blasphemy for all the learned Papists in the world may be chalenged to proue if they can out of Gods word and the grounds of religion that she was any more theÌ„ another holy woman sauing this prerogatiue that she was his mother according to the flesh or any more then a Saint of God sanctified by the spirit and saued by the bloud of Iesus Christ whose mother shee was in regard of his flesh or that her milke had any vertue in the world but to nourish the body as doth the milke of other women their children for was not hee a man like vnto vs in all things sin excepted and if Christ take it no preiudice to himselfe to be like vnto men shall it be a wrong to her to be like to other women Nay we dare goe further and aske them if God haue vouchsafed once in the whole new Testament so much as to name the milke of the Virgin Mary whereas almost in euery Chapter hee extolleth the bloud of Christ and is euer magnifying the vertue merits and efficacy of the same if this bee so then what shall we say to that Religion and to those men who make it as questionable whether Christ Iesus his bloud excell the bloud of other men as whether the Virgin Maries milke exceede the milke of other women is this Romish religion is this popish diuinity then see what followeth But it cannot be proued either to reason or to faith that her milke excelleth other womens in any spirituall or corporall vertue or operation therefore it is not to be prouâ—ed that Christs bloud is more precious then other mens See here my deare countrymen how you are mis-led see what doctrine you are fed withall by your teachers open your eyes and bee no longer deceiued offer not this iniury to him that gaue his life for you to make this vnequall comparison if they will not teach you holy and sound diuinity then hate them and learne from vs or rather with vs from the holy scriptures that his bloud is the price of our redemptioÌ„ but as for her milke wee know no such thing since shee liued on earth acknowledge with vs that it is a fundamentall ground of Christian faith that his bloud is more worth then ten worlds but that her milke is now of any vallue can nether bee perswaded to reason nor beleeued by saith and yet dare this malignant sinagoue make that as likely as probable as certaine as the other If enemies of Religion take hold heere and say that therefore the ground of our Christianity are vncertaine and so blaspheme the blessed bloud of our Sauiour we can say no more but our Church is innocent our hearts are free our hands are cleere of it woe be to them by whom the offence commeth But now let us see how the Iesuite concludes and whether his end be any beter then his beginnning O quando lactabor ab vbere vulnere pascar delitijs que fruar mamma latus que tuis Parce Deus magno si te clamore fatigem non potis imperio non poti arte regi Exagitante siti Patientia perdit habenas clamores si vis tollere tolle sitim Pluris ego clauis saturasti sanguine clauos lanceaque erubuit sanguine tincta tuo Pluris ego pannis maduerent vndi que panni natia vulneribus Matris ab vberibus That is Ah when shall I with these be satisfied when shall I swim in ioyes of brest and side pardon O God mine eager earnestnesse If I thy lawes and reasons bounds transgresse Where thirst ore-swayes Patience is thrust away stay but my thirst and then my cryes will stay Better am I then nayles yet did astreame of thy deare bloud wash both the Launce and them More worthy I then clouts yet them a floud moystned of Mothers milke and of Sonnes bloud Now comes he to his conclusion but alas his iniquity is as much at the last as at the first for still hee persists in his impiety without repentance without remorce without sorrow or sence of the euill hee hath done for still he sings his old song O when shall I suck the milke of these brests when shall I drinke the bloud of these wounds His soule thirsteth but for what for milke and for bloud but first for milke and then for bloud If this be tollerable diuinity nay if this bee holy deuotion then what did our blessed Sauiour meane to cry out to all weary and thirsty soules If any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke I wish the Iesuits would tell vs what they thinke whether he did well or no to leaue out the Virgin Mary for if this diuinity of theirs bee good then he ought to haue said If any man thirst let him come to my mother or to me to drinke and surely if her milke be thus equall in vallue price and merrit to his bloud then wee doe no longer maruell that they teach how the Virgin Mary did rise from the dead and was assumed into heauen corporally that as Christ rose ascended to apply make good the merrit of his death so did she also to make effectuall the merrit of her milk But then good Paul how farre art thou to blame that esteemest all things in the world dunge and drosse and only that thou mightest know the vertue of the resurrection for then it seemes thou wilt giue little â—or nothing to know the vertue of her assumption But it may bee thou art halfe an Heretike and beleeuest not any such assumption but if thou couldest bee taken within the reach of the holy inquisitioÌ„ thou shouldst pay well for such thy hereticall incredulity If now thou wert aliue thy better and more holy brethren the Iesuites could reprooue thee for many indiscreete passages and teach thee better diuinity then thou seemest to know for whereas thou durst say thou esteemedst to know nothing Phil. 3. 8 9 10 but Iesus Christ and him crucified they can tell thee thou art farre short in thy duty and but cold in zeale in respect of them for they stand in doubt whether to esteeme now the bloud of his wounds or the milke of her Paps and whereas thou wilt giue all to know the vertue of his resurrection they can but wonder at thy ignorance who carest not to know the vertue of her resurrection ascention also Be thou content to know the one they for their parts will know both and if thou be so precise for thy Master that thou canst not be coÌ„teÌ„t to say that he purgeth our sins but must exclude all other and say that he by himselfe purgeth our sins know thou that they dare be so bold as to put out that word by himselfe out of the text and when they reade Heb. 1. 3 thy Epistles they are halfe ashamed to see what a bloudy man thou art for thou art all in bloud bloud insomuch as twenty times at least thou art still vpon bloud as
indeed thou Mother if thy brests the rest exceed Ah when shall I with these be satisfide when shall I swim in ioyes of brest and side Pardon O God mine eager earnestnesse if I thy lawes and reasons bounds transgresse Where thirst ore swayes patience is thrust away stay but my thirst and then my cryes will stay I am better then thy nailes yet did a streame of thy deere blood wash both the lance and them More worthy I then clouts yet them a flood Moistned of Mothers Milke and of Sons blood THE APPROBATION OF THIS AVTHOR CLarus Bonarscius otherwise called Carolus Scribanius is a Iesuit now liuing at Antwerpe and of much account amongst them he wrote this booke and spewed this blasphemy out of his vncleane heart some foure or fiue yeeres agoe And whereas both the Author and his booke deserued the fire and halter it was so farre from being misliked in the Romish Sinagogue or any way censured that since then the booke hath bin reprinted and the Author and his booke stand enrolled approued and commended in their great volumes set out for that purpose for good and Catholike Glori Bornascij Amphitheatrum Honoris Iesuitici in quo Calunistarum in societatem Iesu criminationes iugulatae Prostant palaeopoli 1605 postea 1606. Haec Posseuinus Palaeopoli hâ—c est Antuerpiâ— Iesuitâ— in Appararâ—â— sacro Tom 1. l it G. pag. 3â—7 edition is vltimâ— And it is to be noted that these volumes of Posseuine containe only an inrolement and approbation of no writers at all saue such as are approued Romish Catholicks and are set out with great and publike allowance of the Romish State as may be seene at the beginning of the first Tome Besides let all men know the booke stands yet vncensured and the man liues still vnpunished nay vnreproued or rather commended and rewarded for it therefore this cannot be called an obscure or priuate fact but may properly be held the fact of the Romish Church or State A DISCOVRSE OF THE LADIES OF HALL AND SIchem in way of preface shewing particularly the occasion of this new Gospell THE blessed Mother of our Lord as the Church in all ages hath done so doth ours willingly honour as the most blessed of all Saints yet as a creature and as one saued by her sonne that Sauiour in whom her spirit reioyced a Luke 2. we know acknowledge that not she but the holy ghost hath said that all generations shall call her b Luke blessed Yet we must confesse we are of that fathers religion who said c August lib. de virginit her spiritual bearing of Christ was happier then her carnall and her selfe more blessed by conceiuing Christ in â—ellcior partus spiritualis quam carnalis beatior enim Maria suit concipiend Christum side quaÌ„ earne materna enim propinquitas nihil ei profuisset nisi felicius christum corde quaÌ„ earne gestasseâ— her heart then in her wombe and by beleeuing in him then by bearing him for her bearing him in her body would not haue saued her soule if she had not more happily borne him in her heart And in another place d Idem Inde felix quia verbum Dei custodiuit non quia in illa verbum caro factum est Papists themselues cannot deny but our men do out of this case speak and write most reuerently of the blessed Virgin as namely Luther Oecolampadius BreÌ„tius Spangenbergins vrb Rhegus Bucer Bullinger All this is confessed by Coccius the great papist in his The â—â—ure Caâ—helico To. 1 Li. 3 at 5. p. 300. she was happy and blessed not because in her the word was made flesh but because she heard the word of God and kept it This her blessednesse far be it from vs to impeach and who would not yeeld her all blessednesse and honour that a creature may haue of whom GOD vouchsafed to take the flesh of man And if any of our Religion hath giuen any words of her that may giue the least blemish to her blessed state it was not done in any the least contempt of her but in the zeale they bare to the honor of their Sauior whom they held dishonoured by the vnequall coÌ„paring of her with him for what will not a Christian mans zeale cause him to do when he seeth his God dishonoured who would haue thought that Moses would haue cast so carelesly out of his hands so precious a Iewell as were the two Tables written with the finger of God and yet when he heard the name of the Lord blasphemed he forgot himselfe and them and as though he remembed none but God he threw them away and brake them in pieces If Moses his zeale makes his hastines excusable then no reason to condemne them whose 〈◊〉 gaue passage to their passions and caused them for the honor of the Creator to forget the priuiledge of a Creature I dare say there was neuer learned man of our profession that presumed to touch the very skirt of the garment of her glory vnlesse they saw her set in comparison with God or Iesus Christ which seeing the Romish Church dare offer to doe thereby ecclipsing the glory of Gods mercie and the worthynesse of Christs satisfaction wee hold it our duties to bee zealous for the Bonauenture himselfe said that we must take heed least we so farre aduance the glory of the mother that we diminish the glory of the sonne glorie of our God and to preserue as farre as in vs lieth the prerogatiues of our Sauiour If it be said that they match her not with God or Christ I answer they doe and that in such a measure as wee dare pronounce her or any Angell accursed that should either arrogate or accept of that which the Romish religion ascribes vnto her Too good euidence hereof hath beene seene in all ages for these 200. yeares last past wherein they haue fallen from honoring her as a Saint to magnifie her as a Mediator to pray to her as to a God to trust in her as in a Sauiour Many perticulars haue beene specified by many of our writers which by the aduersaries could neuer be denyed they are so euident yet were they neither recanted nor remooued but contrary-wise Reinoldus de Idolatria Catalogus testium veritatis Perkins of the Idolatry of the last times they haue proceeded from euill to worse till their blasphemy haue euen pierced the heauens and touched the Crowne of the Almighty and confronted the wounds merrits and bloud of our Sauiour Perticular instances hereof are many which may be collected out of the Authors of late yeares part wherof shall if God permit be particularized in this Treatise But aboue all there is one which as it is the latest so is it the fowlest and wherein Popish Blaspemy is at that height as now it giues hope to all Christian men that their prayers are heard her end is at Reuel hand and that her iniquity is come
are registred by Lipsius besides many more omitted and all to be done in 2. or 3. yeares insomuch as if his report be true God makes miracles farre more ordinary for the honour of Saints and their Images then he did for confirming the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles But what credit hath the Story of our Lady of Sichem euen as good as hath our Lady of Hall else let the Reader iudge The tale of the â—â—age of craggy Hill Neere to the little poore but old towne of Sichem saith Lipsius there is a mount barren rough and craggy on oue side thereof there is a little Hillocke on it growes an Oake and in it or fastned to it is a little Image of our Lady which hath done great miracles in time past and was therefore worshipped of the people there but how is that proued thus about 100 yeares agoe a Shepheard found that Image and put it in his bosome thinking to carry it home to worship it but as he was in these thoughts he was sodainely strucken and astonisht in his sences benummed in his whole body insomuch as he could not stirre one foote but stood stil like a dead trunke not knowing what to thinke of it nor how to helpe himselfe his Mr. wanting both his shepheard and his sheepe sought them and found him so standing who told him the whole matter his Mr. taking the Image went with great deuotion and set it vp in the Oake againe and forthwith the shepheard had his limbs restored went worshipped it and so by their reports all the country heard of it who came by heaps were healed of all diseases but agues especially and so it continued saith he til within these 20. yeares about which time the blessed Image was stolne or lost no man can tell how But is it not strange that if it could doe these Miracles they would let it be lost so carelesly well lost it was But what tho people went as fast then as afore and still as great cures were there done as when the Image was there and in want of the Image the people worshipped the Oake why might they not say Lipsius the holy Image had hallowed the Tree so that it might lawfully bee worshipped be hold Popish deuotion yet saith he wee worshipped not the Tree but in it the Image and in it our Lady in her God Marke good Reader God gets his worship at last though it be at the fourth hand they tender it to the tree the tree yeelds it to the Image the Image conueyes to our Lady and she presents it to God so then by Popish doctrine and deuotion God is serued and honoured after his creatures and so at last gets his own If they say that the worship is intended to God is not ended but in him I answere but were it not better that the worship were offred immediately from the heart and hands of the worshipper to God himselfe and to passe through no hands but of his Sonne the Mediator but this is Heresie let it passe or else it must passe the fire To returne to the story our Lady of Sichem is lost but what then must the poore towne loose her traffick and liuing Nay rather wee will make another for that is no hard nor vnlawfull thing in that Religion and so saith he 7. yeares after an honest and deuout Alderman of Sichem perceiuing well how his and his neighboures gaines came in and how the poore towne liued like a good townesman made another Image put it in a boxe of wood and fastened the Boxe to the Oake that so their Lady might not bee lost so carelesly as afore This new Image thus made did as many miracles as the other and why should it not for was it not as good as the other nay it may be it was more curiously carued and Alwayes remembred that I meane not in any of these syeeches the blessed virgin whom as I holâ— a blessed Saint in heauen so I present her with all the honour that may be giuen to a creature But I meane Lipsius his Lady of Sichem or our Lady of Hall better wrought Thus it continued certaine yeares till at last the Parish Priest perceiuing they began to be well customed bestowed some cost on their Lady which got them so much that they built her a little Chappell of boords there placed her But still their custome growing greater they shewed themselues thankefull to their patronesse as she fild their purses they sought her honour and built her a faire chappell of stone some 2. yeeres agoe and in that resteth the Image working miracles euery day But what become of the holy Oake it was cut away by pieces by deuout persons and carried away that it was in danger of falling and a counsell was called in the towne what were to be done with it as in so great a matter it is requisite and there after serious consideration it was grauely concluded that it should bee cut vp by the rootes with much solemnity brought into the towne of Sichem where when it came forthwith happy was he that could get a piece of the holy Wood whereof saith Lipsius and blusheth not to write it diuers made them little Images and with much piety do worship them others that were sicke of grieueous dieases shaued it into their drinke and drunke and so were healed See what an excellent Religion this is one Image hath begot many and the first Image being but fastned to the Tree so sanctified the whole Oake that euery Image made of the whole Tree should be as good as it selfe and euery crumme of the Wood should worke Miracles as fast as the Image did Loe here the History of our Lady of Sichem or of the sharp hill this legend is not Lipsius ashamed to thrust vpon the world for a true vndoubted story such are the times we be fallen into that to set fast the crowne vpon the Popes head truth must stand aside and lyes must passe for currant without controule and such a cause is Popery as cannot continue in credit before the people but by forging a continuall succession of lying wonders for now we are made beleeue that the Virgin Mary hath 2. Images within few miles together which haue done more miracles in a few yeares by-past then God himselfe did in the old or Christ and his Apostles in the new Testament Such Idols of indignation doth the Romish harlot aduance against the soueraigne maiesty of God to prouoke him withall for what is it but an Idoll of indignation that not a creature only but the very Image of a creature should be made pertaker of the diuine power and Maiesty of God The time was when Isaiah the Prophet durst say of Esay 42. 28 God I am the Lord this is my name and my glory I will not giue vnto another nor my praise to grauen Images but how soeuer that might be tollerable
minds and terrifie not the consciences of weake Christians and assuredly could I bury it so that it might neuer liue and quench it so as it might neuer flame againe and if my Booke were the onely Copie in the world I would rather choose to couer this shame of the shamelesse whore of Babilon then by discouering it to cause good mens eares to tingle and their hearts to tremble But seeing the strumpet hath the whores forhead and glorieth in her owne shame and sounded out this blasphemy as with a trumpet in the eares of all Christendome by publishing it in a booke which he calls the great theater of the Iesuits honour euen bringing so fearefull blasphemy vpon the stage dare diuâ—lge it in a second impression least the world should want it Let vs therefore craue leaue of our Lord Iesus to discouer her shame wherein shee glorieth and that wee may without impeachment of his honour repeate so foule blasphemy that so the world may both perceiue what a Religion Popery is and that we for our parts haue no fellowship with such abhominable workes of Ephes â— darkenesse The Title he giues them is this Ad diuam Hallensem Puerum Iesum That is To our Lady of Hall and The Child Iesus See first the impiety lurking in this Title She is a Queene or Lady Iesus a Child or Infant compare this with holy Scriptures they indeede speake both of him and her but of him as God and a Sauiour of her as a creature the Mother only of his humanity although the Mother of him that was God and exercising power onely ouer his humanity and that onely during his infancy and priuatenesse but not after hee tooke vpon him the Propheticall Office of the Mediator for then he said in a certaine case woman what haue I to do with thee and againe being told shee was without to speake Iohn â— 4 with him hee answered that hee had more Mothers tho not in the same yet in a better sence for whosoeuer did the will of his father the same saith he is my mother Mat 12. vlt. thus the scripture proceedes to describe him in his propheticall and afterward in his Priestly Office and leaues him not till at last hee be ascended into heauen and haue taken possession of his kingdome and then the Scripture leaues him in his glory Is all this true and yet must he now after 1606 years be an Infant in his Mothers armes And for her the holy scriptures speake no more of her but as of a creature a woman a beleeuing Iewe a holy Saint saued by faith in her sauiour Iesus Christ and so leaues her with little mention after Christ was baptized and entred his propheticall Office her body to goe the way of all flesh and her soule to enter into that great glory which Christ had purchased for her and all that spirituall kindred of his whom with his owne mouth hee had pronounced more blessed for hearing his word keeping it then they could haue beene by being the mother of Luke 12. his flesh And yet now after 1600. yeeres she must still bee a commanding Mother and must shew her authority ouer him and he must receiue our prayers by her meanes and Monstra te esse Matrem sumat per te preces So are the missals Breuiaries Offices that are reformed still she must beare him in her armes or lead him in her hand and her Picture must worke all the miracles but his none and she must be salured as a Lady a Queene a Goddesse and he as a Child If this be not so let this Title iudge Ad Diuam Hallensem puerum Iesum But let vs leaue the Title and not stand long at the gates but enter this Citty of confusion And now all good Christians hearken with griefe of heart to that which I rather wish you might neuer haue heard but if your eares tingle your haire stand vp and your hearts tremble at the blasphemy following blame the heart that indighted it the hand that wrote it the Religion that allowes it and not the pen that discouers it THVS THEN BEGINS THE IESVITS Gospell Haereo lac inter meditans interque cruorem Inter delicias Vberis Lateris That is My thoughts are at a stand of Milke and bloud Delights of brest and side which yeelds most good HEarken thou blessed Apostle Paul if thou in heauen canst heare the blasphemy on earth thou that didst preach and 2. Cor. â— 2 write that thou desiredst to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucisied thou that didst teach the Churches onely to know and beleeue in Christ for saluation and almost 20. times in thy Epistles hast magnified his Bloud without once mentioning the Virgin or her Milke Heare and be astonisht at this that some who professe to be thy Disciples or thy fellowes rather cannot tell whether to choose that bloud of the Mediatour or the milke of a woman At least harken thou blessed spirit of truth thou that canst and wilt heare thou that didst inspire those holy truths into that holy Apostle behold a Religion risen vp in the world that dare compare the bloud of that God who was by thee conceiued with the milke of that Wâ—man who was the Mother of his humanity and was saued from hell and damnation by that bloud and that dare allow her professors to make doubt whether to esteeme the greater delight of their soules her milke or his bloud and we for reprouing this must bee accounted Heretikes heare from heauen we beseech thee and Iudge betwixt vs. The blasphemer proceedeth Et dico si forte oculos ad Vbera tendo Diua Parens Mammae gaudia posco tuae Sed dico si deinde oculos ad Vulnera verto O Iesu Lateris gaudia malo tuae That is And say aloud when I the Teates do see O Goddesse mother lend thy Brests to me But thus I beg when on the wounds I thinke O Iesu giue me from thy side to drinke What before hee deliuered more darkely now hee maketh plainer if any doubt what milke what bloud he meant he answereth our Ladyes Milke and Iesus Christ his bloud but what doth popery make question whether of these two is better Is this their holy Catholike Romaine faith If noâ— let their words be Iudge I stand musing saith he and cannot tell whether to take milke or bloud If I looke at her paps then I long for milke If to his sides then I would haue bloud Marke how indifferent a Papist is whether he receiue the one or the other is not this euill enough a man would thinke so yet hearken what followeth and wee shall heare worse but let vs do it with feare and reuerence of that glorious name and precious bloud which are blasphemed Rem scio prensabo si fas erit vbera dextra Laena prensabo vulnera si dabitur In English thus Long haue I mus'd now know I
be borne of a virgin If theÌ„ the Prophet had knowledge of her dareye say he wanted due deuotion and yet one of these you must say and for want of one of these you must condemne him who names none but Christ or else your selues who dare mixe her milke with his bloud But is this all No Illa mihi ad pestem Ista mihi ad febres One can heale spirituall pestilence the other spirituall Feuers see what difference there is by their religion betwixt her milke and his â—loud are not these men great and deuout honorers of Christ and his suffering that can finde other helpes to heale their soules besides his bloud But if it be thus that both can heale so wel how comes it to passe they haue so many sick soules in Popery euen sick of all spirituall diseases especially seeing by their owne doctrine and dayly practise it is apparant they can neither want the one nor the other of these 2. simples for first they say they make Christs bloud euery day then they haue bloud at hand continually If they say that the Laytie may not haue that but only their Priests who indeede drinke it vp all yet then they may take their Ladies milke whereof if themselues say true they haue so much in seuerall places as some that liued 100. yeares agoe doe write that Erasinus and others haue spoken more plainely and fully then I doe in those dayes it was more then a woman vpon one child can giue out though the child sucked none at all If that that is kept and shewed and worshipped in so many Cities of Italy France Spaine Germany bee not her milke then where is the truth and honesty of that Religion so to deceiue the world if it bee then why are their soules so full of spirituall diseases why are they not healed seeing this Iesuite teacheth that it will heale as well as Christs bloud as well as Christs bloud wil some say why do you them that wrong they are neuer so wicked to speake such blasphemy No then iudge by that which followeth Ira vomit flammas fumat que libidinis Aetna Suffocare queo Sanguine Lacte queo Liuor inexpleta rubigine saeuit in artus Detergere queo Lacte cruore queo Vanus honos me perpetua prurigine tentat Exaturare queo Sanguine Lacte queo That is Let Ire belch fire and lust like Aetna flame Choose either milke or blood doth quench the same Let Enuies rust canker my heart about This milke that bloud either will fetch it out Or do vaine glorious passions stuffe me still Either with milke or bloud the same I le kill Heere iudge and spare not without all partiallity whether that I said be not true that her milke will heale as well as Christs bloud and this they affirme not in generall tearmes but in plaine particulars if saith he Anger swell if Lust inflame me bloud will quench them so will milke are there two stronger passions two more conquering corruptions two more raging and raigning sinnes then Anger and Lust yet euen these two are quenched conquered by her milke as well as Christs bloud hearken ye Children of the Romish Sinagogue hearken I say what instruction your father giues you heare I pray but learne it not a creatures milke will clense your Soules from sin as well as your Sauiours bloud O spirit of error and blasphemy whether wilt thou goe O Romish impiety when wilt thou make an end wilt thou not cease till thou hast puld downe the fire of Gods fury from heauen vpon thee O Babilon we would haue healed thee but thou wilt not be healed Io 51. 9. for who can heale him that will needes kill himselfe so who can heale thee whose blasphemy hath wounded yet benummed thy heart gone ouer thy head is ascended vp to heauen in the presence of God crieth vengeance vpon thee as for you seduced soules my deare couÌ„try-men you who are deceiued with shewes of holinesse and deuotion behold heere a peece of Popish holinesse and of the doctrine of their deuotion that the sinnes of the soule are clensed and taken away as well by a creatures milke as by Christ his bloud is this the catholike Doctrine they brag so much of is this the catholike Church that teacheth such diuinity is this the chaire of St. Peter the seate that cannot erre If it be so then what didst thou meane thou St. Iohn Euangelist to teach that it was Iesus Christ that faithfull witnesse Reuel 1. 5 that first begotten from the dead that Prince of the Kings of the earth euen hee and not any creature who hath loued vs and washed vs from our sins in his bloud sure either must you recant this Doctrine els they that boast themselues to beâ— successors of thy brother Peter may be ashamed of theirs who tell vs that our sinnes are washt away in her milk as wel as by his bloud and you that are the dutifull and deuoted children of that Romish seate be Iudges euen your selues in this case what can be said heereunto how can it stand with scripture or with the tenor of true catholike faith or how can it any way be defended that a creatures milke can quench the fire of sinne in the soule as well as Christ his bloud Can ye say that heere is onely ascribed to her and her milke a deriued vertue from another and that the originall and fundamentall power is onely and wholy in Christ and his bloud if it were so it were lesse euill though Christ Iesus may not nor will not bestow the prerogatiues of his Mediatorship on any creature but looke and weigh ouer the words again and againe expound them with any fauour that the words may beare and you shall not see the least difference Suffocare queo Sanguine Lacte queo Detergere queo Lacte Cruore queo If Lust burne and Anger boyle Enuy fret vaineglory swell I can helpe it with bloud so can I with with milkâ— I can helpe it with milke so can I with bloud there can be no greater equality made betwixt any two things in the world then heere they make betwixt this Bloud and Milke Can it be said that the Author is a Poet and said thus but to make vp the Verse which otherwise would not haue falne so fitly surely no for a yong versisier can soone shew how the verses might haue run aswell as they doe if hee had not purposely laboured to sort his verse to his matter and not the matter to his verse For thus he might haue said Detergere queo sanguine Christe tuo with very little altoration And so of the rest but hee as truly endeuoured to magnifie the milke as the bloud and therefore without any necessity of the Verse gives the same power place preheminence in euery respect to the milke as to the bloud but had he beene as sound and sincere a Christian as he is
is the mediator betwixt God and man 1. Tim. 2. 5. Christ is the Mediator betwixt Man and Mary The scripture saith They make him say No man commeth to the father but by me Ioh. 14 6 No man commeth to my mother but by me The scripture saith They make him say Whatsoeuer you aske my father in my name hee will giue it you Io. 15. 16 Whatsoeuer you aske my Mother in my name she will giue it you These and such like oppositions are common betwixt Christs Gospell and Romish diuinity may not this giue strong suspicion that their Religion is Antichristian which in the foundations of it are so repugnant to Christs as these and others which stand confirmed with more authority then yet these doe well thus Christ is made a Mediator to his Mother now the Iesuite proceedeth and to make him amends hee maketh the mother a mediator to him Say to thy Sonne behold my brothers bands Sweete Sonne thou hast his ransome in thy hands That Christ Iesus hath the ransome of sinfull soules in his hands is good diuinity and we heartily imbrace it wishing it were as heartily and truly without Equiuocation intended by this Papist if he and all other Papists do so hold it wee heartily reioyce but then wee desire them to answere to a few questions Who payeth this ransome is it not Christ who accepts it is it not God the father is it not mercy grace loue that either the one will accept it or the other pay it can any pay it but the one can any take it but the other are not theÌ„ they the fouÌ„tains fathers of mercy which haue done so if all these be true then what a Religion haue they who in their liturgies dayly prayers call a creature the mother of mercy and mother of grace oftner then either God the Father or Christ the Redeemer or both put together we desire some conscionable papist to answere vs seriously was the Virgin Mary a Creator or a creature If a creature was she any more then an excellent creature set apart for the most excellent vse in the world was it not in Gods election to haue chosen any other woman at his owne good pleasure to haue beene the mother of Christ and was it not his owne free mercy that he regarded the low estate of her his handmaid if this bee so then did shee any thing in our saluation which any woman had not done if God had taken her to be his mother was there any thing in her to moue God to chuse her which was not Gods owne gift in her and to her she may be then a vessell of grace but she can be no way a fountaine of grace for what had she but she receiued it but if as they say she bee the fountaine of mercy and mother of grace then shee giues but receiues not as the fountaine receiues from no other but hath of it selfe and sends out to others the mother takes not of her children but layeth vp for them Now if it bee as their Liturgie saith it is that she is the mother of mercy and grace c. Then sure she hath the ransome in her hands but if it be in Christs hands as heere they say it is then how is she the mother of mercy hardly would these bee reconciled but that they haue equiuocations reseruations or distinctions that will make any thing seeme good enough to serue their turnes Thus then they haue not only made Mary Mediator to Christ which is common in their Religion but which was scarce euer heard of before they make Christ their mediator to her her to him for his bloud but first him to her for her milke Now to leaue this point obserue in one word how in these two messages of mediation heere is no difference but she that is a creature and saued by her sonne is made to speake to him in the same tearmes as he to her and with no other words or signes of reuerence and her sonne and sauiour yea God himselfe made to speake to her with the same reuerence as she doth to him as though there were no difference betwixt him and her and as though he being God and her sauiour was as much beholding to her for her milke as shee being a creature is to him for his bloud Loe what popish deuotion is heere now if they be ashamed of this then why are they not ashamed of the other But they are farre from that for where are the intreatings the cryes the humble requests and submissiue beseechings to him for his bloud heere be none such but contrariwise as though there were no difference in the world betwixt either the persons intreating which are Christ and Mary or the things desired which be his bloud and her milke he saith to Christ Say to thy mother see my brothers thirst Mother your milke will helpe him at the first And to her he saith Say to thy sonne behold thy brothers bands Sweete Sonne thou hast his ransome in thy hands Thus Popery makes of Christ and Mary one no greater a person then the other of his bloud and her milk one no greater a matter then the other Christ with no more reuerence to bee implored then Mary his bloud with no more vehemency to bee desired with no more difficulty to be obtained then her milke If this doctrine may be defended vnder pretence of deuotion then will not there want a colour for any blasphemy But the Iesuit goeth forward and saith to Christ Ergo redemptorem monstra c. Shew thy redeeming power to soules opprest Thou Sonne if that thy bloud excell the rest And shew thy selfe iustly so stilde indeed Thou mother if thy brests the rest exceed It may be doubted in whose name he speaketh these words whether in his owne to both Christ and his mother Horaâ—ius Tursellinus Iesuita in hist lauretana in prâ—fat or in Christs name to his mother and in hers to him if in the first they containe blasphemy if in the second absurdity for if he suppose the virgin Mary saith thus to Christ Shew thy redeeming power to soules opprest Thou sonne if that thy bloud excell the rest It is fouly absurd to imagine that she being so dignified as she is yea rather as they hold almost deified should make an if or a question whether Christs bloud excell the rest or no and much more absurd is it to make Christ seeme to be ignoraÌ„t of of his mothers power and state how great it is be it more or lesse But if so be he speak these words himselfe to theÌ„ both then behold the hainous iniury done to the precious bloud of the mediator Concerning which this wicked papist makes as much equall doubt whether it excell the bloud of other creatures as he doth whether the milke of the Virgin Mary excel the milke of all other women let all christian men shrinke and tremble at so great a