the worlde This one heade executed the censures of the churche vpon See M. Doctor Hardinges booke the seconde edition fol. 111. b. malefactours and transgressours of the ecclesiasticall canons confirmed the ordinations and elections off bishoppes approued or disalowed councelles restored bishoppes wrongfully condemned and depriued receiued into the church such as had erred and gone a straie and all this thorough out the whole worlde But with all this I saye I will not presse you because youre Apologie and you be it neuer so easy to be proued will yeat for your honour sake perhappes denie it Only this I aske of yow how yow be not ashamed to saie that it is impossible for one man to gouerne the whole churche seing by youre owne confession for 900. yeares it hathe bene so If yow will saie that the churche hathe bene euill gouerned these latter 900. yeares allthough that yow coulde right well proue as you shal neuer be hable what maketh that for this assertion off youres that one man can not possybly gouerne the whole churche conteining to vse yowre owne wordes so manie nations so diuerse Languages and natures of men Howe proueth it that one generall heade can not so ouersee his charge that he shall be able to kepe all churches from schismes and troubles and pacifie them when they are risen If one man alone coulde for the space of 900. yeares so rule all churches dispersed thorough out all the worlde that he Note was able to plant emongest so manie nations so diuerse languages and natures of men one naughty and corrupte faithe as yow saie might not the same or maye not an other with as muche facilitie haue planted or plant if it were to be planted a truthe thorough out the whole worlde If the churche haue bene so gouerned during this terme of 900. yeares that all the affaires of the churche haue by one heade bene so ordered that no membre hath had iust cause to complaine that all membres haue agreed in perfecte quietnesse one with an other and all with their heade as youre selfe hereafter confesse allthough yow labour to qualifye the matter in this wise In deede we must nedes confesse a truthe M. Nowels confession cōcerning the quiet agrement vnder the gouernement off the Pope fol. 56. b. 25. that whilest we all remained vnder the quiet obedience off youre Romishe heade in doctrine of his traditiōs there was a coloured hinde of quietnesse concorde and loue emongest all the membres of that heade the subiectes of that one gouernour and ruler and specially emongest the cleargie of that one churche if I saye by youre confession there was suche a quiete agreing thorough out all the worlde in false doctrine will you still abide by it that the same one heade that gouerned in this peasable maner all the worlde whome he fedde with euill doctrine might not haue gouerned them as quietly if he had deliuerd to them sounde and wholesome doctrine Or will you saye that God can doe lesse in procuring good thinges then the diuell in promoting euill that God can make one man hable alone to gouerne all the worlde without schismes or to appease them being moued as great as it is in euill gouernement but not in good If you will not saye thus you must nedes saie that it is nothing impossible for one man assisted by goddes grace to gouerne the churche of the whole worlde were it greater then it is and so to confesse with all that the Apologie in saing the contrary and yow in defending the Apologie haue bothe off yow falsely blasphemously and foolishely erred As for the reason whereunto the Apologie and yow leane that as God hathe giuen to no one king to be aboue all so to no one bishop to rule the whole churche that is as I tolde you before to appoint God because he hathe made manie kingdomes to make many heades of the churche which is but one and so consequently to multiply religions and make many faithes But because you repeate verie often this comparison and thinke it so absurde that there shoulde be any more one heade ouer the whole churche thē one chiefe king aboue all the kingdomes in the worlde I will here proue that within the first six hundred yeares it was taken for no absurditie There is no man I thinke that hathe bestowed anie time in the ecclesiasticall histories ignorant what a doe Theodora the Empresse wife to Iustinian the Emperour made to haue Siluerius the pope depriue Menna the good archebishop of Constantinople and to restore Anthimius the heretike laufully before by Agapetus the pope depriued To the which wicked attempt when by no meanes the good pope coulde be brought to consent false accusations were brought in against him and so he was by tirannie remoued and cōstreined to flee to a towne called Patara of the prouince of Lycia Whither the emperour Liberatus in Breuiario cap. 22. on a time comming the bishopp there as Liberatus the Archedeacon of Carthage writeth complaining to him and calling to witnesse the iust and terrible iudgemēt of God for the vniust expulsion of the bishop of so greate a seate addeth at the last these wordes Multos esse in hoc Many Kinges to gouerne the worlde one pope to gouerne the churche mundo reges non esse vnum sicut ille papa est super ecclesiam mundi totius a sua sede expulsus that there are manie kinges in this worlde and that there is no one only kinge as that pope is ouer all the whole churche of the worlde expelled from his seate Doe you not here see M. Nowell that within the first 600. yeares the whole worlde was gouerned by one heade in spirituall matters without anie necessitie to haue it so gouerned in temporall Woulde this good bishop is it credible being a suter to the Emperour if the churche had not bene gouerned by one heade at that time or if it had bene an absurditie that there shoulde be one chiefe bishop and manie equall kinges haue dasshed the Emperour in the mouthe with suche an absurde and flatte lye Or woulde the Emperour vpon this talcke immediatly haue caused Siluerius to be called backe againe into Italie and not rather haue checked the bishop for abusing him with a lye if he had not acknowledged his wordes to be true Thus muche I trust maye serue to make the indifferent reader vnderstande that I reprehended not the Apologie without iust cause You re railing against me because it is as youre selfe cōfesse fol. 39. a. beside the matter I passe ouer But so can I this by no meanes that yow take it for no reproche yow saye to haue Nowell b. 1. youre congregation secrete scattred and vnknowen to all the worlde because this is common to yow with the primitiue churche of oure Sauiour Christe and his holie Apostles Considre I beseche the good Reader whether these newe Dorman vpstart heretikes of oure age be not brought
one and therein resteth the strength and force of my exāple I make no comparison betwene all kingdomes of the worlde whiche be manie and all churches which are but one as you doe here deceauing your selfe and other toe For if I shoulde so haue done then had not the comparison bene good Nowe if it were as true that God had ordeined all the kingdomes of the worlde to make one kingdome and not manie as he hath all the churches to be one and not manie then if you denied to all these kingdomes ioyned in one a visible king to be aboue all the rest and to gouerne the whole because god is the Monarche and ruler of all as you doe to the vniuersall churche for the same cause I woulde saie that you offendid as muche therein not alowing to all these kingdomes being but one one heade and chiefe gouernour as you shoulde doe if you woulde graunte to particuler kingdomes no particuler king the reason being as greate why the whole shoulde haue one ruler ouer it as why anie particuler membre shoulde But nowe I can not so saye because God hath appointed no suche ordre in the worlde as he hath in his kingdome the churche and therfore the questions be not like From this you runne as one that feared to tarie to long to gesse what we woulde saie if the time serued vs and here on Gods name you tel vs a long tale of the popes rule ouer all the worlde in temporalities and of king Iohn as muche to the purpose as if you had tolde vs of Robin hood and therfore I passe it ouer with youre other reasons that folowe fo 118. b. made to boulster vp the rotten reason of youre Apologie because they haue bene so often answered by showing the difference betwene the two states of the worlde and the churche The answere to the conclusion The 32. chapiter NOWE foloweth M. Nowelles conclusion wherein drawing nere to the ende and knowing howe weakely the matter hathe bene handled by him in the whole processe of his booke before he thinketh by a certeine lusty brauery of wordes to make amendes and so to beare awaye the garlande But nowe let vs here howe he bestirreth him Thus I trust good Readers you see the insufficiencie or more Nowell fo 119. a. 7. truly the lewdnesse of M. Dormans prouffes of the necessitie of one only heade ouer Christes whole church here in earthe you see where he saieth he hathe sufficiētly proued it to be Christes pleasure that there shoulde be suche an one heade that he hathe not nor coulde not for if he coulde he woulde alleage out of the newe testament where Christes will and pleasure is written and declared moste largely and manifestly as muche as one worde foūding to that purpose so farre of is it that it is as he saieth sufficiētly proued Thus I trust you see good Readers howe M. Nowell Dorman hauing begonne with a lye in the verie title of his booke calling it a Reproufe of my boke which reproueth but only 15. leaues hathe continued and nowe endeth the same in such wise as the middle and ende maye appeare in all mennes iudgement to answere to the beginning Yow see where he saieth that I haue not sufficiently proued it to be Christes pleasure that there shoulde be one heade in his steede in the whole churche because I alleaged no testimonie oute of the newe testament that in restreining my prouffes to the only newe testament and calling the testimonies brought out of the olde lawe as he dothe hereafter olde shadowes while he reproueth my prouffes for this cause he semeth not to be farre from the heresie of the Manichees who condemned the olde testament It was not M. Nowell because I coulde not that I alleaged no proufe out of the newe testament But the cause if you will nedes knowe it was for this that I thought it best to vse suche testimonies as consisting in facte and hauing bene alreadye put in execution you shoulde be lesse able to cauill against especially making my counte that the appointing of one chiefe prieste in the olde lawe being for the benefite of Goddes people you woulde easely admitte that Christe woulde be as beneficiall to his churche in the newe lawe Otherwise I coulde haue brought to you oute of the ghospell of S. Matthewe the wordes of oure Sauiour Matth. 16. to S. Petre where he vsing these wordes And I tell the that thow arte Petre and vpon this rocke I will builde my churche and againe what so euer thow shalt binde vpon earthe shall be bounde in heauen c. made Peter as Chrisostom witnesseth Shepeherd of the churche heade of the churche ruler ouer the whole Homi. 55. lu Matth. worlde I coulde haue alleaged lhe place of S. Iohn where Christe committing to Peter the charge of all his flocke Ioan. vlt. excepting none made by that meanes one ruler of the whole Homil. in cap. Ioan. vlt. and committed curam orbis terrarum the charge of the vniuersall worlde to Peter as saieth the same Chrisostome These places coulde I haue alleaged and other also had it not bene to auoide wrangling and for that that I persuaded my selfe that this example takē from the gouernement of Goddes people the Iues shoulde be to all indifferent mē sufficient enough to confirme my purpose as til M. Nowell confute it it is Yow see that schismes and controuersies by S. Cyprians iudgement Nowell and S. Augustins with 217. bishoppes moe assembled in the African councell with him and by good reason and experience allso maye be beste quieted in the countries where they arise You see that neither S. Cyprian neither S. Augustine Dorman neither the 217. bishoppes emongest whome M. Nowell before nombred Orosius being no bishoppe but a prieste onely and Prosper a bishop of Rhegium in Italie and therefore not like to be at anye councell in Africa neither yeat reason or experience whiche teache the contrarye doe saye Supra cap. 11. that schismes and controuersies maye be best quieted and decided in the countries where they arise That which they saye is ment of criminall causes not of schismes about doctrine as those wordes of S. Cyprian conteining the reason why he woulde haue suche causes hearde in the countries where they happen being these but ought there to make answere to their causes where they maye haue accusers and witnesses of their crimes doe well declare And thus you see that this is a manifold lye Yow see that it becommeth man vnhable well to gouerne a Nowell verie little thinge to humble him selfe and to yealde vp the honour and glory of gouerning the whole worlde and churche to God c. You see by the example of Peter refusing of humilitie Dorman the seruice that Christ offred to him in wasshing his feete Ioan 13. that true humilitye is to doe that whiche Christe biddeth to be done Yow see withall M. Nowells honestie
helpe God I thanke therefore to frame this reason to my purpose the argument made before will speake though I holde my peace In the meane season this of youres might haue some probabilitie if as Christe hath appointed one churche so God had assigned one kingdome in the whole worlde But seing that from the time the tongues were dispersed in Babilon many seuerall companies of men and not long after many seuerall Gen. 11. nations and consequently manie seuerall heades were so appointed by God that whether it were for the paine of sinne or elles to haue the partes of the earthe more quickly inhabited ones they were not one of them bounde to be vnder the other nor all to be vnder one heade in earthe whereas on the other side Christ came to gather together Psal 146. the dispersed of Israel in to one bodye one kingdome one folde and all the churches in the worlde be reduced accordingly to one churche which can not be saide of all the kingdomes for you nowe to requier no more one heade in the churche then there is one king in the worlde it is suche a kinde of argument as I thinke beside youre selfe it would haue bene harde to haue founde one other so foolishe that woulde haue made it What D. Harding saieth out of Homere or Aristotle it fol. 31. a. 15 maketh no matter to me allbeit it proueth verye well that those Gentiles sawe that the gouernement of one bodye belongeth to one heade And therefore if they had bene as verilie persuaded then that the whole worlde is but one kingdome as you are that the churche is but one bodie as they woulde of all likelihod haue concluded that it had not bene good to haue manie rulers so liuing now and being persuaded the like of the churche it is not to be doubted but that they woulde haue bene touching the same off the same opinion As for that that you adde scoffingly to deface it that it is M. D. Hardinge his poeticall argument for the popes supremacie I praie you be good M. Nowell to poetos of whome you sauour so muche in youre sermones and writinges and who the time hathe bene were the fairest floure in youre garland Otherwise you will giue men occasion bothe to thinke and to saie that the olde prouerbe is true in you that the parishe prieste remembreth not that once he was parishe clercke But I praie you maye it be laufull for you to folowe poetes in lieng as you doe and maie not other men alleage for their purpose one graue sentence of a poete yea all were it so that it were directly to proue the popes supremacie as this is not so brought in If it be so then scoffe also hardely at S. Paule who to proue the omnipotent power of God alleaged the sentence of the Act. 17. poete Aratus not so famouse iwisse as Homere is Aristotle misliketh not the gouernement of the best and wisest yeat preferreth he Monarchie the gouernement that is to saie of one alone before Aristocratie Euen so doe bothe D. Harding and I And therefore to saye that I am in fol. 31. b. 1. this point against bothe my maister for so you call D. Harding and I will be alwaies readie to confesse no lesse so long as it shall please him not to be ashamed of suche a scholer and Aristoâ—le so noble a philosopher I can call it no better but A lye 23. a verie lye You saye that the gouernement of the vniuersall churche Nowell b. 5. consisting of so many or rather innumerable thousandes of men and women of all countries nations and languages can not possibly be ruled by one neither was by God appointed to be so gouerned What God hath appointed I showed in the article of the Dorman popes supremacie whereunto you durst not approche and this will be bolde to saie thereof in this place that Monarchie Not impossible to gouerne the church by one being as youre selfe can not denie of all other the noblest kinde of gouernement it is likely that Christe would prouide the same for his spouse the churche in the which willing especially vnitie and concorde and commaunding nothing more it foloweth that he woulde binde it in one with that bande wirhout the which it coulde not either at all be had or not so commodiously had As for the possibilitie I praye the gentle reader considre with thy selfe what preachers and maisters thow hast who are nowe so malepart with God that beside that whiche their peuishe heades shall like to fantasye they will allowe him to be hable to doe nothinge Thus in oure present question doth M. Nowell hauing so muche at the length prouffited by teaching in the schole that he dareth now take vpon him to set God him selfe to schole and to tell him plainly that this ordre of his appointing in the churche one heade is suche as by no meanes possible can stande Thinkest thow not good Reader that he mistrusted all other proufes when he fleeth to this sorye shift Yes verelie doth he For as in the matter of the sacrament verie nede driueth them to this miserable refuge so persuade thy selfe that it standeth with them here But nowe to yow M. Nowell is the arme of God shroncken Esaiae 50. 59. or shorter then it was wont to be thinke you Can not he that appointeth one sonne to giue light to the whole worlde he that by diuerse riuers streames and brookes dispersed thorough the partes of all the earth maketh one body of the elementes of water bothe to come from one heade the sea and to returne to the same againe he that of so manie contrarie and disagreing qualities as heate colde moisture drougth maketh one well agreeing worlde is not he M. Nowell possibly able to rule and gouerne his church dispersed through all the earthe by one chiefe and supreme heade Especially sith one prince or Monarche as namely Assuerus being him selfe an infidell was able to gouerne Hester c. 1. from India to Aethiopia a hundred twentie and seuen prouinces The which as he gouerned by captaines and vnder officers after the example of Moises who being Exod. 18. not able to beare the burden of ruling the whole people alone did it notwithstanding with much facilitie by the helpe of suche rulers as he called to parte of his charge whiche were captaines or heades some ouer thousandes some ouer hundreds other some of fifty yea of ten so the pope gouerning the whole churche by patriarches primates archebisshopps bishoppes ArchedeacoÌ„s Archepriestes and priestes euery one in their degree with grace in him for that purpose by the worcking of God sufficiently multiplied is right well able to rule and gouerne the church were it greater then it is And this al wise meÌ„ and such as yealde to the omnipotency of God see to be so farre from all impossibilitie that some one perhappes moued with iust indignation against youre blasphemouse reasoning
is likely inough to tell you that I maie iustlier saie to you that suche talke procedeth not so muche from the absurditie of the matter as b. 12. Nowell Fo. 32. a. 6. it dothe from the disposition of youre noddies nowle M. Nowell and sight not dimme but altogether blinde then you doe to me affirming the contrarie that it maye seme to some that suche kinde of speache springeth not so muche out of the absurditie of the matter as out of the disposition off my drowsy head * Note that M. Nowel aloweth to bishoppes the ordre of religion to kinges and other gouernours the procuring of ciuile ordre and peace Dorman It foloweth that schismes and troubles rising in the church maye by the seuerall bishoppes of euerie diocesse and seueral chiefe prelates of euerie prouince aswell be auoided and appeased as the seuerall kinges of euerie kingdome the seuerall gouernours of euerie countrie and citie c. are able to ouersee their seuerall charges and to kepe their people in ciuile ordre and peace Not so M. Nowell the reason of difference betwe these two states of ecclesiasticall and temporall gouernement is greate For in the one that is in that which perteineth to the The difference betwene the two states off the world and the church worlde euery kingdom euery nation euery people haue their propre and seuerall lawes yea often times not diuerse onely but cōtrarie the one to the other This bredeth no disordre because they be diuerse bodies But to come to the church which as it is one so hath it by Christ one faith the same lawes the same sacramentes deliuered to be cōmon to all that wil be membres thereof without varietie in matters of substāce here what nede is thereof one head that this one faith may be of all mē and euery where inuiolably holden Seing that euen in kingdomes and common wealthes daily experience telleth vs that how well and quietly so euer such kinges and rulers gouerne their subiectes them selues they be not yeat hable so to gouerne while I proude and thou proude eche one thinketh him selfe as good as the other that they can absteine from mortal and cruel battaile wherby their innocent people perishe ful oftē on both sides most miserably If this be so emōgest worldly kinges where the dissenting of their lawes and ordonaūces the one from the other is no breach of amitie how much more is it to be feared emongest bishoppes where one faith must be common in all where vnitie maye be so lightely broken Which if it happen howe shoulde it be suppressed The debates and quarelles of princes are tried for moste parte by battaile Will you that in this case eache bishop make his frēdes and trie the matter by most voices The chiefe prelates you saie of euery prouince are able to take ordre in the matter What M. Nowell is the winde in that dore Haue yow so soddenly founde a superioritie in bishoppes that so lately before pronounced that as no man hathe anye Superioritie in baptisme or in faithe aboue other truly faithefull and baptised so no one bisshop hathe any Superioritie ouer other bishoppes Is it nowe at the length founde out that you mistooke S. Cyprian M. Nowel contrary to him selfe in one leafe when in the 22. leafe of youre boke a. you grounded vpon him that there was no difference of dignitie emongest bishoppes Maye yow not be ashamed in this verie leafe firste to saie that there be chiefe prelates in euery prouince and yeat after in the seconde side of the same leafe to affirme by the auctoritie of S. Ciprian wrongly construed that none but naughty and desperate men doe thinke the auctoritie off some bisshoppes to be inferiour to other Will you nedes be of the nombre of those naughty and desperate men Well M. Nowell as verye necessitie forced yow to go from that principle of youres that all bisshoppes be of equall auctoritie because otherwise you sawe that schismes coulde not possibly be kepte oute of particuler churches so shall I trust the same before yow and I haue ended force you to acknowledge a chiefe prelate ouer the whole and vniuersall churche for the appeasing of schismes therein In this pointe because the verye necessitie of one heade to gouerne Christes churche dothe specially consist I shall desire the learned reader to vse good circumspection and with aduised deliberation to waye with him selfe the reasons brought on bothe sides I obiect therefore to M. Nowell that for the appeasing of schismes and restoring the church being troubled to quietnes it is necessary that there be one chiefe heade He maketh me answere as you heard before that the seuerall chiefe prelates of euery prouince are aswell able An absurde doctrine that schismes may as wel be appeased by manie heades as by one to take ordre therfore as the seuerall gouernours of euery countrie for their seuerall charges The absurditie of this answere shall appeare by a demonstration There is nowe a controuersie in their newe churche of Englande about no small matter but concerning the reall presence of Christes blessed bodie in the sacrament M. Gest preaching at Rochester for the reall presence M. Grindall at London for the contrary Shall these two prelates be tried by M. D. Parkar of Cauntorbury suspected to be a Lutheran Although that I thinke M. Nowel would be lothe to graunte being him selfe a Caluinist yeat if he did and the matter were thoroughly decided on the one side might not the like schisme arise in the prouince of Yorke and bachiler Yong there calling his brethern together determine the cōtrouersy on the other side If this shoulde happen as it easely might in this equalitie of power betwene these two in these seuerall prouinces how should the schisme be appeased They wolde perhappes procure a parliament to be called that by auctoritie thereof the matter might be determined Were the bishoppes that coulde not agree before like the sooner to forsake their cōtentiouse mindes by this meanes Or should the matter be put only to the debating of the laitie Or howe euer it were the matter being brought thither and then the ordre of the house being suche that it must passe as wel through the lower house as the higher might not the house be equally diuided or the thinge brought to so narowe a pointe that the conclusion of this weightie controuersie might depende vpon the mouthe of some simple burgoise and meane artificer who might easely by lacke of iudgement choose the worse part Or if they all agreed vpon the truthe might not the like controuersie arise in Fraunce Germanie Spaine or in some other countrie and euery one determine either in this article or any lyke contrary to the other If they did as by the confesion of Augspurg and their communion boke allowed by the parliament of Englande the one so muche disagreing with the other it appeareth they doe shoulde not the churche in this case be
which hathe bene in this Repronfe of youres verie often that betwene the gouernemet of the church and the whole worlde there is greate oâ—â—es so doe I nowe answere you againe But you will saie that I am the auctor of this comparison my selfe who reason that the churche must haue one heade because kingdomes countries cities be so best gouerned It is my reason I confesse that euery thing that is one is best gouerned by one And therefore the worlde it selfe were for vs that liue in the same best gouerned by one chiefe heade vnder Christe if for the paine of oure sinnes God had not disposed the same to be gouerned by manie Which when yow saie to be a thing impossible bothe in the church and in the world you speake as you are wont without anie proufe muche to the derogation of goddes omnipotency Nowe to come to youre comparison see I praie yow whether if God had appointed all the kingdomes in the worlde to be one as he hathe all the churches to be one for he came into the worlde vt dispersos congregaret in vnum Psal 146. to gather the dispersed together it shoulde not be also a deade troncke if it lacked a visible heade to make it one Your similitude betwene the churche and oure common wealthe is made betwene Christe heade of the churche onlye a multitude of ministres gouernours of the same vndre him and the common wealthe hauing God the heade in heauen and one prince his seruaunt and heade gouernour in earthe This comparison maketh not onelye not withe yow but verie muche also against yow First it maketh not with yow because yow supposing the churche to be one bodie and Christe the onelye heade thereof allowe to the churche manie vndreheades whereas in the common wealthe being allso one bodye and the other parte of the comparison there is mention but of one heade vndre Christe the prince him selfe So that thereupon to infer that the churche hauing an infinite no more of heades beinge but one bodye is no monstre because the common wealth hauing but one visible heade like to it selfe is no monstre it is a monstrouse conclusion more meete to procede from a blocke that hathe no sense or a monstre that hathe manye heades but wit in none of them then from a creature endowed with reason It maketh against yowe thus the common wealth where be manie heades and euerie one will gouerne is a monstrouse bodye but the churche is Christes common wealthe and hathe as yowe saie manie heades to gouerne it therfore it is a monstre Againe The common wealthe that because Christe is the onelye heade thereof in heauen will admit no other chiefe heade in earthe is a blocke But so doeth youre churche therefore it is a blocke or deade troncke As for the conclusions that yowe saie I maie make that God and Christe be no heades or no suche heades c. and againe that aswell all kingdomes and common wealthes in Christendom be liue monstres as hauing many heades c. In dede I muste nedes confesse a truthe God hathe giuen me free will and I maie abuse it if I list and make as manye foolishe conclusions as yow haue done But I trust yowe will not deale with me as yow ruffled before with the pore Franciscanes and those of the company of Iesus to conclude that I will saie so because I maie saie so if I list to plaie the foole Nowe to these conclusions I saie that trulie I can not so conclude the first of them folowing no better then if yow M. Nowell woulde conclude that God and Christe the auctors of all true doctrine can not instructe men if it so pleased them in all wholesome knowledge without the externall helpe of man because they doe this by men For euen as God vseth the ministery of men to teache and preache not as though he coulde not so doe without for our infirmities sake and because it pleased the diuine wisdome that Christe the seconde persone in Trinitie should not be allwaies visibly present with vs for the same cause hathe it pleased all mightie God to gouerne the membres of his churche by the meanes of one visible heade the B. of Rome The folie of youre seconde conclusion appeareth I doubte not by the difference that is betwene all the churches of the world which make all but one and the kingdomes which be diuerse and were neuer appointed to be one And had M. Dorman had so muche leasure from his diuinitie Nowell matters as to haue looked better vpon his notes of the canon lawe his peculier studie he woulde haue bene better aduised then to haue called vs Acephalos headlesse and therefore deade trunckes who doe obeie oure owne prelates seing Acephali as is there noted are those who be subiecte to no prelate And had M. Nowell had so muche witte to haue loked Dorman first vpon the texte and then vpon the glose from whence he borowed this note he woulde haue bene better aduised then to haue alleaged it of all other for their defence For by the texte it appeareth that those whome the glose there calleth Acephali had heades quos ministros seu custodes vel gardianos aut nominibus alijs appellant whome they cal ministres kepars wardens or by other names Why dothe the glose then call then headlesse quia sub nullius veri praelati obedientia existunt because they are vnder the obedience of no true prelate This is the reason of the glose But yeat let vs aske an other question why were they vnder the obedieÌ„ce of no true prelate Because their heades were not alowed by the pope This is the reason of the texte You must not be angry with me M. Nowel for charging you as I doe with the canoÌ„ law For you bogge me in my peculier studie as you saie and you seme to haue coÌ„ceiued greate trust vpoÌ„ this place which maketh me the bolder and earnester to With the texte and the glose agreeth reason for if your head that standeth now vpon your shoulders should sodenly be turned in to the heade of an Asse he should not saye amisse that for all the long eares shoulde saye you were headlesse not for that that yow had no heade at all suche a one as it were but in this respect that you had no suche heade as you shoulde haue no suche heade as a preacher shoulde loke out of a pulpite withal To come nowe nearer to the common case of you all and to exemplifie it by some of youre lignage that haue gone before you were the subiectes of Nouatus trowe you that false bishop Acephali without a heade when forsaking Cornelius the B. of Rome they obeied him If they were you are For youre case is like your bishoppes being no more truly bisshoppes then Nouatus was nor alltogether so truly neither For he was made bishop by two bishoppes laufully made by the pope whereas you were made by the commission