as any one was taken he was streightly examined if he had any fellowes If at any time whyle he was in tormentes the partie that had with others conspired the death of the Tyranne helde his peace because he would not bewraye his fellowes all menne wondered at his constancie In so many prouinces in so many Cities doo not the innumerable examples of kéepynge promisse to the vttermoste witnesse that their tounges were gouerned by God And whereas in euery man seuerally yea and oftetimes in weake women too the whole welfare of the Churche laye in ieoperdie surely therein was a notable Miracle that all had not within a while bene vtterly rooted out And yet amonge so many abatementes not muche vnlike to destructions it ceased not algates to spreade further And that was truely to triumphe vnder the slaunder of the Crosse. Yea rather he that shall wey all circumstances indifferently as he ought to doo shal confesse that amonge innumerable deathes there was a continuall race of many resurrections That thinge whiche for the difficultnesse thereof might séeme incredible to vs if any man would tell vs that the like shoulde happen hereafter Now when the same is come to passe not onely to despise it but also to count it a thinge to be offended at is not a point of wisedome but of a malicious wilfulnesse Those were in déede the moste violent bruntes howbeit other ages also were not exempted from the same warfare of the Crosse but that they tasted of harder encounters whiche woulde at that time serue God sincerely and faithfully The Romaine Empyre had submitted it selfe to the kingdome of Christe The Church might séeme to be placed in a happie seate of quietnesse and glorie The barbarous nations also had yelded to the profession of Christe But in the meane while Heretiques and vnbeleuinge men helde the Soueraintie in so much that good true shepeherdes beinge chaced by violence not without reproch frō their Churches liued like banished persones in vnknowē coūtreis Yea and they had not bene suffered to haue liued in exile had they not hidden themselues from the Tirannie of their enemies In that the Churche hath often bene left to the violence of so cruell persecutions in that it hath lien welnere ouerthrowen to be frodē vnder foote of the enemies this is farre from any likelihood of worldly dignitie But in that a small number of the Godly with inuincible constancie of faith hath ouercome so great waues of persecutiōs that the Churche hath out stoode all the Tyrannes and Heretikes ▪ and lefte vnto posteritie the true doctrine of the faith this is surely a plaine witnesse of the power of God which excelleth all the glories of the worlde So in the present calamitie of the Churche there shineth no suche dignitie as may represent to mennes eyes the heauenly kingedome of God For the vtterest enemies therof oppressinge it in very déede and yet garnishinge themselues with the title of it as it were with a spoile doo no lesse cruelly than proudely treade it vnder foote If any man dare be so bolde neuer so little to stirre againste their wickednesse by and by like terrible tormentours with fire swoorde and all kinde of tormentes they goe nie to chace the true Church out of the Earth And if it chaunce to finde any lurkinge holes somewhile it is so assaulted with force of armes another while so vexed with reproches another while so tossed turmoiled with threatninges and dreadfull attempts y t it representeth nothyng lesse than that kinglike beautie of Christe so greatly cōmended of the Prophetes But seinge that by this their dreadful threatninge outrageous cruell dealinge the vngodly cānot so much preuaile but that the Churche of God vnder the lowlinesse of the Crosse standeth stedfastly vpright why doo we not in this wōderfull preseruatiō of God willingly embrace his glorie If any skilfull man woulde consider with himself how many things the wicked sort haue practised these thirtie yeres togither to destroy it he shal be cōpelled to wonder y t it was not a hundred times vtterly destroied And now wheras with in these twoo yéeres it hath bene pitifully rent the torne pieces therof are yet almost in the Liōs mouth although it breaketh the hartes of many yet the faithfull shall in the ende perceiue that God doth it to a right good purpose to the entēt he may stretch out his hāde more manifestly in deliueryng it For we are not wont to acknowledge it to be preserued by him vnlesse he deliuer it out of very death Lastly to the furtherance hereof also maketh another reason namely y t it is a thyng more than necessarie that wildernesse should be tamed and subdued by the discipline of the Crosse. We sée howe the Churche which in the middes of persecution had florished with spirituall cherefulnesse hath through to ioyfull quietnesse growen out of order At this daye when the Lorde reyneth vs in with a harde and rough bit we sée how all mē in all places almoste doo waxe wanton and what would they doo then if they had frée scope to rūne at rouers when the profession of the Gospell reigned farre nere in Germanie and that as yet the power was vnappalled of such as séemed stoute in defence of the good case and that vpon confidence therof this lamentable warre was taken in hande whiche fell out vnluckely in the ende at suche time as the hartes of our part were encouraged with great hope I saide vppon a time openly that there was more daunger for vs in our owne victorie than in the victorie of our enemies For there was no misfortune so greatly to be feared as y e Gospell to much triumphāt if I may so terme it whiche might puffe vs vp with pryde Neither doth it repent me of this saying to this daye For if the Lorde had not in time preuēted that Heathenish libertie in processe of time the maladie woulde haue bene almost incurable Godly doctrine and wholesome admonishmentes should haue bene nothinge setby Suche as coulde not abide to admitt any meane discipline would like vnruly beasts with violent rage haue broken all yoke So great a blotte of slaunder could not haue bene wiped frō the Gospell vnlesse they had bene compelled by force and afflictiō to a modestie of liuing which heretofore they would not learne of their owne accorde Againe in this balāce God shewed how euery man was minded All men vaunted thēselues gloriously vnder shadowe of the Gospell Wicked Hipocrites bare most swinge in many places But after that this foyle was taken many Princes of greate name were by and by out of hart the noblemen of the common welth which was benommed with feare I cannot tell how quayled of their own accorde Here their ouer womanly feinthartednesse or rather traitourly cowardnesse did openly bewray it self We haue seene in one nation mo vngodly and wicked backeslidinges from Christe within two yéeres space than the histories of all
but rather we ought to call to minde that the Churche was ordeined for this purpose that it should continually goe a warfare vnder the Crosse as longe as it wandereth in this worlde But if we were handsome and indifferente interpreters of the woorkes of God the thinge whereat we take occasion to be offended shoulde be the beste comfort for vs that coulde be For wheras the state of the Churche is for the most parte miserable and alwayes vnstable or rather for asmuche as it is continually tossed with diuers stormes as it were in a roughe sea firste the Lorde giueth an euident token of his wonderfull prouidence and secondely it is a profitable and as muche necessarie exercise for the triall of our faithe and patience If the Churche were so founded and altogither fortified that it might staye vppon the owne power it shoulde differ nothinge from an earthly kingedome neither would any man doubte that it were gouerned by mans pollicie if it had stoode all at one ordinarie stay vnto this daye But whē we sée that through as it were innumerable deathes it hath neuerthelesse continued aliue so many hundred yéeres it can none otherwise be but we muste néedes gather that it was preserued by the power of God This greate power of God other circumstances doo make more manifeste in that when it was assaulted on all sides with deadly daūgers wherwith oftentimes it might haue bene ouerwhelmed maugre welnéere the whole worlde whiche wrought the worste it coulde againste it it alwaies scaped as it had béene from shipwrecke I say nothinge herein whiche any manne may not easely acknowledge in him selfe who so euer will sette before his eyes the Histories of all times This is an olde cōplainte of the Church that it hath béene assaulted oftentimes from her youth vp and hath had the vngodly her vtter enemies that they haue ploughed vppon her backe and drawen longe furrowes vpon her By this voice the spirit of God would rayse vp the godly sorte that lie gronynge vnder moste greuous miseries to the entent that rūninge through all degrées of ages from the beginnyng of the worlde thei should know that the Churche hath alwayes ouercome by sufferance Heruppon ought we to set our mindes continually to the entēt that if at any time the present state of our time doo trouble vs the remembraunce of those thinges whiche our fathers haue suffered in time past may refreshe vs. And therefore it shalbe expedient to haue a description of all times gathered togither to the entent that euery one of vs may from thence set before our eyes examples méete to asswage our miseries as often as the race and néede shall require Howbeit ere I procéede any further it is néedefull to note wherupon so many and so sundrie chaunges whereby the Church of God is oftentimes turned and as it were whéeled about doo arise The knowledge of this thinge is not to be fetched from farre obscure coniectures seinge the continuall starting of men frō God hath broken the course of his grace whiche otherwise had bene continuall whiche thing ye may vnderstande almost from the beginnyng of the world When Moyses speaketh of Seth and his sonne Enos it is there recited that at the same time the name of God was begonne to be called vpon Whereby we vnderstāde that the true worshipping of God which in the cursed ofspringe of Cain was in maner vtterly decayed was restored anew againe that it might thriue florish in the world Scarce eight generations passed when all the posteritie of them whom God had segregated to himself for his owne children had throwen themselues in such wise into all kinde of wickednesse that with themselues they destroyed by floud of water all the whole world defiled with their abhominations At such time as the Church was brought to eight persones it séemed then at leastwise so purged that y e little séede whiche remayned should of it selfe bringe foorth nothinge but pure holinesse And yet anon after it diminished almoste by the fourthe parte The posteritie of Iaphet also within a while after fléeted awaye There remained no more but the householde of Sem the whiche it selfe ere it was any longe time grewe out of kinde also so that God did worthely exclude frō him a greate parte of it When the Ofspringe of Abraham beynge by wonderful power brought out of Egipt had passed the redde Sea and was goynge towarde the lande of Promisse who would not of luckie beginninges haue iudged that there shoulde haue ensewed a continuance of a happie state Notwithstandinge euen the very same in whose deliuerance God had shewed so manifest a proufe of his power made no ende of sinninge vntill suche time as by horrible meanes they were all destroyed in the wildernesse At length the children of them toke possession of the said lande but yet suche a possession as wel néere in sixe hundred yéeres after had no stabilitie bicause they themselues throughe their owne falsenesse and vncōstancie did eftsoones trouble it Neuerthelesse the Lord did diuers times restore them to a tollerable order All the which notwithstandinge neither the remembrance of their first deliuerance nor the rodde that was laide vpon them so oftentimes to chasten them nor the present féelinge of punishments nor the often pardoning of them could kéepe them in awe but that by shakinge of the yoke of God they procured newe mischiefes to themselues Moyses had tolde them before how it would come to passe that when they were fatte and well fedde they would kicke againe but the thing in déede was farre woorse what doth the storie of the Iudges reherse but continuall backeslidinges Wherefore if any be offended at the sundry shakinges wherunto they sée the Churche subiect in this worlde let them caste their eyes vppon that Glasse and they shall leaue wōderinge to sée them haue vncertayne abidynge vppon Earthe who with so great vnconstantnesse of faithe doo wauer before God After that the Kingedome of Dauid was erected there séemed a more certaine grounded kinde of a state like to continewe to haue bene stablished But that lamētable slaughter of the Pestilence which by the space of thrée daies after a monstruous maner raged in the worlde abated greatly that felicitie By and by after the death of Salomon the bodie of the Realme was deuided and the torne members ceased not afterward to byte one another And moreouer both Kingdomes were miserably turmoyled by forraine warres Shall we say their destenie drane them thereunto Nay rather they thēselues through their sinnes enforced and hastened the vengeance of God For euen wherein they séemed most innocent namely whyle Dauid goeth through with numberynge of them bicause it was the peculiar faulte of one man yet the holy Historie saieth plainely that God was wrothe with them all At length followed that greate conuersion little differinge from vtter destruction when all the whole Nation was led captiue to Babilon But surely if their owne desperate
daye diuers doo searche out a fewe Offences with Linxes eyes to the entent thei may not haue ought at all to doo with the whole Church of God as farre as it stretcheth eueryway with this one example I am cōtent to haue admonished my Readers that the faith shal be to vnstable if at the seuerall ruines of men it doo from time to time waxe faint In the meane while this is to be helde for an infallible rule that it commeth to passe by the determinate counsell of God that euill men are euermore mixed with the good By this meanes bothe the constantnesse of the faith is tried and we be exercised to patience the desire to pray is quickned the stingyng of the prickes doo moue vs earnestly to walke warely and wisely and the cōtempt of the world riseth thereupon and togither with desire of departyng hence mindfulnesse of the heauenly life encreaseth But if the cause lie hidde yet let vs knowe that a parte of our warfare which we must followe duryng all the race of our lyfe doth consist in these exercises Greatly also anoyeth the lightnesse which is commōly séene in diuers wheras at the beginnyng they shew a maruelous feruentnesse that flame within a while so vanisheth away that ye woulde say it was kindled of strawe Othersome although they stande furthermore somewhat better to theyr tacklyng yet by little and little thei waxe colde That thing which commeth to passe partly of vainenesse partly of slouthfulnesse and partly of earthly cares the vnskilfull impute it to repentāce And therfore least it might repent them to late of proceding to farre they leape backe againe betimes If any beynge dismayde with feare of death or persecutions which the more pitie happeneth to many doo fall from the Gospel vpon their inconstancie is framed a foundacion of Offence Foule surely is theyr fall but in what sorte so euer we denie Christe all of vs shall he therefore denie him selfe Nay rather he shall euermore remayne perfect and alwaies from time to time neuerthelesse be like him selfe as Paule also admonisheth Farre otherwise it woulde become vs to be reformed by suche exāples as these be namely that beynge warned of our weakenesse we might carefully take hede that the same happened not to vs. After the time that Paule had declared the Iewes to haue fallē from the fauour of God he sheweth theyr fall to be so dreadful that he exhorteth and warneth others to beware If then the fallyng away of one mā or twoo doo vtterly dismaie them whose carefulnesse ought to be quickened when whole nations doo fayle who would not impute the faulte to their peruerse iudgement Notwithstandynge it is not my purpose to extenuate their fault whiche as much as in thē lieth doo make féeble the weake soules Onely I would admonish such as wauer when other fall howe malicious this amazednesse is he hath denied Christ who would haue thought it He hath taken his leaue of the Gospell whome all men beleued to haue bene more firme thā a rocke That man is nowe luke warme another is colder than Ise when bothe of them were so feruent that it was a wonder to sée But they that so speake doo not consider that some are therefore vanquished with feare of death bicause they haue not as yet conceiued an assured hope of the life to come that othersome are stiffe for colde bicause worldly cares doo alaye the heate of the spirite in them But what booteth it vs to drawe vnto vs wilfully the infectiō of other mens diseases seyng remedie is at hande if it be not refused why doo they not rather settle themselues in that so wholesome admonishmēt of Paule For when he had spoken of Hymenaeus and Philetus whose falling might haue striken great fearfulnesse into all the godly by and by he addeth that which was able to assure them vp This seale remayneth The Lorde knoweth who are his Therefore let him depart from iniquitie whosoeuer calleth vpon the name of the Lorde For asmuch as those twayne were knowen and notable persones Paule sawe it coulde not be but that they by their headlonge fallyng should compell some at least wise to wauer Notwithstandinge he exhorteth the chosen to leane quietly vppon the defence of God and he denieth that there was any daunger of frettynge out the marke of saluation which he had grauen in them warnyng them by the way that no man prophane the holy name of God by counterfaite inuocatiō Iohn also saw this stumblingblocke to come through them which by sheading abroade the venim of their wicked doctrine did at that time greatly anoye the Churche But while he testifieth it so to come to passe to the entent it shoulde be manifest that all are not of the companie of the Godly which take the name vpō them he sheweth therewithal a meane to ouercome the same stumblyngblocke whiche mighte trouble many What shall a man saye of Alexander the Copper smith when of a noble disciple of Christe he became first a renegate and afterwarde a most deadly enemie is he not set foorth for an example to others What thinke ye of Demas whē he embracyng this world did shamefully forsake the Gospell ought he to drawe the reste with him into the same Labyrinth when in another place Paule maketh mention that he was forsaken of all men doth he giue libertie to betraye the Gospel when he complaineth that he was reiected of Phigelus Hermogenes and all the men of Asia dothe he open a window of so wicked a departinge vnto others Nay rather by such instructions all the Godly are awaked to the entent their securitie shoulde not be in daunger of the Deuils deceites They are cōmanded to set before them that euerlastynge signe of Gods election in steade of a buklar against all assaultes in such wise that they seale vp theyr faith also with a good conscience For asmuch as I haue to doo with such kinde of mē as wilbe counted Christians to the entent I stande not ouerlonge talkyng of the matter let them reade the twoo Epistles of Paule to Timothie the which I suppose wil suffice to appease theyr mindes onlesse peraduenture they will either turmoyle with thēselues for y e nonce or els séeke vaine pretences to fall from Christe wilfully And surely with sounde wise men this one thing wilbe able to vpholde theyr faith y e it were lewdly done to measure the eternall truth of God by y e swimmyng inconstancie of men But thei y t are so wittie to take libertie of sinnyng by euill exāples why doo thei not obserue so many wōderful exāples of vnuincible cōstancie which might woorthely stablish their faith amōg whatsoeuer stormes of temptatiōs This our age hath séene good store of martyrs goe chierfully vnfearfully to death Neither might men onely boaste themselues hereof but in y e womākinde also did God shew a strength surmoūtyng the strēgth of man Surely y e old stories doo not make reporte of
God cannot by vs be auouched and restored but that that same consent of many ages whiche they vaunt of would aduaunce it selfe agaynst vs as I cōfesse that a thousande yéeres since all thinge haue so decayed that newe broodes of monstruous errours and superstitions haue crope out of the shell from time to time yet what finde they in suche dissentinge as this woorthie to be offēded at If cōparison be made certeinly those first vnder whome the Churche florished eyther deserue to be counted lawfull Fathers alone or at leastwise doo chalenge of right the chiefe degree of honour amonge the Fathers But the good Papistes such is theyr gentle nature doo celebrate the memoriall onely of that corrupted age whiche had nowe muche declined from the auncient sinceritie And at length all their complaintes come to this pointe that we disanull at this day the custome which hath bene receiued these eight hūdred or these thousand yéeres But if the old Prouerbe be to be beleued whiche also hath bene commonly vsed amonge them an euil custome is nothinge els but the auncientnesse of errour And we knowe that the longer of cōtinuance an euill is the more hurtfull it is In times past this sentence of Cyprian was counted woorthie to be reioyced at that we ought not to looke what other men had done or sayde before vs but whatsoeuer Christ hath cōmaunded who is the first of al that is to be followed No man also will denie but this was well and aduisedly spoken of Augustine that Christe attributeth not to him selfe the name of custome but the name of truth Now no man dare stirre though neuer so lightly the stinkyng hearbe Camarina of corrupt custome whiche hath rested a longe continuance of yéeres Yea rather forebroken rigorousnesse in mainteyninge chiefe absurdities is waxed so stronge that they not onely refuse the reprouynge of them as comminge out of season but also doo persecute it cruelly with fire and swoorde That same Heathē man sayeth that like as the custome of right speaking is to be fetched at learned mens handes so the custome of well liuinge is to be fetched at the hādes of good and honest men Shal the lewde and corrupt custome of men carrie vs away forcibly as some violent tempest without iudgement or choyce who haue Christe to direct vs To the entent I maye conclude this place briefly if that thinge may take place with vs which out of all controuersie ought to be a grounded principle amonge all godly men that the doctrine of Christe is not subiect to the prescription of yéeres this surmised stumblingblocke shall hinder no man at leastwise from the desire to searche And whē it shalbe fully agreed vpon that we haue from Christe that which we bryng foorth who wilbe so ouerthwart as wilfully to fléete vnto men frō the eternall wisdome of God and the voyce of the heauenly Maister It offendeth many bicause they sée almost the whole worlde to be against vs. Neither are the defenders of the euil cace negligent or to séeke what they shoulde doo but with the same engine doo stryke the rude and weake sayinge it is against all reason that a fewe men should be credited and all Christendome beside welnere neglected And to treade these vnder their féete they chiefly arme themselues with the holy title of the Churche as with a mace But I wold faine know howe suche as are enstraunged from the Gospell by reason of our fewnesse maye mainteine theyr faith against y e Turkes As for our part if we beyng but one man condemned all the men of his age by his faithe there is no cause why the greate multitude of vnbeleuers should moue vs from our places In the meane while affirme that cause of Offence to be not onely scarce probable but also vniuste and shamefull where the respectes of men are weyed before y e woorde of God And why shall not Gods truth stande sure except it please menne to beleue it Rather as Paule sayeth let euery man remayne a lier and let them acknowledge God to be true vnto whome he vouchsaueth to manifest him selfe And we haue alreadie in another place shewed why the greater parte of men doth so hardly yéelde themselues seruiceable to God So muche the lesse then is it conuenient that in so great stubburnnesse of the worlde we shoulde direct our faith after example of the multitude But Christe giueth a token that whither the Egles resorte there is the Carion I denie not verely but that if at any time all the Egles shalbe gathered togither into one place then the conuersiō of the whole worlde is to be hoped for But forasmuche as Christe meaneth not there all sortes of Egles but suche as follow the liuely sente of his death who seeth not that that sayinge is to be restreined to a fewe if any man wil perchaunce take exceptions that we are not excused by the example of Noe if we withdrawe our selues from that congregatiō whiche holdeth the name of the Churche when Esay commaunded to leauynge the conspiracie of men and follow God onely he meaned not straungers but euen such as at that time moste gloried in the name of Gods people And Peter whē he maketh the Churche like the Arke bicause when the worlde perisheth a little handfull of men is saued as it were by a floud giueth sufficient warnyng that we ought not to hange vpon the multitude Why then haue miserable men pleasure to séeke occasion of wauerynge and staggeringe amonge the variable blastes of the world when God stayeth vs vppon the euerlastyng fundation of his woorde why had they rather waue amonge the stormes of opinions than harbrough at ease in the sure hauen of certeine veritie to whiche God calleth vs. But very great reuerēce is dewe to the Church I confesse so truely and I willingly also put this more to it that the vnderstanding of the Churche is so linked with the natiue doctrine of the lawe and the Gospell that it is woorthely called the faithful kéeper and interpreter of the same But betwene vs and the Papistes is the oddes that they thinke the Churche not to be the pillar of truthe otherwise than in sittynge as a iudge ouer the woorde of God And we on the cōtrarie parte vphold that bicause the Churche submitteth it selfe reuerētly vnto the woorde of God the truth is by it reteyned and deliuered vnto others frō hande to hande And therfore the woorde of God hath no more authoritie amonge them than the Churche as it were by intreatance graunteth vnto it they turne the interpretatiō of the whole Scripture to the iudgement of the Churche euen after the same maner that the Lesbians in old time were want to make their mason woorke by theyr leaden rule as the olde Prouerbe reporteth There is therefore no place of the Scripture so cléere whiche beyng bowed or to speake more properly writhed to this Lesbian rule taketh not a straunge shape And yet the chiefe cōtention