him to relie on those that make good cheare and neuer to tast one bit in the meane time Let vs learne therefore by the contrarie that the true faith of Christians is not an indefinite and confused imagination and is not to beleeue by an Atturney but to vnderstand the fundamentall heads of Christian Religion CHAP. XXX Of Feasts TOuching your feasts doe you not say that they are after the imitation of the Iewes which obserued and kept holy the feast of Iudith and of the Machabees that did institute one which Christ Iesus found to be still in request in his time and did celebrate the same But you remarke not that those were instituted to giue thanks vnto God and to put the people in minde of their deliuerie from the plots and conspiracies of their enemies being indifferent and belonging onely to order and not imposed on them as lawes for the necessitie of Gods seruice Your feasts are after an other manner sith they are ordained commaunded and practised to bind the conscience euen as if the necessitie of religion did require such things And why haue you taken away the libertie of the choise of dayes that was in the primitiue Church Moreouer the feasts of the Iewes were ordained onely in the name of God without idolatrie and superstition yours are full thereof and are hallowed in the name of Saints male and female I could amplifie my speech vpon that shamefull controuersie that rose among the Esterne and Westerne Bishops concerning the feast of Easter which had caused a great schisme in the Church if it had not bin preuented by the learned Ireneus Bishop of Lyon against the imprudencie of Victor the thirteenth Bishop of Rome I will be contented onely to admonish you that it should be better to eschew such a multitude of feasts full of superstition and preiudiciall vnto the estate of the Common wealth and to content your selues with that which that great Ignatius writeth who recommended earnestly Sonday onely vnto the Christians which the Councell of Caesarea proued by the holy Scripture whereinto the Sabboth was changed or else if you goe about to celebrate any notable history of our Lord and that it be thought fit and expedient for edification to doe so to continue such feasts till Sonday without relying on the Monday or the new Moone which is to bring in a Christianisme both Iewish and lunaticke CHAP. XXXI Of Tithes THe Tithes that are so seuerely exacted by your Ecclesiastickes they are grounded I confesse vpon Gods law It is true indeed that the Church of Israell the Sacrificers and Leuites who were consecrated vnto the seruice of God were nourished therewith as with Gods portion and due and the poore also maintained For this cause did the Prophet Malachie accuse them of sacriledge that refused to pay the same From this place you borrow the subiect of your Epiphonemes against those that faile in this dutie and that rightly if you did rightly vse them And if your Pastours were lawfull and truly called in the Church we should acknowledge that they in sowing of spirituall things ought to reape carnall things and that as faithfull labourers they were worthie of their wages as the Lord vnder the Law ordained for Leui But seeing the calling of your Doctors is vnlawfull and vncleane they cannot deny that they are much like vnto the Pharifies to wit reauers and like vnto the Iewish Sacrificers deuouring the people like bread which the Prophets reproached vnto them whereas they ought to haue beene contented with their food and apparell And first auarice and them ambition hath pushed your Church representatiue so farre that shee hath vsurped Lordships Kingdomes and Empires yea and after such manner that she hath forgot the care of soules and spirituall affaires CHAP. XXXII Of Iurisdictions LIke as you haue stretched forth your hands vnder the pretence of spirituality vpon Kingdomes and Empires guarding your selues with the donations of Constantine and Lewes the meeke though false and supposed as the most learned through many ages haue remarked so likewise your Ecclesiastickes haue vsurped the laymens inrisdiction and haue drawne vnto them all sorts of laymen euen in Prophane matters And what is their reason It is because the souereigne sacrificer of the Law say they was supreme head ouer the iurisdiction not onely spirituall but temporall also And vpon this brused reede haue they setled this goodly temporall iurisdiction which they haue appropriated to themselues euen aboue all Kings and Potentates of the earth But if they had put on their spectacles right they should haue found in the Scripture that these two iurisdictions were distinguished and committed to seuerall hands the Iudges Princes Kings being the heads ouer the temporall which they ruled and the Sacrificers iudged of things that were cleane or vncleane and of other matters meerely holy and spirituall And if any thing was demaunded at the mouth of the Sacrificers and Leuites it was not in so farre as they were Iudges but that they might learne of them the true vse and meaning of the Law in doubtfull causes CHAP. XXXIII Of Irregularitie IT were to enter into a labyrinth to goe finde out all the ceremonies that are obserued in your degradations And one of your Church-men being degraded by the Bishop is at that same very instant deliuered into the hands of the secular power that he may be cōdemned to die If I shuld aske why the criminall is not iudged by the Ecclesiastickes they will answere me that it is done to shun irregularitie But is not this the same that was practised in the Iewes time who would not enter into Pilates house fearing that they might be defiled and letted from eating of the Passeouer CHAP. XXXIIII Of Vailes and other furniture of the Church WE must returne vnto that which you vse in your Temples That vaile rent asunder at the death of Christ Iesus did shew vnto this wretched people of the Iewes that at this time there is neither sacrifice nor Sacrificer neither altar nor temple And by the renting thereof he would declare that the elect may search euen into the secrets of Gods councell touching their saluation And you not being contented with the signification of so excellent a miracle haue set the vailes vp againe in your Cathedrall and Collegiat Churches chiefly in time of Lent as if the Christian people ought to be letted from beholding of the Sanctuarie that is to say from the knowledge of eternall life through Christ Iesus And in this doe you not patch together againe that vaile which in old times was rent asunder from the toppe to the bottome So many Iewish ceremonies as you haue brought into Christianitie are as many vailes sowed and patched together And say now that you are not like vnto those wretches which in the Apostles time would haue ioyned the vaile together againe by a coniunction of the Gospell with the regall ceremonies and of
great when the Church of Christ was taking a little breath and did enioy some peace and rest after so many persecutions and martyrdomes of her children beganne to enter therein in great throng and by multitudes But how hauing lately renounced the polluted slauerie of their Gods of Gentilisme of worshipping of images and their feete being as yet foule with the dirt of their Idolatries And that which helped very much to aduance those old ragges was because they began to professe Christian Religion being well ripe in yeares and full of gray haires which was the cause why they could not so suddainely shake off such customes as they had sucked with their mothers milke But behold here the very finall accomplishment of euill fortune to wit the conniuence of the greater part of the Bishops at such errors who not hauing discouered a farre off such daungers as might ensue and follow vpon this lenitie and licence graunted by them some more some lesse according to their humors hauing tolerated these abuses Paganisme tooke its owne place and Gentilisme passed farre aboue that measure which was prescribed by the Oracles of God They thought with themselues that they had laboured much for the aduancement of Christian Religion if at the first they could but onely diuert them from worshipping of their Gods thereafter to send them vnto such Christian Saints as were deceased but this was nothing else but a changing of the name and not of the thing it selfe They ought in the space of so many ages to haue found out some remedie for this disease but in stead of abolishing and reforming of these abuses we see the same daily confirmed yea moreouer a farre greater encrease of this dirt and dregs of the Heathen in lieu of the pure drop of true pietie and Christian simplicitie Euen so farre are we from any hope to see the same reformed sith the lesuits haue vndertaken at a set price to defend those errors and haue published in their writs that Christian religigion may lawfully make vse of the ceremonies of the Gentils which is as much as if one would say that God maketh vse of the Deuils lawes for the weale of his people And thus it is that the Romish Church established by vnreasonable reasons aduanceth in such manner euen vnto this day yea and commaundeth and authoriseth euill customes in place of good lawes and the reliques of Gentilisme in great plentie in stead of the puritie of the Gospell Your opinion was that the spirituall kingdome of Iesus Christ should haue beene gouerned like the Monarchies of this world whose rulers beare with many of their subiects faults to the end that they may haue peace with strangers but it is not so for as touching so farre as directly concerneth the true knowledge of God and of the puritie of his seruice of the estate of the conscience of the nature of Ecclesiasticall gouernment we ought to haue recourse vnto the Canonicall bookes and not vnto popular abuses they are the precepts of faith that ought to be layd open vnto the people and not those preiudicate opinions coloured with deuotion against which the holy Fathers haue foughten so couragiously In the end this little Treatise will declare vnto you how that your religion is borded with those totters and rags of Gentilisme God graunt you the grace to acknowledge the difformitie thereof that you may depart from thence and enter in league with her which is most beautifull to wit the Church wherein we liue which is well pleased with such ornaments as her spouse Christ Iesus our Sauiour hath giuen her to whom be glory and honour for euer Amen THE FIRST CONFORMITIE CHAP. I. Of God YOu cannot denie my Masters that the Pope of Rome is named God The glosse of the Canon law vseth these expresse termes Papa Dominus Deus noster which in truth is a title of blasphemie grounded neuerthelesse vpon antiquity whereof you make so great shew and which you haue placed and ranked among the essentiall markes of your Church It is ancient I confesse sith that more then a thousand and fiue hundred yeares are expired since it was attributed to one of the Popes predecessors euen as being soueraigne Bishop to wit vnto Domitian Emperour of Rome And if that Poet Martiall hath been iustly taxed by one of your Bishops for flaterie and lyes for that hee calleth by the name of God that Tyrant and horrible monster in nature in these words Edictum Domini Deique nostri by what meanes can you free your selues from the like or rather a more rigorous censure sith that he was onely a Gentile and you cloathe your selues with the name of the true Church Those Decrees Decretals Sixties Clementines Extrauagants with other such like your Euangiles should haue beene purged and made cleane both in their Texts and Glosses by those Cardinals to whom this goodly charge was committed by one of your Popes We are still in hope that one day that shal be abolished which many of your selues cannot reade without horrour Your flatterers keepe their course and striue apace among themselues who shall yeeld greatest honour and worship vnto this Popish diuinitie These verses beare witnesse Oraclo vocis mundi moderaris habenas Et meritò in terris diceris esse Deus Stapleton nameth him Supremum planè supremum numen in terris Your Decrees make Constantine the great call him God Steuchus giueth the reason hereof if any reason can be found in so vnreasonable a matter Blondus will haue all Princes to bow downe their knees and worship this Bishop vnto whom also are applyed certaine passages of Scripture which cannot bee spoken of any other then of Christ Iesus How long will it be ere you leaue off your blasphemies The poore Gentiles acknowledged one God and did attribute the chiefe and soueragine gouernement to one onely This was the principall foundation of their olde Religion in so much as concerned the more learned sort among them You in like manner leaue the supreame gouernment of the Empire to the great true God euen as by right it belongeth vnto him But like as the idolatrous Gentiles made seuerall distributions of charges and offices amongst a multitude of fellow-Gods Tutelare Gods and Saints whom they called Diuos So also you haue erected Temples Altars burning of Incense worship bowing of the knees and all other manner of seruice vnto the Virgin Marie vnto the Saints both male and female whom in like manner you call Diuos among whom you distribute the offices of preseruing and helping men in their aduersities What a harmonie I beseech you Those had their greater and meaner Gods assigning to each of them his owne charge his Trade his weapons his daies iourney Varro in his time maketh mention of thirty thousand or thereby And verily you haue gathered together a heape farre greater then that of the ancient
that all your wicked deedes were wiped away through this onely benefit of aspersion and for your part you haue put it in the place of the bloud of Christ Iesus which you cannot denie And would God that the Poets who were the Diuines of the Gentils might perceiue your superstitions and most of all this false beleife that you haue concerning the vertue of purging water they would not faile to mocke you and one of their Lawyers should haue very good reason to anoint your head with his graue censure euen as you wash the same with water It is not vnknowne to any that among diuerse trades which men vse such as be merchants are commonly accused of lying and periurie I speake onely of the worser sort and such as haue played bankrupt to an vpright conscience but the remedie against those crimes was at hand and there needed but one drop of this water to take away the wound and the scarre thereof both together which was named Mercuriall from the God Mercurie surueyer of the gaine of such as traffiked If they had gone about to touch those things which they accounted sacred they prepared themselues first by sprinkling of this water Seeing therefore this water was ordained for so many vses it was carefully kept and much reuerenced and for this purpose they had two sorts of holy water pots the one great which was made fast at the entrie of their Temples and the other portatiue for the daily vse of their domesticke purifications Is it not the same that is practised among you at this day You couer your selues with the example of Moses who clensed the water with wood and of Eliseus who did in like manner with salt But what difference is there I pray you For that which they did tended to the nourishing of the corporall life and you extend the same to the cleansing of soules And Gregorie the first commanded that he that had slept with his owne wife should not enter into the Church vnlesse he had first washed himselfe with water He sheweth the reason to wit that although mariage be permitted by God yet man cannot enioy the companie of his wife without sinning a little and therefore he ought to purge himselfe Is not this the same that the Pagans had wont to practise in old times CHAP. XXXIIII Of Pilgrimages THe custome of Pilgrimages began onely in the time of Constantine and thereafter through succession of time was refuted by Gregorie of Nysse in a very learned and eloquent Oration which he made vpon that subiect and contained three principall poynts First that Iesus Christ in the fift Chapter of S. Mathew had not placed Pilgrimages among those workes which are the cause of mens saluation Secondly that there was many spirituall dangers in such iourneys and chiefely for women Thirdly that we could find nothing in Ierusalem that was not in our owne countreys sith there are temples euery where These reasons are to a purpose and are grounded vpon the holy Scriptures but our Grand-fathers being come from Paganisme could not cleanse themselues so well but many spottes remained still on them and amongst others this madnesse of trauailing to places that were reputed more holy then others which no doubt the Gentiles haue left to you as an inheritance who before you toyled themselus with these forraigne voyages which they vndertooke through the deuotion and religion that they carried towards the Oracles of Delphos and Iupiter Ammon with other infinite places that were more honoured then others by Gentilisme The Turkes make these pilgrimages after the like manner that you doe and goe to the Mequis with as much zeale as you would goe to Rome Ierusalem Compostella and other parts CHAP. XXXV Of Oathes THe holy spirit willeth if one must sweare that it be by the name of God onely the manner is set downe to vs in the holy word with threatning the transgressors of this law Wherfore then do you sweare by the name vpon the reliques of your Saints and by your Saints themselues The Gentiles did sweare by Iupiter Hercules by the fortune of their Caesars and by the starres Their books are marked all ouer with such doings Haue you not learned this lesson of them And S. Antony vpon whose arme you sweare is he not successor to the Pater Patratus of Rome who had the charge concerning oathes You shall hearken saith the Eternall vnto all things which I haue said vnto you you shall make no mention of the name of other Gods neither shal they be heard out of your mouthes These commandements are repeated in another place and in another hee threatneth to roote out such as sweare by Malchom And are you ignorant that the Christian Religion teacheth vs to sweare in our neede by him who is greater then all men CHAP XXXVI Of Masse-bearers or Beadles IT is true that vniuersities Iustice and Presidiall seates haue by way of honour Masse-bearers of whom the ciuill lawes haue made some mention and the Lawyer Baldus hath not forgotten them But by what reason hath that stollen in among the Preachers and Ministers of the Church which was granted after a ciuill manner vnto the Magistrate who is the Image of God The Vergers walke in their temples with siluer roddes or else gilded with gold The Masse-bearers march before the Masse-priest with their Masses howbeit no liuing soule doth let them to step forward In your procession this charge is committed to some of your Priests to the end that the shew may seeme the more glorious to the company May it not bee that this custome hath proceeded of the Athenians who had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or of the Romanes who had their Viatores fasciferos or lictores that marched before their Kings Dictators Pontifes and vestall Virgins This was a marke of an higher dignity whensoeuer they went abroad and passed through the citie Indeede the Scripture doth attribute those Staffe-bearers vnto Magistrates but not vnto the Apostles This is not the way therefore to serue God in spirit and veritie but to restore againe the pompes and vanities of Gentilisme CHAP. XXXVII Of Praying toward the East and of Canonicall houres in which the Popish-Church placeth Religion KNow you not that the Ceremoniall Law of the Iewes forbad to make any prayers toward the East that they might not bee like vnto the auncient Idolaters For this cause and that they should haue no conformitie with them they were commanded to turne their altars toward the West Numa ordained the very contrary and would needes haue his Priests to make their Prayers being turned towards the b East A ceremony that was obserued not onely in the Sacrifices of their Gods but also in the Deuilish practises of sorcerie and witchcraft The reason why the Pagaris did so and turned themselues alwaies to
circumcision with Baptisme Your holy water those vessels altogether bias those Priestly garments whose number is infinite those burning lampes and lights the Chrisme your annointing with oile and other infinite abuses that are to be found among you are as many additions of new vailes and sacraments which you haue inuented And whatsoeuer antiquitie you can alledge yet so it is that you cannot purge your selues of Iudaisme or deny that you haue relied on those ceremoniall Lawes which you ought to haue banished euery one as we may perceiue that this vaile is not halfe rent neither the third or fourth part thereof onely but from the top to the bottome CHAP. XXXV Of the Purification of Women IN the end haue you not borrowed also from the Iewes the purification of women that rise out of child-bed Truth it is that this ceremonie ordained by God did lead them vnto the consideration of the greatnesse of their sinne which defileth the conception and birth of the child euen as it defiled the first Parents This was ordained onely for disciplines cause and this vncleannesse was onely simply ciuill during which the woman was bound not to come vnto publike assemblies whereinto shee was admitted afterward hauing satisfied the Law which commaunded to offer a lambe or a paire of turtle doues or doues You by the contrary thinke that the woman is in the power of Sathan so long as shee is in child-bed and that shee hath need of tapers which you terme hallowed of coniurations and other prayers for her deliuerie These are your goodly pretenses but as for me I beleeue that these ceremonies haue beene inuented and practised for the opinion which you haue conceiued that marriage is an vncleane thing which in old times your predecessours the Manicheans the Adamians the Hieracites did in like manner who likewise named themselues Apostolicks It is enough my Masters and we should neuer haue done seeing that the abuse of the Iewish ceremonies hath growne so far that the whole outward seruice of God is changed into a Leuiticall Religion after such manner that it seemeth that the order of Aaron and his subalternes hath yet still the administration and rule ouer the house of God here beneath an order I say which was abolished by Christ Iesus our souereigne Sacrificer who hauing taken on him the charge of his Fathers house hath really shewed vnto vs the true meaning of all those shadows and figures of the Law and through offering vp himselfe on the Crosse once for all and neuer to be reiterated againe hath freed vs from that bondage and hath made open the passage vnto the euerlasting Sanctuarie Veni etiam Domine Iesu. THE HARMONIE AND AGREEMENT of the Romish CHVRCH with auncient Heresies The third Conformitie THE AVTHORS EPISTLE TO MASTER VIGNES COVNSELLER TO THE KING AND CORRECTOR IN the Chamber of accounts in MONTPELLIER SIR I would not shew my selfe among the writers that abound at this day hauing cōtented my selfe in priuate with the reading of the Orthodoxes and contemned such as for the most part doe nothing but vent their melancholies vnto the world I haue hit on this resolution because I am a louer of a retired life and of solitarinesse among my Bookes taking pleasure to talke with the dead wherein consisteth the chiefe iewell of my life This age swarmeth in good Spirits and as Africke is fertile in Monsters which it produceth daily so in like manner we may say that it is a wonder and miracle in nature to contemplate this exquisite knowledge in all sciences and tongues wherwith many are indued that it appeareth that we haue paragoned that old antiquity I say in science not in conscience Who then hath marred this my silence You Sir for as we were reasoning concerning heresie a subiect whereupon the seducers through their false Orations and writs haue long agoe beene baiting and hammering on the heads and hearts of their confederates labouring to perswade them that those of thereformed Religion are defiled therewith you thought it expedient that through contrarie demonstrations which should be both solide and true I should declare to the world that this imputation is wrongfully ascribed vnto vs. There is no parish Priest how raskally soeuer he be that hath not this word Heretike in his mouth What will those great Masters in mateologie doe then If little puppies doe keepe such a yelling what will be the effect of the barking of these great mastifs It is the custome of whores to preuent honest matrones and to lay to their charge that wherewith they are tached themselues Those Iesuites the buttresses of the Popish Religion the creame and very quin tessence of Fryers to speake no worse doc in like manner They are scabbie and would perswade vs to scratch our selues as they doe although our conscience be not defiled Those that are attainted and branded by Iustice desire nothing more then to haue many fellowes both in their iniquity and their punishment What shall we do here Shall we betray our brethren and our soules Shall we temporise as if we had some fellowship with this spirituall brothel-house This would proue cowardlinesse in vs. Wherefore following your aduise I haue thought fit to shew vpon the theatre of the world that so many heresies as we are accused of are as many calumnies and lies and that it is the Romish Church which is wonderfully disfigured polluted as we shall declare God willing The impatience of moderne Readers hath abridged my discourse which I could haue inlarged And who could euer be able to finish the task of the stable of Augeus I offer vnto you this my little Essay as vnto him of whom I receiue singular comfort in my peregrination and in this strange Countrey You shall take it if it please you in good part as proceeding from him who is Sir Your most humble seruant FRANCIS DE CROY THE PREFACE To those of the Romish CHVRCH MY Masters the chiefe weapon that the Diuell hath vsed against the Church is Heresie which the Apostle placeth among the workes of the flesh It is not to day that this contagion of particular chusing of opinions hath corrupted a great number of men The Churches both of Israell and primitiue haue tasted of this cruell poyson Those wits that made too great account of Philosophie and are borne among Sophismes puft vp with pride pale and deformed through ennie haue hatched this generation and brought forth this Hydra of all mischiefes No age hath beene free thereof The histories doe set before our eyes and our eares some lamentable examples and namely in these latter dayes which being most fertile in all vices are likewise fruitfull in producing those detestable heresies the effects whereof are to draw away men from the way of truth to make them become enemies thereof as did in old times Iamnes and Mambres the aduersaries of Moyses to corrupt them in their vnderstanding to ioyne them with Diuels and at length to debarre
conuinced thereof we shall finde that they haue all with one accord banished and chased holy Matrimonie out of their conuents although the forbidding thereof bee a marke of Antichrist as the Prophet teacheth vs. Your Canons should haue taught you so farre that chastitie may be councelled and recommended only and not commaunded Remember I beseech you that worthy sentence of S. Bernard Take away Matrimony out of the Church and you shall fill it with whoredomes with incests and with Sodomitrie And that great Baldus writeth that the Pope did once giue licence to the Fryers to marrie for a certaine space vntill such time that they had gotten some off-spring conditionally that immediatly thereafter they should take on their hoods againe Truely in this restraint you oppose your selues to the holy Ghost to the commandements of the Gospell to the example of the Apostles to the whole antiquitie to the most approued Fathers and to the best Councels And it is pleasant that the Canon saith Before the Gospell was spredde abroade through the world many things were tolerated which after that a more perfect doctrine hath taken place are vtterly abolished as for example Howbe it Priests were not forbidden to marry neyther by the Law nor by the Gospell yea not by the doctrine of the Apostles neuerthelesse the holy mother the Church hath forbidden it altogether Concerning that to haue nothing in propertie from whence haue you the inuention thereof but from the Apostolicks and Apotacticks The onely way to become wealthy is to possesse nothing in propertie for nothing can be giuen away And it is meere mockery this counterfeit Monkish pouertie which hydeth inestimable and princely treasures And verily we may say that the Apostolicks were the inuentors of those societies which we see renued in our age and of those new fashions of liuing Those then are the Fathers of your Fratrie and the authors of this voluntary pouertie which consisteth onely in possessing nothing in propertie which is as much as to haue all things to possesse all things And the Anabaptists of our time doe verily conforme themselues vnto your Fryers who carry nothing about them and haue all things common among them The garments of the first Fryers as likewise those of the order of S. Benedict were eyther blacke or rather without any regard to the colour course and meane according to the custome of the countrey At this time their cloathing is the latus clauus of the Romanes which is the broad band that is to bee found among the garments of the most auncient orders The Eustathians taught their disciples to apparell themselues in certaine garments of cloath and that such garments were able to cleanse and sanctifie them The Capuchins and such others being worser then the Eustathians make the people beleeue that to take on their habit is a second Baptisme and to die therein is to goe straight to Paradise to be buried therein is to goe free of that burning fire of Purgatorie Bernardine teacheth in his Rosarie That he that taketh on the habit of Religion receiueth the same Grace from aboue that hee that is Baptised That to put on a Fryers habit and to lurke vnder his hoode giueth free remission both of the fault and punishment of all their sinnes That he that dieth in the habit of S. Francis cannot be damned And what blasphemies are these to attribute vnto a garment inuented by some fanaticke and melancholick persons that which belongeth to the only blood of Iesus Christ And Thomas himselfe who is yet more strange by reason of his exquisite doctrine We reade saith he in the liues of the Fathers that a certaine person saw the like grace descend from heauen vpon him that was cloathed in the habit of Religion that he had seene descend vpon him that had receiued Baptisme which is to make the filthie hood of a durty Fryer equall with Gods ordinances Moreouer those goodly Abbeyes Monasteries and sumptuous Conuents are they not the inuentions of the Euphemites or Messalians Epiphanius writeth of them that they builded for themselus great lodgings large walkes and termed all those places of prayer The Iesuites in this sort of Oeconomie goe beyond all their companions of the Fratrie in so much as they build nothing and doe alwais take hold of such palaces as they finde already perfected and finished The same Messalians and Euchites haue taught your Fryers the holy misteries that are in shauing of the beard and in the barbers operation that you may play gaudeamus in coenaculo charitatis that you may dally and put off time in idlenesse in singing and buzing by measure and compas For my part I hold this shauing of the beard to be a most pleasant and delectable thing sith Suetonius saith that the Emperour Otho vsed the same often that so he might increase the beauty of his visage And how will your Friers agree together touching long and short beards The diuers readings that are found in the copies of the councell of Carthage haue nourished their contentions In some they reade comam nec nutriant nec barbam in others nec barbā tondeant I referre my selfe to the decision of some councell The Messalians were called of the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by reason of this fained and as it were continuall labour in singing praying prating and babling both day and night prayers psalmes and other meditations whereof they haue composed their offices accompanying them with lights tapers and burning candles yea euen in the noone-day And this exercise being continued both day and night made the common people astonished In like manner they vsed spittle in their Sacraments as a thing that had a certaine force and vertue to chase away the Diuell The same Euchites and Psallians as S. Austin writeth thought it not lawfull to labour with their hands that they might earne their liuing And against these pests Amphilochius Flauianus most worthy Bishops haue written most sharpely mostgrauely of whom Theodoret makes honorable mention and if they were aliue now they would wash your Fryers heads soundlie with no smaller reason then they opposed themselues to the Messalians For this they hold with them that to play the Fryer well there must be no working that handy workes are vnworthy of the white and delicate hands of Monachisme and that sloath is the nourishing mother of the Gospell And what answere will they returne to the author of the History tripartite who saith that a Fryer that worketh not with his hands ought to be accounted as a theefe And to the Apostle that he shall not eate The Primitiue Fryers placed no part of their saluation in their abstinences Yea as S. Austin saith they admonished after a brotherlie manner those that through too much