more then thou commādest Witnesse learned iudicious Hooker in the second booke of his Church Politie in the thirde page before the ende of the same booke witnesse also the Apologie in defence of him written by Doctor Covell in the 14. Chapt. of Satisfaction ANSVVERE Tertullian observeth that Orthodoxall teachers vse first to teach Lib. contra Valent. c. 1. and then to perswade but heretikes vse first to perswade and then to teach I can finde abundance of wants both in your manner method matter of this sermon This sermon doth nether teach nor perswade teaching by false proofe perswading by fained power to strengthen that which no mā besiegeth or gain saieth that there be degrees of perfection In this part your proofes so sinisterly collected from the practise of the Apostles Authority of S. Austin frō the opiniō of Mr Hooker Doctor Covell need rather an interpretiue answer then a defensiue encounter 1. For the Apostles that they did forsake all the necessity of the times and their vocation required it Legend yet Christ biddeth them keepe their Scrippe Coate Frier Iuniper thought that was too much ran about without his breeches and Fryar Ruffin as Sedulius witnesseth Apol. l. 2. c. 5. n. 7. did preach naked Secondly for the Virgins in S. Austin whose speech is amando te plus facimus quà m iubes Serm. 18. de verbis Apost by loving thee we doe more then thou commandest that is more thē thou commandest Perkin prob Tit. super hoc mandato de non moechando as learned Perkins answereth or it is to be vnderstood in genere to others that God did not command all so to loue him as they did that is in that kinde he commandeth al to avoide adultery but he commaundeth not all to professe Virginity and yet those that he hath seperated for that kinde of life are bound because commanded so to liue and cannot say plus facimus quà m iubes For your third allegation out of that Reverend Authour Mr Hooker In the place cited he maketh not any mētion of the word Counsaile One of his propositions among others is this that God approveth much more thē he doth commande which may be spokē in a good sense for as much as God doth approue many things hee doth not particularly commande in holy Scriptures I will seek no other example then that which Mr Hooker alleadgeth there his words be these Hook 2 book of Eccles Polity § 8. p. 120 lin 39. Hereat S. Paul vndoubtedly did aime in so farre abridging his owne liberty and exceeding that which the bond of necessary and enioined duty tied him vnto What that was his marginal quotation sheweth 1. Thes 2.9 the words be these 1. Thess 2.9 Yee remember brethren our labour travaile for we laboured day and night because wee would not be chargeable to any of you and preached vnto you the Gospell of Christ To preach the Gospel so freely as that he that serveth at the altar doth not seeke maintenance from the altar is more then is enioined generally to the Ministers of the Gospell and yet is approved in the sight of God and no doubt rewarded Yet vpon some circumstances where the people are vnwilling to heare because vnwilling to pay for their hearing a Minister ratione officij rather then beneficij is bound to preach because his rule is this vbicunque quandocunque quomodocunque wheresoever whensoever howsoever he is commaunded to preach the word in season out of season For your authority out of learned Doctor Covell I answere aetatē habet doctrinam habet he may saue you the helpe of a Frier to lash you for stealing out of that one Article aboue forty lines of his words without his meaning According to my vnderstanding all that he endevoureth to shew is that there be divers degrees of perfection in this life and of glory in the life to come that to attaine this perfection some courses bee more exquisite thē others that such courses are not of necessity prescribed to ALL therefore in that regarde they may be said to be more then is commanded in generall or in particular to any absolutely but only conditionally with supposall of gift or vocation These hee calleth Coūsels And we refuse not the name if the thing were taken aright but that by such we may merite for our selues and others and come with an over-plus to bee treasured vp to make marchandise for indulgences let him speake himselfe what hee thinketh in this Article whence you borrowed much but vnderstood little The 8. Article 8. of defence of M. Hooker Title Super. Article of his defence of Mr Hooker in the Title workes of supererogation whereas you quote him for the 14. Chapter the Title Satisfaction But to the purpose in the place aboue cited the vpshot of his tract is this we cannot supermerit by these more then we ought Therefore his speech fasteneth no post in your weake building And in a word to adde this Corolarie to Mr. Hooker Doctor Covell which will I hope giue some light to any that shall sinisterly interpret them Lib. 3. de anima It is a position in Aristotle lib. 3. de Anima that intellectus Coniunctus semper progreditur ab imperfecto ad perfectum which Thomas the schooles haue made vse of in the Metaphysickes to proue that conceptus particularis a particuler conceipt is ever more perfit then an vniversall so species then genus individuum then species is held more perfit because in descending downewarde there is ever something added to the perfection of the vniversall which the particular includeth This may be well applied to the present and to the conceit of these learned men to which you never attained Though the vniversall precept bindeth al and in that may be said to want no perfection yet the particular adding some thing from extraordinary meanes to a branch of the generall precept is some way said to bee a more exquisite way notwithstanding these lists are ever to be kept that as the Poet spake Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines Quos vltra citraque nequit consistere rectum So say I and so held these in divinity in all the actions of our life there be land markes of our procession which striue we never so earnestly we cannot goe beyonde and therefore not beyond the precept Mr LEECH The perfection of man here in this life is the soules vnion with God not essentiall for this is peculiar only to the Trinity Not personall this proper to Christ his humanity Not sacramentall this extendeth to the whole Church in generall But it is vnio animae spiritualis the soules spirituall vnion with God when the soule is whollie sequestred from the world and is sincerely ravished with the loue of God of Christ and of her neighbour guided ledde therevnto by precepts and Counsailes ANSVVER It is true
desire to be taught the rule of faith out of an humble and a religious meaning here you may learne it it was a question worth his asking a point worthy your learning Mr LEECH Why said he what other ground of faith then the pure word of God I demaunded then who shall interpret this word Hee replied the spirit What spirit good Sir The spirit of God only which privat men thinke they haue Against which rule I except for that it was the common plea of all condemned Heretiques Wherefore I required a triall of this pretended spirit for I cannot admit that to be God his spirit in any private man which consenteth not with the spirit of the Catholique Church And thus you see M.D. Airay that what you formerly reiected out of my rule as Popish you must necessarily admit as true that is Ecclesiasticall Tradition annexed to the sacred Canon for the discerning of private spirits Otherwaies each Heretique will sense Scripture in the mould of his owne braine ANSVVER That the word of God is the ground of beleefe in God sacred Scripture it selfe proveth in manifold and pregnant places as in the olde Testament in the Proverbs Prov. 2.9 They make a man vnderstand righteousnes and iudgement and equity and every good path Esay 8.19.20 in Esay should not a people enquire at their God at the law and at the Testimonie they that speake not according to this word there is no light in them by Malachie Mal. 4.4 Remember the law of Moses which I commanded all Israell with the statutes and iudgements in the new Testament in S. Paul 2. Tim. 3.15 The Scriptures are able to make a man wise vnto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus in S. Peter 2. Pet. 1.19 We haue a most sure word of the Prophets wherevnto we must giue heed as to a light that shineth in darknesse till the day starre arise in our hearts Luc. 1.4 in S. Luke They containe the certainty of those things whereof we are instructed and in S. Iohn Ioh. 5.39 These things are written that yee might beleeue that Iesus is that Christ the sonne of God and in beleeuing yee might haue eternall life and by Christ himselfe sealing this point Search the Scriptures for in them you haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of mee but to this also the Fathers with all reverence haue agreed Basil Ep. 80. ad Eust Med. Let the Scriptures be arbitrators betweene vs saith Basill in his 80 Epistle and whosoever holds consonant opiniōs to those heavenly oracles let the truth bee adiudged on their side We are to enquire for iudges saith Optatus Contra Parmenianum de coelo quaerendus est Iudex Optat. cont Parmen l. 5. the Iudge must bee had from heaven but saith hee wherefore need we to knock at heauen when we haue a iudge wohm wee finde in the Gospell The Scripture is the rule of faith saith Tertullian contra Hermogenem Tertull. cont Hermog Chrysost in 13. Homil. in 2. Corinth It is a most exquisit rule saith Chrysostome in his 13 homily vpon the second to the Corinths It is an inflexible rule Greg. Nyss Grati. de ijs qui adeunt Hierosolymā saith Gregorius Nyssenus And S. Austin ample for this in many places in his booke de bono viduitatis testifieth that the Scripture pitcheth downe the rule of our faith And not only the Ancient Fathers but the Schoole-men haue succeeded in the same resolution Aquinas writeth expresly Aq 1. qu. 1. art 8. that our faith must rest vpon the Canonicall bookes of Scripture Durand agreeth with this Durand pref in senten that the maner of our knowledge exceed not the measure of faith and the holy Scripture expresseth the measure of faith Sum part 3. tit 18. c. 3. Nay Papists haue acknowledged this Antoninus confesseth that God hath spoken but once to vs and that in Scripture so plentifully that hee voucheth Gregory in the 22 book of his Moralls thus God needeth to speake no more concerning any necessary matter Al. 1. sent quaest 1. art 3 1. Coroll seeing all things are found in Scripture Alliaco consenteth to this The verities of Scripture bee the Principles of divinity quoniam ad ipsas saith he fit vltima resolutio Theologici discursus Bell de verbo Dei lib. 1. c. 2. In one word Bellarmin agreeth to all these Testimonies in his first book de verbo Dei Sacra Scriptura est regula credendi certissima tutissima This may serue to shew you that there is no other ground of faith then the worde of God Scriptures Fathers Schoolemen nay even our Adversaries being witnesses Deut. 32.31 as Moses speaketh You demaund who shall interpret this word It is replied the spirit of God which spirit the elect doe know certainly that they haue not only thinke as you traduce the speech of this reverēd Doctor but they assure thēselus that they haue the spirit and hee that knoweth not this ◠Cor. 3.16 is ignorant as Paul teacheth by an interrogatiō Knowe yee not that yee are the Temples of the holy Ghost and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you But against this rule you except for this was you say Chrysos prolog in Epist ad Rohan 3. de Lazar. the plea of al Heretiques It is false Heretiques and the devill did vrge Scripture but these could never for wāt of Gods spirit compare Scriptures together The privat spirit even every Priuat man of himselfe saith Chrysostom only by reading may vnderstand yea need nothing else but to read Chrysos hom 13. in Gene◠by which he meaneth to confer one place of Scripture with another And the same Father giveth the reason Scriptura seipsam exponit auditorem errare non sinit The scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the hearer to be deceived Distinct 37. Relatum So speaketh Chrys 13. hom in Genes The Canon Law is most plaine herein Non enim sensum extrinsecus alienum extraneum sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis oportet For we must not from without them seeke a forraine and strange sense but wee must out of the Scriptures themselues receiue the meaning of the truth And a clowde of witnesses do testifie the same Wherefore it is no way necessary that we aske helpe of Tradition which is as I formerly spake the cittie of refuge for all runnagate points in your religion Popish Tradition in the Church soiourning only as the deuill doth to deceiue as a treacherous stranger not to be acquainted with or as an Infidell not to be conversed with and therefore D. Airay taught you the truth when you heretically thought you might mould the sense of scripture in the brain of the brasen head Tradition Mr LEECH And now M. D. Airay being thus overthrowne in the rule of his faith proposed vnto me a question of
doctrin of the Apostles though the Apostles doctrine was Scripture so we admit of no fundamentall interpretation to builde vpon but that which is approved by the sacred scriptures The place that you vrge out of Matthew Math. 18.17 Hee that will not heare the Church let him be tanquam Ethnicus you may vpō your better review finde it is spoken concerning those that refuse to heare the admonition or iudiciall censure of the Church not the glosse or interpretatiō of the Church Wee confesse the letter of Scripture was not nor the sense is of any privat inspiration and therefore trial which is made by the Scriptures is no privat iudgement but the publike cēsure of Gods spirit that speaketh openly in the Scriptures to all men And Basils rule shall bee ever the true practise of the true Church Basil de examin doctr part 1. Cons 5. that they that bee conversant in the Scriptures should examine all that is said whether it agreeth with Scriptures From a private interpretation not agreeing with the Canon of Scripture we fly because as you vrge out of Bernard Nonnulli adesse putant spiritum Acts and monuments by Mr Fox many thinke that they haue the spirit of God with them as they that in that Councell sang veni spiritus and an Owle was sent them they killed that spirit And many thinke they haue the spirit Nicol. Clau. disput de cōcil and yet shut out the spirit as the Councell of Pisa did You saie the sentence of Bernard striketh our religion as dead as a dore naile it is a clownish marginall you might haue learned amongst Scholers that a dore naile could not be said to be dead because it had never life Privat opinions with vs sway not each wel disposed mā submitteth himselfe to the censure of the Church wherein we liue our Church to the Scriptures and this wee make to be the last resolution Mr LEECH It is lawfull to followe the spirit in interpreting the Scripture but it must be the spirit of the Church that spirit of peace vnity charity that descended vpon the Apostles vnited for domus vna c. they abode all in one house a signe of externall charitie Mens anima vna one minde one soule for they had but one God one faith one Church Ancient Church Calvins and Luthers congregations a signe of internall spirituall vnity The same spirit ever since continued in the Church vnited in faith not divided in faction And wee may seeke for the sense of the scripture but where It must not be out of the stincking puddle of a private braine The aforesaid gentlemen c. but forth of the treasuring memory of the Church Christi Evangelio vim nō inferat humana praesumptio patrum semel definita non sunt iterum in dubium vocanda This is contrary to cursed Luther it is blessed Leo in his 94. Epistle let not humane presumption dare to offer violence vnto the Gospell of Christ for the constitutiōs of fathers once decreed are not further to bee questioned Nec definitiones eorum perpetuae commutandae quorum regulam secundum scripturam esse didicimus So speaketh Flavianus bishop of Constantinople in his Epistle to Pope Leo the first Neither are the perpetuall determinations of them to be changed whose rule we haue learned to agree with scripture ANSVVERE Vnity was the bond of Patriarkes Chariot of the Prophets refuge of the Apostles solace of the Saints and Character of Christians But is this belonging to them who abhorre vnity whose religion is rebelliō whose faith is faction as our Church litargie speaketh in the prayer against the conspiracies of Papists What part in vnity haue they that haue divided Christs Coate nay Christs body Christs Church Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione loquentes Doe all the opinions in the world squadron themselues into so many divided factions as Papists Do not they like the Midianits sheath every man his sword in his neighbours side Cumel is against Suarez Bellarmine is invaded by Carerius for giuing to little to the Pope Marsilius and Father Paulus encounter him for giving to much Cardinall Columna striueth with Baronius Barelay with Boucher Antonius Augustine tilts against Gratian. That as Ieronymus de Cavallos hath set forth in the law his speculum aureum opinionum Communium contra communes so also in the diversitie of contradictions riotting one against another the sweet and mellifluous Author of the Peace of Rome whom I may tearme a library for a whole nation as Mirandula entitled another great scholler hath most amply delivered and sealed it with their own proofs Doct. Hall so also hath Crastovius in his booke Bellum Iesuiticū 205 contradictions of the Iesuits Pappus hath collected 237 differences in doctrine out of Bellarmine Laborious and reverend D. Willet proveth that there be 70 maine contradictions betweene the olde Papists and the new 37 among the Iesuits 57 points wherein Bellarmin is at strang variance with himself 39 essentiall contradictions of Popish religion 100 opposite Constitutions of the Popish Canons And many more might in this kinde bee registred wherein are divers assertions which are onely taile-tied as Sampsons Foxes with a firebrand betweene them but are head-severed wrenching one from another So that you are the divided factiō not we our difference only de fimbria non de toga yours de toga de corpore de Christo many ridiculous many blasphemous all erroneous We doe not seeke the sense of Scripture out of the stinking puddle of a privat brain as out of the Crows nest of your invention that impostumated phrase doth traduce vs nor doe wee by humane presumption offer violence to the Gospell of Christ as many thousand places in Popery bee abused as your blasphemous Pope who vpon that place Act. 2. Papa Clem. In Canonis cap. disertiss 12. quaest 1. Bellar. lib. 2. de sacram c. 1 Bell. Tom. 1. lib. 3. cap. 3. Bell. de Mon. Erant Apostolis omnia cōmunia addeth immo coniuges or your detorting Cardinal Tortus the Torturer of Scripture vpon that spiritus Domini ferebatur super aquas ergo Baptismus confert gratiam ex opere operato or againe vpon that Scripture Bibite ex hoc omnes id est saith hee omnes Apostoli or vpon that place vocauit nomen eius Enos coepit vocare nomen Domini ergo Enos fuit Monachus and infinite many more violences by him offred Your cursed epithet against Luther is full of hellish fury I doe assure my selfe that God blesseth where the Pope curseth and as sure I am blessed are they that die in the Lord and so is he for he resteth from his labours And was Luther cursed for denying some interpretations of the Fathers Did not Caietan as much In praef com in lib. Mosis in affirming that God had not tied the expositions of the Scriptures to the sēse of the Fathers And did not
Andradius so who teacheth that the Fathers doe in many places not expound the Scriptures according to the literal sense the only which hath power to proue points of faith and that when they seeke the literall sense they doe not alwaies finde them but giue diuers senses one vnlike another therfore we may forsake their senses all and bring a new vnlike to theirs Now dare you curse Caietan and Andradius Andrad desens fid Trid. lib. 2. and bestow that epithet vpon these that you doe on Luther I knowe you dare not But as in others so in you Tullies observation is remarkable Tully that bad Orators insteed of reasons vse exclamations The reason why Luther is so much vilefied among you Erasmus gaue long since Chronic. Carion Auct a Melanthon lib. 5. when being asked by Frederick Duke of Saxony what hee thought of Luther so earnestly seeking reformation Erasmus answered as Carion records it that Luther had committed two great errors one was that hee touched too neere the Crown of the Pope another that he purged too much the belly of the Monks But the name of Luther shall remain among the posterities for euer and howsoever Hell and Papists haue endeavoured to transferre vpō the cause personall weaknesse most falsly imputed vnto him yet that Epitaph of his framed by Reverend Beza shall be monumentum aere perennius Beza in Epitaphijs Roma orbem domuit Romam sibi Papa subegit Viribus illa suis fraudibus iste suis Quanto isti maior Lutherus maior illa Istum illúmque vno qui domuit calamo The last part of this Paragraph vrgeth Flavianus to which speech we most willingly agree The determinations of the Fathers are not to be changed when their rule is consonant to Scripture but we deny that the generall consent of the Fathers ever helde this point for many of them whom you vrge haue not as in your proofes it is plaine so much as the distinction or any word of Counsaile And againe if by the misinterpretation of that place of S. Paule some of the Fathers read the place so yet the Greeke Fathers haue not any word of Counsels D. Benefield his Appendix pag. 186. in all their workes as Doctor Benefield in his Appendix witnesseth Mr LEECH And therfore to exemplifie further vpon this ground and to raise the particuler building vpon this general foūdatiō I would but aske what meant S. Cyprian that ancient famous martyr in his tract de Nativitate Christi sectione 10. penultima and S. Gregory that worthie pillar of the latine Church in his 26. booke on Iob to stile these consilia perfectionis Counsailes of perfection if there be no Counsailes Secondly what meant Theodoret Primasius Sedulius Haymo Theophylact Ambrose Augustine Hierome Gregory Basill Chrysostome Beda Lyra Aquinas Anselmus with all antiquity greeke and latine Church so to expound that place of S. Paul 1. Cor. 7.25 ANSVVER Suffragia potiùs sunt pendenda quà m numeranda voices and authorities are rather to be weighed thē to be numbred Cyprian or Gregory haue no worde of Counsailes The booke falsely ascribed to Cyprian is denied to be his by Pamelius Bellarmine Possevine many others of your owne as hath beene proved the ancient manuscript thereof in the library of All-soules Colledge here in Oxford entitleth Arnolde an abbat to be the Author of it For Gregory as I haue many times cited so do I now againe if in that place so often quoted viz. the 26. booke 24. 25. Chapters you finde the word Counsaile I will surcease to answere begin to beleeue you It is an easie businesse in you to faine the distinction of Counsels to be in Gregory seeing that the Vaticane Cyclopses haue foisted 168. Epistles into him besides infinite corruptions and contradictions as will shortly appeare by the exact and laborious endeavours of that liuing Library Mr Thomas Iames the indefatigable and carefull President of that businesse and the diligent assistance of many some whereof are the choisest most eminent in all our Vniversity The Fathers that you muster togither out of ranke I reverence yet what Austin in his 19. Epistle said in such another case that I hold good For all these Austin in Ep. 19. and aboue all these we haue the Apostle Paul saith he Though some of these Fathers do so read according to the translation formerly cōdemned yet habemus Apostolū Paulum we haue Paule to witnesse the contrary in his owne word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was but his advise or sentence not counsell Mr LEECH Thirdly what meant S. Hierome ad Eustochium and against that Epicurean Heretique Iovinian one of the first impugners of this Doctrine S. Ambrose in the tenth booke of his Epistles the 82. ad Vercellensem Ecclesiam in his tract de viduis propè finem S. Augustine in his 61. sermon de tempore his 18. tract de verbis Apostoli chapter the 21. his 2. booke of Evangelicall questions chapter the 19. and in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium chapter 121. Origen vpon the 15. to the Rom. S. Basill de vera virginitate S. Chrysostome in his 8. Homilie de poenitentia Nazianzen in his 3. oration which is the first invectiue against Iulian and many others The time would faile mee if I shoulde reckon vp all And therefore to close vp all in a word what meant all antiquity greeke and latine fathers so to distinguish betwixt precepts and Counsailes if there bee no Counsailes ANSVVER Lubertus truely observeth of Bellarmine that in a point where hee is weakest there will hee name and quote Authorities most plentifully but when hee should come to the life of the point then he shuffles away amōg his multitude like a Cut purse in a thrōg or like the fish sepia who being ready to be caught darkens the sea roūd about with a black water issuing from her These authorities and Testimonies of the Fathers haue been answered in that part of the Tract before the Sermon and as the occasion was offered in the sermon and all of them even the most strong and selected authorities that you coulde gather are aunswered plentifully in Doctor Benefields Appendix where it is proved that the Fathers did not set a man beyond the Land-marke of Gods commandement but that by the generall precepts enioining all the particular commanding some every man is bound to serue and feare and loue the Lord with all his heart with all his soule and withall his minde And this necessitate praecepti by the necessary obligement of the cōmandement Austin in 38. Psalm that which Austin vpon the 38 Psal hath written with the pen of a diamond standing fast as Hercules Ne plus vltra that no man can say he is perfit Nemo se dicat esse perfectum and so proceedeth that if any man doe looke for perfection in this life decipit se fallit se seducit se non potest hîc habere perfectionem Mr
hardned hart In that presumptuous speech that will was the law to punish you without an offence yet shall not be the sanctuary to defend that Reverende Governour that censured you you are much offensiue to truth It was your ignoraÌ„ce that betrayed you the offence coÌ„deÌ„ned you the law did ceÌ„sure you Now you are far of you veÌ„t your gall like vnto Gall his reproach against Abimelek when he supposed him far enough from him Who is Abimelek and who is Shechem that wee should serue him Your threats be blasts he needs no sanctuary that hath so many in the eares and hearts of the most honoured and best affected of this lande And though you presume to CoÌ„vent him yet at this time a farre meaner man shall discharge him You desire leaue to deale as a scholler it is wel you wil aske leaue that you neglect not all duty to your Master but I assure you it is generally beleeved that if any thing in your whole book be truely your own it appeareth in the validity of these argumeÌ„ts framed so sophistically as if you had only learn'd logike by that rude prescriptioÌ„ Discere si cupias Logicam discas Titlemannum Ille Sophistarum crimina pandere vult Mr Wright complaines that none of our Protestants answer breefly and punctually you shall not need to complaine so In two wordes I answere your three arguments Negatur minor For ever you affirme as a Principle the thinges to be proued which manner of argumentation 2. Prior. c. 16. 8. Topic. 13. 1. soph 5. 2. Soph. 12. Aristotle reckons for a fallacy in many places and tearmes it by this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a begging to haue that graunted which in the beginning was the maine controversie So Archimedes would moue the whole earth if he could obtaine a seperat standing from the earth which might not be And this is the dealing of all your Champions first they take this as graunted that the Church of Rome is the Catholike Church and then conclude that wee are the Heretiques which is the especiall point to bee proued In your first syllogisme your presumption rather theÌ„ assumption is faulty But the doctrine of Evangelicall Counsailes is founded vpon Scripture according to the conformable opinion of the ancient Church Was there any hope that this might passe vncontroled being the maine controversie of all But it is proued saie you by the ensuing testimonies of the Fathers but it is disproued say I both by that which hath beene said in this Tract as also in particular answer to every Father by D. Benefield that except you be more then perversly obstinate you will vndertake no more such challenges The minor in both your other syllogâ—smes assume that D. King D. Aglion by c. obstinately oppugn a point of Catholique faith and are heretiques and therefore must recant c. And your poore proofes bee their proceedings against you in this particular Alas doe you boast of reading Fathers Schoolemen Children Schooleboyes would be asham'd of such arguments which I easily returne againe in this manner Whatsoeuer doctrin is not fouÌ„ded vpoÌ„ scripture c. aut the doctrin of EuaÌ„gelical CouÌ„sels is not fouÌ„ded c Therefore the doctrine of Evangelicall Counsells is not a point of Catholike faith The syllogisme is good in the first figure by the rules of Logicke though the Minor be negatiue because the Maior is convertible The Minor is proued before in the right interpreting of the testimonies of the Scriptures Fathers which you manifestly wrested and perverted Whosoever doth obstinately maintaine any point of doctrine contrary to Catholique faith is c. But Mr Leech doth obstinately maintaine a point of doctrine contrary to Catholike faith Therefore Mr Leech is an heretique The Maior is graunted by all men of iudgement and it is taught by the same rule of Austin The Minor is proued by his owne proceedings in this particular Every hereticke as in your owne words c. But Mr Leech is an heretike c. Therefore Mr Leech c. The Maior is cleere of it selfe The Minor is proued already and your foure evidences that follow are evidently turned vpon your selfe Thus Baals Priests launce themselues and Saul falleth on his owne sword And in full satisfaction that it may appeare to all men that we suppresse not the truch we reiected not the Fathers for though by the rule of Vincentius and the graunt of Bellarmin all learned Papists wee are only to receiue the vniforme consent of the Fathers yet in this you haue neither all nor the most nor any places pregnant for your doctrine as is manifest by the answere to them and the interpretation of the Fathers To your fourfold evidence In praef com lib. Mosis I might returne First the authority of Cardinall Caietan thus God hath not tied the exposition of the Scripture vnto the sense of the Fathers Andrad defens fidei Trid. lib. 2. Secondly the iudgemeÌ„t of Andradius that they spake not Oracles when they expounded the Scriptures that the oversights of the translation which they followed must needes cause theÌ„ to miste sometimes the right meaning of the holy Ghost Turrecrem In c. sancta Romana d. 15 nu 4. Possev Bibl. select l. 12. c. 23. Thirdly what Turrecremata hath deliuered herein thus At this day there be many things found in the Fathers deseruing no credit Fourthly what Possevine coÌ„cludeth somethings in the Fathers wherein vnwittingly they dissented from the Church are iudged and condemned I could vrge for your foure fortie of your own that doe disclaime the authoritie of Fathers your graÌ„d Iurie is answered so fully by D. Benefield that as no man can say more so I hope it will make you say much lesse I denied not these 4 authorities you here bring but I deny that they bee applied to the present for in all the course of your testimonies we denied no Fathers but interpreted all And now Mr LEECH let me tell you your vndeceiueable Iudge doth see you and wee both must receiue our censure at another barre Once one church held vs in an honourable function one Vniversitie in a loving Communion one Towne the flowrishing and happy and chiefe Towne of our Shire in a kinde participation of all good offices But you are departed Now you are gone you haue broken all these leagues nay more broken your covenant with God in the Ministry of his Church Shame the Devil forsake your stepmother satisfie the world saue your soule We shal wish you but not misse you weep for you but not want you VnderstaÌ„d not amisse good reader for nothing is so contrary to the will consent as error Had these offers beene proposed these propositions had never beene refused First hee only proposed out of a Popish peevish writer these extracted or rather extorted authorities and would never condiscend to answer the point as a scholler in disputation Secondly it was disproved by a publike lecture it was maintained against him by the Reverend Doctors his Iudges that neither Scriptures nor Orthodoxe fathers were for him Thirdly it was manifest that to preach Perfection in this life especially Angelicall integrity was at the least Pelagianisme heresie coÌ„demned by the Fathers and Ancient Church Fourthly that this doctrine being the grounde of workes of supererogation merit c. was plainely against the position of our Church as Doctor Benefield in private conference offered to proue The scandals therefore be full of iniquity which you impose on the Reader if hee beleeue your advertisement I wish you may finde more acceptance before God in the day of retribution then your words are like to finde with any True harted ChristiaÌ„s Seeing error conceived them humor produced them FINIS CHristian Reader this booke was long since promised my attendance was the cause of the stay but at length it is finished I had rather with Cato craue pardon for my fault in doing this then keepe my selfe cleere from committing this fault for I haue herein satisfied the importunity which imposed it on me and the necessity of the cause which drew me to it In the Triumph that is proued true which Tully spake of Athenagoras Of his offence hee spake nothing but complained of his punishment There was small cause of the Authors flying lesse of his reviling His reproachfull tearmes defiling and besmearing those many and worthy Divines I could haue returned in the same language hardly can any that shall answer him avoid it without calumny or so pay him his owne without note of infamy But in these labours nothing is to be more praied for then a sanctified spirit and therefore I haue as much as possibly I might avoided any thing that may seem contumelious or malitious It resteth that I find Christian and brotherly interpretation in this labor by those that shall pervse it My hast may betray the manner of my writing not the matter And it may be I shall find some such readers Hier Prooem in l. 2 coÌ„met in OseaÌ„ as S. Hierom did Alij saith he quasi parva contemnunt quicquid dixerimus contractare despiciunt alij magis aliorum silentium quà m nostrum studium probant quidam in eo se disertos arbitrantur doctos si alieno operi detrahant If such Readers meete with my booke I feare not If my book meet with such I care not The better sort I hope to find leaue attentiue and will pray for all meanes of their instruction in this world and salvation in the better world Errata Read Children p. 40. l. 16. metonymiam p. 113. l. 30. some acknowledge some denie p. 126. l. 10. Aetnam p. 131 l. 9. quo seniores eo saniores 193. l. 5. Ambigne p. 195. l. 15. quod 227. l. 4. editions p. 336. l. 19. Norris l 24.
whatsoever he was in other points sure hee was no father or author of your position your citations out of him haue no one word of Evangelicall Counsails of perfection Mr LEECH The report and rumor whereof by relation of some friends no sooner came vnto my eares but presently knowing well the assured grounds of my doctrine I addressed my selfe to haue satisfied and contented any ingenious and vnpassionate auditour by a second repetition with a briefe punctuall and perspicuous explanation and confirmation of my aforesaid doctrine For I was altogether vnwilling to suffer the least imputation or scandall to be fastned vpon it or vpon the Author were it but in corners secretly and farther though I intēded not to run into a publike opposition yet now occasion might bee ministred vnto me others to vindicate a necessary truth from the detraction of calumnious tongues ANSVVER To satisfie anie auditor is not only ingenuous but a religious act But did you giue content to any mā that conferred with you in it Did you not rather in your preparation for the second sermon take occasion to cast the stumbling blocke of offence in your third verifying that speech 〈◊〉 Finis vnius mali gradus est futuri I will not aske you whether the second sermon were your owne or whether you purged the bowels of a Fryers Postill culd all those your pearles as you thought them out of the Dunghill of some moath-eaten Monke tyed vp in chaines till you came to free him and to binde your selfe The generall iudgemente vpon your booke when it came first foorth was this that it was composed of two styles diverse in forme vneequall in fabrique the one somewhat dull and leaden very resty the other more nimble and quicke-silvered but somewhat scurvy whervpon a familiar acquaintance of yours censured it thus that the grounde of your paper was plowed by an oxe and an asse a coniunctiō forbidden in the law I do not desire to make my paper guilty of idle wordes but yet this I must professe that your second repetition which you mētion doth savour of much vnsavory stuffe and hath in it d sapientiam attramentalem non mentalem Senec. You say you did not purpose to run into a publicke opposition when you did reiterate that in your second which you had in your former sermon But I desire you to summon the sobriety of your senses before your owne iudgement and confesse plainely how it could otherwise be But that the proclamation of cōtradiction in you would proue a publicke oppositiō mainetained by you weigh this in the ballance of discretion and you will finde it lightnes and innovation you seeme to ioine your forces in mainetenance of your position when you say occasion was given to you and others to vindicat this necessary truth What others assisted you Among vs all desire to purge the Temple from superstition to sweepe away those cobwebs which the Spiders of Rome haue hanged vp There is no one that dare polute our Holie places publiklie with anie such infectious doctrine so farre are your fellow Counsailors from making a plural number that a duall number never shewed themselues amongst vs yet in this controversie Mr LEECH CHAPT 3. BEing thus occasioned by the secret clancular murmuration of Brethren the fame whereof began now to disperse it selfe abroad to addresse some defence of my former doctrine I tooke the next opportunity to supply the publike place willing rather to giue a litle farther touch to convince the said Brethrē then to dwell as yet vpon any maine and full discourse which was not my purpose the point being yet not publiquely contradicted I repeated and dilated vpon the point more at large as it was originaly deduced out of the last brāch of S. Gregorie his distinction to wit quidā non judicantur regnāt to this purport and effect ANSVVER OCcasion and scandall be either given or taken they were both given by you rather then offered you You desired to giue a touch to convince the said Brethren all of vs were brethren in this all agreed in dislike of your manner of preaching which was so dull and Delphically mysticall that fewe heard you and none approved you But I woulde willingly desire you to reconcile these two places in this paragraph First that the fame of the brethrens murmuratiō began to spread it selfe abroad and yet within fiue lines you confesse the point was not publikely contradicted If murmuration be contradictiō then non sense may serue as a marginall note But because you breath at the brethren againe in this chapter though I defende none that Schismatically contradict the state or breake the blessed peace of our flowrishing Church neither doe know any such here God that knoweth the secrets of all hearts bearing me recorde seeing you so malitiouslie traduce this Honorable Vniversity as if it were an Anabaptisticall Seminary I doe challendge you or anie of your part to answer these two points First that there be * Vide Iohan Pappium Peace of Rome and many other bookes more materiall differences in points of religion and more grosse pointes of Chatharisme amōg Papists then among al the Schismatiques or Separists Secondly that the Church of Englande never had any so Puritannical as to iudge themselues celestiall men terrestriall Angels excelling surmounting transcending in perfection fulling the law nay more then the law Mr LEECH Of this point said I I may speake as S. Iohn speaketh to the seauen churches of Asia cōcluding euer the burthē of his admonitiō which a pathetical Epiphonema in the reprehension Let him that hath an eare to heare heare what the spirit saith to the churches And may not I apply let him that hath not only an eare to heare but a soule to saue by the eares hearing heare what the coelestial Oracle heauēly spirit Catholike Church iointly speak deliuer concerning Evangelicall Counsells ANSVVER Remember not only what S. Iohn endeth his epistle with but also what he sealeth vp his whole revelatiō with I a Apoc. 22.19 protest vnto euerie man that heareth the Words of the prophecie of this book If any māshal adde vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke For that sweet aphorisme and acclamation of everie of S. Iohns Epistles cited by you I acknowledge the power and divine spirit speaking in it For what is recorded of Hercules Gallicus that his speeches tyed the eares of his hearers to his tongue is more true by many degrees concerning God and therefore it is not onlie Davids incitation * Ps 34.9 O come and see and taste how good the Lord is but b Ps 34.12 Apoc. 1. O come hither chidren and harken I will teach you the feare of the Lord. And S. Iohns proclamation in the first of the Apocalyps Blessed are they that read and they that heare and they that keepe the words of this booke therfore let
bona sunt à fide Ecclesiae non recedere I would you had taken this course in reading Gregory But for the point in hand you haue not in al the words of S. Gregory the distinctiō of Praeceptū Consilium no place that defineth Evangelica consilia neither their name number or any thing concerning thē And therefore to any never so little intelligent you will seeme strangely ridiculous to make Gregory Godfather to that childe he never knewe or Author of that doctrine which he never taught or thought Wee call not his credit into question I would yours did it not as I formerly shewed and especially t Bar. Tom. 8. Annal. Ann. Christi 1593. num 62. p. 57. Baronius who speaking of the barrennesse of learning in Gregory his time sheweth that Gregory himselfe was ignoraunt in many things Mr LEECH And yet rather then the doctrine shall be thus odiouslie traduced and my Author want his promerited defence I will according to that poore ability wherewith God hath enabled me endeuor to defend both it and him and therefore if S. Gregory in this point hath not transgressed the boūds of Ancienter Church nor crossed any tenent of his owne Present Church nor yet for this hath hitherto been censured by the lawfull iudgement of any Catholique succeeding Church nay if the Church more ancient then his his owne present and the ever after succeeding Centuries of Catholique Church haue from hand to hand deliuered vnto him receiued with him and with vniforme consent followed him in this point of doctrine never so much as once noting it questioning it impugning it cōtradicting it which certainely they would haue done had the doctrine beene erroneous for their devoted piety spared no Heretique Origen Millienar Tertul. Montanising Cypr. rebaptising no not the most renowned martyrs nor glorious fathers of the Church in any of their errors repugnant vnto the vnity of Catholique verity then vpon these premises I may irrefragably conclude in defence of my Authour and doctrine that S. Gregory his position is no privat opinion hatched out of his owne braine but the vniforme deduction and tradition of Christ his spouse the true Catholique never erring Church inspired guided directed by God his holy spirit in all ages ANSVVER Rather then you will let truth haue the supereminence quae magna est praevalet you will continue to father your opinion vpon Gregory yea and vpon the Primitiue Derivatiue Church Act. 9. But it is hard for you to kicke against the truth The weedes of supererogation growing vnder the shaddow of Evangelicall Counsailes haue had no time of encrease of growing in the ancient primitiue Church None of the first and worthier Fathers taught it It is a common but not commēdable vse among you of imposturing interpreting the Fathers in a wrong sense The chiefest groūd for your doctrine is the misinterpreting of that place of S. Paule which sense neither the Originall will carrie nor any Greeke Father ever followed And that blessed servant of God Mr Perkins in his Probleme proveth against opposers how farre the Fathers were from mainetaining workes of supererogation Physitians that meane to cure the disease first beginnne with the cause so giue me leaue seeing workes of supererogation bee only the inductions and cause of teaching this doctrine First I desire you to answere whether S. Hierome thought any such works were performed who disclaiming them thus speaketh p Hier. lib. 1. c. 3. cont Pelag. Tum ergo iusti sumus quando nos peccatores fatemur iustitia nostra non ex proprio merito sed ex Dei consistit misericordia or whether S. q Retract l. 1. c. 19. Augustine doth thinke a man might supererogate who affirmeth a contrary positiō Omnia mandata Dei facta deputantur quando quicquid non fit ignoscitur or r Chrys in 8. Hom. in 4. ad Roman Chrysostome who in his 8. homily on the 4. to the Romanes affirmeth No man to bee iustified by the Law because none can fulfill the Law ſ Bern. in 73 ser in Cant. or Bernard in his 73. vpō the Canticles who wisheth no man to trust to his own iustice or fulfilling of the Law or to approch neerer what meant t De Consil Evang. statu perfectionis Gerson that famous Doctor to deny any perfection in Evangelicall counsailes Secōdly I desire you to answere why u Aq. 22 dae Art 5. Aquinas teacheth that perfection doth essentially which is perfectly consist in keeping the Commandements which none can do and in the fulfilling of the Lawe if that perfection of Counsailes bee so much aboue the Law why x In sent lib. 3. distinct 34 q. 3. Paludanus vpon the Sentences doth affirme that some men may attaine to as great height of perfection liuing in marriage and possessing much as they that liue single and giue away all that they haue I will aske no more questions but seeing this is so taught by so many reverend Ancients yea by many of your owne later y Ians in 100. Cap. in Evang Iansenius in his 100. chapter vpon the Evangelicall concord professing with Gerson and Aquinas that only the fulfilling of the law doth iustifie and z Cus excit lib. 10. Cardinall Cusanus confessing that none but Christ ever did fulfill the Commandements seeing all this is thus why will you so boldly affirme that this doctrine was never impugned never contradicted c which indeede was never rather taught never approved It is true S. Gregory was never contradicted in this for hee never taught any such thing But this opinion was gainesaid and disliked and the Church never received never generally delivered any such position Although if it had your epithet of never erring Church is scarce currant for you cannot deny but the Church hath had her blots a Dial. contra Lucif S. Ierome cōplained that the whole world groaned and wondred to see it selfe Arrian b Aduers proph Novit Vincentius Lerinēsis confesseth that not only some portion of the Church but the whole Church may be blotted with contagion But this was none of her blots spots or infectious blemishes for shee never generally mainetained or taught this Doctrine Mr LEECH But M. Doctour Hutton lending a deafe eare vnto my defence though in my conscience and iudgement it ought to haue satisfied him sounded another alarome and ringed a fresh peale in my eares charging nay surcharging me ad nauseam vsque for holding any distinction betwixt Precepts Counsailes For saide hee there is no such distinction those which you falsely cal Coūsailes are in deed Precepts and not Counsailes ANSVVER The Comoediā c Plautus Plautus taxeth some that had no stuffe in them but in their tongue and that only in speaking lewdly of their betters Isthic est thesaurus stultis in lingua situs ut quaestui habent malè loqui melioribus Let the lawes of God Nature and Nations
if marriage be like to be an vnavoideable hinderance to the service of God a man must cut of the thought of marriage not by advise but by expresse cōmand Mat. 5.30 yea vpon paine of eternal damnation as Christ doth witnes If thy hand offend thee cut it of and if thy eie offend thee put it out better it is to go into heavē with one eie or one hand then into hell Now for your Authorities Coccius what * Cocke hatched your Authority and like a Cuckow brought them into his owne nest I finde whence these Testimonies bee vrged verbatim as you quote them The most authorities drawne from Bellarm. Coccius others from their tracts of Monkish life Coccius Treasury out of the bad treasure of his hart lent you them Vita Monastica is the Commō place and Arsenall from whence you furnished your selfe which is the lesse credit to your opinion and you cānot deny but from mare mortuū you did fetch your water in as much measure as the Pitcher of your vnderstanding could carry otherwise Bellarmine Iodocus Coccius coulde haue furnished you with manie more * I am far from tearming the ancient Fathers so but I meane the authorities falsly sinisterly drawne out of them bee false witnesses false witnesses But if I should take out a Commission from the kings bench of Scripture to examine these not one of them would stande to you You beginne with Saint Hierome if I shoulde vsher Saint Hierome with the estimation that some great Clarkes among your Priests and Iesuits haue afforded him for his contempt of marriage in comparison of Virginity Tom. 14. in 1. Cor. 7. Disput 14. § ad dubium De continēt lib. 3. cap. 11. De rati studij Theol. l. 4. c. 5. obl 2. I should quickely vnedge the authority you seeke from him Salmerō affirming that he was in this iniquior acerbior Espencaeus that he was aequus sanè parum nuptijs Villavincentius Malè audit accusatúrque Hieronimus dum pro virginitate propugnans the Iesuit Acosta Virginitatis oppugnatores insectans videtur aliquando matrimonio iniquior But I proceed to the expositiō of him rather then exposing so holy a Father to detractiō S. Hierom ad Eustochiū hath these words Quod non habet Domini de virginitate praeceptum c. Besides that S. Hierom is hardly cēsured by your own for that and the like speeches it is manifest that there his words bee rather declamatory then assertatory and howsoever he speake thus Si virginitas imperata nuptiae videbantur ablatae yet that virginity is commaunded he granteth when in another place hee calleth it praeceptum virginale Againe in his 1. booke against Iovinian though he hath such words as you intende Quia vbi consilium datur offerentis arbitrium est vbi praeceptum necessitas est servientis yet I againe answer S. Hierom doth cal that which is here by him tearmed a counsell a precept in his Commentary on the 19. of Mat. he hath not only the words before vrged but more praeceptū pudicitiae praeceptum virginale c. Secondly if you vrge the power and strength of this his speech vbi consilium datur offerentis arbitrium est I answer that the worde arbitrium doeth interpret the worde consilium for it is arbitrium in respect of the things cōmanded which lie indifferent to the choice but it is mandatum in respect of the Commāder Answer to S. Ambros S. Ambrose authority out of the first place vpon the words of the Apostle Apostolus de virginibus praeceptum nō habet consilium habet non enim praecipitur quod supra legem est It is thus easily resolved S. Ambrose did follow the vulgar translation of the Bible which so doth read that place of S. Paule but there is no warrant for such interpretation What need we seeke light of a Candle when wee haue the most resplendent beames of the Sun And what need we to craue the help of a translation in a point of controversie when we haue the original 2. Cor. 7.25 First I say the greek hath the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth advise not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is interpreted Counsell therefore though I owe al reverence to S. Ambrose and the other Fathers yet if they read it so when the word in the Primitiue sacred Coppy doeth not so render it I had rather proue the Fathers by Scripture then proue Scripture by the Fathers Sixt. Senens Bibl. lib. 8. in fine p. 365. D. Bannes in 1. Part. Thomae q. 1. p. 67. Line de Opt. gen interpr l. 3. c. 1.2.4.6 Sixtus Senensis Dominicus Bannes but especially Lindanus doe condemne the vulgar Translation to haue mōstrous corruptions of all sorts scarse one coppy to be found vndefiled sundry places to bee thrust from their naturall sense the Translator to be no Latinist but a smattering Graecian And sure as your owne doe thus condemne your owne Coppie of the Trent vulgar Translation so doe I the old vulgar for I wil never beleeue that S. Ierom so translated it But as Lindan thought of your Translation that he was a Grecian no Latinist so thinke I the cōtrary of him that interpreted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie Coūsell he was scarse Latinist but sure no Grecian But to the later inference out of Ambrose Quod supra legem est non praecipitur it is true if we consider supra legem to be supra legis observationem so Virginity is aboue the law aboue the generall law commanded to all but not aboue that proper Law and Precept of virginity which S. Hierome calleth praeceptum virginale Hier. in 19. Math. Ambros tract de viduis The second place you vrge out of Ambrose Foeminae non coguntur autoritate aliqua praecepti c. It is ment not by authority of any generall precept commanding all women but by the especiall which doeth inioine some furnished with that spirit and gift and the words following enforce not any more Honorabile cōiugium sed honorabilior integritas Marriage is honourable but integrity more honorable integrity not virginity for in Marriage there may be great measure of integrity That which closeth vp this sentence bene dixit Apostolus De Virginibus praeceptum nō habeo consiliū do the Fathers are no straungers to this interpretation that there is praeceptum omniū commune Greg. in 26. Moral c. 25. praeceptū aliquorum particulare a generall precept enforcing al men such a precept concerning Virgins the Apostle had not and there is an especiall precept enioyning some mē this was the Counsell Paule meant and that Counsel is the precept which Christ gaue Qui potest capere capiat S. Austin in his 61. Sermon de tempore Answer to S. Austin hath these words Aliud est consilium aliud praeceptum distinguishing there the common precept from a speciall precept which he
called Bruta fulmina so whē the testimonies which you vrge fall not vpon the point in hand I may call them Bruta fulmina though the authors be most worthie yet their authority vnfitly therefore vnworthily vrged You vrge Origen here but obserue whether to the purpose or no. You are to proue that there are Counsells of perfection that surmount the precepts of the law whereby a man may do more then he is commanded But how doth this appeare You answer by this argument out of Origen when a man forsakes all then he beginneth to be perfit Ergo he doth more then the law commands Doe you hold this to be good fustian I would bee loath to giue you any thing for it Mr LEECH This also is evident in the words of our Sauiour where he placeth not perfection in ipsa divitiarum abdicatione in the very renouncing of riches but rather teacheth that the forsaking of the world is a certaine direction preparation or disposition vnto perfection And so the very forme and manner of Christ his speech doth evidently cōvince For first he proposeth the question to his arbitrary election If thou wilt be perfit Secondly hee pursueth it with a direction goe sell all that thou hast and giue to the poore Thirdly he inferreth the conclusion the very life and consummation of perfection follow mee Lastly he annexeth the remuneration the forciblest motiue that possible could be to draw a man to that resolutiō of Christian perfection thesaurum habebis in coelo thou shalt not want thy reward ANSVVERE Our Saviour indeed placeth not perfection in divitiarum abdicatione or in rerum carnalium abnegatione but teacheth that the forsaking of the world is a certaine direction or disposition to perfection in those that are covetously affected as the meaning of the place sheweth Such a one was this yong man for when he heard that he was to sell all hee went away sorrowfull so that as much as I can drawe out of the Elixir of the best Interpreters it is proued strongly to my iudgement and vnderstanding both which I seeke to keepe inviolably as my soule frō deceiving or being deceiued that Christs speech was a personall precept proposed to him and not a counsell arbitrarie as you gather All are not obliged to doe the like but all so affected as he was are enioined without forcing or wresting out of your owne wordes I wil evict it to be a personall precept you close vp the Paragraph pag. 41. The distinction of Precepts and Counsells thus Precepts obserued haue a reward not obserued a punishment Counsells not obserued haue no punishment but obserued haue a greater reward I argue thus If the neglect of this Iniunction to the yong man were punished then was it no Counsell but a precept but the neglect of this Iniunction to the yong mā was punished ergo It was no Counsell Nil Thes de precat Papae but a Precept Nilus thought it in vaine to debate with the Pope because the Pope would bee Iudge himselfe But I think it my best advātage to decide this with you when ex ore tuo your own words shall be iudge for your selfe For the Maior I proue it out of your owne words Precepts not obserued are punished Counsells not obserued are not punished Page 41. § The distinction pag. 41. in the ende of the Paragraph The distinction The Minor I proue out of your former wordes of this yong man Pag. 8. § O what an exchange p. 8. Parag. O what an exchange c. where afterwards shewing his greef for his negligence you say How much doth it now repent him which repētāce as Albertus observeth was not poenitētia vera Albert. Com. Theol. lib. de sacra but poenitentia sera the repentance of the wicked in hel And in the lines following you intimate that he was damned for not obeying Christ when in these words you affirm if he had don this he had bin secure of his saluatiō therefore not doing it the rules of the schoole make plaine Contrarij affectus habent contrarios effectus And to make this more plaine if hee were in heaven hee needed not repent nay he could not repent For as S. Iohn in the Revelation speaketh Rev. 21.4 There shal be no more death nor sorrow sorrow is a most essentiall part of repentance So then a Counsell neglected is punished therefore habeo confitentē reum that it is a precept for he now repenteth and is punished But I returne to your young man The scope of our Saviour in his speech to him was no other then this to correct by the law that which was amisse and to increase by his loue what he saw laudable in him resolved Paraphrastically in this māner Somwhat it is thou saist ô yoūg mā and I approue thy endeavours Thou saiest thou hast observed the law from thy youth yet mistake not the sense of the law is stricter then thou collectest of the words the iustice of the Scribes and Pharises must be exceeded more performed then the olde glosse requireth For thy selfe I know thee to be tainted with the leauen of Covetousnesse thou louest thy selfe which howsoeuer the world taketh no notice of yet the tryer of the harts and raines seeth it to be thy imperfection If thou wilt therefore be perfit that is if thou wilt fulfill the law not to satisfie the letter only which commonly is held enough but exactly take the sense as the lawgiuer strictly requireth go and sell all for thy riches are a clog vnto thee they possesse thee not thou them then thou shalt bee fitter to fulfill the law according to the meaning and then the better maiest thou follow me as thou oughtest Hieron Beda Chrysost in hunc loc Ambros Hierom. Austin Bellarm. 2. de mon. c. 9. The Fathers favor this exposition Hierome and Beda Non voto discentis sed tentantis interrogat though Chrysostome dislike this yet he denyeth not but that he was covetous and a lover of monie Ambrose Hierome and Austin cited by Bellarmine against vs proue no other thing but that our Saviour teacheth here a perfection no more then the law requireth in its own true meaning but more then the young man had attained Bellarmines owne close is Si vis esse perfectus vende omnia nam hinc apparebit te habere perfectam charitatem which perfect charitie I take to be no other but to loue the Lord with all thy hart Mat. 22. mind soule In the end of this Paragraph as in many others you contradict your selfe for having already taught that voluntary poverty is a perfection nowe you acknowledge that if the young man had sold all and so vndergone this poverty yet the cōsummation of perfection had not beene in this but in sequere me in following of Christ Mr LEECH Now this following of Christ which is nothing els but the soules spirituall vnion with God is
these words the truth is that some there haue beene in many ages Motiue 46. in some points of their opiniō in his next motiue that many points of Protestancie were long before and in divers places As also the Waldenses spoken of by many who were almost 400. yeeres since do manifest our Religion to haue beene more anciēt then so But we stand not so much vpon these as because we are certaine that from the time of Christ the profession and succession of the doctrine of Protestant religion hath with much happines continued and hath appeared in place and persons and time and Doctrine and from the beginning of the Churches declination there haue beene some ever who resisted the Church of Rome and refused their Doctrine and therefore you may conclude as you do that the Gospel hath beene miserably taught amōg thē who haue not sought after the purity of doctrin Scornefull and shamefull is that title you call vs by in the by-name of Lutherans we haue no other title but Christians And as vniust is your slander that Lutherans are men of carnall appetites and base condition whose regularity in life by integrity of conversation is farre aboue any sort of Papists And this your second consideration is my second confirmation that Papists having not true knowledge cannot haue true faith either Originally in the foundation or Doctrinally in their assertions because they want the assurance either evidentiae or inhaerentiae accounting the Scriptures subordinat and the Reformed Churches illegitimat Mr LEECH The third Motiue The Protestants brand the Catholique doctrine with the name of Popery Luther THe name of Papists was first deuised by a luxurious Apostata inventour also of the name of Sacramentaries for so both Catholiques and Zwinglians stand indebted vnto him in these respects By the insolency of this man it came to passe that as many other doctrines so particularly this had beene stamped with the imputation of Popery whence it was that my Calvinian Iudges calumniating both me and it were pleased to fasten the note of Popery vpon it and of a Papist vpon me But since my grounds are meerely Catholique as you see and since this doctrine it selfe is the common faith of ancient Church it followeth either that it is no Poperie as these mē tearme it or that Popery truely conceiued is the very Catholique faith But of the two the later is more probable Wherevpon I inferred this conclusion for my finall resolutiō that Popery was necessarily consequent vpon the true grounds of diuinity and therefore my Iudges betrayed their owne folly in this behalfe for asmuch What Pope did ever devise this and many other doctrines which are called Popepery as by a condemnation of this doctrine they must inevitably confesse that Popery well vnderstood is the doctrine of Antiquity and that the Fathers were no lesse Papists haue in then my selfe ANSVVER LVxurious Apostat you know is a scandalous title cast vpon Luther whose many volumes continuall sermons and indefatigable paines did receiue a better Testimony out of the mouthes of learned Papists as is before proved The sirname of Papists is among some of you gloried in and are you ashamed of it Seeing it commeth from the worde Papa that is the Pope to whom you all profess subiectiō as a matter necessary to salvation why should you abhorre it Indeede it is S. Hieromes rule aduersus Luciferianos If any which are said to belong to Christ wil be tearmed not of our Lord Iesus Christ but of some other Hier. advers Lucif c they are not the Church of Christ but the Synagogue of Antichrist But you reply that you do not approue and assume this name more learned and more wise Papists do Anast Cochel Palaestrit honoris 1. p. 9. 6. Cochelet is zealous in the defence of it if it bee odious to others it is glorious to him wee are Papists saith he and confesse it and glory in that name and to this purpose I coulde cite others Luther was the first Author you say of this name It were the abuse of my Reader to discourse about such impertinēcies but otherwise I could easily disproue this This doctrine was by Luther and your Calvinian Iudges called Popery It was some iniurie sure to ioine things of so dislike natures as to cal him Papist who holds popery and it had beene a great calumny to you if you had not become Papist because then you were tearmed so and now professe your selfe to bee so Is not this a good reason to make you Turnecoate to leaue the religion and Church wherein you were Baptised Or because we tearme your Catholique doctrine Poperie therefore you are so angrie you will leaue vs. But consider that Catholique Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Catholique Church and the true Catholique church by the signification of the word is the vniversal Church so called because it is over al the world is not tyed to anie Country place person or condition of men According to which sense the Romane Church cannot bee called the Catholique Church Boz sig Eccl. l. 19. c. 1. Bell. de Rom. Pont praef lib. 3. c. 21. For Bozius Bellarmine doe complaine that the Protestants doctrine possesseth many and large Provinces England Scotland Denmarke Norwey Sweden Germany Mag Gregor descrip 166. Poland Bohemia Hungaria Prussia Litvania Livonia And Maginus in his Geography saith that the Greeks lōg since departed frō the Church of Rome appointed thēselues Patriarks these provinces follow the Greeks religiō Circassia Walachia Bulgaria Moscovia Russia Mingrelia Brosina Albania Illyricum part of Tartary Servia Croatia and all the provinces living vpon the Euxine Sea And not only all these but how manifest is it that the kingdome of France and the low Countries florish in the Protestant beleefe besides many thousands in Spaine and Italy It is as easie to proue that Popery is not Catholike in time as it is plaine it is not vniversall in place for besides that Reynerius who lived three hundred yeeres agoe Refert Illyr catol. tom 2. doth acknowledge that the Waldenses which professed as wee doe were reputed to haue beene ever since the Apostles time so on the contrary it is open to all the world that the Romane Church hath receaued many new born bastardly opinions which were never before extant I knowe there was a time whē the faith of the Romans was published through out the whole world Rom. 1.8 But now the Angell hath told vs that Babylon is fallen many alterations from the state of that Church Who knoweth not howe strange the point of Supremacy was even in the time of Gregory the great how the Councells of Lateran and Trent giue the Pope so great a transcendency as that he is aboue a generall Councell that the Councell of Constance and Trent forbid the Cup to the lay people that Transubstantiation was made a matter of faith by Innocent
but Ecclesiasticum in which point you were most vnsound vouchsafed not to afford so much vnto the Kings most royall Maiestie as Hart doth who in the end of the Conference thus cloaseth out of S. Austin D. Rain conf with Hart. c. ◠10. fol. 589. Kings do serue God in this as Kings if in their own Realme they commande good things and forbid evill not only concerning the civill state of mē but the Religion of God also and thus much saith hee I subscribe to I omit here to lengthen my discourse by inserting any speech cōcerning the Oath The Apology where of seeing Maiesty hath so divinely and powerfully delivered As also that the grounds of all that can be said are so exactly long since proved by that Reverend father of our Church the Bishop of Winchest now of late in the divers answers to the snarling Curres that barke at the Ecclesiastes of our Salomon I also omit purposely the quotation of your Cath. Divine against the exquisite labours of that most Reverend and most iudiciously learned Sir Edward Cook because others of eminent place either haue already perfited or very shortly wil silence your Catholique diuine Your profession that you attribute as much to his Maiestie as the law Temporall requireth not dissēting from the law divine is false The law divine doth giue vnto Caesar place vpō earth next vnto God And from the vertue of that law is derived the oath of English men for the KINGS Maiestie against the Pope 2. Kings 11.4 vsurping part of his right as well as Iehoiada of the men of Iuda for Ioas their King against Athalia that vsurped his state And doe you presume to moderat this title of Supremacy I would from my soule that I might moderate your title of Traytor It is too much to be an Apostate an Adversary but in this kinde to offēd it is an offence with a high hand You see thē that the Doctor had good reason to susspect you whē you translated your selfe frō the title of subiection the KINGS Maiestie as much as in you lyeth frō his lawful dominiō You shoot at Calvin in your margine and againe and at the Doctor in your Text the Reverend Doctor is scholler to none but Christ though he and all honest men doe reverence blessed Calvin And Calvin in the place quoted reproveth not the title of Head as Protestants graunted it but in that sense which Popish Prelats gaue it him namely Stephen Gardiner who did vrge the title of Head so as if he had meant thereby that the KING might doe things in Religion according to his own will and not see them done according to Gods will Wherefore cease that calumny and quench that tongue which setteth on fire the course of nature and is inflamed by hell fire You were not oppugned by any flattering devise or spiteful malice as you affirme but by truth and faith alleagiance to God and the King Hence I ground my tenth pillar that their religion is bad who possessed with malitious recusancy and treacherous Apostasie speake evill of those that bee in authority and yeeld not Caesar that which is Caesars or vnto God that which is Gods Mr LEECH The eleuenth Motiue The Protestants manner of proceedings against Catholiques and Catholique Religion is absurd in reason and vnequall in Iustice And hence they are proued to be Heretikes IN my perusall of the ancient Fathers and Ecclesiasticall histories I did very often obserue these two things First that the Catholike Church had wisdome to discerne Hereticall innovations Secondly that she had power to enact necessary lawes for the suppression thereof so that an Heresie could not escape hir censure nor an Hereticke hir iustice If Popery therefore be Heresie and Papists Hereticks as some fanatically brand them then surely the Catholike Protestanticall Church is able to shew that she in all ages hath impugned this Heresie and that she hath her proper lawes to proceed against Hereticall offendours If not so then doubtlesse she is no more Catholique then the furious Congregations of Donatists Arrians and such like who afflicted the true Church against all order of iustice being neuer able to shew any Catholike predecessors who maintained their opinions nor any lawes made by them to correct the impugners thereof That this is the condition of Protestants I am a witnesse by their disorderly proceeding against the Doctrine which I delivered out of the conforme testimonies of the Church For whereas it pleased my Calvinian iudge to call it Popish erroneous false lying absurd Doctrine they could not reproue it otherwaies then Arrians and Donatists that is to say by reiecting the Fathers and by a tumultuous processe without any legall course And though I required them to deale with me as with an Heretique by refelling my doctrine and by proceeding Canonically against me yet they oppressed mee with authority alone hauing their will for reason and their power for iustice But for asmuch as I haue such abundant proofe for the verity of my doctrine and that their opinion is condemned in the Church for no lesse then Heresie Ambr. 10. lib. epist epist 80 81. by Syricius Bishop of Rome and a Counsaile there by S. Ambrose Bishop of Millain and a Counsaile there I appeach them confidently as Heretikes for embracing Iovinianisme as Heretikes for contemners of Antiquity and therefore as Heretikes culpable of singular pride Which infamy if they can wash away from themselues by learning and honesty then I will retract my sentence and confesse my selfe to be an Heretke for the one of vs must needes be Heretikes howsoeuer every ingenuous indifferent man must needes confesse that they did not carry themselues as they should haue done to proue mee guilty of this crime ANSVVER In your abusall of the Ancients you observed much and deserved little for it because it was farre from their meaning to speak as you desired to teach them Your two observations here be good I cōfesse but ill applyed For the Catholike Church being the same with our Protestants in all ages hath impugned the heresies which Papists mainetaine The Valentinians worshipped the Crosse and were condemned as Hereticks saith Irenaeus The Carpocratians worshipped Images they were condemned for hereticks Iren. lib. 1. Aug. haeres 7. saith S. Austin Collyridiam hereticks for adoring the Virgin Mary Angelici hereticks for adoring the Angels Pelagians hereticks for holding perfectiō Priscilianists heretickes for mental reservatiō Maniches herteicks forbidding to eate flesh Tatians and Montanists forbidding marriage and Anthropomorphites painting God in similitude of a man Are not these all by Austin Irenaeus and Epiphanius and others condemned bee not all these positions by the Church of Rome maintained For our Catholicke Protestāt Predecessors the fathers of the first 500. yeeres are ours and from thence a continuall succession of learned faithfull couragious teachers in all the following ages as Mr White in his learned Chronologicall collection in