not rather increased euery thing to an higher degree then euer it was before Shall we thinke then that this our vnsensible dulnesse and vnthankfulnesse can bee without imminent punishment Surely me thinketh the song of Esay the Prophet painteth out our state and condition with the euent that will follow of it The Lord hath chosen this lande as his beloued vineyard hee hath mounded it with his gratious fauour and diuine protection hee hath stoned it by casting out the rubble of the Synagogue of Antichrist the broken stones I meane of idolatrie superstition false doctrine and corrupt worship of God hee hath planted among vs the sweete grape of his most wholesome Gospel and the true vine Christ Iesu he hath set vp a watch Tower of Christian gournement and a wine presse of earnest preaching of repentance to presse and wring mens hearts if it were possible to yeelde foorth the sweete iuice of the fruits of the gospel to the glorie of God And he long hath looked for these his great benefites that wee should haue brought foorth sweete grapes and we haue yeelded nothing but sowre and stinking fruite discord and dissension among our selues couetousnesse oppression extortion drunkennesse banquetting voluptuous pleasure whoredome adulterie securitie in sinne contempt of God disdaine of his Minister despising of his worde selfe-liking in our owne â—oings confidence and trust in our owne wisedome and policie c. I pray God therefore in time wee may take heede of that heauie iudgement that followeth I meane that hee will take away the â—edge and breake downe the wall of his mightie protection whereby onely wee haue hitherto remayned safe and that hee vvill lay vs waste that the beastes of the fielde may ouertrample vs that hee vvill take from vs the teaching and preaching of his Gospell vvherevvith in vayne hee hath so long digged and delued in our barraine heartes that hee vvill forbidde the cloudes of his heauenly prouidence to rayne dovvne vpon vs his great and manifolde blessings vvhich beforetime hee hath giuen vs so that wee shalbe left as a desolate ground breeding nothing but bushes and brambles of ignorance errour idolatrie superstition heresie and vvicked life and bee made subiectes and slaues vnto our greatest enemies The Lorde turne away that which our vnthankfull hearts may iustly feare to be at hand c. By this that I haue written as I doubt not but the godly may perceiue it was not riches and vvealth of the Cleargie that first set vp Antichrist in the vsurped throne of his dominion ouer the Church but that there vvere other more true and right causes that bredde that mischiefe so likewise that conscience that feareth God and vvithout affection looketh into the state of this time among vs and rightly weigheth and considereth thinges may easily iudge that it is not the Lands and great liuings of bishops Ecclesiasticall persons but other matters more heynous more grieuous that wil hasteÌ„ the wrath displeasure of God against this realme which indeed it behoueth bishops principally and all other in their states and conditions to haue care of and in time while wee may by all godly meanes to preuent it The affection of them which at this day speak so much against the Landes and liuinges of Bishops and other Cleargy men is much like the dealing of those persons that murmured against Marie of Bethania which in the house of Simon the leper in testimonie of her thankfulnesse for the great mercies that shee had receiued of Christ powred vpon his head the precious oyntment of Spikenarde For euen in like manner our gracious Queene vvhen God had deliuered her out of the iawes of the greedie Lyons and cruell wolues that sought her blood and by his mighty hande had set her in the throne of this her Fathers kingdome to testifie her thankefull minde and to shewe her liberall and bountifull heart towarde the Church of GOD shee powred vpon it this plentifull gift towarde the maintenance of the Ministers and Preachers of his woorde that shee might declare to the worlde that in imbracing the Gospel and restoring the same to this Realme shee had not that minde and affection which some other haue shewed that is vnder colour thereof to make the increase of her owne benefite and the commoditie of her Crowne But as then Iudas and some other Disciples murmured at Marie and vnder pretence of holinesse and charitie towarde the poore found great fault with that superfluous excesse as they thought it euen so nowe many Disciples among vs with like colour of religion and holinesse and of zeale towarde the perfection of the Church forsooth murmure at the liberal benefit of our prince which she hath bestowed vpon the Church think the same a great superfluitie that might bee better imployed sundry wayes to the benefite of the common weale Whatsoeuer is pretended I pray God the cause of the griefe bee not the same that Iohn mentioneth to haue beene that which first began the murmuring at that time But whatsoeuer is the cause of this reproouing of the liberalitie of our gracious prince and soueraigne if the time did now serue I coulde with better reason and authoritie prooue the Contrary Proposition to that which they take vpon them to maintaine that is That it is not lawfull to bestow such liuings vpon Lay men as are appointed by godly lawes for Ministers and Preachers of the worde of God But the shortnesse of the time wil not now serue to follow that course ⧠Imprinted at London by the Deputies of Christopher Barker Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie 1589. Matth. 9. Matth. 12. Iohn 8. Tertul. Iustin Melito c. 4. Reg. 17. 18. 4. Reg. 24. Matth. 23. Luke 13. Apolog. In 2. epist ad Tim. 2. 1. Matt. 10. De zelo liuore Nom. 16. Mal. 2. 2. Cor. 5. Ephes 2. Esay 57. Chrysost in 2. ad Cor. Chrys in 2. ad Timoth. 1. Tim. 5. Nom. 16. 1. Thes 1. Matth. 5. 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 14. Matth. 12. Chrys in epist ad Rom. Eccle. 3. Chrys in Epist ad Rom. In Matt. 8. homil 27. Hest 3. 4. Matt. 11. Iohn 8. Tertull. Apolog in Epist Mar. Collec apud Euseb Theol. lib. c. 26. Athan. Apol 2. Socrat lib. 1. cap 30. Theodor. Socra lib. 1. cap. 35. Libel pag. 1. Answere Libel Pag. 3. Answere Libel pag. 10 Answere Libel pag. 15 Answere Libel pag. 21. Answere Libel pag. 22 Answere Libel pag. 23 Answere Pag. 24. Pag. 25. Libel pag. 26. 27. Answere Libel pag. 31 Answere Pag. 32. Pag. 34. Libel pag. 37 Libel pag. 44. Answere Libel pag. 50 Answere Prouer. 24. Psalm 55. Esay 5. Psal 120. Pro. 24. De vnitate Eccle. cap. 10 Contra Crescon lib. 2. ca. 31. Lib. 1. contra Celsum Euseb lib. 6. cap. 19. Socr. lib. 1. cap. 9. In Praescript Tertul. Eusebius Euseb lib. 4. cap. 28. Epiphanius Theodor. Psal 34. Epist lib. 7. Epist 44. Super Canâ— Serm. 24. Moral
before So sayth Demosthenes this King Philip vnder pretence of friendship seeking his owne benefite would haue you to deliuer vp your Orators which from time to time call vpon you and giue you warning of his subtile and craftie deuises to the ende that when you haue so done ere you bee ware he may bring you and your citie vnder his tyrannie And this saying of Demosthenes proued after verie true indeede Euen so good Christians the subtile serpent Sathan prince of darkenesse seeking to bring the Church of England vnder his kingdome againe from which by the mightie hand of God it hath beene deliuered indeuoureth cunningly to perswade the shepheardes that is the chiefe Gouernours of this realme to put away their barking dogges that is to put downe the state of Bishops and other chiefe of the Cleargie to take away their landes and liuings and set them to their pensions the sooner by that meanes to worke his purpose And heere in he turneth himselfe into an Angel of light and pretendeth great holines and the authoritie of Gods word and the holy Scriptures For such a subtile Protheus he is that he can turne himselfe into all maner of shapes to bring forward his deuise The craftie enemie of the Church of GOD doeth well knowe the frailetie and corruption of mennes nature that they will not of them-selues easily bende to that is good vnlesse they bee allured vnto it by the hope of benefite Hee vnderstandeth that Honos alit artes and if he shall by any cunning bee able to pull away the reward of learning hee right well seeth that hee shall haue farre fewer dogges to barke at him and almost none that shall haue teeth to bite those hell houndes that hee will sende to deuoure and destroy the flocke of Christ Happily there may bee some young Spanielles that will quest lauishly ynough but hee will not feare them because hee knoweth they will haue no teeth to bite If the state of the Cleargie shall bee made contemptible and the best reward of learning a meane pension hee foreseeth that neither yong flourishing wittes will easily incline them-selues to godly learning neither wil their parents and friendes suffer them to make that the ende of their trauaile To bring this to passe hee worketh his deuises by sundry kindes of men first by such as be Papists in heart and yet can clap their handes and set forwarde this purpose because they see it the next way either to ouerthrowe the course of the Gospell or by great and needelesse alteration to hazard and indanger the state of the common weale The second sort are certaine worldly godlesse Epicures which can pretend religion and yet passe not which end thereof goe forwarde so they may bee partakers of that spoyle which in this alteration is hoped for The thirde sorte in some respect the best but of all other most dangerous because they giue the opportunity and countenance to the residue and make their indeuours seeme zealous and godly These bee such which in doctrine agree with the present state and shewe themselues to haue a desire of a perfection in all things and in some respect in deede haue no euill meaning but through inordinate zeale are so caried that they see not howe great dangers by such deuises they drawe into the Church and state of this Realme Howe great perils euen small mutations haue brought to Common-weales the knowledge of Histories and the obseruation of times will easily teach vs. Obiection But in this place mee thinketh I heare some crie out with earnest affection against me and say that I shew my selfe to bee a carnall man and in this matter of the Church vse carnall and fleshly reasons out of humaine policie and doe not stay my conscience vpon Gods word the holy Scriptures where unto only in the gouernment of the Church wee shoulde cleaue though all reason and policie seeme contrary Answere If I doe stay my selfe and grounde my conscience vpon humane policie in any matter of faith and religion I must needes confesse my selfe to be worthie great blame But if in some things perteining to the externall fourme of gouernement or the outwarde state of the Church I haue respect to Christian policie not contrary to Gods word I see no iust cause why I shoulde be misliked if in consideration of the corrupt affection of mans nature I wish the state of a Christian Church common weale to bee such that yong and towardly wittes not yet mortified by Gods spirit may bee allured with the hope of benefite to the studie of learning and principally of the holy Scriptures leauing the secret direction of their minde to God I trust no man can with good reason reprooue this my desire and in the course of my writing no man shall iustly say that either I doe staye mine owne conscience or will other men to grounde theirs vpon reason and policie onely without the word of God For neither will the feare of God suffer mee so to deale in matter of such weight neither doe I see that by such meanes I can further the cause that I write of Many Pamphlets haue bene of late yeres partly written and partly printed against the whole gouernment of the Church by Bishops and those in sundrie sortes according to the nature and disposition of the Authors but in all great protestation of euident and strong proofe out of the Scriptures and other writers But especially there is one which I haue seene the writer whereof maketh this solemne protestation following That as he looketh to be acceptable to the Lorde at the iudgemēt of the immaculate lambe in his accusation that he maketh against the Clergie of this Realme hee will not cleaue to his owne iudgement nor will followe his owne braine nor wil of himself inuent ought nor vntruly blame ought but will faithfully and vntruly sincerely and incorruptly rehearse the holy Scriptures and the sentences actes and deedes of other learned men which determine and agree vpon those things that he layeth downe against them You may well vnderstand therefore that such an accusation will not bee answered and shifted away with humane reason onely The matter must haue more pith and substance in it But howsoeuer that accusation will bee answered I woulde the authour had perfourmed his protestation as faithfully as to carry some credite and fauour he layde it out solemnely Then shoulde not his writing containe so manie vncharitable and contemptuous speeches so many slaunderous vntruethes so many wrested Scriptures so many false conclusions so many impertinent allegations as he doth vse The purpose to perswade so great and dangerous a mutation in a common weale should haue carryed with it not onely more trueth and comlinesse of speech but also more weight of matter sound substance of proofe But such is the libertie of this time and such is the manner of them that to slaunder and deface other passe not what they speake or write I will
world to his knowledge should haue vsed the sernice and ministerie of Princes Noblemen great wealthie and rich men or of such as hadbene wise learned and eloquent and politique the glorie of his mightie conquest would haue bene attributed to the power and might to the wealth and riches to the wisedome and learning to the eloquence and policie of those which had bene his ministers and so the glorie of God in that worke of mans saluation should haue bene diminished Therefore God to shewe his power in heauenly thinges ouerthwarted the wisedome of the worlde and chose his Apostles poore vnnoble simple vnlerned without eloquence farre from the cunning wisedome and policie of the world by them and by their preaching in fewe yeeres wanne the whole worlde to his knowledge and defaced the kingdome of Sathan consisting in superstition idolatrie and wickednesse And indeede this order of Gods woorking by these poore and vnlearned men preuailed against all the Nobilitie the honour the power the might the wisedome the policie learning the eloquence of the worlde so that it might bee truely sayde Non est potentia non est prudentia non est consilium aduersus Dominum But what hereof is to bee concluded to this purpose forsooth that as Christ thought it fittest to chuse onely poore men to his Apostles and sent them abroade without any stay of Lining in the worlde so hee thinketh it meetest that his Ministers in his Church in all times and places shoulde be in poore estate and not to haue any wealth or riches It is good to consider this reason also that you bee not more ledde with it then the weight force of it requireth The office of the Apostles was to goe from Countrey to Countrey from place to place to plant Churches vnto God so that they could not haue any certaine stay of Liuing It is not therefore like reason that in a setled Church where the Gospel is receiued the Ministers and Preachers thereof may haue no certaine forme of Liuing appoynted them eyther by land or otherwise As Christ chose his Apostles poore so he chose them simple and vnlearned without eloquence or any kinde of knowledge that his glorie thereby might the more be set foorth Shall wee therefore inferre thereupon that it is fittest alwayes for the Ministers of the Church to bee simple without learning eloquence and knowledge It is well knowen that the Anabaptists and some other phanaticall spirits troubling the reformed Churches beyonde the seas vpon the same example of the Apostles haue gathered that learning and knowledge is not to bee respected in the choyce of Ministers because God needeth no such helpes to sette foorth his Gospell yea they say that learning and eloquence are perillous instruments to corrupt the simplicitie of the Gospell and to giue countenance to errour Wherefore such persons doe vsually admit among them to the Ministerie handicrafts men and such as challenge to themselues the spirite of God onely vvithout further knovvledge But the godly I doubt not vnderstand that all things neither can nor ought to bee like in the state of the Church beginning and vnder persecution and in the Church setled and liuing in peace and quietnesse The Ministers and Preachers of our church beside the example of Christ and his Apostles liuing in pouertie are vvilled diligently to looke into the perpetual doctrine which Christ in all the Euangelists doeth teach them touching the state of their liuing namely against riches couetousnesse the glorie of the vvorld care of this life To this doctrine apperteineth that vvhich Christ teacheth Matt. 6. That they shoulde not hoarde vp treasure for themselues vpon earth where thieues breake through and steale them but that they should lay vp treasures in heauen c. That they cannot serue two masters God and Mammon That they shoulde not bee carefull for their life what they shoulde eate what they shoulde drinke or what apparell they shoulde put on but cast all their care vpon God and seeke his kingdome and the righteousnesse thereof for that it is heathenish carefully to seeke after those other things which God of himselfe will plentifully cast vpon his that riches and the pleasures and cares of this life are resembled to thornes which choake vp the good seede of Gods word and make that it cannot prosper That it is as vnpossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God as for a Camell to goe thorowe the eye of a needle That hee cryeth out woe to them that are full for they shall bee hungrie and to them that be rich because they haue alreadie their comfort and consolation yea he willeth them to sell all that they haue and giue vnto the poore with a number of other places wherein he instructing his Disciples followers vtterly willeth them to renounce this vvorld and the treasures thereof Whereupon it is thought it may be very well concluded that the Ministers of the Church may not haue any wealthy liuings and especially by landes and lordships and therefore that our Bishops be not the true follovvers of Christ but walke in the steppes of Antichrist Surely our Sauiour Christ did see that as the perpetuall enemie of mankinde did continually seeke by all wayes to dravve men from God so he did not vse any meane more commonly then by honour glorie riches and vvealth And therefore when he savv that Christ coulde not by other temptations bee ouercome he assaulted him with ambition and desire of principalitie honour and lordship This temptation is therefore the more dangerous because mans corrupt nature is of it selfe greatly inclined to the loue of the world earthly pleasures Wherefore I cannot denie but that our careful louing sauiour did often in many places warne his disciples and by them all vs to beware of this working of Sathan and so much as they could to shunne his snares But shall vvee thinke therefore that hee condemneth principalitie lordship dominion vvealth riches landes in them that bee his true and faithfull follovvers No surely for that is the full ground of the Anabaptists doctrine to be shunned of alright christians And yet before I begin to answere this I must needes protest it is a queisie dangerous matter to speake of wealth and riches of the world for feare of mistaking either on the one part or on the other For vvhatsoeuer a man shall say in that case among the vngodly vvill be dravven according to their priuate affections The rich when they heare the possession of riches the right vse of them defended by and by if Gods special grace stay them not vvaxe more confident and secure and vvith contempt disdaine of other thinke themselues free masters and Lordes of Gods giftes to vse them euen at their ovvne pleasure to the fulfilling of their ovvne fleshly fantasies On the cōtrary part when they that be poore destitute of those gifts shall heare the rich blamed for
broughtin who saieth in the Actes to the poore â—ame man Siluer and gold haue I none c. Loe saie â—hey S. Peter was a right Apostle was in so poore â—ase that he had neither siluer nor golde no not so â—uch as hee could bestowe a meane reliefe vpon a poore begger His example should our rich bishops and Preachers followe And S. Paul to Timothie Hauing food and rayment we should therewith be content Here we may learne say they what manner of liuing Ministers of the Church shoulde haue that is so much onely as will prouide them meate drinke and cloth whatsoeuer is aboue that is superfluity more then Gods word requireth Who seeth not good Christians whereat these men shoote and what state of the Ministerie this earnest zeale that now is pretended woulde settle in this Church that is more miserable and worse prouided for then any other state of the lande beside Those heartes wherein is true deuotion and the right loue of the Gospell are rather ouer bountifull toward the Preachers thereof then too sparing For they are thus affected that they thinke nothing too deare for theÌ„ yea if it were possible they would giue their eyes vnto them out of their heads as Paul saith to the Galathians What spirit this is therefore that would so hard ly pinch wring the ministers of the church it is euidently to be gathered The principall purpose at the beginning was to proue y t the Ministers might not by the word of God inioy any temporall lands but now forsooth through the goodnesse of their cause in the vehemencie of their reasoning and fulnesse of their proofe it falleth out so that Ministers may not haue so much as any peny in their purse to prouide them sustenance but must liue vpoÌ„ the charitable almes of the people coÌ„tent theÌ„selues with meat drink and apparel onely as the Apostles did For they are no spiritual men say they that haue temporall liuing Yea of the very tithes they ought to claime no more then may serue them to meat drink cloth And if the same be denied them they may not by law sue for it For if their coate be taken from them they should deliuer their clokealso This doctrine doth very wel iustifie the couetous and vncharitable dealinges of many Parishioners which partly by violence partly by craftie meanes detaine from the Ministers their portioÌ„ of tithes appointed by the lawe This doctrine giueth good countenance to corrupt patrones who wil not bestow their benefices but by composition of a good part of the fruits to their owne vse commoditie And when the liuing shall be worth 100. pounds by the yeere they will aske whether thirtie or fourtie pounds bee not a sufficient portion for the Parson This dealing before time hath bin accounted little better then sacrilege or simonie but now it may be thought if this doctrine be good allowable that it is lawfully done and according to the worde of God yea and that the minister is a couetous worldling and worthy great blame that will not content himselfe with such a rate as they willingly shall allow him What care they which thus reason haue I wil not say of the preaching of the gospel but of the state of learning and knowledge in the Church of Christ all men may euidently perceiue Either they iudge as I haue before written at large that men be Angels without corruption and will followe the course of learning for conscience sake though there be no hope of reward to allure theÌ„ or els they think that God wil miraculously giue knowledge to such as he shal incline to the Ministery as hee did in the primitiue Church to his Apostles and other As touching the example of Saint Peter it is before declared what cause Christ respected in the choosing of so poore Apostles and leauing them in so base state and condition of life that is that the worke of winning the whole world to the doctrine of saluation by so simple and poore instruments as in the iudgement of men they seemed might bee the greater glorie to God as Saint Paul saith Especially seeing he did set them forth and furnish them vvith the heauenly riches of his holy spirite that is to say extraordinary knowledge rare giftes of vertue and povver to worke miracles But vpoÌ„ this extraordinary dealing of God in the fouÌ„ding of his church to ground a general perpetual rule to bind the Ministers of al places times is such maner vsing y e scriptures as must needs breed great inconueniences among the people of God As for the words of Saint Paul there is no man I thinke but that hee may perceiue they are spoken generally and not to Ministers onely as they are iâ— this place applied Remember the place viewe the circumstances consider what goeth before and what commeth after and you shall vnderstand it to be true For S. Paul there speaketh to the same purpose that Christ doth Matth. 6. when he willeth meÌ„ not to bee carefull what to eate what to drinke or what to put on but that they should seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and al other things should by the prouidence of God bee cast vnto them So I say S. Paul exhorteth men not to be in loue with the riches of this worlde which they shal neuer cary away with theÌ„ that they should not practise wicked waies to gaine but accouÌ„t godlines their chiefe gaine coÌ„moditie holding them-selues contented with those things that the necessitie of nature requireth that is foode apparel For whatsoeuer is aboue that may seeme to be superfluous This wholesome doctrine the spirit of God in the scriptures doth often cast vpon the consciences of Christians as a necessary bridle to stay the wicked affection of couetousnes greedy desire of the world wherto the corruptioÌ„ of our nature is giuen And yet he doeth not condemne riches or a more plentifull life as euill in it selfe It is the heart the minde and the affection that God would haue staied and kept vnder in his obedience and not the forbearing of the externall creatures as before is at large declared Iob in the middes of his greatest wealth had as poore and as contented a heart as he that had a small liuing and did no more exceede in gluttonie or other riotous excesse then hee did which had not a peny more then to prouide meate drinke cloth This doctrine as it doeth generally pertaine to all Christians so I denie not but it very nighly and chiefly ought to touch Preachers ministers of the Church Wherfore I must do confesse that so much as our bishops and Clergy want of the performance hereof they want of that perfection that by the word of God they should haue But how caÌ„ it be proued hereby that they may not haue more ample or large alowance then shal suffice theÌ„ for necessarie foode apparell
faultes Christian charitie forceth me to winke at them because I know greater matter in my selfe And I see they are men and no Angels and they liue in a perillous time and haue many occasions to offend so that it is harder for them to stande vpright then for some other that are in priuate state Hee is an Angell that neuer falleth hee is no man Men are fraile and in daunger to sinne though they haue otherwise great graces If any of them haue fallen with Aaron to anie great and horrible offence I trust they are with him also risen by repentaunce and with teares in the mercie of God washed away their wickednesse Or if they haue not I must needes say with Christ Better it were that a Milstone were hanged about their neckes and they cast into the sea then that by their continuance in euil they shoulde bee occasion that anie shoulde fall from God or reiect his Gospell As their vertues are more profitable and beneficial to the Church of God then the vertues of other priuate persons so are their vices and faults more hurtfull daungerous They stande on an high place where all mens eyes are fastened vppon them their least faultes cannot be hidde and the greatest are of all men abhorred A wart in the face and a blemish in a Bishoppe is no small disfiguring of either of them If other mens faults be seene the offence is not accounted great but if a bishops be espied it is esteemed not according to the greatnes of the thing but according to the dignitie of the person Hee that knoweth the will of his Master and doth it not shalbe beaten with many stripes Sacerdos saith Chrysostome sipariter cum Subditis peccat non eadem sed acerbiora patietur If a Priest shall offend as the inferiour doeth hee shal suffer not the same punishment but farre greater It behooueth them therefore in the feare of God to looke more diligently about them then any other and specially in these miserable dayes vvherein all mens eyes are so curiously set vpon them that they almost cleane forget to looke any thing vpon themselues or to finde fault vvith any other then vvith Ecclesiasticall persons and officers Obiection Heere some perchaunce vvill take me in mine ovvne turne and conclude against al that hitherto I haue spoken yea and against the vvhole purpose of my vvriting That if Bishoppes offences be so grieuous and hurtfull more then other mens are and that our Bishops and Ecclesiasticall Ministers are seene to commit so soule and heynous faultes that they are worthie of all that euill that is spoken against them and that I cannot iustly blame these persons that with great zeale doe reproue these their doings so hurtful to the Church of Christ and so dangerous to the people of God Answere Surely if all bee true that is vvritten and spoken against them as I trust and in part I knovve it is not I must needs confesse and vvere vvicked if I vvoulde denie that they had iustly deserued vvhatsoeuer euill coulde be vttered of them For sure I am if as I say all vvere true that is spoken that they should be as detestable as any heretikes that euer vvere in the Church yea as the Pope and Antichrist himselfe vvhose pillars and vpholders they are called and accounted vvith many And yet can I not excuse them vvhich in such manner doe persecute them vvith the bitternesse of their tongue and penne no more then I can excuse Nabuchodonosor or any other tyrant that plagued the people of God offending against his lavve For vvhatsoeuer God in his prouidence respected they looked onely to the satisfying of their couetous ambitious cruell and bloody affection And so vvhatsoeuer God regardeth in chastening his negligent Ministers or in vvaking them out of sleepe vvith the sourre of infamy and reproch yet by their virulent and vnseasoned speeches that are vsed by the scornefull and disdainefull reproches by the rash and vncharitable vntruethes I feare it may bee too truely gathered that they vvhich bee the instruments thereof seeke to fulfill their enuious proude and disdainefull appetites or the working of some other purpose which they looke to bring to passe by the discrediting of the Bishops and other chiefe of the Clergie which be as great blockes and stops in their way Qui habet aures ad audiendum audiat But let such persons in time take heede vvhen God as a mercifull father hath chastised his children sufficiently and stirred them to remember their dueties that he cast not the rod into the fire as before time he hath vsed to doe and bring the rewarde of their vnchristian dealing vpon their ovvne heades If right zeale vvith conscience and detestation of euil vvere the roote of these inuectiues which so boyle in loath some choller bitter gall against the Bishops other of the Clergie surely the same spirit would mooue them to breake out into like vehement lamentations against the euils and vices which shew themselues in a great nomber of this Realme I meane the deepe ignorance and contempt of God in the midst of the light of the Gospell the heathenish securitie in sinne and wickednesse the monstrous pride in apparell the voluptuous riot and sensualitie the excessiue buildings and needelesse nestes of mens treasures which bee as cankers consuming the riches of this Realme What shall I say of the loosenesse of whoredome and adulterie the wrongfull wresting by extortion bribery and vsury the crafty cosening for priuate commoditie the libertie in false swearing and periurie with the heape almost of all other vices where with mans life may be distained so that if some stay were not by moderat gouernment and some meane number restrained in conscience by the doctrine of the Gospell it were greatly to be feared that our wickednesse would growe in haste to such perfection as it woulde presently pull out of heauen Gods wrath against vs. But all these thinges are wrapt vp in deepe silence among most of these men vnlesse it bee to vpbraid Bishops as causes thereof and the corrupt gouernment as it is thought of this Church with the rich and wealthy states of Bishops pretended to bee the onely cause of Gods indignation toward vs. But this is the wicked working of the deuill to turne mens eyes from their owne sinnes that they may not acknowledge them and by repentance turne away the displeasure of God and his iustice hanging ouer vs and if it be possible also to destroy the course of the Gospell that hath bene so long with so small fruit among vs. But here I haue to aduertise the godly and chiefely the Prince and Magistrates that they be not abused and ledde by the cunning that Sathan hath alwayes vsed to deface the glory of God and disturbe his Church When Sathan seeth the doctrine of Trueth to spring vp amongst men and somewhat to prosper when hee seeth wickednesse and vice by diligent preaching to bee repressed and thereby his
kingdome of errour and wickednesse to decay and the glorie of God to increase then hee bestirreth him by all meanes hee can And if by Gods good prouidence the Princes and Magistrates bee such as by sword and fire he cannot either ouerthrowe it or worke some mischiefe against it then seeketh hee by lying and slander to discredit and deface the messengers that GOD sendeth with his worde and instruments that he vseth to aduance and sette foorth his trueth by this meanes to worke hinderance to the trueth it selfe When Ieremie preached the will of God earnestly and truely vnto the Iewes were there not false Prophets and other very neere the Prince which perswaded him and other rulers that hee was a naughtie man not worthie to liue that hee was an enemie to his Countrey that hee conspired with the Babylonians and was with money or otherwise corrupted by them to perswade the people of Iuda not to refuse their subiection When God by the Ievves in captiuitie and by the fauour of the Queene Hester began to spread his knovvledge among the Gentiles so that their heathenish idolatrie vvas somewhat blemished the deuil raised vp a fit instrument by such meanes as before is mentioned to vvork their confusion For Haman came to king Assuerus and said There is a people dispersed throughout all the prouinces of thine Empire not agreeing among themselues vsing newe lawes and contemning thy ordinances and thou knowest it is not expedient for thy kingdome that they should bee suffered to waxe so insolent And if it shall please thee to appoint that they may be all put to death I will bring in tenne thousand talents into the kings treasure It vvas a shrevvd tale to persvvade a Prince For he tempered his hateful and slaunderous lying with the sweete savvce of gaine and commoditie The subtile Sathan did see that sometime they which othervvise are good Princes vvhen hope of great benefite is offered vvill be more easily persvvaded to some kinde of hard dealing vvhich othervvise they themselues vvould not like When Iohn Baptist was sent to prepare the vvay for the comming of Christ though hee vvere a man of very austere liuing did not the Pharisees persvvade the people and chiefe rulers that hee was but an hypocrite that he vvas possed vvith a deuill and therfore that his doctrine should not be beleeued When Christ himselfe came a perfect patterne of all temperance and godly vertue did they not say that he was a glutton and a wine bibber a Samaritane a friend of Publicanes and sinners a worker with deuils a seducer of the people c. and by this means in the hearts of many wrought the discredite both of his doctrine and of his myracles In like manner dealt Sathan with his instruments against the Apostles and godlie professors of Christian religion in the Primitiue Church as it appeareth in the Ecclesiasticall Histories and auncient Fathers For malitious tongues and pennes did spreade abroade of them that they murdered their children and did eate them that vsually at their assemblies they committed incest that they worshipped the sunne that they worshipped an asse head that they were traitours to the Empire that they were generall enemies of all mankinde with an infinite number of other like false and slaunderous crimes and by this meanes the wicked enemies of Christ raised those grieuous and terrible persecutions wherewith the Church was vexed the space of three hundred yeeres vnder the Emperours Yea and this craft of the deuill ceased not vnder the Christian Emperours For then stirred hee vp schismes and factions errours and heresies almost in number infinite and still by backebiters and slaunderous instrumentes defaced and brought out of credite the godly and learned bishops which were as the pillars of Christian trueth against the enemies of God and his Church Constantine that woorthie and godlie prince at the beginning fauoured and furthered all those reuerend and learned Bishops that did mainteine the doctrine of Nicene Councell against the Arians but after that Eusebius of Nicomedia the great patrone of that heresie had procured friendes in the court and therby crept in some credite with the Emperour he and the residue of his sort deuised shamefull slaunders against Athanasius and other that in the ende with great displeasure of the Emperour he was banished into Fraunce and there continued all the reigne of the saide Constantine His enemies with great impudencie had charged him with shamefull vntruths as that he cruelly and vniustly had excommunicated diuers persons that as a couetous extortioner he had oppressed the countrey of Egypt with exactions that he had committed adultery with a strumpet who was brought before his face to auouch it to be true that he had murthered Arsenius vsed his arme to worke sorcery that he sent money to one that went about treason against the Emperour that hee had affirmed in threatning wordes that he would cause the citie of Alexandria to send no more tribute-corne to Constantinople for the Emperors prouision as before time it had vsed to doe As they dealt with Athanasius so did they in like manner with Eustathius Macarius and al other godly Fathers which defended the true faith of Christ and set themselues against the indeuours of heretikes and other seditious and factious spirites And in like maner were other vsed after that time as Ambrose Cyrill and Chrysostome It were a matter almost infinite to recite the examples thereof and to shewe how like they are to the attempts of some in these dayes And although it pleased GOD by strange meanes at that time to reprooue sundrie of those shamefull vntrueths deuised against manie yet by stoute affirmation and colourable proofe thorow friendship many of them tooke suche effect that sundrie woorthy and good men were put out of their bishoprikes driuen into banishment and put to death to the great trouble of the Church and exceeding hinderaunce of christian faith for the space of many yeeres We reade in histories that Philip king of Macedony a subtile and politique prince who is thought to haue conquered more by craft and cunning then by force of warre dint of sworde minding to bring the Graecians vnder his subiection in concluding an agreement with them conditioned that they shoulde deliuer vnto him their Orators as the very firebrands of discord among them and the onely occasioners of that displeasure and misliking that was betweene him and them At which time Demosthenes one of the Orators speaking for himselfe admonished the Athenians to call to their remembraunce the parable betweene the shepheardes and the wolues The wolues pretending desire of agreement between them and the shepheards perswaded them that all the cause of their displeasure was the vnseasonable barking of the dogges and promised great amitie so that they woulde put away their ill-fauoured curres and mastiues But when the dogs were remooued the wolues tooke their pleasure in spoyling the flocke more cruelly then euer they did
in heauen he was borne vnder bondage and payed tribute to Caesar that hee might deliuer vs from the tyrannie of Hel he was debased euen to the company of bruite beasts that he might bring vs to the glorious company of Angels he lay in hay in a Crib that he might procure euerlasting foode for our soules finally he was accused of sin put to most cruel death that we being iustified by his merite might appeare innocent in the sight of God These be the sweet comfortable cogitations that good christians should conceiue vpon the consideration of Christs poore base state in this life For pouerty in Christ was not so much for exāple of life as to satisfie a punishment due to sinne Riches is the good blessing and gift of God but pouertie came in at the same doore that death did that is by the disobedience of our first father Wee may not therefore thinke with Monks Friers that pouerty in it self is a more holy state of liuing then wealth riches is But of that more hereafter Novv let vs cōsider what maner of pouerty this was in Christ Christ vvas in himself exceeding rich both as the sonne of God as the sonne of man As God he had all things common with his father All thinges that my father hath saith he are mine And againe All thine are mine and mine are thine As touching his humanitie he is likewise of great possessions For his Father saith vnto him Desire of me I shal giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance the vttermost parts of the earth for thy possessiō How hapned it then that Christ being in right Lord of so great possessions became in the time of his dispensation almost in the state of a beggar certainly quia ipse voluit because he would himself For he that filleth heauen earth was borne in an Oxe stall in Bethleem he that had al power in the vvhole vvorld vvas a banished person for a certaine time in Egypt he that feedeth with sustenance man beast foule fish partly by labor gat his liuing partly was fed with the liberalitie of other He that prouideth apparel foral things hung naked vpō the Crosse he that sitteth in heauen as his throne hath the earth for his footestoole at an other mans charge was buried and layd in a strange Sepulchre Christs pouertie therfore was vvilling not of any necessitie of holinesse as I haue said but to beare that vvhich for sinne was due to vs. Now I pray you mark y e strength of the former reason Christ to sustaine the punishment due to our sinnes liued in great pouerty humility in this world therfore bishops ministers of the Church of necessitie must liue in pouertie and not haue any wealthy liuings by lands or otherwise I trust they that haue care of their consciences will not easily be led to any perswasion by such reasons They will say Christ did this also for our example I graunt in some respect he did so By his example he teacheth vs humblenesse and modestie that we may not be loath to doe those things that he did for the benefite commoditie of our Christian brother If we so swell with pride that in respect of our Noblenesse or birth or great estate in the worlde wee disdaine other and thinke our poore neighbour doeth vs iniurie if he in respect of Christian brotherhood require of vs a benefit for his better reliefe then is it time for vs to behold the Sonne of God lying poorly in a cribbe or manger betweene beastes who although he were God eternall with his Father and by his mother borne of the most noble family of many Kings and Prophets yet for our sake he did so humble debase himself that he came in so poore and vile condition before men Furthermore Christ by his example hath as it were consecrated pouertie trouble miserie and affliction that they may not be accompted tokens of the wrath of God or such things as do hinder true pietie holinesse or let the saluation of our soules For as mans nature doeth abhorre all afflictions so chiefly do men thinke pouertie and neede to be not onely one of the greatest miseries that can happen to man but also hatefull to God himselfe Thus we see men cōmonly to thinke of such as are any way fallen into pouerty misery Let Iob hereof be an example In this cause also it is expedient for vs to looke vpō our poore Christ and to set him before our eyes that wee may both more patiently beare these things vvhen for Gods cause they light vpon vs and more charitably iudge of other whom God therewith toucheth yea it is good to teach vs to pul downe our brissles when we waxe proude of those gifts of plenty and riches that God hath giuen vs. Thus you see what profit the example of Christes pouertie bringeth but I pray you to whom is Christ an example to bishops and Ministers only did he liue in poore miserable state for Ministers only did he die for their sinnes only God forbid He was borne he liued he died for all mankinde and all faithfull haue the fruite of this his birth his life and his death Therefore the example of Christs life must stretch further then to Bishops and Ministers It is a farre truer argument to say Christ liued a simple and poore life while hee was here on earth therefore all Christians ought to liue in the same maner that he did then to apply the same onely to Ministers and Ecclesiasticall persons Therefore I will all Christians to beware of this hereticall and Anbaptisticall assertion Whosoeuer seeketh Christ in other state and sort then hee gaue example of seeketh not Christ but Antichrist and the pompe of the world For if this sentence be applied to the example of the poore state of Christ it is the very ground of Anabaptisticall communitie and that none can be saued but such as renounce al their goods possessions Albeit the example of Christ in this place be applied to Ministers onely yet in trueth it appertaineth to all other faithfull as well to them And if the Argument shalbe counted good now hereafter with as good liklihood and farre truer interpretation it may be vsed against al that shal truely professe Christ As touching that Christ chose so simple Apostles and of so poore estate Saint Paul sheweth the reason and cause thereof Brethren saith hee you see your calling how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mightie not many Noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things to confound the wise and the weake things to confounde the mightie and vnnoble things of the world and things that are despised God hath chosen and things which are not to bring to nought things that are that no flesh shoulde glorie in his presence If Christ in the entrance of his Kingdome going about to subdue the