he performed and broke not And is not our Princesse Quéene of England as wel as Asa was King of Iuda And hath not she as great power in hir kingdome as he had in his And if God was well pleased wyth King Asa for making and performing that couenant as hée was indéede woulde he then be angrye thinke you with Quéene Elizabeth if she made the like and performed it I thinke not But our merciful Quéene though she hathe set forth the very true law of God as spéedily as earnestly and as zealously as eyther king Asa or anye other Ruler hathe done to be followed and obserued throughoute hir whole Realme hath not made any such couenaunt or lawe to slea or kil them that do not followe and obey the same But consider this well if the Pope not appointed by Gods law to raigne and rule as he hath done and doth may murther and kill as many of you thinke he may the professors and folowers of Gods word being not his subiects for disobeying his law deuised inuented by man on earth and procured by the Diuel Then may not we thinke that our Quéene appoyâ—ted by God and allowed by his word to raigne ouer vs may lawfully kil and put to death the Idolatrous Papistes hir subiectes for wilfully disobeying and withstanding the law of God that came from heauen béeing long sinâ—e taught vs by the Prophets by Iesus Christ the sonne of God and by his Apostles moued and procured thereto by God the holy ghost Therfore I beséeche you weigh the milde nature of our gratious Quéene the mother of Mercie that doth not vse the iustice she may and marke your holy father the Pope the Captain of Crueltie that vseth â—he iniusticie he ought not I pray you is not our Elizabeth Quéene of England aswel as Quéen Mary was what power what iurisdiction what auctoritie what superioritie what excellencie and what else hadde Quéene Mary that this our Quéene Elizabeth hath not Quéen Mary was King Henry the eights daughter so was our Quéen Elizabeth Quéene Mary was King Edw. sister so is Quéene Elizabeth Q. Mary succéeded hir brother King Edward so dydde Quéene Elizabeth succéede hir sister Quéene Mary Quéene Mary was lawful Quéene of England Quéene Elizabeth is as lawful Quéene of England I wil not say more Quéene Mary put downe Gods worde planted by hir brother and set vp Papistrie and Idolatrie and obeyed the Pope Quéene Elizabeth putte downe Papistrie and Idolatrie planted by hir sister and obeys God Quéene Mary vsed hir harmlesse and obedient Subiectes cruelly and putte them to death that professed Gods word Quéene Elizabeth vseth hir wicked and disobedient Subiectes mercifullye and suffereth them to liue that professe and stiffely defende Papistrie and Idolatrie the doctrine of the Diuel These comparisons duly considered your Quéene Mary did not muche excell oure Quéene Elizabeth vnlesse in crueltie and burning hir harmlesse subiects Nowe if Quéene Mary might put to death hir humble and harmelesse subiects for professing of Gods worde then I can not sée but that our Quéene Elizabeth maye as wel execute hir stubborne and disobedient subiectes whiche she as yet neuer did that withstande Gods worde and wil néedes followe Papistrie and Idolatrie And further if Quéene Mary hadde a lawe to burne the seruauntes of God that were obedient to hir concernyng their worldly duty and neuer meant hir harm Then why may not our Quéene Elizabeth make a law to execute the Popes seruants that are bound to be hir louing subiects which are disobedient vnto hir and that séeke procure desire and wish hir death and destruction Therfore be thankfull to God that hath giuen you and vs such a merciful Prince to raigne ouer vs loue obâ—y hir that gyueth you for Iustice mercy and for extremitie lenitie And now as hir Grace doth refraine fcom that she may do so prouoke not hir highnesse to that she can doe And as I saide thinke not that hir Grace can not vse the sworde againste you bycause she hathe not vsed it for if you thinke so you do not only deceiue youre selues but also do much abuse hir Maiestie in that you séeme thereby to make hir a Prince without power whereby you are vnworthy of the great mercy she shewes vnto you What seruant is so foolishe to thinke much more to say that bycause his Maister doth not beate him for his faulte therefore he can not beate him Bycause the mercifull father doth not beate his sonne for his offence that maketh not that he can not beate him for the same Shall hir clemencie and mercie make you thinke in hir disabilitie Therefore if anye of you thinke so as I beléeue some of you haue said so you are not worthy of suche a mercifull Maistresse that vseth you so And I am sure that it is the spirite of vnthankfulnesse the spirite of blindnesse the spirite of errour or rather the spirite of the diuel that makes you say so Thinke not I beséech you that I haue written this for that I woulde haue the Quéenes Maiestie to withdrawe hir mercie from you and to vse you with crueltie whiche is contrary to hir milde and merciful nature if anye other way would serue for I do it as the Lord knows my hart to make you to sée and vnderstand hir great mercy lenitie and gentlenesse towards you thereby to win and allure you froÌ„ obstinacie to obediencie from ingratitude to thaÌ„kfulnesse from ignorance to knowlege froÌ„ error to truth It may be that some of you wil saye that you loue the Quéene as wel as we and wishe the commoditie of youre country as wel as we If you do so then you wil not procure nor wishe anye forraine foes to come into anye of hir Graces dominions to help aide or succor any rebelles or traytors against our Quéen neither wil you be glad when you heare that any such are aryued or come into anye of hir highnesse dominions to fight against hir neither will you reioice if they and the rebels shoulde prosper againste oure Quéene and country But if you hearken for their comming in to fight against hir Maiesty and hir louing subiects or to aide rebelles againste hir or if you reioyce that they aide or helpe traitors against our Quéene or if you desire that they the rebels may get the victorie of hir and hir louing subiects as I feare many of you haue done and yet doe then whatsoeuer you say you are I am sure you are not true subiects but traitors to your prince no friendes but enimies to England Did none of you reioice that the forraine foes ariued in Ireland of late were none of you glad that they aided the rebels there against our Quéene and hir louing subiects And were none of you sory for their euil successe and ouerthrow you in your consciences know whether you do thus or not whether you are such or not whether you reioyced that the forraine foes ayded the
world with his wicked wiles and to come and dwel neare him in Bethlem which was situate in the holy lande and the place consecrate to the birth of Christ. Here it appeares that he did not only know that Babilon is Rome and is the verye seate of that Purple whore but also that hée did maruellously detest and abhorre it Primasius also affirmeth that the prophesies of the Apocalips concerning Antichrist are to be fulfilled in the Romaine Empire S. Augustine in his excellent worke De ciuitate dei oftentimes calleth Rome Babilon and Babilon Rome as in his sixtéenth booke and seauententh Chapter he calleth Rome another Babilon in the Weast And in his eightéenth booke and second Chapter he calleth Babilon of Chaldea the firste Rome and Rome of Italie the seconde Babilon And the same Augustine in the two and twentith Chapter of the eightéenth booke calleth Rome another Babilon and the daughter of the firste Babilon And also he calleth Rome Westerne Babilon This and much more did the learned D. Fulke declare in his Sermon at Hampton court These are sufficient to proue that Rome is the very seate and place of the whore of Babilon spoken of by Saint Iohn in his Reuelations And now you shall sée whether the Pope be that strumpet and whore of Babilon or not Irenaeus saieth notwithstanding he be but a slaue yet he will be worshipped as if he were God S. Gregorie sayeth he is Antichrist that shall clayme to be called vniuersall Bishop and shall haue a guarde of Priestes to attend vpon him Ioachimus Abbas sayeth Antichrist is now borne in Rome and yet shall he be higher in the Apostolike See Saint Barnard sayeth the beast that is spoken of in the booke of Reuelations vnto which beast is giuen a mouth to speake blasphemie and to keepe warre against the Saints of God is now gotten into Peters chaire as a Lion prepared to his praie Franciscus Petrarcha calleth Rome the whore of Babilon the mother of Idolatrie and fornication and that all shame and reuerence is quite departed thence Baptista Mantuanus sayth Viuere qui sanctè cupitis discedite Roma Omnia cùm liceant non licet esse bonum that is to say All yee that would liue godly gette you away from Rome for whereas al things are there lawfull to be good it is not lawfull Saint Gregorie writing of Antichrist saith thus whereas he is a damned man by lying and not a spirite he faineth himself to be God and thus bicause the Pope as is before declared is called an earthly God and our Lorde God the Pope therefore he must néedes be the very Antichrist all things before well weighed and considered But perhappes you will saie that other haue bin called God as well as the Pope therefore why should hée bée Antichrist more thā they I grant that Antiochus somtime King of Syria entitled himselfe by the name of God So the Emperoure Domitian vsed to assigne his Proclamations Your Lorde God Domitian So the Emperour Caligula called himselfe the beste and most mightie God and the great God Iupiter of Italie Sopores the great King of Persia called himselfe the brother of the Sunne and the Moone Nicagoras made himselfe a payre of winges and woulde néedes be called the God Mercurius And the Romaines in olde time erected an Image in the honor of Simon Magus the sorcerer with this inscription or poesie In the honor of Simon the holy God These and diuers moe haue bin called Gods but they were heathen and did neuer sitte in the Temple of God as that Antichrist that Saint Paule speaketh of that he calleth the man of sinne that should sitte in the Temple of God and shewe himselfe as if he were God For which of those before named did sit so déepe in mens consciences as the Pope hath done and yet doth did euer any thinke that they coulde not erre or do euill whatsoeuer they did did euer any beléeue in them so muche that if they had curssed them they should then haue bin dāned did they euer make the people beléeue that they were the Deputies or vickars of Christ were they euer so farre and déepe in mens consciences that men thought to be saued by their pardons did they euer make any beléeue that they could commaund the Aungelles to come from Heauen and to carrie whose soules they list to Paradise did they make euer any man beléeue that they had the Keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen did they euer sitte so déepe in mens consciences which is the Temple and place of God that they coulde dispense with Whoredome Murder Thefte Idolatrie or any other Sins Did euer any beléeue that whatsoeuer they loosed in earth should be loosed in Heauen and whatsoeuer they bound in earth shoulde be bounde in heauen Did they euer say that they had all power in heauen and in earth Didde they euer make men beléeue that they coulde do in a manner whatsoeuer God could do that they Christ hadde one seat of iudgement Did they euer take vpon thē to be Christ the son of God wer they euer called the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world or did euer any fall down before them say so to them Did these before mentioned that were called Gods make men beléeue these things as the Pope hathe done and hath sit so déepe in mens consciences the temple of God as the Popes haue done No no neuer any but only the Pope Therefore it is he onely that S. Paule calleth the childe of Sinne that should sit in the Temple of God and shewe himselfe as if he were God It is the Pope onely that is that purple Whore of Babilon that hath names of blasphemie spoken of by S. Iohn in the Apocalips Therefore Anselmus saith verye truely and well that Antichrist shall faine himselfe to be holy that he may deceiue men vnder the colour of holines yea and he shal cal himselfe God and shall cause himselfe to be worshipped and shal promise the Kingdome of heauen Now tel me as I said before who euer did al these things or attempted to do thē but only the Pope The Pope onely therefore must néeds be the very Antichrist spoken of by Saint Iohn in the Reuelation and none other If this and all the rest that I haue spoken of the Pope which is most true wyl neither make you thinke euil of the Pope nor flye from him nor yet beléeue that he is the verye Antichriste then according to Esay the Prophet I feare that you haue eyes and see not eares and heare not and heartes and vnderstande not leaste you should repent and turne and the Lord thereby should haue mercie on you Thus you sée that you that are so addict to the Pope I haue proued you to be English enimies not obedient nor louing subiects to your Prince enimies to your Countrie and séeke or wishe the ruine of this famous
prison as is before sayde Thys notable and rare example is sufficient I thinke to proue that the Gospel our religion is most true and that only in it y e Lord is pleased for shewing his heauie wrath and vengeance on this Priest that did reuolte shrinke frō and deny the same and also in that the holy ghoste did so miraculously speake in this worthy Philbert continuing so firmely and stoutely in the same Gospell which s◠wonderfully and truely prophesied and foretolde of the sodain ende and desperate deathe of the sayde wicked reuolting Priest This is so manifest and so apparaunte that it wil enforce you to embrace the Gospell and to flye from Papistry if you be not determined and purposely bēt to withstand God and the truth Also one Berry the vicker of Aylsham and a Commissarie was a cruell tyraunte he killed two wyth striking of them and he was a cruell persecutor of the professors of the Gospell but GOD rewarded hym therfore or else the Diuell that sette hym on worke for as he was going homewarde from the Churche he fell downe sodaynelye to the grounde with a heauye grone and neuer styrred after neyther shewed hée anye token of repentaunce Likewise at that time one Dunning Chauncellour of Lincolne and a mercilesse Tirant against the professors of the gospel died in Lincolneshire of as sodain a warning as this Berry dyed One William Mawlden that was of this our religiō and professed the Gospell in the latter ende of Quéene Maries raigne and dwelling at Grenwich with one mayster Hugh Aparry lacking a booke to reade on looked about and foūd a Primer in English whereon he read being in a Winters Euening Whiles he was reading there did sit one Iohn Apowel that hadde bin a seruingman aboute thirtye yeares of age borne towardes Wales to whome the sayde Hugh Appary gaue meate and drinke til he could get him a seruice as the sayd William Mawlden red on the booke the sayde Iohn Apowel mockt him after euerye word with contrarie gaudes and flouting wordes vnreuerently insomuche that the sayde Mawlden coulde no longer abyde hym for griefe of heart but turned vnto him and saide Iohn take héede what thou doest thou dost not mocke me but thou mockest God for in mocking of his worde thou mockest him And this is the worde of God though I bée simple that reade it therfore beware what thou dost then Mawlden fel to reading againe and still the other procéeded in hys mocking And when Mawlden had redde certayne Englishe prayers in the ende he redde Lorde haue mercie vppon vs Christe haue mercie vppon vs c. And as Mawlden was recyting these wordes the other with a starte sayde Lorde haue mercie vppon me wyth that Mawlden turned and sayd what aylest thou Iohn he said I was afrayde wherof was thou afrayde saide Mawlden nothing nowe sayde the other and so he woulde not tell him after this when Mawlden and he went to bed Mawlden askt him whereof he was afrayde then he sayd when you read Lord haue mercie vppon vs Christe haue mercie vpon vs me thought the haire of my heade stoode vpright with a greate feare that came vpon me Then sayd Mawlden Iohn thou mayst sée the euil spirite coulde not abyde that Christe shoulde haue mercye vppon vs wel Iohn said Mawldē repent and amende thy life for God will not be mocked if we mocke and iest at his worde he wil punishe vs c. But after that as he lay almoste a day and a night his tong neuer ceased but he cryed out of the Diuel of hel saying O Diuell of Hel now the Diuel of Hel I would see the Diuel of Hell thou shalt see the Diuel of Hel there he was and there he goeth c. This I trowe maye be a worthye warnyng for all mockers scorners and deryders of Gods most holy word Marke the ende of Morgan Bishoppe of Sainte Dauids a Papisticall persecuter that sat vppon the condemnation of Bishop Farrare beyng after burned for the Gospell not long after the sayd Morgan was stricken with Gods hand after such a straunge sorte that his meate woulde not goe downe but rise picke vp againe sometime at his mouth sometime blowne out at his nose most horrible to beholde and so he continued till his death What a stroke of Gods hand was brought vpō Bishop Thorneton Suffragane of Douer a cruell Papisticall persecutor of the Saints of God for professing his word who after he had exercised his cruell tirannie vpon many godly men at Canterburie at length comming vppon a Saterday from the Chapter house at Canterburie to Borne there vpon a Sunday following looking vpon his men playing at boules fel suddenly into a palsie and so was had to bed and then was willed to remember God yea so I do sayd he and my Lorde Cardinall to An other Suffragane of Douer who not long after he was made Bishop or Suffragane of Douer brake his neck falling down a paire of stayers in the Cardinals Chamber at Grenewich as he hadde receyued the Cardinalles blessing You may sée here that God dothe not alwaies blesse where the Pope his Cardinalles and his Bishops blesse as here it is manifest But rather cursses vnlesse sudden death and breakyng of neckes be blessing Doctor Ieffrey a greate Papisticall persecuter beyng Chauncellor of Sarisburie stricken by the mightie hand of God died suddenly who was determined the next day followyng but that he was preuented by sudden death by Gods prouidence to haue called before hym foure score and tenne or mo to examine them by inquisition vpon religion Marke here also the ende of a Papiste that was a louer of the Masse and diligent and hastie in setting of it vp in Quéene Maries time one Burton the Baylife of Crowland in Lincolneshire sone after King Edwarde was dead he came into the Churche on a Sonday in the morning at which time the Curate was beginning the Englishe seruice for there was no lawe as yet to the contrarie when he came to the Curate in a great rage and sayde like a pure charitable Catholike and full of deuotion sirra wyll you not say Masse buckle your selfe to Masse you knaue or else swearing by a great othe I shall sheath my dagger in your shoulder The poore Curate for feare not so constant in the Gospell as Curates should be settled himself to Masse Not long after this the Bailife roade from home accompanied with one of his neighbours and as they came riding togither vpon the fenne banke homeward againe a Crowe sitting in a Willow trée tooke hir flighte ouer his head and spake to him in hir language aswell as she coulde and called him by his name as Crowes are wont to doe and withall let fall vpon his face so that hir excrementes ranne from the toppe of his nose downe to his bearde The poysoned smell and sauour whereof so noyed his stomacke that he neuer ceased vomiting vntill he came