synceritie do interprise to purge the Lordes temple and sanctuarie what God required of them it is before declared to wit that most diligently they should obserue his Law statutes and ceremonies And how acceptable were theyre factes to God doth he him selfe witnesse For to somme he gaue most notable victories without the hande of man and in theyre most desperat daungers did declare his especiall fauours towerdes them by signes supernaturall to other he so established the kingdome that theyre ennemies were compelled to stoupe vnder theyre feete And the names of all he hath regestred not only in the boke of life but also in the blessed remembrance of all posterities sence theyre daies which also shall continue till the commyng of the Lord Iesus who shall rewarde with the crowne of immortalitie not only theÌ„ but also such as vnfaynedly studie to do the will and to promote the glorie of his heuenlie father in the middest of this corrupted generation In coÌ„sideration whereof ought you my Lordes all delay set apart to prouide for the reformation of religion in your dominions and boundes which now is so corrupt that no part of Christes institution remaineth in the original puritie and therefore of necessitie it is that spedely ye prouide for reformatione or els ye declare your selues not only voyde of loue to werdes your subiectes but also to liue without care of your owne saluation yea without all feare and true reuerence of God Two thinges perchance may moue you to esteme these histories before briuely tuched to appertaine nothing to you Fyrst because you are no Iewes but Gentiles and secondarely because you are no kinges but nobiles in your realm But be not deceaued For neither of both can excuse you in goddes presence from doing your duetie for it is a thing more then certein that whatso euer God required of the ciuile Magistrate in Israel or Iuda concernyng the obseruation of true religion during the tyme of the Law the same doth he require of lawfull Magistrates professing Christ Iesus in the tyme of the Gospell as the holie Ghost hath taught vs by the mouth of Dauid saying Psal. 2. Be learned you that iudge the earth kysse the sonne lest that the Lord waxe angrie aÌ„d that yee perish from the way This admonition did not extend to the iudges vnder the law only but doth also include all such as be promoted to honours in the tyme of the Gospell when Christ Iesus doth reigne aÌ„d feight in his spirituall kyngdome whose ennemies in that psalme be fyrst most sharply taxed theyr furie expressed and vanitie mocked then are kings and iudges who think them selues free from all law and obedieÌ„ce commaunded to repent theyre former blynd rage and iudges are charged to be learned and last are all coÌ„maunded to serue the eternall in feare to reioyce before hym in tremblyng to kysse the sonne that is to geue vnto hym most humble obedience whereof it is euident that the rulers Magistrats and iudges now in Christes kingdome are no lesse bound to obedieÌ„ce vnto God theÌ„ were those vnder the Law And how is it possible that any shall be obedieÌ„t who dispise his religion in which standeth the chefe glorie that man can geue to God and is a seruice which God especially requireth of kings and rulers Which thing saint Augustine plainely did note writing to one Bonifacius a man of warr according to the same argument and purpose which I labour to persuade your Honours For after that he hath in that his epistle declared the difference betwixt the heresie of the Donatists and Arrians and hath somwhat spoken of theyr crueltie he sheweth the way how theyr furie should and oght to be repressed and that it is lawfull for the iniustly afflicted to seke support and defence at godlie Magistrates For thus he writeth Either must the veritie be kept close or els must theyr crueltie be susteaned But if the veritie should be concealed not only should none be saued nor delyuered by suchsileÌ„ce but also shoulde many be lost through theyr decept But if by preaching of the veritie theyr furie should be prouoked more to rage and by that meanes yet somme were delyuered and made stronge yet should feare hinder many weakliÌ„gs to folowe the veritie if theyr rage be not stayed In these fyrst wordes Augustine sheweth three reasons why the afflicted Church in those daies called for the help of the Emperour and of godlie Magistrates against the furie of the persecuters The fyrst The veritie must be spoken or ells mankind shall perish in errour The second the veritie being plainlie spoken prouoketh the aduersaries to rage And because that soÌ„me did alledge that rather we oght to suffer all iniurie then to seke support by man he addeth the third reason to witt that many weakones be not able to suffer persecution and death for the truethes sake to whome not the lesse respect oght to be had that they may be won from errour and so be brought to grater strength O that the rulers of this age should ponder and wey the reasons of this godly writer and prouid the remedie which he requyreth in these wordes foloiÌ„g Now when the Church was thus afflicted yf any think that rather they should haue sustayned all calamitie then that the helpe of God should haue bene asked by Christian Emperours he doth not well aduert that of such negligence no good coÌ„ptes or reason could be geuen For where such as would that no iust lawes should be made against theyre impietie alledge that the Apostles soght no such thiÌ„ges of the kinges of the earth they do not consider that then the tyme was other then it is now and that all thinges are done in theyr owne tyme. What Emperour then beleued in Christ that should serue hym in making lawes for godlines against impietie whill yet that saying of the ê“phet was coÌ„plete why hath nations raged and people haue imagined vanitie The kinges of the earth haue stand vp princes haue conuented together against the Lord and against his annoynted That which is after said in the same psalme was not yet comme to passe And now vnderstand o you kinges be learned you that iudge the earth serue the Lord â–ª in fear and reioyce to hym with tremlinge How do kings serue the Lord in fear but in punishing and by a godlie seueritie forbidding those thinges which are done against the commaundement of the Lord. For otherwise doth he serue in so far as he is man other wise in so far as he is king In so far as he is man he serueth hym by liuing faithfully but because he is also king he serueth establishing lawes that commaund the thinges that be iust and that with a conuenient rigour forbyd thinges contrarie As Ezechias serued distroying the groues the temples of idols and the places which were buylded against goddes commaundement So serued also Iosias doing the same so serued the king of Niniuites compelling
and disdainefully cōtemne the meanes which he hath appointed to obtaine the same to witt his blessed Euangile which now he offereth vnto you to the end that ye may be saued For the Ghospell and gladtidinges of the kīgdome truelie preached is the power of God to the saluation of euerie beleuer which to credit and receaue you the communaltie are no lesse addetted then be your rulers and princes For albeit God hath put and ordened distinction ād differēce betwixt the king and subiectes betwixt the rulers and the commune people in the regiment and administration of ciuile policies yet in the hope of the life to comme he hath made all equall For as in Christ Iesus the Iew hath no greater prerogatiue then hath the Gentile the man then hath the woman the learned then the vnlearned the Lord then the seruante but all are one in him so is there but one way and meanes to attaine to the participation of his benefites and spirituall graces which is a liuelie faith wurking by charitie And therefore I say that it doth no lesse appertaine to you beloued Brethren to be assured that your faith and religion be grounded and established vpon the true and vndoubted worde of God then to your princes or rulers For as your bodies can not escape corporal death if with your princes ye eat or drink deadlie poison althoghe it be by ignorance or negligence so shall ye not escape the death euerlasting if with them ye professe a corrupt religion Yea except in heart ye beleue and with mouth ye confesse the Lord Iesus to be the onlie Saluiour of the world which ye can not do except ye embrace his Euangile offered ye can not escape death and damnatiō For as the iust liueth by his own faith so doth the vnfaithfull perishe by his infidelitie And as true faith is engendred norished and mentained in the heartes of goddes elect by Christes Euāgile truelie preached so is infidelitie and vnbelefe fostered by concealing and repressing the same And thus if ye loke for the life euerlasting ye must trie if ye stand in faith and if ye would be assured of a true ād liuelie faith ye must nedes haue Christ Iesus truely preached vnto you And this is the cause dear Brethren that so oft I repeat and so constantly I affirm that to you it doth no lesse appertaine then to your kinge or princes ▪ to prouide that Christ Iesus be truely preached amongest you seing that without his true knolledge can neither of you both attaine to saluation And this is the poynt wherein I say al man is a equal That as all be descended from Adam by whose syn and inobedience did death enter into the world so it behoued all that shall obtaine life to be ingrafted in one that is in the Lord Iesus who being the iust seruant doth by his knolledge iustifie many to wit all that vnfeanedly beleue in hym Of this equalitie and that God requireth no lesse of the subiect be he neuer so poore then of the prince and riche man in matters of religion he hath geuen an euident declaration in the law of Moses For when the tabernacle was buy lded erected and set in order God did prouide how it and the thinges appertaining to the same should be sustained so that they should not fall in decay And this prouision albeit heauē ād earth obey his empire would he not take from the secrete and hid treasures which lie dispersed ī the vaines of the earthe neither yet would he take it frō the riche and potent of his people but he did commaund that euerie man of the sonnes of Israel were he rich or were he poore that came in compt from twentie yeares and vpward should yearely pay half a sicle for an oblation to the Lorde in the remembrance of their redemption and for an expiation or clensing to their soules which money God cōmaunded should be bestowed vpon the ornamentes and necessaries of the tabernacle of testimonie He furthermore added a precept that the riche should giue no more for that vse and in that behalf then should the poore neither yet that the poore should giue any lesse then should the riche in that consideration This law to mannes reason and iudgement may appear verie vnreasonable For somme riche man might haue geuen a thousand sicles with lesse hurt of his substāce then sōme poore man might haue payed the half sicle And yet God maketh all equall and will that the one shall pay no more then the other neither yet the poore any lesse then the riche This law I say may appeare verie vnequall But if the cause which God addeth be obserued we shall fynde in the same the great mercie and inestimable wisdome of God to appear which cause is expressed in these wordes This money receaued from the children of Israel thou shalt geue in the seruice of the tabernacle that it may be to the children of Israel for a remembrance before the Lord that he may be mercifull to your soules This cause I say doth euidently declare that as the hole multitude was deliuered from the bondage of Egypt by the mightie power of God alone so was euerie mēbre of the same without respect of person sāctified by his grace the riche in that behalf nothing preferred to the poorest For by no merit nor worthynes of mā was he moued to chose ād to establishe his habitation and dwellinge amongest them But their felicitie prerogatiue ād honour which they had aboue all other natiōs proceded only frō the fontaine of his eternal goodnes who loued thē freely as that he freely had chosen them to be his preestlie kingdome ād holie people from all natiōs of the earth Thus to honour them that he would dwell in the middest of them he neither was moued I say by the wisdome of the wise by the riches of the potent neither yet by the vertue and holynes of any estate amongest them but of mere goodnes did he loue them and with his presence did he honour that hole people ād therefore to paynt owt the same his cōmune loue to the hole multitude and to cutt of occasions of contention and doubtes of conscience he would receaue no more from the riche then from the poore for the maintenāce of that his tabernacle by the which was represented his presence and habitation amongest them Yf the riche had bene preferred to the poore then as the one should haue bene puffed vp with pride as that he had bene more acceptable to God by reason of his greater gift so should the cōscience of the other haue bene troubled and woūded thinking that his pouertie was an impedimēt that he could not stand in so perfecte fauour with God as did the other because he was not able to geue somuch as did the rich to the mentenance of his tabernacle But he who of mercie as said is did
saieth I am in your handes do with me as ye think righteous he doth not contemne nor neglect his life as thoghe he regarded not what should become of hym but iÌ„ those his wordes most vehementlie did he admonishe the princes and rulers of the people geuing them to vnderstaÌ„d what God should require of theÌ„ As he should say You princes of Iuda and rulers of the people to whom appertaineth in differentlie to iudge betwixt partie and partie to iustifie the iust man and to coÌ„demne the malefactour you haue hard à sentence of death pronounced against me by those whose lippes oght to speak no decept because they are sanctified and appointed by God hym selfe to speake his law and to pronounce iudgement with equitie but as they haue left the liuing God and haue taught the people to follow vanitie so are they becoÌ„med mortall ennemies to all Gods true seruantes of whom I am one rebuking theire iniquitie apostasie and defection from God which is the onlie cause they seke my life But a thing most contrarie to all equitie law aÌ„d iustice it is that I a maÌ„ sent of God to call them this people and you againe to the true seruice of God from the which you are all declined shall suffer the death because that my ennemies do so pronounce sentence I staÌ„d in your preseÌ„ce whome God hath made princes your power is aboue their tyrannie before you do I expone my cause I am in your handes aud can not resist to suffer what ye think iust But lest that my lenitie and patieÌ„ce should either make you negligent in the defence of me in my iust cause appealiÌ„g to your iudgemeÌ„t either yet encorrage my ennemies in seakinge my blood this one thinge I dar not consile That if you murther me which thing ye do if ye defeÌ„d me not ye make not only my ennemies gyltie of my blood but also your selues and this hole citie By these wordes I say it is euident that the prophete of God beiÌ„g daÌ„ned to death by the preestes aÌ„d by the prophetes of the visible Churche did seke aid support and defence at the princes and temporall magistrates threatnyng his blood to be required of theyre handes if they by theyre auctorite did not defend hym from the furie of his ennemies alledging also iust causes of his appellation and why he oght to haue bene defended to wit that he was sent of God to rebuke theire vices and defection from God that he taught no doctrine which God before had not pronounced in his Law that he desired theyre conuersion to God continuallie calling vpon them to walk in the wayes which God had approued and therefore doth he boldlie craue of the princes as of Goddes lieutenaÌ„tes to be defended from the blynd rage tyrannie of the preests notwithstanding that they claimed to themselues auctoritie to iudge in all matters of religion And the same did he what tyme he was cast in pryson and thereafter was brought to the preseÌ„ce of king Zedechias after I say that he had defended his innoceÌ„tie affirmyng that he neither had offended against the king against his seruantes nor against the people at last he made intercession to the king for his life saying But now my lord the king take hede I beseche thee let my prayer fall in to thy presence commaund me not to be caried againe in to the house of Ionathan the scribe that I dye not there And the text witnesseth that the king commaunded the place of his imprysonment to be chaunged Whereof it is euident that the prophet did ofter then once seke help at the ciuile power and that fyrst the princes and thereafter the king did acknowledge that it appertained to their office to deliuer him from the iniust sentence which was pronounced against him yf any thinke that Ieremie did not appeall becaus he onely declared the wronge done vnto him and did but craue defence according to his innocencie let the same man vnderstand that none otherwise do I appeale from that fals and cruell sentence which your Byshoppes haue pronounced against me Neither yet can there be any other iust cause of appellation but innoceÌ„cie hurt or suspected to be hurt whether it be by ignorance of a iudge or by malice and corruption of those who vnder the title of iustice do exercise tyraÌ„nie if I were a thefe murtherer blasphemer open adulterer or any offender whome Gods worde commaundeth to suffer for a crime committed my appellation were vaine and to be reiected but I being innoceÌ„t yea the doctrine which your Byshoppes haue condemned in me being Gods eternall veritie haue no lesse libertie to craue your defence against that crueltie then had the Prophet Ieremie to seke the ayde of the Princes and King of Iuda But this shall more plainly appear in the facte of sainct Paule who after that he was apprehended in Ierusalem did fyrst claime to the libertie of Romayne citezeÌ„s for auoiding tormeÌ„t what tyme that the captayn would haue examined hym by questions there after in the couÌ„cile where no rightious iudgement was to be hoped for he affirmed that he was a Pharisie and that he was accused of the resurrection of the dead and last in the presence of Festus he appealed from all knowledge and iudgement of the Preestes at Ierusalem to the Emperour of which last point because it doth chefelie appertaine to this my cause I will somwhat speak After that Paule had diuerse tymes bene accused as in the Actes of the apostles is manifest at the last the chefe Preestes and theyre faction came to Cesarea with Festus the presideÌ„t who presented to them Paule in iudgement whome they accused of horrible crimes which neuertheles they could not proue the Apostle defending that he had not offended neither agaiÌ„nst the Law neither against the Temple neither yet against the Emperour But Festus willing to gratifie the Iewes said to Paule Wilt thou go vp to Ierusalem aÌ„d there be iudged of these thinges in my presence But Paule said I stand at the iustice seat of the Emperour where it behoueth me to be iudged I haue done no iniurie to the Iewes as thou better knowest Yf I haue done any thing iniustly or yet committed crime worthie of death I refuse not to die But if there be nothing of these thinges true where of they accuse me no man may geue me to them I appeall to Cesar. It may appear at the first sight that Paule did great iniurie to Festus the iudge and to the hole order of the preesthode who did hope greater equitie in a cruell tyrant then in all that session and learned companie Which thinge no dout Festus did vnderstaÌ„d pronouncing these wordes Hast thou appealed to Cesar thou shalt go to Cesar. As he would say I as a man willing to vnderstaÌ„d the truth before I ê“nouÌ„ce seÌ„tence haue required of thee to go to Ierusalem where the learned of thyne owne nation may
preferred to Aaron that the one commaunded and the other did obey who dar esteme that the ciuile power is now becomed so prophane in Gods eyes that it is sequestred from all intromission with the matters of religion The holie ghost in diuers places declarethe the contrarie For one of the chefe praecepts commaunded to the king when that he should be placed in his throne was to write the example of the boke of the Lordes law that it should be with hym that he might read in it all the daies of his life that he might learn to fear the Lord his God and to kepe all the wordes of his law and his statutes to do them This praecept requireth not onlye that the king should hym selfe fear God kepe his Law and statutes but that also he as the chefe ruler should prouide that goddes true religion should be kept inuiolated of the people and flock which by God was committed to his charge And this did not onlie Dauid and Salomon perfectly vnderstād but also somme godlie kinges in Iuda after the apostasie and idolatrie that infected Israel by the meanes of Ieroboam did practise theyre vnderstanding and execute theyre power in somme notable reformations For Asa and Iosaphat kinges in Iuda fynding the religion altogither corrupt did applie theyre hearts saieth the holie ghost to serue the Lord and to walk in his waies and thereafter doth witnes that Asa remoued from honours his mother somme say grādmother because shee had committed and laboured to mentaine horrible idolatrie And Iosaphat did not only refuse strange goddes hym selfe but also distroying the chefe monuments of idolatrie did send furth the. Leuites to instruct the people whereof it is playne that the one and the other did vnderstand suche reformations to appertaine to theire dueties But the factes of Ezechias and of Iosias do more clerely proue the power and duetie of the ciuile Magistrate in the reformation of religion Before the reign of Ezechias so corrupt was the religion that the dores of the house of the Lord were shut vpp the lampes were extinguished no sacrifice was orderly made but in the first yeare of his reigne the first moneth of the same did the king open the dores of the temple bring in the Preestes and Leuites and assembling them togither did speak vnto them as folloeth Hear me o yce Leuites and be sanctified now and sanctifie also the house of the Lord God of your fathers and carie furth from the sanctuarie all filthynes he meaneth all monumēts and vesselles of idolatrie for our fathers haue transgressed and haue committed wickednes in thee eyes of the eternall our God they haue left hym and haue turned theyre faces from the tabernacle of the Lord ▪ and therefore is the wrath of the Lord cōmed vpon Iuda and Ierusalem Behold our fathers haue fallen by the sworde our sonnes daughters ād wifes are led in captiuitie but now haue I purposed in my heart to make a couenante with the Lord God of Israel that he may turne the wrath of his furie from vs. And therefore my sonnes he swetely exhorteth be not faint for the Lord hath chosen you to stand in his presence and to serue hym Such as be not more then blynd clerely may perceaue that the king dothe aknolledge that it appertained to his charge to reforme the religion to appoint the Leuites to theyre charges and to admonish thē of theyre duetie and office which thing he more euidently declareth writing his lettres to all Israel to Ephrtaim an Manasses and sent the same by the handes of messingers hauing this tenour You sonnes of Israel return to the Lord God of Abraham Isaac ād Israel and he shall return to the residue that resteth from the handes of Assur Be not as your fathers and as your brethren were who haue trāsgressed against the Lord God of theyre fathers who hath made them desolate as you see Holde not your heart therefore but giue your hand vnto the Lord return vnto his sanctuarie serue hym and he shall shew mercie vnto you to your sonnes and doughters that be in bondage for he is pitifull and easie to be intreated Thus far did Ezechias by lettres and messingers prouoke the people declined from God to repentance not only in Iuda where he reigned laufull king but also in Israel subiect then to an other king And albeit that by somme wicked men his messingers were mocked yet as they lacked not theyre iust punishmēt for within sixe yeares after Samaria was destroyed and Israel led captiue by Salmanazar so did not the zelous king Ezechias desist to prosecute his duetie in restoring the religion to Gods perfecte ordenance remouing all abominations The same is to be red of Iosias who did not only restore the religion but did further distroy all monumentes of idolatrie which of lōg tyme had remained For it is written of him that after that the boke of the law was found and that he had asked counsil at the prophetesse Hulda he sente ād gathered all the elders of iuda and Ierusalem and standing in the temple of the Lord he made a conuenant that all the people frō the great to the small should walk after the Lord should obserue his law statutes and testimonies with all theyre heart and all theyre soule and that they should ratifie and confirme what soeuer was written in the boke of God He further cōmaunded Helkias the hic preest and the preestes of the inferiour order that they should carie furth of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made to Baal which he burnt and did carie theire pouder to Bethel He did further distroy all monuments of idolatrie yea euen those that had remained frō the dayes of Salomō He did burn them stampe them to powder whereof one part he scattered in the broke Kidron and the other vpon the sepulcres and graues of the idolaters whose bones he did burn vpō the altars where before they made sacrifice not only in Iuda but also in Bethel where Ieroboam had erected his idolatrie yea he further proceded and did kyll the preestes of the hie places who were idolaters and had deceaued the people he did kyll them I say and did burn theyre bones vpon theyre owne altars and so returned to Ierusalem This reformatiō made Iosias and for the same obtained this testimonie of the holie Ghost that neither before hym neither after hym was there any suche kīg who returned to God with his hole soule and with all his strengthe according to all the law of Moses Of which histories it is euident that the reformation of religion in all points togither with the punishement of false teachers doth appertaine to the power of the ciuile Magistrate For what God required of them his iustice must require of others hauing the like charge and auctoritie what he did approue in them he can not but approue in all others who with like zeale and
greatly they bost is nothing els but as if theues murtherers or briggandes should conspire amongest them selues that they would neuer answer in iudgement before anie laufull Magistrate to the end that their theft and murther should not be punished euen such I say is their wicked priuiledge which neither they haue of God the father neither of Christ Iesus who hathe reuealed his fathers will to the world neither yet of the Apostles nor primatiue Churche as before is declared But it is a thinge conspired amongest them selues to the end that their iniquitie detestable life and tyrannie shall neither be repressed nor reformed And if they obiect that godlie Emperours did graunt and confirme the same I answer that the godlines of no man is or can be of sufficient auctoritie to iustifie a foolishe and vngodlie fact such I mean as God hath not alowed by his worde For Abraham was a godlie man but the deniall of his wife was such a fact as no godlie man oght to imitate The same might I shew of Dauid Ezechias and Iosias vnto whom I think no man of iudgement will prefer anie Emperour sence Christ in holines ād wisdome and yet are not all theyr factes no euen such as they appeared to haue done for good causes to be approued nor folowed And therefore I say as errour and ignorance remayn all waies with the most perfect man in this life so must their workes be examined by an other rule thē by their own holines if they shall be approued But if this answer doth not suffice then will I answer more shortly that no godlie Emperour sence Christes ascensiō hath graunted anie such priuiledge to anie such Churche or person as they the hole generatiō of Papistes be at this day I am not ignorāt that sōme Emperours of a certaine zeale and for sōme cōsideratiōs graunted liberties to the true Church afflicted for theyr mentainance against tyrants but what serueth this for the defence of theyr tyrannie Yf the law must be vnderstāded accordīg to the mynd of the lawgeuer then must they fyrst proue thē selues Christes true ād afflicted Churche before they can claime anie priuiledge to appertaine to them For only to that Churche were the priuiledges graunted It will not be their glorious titles neither yet the longe possession of the name that can preuaile in this so weghtie a cause For all those had the Churche of Ierusalem which did crucifie Christ and did condemne his doctrine We offer to proue by theyr frutes and tyrannie by the Prophetes and playn scriptures of God what trees and generation they be to witt vnfrutefull and rotten apt for nothing but to be cutt and cast in hell fier yea that they are the very kingdome of Antichrist of whome we are cōmaunded to beware And therefore my Lordes to return to you seing that God hath armed your handes with the sworde of iustice seing that his Law most streatly commaundeth idolaters and fals prophetes to be punisshed with death and that you be placed aboue your subiects to reigne as fathers ouer theyr children and further seing that not only I but with me manie thousand famous godlie and learned persons accuse your Byshoppes ād the hole rabble of the Papistical clergie of idolatrie of murther and of blasphemie against God committed it appertaineth to your Honours to be vigilant and carefull in so weghtie a matter The question is not of earthly substāce but of the glorie of God and of the saluation of your selues and of your brethren subiect to your charge in which if you after this playne admonitiō be negligent there resteth no excuse by reason of ignorance For in the name of God I require of you that the cause of religiō may be tried in your presēce by the playne ād simple worde of God that your Byshoppes be compelled to desist from theyr tyrannie that they be compelled to make answer for the neglecting of their office for the substāce of the poore which vniustly they vsurpe and prodigally they do spend but principally for the fals and deceauable doctrine which is taught and defended by theyr fals prophetes flattering freers and other such venemous locustes Which thing if with single eyes ye do preferring goddes glorie and the saluation of your brethren to all worldlie commoditie then shall the same God who solemnely doth pronounce to honour those that do honour hym power his benedictions plentifully vpon you he shall be your buckler protection and captayne and shall represse by his strength and wisdome whatsoeuer Satan by his suppostes shall imagine against you I am not ignorant that great troubles shall ensue your enterprise For Satan will not be expelled from the possession of his vsurped kingdome without resistance But if you as is said preferring goddes glorie to your own liues vnfeanedly seke and studie to obey his blessed will then shall your deliuerance be such as euidently it shall be knowen that the angels of the eternall do watche make warr and feght for those that vnfeynedly fear the Lorde But if you refuse this my most reasonable and iust petition what defēce that euer you appeare to haue before men then shall God whome in me you contemne refuse you He shall pourefurthe contempt vpon you and vpon your posteritie after you The spirit of boldnes and wisdome shall be taken from you your ennemies shall reign and you shall die in bondage yea God shall cutt doune the vnfrutefull trees when they do appeare most beautifully to florish and shall so burn the roote that after of you shall neither twigge nor branch againe spring to glorie Hereof I nede not to adduce vnto you examples from the former ages and auncient histories For your brethren the nobilitie of England are a mirrour and glasse in the which ye may beholde goddes iust punishment For as they haue refused him and his Euāgil which ones in mouth they did professe so hath he refused them and hath taken from them the spirit of wisdome boldenes and of counsil They see and fele theyr owne miserie and yet they haue no grace to auoid it They hate the bondage of strangers the pride of preestes and the mōstriferous empire of a wicked womā and yet are they cōpelled to bowe their neckes to the yock of the Deuill to obey what soeuer the proude Spaniards and wicked Iesabel list to commaund and finally to stand like slaues with capp in hand till the seruantes of Satan the shauen sort call them to counsil This frute do they reape ād gather of their former rebellion and vnfaithfulnes towardes God They are left cōfused in their owne counsils He whome in his mēbres for the pleasure of a wicked woman they haue exiled persecuted ād blasphemed doth now laugh them to skorn suffereth thē to be pyned in bondage of most wicked men ād finally shall adiudge thē to the fier euerlastīg except that spedely ād opēly they repēt theyr horrible treasō which against God agaīst his sonne Christ Iesus
graunt to me and vnto others that vnfeanedly for your saluation and for goddes glorie require the same I am assured that of God ye shall be blessed whatsoeuer Satan shall deuise against you But and if ye contēne or refuse God who thus louingly offereth vnto you saluation and life ye shall neither escape plages temporall whiche shortly shall apprehend you neither yet the torment prepared for the deuil and for his angels except by spedie repentance ye returne to the Lord whome now ye refuse if that ye refuse the messingers of his worde But yet I think ye doubt what ye oght and may do in this so weghtie a matter In few wordes I will declare my conscience in the one and in the other Ye oght to prefer the glorie of God the promoting of Christ his Euangil and the saluation of your soules to all thinges that be in earth and ye althoghe ye be but subiectes may lawfully require of your superiours be it of your king be it of your lordes rulers and powers that they prouide for you true preachers and that they expell such as vnder the names of pastours deuoure and destroy the flock not feeding the same as Christ Iesus hath commaunded And if in this point your superiour be negligent or yet pretend to maitaine tyrantes in their tyrannie most iustly ye may prouide true teachers for your selues be it in your cities townes or villages them ye may maitaine and defend against all that shall persecute them and by that meanes shall labour to defraude you of that most confortable foode of your soules Christes Euangil truely preached Ye may moreouer withhold the frutes and profetts which your fals Byshoppes and clergie most iniustly receyue of you vnto such tyme as they be compelled faithfully to do theyr charge and dueties which is to preach vnto you Christ Iesus truely ryghtly to minister his sacramentes according to his own institution and so to watche for the saluation of your soules as is commaunded by Christ Iesus hym selfe and by his apostles Paule and Peter Yf God shall moue your heartes in his true fear to begynne to practise these thīges and to demaund and craue the same of your superiours which most lawfully ye may do thē I doubt not but of his greate mercie and free grace he shall illuminate the eyes of your myndes that his vndoubted veritie shalbe a lantern to your feete to guyde ād lead you in all the wayes which his godlie wisdome doth approue He shall make your ennemies tremble before your faces he shall establish his blessed Euāgil amōgest you to the saluation and perpetual cōfort of your selues and of your posteritie after you But and if as God forbyd the loue of frendes the fear of your princes and the wisdome of the world draw you back from God and from his sōne Christ Iesus be ye certainly persuaded that ye shall drink the cupp of his vengeance so many I mean as shall contemne and dispise this louing calling of your heauenlie father It wil not excuse you dear Brethren in the presence of God neither yet will it auaile you in the day of his visitation to say We were but simple subiects we could not redresse the faultes and crimes of our rulers Byshoppes and clergie we called for reformation and wished for the same but Lords brethrē were Byshoppes theyr sonnes were abbottes and the frendes of greate men had the possession of the Churche and so were we compelled to giue obedience to all that they demaunded These vaine excuses I say will nothing auaile you in the presence of God who requireth no lesse of the subiectes then of the rulers that they decline from euil ād that they do good that they abstaine from idolatrie superstition blasphemie murther and other such horrible crimes which his law forbiddeth and yet nottheles are openly committed and maliciously defended in that miserable realme And if ye think that ye are innocent because ye are not the chefe auctours of such iniquitie ye are vtterly deceaued For God doth not only punishe the chefe offenders but with them doth he damne the consenters to iniquitie and all are iudged to consent that knowing impietie committed giue no testimonie that the same displeaseth them To speak this matter more playne as your princes and rulers are criminal with your Byshoppes of all idolatrie committed and of all the innocent blood that is shed for the testimonie of Christes trueth and that because they maintaine them in theyr tyrannie so are you I mean so many of you as giue no playn confession to the contrarie criminal and gyltie with your princes and rulers of the same crimes becaus ye assist ād maintaine your prīces in theyr blynde rage and giue no declaration that theyr tyrannie displeaseth you This doctrine I know is strange to the blynde world but the veritie of it hath bene declared in all notable punishments from the begynnyng When the original world perished by water whē Sodom ād Gomorrha were consumed by fier and finally when Ierusalem was horribly destroyed doth any man think that all were a lyke wicked before the world Euidēt it is that they were not if they shall be iudged according to theyr external factes For somme were yonge and ould not be oppressours neiher yet could defile them selues with vnnatural and beastlie lustes sōme were pitiful and gentle of nature ād did not thrist for the blood of Christ nor of his Apostles But did any escape the plages and vengeance which did apprehend the multitude Let the scriptures witnesse and the histories be considered ▪ which plainely do testifie that by the waters all fleshe in earth at that tyme did perishe Noah and his familie reserued that none escaped in Sodom and in the other cities adiacent except Lot and his two daughters And euident it is that in that famous citie Ierusalem in that last and horrible destruction of the same none escaped goddes vengeance except so many as before were dispersed And what is the cause of this seueritie seing that all were not a like offenders Let fleshe cease to dispute with God and let all man by these examples learne betymes to flie and auoid the societie and compagnie of the proude contemners of God if that they list not to be partakers of theyr plages The cause is euident if we can be subiect without grudging to goddes iudgementes which in them selues are most holie and iust For in the original world none was founde that either did resist tyrannie and oppression that vniuersally was vsed either yet that earnestly reprehended the same In Sodom was none founde that did against ād that furious and beastlie multitude that did compasse about and besiege the house of Lot None would beleue Lot that the citie should be destroyed And finally in Ierusalem was none found that studied to represse the tyrannie of the Preestes who were coniured against Christ and his Euangil but
mindinge by that meanes to cutt for euer the knot of the frendship that might haue ensued betwixte England and Scotland by that godlie coniunction What the papistes feared is manifest For then Christe Iesus being more purely preached in England then at any tyme before would shortly haue suppressed their pride and vaine glorie and therefore they raged that he should not reigne aboue them also But what is like to apprehend you for because ye did not betymes withstaÌ„d their most wicked couÌ„sils wise men do coÌ„sider How heauie and vnpleasant shall the burthen and yock of a Frenchman be to your shoulders aÌ„d necks God graunt that experience do not teach you But to returne to my former purpose by all those means rehersed by his messeÌ„gers by the blood of his saincts shed amoÌ„gest you by fauours aÌ„d frendship by warre and the sword yea by famin aÌ„d pestileÌ„ce aÌ„d all other meaÌ„s hath God your mercifull father called you to labour in his vineyard but to this day alas we heare not of your huÌ„ble obedience but stil ye say with stubburn faces we will not labour we will not be bouÌ„de to such thraldome to abide the burthens of the vineyard Ye think perchaÌ„ce I am to sharpe and that I accuse you more then you deserue For amoÌ„gest you many do know the will of your father and many make profession of his Ghospel but coÌ„sider BrethreÌ„ that it is not enoug he to know the coÌ„mauÌ„demeÌ„t and to ê“fesse the same in mouthe but it is necessarie that ye refuse your selues your owne pleasures appetites and your owne wisdome if ye shall be iudged faithfull labourers in the Lordes vineyard aÌ„d that ye beare the burthens togiter with your brethren and suffre heate and sweate before ye taste the frutes with them God will not stand content that ye loke ouer the hedge and beholde the labours of your brethreÌ„ but he requireth that ye put your haÌ„des also to your labours that ye trauail continually to pluck vpp all vnprofitable wedes albeit in so doing the thornes pricke you to the hard bones that ye assist your brethreÌ„ in theyr labours thoghe it be with the icopardie of your lifes the losse of your substance and displeasure of the hole earthe Except that thus ye be minded to labour the Lord of the vineyarde wil not acknolledge you for his faith full seruantes And because this matter is of weight and greate importance I will speake soÌ„what more plainely for your instruction It is bruted to the greate comfort of all godlie that heare it that somme of you deare Brethren of Scotland do desire Christ Iesus to be faithfully preached amoÌ„gest you which thing if froÌ„ the heart you desyre and with godlie wisdome and stowt courrage folow your purpose and enterprise ye shall be blessed of the Lord for euer But in the begynnyng ye must beware that ye folow not the exaÌ„ple of your brethreÌ„ of EnglaÌ„d in whose handes albeit the worke of the Lord appeared to prosper for a time yet because the eye was not single we see to our grief the ouer throw of the same They began to plante Christ Iesus in the heartes of the people aÌ„d to baÌ„nish that Romish Antichrist they did driue owt the fylthie swyne froÌ„ theyr dennes and holes I mean the monkes and other such papisticall vermin from their cloisters aÌ„d abbayes This was a good be ginning but alas in the one and the other there was great faulte For the banishiÌ„g of that Romish Antichrist was rather by the feare of the lawes pronouÌ„ced against him by actes of parlameÌ„t theÌ„ by the liuelie preachiÌ„g of Christ Iesus aÌ„d by the discoueriÌ„g of his abominatioÌ„s And the suppressioÌ„ of the abbaies did rather smell of auarice theÌ„ of true religioÌ„ Those venemous locustes which before were holdeÌ„ within their cloisters were then set abrode to destroy all good aÌ„d grene herbes For superstitious freers ignoraÌ„t moÌ„ks aÌ„d idle abots were made archbishoppes bishoppes persons vicars aÌ„d such as oght to fede the soules of men â–ª who thus set at libertie did coÌ„tinually wrootup the Lords vineyard And one crafty Gardener whose name was Stephen hauiÌ„g wolflik coÌ„ditioÌ„s did maiÌ„taiÌ„ many a wolfe did sow wicked seed in the gardeÌ„ aÌ„d cherished many weedes to deface the vineyard And his maid Marie who after was his mastres now maried to Philip waÌ„tiÌ„g no wil to wickednes wheÌ„ she was at the weakest norsto make to do euill when she gatt the mastrie did cherishe many weedes Those two I say haue so broken the hedges of the same vineyarde God so punishing the sinnes of those that oght to haue made better prouision for the same that the husbandmen are hanged vp the diggars dressours and planters are banished prisoned and burned Such hauock is made that al wilde beastes haue power to pollute the sanctuarie of the Lorde O heauens beholde her crueltie o earthe cry for vengeance o seas and deserte mountains witnesses of her wickednes break furthe against this monster of England But whether do I runne by the bitternes of my grefe I must nedes leaue the o Scotland after that I haue aduertised the of this that thou folow not the example as I haue said of EnglaÌ„d but in the bowels of Christ Iesus I exhorte the that if thou preteÌ„dest any reformatioÌ„ in religion which is the chefe labour of the vineyarde that thou do it at the first with a single eye and all simplicitie that from yeare to yeare thou be not compelled to change as was England but let thy reformation be full and plaine according to goddes holie will and worde without addition Let all the plaÌ„tes which thy heauenly father hath not planted be rooted owt at once let not auarice blind the neither yet wordlie wisdome discourage thy hearte let none beare the name of a teacher that is knowen to be a fosterer of superstitioÌ„ or any kynde of wickednes And thou so doing shalt moue God of his greate mercie to send vnto the faithfull worke men in abundaÌ„ce to blesse the worke that thou preteÌ„dest in the vineyarde aÌ„d to preserue the to the glorie of his own name and to thy euerlasting comforte Thus must thou Scotland repent thy former inobedience if that thou wilt be approued of the Lord. And now do I return to the O EnglaÌ„d I do liken the to the secoÌ„de sonne in the parable which answered his father with flattering wordes saying I go father but yet he went not at all For sence the time that I had any remembrance our heaueÌ„lie father of his great mercies hath not ceased to call the in to his vineyard and to these late daies thou hast said alwayes that thou woldest enter and be obedient In the tyme of king Henrie the eght when by Tyndale Frith Bylnay and other his faithfull seruantes God called EnglaÌ„d to dresse his vineyard many promised full faire whome I could name But what frute folowed nothing but bitter grapes yea breeres and brambles the wormewood of auarice the
planted a faire vineyard he hedged it round about and buylded a toure c. And when the tyme of the frute drew nere he sent his seruants to the tilmen to receyue the frutes thereof but they caught his seruantes they bett one they killed an other and stoned others Againe he sent other seruantes mo and they serued them like wise What nede any exposition to applie this vnto England All is fulfilled that is spoken in that parable onles they do waite for the sonne hym selfe for to comme that they may handle hym lykewise as they haue done his seruantes But all is one saieth our Sauiour Christ. That which ye do to one of these litle ons the same ye do to me be it good or bad Why doest thou persecute me saieth Christ to Saul when he was as he now is at the right hand of God his father in the heauens Therefore they persecute they banishe they burne Christ the sonne of God in his membres The iudgement therefore now remaineth which the wicked then gaue against them selues That the Lord of the vineyarde will cruelly destroy those euill persons and will let furth his vineyarde vnto other husbandes And the confirmation of the same by the sentence of the chefe iudge that The kingdome of God shall be taken from such and geuen to a people that shall bringe furth the frutes thereof The which iudgement is begonne in Englande and shortly alas will be fully executed and finished without right spedie repentance Somme hope is in Scotland which hath not shewed furth any such crueltie and hath not contemned the knowen treasures but lyke wanton children haue contemned the commaundement of theyr father partely of frailtie partely of ignorance But Englād the seruante that knew the will of his Lord and maister which was once lightened with most clere beames which hath tasted of the swetenes of the worde of God and of the ioyes of the worlde to comme which hath abiured Antichrist and all idolatrie which hath boasted to professe Christ with greate boldnes before all the worlde must be beaten with many stripes it can not be auoided But to be shorte this only remaineth for bothe these nations that they repent and returne into the vineyarde with the fyrst sonne For neither shall ignorance excuse any land or nation as is playn in the fyrst to the Romanes neither can any people be receyued without the frutes of repentance as Iohn Baptist proclaimeth The frutes of repentance I call not only to know your synnes and to lament them but to amend your liues and to make streght the Lordes pathes by resisting Satan and synne and obeying God in doing the workes of righteousnes and executing goddes praecepts and iudgementes so longe amongest you contemned For euen now is the axe put to the roote of the tree so that euerie tree that bringeth not furthe goode frute shalbe hewē downe and cast into the fier The Lord hath now his fanne in his hande and will purge his flore ād gather the wheate into his garner but will burne the chaffe with vnquēchable fier Repent therefore whiles ye haue tyme before ye be fanned hewē downe and fiered When I do behold both your two realmes I see the fanne I see the axe But this I am suer is the begynnyng of your ruine that ye do mary with strangers and giue your power to forraine nations such as feare not God but are open idolaters blasphemers persecuters of the saincts of God that careth neither for heauen nor hell God nor deuill so that they may wynne landes townes and countries God shall hew you downe by thē therefore as he hath done other nations by like meanes and causes and they shall fanne you furthe of your own huskes and homes to make you vagaboundes and beggars and after possesse your landes and goods as God threatned by Moses as was before alledged Trust not to thy strengthe afterwarde when thy ennemy is setled if thou haue no strengthe to resist his begynnynges no more thē thou canst ouercome a canker that hath ouerrunne many membres That God would not haue you to truste to your force of men townes or castels there is enough exāples that you bothe haue felt to your grefe And I can not write without murnyng For how litle auayled the multitude and stowt courrage of you dear Brethrē of Scotlād att Musselburgh or Pinkefield the carcases alas of many thousands who that day fell in the edge of the sworde may teach you And how vaine be all strengthes be they iudged neuer so stronge or inexpugnable lett Calice lately taken admonish you But I do leaue such exāples to your considerations to teache you to call to the liuinge Lord who offereth hym selfe as a mercifull father vnto you still calling you to repentance by wordes by writinges and most gentle corrections if ye will not be harde harted Yet here haue we to lamēt the miserable state of mākynde which is so seduced by the subtile serpēt that he can not know his miserie when he is admonished nor perceaue his perdition when it draweth so nere When the seruantes of God set furthe his trueth they are charged to trouble realmes and countries as was Elias when they warne men not to ioyne handes with wicked kinges and princes they are counted traitours as was Esaias and Ieremias Such is mannes malice But if there be a God that is fyrst of all to be soght and without whome nothing can be profitable vnto vs but without hym all thinges are vnhappie and accursed if the kingdome of God and the righteousnes thereof must fyrst be soght and then all thinges shall be ministred if our heauenlie kinge must before man be obeyed then all such doctrine as calleth vs from man to God is easie to be perceaued and oght not to be resisted Wherefore I do admonish and exhorte you bothe in the name of the liuinge God that how so euer you haue hitherto shewed your selues the seruants of men to beare and to flatter with the worlde that now ye learne in goddes cause to despise the faces of men to bend your selues against this wicked world neither regarding the visars of honours vaine titles nor dignities any further then they seke God his onelie glorie For his glorie will he not suffer to be contemned for any cause No he will powre contempt on those princes that striue against his trueth but those that glorifie hym will he glorifie And what king dome realme or nation so euer it be that will not seke to sanctifie his name they shall in the day of goddes greuous visitation which is now at hand be vtterly cōfounded theyr strēgth shalbe straw theyr honours shall be shame and all their idolatrous preestes in whose lies they delyte togither with their idols with whome they are bewitched shall be stubble and brymstone to burne togither whē the wrathe of the Lorde of hostes shall set them on fier The preestes shall not saue theyr goddes nor the