Arius in the difference of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mistaking was heresie the death of the soule The Hebrewes haue a Tradition in their Talmud that they that could not discerne the pronouncing of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should not be made Priest Meg. c. 3. p. 24 or reader in their Synagogue And surely vnfitte is hee to write of Counsells that knoweth not the difference of letters in Concilium and Consilium I hold those titivillitious altercations of some Criticks not altogether so necessary as whether Epistula or Epistola iccirco or idcireo cotidie or quotidie bee the better reading But in a matter of moment of maine differēce a letter may much alter the sense Caranza Caranza in Epit. Concil in Concil Laodicens Can. 35. in the Councell of Laodicaea the 35 Canō which was made against the worship of Angells putteth in Angulos insteed of Angelos hauing no other corner to runne into to free his Church from the assertion of Idolatry and in this there was wit ioined with knavery so that it was pretty though pestilent but it was absurd to continue in your written Coppy ever to write Concilia with the ◠in steed of s as fearing to make longam literā The great difference of the things and the warning of Franciscus Sōnius should haue made you more criticall For Sonnius very plainely giueth a Caveat in this behalfe as supposing some such as your selfe should hereafter need it This is such a soloecisme in any learned iudgement that it would haue cost a lashing in any free schoole in England And howsoever you hold that commō rude speech of the Popes true Fiatur in cōtumeliam omniū Grammaticorum yet not Theologorum Mr LEECH And howsoever the truth of this doctrine hath not already nor yet haply hereafter shall escape the tongues and penns of some malitious or ignorant carping adversaries enimies of God and his Church yet can it never be suppressed but it will prevaile in the ende and florish like a greene palme tree being iustifiable and glorious both before God and man where reason swaieth and not passion rageth ANSVVER Heresie hath beene gainsaid in all ages and among the rest this where by the title of Evangelicall Counsells of perfection vaine Imaginarists haue sought to proue merits perfection supererogation and other strange and false positions To the suppressing of which the Fathers in all ages haue concurred as to the extinguishing of a generall devastation by fire Account you the opposers of your doctrine malitious and ignorant carping adversaries but God whose cause they haue in hand seeth and iudgeth whether they that acknowledge their sinnes or they that obiect their merit whether they that confesse thēselues vnprofitable servants or they that professe Angelicall perfection Psal 19.7 they that with reverence doe beleeue the law of the Lord to be perfit and an vndefiled law or they that accuse it for want imperfection they that professe it is impossible to fulfill the law or they that vaunt of performing more then is required by the law and as he seeth and iudgeth so he rewardeth every man according to his worke and hath pronounced that the wicked shall bee as the chaffe that the wind scattereth to and fro Psal 1.4 Mr LEECH Farther I can for more full complement if neede bee produce all charters roles evidences iudgements cēsures sentences arrests of all Christian parliamens the vmpiring determinations of the highest Ecclesiasticall tribunalls and generall Councells notwitstanding all pretenses pleas intrusions surreptions shifts contentions of all Hereticall Iovinianists ANSVVER This Paragraph hath put you out of breath put truth out of you It is like that congerious and multiplicious numeration of Criticks Phrases in Merula where he reckoneth vp Commentarios Adversaria Merula pag. 218. Annotationes Scholia observationes Animadversa Castigationes Disquisitiones Miscellanea Centurias Syntagmata Collectanea Catalecta Spicilegia c. Such is your disfigured figure in conglomerating your charters roles evidences sentences arrests c. But what haue these to doe with Evangelicall Counsells Quid ad Rhombum any of sense that readeth it will afford no other allowance but this of the Poet Hor. art Poet Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu If I should follow you in this kinde I could vrge to make vppe an army royall in encounter of yours all Scriptures Patriarkes Prophets Apostles Martyrs Saints Kings Bishops Fathers Doctours Professours Schooles Chaires Vniversities decrees of the Church Canons of Councels Constitutions of Synods Histories acts and monuments of all times and of all places Notwithstanding the Index expurgatorius of the Pope the demolishing of Antiquity by the Iesuits the Corruption of the Fathers all authorities by the Vatican impostors and all the endeavors of Rome and Hell to violate the truth Mr LEECH Ad nihilum devenient tāquam aqua decurrens which S. Austine doth fitly apply vnto heresies Such is the difference betwixt truth and falsehood that errour in time as it is but the entertainement of time will of it selfe fall away when Truth will stand impregnable how many soever impugne her so true is that of the Apostle we can do nothing against truth ANSVVER The difference betweene truth and falshoode is as much as the height of heauen and the depth of hel But you never tooke paines to distinguish truth frō falsehood never to enquire publikely or to study seriously the arguments against your opinion S. Augustine thought it fit to make knowne whereof he stoode in doubt and also wherefore your course was otherwise Aug de Genesi literam you conceived in the eare and brought foorth in the mouth you read Coccius Bellarmine beleeved them and preached them and tooke vp from thē vpon trust but not vpō truth You builded vpō the sands your building is fallen because not founded on the corner stone for other foundatiō can no mā lay then that which is laid even Iesus Christ Mr LEECH And therefore leaving thee modest and discreet Reader to iudge of the matter doctrine now in difference as reason and Religion shall induce thee and not as the instigation and humour of some factious persons will seek to mislead thee I proceede to prosecute the remainder of this businesse hoping that no man of any apprehension will suffer himselfe to be deceived by vaine vnlearned suggestions ANSVVER Reason must be submitted vnto Religion but the triall of Religion only is submitted vnto Truth the ancor of Christians in the Tempest of Controversie Accoūt it no instigatiō by humor or prosecutiō against you by favour The Poet is my warrant Hominem malignum forsan te credant alij Ego te miserum credo c. Neither Fathers in divinity nor Fathers by authority can satisfie you but you presume to proceed I feare that like a flie about the Candel you will perish
of eradication to bee rooted out of their possessions whereas otherwise their daies might haue been long in the land which the Lord their God had given thē The most Reverend but now deceased much lamēted Prelat did not by chāge of place chāge his thoughts your intimation is base and false to make the worlde beleeue any other affection in his Grace towardes Religion then what God and man approved openly so by the sequel of your busines it is manifest Where in your second limb of that mōstrous accusation is against his Iustice his approbation of the Vniversitie censure was as much as another condemnation of you pretenses his grace needed not for maine reasons wanted not his experience of the truth knowledge wisedome iudgement and goverment of his vicegerent and the worlds experience of his Graces prudent and eminent carriage in all his high and honourable imployments do free them both from your imputations and returne you your smoaky evaporations a Phrase lent you from the sulphureous fume of the bottomlesse pit But you conclude that you are nothing and worse then nothing The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of your booke sheweth that you are somewhat more then nothing the only argumēt to serue your turne to proue the Pope to be God is because he can make something of Purgatory which is nothing I could turn this vpon you but I forbeare and only returne to your owne figure How pleaded you for Iustice With stubborne tumultuous quarellous disobediēce In what In a point derogatory to the Iustice and Law of God When Then when you oppressed truth reiected your faith disobeyed your Iudge beganne to forsake your Church Before whom In the open face of heaven in the presence of God men and Angels in the holie place the pulpit in the best place on the best day For what end the dishonor of God the disgrace of his law which you accused of insufficiencie and imperfection Thus you did delude and were deluded for this these Reverēd Doctors haue beene by you iniuriously traduced That I may truely say no Revolter ever did offer more scandall in generall to our Church or slander in particular to so many worthy members thereof Mr LEECH TO M. DOCTOR KING DEANE OF Christ-Church in Oxford and Vicechancellour of the Vniversitie H. L. wisheth health and salvation in Christ IESVS SIR though your will was your law to punish me without my offence yet it shall not bee your sanctuary to defend your selfe without more sufficient reason For as you convented me before a selected Calvinian assembly so now I convent you and them before all men in the assured confidence of my good cause and in the comfortable peace of my sincere heart And since you dealt with me as a Magistrate by the strength of your authority you must giue mee leaue now to deale with you as a Scholler by the validity of arguments Finally because I wish your future happinesse I cannot omit to acquaint you with your present miserie which I will lay forth before your eies in Syllogisticall manner and then I will referre you vnto the consultation of your owne heart Whatsoever doctrine is founded vpon Scripture according to the conformable opinion of the ancient Church that is a point of Catholike faith But the doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes is founded vpon Scripture according to the conformable opiniō of the ancient Church Therefore the Doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes is a point of Catholique faith The Maior is a maxime in all Christian schooles The Minor is proued by the ensuing testimonies of the Fathers whose vniforme verdict in this behalfe is the iudgement of the Church Whosoeuer doth obstinately impugne any point of Catholique faith he is an heretike But Doctour Kinge D. Aglionby D. Airay D. Hutton D. Benefield c. do obstinately impugne a point of Catholique faith Therefore D. Kinge D. Aglionby c. are heretikes De haeres ad Quod-vult D. in perorat The Maior is granted by all men of iudgement and is confirmed by S. Augustines rule The Minor is proued by their own proceedings against me in this particular Every heretike is bound to recant his heresie or else he is liable to the punishment decreed in the Canonicall law of the Church But D. King D. Aglionby c. are heretickes Therefore D. King D. Aglionby c. are bound to recant their heresie or else they are liable to the punishment decreed in the Canonicall law of the Church The Maior is cleare of it selfe The Minor is proued already And because it shall appeare yet more sensibly I pray you to consider that whosoeuer reiecteth the ioint consent of Fathers in a point of doctrine as D. King doth herein he is an hereticke and this I will breefly declare by foure evidences FIRST Epist 1. ad Leon. cap. 1. by the testimony of Flavianus Patriarch of Constantinople saying Haeretici est praecepta Patrum declinare instituta eorum despicere In Concil Chalced. SECONDLY by the testimony of Eudoxius admitted in a generall Councell qui non consentit sacrosanctorum Patrum expositionibus alienat se ab omni sacerdotali communione a Christi praesentia See Sozom. l. 7. c. 12. THIRDLY by the proceedings of the most Christian emperour Theodosius against the proud distracted Hetikes who would not submit themselues vnto the iudgements of the venerable Fathers See Vincent Lit. cap. 41. FOVRTHLY by the practise of the Ephesine Counsaile against Nestorius who was iudged an heretike not only in regard of the matter itselfe Veterum interpretum scripta perdiscere dedignatus est See Socrat. l. 7. c. 32. NOTA. wherein he erred damnably but in regard of the manner and tryall by the holy Fathers which his contemptuous spirit did vtterly decline Many also of those Fathers by whose testimony the cause was then handled against Nestorius are the very same whose verdicts I shall now produce against D. King and against his abettours whosoeuer ANSVVER TO Mr. HVMFREY LEECH LATE Minister now Revolter SIr it is Salomons counsel in the 4. verse of the 26. Chap. of Proverbs not to answer some sort of mē yet in the next verse he adviseth to answer such lest they TRIVPMH in their owne eies Vpō the instruction of the former verse this worthy Deane intends to contēne rather then answer and yet wisheth you lesse presūption greater knowledg lesse sophistry more honesty but vpō the directiō of the insuing vers I the weakest of many yet strōg enough for this cause haue vpon reasons of some importance vndertaken to confute your calumnies to cleere the truth to cōfirme the faithfull In Christian Policy you were to be answered and in common charity you are to bee counselled hereafter to care what you write whom you revile so to rule your pen and order your tongue that you be not iudged either in this worlde or in the future or in both for a prostituted cōsciēce if not a
in the gainesaying of Corah None here will be worthily thought men deceived by vaine and vnlearned suggestions Mr LEECH And if some men will obstinately shut their eies yet my trust is that others will looke vp to HeaveÌ„ whence this doctrine descended and whether it doth most readily conduce and that they will no longer take darknesse for light night for day poyson for medecine Heresie for verity since truth bringeth ever with it certainety peace and security at the last ANSVVER Psal 135.16.17 The legend giveth Scripture the lie Scripture saith that Idols haue eies and see not eares haue they and they heare not Legend Aurea and yet the legend reporteth that manie of the Idols Images haue spoken seen and hard They open their eies and see not we may shut our eies and yet see that this Doctrine never proceeded froÌ„ heaven or if it descended from thence the descention was like to Lucifer that fell from thence into the bottomlesse pit and no doubt Lucifers sin was no other then this so farre by elatioÌ„ to superlatiue man that in pride he rebell against God By respiratioÌ„ we send our praiers to heaven by inspiration wee receiue instruction from heaveÌ„ but I finde not that Phrase in any approved Author that doctrine descended from heaven And though the Priest in the law coulde only distinguish betweene a Leaper and a Leaper yet in the Gospell the Lord hath so illuminated his servants that they can easily discerne betweene the darknesse of the vnderstaÌ„ding which is falsum and the light thereof which is verum Which truth is the daughter of Syon and is atteÌ„ded with Peace of CoÌ„science ioy in the holy Ghost remission of sinnes communion of Saints and life everlasting Mr LEECH THE SECOND PART CONTAIning the irregular and violent processe of the Vice-chancellour and his complices against me and the former doctrine VVherein the Reader may excellently discerne the nature of heresie and the condition of Heretickes as in a perfit glasse * ⎠* As Iannes and Mambres resisted Moses so doe these resist the truth men corrupt in minde and reprobat concerning the faith 2. Tim. 3.8 ANSVVER THE SECOND PART CONTAIneth the exorbitant and virulent disobedience and palpable hereticall ignorance of the Author of the Triumph as also the false suggestions and vncharitable imputations against most of the Reverend and worthy Doctors of the Vniversity of Oxford wherein the nature of a conceited malecontented Apostat is discovered who having out of heresie spun the Spiders web an opinion Popish ridiculous out of slander and vnsavory words hatched the Coccatrice eâ—ges phrases reproachfull malitious doth beholde his naturall face in a glasse Psal 75. I said vnto the fooles deale not so madly Iud. 11. They haue followed the way of Caine and are cast away by the deceit of Balams wages and perish in the gainesaying of Korah A TRIVMPH OF TRVTH OR DECLARATION OF THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING EVANGELICAL COVNSAILES Mr LEECH CHAP. I. When I had ended my sermon it seemed good vnto Mr Doctor Hutton who was there present confronted me with ridiculous behaviour to cite me before himselfe immediatly in his owne lodging where I fouÌ„d him accompanied with two other Doctors D. Kilby and D. Benefield who gaue speciall attention vnto my sermoÌ„ with great shew of discontent ANSVVER Chrysost in 2. epist ad Tim. 2. IT is S. Chrysostomes observation that the cause of all evill is the neglect of the authority of spirituall governours when no reverence or feare or honour is vsed towardes them If this had not proved true in you you had not presumed when authority contradicted it to reiterate your former opinions Or to accuse D. Hutton of ridiculous behaviour whose gravity and reverent deportment according to his place age founde not in the whole course of his life any accuser but you his resolution in iudgement and office then in goverment were the motiues causing him to send for you you confesse that the Doctours accompanying him attended but much disliked your sermon so did not they only but the whole Church many standing amased to see you bring forth so publikely those two twins ignorance and impudence Of these two Doctors in the former part you affirmed that one of them approved your Doctrine and Apologisd for your opinion which is most vntrue for he ever abhord your assertioÌ„ as formerly I haue answered you that his worthinesse protesteth and as here plainely vnto all appeareth in that you say these two Doctors gaue attentioÌ„ to your sermon with great discontent Mr LEECH Before these men D. Hutton began to charge me with scandalous erroneous and Popish doctrine fitter to be preached in Rome then in Oxford and therefore in no case to bee suffered there to disturbe the peace of the Vniversitie ANSVVER The Provice chancellor and these Doctors as Indices et iudices veritatis did discharge that true care of Gods glory to charge you with the breach of the peace of the Church by obtruding a doctrine scandalous for the occasion erroneous for the opinion vnsafe to bee read and vnsound to be preached Mr LEECH To this accusation I framed my answer to the same tenour and effect as you haue formerly seene in the kitchin-conference adding farther that the doctrine of the Trinity consubstantialitie c. might be branded with the imputation of Popery as well as this doctrine of Evangelicall Counsells ANSVVER You preached this doctrine twise over verbatim almost as appeareth by the Coppies vnder your haÌ„d that now I haue in keeping at least verbatim in your extorted producing of testimony and now verbatim you haue the same Apology for your doctrine of the Trinity consubstantiality c. which you rank with Evangelicall Counsells and of which I shall haue occasion to reckon with you in your motiues Mr LEECH But such is the temerity of some men that they will rather disclaime a manifest truth then they will concurre in opinion with the Church of Rome And for my part I see no reason why you may not as well renounce that Popish doctrine of the Trinity as this of Evangelicall Counsells since both haue their evidence from the same ground Canonicall Scripture and Ecclesiasticall Tradition yea the later hath more cleere deduction and testification out of the Scripture then the former ANSVVER Such is the miserie of some men that they will in the corruption of their rotten hearts vndertake the defence of some manifest vntruth to get them a name as Reverend D. Kilby protesteth he ofteÌ„ warned you and it is the basenesse of some that in the fruitfull grounds of learning they smell after some dunghill questions of Popery to obtaine a title of singularity Mistake not slander not we disclaime not positions so much because Rome maintaineth them as because Antichrist and heresie invented them and yet looke into her streets marke well her Bullwarkes and religiously coÌ„sider what fountaine hath she not poisoned what part of
Biell in their distinction of faith they hold that it is either fides infusa inspirata an infused faith wrought in vs by the inlightning spirit of God and resting it selfe vpon the truth of God or else it is acquisita suasa a naturall faith grounding it selfe vpon humane authority and wrought by humane motions and persuasions The faith wee haue of the points in Scripture is of the former and better kind not relying on the testimony of the Church whose authority is but a created thing from the first verity as a Prin. fid doct lib. 8. Stapleton confesseth when as the first verity enforceth the minde without further autority to yeeld obedience As also Scripture is that b Rom. 1.16 power cōmanding that c Eph. 6.17 sword dividing that d Ier. 23.27 hammer driving in that e 2. Cor. 10. Pyoner powerfull to overthrow strong holds and to cast downe every high thing therefore onely the authority of the Scripture is to be relied vpon because our faith would reele and totter and fall if the authority of Scriptures stand not fast O then submit your selfe to the censure of Scripture whose maiestie is ineffable whose decree inevitable which rightly looked into with the eye of humility harkned vnto with the eare of attention and vnderstood with the hart of faith wil be the certaine rule authority testimony only to be relied on the piller of truth and Schoole of goodnesse Mr LEECH his Title A TRIVMPH OF TRVTH ANSVVERE A Triumph and why c Ludov. Vives in praefatio ad libros Aug. de civit Dei Honorius the Emperor had a fighting Cocke called Rome wherevpon Vives recordes that when the Goathes surprised Rome the Citty news was brought that Rome was lost the Emperour thought it was his Cocke not his Cittie Your Triumph and his Cocke may go togither d A booke in folio vpō the 4. Gospels Iohannes de la Hay the Jesuit hath lately robd you of the Title his great volume being intituled Triumphus Veritatis and surelie he had some semblance for it for his volume seemed to bee a vessell of good lading though it haue nothing in it but stubble and hay But you to giue your boate of so small burden the Title of a man of warre sure your title is too big your booke is too little It is A Triumph got by flying or a triumph got without fighting Let the Pharisee bee the Herauld of his owne praises Pigmalion enamored with his owne devises let Narcissus do ate on his shaddow let Thersites vaunt without modesty but how much better were it for you that you had styled your booke with some humble and religious title savouring of grace not of vaine-glory But alas Religion without Truth wil be ever vnsavory and reading without iudgement ever peremptory Mr LEECH CHAP. 1. INtreating of this parcell of holy scripture I sawe the dead In a sermon at Christ-Church in Oxford 1607 Apoc. 20.12 both great and small stande before God I distinguished a fowrefolde acception or signification of great and small FIRST great and small for worldly authoritie and temporall condition SECONDLY great and small in respect of heavenly supereminency of grace and spirituall infusion THIRDLY great and small in lieu of diversity of rewards and retribution FOVRTHLY great and small in regard of contrariety and disparitie of workes and operation ANSVVER A time there shall bee when the bookes of everie mans conscience shall be laide forth a day of feare and furie when an vniversall flowde of fire shall overstreame the whole world when the heavens shall threaten the earth cast vp al creatures cry vengeance devils accuse conscience giue evidence and the whole Iurie of Saints passe verdict vpon sinners and then the secrets of all harts shall be disclosed In holy Scripture this iudgement is often mentioned but of all others Hier. that glorious Eagle S. Iohn mounting the high spheare of divinest contemplation doth most expresly by his vision and revelation manifest the declaration thereof and of all other places most pregnantly in this your text Apoc. 20.12 And I saw the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened Was there no other place to confirme an vntruth but that which shall confound all vntruth no other Scripture to iustifie you but that which shall iudge you Would you sow tares vpon that ground vpon which wheate and tares shal be distinguished Remember whence you are fallen and repent and doe the first workes or else I will come against thee saith Christ Rev. 2.5 O the eternity of that cursed time Rev. 2.5 to be spēt in wretchednesse and confusion no myriads of yeeres to free from the execution of that perpetuall iudgement An end not ending a death not dying should terrifie and amase you and make you returne seeing the dead both great and smal shall stand before God But to your distinction There is a great mistake in your fourfold acception of great and small For antiquity which you so much boast of doe all expound it otherwise a Rupert in Apoc. Rupertus by mortuos magnos and pusillos vnderstanding homines impios spiritus malignos b Anselm in Apoc. 12. c Lyra in Apoc. 12. Anselmus Lyra d Hugo in Apoc. 12. Hugo the e Gloss in Apoc. 12. ordinary glosse and many others vnderstanding by the dead great and small malos only wicked men And f Carthus in eund Carthusian intimateth so much of St Austins opinion that he vnderstandeth not by mortuos magnos and pusillos the Saints but by libros apertos Carthusians words be plaine Augustinus per libros apertos intelligit Sanctos in quibus mali poterunt legere seu videre bona quae facere debuerunt neglexerunt Austin vnderstandeth by the books that were opened the Saints in whome the wicked might see and reade the good which they ought to haue done and haue neglected How then holdes your fourfold acception if by the dead you meane the living and by the wicked you meane the Saints g Caelius Rhodog lib. 20. Rhodogine recordeth that Polemo being the spectator of a Tragoedy at Smyrna a ridiculous actor comes out vpon the stage and being to pronounce O coelum ô terra bends his hands and eies to the earth and crieth ô coelum and then lifts his eies and hands to the heaven and pronounceth ô terra Polemo condemneth his action for a soloecisme It is no lesse in you to call evill good and good evill and in the Prophet it is forewarned with a woe Whose fourfold acception this should be I knowe not If your owne I am sorry for the mistake and I confesse it is the first notice that I ever tooke of your breathing in any Schoole learning and in that I shall doe you no more iniury then h Gretzer App. 1. ad lib. 1. Bellarm. § Idem dictū pag. 558. Caietanus homo
men terrestriall Angels surmounting and transcending the precepts of the law by Evangelical counsailes of perfection endeavouring not only to performe the law but thirsting after a more holie heavenly excelling perfectiō haue performed more thē the lawes generall precepts obliged them vnto adding over and aboue the law De vera virginitatate prope finem that which the lawe wanted of the merit of perfection as S. Basill speaketh professing spirirituall poverty Angelicall Chastity and humble obedience and all this for heavens sake ANSVVER Holy men in all ages through faith as the Apostle speaketh haue obtained good report We yeelde it with reverence vnto them we honor their vertues seek to imitate their examples But that you should seperat any from the praedicament of humanity by being transcendents that they shoulde so farre hurle beyonde the reach of man I knowe no reason for it Some may transcende the Politicke lawes of Nations but not the lawes of God as a P. Matt. loc Com. clas 3. Peter Martyr distinguisheth or some may be Transcendents respectiuely if compared with others but simply they are not so in themselues Gregorie doth not teach it you cannot proue it You affirme that the keeping of more then the lawes generall precepts is possible I answere that we doe vnderstand the keeping of the law either according to the letter of the law Loc. com clas 3. cap. 3. or according to the meaning of the law Or as Peter Martyr distinguisheth the law may be cōsidered either by the generall outwarde iudgement of man no farther then the barke of the letter as the Pharises did Mat. 5. or by the inward sense pith of the law as our Saviour in the fift of Matthew expounded it According to the letter of the law a man may be so happie by grace as not to be a worshipper of images no blasphemer no adulterer no theefe no murtherer so of the rest but according to the meaning of the law it is impossible for anie in this masse of corruption to performe perfectly fully anie of the precepts of the law much lesse more then the precepts And herevpon I infer what S. b In Cant. ser 50. Bernard in this case speaketh The commandement neither hath beene fulfilled in this life nor can bee And that which an ancient c Marc. Herem de lege spir Hermit voucheth to this purpose Seeke not the perfection of the law in mans vertues for no man is found perfit in it You vniustly accuse the law that it wanteth perfection it must iudge you condemne you it not Scripture saith it heaven and earth cannot gaine say it that d Psal 119. the law of the Lord is perfit The best that ever were wanted much of the fulfilling of the law confessing themselues vnprofitable servants You seeke to proue comparatiuely that one man may soare aboue the ordinary pitch of others by reason of his gifts this we grant But hence to proue that the law is vnperfit and that man may passe absolutly beyond the law is absolutely vntrue The place in Basil cannot proue any such point and your owne speech in your sermō doth disproue any such assertion whē you vrge Davids confession of the immense measure of the law e Psal 109. Mandatum tuum nimis latum so that like Peter in the mount you speake you know not what Mr LEECH And that they may more readily follow and devoutlie adhere vnto Christ they cast away that which presseth downe so fast nay which often times presseth downe to hell overloading and surcharging the soule with immoderate weight the thorny cares and choking riches of this present world ANSVVER The abnegation of the world yea of themselues is the first vowe in Baptisme no sooner wee come into the world but vow to forsake the world The Apostle in the Phrase f Heb. 12.1 Heb. 12.1 exhorting to cast awaie everie thing that presseth downe hangeth on so fast meaneth that riches should be cast away then when they are the occasion of sins And therefore S. Ierom doth condemne not him g In 6. Matth. qui habet sed qui servit divitiis So in regard of Christ we must discharge our selues if they be hinderances to vs of whatsoever though never so deere or precious to vs wee must put them of as Bartimaeus did cast away his cloake to followe Christ It is most true they be thornie cares the roots thereof ilia terrae the exenterated guts and garbadge of the earth and fruits thereof though lillia terrae yet but the fading strewing flowers of the earth The rootes stinking the fruits dying And yet as of poison * Plin. amulets maie be made so of the vnrighteous Mammon there may be good vse a man being no more to leaue his riches and possession then his place and vocatiō vnlesse he finde that God so appoint and call him that his riches doe corrupt and hurt him Mr LEECH These with feare and trembling recompt and remember that terrible interrogation of our Sauiour concerning the worlds riches and the profit redounding vnto man in the vaine and maine pursuit thereof what shall it advātage a man to win the whole world and to loose his owne soule ANSVVER If conscience be as some define it a bit before sinne a scourge after sin thinke vpon it least it do worthilie torture you for knowing your masters will and doing it not Recompt and remember and examine your ovvne soule whether like to the prophane h Heb. 12.16 person in the epistle to the Hebrewes you haue not sold your birthright for a portion of meate A sinne against knowledge conscience is neare to the vnpardonable sinne Seeing you know nothing can redeeme a soule without Christ remember with feare and trembling your owne speech What shall it advantage a man to winne the whole worlde and to loose his owne soule Which place as you vse it doth iustifie my former speech that then riches and the whole world are to be contēned when the soule by delighting in them is endangered Mr LEECH And therefore these professors of Evangelicall Coūsailes merchandising for their soules earnestly with al spirituall endevour vpon the seas of this worlde followe the counsell which Christ gaue to the yong man who came to the WAY to learne the way to heauen if thou wilt bee perfit go sel all that thou hast and giue to the poore and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen and come follow me ANSVVER Professors of Evangelicall counsels S. Gregory calleth them not S. Gregory hath no such word as Profession of Evangelicall Counsells you lacke both proofes and grounds for your assertion The yong man I shall bring to your sermon there you shall see that though S. Gregorie vse the same words of Christ to the yong man yet to noe such purpose Till then I say to you as our Saviour did to another yong man Yonge man I say
our Christian perfection wherevnto the abdication of riches fitteth prepareth a man listening not so much to that which is lawfull as to that which is expedient avoiding riches and other things of like nature not as things vnlawfull but as impediments and hinderances vnto righteousnes ANSVVER Abdication of riches fitteth those indeede that are covetously minded for to such only these are hinderances and impediments and no other Did God grant a clogge to Salomon when he gaue him wealth Let me propose a Question Is it lawfull for all men to sell all that they haue and pursue this perfection I see no reason but they should for why in good matters should not one be as forward as another If so who should buy when all sell or giue almes or exercise deedes of liberality when they haue nothing If otherwise then this is no arbitrary counsell but a particular precept to some to whom it may doe good And howsoever that be true which S. Austin in the 61. Psalme speaketh that God doth not say Nolite habere Aust 61. Psal sed nolite cor apponere Non enim damnat divitias sed cor appositū quod scilicet non expendit sed recondit yet I say Riches are vnlawfull when they be impediments vnto righteousnesse Mr LEECH And S. Augustine in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium is of opinion that perfection of charity which is the perfection of Christian life consisteth neither in the sole performance of the actions of precepts conformable to non moechaberis nor yet in the performance of the actions of Counsells vnlesse both actions of precepts and counsells be rightly referred with relation to the ende of all the actions of precepts and Counsells which is charitas erga Deum proximum propter Deum charity toward God primarily and charity towards our neighbour for Gods sake secondarily ANSVVER This place of Austin is most forcible for our assertion and returneth vpon you vnavoidably For if all that we can doe by precepts and Counsells Deut. 6.5 Mat. 22.37 Marc. 12.30 Luk. 10.27 are referred as meanes to attaine this end to loue God aboue al c. and if this be so expresly and often commanded not only by Moses in the law but thrise by Christ in the Gospell how then can counsells outstrip precepts that by them may be performed works of supererogatiō vnlesse the meanes should exceed the ende and the middle the top S. Austin doth highly extoll our loue of God the more to exhort vs therevnto and the Schoolemen with him and out of him doe vrge the worthinesse of charitie being as they affirme bonorum principium quia à Deo bonorum medium quia secundum Deum Albert. Aquin. bonorum finis quia propter Deum and do further obserue that whereas other vertues haue bonum for their obiect and yet not for their end charity hath bonum pro fine obiecto all as Austin speaketh performed to God and all Christian offices to our neighbour for Gods sake Nostrarum haec meta viarum Mr LEECH And because the performance of the actions of precepts are in themselues absolutely necessary for atcheiving this end being such as without it the ende cannot be attained and the performance of the other of Counsells doth only secondarily tende therevnto as a help or as a removens impedimentum hence is it that schoole-divines haue this distinction or rather conclusion comprised in a distinction viz. Perfectiō of charity which is the perfection of Christian life consisteth primario essentialiter in praeceptis but secundario accidentaliter in Consilijs primarily and essentially in precepts but secondarily and accidentally in Counsells ANSVVER You come neerer and neerer to vs. If Perfection consist accidentaliter secundariò in Consilijs then Counsells are of lesse value then precepts Caietan in Th. Aq. 22 ae hoc articulo as much as the circumstance is lesse then the substance And Caietans graine of salt must season this distinction and then it may well be admitted precepts necessary to all as including the thing to be done Counsells necessary to some as prescribing secondarily and accidentally the best maner for them of fulfilling the precepts which as I haue often said bee particular to such Gers de confilijs Evang. Paludan in sent lib. 3. dist 34. q. 3. because each man is tied to the fulfilling of the law in the highest degree and best sort he can according to the talent receiued the abilitie wherewith God hath endowed him So Gerson and Paludanus the one in his tract de Consilijs Evangelicis statu perfectionis the other In Sent. lib. 3. distinct 34. q. 3. Mr LEECH Benefield his confederats in Iovinians heresy If any be so wedded to his owne private humor as not in this sense to admit of Evangelicall Counsells of perfection quoad viam and quoad gradum but that they will confound Precepts and Counsells together holding both of like necessity Counsells as well precepts so did the heretiques called Apostolici Austin haeres 40. Epiphane haeres 61. or that Counsells containe in them no kinde of perfection it is a branch of Iovinian and Vigilantius their condemned heresie Read Saint Hierom against Iovinian and S. Ambrose in the 10. booke of his Epistles the 80. and 81. Epistles Or lastly if any will hold the profession of them vnlawfull and that there be none the first crosseth many pregnant testimonies of Scriptures veritie and the second thwarteth the ioint consent of all orthodoxe Antiquitie The which Tertullian de praescriptionibus adversus haereticos Cyprian de vnitate Ecclesiae Augustine de vtilitate credendi Vincentius Lyrinensis in his Commonitoriū against all the prophane innovation of heretiques of his time make to be the very square of propheticall and Apostolicall interpretation drawne along by the line of the Church ANSVVER Wee admit of Evangelicall Counsells in the same sense that the Fathers did not as transcending the strict meaning of the law That famous and ancient Chancelor of Paris did sufficiently taxe the errour of those that vnderstand not the Fathers in this point for according to his iudgement Counsells precepts be coincident and yet neither that famous Gerson nor wee doe maintaine any heresy herein Our Tenet is this we deny not but there may be a verball distinction of precepts and Counsells as that thrise worthy Austin of our age the Deane of Winchester doth grāt D. Morton in his appeal lib. 5. c. 4. sect 3. num 11. but we abhorre and detest the maintaining of them as the workmen of Babell vphold them Wee holde that they transcend not the strict meaning of the law nor haue heate enough to hatch the addle egges of workes of supererogation which are of a later brood but we maintaine against the gates of Rome and the strength of hell that Counsells tie not all but those only who are better enabled with guifts then others or tied by their vocation to
Flavianus Bishop of Constantinople in his first Epistle to Pope Leo the first Haeretici est praecepta patrum declinare instituta eorum despicere It is the propertie of an heretique to decline the precepts of holy fathers contemning their cannons and decrees ANSVVER Your iudgement or opinion is very small seeing you take vp any thing at the second hand and from Coccius Treasury that cocks dunghil cul Pearles as you thinke them Twise before you submitted your selfe to the Church and in every page almost to the interpretatioÌ„ of the Fathers That the Church hath necessarily a stroak in the decision of Controversies we deny not but so ever that it subscrib to the truth of scriptures Next you submit to the Fathers the Fathers we reverence more then any Papists in the worlde doe neither doe I beleeue that ever any Protestant in the Christian world hath offered so much disreputation vnto the Fathers as Bellarmin himselfe hath don not only in generall De Pont. lib. 2. c. 27. § resp istas Bell. de Purg. c. 18. praeterâ—a q. ad quartum de poenitent l. 1. c. 1. § igitur Beilar de verbo Dei l. 3 c. 10. § dicens making all the Fathers but Children and novices to the Pope but in particular almost every Father is vilified by him To Damascene he giues the flatly and affirmeth that Tertullian is not to be reckoned amoÌ„g Catholiques so worse then so he speaketh of many others so ill a Patron is he of them that disesteeming any of them in any thing that crosseth his assertions he concludeth thus it is evident that the cheefest of them haue greeuously erred So that it seemeth Bellarmine is the heritique that Leo speaketh of who declineth from the precepts and coÌ„temneth the decres of holy Fathers Mr LEECH Thus much be spoken in defence of that great pillar of the latine Church S. Gregory saying Quidam non iudicantur pereunt quidam iudicantur pereunt quidam iudicantur regnant quidam non iudicantur regnant as also in defence of that sentence inferred vpon the last braunch transcendunt aliqui praecepta legis perfectiori virtute ANSVVERE It is strange in divinity not only but in common sense that first you should make your sermon theÌ„ after choose your Text it was vsuall in you if those that were best acquainted with your vnmethoded studies be not mistaken You grounded your distinction vpon that Text that without much wresting and wiredrawing would not serue you And you accommodated your distinction as vnfitly to this doctrine of Counsells as you father this doctrine vpon Gregory from whose authority you cannot produce any word of Evangelicall Counsell your defence was a very poore on you left S. Gregory to fight for himselfe for you fled Cum caeteri pugnabant maximè tu fugiebas maximè saith the Comoedy Father Anbignies defence for concealing Ravelliacks damned treason against the last French King was this Anti-Coton that God had given him a grace to forget all that he heard in confessioÌ„ It appeares you haue the like guift to mistake most that you read in the Fathers else you would never haue maintained such disiointed inferences Mr LEECH This I haue the rather done God and his holy Angels in whose presence I now stand and speak De Mysterio Mediatoris lib. 1. As hereticks as temporizers bearing me witnesse lest that imputation of Fulgentius should light vpon me viz. Fidem Ecclesiae nolle asserere est negare vno eodémque sileÌ„tio firmat errorem qui errore seu tempore possessus veritatem silendo noÌ„ astruit Dominicam gloriam qui non firmârit evacuat divinaÌ„ contumeliam qui non refutârit accumulat Miles ignavus som noleÌ„to corpore depressus regia castra oppugnantibus tradit dum competentibus vigilijs non defendit That is not to aver the Doctrine of the church is to deny the faith of the Church So are some in England So are others for with one the selfe same silence he strengthneth an error who being possessed or carried away with errour or time avoucheth not truth by his silence He that coÌ„firmeth not the glory of God weakneth it and he that confuteth not iniurie offred vnto God augmenteth it The slothfull sleepy souldiour betrayeth the Kings tents to his enimes whilst hee keepeth not true sentinell as he should ANSVVER Fulgentius speech fitteth vs as well as you your protestation we partly beleeue and yet but partly because you sinne more of negligence then of ignoraÌ„ce I would I could giue you that testimony which S. Paul did the Israelits Rom. 10.2 I beare you record that you haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge or as another testimony of Scripture in the like case that you do onlie stray by ignorance Then would I hope that terrour of conscience should not punish your error in knowledge The Donatists loved their opinions better then their liues and you affect your owne folly more then Gods glory wherefore my exhortation to you is Returne Returne ô Shunamite Can. 6.12 if you wil not my praier and Petition for you is this Father forgiue him for he knoweth not what he doth Your marginallis false scaÌ„dal not our Church slander not our professors The Law Gospell agree in this Cursed be he that revileth the elders of his people Mr LEECH Hath any weedes of superstition growne vp with this Doctrine in the field of the Church Oh let not the pure wheate of Evangelicall Counsailes of perfection quoad viam quoad gradum fare the worse for the weedes Vnskilfull husbandmen are they and very vnfit to manure the Lord his tillage whose preposterous zeale issuing from the ground of a private groundlesse iudgement would pul vp both wheate and tares togither ANSVVER The words be otherwise in your coppy commanded by authority and by the notes against which exception was taken by the learnedst of our assemblie Vnder your owne hande This Paragraph beginneth thus Hath any weedes of SVPEREROGATION growne vp c. And dare you not nowe vse the same tearme Insteede of supererogation you put in superstitioÌ„ I grieue to think that you do receiue the wages of iniquity for maintaining as far as your poore revenews serues these two bastards of the Pope Aug. retract l. 1. c. 19. Hier. l. 1.3 contra Pelag. Theodor. in Rom. 10. Chrysost in Rom. 10. hom 17. Sed. in 10. RoÌ„ impiety absurdity The works of supererogation are of al other points of Popery most abhominable besids that none of the fathers teach so and that many of them bee expresly against theÌ„ as Austin HieroÌ„ Theodoret Chrysostome Sedulius your owne defenders Aquinas Gerson Iansenius Paludanus and Cusanus all deny this point And seeing that Scarlet whore of BabiloÌ„ druÌ„k with the blood of Gods Saints is nowe carted by heavenly iustice through all the reformed Congregations of the world I see not but every true Christian
should be ready to cast a stone the stone which I cast against superogatiō is no other thē that which S. Iohn cast against it who giveth the lie to him that saith he hath no sin Bell. de Mon. lib. 2. c. 13. And Bellarmine is constrained to cōfesse that S. Austin Bernard and Thomas doe thinke it impossible to keep that Commandement Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde Mr LEECH These are wiser fuller of zeale then Christ himself who suffred nay gaue commandement as it is in the parable that both tares and wheat should grow together vntill the harvest of the last iudgement and then shoulde the tares and weeds be bound vp in bundles fitted for the fire and the wheate should be gathered into his barne For at the last iudgement Sermo 3. de le iunio collectis 1. Cor. 3.12.13 there are some things vrenda flammis other things condenda horreis as S. Leo speaketh And doth not S. Paul allude to this Whose words be if any man build vpon Christ the foundation gold silver precious stones timber hay stubble every mans worke shal be made manifest for the day shal declare it because it shal be revealed by the fire and the fire shall try every mans workes of what sort they are To which fire let this Doctrine be reserved to stand or fall to burne as stubble hay timber or rather to escape as gould silver and precious stones ANSVVERE True zeale is the true seale of a Christian If you had any sparke therof I would wish as Porsenna did to Scaevola concerning his Country Lavater Iuberem macte virtute esse si pro mea patria virtus ista staret So I for true Religion Iobs friends had a bad cause but handled it well Iob had a good cause but maintained it ill neither ability of the cause nor dexterity of the handling haue assisted you The multiplicious abuse of Scripture in your text is frequēt that as the Prophet spake of aslying book so may al of your lying book You wold by intimation of that Scripture in the Parable of the Tares desire that as the tares are suffred to growe Mat. 13.30 so your doctrine may remaine vncēsured till the iudgement It is well that you acknowledge your doctrine to be like the Tares Fearefull will that iudgement be at that vniversall Sessions where Christ will be iudge the Saints the Iury when you are accused with those words of the Parable Master sowedst not thou good seed in thy field whence thē are these tares In that Parable of Christ as the streame of interpretation doth carry it is meant that by the evill seed mixt with the good the Church shall never be free from some wicked that it is impossible to roote them finally out for if wee wish to avoide these so fully as the godly could wish wee must goe out of the world as the Apostle speaketh So that of lewd persons not of hereticall positions that place is to be vnderstoode for Christ doth threaten the Churches in the Revelation for connivencie of false doctrine Laodicaea Rev. 2.3 chap for beeing neither hot nor cold Rev. 2.14 Rev. 2.20 Gal. Pergamus for maintaining the doctrine of Balaā Thyatira for suffring Iesabell to teach and deceiue his servants The Church of Galatia is reproved for that they suffered the Copartnership of Iewish Ceremonies when they were established in the Gospell of Christ and shall Religion the truest bond betwixt man and man the knot of coniunction and consociation In Dion Cass shall it bee divided Shall Maecenas wish Augustus to hate and correct any that change any thing in the service of the Gods Ioseph cont ap 2. Shall the Athenians enact that they that spake of their God otherwise then the law appointed should be severely punished And shall we so much neglect the attonement of iudgements and peace of soules as to suffer blending of doctrines not only leaven in our Lumpe but poison in our bread Far be it frō vs and from our seed for ever Let it be the brand not only of a luke-warme affection and of a Policie overpolitique but of Machiavillians and matchlesse villaines to call for connivency of hereticall positions From hel it came to hell it must returne againe We cannot chuse but suffer the Tares of iniquitie to grow vp but we will endeavour pro aris focis to eradicat the Tares of heresie Your second place of Scripture out of S. Paule A chardgeable Appeale is very fit for your purpose and the words in the next present verse as fit for mine 1. Cor. 3.11 Let every man take heed how he buildeth the later of those verses shall bee my praier for you that though your worke burne at that day and you loose yet you may be saved In the meane time Scripture hath disapproved you and the fathers haue refused you Mr LEECH Now to God only wise be rendred praise power might maiestie rule dominion and thanksgiving and let al the creatures in heavē in earth or vnder the earth say so be it Amen ANSVVER Vnto that supreame iudge Rev. 22.13 and to the last iudgment be this referred and vnto the everliving God who is in himselfe α ω in Angelis sapor et decor Aust in iustis adiutor protector in reprobis pavor et horror be ascribed the admiration of his Maiesty the acknowledgment of his mercy the awful remembrance of his power the ioyfull continuance of his favor And Hallelu-iah Rev. 19.1.2 Salvation and glory and honor and power be to the Lord our God for true and righteous are his iudgements for he hath condemned that great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornications Amen Hallelu-iah CHAP. 8. Mr LEECH THus gentle Reader thou hast seene my maine defence of this doctrine wherein I haue followed the mature advise of the Philosopher and Oratour For I thought it not sufficient to confirme truth in the former part of this sermon vnlesse I confuted falshood also in the later And this I did for establishing thee if thou be in the right or reducing thee vnto it if thou hast been in the wrong ANSVVER THus Gentle Reader thou hast seen the meane defence of this doctrine wherein whether the author as he professeth hath followed the advise of the Philosopher or Orator iudge by the contradictions misapplications falsifications in the sermon Can Oratory or Philosophy be obtained without Grammar or cannot a Grammarian distinguish between Concilium Consilium the one comming originally à conciendo Calepin id est convocando the other derived from Consileo eo quòd vno consulente caeteri consileant It was a most probable tryall of the Ephraimits in shibboleth Iudg. 12.6 and sibboleth the mistaking cost the death of the body It was a laudable triall betweene the Coūsell of Nice and
that D. Hutton had inhibited me that D. Benefield whose bookes I was not worthy to carry had publikely confuted my doctrine c. with such like frivolous allegations ANSVVER Here to helpe your memory which wandreth as much as your iudgement you forget that vpō your bragge that all the Latine Church held with you D. Aglionbee asked you what was the Church and you receiving a blow where you had no ward were driven so farre out of the way as to affirme the last resolution of the Church to be not in primam veritatem but in the iudgement of men the absurdity of which position I haue dealt with in your Epistle The Vicechancellour seeing such presumptuous insolence ioined with ignorance herevpon remembred you how the inhibition by authority and the confutation of that controversie might haue staid your proceedings and added the due worth of the Doctor who had determined that point in his solemne Lecture Mr LEECH As for D. Hutton his inhibition I answered as before adding farther that I respected not his iudgement in this matter For I knew indeed that as his vnderstāding is not very deepe so his affection is not very good who in a certaine booke or rather statizing pamphlet concerning the crosse in baptisme defendeth this laudable Christian ceremony by tradition of the Church as it is witnessed by the holy Fathers and yet now in a point of greater importance expressed in Scripture taught by Fathers practised by the Saints defined by the whole Church he blushed not to accuse me nay S. Gregory himselfe of Popery in this doctrine But singular is my comfort to consider by what Iudge I am thus vsed in what cause and with what Patrone from whom our Nation first receiued her first faith for whose faith I must now forsake my nation ANSVVERE You leaue the answer of your neglect of D. Huttons gouernement and traduce his iudgement Inhibition is matter of authority not of learning why disobeyed you that command you answere but not to the purpose you respected not his iudgement Let not malice be iudge but cōsider how base infamous malitious your reproaches be his soūdnes of iudgment is approved sufficiently by the consent of our whole Vniversity And that booke which so scornfully you reproach is esteemed deservingly and is of reverend respect with the best Bishops of our Church Where the Fathers agreeing to Scripture are truly vrged and vnderstandingly interpreted both D. Hutton and all of our part with all willingnesse receiue their assertions But when Fathers are misvrged arrested and impostured by Coccius or Bellarmin and you receiue them at second hand not from the foūtaine but from the ditches we returne your party-coloured blended sentences as vnworthy of approbation because they be vsed as the Tyrant entertained his guest if to long for his bed to chop of if to short to racke them out The doctrine which you call a point of great importance expressed in Scripture taught by Fathers practised by the Saints and defined by the whole Church is not so founded as you presume to teach Scriptures no where expresse it Fathers teach it not the Saints of God haue not practised it the Church of Christ hath not defined it Therefore he only accused you of Popery but not Gregory For as formerly hath beene said D. Hutton and all any way seene in Gregories Moralls may perceiue how you foist into the Text the words Evangelicall Counsells Your comfort will proue your corrasiue your Iudge in this was God others were but his deputies the cause was religiō nay the very marrow pith of Religion and the opposition of many absurd hereticall positions Your Patron was not Gregory hee neither taught you this nor from him our Church received their first faith Neither for defending this were you cōstrained to leaue the Land you forsooke your Religion rather then your Nation Vegetius tells that in the Roman Armies Vegetius Non fugere was a speciall precept The way for you to Triumph had beene to recant and to remaine in your station not to fly Bosquiers speech is true Bonsq cont 7 the Devill is overcome by resisting but the flesh and the world by running away but you fled because you would run into the world Mr LEECH As for D. Benefield with his lecture his bookes I passed them over considering that M. Vicechancellour made excursions from the point loading me only with contumely and disgrace ANSVVER You passed him ouer because he doth so far overpasse you but he is in your bosome his Lecture lyeth heavy on your heart it is such a pang that you will not easily remoue The Vicechancellour loading you as you call it with disgrace knewe you had a back provided for a burthen If his speech seeme harsh to you you turned his tongue being turned your selfe Otherwise his tongue is the hearauld of encouragement and comfort himselfe the refuge of innocencie a Tutor to his Colledge and a father to the Clergy in his Accademicall governement Mr LEECH Wherefore not suffering him to divert mee from the maine issue Haeretici est praecepta Patrum declinare saith worthy Flavian in his first epist to LEO the great I desired him to deale punctually that is to say first to admit a triall by the Fathers or to deny it if he denied it he should be thereby sufficiently convinced Secondly if he admitted this triall then either to disproue my authorities or to approue my doctrine ANSVVER To deale punctually is so proper vnto all his discourses that all his Auditors will acknowledge this a speciall felicity in the power of his speech Your demands were preposterous in your Epistle you commit your selfe to the censure of the Church now to the triall of the Fathers no appeale at all to the Scriptures without which whatsoever is taught is like Israells building in Aegypt without stuffe no warrant for the matter they build with Mr LEECH But he not daring to make a briefe and punctuall answer to my reasonable demands fell extravagantly into a mention of the reformed Churches summoning me before their tribunall for the censuring of this doctrine ANSVVER Not daring Why continueth this Bracchadochian humor it hath long beene in the consumption it will at length spend it selfe What dareth not he that vndertakes without rashnes and performes without feare did ever your experience finde him to be a read shaken with the winde or to want the sinewes of courage and resolution No you knowe hee is ballaced with wisedome and worth able to vndertake the most resolute and vndauntedest of the contrary side in the worlde Neither in this was there the least note of extravancie as your exorbitancie of accusation doth impute for by whom should a minister of the reformed Churches bee censured but by the power iudgement of the reformed Churches Mr LEECH Which course of proceeding I vtterly disclaimed as vnequall because the later Church is not to iudge the former but contrarily the former
desire to be taught the rule of faith out of an humble and a religious meaning here you may learne it it was a question worth his asking a point worthy your learning Mr LEECH Why said he what other ground of faith then the pure word of God I demaunded then who shall interpret this word Hee replied the spirit What spirit good Sir The spirit of God only which privat men thinke they haue Against which rule I except for that it was the common plea of all condemned Heretiques Wherefore I required a triall of this pretended spirit for I cannot admit that to be God his spirit in any private man which consenteth not with the spirit of the Catholique Church And thus you see M.D. Airay that what you formerly reiected out of my rule as Popish you must necessarily admit as true that is Ecclesiasticall Tradition annexed to the sacred Canon for the discerning of private spirits Otherwaies each Heretique will sense Scripture in the mould of his owne braine ANSVVER That the word of God is the ground of beleefe in God sacred Scripture it selfe proveth in manifold and pregnant places as in the olde Testament in the Proverbs Prov. 2.9 They make a man vnderstand righteousnes and iudgement and equity and every good path Esay 8.19.20 in Esay should not a people enquire at their God at the law and at the Testimonie they that speake not according to this word there is no light in them by Malachie Mal. 4.4 Remember the law of Moses which I commanded all Israell with the statutes and iudgements in the new Testament in S. Paul 2. Tim. 3.15 The Scriptures are able to make a man wise vnto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus in S. Peter 2. Pet. 1.19 We haue a most sure word of the Prophets wherevnto we must giue heed as to a light that shineth in darknesse till the day starre arise in our hearts Luc. 1.4 in S. Luke They containe the certainty of those things whereof we are instructed and in S. Iohn Ioh. 5.39 These things are written that yee might beleeue that Iesus is that Christ the sonne of God and in beleeuing yee might haue eternall life and by Christ himselfe sealing this point Search the Scriptures for in them you haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee but to this also the Fathers with all reverence haue agreed Basil Ep. 80. ad Eust Med. Let the Scriptures be arbitrators betweene vs saith Basill in his 80 Epistle and whosoever holds consonant opiniōs to those heavenly oracles let the truth bee adiudged on their side We are to enquire for iudges saith Optatus Contra Parmenianum de coelo quaerendus est Iudex Optat. cont Parmen l. 5. the Iudge must bee had from heaven but saith hee wherefore need we to knock at heauen when we haue a iudge wohm wee finde in the Gospell The Scripture is the rule of faith saith Tertullian contra Hermogenem Tertull. cont Hermog Chrysost in 13. Homil. in 2. Corinth It is a most exquisit rule saith Chrysostome in his 13 homily vpon the second to the Corinths It is an inflexible rule Greg. Nyss Grati. de ijs qui adeunt Hierosolymā saith Gregorius Nyssenus And S. Austin ample for this in many places in his booke de bono viduitatis testifieth that the Scripture pitcheth downe the rule of our faith And not only the Ancient Fathers but the Schoole-men haue succeeded in the same resolution Aquinas writeth expresly Aq 1. qu. 1. art 8. that our faith must rest vpon the Canonicall bookes of Scripture Durand agreeth with this Durand pref in senten that the maner of our knowledge exceed not the measure of faith and the holy Scripture expresseth the measure of faith Sum part 3. tit 18. c. 3. Nay Papists haue acknowledged this Antoninus confesseth that God hath spoken but once to vs and that in Scripture so plentifully that hee voucheth Gregory in the 22 book of his Moralls thus God needeth to speake no more concerning any necessary matter Al. 1. sent quaest 1. art 3 1. Coroll seeing all things are found in Scripture Alliaco consenteth to this The verities of Scripture bee the Principles of divinity quoniam ad ipsas saith he fit vltima resolutio Theologici discursus Bell de verbo Dei lib. 1. c. 2. In one word Bellarmin agreeth to all these Testimonies in his first book de verbo Dei Sacra Scriptura est regula credendi certissima tutissima This may serue to shew you that there is no other ground of faith then the worde of God Scriptures Fathers Schoolemen nay even our Adversaries being witnesses Deut. 32.31 as Moses speaketh You demaund who shall interpret this word It is replied the spirit of God which spirit the elect doe know certainly that they haue not only thinke as you traduce the speech of this reverēd Doctor but they assure thēselus that they haue the spirit and hee that knoweth not this ◠Cor. 3.16 is ignorant as Paul teacheth by an interrogatiō Knowe yee not that yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you But against this rule you except for this was you say Chrysos prolog in Epist ad Rohan 3. de Lazar. the plea of al Heretiques It is false Heretiques and the devill did vrge Scripture but these could never for wāt of Gods spirit compare Scriptures together The privat spirit even every Priuat man of himselfe saith Chrysostom only by reading may vnderstand yea need nothing else but to read Chrysos hom 13. in Gene◠by which he meaneth to confer one place of Scripture with another And the same Father giveth the reason Scriptura seipsam exponit auditorem errare non sinit The scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the hearer to be deceived Distinct 37. Relatum So speaketh Chrys 13. hom in Genes The Canon Law is most plaine herein Non enim sensum extrinsecus alienum extraneum sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet For we must not from without them seeke a forraine and strange sense but wee must out of the Scriptures themselues receiue the meaning of the truth And a clowde of witnesses do testifie the same Wherefore it is no way necessary that we aske helpe of Tradition which is as I formerly spake the cittie of refuge for all runnagate points in your religion Popish Tradition in the Church soiourning only as the deuill doth to deceiue as a treacherous stranger not to be acquainted with or as an Infidell not to be conversed with and therefore D. Airay taught you the truth when you heretically thought you might mould the sense of scripture in the brain of the brasen head Tradition Mr LEECH And now M. D. Airay being thus overthrowne in the rule of his faith proposed vnto me a question of
that you haue punished me for teaching the contrary assertion ANSVVERE Your second demand was out of all course of reason or sense Was it not knowne to al that you were censured for preaching such Evangelicall Counsells of perfection whereby a man might doe more then the law required yea more then man need to haue performed was not your convention now and inhibition before censure at last sufficient witnes to all the world what you delivered why you were censured c. Nay was not this yea more then this your request offred you viz. that you should if you durst hold your position in the divinity Chappell in Christ church and in forme of a Respondent answere the Vicechancellour promising to appoint fiue paires of Masters to oppose you which you knewe had easily beene performed in that honourable and fruitful Colledge This you refused and thereby shewd that you had not an originall state but a Traditionall insight in this question This you durst not and therefore you required the subscription to make way to some threatning opposition That as the Poet speaketh Pede pes cuspide cuspis so now you hoped there might haue bin another kinde of digladiation pen against pen and hands against hands which you never could haue obtained Mr LEECH This request D. King not only denied but also exclaimed against me for making this petition And no marvell for he that durst never throughout this whole proceeding formally and by expresse mention condemne Evangelicall Counsells how could hee yeeld vnto any such subscription whereby he and the rest might haue remained Heretiques vpon their owne record ANSVVER You neglected the reverence you did owe to his government and detected the wilfull weaknesse of your owne iudgement to require it No such course vsuall in any Iuridicall proceedings And for your vile slaunder that the Vicechancelour durst not condemne Evangelicall Counsells it is impudent He did in the proceedings often rebuke and confute your maner of handling that point not denying but that a nominall distinction of counsells was sometimes vsed but he expresly condemned such Counsells as you preached being of another kinde then S. Austin dâ—livereth with the rest of the Fathers and Wickliffe whom you vrge who all maintaine each Counsell to be a commande for some time and some circuÌ„stance Which sentence and iudgement how you oppugned in your sermons may be seene where till you recant you remaine an Heretique vpoÌ„ your own record I vse your owne wordes Mr LEECH The conclusion of all was this M. Vicechancellour beating me downe with the blow of authority hauing no other meanes to convince me pronounced his definitiue sentence against mee which I will here relate word for word as neere as I could possibly beare it away ANSVVER You were beaten downe as you truly say by authority but more theÌ„ by humane by diuine You were driveÌ„ by Scripture to refuse scripture to be your iudg beateÌ„ by the censure of the Church that you deny to be censured by the Church convicted for stubborne impudence for preaching that doctrine which was inhibited you wheÌ„ you were countermanded it You were convinced for ignorance in that you produced witnesses that you knewe not and vrged Greeke Fathers that you read not And this conviction was not only by the blow of authority but by such a blow from heauen as Paul in the Acts was stroken Scripture Church Fathers Acts. 9. and all arguments of power did agree to this deiection of you and your cause and to the censure that ensueth Mr LEECH M. Leech for preaching scandalous and erroneous doctrine Doctrine as you well knowe stifly defended by the Church of Rome and wherevpon many absurdities doe follow I doe first as Vicechancellour silence you from preaching Secondly as Deane of this house I suspend you from your commons and function here for the space of twelue moneths This is my sentence and before these my associates I require you to take notice thereof ANSVVERE Here is the Act the manner of the Act the reason of the Act or censure The sentence was deliberat and guided with ripe wisdome the hand of Iustice in him was slower then the tongue For besides your heresie in the deliverie there was contumacie in you for presuming so to preach forbidden by Authority and yet was this censure easie by many wished to bee more by all marvailed at that it was no more For as the times increase in daunger so the rigor should increase in discipline But the manner of this censure was milde it passed no farther then losse of commons for a time this was within the walles of the Colledge and silence for preaching within the precincts of Oxford and this within the limits of the Vniversity This was no eiection expulsion out of Colledge and Vniuersity It had been worse by infinite degrees had you beene sent to London And the reason of all this was first intimated for your scandalous erroneous doctrine a doctrine stifly defended by the church of Rome inducing many absurdities I will vse an honourable speech of that most noble CouÌ„sellor at the arraignement of Garnet Earle of NorthamptoÌ„ fit to be bestowed vpon you Currat lex viuat Rex vincat veritas The marginall scurrile Note which you borrowed from some more witty but as wicked pate as your owne I coulde returne as a dart to your very soule but I forbeare because all reproach and contumelies against this worthy do breake themselues as waues shattered in peeces by the force of a rocke Mr LEECH Which sentence though it were tyrannicall and vniust yet it no waies discouraged me but rather confirmed me in my opinion Wherefore I protested the doctrine againe more resolutely then before wishing M. Vicechancellor and his assistaÌ„ts to vnderstande thus much from me First that I held the doctrine with asmuch nay more confidence then ever I did Secondly that I farther concluded the invincibility of the point out of the manner of their proceedings whereat they were driven into the extremity of fury and passion ANSVVER This vvas a greate degree of the hardnesse of your hart and it is manifest that you apprehended this as a pretence of your revolt The Vicechancelour was vrged to this doome which as it was impartiall so was it no way Tyrannicall had it been any other it had bin mercifull iniustice You should haue acknowledged the Truths victory given some signe of humility modesty and reverence to authority You say you were hereby confirmed CoÌ„firmed you were in your flight not in your faith And in your boast that you so againe protested the doctrine if it had beene so you shewed more boldnes then goodnes and the Truth had lost lesse then you gained but it was not so you did not you durst not contest so vmbragiously as you protest here My obseruation through your whole book holdeth true where you bragge most you faine most where you paint your speech there it is most corrupted and
falsified Mr LEECH Thus the assēbly was dissolued I putting M. Vicechancellour in minde of the Articles which he formerly promised and bade me now to expect within two or three daies tooke my leaue for that time ANSVVER What prostituted cōscience would so persevere in falsity This must not passe vnconfronted Articles were not promised you It is more then improbable that such experienced discreation and expert resolution should first condemne and sentence and after giue the reason It is neither the custome nor commendation of Iuridicall proceedings His wisdome prevented you in this scandall and told you before many that you most falsly did bely him all may perceiue your spiting spleene to break out in revenge which revenge that you seeke to wreake vpon others will without repentance proue vengeance to your selfe Mr LEECH And now courteous Reader since thou hast seene the proceedings of these mē consider with me whether I haue not iust cause to complaine against them as S. Augustine complained long before against the Donatistical faction Fecerunt quod voluerunt tunc in illâ caecitate Non Iudices sederunt non Sacerdotes de more Quod solent in magnis causis congregati judicare Non accusator reus steterunt in quaestione Non testes documētū quo possent crimē probare Sed Furor Dolus Tumultus qui regnant in falsitate Wherfore I conclude this whole passage with the burthē of that excellent Psalme Omnes qui gaudetis de pace modò verum judicate ANSVVER Consider Christian reader duly ponderat whether a malignant adversary or a repugnāt Controversiary may more truely be portraied then these antecedent proceedings of M. Leech haue most liuely deciphered Malice hath strengthned error error begot heresie and this last brought forth Apostasie The virulence of speech is much in the former chapters Prolog ad 1. sentent the accusation in this Paragraph is the summe of all Lombard well noteth that in such cases fidei defectionem sequitur hypocrisis mendax And I feare me this will proue a remaining disease in the bowels not only of this Triumphant Pamphlet but of any thing that shall come from the same Author It is absurd you should so vnfitly and rudely apply S. Austins verses Fury Deceit and Tumult are the vpholders only of Heretikes And as good Physick misapplied is but poison so good Authorities misvsed though they keep the sense yet loose their reason To your verses so rudely applied in prose we returne S. Chrysostome his speech vpon Genesis Chrysost in Gen. hom 5. Quocirca divinae Scripturae vestigia sequamur neque feramus eos qui temerè quidvis blaterant and this shall bee the resolution of vs to follow the steppes of holy Scripture and not to endure those that rashly babble every thing And if this prose serue not wee returne part of the same Psalme of Austin contra Partem Donati Sacerdotes transmarini possent inde iudicare Quid curritis ad schisma altare contra altare Vt quod postea iudicatum est iam non possetis audire Et à iudicibus vestris cogeremini appellare Dum vultis erroris regnum quoquo modo confirmare You may abuse and accuse your iudges seeing like to the Donatists you appeale from them The clause and aphorisme of the song of S. Austin we receiue and honor our Saviour is the Prince of peace our Gospell the Gospell of peace we are the children of peace and the end of our beleefe is the peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding CHAP. 4. Mr LEECH VVHen S. Paul had appealed vnto the tribunall of Caesar Festus the deputy thought it an vnreasonable thing to send a prisoner vnto his Lord and not to signifie the cause For thus the light of nature could teach an Heathen that in discretiō and in iustice no man should be called into question without a pretence at the least of some speciall crime But see now a Christian Magistrate inferiour vnto an heathen in this behalfe who did not only convent but cōdemne me and never signified the cause which yet could be none other 1. Cor. 7.25 then that which concerned S. Paul himselfe Consilium do c. ANSVVER To whom appealed you whether were you sent Prisoner An idle and dull comparisō And to vse your owne wordes if but the light of nature had taught you any thing your comparison had not beene so rude nor your senses so duld as not to remember what was obiected not as a pretence but as a generall scandall offred not only against authority and the Vniversity but against the law and the truth of God For which you were often convented threatned inhibited now censured Was not the cause signified by Doctor Hutton by the Vicechancelor in your censure and by all that were assistants and dare you say the cause was never signified Was it so and do you deny it Do you deny it in one line in the next say it could be no other then that which concerned S. Paule himselfe Consilium Do wheras it is manifest S. Paul hath not the word Consilium By this you cōfesse the cause of the censure though we deny that ever S. Paul was the cause of your doctrine Mr LEECH Howbeit if he had dealt with me according to the law sparke of sinne he would answer him as he answereth you Avoide Sathan I will worship the Lord my God I abhorre the name of periury I will never sweare but in truth and iudgement and iustice And for that which followeth in this poisōful Paragraph I say that which S. Ierome in the like case counselleth Ierom. prol super Mat. if Shemei barke and snarle at thee contumelious wordes are to bee regarded only as the barking of Dogs And I ende this with the speech of Seneca Men speake evil of him but evil men If Marcus Cato if wise Lelius if Scipio should so speake it would grieue him but when professed slaunderers branded with the indelible marke of falshood and pursued with the fury of feare taught by error tempted by Sathan replenished with vnrighteousnesse and malitiousnesse let it no way grieue goodnesse it selfe Mr LEECH When I perceiued what small conscience he made either of faith in his promise or of equity in his proceedings I desired him with many earnest obtestations that it woulde please him at the least to signifie vnto me now by worde of mouth expresly what that point is for which he had thus punished me to my disgrace and losse And this fauor I hūbly requested at his hands asmuch for the generall as my owne particular satisfaction For many saw the punishment but could not know the cause ANSVVER Is there extant in the worlds greatest volume of history example of such dulnesse and senselesse apprehēsion that when the cause had been ingeminated yea tergeminated so often mentioned yea so often exprobrated and censured that yet you should pleade that you knew not the cause And that without
owne fellowes as this the advantage is small to take vp a tearme of contumely from any hot-brained railer to cast vpon the name of this Angell of his Church Your Paradoxes did not passe vnnoted both because of the rudenesse of the delivery of them the vnaptnesse of the tearmes as also your ignorance that as you would not truely preach as a Protestant so you knewe not how neatly to play the Papist All of any note noted your absurdity and insufficiencie either to shew yourselfe a friend or an enemie You aske why this distinction was so hatefull I answere the distinction so vsed as the Fathers interpreted was not denied but the cōsequēces of it as you vrged it were harmefull therefore hatefull Not because so many of our Religion be married for howsoever marriage is a most honorable state how many hundreds in our Vniversity haue consecrated themselues to God in the Ministrie that abhorre your opinion and yet be not matched or married but the cause of the contempt and loathing of the Doctrine is that it was derogatory to the law of God to the Church of God to the sonn of God a doctrine that hath bewitched many and led them Captiues into the habitation of darknesse the Cell or Hell of blindnesse a doctrine whose roote is heresie whose trunk vncommanded privacie whose branches be infidelity against truth violating the law contemning the Precept whose leaues be pertinacity hypocrisie whose fruits be idlenesse drowsinesse filthinesse This is the cause of the suppressing and choaking of this and such continuing weeds of heresie that seek growth in our Church no other cause of pleasure or profit God and his Angells be witnesses They that haue sould themselves to worke wickednes with greedinesse looking for the reward of Balaams wages are ready to resist all truth and if it fall within compasse of their itching humor willing to get a name will be the Patrons of bewitching error And therefore here I fasten my right constant determination to avoid that religion that corrupteth the knowledge with blindnesse and the heart with hardnesse Mr LEECH The ninth Motiue The Protestants doe vnconscionably impugne the knowne and manifest truth SInce the controversies of Religion are many in number and intricate in nature it was my desire from the beginning of my paines in the study of sacred Theology to finde out the true Church that so I might referre my selfe vnto her decision and rest within her bosome For which cause I wholly employed my selfe in turning ouer the volums of the ancient Fathers and whatsoever I found clearely expressed by their vniforme testimony I accepted that according to Vincentius his rule as the iudgement of the Church Among other Doctrines which seeme Popish vnto the new Evangelists I receiued this particular from their instruction so clearly taught so conformably witnessed so iointly approued that if the grounds of Religion be not vncertaine then this Doctrine is absolutely free from all exception And for proofe hereof I remit me vnto the sētences of the Fathers wherewith I thought it meete to conclude this discourse Wherefore since they that glory in the Fathers wāt neither wit nor learning for this matter doe impugne this doctrine and punish her professours how can I think that they doe not fight against their conscience and reasō And how can I thinke that any truth will finde entertainement at their hands when this truth so potent so irrefragable is thus fondly reiected by my Calvinian iudges But whome haue they condemned me a brother somtimes of their gospell a graduat of their schooles a Minister of their Church No but in me and with mee reverend Antiquity the gray headed Fathers the venerable Doctors yea holy scripture it selfe is censured by my vnworthy iudges Wherefore as Ieremiah See Apolog. Iusti Calvin pag. 11. 12. the Patriarch of Constantinople wrote vnto the Lutherans so may I testifie and proclaime vnto these men The ancient divines who were the light of the Church you intreate at your owne pleasure honouring and extolling them in wordes but reiecting them in deed endeauoring to shake them out of our hands whose holy and divine testimonies we should vse against you We see that you will never submit your selues vnto the truth Finally as the Patriarch concludeth that hee will haue no entercourse with the Lutherans forasmuch as hee is taught by S. Paul to avoid an heretike after the first or second admonition so I being persecuted by men of this condition am bound to a void them knowing as S. Paul speaketh that such as they are condemned by their owne iudgements ANSVVER THE controversies in Religion are many hence great alterations haue beene moved in Europe great changes through the world Controversies were in abundance raised by the infection of the smoake of the bottomlesse pit divers armies of Hereticks vanquished by the Reverend fathers yet al these as if but half dead are againe revived by Antichrist only this is the difference the former Heretikes were cōfuted because they opposed the fathers these later wiser in their generatiō seeke to confute all other that oppose them by the Fathers Each man among them at first asketh the way to the Church no Church can serue them but Rome that is their parish Church all other but Chappels they obserue not the alteration of many Christian nations from the sea of Rome or the occasion of this revolt the declination of that sea from the sincerity of the faith and the vnspeakeable corruption thereof Which seperatiō was made vpō these two groūds first because Rome did persecute the professors of this reformatiō with al bloody massacres secōdly because that Antichristian sea would admit no reformation of her corruptiōs but grew vncurable according to that of the Prophet We would haue cured Babilon but shee would not be healed And such hath beene the growth of this Reformation the Lords most holy name for ever be praised that the Church hath recovered more health in one age then shee had lost in two and the Romane Synagogue left infected as that it hath not only drunke the cup of all others abominations but breedeth heresies in it selfe inwardly and hath received such poysons by ambition such corruptions by want of reformation and such indelible markes of Antichrist by continuall persecution outwardly as now it is made plaine to all the world shee is not the Church But the Question of the church you aske of the fathers It is a worthy speech of Iob aske the fathers and they shall tell thee but how vnhappy is hee that perverteth all he readeth or that stomacke that turneth all into poisō that it receiveth you say you bestowed your whole time in turning over the volumes of the Fathers you did turne them indeed frō their meaning it was no more cōmēdable thē the cōtinuall praying of the Eutichae or the cōtinual reading of the Pharisies the one without care senselesse the other without knowledge fruitlesse and both superstitions
Vincentius rule is twice already interpreted and without any further answer to your clamarous repetitions interrogations You received not this point iointly from the fathers The Latin fathers how ever they retaine vpon mistake of S. Paul the word Counsel yet haue no part of your meaning the Greeke are so far from your meaning that they had not so much as the word They therfore that impugne your doctrin do it not vntruly or vnconscionably nor haue condēned you as a brother a graduat or a Minister but because you were a false brother and betraied truth and in your degrees like the Sun that went many degrees backward that in your ministry you were disobediēt you were no better then a Minister of Sathan to buffet the eares of Gods servantes with heresies and in a stubborne opposition contradiction you did repugne Authority and orders stoode out against the Iudges and Magistrates that confuted and censured you And how could you professe such reverence to the fathers you knew not when you were so opposite to your natural fathers as this is your Country Academicall fathers as this is your Vniversity spiritual fathers as this is Aust 48. epist your Church We answer your Patriarke with Saint Austin in his 48. epistle Audi dicit Dominus non dicit Donatus aut Rogatus aut Vincentius aut Hilarius aut Ambrosius aut Augustinus sed dicit Dominus We honor the fathers and where they bring Dicit dominus our eares and harts be open to entertaine them And as S. Austin vsing the same words which your Patriarch doth both vsing the words of Scripture Haereticū devita so this is my 9. irrefragable position to avoid that Religion which claimeth but hath no Antiquitie and only hath though it confesseth it not the most absurd and ridiculous Novelty for mainetenance of their positions Mr LEECH The tenth Motiue The Protestants for want of better meanes to convince the Catholiques propose vnto them questions of capitall daunger I haue often heard the Catholiques cōplaine that where as they are persecuted for righteousnes sake for their Religion yet they are traduced with the crime of obstinacy disobedience treason and such like odious imputations But aboue the rest their iust griefe arising from vniust vexations did seeme to deserue great compassion forasmuch as their life and liuelyhood is alwaies in the mercie of a most vnmercifull law touching Reconciliation and the Supremacie matters of high and capitall nature Touching the later of these two I can say more Doctor Aray because the bloudy hart of a Calvinist did seeke my ruine and subversion thereby For whereas in my sermons I continually gaue this stile vnto his excellent Maiestie viz in all causes and aboue al persons for iustice and iudgmēt supreme Head and Governour the Calvinist suspecting me not to stand throughly affected to the kings Supremacy according to the purport of the law whereby his Maiestie hath as much spirituall Iurisdiction as ever the Pope de facto had in England and 26. Henr. 8. chap. I. I. Edward 6.1 Elizab. See these things excellently discoursed by a Cath. divine against the 5. part of Sir Ed. Cookes Reportes by vertue of his saide supremacie power of Excommunication is graunted by the Lord Chancellour vnto the Delegates vpon Appeales from the Archbishop of Canterbury his courts wished M. Vicechancellour to examine me vpon this point and to require my opinion therein Which severity though it was then declined yet if that other Calvinist had beene in office as lately he was al mē may easily conceiue into what extremity of perill I had beene cast For though I ever did and shall attribute that right vnto his Maiestie which by the law temporal not dissenting frō law divine is annexed vnto his imperiall crown yet I must confesse that I did purposely moderate his title of Supremacie as the law hath established it because I alwaies conceived that the stile of Defensor fidei given vnto the Crowne of England by the Pope did more properly belong vnto him then the other which was translated from the Pope vnto the Crowne by the violence of a King and by the flattery of his subiects And if Doctor Airay had made a cōscience of his Masters iudgement he would rather haue condescended vnto the equity of my opinion then sought to draw my life into the certainety of such a danger But these men are so possessed with malice and adulation that they rather desire to satisfie their owne passions and to winne favour from their Superiours then to speak or doe according to the truth which pleadeth for it selfe within their corrupt hearts and dayly accuseth them before the throne of greatest iustice ANSVVER MAny complaine without a cause as the ful bellied Monks so fatte that they coulde scarsely breath yet cry Heu quāta patimur pro Christo The Protestants never persecuted your Religion but for the vnrighteousnes therof The mulct was inflicted for Popish opinion but execution never was threatned for Religion The oath of supremacy required is not as you treacherously cal it a most vnmercifull law if it were not required it were an vnwise vniust mercy Your accusation so vncharitable as to tearme him bloody who in his governement hath beene meeke as Moses nay in heavy iniuries cast vpō him hath beene as meeke as a Lambe and not opened his mouth I would you were as farre from bloodthirsting as his hart was frō the desire of your bloodshedding But if you remember the particulars as they bee discussed in my answer Pag. 262. it was most seasonable to sound how you stood affected to the kings Maiesty when you denied your faith and appealed from your Church The rather because in your Prayer you often left out the words supreame Head and Governor For howsoever you infer that you vsed all that belongeth to the Supremacie in acknowledging his most excellent Maiesty to be supreame Head and Governour in all causes and aboue all persons for iustice and iudgement yet seeing in the forme of the oath prescribed vnto al you were in particular bound vtterly to testifie declare in your Conscience that the Kings Highnesse is the only supreame Gouernor of this Realme and of all other his Highnesse dominions and countries as well in spirituall or Ecclesiasticall things or causes as Tēporall you ought for the avoidance of this suspition to haue spoken cleerely and plainely I knowe there be some that vse such manner of speech in their publike prayers for his Maiestie yet their forme is much more consonant to the required forme then yours is And howsoeuer Salomon was placed on his throne for iustice and iudgement as the Queene of Sheba told him and Doctor Raynolds in the end of the Preface to Harts Conference 1. Reg. 10.9 affirmeth that the Lords Annointed are the higher powers ordained to execute iustice and iudgement yet ever these words haue beene interpreted to containe not only ius Politicum