not onely the soules of men but their bodies and goods yea the sacred D◅adems of annoynted Kings Was there euer a pride equall to this that a Priest shall thinke it his due that Kings and Monarks shall kisse his foote that he shall say to himselfe Sup◅ basiliscum ◅labo conoulc◅◅nem that hee shall arrogate power to sell the Kingdome of heauen and count himselfe God vpon the earth saying with Augustus Diuisum imperium cum Ioue Caesan habet stil following Gentiselime striuing as the Ethnicke Emperors did tomake it again Roma caput Mundi Such perpetual toyle busines doth that Consistory keep about this my stery that it may be said of thē as Lucianus mocking the plurality idlenes of the Poeticall gods said of Iupiter while som other god one day would haue talk't with him it was told him that he was busie quid facit parturit said one hee is a trauayling of the birth of Minerua whom the Poets faine to be bred in the braine of Iupiter Sowee may affirme of them Quod semper parturiant they bee euer bringing foorth their birth but what birth is it Minerua counsels bookes or precepts of wisedome no they doe not imitate Iupiter to bring foorth Minerua true wisedome of pietie and peace they imitate that Goddesse of wrath Nemesis who did send through the world with her Pandora the bookes of curiositie contention malignitie and dissention the bookes of vengeance and endlesse discord witnesse their Archipandora Bellarmine in his Treatise of the Papall Supremacie whereof I shall speake hereafter witnesse their Pandora Mariana the Iesuite heere you shall see what is the birth of their trauailing murther of Princes rebellion of Subiects bloud of legions desolation of Countries setting on fire the whole world for building againe that Tower of Babell which doth keepe Christian people in such desperate pacoxisme and diuision of tongues that alas wee are neuer like to speake one language so hath the Lord punished their pride their vnspeakable pride which is like vnto the pride of him who said Ascendam super altudinem nubium super moxtes Aquilonis fimilie ero altissimo They be in effect Cloudes high with proud ambition moyst and humide with letcherie bright and shining with glorious ostentation thundring with arrogance and tumults which they contriue Hi sunt nubes sine aqua quae a ventis circumferuntur saith Thaddeus this is that fatall Tower builded by that mighty Nimrod the Diuell whereof God hath concluded Tollatur in altum vt lapsu grauiore cadat It must bee mounted to great heigth that it may also haue a great fall it may be iustly called fatall the very Church doth not escape this blot but euen her first plants haue beene annoyed with these pernicious weedes of pride and ambition Aaron and Miriam grudged against Moses and did striue for authoritie The first sacred Colledge of our Christian Religion the twelue Apostles were not free of this contagion Iames and Iohn called of Saint Paul the Arch-pillers which did sustaine Christs Church they contended for the right hand of Christ. It is strange that Diuines and Prelates should not learne the wisedome of humilitie from the very stile of the Spirit of God speaking in these particulars When this Tower of Babel vnto the which I compare the pride of Rome was builded in the Land of Senair which is interpreted to stinke as is said by the posteritie of Noe the text sayes they parted from the Orient which is interpreted Christ as Zachary testifies Ecce vir Oriens nomen eius subter eum orietur lux And Luke Perviscera misericordiae Dei nostri in quibus visitauit nos Oriens ex alto they were the sonnes of Noe who went from this Orient to Sanair but from that forward the holy Spirit doeth no more call them the Sonnes of Noah but the Sonnes of Adam Descendit Dominus vidit vrbem quam edificanerunt filij Adam Euen so speaking of this pride of Iames Iohn he doth not vouchsafe them the names of Apostles nor their owne names but the sonnes of Zebedoeus Accessit ad Iesum mater filiorum Zebedei which is a notable Art of the Spirit of God to reproch pride O you blinde Prelates of Rome you sonnes of Adam and not of Noe you sonnes of Zebedeus and not Apostles why haue ye through your pride lost your names and parted from your Orient if your Tower were firmely established as that of Dauid vpon Sion no tempest were able to shake it it is but of stones taken out of the slime of the earth forged out of earthly auarice and ambition That of Dauid was founded vpon a sure rocke fundata super firmam Petram as it is said in the Gospell Ipso summo angulari Lapide Christo hauing Christ himselfe for the chiefe corner Stone therefore shall that of yours fall to the ground after the example of him who was the first author of such fabricks While I did behold at leisure in Rome this fulnesse and ouerflowing of concupiscence in mens manners one may easily gesse that it was to mee like vnto the second appearing of the Angell of God to the Asse of Balaam In that Towne which was one of the first Mother Churches where pouertie contempt miserie and glorious martyrdome had beene indured for plantation of the faith where Pastors were meerely spirituall without regard to the world after the commaundement of their Master where so many Cloystorall and Monasticall deserts of true solitude and holinesse were to bee seene of olde that now adaies no vestigium doth remaine no marke of that sanctitie yea not a cloke sufficient to couer their nakednesse nothing but an Ocean of abuses the Rulers swelling in pride and riches polluted with filthinesse and lust defiled with Idolatrie seeking the world and dominion ouer Princes contrarie to the doctrine of the Apostles Non quaerimus quae vestra sunt sed vos Contrarie to the doctrine of the Prophets mittam vobis venatores multos qui venabuntur vos saith Ieremie Vos non vestra contrarie the doctrine of Christ himselfe faciam vos piscatores hominum he saith not piscium nor yet pecuniarum The people tyed to superstition religion turned to pharisaicall ceremonies the Euangel neglected the law became Mosaicall daylie impietie of all sortes daylie sacrifices and pardons for all abominatiōs the holy deserts opened again to the world and defiled with pride and vilanons lecherie the Towne smoking in the stincke of Sodom that if those faithfull fathers their first foundatours might againe looke vpon their Successores they would cry nec nos Patres nec vos fily The first Bishops of Rome who sustained Martyrdome being in number two and thirtie before Constantine the great what would they say to the Pope who walketh vpon the neckes of Monarkes while they succeeded onlie to Christ his Crosse what would that austere Saint Francis say vnto these Idle Bellies who haue abused his simple
the Mountaine which shall neuer disappeare so liuely seene by that Prophet of the olde Law that other of the New Ezechiel and Saint Iohn being both in one extasie whereof Saint Iohn said in his vision in the Apocolyps Sustulit me Angelus in montem altissimum c. The Angell of God tooke me vp into a high Mountaine and shewed mee the holy City of Ierusalem comming downe from heauen couered with the beauty of God and whereof Esay saith Tu vocaberis quaesita Ciuitas non derelicta Thou shalt be called a Citie sought for and not abandoned And whereof the Prophet Dauid maketh a glorious description Gloriosa dicta sunt de te Ciuitas Dei c. But speaking of places what Christian Church or Towne may compare to Ierusalem who was the Mother Citie not onely of Iewish but of Christian Religion The Law went out from Sion saith the Apostle Et non peribit lex à Sacerdote saith the Prophet She was like vnto Noah who preached vnto two Worlds as I haue said And if Rome may bragge of Gods promise aboue Ierusalem why hath Dauid said in his Psalme to the derogation not onely to the Mountaines of Rome but of all others Why bragge yee thus yee Hilles most hie And leape for pride together This Hill of Sion God doth loue And there will dwell for euer Alwaies it is enough by way of comparison for the first they did both boast of Templum Domini for the second as it was long before prophesied that Ierusalem should fall away and become an Adultresse as the Lord said to Hosea Goe take vnto thee a Wife of Fornication and Children of Fornication Quia fornicando fornicabitur terra ne eat post Iehouam Because the whole Land shall be defiled that it should not follow the Lord. So do we finde in the Euangelicall prophesies of the Apoc a prediction of the falling away of Rome cleere enough thirdly as Ierusalem now fallen in her filthinesse was sayd of the Prophets to haue a Whores forehead who would not be ashamed And againe the faithfull Citie was become a Harlot shee who was full of Iustice was now full of Murthers her siluer was become drosse her wine mixed with water her Princes companions of Theeues euen so during all this fall of the Church of Rome there hath neuer beene wanting singular men whom God did stirre vp to rebuke her for her pollution And as Ierusalem did persecute her Prophets so hath Rome long since persecuted these euen with cruell martyrdome as Ierom Sauanarola and Iohn Husse in speciall with numbers moe thereafter in diuers Countries Fourthly Rome is now in that same condition which Ierusalem was in when the Prophet Ezechiel was carryed of the Angell by the hayre from Babilon and placed in the inner part of the Church of Ierusalem where saith he I was commaunded to looke vpon the great Idoll of indignation which was in the entrie whose abhomination saith the Lord causeth me to depart from my Sanctuarie What other thing I pray your Lordship is that Idolatrous worship of Rome which I haue related then a great Idoll of Gods indignation as it is conioyned with that scandalous impietie of manners Then further it was saide to Ezechiel Turne thee and thou shalt see greater abhominations enter at the gate of the inner Court and digge a hole through the wall where thou shalt behold similitudes of all abominable things and all the Idols of the house of Israel painted vpon the walles and thou shalt see the seuentie Ancients of the house of Israel standing with Censours in their hands and the vapours of their incense going vp like a Clowde and yet dost thou not see what they doe in the darke euery one in the chalmer of his images saying to himselfe The Lord hath left the earth and doth not see any more And I did see one saith the Prophet who stood mourning for Ierusalem Can any thing bee more like to the Colledge of their seuentie Cardinalls who haue their Palaces throughly adorned with idolatrous images of all sores and the Altars within them smoking with daily incense of ascending vapours and who can digge a hole through the wall that is to say who can see through the clowde of these externall shewes of pietie to behold the secret practises of their Consistorian Councell or to behold the works of darknesse which be in their secret Cabinets and sensuall solitudes hee would assuredly say that they did also thinke the Lord had left the earth and did no more see their actions But specially one shall perceiue and consider the likenesse of Ierusalem and Rome by foure points rehearsed by the Prophet in his sixteene Chapter First he doth introduce God obiecting to her the weakenesse and miserie of her youth saying O Ierusalem when thou wast borne thy nauell was not cut thou wast not washed in water to soften thee and when I saw thee polluted in thine owne blood I had pitie on thee and said thou shouldest liue I did sweare vnto thee and thou becamest mine A viue portract of the first age of the Church of Rome the first 300. yeeres of her being vnder the crosse from Christ to Constantine the great during all which time the citie of Rome did lie pitifully defiled with the blood of the Apostles Saints and Martyrs vnder the persecuting Emperours Secondly God doth obiect vnto her the Grandure and beautie whereunto hee had exalted her and made her the most conspicuous city in the world saying Ierusalem I entered a couenant with thee and thou becamest mine I washed the blood from thee I clothed thee with broydered worke I couered thee with silke I gaue vnto thee bracelets chaines and all kind of ornaments I put vpon thy head a beautifull crowne I made thee eate of fine flower hony and oyle and thou grewest vp vnto a kingdome and thy name was spread Which doth most competently figure the second age of the Church of Rome now washed from her blood and put in prosperitie from the dayes of Constantine to Pope Boniface the third who did vsurpe the vniuersall Popedome and began to erect in it a kingdome as no man can take exception against it Thirdly the Lord doth obiect against her by his Prophet her pride and declination saying Ierusalem thou didst trust in thy beauty and play the harlot because of thy renowne thou hast taken the faire Iewels of gold and siluer which I gaue thee and madest Images of them vnto thy selfe and diddest commit whoredome with them thou hast taken thy sons daughters which were borne vnto me sacrificed them to be deuoured of those thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth when thou wast naked and bare Thou hast builded thy high places vpon mounts and at euery corner of the way thou hast made thy beauty to be abhorred The application whereof to the present condition of Rome is so conuenient Quod etiam
that the Spaniard who is the strong Atlas that beares vp the same can aboue any Christian King establish the assurednesse of his affaires vpon the ruines thereof Fourthly all the orders of the Papall Clergy are bent to ouerthrow the Iesuites who are the onely cunning craftsmen who build and vphold this Babilonian tower Fiftly the meanes which God seemeth to put into the person of his Maiesty our gracious Soueraigne to sway the world to peace and vnity in Christian Religion as well by the weight of his power as by the vertue of his temperate wisedome and solid learning which hath procured vnto his Maiestie authority not onely with all Protestant people but with the best of the Opponents Sixtly the absolute credit giuen vnto the primitiue Church against which there is no side of Christian Clergy that taketh exception All which things well considered what I pray you is wanting heere to reforme the holy Church but these two Courage to vndertake it and this one word from the mouth of God Benedicamus And seeing the world pointeth at your Maiesty as the onely man to whom that courage doeth belong it compelleth mee to turne my speech vnto you O great and mighty Monarch As they haue seene how God hath made your Maiesty like Hereules able to ouercome the Gigantine forces of these Kingdomes dispairefully disseuered by inueterate and implacable emulations placing your Maiesty in a triumphant Throne ouer this fortunate Isle that Cyrus-like your Maiesty hath your foot vpon the midst of the hyde that no side thereof can reuolt and hath giuen your Maiesty ample dominions without and that in a miraculous sort hauing no concurrance of humane helpe making your Maiesty alone both the Actor and the Instrument Therefore doe they looke that your Maiesty should in like manner cry with Cyrus The Lord God of heauen hath giuen me the Kingdomes of the earth and hath commanded mee to restore Ierusalem and to deliuer his people from captiuity because they see how almighty God hath furnished your Maiesty with prudence and power like armed Pallas to execute the same your Maiesty hath hitherto well followed the example of the powerfull Moses in this toilesome gouernment whereunto the Lord hath brought you but the chiefest praise of Moses was his perseuerance non coronabitur nisi qui legitime certauerit when hee came vp to the mountaine hee was commanded to put off his shooes to shew plainely that hee might make himselfe light and able to walke to shew figuratiuely that hee must shake off all fleshly desires and affections which burden our mindes and pull them downeward from a familiar conuersation with God O what a laborious thing it is to come vnto this mount the vallies bee rich full of sensuall pleasures and of easie passage and therefore they are inhabited of the multitude of the world the mountaines are steepe and precipitious and it is hard to clime vp into them and yet there it is where the Lord hath euer almost shewen himselfe as mount Sinai mount Horeb mount Tabor mount Oliuet mount Caluarie and diuers others declare to signifie how difficult a thing it is to exalt our selues aboue the sensuality of the world and how few are worthy to come into the familiar mount of God onely Iosuah was found worthy to ascend with Moses all the rest were commanded to remaine at the foote of the mountaine with Aaron and Hur which made his charge to bee the greater for not onely did God command him to come vp but sayd the Lord ascende in montem esto ibi Come vp and see thou be there by which words hee would stirre him vp from lazines to think that he must not only be there but be watchfull there as it is sayd Non dicitur vemsse qui non steterit who standeth straight in the mountaine he seeth euerie thing which passeth by below him but to him who wearieth and lieth himselfe down to repose all the things which are vnder him be hidden and if the enemies come to spoyle the vallies he can neuer discouer it As your Maiestie hath beene most watchfull hitherto So let your Highnesse thinke that the worke of God doth but begin in you and that he hath called your Ma to come vp to the Mount not like a fainting Eliah who in his voiage to the mountaine to talke with God tired or delighted with the beauty or freshure of the tree fell asleepe vnder the Ginobre but like vnto a vigilant Moses who stood vpright fortie dayes in the Mountaine without refreshment not like vnto a timorous Eliah who was afrayd at the voyce of a woman but still like a couragious Moses who being of his owne nature the most milde among men yet when he found the people in Idolatry of the Calfe at his returning from the Mount he was enraged and commanded the Leuites to be armed and stood in the gates of the Campe till punishment was executed Let your Maiestie therefore haue watchfull eies to penetrate the latent things of your popular vallies that no distemper grow among them which may renuerse your Maiesties former cares Doe specially Sr. ouerwatch these two things First that this lurking Gangrene of pretended Puritanisme doe spred no further nor lie in waite to trouble the settled order of your Maiesties gouernment But to the end your Maieiesty and your Royall posterity may euer hit surely in that marke which your Maiestie hath so long shot at to reestablish into this Isle the primitiue and orthodoxall policie of the Church Imitate the skilfull Archer by chusing your arrowes of that wood which is most proper for your Maiesties aime by receiuing into Episcopall dignities those who bee most religious and sincere rather the best then the most learned considering how many men in these daies doe carry Letters as Uria did to cut his owne throat like vnto those vnhappy Carpenters who builded an Arke for the safety of Noah and his family while they themselues did miserably perish in the flood Since your Maiestie hath now store of men both of conscience and learning who are resolued enough in the Question of the Church Policy let them see how your Maiesty thinketh no man so worthy of the Episcopall chaire as he who commeth vnto it after the sort of that tradition which we haue of Gregorius Magnus who being chosen for his meere vertue was sayd to flie into the wildeines til he was discerned by a piller of fire which kithed aboue him Let the light of their learning their zeale integtity of their life shining aboue them where they are be their onely recommendations to Ecclesiasticall preferment to the effect that your Maiestie may in that manner stoppe malignant mouthes and take away all pretext of discontentment or disconformity from these who say that your Maiestie doth not preferre the vertuous So that the treacherous lesuite who like the crafty fish conueyeth himselfe into troubled waters may want a couert to hide his head which is
that to doe miracles it is gratia gratis data a grace freely granted of God as is the gift of Prophesie according to Saint Paul and as the Saints by their praiers haue entreated God to grant them the reall gift of Prophesie so no doubt the faith and praiers of the Saints haue obtained from God for the good of his owne people to bee instruments and workers of Miracles and as the gift of Prophesie was not a constant and habituall vertue resident in their persons by the which they might Prophesie when they would As we see in Elizeus who beeing once demanded of the king vpon a secret Dominus inquit celauit a me the Lord hath hidden it from mee when King Dauid was bidden by the Prophet to build the Lords Temple because God was with him in euery thing the same Prophet did forbid him the morrow after confessing that he had spoken without Gods priuity and therefore falsely so that the gift of Prophesie is a transient passion as is the power of miracles which is not neither permanent but as the Sawe hath a vertue to cut a sunder not at all times but when the Craftesman putteth his hand to it This extraordinary gift was not onely not granted habitually but it was granted to a fewe in number and that in the beginning chiefely of Iewish and Christian religion for establishment of faith in the world which was then bewitched with Ethnicke Idolatry strenghthned with Diabolical miracles so that God well knew Quod contraria contrarijs curantur by the true miracles of his holy spirit wrought by diuers of his good Saints to the astonishment of people he did discredit the spirit of Satan and that was done in the beginning to purchase authority to the faith as our Sauiour saith Si mihi non vultis credere operibus credite si opera non fecissem quae nemo alius vnquam fecit peccatum non baberent But after the word of God and his Lawe hath beene once established and receiued as it was answered to the Rich man in the Gospel Mosen habent Prophetas and therefore they might not looke for one to come from the dead who had the holy Scripture to look vpon euen so we after so many miraculous works done by our Sauiour and his Apostles for confirmation of our faith and after the Gospell left in perfection by the Spirit of God and embraced of the Gentiles for eternall veritie we are no more to depend vpon miracles as Christ himselfe testified after the doing of all these Scrutamini Scripturas quia illa testimonium perhibent de me There is no doctrine more true then this that miracles haue beene onely appointed of God for the aforesaid vse for of themselues they are neither necessarie nor sufficient for saluation The Canancan and the Thiefe vpon the Crosse they did beleeue vvithout miracles and he himselfe hath saide Blessed are they who beleeue and haue not seene so as they are not necessarie Againe Pharoh did see a number of miracles and was euer the more hardened which makes that they are not sufficient Is it not then a great vanity that the Church of Rome should arrogate vnto her that power vvhich God thought not necessarie to leaue to his Church Yea and which he foresaw to be dangerous by reason of the vveakenesse of humane wisdome to discerne betwixt true and false miracles vvhat vvas it that did indure the heart of Pharoh vvant of beleefe in God no doubt but herewith also want of knowledge to discerne betwixt Mosaicall and Magicall miracles so that the leauing of this to the Church had beene an ambush to catch men and lead them to Idolatry and the seruice of Satan testified plainly by the Scipture The Prophet saith Seduxerunt Populum meum in miraculis mendasibus And in the Apostle Surgent Pseudo Christi pseudo Prophetae Dabunt signa magna prodigia in populum ita vt in errorem inducantur etiam Electi si fieri potest How many shall say of those Prophets in Nomine tuâ—… prophetanimus Demonia eijcimus How mightely did Simon Magus deeeiue the multitude so desirous of miracles and so ignorant of them Uir quidam Simon Magus seducebat Ciuitatem Samariae quem auscultabuntur omnes a minimo ad Summum dicentes haec est virtus Dei qui vocatur magna co quod multo tempore magicis suis signis dementasset cos The looking for miracles is a token of Iewish vnbeleeuing hearts Signa non sunt data fidelibus sed infidelibus saith the Apostle Therefore they are most proper to the incredulous Synagogue of the Iewes for the which cause aboue all the other Apostles so great power of miracles was giuen to Saint Peter the Apostle of the Iewes that he did heale the strongest diseases with his shadow which not onely was neuer done by none of his fellow Apostles but we doe not read the like of Christ himself Iudaei signa petunt Gentes sapientiam quaerunt saith Paul Secondly is it not more then madnesse in the Church of Rome by arrogating vnto her this perpetuitie of miracles which God hath made onely temporarie and personall in the beginnings shee doth manifestly cloth her selfe with those markes whereby the Spirit of God doth point forth the Antichrist Let vs heare Saint Paul Reuelabitur iniquus ille cuius aduentus erit secundum operationem Satanae in omni virtute signis prodigijs mendacibus omni seductione iniquitatis his qui pereunt And the Spirit of God in the Apocal speaking of that second Beast which had two hornes like to a Lambe and spake like a Dragon Edetquo Signa magna adeo vt faciat ignem c Coelo discendere in conspectu hominum seducet Incolas Terrae propter signa quae datum est ei vt faciat in conspectu Bestiae In which places as we see this Traffique of Miracles is plainely called Operatio Satanae and a seduction of those who must perish By these I doe appeale vnto the diuine light of your Lordships conscience whither you doe not thinke that we ought to content our selues with Moses the Prophets and Apostles following Christs owne precept Sorutamini Scripturas to search the Scriptures for the doctrine of Saluation and to contemne this ridiculous and impious profession of pretended Miracles I appeale to your Lordship as you will be answerable to him who hath said of that light which he hath giuen you Est lux vera quae illuminat vmâ—…m hominem venientem in mundum Whether you do not thinke that those who in this Sunne-shine of Gods word would ground their beliefe vpon Miracles doe not iustly merite that answere of Christ to the Scribes and Pharises demanding miracles Generatio mala adultera signum quaerit and whither you Lordship doe not hold all those who beleeue such poore and childish conceits bee not iustly giuen ouer to themselues as
weale and when there is cause an other chosen in his stead by the greatest part of the people but then to let you see that all that processe must depend from the Pope vpon the word Tyrannus they doe reason thus Tyrannice gubernans non potest spoliari sine publico Indicio lata vero sententia potest quisque fieri Executor potestque deponi a populo qui iurauerit ei obedientiam perpetuam He who raigns Tyrannously cannot be spoyled of his dominion vntill the publike sentence bee pronounced which once done he may be depriued by any yea by the same subiects who did sweare to him perpetuall obedience This publike sentence we must vnderstand is Excommunicatio Maior proceeding from the Pope How these Aphorismes doe agree with the doings of the Primitiue Church let the most ignorant iudge whither they bee not seasoned with their wormewood Vpon these two foundations of excommunication and depriuation doth of necessitie follow the third to wit murther of Kings first thundered next eiected thirdly slaine and doctrinall grounds set downe to authorise the same Gean Guignart in his treatise vpon the murther of Henry the third a good Prince and a catholike Romane he doth stablish two propositions one that the cruel Nero was murthered by a deliuering Clement whose heroicall act inspired by the holie spirit was to be reputed iust and lawfull yea and most laudable next that the crowne of France ought to be transposed to another Race and the Biarnois so doth he disdainfullie call the french king he ought to haue a monasticall crowne that is to say to be shauen and condemned to the cloyster albeit he was become a catholike Romane which if he would not accept they should by force of armes eiect him or depriue him of his life Ambrose Varades principall of the Iesuites Colledge at Paris was found the instigatour of Barrier against the late king immediatly after his conuersion to the Church of Rome Chastell who strooke him in the mouth confessed that he was taught by Iesuites that it was an act of extraordinarie great godlinesse to kill him because he was no lawfull king although he was conuerted vntill he was receiued by the Pope A letter was found of father Commelet a man most famous among them for prudence and grauitie bearing these words we must haue an Aeod let him be a monke a souldier or a sheepheard it is no matter we must haue an Aeod for the assassinat or slaughter of King Henrie the third so did their absynthiū vniuersallie poyson all that euen in the Serbon it was concluded in fauour of the Pope that his excommunication and murther was both lawful and wel acted William Parry confessed at his death that Benidicto Paulio Aniball Codreto Iesuites did persuade him that it was a most religious act to surprise the life of the late Queene of England a good Princesse replenished with Pietie vertue And who should heare the true relation of the state of Polonia since the entrie of the Iesuites there he should heare of more wicked secret practises during that time then for hundreths of yeeres before This is the doctrine and these are the practises of Papall pride with the Christian Kings of this age which being paralelled with these of the primitiue fathers it is easie to marke the antithesis So to ende this particular touching the Maxims of the Iesuisticke schooles it is the glorie which they doe cary as a bright starre in the front of all their renoune that they be daunters of puissant kings and it is found in their owne bookes in that treatise called Summa constitutionum imprinted at Lions Anno 1859. conteyning the gouernment of that societie it is sayd Tyrannos aggrediuntur lolium ab agro Domini euellunt They inuade tyrants and roote out the cockle and filth from the Lords feild And so invincible they be in this mischeuous doctrine that albeit they vnderstood Tanquerall was condemned to vndergoe a great punishment and hardlie did escape his life Anno. 1561. for suffering this Theame touching the authoritie of kings to be called in question of the Sorbon and to be disputed there yet so bould are they that euer since that tyme they did practise the court of parliament at Paris to fauour the same motion albeit oftentimes it was despightfully reiected vpon suspition of that which in effect was found true that they had couertly corrupted the Sorbon by sliding in among them some of their owne scolers neither is there anie thing in all this more strange then to heare Cardinall Bellarmine his answere for that holy carriage of the fathers of the primitiue Church with Emperours and Kings of their Tyme it was sayth he more necessarie in that time of the primitiue Church to admonish Christian people to obey temporal powers least otherwise the preaching of the Gospell had beene hindered The case being altered now when the Church is inful authoritie power her selfe which fiefor shame is no other then to make the word of God to be a religion of Foxes a doctrine of sophistrie a profession of Equiuocation consequentlie of P◅rle quia qui dubi◅r at his me◅itur bis peiur at as Cicero saith as if vpon these words Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo Christ would say to his Apostles and successours that they should obey Princes so long as they were vnder the Crosse and could doe no otherwise but when they should beginne to floorish and get the winde vpon them that then they should change the stile of the Euangell and teach a contrarie doctrine a doctrine not of Christ but of the ambitious schoole of Machauel to the stayne of Gods glorie who hath made no law but on for kings of Israel for kings of the primitiue Church and for all who haue followed vpon which point and vpon these words of our Sauiour Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo we may heare S. August as it were vpon the Theater of the world making a procliamation to secure all authorities from such feare Iealousie Audite saith he Iudaei gentes audi preputium audite omnia Regna terrena non i◅podis domination◅ ve◅am in hoc mundo O heere yee Iewes and gentiles yee circumcised and vncircumcised heere yee all the kingdomes of the earth Christ maketh no stoppe nor opposition to your authorities temporall and we reade S. Bernard vpon this text in the 12 of Saint Luke where one said to Christ master tel my brother vt mecum diuidat here ditatem that he may diuide our heritage he answered homo quis me constituit Di◅isorem aut Iudic◅m super vos who appointed me a iudge ouer you or diuider of your lands whereupon Saint Bernard saith stetisse lego Apostolos iudicandos sedisse iudicantes non lego I read saith hee that that the Apostles stood to be iudged but that they did sit ◅o Iudge I read not Their successors indeed the Bishops of the
feede vs with contentious Sillogismes Pascuntur Sillogismo sicut Boues foeno as Oxen are fed vpon haye O you who call your selfe a Christian Pastor how doe you forget that precept of Saint Paul Vt orationes fiant postulationes gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus That prayers supplications and thankes giuing may bee made for ◅ll men in generall how doe you not remember that he hath commanded your corrections and admonitions to be brotherly Noniactantiae studio nec contumeliosa obiurgatio sed in spiritu lenitat is Not in ostentation or cōtumelious reproach but in the spirit of lenity there is no other reason for this but because Confregitis Iugum rupistis vincula you haue broken the bonds of Christian fraternitie and loue This fire of charitie in the soule of a good man is like to the abundance of heat in the stomacke of a strong body which draweth good nourishment out of grosse and euill matters the want whereof againe doth turne the most delicate substance into phlegme and noysome humours if you had abundance of this loue you would doe through the heat thereof as the Apostle commaunds you Alter alterius onera portare you would digest the ignorance and weakenesse of your brethren by seeking their reformation by all brotherly meanes and the want of this againe vndoubtedly maketh you to distaste and loath euen the good things which be among them The want of it makes you to detest the name of a pacificatour to fly the voyce of peace to cry Crucifige to carrie one against an other murthering tongues poysoned pennes and vehement spirits of destruction spirits contrary to God Inspiritu vehementi conteres naues Tharsus saith Dauid in a vehement spirit shalt thou breake the ships of Tharsus Wee read in the second of the Kings while Eliab was commanded to attend the comming of God vpon the Mountaine the holy Spirit saith Behold there was a winde which did rent the rockes but the Lord was not therein therewas a great commotion and earthquake but neither was he there and thereafter a huge fire but he was not yet in it In the end there came Sibilus aura tenuis the whispering of a sweet and temperate ayre and therein was the Lord Euen so the Christian Clergie who goe into the mountaine of God to vnderstand the secrets of his will so long as they thunder out such tempestuous windes of mutuall despight God will neuer be there to pitty our Christian distractions So long as they raise such vehement commotions and fearefull earth-quakes to rent the states and liues of Christian Princes God will not be there neither to restore Ierusalem and to purge his holy Sanctuarie of the Catholike Church so long as you burne your selues with fire of mutuall acerbity and wrath you shall not yet see the Lord there to pitty our Christian discordes that our Christian Religion bee no longer a reproach to the dangerous multitudes of infidell nations who watch their opportunitie to assault vs because as the holy spirit doth testifie in that same place Non in commotione Dominus the Lord in his mercy cannot be in a commotion but if you should whisper out this Sibulus aurae tennis ibi Dominus this gentle and soft ayre of meeknesse and brotherly admonition there possibly you might finde the Lord. Now to the effect that this briefe exhortation to dispose our selues to Christian peace should not bee mistaken and neglected as an indigested phantasie of my braine I send you all to read that treatise called Eirenicon sine de pace Ecclesiae of the peace of the Church done by that famous Iunius one of the chiefest lights of the Church while he liued In which treatise he doth call all these of your humour wicked and seditious Tribunes and of which he did vpon his death-bed protest as I was informed of those who were present to haue more comfort hauing written it immediately before Tanquam cantum Cygneum as the spirituall song of his farewell then of all the religious exercises of his life time which were many and most laborious So that to imitate for Reformation the practise of our architype Ierusalem this is the first point which we must obserue with Daniel to make generall confession of our transgressions as well Pope and Iesuite as Puritan and againe to make orations and suppications for all which as it is a thing wee ought to doe so it is strange how wee should refuse to doe it while Daniel hath said Lord to vs belongeth open shame our Kings our people our selues T is strange of the Papist that you should affirme thy Pope and thy Priests are holy and cannot erre that they haue no need of generall Councells nor of generall Reformation as if God had taken corruption mutabilitie from the earth and granted vs heere a generall beatitude for the sake of Rome In Gods name let it please you to esteeme your Pope no more holy then Daniel was and if you wish him to be cleansed from his Idolatry and vniust vsurpations to be restored againe to the vnity of the Catholike faith and that dignity which he did once lawfully brooke to be a chiefe Bishop of the occidentall Church Then must you cry with Daniel O God to our Pope our Cardinalls and Priests and to vs belongeth open shame because we haue transgressed against thy seruant Moses euen our great Moses Iesus Christ who redeemed vs from the bondage of that fearfull Pharaoh Satan Wee haue turned his faith and all Religion to superstitious worship wee haue turned his spirituall gouernment into a Tyranous Monarchy and we haue turned the piety of Christian manners into iniquity and abhominion This must be the voyce of thy confession And thou protestant if thou wilt wish the increase and restitution of Christs Church thou must pray for Rome as Daniel did for Ierusalem Lord be mercifull vnto the holy City where thy name was once so truely worshipped thou must teach and admonish them preach and write to them as the Prophets did to the Israelites in captiuity Brethren as it came in your minde to depart from the Lord your God so wee beseech you to indeuour your selues tenne times more to turne to him againe If you will deny that Rome is your mother Church that is nothing either it is lerusalem Antioch Alexandria Rome or some other you cannot deny that shee is your sister Church who once had a concord and vnity of faith with you and that by her defection the Catholike Church is greatly weakned You cannot deny that whiles shee is fornicatrix the Lord doth beget in her sonnes and daughters who daily turne vnto him as he did in Ierusalem when hee said to his Prophet Hosea Goe yet and loue a woman that was an harlot according to the loue of God toward Ierusalem for she looked after strange Gods and I bought her with siluer c. You cannot deny but those who did possesse the chiefest functions
be could not be admitted to the sacred mysteries of his goddesse Iâ—… if he had not changed himselfe out of a Phylosopher into an humble Asse further to let these fine fellowes know how in this a sinnâ—…â—…ge of mine I haue been â—…urious 〈◊〉 â—…orneelie 〈◊〉 wâ—…th pertaineth to the Asse The People Dâ—…d saith Nolita fieri sicus Equus Mulus qâ—…bus none 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but of the Asse the Prophet Esay wonderfully noting perhaps the particular circumstances of our Sauiour as somethinke in a Propheticaâ—…ision hath said Cogâ—…nit Bâ—… pâ—…rem suunt 〈◊〉 prâ—…sepe Dâ—… It is manifestly seene that by naturall goodnesse the Asse hath those properties which euery Christiane is commanded to follow so patient of iniuties that being â—…ten of any other beast it taketh no offence so painefull and obedient that the greater burthen maketh it to trauell more willingly so simple that it requires no attendance as horses and other seruiceable beasts so temperate and soberat food that while it â—…eth the most percious fruits oyles coines spices it putteth downe the mouth to pâ—…re vpon thâ—…les as it were a figure of that simplicity and aâ—…ty which â—…ght to bee vnder the Crosse as some â—…o imagine it hath the marke of a Crossâ—…pon the backe Tertullian in his daies did glory in this That in the Priâ—…e Churcâ—… the Pagans and prophane 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 did all the Christians Asinaâ—… 〈◊〉 holding in theâ—… those Aâ—…e qualities Finally that asse whospake to Balâ—…m as hee carried him to curse Gods people 〈◊〉 and to impugnents Will So went I beyond Seas â—…ying my headâ—…ll of false and error â—…pinione and 〈◊〉 fraughted with desires to sed and 〈◊〉 super 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleased God of his mercy to open my eyes 〈◊〉 old to that beast that I did see such odious 〈◊〉 of his worship the iudgements which 〈◊〉 the â—…tned against it it pleaseth him whole â—…ded 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 to loose me from the bands of ignorante The Prophet Dâ—…d saith Dâ—…mint â—…iamea apâ—…es 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 annaâ—… laudeâ—…â—…uam doâ—… iâ—…iquos viâ—… 〈◊〉 impâ—… ad to connuertentur Since he who opened the mouth of the Asse hath also for his glorie opened my mouth I must not neither be silent although I â—…o Doctor nor doe not presume to instruct your Lâ—… conscience yet must I remember that commandement of our Sauiour giuen to one whom he disâ—…ssed of many Diuels â—…euertere in domum tuam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quanta tibâ—… fecer at Dominus Returne homeward and now become a simple Asse in Christian knowledge That which the Lord hath done to mee I shall preach it to others for his glorie and their edification and so I preceede to tell your Lâ—… how I was tranformed into â—…his Asse of Balaam CHAP. II. A Discourse of our naturall light and diuine instinct of our Conscience A true definition of Idolatry for the better triall of superstitious worship and preuarication in Gods seruice THe Scripture records that the Asse of Balaam went on a pace before he did see the Angel and that the Angel was diuers times seene before obedience was done vnto him so was it with mee all the while of my being in France I did professe the Popish Religion and as sincerely obey the discipline of that Church as any man could doe of my weakenesse and that from vpright zeale and not from designe whereof I could my selfe giue many great proofes which be not pertment here onely this farre I say That many times I haue heard in one weeke more then twenty Masses and that for the greatest part there where I knew no man nor yet was knowne my selfe of any Whereof also your Lo selfe may beare witnesse by diuers of my Letters written to you in those times chiefly by one if it please you to remember from Paris immediatly before my going into Italy in the which I did play the Paranymphe to my selfe by praising the resolution of my comming foorth from the example of Abrahams calling who was comanded by God to goe forth of his owne Country that he might worship the Lord truely and he blessed of him in a strange land In such sort that for the time I could haue been content to remaine a Transfuga to my liues end In this Letter I did allude to the greater light of the Southerne Sunne and to the Aquilonar darkenesse founded vpon that Thalmudicall fable which we read in the writs of Rabbi Eleazer in his booke called Zoar that in the creation of the heauens God did leaue a hole in the Northerne parts thereof that in the beginning the Sunne had his first point of motion in the Southeast that about Damascus in the Southeast God tooke that Terra virgo that most perfect Earth whereof he formed Adam that the garden of Eden and mount Sion were planted in the South-east that God chose the Patriarckes and his peculiar people in the South-east remote significations of Gods truth to remaine for euer in the Climats of the Southeast according to that in the Canticles Vbi habitabit dilectus 〈◊〉 in meridie vbicubabit in meridie And that the Northerne parts of the earth were the seate naturally of darkenesse and iniquity as being subiect to the imperfect parts of the heauen and to the aforesaid hole whereout Lucifer and his companions did fall according to that vision of the Prophet who heard him saying Sedebo in montibus Aquilonis fimilis ero altissimo alleaging this Scripture Omne malum pandetur ab Aquilone and the text of Moses of the seuen Candlestickes of the Arke looking from the North towards the South as if the North were sinistra Mundi and the proper habitation of vncleane spirits like as we see the Aquilo to be a tempesteous and destroying winde whereas by the wholesome and nourishing Auster is meant the sweete and peaceable spirit of God incalled in the Canticles Ueni Auster perfla hortum meum And whereof Abacuc saith Deus ab Austro veniet So that the seuen Candlestickes looking to the South were signes of the perpetuity of the spirituall light there neuer to bee extinguished by any tempest of Northerne heresies These and such like fond fantasies which were then infused into mee and which haue beene inuented by curious braines to poyson simple wits did I introduce in that Letter And they were arguments good enough both of my zeale and of my ignorance as if the garden of Eden were not many thousands of yeeres agoe depriued of true light and consumed with the fire of Gods wrath as if that holy mount Sion and that mother City Ierusalem who had fairer promises of perpetultie made by God then Rome and all the Cities in the world because shee was like vnto Naâ—…h who preached to two worlds the mother not onely of Iewish but of Christian Religion as the Apostle saith The law went out of Sion euen the law Euangelicall the perfection of all lawes the Lord Iesus Christ declared to Moses obscurely in Sinai but
be as he is which none doe denie creatour of all men master and monarke of all the World the World then must be one familie one City one kingdome of God no earthly Prince will willingly haue diuers Lawes in one kingdome then shall we thinke that God who is wiser then men and wisedome it selfe would giue seuerall lawes for the word no sure enough all those three be but one Law the light whereof doth shine into the conscience of the Iew and Gentile Turke and Pagan Philosopher and of the stupide multitude signatum est super omnes lumen vultus Domini whereupon it must follow that this light is inextinguishable it is that which we call our neuer dying conscience when a man doth apprehend the knowledge of any thing by the vertue of his intellectuall minde it is science and he is said Scire to haue knowledge the conscience againe is the right application and imployment of this knowledge it is a medium a midst betwixt God and man and the rule whereby we know if any thing be in the counsels of our mind or actions of our will contrary to this naturall light and diuine instinct of reason which God hath placed in our hearts like a cleere lampe to illuminate our intellectuall spirit that it might see and discerne right from wrong and truth from falsehood which is a thing so manifest that the Ethnicke Philosophers and the word of God doe iump vpon it The naturallitie of Cicero and the Theologie of Saint Paul concurre to proue it almost in the same termes Cicero in the third Tusculan Question writing to Brutus sunt enim ingenijs nostris semina innata virtutum quae si adolescere liceret neque illa celeriter malis moribus opinionibusque deprauatis extingueremus ipsa nos natura ad beatam vitam perduceret And the Apostle Paul writing also to the Romanes Quū Gentes quae legem non habent naturaliter ca quae legis sunt faciunt eiusmodi legem non habentes ipsi sibi sunt Lex qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis It is so plaine for the light of nature excepting alwaies the last clause of Cicero concerning beatitude as if Paul Cicero had conferred vpon it which ground for the first being set down in truth as your Lo sees I craue that you will be content to examine all the points of this Treatise by the touchstone of the diuine light instinct of your conscience where your Lo finde those which as is said are inspirations from heauen contradictory to your opinions that in that case you will suffer your conscience to be directed by this light which God hath giuē you to guide it by that your Lo wil forbeare your pretence of deuote ignorance implicita fides things that do meerely extinguish this light of nature if it please you to do so not to smother vnder a bushel this cleere candle which God hath illuminate in your heart there is no doubt but as Cicero saith that same Natura Dux the very light of Nature which hath a Diuine stampe in your conscience shall shew you an outgate from the childish Labyrinths of superstition that doe inuolue your Lo for if any should say to me seeing there is such power in the instinct of naturall reason flowing from this diuine light how is it that so many millions of those who be indued with the same are induced to idolatrie I can giue no other answere then the wise man hath giuen stultorum infinitus numerus est the number of fooles and those who are mistaken in their owne light is infinite Now I will take my first aduantage of this ground to appeale to the diuine light of your Lo conscience how you do iudge of that which already from so many Texts of Scripture I haue spoken touching the plainenesse and perfection of Gods word since on the one part the spirit of God doth testifie that it is eternall incorruptible and inspired from Heauen able to make the man of God perfect and on the other part this intellectual light of nature seruing as eyes to receiue in our conscience the brightnesse of this word it is so powerfull that very Gentiles haue cleerely knowne it and seeing it is sufficient to conuict the conscience of Turkes and Pagans of contempt and ignorance of this word I aske your Lo how shall it be with vs who beside the hauing of this light haue beene brought vp in Christian Religion haue beene taught Gods word can reade it in seuerall languages and vnderstand it when we shall refuse to beleeue for our faith this word preached in puritie when we shall hold it insufficient for our Saluation embracing in place thereof what an implicita fides an implicite faith the colliers beliefe and what is that I beleeue with the Church and how beleeues shee she doth beleeue with the collier is not this ambulare in circuitu impij as the Scripture saith to walke in the about-gates of the wicked well let vs remember how it shall be worse in that day with Corazim and Bethsaida then with Sodom because they had greater light and did despice it They say ignorance is the mother of Deuotion And the Apostle saith Qui ignorat ignorabitur if ignorance cannot excuse a Turke because of that light of Gods face which is stamped in his heart let any man tell me what it can auaile a Christian to bragge of his deuout ignorance affected ignorance is neuer a whit better then knowledge without beliefe or well doing Let vs heere the Prophet Isay my people is carried captiue because they had no knowledge neither is now a daies any other reason of idolatrous captiuitie then this pretended holy ignorance so that for a Christian man to glorie in it it is to become sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus Therefore let your Lo remember you are sealed with this Lumen vultus Dei and that he hath blessed you with knowledge to vnderstand that the holy Scriptures are a perfect and neuer perishing word The second ground I would haue your Lo to condescend vpon with me for preparation of your more indifferent iudgement is a certaine definition of idolatrie which may content your Lo and me both to the end we may the better reason of idolatrous worship For as concerning abuse in religion and impietie in manners they be triuiall points that there can be no mysterie in a suruey of the same Idolon is a Greeke word which literally signifieth as much as a litle Forme or Figure formed or figured but taken as it is spoken in Christian Shooles and according to the best Doctors it is a representation of a false God and a false Deitie or a Creature taken and honoured for God As to say the Statue of Moloch of Iupiter the Sunne or Moone the Hebrew word Elil as I read haue very right this same signification of Idol and is vsed in holy
which albeit they bee seuerally distinguished by nature yet can we make no vse of them but when they are conioyned The ciuill Magistrate among the Iewes certaine it is hee might not offer sacrifice or performe religious Ceremonies things proper vnto the Priest as againe militarie discipline matters of the fisk and such like went peculiarly vnder the name of the Prince but in points of pietie and iustice the rule of the people Iudicatura â—…orum their obedience to Gods Law they were not onely conioyned but in the hand of that gouernment the ciuill Magistrate had that place of the finger which is called the key of the hand Into Ierusalem there was two Sanedrim for so was their great Councell called one suâ—…reme in Ierusalem consisting of 70. together with the Prince and Priesthood another small Sanedrim in euery Citie of reasonable importance contayning 23. wise men together with a number of the Priesthood which was done by a generall ordinance of God himselfe Populo mandauit vt Iudices constitueret secundum tribus suas in omni Ciuitate That they should in euery Citie appoint Iudges according to their Tribes and againe in the next chapter he made a Law of Appellation commanding In omni re dâ—…fficili constituere Sacerdotes Leuitici generis Iudices To appoint ouer all difficile causes some of the Priests and some of the Iudges hee hath not saide onely the Priest nor onely the Iudge as neither did Moses when hee went into the Mountaine make any separation but left the spirituall and ciuill Magistrate coniunct Ecce Aaron Hur. That the ciuill Magistrate hath a diuine charge and was so counted among the Iewes there it is seent where after Iudges were constitute in euery towne the King saide to them Uidetâ—… quid agatis non enim pro Homine sed pro Deo iudicia 〈◊〉 Behold sayd Iosua what you doe because you doe not iudge for men but for God Againe to shew this coniunction he doth subioyne omnis causa qua venerit ad vâ—…s de fratribus Euerie cause which commeth from your brethren vnto you dwelling in the countrie where he maketh no separation of spirituall from ciuill causes euen as Moses hath done before where he or daines the people to goe to the Leuites and the Iudges si aliqua difficilis causa natafuerit if any difficile question 〈◊〉 in the gouernment of King Dauid those coniunctions are cleerelie expressed for he did absolutely distribute the peculiaâ—… charges of the Leuites Hebroniâ—…s vltra Iâ—…rdanem prâ—…cit in omni negâ—…tio diuino ministeriâ—… Râ—…gis he did promoue the Hebronites beyond lordeâ—… to all the functions appertayning to Gods house and to the seruice of the king and â—…ine in the laâ—…t verse of the same hâ—…s prefecit Dauid sâ—…per 〈◊〉 Gadâ—… in omni negâ—…tio Dei omni negotio Regis which power of constitution in Dauid is sufficient to prooue that the regall function is negotium diuinum chieflie where it is Christian and orthodoxall may not Moses and Dauid serue vs for matter of light in gouernment to qualifie this coniunction of religion and empire which made the Iudaicall law to be accounted a parte of Theologie So that we may with great reason conclude that he is not Orthodoâ—…s Theologus no right meaning Theologue who would refuse vnto christian Kings that authoritie in Ecclesiasticall affayres which was not onlie graunted but commanded vnto the Kings of Israel and which godlie Dauid vpon his death bed did render into the handes of Solomon from the warrant who made doubt of it of the holy Scripture saying Eccâ—… autem distributiones Leuitâ—…um ad vâ—… qâ—…odque ministeriuâ—…â—…omus Deipenes te sunt ad oâ—…ne opus voluntary denique omnes Principes totus populus parati ad verba tua Behold sayd he the distributions of all Leuiticall offices in the house of God is in thy power and they be ready to obey thee as also the princs and people where in that example wee see no exemption of the Leuite more then laitiefrom the kingly authoritie howsoeuer princes may not vse priestlie function yet are they bound to superintend Christes vineyard and to guard it not onelie from forraigne inuasions but from intestine perrill and corruption which is more frequent and more pernicious of the two to stop ambition auarice and dissention from comming among the prelates who were neuer in any time able to rule nor shal not be to theend without their Pallas be armed with authoritie of good and lawfull kings who doth not see that of diuine functions vpon earth the preistlie office is the contemplatiue part and the princelie office practicall acting the honour and worship of God by making people to obey his Lawe Who was the first instrument of God for redeeming the Church from persecution and the crosse to establish her prosperitie was it kings or priests was it not Constantine the great by what meanes againe was the Church redeemed from the flood of the Arrian heresie was it not by the seculararme of Carolus Magnus and his predecessors Pipino and Carolo Martello so that to goe about to separate things which God hath knit together as the soule and bodie it is to make a sacriledgious diuorcement and specially to take from the prince that which is his due to giue it vnto the priests it is iust as the serpent did in Paradizeto seduce the weaker partie of the two in that coniunction it is euen as if we would send Aaron vnto the mount of God to learne the wisedome of actiue gouernement and leaue Moses with the people to his returning And since such is the impudent and arrogant malignitie of the Iesuiticall ambition in their doctrine about this point what if to meete them in their owne language and pay them home with their owne Coyne I should goe yet one degree higher in that particular to say that appearantlie God himselfe doth prefer the regall function when by his Prophet setting aside all sacrifices and ceremonies which was the Priests part hee did require the Office of the ciuill MagistrateÌ„ Quid affertis tanta sacrificia discite vos reges Principes qui populum regit is benefacere quaerite iudicium dirigite oppressum What shall I doe with so many sacrifices would God say that is not the substance of my worship being but religious ceremonies learne yee Kings and Princes to doe well aske iudgement to gouerne the people and to relceue the oppressed which would the Lord say is the matter of my true worship to practise my law and make it to be obeyed The Deutr. doth shew that the office of a Prince was not to frame his owne life after the deuteronomicall but to prouide that both Priests and people should keepe the same inuiolable If Priests debord and transgresse Gods law must not the Prince corect them yea if they shuld sow haeretical doctrins who could stop the growth of them other
seuerall poynts the first whereof shall be common to your Lordship and all other men that you will seeke rectified knowledge of God in such tearmes as the wise man commands in the beginning of his booke of wisedome seeke the Lord in simplicitie of heart for he appeareth not vnto those that be vnfaithfull saith he to seeke the Lord in the darkenesse of an implicite faith and to relye your Lo faith vpon humane traditions as farre as vpon the written word of God it is no simplicitie of hearte nor no faythfulnesse it is to mixe the drosse with gold and to corrupt the simple foode of Gods word with pharisaicall leuen and so to be vnfaithfull beleeuing men more then God seeke the Lord with simplicitie of heart for he will not be found of those who tempt him with infidelitie sayth Salomon The second shall be the wishing your Lordship to acknowledge what peculiar and selfe imperfections possibly in your Lordships selfe may occasion this weakenesse of faith to doubt of the suff◅ciencie of Gods word which commonly in other men as I haue alleadged are a superstitious mynde of nature a fault proper euen to diuers good men therefore the more perillous again to be na turally of obstinate and inflexible resolution a fault which hath ouerthrowen manie braue and worthy spirits in special which two seuerall inconueniences vnhappilie met together in one who liueth in fide implicita they make him altogether vncapable of reformation senselesse of any reasonable persuasions as if he were changed into an image of hardest propheir t is no shame to confesse our faults but it is the first steppe to grace the holie prophet Dauid said omnis homo mendax and in an other place dixi confitebor aduersum ◅e in iustitiam mea◅ domin◅ tu remisisti impietatem peccati mei I said I would confesse my iniquitie before God and thou O God didest remitte my iniquitie Therefore the last part of my Counsell shall bee that you begin in this sort to mend those Dimidiu◅ facti qui bene caepit habet A thing well begun that is to say in the feare of God is halfe finished if you cannot vpon the suddaine absolutely depart from the Church of Rome yet since not only Gods word and the light of your conscience doe conuict your Lo but that her own doctrine for this wicked vsurpatiō ouer Princes hath pulled down the maske that couered her whorish face reuealing therby to theworldeuen in our time that mysterie of iniquitie do at last compassion her as a kindly child the miseries of his mother and once becontent to wish her to be reformed for that she hath need of reformation you haue in facto confessed by taking the oath of fidelitie especially expressed to be against a doctrinall ground of Rome Yea which is so farre vrged for meere doctrine that I haue heard it pronounced with my eares by a sentence of their Consistorie that he who taketh that oath is no Catholike Romane and therefore to be debarred from any spirituall benefite of their Church which is as much as to say he is no Catholike Romane but he who is a Traitour to his King and Countrey and their impious Bulles and Emissarij secretly sent through the world for that effect to poyson the waters of mens knowledge with that Absynthium as I haue recyted I speake with warrant for I did not forbeare to practise any thing which might purchase vnto me the true vnderstanding of things because I was not to returne there againe for better information The chiefest Alumni of the Romane Church and her greatest Zealotors Charles the fift and his successors in the Empire the chiefest of her Clergie that hath beene or are haue consulted negotiated debated disputed written and plotted her reformation Howsoeuer God for our sinnes hath illuded their intention and our poore Papists of this kingdome cannot haue any other thought but to lie euer in beastiall formes vnder the charmes of Circe neuer so much as wishing to bee restored to the shapes of men for what can I esteeme it but a brutish ignorance so to Idolatrize open impieties as to hold that Christian Princes ought not to reforme the Church of Rome and purge her from her abominations or to hold that it is not a most Christian discharge of euery one of Gods Saints in particular Spirare vnitatem Ecclesiae to importune God by our dayly prayers for the great Iubile of this reformation the reduction of his people from captiuitie the resta◅ration of his holy sanctuarie and the destruction of Babel which hath so long detained them in spirituall chaines and seruitude Therefore to dispose your Lo heart for those wishes and to prepare for you the easier way of recoile from your wilfull errors I will tell you of the meanes of this reformation that you in your owne iudgement conforming that which ought to be with the thing which is very possible to be if the cup were full or the period of Gods hidden prouidence were at hand you may first reforme your selfe and then call incessantly to God for this generall reformation of Christian people CHAP. VII Comparison of Rome and Ierusalem the order and truest meanes of Christian reformation expostulation against the implacable debates of the Christian Clergie an exhortation to the vpright study of Pacification WE can neuer more rightly ponder the condition of the Church of Rome then to ballance her with Ierusalem howbeit this was typicall in regard of their externall worship and that substantiall this a limited Synagogue and that Catholicall and vniuersall in respect before specified of their profession and faith common to all both circumcised and vncircumcised The chiefe cause why the Christian is called Catholike as by that marke distinguished from the Iewish Congregation yet I say the Policie doth in effect remaine alike in both the dealing of God with both is so like and the sinnes of men in all ages be so like the corruption of Religion by the length of time so like and Gods Iudgements threatned by his Prophets doe fall out so like vpon all then and now that makes the comparison pertinent cleere and true for concerning the chiefe poynt which Rome vsurpeth as Soueraigne to her to be the perpetuall Sanctuarie it is altogether idle to reason that Rome or any Christian Church had so ample promises as Ierusalem by their names or places The Romane faith is indeede as I haue said if wee please to call it so being vniuersall to all I meane that faith of Saint Peter whereupon the Church of Rome doth build her pretended Supremacy Tu es Petrus super hanc Petram fundabo Ecclesiam that is vpon his preceding confession that Iesus was the Son of God did Christ found his Church That faith I say hath the infallible promise of the perpetuitie of Gods Spirit that is the Candlesticke which neuer shall be voyd of light the Lampe which shall neuer want Oyle the great Citie vpon
the Prophet to the Israelites during their captiuitie My children as it came into your minde to goe astray from your God so endeauour your selfe ten times more to seeke him saith the Prophet We haue all here forgotten our exemplar for the Church of Rome on the one side contrary to Daniel and the Iewish reformation she cryeth that neither she nor her Prelates nor her Priests haue transgressed and that they cannot etre and therefore they haue no need of reformation Vpon the other side againe we who doe see her abominations wherewith shee hath defiled the Sanctuary and corrupted Christian Religion in place to say with Daniel Lord turne thy wrath from Ierusalem thy holy Mountaine haue pittie on thy holy Citie wherethy name was once truely called on Ierusalem is a reproach to all that are about her wee doe cry because the Church who was sometimes chaste vnto thee O Lord is now become Fornicatrix therefore destroy her because shee hath polluted the Catholike saith therefore diuorce vs from her O Lord thus lying ouer into implacable paroxisme and strife while one sayes he ought not to be reformed because hee cannot erre and his aduersaries exclaime that he is so contagious as he is not capable of reformation one cryeth for a sole and soueraigne Bishoppe to commaund both Church and State both Prelates and Princes an other cryeth that he will haue no Bishop at all ctc. There is a sort of enchaunted Papists whom the waters of the Iesuiticall absynthyum haue so venummed that they will not remit one dramme weight of the superstitious worshippe of their great Idoll if it were for the peace of the whole Sanctuarie There be againe a Sect of extrauagant and heteroclite Puritans of the late stampe I speake not of any iudicious good man who doth discharge his function in Gods feare and the obedience of his Prince to Christian education but of these Anabaptisticall Clerks Quiout labouche sans bride as the French saith who carry no bridle in their mouthes being in opinion of Gouernments whatsoeuer meerely Republicanes against the Architype and order of God not onely despising Princely authoritie with the Iesuite but vilipending all Prelates in the Church in fauours of a fantasticall Anarchie or a seditious popular tribunat forged in their owne braynes obstinately refusing to accept for doctrine for manners for policie whatsoeuer almost haue beene in the Church of Rome if it were neuer so good these be most wretched and pernicious humours of men carrying factious and vehement spirits blowne vp with the vapours of Pandoras boxe and abhorring the peace of Israel with both which I must expostulate in this place and say vnto them as the Prophet commanded to cry in the eares of the rebellious Iewes of his time Confregistis iugum rupistis vincula you haue disolued the bands of Catholike loue and vnitie you haue broken the yoke of Christian societie you are obstinate against desires of reformation you doe Iudaise but Moses did Christianize who for the sake of that Idolatrous people would haue beene rased out of the Booke of life Saint Paul did the same who would haue beene anathema for the loue of his Christian folke but all your meditations your writtes your sermons be like vnto these inuolued Rolles brought by the Angell vnto Ezechiel wherein was written nothing within nor without but lamentations mournings and woe you haue no sparke of Christian charite left without which it is impossible to please God know you not that in the Scripture this charitie is properly said to be a fire we read in Leuiticus Vt ignis in altari semper ardeat That the fire should neuer goe out vpon the Altar which is a true mysterie and type of that Christian loue which should be vnder the Euangell for now there is no Altar leftvs but the Altars of pure hearts before the Lord nor no Sacrifice bur of contrition faithfull prayers and loue The lawe Euangelicall as I said before is the perfection of the naturall and Mosaicall and loue againe as the Spirit of God doth testifie is the end of this law finis legis est charitas in which words the Apostle doth attribute as much to loue in Theologie as in Philosophie is giuen to Iustice speaking of Cardinall vertues Iustitia in se virtutes continet omnes That Iustice hath in it all vertues euen so saith the Apostle if wee haue as much faith to cause Mountaines remooue and want loue it is all nothing This loue is euer commanded de proximo of our neighbour Thou blinde Papist canst thou haue a neerer brother then the Protestant And you precise Puritans can you but esteeme them your pitifull brethren who liue in Papall ignorance Dilige pro quo mortuus est Christus saith Paul Will you follow the example of Christ did he not both pardon and pray to God for those who slew him whose ignorance was aboue all ignorance their vnbeleefe aboue all vnbeleefe and fault aboue all faults without vnitie and loue there can be no perfect Church because that is the whole scope of the Euangel as I haue saide and of all true Religion vnanimitie is the bond which maketh the Church strong Ecce circundedi te vinculis saith God in Eze. Behold I haue hedged you about with bands This loue is the knot which bindeth together the members of Christ in one body therfore is so diligently recommended by him to his Apostles that they should remaine fast and conioyned among themselues by so many types in the old Testament is figured vnto vs this Christian concord and vnitie by the vestiments of the high Priest whereof euery portion was ioyned to another the wholebeing one peece By the Tabernacle whereof euery thing was ioyned into another the whole standing in coniunction for are we not so called in the Apocalips Ecce Tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus habitat cum ijs The Tabernacle of God which dwelleth among men By the vessels whereof so many as were not closed together but were opened and in diuers pieces they were said by the spirit of God to be vncleane as we see in the Booke of Numbers we are the vessels who bee made by the hand of our heauenly potter of whom S. Paul saith Alia quidem in honorem alia vero vasa in contumeliam some be vessels of honour and some of reproach you haue your mouth open to spewe out contumelies and malignitie one against another and therefore take heed you shew not your selues vessels of dishonour you haue not this Christian fire of charitie whereof the spirit of God saith Quod operit multitudinem peccatorum That it couereth multitude of sinnes The Altars of your hearts are kindled with the prophane fires of Nadab and Abihu the fires of pride arrogancie and contradiction fires of mutuall rayling and Philippicke Inuectiues where Pastors in place to perswade Christian loue vnity and mutuall compassion after the example of our Sauiour they
Spaine as may be well perceiued by these late tempests amongst them And the great Duke of Tuscan who although first hee be next neighbour to the Pope and secondly that he be the first of these who haue growen fat vpon the reuersions of S. Peters Trencher his whole estate being contriued by Popes or Cardinals of his house and thirdly although he be lately allied with the house of Austria yet for all these this open and shamelesse insolence of Rome vrged notlong since against the Segniory of Venice hath made him Suegliato to stirre and rouse vp his eares so far that against and in spight of this Iesuiticall insidiation which threatneth Christian Potentates hee hath made a Law that no lands rents nor mooueables aboue a beggerly portion should be legacied to any Church person Iesuite or other without his approbation added thereunto It followeth to speake of Spaine which although it hath for many yeeres past beene the principall arch of the papall pride yet when wee consider how farre that great King hath beene frustrated of the ends propounded to him by these who haue beene the chiefetiers of him to the Seate of Rome I doe also presume that for good respects he may haue disposition to fall away from the Idoll of her dangerous ambition Because the Iesuite as is sayd hauing a chiefe Maxime that Religion must shoote out and flourish with a growing state and finding Spaine most enclined to Monarchy as he doth imagine hath deuoted himselfe to the seruice of that Crowne that by the encrease thereof his society may likewise grow and beare authority throughout the world and from this scope hath hee beene and still studieth to bee the authour and broacher of many Christian calamities and euer so vnfortunate for the Spaniard whom hee pretendeth to aduance that in place of strengthning his dominions the Iesuite hath beene a cankering worme to rippe the bowels of the same and to plague them with consuming feauers of ambitious aspiring By the Iesuiticall documents were the braue seauenteene Prouinces of the Netherlands so entreated of his Deputies that as one taken with S. Authonies fire hee hath beene constrained to cut them off being one of his most noble members after he had sent from his treasures of Spaine about one hundred million of gold to cure the same By the Iesuiticall infusion was likewise moulded in fauours of their monarchicall proiects that holy league which stoode him so deare in France and whereof hee hath seene the like vnfortunate Issue for they hauing spent a world of money about the surprize of that Kingdome so did God despise the iniquity of these masked designes that he did make the restauration of that Land a miracle of this Age being once in such broken weakenesse and in so short a time â—…rme like a Diamond and terrible to their Enemies But with the most maigre and poore fortune of all did they embarke their ambition for the conquest of England where he did not onely lose his Instar monâ—… quum that inuincible called Armada but in place to conquer the same they doe finde themselues now counterpoysed on this hand by a mighty Monarch who like to armed Pallas carrieth for his owne defence a sword in the one â—…d and a pen in the other Summarily that puissant King hath beene redacted to spoile his treasures and spend his time by the craft of those Archicharlatans the Iesuites who like deceiptfull Alcumists consuming euery thing vnder a vaine hope to make golde haue extenuated the body of his estate with the poysonable smoake of their Mercury so farre that if it had not beene the Christian candor and sincerity of our most gracious Soueraigne to establish his peace first with England and next with Holland there is no doubt but before now his late domesticke conspiracies of his nouos Christianos or Mâ—…roscos in Ualentia conioyned to his exteriour diseases had sufficed to render him a neighbour pray That all these Sincops haue beene bred to him by the pride of Rome and by the Iesuiticall arts it is cleerly seen of those who going through the world haue known the remonstrances inuectiues Apologies and other politicall insinuations which haue beene published for strengthening of factions chiefely who hath seene that Platonick iest of Doctor Parsons an English Ies. his treatise directed with the foresayd Armada prescribing the order of the new state of England and the Lawes of the first Parliament to be holden after their landing so mightily was he possessed with that fancie which did euer after make him a fugitiue from Spaine and abhorred as an abuser and treacherous Alchumist and for these causes it would seeme That of all Princes the Spaniard hath greatest reason to beware of the follies and falshoode of Rome the maintenance whereof hath so endangered his Kingdomes while in the meane time the Pope and his Cardinals pigliano buon tempo make merry daies sitting in the calme of their Consistory giuing order to the Legions abroad as Nero and other voluptuous Emperours who succeeding Augustus were for a while heires to his dominions but not to his vertue Furthermore the Pope draweth more deniers foorth of the states of Spaine then of all the world besides notwithstanding the great reuenues Ecclesiastical of Spaine where the Church of Tolledo will amount to sixe hundred thousand crownes whereof more then the halfe is proper to the Arch-Bishop himselfe diuerse of the rest being not farre vnder this and all in great condition for riches neuerthelesse are the greatest part of things so absolute in the Popes will and so hardly granted to naturall Spaniards that before any of them can bee beneficed in the Church hee must attend at Rome seauen yeares at least at his owne charges and that with splendour to beautifie the Court shall not neither haue it in the end but with yerely pension giuen out of more then the third part at least to some of the Popes cozens or fauorites so that they are daily heard to affirme that scarcely in all their life time will they redeeme their losses and in the meane time that Court is neuer without thousands of those poore Pretendenti who follow Mâ—…n Seigâ—…r Illustrissgratis liuing vpon the smoake of Alchumie or vmbragious hopes Would not any man thinke that those bee reall distastes to so powerfull a Monarch for howsoeuer the late King Philip was abused by the Iesuiticall subtilties yet through a great deale of bitter experience the case is now come to a manifest discouery of intollerable inconueniencies for if that King being so mighty and full of experience was not able to beare through the Iesuiticall machinations against the late Queene of England and against a dismembred and desperate state of France how shall he who now is there so good and so deuote a Prince thinke his throne to besure to his successours against the chances of the world which we now see vnlesse he will concurre to extinguish that fire which hath blowen abroad so
courses of the Iesuites the which I doe againe and againe assure you my Lord doetend to hold off Cyrus and to bring against her an Assur a rod of Gods wrath to tread her in the myre and to bring capitall iudgements vpon all those within this kingdom who hearken vnto their voice And seeing your Lo hath so good a King whose bountie hath been great toward you as you know whose Blood Royall is the brightest Starre which you carrie in the frontispice of all your Honors and whose sacred person you do so faithfully affect whose wisdome and learning hath that reputation with the best of the Papall Clergie as I haue related that they could admit his Maiestie among the first of Iudges to pacifie Christian dissensions if the Lord of his mercy should blesse this time with so happie a constellation Therefore let your Lordship be pleased to obey the voyce of such a King who doth enioyne you nothing contrary to holy Scripture Be with his Maiestie in the purchase of this crowne of glory which God hath said before him to obtaine by his putting forwards of Catholike Vnitie for the safetie of Christian Churches and people from the barbarous invasions of the common enemie the Turke you my Lord in speciall whose speciall merit conioyned with the virtue of your renowned Auncestors haue made you twice worthy to be next his Maiestie in places of publike seruice do hearken vnto the voyce of so many good and worthy Subiects in the Land who do heartily invite you to imbrace those Functions in the State which God nature and your peculiar vertue haue allotted vnto you to the furtherance of pietie and ius◅ice in the Common-wealth And to be briefe liue so that you may be honoured in this life and happie in the next for your constant action of Christian vertues which bee much surer meanes to strengthen a good Religion then Cloysterall bigottrie or contemplation in your Lo person principally As much would I exhort those also who either brooke in their hearts latent displeasure against the Church gouernment or to whom the acceptation of these vsefull Ceremonies would bee distastefull or who vnder colour of those haue distracted hearts from the State seeing the first is you know a most laudable restitution of the ancient Catholike policie and the second a point allowed for vnitie not by the grosse and obscure rudiments of reformation as you would say by Luther and Bucer but by Zanchius and others who shined thereafter as perfect lights in the Church We may be ashamed to bee contentious against such graue iudgements and against the authoritie of a whole Nationall neighbour Church whereof you are brethren and which of all those in Christendome hath onely been reformed perfectly by putting forth of all Idolatrie and holding forth of all noueltie Cato Utyconsis because hee found no reason to obey the time as hee thought he would not liue but slew himselfe although hee might haue possessed chiefe dignities vnder Caesar. Socrates hauing in his choyce either to dye or to be exiled hee chuseth death because said he a man cast from his common wealth is no more a man Is it not strange that you who hold your selfe an vpright christian yea and Pastor that vpon sure and inquestionable points or vpon trifling and indifferent Ceremonies you will not onely refuse to conforme your selfe but by the meanes of your separation you giue the opportunitie of seditious practises both of forraine Insidiators and intestine male-contents which is a cursed and bad part That wee should embrace the name of Separists to runne away and derelinquish that great Citie vpon the mountaine called by the Prophets Ciuit as quaesita non derelicta that we should turne backe to Iudaize by clandestine Synagogues and renounce that ample and famous Title of a true Christian Catholique Christianus mihi nomen Catholicus cogno◅ said all the holy Fathers We do refuse communion with the Church of Rome and with the greatest part of those in Germanie and if we should lye euer deuided from the heads and chiefest members of our owne bodie within this Kingdome certainely I know not what way to excuse such open delight of separation and singularitie since the marke of Christian profession is to bee Catholicke and vniuersall I know you will say the Saints of God are a handfull true but the Church of God is not so it hath by exterior marke◅ a large Communion and extent and cannot bee griped in one hand or in two What is there in reason in nature in Theology which doth not teach vs this Communion and coniunction the light of reason doth tell vs that Vi◅ vnita fortior Things which be vnited are most strong Nature doth shew to vs that the dumbe Elements communicate qualities among thēselues that the most distant Climates of the earth haue mutual commerce beasts which do liue together within the precinct of our Isle will be ordinarily of our societie Theologie hath taught vs to beleeue it for an Article of our Creede that their is a Communion of Saints For the loue of this Communion betwixt man and Angel and for the prosperitie of the kingdome of heauen God did pardon Adam and retreat his holy word Thou shalt die the death so soone as thou dost cat of this And shall not wee re◅it one dramme of our presumptuous purity for our Christian Communion with our brethren of our Church without the which this great Isle our common mother can neuer be truely fortunate nor the ports thereof surely closed against the plots and insidiation of our enemies as if the whole efficacy of Christianity did consist in that one point of Precisenesse while as our good father Saint Augustine did comprise an hereticke vnder that word Agnosca◅ qui precisisunt veniant ad fidem did discriue an vpright Christian by those three properties Contra rationem sobrius contra Scriptur as nemo Christia◅ contra Ecclesiā nemo Catholi◅us That as a sober man he must be subiect to reason as a Christian man subiect to the Scriptures and as a Catholike subiect to the Church The first of which three doth admonish vs all in generall that in any light of reason if wee doe not sing one harmonie in the publike seruice of God we are not as good members of the Church should be studious of her glory nor as good subiects of this kingdome should bee desirous of its felicity The second doth admonish you who are an obstinate Papist that you are no true Christian who will not make the Scripture the infallible rule of your faith The third doth admonish you who are a Stoicall and stiffe Puritane that you are not a peaceable subiect who doth contradict the authoritie of a setled and Orthodoxall Church Alwayes to you who doe hatch grudges for other Interims of the state such as pressure of Subsidies or pretended pouertie of the time I will say this and if it haue no reason I am content to sing
manifestly published to the world in Mount Caluerie as if that great and matchlesse Citie were not long agoe abandoned of God ruined accursed and prostrate to the prophane yoke of godlesse Turcisme As if Rome it selfe were not become like to the Cities of the Plaine smoaking in the abhominable pollutions of Sodom as if Scotland had not beene Christian perhaps as soone as Rome as Tertullian writeth in his seuenth booke contra Iudâ—…os Britannorum loca Romanis inaccessa Christo subdit fuere which diuers others learned Authors haue affirmed and as if the Northern parts were not now become the seat of the Candlesticke purged from their fornications while as Rome it selfe lyeth try fling in Types and Pharisaicall Ceremonies in place of true Religion defiled with her owne blood refusing to be clensed abhorring the voice of reformation crying with the blinded Iewes Templum Domini Templum Domini And that I did so long lie in this ignorance what shall I say Spiritus spirat vbi vult quando vult yet this farre must I say for my selfe it was not neither strange in me who since my youth had beene possessed with false opinions for certainely there bee so many specious vailes which couer from a mans eies the truth of things to wit the grauity of their subtill Prelates the exterior zeale and deuotion of the people the splendor and the richnes of their Temples the maiesty and reuerence of their Seruices the glorie of the precessions their exorbitant workes of superstitious Charitie multitudes of Hospitals and conuentuall houses rented by voluntarie Contributions the stoicall and stupid austeritie of the Proselites the voluntary miserie of the Capuchins the profound Preachers of the Dominicall and Iacobin Orders the admirable policy of the Iesuitical trade withal their proud perillous vaunting of Antiquity Succession and Vniuersality these are sufficient at the first to surprise a iudicious minde and to astonish a man as if hee looked on Medusas head who drinketh of Mandragora hee is in danger of a long sleepe but who tasteth the cup of Superstition he is in danger of deadly sleepe That old Circe knoweth all the secrets of inchantment and albeit she hath amazed Kithing mountaines of dead mens bones yet of those who arriue in her Island and come within the hearing of her voice they be few who escape her incantations fewe who with Vlisses can tye themselues vnto the maine Mastes to the ende they bee not rauished with her Syrens songes which can keepe fast the sacred Anker of the pure word of God Many through ignorance and naturall inclination to superstition many againe through auarice and ambition are contented to be tranformed into beasts by the charmes of Circe This euill of superstition among spiriruall dangers it is the great rocke of our common shipwrack it is dangerous first and especially because of the feareful iudgement which God doth inflict against it For what is superstition but a false worship of God Of all the plagues and punishments vnder heauen most fearefull is that which followeth superstition the Prophet hath pronounced it against the obstinate follies of the Iewes Audite audientes nolite intelligere videte visioneÌ„ nolite cogitare nec cognoscere occoeca cor populi huius oculos 〈◊〉 claude aggraua aures eius ne fortevideat oculis auribus audiat corde intellgat coÌ„uertatur saneÌ„ euÌ„ which is to be giuen ouer by God absolutly to follow lies falshood in place of veritie at the Apostle saith vt credant mâ—…ndacio qui non crediderunt vâ—…ritati great is the honour which is bestowed on vs while we stand in Gods true worship A certaine great Deuine hath made this the difference betwixt God and good men Deus homo coelestis homo autem Deus terrestris but when we be spoiled with wicked idolatrie it maketh the Lord to say of vs homo cum in honore esset non intellexit comparatus est inmentis insipientibus factus est similis illis and was not indeed that mightie Nabuchodonozor for his wrong opinion of God changed into a beast our other sinnes for the greatest part proceed of humane weakenesse but this of wicked presumption and therefore it is commonly punished with desperate obâ—…uration Secondly idolatry is dangerous because it is ordinary and quotidian in the world as euery body hath his owne shadow so there was neuer Religion which had not his owne superstition And as the shadow is longer then the body except when the Sunne approcheth neere the Zenith and sendeth his beames downe either perpendiculer or toward a direct aspect vpon the earth as we say Euen so when the light of the Euangell makes not a direct reflexion vpon our soules and mindes to certifie our knowledge but comes vpon vs by obliquity not in puritie but mixed with humane traditions then growes superstition to be long An extraordinarie and impious excesse of Religion dissoluing the true order of Gods worship into numbers of forbidden and pharifaicall ceremonies it is the companion of true Religion for truth and falsehood are twins borne almost both in one day God spake to day in Paradise the Serpent spake next morrow Simon Peter in the Euangell spake to day and Simon Magus spake to morrow There was neuer Church free from corruption to the end chiefly from idolatrous worship Adam who was the first man created by God himself in whose person was the whole Church of God he fell away to beleeue the Deuill Aaron who was the first Priest ordained by God himselfe by a legal warrant he fell away to idolatrie Solomon who was the first king and first man commanded by God to build him a Temple for his seruice he also fell away to idolatry These no doubt be great arguments of the force of superstition Thirdly idolatry is dangerous because it is a popular disease and so is the more contagious The Israelites were once become so vniuersally Baalists that the Prophet cryed there was not one who had not bowed his knee to Baal The Ecclesiasticall histories doe record that the Catholike Church was so once generally infected with Arianisme that there was not a sincere Pastor who durst minister the sacraments of Baptisme in a publike Temple Such is the disposition of our corrupt natures to heresie and preuarication in Gods worship Nature is moued and led by the sense and in idolatrie there be so many gratious and pleasant shewes of piety as doe bewitch the senses Lastly superstition is dangerous because the multitude who are chiefely giuen vnto it can hardly discouer it they be but pecora campi as the wiseman saith in the Scripture I lookt out vpon the earth and I saw many beasts but few men Superstition while it is masked it is a most plausible thing Satan hath giuen to it a faire face and oftentimes fairer then that of true Religion after the sort of impudent whores who be more curiously deckt then the chast Ladies