuyng a blow on the cheékes which wordes do employ nothyng els but that we are commaūded to be patient But patience is most learnedly conteined in that first and speciall commaundement of God Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe There is no mā that will offer iniurie to him selfe in any matter wherfore he ought not to wrong his neighbour at all cā you haue any thyng more plainly spoken The vngratefull people of Israell did exclame and rage agaynst their good mild paynfull guide Moyses sometyme with secret conspiracies sometimes with open exclamations many tymes with threatnynges and very oftē with wicked cursinges What might this gentle Captaine doe in the meane space Beyng stricken yea and buffeted also vpon the cheéke doth hee not turne ouer his other cheéke What els I pray you is meant hereby that he doth often pray vnto God for such cursed caytiues his enemies when he doth so earnestly and vehemently cry out to God either to forgeue them or to blotte his name out of the booke of life if you require yet a more notable example of patience Behold our Lord Iesus Christ is prefigured vnto vs in Esay the Prophet drawen vnto death as a Lambe to be slayne who beyng rayled vpon on euery side vexed by the Iewes and buffeted with fistes on the face held his peace and as a sheepe before the Shearer neuer opened his mouth what may be thought of the whole history of Iob but a conquest of patience and in most miserable calamitie a most ioyfull Triumphe thereof And yet this veépe Deuine is so voyde of common sense that he vtterly deuyeth any sentence to be founde in the Scriptures touchyng patient sufferaunce of our enemyes wronges You say that you haue passed ouer many thyngs It had bene better for you truely that you had passed ouer all thynges then in all thynges with malice and foule speakyng so to turne the catte in the panne that your wordes can neither finde head nor foote to stand vpon can explane nothyng soundly cōclude nothyng duely proue nothyng effectually but raūge in rayling brawle with bare affirmatiues and with pratlyng past measure pester and
Peter particularly yea and in earnest will you vrge and defende stoutly the very same senteÌ„ce wherein Mathew Iohn by manifest proofe do coÌ„uince you who expresly do protest that the very same power of byndyng and loosing was geuen by our Sauiour Christ to the other Apostles in generall what will you not dare to do in the darcke good Syr that practize to defraude vs of the cleare shynyng sunne how will you peruert and wrest the fathers that will so craftely iuggle with the expresse wordes of the Scriptures truely you must either bewray your pestilent â—eger de mayne in this place or confesse your grosse errour Your thyrd place is this I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth saynte not and thou beyng at last conuerted confirme thy brethren And what hereof Can any man bee so witlesse to say that those wordes of our Sauiour Christ were not aswell spoken to the rest of the Apostles as to Peter by name I will therfore first scanne the wordes of the Euangelist in order that they may be more apparaunt But you are they which haue perseuered with me in all my temptations And I do prouide for you euen as my Father hath prouided for me a kingdome that you may eate and drinke at my table in my kingdome and may sit on seates iudging the xij Tribes of Israell And the Lord sayd Symon Symon behold Sathan hath desired to sist you as wheate but I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth faint not and thou at length being coÌ„uerted confirme thy brethren In this parcell of Scripture is nothyng particular to Peter but the same is common to all the Apostles That they perseuered with Christ was common to them all The reward likewise is common to them all videl to sit at the heauenly table Agayne the thyrd parcell had relation to them all Symon Symon Sathan hath desired to sift you as wheate Sithence the whole processe of the Text therfore was referred to them all by what Argument may it be applyed vnto Peter onely Namely sithence our Lord Iesus goyng a whiles after suffer death and makyng preparation for his Ascention into heauen poured out most earnest prayers vnto his Father with a long and vehement repetition of wordes not for Peter particularly but for all the rest of the Apostles in generall whiche last and generall prayer of Christ to the Father who so aduisedly considereth shall easely conceaue that our Lord Iesu Christ made not intercession for Peters faith alone but for all the rest of the Apostles And hereof will also maruell much how great learned Clarkes dayly exercised in the Scriptures can Iudge therof otherwise Truly the most notable of the auncient Fathers do constantly affirme that the very same sentences wherewith Supremacie is challenged vnto Peter are commoÌ„ to all the other Apostles together with Peter And this haue I most manifestly proued by the selfe same places which your selfe vouched And albeit we passe ouer all these geue eare to the holy Ghost speakyng vnto vs by the mouth of the sacred Scriptures yet all this Monarchie of Peter which you do so exquisitely aduaunce aboue the Moone and the seuen Starres shal be founde to haue bene vsurped by the inordinate ambition of Byshops of Rome and not by any authoritie grosided vpon the doctrine of the auncient Apostolicke Church I will begyn with our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ who hauyng spoken these wordes Thou art Peter c immediately after calleth Peter Sathan and commaunded him to departe from him bycause hee knew not the thynges that apparteined vnto God How did Christ then I beseéch you erect the supremacie of his Church in the person of Peter whom immediately almost with one breath he rebuked bytterly by that most execrable name of Sathan and that not without cause for hee dissuaded him from goyng to Ierusalem Moreouer if Christ made intercession to the Father for Peter onely that his fayth should not faynt how came it to passe that within a few dayes after Peter onely with open mouth denyed forsware Christ his Lord and Maister But I doe much miscontentedly make mention of the fall of so notable an Apostle whoÌ„ I do acknowledge the most excellent amongest the famous Apostles Onely this I would to be knowen that he was ordeined to no seuerall supremacie in the Churche of Christ by any authoritie of the Scriptures We haue heard Christ let vs come now a litle lower to his Apostles and namely vnto Paule who laboured in the Churche of God as hee reporteth of him selfe more then they all he therefore doth playnly and constantly affirme that he had receaued as great authoritie from Christ to be an Apostle ouer the Gentiles as Peter had ouer the Iewes and addeth further that he had conference with Iames Cephas and Iohn whom he nameth Pillers of the Church as the chief of all the rest Yet in the meane whiles hee acknowledgeth no singular prerogatiue of prheminence in Peter Nay rather he vseth great libertie of speach agaynst Peter him selfe without all respect of Principalitie or mention of dignitie But why seéke we other testimonies Peter is a good witnesse concernyng him selfe I beseech the Elders whiche are amongest you sayth heé that am also an Elder and a witnesse of the Passion of Christ and partaker of the same glorie which shal be reuealed c. Behold here the dignitie behold the Supremacy and Monarchie of this reuerend father He is an Elder amongest Elders A witnesse amongest other witnesses of the Passion of Christ partaker with the rest of the same glory to be reuealed Here is a Triple Crowne truely yea a most precious Crowne not made of goldâ— nor beset with precious stones A most honorable Ambassadour of the heauenly glory to bee reuealed not of any Temporall or earthly dominion Lastly a most Reuerend Father not in any singular Lordlynes but by especiall ordinary power of his fellow brethren Who so will throughly sift the doctrine the ordinaunces the lyfe and conuersation of the Apostles shall finde a most perfect patterne of vnchaungeable consent but shall not smell any tast no not one sparke so much of this Lordly Monarchie wherof this ghostly Prelate doth so subtlely and largely dispute Unlesse perhaps he will driue vs to friuolous gesses as to picke vp children kyckesses together As that Peter went before That hee spake oftentymes first that hee looked into Christes Sepulchre before Iohn But if we shall hunte after such gnattes The honour geueÌ„ to Iames is of more substaunce Namely when in their publicke assembly the rest of the Apostles did subscribe to the ordinaunce that he made And that other also to wit when Peter was desirous to know who should betray our Lord Sauiour Iesu Christ to the Iewes him selfe did not enquire therof but beckened to Iohn whiche did leane vpon the breast of our Lord that hee might demaunde the question But howsoeuer these
filthy mischieuous dennes betymes You reserue a place for the defence of your Monckes by it selfe and in drawyng their petigreé you play the Philosopher at large Wherein you are not onely to childishe and tedious but so farre estraunged frō the purpose that ye seéme rather to dreame of S. Patrickes Purgatory thē to note our Religiō Let vs marke the begynnyng which is this There be ij sortes of men say you that are empaled within the boūdes of the Churche The one whose function consisteth in generall practize of maners in a meane course of vertue and godlynes The other that desire to aduaunce thē selues in a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline Behold here a new Diuinitie Two sortes of Christians are sprong vp if we beleeue my Lord Byshop where as the Scriptures haue authorized but one onely state of Christians hitherto There are diuersities of giftes yet but one spirite and there are differences of administrations yet but one Lord there are diuers maners of operations and yet but one God which worketh all in all For as the body is one and hath many members and where as also many members be of one body Euē so is Christ. For we are all Baptized into one body by one spirite whether we be Iewes or Gentiles bondmen or free and we haue all dronke of one spirite These are the wordes of S. Paule Wherfore there can not be two sortes of Christians if there be but one body of Christians nor a distinct profession bycause the spirite is one and the selfe same Will you haue this made more manifest by sillables and titles One body and one spirite euen as you are called in one hope of your callyng One Lord one Fayth one Baptisme one God Father of all which is aboue all and through all and in you all All are one and in vs all as Paule doth affirme Where is your distinction therfore There is no respect of persons with God but in euery nation hee that doth feare him and worketh righteousnesse is accepted of him So doth Peter preach whō if we admit for our Scholemaister all your distinction wherein you haue trauailed so much will lye in the durte And therefore sith our profession is but one and the same common also to all Christians out of Antioche were all called once first by this common name Christians But if you will not be satisfied with the testimonies of the Apostles Let vs heare our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ sendyng his eleuen Disciples abroad into the whole world speakyng vnto them in this wise All power is geuen vnto me in heauen and in earth Goe ye forth therfore and teach all nations Baptizyng them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to obserue all those thynges whiche I haue commaunded you This is the pure and onely profession of Christian Religion grounded vpon the authoritie of Christ his owne wordes repeated by the preachyngs of the Apostles confirmed with the generall consent of the Catholicke and Apostolicke Church and ensealed with the bloud of the Martyrs in all ages Leaue this Religion to vs and reteine to you and your fraternitie that newfounde two horned sect whereof you can vouch no Authour besides Cicero or Aristotle But let vs pause yet a whiles vpon my Lordes diuision and consider the speciall pointes of his discreét destruction distinction I would say For after he hath enstalled two sortes of Christians hee doth geue them cognizaunces whereby they may be discerned There is one sort of them sayth hee whose function consisteth in common practize of maners and in a meane course of vertue and pietie The other desire to aduaunce them selues to a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline Now I beseéche you my Lord what mediocritie of vertue and pietie do ye speake of Sithence our profession doth exact of vs a perfect and most absolute keépyng of the commaundements by expresse testimonie of both old and new Testament how oft is this sentence repeated in the old Testament Be ye holy for I am holy Wherfore we ought not to stand still in a meane but must endeuour couragiously to that perfect holynes of God This is an expresse cōmaundement I am the Lord your God you shall obserue all my ordinaūces and all my Statutes c He cōmaūdeth all maketh no exception And therfore this your newfangled meane betwixt both must bee throwen away nay rather this meane is execrable dānable our Lord God the Father thūdryng the same frō heauen If you will not harken vnto me sayth he and will not obserue all that I commaunde you I will visite you with feare with tremblyng and burnyng feauers c. The very same wordes are so oft and so manifestly repeated in Deutero That who so will diligently behold them can not but wonder at your dulnesse and ignoraunce in Scriptures God doth accurse the person that will not obserue all the preceptes of the law perfectly to doe them and all the people shall say Amen What will you aunswers to this conclusion of Moyses he commaundeth a perfection the Lord doth accurse him that doth not fulfill it yea euen by his owne mouth and all the people say Amen And you contrary to this doctrine do deuide the Christians congregation or rather disseuer it into partes practize to plante in place thereof a frame shapen meane of pietie whiche neither old nor new Testament doth acknowledge You haue heard out of the old law we will now come to the new There is also an expresse commaundement of our Lord Iesu Christ to his Apostles in these wordes Preach ye the Gospell to all creatures who soeuer beleueth and is baptized shal be saued but he that doth not beleue shal be damned Go ye forth therfore and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to keepe all thynges that I haue commaunded you Behold here one maner of professiō dispersed abroad ouer all Nations behold all thyngs must be obserued that are commaunded Wherefore there is but one sort of Christians not two and the same one also endeuoureth to perfection standeth not still in amediocritie Our Lord Iesus standyng vpon the mount compassed about with the people of the Iewes preached in most godly maner the chief principles of Christian Religion vnto them and amongest the rest gaue this commaundement seuerally Wherfore be ye perfect as your heauenly Father which is in heauen is perfect What impudencie is this Osorius to thrust a mediocritie into our Religion when our Lord Iesu Christ by expresse commaūdement requireth perfection But I tary to long vpon matters clearer then the Sunne And yet this our deépe Deuine doth vnderproppe his lazie Monckerie vpon these pillers whiche beyng wormeaten rotten as I haue shewed already will at length bryng all his other buildyng to ruine and
enough and is busied about heaueÌ„ly thyngs and godly coÌ„templation Truly this your speach doth not describe vnto vs any godly Moncke but either some notorius hypocrite or happely some drunkard or some one distraught of his wittes For why should his senses be ouerwhelmed at the namyng of God They should rather be liuely and ioyfull Wherfore should he fall to the ground on the deuils name if he were a true Christian he should rather rayse him selfe vp and reioyce in him from whom onely commeth all saluatioÌ„ How chaunceth this holy father that you an old man a Byshop a Deuine of so great estimation are so fallen to Fables Certes a meéte aduocate for so monishe a matter You demauÌ„de of me why we suffered our MoÌ„ckeries to escape vnpunished if there were such licentiousnes of lyfe amongest them How did they escape vnpunished good Syr we ouerthrew their durtie dennes The Brothelles them selues beyng bondslaues to all vnthriftynes we haled out of their swynestyes set a libertie we did abolish the occasioÌ„s of their treachery as much as we might not hatyng that persoÌ„s but their vyces when their vyce was rooted out what els might haue bene exacted not of you onely who blinded with malice know nothyng but of any other reasonable person To this dauÌ„ce you hauge the Uestale virgines whom the auÌ„cient Romanes reuereÌ„ced greatly so in lyke maner require our Nunnes to be honored of vs. Surely you handle this matter very kindly Salij Priestes of Mars did dauÌ„ce naked in their opeÌ„ filthy Pageantes for this was a speciall Article of their Religion why then do not you likewise beyng an old priest thinke it as seémely for you to daunce for Religion sake Herein I may seéme to scoffe ouer bytterly No truely For what can be lesse tollerable then an old grayheaded Byshop and a Deuine as he persuadeth him selfe to march with the madde superstitioÌ„s of the Romaines agaynst the veritie of the Gospell of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ You turmoyle your selfe much about the vowes of widowes which doth not coÌ„cerne our disputation and argue as though virgines vowyng chastitie could not bee ioyned in lawfull mariage without great haynousnesse How can men or maydens promise single life or if they promise rashly how can they performe truly when as chastitie is the peculiar gift of God and is not in our own power Get you to S. Paule whom you produce in your behalfe touchyng the same matter These be his wordes But euery man hath his proper gift of God one after this maner and an other after that What can be alledged more manifest then this If you be not yet satisfied annexe hereunto our Sauiour Christ and withall his owne wordes touchyng Eunuches wherein you triumph so Iollylye bycause that our Lord Iesus reported that some did geld them selues for the kyngdome of heauen Is not this also added a litle before He that can take it let him take it all men can not conceaue this saying but those to whom it is geuen Wherefore if chastitie be the proper gift of God we may not assure to our selues the thyng that is the proper gift of God And if none can be chast but to whom it is geueÌ„ how can we promise to our selues that which we know not whether we shall euer attaine or no Great is the force of the truth greater then this our great Maister of Israell can coÌ„prehend And howsoeuer he lyst to iangle here he confesseth the same a litle before in expresse wordes that chastitie is the gift of God as in deéde it is And for proofe therof vrgeth the same wordes of Christ mentioned before namely All men can not compreheÌ„d this saying but vnto whom it is geuen I maruell much Osorius that you haue so quickely forgotten your selfe But I ought not maruell thereat bycause of a very greédy affection to cauill an â—rabble you rush headlong many tymes into most pestilent errours You accuse Luther Bucer Zuinglius Oecolampadius Caluin and Martyr of lust As though men liued not chastly which hold them selues within the limittes of lawfull Matrimonie or as though all the Cowled droues of Sophisters aswell of your Nation as of any part of the world els were comparable with these godly fathers in commendable conuersatioÌ„ of life or excellencie of learnyng or as though the namyng of those persons made your cause any myte that better or as though Paule whom you do wrest and peruert for the mainteynaunce of your single lyfe did not sufficiently interprete him selfe or as though there were any thyng in you besides arrogancie cauillyng and choler You moue a very saucie question of Christian libertie Whether the same appeare greater in your Cowled generations then in maryed folkes I aunswere that the pure Eunuches whom God hath endued with the gift of chastitie do enioy most excellent freédome of mynde but the question coÌ„cerneth not those persons in this place But the rest of your mocke Eunuches haue no freédome of mynde except you lift to tearme it a wicked fréedome an horrible libertie to whoredome Neither am I alone of this iudgement for that were of no credite Paule is of the same mynde Who hauyng sayd It is good for a man not to touch a wife immediatly addeth But for auoyding fornication let euery maÌ„ haue his owne wife and thereof presently rendreth this reason For better it is to marry then to burne The first part of this senteÌ„ce you vrge very stoutly Osorius but the later you doe wickedly wincke at But we may not halt so bycause as Paule sayth we goe the right way to the Gospell not haltyng as you do But halt you as ye lift dissemble still wincke still at the horrible actions of your cowled Lurdeines yet is this true yea to true alas that these hypocriticall professours of chastitie doe not burne onely but swell also and are enflamed with insaciable firebrandes of Lecherie And it is not a whiueryng voyce of a vow bloweÌ„ out in respect of gayne or idlenes that can very easely quenche suppresse in the myndes of young persons those intollerable flames of naturall corruptioÌ„ There be great droues nay rather vnmeasurable herdes of your drousie Uotaries to be so bold as to coyne a new name for a new thyng whose poysoned filthynesse hath so defiled the earth that they may with horrible feare looke for Gods iust terrible vengeaunce to bee poured vpon them with Gomorrhean and Sodomiticall brimstone and fire heauen vnlesse they repent be tymes You do reproche Luther with his Mariage and slaunderously rayle that at the celebratyng thereof Venus was President not Venus of Paphia nor Erycina but Venus the furie of hell O vncleane mouth Dare you so blasphemously rayle agaynst the estate of Matrimonie commeÌ„ded with so glorious titles as which the holy Ghost commaunded to be honorable amongest all persons whiche our Lord Iesus Christ did honor with his presence which was ordeined of God
his name Christ teacheth farre otherwise of him selfe Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any maÌ„ heare my voyce and opeÌ„ vnto me the gate I will enter vnto him and will suppe with him and hee with me O sweéte and most comfortable voyce of our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ which if once may be throughly rooted in the inward partes of our soule will easely rase out abolish that priuy blind buzzyng in the eares of those Massemongers and Friers But Osorius sticketh fast to his substitution and mainteineth earnestly that the Apostles were assigned to be Christes Uicares on earth whiche should supply his iurisdiction and should enterlace their owne definitiue sentences with his These are both false God is a ielous God and will not geue his honour to any other Hee hath appointed no Uicare and the holy Scripture doth acknowledge no such word neither was it his will that the Apostles should entermedle in his Iurisdiction Your surmise is false quite contrary to his heauenly prerogatiue For Christ onely hath the keyes of hell and death Christ onely is the slayne Lambe and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda the roote of Dauid which openeth the booke and louseth the seuen seales therof neither was there any besides him in heauen in earth or vnder the earth that could open the booke and looke into it Our Lord Iesus beyng raysed from death and appearyng vnto his Apostles spake vnto them in this maner All power is geuen vnto me in heaueÌ„ and in earth Of this power was neuer iote empaired in any respect and neuer shal be What was the Commission of the Apostles then Christ him selfe doth open it in the selfe same place Goe ye therfore and teach all nations Baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost teachyng them to obserue all those sayings which I haue commauÌ„ded you This was the Embassie of the Apostles this was their CommissioÌ„ Iurisdiction or to speake more playnly bluntly this was their function this was their office To this authoritie the keyes of heauen and remission of sinnes and whatsoeuer els of the same kynde must be applyed S. Paule doth comprehend all these briefly in these wordes Let men so esteeme vs as Ministers of Christ and Stewardes of the mysteries of God You be not Uicares theÌ„ Osori you be Ministers ye be not iudges to constitute Lawes as you do wickedly take vpoÌ„ you but ye be Stewardes to dispose the mysteries of God or at the lest you ought to bee But how belongeth this doctrine of Christ and his Apostles to your Massemongers Confessours They haue an other Romishe doctrine whereby they doe receiue the seély rude people runnyng in heapes vnto them rehearsing their sinnes priuily and in some close corner superstitiously when they haue vttered what them listeth they pronounce ouer them of their own power an absolution in a strauÌ„ge language in steade of Satisfaction they do enioyne them some fastyng dayes or some long pilgrimages and to make an ende of the play they pike from them a few peÌ„ce for their labour This is your vsurped power of CoÌ„fessioÌ„s Osorius which you affirme was geuen first to the Apostles afterwardes to you by a certâ—ine title of Succession Tell me now did you euer read that any thyng was whispered into the Apostles eares priuily or that sinnes were seuerally repeated or the people absolued by their owne absolute power or any thyng done in a language not vnderstanded or any penauÌ„ce as you tearme it enioyned or at the last any reward taken What vnshamefastnes is this what impietie is it to defend this close superstitious and mercenarie eare confession vnder pretence of the authoritie of our Sauiour Christ example of his Apostles especially wheÌ„ as none of these was euer instituted by Christ or frequented of his Apostles But your braynes are so be witched and intoxicated with eare confessions that ye shame not to alledge other stuffe yet whiche is most absurde of all the rest You say that it is daungerous for men to bee left in their owne libertie wheÌ„ they should confesse them selues to God For if it were so we would not willingly yeld to that embacing and throwyng down of our selues which Dauid named to bee the most acceptable sacrifice to God You do heare and acknowledge your owne wordes my Lord then the which I neuer heard any thyng vttered more blockish The matter shal be made manifest by the same example of Dauid which your selfe do alledge Dauid beyng a Patriarche a Kyng and a Prophet and a maÌ„ accordyng to Gods hart to vse the wordes of the Scripture was notwithstandyng continunually exercized in this kynde of Confession whiche is betwixt God onely vs in whom there is such store of sorowyng sighyng lamentyng weépyng afflictyng and bewayling as the like hath neuer bene in all your seâ—â—et whisperyngs no not sith the first whelpyng of the same For 〈◊〉 els is there in all that heauenly golden Psalmes of Dauids pâ—ayer then a mournefull and lamentable confession of sinne ioyned with hartie repentaunce sure hope of pardon Be mercyfull to me O Lord sayth hee accordyng to thy manifold mercies wash me throughly froÌ„ my wickednes and clense me froÌ„ my sinnes for I do acknowledgâ— my faultes and my sinne is â—â—er before me Agaynst thee onely haue I sâ—â—ed and done wickedly in thy sight Loe here a true and souÌ„de forme of CoÌ„fession fully described in Dauid whoÌ„ you haue alledged In this coÌ„fession we do exercize our selues In this we remaine in this we do dwell We do also poure out publicke Confessions of sinnes in our Churhes where the godly Minister is harkened vnto which may minister an wholesome plaister to our wounded consciences some sentence 〈◊〉 of the authoritie of the Scriptures These be the keyes wherewith he doth opeÌ„ the kyngdome of God to theÌ„ which do vnfaynedly repent pronounceth vs that are bouÌ„de with the chaines of our sinnes freély loosed and deliuered from them in the name of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. These Confessions as well priuate as publicke these keyes this power of byndyng loosing we doe acknowledge appointed by the Scriptures and practized in the tyme of the Apostles Neither was any thyng done with Iohn in a corner touchyng Confession nor yet with the Disciples of Christ. This matter was referred and ended also to and before God wherof we haue a most manifest example in the Gospell which ought not onely enter the eares but also pearce the very hartes of all well disposed persons When the lost and prodigall sonne had riotously consumed and wasted all his substaunce in so much that he was driuen to eate Peascoddes with hogges he begynneth at the last to call him selfe home and earnestly to deuise how he might be reconciled to his father herein he prayeth no ayde of any Leuite nor sittyng in a
to deale with you of the Supper of the Lord whiche beyng of it selfe a most precious and sacred monument of our redemption you haue so defiled and corrupted with your traditiōs that the true vse therof is almost vtterly extinct Yet in the meane space You accuse vs as violatours of the Maiestie of this sacred Sacrament and that we haue in the same I know not how haynously offended Which horrible accusation beyng enflamed with outragious burnyng firebrandes of Sentences if it be vnfolden throughly perused will seéme to sauour of nothyng at all but of malicious smoke of your shameles railing You make a preface hereūto in some leaues with a great rable of wordes but altogether contrary to the matter As that we do not cōceaue all the creatures of God by reason and a litle after you roll in your Rhetoricke commyng downe to the fashionyng of mans body and the whole creatiō of the world and herein bycause you will be accoumpted no small Ciceronian you besturre your selfe packe and stuffe together a whole sarpler full of Tullies owne sentences and at length with a long laboursome talke ye conclude that wherof no sensible man of our Deuines euer doubted That is to say That mās reason onely must not be vsed to the conceauyng of all the creatures of God but that fayth must be many tymes enterlaced withall And last of all you name our Lord Iesus Christ commyng downe vnto vs from heauen and of his infinite mercy takyng vpon him our frayle nature the whiche you preach to exceéde reason aboue measure What say you Osorius what do you meane hereby who hath distempered you you do suppose I thinke that ye write to stones and blockes not to men Who did euer doubt that there are as many thyngs to be woūdred at as be creatures in nature Let vs behold all the workes of God Or what Christian person hath euer bene foūd amongest vs so blockish and so voyde of perseueraunce which doth not confesse the commyng downe of Christ from heauen and all the Articles of our belief to be vnto vs as secrete and heauenly mysteries of our fayth wherfore do you so wastfully lose your own and other mens tyme in so euident approued confessed matters why are you so madde in the introduction onely of so great a matter to make so long a discourse of Maximes already manifest and whereof our children can not be ignoraunt Forsooth to this end I do it you say thereby to display your errour Who doe not comprehend the Sacrament of Euchariste by the mysterie of fayth but esteeme the same by reason onely That is false my Lord it is vntrue we doe earnestly vrge fayth we adioyne the Spirite we do graūt defend it to be both a Sacrament and a mysterie also You on the other side do plucke God out of heauen contrary to the expresse Article of our fayth and beyng pluckte from thence the holy Ghost crying out agaynst you in the Scriptures you shut him vp into bread and beyng shut vp therein ye doe transubstantiate him disguise him with your Argumentes illusions of schooleianglers chopt together framed vpō accidentes substaunces quantities and qualities and to helpe your iugglyng you borow a point of Paule cleane contrary the cause videl He that hath not spared his owne Sonne but hath deliuered him vp for vs all how hath he not geuen vs all thynges together with him I would to God Osorius you did as firmely and sincerely beleue this sentence of Paule as we doe There would not then be such a swarme of ceremonies and superstitions in your Church there would not bee such gaddyng on pilgrimages and lyeng grouelyng before Images neither should we seé the Uicare of God enstalled a Lord ouer mens consciences vtteryng his pardons of sinnes for a fewe pence tossing and turmoyling the poore and wretched soules in the flames of Purgatory not enhaunsing market of the holy Scriptures after hiw owne pleasure Lastly your Confessours and cowled generation of Uipers would not esteéme the worthynes of workes as a portion of our Iustification Yea if you had beleued Paul you would neuer haue admitted those poysoned monsters of Religiō but would haue cōfessed with vs That all thyngs are geuen vnto vs together with our Lord Iesus But I pray you what doth that sentence of Paule auayle to the Exposition of the Sacrament of the Supper of the Lord Truely nothyng at all yet this our goodly graue father turmoyleth all thyngs confoundeth all thynges not regardyng what may be agreable to the cause but poureth out all thynges at happe hassard as they come into his vagaraunt quill Now followeth a decreé of your owne stāpe in these wordes I am of this opiniō that those persōs which do professe the true fayth should cōsider nothyng els herein but how that thyng that is decreed vpon to bee beleued may be agreable to the goodnes of God That no man might doubt by any meanes the mysterie of our Redemption What speake you Osorius shall we iudge how agreable any thyng may be to the goodnes of God Who hath made vs iudges of the goodnes of God that we should determine what may bee agreable and not agreable to the same but your toung doth folter for you would haue sayd the will of God or ye should haue so sayd as farre forth as we can vnderstād it as farre forth as the Patriarches Prophetes our Lord Iesus also his Apostles hath reuealed vnto vs by the sacred Scriptures And if your decreé tende to this effect we will accept thereof For we make no doubt of the power of God although you falsely reproche vs herein but do grope after his deuine will in his word and do humbly apply all our actions thereunto as farre forth as the imbecillitie of our frayle and weake nature will permit And therefore teache you I pray you what thyng God would haue to bee made in that Sacrament we will neuer enquire whether God be able to performe it sor whē we are made assured of Gods good will we will acknowledge with all reuerence and humblenesse his power as meéte is Next after your foolish and childish Preface ensueth a very graéuous accusation agaynst Peter Martyr a meéte hotchepot for your Confessours Schoolemē Friers For if they had couchte all their noddles together they could haue vomited out scarsely halfe so much poyson in so short a tyme. To make this matter somewhat playne of all partes what maner a thyng it is we will rippe abroad his Budget of tales euen as Osorius hath patchte it together These therefore are the wordes wherewith Osorius doth challenge the combate agaynst the soule of Peter Martyr O thou most wicked mā how came it into thy mynde to handle that most sacred mysterie I would to God my sweéte Peter were alyue agayne did heare this franticke slaunder agaynst him Forsooth he would easely suppres this
heaueÌ„ly substaunce as you do imagine for Bread can not remaine materiall Bread without the substaunce of Bread no nor be surmised by thought to be Bread Paule doth sondry tymes call the Sacrament Bread But naturall Bread is not the body of Christ. Ergo. The Sacrament can not be the naturall body of Christ. I do speake here euen of the consecrated Bread as you call it or as Paule calleth it the Bread whiâ—h is blessed Whereof Paule hath an infallible sentence in his Epistle to the Corinthians The bread which we breake is it not the partaking of the body of Christ This Sacramentall Bread therfore after blessing when it is taken to be eaten is euen then Bread and brokeÌ„ as naturall Bread Ergo it loseth not his naturall substaunce nor is traÌ„substanciated into the naturall body of Christ as you vse to speake monstruously in a monstruous matter How then say you doth Paule call Bread the participation of the body of Christ For sooth in the same maner in the which a litle before he doth call Christ a spirituall Rocke They did all drinke sayth Paule of one spirituall Rocke which folowed them and the same Rocke was Christ and by and by after is set downe in the same Chapiter We many are one bread and one body In both which we do acknowledge the most wholesome and familiar speache of the holy Ghost but can not acknowledge your monstruous and newfangled TraÌ„substantiation To this purpose are the wordes of our Sauiour Christ to bee applyed This is my body whiche is deliuered for you doe ye this in remembraunce of me For the latter part doth explane the first part of the sencence most expressely For if the transubstantiated bread should conteine in it selfe the very naturall body of Christ hanged vpon the Crosse and thrust into the side for vs as you doe dreame what neéded then so often a rehearsall to be made vnto vs of the RemembrauÌ„ce of his body especially the body it selfe beyng presente and subiect to our senses and dayly handled in our handes But for as much as our Lord Iesus in the sight of the Apostles and the Angell declaryng the same did ascende vp into the heauens and sitteth there now at the right hand of his father of his infinite mercy hee hath left behynde him this most fruitefull and most healthfull Sacrament vnto our vse by the receauyng wherof we might be exceédyngly comforted and should emprinte deépely in our memory and reserue inuiolably the liuely and effectuall remembraunce of his most bitter death and Passion apperteinyng to the sauetie of our soules Now if any man doubt whether this bee so or no let him heare our Lord Iesus in the Gospell of S. Iohn so playne and perfect an interpretour of him selfe that nothyng can be added to make it appeare more manifest My fleshe sayth our Lord Iesus is meate is deede and my bloud is drinke in deede He that eateth my sleshe and drinketh my bloud the same dwelleth in me and I iâ— him Many therefore of his Disciples hearyng this sayd This is an hard saying who can abide it But Iesus knowing with in him selfe that his Disciples did murmure at this saying said vnto them Doth this offende you TheÌ„ what if you shall see the sonne of 〈◊〉 ascendyng where he was before it is the Spirite that geueth life the flesh profiteth nothing at all my wordes are spirite and life Your speach is a hard speach Osori it is a hard speach of traÌ„substantiating the bread into the naturall body of Christ. Touchyng the carnall and fleshly eatyng of Christes body your saying is hard yea as hard as yron who can heare or abide it Let vs here take our Lord Iesus to be the Expositour of his own wordes who doth so atteÌ„per mollifie this his speach beyng in outward apparaunce most hard of all other with a most sweéte interpretation as that nothyng caÌ„ be thought more mylde more apte for our coÌ„solation Be not offended at my wordes sayth our louyng Lord and most sweéte Sauiour Iesus for I must asceÌ„de vp vnto my father from whence I dyd deâ—ceÌ„d vnto you at the first And my body I must neédes take vp with me which you may not froÌ„ thenceforth haÌ„dle here on the earth Therfore in this case to witte to conceaue this mysticall eatyng of my flesh whiche I haue commended vnto you behoueth of very necessitie that you bee endued with a spirituall vnderstandyng For it is the Spirite that doth quicken the flesh proâ—iteth nothing at all That is to say the spirituall feédyng vpon my body which is geuen for you shall nourishe you to life euerlastyng But that fleshly eatyng which doth trouble you so much profiteth nothyng at all At the last our Lord Iesus coÌ„cludeth this place wholy vnto them in this wise The wordes that I do speake vnto you are spirite and life The wordes which Christ spake of the eatyng of his flesh are spirituall The flesh profiteth nothyng at all if we may beleue our Lord Iesus speaking of him selfe Let vs therefore take hold of that quickenyng spirite whiche may make vs partakers of euerlastyng lyfe beyng authorized hereunto by Christ him selfe and sithence you can not disgest this sweét and comfortable foode of the heauenly Table by fayth spirite we will leaue that other carnall and grosse banquet of the transubstantiated bread to you and to your Capernaites You seé now whereunto your testimonies that you trusted so much are come at the last whose authoritie I do not refuse but reuerence them and suppose that your transubstantiation is ouerthroweÌ„ and vtterly brought to naught by conferryng those two sentences with the other processe of the text Neither am I alone of this iudgement in the interpretatioÌ„ of these places For S. August writyng vpon Iohn alledgeth the same sentence in expresse maner of speach Tertul. also pronouÌ„ceth the same most euidently in his treatize vpon the distribution of the Sacramentall bread which two haue bene alwayes accoumpted learned and auncient Authours You presse me with a whole forest full of slauÌ„ders affirming that this SacrameÌ„t is fowly deformed by me the body and bloud of Christ is troden vnder feete the power and force of this wonderfull SacrameÌ„t is dusked and vtterly extinct by me I demaunde of you agayne what my wordes be where these botches doe lurcke in my bookes what I haue written what I haue done where and by what meanes I am ready either to repulse your errour or to coÌ„fesse mine own if I haue coÌ„mitted any such fault I craue no pardoÌ„ But if there be no such matter if it be rather all coÌ„trary if mine innoceÌ„cie be blameles herein I call to witnesse God men heauen and earth agaynst that most wicked toung whiche hath practized falsely to condemne the credite of your brother with so greéuous an accusation and so horrible a crime Fie fie Osorius what vnbridled licentiousnesse of Scorpionlike stinge
and most excellent seruaunt of God Paul trauaileth very earnestly in this place partly by course of nature partly by reason partly by examples partly by similitudes to proue that coÌ„mon prayers should bee ministred in Churches in the vulgare and knowen language and herein is so plentyfull and so abouÌ„daunt and vseth so many infallible Argumentes that if the whole swarmes of SchooleiaÌ„glers and Friers and couled generation did conspire together they were not able to abyde the force and strength of his disputation And therefore Osorius craftely cloakyng this matter slydeth away from thence to the vices of men And sayth that some of our Preachers are puffed vp with pride of their science many of them be entangled in snares and difficulties and doubtfull questioÌ„s This is true this also is as true that there is a great rable of false ChristiaÌ„s amoÌ„gest whom our Doctour Ierome seémeth chieftaine standard bearer which call light darkenes darkenesse light whiche forbid wedlocke deny lawfull vse of meates obserue serue dayes and monethes yeares minutes of tymes which are turned to the naked and beggerly elementes Enemyes of the Crosse of Christ flow bellyes And yet may not godly men be defrauded of the Gospell bycause such Lurdaines do abuse the holy Scriptures to their lust filthy lucre For our Lord Iesus Christ doth thunder with manifold curses agaynst such Pharisies Maisters of ignoraunce and darkenesse saying Wo be to you Lawyers for you haue taken away the keye of knowledge and haue not entred in your selues and those that would haue entred in you haue forbidden And agayne Woe bee to you Scribes and ` Pharisies hypocrites For you shut fast the kingdome of heauen from men whereunto you enter not your selues nor will suffer others to enter in that would enter You are a Byshop Osorius you haue the keyes of knowledge or ought to haue but you keépe it close and hyde it and will not suffer it to bee opened to your selfe nor to others You are a Shepheard of Christes flocke or you ought to bee you locke fast the Gospell wherein is the kyngdome of God from your sheépe and enter not your selfe nor will suffer others to enter This is daungerous this is damnable you are accursed by the very mouth of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ yea euen by the testimonie of your owne mouth Osorius For after your long idle and counterfaite deuises imagined vpon the wordes of Paule you conclude at length in this maner Paule doth not forbid to vse straunge language Yet he doth preferre and commende prophecyeng that is to say the expouÌ„dyng of the will of God the maner of edifieng the Church If Paule doe preferre prophecieng more why do you embace it if Paule would haue the congregations to be edified why do you practize to destroy them If Paule of an infinite loue do commaunde all thynges to be expounded in Churches by an interpretour by what tyraÌ„nie do you procure all thynges to be kept in couert in Churches and the people to bee defrauded in all thynges of vnderstandyng by meanes of straunge tounges For it is true in deéde that you say that to speake with touÌ„ges is allowed of Paul if you admit also an interpretour whiche may expresse the meanyng of the tounges But it is false that straunge languages shal be receaued in coÌ„gregations without an interpretour For this speaketh Paul If a man speake with tounges let the same be done by two or at the most by three and so by turnes let one interprete if there be no interpretour let him holde his peace in the congregation or let him speake to him selfe and to God Saint Paule commaundeth straunge laÌ„guages to be silent in the congregation if there be no interpretour Let vs therfore obey him or rather the holy Ghost speakyng in him with all humilitie and banish from vs this chatteryng chough of languages to his Confessours and cowled generation But we can not so driue away this vnportunate fleshfly froÌ„ the godly banguets of soules for he is alwayes bussing about theÌ„ at the last fleéth to this desperate carioÌ„ That this doctrine of Paule was but for a tyme and enioyned to be receaued to the Corinthians and not of vs bycause we are not so apte to be taught therein as they were and are also more incâ—inable to arrogancie Doth this kynde of ExpositioÌ„ please you Osorius and will you be accompted a Deuine and a Byshop in this your Diuinitie to say that the doctrine of the holy Ghost in matters of fayth in thynges eternall in ordinauÌ„ces assured permanent not in any part chauÌ„geable in them selues is but a doctrine for a tyme Our Lord Iesus commauÌ„deth otherwise Searche the Scriptures sayth he the same be they which beare recorde of me How shall we searche that whiche we do not vnderstand or how shall we receaue testimonie in a toung vnknowen vnto vs There is a commaundement of God the Father from heauen This is my beloued sonne heare ye him And how shall we heare him except he speake vnto vs in a knowen touÌ„g The Lord Iesus commaundeth vs to watch and to pray yea to do the same continually for that we know not in what houre he will come what therfore shall we pray in an vnknowen language Truly if it bee so the spirite shall pray but the soule shall receaue no fruite therof by the euident teâ—â—â—monie of Paule WheÌ„ I name the spirite I doe meane thereby the breath that issueth out of the mouth for so doth Paule interprete it in that place Did our Lord Iesus vse a knoweÌ„ or a strauÌ„ge language wheÌ„ he taught the Apostles the forme of prayer Lastly I demauÌ„de of you whether you can finde one sillable in the whole doctrine of the primitiue Churche or whether any remembraunce or vse of this praying in a straunge toung was frequented in the tyme of the Apostles I adde hereunto that after the opinion of S. Augustine prayer is nothing els theÌ„ a communicatioÌ„ betwixt vs almightie God What request then shall we make vnto God the father for our necessities when we vnderstand not what we aske No sober man will seéme so franticke before men much lesse will he trifle so pernitiously with God That foule mouth Osorius that foule mouth therfore would be choaked vp with euerlastyng infamie whiche contrary to the manifest doctrine of the holy Ghost contrary to the receaued custome of the Apostolicke Churches contrary to nature to reason and contrary to all feélyng of common capacitie will auowe that prayers ought to bee made in the congregation in straunge and vnknowen tounges You demaunde further of me Why we haue coÌ„mitted the interpretatioÌ„ of Scriptures to all Carters and Porters I aske of you likewise with what face you could write so vnshamefast a lye in your paper You say that all order is subuerted with vs for that all are Pastours all are Prophetes all
disagreé from his frend nor the Scholer from his Maister nor the Seruaunt from his Lord ne yet the wife from the husband That is to say it is not conuenieÌ„t that the frend from his frend the Scholer from his Maister the Seruaunt from his Lord or the wife should disagreé from her husband What say you Osorius is any of these not spoken after the Latine phrase are they not vttered playnly and properly doe ye not in all these conceaue the negatiue and not the affirmatiue Are you not ashamed doe ye blush nothyng at all at this manifest fault and marke of your follie I haue a boye of sixten yeares age whom I keépe to Grammar Schoole who shoulde haue felt the smarte hereof if hee had made so foule an escape in these Grammer principles Truely I am wery long sithence gentle Reader to bee so childishly occupyed in siftyng out the titles and sillables of wordes after this maner but you may note the amazednesse and ouerthwartenes of myne aduersary to whom the fault must be imputed accordyng to reason which beyng both bussardly blynd in ponderyng bare wordes and also fondly franticke and senselesse in the substaunce of thynges doth altogether deny any difference to be in this how farre so euer a sunder the head bee separated from the members so that they be vnited in one fayth Surely experience hath not onely taught vs here in England but the practize of all other natioÌ„s also doth playnly bewray his singular ignorauÌ„ce and blockishnesse what it is to be seuered from Italy by farre distaunce of regions when as in matters of Religion iustice equitie could not bee ministred but it must bee procured with immesurable charges and tedious pursuite of many yeares From whiche inconuenieÌ„ces we have good remedy prouided through the speciall goodnesse of God For we haue in our owne Realme both Iudges and Consistories But our reuerend Father caÌ„ not disgest this by any meanes that the Queénes Maiestie should entermedle with the Churche and after a long friuolous preamble after his accustomed maner at the length choppeth downe to a sentence of myne videl The Queenes Maiestie is Lord ouer all maner of persons in England And these wordes he supposeth to be spoken barbarously bycause the gouernement of a kyng is not with force Tyranny nor tendeth to keépe his CouÌ„trey people whom he hath vndertake to defende of a fatherly loue in seruile subiection nor is referred to the consideration of his owne profite but to the publicke sauetie of his subiectes And therfore sayth he it is false that a kyng doth rule as a Lord vnlesse we should take him for a Tyraunt rather then a kyng Harken I pray you harken vnto this AldermaÌ„ brable harken vnto this most subtill corrector of the Latine toung There was neuer such an other Valla or Varro in our tyme for this our notorious Prelate doth farre surmount all Vallaes and Varroes who by his fine pythe and polished Iudgement hath fishte a Poole and caught a Foole and with his new sharpenesse of witte hath espied that wherof no man could euer conceaue so much as a shadow in his dreame what say you my Lord Byshop doth no maÌ„ rule as a Lord except he be a Tyraunt Ergo no man is a Lord vnlesse he be a tyrauÌ„t if at least he bare any rule Truly you had neéde of Helleborous to purge that Calues braynes Our Lord Iesus Christ is sayd sometymes to bee a Lord of the quicke and the dead sometymes to be a Lord in heauen and in earth and in all the holy Scriptures throughout is called by this name Lord. Therefore this your blasphemous and horrible Grammar distinction ought be accompted a TyrauÌ„t this can not be denied Becommeth you an old Byshop to vtter such mockeries can you beyng a Prelate either through fury or maddenesse to be so frame shappenly translated to bee openly franticke and make your selfe a laughyng stocke to litle boyes Truely I am ashamed in your behalfe for I did neuer seé so great so foule so monstruous absurdities in a maÌ„ of such yeares that hath bene all his life long conuersaunt in learnyng Afterwardes you do make a very subtill distinction I promise you of the authoritie of kynges that is to say though they gouerne all their subiectes yet are they not Lordes ouer all causes Yes in deéde good sir they are Lordes ouer all causes aswel Ecclesiasticall as Temporall which may seéme to apperteine to the good gouernemeÌ„t of the coÌ„mon wealth And yet they do not minister in their own persons in matters Ecclesiasticall as I wrate before for how can they so do but they doe assigne and authorise other Magistrates vnder them who may execute euery thyng in due order In like maner albeit Emperours be onely chief of their Armyes yet haue they vnder them Centurians LieutenauÌ„ts Serieauntes Corporals and other meaner officers which do trayne in due order and exercize the whole affaires the rest of the Souldiours So doe Maisters of Nauies and Shippes appointe vnder them their Mates and Boateswaynes and other meaner degreés to their seuerall offices by this meanes to preserue their course the better at Seaboorde whereby appeareth that the chief authoritie is resiaunt alwayes in the chief and knowen estates but the trauaile toyle and execution of orders is ministred by inferiour Magistrates But ye require to make demonstration how these things can be so First of all your question is worthy to bee scorned beyng so voyde of reason to haue euident demonstration to be made of those thynges which common course of mans lyfe and dayly practize of all common weales may assure you were you neuer so voide of sense But I will satisfie that captious grossehead of yours in this matter with threé wordes I do affirme that the authoritie of kynges is aboue all other and yet that kyngs them selues do not minister in Ecclesiasticall matters Which two are most manifestly proued aswell by the gouernement of kyngs in the old TestameÌ„t as also in the later age in the tyme of the new Testament For Dauid Salomon losias Ezechias and other godly kynges amongest the people of Israell did commaunde the Priestes in matters of Religion yet did not they entermedle with execution of any thyng In the tyme of the Gospell Paule that great teacher of the Gentiles coÌ„mauÌ„deth That intercessions and publicke prayers bee made with fayth and truth first of all for kinges then for all others that are set in authoritie Peter also that excellent Elder For other name then Apostle or Elder did hee neuer acknowledge howsoeuer you do coÌ„uey your false Papisticall Seé froÌ„ him Peter I say in open and expresse wordes doth verifie my saying when as he geueth commaundement in this wise Submit your selues to euery humane creature for the Lordes sake whether it â—ee to the king as most excellent or to the Magistrates as to them that are sent by him assigning the punishement of
which might haue endued him with the fayth of Christ what profite had he gotten towardes the attaynement of righteousnesse by all those helpes and aydes of pitie What shal be sayd of the riche yoūg man in the Gospell who beyng commaunded to keépe the cōmaundementes made aunswere that hee had obserued the same all the dayes of his lyfe What shall I recite the example of the Pharisaé prayeng in the Temple who vauntyng him selfe proudly vppon trust of his workes gaue thankes to God that he was not as others were that he lyued not of the spoyle did not fraudulently deceaue any man by contractes nor prodigally cōsume his owne goodes nor defile his neighbours wife committed not adultery was not murtherer or wrong doer to his neighbours neither was of that sorte like vnto the Publicane but fasted twise in the Sabboth gaue the tenth of his goodes to the poore c. What neéde I to produce Nathanaell whom Christ him selfe did both acknowledge to be a true Israelite and praysed him for his vnfained simplicitie Do ye not perceiue that these persons besides their duetyfull obseruaunce of the Ceremoniall law did in vtter shewe expresse a certeine resemblaunce of good workes and studious endeuour in the Morall law all which notwithstandyng they were not the valewe of one myte more regarded in the sight of God Albeit I do not alledge these things to the end I would extenuate the fault of the Iewes whom S. Paule affirmeth to be inexcusable But Osorius doth not seé the groūde of Paules accusation agaynst them First of all the Apostle did very well forseé that the law of God is of all partes most perfect and that it requireth an exquisite full and absolute obediēce to the same which as he conceaued could not possibly be performed by any industry of mā Neither was he ignoraunt of the vnmeasurable and arrogaunt pride of that Nation lynked with lyke vanitie which beyng by a wonderfull farre way distant from the meane obseruation of the law did yet swell and were puft vp with a most false glaueryng conceite of their owne excellency and perfection as though they had left no part therof vndone persuadyng vnto thēselues saluation thereby wherein they had much rather deserued vtter destruction And so did incurre double offence First bycause they did sundry wayes horribly dishonour and defile Gods most sacred law Then as though it were not materiall that they had not perfitely accomplished the whole law a man might iustly marueile how wonderfully they flattered them selues and as though they had trimmely behaued them selues at all assayes seemed in their owne conceite to bee prety holy men despising with a certeine Pharisaicall hautines all other Nations besides them selues Wherfore the Apostle indifferētly tenderyng the miserable errour of eche Nation aswell Gentiles as Iewes doth earnestly debate threé thynges chiefly in that place First that he might conuince the Iewes as also the Gentiles indifferently that they were sinners before God Then that he might remoue from them all false opinion of Affiance Lastly that hee might emprinte into them the true way of Confidence And in this last purpose of the Apostle Osorius doth openly bewray his blockishe ignoraunce swaruyng and varyeng altogether from the entent of the Apostle For although his Iudgement bee sounde and agreable with the Apostle in this that the trust whiche the Iewes reposed in the law of Moyses was no lesse vayne and voyde of reason then the Confidence of the Gentiles who framed their life after the law of nature yet when question is moued touchyng the assignyng of true righteousnesse Paule will teache one thyng but Osorius an other For whereas Paule doth bende the whole force of his disputation to this onely marke that excludyng all other deédes workes and endeuours whether they apperteine to the Ceremoniall or Morall law or to the rule and doctrine of maners hee might referre the summe of our Iustification and hope of Saluation wholy and onely in the fayth of the sonne of God What other thyng els doth this Ciceronian Tertullus discourse in those bookes entituled ` De Iustitia Wherein he playeth so much the Philosopher as though he were in the Schoole of Morall Philosophie what els doth he breath practize and and so greédely mainteine then to persuade vs that wheresoeuer S. Paule doth exclude workes from Iustification he doth exempt nothyng els but the Ceremoniall law And so for conclusion that true righteousnesse is not that righteousnesse in the sight of God whiche Christ doth Impute to the beleuers through fayth but that righteousnesse which euery man doth properly procure and make peculiar to him selfe through his owne vertue sinceritie innocencie and good conuersation Offryng the combate pardy to Paule whether in this quarell of Iustification S. Paule shall with more probable Arguments exclude Confidence from workes or Osorius driue fayth into vtter exile vnto the which fayth in all his bookes he leaueth no maner of place truly yeldeth very litle credite thereunto Neither is it any maruell For if the matter be as Osorius doth reporte That we ought to be iuste before God and not Iustified before God And if righteousnesse onely doe procure the fauour of God and Reconcile God to mākind wherein onely we ought to settle all our sauety and worthines And if no man an be righteous but hee that keepeth the lawe That is to say if the iuste mā shall now liue but by workes and not by Fayth Iudge I beseéche theé gentle Reader redeémed with the bloud of Iesus Christ of what efficacie either Christes bloud shed for theé may be or of what estimation thy fayth towardes Christ must be Truly by this meanes Osorius with his glorious eloquence may aswell plucke downe Christ out of heauen banish Fayth out of the earth snatche Paule out of our handes roote the Gospell out of our hartes and all comfortable consolation from our consciences Finally despoyle the world of the light of the Sunne that we may all together lumper and groape in darkenesse after this blynde guide and Capteine of darkenesse But here are one or two places of Paule obiected agaynst Paule him selfe whereby Osorius may the better mainteine his challenge agaynst Paule with Paules owne weapons What had not Paule sayth he a most sharpe cōflict with the Iewes alwayes touchyng the Ceremonies What hereof thē Doth he not in his Epistle to the Galathians protest in this wise If ye be Circumcised Christ doth nothyng profite you I confesse this to bee true In lyke maner writyng to the Hebrues doth he not say that the lawe doth auayle nothyng to perfection meanyng the Ceremoniall law Conclude at the length therfore Osorius in despight of Logicke though she be neuer so angry Ergo wheresoeuer Paule doth make mētion of abandonyng the law in the treatie of our Saluatiō there we must of necessitie interprete the same to be spokē onely of the Ceremoniall law and in
what sayth Osorius in the Ceremonies of the old law no not so for that were altogether Iewish in Fayth therfore neither yet so in any wise for this is the very doctrine of Luther Uouchsafe therfore a good felowshyp Osorius to escry out one safe Hauen for vs wherein we poore forlorne abiectes may cast Anker saue our selues frō shipwracke Forsooth in workes sayth Osorius and in keépyng the prescribed rules of vertuous lyfe That is to say in Innocencie in chastitie in modestie in abstinence in vprightnesse of mynde in holynesse of Religion in feruentnesse of the spirite in aboūdaunce of the loue of God in earnest endeuour of godlynesse in deédes of righteousnesse dueties of pietie in geuyng much almonesse in obedience in keépyng peacible vnitie and such like ornamentes treasures wherof Osorius in many wordes maketh a long rehearsall Of all whiche vertues there is not so much as one croome or sparckle in these Lutherans and Buceranes and these new Gospellers thē which kynde of people nothyng can bee named more wicked nothyng thought vpon more pestiferous nothyng more troublesome in the common wealth nothyng more readyly armed to rayse maliciousnesse to sow contentious quarelles strife enemitie nothyng more pernicious to procure the destruction of Princes none more geuē to bloudsuckyng and Treason who beyng embrued with all wickednesse licentiousnesse libertie lust with all manner shamelessenesse crueltie and madnesse outragiously rushe into all places whereby they may thrust their Gospell in place and defile all thynges with filthy stenche wheresoeuer they make neuer so litle abode they corrupt the land with trecherous villanies finally they doe poyson the ayre they doe abandone chastitie geue full scope to voluptuousnesse roote out all feare of Gods law and mans law and in all this outrage they promise vnpunishable libertie On the contrary parte I meane in the Court of Rome and in all that most sacred Citie florisheth a farre other maner of countenaunce and Maiestie of seuere discipline and vertuous lyfe And first of all in that most royall hygh and chief Prelate and most renowmed Monarche of all Prelates sittyng in Peters owne chayre In those Reuerend estates of the Tridentine Councell in the worshypfull Massemongers of the Romish Church in the great Doctours of that old Gospel in Monasteries and Dorters the very forgeshops of most pure doctrine in the most chast Selles of holy Nunnes finally in all that sacred Senate and Catholicke people no such Presidentes of wickednesse and abhomination may bee seene no spotte so much of corrupt infection raigneth no ambition no lust no insolencie neither any kynde of malice no quarellyng no crueltie no foule or vnseémely thyng sauoryng of any earthly contagion can be discernable amongest this generation But whole heapes yea huge mountaines of godly and heauealy store doth florishe and abounde no vnquietnesse or molestation of Empires and Princely gouernement no seéde plottes of mortall warres no shew so much of bloudy battell no Treason no ouerthrowe of Kynges and publicke authoritie nor any seditious plātes of cōtentious discorde finally no earthly thyng in the secret closettes of the Romishe Court in so much that if Diogenes would in midday with torche in hād prye neuer so narrowly he should no be able to finde in all the Citie of Rome one Harlot or strumpet so much To conclude it is not possible to heare amōgest that most sacred Catholicke conuenticle any sounde of cauillation at all no mutteryng of outragious slaunders no blaste of cunnyngly forged lyes wherof as all others of that sect are cleare so are these bookes of Osorius chiefly most purely purged wherein appeareth no smatche of brabling distempered affections no lyeng slaunder nor iarre of erronious doctrine no significatiō of a mynde troubled and seuered from the Castle of Reason But all thynges are debated and expounded with peaceble gentlenesse quyet tranquillitie of mynde wonderfull lenitie and mildenesse not with rigorous and malicious wordes not with slaunderous carterlike reproches but with inuincible Argumētes as forcible as the dartes of Achilles or Hector discharged I thinke out of the very guttes of the Troian horse nothyng vttered to the vayne ostentatiō of witte or reuengemēt of spightfull hatred as it were in Triumphe of victory fie beware of that gentle Reader but of a very simple earnest desire to aduaunce vertue pietie for this especiall cause forsooth that those sparkes and Embres of honesty and godlynesse which Luther hath raked vp buryed and vtterly quenched out might once agayne be quickened and florishe in that most sacred Seé of Rome These euen these same bee the workes if ye will neédes know them Catholicke Reader and good deédes of those men wherewith they doe prepare an entyre to true righteousnesse and furnish their iourney to heauen and wherewith as it were with ladders they clymbe by steppe to the purchase of eternall inheritaunce And how els this euen this must bee the right way to heauen But in the meane space with how many foggy and thicke cloudes hath S. Paule the seruaunt of God Apostle of Iesus Christ ouerwhelmed the Christiā people And into how deépe and darkened doungeons hath he drowned our senses Who albeit was rapt into the thyrd heauen had not as yet conceaued this incomprehensible wisedome out of the very forgeshops of mysticall Philosophy Belike he could not escry throughout all the heauens this hidden secret that men are not Iustified by workes but are made righteous by the Fayth of the sonne of God so by fayth that in no respect by workes Finally that the especiall meanes and singular substaunce of our Iustification is in this sorte to bee wayed as that it may not be attayned els where then in Christ onely nor by any other meanes then through Fayth onely in Christ. But if S. Paule had not receaued this doctrine from heauen or had not taught vs the doctrine which he receaued from thence or if you for your part Osorius had disputed after this sort as ye teach now in any Paynyme common wealth or before any Ethnicke Philosophers or amongest the Iewes or Turkes it might happely haue come to passe I suppose that this your Aristotlelike Iustice might haue obteined at the least some resemblaunce of truth or perhappes crept into some credite nay rather it is not to bee doubted but if the Iewes them selues or Turkes were now consederate with you in Portingall in the same Argument they could not scarsely alledge any other proofes then you bryng forth vnto vs at this present neither would I thinke expoūde the same in any other phrase of words then your selfe do vse But now for as much as we contend not together in Tullies Tusculane questions nor in his Academycall probabilities nor in Platoes common wealth nor in the Iewishe Thalmude ne yet in the Turkes Alcaron but in the Churche of Iesu Christ surely ye ought to haue regarded the place chiefly where you were when ye wrate this
much more stoughtly and couragiously then for the law it selfe and the commaundementes of God And so runnyng lightly ouer those Ceremonies he presseth foreward to the Sacramentes of Confession first and next of the Euchariste But wheÌ„ we fall sayth he First what meaneth this word Falle For if the consideration of all your righteousnesse be settled in an interrupted course of liuyng well in the giftes of holynes and righteousnesse powred into you euen by Christ him selfe as your AssertioÌ„ doth emporte by what reason can these Falles and spottes of filthy life stand together with so great and so many ornamentes of righteousnes receaued of Christ him selfe or in so great righteousnesse what neédeth any confession But for as much as you be men let vs ascribe this to the frayltie of mans natuâ—e that as men you may lumper and trippe Go to then to what Sanctuary do ye afterwardes fleé for reliefe Forsooth to a rotten plancke that may saue a man amyddes the swallowyng gulfe beyng throwen ouer boorde into the Sea To the Iudgement of the Priest say you And why not vnto Christ rather Forsooth bycause in his absence entreaty is made by Proctours and Aduocates But was Christ absent whenas Iohn doth send vs backe agayne vnto him notwithstandyng speakyng on this wise And if we haue sinned we haue an Aduocate with the Father Christ Iesu and he is the propiciatory Sacrifice for our Sinnes Why did he not say we haue a Priest vpon the earth if there were either any first or second Table besides Iesus Christ onely In deéde he worketh by his Embassadours as he sometyme taught by the mouth of his Apostles and by them wrought miracles and euen now also proclaimeth his Gospell by his godly Ministers yet doth he neuerthelesse worke in heauen continually though he worke by his Ministers here on earth Furthermore neither doth he so vse the seruice of those Seruauntes and Ministers in all thynges whose externall Ministery he necessaryly employeth to many thynges as though he could of him selfe doe nothyng without their seruice Lastly all be not his true Embassadours which by forreine badge and cognizaunce doe vaunt them selues to be his Embassadours But let vs proceéde and what doe ye now when ye tumble in heapes together to confesse your selues to the Priest as to an honorable vmpier what doth he geue you at the length Making first a straight Inquisition of the Sinnes he doth by force of his wisedome searche out the wounde which beyng disclosed he applyeth a playster thereunto accordyng to the qualitie of the grief as seemeth most conuenient But what if you happeÌ„ vpon such a Priest as be now a dayes ouer many not much vnlike vnto them whoÌ„ Plautus doth describe in a certeine place Fooles wittlesse naturalles blockisse doltishe asses dronckardes c. But let vs admitte that there is no Priest but such as is most worthy of this function This Priest then accordyng to the capacitie of his wisedome considering the qualitie of the trespasse what plaister doth he apply to the soare a very wholesome one I warrauÌ„t you For accordyng to the dignitie of his person for he representeth the person of Christ he pardoneth absolueth the offendour cleane of all sinne yet so as enioyning certeine penaunce to the new clensed soule so that the trespassour may vnderstaÌ„d that he is bounde to make satisfaction for the trespasse In which doyng I can not maruell enough at your manifest giddynesse of idle brayne beyng so barreine not onely of discretion but voyde also altogether of common sence and feélyng almost The offendour say you is acquited by the absolution of the Priest Undoughtedly to be absolued by a Priest is a very gay Iewell if it be true as it is true in deéde that God doth geue absolution first But to assure vs that you tell truth what do ye alledge out of the Scriptures Forsooth the wordes of the Gospell He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me I do heare you and do acknowledge these wordes to be the wordes of Christ. But we must returne againe to the principall pointe of the questioÌ„ how shall I be assured that this Priest of yours is trnly of that nomber whom Christ doth point vnto vs by this pronowne you You will say that the shauen Crowne ought to be a sufficient warraunt vnto vs. Ueryly neither doe I reiect this outward vocation which is made by men neither ought we to expect the same maner of Embassadours to be sent by Christ now as he fent his Apostles heretofore And yet for as much as the Beast mentioned in the Apocalips hath his proper peculiar marke which Christ doth curse will you shew me no better marke for your Priest then a bald scraped scalpe sithence Christ sendeth vs to the coÌ„sideration of fruites and Spirituall markes of Doctrine and Truth But I will not much striue with you here Let all Crowes be white for me and let the absolution of the marked Priest be an vndoughted Oracle for me also This is the pointe that I stand vpon and demaunde Whenas the Trespassour doth obtaine of your Priest this absolutioÌ„ wherof you spake before From wheÌ„ce doth this absolution receaue the effectuall operation from the priests marke or from the Fayth of the Repentaunt rather If from the priests marke onely then what doth Fayth and Baptisme worke in vs or whereunto serueth the Article of the Creéde I do beleeue Remission of Sinnes Agayne if it depend vpon the onely Fayth of the Repentaunt to what purpose is this Priestly Confession But if you will couple both these together as that in your imagination the one can be of no force without the other how will this kynde of couples agreé with your doctrine who makyng so curious exact a distinction of all the other partes of penaunce will in all that Sacrament leaue no chinker at all for Fayth to peépe through no nor will be acquainted with the name of fayth in any part therof And what if a Iew or a Turke do with a sorrowfull coÌ„trite hart ioyne the Confession of his mouth withall satisfaction of the guilt as you terme it be his Sinnes washed cleane away therfore I do not thinke so what if a ChristiaÌ„ man beyng endued with a pure fayth bewaylyng his offences vnfaynedly and withall his hart lookyng vpon Christ with the eyes of Fayth as vpon the brasen Serpent do craue pardon of him without any hochpotte of priestly ConfessioÌ„ shall he obteine no salue for his soare If you deny this as your Lombardine questioners do Then would I fayne learne where was that priestly Confession before it was first instituted by Innocent 3. and thrust into the Church to be frequeÌ„ted .1215 where was this so vnaduoydeable necessitie then wheÌ„ Christ spake vnto the woman thy faith hath saued thee And in an other place speakyng of an other woman Where he forgaue her many sinnes
the order of Templars or Almaines which tooke their name of the Hospitall of S. Iohn in the yeare .1128 The Order of Premonstratenses were founded by Caliste 2. in the yeare .1124 The order of Gilbertines in the yeare .1152 by Eugenius the 3. The Order of Brother Preachers who tooke their name and begynnyng from Dominicke a murtherer and most cruell persecutour of the Valdenses vnder Innocent 3. in the yeare .1216 Immediatly after ensued the factions of Franciscanes in the yeare .1228 vnder Gregory the 9. To whom within a whiles after were added the orders of Eremytes Austen Friers Reformed Carmelites whom the moūt Carmell did vomite out vnto vs. There followed also an other order of Austen Friers vnder Honorius the 4. in the yeare .1286 Neither did these monstruous vanities of new fangle Religiōs cease at men but the Serpigo crawled further into womens cōsciences also who beyng allured by the exāple of men began after a litle sittyng abrood to hatcht vp such cheékynes to flocke together in coueyes herdes Wherof some were called Sisters Clarites broched by Dominicke first Some Brigittines surnamed of one Brigitte a Scithiā borne their couey peéped abroad at the first in the begynnyng of Vrbane the 5. his Popedome In the Councell of Laterane was a Decreé published by Innocent the 3. with a speciall prouiso for the abandonyng of diuersities of Religions that from thenceforth no Couent of Cloystered company or cowled crew should be erected in the yeare .1215 And yet in despight of the authoritie of this Decreé how many clusters of factious Friers haue bene forged emongest your holy Fathers sith that tyme. Besides the orders of Minorites Austens Brigidines Crossebearers and Scourgers there is peépte abroad within these few yeares good lucke a Gods name to the Pope and his Puppettes the order of Iesuites in the yeare .1540 promising I know not what by the title of their names Sure I am they haue hetherto accomplished nothyng correspondent to so sacred a name But it seémed good to the Lord Iesus peraduenture to fulfill so the Propheticall truth of his Gospell Many shall come in my name c. What followeth let them selues looke to it I haue spoken of Mounckery I haue spoken also of some other orders and ordinaūces of the Romish Church for to rippe vp all were an infinite peéce of worke It remaineth now That Osorius say somewhat for him selfe likewise and make some shew of wares if he haue any in all that his Romish Church wherein he liueth now except a few Articles of the Creede onely wherein we can iustifie as auncient a prescription of possession as they can that be not either new straunge and lately vpstarte or els altogether Poeticall stagelicke and mockeries Wherfore if we measure Antiquitie by the age of Christ his Apostles the nearest yeares next ensuyng the same age wherein also if Osorius will abide by it that nothyng ought to be allowed in the Church that doth not sauour of that primitiue and Apostolicke antiquitie then shall Osorius daughtlesse at this one blow choppe of the Popes head triple Crowne Church and all for as much as he shall neuer be able to vouch any thyng either in the receaued Doctrine Religion Rites or Ceremonies of his Church that euer saw the age of the Apostles or is in any respect correspondent to that first patterne and president of the primitiue Simplicitie There is such a generall Metamorphosis and alteration yea all thynges are turned into so frameshapen a newfanglenesse that it may seéme they haue not onely forgoen the aunciēt ordinaūces of the primitiue Church but also to haue vtterly excluded them selues from all acquaintaūce with that same Church with the Gospell yea with Christ him selfe of whom the Apostles gaue testimony and preached The Apostles did not acknowledge that same one Christ any where but in heauen and him ascendes into heauen they did so apprehend by Faythe that they would neuer seéke him els where then in heauen and so in heauē sittyng in the flesh as that they would no more know him after the flesh as men not dreamyng so much vpon his carnall presence nor ouer greédely affectioned to enioy him after that fleshly maner but were otherwise wholy settled and vnmoueably fixed in mynde in that spirituall presence of his Maiestie But to you sufficeth not to apprehend Christ by Fayth sittyng in heauen and to worshyp in spirite as the Apostles blessed Martyrs did vnlesse after a fleshly and bodyly maner with your fingers you handle the reall corporall substanciall identicall presence of Christ behold the the same with your eyes and choppe him vppe at a morsell Which deuise of yours doth argue that you seéme to be carried with a wondrous senselesse opinion of errour as neither to acknowledge one the selfe same Christ whom the Apostles did nor to worshyp him in heauen onely but to imagine to your selues two Christes of that one Christ namely one Sauiour in heauē and an other in earth and him also to Sacrifice dayly in your Masse In the Apostles tyme the Communion was ministred not once in a yeare onely nor at the Feast of Easter onely nor with Bread consecrated into the body of Christ but in a thankefull remembraunce of the Lordes death the bread and wyne beyng equally deliuered to the people at all tymes whensoeuer any assembly of well disposed did meéte together for that purpose They neuer sayd nor song any priuate Masses nor instituted any Sacrifices for the quicke and the dead being throughly satisfyed with one sacrifice onely which beyng once finished they were assured that the whole action of our Redemption was accomplished For so are we taught by the testimony of the Apostle By his owne bloud he entred in once the euerlasting redemption being accomplished And agayne For this did he once when he offered vppe himselfe And imediately after We are sanctified by the onely offering of the body of Christ Iesu once offered for all Moreouer in an other place writing of one Christ onely One God sayth he one Mediator of God and men the man Christ Iesu c. But how shall there be but one onely Christ or one onely Sacrifice of his body once offered of whose body you doe exact dayly a new fresh sacrifice to be made for the sinnes of the people Or how cā he be sayd to be but one accordyng to the proportion of a body of whom you doe imagine a presence accordyng to the whole nature of his flesh both absent in body in the heauens and in the same body neuertheles at one selfe instaunt on the earth Do ye not seé how absurdly these your patcheries concurre and agreé with the naturall meaning of the Scriptures and how farre they be from all reason And what is this els then to preach vtterly an other Christ then whom the Apostles
to exclayme agaynst Luther was hissed out of the place not without great gleé and delight of the beholders So small and so no acquayntaunce at all hath this proud hawty and loftye kynde of myncing Minnions with our Lord and Sauior Iesu Christ. I do willingly abstayne from naming of men because I would haue them forewarned rather to theyr benefitte then reproched to their infamy if there be any besides this Osor. whom this Ciceronian skabbe hath infected with like dottage But I come agayne to Pardons wherwith as they say they sweépe all Purgatory and make cleane riddaunce when they will and by which picklockes they locke fast the gates of hell opeÌ„ the gates of heauen to whom they list But I pray you Osorius by what authoritye doe they this By the same authoritye you will say where of was spoken to Peter I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen c. That the keyes were geuen to Peter no man will denye But what is this to the Pope of Rome because next vnto Peter the succession of the See Apostolick falleth vpon the Pope forsooth And why so how will you proue this to be true I beseéch you What because he doth enioy Peters Chayre what had Peter no more Chayres but one or did he fitt no where but at Rome And what if he neuer sate at Rome But putt the case he sate at Rome I wil geue you an argument not much vnlike vnto this It was not vnknowne to be old Poetts what a skilfull Harper Orpheus was whom they imagined to haue drawen aâ—ter him with the sweétnesse of his Harpe stoanes and woodes It came to passe in processe of time that one Neanthus Sonne of Pittacus chaunced to come by the same Harpe who being farre vnlike this Orpheus in skill of playing altogether an Asse as the prouerbe speaketh at the harpe yet through a foolish opinion conceaued of himselfe dyd persuade himselfe that he should be able to draw after him Rocks and Woddes immediately vpon the sound of the Harpe This clownish Cocklorrell therefore wandring abroad ouer hilles and dales and maruayling that the Rockes and Woods stood still as before vnmoueable and would not sturre out of theyr place at the sound of the Harpe neuer surceased from striking from stretching from thumping the Harpe vntill hauing made hymselfe loathsome to the very cattell with the tedious and brutish noyse of the Harpe became a pray to dogges and was guawed and rent in pieces by them And what els doth this popish Prelate emport with his pompous pryde and stately Chayre wheron he is no lesse â—rantickly fond then this seély soule was vpon the Harpe I list not as now to gesse the garbroyle of his glory of the thing it selfe I dare boldly speake this much as Orpheus Harpe maketh not an Harper forthwith so neyther doe Peters Keyes shape a right succession but the onely confession and fayth of Peter And yet did the Church alwayes acknowledge the Byshoppe of Rome to be the Successour of Peter the Apostle So did also the consent of the Fathers and the Antiquity of time I do heare you But by what authority by what testimony and witnesses will you iustify this to be true or by why what reason or argument will you proue it what because he canne shew the Chayre that Peter sate in Nay rather lette him expresse the vertuous life and gratious giftes of Peter and in his life geue forth vnto vs as Peter did a President and patterne of the causes precedent and the true Circumstaunces for the which the Keyes were deliuered vnto Peter For on this wise are we enformed by the Gospell Because flesh and bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee but my Father which is in heauen You doe heare mention made first of the notable testimony of his faith and open confession of the Sonne of God which was not discouered vnto him by flesh and bloud nor by any naturall Philosophy nor engraffed within him by any force of natures lore but which being endued with heauenly inspiration he had receaued from aboue beyond all reatch of humayne Capacity For the knowledge of Christ commeth by the onely inspiration of the holye Ghost Which assoone as the Lord perceaued was engrauen within Peter wondring as it were at the greatnesse of the miracle doth first declare vnto him the glad tydings of blessednes froÌ„ God Thou art blessed Simon Bariona then alluding to the nature of his name because he was called Cephas that is to say Peter vpon that Petra that is to say vpon that Rocke of his fayth an confession he doth promise to establish the building of his Churche And added hereunto the promise of the Keyes I wyll geue thee sayth he the Keyes of the Kingdome of God c. By which CircumstauÌ„ces what are we taught els then that the foundation of the Church of Christ wheresoeuer it be is grounded vpon nothing els then vpon true fayth and vnfayned confession of the Sonne of God For when the Lord spake this vnto Peter he made no accouÌ„pt of his righteousnesse nor of hys vertues and conuersation of life neither of his fastings nor his dutifull obseruation of the commaundementes ne yet the holines of his Religion forasmuch as all these ornamentes dyd shyne as aboundauntly in others as they did in Peter But at the first vtterannce and confession of his excellent fayth the Lord doth denounce him to be blessed buildeth his Churche and doth promise the Keyes vpon the same Whereupon remayneth that we conclude at the last most truely that wheresoeuer the Keyes are exercised which are Christes true Keyes in deéd there of necessity must an influence and speciall inspiratioÌ„ of the holyghost and a certayn earnest and harty effectualnes of fayth and coÌ„stant confession of Christ goe before On the contrary part where no perseueraunce or feéling can be perceiued of the ingraued knowledge of Christ from the heauenly Father whose minde being not endued with any influence of the holyghost sauoureth of nothing at all beyond the retch of flesh and bloud who hath wedded his hart to earthly treasures to the Royalty pompe and gorgeousnes of this world who neglecting the glory of Christ is vassall and bondslaue to Ambition subiect to affections geueth himselfe to pamper the paunch and is drowned in the deépe doungeon of worldly cares who doth breath out of his nostrilles the blood and butchery of his brethreÌ„ That person in what Chayre soeuer he sitte doth with to much shamelesse arrogancy vaunte vpon the possession of the Keyes And therefore yf this Romishe ruffler doe meane to royst stille with Peters keyes he must endeuor to expresse in his maners the vertuous lyfe and godly conuersation of an Apostle and not chatt so much of a Chaire Otherwise to what purpose is it how sumptuously soeuer a man be enthronized yf he be wicked and vnworthy the place the place doth not
white garmentes least the shame of thy nakednes do appeare and annoynt thine eyes with precious oyntment that thou mayst see c. But here will some one interrupt me and say that the keyes of heauen were not geuen in vayne Neither do I gaynsay him herein But that is not the thyng that we seéke to be satisfied in at this presēt whether Christ gaue any such keyes but this is it whether the keyes were geuen to the Byshop of Rome onely For we do not defraude the Church of her right but accordyng to right we do pleade agaynst the Pope who raketh vppe vnto him selfe as matter of his proper professiō that which was geuen to the whole Church in the name of Peter excluding all other Churches ioynte commoners with him in the same By meanes whereof the Pope doth incurre a double trespasse and is to aunswere double dammage for the one wherein he entruded wrongfully vpon the right of the whole order for the other wherein he doth most filthely abuse the right vse of the keyes For if it be true first that Augustine doth protest boldly and which Thomas Aquinas doth not deny That in the person of Peter the keyes were committed to the other Apostles and to the whole Church herein surely that most horrible abuse of the Romish challenge doth bewray a notorious fraude who scraping to it selfe full prerogatiue of all power doth penne vppe within such narrow streightes all other Archbyshops and Byshopps as that it shall not be lawfull for any one to geue Pardon aboue the space of one whole yeare within his peculiar Prouince or Diocese without leaue of his Lordshypp Agayne he doth committ as great an offence in the vse of the keyes For whereas this power of bindyng and lousing wherein the whole force and efficacie of the keyes consisteth was receaued of the Preachers and Ministers of the word for none other end but to the necessary consolation and comfort of the Church nor was executed at any tyme by the Apostles but in very hard and weighty necessitie onely As if a man had dispayred of the mercy of Christ or had cōmitted some haynous and notorious offence publiquely here was their power employed either to comfort and rayse vp them that were fallen or to suppresse and bridle the insolency of such as seémed manifestly iniurious and rebellious agaynst the glory of Christ. Which kynde of Iudiciall vse of the keyes was not very commonly frequented by the Apostles nor yet applyed but in great and vrgent necessitie There was besides this at the same tyme an other more vsuall execution of the keyes and is now commonly in vse in euery well ordered Congregation For whereas the Preacher doth openly proclayme by the authoritie of the word euerlastyng lyfe to all whosoeuer truly an vnfaynedly repenting and beleéuyng in Christ Jesu what doth he els then open the kyngdome of heauen to mē as it were with a key and close it fast agayne as neéde shall require For euen as with a materiall keye as witnesseth Thomas doores be opened the barres and gynnes beyng forced backe which did forclose the passadge to them that would enter in Euen so when as by hearyng the word fayth ariseth and the blockes and barres of Sinne be turned out of the waye these keyes therfore are rightly sayd to be cōmitted to the Ministers of the Church wherewith as it were vnlockyng the lockes and vnloasing the obstacles of sinnes they do lead and conduct Sinners into heauē and open the eyes of the blind With this power was Paule also furnished by the Lord him selfe beyng sent vnto the Gentiles That thou mayest open their eyes sayth he whereby they may be cōuerted from darckenes to light and deliuered from the power of Sathan vnto God may attaine Remission of their Sinnes and their portion emongest the Saintes through fayth which is in Christ Iesu our Lord. I beseéch you Syr could Peter be sent with more authoritie in any respect vnto the Iewes thē Paule was sent vnto the Gentiles And what shall I say of the rest of the Apostles and Disciples of Christ was this a small slender authoritie wherein was committed vnto them the whole world to be taught in the word of GOD whereby also they wrought so many miracles so great signes emongest the people wherfore if these wordes byndyng and lowsing do consiste in the power of the holy Ghost in propagation of Fayth in the ministery of Reconciliation in publishyng the Gospell what aunswere will myne opposed aduersary make me here doth the Byshop of Rome onely Preach the Gospell Or is he onely endued with the power of the holy Ghost doe not other Byshops and Ministers Preach the word as well as he And from whēce then hath this notable Prelate this so notorious a fullnes Now to graunt this much to the Ministers of the Churche that the keyes are commēded to them together with the Byshop of Rome wherewith they may deteigne and release Sinnes accordyng to their power cōmited vnto them yet ought not this power be so narrowly streighted either to one Byshop onely or emparted also with other Ministers in such wise as though there were none other Remissiō of Sinnes besides in the Churche vnlesse it come by the Ministers keyes or the Popes Pardons or as though no man could make him selfe a way passable into heauē vnlesse he be admitted by this Popish Porter or his Ministers The Minister doth open in deéde Be it so Yet doth he not so open but the euery one may open also to him selfe by his owne Fayth So also doth the voyce and authoritie of the Ministers breake the bandes of Sinnes a sunder in those which do hartely repent Yet neuerthelesse this sentence remayneth alwayes vnreproueable Being iustified through fayth we haue peace with God through our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. Again this also feare not beleue onely thou art made whole All things are possible to him that doth beleue And in an other place purifiing our hartes by fayth Moreouer we heare our Lord himselfe speaking That they may receiue Remission of their sinnes and their portion amongest the Sanctified through fayth which is in me And although it serue to great purpose in the Church to haue due consideration what and to whom release is made in Christ his name by the ministery of a faythfull Minister Yet is not the force and effectualnesse of fayth any title diminished hereby but that she may make a way passable to the throne of the Maiesty in assured confidence Neither must we thinke that the Lord gaue vnto the Ministers so large a commission of these opening Keyes as that there remayne none other meanes of attayne forgeuenesse of sinnes It may sometimes come to passe and euen so it happeneth very often that the voyce and coūcell of the Ministers must needes be inquyred as when a man is at any time ouer greéuously
Pardons whereby if this scaldyng house of Purgatory may not vtterly be quenched the intollerable flames thereof may yet at the least be somewhat quallified For surely the matter is come to this passe now that vnlesse your masses and Pardons do helpe at a pinche there is no crosse of comfort lefte for the poore soules that are dead vpon so fast and so firme a Rocke hath Osorius planted his Purgatory with these new conclusiōs that it can neuer hereafter be impeached with any assault of the Lutheranes nor vndermined with any there engynes or crampes For what can be more manifest and cleare then this saying of Peter wherein he affirmeth that the glad tydings of peace was brought to the Soules that were in prison For if the soules were in prison we must neédes confesse that they were not in heauen and if they were in hell but from out of hell is no Redemption at all It remayneth then of necessitie that there must be a thyrd place somewhat seuered in the highe betwixt heauen and hell I suppose Loe here into what narrow streightes this Cratippus the deépest conceited mā of our age hath forced vs with the profoundenes of his skill to the huge commendable and prayseworthy mountaine of whose singuler and superexcellent learnyng capacity and wisedome this also may be added not the least part of his prayse that whereas this so lucky an Exposition of this place hath ouerscaped so many sharpe sighted Doctours of Diuinitie heretofore yet could it not possibly now escape this deépe Clerke but must neédes fall into his mouth For whereas besides a noumber of old notable men and no small sprancke of the newer sort also as Eckius Pighius Hosius Torrensis Surius Mayronensis Andradius and to couple with them likewise the Glose ordinary whereas all these I say and many others haue vttered much matter of Purgatory yet was there no one of all these hitherto as farre as I cā learne besides our Osorius onely that euer durst be so bold to vouche this place for the building vpp of that plattforme of Purgatory And no maruell for these wantes wanted the eyes of Epidaurus which our Osorius hath gotten who is able to deuise all thynges out of nothyng yea those thynges many tymes that neuer were not much vnlike vnto Pentheus as it seémeth who standyng vpon the scaffold of Eumenides saw a farre of whole armyes of warriours and did esery two Sunnes and two Cities named Thebes So also doe the Poetes report that Hercules beyng madd saw the heauens ready to fall downe vpon him so did Aiax scourge swyne in steéde of Kyngs and Princes Ixion doth embrace a cloude in steéde of Iuno Orestes doth seé his mother and furies settyng vpon him And how oft do Maryners in their dreames seé Tēpestes shipwrackes souldiours Gunnes spoyles and slaughters louers also how osten dreame they of their louers and woers And what is it that childrē doe not Imagine in the cloudes Euen so Osorius whatsoeuer almost he readeth in the Scriptures doth seéme in his eye to be nought els but Purgatory But to returne agayne to the Apostles wordes to note somewhat more curiously diligently both what the Apostle sayth what Osorius also doth gather thereupon Let vs heare the Apostles wordes which are these In which Spirite Christ goyng downe did preach the glad tydyngs to thē that were in prison First whereas the wordes of Peter be thus in Greéke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Osorius by euill trāslation doth turne the wordes that doe sounde in Greéke aright on this wise to the soules sayth he wh were in prison Wherein how truly he doth translate the same let him aunswere for him selfe euen as if a man should on this wise tourne the Greétyng of Paule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the Sainctes that were at Colossa whereas it should rather be spoken on this wise to them that are at Colossa Sainctes But the other fitted Osorius purpose best that by that slipper deuise Peter might seéme to expresse that these soules which were holden fast in prison first were now no more in Purgatory but were fetcht from out of Purgatory to meéte with Christ. But I will not be so squemish about these trifles I would very fayne learne this aboue all other whose soules were those that were so holdē fast in prison Peter will aunswere the Soules of the Vnbeleeuers which were disobedient to the preachyng of the Prophetes And by what reason can you say that those soules were takē out of prison at the sounde of the glad-tydyngs which were them selues disobedient to the preachyng for if they had harkened vnto and beleéued what infidelitie then could be in them But let vs go foreward May we be so bold to demaūde this of you Osorius when and at what tyme the preachyng of this glad tydynges happened For in this pointe sticketh all the pithe of dought Osor. is of opinion that these glad tydyngs came not vnto the soules before Christ had finished his Passion and descended him selfe downe into hell But in what sence then doth Peter call them Vnbeleeuers vnto whom Christ him selfe did preache For there could be no infidelitie by any meanes where was no preachyng of true doctrine goyng before whereunto these soules should haue geuen attendaunce For Vnbeleeuers are not sayd to be Vnbeleeuers accordyng to the definition of an Vnbeleeuer of that which they do neuer heare but of that which when they haue heard they will not beleéue But now Peter doth euidently declare that Christ did preach vnto them in deéde and that the very same to whō the glad tydynges were preached were as then Vnbeleeuers and thereupon annexeth further the certein determination of the tyme. Whiles the mercy of God sayth he was looked for in the dayes of Noah and whiles he was making ready the Arke Whereby you may easily conceaue euen by the very order of the text what tyme that was of preachyng those glad tydyngs Not as Osorius doth dreame when Christ is sayd to haue pearced the helles after his Passion to them that were dead but many yeares before that before the the generall destructiō of the world by waters whenas the Spirite of Christ did foreshew by the mouth and preachyng of Noah the generall destruction of mankynde that was then hangyng ouer their heades and did allure them to speédy repentaūce in season with continuall earnest and most comfortable exhortations which they did abuse at that tyme wickedly through vnbeliefe And because Osorius shall not thinke this aduise of mine own imagination and therefore will geue me no Creditt heerin lett him haue recourse to his owne commō Glose which they call the Ordinary Glose which doth expound this place of Peter in the very same wordes and sillables almost I will sett downe the wordes of the glose as they be Comming in the spirite sayth he he did preach c For comming in the spirite he did preach to the people
vouchsafe to enlighten that ouerdarckened blindenes of your drowsy sences and new fashion the same into a more found knowldge and vnderstanding of the trueth of his Gospell Now doe you perceaue the desire and loue that we haue of your safety Osorius albeit you be not come to Purgatory as yet It is reason therfore that we lykewise vnderstād the Carity of your Charitie We doe pray vnto God say you with earnest intercessions and prayers most purely powred forth for the quick and the dead and for the sauety of our Brethren I doe behold a very godly and comfortable imagination of yours conceaued in the behalfe of the dead and do prayse the same But when doe ye this good Syr In your dayly supplications and meétings I thinke not so But at that tyme especially say you that is chosen out to be most meere to worke the most holy worke of all to witt at that tyme which we do choose to pacifie the wrath of God not with the bloud offringes of footed Beastes but with the body and bloud of Christ. what a bald deuise is this of the man how variable is the inconstancye of his doctrine For if as you sayd a litle earst Christ onely doe not performe the full price of our redēption but that Paule and many others doe dayly offer most holy Sacrifices for the dead that is to say for the saluation of the dead with what confidence dare you now presume to pacifye the wrath of God with the onely body and bloud of Christ excludyng the Sacrifices and offringes of all other or how often must the body of Christ be offred to pacifie the wrath of God If our first Father Adā was able by one onely offence to destroy and cast away the whole ofspring of posterity Is not Christ in all respectes as able by one onely oblation of his body and bloud to make amendes of the same which Adam foredidd and brought to nought And with what reason will you perswade vs that you take vpon you to reconcile the fauor of God by the bloud of Christ who professe that your Sacrifice is not a bloudly Sacrifice Moreouer whereas the Sonne of God did satisfye for all thinges with his precious bloud shedd vpon the Crosse as well the thinges in heauen as the thinges vpō the earth what one thing then hath he left to be satisfied by you Or if there remayne any thing as yet of Gods Iudgement vnreconciled and not throughly clensed euen to the vttermost and most absolute fullnes how hath he then by one onely oblation made perfect for euer all them that be sanctified how did it seéme good vnto the Father that all fullnesse should dwell in the Sonne how were all thinges sayd to be at an end and finished whiles Christ did hang vpon the Crosse with what face dare Paule teach vs that all Enimity was blotted out by Christes death on the Crosse and all hatred wipte awaye by his fleshe if Gods Maiestye must be as yet reconciled by your offringes and Sacrifices He that brake downe the wall that was betwixt vs and God was not the same able to ouerthrow rotten Walles of your paynted Purgatory he that did vtterly remoue the wrath of his Father could not the same he extinguish and quite put out the flames of Purgatory without Sainctes merites and Popish Pardons Nay rather what neéde any Pardons at all procured or imagined out of the treasure of the Church if you Catholick shauelinges doe take vpon you to reconcyle the Maiestye of God by your dayly offring of Christes body and bloud I will recyte here not a fable but a true history of Germany out of Wolgangus Musculus which happened at Haganoy in the yeare of our Lord 1517. to witt the same yeare wherein M. Luther beganne to Inueigh agaynst the Popes Bulles There was a wyfe of a certein Shoomaker who a litle before sheé dyed for a certayn number of Crownes purchased a Bull from the Pope whereby she did assure her selfe of freé deliueraunce out of Purgatory Within a whiles after this woman being dead the Husband hauing intelligence of the Bull perfourmed the obsequies and funeralls of his wyfe orderly and decently as beseémed an honest Husband to doe not regarding in the meane space Masses Dyrges Trentalls and other trincketts of the lyke Mockeries vsually exercised in the Church after the old solēne maner for the redeéming of soules departed out of this lyfe The parish Priest being not a litle greued with the matter beganne to maruell and to take in ill part the contempt of Religion and to complayne of the vnkinde behauior and impiety of the Husband towardes his wife and at the last framing a libell of the matter accuseth the Shoomaker for an heretique To be briefe The Shoomaker was arested by a Serieant the matter was pleaded before the Maior of the Cittie The Shoomaker for his defence pleaded that the cause why he did not purchase Supplications and Masses according to the olde accustomed fashion for the health of his wyues soule proceéded not of any contempt that he hadd agaynst any of the solemne ceremonyes of the Church but because he was assured that his wyues soule was already saued in heauen he thought good to abate such extraordynary and vnnecessary charges and withall taking the Popes Bull out of his bosome desireth the Maior that it might be openly readd The Maior doth deliuer the Bull to the parish Priest to read The Priest seéing the Popes Bull stood still amazed at the first and a good whiles refused to reade it at the last being constrayned by the Maior he didd reade it ouer assoone as the Bull was read ouer both the Maior and the parish Priest being throughly ashamed held their peace The Shoomaker was earnest to proceé to Iudgement vpon the aucthoritye of the Apostolick Release to make it appeare what they iudged now of the soule of his wyfe whether sheé were now in heauen or in Purgatory If sheé be in Purgatorye then the Bull doth lye but if sheé be flowen vpp into heauen according as the Pope commaunded her then was there no cause why he should hyre any hireling shaueling to say Masses or Dyrges for his wyues soule The Maior and the Priest hauing nothing to say to the contrary nor daring to condemne the Popes Pardone acquited the shoomaker of the action by a Nonesuite Masses and Sacrifices BUt I returne to Osorius agayne who if hadd bene Commissary in this case I know not what aunswere he would haue made to this shoomaker But this is out of all question that this Purgatory whereabout these Catholickes keepe such a sturre can by no meanes be of any force and power but that either the Popes Pardons or these your Sacrifices of Satisfactory Masses Shall be by that meanes doughted of and come into great perill to be vtterly discredited For if yonr Stationes of Rome the Pardons of
stricken downe and confounded with the remembraunce of theyr owne sinnes vnto whom chiefly appertayneth the comfortable promise of fayth how can it be possible that this serious and earnest repentaunce cann conceiue any pleasure or delight in horrible wickednesse And yet out of this so manifestly false forged slaunder Osorius hath clowted vpp the remnaunt of all his patcheryes And from hence forsooth are all those so manye huge Tempestes Lightenynges and Thunderboltes so many outragious exclamations tragedies and earthquakes raysed vpp agaynst the poore abiect Lutheranes no lesse vnsauory then shamelesse Wherefore I was so much the more desirous to aduertyze the godly zealous youth that they would not suffer them selues to be entangled by any meanes with the flattering fawning of Osorius bookes and that they behaue themselues with discrete moderation in the reading of them least as the SerpeÌ„t did once beguyle Eue they also may be carryed away from the pure simplicity which is in Christ Iesu. God did not in vayne send his sonne into the world nor in vayne did he geue that especiall commaundement that we should harken vnto him Moreouer not in vayne lykewise dyd the Sonne himselfe descending from out the bosome of his Father take vpon him to proclaime the fathers will out of heauen If petitions proceéding from harty inward and most pure loâ—e if most excellent and vndefiled prayers if most commendable conuersation of life in all kinde of vertue might haue auayled to the attaynment of perfection of saluation I seé no cause to the coÌ„trary why the heauenly Father might haue taken away that bitter Cupp of heauy displeasure out of the haÌ„d of this Sonne But our woundes could not otherwise be healed but by the death deadly wouÌ„des of the Sonne The wound was farr more deépe and deadly then could be curable by any pollicy power treasure workes or actions of men Briefly when Osorius hath spoken of and aduaunced iustice and most excelleÌ„t integrity of life with all the skill that he cann Yet shall he neuer be able to bring to passe the contrary but that the song which we dayly sing vnto Christ shal be an vnuanquishable trueth Thou onely art holy Out of the which what thinke you may be gathered els but that all other creatures whatsoeuer adorned with neuer so plausible opinion of holynes be neuerthelesse vncleane and defiled in the sight of God And yet do we not hereby derogate one hearebredth so much from the grace of God whose riches and treasure we do confesse to be vnspeakeable and dispersed ouer the face of the whole earth Notwithstanding we do also as boldly professe that this grace wherein doth coÌ„sist the highest honour of most perfect obedience did neuer happen to any nor was euer geuen to any but vnto Christ alone But what neéde any more CircumstauÌ„ce I will vrge one Reason agaynst Osorius and so make an end What one prayer can be more holy or knitt vpp in fewer wordes then the Lordes prayer Herein I do appeale to his conscience Let him pronounce the same one prayer vnto God in such sort that he be not faulty in some respect nor swarue in thought any where froÌ„ that absolute perfection of righteousnesse whereupon he doth bragg so much with such an vnremoueable conuersion of mynde to Godward and in so humble an abacement of himselfe and with so dutyfull a reuerence as is beseémyng so vnspeakeable a Maiesty And I wyll yeld him the victory I do most hartely desire and wish vnto the learned Reader and to all other the elect Saynctes of God whosoeuer do professe the name and weare the badge of Christ Iesu that departing from iniquity and gathering all together into one vniforme agreément of sincere doctrine by thenlightening and inspiratioÌ„ of the holyghost we may be all together receiued into that heauenly Ierusalem and into that kingdome of immortall glory and eternall felicity which shall neuer haue end not for the workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but for the loue of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ who suffered death for our sinnes and rose agayne for our Iustification Amen AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye dwellyng ouer Aldersgate Cum Gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis Anno. 1581. Iohn 7. Apoca. 17. Emanuell Dalmada a Portingall Byshop of Angrence Thomâ— Wilson Osorius beginneth with a double excuse Emanuell Byshop of Angrence in Portingall a Popish Inquisitour Two causes shewed by Osorius why hee writeth agaynst M. Haddog The second part of the excuse of Osorius Rom. 2. The name of a priuate persoÌ„ what it signifieth Plautus in milite glorioso Syr Thom More Iohn Fisher Byshop of Rochester More and Rochester rightly coÌ„uicted and condemned for traytors by the law Osorius is writing to our Quene vnder pretence of charitie goodwill couereth extreme hatred against true Religion True charitie is sooner preteÌ„sed in wordes theÌ„ truely performed in deedes Cicer. Orat. in Lucium Pisonem Cicer. Phillip 2. in AnthoniuÌ„ In SalustiuÌ„ Cod. de proba lib. 〈◊〉 Osor. pag. 8. Osorius coÌ„plaineth of subuertyng Religion in England Nonnes Images of Saintes Picture of the Crosse. Auncient ceremonies of the Romane Church The words of M. Haddon cited by Osorius Cicer. in Anthon Phil. 2 Osor. pag. 9 Osor. pag. 9. b. Osorius maketh Bugge beares and fighteth with shadowes Osor. pag. 9. b. Luther falsely accused Luther to be take whole and not by pecces Osor. pag. 10. The cauilling of Osorius vpon wordes and sillables Perpessa Persparsa Psal. 119. Two soule abuses noted in Osorius his Religion Trust in Popish pardoÌ„s vayne and wicked Osorius agaynst hym selfe Osorius cauilleth about the word of lead Synechdoche Metonymia The Bishop of AngreÌ„ce One Church Apoc. 1. One Monarchie Liuius 3. Decad. Polycrates Phalereus Dionysius Apoc. 21. 22. Luce. 4. ex Esaia Ad Heb. 10 Timoth. 1. Luce. 9. Mar. 6. Math. 9. Touchyng supremacie of Peter his successours Marg. 9. Iohan 6. Aug. Retra Cap. 11. Chrisost. in Hom. Penthec To. 3. Hillar de Trim. lib 6. Cipr. Epist. 3. Orig. in Math. Cap. 16. Gregor 1. Distinct. 10. ConsideraÌ„dum Math. 18. Luc. 22. Amongest the Apostles no singular power geuen to any one more then all the rest Iohan. 17. Iohan. 17. Orig. in Math. Cap. 16. Augustin de Agone Christi Math. 16. Gal. 2. Petri Epist. 1. Cap. vlt. Act. Cap. 1. 2.5 Act. Cap. 15. The priuiledge of the person reacheth no further theÌ„ the partie him selfe vnlesse it be limited by name Math. 16. Galat. 2. Iohan. 3. Iohan. 4. Iero. and Euagr. Cypri ad Simplic Osorius pag. 17. Osorius ibidem Ibidem Sueto in the lyfe of xiâ— Emperours Platina de vitis Pontificum Grego in Epist. ad Mauri lib. 4 Epist. 32. Grego in Epist. 30.50 36. Cant. 2. Osor. pag. 17. Act. of the Apost the 5.15 Chap. Osorius pag. 18. b. Ad Thessa. 2. Cap. 2. Osorius pag. 18. b. pag. 19. pag. 19. Alphonsus de Castro contra haeret lib. 4. Cap. 4. pag. 19. Osori