bolster out uphold this sowsie ragged rabble with stout countenauÌ„ce But it will not be you come all to late And your labour is all lost It was not without reason that I noted haw this huge heapes of Pictures were the offcombe of that vnsauory schoolekitchen Neither did I erre in notyng the certeine limitation of their whelpyng no more can you cease from your old cankred custome of cauilling scarse one minute of an houre You flée ouer to your Councell of Nice as to an inuincible bulwarke as though what soeuer a Councell doth thrust vpon vs ought to be holden of vs for inuiolable In déede your filthy vnmaryed life crawled first into the Churche after this maner So also your friuolous and Sophisticall Transubstantiation was commaunded in the begynnyng But let vs scanne this Deuine Decrée of the Councell touchyng Images which was vttered in that second Nicene CouÌ„cell vnder these wordes Images ought to be worshipped as reuereÌ„tly as God is worshipped But you will not admit this to be true I trow when as els where you are of opinion that Images and Pictures remaine to be viewed onely all worship set apart wherein neuertheles you disagrée in your selfe also For in the same place you tell vs a tale of Robinhoode alledgyng miracles withall to witte that bloud hath bene séene to gush out of Images perdy and certeine uertue of healyng hath issued froÌ„ theÌ„ And that for this cause they ought to be worshypped Hereby meanyng to proue both of the whiche a litle earst you admitted neither What grossenesse is this Osorius what ouersight what forgetfulnesse of your selfe and your owne wordes you reporte that Eusychius did behold the Images of the Apostles exquisitely paynted What hereof This was but a commendation of Paynters my good Osorius and not a prayse of Pictures Yet you notwithstaÌ„dyng as though you had made a fayre speake do affirme that it is without all coÌ„trouersie that Images were in the Apostles tyme. How or from whence doe you persuade this Osorius is this a good Argument to proue that Images were uisited in the Apostles tyme bycause without comptrollement you tell vs a smoath tale of Thomas of Inde of Eusebius and of Pope Siluester Do ye so conclude my Lord beyng an old man a Priest and a Byshop Semblable and lyke drousinesse is in you where you charge me that I did accuse your Scholemen to be the first founders of Images This is false I doe not charge them withall but I will abyde by this that this uenemous doctrine was wonderfull encreased with the corruption of this poysoned Schoole â—y wordes are as followeth When true Religion began to decay Images crept into the Churche by title and litle and that former earnest desire of pure doctrine waxed cold in mens hartes and that bastard and deformed superstitious Schoole Diuinitie vaunted it selfe at the length and immediatly all places were patched vppe with Images c. Now speake Parrotte of Portingall I pray you Did I not orderly enough distinguish the seasons of tymes By litle and litle crept Images in yea long before the péepyng of Schoolemen abroad but beyng settled in their stalles all places were stuffed with Pictures You sée their Originall before Schoolemen but the increasinges thereof in the chief reigne and sway of that brotherhoode And yet ye dare impudently affirme that I named Schoolemen to bee the very wellsprynges of Pictures And at length ye crye out What dulnesse what negligeÌ„ce when as I might more iustly haue exclaimed O forgetfull dottard O rayling scolde After that you haue long turmoyled your selfe in this gulfe sometymes treatyng of Pictures sometymes inducyng them as representations of holy personages you packe vp your trunckes and returne to your former course of exhortation wherein you persuade that bycause Images be sauory Instrumentes to enforme the vnlettered people therefore they ought bee reserued to that vse But learned and godly men will rather say that Images are daungerous Rockes of manifest Idolatry And as I will not much gaynesay that discréete men and well exercized in the Scriptures may haue in their Closettes without any perill the Image of the Crucifixe so doe I boldly pronounce that without great daunger of Idolatry Images can not be placed in Churches to the uiewe of the rude people beyng naturally incliuable to all superstition And therefore it is most necessary to abandone Images out of Churches and to instruct the people in the holy Scriptures the often hearyng and readyng wherof will make the diligent and uertuous followers to finde no want of any such paynted bables Sathan carying our Lord and Sauiour Iesus into the wildernesse willed him to fall downe and worshyp him Our Lord Iesu despising and rebukyng him sayd It is written Thou shalt worshippe the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Ueryly when I ponder the Maiestie of these wordes throughly in my mynde and the dayly practizes of your Churches wherein so perillous and euident tokens of Image worshyp and knéelyng to Pictures is frequented my very hart panteth and trembleth within me to thinke how this expresse commaundement of God the Father and of our Lord Iesus Christ séemeth vtterly buried in obliuion with you But runne on sith it so pleaseth you and scorche your soules in the flames of Idolatry we beyng terrified with the Deuine Oracles of the sacred Scriptures haue vtterly subuerted Images and Pictures and exiled them from our Churches In like maner we passe ouer the Saintes in our prayers make intercession onely vnto God the Father and our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ and vpon them do we call onely for succour Unto whom with the holy Ghost we do confesse and professe all glory all honour all power euerlastyng eternitie to be due And to confirme this our confession to bee most pure and true the testimonies of eche Testament are plentyfull wherein we doe also follow the manifold examples of the Patriarches Apostles and Martyrs As for you there is nothyng vttered of your part sauoryng of the auncient pure founteine of the primitiue Church either in coÌ„uersation of life or profession in Religion We haue heard the voyce of our Lord Iesu Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Certes if the onely Maiestie of God must be worshipped alone the worshipping of saintes ought in no case to be admitted theÌ„ The Euangelist Iohn begaÌ„ to worship the Angell but the Angell withstood him yelded the reason I am quoth he thy fellow seruant If we haue Angels our fellow seruaunts Osor. surely we haue no Saints to be our Aduocates There is but one Aduocate betwixt God and man The God and man Christ Iesu. If Saintes make no intercession for vs then to worship them is but vayne Semblably take worshyp away to what purpose serue Images For to gaze vpoÌ„ them auayleth litle Let the people heare the Scriptures Let them be busied therein There is Christ
pure elegancy of Cicero do seeme in his iudgement childishe stammerers in vayne haue Augustine Ierome Ciprian Ambrose Gregory Bernard in vayne haue the Romish Prelates and all other expositours both of the Greéke and the Latine Churches in vayne haue Angrensis Dalmata Alphonsus Turianus Andradius bestowed great and paynfull labours in writiÌ„g whose style and forme of phrase if be throughly viewed and considered peraduenture the more part of them will be found to differre as farre from the finesse of Cicero as Haddon doth That I may be so bolde to make no mencioÌ„ at all of Scotus Sotus LoÌ„bardus Gratiane Thomas de Aquino Raphaell Gabriell and such like trasshe yea how many may a maÌ„ pyke out from amongst the most famous and true Christian deuines who of sett purpose haue abased their stile not because they could not write so loftely of the thinges that you esteéme of so gaâ—ly but because they were of this minde that this hawty loftinesse of affected Eloquence woulde not agreé with the naturall simplicitie of the Gospell Whereupon Ierom writing to Pammachius seemeth in this respecte to haue him in the more estimacioÌ„ because he despised Cicero in respect of Christ and farther also is of this Iudgement that in the expositioÌ„ of scriptures the nycetye of speache ought not onely to be dissimuled but also vtterly eschued because it might be more profitable for all ingenerall Christ our sauiour accompteth the high and great thinges of this worlde to he execrable and abhominable in the sight of God And the Prophet Esay doth with wonderfull manacing threaten Manasses the day of the Lord agaynst all things that be fayre beautifull florishing things of this world Paule in enlarging the knowledge of the Euangelicall doctrine durst not beginne the same with high and lofty Rhetoricall speache nor furnishe his wordes with humayne Eloquence not because it was hard for him to do so if he listed but chose rather to refrayne least the Crosse of Christ sayth he might be made voyde and of none effect I speake not this because I would haue men tyed to such a necessitie now a dayes by his example namely sithe the Gospell of Christ doth so florish euery where as though it might not be lawfull in these dayes with what soeuer ornamentes yea of greattest estimatioÌ„ to beautifie the speache to applye the same to the vse of Christes congregatioÌ„ But yet must modest discretioÌ„ be vsed here Truely if Plato were of opinion that the last end of Eloquence was that we should deliuer vtter things acceptable to God how much more theÌ„ is the same to be required in a Deuine Aud therefore as concerning the Grace and dexteritie of Cicero whatsoeuer it be that eyther Nature did emplant in him or Industry did attayne as I despise it not but rather very well like of it and do wonder at so excellent a gift of God in him so agayne do I not reprehend in any man to immitate him so that his imitation be ioyned with Christian simplicitie so that it be done not to hawke after the proud estimation of the worlde nor to the vayne glorious ostentation of witte nor for anye priuate glory finally so that it be so applyed that discret imitation may be clearely voyde of vayne affectation Nowe what shall we say to them who reiecting all other teachers of maners and doctrine do employ all their endeuour to file vpp their tongues so addict themselues altogether to Cicero alone and so amazedly dote vpon him onely that thinke it a lesse fault not to be a Christian almost then not to be a Ciceronian nor iudge hym scarse worthy the reading though he be neuer so Christian a wryter that doth not frame hys stile after Ciceroes patterne and sauor altogether of hys delicate speache And that is the cause as I suppose why Osorius doth recken that Haddon doth wryte nothing purely and nothing playnly Not because he hath corruptly or fasly written but that it seémeth to Osori that he hath not written like a Ciceronian because hee doth not throughly resemble his dexteritie loftines although in deéde he be not very farre behinde hym And therfore this sweete man doth woÌ„der what waywardnes of minde forced him to be so bold as to wryte agaynst Osorius and coÌ„maundeth him to learne of him if it please the Muses how hawty and vehement interrogations must be applyed in place fitte for the same Last of all in steade of a Rhetoricall acclamation concluding with a Satyricall skoffe he doth aduertize hym To procede in writing franckly as hym listeth and because he will encourage hym to wryte more franckly and freely he telleth him that he may freely wryte without daunger because no man of any iudgement or skill will blame him in this respect that he is addicted to Cicero more then is needefull If there were any sense or feélyng of right or wrong in all your body or if there were any reason in all these your vnmanerly tauntes and rascallike scoffes Osorius I could acquite you with the lyke and could be contented to space them vnto you in Haddons behalfe But now for as much as this your speach is so aboundauÌ„tly replenished with vanitie and folly what were better for me to doe then accordyng to the counsell of the wise man To aunswere a foole accordyng to his foolishnesse Briefly therfore and bycause I make hast to the end of your booke to auÌ„swere not to your Argumentes which in deéde are none but to aunswere your scoffes and nyppyng conceiptes not altogether vnpleasauntly yet neuerthelesse somewhat truly Surely I do geue you harty thankes Osorius not for myne owne cause onely but in the publicke name of all the learned generally for the thynges wh you haue taught vs hetherto in these your notable books For so haue you taught as we all can not but be merry and receaue singuler delight at your doynges For what is he that can absteine from laughing that shall heare you disputyng vpon those matters in wh you seéme to behaue your self no more aptly then as though a blind man should discerne betwixt colours and a Camell Iudge of dauncing You take vpon you to determine franckly betwixt true and false ReligioÌ„ very hautely and proudely but yet much more impudently And yet it shal be as easie a matter for a maÌ„ to finde as much Relligion in Tullies Offices yea and as true as this your Relligion is which you haue so gloriously painted out in these your bookes hetherto a fewe sparckles onely except Likewise also throughout the whole course of the rest of your discourse how often haue your friuolous and confused Argumentes moued me to myrth and laughter As where you thrust your selfe to stoughtly into the matter of Iustification Predestination in all which kinde of doctrine notwtstaÌ„dyng you seéme as meére a strauÌ„ger as though you came new froÌ„ India neither dare once so much all the while in all your
kynde of mans vtteraunce For it is one thyng for a Deuine to debate vpon holy mysteries and an other to play the Mynstrell As Musonius spake sometyme of a certeine Philosopher And therfore I doe not differre much from his Iudgement herein who although attributed enough vnto Cicero yet did so much of set purpose absteine froÌ„ affectation of his speache that although he could haue attayned thereunto gaue him selfe rather yet to a more souÌ„de more proportionable more pitthy lesse effeminate more naturall lesse fleshly a more spirituall kynde of speache And yet doth no man diminish any thing of the commendation of those excellent giftes of Tullies eloquence But perhappes it seémeth more vnseémely in Osorius IudgemeÌ„t not to speake like a Ciceronian then not to speake like a Christian. And therefore this Portingall Pasquill doth giere at Haddon by way of mockage saying That no maÌ„ of sounde IudgemeÌ„t will euer blame him for this that he is more then enough addicted to Cicero c. As though if that Haddon had applyed him selfe to Ciceroes phrase more then was neédefull that wise men would haue geuen him any commendation for the same and not rather haue turned it to his reproche aâ—d condemned him of follye But how much Haddon gaue him selfe to the affectatioÌ„ of Cicero or how much he did not neither do I greatly regarde nor am I well acquainted withall Which neither knew the man nor the maner of his studies but that considering the man by the viewe and conference of his bookes and writyngs he seémeth to my Iudgement more addicted and lesse cleare from this Ciceronian scabbe then I could haue wished him What Iudgementes of others you presse vs withall I know not but if they be Ciceronians I doe not greatly regard them If they be blinde and like vnto your selfe such I can not tearme to be Iudgementes but foreiudgementes rather such as are wont to be of those whose Iudgementes are not grounded vpon reason but vpon affectioÌ„s Ierome in a certeine place doth say that the â—udgemeÌ„tes of Louers be blind but I dare affirme that enuy and malice be much more daungerously blinde But if you tell me of curteous and Christian Iudgementes I make no doubt of these at all but that they will Iudge right well of all Haddones cause For he pleadeth in the most necessary quarell of the Churche and the most commendable defence of his Countrey Moreouer he so handleth his matters with Argumentes and Reasons as that he seémeth not onely to haue coÌ„futed Osorius But also to haue crusht him all to peéces Let other men Iudge of his stile and the disposition of his writyng as shall like them best I will not gaynsay them As for me truly if I may be so bold by the leaue of the iudifferent Reader so subscribe to other mens Iudgementes though it be of no great estimation that I shall speake yet will I speake neuerthelesse franckly as I thinke not of Haddon onely but so for Haddon as I will withall aunswere vnto Osorius Haddones Pasquill For this I Iudge of them both vnlesse your grosse and Heathenishe Iudgement Osorius did much more differre from Christ and from all Christian modestie then Haddones maner of writyng in my Iudgement truely doth differre from Ciceroes commendable vertues you would neuer haue set forth your selfe your blinde ignoraunce nor your rayling bookes to the open gaze of the world to be mocked derided and hissed at in this so great and cleare lightsomnesse of the Gospell of Christ. ¶ The thyrd Booke HAuyng striken of two heades of this monstruous Hydre already and mangled the same in gobbettes reasonably well the terrible Serpent neuerthelesse beyng not as yet throughly vanquished there remaineth yet one head more or booke Wherein this vgly vermine besturreth him selfe to freshe assaultes betaketh him to new threateninges casteth out new poyson yea whole flouddes of slaunderous reproches and lyes agaynst our new Gospell as he tearmeth it like as the old Serpent did long sithence agaynst the woman and her child but chiefly agaynst our litle England And yet he doth so vse the matter as that he would not seéme to enuemine all the whole Ilande with this contagious fleing infectioÌ„ For he doth know as he sayth that in this laÌ„d are very many good and Catholicke meÌ„ which neuer shronke away froÌ„ their vowes and othes made to the Pope of Rome and that many of our Englishe Nation haue willyngly runne out of their countrey as also not a few in nomber that tarry still at home who persistyng neuerthelesse in the same opinion of Romish Relligion are restrayned from vtteryng their conscieÌ„ces more for feare then for any zeale they beare to this new Gospell Moreouer also that there be many noble meÌ„ yea many whole shyres in England as he is enformed by a certeine Portingall Marchaunt a frend of his that are not coathed as yet with this Lutheran moraine And therfore that this his accusation in not bent agaynst whole EnglaÌ„d neither agaynst those particular persons places as Haddon doth misconster of him but agaynst those Lutheranes and those new Gospellers onely From which sort of people he doth louyngly aduertize Queene Elizabeth of very good will and harty affection that she take very good heede and be warely circumspect And to the end she may foresee the same more prouidently he will foreshewe vnto her certeine markes and tokens by the which beyng guided as by Theseus clewe of threede she shall not mysse to discerne the difference betwixt true Relligion and false betwixt true Prophetes and false Prophetes and by what markes the one may be easily discouered from the other You haue now the proposition of this booke All the rest that is patched together in the processe of the whole worke tendeth euen to this effect almost First he maketh promise to set downe certeine signes and tokens by the which he will make manifest the difference betwixt true Relligion and false and betwixt true Prophetes and false Afterwardes annexing a description of his Church he doth display the same abroad very curiously in the maner of a very fayre and beautyfull picture painted out as it were in a Table to be viewed Next vnto this he maketh a coÌ„parison betwixt the two Churches so magnifieng his owne Church with wonderfull prayses and coÌ„mendations that it is not possible to aduaunce it more highly agaynst so embasing thrustyng downe vnder foote the pâ—stiferous sectes of the Lutheranes that all meÌ„ may worthely hate them and detest them Of the which by Gods permission shal be spoken hereafter in place fitte for the same And first of all commeth to hand an infringible Argument of Osorius now once agayne repeated out of his letters written to Queéne Elizabeth Which bycause he braggeth was not confuted by Haddon so much the more behoueth vs to note aduisedly his wonderfull skill vttered in knittyng vppe the knotte therof So that if we be no more able
to draw once somewhat nearer to the Epilogue of his notable Oration hauyng dispatcht that part of the accusation now wherein he hath discouered whatsoeuer hath bene spoyled by the Lutheranes he bendeth his eloquence to declare by the rest of his talke what supply hath come in for that which hath bene spoyled And here our proper fine Orator takyng a through and circumspect view of all thynges I warraūt you can espy no one thing of all that is reformed any thing prayseworthy nor any thyng in any respect aunswerable to the promises of these men who promising to cure the woundes and blemishes of the Church haue brought it into farre worse case more putrified and fuller of corruption And why so Bycause they do see that not onely the professours but the hearers also of this new Gospell are not onely not made better but defiled with many more haynous offences more prouoked to troublesome diuisions to venerous lust to theeuery and murther and to all other horrible practizes This is a stale deuise and an old practize of a pratyng Rhetorician that when thou seést thy selfe confounded with truth of matter to fleé forthwith to slaunderyng scoldyng and backbyting But to aunswere you somewhat hereunto What do ye note all the professours of the word Osorius or some particuler persons I thinke neither you will nor iustly can iustifie your saying agaynst all no more can ye agaynst many of them for as much as ye know not throughly the one halfe of our conuersations But if you thinke thus of some particuler person why do ye maruell so much at this sithence the state and condition of mans life attained neuer yet so perfect a felicitie but that there was alwayes iust cause of cōplaint agaynst the maners of many men and the worst part commonly were more in nomber thē the better Yea in Paradise it selfe sithence man and woman alone beyng but two onely could not liue long together in that humaine flesh without sinne how much lesse is this to be wondered in a multitude And yet in respect of those some persons whom you note as it were with a coale I know some also and could note them by name whose commendable conuersation of life I would rather chuse then all the holynes of all your Portingalls whatsoeuer vnlesse you demeane your selues more godly at home in Portingall then some of you lately behaued your selues here in England whom notwithstandyng I will not at this present openly diffame nor speake of them all that I know concealing their names of set purpose to the end your noble Nation shall not be infamed for their lewdenes by any reporte of myne And therfore let all that be Catholick be heauenly and Angelicke also for me And in this sort also had it bene as seémely for you good Catholicke Syr not to haue rusht so rudely with your vnmanerly penne agaynst them whose maners be altogether as farre from your knowledge as their names be As touchyng report what hath bene carried vnto you or what not I do not so much esteéme which as you know carrieth lyes for the more part rather then truth But admitte that the report be true marke yet I pray you how iniurious and slaūderous you are both in respect of the persons agaynst whō you do inueighe so much in respect of the cause which you do defende For wheras they do treate vpon Relligion and doctrine onely you apply all the action to life and maners without all cōsideratiō of the differēce betwixt these two For whereas Relligion is referred to God onely and maners respect mans state and condition properly hereby it commeth to passe that in that one nothyng ought to be permitted except it be most sincere and pure and in these other nothyng at all can be founde that is in any respect perfect Now if the order and course of mans life be not in all pointes correspondent to that absolute and exact rule of doctrine which we professe yet doth this neither countenaūce your errour nor preiudice the sinceritie of the Relligion that is taught out of the Gospell Wherfore this was altogether besides the cushian Osorius to raunge so lauishly agaynst men to speake so litle of the matter and substaunce of the question which concerned not mens maners but the pointes of doctrine properly But peraduenture this place serued here to the Rhetoricall commō place of vice and vertue taken out somewhere of some Oratours booke which perhappes you would haue cleane forgotten vnlesse you had furbushed it a fresh at this present Wherein notwithstandyng I do neither disallow your diligence much nor despise your Rhetoricall florishyng and beautifieng of righteousnesse For I know and confesse that this integritie of life which you commēde so highly apperteineth much to the dignifieng of the Church But yet this great boast maketh but small roast and serueth as litle to this present cause Which in deéde is this That a playne demonstration ought to haue bene made by the testimony of the Scriptures not what is pure or what is corrupt in mens maners but in the cōtrouersies of Relligion what is true and what is false Now if you be not so well furnished with Scriptures as to be able to debate throughly of the controuersies of Relligiō and therfore would conuerte your penne to this Rhetoricall kynde of cauillyng and scoldyng thē should you haue for seéne this much that this your hideous barkyng might at the least haue resembled the barking of those dogges that were trayned vppe lōg sithence in the Capitoll of Rome not to barke at honest Citizēs walking abroad in the day tyme but to driue away theéues gadders by night and to discouer thē with their barkyng But you so frame your accusation now I know not how preposterously ouerthwartly as that ye seéme more worthy to be noted for a Sycophant thē an accuser as one who passing ouer those lazye Drones and waspes which of all others chiefly ought to haue bene beaten away farre from the Hyues of the Church ye rush onely vpō thē altogether whose worthy trauailes if you were an honest man you would thinke neuer to be able to requite with cōdigne thankefulnes And yet in this your accusation agaynst them you do so enforce the whole bent of your Inuectiue and speach as that no part thereof at all carrieth any shew of truth nor agreément in it selfe First you doe say That these men tooke vpon them this enterprise of a great courage arrogancie and boldnesse whereby they promised to reforme the corrupt maners of the Church accordyng to her former auncient beauty and to bryng this to passe they bounde them selues by solemne oathe Which I haue already declared to be most vntrue yea the whole world witnessing same though I would hold my peace Yea annexe further That many ordinaūces well established in the Church first are taken away by them and abrogated Which also hath bene disproued to be no
els hereby but to be esteémed the most vnciuil person of all mē that cā finde in your hart to rēder so churlish a requitall for such gay benefites But I do not condēne all England say you I doe onely confute the errours of some whiche haue brought this new Religion into England You name England by generall wordes once twise thrise you barcke against the whole state of our religiō you accuse all the lawes made touchyng the same you doe violently rend in peéces our whole Ecclesiastical gouernement with most vnshamefast cauillatiō you inueigh against the honest conuersatiō of our maners with most outragious slaunders And yet to untwyne your selfe out of this manifest flame of cancred malice you would seéme to charge but a few whom you call seditious Schismatiques to their countrey Not so my good Lord you may not so escape England vnderstandeth the Latine toūg very well is also of a ripe iudgement and is myndfull what her selfe hath done and cā not forget how much and how greuously you haue diffamed her nor will not admit this your painted satisfaction in threé wordes especially beyng manifestly false when she throughly cōsidereth the ouerlauish backbytinges of the rest of your laboursome volume And whereas you persuade your selfe to haue iust cause of quarell bycause you write in the behalfe of Religion herein truly you bewray your ignoraūce euen as in all the rest of your doynges For albeit you be appointed a Sphepheard ouer the sheepe of Siluan in Portingall you may not therefore sheare the fliece frō English and foreine sheépe vnlesse you had bene called thereunto by lawfull authoritie vnlesse Paule paraduenture did appoint ouer euery congregation seuerall pastours in vayne especially when as the same Paul doth charge euery of vs with our vocation I vse here his own wordes and commaundeth vs to abyde in the same As for you Syr I beseéch you who hath called you vnto vs or how will you preach vnto vs beyng not sent for I doe here gladly vse the simple wordes of the Scriptures Your burnyng charitie I trow is so whote that if your bold bragges may be beleéued you will shed your bloud in the defence of Religiō Be not to bold Bayard It is an easie matter Osorius to despise a tempest in a quiet calme but if any perillous flaw shall happen the very sounde therof I feare me will make our glorious Thraso eftsoones to thrust his head in a mousehole But if you bee of such inuincible courage stand to your tackle at home and as neéde shall require hasarde your lyfe for your owne sheépe We haue pastours of our own and seuerall Seés we neéde no raungyng Prelate out of Protingall Afterwardes you beleue that I can not shew you how that you enforce your writyng of malice rancour and greedy lust to cauil bicause as you propes you were hereunto moued of very loue onely pure denotiō Truely if you may be a witnesse in your owne cause you will easely persuade what you list But if it be lawfull to vrge your owne Epistle agaynst you as reason requireth there is nothyng more easie then to shew by euident demōstration your incredible despight viperous hatred agaynst our Preachers Where euery sentence doth swarme with manifest stinges of Scorpion like venime At the last you come downe nearer to the flat accusation it selfe the which bycause I perceaued so farced with pestilent poyson and creépyng for couert into the Queénes highnes presence I tooke it in very ill part that my coūtrey was so cruelly and wickedly accused and slaūdered by you wherfore I desired to haue the causes set down the persons named the tymes noted and all circumstaunces to bee described that we might haue some sure grounde to begyn our controuersie vpon Here our clamorous titiuiller taketh occasiō to scorne my to to foreward diligence beyng him selfe most ridiculous in confounding all thinges making mingle mangle of all thinges distributyng nothyng into his partes openyng nothyng distinctly And beleueth forsooth that I came to late when Rethoricke was a dealing Surely my Lord you are come tyme enough to the dole For in this controuersie which is now betwixt vs I doubt not but I shal seare you with so good a whote yron that the very Printe therof shall remaine whiles the world doth endure as a perpetuall testimonie of your grosse ignoraunce Yet foreward proceédeth his worshypfull Maistershyp and deépely debateth vpon old rules and principles of schooles and at the last cōcludeth very grauely that in criminall and iudiciall causes due order of circumstaunces ought to be obserued But that his Epistle is of an other hewe altogether of the perswadyng kinde What do I heare is not your raylyng backbityng Epistle a most slaunderous accusation and execrable Inuectiue No you say for the Iudge and the place of Iudgement wāted and there was no trespassour somonned Ueryly you are a very vntoward scholer that haue so soone forgottē the lesson your Maister taught you especially beyng beaten into you with so many expresse examples A good fellowship Syr. What doth Cicero when hee declameth agaynst L. Piso and Gabinius doth he not accuse thē if you seéke for the Guildhall here and the offendours there was neither of them For the matter was determined in the Counsell Chamber amongest the Senatours And yet no man of any founde iudgement will deny that they were accused and that all circumtaūces of tyme and place were ripped vp against thē The same order is to be seéne in his second Phillip agaynst Anthonius and in the Inuectiue which he made agaynst Saluste Many like examples may be shewed but these beyng the Presidens of your Maisters shop chiefly will suffice to conuince you of Childishe ignoraunce But you affirme that your quarellsome Epistle lacketh no argument for that we yeld vnto all those haynous crimes which you throw out agaynst vs. It is vntrue we deny all in the same plight as you haue set them downe And for your own part if you had any sparcle of shame or honesty you would neuer haue defiled your paper with so manifest a lye You rush vpon me with a sharpe battry of wordes as though I did not perceiue what were comely nor could discerne what the cause doth require Those be yours Osorius your owne drousie dreames as I haue made manifest by your owne schoolemaister Tullie the same is also apparaunt enough by your own Epistle which I can vouche agaynst you for a most euident witnesse You say that you haue reckoned vp many monsters of Religion I confesse it in how much the number of them is the greater so much the more deadly haue you helped our pastours cōsidering none of them can be founde in England as your selfe seéme also somewhat to doubt for this your write If those monsters haue not inuaded England I do hartly reioyce in your commō wealthes behalfe and confesse my selfe to be in errour to thinke that your Ilād was
forsooth and hereunto you haue pretyly stollen the wordes of Cicero agaynst Anthonius that with you Maisters tooles ye might wounde me the deéper with a false crime But I pray you Syr where is this haynous offence where is this blockish errour neuer heard of before wher with this milde sober father chargeth me wishing in me sobrietie some litle while As though I were alwayes drunken bearyng me in hand as though I were furiously mad that would commit such monsters to writyng forsooth if it please your Prelacie it will so be found in these two First that your selfe had made ougly your new glased Religion with all maner of filthy tauÌ„tes The other that I added thereunto is that some persons throates were cutte whoÌ„ no man knew but your selfe How say you Syr are not both these true I will alledge examples to discouer the matter clearely you challenge vs further that we mainteyne a kynde of fayth whereby euery man settyng aside all sorrow of mynde not regardyng good workes and drowning all endeuour of charitie promiâ—eth to him selfe hope of euerlastyng saluation No maner of person with vs doth acknowledge this glaueryng fayth no man doth defend it nay rather all men doe abhorre it and spitte at it This therfore is your own fayth hammered out of your own forge This is your owne lye This is your own cauill the which sithence your selfe doe pursue with such opprobrious infamie as you doe your selfe do disfigure your owne whelpe you dishoneste your owne creature In the Treatise of Freéwill you bring into your stage a certeine kynde of persons decked and apparelled with your owne wordes What els say you is meant hereby they keepe maÌ„s reason in bondage they bereue him of his freedome of aduisement mans will they entangle fast snarled in perpetuall chaynes and the whole man they doe vnclothe of iudgement and sense and so turne him ouer spoyled of all free choyse that there remaineth no more difference betwixt him and a stone for all maner of thynges which men doe imagine in their braynes endeuour and practise in theyr actions whether they be good or bad these men do ascribe to God the Authour therof and doe linke them together with a certeine fatall and vnaduoydable necessitie enduryng for euer By this tedious talke of yours you haue forged vnto vs certeine new Tyrauntes very fearefull in deéde of whom we neuer haue heard any mention before this tyme and which are meere straungers vnto vs Broyle them you on the gredyerne therfore and burne them with all your fagots and firebrandes of eloquence for here you doe scourge none but Hobgoblines and Bugge-beares with whom we were neuer acquaynted And therfore we suppose that these be your owne painted Poppettes deuises of your owne dreames vpon the whiche when you rushe with your doodgeandagger eloquence what els do you then murther shadowes of your own forgyng whom no man knoweth besides your selfe So the same offence and shame wherewith you do accuse others must neédes rebouÌ„d vpon your owne head when you can not finde them whom you haue accused Take a familiar example You call me dronkard whom all meÌ„ els I beleue do know to be sober enough except you that are scarse well aduised This dronkennes therfore if any be is your owne your owne lye and your owne reproch You exclame that I am madde whiche for that you do so manifestly lye wil be adiudged your owne errour your owne rage your owne ignoraunce You perceaue now at the length except you be more then franticke how truly I wrate that your selfe had misshaped your owne Religion had murthered those persons whom no man knew besides your selfe Awake therfore hereafter if you be wise and deliuer your gorge from this surfet of rancour and malice wherewith you are englutted and charge me no more with dronkennes madnes that am in all respects your equal your Myter onely excepted You affirme that you haue wounded Luther and his Champions onely But herein you haue dubbed a double lye For wheÌ„ you charge Luther with monstruous opinions where with that godly man was neuer acquainted you doe nothyng diffame Luther but batter downe your owne credite by coyning a certeine newfangled Diuinitie begynnyng now and erected first by your owne cauillations Luther did neuer allow this your owne counterfaite fayth I say counterfaite fayth marke what I speake nor euer affirmed it nor did at any tyme argue so fondly and absurdly of Freéwill as you report of him how soeuer you barke at him in your writynges It is no hard matter to espy and to barke at some one sentence of his vttered perhaps in heate of disputation which may haply disagreé with the rest of the processe But read Luther ouer and marke his whole doctrine this will remayne certeine and vndoubted at the length that Luther hath in the Church of God through Gods singular prouidence planted inestimable treasure of Christian discipline And that Ierome Osorius is a most peruerse ouerthwarte brauler who besides a coÌ„mendable facilitie in the Latin touÌ„g can profite the coÌ„mon wealth nothyng at all Thus much briefly once for all do I conceaue of M. Luther whom I did neuer vndertake to defend he hath other notable Aduocates exquisite meÌ„ in all kynde of learning who can with no labour auenge him from your cancred toung I stand in defence of my countrey and will persist therein so long as breath is in my body and although you assayle and wish vpon the same with most poysoned dartes and venemous battry yet I trust some part therof will recoyle backe vpon your owne breast and sticke so fast in the very entrailes of your carcasse that you shal neuer bee able to rubbe out the frettyng sistula of your slaunderous Inuectiue agaynst England And in this your second fault you were more then poreblind that though you would seéme to poste ouer your whole malice agaynst Luther and his associates you do notwithstandyng endite and accuse England by expresse wordes rayle on our Byshops with most filthy and false accusations outragiously condemne our subiectes in generall of stiffenecked crookednes most iniuriously Our Temples our ceremonies our lawes and our whole Religion with shamelesse toung and most insolent Inuectiue you doe deride most scornefully coÌ„demne most arrogantly and slaunder most impudently These your furious assaultes I will for my slender abilitie withstand in the behalfe of my Natiue countrey I wil encouÌ„ter your outragious force as much as I may Wherin I will not speake so confusedly as not to bee perceaued as you thinke that I do But I will so expresse all euery scabbe of your wickednes and ignoraunce in such colours that all meÌ„ shall perceiue what maner of man Osorius is if they will not be willfully blind At length you come downe by litle and litle to that slauÌ„derous crime of poysonyng wherewith when I saw you charge our frendes of a very insolencie to quarell
to your owne saying hath authoritie to dispence with sinnes by vertue of his Bulles not for a day a moneth or for a yeare onely but for euer euer which also keépeth the keyes of heauen at his pleasure wherewith he geueth the kyngdome of heauen vnto some persons and from others locketh it fast which is inuested in the fulnesse of all power is the vndoubted Uicare of God to whose most royall maiestie all and euery other powers and Magistrates must humble yeld submit them selues Whereas I say you allowe of all those titles of dignitie and not onely teache and defend them in this your vnbridled insolēcy but also so lustely couragiously vaūte and rayse vp your crest What doe you els in that blazyng brauerie of speach but coyne to your selfe others a most manifest Idoll which you may worshyp before whom you may prostrate your selfe most lowly humbly make intercessiō vnto And therfore dissemble Ierome as ye liste yet that is your Romish Idoll Your selfe also a manifest Idolatour You must with all willyngly endure all trauaile be it neuer so hard to attaine the fauour and blessyng of that your God perhappes you may picke vp some crommes thereby and through him be promoted so highe that ye may more nearely behold that your earthly God and be enstalled vnder his elbow in his palace wherin you may do sacrifice vnto his Maiestie You say that I do prouoke you to disputation This is vntrue I do not prouoke you but confute your false accusations wherewith you charge vs as mainteinours of a fayth voyde of all vertue and Religion And euer amōg you thrust in the name of Luther What perteineth that to vs Cast out your challenge to some one Deuine in England by name you shall seé how quickly he will take vp your gloue with no labour crush your Sophisticall canes in peéces You do wish me to peruse those your bookes entitled De Iustitia and in thē you say that I may throughly satisfie my selfe touchyng the iustifyeng of fayth Truly I haue perused your Uolumes deuided into threé bookes entitled De Iustitia in the first wherof ye speake much in the commendation of fayth and therein vse testimonies and Argumentes who doth reprehend you herein I pray you And yet all that your endeuour hath obteined no more but to shewe your selfe an vnnecessary arguer in an vndoubted controuersie Of the same stampe also is your second booke wherein you commend much the worthynes of good workes and herein we do nothing dissent from you but will aduaunce the same as much as you will wish vs. But your thyrd booke is almost altogether a Pelagian and beyng throughly poysoned with the heresies of the Greéke Church doth blasphemously inueighe agaynst the freé mercy of God the Father in Christ Iesu and namely agaynst S. Augustine an vnvanquishable patrone of the heauēly grace And therfore this your gaye poppet so gorgiously paynted whiche liketh your selfe so well is partly friuolous ouerwhelmed with to much tattlyng and partly wicked and execrable whiles it practizeth to trāsforme vs from naturall men almost to be Gods Neither am I alone of that opinion for Cardinall Poole also was for the most part of the same Iudgement whō although Rome had maruailously disguised yet all men knew to be farre better man in liuyng and much more expert in Diuinitie then you are he did alwayes withstand your attempt of publishyng in printe that your delicate impe which you as thē did so louyngly embrace and had in so great estimatiō as your owne derlyng And accomptyng the same to be most perillous and pestiferous gaue this famous verdit thereof worthy to be deépely engrauen in the very entrailes of all Christian hartes It is not possible sayth Cardinall Poole it is not possible to yelde to much to the mercy of God nor to abase the strength of man to much If you had had so much grace as to haue conceaued and emprinted in your braynes this doctrine of humilitie abacement you would neuer haue so nakedly stripped Christ of his grace nor so hautely and arrogantly enhaunced the power of mans will ne yet so proudely and boldly reproued and despised S. Augustine But what dare not Osorius doe who accordyng to the nature of his name dare boldly presume vpō all thyngs peraduēture you will demaunde how I knew Pooles mynde herein I will tell you Our familiar very frēd not vnknowen vnto you M. Ascham did sondry tymes aduertize me therof affirmyng that he did heare the same vttered by the mouth of the Cardinall him selfe This also doth trouble you very much bycause I affirmed it to be your own errour as which being imagined in your own braynsicke mazer you would falsely lay to others charge What then did I not say the very truth herein is it not your owne lye your owne haynous acte your owne slaunder yea your owne errour fayned coyned and imagined by your selfe though afterwardes you would poast it ouer to others without cause And yet you spare not to pinche me cruelly for so saying And amongest other scornes reproche me of my stammeryng speach as though I can not speake playnly But in the meane whiles you wryng your selfe by the nose and geue your selfe two foule blowes First of all in the matter it selfe as euen now and els where I haue declared sufficiently Then in the maner of speache where in steéde of barbarous endytyng ye reprehende me for my stammeryng toung Which neuer any person would doe that hath bene enured to write pure and cleane Latine Surely Syr I do speake very playnly and distinctly through the inestimable benefite of God but your toūg doth both stammer and stutte if the report of them be true who haue had conference with you which blemish bycause it proceédeth of nature I would neuer haue obiected against you if you had not first of all vpbrayded me with the same fault wherewith your selfe are naturally encombred At the length you are entred into the treaty of Iustification but first ye snatche at a few sentences of Scriptures which I haue set downe And the same without all reason after a certeine cōtinuall crooked vsage of cauillyng ye writhe and wrest ouerthwartely And therfore I will bid adewe to that your vnmeasurable captious Sophistry and will sift your Diuinitie a whiles which wil appeare to be your own that is to say most foolish detestably corrupt You rehearse out of my writing euē as it is that these workes are vnprofitable to Iustification yet that they ought not be despised bycause Paule doth seéme to verifie both positions Let vs seé what our Doctour Ierome sayth to this for sooth he raungeth abroad to originall sinne altogether besides the cushian He doth cruelly accuse Luther Caluine and Melancthon bycause they do cōdemne all the workes of the most holy men being cōpared with the glory of God And that the same could not be
lesse friuolous vaine Nay rather if I should tell you as it is in deéde you should haue sayd rather That many thynges haue bene brought into the Church by your Catholickes long sithence the tyme of the Apostles and auncient Fathers so weake of them selues so friuolous and so absurde as could by no meanes endure the glisteryng Beames of the Orient Gospell but must neédes immediately at the very sounde of the Trumpet of truth fall downe of them selues to the grounde and vanish quite out of sight yea without touch of breath as they say And hereupon came it that the Seé of that Beast was darkened hereof came it that the Denne of momishe Monckes neuer founded by God were rooted cleane vppe hereof came it that their goodes and possessions were dispersed abroad their temples destroyed their Images Altares Idolles Monumentes of prophane superstition shyuered in peéces Finally whatsoeuer was repugnaunt to Christes Gospell whatsoeuer apperteined not to his glory whatsoeuer hypocrisie had heretofore builded vpon the Sandes and not vpon the Rocke Christ came all to vtter ruine And there is no doubt but that your Mytred pride Osorius together with that intollerable arrogancy and insolent hautynes of Romish Prelates their Princely trayne Lordly and ambitious Titles and all that Luciferlyke pompe of abhominable lyfe wherein they riotte and reuell in despight of Christ his Gospell shall come to the lyke ouerthrow which doth euen now by all lykely coniectures threaten your vtter subuersion I come now to the other part of your cauill which is in all respectes as vntrue and friuolous Wherein you conclude after this sort That sithence the Preachyng of this Gospell no Reformation of life hath ensued nor that the conuersation of their Auditorie is any ioate at all bettered but rather made much more worse then before But how doe you know this to be true beyng so farre distaunt frō this end of the world Reporte hath told you so Ueryly a fitte messenger for Osorius his grauitie But do you so stoughtly warraūt all your slaunders vpon heare-say good Syr and do ye thinke it enough for you to treade down the Gospell of Christ with your graue and solemne voucher of hearesay onely what can you so quickely harken vnto Reporte geue no credite or eare to Christes Gospell Is it so in deéde hath fame so bewitched your eyes that you cā discerne nothyng but that which is altogether remoued nothyng but wickednes lechery murthers and theftes tumultes and conspiracies Finally nothing reformed nor bettered with vs sithence the embracyng of this Gospell what say you to this when the people be instructed to repose all their hope and affiaunce of Saluation in Christ onely to seéke and craue of this onely patrone and Mediatour a preseruatiue for all maladies reiectyng all peltyng drugges of mens traditions to hold them selues assured in this onely vnpenetrable Rocke to lamēte bewayle all their sinnes before him finally to make a sure couenaūt with thē selues vpō an vndeceauable Faith to haue the fruition of all things apperteinyng to saluation euerlasting cōsolatiō in him by him when godly consciēces entangled before with innumerable snares do begyn to be recomforted with that gladsome Trumpe of Euangelicall Grace and to acknowledge embrace the inestimable riches of Gods glory in Christ Iesu whēas Kyngs hauing shakē frō their shoulders that intollerable yoake of seruile Popish bondage do know how to preserue their owne Seignories and right and Subiectes to yeld due obediēce to their Princes and Magistrates finally when as Idolles and Images beyng subuerted euery person is taught to open his owne cause vnto the liuyng Lord in spirite and truth and to lead his lyfe accordyng to the prescript rule of Gods ordinaūce and not after the Apish Decreés and Decretalles of the Pope and to surcease here frō many others of the same sort which beyng in number infinite almost are you onely alone so bussardly blind that can discerne none of all these can accompt all these pointes of so necessary reformation to be altogether fruitelesse and nothyng worthe But their maners remaine yet vnreformed or rather worse then they were sith this Gospell was receaued Harkē a whiles you Portingal Truly I may selfe haue heard the Iewes obbraying vs christiās with the same faults wherwith you do reproch vs now touching disordered life And it may be peraduēture that amongest the Iewes some Phariseés may lead their liues some what more precisely accordyng to the outward integritie of the law then many Christiās do now a dayes shall the Fayth therfore which the Christians do professe be esteémed any iote lesse ualuable and sounde I beseéch you Syr in what countrey liue you that cā so earnestly reproue vs for not keépyng the discipline of our profession What and if your Auditory say you be not onely not made better c. First render an accompt of your owne Auditory Osorius then make inquisition of ours afterwardes But that we may with lesse difficultie aunswere the faultes wherof you condemne vs I would fayne learne of you first who those be that you note by the name of Auditorie If you meane the Lutherans or Zuinglians surely I know no Lutheranes nor Zuingliās here For as much as we here in England do all professe to be the disciples not of Luther nor of Zuinglius ne yet of Caluine but of Christ the Sonne of the liuyng God onely But go to bycause it hath pleased you to accuse vs by the name of Sectaries thereby to teaze mē so much the more to hate vs tell vs I pray you first this one thyng whether those Lutheranes and Zuinglians be the men with whom these haynous wickednesses murthers and theftes be so ryse vnpunished Truly I do confesse this simply and truly which also I do lament hartely that there is a great nōber of people euery where not here in Englād alone that be endued with no feélyng of Religiō at all nor moued with any earnest motion of mynde to any contemplation of heauenly thynges But such do I neither recompt Lutheranes nor yet worthy to be reckoned amongest the nomber of true Christians Of this sort of people are some the multitude whereof is infinite who like Players vpō a Stage fashioyng them selues to the present tymes maners of Princes turne returne and ouerturne them selues after euery blaste of Religiō accordyng to the tyme and place where they lyue ready alway to follow any kynde of profession now this now that wherein they may best mainteine their countenaunces dignities and worship in good likyng and without perill but as for these I vouchsafe neither the name of Lutherās nor Catholicks but Newtralls a rascall most abiect people of all others And this also your selfe do cōfesse playnly in this booke namely that you know many in this our Realme constaunt vnremoueable Catholickes whom likewise you will not haue to be nombred as the Auditorie of this
Gospell To Passe ouer withall innumerall infidels Atheistes Paganes counterfaites hypocrites false brethren false Gospellers which vnder pretence of Religion do nothyng els but cast a myste before the eyes of the world and serue their owne turnes to the great daunger and hinderaunce of the godly Now in this so huge a multitude of people and so manifold varietie of affections what people be they agaynst whom you do in so great clusters impute so great wickednesse lust outrage tumultes murthers conspiracies procured agaynst Princes and other more monstruous abhominations vnspeakeable and intollerable Euen such be say you the Auditorie of your Gospell What do I heare haue we then any other Gospell in England then is with you in Portingall is not one selfe same Gospell euery where are not Gods lawes the same in all places is Christ deuided amongest vs or doth any Christian in the world admitte any other Gospell then the Gospell of Christ But you beyng a meéry conceipted mā meant happely to sport your selfe with that nyckname agaynst such as haue harkened to Luther Zuinglius Bucer Caluine and others their lyke as vnto their Schoolemaisters Be it so yet do I seé no cause why you should call their doctrine a new Gospell But go to let vs seé yet how true your slaunder is that you charge these men withall I do confesse that there be now very many and heretofore haue bene many also who with Luther and those others do agrain in the exposition of holy Scripture whose doctrine you are not able to confoūde though ye would whose lyues you cā not iustly charge with any infamous crime no nor able to imitate them Of the liuyng at this day were not so conuenient to speake I will say somewhat of others that are gone And of those chiefly whom that furious swellyng gulfe of Mary lately swallowed vppe which beyng in number many in so fewe yeares Make Inquisition of all their lyues search out their maners studies exercizes functions speaches and deédes whatsoeuer sift them peruse them yea prye into them with that captious head pearcyng eyes of yours as narrowly as ye can And first in Cranmer Archb. of Canterbury who after by that hearyng this Gospell began to sauour of Christian profession what wickednes was euer reported of him with what outrage of lust was he enflamed what murthers what seditious tumults what secret cōspiracies were euer sene or suspected so much to proceéd from him vnlesse ye accompt him blame worthy for this That whea kyng Henry father of the same Mary vpon great displeasure conceaued was for some secret causes determined to strike of her head this Reuerend Archb. did pacifie the wrath of the father with mylde cōtinuall intercession preserued the life of the daughter who for life preserued acquited her patron with death As concernyng his Mariadge if you reprochfully impute that to lust which Paule doth dignifie with so honorable a Title I do aūswere that he was the husband of one wife with whō he cōtinued many yeares more chastly holyly then Osorius in that his stinking sole single lyfe paraduenture one moneth though he fleé neuer so often to his Catholicke Confessions And I seé no cause why the name of a wife shall not be accoumpted in eche respect as holy with the true professours of the Gospell as that name of a Concubine with the Papistes To speake nothyng els of this sort of people more vnseémely yet perhappes truly With Cranmer lyued Nicolas Ridley Byshop of Londō coupled in one partakyng of Religiō and one maner of Martyrdome who ledd such a lyfe alwayes vnmaryed as in the which all his aduersaries were not able to reprehend not onely any notorious crime but also not so much as a blemishe reprocheworthy so farre as I euer heard Not much inferiour to them both in all commendable worthynes and dignitie crowned also with the same crown of Martyrdome did shyne that famous Prelate Ferrar Byshop of S. Dauides what shall I speake of Iohn Hooper Byshop of Worcester and Glocester whose integritie of lyfe voyd of all cause of reprehension vnweryable trauaile in teachyng feédyng visityng might be not onely a notable patterne to all Romish Prelates though neuer so Catholicke but make them also ashamed in their owne behalfes To passe ouer a nomber of the like Taylours Saunders Rogers Philpottes Barnes Ieromes Garrettes whose vertues to rehearse and cōmende with condigne prayses for their vnblameable lyues neither the tyme serueth nor is my simple skill able to expresse accordyngly What one man did this litle Ilād at any time nourish vp or euer shall seé more holy and more chaste then was Thomas Bilney whom no posterity ought euer to forgette after that he beganne to harken vnto and apply his mynde seryously to this doctrine namely to the Gospell of Christ sauing that in all excellency of vertuous life Iohn Bradford seémeth worthy to be ioyned with him who wholly and altogether did so dwell in the feare of the Lord and in a certayne inward earnest meditation of heauenly life that liuing here on earth he seémed to haue bene translated as it were into an heauenly soule before he was violently taken from hence so leane spent and worne out with often abstinence vnmeasureale trauayle and so spare a dyette that he seémed an Anatomy nothing but skinne and boane In earnest prayer so continualy exercised that before he was burnt his kneés in handling seémed almost as hard as Camels hoofes Of all these and many others like vnto these which I could set downe vnto you gathered out of most faythfull hystoryes Report could not certify you but other thinges it could It could report lyes and vntruethes And no maruell If you aske the cause I will tell you For weé are carryed according to the wickednesse of this our age into sundry affections partes and factions We do esteéme of contreuersies not with that reuerence and simplicity of hart as beseémeth vs as we are taught by the prescript word of God but through sinister corrupt affections conceiue an euill opinion of them And wrest and wring the truth it selfe whether it will or no to colour and cleake Sectes and diuisions And therefore as we are for the more part more greédely carryed to harken vnto plausible matters such as concerne our owne commodity and preferment rather then the glory of the Sonne of God so neuer wanteth stoare of notable talebearers skilfull purueyors for such itching eares notorious Sicophantes euen for the same purpose raysed vp by the iust iudgement of God Hetherto haue I spoken of such onely as were famous for their learning doctrine dignity iudgement and ecclesiasticall function Besides these I could recken vppe vnto you of the meaner sort of people sixe hundred more or lesse consumed to Ashes in that fiue yeares persecution vpon whose bodyes although ye Romanists did furiously rage according to your sauadge and brutish
Queéne despising those franticke furies of broylyng Bulles and crauyne curses would banish this proud Tarquine from out their kyngdomes territories Which if they did it were not to be doughted but that the publique tranquillitie of all Christian Nations would enioy a farre more ioyfull countenaunce of freédome and concorde And yet I speake not this to the end that I would haue godly Prelates dispossessed from their dignitie or would wish their authoritie empayred the value of a rush S. Paule doth not in vayne admonish vs to yeld double honour to Byshops and Rulers of the Church but with this prouiso annexed to witte if they rule well if they do labour mightely in doctrine and preachyng But what prerogatiue can the Romish Byshop clayme from hence more then any other particular Byshop The Pope hath his owne Prouince lett him guide that as well as he caÌ„ lett him not encroche vpon others nor hawke for hawtyer Titles of honour then beseémeth his function The Ecclesiasticall dignitie is a ministery not an Empyre a charge and a burden rather then a Lordlynes or superioritie wherein he that will presume to rule the roaste ouer others must looke aduisedly to him selfe first that he gouerne well that he labour mightely in the word doctrine If the Byshops and Priestes be not negligent and retchelesse in their owne dutyes they shall neuer be defrauded of their due honour and dutyfull obedience nor euer were denyed therof For eueÌ„ for this cause that valiauÌ„t kyng of England Constantine that noble Emperour Theodosius that famous Ludouicke Pius the French kyng and other like Princes did esteéme highely of good and godly Christian Ministers and obeyed them which instructed them in the word of God did enure them selfes to their godly exhortations as the Emperour Valentinian doth report euen as to wholesome potioÌ„s and medicinable restoratiues Euen so Theodosius beyng excluded from partakyng the holy Communion by Ambrose did most modestly obay The same Theodosius also beyng determined to exercize cruell reuenge against the Thessalonians and beyng counsayled by Ambrose that in geuyng sentence vpon lyfe and death he would take breath pause by the space of xxx dayes least in rage and fury he should accomplish that whereof he might afterwardes repent him did willyngly and obediently submitt him selfe to the graue exhortation of the godly Father Semblably many other notable Potentates also in many great and weighty matters did humbly yeld to the sweéte persuations of such as were farre their inferioursâ— Princes for the preseruation of their health do obay the direcâ—â—â—n of their Phisitions In the lawes positiue they be guided and ledd by the conduct of the Lawyers And yet for all this such subiectes do not cease to be subiectes still neither refuse their due obedience to their liege Lordes and Gouernours It happeneth oftentymes that the maister will be aduised by his seruauÌ„t and the husband guided by the discretion of the wife yet ceaseth not therefore the Maister to be Maister nor the Husband to be head ouer his Wife As in all well ordered common weales be Maior alties Bayliwickes and many degreés of Officers which doe seuerally employ their functions for the preseruation of common societie yet must there be one onely soueraigne emongest them of some greater couÌ„tenaunce who by his wisedome and authoritie may guide the inferiour Magistrates and bridle the insolency of the rude multitude But the Catholickes doe deny that the Catholicke Church ought to be subiect to this authority If vnder the name of Church they do comprehend the ordinaunces and ceremonies wherewith the Church is administred they do speake truly In deéde the word of God the Articles of doctrine and of fayth the administration of the Sacramentes and the discretioÌ„ of byndyng and excoÌ„municatyng is not attempered by the regiment and commaundement of Princes nor doth the Ciuile Magistrate entermedle with the administration of any of these thyngs But if they meane the personages of men who are exercized in this holy function or the charge dispositioÌ„ of particular matters that are incideÌ„t to the Ministery they do say vntruly for as much as there is no Ciuile potentate vnto whoÌ„ is not coÌ„mitted the order gouernement of all members of the coÌ„mon weale indifferently as well Ministers Preachers of the word as all other inferiour Magistrates Subiectes Otherwise the doctrine of Paule were in vayne Let euery soule submit it selfe to the higher power the truth whereof is to be Iustified by the most approued exaÌ„ples of both the old and new Testamentes If we begyn at Moyses who supplyed the office of a Ciuile Magistrate and from him descend to all the Ages of our owne Emperours Potentates Emongest all which Magistrates we shall finde none but hath receaued by Gods commaundement the gouernement of Ecclesiasticall persones aswell as of Ciuile Magistrates as inferiour Subiectes It would require a long discourse to treate throughly of all the names and gouernementes of Emperours and Ciuile Potentates To make a brief rehearsall of the chiefest First in the old Testament how many examples are extaunt of such Princes â—s do prescribe ceremonies for the Tabernacle which doe fetche backe agayne the Arke of the couenauÌ„t which make holy Sonettes and Psalmes Rule ouer Priestes builde Churches moreouer do cleanse them agayne after they were defiled do ouerthrow Temples Altares reforme abuses which also sometymes doe pronounce exhortations to the people touchyng the worshyppyng of God do aduertise the Priestes of their dutyes and ordeyne lawes for them to guide their lyues by which appoint Orders and obseruations in the Church which doe kill wicked Prophetes yea and many tymes also doe prophecy in their owne persones In the new Testament lykewise how many examples are to be seéne in the recordes of the best ages of kinges and Monarches who within their owne Territories and dominions haue ordayned godly and learned Byshoypes to rule ouer prouinces and haue deposed such as haue bene vnworthye haue suppressed the riott and insolencye of Priestes who haue not onely Sommoned Synodes and Councells of Byshops but do sitt emongest them geue sentence with them yea prescribe orders vnto them which they shall obay are presidents ouer their Councells doe depose hereticall Byshoppes which geue iudgement vpon matters of Religion which doe sett downe articles pronounce sentence disanull the opinions of heretiques and ratifie the Doctrine of the Catholicke fayth If the most auncieÌ„t and most Christian kinges Emperors did not entermeddle heretofore in all these causes the report of Historyes is false If our kinges and Queénes doe the lyke at this present what cause hath Osorius to frett and fume If the charge of Religion and Religious persons doe not pertayne to the ciuill pollicye in any respect surely Constantine did not behaue himselfe discretely who in his owne person decyded the causes and controuersies of Byshopps which did appeale to his Maiestye entermedled his authoritye in
SathaÌ„s Deuilles Treasons false Prophets Coyners of a new Gospel subuertours of vertue Enemies of theyr countrey and of ReligioÌ„ Churchrobbers most abhominable the destruction and pestilent CoÌ„tagion of the whole world and what not But if this outragious licentiousnes of your unmoderate wilfuâ—lnes might haue bene satisfied with threé or foure tauntes and slaunderous reproches it might haue bene pardonable as seémyng some escape issuing somewhat vnaduisedly rather in some heate of disputation then of any naturall greédynesse of curssed speaking Now what is your whole aunswere els almost then a continuall processe and an vncessaunt course of cursed raylyng You begynn with cauillyng you proceéde with slaunderyng and end with rayling Neuerthelesse after all these tragicall outragies wherewith you haue prouoked both the wrath of the Lord and teazed all godly personages agaynst you so insolently you do now at the length challenge other men to keépe modesty If any man saye you do write agaynst me if he will argue with reason with Argumentes or with Testimonyes I will not refuse the Challenge c. And herewithall in the meane space is enterlaâ—ed a place of S. Paule Whereby we be taught to eschew the company of endurate heretyques after once or twise admonition forasmuch as they be condemned by theyr owne iudgement Which Rule of the Apostle if must be obserued duely as it ought to be surely there is nothing of more force to maintaine our departure fromout your papisticall Seé For if we be commauÌ„ded by the authority of the Apostle to auoyde the company of such as being once or twise warned will not be conuerted from theyr waywarde obstinacye in error what fellowshipp and partaking ought we to haue with such a conuenticle which being polluted with so many more then hereticall errors which being so bastardly estraunged and defiled with so heathenish Idolatry with such absurde Traditions and so manifest blasphemies doth not onely couple with this filthye stenche of Deuelish doctrine sciffenecked and obstinate supportauÌ„ce but also adde thereunto a more then Pharisaicall and Tyrannicall persecution Wherefore in that you thinke it best to passe ouer and eschew our society from henceforth therein follow your owne affection Osorius a gods name But whereas you geue vs full skoape to frett fume exclayme as much as we lyste truely we are not so mynded nor affectioned to rush so rudely into other mens interest as to seéke to disfrauÌ„chise you of your froward malapert sawcinesse whiche by the law of Armes you haue so valiantlye wonne in the field And therefore you shall freély and without impeachment continew still your possession as in your owne proper Title From the which we do so much the rather disclayme because in this kinde of faculty you doe excell and are Mayster of the Craft But lett vs heare this most milde Byshopp reasoning with this vnquiet Haddon I did neuer prouoke you say you by word or writing beyng a maÌ„ that I neuer knew Myne Epistle which you doe infame with slauÌ„derous railyng is cleare from all vnseemely speeches vnlesse perhappes you will say that a most iust quarrell and a true discouery of Errors and wickednesse is a kinde of reproche c. First I will say somewhat touching your Epistle and of Haddon shall be spoken afterwardes Now therefore were your wittes distempered with wyne when you wrate this Epistle haue you forgotteÌ„ now what you wrate then If your Epistle haue not one reprochefull word I beseéche you what name shall we geue to these wordes wherewith you rage not onely agaynst Luther as though he were a dissolute persoÌ„ a common Barretor and manqueller but withall agaynst all the congregation of those which professe the true Gospell of Christ agaynst whom you be carried with more then a Carterly kinde of rayling with foule mouth and most slaunderous Tauntes As men that raging in maddnesse doe rend in sunder all established orders of law and Religion Pag. 14. who with their frantyque preaching and bookes do exile all shamefastnes do put honesty to slight do treade vnder foote all lawes positiue and politique do proclayme hauocke of sinning defile Temples skorne holynes do support vnshamefastnesse do supplaÌ„t all ChristiaÌ„ society with most horrible fierbraÌ„des of discord Pag. 15. all whose enterprises tend to none other end then that spoyling Princes of theyr liues they may conspyre with full consentes agaynst the vtter rooting out of theyr dignityes and honours some of whom they haue raught hence already by poyson and some others they doe practise to destroy with the sword Pag. 16. Finally he calleth them false Prophetts Pag. 34. Who wheresoeuer they sett foote on ground of purpose to enforce theyr Gospell vpon the ignorauÌ„t they are so farr of from Reformation of maners that they doe defile all thinges with muche more stench then they found it who do abandone ciuility geue skoape for couetousnesse to raunge riotously and renouncing all feare of God graunt free libertye to doe all maner mischieues without coÌ„trollement in such shamelesse carelessenesse that they seeme to wish nothing rather theÌ„ to see vtter confusion of all thinges Pag. 30. Who be not onelye of themselues estraunged from all honesty but accompt it yea and ratify it for matter as haynous also as hygh TreasoÌ„ if any man dare be so bolde to vow perpetuall Chastity for Religion sake Pag. 22. Who also do affirme that it is wicked to be sorrowfull for sinne Pag. 27. And do say that sorrowfull teares do emport a weakenesse waÌ„t of fayth pag. 26. And this much of the professors of the gospell Now let vs heare his blasphemous tongue touching the Gospell it selfe the doctrine thereof which he doth call by the name of a Secte For these be his wordes Beleeue me gracious Queene sayth he this secte which for our sinnes hath inuaded many partes of Christendome is the ruine of CoÌ„moÌ„weales the Canker of Ciuilitie the dissipation of the Realme and the small destruction of princely renowme Pag. 17. And in an other place making meÌ„cion of the same Gospell he doth exclame on this wise O Gospell full of conspiracye and false dissimulation for it promiseth lardge good thinges and procureth present infection it maketh a fayre countenaunce of hope of Freedome and it cloggeth with yoakes of intollerable bondage it doth persuade with glauering allurements of present felicity afterwardes it drowneth the soule in deepe doungeon of dispayre it preacheth a direct way vnto heauen and them that trust vpon assuraunce thereof it doth throw downe headlong into hell Page 32. And agayne proceading in the same Epistle doth geue this iudgemeÌ„t of the doctrine of the Gospellers that he affirmeth it to be wholy patcht together of the craftes and subtiltyes of SathaÌ„ Pag. 35. I haue now rehearsed your owne wordes Osorius if at least they be your owne wordes and not some other guest of yours not all of the best which how farre doe differ from reprochefull and slaunderous raylyng in your eye I
in the world more readyly then to ioyne with you What can you craue more Osorius But if this request can not be brought to passe nor obteyned of you to witte that you abandonne out of your Church Idolles and prophane worshyppynges nor will yeld to a reformation of your filthy errours and corruptions of Religion accordyng to the true touchestone of sacred Scripture that the same confuse licentiousnesse of vncleane single lyfe croochyng and kneélyng to Images and greédy gaddyng to the Reliques of the deadd more then Heathenish may be vtterly banished that your breadworshypp Imageworshypp your prophane abuse of the Lordes Supper your false packettes of Pardons eare whisperyngs satisfactions merite meritorious and other vnmeasurable monsters of your ragged Religion may be altogether abrogated If these I say so many so horrible botches and cankers of superstitioÌ„ disceiptes vntruthes patcheries and impieties propped vppe in the Church by your filthy ignoraunce you will not raze and scrape cleane out of the Church of Christ but haue determined rather to mainteyne and vphold the same more then barbarously with slaughter bloud and all maner of sauadge cruelty nor will as yet yeld to be tryed by any lawfull aucthoritie but continue vnappeasable agaynst the manifest trueth and persist vnremoueable in the supportation of your blasphemous Idolatry with vnmercyfull greédynesse Briefly if you call vs to such a Churche and to the embracying of such a Fayth as no Christian faythfull man may by any meanes professe except he will renounce the true Churche of Christ vnlesse he will vtterly denye Christ him selfe and his Fayth herein neither shall it be conuenient for vs to agreé with you and become partakers of this your horrible bootchery nor shall it become you to require vs thereunto moreouer we assuredly trust that Christ will neuer permitt vs so to do I haue aunswered you now as briefly as I could yet will I speake it somewhat more briefly If any man dare be so hardy to chaunge to counterfeiâ—t to peruert the Lawes Statutes and autentique Monumentes of any earthly Prince or the Testament of any deadd person after this sort as you do Canuasse the word of God no Prince would permitt such a treachery in his Realme and an hundred Gallowes and Tortures would seéme to litle for so haynous an offence And what shal be sayd then to them who hauyng mangled and made hauocke of the euerlastyng Testament of GOD whereunto to adde or to diminishe therefrom any title is not lawfull vpon payne of damnation who treadyng vnder foote the ordinaunces of the the Lord of Lordes who hauyng chaunged and counterfayted the fine and pure gold of the sacred Scripture and coyned vnto vs such drosse and ofscombe of Religion wherein we must be forced to lyue now not after the Lawes and Ordinaunces of Christ but after their Decreés and Decretalles I beseéch you shall it be reasonable for Osorius to allure vs to such a kynde of conformitie and then after this lyfe to promise vs euerlastyng glory to the ioye of all the Company in heauen Wherein Osorius doth expresse in deéde a certein glorious presumption of a courage wonderfully fawnyng vpon his owne dexteritie Howbeit whatsoeuer sounde this shrill Trumpett of Osorius shall noyse forth from out of Portingall we must neuerthelesse geue our attentyue eare rather to the Trumpett of GOD and marke diligently whereunto it calleth vs as the which soundyng vnto vs a farre vnlyke marche commaundeth vs in any wise not to goe out of Raye nor to depart from our Auncient and Standarde vpon a greéuous payne least we be partakers of their Treason and be punished with their plagues And agayne with most cruell manaces threatenyng all such as shall receaue the marke of the Beast either on the forehead or on the hand to whom he doth promise not euerlastyng glory to the reioysing of all the company of heauen but the bitter cuppe of Gods euerlastyng wrathe which is myngled with wyne in the Cuppe of Gods vengeaunce And they shal be tormented sayth he with fire and Brimstone in the sight of the holy Angelles before the face of the Lambe and the smoake of their Tormentes shall ascende world without ende Apocal. 14. Which I doe most humbly and hartely beseéche the most mercyfull Lord that he will tourne farre away from you and from vs all And so is both your prayer come to an ende and our Apologye finished And so an ende A knitting vp to the Reader NOw for as much as Osor. and I haue sufficiently debated our matters together It remayneth that I vse some conference with the godly and Christian Reader herein whom I would aduertize by the way in few wordes to be well aduised of Osorius not of any malice truely nor of any vnhonest affection of disquieted minde conceaued agaynst the man but moued hereunto by necessary instinct of well wishing harte in respect of some young men not altogether voyde of commeÌ„dable knowledge and learning though perhappes otherwise not so well setled in Iudgement who may be easily carryed away into vayne conceipt allured with the outward glittering brauery of Osorius minion Eloquence as seély fishes caught with sugred hayte vnlesse they flee the hidden hooke whom for the same I thought good to admonish before haÌ„d Not meaning to dissuade them from reading of Osorius bookes altogether nor to defraud Osorius of any his prayseworthy grace of Eloquent style or to extenuate his glory if he haue deserued any therein For as for me truely as I am neither acquainted with the countenaunce of the man so doe I not so much regard the outward foyle of his paynted speéch howsoeuer any man shall streake himselfe with blazing the beauty of fyled tongue concerneth me nothing at all so also apperteigneth as little to the matter There is an other thing that I requier more namely in a Byshopp a Priest and a Deuine Therfore if any man shall take pleasure in the floorishing forme of Osorius phrase and will not be remoued from the fragraunt flowers of Osorius speéch lett him enioy his delight a gods name and lett him read his bookes the will yea I doe wishe hartely that all and euery person would reade and peruse him that so the more witnesses there be in the matter the more directly men may determine of the creditt of the person Therefore lett them reade him I say whosoeuer be so minded and lett them not onely carry the booke dayly in their handes but lull him also in their bosomes I will not gaynesay them therein This councell onely I geue that they reade him with Iudgement neuerthelesse and esteéme of him as a RhethoriciaÌ„ and an artificiall Orator but take him for no Deuine And that they become not so rauished with the gorgeous gaze of this prancked Peacocke nor fixed to faste in the fyne feature of his fawning feathers but behold below his blacke feéte withall lett theÌ„ be so enamored with the delicate deuises of their