IN the entrey of this Tragedie, this prattling brawler hath framed a long discourse to shew,Osorius beginneth with a double excuse. how my booke cer­teine yeares after the publicatiō ther­of came to his hādes, wherein he sup­posed to finde some mysticall matter. As though to know, when hee recea­ued my booke were any iote to y^t pur­pose, whereof we doe entreate: or as though any man may doubt, whether a writyng sold in euery shoppe, might in foure yeares space be transported into Por­tingall. Or that myne aunswere publiquely Imprinted, could by no meanes els be brought to Osorius, vnlesse that worship­full Prelate of Angrence, had come ouer into Flaūders. Nay surely. For as this maketh litle to the matter to know when, or at what tyme my booke came to your sight, so is it not credible that you wanted him foure yeares after the Imprinting. And there is no doubt, but that there were messēgers enough, that would haue conueyed the same vnto you, though this Byshop of Angrence had neuer sene Bruxels, yea though he had neuer bene borne. And therefore this friuolous painted Preface of yours might haue bene spared altogether, if it had not bene ac­companyed with two iolly mates. The one, that ye might vp this meanes yeld your honorable testimonie of your frende E­manuell, whō you aduaūce for his excellency aboue the skyes. But you come to late Osorius for this your carrion Emanuell departyng frō Flaunders, hath left behynd him a most euident monument of his folly, bewrayng his blockyshnesse: wherein alone hee hath vttered so many proofes of his ignoraunce, and impudencie, that no man will beleue you, though you extoll his worthynes with an othe. Wherfore if you haue any delight in his felowshyp, vse the same rather in couert in your owne countrey at home: for els where Osorius shall neuer get honor or honesty by praysing Emanuell. The secōd part of your nar­ration declareth the laudable custome of your countrey, where bookes of corrupt Religion may not be admitted: and therfore [Page] that Emanuell durst not commit myne aunswere vnto you, vn­lesse he had first obteined licence thereunto. What do I heare? Are our bookes so dayly infamed with the slaunderous accusa­tions of your fraternitie, and yet so curiously deteined frō you, whom the world doth acknowledge the most sturdy champions of the Romish Sea? By what exāple, with what reason, with what learnyng doe you iustifie this? For where as our writers do publikely inueighe agaynst your Ierarchy, & wholy cōuince your superstitions, it is enacted by your Canon Law, and rea­son yeldeth no lesse, that the writinges of your aduersaries should bee deliuered vnto your Doctours and Pillers of the Churche pardye, that you may burne them and broyle the Au­thours of them, if they come in your clawes. Reason doth re­quire this, & custome hath this farre forth preuailed with you. This is also established by your doctrine. And yet onely Portingall is so squeymish at our writynges, that Osorius beyng him­selfe the most couragious champion of the Romishe facultie, may not handle any leafe therof:Emanuell Byshop of Angrence in Portin­gall a Po­pish Inqui­sitour. no, nor Emanuell a Bishop of Angrence may not dare to send any title therof to his fami­liar and felow Osorius, though otherwise Emanuell be a most pestilēt enemie of the Gospel, a visitour (as he reporteth of him selfe) and an Inquisitour of heretiques. O pleasaūt parasites. O delicate deuises, Tully hath a pretie sentēce worthy to be no­ted in this place, which sayth. That hee can not but wonder to ése, how two Southsayers talkyng together can refrayne frō open laughter, when they make mentiō of their blind supersti­tious opinions. Euen so do I much marueile truely, how you two worshipfull Prelates cā keépe your countenaunces, when you meéte together vsing such fonde & dotyng ceremonies tou­chyng the reiectyng of our bookes. When I name you, I com­prehend you two alone, your selfe, and your sweéte brother E­manuell: of the rest bicause I know no certeintie, I conceaue frendly as reason requireth. After this superstitious nycetie, you begyn to declare the causes that moued you to inueigh a­gainst my poore defence.Two causes shewed by Osorius why hee writeth a­gaynst M. Haddog. And here you note if especiall causes, wherof the one you assigne to the holynesse of Religion, which beyng defiled by me, you must of necessitie purifie agayne. As though I accused your Religion, and did not rather defend our [Page 3] owne: or as though I moued this cōtrouersie first, and not ra­ther prouoked by you, did vndertake the defence of my coūtrey agaynst your malicious snarling, except perhaps ye be of opi­nion, that a Porting all borne may with greater reason cauil a­gaynst Englād, then an English man stād to succour the same. But we will see hereafter whereunto this tendeth.

Your second cause you say proceéded of dutiefull charitie,The second part of the excuse of Osorius. that so you might depraue me for some lacke of modestie, in that to your iudgement my writinges doe represent I know not what arrogancie, so that I seeme to you in some places to ouer reache so much, as standyng still amased in myne owne cōceite, I seéme to gape after my frendes cōmendations. This is a new kinde of charitie truely, with such viperous rācour of wordes to charge your Christiā brother of that horrible crime of arrogancie, whom you neuer saw nor knew.Rom. 2. S. Paule doth detest this charitie, pronouncyng that man inexcusable whiche iudgeth an other. And therfore redreth a reason: Bicause (saith he) in that he iudgeth an other he cōdemneth him selfe. In this therfore Osorius being hym selfe a most vayne & arrogant mā bewrayeth his owne beastly canckred stomacke, vpbraydyng hawtines to Haddō, especially sithēce the demeanour of Had­don by the testimonie (I trust) of such as doe know him, doth as farre differre from all hawtines, as the poysoned Pamphlet of Osorius is voyde of all ciuilitie & shamefastnesse. But what shall I say to this babler, who is so captious, that he will not admit one good word of my mouth? For hee vtterly disdayneth the prayses that I do geue hym: as where I denounce him to be artificiall in his wordes and phrases, hee thinketh I mocke him, or els that I doe so commende his vtteraunce in stile, as otherwise I doe discommend him for lacke of iudgement and knowledge. You are to to nyce Osorius to prye so narrowly into your own prayses. And yet to cōfesse the truth simply, you are not to be reprehended for it. For thus I iudged at the first, and euen the same I iudge of you still, that you are plentifully flowyng in very apt wordes, but are so drowned in them, that you haue very slender or no vnderstandyng at all in science. Neither shall I neéde any long search to discouer the same: for in your gallant writyng, euen at hand is there a very exquisite [Page] discourse vpon this worde Priuate, the whiche I will so ex­presse by peéce meale, that all the world may discerne how much skill and wit is in Osorius.

The name of a priuate persō, what it signifiethFirst you repeate my wordes, in the whiche I seéme to re­prehend your saweynesse, that beyng a Priuate man, a meére straunger to our common wealth, so farre distaunt by land and sea, would yet so malapertly write to the Queénes Maiestie. And forthwith you moue a deépe questiō, and desire to know, what I thought this word Priuate might signifie? There is no Carter but knoweth it, and you (if you doubt therof) must be sent to women and childrē to schoole. Then you demaūd whe­ther it be a word of reproche? As though you do at any time doubt hereof? wherein you doe erre very childishly: For this name Priuate doth alwayes signifie a difference in degreé, but is neuer named by way of Reproche. But you are not yet con­tented, and require to be taught farther whether all persons, that be not Maisters of Requestes, ought to be restrained from their Princes presence? Whom euer heard you say so? And how came this into your braynes, vayne Tritler? As it seémely for an old mā, yea and a bishop to daunce thus in a net? And doth Osorius so openly shewe him selfe so vnskilfull in all mēs sight & hearyng? But at the last you come to the pricke, y^t seémeth most to rubbe you on the gal. Ye do vpbraide me (say you) with this name Priuate, as though ye iudged it a word of Reproche. This is your owne dreame Osorius very fitte for so rotten a mazer. Did I name you to be a Priuate mā? And what if I did? were you not so in deéde? Truly all mē knew this to bee true. For when you wrote your letters to the Queénes Maiestie, you had not yet purchased the dignitie of a Byshop as you are now: yea long time after the receipt of your famous Epistle, it was reported that you were a bishop elect. But I did obiect this name Priuate, as in Reproche ye say, how I pray you? whē as this name Priuate is in no respect contuinelious? nay rather is many tymes applyed (as your selfe doe know) to most honest and honorable Personages. That you may ther­fore know playnly what my meanyng was therein, and with­all learne some witte of me: By this word Priuate, I had res­pect to your estate onely, as whē being a Priuate person scarse [Page 4] peépyng out of your cowle, and not yet credited with admini­stration of any publicke functiō, it was nothing sitting for your personage to be an entermedler in fore in Princes causes, such especially, as were already established, and most firmely rati­fied by expresse Edict and agreable cōsent of all Estates, mea­nyng hereby to call you home from your vnaduised rashnes no­thing seémely for your degreé, This was my purpose. This I thought, and by this meanes of frendly aduise I supposed you would the better bee reclaymed to some modestie beyng other­wise vndiscreét by nature. And yet ye make no end of your tri­flyng, for immediatly you proceéde on this wise.

As though you would say, that I came of some clownes race, and fostered in some base Villadge, and neuer beheld any kyng in the face, and therefore had committed some haynous offence worthy of punishmēt, that durst presume to write to Queene Elizabeth, whom for the honor due to Princely Maiestie I alwayes name Gracious. Are ye not asha­med of so many lyes couched into one sentence? As though I tooke any exception to your birth or parentage, or that I could be ignoraunt that you had sene a kynges personage, knowyng for certeintie, that ye were dayly conuersaunt in the kynges Court? or as though I were displeased with your writyng to the Queénes Maiestie, whenas I did reprehend nothing in you, but your sawey arrogancie and slaunderous pen in mat­ters of so great importaūce? and wherewith you were nothing acquainted? or as though this your tedious quarell about this word Priuate did ought els, but bewray you grosse ignoraūce, and shamelesse impudencie? Whereof the one denounceth how voyde you are of learnyng: the other, how you dare impudent­ly attempt all thinges: which may be easely discerned by your proude speach aunexed thereunto. For before I was (say you) aduaunced to be a Byshop, I did surmoūt many of your or­der in fauour, authoritie and dignitie. I pray you Sir, whe­ther doth the modestie of a Christian Prelate appeare here, or that disdaineful craking of that glorious souldiour in Plautus? Plautus in milite glo­rioso. I was borne the day after Iupiter which came of Opis &c. what should I here say, but we haue thus in a stage of Osorius newly Sprong vp a proude braggyng Thraso, and vnder the visour of [Page] a most reuerend Prelate, a most vayne painted Peacocke: who to make his follie more apparaunt demaūdeth of me a profoūd questiō. To what end letters were deuised at the first? Whe­ther to make such as are absent by distaunce of place ac­quainted with enterchaūged affaires? Yes forsooth M. Doc­tour. Euen so do Scholemaisters instruct their boyes in com­mon Scholes. And what hereof I pray you?

Wherfore then doe you impute this (say you) as a fault into me? that being distaūt and seuered from your Queene so farre by land and sea, of very loue that I owe to her Ma­iesty I aduertised by letters her highnesse of matters apper­teining to the establishment of her estate? I blamed you no­thing because you wrote, but bicause you bent the force of your penne so maliciously & slaunderously agaynst my Natiue coun­trey, whiche is no lesse deare vnto me then Portingall is vnto you: herein surely I noted in you no lesse default of loue, then defect of wit, knowing that you are familiarly acquainted with that comicall nippe, videl. Are your owne businesse so nothing worth the lookyng vnto at home, that you may so carefully at­tende the affaires of others, yea those also, which concerne you nothyng at all? But here you haue not pleasure enough to daunce in a nette your selfe, vnlesse you drawe me also into the same rebuke of follie with you, makyng me to speake wordes, which were neuer myne, but of your owne deuising as though I should in this speach write vnto you.

Acknowledge now I pray you, this your vnaduised re­meritie of toung, for such is your talke: with what face dare you presume to attēpt the Queenes Maiestie by let­ters? being a mā neuer trayned in Court, neuer aduaunced to any office in the common weale, as altogether vnskilfull in the Ciuill Law, nor haue at any tyme exhibited to the Prince any Billes or Supplications, whiche of right belon­geth to me onely and such as I am. And thus concludyng vp­on my wordes. If you doe not perceaue (say you) how Chil­dish this sentēce is, I must needes a diudge you a man more then halfe frāticke. These be yours, and your owne foolish ly­ing wordes properly (Osorius) forged in that hammerhead of yours. First you would haue me to yeld, that those wordes bee [Page 5] myne, whiche I neuer knew, nor were once in my thought, as that I should vtter such monstruous speaches, wherof I neuer dreamed so much as one sillable, and which Mydas would not acknowledge if he were now aliue, much lesse any wise or sober person would blūder out, vnlesse he had bene instructed therun­to by this vayne glorious Gentleman Osorius. As to that you tearme me to be more thē blockish, if I do not vnderstand how childish your former sentēce is, I do gladly yeld and do simply confesse my selfe a naturall dolt, if I could seéme ignoraūt in ei­ther of these both, either in reknowledging that your Momish communication by you applied vnto me to bee very doltish, or your selfe also the deuisor thereof to bee as wise as Walthams Calfe. Both these I doe know aud acknowledge, & this much more also. That where you abuse my name to colour your scof­fing toyes, if you were not already enstalled a brawlyng By­shop, you might be inuested a delicate Sicophant. And where as you accuse me as one y^t doth prohibite godly personages frō their due accesse to her Maiestie, chargyng me also with ambi­tion: I trust my dayly conuersation will cleare me of both those crimes, where in as myne innocencie shall appeare the greater to all mē, so much the lesse wil your venemous quarell preuaile to cracke my credite with any person that knoweth me. It seé­meth also vnto you, that I am a man of very meane capaci­tie, that in this basenes of myne estate I become so lofty & stately: how lofty I pray pouedo I chalēge to my selfe any preé­heminēce before others in fauour, authoritie, or dignitie? yet were not your self ashamed to bragge of these Titles whē you were but a Priuate man. Do I boast that I surmoūt others in wit or learning? yet you a litle after spare not to vaunt the same of your self most arrogātly. I would to God (Osorius) I would to God that your horned cockescombe did no more puffe you vp in pride, thē my seély hūble bils of Requestes do me. Truly thē should your threé Inuectiues haue vomited lesse slaunders and reproches, and denounced you a more charitable man, & farre deéper Diuine. Ye take further occasion yet to charge me, by­cause I affirmed, that you accused all England guiltie of hor­rible noueltie: I perceiue I must now plucke of your spec­tacles, and turne you to your owne Epistle, where you haue [Page] set downe these wordes.

For if after this doctrine of this new Gospell and new Religion was brought into England, there were brought therewithall also honestie and integritie of life. &c. Then a little after. But if none of those were performed through the studie of this new doctrine: nay rather if euer sithence, all rashnes, vnshamefastnes & lechery haue bene embraced in all places, if intollerable pride and arrogancie haue now taken suter footing then before, if seditiōs, vprores and re­belliōs haue bene more easily raysed, if treason haue more boldly attēpted the Royall Maiestie, and haue more freely pursued the bloud of Princes, &c. What now? Doe you not hereby name condēne all England of a certeine new Gospell? & do you not accuse this Gospell to be the very forge of all wic­kednes? I confesse (say you) that I accuse Englād, but not all England. But haue you any smatch is Logicke? Who that wil prayse or disprayse London, Olyssipone, England or Portin­gall by name, doth he not vnderstand all England thereby and all Portingall? O chattering Rethorician, but lumpish Logi­ciā: which can not cōceaue that an indefinite propositiō (to vse a schole terme) doth reteine the efficacie of an vniversall. And whereas you write, that it is reported vnto you, that a great number of our subiectes do remaine in their old Mumpsimus: either this is not true (as it is most vntrue) or if it were true: it would easily argue you to be a common lyar. Who haue slaun­dered all England with a certeine new Religion in generally, & yet alledge no persō particularly. You turne this also to my reproch, that promising to vndertake the defence of my coun­trey against you, without any dissente of mynde, yet contrary to promise, I do wonderfully dissente frō you. What? may any man or beast iudge me so mad, that I would promise to differre from myne aduersary without any cōtrary affection of mynde? what haue I thē professed? what haue I spoken? myne aūswere is extant, I referre me to bee tryed by the same. Wherefore with good reason you should haue pardoned me, if I an English man borne, the Queéne highnes subiect, did in myne aunswere vnto you deale somwhat franckly, without all rācour of minde (without all bitternesse of dissention. &c. I make promise to dis­pute [Page 6] with you without all disagreéyng of stomacke, without all bitternesse of contention: but you peruert my saying, as if I would differe frō you without contradiction of cōsent. Which no mā cā honestly promise, much lesse performe. Are you not a­shamed of this your cold & friuolous quarell? Surely you may be ashamed therof. But this childish fault is commō with you, as I will make euident hereafter in place fit for the same.

Then ensueth your lamentable complaint concernyng the death of the Bishop of Rochester.Syr Thom More. Thomas Moore and certein Charterhouse Monckes,Iohn Fisher Byshop of Rochester. who were (you say) must cruelly mur­thered, and that England hath euer sithence remained in mar­ueilous infamie. Uerely I confesse, that Moore and Rossens. were both endued with great store of singular learning, and la­ment to seé such excellent learned men runne headlōg into such absurde and pesfilēt errour, as to preferre a foreine and extra­ordinarie power before their liege and soueraigne Kyng. But when as it was enacted by the law of the land, that this crime should be deémed high Treason, it was requisite, that all such subiectes as would wilfully infringe that law, should incurre the punishment prouided in that behalfe. As for the Charter­house Monckes, the losse was the lesse, how much more they li­ued to them selues, vnprofitable to their countrey, and could alledge nothyng in their defence but custome and contumacie. The Statutes and Lawes in that behalfe prouided, could not iustly be challēged, or accoūted blameworthie, nor were at any tyme, vnlesse with you, and such as you are, whose disliking we accept for our prayse. Other trifles of myne aūswere you hunt after with a great kennell of superfluous wordes, plodding of­ten vpon one thyng. But I will passe, thē ouer bicause you note nothyng in them worthy defence.

Two points you carpe at in y^e ordering of our lawes: the one is, that euery man particularly may not geue his voyce, as though any cōmon wealth doth admit such custome? Sūmons are made by wordes, by courtes, by hundreds, but it was ne­uer seéne that euery particular person should bee required by Poll. And therfore that sentēce of Liuie. The greater part pre­uaileth oftentymes agaynst the wiser, hath alwayes bene seéne in all auncient ages, and our predecessours also, that a spe­ciall [Page] choise beyng selected out of all estates, the same should be adiudged for law, which the greater number approued, and not that whiche the fewer liked of: what order obserue you in making you lawes? Doe you take together Cobblers, Tyn­kers, Butchers, Cookes, Mullettours. &c. & other like dregges and outcastes of the people, & enquire their seuerall opinions? or do ye reduce your infinite multitude to the choice of your wi­ser Citizes? But ye accuse this in vs, that our voyces are wre­sted out from vs violently, and agaynst our willes: No truely: there is no where els more freédome: whiche is wel knowen to all mē that are but meanely acquainted with the proceédynges of our assemblies, which we name our Parliament. But here you vrge vs with exāples, and with vnsatiable practfling, you runne backe agayne to Moore and Rochester, and demaunde. What those holy and most pure persons had committed? A very small offence pardye:More, and Rochester rightly cō ­uicted and condemned for traytors by the law. and I can not tell how they offended nothyng at all: forsooth they were condemned for high treason, which is accoumpted the most execrable and horrible fact vn­der heauen. But here you cauill & say, that force was vsed in the law, or in the iudgement agaynst them. Neither of thē both Syr. It was orderly proceéded agaynst them accordyng to the auncient custome and statutes of the Realme. For when as they violated the dutie of allegeaūce, which they did owe vn­to their coūtrey ordinaunces, and to their liege and souereigne Lord, lineally discended and true inheritour of the Crowne, & erected to thē selues a foreine Romish monarche through their waywardnes of opinion, they were worthely punished as dece­stable traytours to their coūtrey. But in this point they seémed vnto your iudgement propre holy and pretie Religious men: what then Syr? We expect not your bald sentence, nor esteéme it of a rushe. We doe not preiudice you in your ordinaunces, no more is it meéte that you should entermedle with vs in our Statutes. Whereas you haue placed in your headroll the ter­rours of imprisonement and chaines, and the horrible punish­mentes that our late Byshops do endure, we doe playnly con­fesse that this their rebellious obstinacie, whereby they refuse the most lawfull authoritie of their souereigne Princes establi­shed by the lawes of the lād, ought to be yoked and tamed with [Page 7] extremest punishments prouided in that behalfe. Neither was any iniurie done vnto those men in administratiō of Iustice, as you do imagine. But they were worthely dismissed frō all bene­fite of law for their intollerable pride, and pestilent example, that refused to bee ordered by the expresse and knowen authori­tie of the law. Lament you therfore, and howle as loude as ye list, they were neuerthelesse rightfully punished. For in all well ordered common weales, high treason hath bene alwayes ac­coumpted most horrible, and worthy of death.

You prayse your purpose of writyng to the Queenes Maiestie as procoedyng of a very zelous affection, that you beare to the truth, and to the publicke sauetie of soules: and this you auowe with a very solemne protestatiō. Osorius is writing to our Quene vnder pre­tence of charitie & goodwill couereth extreme ha­tred against true Reli­gion. Tou­chyng the secretes of your thoughtes, I referre you ouer to God whō you take to witness herein. But as farre as men may discerne by your wordes and phrases of speache. That stile of yours is enflamed as hoate as fier agaynst the truth of God, & against the publicke state of our saluation. And yet you beare fayre wether with vs, and would make vs beleéue, that you cō ­ceaue no malice against vs, but loue vs w^t a bagge full of loue. The rather bycause you do vnderstand y^e some English mē haue your Epistle in great admiration I wene. If this be true, what obteine you els hereby, but to be esteémed y^e most vnciuil person of all mē, that cā finde in your hart to rēder so churlish a requi­tall for such gay benefites? But I do not condēne all England (say you) I doe onely confute the errours of some whiche haue brought this new Religion into England. You name England by generall wordes, once, twise, thrise: you barcke a­gainst y^e whole state of our religiō: you accuse all y^e lawes made touchyng the same: you doe violently rend in peéces our whole Ecclesiastical gouernement with most vnshamefast cauillatiō, you inueigh against the honest conuersatiō of our maners with most outragious slaunders. And yet to untwyne your selfe out of this manifest flame of cancred malice, you would seéme to charge but a few, whom you call seditious Schismatiques to their countrey. Not so (my good Lord) you may not so escape. England vnderstandeth the Latine toūg very well, is also of a ripe iudgement, and is myndfull what her selfe hath done, and [Page] cā not forget, how much and how greuously you haue diffamed her: nor will not admit this your painted satisfaction in threé wordes, especially beyng manifestly false: when she throughly cōsidereth y^e ouerlauish backbytinges of the rest of your labour­some volume. And whereas you persuade your selfe to haue iust cause of quarell bycause you write in the behalfe of Religion: herein truly you bewray your ignoraūce, euen as in all the rest of your doynges: For albeit you be appointed a Sphepheard o­uer the sheepe of Siluan in Portingall, you may not therefore sheare the fliece frō English and foreine sheépe, vnlesse you had bene called thereunto by lawfull authoritie: vnlesse Paule par­aduenture did appoint ouer euery congregation seuerall pa­stours in vayne: especially when as the same Paul doth charge euery of vs with our vocation (I vse here his own wordes) and commaundeth vs to abyde in the same. As for you Syr, I be­seéch you, who hath called you vnto vs? or how will you preach vnto vs beyng not sent? for I doe here gladly vse the simple wordes of the Scriptures.True chari­tie is sooner pretēsed in wordes thē truely per­formed in deedes. Your burnyng charitie I trow, is so whote, that if your bold bragges may be beleéued, you will shed your bloud in the defence of Religiō. Be not to bold Bay­ard. It is an easie matter (Osorius) to despise a tempest in a quiet calme, but if any perillous flaw shall happen, the very sounde therof I feare me, will make our glorious Thraso eft­soones to thrust his head in a mousehole. But if you bee of such inuincible courage, stand to your tackle at home, and as neéde shall require, hasarde your lyfe for your owne sheépe. We haue pastours of our own, and seuerall Seés, we neéde no raungyng Prelate out of Protingall.

Afterwardes you beleue that I can not shew you, how that you enforce your writyng of malice, rancour and greedy lust to cauil, bicause as you propes, you were hereun­to moued of very loue onely, & pure denotiō: Truely if you may be a witnesse in your owne cause, you will easely persuade what you list. But if it be lawfull to vrge your owne Epistle a­gaynst you as reason requireth, there is nothyng more easie, then to shew by euident demōstration your incredible despight & viperous hatred agaynst our Preachers. Where euery sen­tence doth swarme with manifest stinges of Scorpion like ve­nime. [Page 8] At the last you come downe nearer to the flat accusation it selfe: the which bycause I perceaued so farced with pestilent poyson, and creépyng for couert into the Queénes highnes pre­sence: I tooke it in very ill part, that my coūtrey was so cruel­ly and wickedly accused and slaūdered by you: wherfore I desi­red to haue the causes set down, the persons named, the tymes noted, and all circumstaunces to bee described, that we might haue some sure grounde to begyn our controuersie vpon. Here our clamorous titiuiller taketh occasiō to scorne my to to fore­ward diligence, beyng him selfe most ridiculous in confoun­ding all thinges, making mingle mangle of all thinges, distri­butyng nothyng into his partes, openyng nothyng distinctly: And beleueth forsooth, that I came to late when Rethoricke was a dealing. Surely my Lord you are come tyme enough to the dole. For in this controuersie which is now betwixt vs, I doubt not but I shal seare you with so good a whote yron, that the very Printe therof shall remaine whiles the world doth en­dure as a perpetuall testimonie of your grosse ignoraunce. Yet foreward proceédeth his worshypfull Maistershyp and deépely debateth vpon old rules and principles of schooles, and at the last cōcludeth very grauely, that in criminall and iudiciall cau­ses due order of circumstaunces ought to be obserued: But that his Epistle is of an other hewe, altogether of the perswadyng kinde. What do I heare? is not your raylyng backbityng E­pistle a most slaunderous accusation and execrable Inuectiue?

No (you say) for the Iudge and the place of Iudgement wāted and there was no trespassour somonned. Ueryly you are a very vntoward scholer, that haue so soone forgottē the les­son your Maister taught you, especially beyng beaten into you with so many expresse examples. A good fellowship Syr. What doth Cicero, when hee declameth agaynst L. Piso and Gabi­nius? doth he not accuse thē?Cicer. Orat. in Lucium Pisonem. if you seéke for the Guildhall here and the offendours, there was neither of them. For the matter was determined in the Counsell Chamber amongest the Se­natours. And yet no man of any founde iudgement will deny that they were accused, and that all circumtaūces of tyme and place were ripped vp against thē. The same order is to be seéne in his second Phillip. Cicer. Phil­lip. 2. in Anthoniū. agaynst Anthonius, and in the Inuec­tiue [Page] which he made agaynst Saluste. In Salustiū. Many like examples may be shewed, but these beyng the Presidens of your Maisters shop chiefly, will suffice to conuince you of Childishe ignoraunce: But you affirme that your quarellsome Epistle lacketh no argument: for that we yeld vnto all those haynous crimes, which you throw out agaynst vs. It is vntrue: we deny all, in the same plight as you haue set them downe. And for your own part, if you had any sparcle of shame or honesty, you would neuer haue defiled your paper with so manifest a lye. You rush vpon me w^t a sharpe battry of wordes, as though I did not per­ceiue what were comely, nor could discerne what y^e cause doth require. Those be yours Osorius your owne drousie dreames, as I haue made manifest by your owne schoolemaister Tullie, the same is also apparaunt enough by your own Epistle, which I can vouche agaynst you for a most euident witnesse. You say that you haue reckoned vp many monsters of Religion. I confesse it. & in how much the number of them is the greater, so much the more deadly haue you helped our pastours cōsidering none of them can be founde in England, as your selfe seéme al­so somewhat to doubt: for this your write.

If those monsters haue not inuaded England, I do hart­ly reioyce in your commō wealthes behalfe, and confesse my selfe to be in errour to thinke that your Ilād was vexed with many such furies. Do ye confesse at length wise wisard? Wherfore then do you so expressely pronoūce in those wordes which I recited out of your Epistle. That a certeine sauadge herde of all Swinish filthynes was crept into Englād? So y^e first you diffame this noble Iland to be a sincke of horrible abo­minations euen to the Queénes Maiestie her selfe: And after­wardes stand in a dumpe amazed how you may colorably pray pardon of so great a crime so maliciously conceaued. Doth cha­ritie teach you this? is this seémely for a Byshop, & an old mā? Is this the wisedome of Osorius that blameth lacke of discre­tion in others? But you seéme not to be satisfied, bycause with one worde I haue ouerthrowen all your cursed babling. Why sufficeth not to be denied in one worde, that is verified in one word? You haue taken vpon you to accuse most spitefully & ma­liciously, which accusatiō if you be not able to iustifie, you must [Page 9] yeld. For it sufficeth y^e accused to deny: who vnlesse he be cōuin­ced by good proofe ought to be acquired.Cod. de pro­ba. lib. [...]. But I accuse no man (say you) before a Iudge, what is it materiall who sit in iudge­ment? The court of Christians doth stretch farre & wyde in the whole world, & extendeth it selfe to all natiōs. Ierome Osorius hath by his infamous Epistle cited England vnto this Consi­story as guiltie: and doth earnestly perswade that it is defiled with all maner of monstruous abominatiōs, yea in the prefence of y^e Queénes Maiestie. Do ye not accuse, Osorius? Do ye not here (as much as in you lieth) deface, nay rather vtterly subuert the good estimation of this noble Iland? Did ye lacke no argu­ments to furnish this your horrible enterprise? or did ye beleue, that your onely affirmatiue was of sufficient credite in so peril­lous & pestiferous an exāple? But you deny that I do perceaue how you haue displayed all things most euidently. In deéde so I say, if we will admit your own cauill for a witnes of your own cause (for what should I els call it, but a mere cauill) Peruse your Epistle who litle, and he shall finde my saying true. I doe write vnto you, that you conceaue of the doctrine of the Gos­pell, which our Pastours on professe, as a matter detestable, a­bominable and dānable, & the Authours therof haynously wic­ked, common barretiours, subuertours of commō weales, ene­mies of mankind. These speaches you will not acknowledge to be yours, but myne. Nay in deéde these pernitious and pestilent wordes are your owne, the whiche though I repeated in myne owne wordes, yet the whole sentence of wordes is your owne: & though ye speake not the selfe same, yet ye speake that, which in effect is all one, like a peruerse Sophister. I did also disclose all your filthy rayling, in so much that no kynde of ignominie, no crime of haynous offence, no spot of beastlynesse, no sparke of impietie could almost be reckoned by, but you had therewith defiled the doctrine of the Gospell, and the professours of the same. The selfe same slaunderous Inuectiue is extant abroad. Iudge of it who will. And yet as though you had played the proper Speareman therein, and as though it sufficed not that this doggishe eloquence was ones throughly swallowed vp by me with toylesome irkesommes, yet are you nothyng asha­med to barke the same agayne in our eares. Truly it greéueth [Page] me to be encombred with such friuolous brauling. But bycause this gallant pedler doth make so proude crakes of his braue wares, let vs seé them (sith it must neédes be so) and note dili­gently what metall they be made of.

‘Osor. pag. 8.I sayd in that Epistle of myne (quoth he) that Nonnes cōsecrated vnto God were defiled with incestuous mariage:’ Osorius cō ­plaineth of subuertyng Religion in England. I sayd that Saintes, Images, Crosses, Crucifixes, and many other godly monumentes were throwen downe from their places, & broken in peeces: I sayd that the auncient Maie­stie of Religion was subuerted in your Temples, and other straūge orders supplied in the place. Other thyngs I passe ouer, and reserue them for place fitt for it. You haue sayd Syr. You haue said in deéde, or rather in that vnciuil cauilling Epistle, you haue spurled out all those, & sixe hundred such like slaunderous reproches. But let vs seé what substaunce any of them bringeth. First in the vauntegarde you haue placed the Nonnes:Nonnes. and those you say bene defiled w^t incestuous ma­riage. We reply to the cōtrary, and say, y^t such virgines beyng bounde apprentices to gluttony, idlenesse, & lust, entred after­wardes into lawfull and honorable Matrimonie. Next to the Standerd & mayne battel,Images of Saintes. you place Banuers, Saints, Ima­ges, Crosses,Picture of the Crosse. Crucifixes, & other holy monumētes, & those you say are throwen down and broken in peéces. We way not so: but we say, that Ioals, and such tromperies were by good aduise, & for great reason taken frō the gaze of Christiās eyes: bycause they occupied the places of great perill of Idolatry. In the re­reward commeth foorth old raynebeaten bruysed souldiours, which you name the old auncient maiestie of Religion,Auncient ceremonies of the Ro­mane Church. and the same you say is supplanted in our Temples, and other straūge orders supplied: we on the other part do boldly pronounce, that the auncient Religion is restored by vs: and your new stinking superstitions worthely abolished. And for proofe hereof aswell in these, as in all y^e rest, which you seéme to keépe in store for an other tyme, we appeale to the testimonie of the most auncient primitiue Churche, founded and established in the most blessed age of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and his Apostles: which be­yng of all partes absolutely pure, and vndefiled, did neuer ac­knowledge the durtie dregges of your filthy single life, your [Page 10] superstitious Idolatries, nor your cold naked mockeries of Sacramentes and Ceremonies. But here you require of me to euery of them seuerall proofes. I haue satisfied already eue­ry point, as much as was neédefull for so bluntish an aduersa­ry: Moreouer if the controuersie were debated before indiffe­rent Iudges, the onely authoritie of that sacred tyme, in the which our Sauiour Iesus Christ lyued vpō earth, and the next age, wherein his Disciples preached, would easely confounde and crushe in peéces all those scattered stinkyng maymed sha­dowes of your Religion. Last of all if alleadgyng nothyng for my selfe, I should onely deny your poysoned accusation: This onely might suffice for all reasonable men, vnlesse you make better demonstration of your assertion by more probable argu­mentes. And therfore sithence you can not procure me as guil­tie to confesse (as you seé) you must suborne other witnesses ac­cordyng to your promise.

In the meane space you recite certeine wordes of myne, which are these.The words of M. Had­don cited by Osorius. You exclame as much as you may heapyng a masse of foule words together, which you seeme to haue hoorded vp for the same purpose to deface that your pain­ted Religiō, and cutte some throates, whom no man doth know but you alone. In this speach of myne you play the tall man: at these wordes you hurle out your cancred stomacke, ob­braydyng me with dronkēnes forsooth, and hereunto you haue pretyly stollen the wordes of Cicero agaynst Anthonius, that with you Maisters tooles ye might wounde me the deéper with a false crime.Cicer. in Anthon Phil.2. But I pray you Syr, where is this haynous of­fence? where is this blockish errour neuer heard of before? wher with this milde & sober father chargeth me, wishing in me so­brietie some litle while. As though I were alwayes drunken: bearyng me in hand, as though I were furiously mad, that would commit such monsters to writyng: forsooth (if it please your Prelacie) it will so be found in these two. First, that your selfe had made ougly your new glased Religion with all ma­ner of filthy taūtes: The other that I added thereunto, is, that some persons throates were cutte, whō no man knew but your selfe. How say you Syr? are not both these true? I will alledge examples to discouer the matter clearely, you challenge vs [Page] further that we mainteyne a kynde of fayth, whereby eue­ry man settyng aside all sorrow of mynde, not regardyng good workes, and drowning all endeuour of charitie, pro­mi [...]eth to him selfe hope of euerlastyng saluation. Osor. pag. 9No ma­ner of person with vs doth acknowledge this glaueryng fayth, no man doth defend it: nay rather all men doe abhorre it and spitte at it. This therfore is your own fayth, hammered out of your own forge: This is your owne lye: This is your own ca­uill: the which sithence your selfe doe pursue with such oppro­brious infamie (as you doe) your selfe do disfigure your owne whelpe, you dishoneste your owne creature. In the Treatise of Freéwill, you bring into your stage a certeine kynde of persons decked and apparelled with your owne wordes.

Osor. pag. 9. b. What els (say you) is meant hereby? they keepe mās rea­son in bondage, they bereue him of his freedome of aduise­ment: mans will they entangle fast snarled in perpetuall chaynes, and the whole man they doe vnclothe of iudge­ment and sense: and so turne him ouer, spoyled of all free choyse, that there remaineth no more difference betwixt him and a stone: for all maner of thynges which men doe imagine in their braynes, endeuour and practise in theyr actions, whether they be good or bad, these men do ascribe to God the Authour therof, and doe linke them together with a certeine fatall and vnaduoydable necessitie endu­ryng for euer. By this tedious talke of yours, you haue for­ged vnto vs certeine new Tyrauntes very fearefull in deéde, of whom we neuer haue heard any mention before this tyme, and which are meere straungers vnto vs: Broyle them you on the gredyerne therfore, and burne them with all your fagots and firebrandes of eloquence: for here you doe scourge none but Hobgoblines and Buggebeares,Osorius maketh Bugge beares and fighteth with sha­dowes. with whom we were neuer acquaynted. And therfore we suppose that these be your owne painted Poppettes, deuises of your owne dreames, vpon the whiche when you rushe with your doodgeandagger eloquence, what els do you, then murther shadowes of your own forgyng? whom no man knoweth besides your selfe. So the same offence and shame wherewith you do accuse others, must neédes reboūd vpon your owne head: when you can not finde them, whom you [Page 11] haue accused. Take a familiar example. You call me dron­kard, whom all mē els (I beleue) do know to be sober enough, except you that are scarse well aduised. This dronkennes ther­fore, if any be, is your owne, your owne lye, and your owne re­proch. You exclame that I am madde: whiche, for that you do so manifestly lye, wilbe adiudged your owne errour, your owne rage, & your owne ignoraunce. You perceaue now at the length, except you be more then franticke, how truly I wrate, that your selfe had misshaped your owne Religion, & had mur­thered those persons whom no man knew besides your selfe. A­wake therfore hereafter, if you be wise, and deliuer your gorge from this surfet of rancour, and malice, wherewith you are en­glutted: and charge me no more with dronkennes & madnes, that am in all respects your equal, your Myter onely excepted.

You affirme that you haue wounded Luther and his Champions onely. Osor. pag. 9. b. Luther falsely ac­cused. But herein you haue dubbed a double lye: For whē you charge Luther with monstruous opinions, where with that godly man was neuer acquainted, you doe nothyng diffame Luther, but batter downe your owne credite, by coy­ning a certeine newfangled Diuinitie, begynnyng now, and e­rected first by your owne cauillations. Luther did neuer allow this your owne counterfaite fayth (I say counterfaite fayth,) marke what I speake, nor euer affirmed it: nor did at any tyme argue so fondly and absurdly of Freéwill, as you report of him, how soeuer you barke at him in your writynges. It is no hard matter to espy, and to barke at some one sentence of his, vtte­red perhaps in heate of disputation, which may haply disagreé with the rest of the processe. But read Luther ouer,Luther to be take whole, and not by pecces. and marke his whole doctrine, & this will remayne certeine and vndoub­ted at the length, y^t Luther hath in the Church of God, through Gods singular prouidence, planted inestimable treasure of Christian discipline: And that Ierome Osorius is a most per­uerse ouerthwarte brauler, who besides a cōmendable facilitie in the Latin toūg, can profite the cōmon wealth nothyng at all.

Thus much briefly once for all do I conceaue of M. Luther: whom I did neuer vndertake to defend, he hath other notable Aduocates, exquisite mē in all kynde of learning, who can with no labour auenge him from your cancred toung. I stand in de­fence [Page] of my countrey, and will persist therein so long as breath is in my body: and although you assayle and wish vpon the same with most poysoned dartes and venemous battry, yet I trust some part therof will recoyle backe vpon your owne breast, and sticke so fast in the very entrailes of your carcasse, that you shal neuer bee able to rubbe out the frettyng sistula of your slaunde­rous Inuectiue agaynst England: And in this your second fault you were more then poreblind, that, though you would seéme to poste ouer your whole malice agaynst Luther and his associates, you do notwithstandyng endite and accuse England by expresse wordes, rayle on our Byshops with most filthy and false accusations outragiously, condemne our subiectes in ge­nerall of stiffenecked crookednes most iniuriously: Our Tem­ples, our ceremonies, our lawes, and our whole Religion with shamelesse toung and most insolent Inuectiue you doe deride most scornefully, cōdemne most arrogantly, and slaunder most impudently. These your furious assaultes I will for my slen­der abilitie withstand in the behalfe of my Natiue countrey. I wil encoūter your outragious force as much as I may. Wher­in I will not speake so confusedly as not to bee perceaued, as you thinke that I do. But I will so expresse all & euery scabbe of your wickednes and ignoraunce in such colours, that all mē shall perceiue what maner of man Osorius is, if they will not be willfully blind. At length you come downe by litle and litle, to that slaūderous crime of poysonyng: wherewith when I saw you charge our frendes, of a very insolencie to quarell without any proofe at all, I returned the same into your owne bosome, with approued circumstaunces of tyme and persons. But here­unto our new vpstarte Pythagoras maketh none aūswere, but that my examples are counterfaite and reiected of approued writers. Of whom I pray you? where? & how? what booteth it to enquire further? my Lord Byshop doth affirme it, & we must needes beleue it. Herein yet your companion of Angrence is somwhat more tractable, who, rather then he will leaue y^e mat­ter vnconfessed, will set two Monkes by the eares, and confute the one with the testimonie of the other. O gay payre of By­shops, which are so intangled in two examples onely, that the one is enforced vtterly to disclayme: the other to take such wit­nesses, [Page 12] whom no wise man will admit.

But Osorius forsooth hath gottē an other couert to play boe peépe in, where he shrowdeth him self alwayes when he is nar­rowly chased.Osor. pag. 10. I force not (sayth hee) what rules of lyfe our Monkes obserued, for such haynous offences as are com­mitted in common weales by men not altogether endued with heauenly wisedome should haue bene cured or vtter­ly abandoned by the sinceritie of your most holy discipline, & by the wholesome medicine of this Gospell and by that excellēt remedy, which your Doctours haue deliuered vn­to the world. O notable Diuine, is this speach meéte for a di­uine and a Byshop? is it lawfull for you to be murtherers, mā ­quellers & bloudsukers vnpunished? Is there not one baptisme onely? one profession: one onely Lord father of all? one onely re­deémer Iesus Christ? what prerogatiue then cā your sect cha­lenge more vnto your wickednes, then ours? We allow no a­mendement of maners, but such as y^t authoritie of the Gospell & sacred Scriptures do approue: none other integritie of life, but that whiche the Gospell doth exact: if you be exempt from this discipline, the world goeth well on your side: lōg may you enioy that your freédome a Gods name. But if there be but one profession, one name, one bonde of peace: why do you so dismē ­ber this vnitie? or rather rend it in peéces? as though it were nothyng materiall in what sorte you behaue your selues, by­cause we haue an especiall profession, and regard of innocencie and vprightnes of life? If this were so, as you do most absurde­ly confesse, what could this auayle to your Monkes? how could they be cured of their festered vlcers beyng aboue an hundred yeares old, by these our newly vpstarte lieches; as you tearme them? You see here how you rubbe your selfe on the gall where soeuer ye touch: so hard it is to finde a startyng hoale for such frameshapen cauils. And yet beyng altogether vnlucky in handlyng your matters, you hauke after tiltes of wordes, that so at the least ye may fease vpon gnates. I affirmed that you dwelt nearer the worke maister of poyson then I: You de­maunde what I meane by that? whether I note your per­son, your countrey, or any other nation. Whereunto I demaunde agayne, whether the wordes be not Latin wordes, [Page] and playne enough? But they note nothyng of certeintie (say you.) This is your owne fault, who vse to chop of the head of the sentence, and slyly huddle the rest. And I otherwise ac­cusing no man willingly,The cauil­ling of O­sorius vpon wordes and sillables. am ashamed to depraue any whole Natiō. Wherfore though you haue endited Englād by name it shalbe lawfull for me to vse more modestie: for more arrogā ­cie and impudencie I can not. You snatch at an other vocable, which is Perpessa, Perpessa. Printed for Persparsa. Persparsa. But yet at the last you release me of this quarell, & cōfesse that it might be y^e ouer­sight of the Printer as though you or any other hauyng any smatch of learnyng, could doubt that I had written, the seédes of warres to be scattered abroad. But you are an immoderate brabbler, that can scarcely admitte that which your selfe do seé must of necessitie seéme to be true.

Here you play hickscorner concernyng the reformation of our maners after the rules of the Gospell: Where you spor­tyngly promise, that you will sayle ouer vnto vs, to learne this notable discipline of life. Come not at vs I pray you, ex­cept you throw away your hypocritical visour, and cal to your memory the saying of the Propheticall kyng.Psal. 119. Thy worde O Lord is a lanterne to me feete: which sentence lyeth drowned amongest you in so deépe a dongeon of bald ceremonies and mens traditions, that like night owles you are starke blynd in the midday: and are not able to endure the bright beames of the cleare shynyng Gospell. Now to the end I might more sensi­bly disclose the ouglinesse of your fonde superstitions, I noted two speciall botches of your lothsome customes.Two soule abuses no­ted in Oso­rius his Re­ligion. Whereof one consisteth in that vnbridled licēcious Bulles of Pardons: The other entreateth of prayers ouerunne, and mumbled vp with­out feélyng, sence or vnderstandyng. These two forlorne mat­ters you ouerskip in the playne field succourles, without touch of breath: wherein surely you deale very discreétly, for your Schoolemaister Cicero him selfe, if he were now aliue, could not perswade this blacke to be white, the matter beyng so ab­surde. And yet you haue here illfaudredly prouided for your ho­nestie, that so playnly deny, that men were not accustomed to assigne the affiaūce of their saluation to those two plaisters a­boue mentioned. For as touchyng those leadden Bulles, what [Page 13] prerogatiue they obteined, how wyde, and how farre they stret­ched, with how cruell bondage they had cramped mens consci­ences, not onely the auncient age and receaued custome of ma­ny yeares most truly recordeth, but the rotten carcasses also bu­ried in graue will beare sufficiēt witnes against you.Trust in Popish pardōs vayne and wicked. Amongest a great number of whom, were foūde caskettes full of pardons safely folded, and lapt together in the bottome of their graues: Which I suppose would neuer haue chaunced, vnlesse vnmea­surable superstitious affiaunce had bene attributed to this pel­tyng leadē pilfe. Now if the liuely authoritie of the holy scrip­tures haue so vtterly quasshed & blurred out this bald ceremo­nie, y^t at length you confesse now, y^t all confidence of saluation ought to bee ascribed to the onely bountie and mercy of Iesu Christ, (as your selfe protest in the selfe same wordes) Uerely I do hartely reioyce in the behalfe of Spayne. But as I haue no quarell with that famous Natiō at all: so haue I very great agaynst you: whose communicatiō is so wonderfully variable, that a man may scarse trust you in this matter. For if it be true,Osorius a­gaynst hym selfe. that our righteousnesse doth partly depend vpon good workes: agayn if it be meritorious to pray to the virgine Marie, which both you do verifie, and likewise earnestly auow that she hath bene oftentymes founde mercyfull to your petitions: of these then proceédeth a good consequente, that all the hope of our iu­stification ought not to be ascribed to Christ onely.

But these thyngs shalbe better cōsidered hereafter in place fit for them: in the meane tyme call to your remembraūce what a thyng it is to speake honorably, and largely of the incompre­prehensible mercy of God, when as otherwise you make but a very slender accoumpt therof. As to that you seéme not to be re­solued, whether any Christian were euer so bussardly blind, as to beleue any other clensing of sinne besides that, which consi­steth in the onely freé mercy of Iesu Christ: surely (good Syr) you can not bee vncerteine of this, vnlesse you doubt whether your selfe doe liue, whether you take breath, or whether you walke a man amongest men. For that pure and vndefiled foun­teine of auncient Religion was long sithence dried vp, when as a certeine deformed counterfaite of outward holynesse was priuely crept into the Church, & had so garnished it selfe, with [Page] such a prāckyng cloake of Shole commentaries and scattered br [...]ggs of foolish superstition, that y^e same inestimable treasure of Christes bloudsheadyng was almost altogether ouerwhel­med. This is true Osorius. Yea, to true. I would it had neuer bene true, yea rather I would to many remnaunts of this stin­king carion were not now in vre: I would those rotten & bleare eyed [...] Traditions had not ouer many Aduocates, men of great renowme. Lastly I would that our Ierome Osorius were not the very ryngleader amongest them. Truly if Osorius were not, as he is, he would not be so bitterly clamorous agaynst me, in that I doe so earnestly abhorre that lumpishe leaden Idoll: which hath bene most wickedly esteémed for the onely ground­worke and foundation of all other trecheries. For after this gaynefull market of redeémyng of soules was proclaymed a­broad by the trumpet of the Pardoner, and the price of saluatiō valued euery where at a few pence, there ensued such outragi­ous licentiousnesse of lyfe by the meanes of this speady forge­uenes of sinne, that we seémed to haue no neéde of Christ sitting aboue at the right hand of his Father, hauyng here in earth his Uicar generall with vs, who for a small trifle could absolue vs dayly. But here Osorius blameth me further as well for the thyng, as for the name, bycause I do so oft, and so malitiously (as he sayth) make mention of lead.Osorius ca­uilleth a­bout the word, of lead. Wherein the famous O­ratour bewrayeth him selfe to be not onely vnskilfull but also a blūtish leaden scholer. For if we call to remembraūce the vsage of the f [...]repassed aunciencie, no ordinaunces, no contractes, no obligations, no Testaments, no Commissions shalbe founde to haue any force, power or authoritie, vnlesse the same were sea­led with waxe, signed with writyng, or ratified with some en­grauen markes: herein if no man can be ignoraunt beyng ne­uer so meanely lettered, or any tyme acquainted with the com­mon affaires of the world, with what face doe you so storme at me, for that I call lead by the name of a publique Instrument (I vse here knowen wordes) sealed with lead? doe ye not know the figure Synechdoche? Synech­doche. or haue you not heard of Metonymia? Metony­mia. if happely you remember not these trifles, you may learne of litle children by whom these rules are dayly practised. But if you do know them, as of necessitie you must, why do ye dissembles? [Page 14] And hereof you say some men tooke great gleé, who doe loathe my trade of liuyng, as well as yours. But at the last, you de­part from this lead, and for your better credite vouch your Ro­mish monarche the first founder therof: for proofe of whose au­thoritie you thinke it not neédefull to spend much winde, for that your copemate of Angrence hath most learnedly establi­shed the same already. Truly this saying maketh me to smile at the old meéry Prouerbe, one Asse claweth an other by the el­bow. In deéde your companion hath herein played the tall man before you as well as hee might:The Bishop of Angrēce. and therefore you play the good felow with him agayne, lendyng him a lye for a tyme, and helpyng to vphold his credite already crusht in peéces. But as I sayd at the first, you lose your labour, the worke is not reco­uerable. For that infamous Apologie of Angrence, hath geuen his estimation so deadly a wounde, that AEsculapius him selfe can not cure this poysoned fistula, if he were now aliue. Ther­fore let vs passe ouer that seély wretched butterflye, and stoppe your nose from the ayre of that carion, the remembraunce of whom is either vtterly extinct, or blemished for euer with euer­lastyng ignominie. We will harken to you agayne the most ar­rogaunt slaūderour, not of priuate persons and Diuines one­ly, but of Princes and common weales also.

First let this be graunted (you say) that there is but one Church not many Churches. One Church. Nay rather you graūt the same fondly & falsly. For generally there is but one onely Church of Christ: but out of the same one, many particular Churches are deriued as prouinces. Hereof the seuerall Churches to whom S. Paule entituled his Epistles are sufficient witnesses.Apoc. 1. The Churches also whiche S. Iohn doth recite in his Reuelation doe witnesse the same. After that you take this for a maxime. That it is not enough for a Prince to establishe wholesome lawes, vnlesse he ordeine Magistrates and Gouernours o­uer them. This is true surely: but this hangeth nothyng toge­ther with your former Maxime: neither can I perceiue to what end it is spoken. Of your third proposition you take hand­fast vpon my wordes, wherein I consented with you, tou­chyng a Monarchie. One Mo­narchie. Truely I did confesse, and will not yet deny, that you did dispute of a Monarchie very aptly. What [Page] then? doe ye conclude hereof that I doe despise or finde fault with other common weales? doth that person disprayse poli­tique gouernement, which prayseth a Monarchie? doth he con­demne the estate of Uenice, that prayseth the gouernement of Florence? he that commendeth Wittemberghe, doth he ther­fore reprehende Auguste, or Argentine?Liuius 3. Decad. As though that aun­cient Rome, when it was gouerned by Consuls & Senatours, was not the Empresse of the whole worlde? or as though that politique Regiment of Athens was not a most florishing Regi­ment? And as though in this our age many famous Prouinces are not well ordered, with most sweéte lawes and ordinaunces, which were neuer subiect to one ruler alone? Let this therfore be the cause that enduced me to esteéme of a kyngly prehemi­nence: either bycause I had learned so, or bycause I was enu­red thereunto, or bycause y^e loue of my coūtrey did so persuade me. Shall your determination be inuiolable therefore in this sort vttered? For many persons do rend in peeces a commō wealth, but one mā doth vnite fast Citizens harts together, with great authoritie. If you set downe this as an infallible truth, you do erre monstruously:Polycrates. Phalereus. Dionysius. for the cōtrary hath bene very often experimented, & sundry notable Regiōs, which haue bene miserably ouerthrowen through the barbarous crueltie of Ty­rauntes, and many common weales beyng at the very brink of ouerwhelmyng, haue bene comfortably recouered, and preser­ued by the wisedome of many.

Out of these pretie reasons partly false, partly vncerteine and chaungeable, you multiply your cōclusion neither true, nor probable. That is to say. That Christ determinyng to esta­blish his heauenly common weale vpon earth, did first or­deine lawes, then assigne his Magistrates the Apostles. Last­ly, that this bonde of mutuall societie might not be bro­ken, and so the couenable agreement of this Citie distur­bed, he did erect a Monarchie, and therein inuested Peter with the highest soueraigntie. First of all, what heauenly commō wealth do you dreame of vpon earth,Apoc. 21. 22. when as that hea­uenly Ierusalem is aboue? wherein dwelleth God him selfe, and our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ? & whereas the earth can haue none other Citie then earthly? Neither did Iesu [Page 15] Christ take vnto him mans nature to the end hee would coyne new lawes but to accomplishe the old: that the glad tydynges might be preached: That prisoners might bee loosed:Luce. 4. ex Esaia. Ad Heb. 10 Timoth. 1. that the sicke might be healed: lastly that by offring vp his most preci­ous body on the Crosse, our sinnes might be clensed, As for any superioritie in gouernement the Apostles receaued none, nor any other authoritie was committed vnto them, but that they should wander through the whole world emptie of all worldly furniture cariyng nothing w^t them,Luce. 9. Mar. 6. and should sow in all places abroad the comfortable doctrine of the Gospell. Nay rather when arose betwixt them a question, who should be greatest a­mongest them: our Lord and Sauiour Christ did so vtterly suppresse that ambicious contention, that he briefly denounced, that he which was left, should be greatest amongest them. A­gayne when Iames & Iohn had besought of our Lord and Sa­uiour, that the one of them might sit on his right hand the o­ther on his left hand, when he were ascended into heauen vnto the throne of Maiestie, he reproued them both so sharpely bla­myng their ignoraunce, that he told them,Math. 9. They knew not what they asked: and immediatly callyng the rest of the twelue toge­ther, he so tempered vnto them lowlynes, humilitie and obedi­ence by manifest Arguments, that they might easely perceiue how they were forbidden all maner of superioritie. Sith these thyngs therfore are true, I wōder what came into your mynde to dreame of so dry a Summer, that a Monarchie was erected amōgest the Apostles: and that vnto Peter was geuen the pre­heminence thereof. Was Peter so appointed the chief ouer the rest of the Apostles, when as Christ him selfe doth so embace them and fearefully terrifle them from all maner of suprema­cie? was Peter so worthy to be a Monarche, when as Christ him selfe did hyde him out of the way bycause they would haue made him a kyng? must we be so subiect to Peter, and his Suc­cessours as vnto Princes? when our Sauiour Iesu Christ came downe from heauen for this entent & purpose, to become a seruaūt vnto others, requiryng of his Apostles the selfe same duetie of abacement?

But there is nothyng (you say) more cleare, then these wordes, Thou art Peter: and vpon this Rocke I will builde my [Page] Church:Touchyng supremacie of Peter & his succes­sours.And what soeuer thou byndest vpon earth, shall be bound also in heauen. And I haue prayed for thee, that thy fayth may not fainte: And thou at the last beyng cōuerted confirme thy brethren. And many other like. Whereby you will cōstreine vs to beleue. That Peter was preferred before y^e rest of the Apostles. I will treate therfore of euery of these seuerally. That it may be eui­dently knowen, what a deépe insight this Reuerend Prelate hath in Diuinitie. For if he haue made here a strong and soūde foundation, his passage wilbe the easier to the rest of his Asser­tions. But if his groundewordes be planted vpon Sande, the rest of his buildyng will quickely shiuer in peéces, and come to ruine. First of all therefore: Note this to bee commonly vsed throughout the whole Scripture: That when our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ would demaunde any question of all his Apostles, Peter would make aūswere in the name of the whole generally, and not in his owne name particularely. So to that question:Marg. 9. But whom do you say I am? Peter maketh aūswere for them all.Iohan 6. Thou art Christ the sonne of the liuyng God. Agayne, when the Lord demaunded, Whether they his Disciples would depart away from him with the rest of the Iewes? Peter not one­ly for him selfe, but for his whole company, denyed, saying, Lord whether shall we goe. Thou hast the wordes of eternall lyfe. The life hereof is in Peters Sermon, when he exhorted the Iewes to repose their whole affiaunce of saluation in Iesu Christ, whom they Crucified, and was risen agayne frō death to life. For in the same place it is sayd, that Peter alone did not preach to the Iewes, but with the other eleuen. The wordes were pronounced by Peters mouth onely, but the mynde, sen­tence, & entēt was agreed vpō by all y^e Apostles. Now therfore, if those Scriptures do admitte these phrases of speach, as ap­peareth playnly by the wordes of the holy Ghost. Then this is a necessary consequent. That our Lord Iesu Christ did in lyke maner apply his wonted communication vsed with the Apo­stles, to Peters cōmon aunswere.Aug. Retra. Cap. 11. In the like phrase of speach were those wordes: Thou art Peter, and vpon this Rocke will I build my Church. For as Peter in the behalfe of all his fellowes affirmed, that hee was Christ the sonne of the liuyng God,Chrisost. in Hom. Pen­thec. To. 3. so Christ likewise though he named Peter onely, yet acknowled­geth [Page 16] the vniuersall consent and confession of all the rest,Hillar. de Trim. lib 6. Cipr. Epist. 3. and in the same doth promise to establish his Church: which interpre­tatiō if you will not allow without witnesses, behold (O [...]otius) I haue alledged auncient Fathers,Orig. in Math. Cap. 16. mainteinyng myne allega­tion agaynst you, and haue noted their places, not obseruyng your disorder herein,Gregor. 1. Distinct. 10. Considerā ­dum. whiche vse to packe together a Rable of names of Fathers omittyng the matter: as though to the re­solution of doubtfull matters, neéded nothyng but names.

Next hereunto you place in order the promise of Christ in these wordes. What soeuer thou shall bynde vpon earth, shall also be bounde in heauen: what then? ought this promise to bee re­strained to Peter onely? or was this promise equally cōmuni­cated to the other Apostles? whose speach is this then? Receaue ye the holy Ghost, whose soeuer sinnes ye do forgeue, shalbe forgeuē them, and whose sinnes soeuer you doe reteine, the same are retei­ned. Is not this the gift of Christ? is not this Christes promise made vnto his twelue Disciples, standyng in the middest of them, and preachyng vnto them all, endyng them all with his heauenly blessing, somewhat afore his Ascention? Is not this sentence manifest enough the witnesse approued? the authori­tie not comptrollable? vnlesse paraduenture you will contend like a child, and stand vpon the nycenes of these sillables byn­dyng and loosing, wherof you made mention before. And yet if ye will obstinately persiste herein, you shalbe vrged with sillables, and titles of like wordes.Math. 18. Verely verely I say vnto you, whatsoe­uer you shall bynde on the earth, the same shalbe bounde in heauen also: and whatsoeuer you loose vpon the earth shalbe loosed also in heauen. Here you this? Do you also perceaue it? and are ye not ashamed? will you attribute that vnto Peter particularly, yea and in earnest? will you vrge and defende stoutly the very same sentēce wherein Mathew & Iohn by manifest proofe do cōuince you? who expresly do protest that the very same power of byn­dyng and loosing, was geuen by our Sauiour Christ to y^e other Apostles in generall? what will you not dare to do in the darcke (good Syr) that practize to defraude vs of the cleare shynyng sunne, how will you peruert and wrest the fathers, that will so craftely iuggle with the expresse wordes of the Scriptures? truely you must either bewray your pestilent [...]eger de mayne [Page] in this place, or confesse your grosse errour. Your thyrd place is this. I haue prayed for thee that thy fayth saynte not, and thou beyng at last conuerted, confirme thy brethren. And what here­of? Can any man bee so witlesse to say, that those wordes of our Sauiour Christ were not aswell spoken to the rest of the Apostles, as to Peter by name? I will therfore first scanne the wordes of the Euangelist in order, that they may be more ap­paraunt:Luc. 22. But you are they, which haue perseuered with me in all my temptations. And I do prouide for you, euen as my Father hath prouided for me a kingdome that you may eate and drinke at my ta­ble in my kingdome and may sit on seates iudging the xij. Tribes of Israell. And the Lord sayd. Symon, Symon behold, Sathan hath de­sired to sist you as wheate, but I haue prayed for thee, that thy fayth faint not, and thou at length being cōuerted confirme thy brethren. In this parcell of Scripture is nothyng particular to Peter, but the same is common to all the Apostles. That they perse­uered with Christ was common to them all.Amongest the Apo­stles no sin­gular pow­er geuen to any one more then all the rest. Iohan. 17. Iohan. 17. The reward like­wise is common to them all, videl. to sit at the heauenly table. Agayne the thyrd parcell had relation to them all. Symon, Symon, Sathan hath desired to sift you as wheate. Sithence the whole processe of the Text therfore was referred to them all, by what Argument, may it be applyed vnto Peter onely? Namely sithence our Lord Iesus goyng a whiles after suf­fer death, and makyng preparation for his Ascention into hea­uen, poured out most earnest prayers vnto his Father, with a long and vehement repetition of wordes, not for Peter parti­cularly, but for all the rest of the Apostles in generall, whiche last and generall prayer of Christ to the Father, who so adui­sedly considereth, shall easely conceaue, that our Lord Iesu Christ made not intercession for Peters faith alone, but for all the rest of the Apostles: And hereof will also maruell much, how great learned Clarkes dayly exercised in the Scriptu­res, can Iudge therof otherwise. Truly the most notable of the auncient Fathers do constantly affirme,Orig. in Math. Cap. 16. that the very same sentences wherewith Supremacie is challenged vnto Peter, are commō to all the other Apostles together with Peter. And this haue I most manifestly proued by the selfe same places, which your selfe vouched. And albeit we passe ouer all these, & [Page 17] geue eare to the holy Ghost, speakyng vnto vs by the mouth of the sacred Scriptures, yet all this Monarchie of Peter which you do so exquisitely aduaunce aboue the Moone,Augustin. de Agone Christi. and the seuen Starres, shalbe founde to haue bene vsurped by the inordinate ambition of Byshops of Rome, and not by any authoritie grosi­ded vpon the doctrine of the auncient Apostolicke Church.

I will begyn with our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ, who hauyng spoken these wordes Thou art Peter &c, Math. 16. immediately after calleth Peter Sathan, and commaunded him to departe from him: bycause hee knew not the thynges that apparteined vnto God. How did Christ then (I beseéch you) erect the supre­macie of his Church in the person of Peter, whom immediate­ly, & almost with one breath, he rebuked bytterly, by that most execrable name of Sathan? and that not without cause: for hee dissuaded him from goyng to Ierusalem. Moreouer if Christ made intercession to the Father for Peter onely, that his fayth should not faynt: how came it to passe, that within a few dayes after, Peter onely with open mouth denyed, & forsware Christ his Lord and Maister? But I doe much miscontentedly make mention of the fall of so notable an Apostle, whō I do acknow­ledge the most excellent amongest the famous Apostles. One­ly this I would to be knowen, that he was ordeined to no seue­rall supremacie in the Churche of Christ, by any authoritie of the Scriptures. We haue heard Christ: let vs come now a litle lower to his Apostles, and namely vnto Paule, who labou­red in the Churche of God (as hee reporteth of him selfe) more then they all: he therefore doth playnly and constantly affirme, that he had receaued as great authoritie from Christ, to be an Apostle ouer the Gentiles, as Peter had ouer the Iewes:Gal. 2. and addeth further, that he had conference with Iames, Cephas, and Iohn, whom he nameth Pillers of the Church, as the chief of all the rest. Yet in the meane whiles hee acknowledgeth no singular prerogatiue of prheminence in Peter. Nay rather he vseth great libertie of speach agaynst Peter him selfe with­out all respect of Principalitie, or mention of dignitie. But why seéke we other testimonies? Peter is a good witnesse con­cernyng him selfe.Petri Epist. 1. Cap. vlt. I beseech the Elders, whiche are amongest you (sayth heé) that am also an Elder, and a witnesse of the Passion of [Page] Christ, and partaker of the same glorie, which shalbe reuealed &c. Behold here the dignitie, behold the Supremacy, and Monar­chie of this reuerend father. He is an Elder amongest Elders: A witnesse amongest other witnesses of the Passion of Christ: partaker with the rest of the same glory to be reuealed. Here is a Triple Crowne truely, yea a most precious Crowne, not made of gold [...], nor beset with precious stones. A most honora­ble Ambassadour of the heauenly glory to bee reuealed, not of any Temporall or earthly dominion. Lastly a most Reuerend Father not in any singular Lordlynes, but by especiall ordina­ry power of his fellow brethren. Who so will throughly sift the doctrine, the ordinaunces, the lyfe, and conuersation of the A­postles,Act. Cap. 1. 2.5. shall finde a most perfect patterne of vnchaungeable consent, but shall not smell any tast, no not one sparke so much of this Lordly Monarchie, wherof this ghostly Prelate doth so subtlely, and largely dispute. Unlesse perhaps he will driue vs to friuolous gesses, as to picke vp children kyckesses together. As that Peter went before: That hee spake oftentymes first: that hee looked into Christes Sepulchre before Iohn. But if we shall hunte after such gnattes.Act. Cap. 15. The honour geuē to Iames is of more substaunce. Namely when in their publicke assem­bly, the rest of the Apostles did subscribe to the ordinaunce that he made: And that other also: to wit when Peter was desirous to know who should betray our Lord & Sauiour Iesu Christ to the Iewes, him selfe did not enquire therof, but beckened to Iohn, whiche did leane vpon the breast of our Lord, that hee might demaunde the question.

But howsoeuer these thynges are construed. The callyng of the Apostles was equall: one maner of function amongest them all, the authoritie indifferent: one selfe same holy Ghost poured vpon eche of them at one tyme, the promises generall, & the reward proportionall. The which though I doe knit vp briefly, makyng hast foreward: yet if any man will behold eue­ry seuerall parcell, and withall enter into a deépe considera­tion of the most pure, and vndefiled Church of Christ, and his Apostles, as he shall perceaue an enterchaūgeable communion in that strickte societie of Apostleshyp, so shall he soundly iudge of that Monarchie and superioritie in possessiōs, in giftes, and [Page 18] other functions, and all other priuiledges of dignitie especial­ly: That they were vtterly renounced of Peter, and of all that sacred Brotherhood. These former positions therefore beyng now thus well fenced, your cutted Apishe Sophisme is cut of by the rumpe, wherewith you conclude so ridiculously: If it be euidēt (say you) yea more apparaūt then the sunne in mid­day, that Peter was aboue all the other Apostles in superio­ritie of degree, then is it most manifest, that the same ho­nour and preheminence in dignitie is due to all them that suceede him in place. O leaddagger Argumēt, in which what shall I blame first? If Peter (you say) were a Prince. It is all one forsooth, as if this our holy father had wynges, perhaps he would flye like a Wildgoose. But admit that Peter were pla­ced in Pontisicalibus, as you would haue it, though it be quyte contrary, as I haue already proued. But we will graunt it vn­to you for a tyme. What will you gayne hereby? That the same dignitie is due to the Successours? wherfore I pray you? The priuiledge of the person is not extended beyond the per­son:The priui­ledge of the person rea­cheth no further thē the partie him selfe, vnlesse it be limited by name. And therefore if the Maiestie of Peter were peculiar to Peter, euen so it ended in him selfe. But if you had no leysure to learne the Ciuill Law, can not common reason teache you, that whatsoeuer priuiledge is geuen to one person alone, may not bee translated to his successours, vnlesse it bee limited by name? But if these two crooches deceaue you, come of, and learne of our Sauiour Iesu Christ him selfe, what kinde of su­periority that was, wherof Christ made mentiō to Peter.Math. 16. Bles­sed art thou Symon Bariona, for fleshe and bloud haue not reuealed this vnto thee: but my father which is in heauen. Thou art Peter &c. Which wordes doe playnly conuince, that flesh and bloud were not partakers of this promise, nor y^t any especiall choise was made of the person of Peter, but of his fayth and confes­sion onely:Galat. 2. For God doth not accept the person of any man. In like maner neither flesh nor bloud may challenge any succession in this promise, whether it be Iuly, Boniface, or any other: But the fayth and confession of Peter is the true succession of Peter. For if his succession were due vnto personages, then should this dignitie be oftentymes committed to Sorcerors, and heretiques, but this is altogether repugnaunt to the sa­cred [Page] institution of our Sauiour Christ, to builde his Churche vpon so stinkyng a puddle.

Therfore cast away this your patched conclusion, lame, and haltyng of euery legge. For without all question Peter obtei­ned no such interest in Principalitie: or if he did, it was but in his confession of fayth onely: And therfore can no man clayme any other succession, as lineally from him, vnlesse perhaps you may cōmaunde God to loue an Italian Prelate, because he is borne in Italic, better then an English or Spanish Byshop: or that ye will locke fast the holy Ghost to the Citie of Rome.Iohan. 3. But the Spirite will blow where him listeth, and the tyme commeth and is euen now already come, that neither in this Mount, nor in Ieru­salem, nor in any appointed place God shall be worshipped. Iohan. 4. God is a spirite, and his true worshippers, shall worship him in spirite and truth. But will ye come nearer home? harken to your own Do­ctour Ierome, whose iudgement I haue here noted, worthy surely to he engrauen in letters of gold. If authoritie bee en­quired for,Iero. and Euagr. the world is greater then a Citie whersoeuer a By­shop be, either at Rome, or at Eugubium, or at Rhegium, or at Constantinople, or at Alexandria, all be together equall of like merite and of like Priesthoode. The power of riches or ba­senes of pouertie maketh not a Byshop higher or lower. They all are the successours of the Apostles, wheresoeuer they sit, and of what estate so euer they be &c. To the same effect wri­teth Cyprian,Cypri. ad Simplic.in these wordes. ‘The same thyng verely were the Apostles that Peter was, endued with like partakyng of honour and power:But the begynnyng, first entered by vnitie, to the entent that the vnitie of the Church might be shewed to be one.’ Is it euen so Cypriā? is this thy verdite? that all the A­postles were endued with like partakyng of honour and pow­er? But you my Lord affirme cleane contrary.Osorius pag. 17. That Peter was appointed chief of all the Apostles, and that this is more manifest then the Sunne in midday, and that hereunto a­gree the Scriptures, auncient fathers, and that generall cō ­sent of antiquitie. Truly you speake many wordes, but no mā besides your fraternitie will beleue you, not of any pleasure of gaynesaying: but bycause you alledge nothyng that may en­duce to yeld.

[Page 19]And bycause you seéme somewhat tymorous of y^e successe of your Diuinitie, in this deépe & principall cause of Monarchie, you catch hold fast of a Sophistical target.Osorius ibidem. That in the church wiche is but one, ought to be one chief Ruler vpon whom all men may depende, by whose authoritie troubles may be appeased, and outragious opinions may be suppressed. &c. There is in deéde but one Church generally, as there is but one confession of Christian fayth, yet this generalitie of the Church is distributed into many particular congregatiōs: as all Nations haue their seuerall administrations of Iustice. Now therefore as euery dominion is deuided into seuerall di­stinctions of gouernement, so to euery particular Church are ordeined seuerall Pastours: and yet in the meane whiles finde no lacke at all of your new vpstart Monarchie, whereof was neuer question moued in y^e golden age of the primitiue church. But you Reply with pretie poppet reasons. That contenti­ous can not bee calmed, nor outrages suppressed, except some one be ordeined chief and head of the Church. Ibidem. This fonde distinction the common course of humaine actions doth vtterly extinguish. For euery seuerall Prince doth gouerne his common weale with wholesome distinct ordinaunces, and yet make not so great aduauncement of this stately Monarchy, as you do phantastically dreame. But perhappes this is neédefull in matters of Religion: why I pray you more then in tempo­rall regiments? The gouernement of Rome it selfe (for the singularitie wherof you play the champion) wil minister exam­ples vnto vs of either part. Augustus was an honorable Em­perour. Vespasian indifferent, but Caius Caligula, Sueto. in the lyfe of xi [...]. Empe­rours. and Nero were horrible monsters, who did not onely weaken the Maie­stie of the Romane Empire, but ransacked and rent in peéces the whole world almost. Euen so the Romishe Byshops in the first swathling cloutes of the first primitiue time of the church, were very godly and sounde, and to vse the wordes of the scrip­ture, did many tymes withstand the enemies of the Gospell e­uen with losse of lyfe.Platina de vitis Ponti­ficum. But after they had erected this Lordly superioritie of the Papane Monarchy, there was of godlynes, and integritie of lyfe no dramme at all: but of intollerable am­bition, & vnbridled licentiousnes, whole swarmes did appeare. [Page] And yet I speake but a litle. It is not therefore requisite to hang all the keyes vnder one maus gyrdle alwayes, nor yet scarse good pollicie. For if it were so, there might be some daū ­ger therein, lest the frowardnesse of one person might ouer­throwe the whole estate of Christianitie. There is farre lesse ieoperdy, where seuerall Prouinces are ruled by their seuerall Pastours: for proofe wherof if it be not sufficient to haue alled­ged reason & experience, I will recite vnto you out of the Regi­ster of Romish Byshops for witnes, Gregorie the first: Who in this matter vttereth the same reason, in the same wordes. And for playnesse of the matter, I will set them downe as hee hath spoken them whiche are these.Grego. in Epist. ad Mauri. lib. 4 Epist. 32. If we haue but one onely head, the fall of that head, is the fall of the whole Churche: it any mā presume to take vpon him this name of vniuersall By­shop, the whole Church falleth downe from her estate, when he falleth which is called vniuersall. But farre may this name of blasphemie be from all Christian myndes, whereby the honour of all Priests is diminished in part, whiles this arrogaunt sin­gularitie is presumed vpon, &c. May any thyng be sayd more playnly or plentyfully? can any thyng be pronounced more ve­hemently, or effectually agaynst this extraordinary and pre­sumptuous Lordlynes of Papacie? Neither did Gregorie o­therwise, then he spake: For when this Satanicall name of vniuersall Byshop was offred vnto him by the Coūcell of Cal­cedon,Grego. in Epist. 30.50 36. hee refused it with great detestation, and would by no meanes be acquainted therewith: although you deny the same most shamelesly, as shalbe declared afterwardes.

Cant. 2. Osor. pag. 17.But here you obtrude agaynst vs the misticall Sonet of Salomon. Wherein he commaundeth his spouse to catch the Foxes destroying the vynes: which be (as you interpret it) heretiques peruertyng the Churche: And this you af­firme cā by none other meane be brought to passe, except some one be set in authoritie, that may roote vp the mores of hereticall contagion before they be ripe. First of all (O­sorius) it is hard to establish a firme doctrine by an Allegorie: Moreouer the denomination of Foxes doth no more resemble heretiques, then any other wicked persons. But to graunt this vnto you in some respect, by what argument do ye proue that [Page 20] heretiques can by no meanes els be apprehended, vnlesse your singular Monarchy be admitted? The Emperour Phocas did first of all erect this Papal Empire in Boniface the iij. What then? Had not Peter long before Foxes in chase? and the other Apostles likewise?Act. of the Apost. the 5.15. Chap. Call to your remembraunce Ananias, Sa­phira and Elymas the sorcerour: forget not other pestilent ex­amples like vnto the same, and you will be better aduised. Pro­ceéde a degreé lower to those graue Fathers, the first Byshops of the Romish Church, Clemēs, Anacletus, Marcellus, & ma­ny others. Could the holy Martyrs haue sealed our Religion with their bloud, vnlesse they had first daunted the pride of Ty­rauntes, and heretiques with the sword of the Scriptures? But here paraduenture you will Triumph, bycause? I make so honorable mention of the Romish Seé. I wis it is neédelesse: For I doe here commend Byshops, not Popes: Martyrs, not Monarches. And yet in truth I haue no quarell with the Ro­mishe Seé, or the Byshop therof, nor euer had: It is that vsur­ped authoritie that exalteth it selfe aboue all earthly power, which I do challenge and will proclaime open warre agaynst, whiles breath is in my body, except I finde a stronger Goliath then you are hetherto.

But we will returne to your Foxes, whereof I haue noted the ouerthrow of sondry most subtill and craftie before the Pa­pacie. This our later age (praysed be God) doth punish and vt­terly suppresse whole sects of heresies, although the same doth not acknowledge your Papane principalitie I dare be bold to vouch England, and I conceaue no lesse frendly of other com­mon weales, agaynst the which you can not forge any probable reason to the contrary, or why it should not be so. For if there were no vniuersall Monarche of the Churche, sittyng in that stately chayre at Rome, ought that be any estoppell to the By­shops of England, Scotland, Poland, or Germany, yea of Spayne or Portingall, or any other dominion or common weale, but that they may apprehend hereticques, yea and pu­nish them? Haue they no Magistrates, do they lacke lawes? are they voyde of sense and vnderstanding? Put on your spectacles Osorius, and behold all Christian Nations, and marke wel the maners of the people. Are they not sufficiently prouided for [Page] their common safetie, and tranquilitie by their owne peculiar lawes? do not Princes gouerne their seuerall territories in or­derly pollicie? may they administer all other matters well, and can not confute the absurdities of heresies, without this Ty­rannous Ierarchy of Rome? Can not we touch an heretique? or can not other Regions do the like, which are in the further­most part of the world, seuered from the costes of Italy, except they gad to Rome for a Pelting Oracle? do you iustifie this, O­sorius? is this the wisedome of an old man? are you so altoge­ther voyde of learnyng, experience, and discretion also? Yea ra­ther, before any Pope was at all, heretiques were layd handes vpon. Euen now also rigour of law is executed agaynst them: Neither can any Foxe be foside so crafty, as your reasons allu­ded vnto thē, are vtterly friuolous & vnskillfull. But ye skippe from Salomon to Paule, and of him you write in this maner.

Osorius pag. 18. b. Therfore Paule in his second Epistle to the Thessaloniās denyeth that it may come to passe that Antichrist shall come, before there be a departyng from the fayth. First of all, this is somewhat straunge in you, that you note the place. And surely in very good tyme haue ye done it: for euen here your vnshamefast imprudencie is taken tardy. Paule pronoun­ceth in that place, that our Lord Iesu Christ shall not come be­fore a departyng be of the fayth first: but you for our Lord and Sauiour Christ, haue placed Antichrist. Paules wordes are these.Ad Thessa. 2. Cap. 2. Let no man deceaue you by any meanes, for the Lord shall not come, except there come a departyng first, and that sonne of perdition be reuealed. You are caught Osorius and so entangled in this snatch, that ye can not escape. Are you not ashamed to depraue Paules sentence so blasphemously? can you with so ex­ecrable impietie, and horrible ignoraunce, place Antichrist in steéde of Christ? and the sonne of perdition, in the place of our Lord Iesu? And as though Paule had spoken so in deéde, can you so beastly proceéde to the confirmation of that your Baby­lonicall Empire, with a sentence of Paule pestilently peruer­ted? Is this the profession of a Byshop? is this the Diuinitie of Osorius? Downe with that Pecockes tayle, away with this arrogancie: be no more so collhardy, and write hereafter more aduisedly, and take better regard to your penne, lest you bryng [Page 21] your name into odious contempt with all Christendome. Take your pleasure in my wordes, wrest them as ye list: but handle Paule more discreétly. But you are learnedly plentyfull in ex­amples, heaping together Iohn Husse, Ierome of Prage, Mar­tin Luther, and many others. Who, as you do affirme,Osorius pag. 18. b. haue re­uolted from this your Romishe Monarche of set purpose,bycause beyng exempt frō his Iurisdiction, they might be more freely licentious in writyng and speakyng. Why doe ye coniecture so (vayne Southsayer)? They were men of lau­dable conuersation, voyde of all maner ryotte, not culpable in any notorious or haynous crime: Therefore how may they be duely charged of any suspition of dissolute behauiour, that ly­ued alwayes discreétly and soberly?

But this is but a trifle with you, to defame a fewe persons by name: you rushe vpon all England with open mouth,pag. 19. As though after the abolishyng your Romishe Monarche, it were forthwith caried violētly into all vnbridled lust. This is a false suggestion by your leaue Syr, for assoone as we had shaken of the foreine yoke from our shoulders, and yelded our selues to the lawfull authoritie of our souereigne Prince, all thynges went better, and more peacibly with vs: especially in this later age of the Gospell renewed, which beyng cōpared to those elder yeares, wherein your Romish Prelate did insolent­ly treade vpō & triumph ouer vs, may wel be adiudged to haue enioyed most blessed prosperitie. Then which heauēly benefite our victorious Ilād doth most thākefully cōfesse neuer to haue receaued greater at the hands of God. God for his inestimable mercy, graunt that it may be permanent vnto the worldes end: and that weé most humbly submittyng our selues to our natu­rall and liege souereigne, vnited together in this most duety­full amitie, may most be estraunged from your extraordinarie Babilonicall Idoll: turnyng the same ouer to you and your fra­ternitie for euer. And now ye runne foreward with more lyes. Rehearsing a rable of sectes, and these you doe imagine to haue entred sithence the Banishmēt of the Pope. pag. 19. As though in the old time were not great swarmes of sectes? wherof Paul doth so oft premonish vs? or as though they raged not wonder­fully, in the tyme of that godly Father Augustine? whose hart [Page] did so boyle against them, that he wrate great volumes against their pestiferous errours? Or as though that sacred father, Peters successour, Pope Liberius were not a mainteyner of that poysoned canker of Arrius? Or as though Celestine and Anastase the second were not stoute champions of that horrible Scorpion Nestorius? Can you obiect sectes, when as no age euer wanted some? Dare you so boldly name sectes when as threé of your Romish graundsiers were mighty patrones them selues of two most pernitious errours? But you affirme that these godly Fathers are maliciously belyed. Call forth your own Alphonse, Alphonsus de Castro. contra hae­ret. lib. 4. Cap. 4. who being a Moncke, and a Spanyard borne, ought to bee of some credite with you beyng a Prelate of Por­tingall. O worthy successours of Peter. O excellent pillers of Christs Church. This it is forsooth to cōmit sheépe vnto Wol­ues: This is it to deliuer the people of God to bloudy But­chers. Yet you blush nothing at this to blame factions of sectes in vs, whiche you reporte to exercise perpetuall warre one a­gainst an other in diuersitie of contrary opinions, and the same to proceéde hereof pardy, bycause they are not in seruitude to Libertines and Celestines, that is to say, to Arrians and Ne­storians. But be it so, as you would haue, that some contrarie­tie were amongest the later sort of our writers. Is there, or can there bee any more monstruous dissention, then hath burst out amōgest your Friers and Monckes? hath euer sharper stormes bene raysed, then betwixt your Schoolemen, brawlyng often­tymes about moates in the sunne?pag. 19. You rush vpon Lutherans and Zuinglians by name. First you doe this besides the mat­ter, bycause I do not defend them: I stand for my countrey, I do defende England, I vndertake the cause of litle Britaine against you, wherein I will abide whiles breath is in my body. If you prouoke enemyes els where, I doubt not but that you shall easely finde them. Yet in the meane space I will recite your wordes, whereby men may know the manifest iniuries, that you vomite agaynst the soules of these sweéte personages, and how vsually you blunder out at all aduenture whatsoeuer your franticke braynes doe imagine. For this you proceéde in accusation.

The Zuinglians doe inueighe agaynst the Lutherans, [Page 22] and the Anabaptistes keepe continuall warres with the Zuingliās. Osori. pag. 19. b. Why do not I here thrust in also Coelestianes and Interemistes, and other names of Scismes? First of all there is no contradiction betwixt Luther and Zuinglius in the prin­cipall pointes of Christian Religion. They doe differ in the Sacrament of the Eucharistie, not in the substaunce thereof, but in the maner of the presence of Christ. And yet perhaps this quarell is more about wordes, then matter. But you haue not onely wickedly transubstātiated (to speake like a Schoole­man) our Sauiour Iesus Christ into bread, with most mon­struous deuises, but also thrust vpon vs vj. hundred lyes, euery one contrary to other: whiles you amaze the eares and myndes of Christians, with this absurde and newfangled doctrine. And therfore your graund captaine of Schoolemen, Peter Lōbard, Peter Lom­barde. in this doubtfull conflict, broyling and turmoyling him selfe, and throughly wearied with your mockeries, doth conclude at the last, That Transubstantiation ought to bee inuiolable, for the autenticke authoritie of the Church of Rome: but that it cā not be founde in the Scriptures. As for the Anabaptistes you did name them without all reasons. For you are not ignoraūt, that the vniuersall consent of all Churches haue condemned them: vnto whom Luther and Zuinglius were as earnest ene­mies as your Maistershyp, or any of all your brotherhoode. Surely in our common wealth, they can reteine no footyng, nor in any other coūtrey that I know or, cā heare of. What ma­ner of men those Celestianes be, I would fayne learne of you, & of your durtie cōpanion of Angrence, bycause you haue geuen that name first: as farre as I can perceaue. The other sortes are Interemistes, by this name (as I gesse) notyng those men, which to make a certeine qualification in Religion, haue pat­ched vp a certeine booke of peéuishe Romish dregges, and haue entituled it by the name of Interim. If this be true: what came into your braynes to reckon two of your souldiours or graund-captaines vnder our Banner? That Commentarie of Interim is yours (I say) your owne. These were your owne Doctours and their whole doctrine is yours. They were tractable for a tyme in the mariage of Priestes, in the receauyng of the Sa­crament, vsing the necessitie of the present tyme, but in all the [Page] rest, (as much as in them was) they did gorgiously garnishe their Romish kyngdome. And therefore in this last place you were fondly foolishe, to affirme that your owne chieftaines dis­played banner vnder your enemyes enseignes. Truly either your memory is very slipperie, or your wittes went a wollga­theryng, when you were ouer earnest in your slaunderous ima­gination. Yet are you much miscontented with these men like­wise, bycause they seéme to varie amongest them selues.

For they correct (I will vse your intricate wordes by your leaue) they alter, they turne in and out, they blotte out the old and make new places &c. When you name places, I sup­pose you meane common places of Scriptures, or litle bookes of common places. If it be so, you ought to haue remembred the Grecian Prouerbe. The secōd determinations are accōp­ted wiser then the first. Neither can any thyng resemble the Christian modesty more nearely, then if we amend our selues as neéde requireth. We haue a notable example hereof, Aurel. Augustine who made a booke of his errours entitled a Retra­ctation. The Retra­ctation of August. But you are in an other predicament: That is to say, you are apprentices and so addicted bondslaues to these drow­sie dreames (the dayly practize whereof hath so betwitched your senses) that no strēgth of the truth cā mollifie your harts, cloyed altogether in that phantasticall puddle of schoolemyre. But howsoeuer you shall remaine stiffenecked your selues, you ought not yet reproue the modestie of others, whiche fashion them selues nearest to Christian simplicitie. Neither was any exāple at any tyme more cōmendable in the Church of Christ, then this of Augustine was. You seé now what a stinckyng re­ward you haue gotten for this pursuyte of Sectaries: and yet as if you had besturred your stumpes hādsomely, you triumph in these wordes.

What can you Replie to this? was there a generall con­sent betwixt them that sprang out of Luther? no disagree­ment? no contradiction in opinions? But how much bet­ter had it bene for you, to haue reuerenced that lead where­at you scorne so much? then to haue opened such a gappe to so mōstruous pestiferours errours? I aunswere that these your metie questions concerne me nothyng at all. For I am an [Page 23] English man, not a Lutherane. I stand for England and not for Luther agaynst you. Yet do I pronoūce this also, that there was a generall consent amongest the Lutherans:There was no disagreement a­mōgest the Lutherans. no disagreé­ment, no contradiction in opinions. For they all sticke fast to Augustines cōfession, nor will suffer them selues to be drawen from it. But that confession (say you) I do not allow. Nei­ther is this matter now in question, what maner of confession that was: for howsoeuer that be, it is most certeine that the Lu­therans did perseuer stedfastly therein.Coelest. Anabap. Interem. As for the rest whiche you heape together, are either fayned, or coyned by you, or ba­nished from all men, as well from vs as from you. Or els they be your owne sweéte sworne brethren, sauyng that they haue somewhat more modestie & discretion then you. Therfore this is but a slender Argumēt to enduce me to reuerence your lead, except I were too too leaddish by nature. But sithence you haue shronke from your tackle, and forsaken the leaden Bulles of your Monarche in so succourlesse a shipwracke, without helme or cable in such dispayred perplexitie, you are to be esteémed not onely a leadden and woodden, but a durtie aduocate also of your Romish Monarchie: if at the least any thyng may be more fil­thy then durte. Yet that ye may the better proceéde, you spitte on your handes, and take hold of my wordes, which are these. But there came a thundercracke into our eares out of the hea­uenly authoritie of the sacred Scriptures, that made our con­sciences afrayde: and compelled vs to abandonne and for­sake all mens Traditions, and too putte our whole confi­dence in the onely freémercy of God. Well: I acknowledge this speache to be myne owne, yea and gladly also: And I finde nothyng therein blameworthy.

But what sayth Osorius to this grace? Doe ye not say gramercy to Luther (sayth hee) that linked you so fast with such a singular benefite to abandonne all fearefulnes from you? What is the matter my Lord? what Planet hath distem­pered you? I haue nothyng here to do with Luther nor with his doctrine of fayth. I shewed that our consciences were terrified with the authoritie of sacred Scriptures, and constrained to fleé to the freé mercy of God: you say, Luther hath written er­roniously touchyng fayth: forsooth these two hang together like [Page] a sicke mans dreame. As if a man would argue in this wise. Osorius is a most impudent rayler, Ergo, his companion of An­grence is a perfect Logician. Are you not ashamed to cite whole sentences from an other writer, beyng vnable to frame any probable obiections agaynst any one of them? For as con­cernyng Luther albeit, I haue not vndertaken to defende him (as I haue oftentymes protected) yet this doe I suppose, that neither he, nor any other interpretour of y^t Scriptures ought to bee admitted vpon euery particular Assertion, but to haue relation to the whole discourse and meanyng of the Authour. If this especiall regard bee had vnto Luther (as in deéde it ought) he shalbe founde a profounde scholemaster both of fayth, and a good workes: and so farre to excell you in learnyng, that ye shall not be worthy to beare his bookes after him, howsoeuer you delight your selfe to gnaw vpon a few wordes of his, vnad­uisedly throwen out in some heate of disputation. But by the way you stūble also at an other straw of myne, bycause I wrate that we haue forsaken and reiected the traditions of men: And with many i [...]gglyng wordes challenge vs, that we are be­holdyng herein to Luther, Zuinglius, Melancthon, Bucer, Caluin, and Peter Martyr. O my ouer tedious and toylesome lucke, that hoped to dispute with a learned and discrete Di­uine, who would without good grounde haue blamed nothyng, nor vsed any cauillatiōs: but now finde all contrary. For I am pestered with a fonde brabblyng clatterer, which delightyng altogether in vncessaunt chatteryng snatcheth and snarleth at thynges ratified and approued by all men. I am therfore con­strayned now to play the child agayne, in the principles of Di­uinitie as he doth, and those questions must be debated, wher­of no man hauyng any skill, can be ignoraunt. In the same ma­ner therfore, we haue cast away traditiōs of men, as our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ hath pronounced in the Gospell, vn­der the person of Esay the Propet, But in vayne they worshyppe me teachyng the doctrine and traditions of men: And as our Lord Iesu a litle before rebuked the Phariseis.Math. 25. You haue made fru­strate (sayth he) the commaundement of God, through your owne traditions. We geue eare vnto men as they be men: but if they ones teach contrary to God, we despise and set them at naught. [Page 24] And enen so we doe allow of Luther, Bucer, and of the rest, so long as they explane the mysteries of the sacred Scriptures vnto vs: wherein those famous men haue oftentymes trauai­led very cōmendably, though you iangle neuer so much agaynst them. As for those beggerly fragmentes of mans inuention, beyng without all couer of Scriptures, yea rather contrary to the same, though they, and you also doe warraunt them vnto vs, we will not receaue them. Now you are taught sufficient­ly enough (I thinke) how we haue forsaken those peltyng phan­tasies of men: likewise how we conceaue of those notable lear­ned fathers, whose workes wilbe thākefully embraced, whiles the world doth endure, though you slaūderously barcke at them neuer so much. And yet I deny not, but they were subiect to sinne and errours, which happened also to the auncient fathers Augustine, Tertullian, Origine, & Cyprian. Who sometymes wandred out of the way, & were estranged from the truth. Yet do I not now compare, nor at any time heretofore did compare our [...]ate writers with those auncient fathers, as you cauill a­gaynst me: but I iudge of them as beseémeth me, and I pro­fesse that they were the seruauntes of God.

Whereas you vpbrayde vs with our maner of lyfe by the reportes of our cursed enemyes, such as you are: you follow herein your owne gyddy brayne. For true innocencie will ne­uer desire better witnesses, then such filthy and slaunderous backbyters: wherin your request to be pardoned is so much the more vnreasonable, by how much you do boldly defend, with­out all regarde of the grauitie of a Byshop, or the naturall due­tie of an honest man, such scattered rumours rashly conceaued of headles report, in steéde of well knowen and approued offen­ces. This also you seéme to mislike in me, as a matter intolle­rable, that I commende the prosperous raigne of our Queénes Maiestie, and herein your coūsell is to for seé the tyme to come, & the troublesome estate of other Princes. The Queénes high­nes belike without the aduise of Osorius can not cōceaue those matters, wherof no man can be ignoraunt that is but meanely practized in the dayly actions of mās life. Haue an eye to your owne charge of Siluan, and be ye carefull for them. Her Maie­stie surmountyng in knowledge and wisedome, regardeth not [Page] your peéuishe and dotyng counsell, especially beyng conceaued rather of malice to true Religion, then of any loue to her safe­tie. Ye keépe a great sturre about the Tumultes in Fraunce, and complayne much of treason conspired agaynst the kyng, and safetie of his person, and with all, that his aduersaries re­quired not his bloud onely, but that the whole bloud Royall should be rooted out of Fraunce. O licencious venemous toūg, worthy to be pluckt out by the rootes, from out that execrable mouth, except it recant in tyme. Dare you presume so impu­dently to make guiltie of so cruell and horrible treason, so ma­ny worthy personages of y^e florishyng Realme? Namely when as the kyng him selfe by his open Proclamation, acknowled­ged some of them, (agaynst whom you rayle so pestiferously) to be his deare kinsmen, the other his beloued subiectes: and that their beyng in armes concerned the generall safetie of Fraūce? Many variable, vnciuill, and malicious rumours haue bene blowen abroad in many places, touchyng those ciuill warres: but neuer was any man heard to haue spoken so blockishly, so barbarously, so voyde of reason, and so monstruously as this Gentleman speaketh beyng a Byshop & an old man. And ther­fore we shall the lesse wonder at your rashnesse and impudencie in controuersie of Religiō hereafter, seyng your sauadge bold­nesse in this detestable & bloudy accusation of the greater part of Fraunce, without cause, without reason, and without proofe.

When matter and reason doe openly fayle you, then you wrangle about wordes: Bycause I named Luthers doctrine yours: agaynst the which you stand stoutely, and doe most deadly hate it. What shall I say to so captious and bussardly a Sophister? I terme it not yours, as though you defend it, but bycause you depraue it, bycause you peruert and iumble it with lyeng, that it can not be discerned as you haue mishapen it: whereas otherwise of it selfe, it is a most comfortable trea­sure of the Gospell somewhat infected with poysoned contagiō of childish errours: but in these latter dayes through the inesti­mable benefite of God discouered, and clensed by the commen­dable industrie of those singular learned Diuines Luther, Bu­cer, Caluin, Melanchton, and others: whom though you des­pise at your pleasure, yet whē Osorius shalbe dead and rotten, [Page 25] and the name of this reuerend Prelate of Portingall out of all remembraunce,Osorius his ignoraunce in iudge­ment and triflyng a­bout words. their names wilbe commended to eternitie to their immortall prayse. For what man will esteéme of you, who (besides your foolish and vnskilfull handlyng the matter wher­of you entreate) are altogether ignoraunt in the proprietie of wordes, wherein you may seéme to make a pretie shewe. You thinke this spokē vnproperly by me: videl. that your slug­gishnes should be awakened and your dulnes pricked for­ward, what say you drousie Prelate? Truly you sleape so soūd­ly, y^t you snorte agayne that cā deny this kynde of speach: A mā may be awakened out of sleape, and be pricked forward beyng dull. Learne out of the Gospell: The blynd do see, the lame doe walke, leapers are cleansed, the deafe do heare, the dead do ryse a­gayne. Luce. 7. Which wordes of our Sauiour doe not argue that the blynd do see, or that the lame doe walke: but that those whiche were blynde and lame, were restored to sight and walkyng. Learne againe of Cicero, Cicero pro Mar. Coe­lio. who speaketh on this wise. Let yoūg men obserue the boundes of their owne chastitie, lest they defile the chastitie of others, lest they consume their patrimonie, & be deuoured w^t debt: Let them not offer force to virgines, nor dis­honestie to the chast, nor infamie to y^e vertuous, &c. what? Can virgines be defloured? no surely: not so long as they are vir­gines, but by allurements they may be carried frō their shame­fastnes. Cā the chast be defiled? no truely, but yet this chastitie may be seduced in processe of tyme to loosenesse. Learne at the last what the old Prouerbe emplyeth, whereby is forbidden to pricke foreward the willyng: which Prouerbe if we do admit, this also is spoken properly enough: The dull are to bee pric­ked foreward, and the sluggish to be awakened. Neither would you haue euer gaynsayd the same, vnlesse the malice you owe vnto me, had drowned your sences. In good sooth I am asha­med of you Osorius: and so haue bene lōg agoe: neither would I contend any further with so bluntish & blockish a person, if I were not determined to open euidētly, what a senselesse aduer­sary of this holy father England hath, and how vnmeasurable a bragger he is: in whom besides a vayne sounde of friuolous wordes, no mettall can be founde at all. Hereafter therfore I will spende as litle labour as I may, nor will willyng touche [Page] ought of all that huge lumpe of idle wordes, scattered abroad by you euery where, without reason, or measure, more then the necessitie of the cause will require.

After that you haue waded in your accustomed grosse ray­ling agaynst the lyfe of our preache [...]s, imputyng vnto them all maner of wickednesse (where with your Sinagogue swarmeth most euidently) you recite at the last certeine of my wordes, vouched out of Augustine which be as followeth. Augustine doth greuously cōplayne that in his tyme such a rabble of beg­gerly ceremonies did ouerwhelme the Churche of Christians, that the estate of Iewes was much more tollerable.Osori. fol. 24. Osorius affirmeth that I did neuer read this sentence in Augustine. This is well. I will cite Augustine his owne wordes, which are these.August. E­pist.19. For although it can not bee founde, how they are a­gaynst the fayth: ‘yet doe they ouerwhelme Religion it selfe (which the mercy of God willed to be freély exercised vnder a very fewe most euident Sacramentes) with seruile burdens. That the estate of the Iewes is much more tollerable: who though knew not the tyme of libertie, were subiect onely to the ordinaunces of the law, and not to mens constitutions.’ What say you? haue I not cited Augustine truly? doth he not speake the same, and in the selfe same wordes playnly that I speake? doth hee not render a reason also, why the state of the Iewes was more tollerable in ceremonies then ours? which beyng cō ­fessed,Osorius his vanitie také tardy. is not your ignoraunce linked w^t singular vnshamefast­nes manifestly conuinced? deny it if you can may rather bycause you can not, yeld to the truth in the open light. For manifest ly­ers are not to be winked at, though they bee Byshops. In lyke maner you be ouerseéne in that godly Father Ierome, who re­quiryng all persons to searche the Scriptures, and to learne them, you would notwithstandyng coyne vs out of the same Ie­rome, Iero. ad Marcel. in Epist. cuius initium est. Mensur. charit. non habet. a contrary doctrine. Bycuase he wrate vnto Paulinus that certeine persons hauing no vnderstandying, nor being commendable in cōuersation of lyfe, did handle the Scrip­tures to licenciously. In whiche speach of yours what would you haue vnderstoode els, but that certeine wicked persons doe abuse the benefite of the Scriptures? wherof no wise mā doth doubt. You are ouerseéne therfore Ierome, that will so foolish­ly [Page 26] and so wyde from the matter, obiect Ierome agaynst hym selfe. If you seéke to be further satisfied herein, peruse Chri­sostome, Chrisost. in 1. & in. 3. Concione de Lazaro. who hath written of the same matter so much and so plentyfully, as nothyng can bee more copious, and more manifest.

I praysed Basile, and besides him also those later Monckes which obserued Basiles rules, as men that suffred lest losse. O­sorius denyeth it, and affirmeth that we doe not contend with men, but with chastitie it selfe. What say you dotterell? how happeneth that you rehearse the name of chastitie, where­of I made no mention at all? And with what face do you make our Nation guiltie of monstruous and barbarous crueltie, as though it employed her whole endeuour to the rootyng out of chastitie from out our coastes, whereas that kynde of sauage­nes can not be seéne amongest the Turkes? You proue it by the example of certeine Charterhouse Monckes forsooth, whiche were worthely executed for hygh treasō about xxx. yeares past, If those men (say you) would haue yelded to the wicked de­crees of mariage, then should they haue bene acquited of all other punishment. As though the estate of Wedlocke were in any Realme accoumpted a punishment? or as though we did constrayne Monckes to marry Wiues agaynst their willes? or as though this most impudent father and shamelesse Byshop cā vtter any thing in word, or deéde sensibly? When as he bealcheth out such foolish and filthy speaches agaynst our common weale, beyng so voyde of all credite and truth, as hauing no droppe of any probabilitie at all. But let vs heare what a worthy conclu­sion this deépe wise man hath brought for his Lurdeines those mockemonckes.Of the sup­pression of Monkes. But admit (sayth hee) that the greater part of them were full of all filthynes, was it therfore forth with necessarie to suppresse the whole order? First of all you doe notably defend your order, which you confesse was full of all vice. Then, we deny that we subuerted any order; but that those disorderous runneagates were reduced to the commō societie of subiectes, & their own commoditie, by meanes of our whole­some Statutes and Lawes. In deéde traytours were executed accordyng to their desert, as belonged to equitie. The rest we remoued from their stinckyng Smynestyes, defiled with all [Page] lazynes and fithynes: & deliuered whole and Iustie to publicke labour and exercise, to prouide so for their liuyng, accordyng to brotherly charitie. But in the meane space (say you) they forsooke their orders of Dominicke, and Benedicte, Bar­narde and Frauncisce, of whom Portingall hath many per­fect professours. Let Portingall reteine such Ioselles a Gods name. We hold our selues contented with that heauenly O­racle, whiche was heard from heauen.Luce.3. Thou art my welbeloued sonne, in whom I am well pleased: Him doe we attende vpon: we harken vnto his Prophetes and Apostles, and withall do per­forme our profession in Baptisme, as farre forth as the frayltie of mans nature will permit: other teachers, other rules, other orders we neither esteéme nor admit. So do we also feéle, and throughly know your superstitious vanitie herein.

You do inueigh bytterly agaynst me, bycause I do com­pare our later Deuines in all maner of commēdation to the auncient fathers, and herein you turmoyle your selfe won­derfully. You shoote at randone my Lord. I do not make com­parison betwixt them, nor euer thought to compare them toge­ther: and therefore you striue here in vayne, and your whole Turkish eloquence is not worthe a straw. My meanyng was to declare, that the auncient Fathers did agreé with out De­uines: And for examples sake, I noted specially some common places, reseruyng the rest, for more conuenient place, bycause all can not be expounded at once. Ouerthrow this my course if you can: but abuse not your tyme, nor myne, nor the Readers with such friuolous lyes, nor seéme to be ouer eloquent, where you haue no aduersary. You are highly offended bycause I prayse Luther. Let not this coūber you, I will prayse him for a very prayse worthy man: so will all the posteritie also: and his studious trauaile in the enlargyng of the Gospell will remaine to y^t worldes end to his euerlastyng renowme, though you and such as you are chaufe and fume neuer so much agaynst him. And yet I thinke there be few like vnto you, besides that durty pigge of Angrence your sweéte cabbemnate, resemblyng you as it seémeth in nature and maners nearest.Luther vn­truly char­ged with vprores in Germany. But as to that you accuse Luther, as authour of the vprores in Germany: herein you reporte a manifest vntruth: for no man did more earnestly [Page 27] defend all obedience due to the Magistrates, and higher pow­ers then Luther. Whereas you adde hereunto the tumultes in Sueuya. You do erre therein more then childishly, where as the Switzers are farre vnlike vnto him in nature, in situatiō, in maners and in discipline. You accuse him also as a rayler agaynst Princes, amongest whom you name the Emperour, our famous Henry, of worthy memory, and George Duke of Saxone. You do helye him in Caesar impudētly, for Luther did reuerence him most humbly. In deéde he did mainteine the cause of the Gospell agaynst our kyng, and somewhat sharpe­ly confuted his Epistle written agaynst him at the first, whom afterward (beyng amended and reformed in doctrine) hee em­braced most louyngly, and aduaunced with all kynde of hono­rable title. Lōg tyme he instructed George Duke of Saxone,George Duke of Saxone. & with most sweéte aduertisementes perswaded him, called vp­on hym with incessaunt prayers and Supplications. But af­ter the Duke had hard harted him selfe, and waxed insolently obstinate in all thynges, nor would make any ende of spoyling, and turmoyling Gods people: Lurther beholdyng the lamen­table ruine of his Christian brethren round about him, did bit­terly inueighe agaynst that trayterous outrage of Duke Ge­orge, induced thereunto by the example of the holy Prophets agaynst the Princes of Iuda [...] and of Iesu Christ our Sauior agaynst Herode the Tetrarche.1. Kyngs. 18 Luke.18.

At the last you conclude That all Luthers preachyngs did tende to prouoke the people to sedition. O shamelesse toūg. How would you delude vs, if no man had read Luthers bookes but your selfe? how would you abuse our age in heapyng lyes vpon lyes, if we had no witnesse agaynst you? when as Luther left behynde him as many pledges of Christian humilitie, as he wrote bookes. No man more constantly mainteined the au­thoritie of Magistrates, no mā did more often inculcate, more plentyfully preach, more vehemently Imprinte, more earnest­ly exact Christian obedience, then he did. His writyngs are ex­taunt, liuely, and florishyng, and will with a whole searyng y­ron of detractiō, marke you for a backbiter to your euerlasting reproch. That was a great and manifest errour that I made: but here ensueth a greater, farre more horrible agaynst renow­med [Page] Princes, notable common weales, yea in matters of high treason: by the which as by degreés this reuerend Prelase ad­uaunceth his shamelesse and execrable vanitie so much, that all men may iudge him not onely to haue forgotten all truth, and modestie, but also vtterly abandoned the same.

This matter hee affirmeth to be most apparaunt, that Lewes kyng of Hungarie, and a great multitude of Christi­ans were slayne in battell through the folly and wickednes of Luther, Luther charged with the ouer­throw of the Hunga­rians most vntruly. and that hereof ensued the Conquest of Buda, by the Turkishe Emperour. O venemous toung to bee dete­sted of all men, that haue any loue of the truth, or regard of hu­manitie. Can you doubt or be ignoraunt of this (most peruerse dissembler) that this lamentable death of the king, and the losse of Buda, came by the onely outragious vnmeasurable rashnes of that cowled prelate Tomorraeus Archb. of Tholosse:Tomorrae­us Archb. of Tholosse. Which had so bewitched y^e people with hautie & arrogaunt preachyng, that they rushed out headlong, with a small and weake handfull agaynst an huge hoste, and inuincible power of Solyman: in so much that after y^e Conquest, Solyman him selfe could not keépe countaunce, but smilingly scorned the insolencie of the Hun­garians, which had so vnaduisedly yelded into his hands their kyng to be slayne, & their kyngdome to be spoyled? Is not this true? do ye not know it perfectly?Paulus Io­uius in his 23.booke of Histories. Doth not Paulus Iouius your chief a counsell report this story parcell meale? yea euery title therof? was euer any man besides you so franticke, as to charge Luther therewith? The place it selfe doth conuince you, where­in at that tyme scarse any Lutheran had set any footyng: The tyme doth confute you, for Luthers name was as yet scarsely knowen. The circumstaunces of the History doe condemne you, whiche doe cry out agaynst that Monkishe Archbyshop of Tholosse, for that pityfull losse, & lamentable effusion of Chri­stian bloud, as I haue declared before out of Paulus Iouius.

But it is no maruell, if hee can so franckely coyne a lye a­gaynst a Region so farre distant from vs, when as hee spareth not to presse vpon vs Englishmen here in English, with a most exectable lye.Osorius slaūder tou­chyng the death of kyng Ed­ward the sixt. For hee affirmeth that Edward the sixt our Royall kyng of famous memory was haynously poysoned in his Childhode. O monstruous beast, can you beyng a Por­tingall [Page 28] borne so impudently diffame our Region with y^e horri­ble crime, without all likely or probable proofe now that swētie yeares he spent and gone? when as no sober or discreét English man did euer conceaue any such thought in his mynde? The Phisitians reported that he dyed of a consumption. The same was affirmed by the Groomes of his priuy Chamber, whiche did keépe cōtinuall watch with the sicke kyng. All his subiectes did beleue it for a confessed truth. Neither could your slaunde­rous Fable haue bene blowen abroad, but amongest tattlyng women, foolishe children, and such malicious English loselles like vnto you: nor yet could this rotten vnfauorie cauill haue had any discreét Authour, had it not bene whispered into that Asse head of Osorius.

He coupleth hereunto Caesar, who he saith was betrayed and destroyed by treason. Of the o­uerthrow of the Em­perour. Truely Caesar did not onely pur­sue, but also vanquishe the Germaines, chasing them in Ger­manie with a great army of Spanish and Italian souldiours. The which ouerthrow the Germaines shooke of as well as they might. But the last warres raysed by Maurice, what they pur­ported, and what successe they tooke I will passe ouer, nor will blame in the dead, whom I confesse a victorious Emperour when hee lyued.Osor. slaū ­derous lye touchyng the poyso­nyng of Queene Mary. He ioyneth Queene Mary a Princesse that raigned very lately, and her also auoweth to haue bene de­stroyed with poyson. Who euer beleéued or reported this but you (railyng Scorpion) All the English Nation, and all other Straūgers, y^t were then in England, will manifestly reproue & condemne this your malicious and shamelesse impudencie.

There raunged at that tyme a certeine outragious bur­nyng feauer, which infected all the estates in y^e Realme, and a­mōgest the rest,The death of Queene Mary. shortned the liues of the richest and most hono­rable personages: at what tyme Queéne Mary in many things most commendable, after a few monethes dyed of the same dis­ease. In like maner Cardinall Poole, The death of Cardinal Poole. an excellent learned mā, beyng sicke of a quartan, departed this world the same tyme. You demaunde of me [...]ery mala [...]ertly, as if the matter were manifest and confessed, whether I vnderstode any thyng of that conspiracie, wherewith most wicked men practized the destruction of Queene Mary, and Cardinall Poole. Ue­ryly [Page] I do simply confesse, that there was neuer any such matter spoken, writtē, fayned, or surmised, vnlesse by some such madde dogges, as your selfe: which hauyng els nothyng to snarle at, do barcke and houle at y^e cloudes, moone, and starres, and ma­ny tymes at their owne shadowes. You tell vs a tale of some flying vapours and drousie dreames (Osorius) imagined in that rotten mazer of yours, when you clatter out such matters, whereof neither I, or any man els euer heard, or could heare one word, except he might chaunceably light vpō some Synon of Osorius trayning, that could with most craftie conueyaunce make a mowlehill seéme a mountaine.

The foreine mariage of Queene Mary.The foreine Mariage of the Queéne was somewhat dis­pleasaunt at the first, and the same was gaynsayd by some men in armes: yet was there nothyng attempted agaynst her high­nes person, neither did any man dreame of the returne of Car­dinall Poole into Englād at that tyme: & the solemnization of the Mariage proceéded in most peacyble order: & euery limme of your monstruous lye is trusht in peéces.Osorius doth accuse Fraunce of highe trea­son. Hereunto Osorius annexoth, as a place fit for it, the vprores, treasons, outra­ges, and the ouerthrowes of Religion in Fraunce: For with such haynous offences our holy prelate boldly chargeth y^e grea­ter nūber of the nobilitie of Fraūce. Amongest these are enter­laced some of the royall bloud: & many other vertuous & hono­rable personages: whose godlynes and integritie of life, did as much deteste such outragious insolencie, as the toung of this Thraso is voyde of all truth and modesty.Thraso. There are many pro­bable presumptions conceaued of some persons, who were sus­pected to sowe the first seédes of this Tragicall tumulte in Fraunce: but I will not imitate your Iunaticke waywardnesse in accusing the Nobilitie. Neither will I pursue any man be­sides you, and your dotyng dearlyng Dalmada of Angrénce, yet much miscontentedly do I this also, and cleane contrary to the milde inclination of my nature: but your hautynes hath al­tered my modestie, and your excessiue pride hath distempered & broken the gall of my patience: yours especially, whose arro­gancie passeth all measure: for I accompt it sufficient to pinche that saély abiect grashopper Dalmada now & then in the chase.

Now let vs returne to Henry the Scottish king, Whō you [Page 29] affirme was cruelly murthered through high treason. The most miserable murthering of Henry the Scot­tish kyng. Tru­ly you say well herein: For in our age was neuer seéne a more horrible acte committed, then in this lamentable slaughter of the kyng: But why do ye not disclose the traytors? why name you not the persons? why do ye conceale any parcell of the fact, in so notorious a murther? The matter, say you, is manifest: they were Lutheranes, that executed this bloudy practize: They were Lutheranes, that enterprised all the former abho­minations: They were Lutheranes all, that at any tyme in our age, haue raysed all troubles, and tumultes agaynst Princes, and agaynst common weales. Cursed be that franticke scalpe: Blystered be that blasphemous toung: Cursed be those Swy­nishe senses, whiche can wroote together all rootes of wicked­nesse, to oppresse the poore innocent Lutheranes withall. But it is all false that you haue suggested, and this your surmise neuer entred the thought of any discreét person so much as in his dreame, as I haue shewed by particularities before. And the kyng of Scotlād (whom you haue reserued to the last) ma­keth most agaynst you: whom your sect (marke what I say) your owne sect, most trayterously entrapped, and smoulthe­red to death with gunnepower. I could declare the very or­der thereof, but that I am determined to dwell in my former purpose vnto the ende, not to detect any person besides you, agaynst whome neighter I, nor any other person can exclame sufficiently.

This was also a great blocke in your eye, that I sayd Lu­ther was a man of God. I gaue vnto him his right: and euen as truely doe I call you an vncharitable person, voyde of all Christian loue, a slaunderour of Princes, a backbiter of com­mon weales, a very forge of lying: I adde also hereunto most truly, y^e very bondslaue of Lucifer. You runne ouer certeine cō ­mon places of Luther, and those you rende in peéces, but after your wonted guise, of a very shamelesse impudencie, without proofe, without reason, without example, without witte, lyke a Lordly comptroller, or like an Emperour rather, whose autho­ritie may not be gaynesayd: wherof I haue resolued some part in my first aunswere: and the rest I wil confute in their places, whē I shall come nearer to the Diuinitie of this glorious Pre­late. [Page] Afterwardes this graue father inueigheth agaynst the lyfe of Luther: which Erasmus reporteth to haue bene commē ­ded of all persons,Erasmus his commen­dable re­port of Lu­ther. and whiche no man hath reproued hetherto, besides this Doctour Dottipoll, who yet can pike no iust qua­rell agaynst his manners, more then that hee was somewhat sharpe in his writynges. At the last to shewe him selfe in his own colours. This foule mouthed Gentleman depraueth and defileth the death of that godly man vpbraydyng him with surfetyng, and dronkennes. Whereas it is well knowen that Luthers yeldyng to nature was so calme,The death of Luther, which was most holy, sinisterly depraued by the ma­licious slaū ­derers. & so quyet, in the very last gaspes wherof he expressed so contant profession of Chri­stian fayth, that all men that were present wondred thereat. Which I pray God we may accomplishe when our end appro­cheth. But we haue spoken of Luther sufficiently: whose lyfe and doctrine I did not vndertake to defende, nor of any other person els. My onely purpose was to acquite this famous I­land, my deare natiue countrey from your vnmeasurable and shamefull rayling. Luther and that golden couple of Fathers Martyr, and Bucer are well enough shielded with their owne armour of vertue and pietie, whose estimation bycause you could by no meanes empaire, you affirme briefly, that this was a sufficient reproche vnto them, that I did commend them so plentifully.

Therefore sithence this troubleth you, I will exasperate your malice agaynst them, and will boldly proteste, that herein I receaued a singular and enestimable benefite of God, that I did once heare, seé, and know these notable Fathers, esteemyng more of one dayes conference with them, then of all the vayne glorious Pompe of your hawty Lordlynes: and that those two worthy personages did as farre surmoūt you in wisedome and learnyng, as that caluish dole Dalmada is inferiour to you in eloquence, and cleanesse of stile. And so we will passeouer the persons, whom the godly disposed will regarde accordyng to their deseruings. Neither will I hereafter trace out the tracke of your durtie cauillations, nor firrett out all your follies and errours, for I should finde no end of that endlesse maze. I will nowe prye into your cunnyng Diuinitie, and herein will I wrestle a plucke with you, bycause you bragge so lustely of [Page 30] your skill, as though no man were able to wynne the Coller from you.

In this point you charge me with inconstancie, bycause I sayd that our Preachers do alleadge Scriptures onely: and yet within a whiles after I added, that they did vouche the authoritie of the Fathers also. Are you not ashamed (holy fa­ther) beyng an old man and a Byshop, to lye so manifestly?In the Epi­stle to the Queene. pag. 11. and to poast ouer your fayned imagination vnto me. This is your owne lye, yours I say, a whelpe of your owne lytter, very often snarlyng agaynst me with your currishe speaches, but beaten backe agayne, & throwen into your owne bosome by myne aun­swere.In myne aunswere. pag. 8. Conferre the places (gentle Reader) I pray theé, and thou shalt seé how Osorius bewrayeth his obliuious dotage. I do deny that our writers do vrge Scriptures onely, as you did cauill, & sayd, that they did alledge the Doctours for their defence also: as appeareth playnly by their bookes, but I enter­laced this withall, that if our writers had vsed scriptures one­ly, they had followed herein, the example of Iesu Christ and his Apostles. What sayth our graue father to this? Forsoth he Preacheth much of the Diuine power of Christ our Sa­uiour, how that he was the mynde and wisedome of the fa­ther, and the accomplisher of the Law, and did make new ordinaunces of our Religion, which were not expressed in the whole course of the old Law. First of all this vnweldie old man perceiueth not how hee hath ouerthrowen him selfe in his owne turne: for if Christ be the mynde, and wisedome of the father as he hath most truely sayd: hereupon consequently fol­loweth, that all the particular testimonies of Christ, are speci­all Oracles of the truth: and that all his particular sayinges ought to be engrauen in our harts, as heauenly Oracles. This did our heauenly Father pronounce vnto Moyses, and Moyses declared the same vnto the people in these wordes.Deut. 18. The Lorde thy God will rayse vp a Prophet lyke vnto me from among you ouer thy brethren, him shall ye barken vnto: Wherfore if we must har­ken vnto Christ as vnto Moyses, then are we bounde as neces­sarely to his preceptes, as to the ordinaunces of Moyses. Be­hold the same more playnly yet in the Gospell,Math. 3. Iesus beyng bap­tised, came forth of the water, and behold the heauens were opened, [Page] and he saw the spirite of God, descendyng as a Doue, and standyng ouer him, and loe there came a voyce from heauen. This is my wel­beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased: Therfore sith the autho­ritie of Iesu Christ is sealed vnto vs by the mouth of almighty God, what greater Maiestie of Scriptures, may be pronoūced in y^e Scriptures, taught or imagined more excellent then this doctrine?Iam. 4. Iames doth recorde That our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ, is the onely Lawmaker, which can saue, and destroy. Wher­fore in his onely right and interest, he did partly establishe new lawes, partly amend the old, partly expoūde the obscure, part­ly restore them that were worne out of mynde, and partly abo­lishe them that were receaued. But what maketh this to your purpose? when our Lord Iesus doth vse Scriptures, doth he alledge any other then the sacred testimonies of the old Testa­ment? it could not otherwise bee, say you: doth he vouche any o­ther interpreters then the holy Ghost sent downe from heauen? he neéded not,Iohn. 3. say you: For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the wordes of God: for God doth not geue him the Spirite by measure. The Father loueth the Sonne, and hath yelded all thynges vnto his hand. This is a true saying of Iohn concernyng Christ, which beyng so in deéde, that must bee also true whiche I enterlaced. That Iesus Christ beyng contented with the testimonie of the holy Scriptures alleadged none other interpretour, besides him selfe. This is also vndoubted true at the last. That you are a very vnskilfull and blockishe Deuine, whiche professing the knowledge of God, do wauder so erroniously in the nature and power of God.

If I should sift out the examples particularly, that you haue taked together for this purpose, I should finde them altoge­ther voyde of all maner probabilitie, stuffed full with grosse er­rours. Two onely will I shake out amongest all the rest, which shall condemne you of your disguised maskyng. You deny that this sentence can be founde in the Law, in the Prophets, or in the Psalmes: that the way is narrow that leadeth to salua­tiō, or that we must turne the left checke to him that hath striken on the right. If you exact wordes, you play by y^t So­phister: If you require substaūce or sentence, I do affirme it to be found euery where both in the Law, in the Prophetes, and in [Page 31] the Psalmes. The old law hath an expresse commaundement. That we shall not bow to the right hand nor the left hand, Deut. 4. nor adde to the Law, nor diminishe there from. Is it not apparaunt ther­fore, that we are placed in straightes? Truly Dauid perceaued it well,Psal. 27 who beyng a kyng and a Prophet chosen by y^t singular prouidence of God to gouerne the people of Israell, yet doth greuously complayne, that hee was partly placed in narrowe straightes: partly forsaken in the darke:Psal. 25. and sometymes ma­keth most humble supplication to God to direct his feete in the right way:Psal. 119 but very often confesseth that the word of the Lord is a Lanterne to his feete, and a light to his pathes. But what neé­deth a Lanterne, but in combersome and narrow straightes, where a man may easely goe amasked? if you be ignoraunt in all those places, what doe ye vnderstand that is requisite in a Deuine and Byshop? or if ye know them, and dissemble them, what can be more wayward then you?

Likewise you obiect that saying, of geuyng a blow on the cheékes, which wordes do employ nothyng els, but that we are commaūded to be patient. But patience is most learnedly con­teined in that first and speciall commaundement of God. Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe. There is no mā that will of­fer iniurie to him selfe in any matter, wherfore he ought not to wrong his neighbour at all: cā you haue any thyng more plain­ly spoken? The vngratefull people of Israell did exclame and rage agaynst their good, mild, & paynfull guide Moyses, some­tyme with secret conspiracies, sometimes with open exclama­tions, many tymes with threatnynges, and very oftē with wic­ked cursinges. What might this gentle Captaine doe in the meane space? Beyng stricken, yea and buffeted also vpon the cheéke, doth hee not turne ouer his other cheéke? What els, I pray you, is meant hereby, that he doth often pray vnto God for such cursed caytiues his enemies? when he doth so earnest­ly and vehemently cry out to God, either to forgeue them,Exod. 3. or to blotte his name out of the booke of life? if you require yet a more notable example of patience: Behold our Lord Iesus Christ is prefigured vnto vs in Esay the Prophet, drawen vnto death as a Lambe to be slayne, who beyng rayled vpon on euery side,Esai. 53.vexed by the Iewes, and buffeted with fistes on the face, held his peace: [Page] and as a sheepe before the Shearer neuer opened his mouth: what may be thought of the whole history of Iob, but a conquest of patience, and in most miserable calamitie a most ioyfull Tri­umphe thereof? And yet this veépe Deuine is so voyde of com­mon sense, that he vtterly deuyeth any sentence to be founde in the Scriptures touchyng patient sufferaunce of our enemyes wronges: You say that you haue passed ouer many thyngs. It had bene better for you truely, that you had passed ouer all thynges, then in all thynges, with malice and foule speakyng, so to turne the catte in the panne, that your wordes can neither finde head, nor foote to stand vpon: can explane nothyng sound­ly, cōclude nothyng duely, proue nothyng effectually, but raūge in rayling, brawle with bare affirmatiues, and with pratlyng past measure, pester and peruert the myndes, and eares of all men. You quarell with Paule, and demaunde where he lear­ned, that those persons should be restrained from the com­munion and societie of Christians, which retayned Circū ­cision? Hee did learne it of Christ our new lawgeuer as I re­cited before:Iaco. 1. hee did learne it of the holy Ghost, whom by the singular benefite of God,Act. 20. he knew to be y^t reuealer of the truth, hee did learne it of God, by whom he was by especiall callyng chosen to preache the Gospell.Ad Galat. 1 He did not (say you) alledge therfore the old Law to this effect. As though any man is so madde besides your selfe, that will mainteine sundry sentēces to be alledged out of the old Testamēt, which are not conteined there? This do I say. This is my meanyng: This do I veri­fie, that our Lord Iesus Christ did obserue this order continu­ally in enlargyng the Gospell, to witte, to vouche testimonies out of the law and the Prophetes: and the same order was also continued by the Apostles. This to be vndoubted true not one­ly all Deuines, and Byshops, but all mowers also, carters, children, and women do know and confesse, if they haue either them selues handled, or heard the Gospell preached by others. And yet this our graue grayheaded Prelate, in this so manifest light cauillously quarelleth as though the matter were doubt­full, and stuffeth whole leaues with toyes gayly knittyng vp the knot at the length, on this wise.

What is it (sayth he) which the Apostles speake in their [Page 32] assembly: It seemeth good to the holy Ghost and vnto vs. They do not say, It is written in the Scriptures. O rotten & gyd dye brayne. How could the Apostles vouch the old Testa­ment, in a new matter, when they made a new ordinaunce? But in all thynges that were conteined in the law and the Pro­phetes, these wordes were alwayes vttered in the speaches of our Sauiour Iesu Christ and his Apostles. These selfe same wordes (I say) we shall finde many tymes repeated, and euery where redoubled, whiche you doe reiect maliciously, and impu­dently, It is writtē. And this also: That the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Shall I annexe hereunto examples? It neédeth not (say you) The matter is euident. So is this also manifest, that you doe wickedly abuse the holy Scriptures, to peruert y^e truth of the Gospell. For where as you do demaunde of me a litle after: How I dare be so bold to say, that the auncient Fathers dyd adde nothyng to the gouernement of the Church, but that they founde in the Scriptures. I will like­wise demaunde of you what came into your braynes, beyng an old man, a Byshop, and so reuerend a father, to burden me with wordes which I neuer spake, neuer wrate, neuer once thought vpon? If it shame you nothyng to make so open a lye, to the ma­nifest viewe of all the world, how will you behaue your selfe in matters of Diuinitie, wherein the vnleattered people haue no iudgement? I affirmed that the auncient Fathers of the primi­tiue Church did vouch the Scriptures and the holy Ghost. I do acknowledge these wordes to be myne owne: Tosse them, & tumble them, as ye list, and the more ye gnawe vpon them, the more will your teéth be on edge. For as then your Councels, whereunto you leane so much, were not hatched, neither any in­terpretours as yet fully plumed. These two, wherof I made mention, were the onely soūde foūdations and pillers, namely the holy Ghost, & the Scriptures: after them whole flockes of interpretours flusht in: all which I do not generally condēne. Neither had any iust cause of contētion bene betwixt vs in this matter, if you were not vnmeasurably quarellsome. For wher­as I had set downe in playne wordes that our late Deuines do produce the Assertions of the Fathers in their bookes (as eui­dently appeareth by their monumentes) what neéde you to pro­uoke [Page] me to a tedious and vnnecessary an aunswere? and to plunge your selfe into questions, partly false, partly imper­tinent? as I haue heretofore declared. But our gentle Byshop is so vnmeasurably geuen to chatteryng (wherein he deligh­teth beyond reason) that he will willyngly permit nothyng to proceéde in order, though it be altogether contrary to the pur­porce of the disputation.

Out of this corruption of your mynde commeth to passe, That you deny, that lust, Rebellion and outrage are recko­ned sinnes, with vs: What say you reuerend father? do not we accoūpt lust, rebellion, & outrage to be sinnes? For this do you affirme in these wordes. Here I aske an other questiō of you if you had but one crūme of shamefastnes, humanitie, wit, or modestie, would you with such foule slaunders dissame any kynde of people liuyng in the world? & yet not so foule as foolish? for nothyng cā be imagined more foolish, then to rayle so absurdely aswell without all shew as likelyhode of truth. Pause here a whiles Osorius & ponder well this your vndiscreét accusation, and henceforth write more aduisedly, except you meane to bewray your amazed madnesse to all the worlde. But how can you handle any matter discreétly, that to pike a quarell to brawle vpon, will wrangle about playne wordes, nay rather gnaw in gobettes, seély sillables and titles of wordes? For where as I wrate on this wise. You do accuse vs,Aristarchus was a great quareller. as though we had turned out our Nunnes and droues of Monckes to lust, and lowsnes of lyfe, and had sold their houses for money. This sentence our proper witted Aristarchus doth not cōceaue: and doth beleue, that these wordes: Their houses sold for money: should bee construed, as though I did meane that the Selles of Nunnes and Monckes were sold for their owne behoofe. When as I affirmed playnly, that their houses were sold to the vse of the weale publique: whiche wordes no man could haue wrested so monstruously but this brablyng ras­call. Paraduenture this will seéme a great fault to call a By­shop rascall. And I confesse no lesse in deéde. But I do not ar­gue with a Byshop, but with a very Beast crowned with a Myter: who oftentymes calleth me franticke, sometymes dron­ken, euery where wicked and lyar. Wherfore sithence he hath [Page 33] forgotten and vtterly layd away the personage of a Byshop, he may not gape for any softer speach from me. But if he chaunce to call him selfe home hereafter, and gather agayne some gra­uitie and modestie agreable to his profession, it shalbe very ea­sle for me to returne to mildnesse and fayre speach, which I doe commonly vse with myne acquaintaunce, and with straungers also, vnlesse they bragge in brawlyng, praūce proudly as Prin­ces in ostentation of learnyng, and pietie, disdaynefully despi­sing all other mens iudgementes in respect of them selues. It displeaseth this our Gentleman also, that my stile is so in­flamed agaynst those stinckyng sinckeholes of that cowled generatiō. I spake of ours which I might more easily accuse, then you can defend: for I knew them better you did, my Lord. So had they bene lesse knowen vnto me, if by the espe­ciall prouidence of God I had not happely escaped out of these filthy mischieuous dennes betymes.

You reserue a place for the defence of your Monckes by it selfe and in drawyng their petigreé, you play the Philosopher at large. Wherein you are not onely to childishe and tedious, but so farre estraunged frō the purpose, that ye seéme rather to dreame of S. Patrickes Purgatory, thē to note our Religiō.Osorius a Proctour for monkes. Let vs marke the begynnyng which is this: There be ij. sortes of men (say you) that are empaled within the boūdes of the Churche. The one, whose function consisteth in generall practize of maners, in a meane course of vertue and godly­nes: The other that desire to aduaunce thē selues in a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline. Behold here a new Diuinitie. Two sortes of Christians are sprong vp, if we beleeue my Lord Byshop, where as the Scriptures haue au­thorized but one onely state of Christians hitherto.1. Cor. 12. There are diuersities of giftes, yet but one spirite, and there are differences of administrations, yet but one Lord: there are diuers maners of ope­rations, and yet but one God, which worketh all in all. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and where as also many mem­bers be of one body: Euē so is Christ. For we are all Baptized into one body by one spirite, whether we be Iewes, or Gentiles, bondmen, or free, and we haue all dronke of one spirite. These are y^e wordes of S. Paule. Wherfore there can not be two sortes of Christi­ans, [Page] if there be but one body of Christians: nor a distinct pro­fession, bycause the spirite is one, and the selfe same: Will you haue this made more manifest by sillables and titles?Ephes. 4. One body, and one spirite, euen as you are called in one hope of your callyng. One Lord, one Fayth, one Baptisme, one God, & Father of all, which is aboue all, and through all, and in you all. All are one, and in vs all as Paule doth affirme. Where is your distinction therfore? There is no respect of persons with God: but in euery nation hee that doth feare him, and worketh righteousnesse is accepted of him. So doth Peter preach, whō if we admit for our Scholemai­ster, all your distinction (wherein you haue trauailed so much) will lye in the durte.Act, 10. and 11. And therefore sith our profession is but one, and the same common also to all Christians, out of An­tioche were all called once first by this common name, Christians. But if you will not be satisfied with the testimonies of the Apo­stles: Let vs heare our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ, sen­dyng his eleuen Disciples abroad into the whole world spea­kyng vnto them in this wise.Math. vlti. All power is geuen vnto me in hea­uen and in earth. Goe ye forth therfore, and teach all nations, Bap­tizyng them in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost, teachyng them to obserue all those thynges, whiche I haue commaunded you. This is the pure, and onely profession of Christian Religion, grounded vpon the authoritie of Christ his owne wordes: repeated by the preachyngs of the Apostles, confirmed with the generall consent of the Catholicke and A­postolicke Church, and ensealed with the bloud of the Martyrs in all ages. Leaue this Religion to vs, and reteine to you and your fraternitie that newfounde two horned sect,Cicero in his booke of dueties. Aristotle in his Ethic­kes. whereof you can vouch no Authour besides Cicero or Aristotle. But let vs pause yet a whiles vpon my Lordes diuision, and consider the speciall pointes of his discreét destruction, distinction I would say. For after he hath enstalled two sortes of Christians, hee doth geue them cognizaunces whereby they may be discerned. There is one sort of them (sayth hee) whose function consi­steth in common practize of maners, and in a meane course of vertue and pietie. The other desire to aduaunce them selues to a more exquisite endeuour of heauenly discipline. Now I beseéche you my Lord, what mediocritie of vertue and [Page 34] pietie do ye speake of? Sithence, our profession doth exact of vs a perfect, and most absolute keépyng of the commaundements, by expresse testimonie of both old and new Testament how oft is this sentence repeated in the old Testament Be ye holy: Leuit. 21. for I am holy: Wherfore we ought not to stand still in a meane, but must endeuour couragiously to y^t perfect holynes of God. This is an expresse cōmaundement. I am the Lord, your God, Leuit. 19. 20.26. you shall obserue all my ordinaūces and all my Statutes &c: He cōmaūdeth all, maketh no exception. And therfore this your newfangled meane betwixt both, must bee throwen away, nay rather this meane is execrable & dānable, our Lord & God the Father thū ­dryng the same frō heauen. If you will not harken vnto me (sayth he) and will not obserue all that I commaunde you, Deut. 27. I will visite you with feare, with tremblyng, and burnyng feauers. &c. The very same wordes are so oft and so manifestly repeated in Deutero. That who so will diligently behold them, can not but wonder at your dulnesse, and ignoraunce in Scriptures: God doth ac­curse the person, that will not obserue all the preceptes of the law perfectly, to doe them and all the people shall say. Amen. What will you aunswers to this conclusion of Moyses? he commaundeth a perfection, the Lord doth accurse him that doth not fulfill it, yea euen by his owne mouth, and all the people say Amen. And you contrary to this doctrine do deuide the Christians congre­gation, or rather disseuer it into partes, & practize to plante in place thereof a frame shapen meane of pietie, whiche neither old, nor new Testament doth acknowledge. You haue heard out of the old law, we will now come to the new. There is also an expresse commaundement of our Lord Iesu Christ to his A­postles in these wordes. Preach ye the Gospell to all creatures, Math. 28. who soeuer beleueth and is baptized, shalbe saued, but he that doth not beleue shalbe damned: Go ye forth therfore and teach all Na­tions, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost, teachyng them to keepe all thynges, that I haue commaunded you. Behold here one maner of professiō, dis­persed abroad ouer all Nations, behold, all thyngs must be ob­serued that are commaunded. Wherefore there is but one sort of Christians, not two: and the same one also endeuoureth to perfection, standeth not still in amediocritie. Our Lord Ie­sus [Page] standyng vpon the mount, compassed about with the people of the Iewes, preached in most godly maner the chief princi­ples of Christian Religion vnto them, and amongest the rest gaue this commaundement seuerally.Math. 5. Wherfore be ye perfect as your heauenly Father which is in heauen is perfect. What impu­dencie is this Osorius to thrust a mediocritie into our Religi­on, when our Lord Iesu Christ by expresse commaūdement re­quireth perfection? But I tary to long vpon matters clearer then the Sunne: And yet this our deépe Deuine doth vnder­proppe his lazie Monckerie vpon these pillers, whiche beyng wormeaten & rotten (as I haue shewed already) will at length bryng all his other buildyng to ruine, and cause it to shieuer in peéces to the grounde.

Osorius doth preferre vnmaryed lyfe before wedlocke alleadgyng hereunto Paule to the Corinthes. 1. Cor. 7. We also con­fesse euen as much as Paule sayth, yea very gladly, so that ye alledge Paule whole, and vnmangled. It is good (sayth Paule) for a man not to touche a wife, but hee addeth a correction, yet for auoyding fornication, let euery man haue his owne wife. I would (sayth Paule) euery man were as I am, hereunto hee knitteth fast a correction likewise. But euery man hath his proper gift of God, one after this maner, an other after that. I might rehearse more to the same effect out of the same Chapter. But Paules meanyng is conceaued sufficiently in these few sentences. And yet to confesse the truth, this your disputation of single lyfe a­uayleth not properly to mainteine your Monckerie, for vnma­ried life extendeth it selfe to all estates of Christians general­ly, and is not restrained to Monckes onely. But you oppresse vs with exāples partly auncient, as of Basile, Paule, Ierome Nazianzene. Partly of these later yeares, as Dominicke, Bruno, Fraūcisce. Here I might take lawfull exception to your testimonies if I would: for Frauncisce was no Moncke, be­sides that also vnlearned altogether, a forger of friuolous su­perstitions, as appeareth by those durtie dregges, whiche you call Golden Legendes.Legenda Aurea. And who that Bruno was must be en­quired amongest the Friers, for els where is no mētion made of him, neither yet of Dominicke. The residue of the Fathers except Gregory, professed a solitarie lyfe: but enduced hereun­to, [Page 35] partly through desire of learnyng, partly for vprightnesse of lyfe, yelded more commoditie to the Christian profession, then may easily be expressed: whose dayly conuersatiou & rules of maners did as farre differre from the rules of our Mōckes, as the heauens are distant from the earth, and good from euill. But let vs graunt all that you will, and admit those Monckes (whom you speake of) to bee godly and commendable persons (for in deéde some were such) may they therfore be compared in equabilitie of estimatiō to those men, who were conuersaunt a­mongest the fellowshyp and common societte of men? will you know whom I will name? I will first of all name Iesus Christ our Lord and Sauiour: then some that were before him: A­brahā, Isaac, Iacob, the Patriarches, Esay, Ieremie, notable Prophetes: next after the commyng of Christ, the glorious cō ­pany of y^e Apostles: All these almost (except Christ alone) were maryed, and euery of them adioyned them selues to the commō societie of men, that they might profite the generall felowshyp of mankynd. What say you M. Ierome? May your Monckes, though neuer so commendable, be compared to this felowshyp of so excellent and famous personages? May any equabilitie seéme to bee betwixt them? either in the excellencie of the holy Ghost? or in sinceritie of lyfe? or in antiquitie of tyme? There can be no comparison betwixt them my Lord, neither was any neéde at all to rehearse these examples, if you had well ordered your talke herein: for this generall company beyng the floure of the auncient primitiue Church, standyng in the face of your drowsie lozelles, will so dazell their sight, that they shall not be able to lift vp their eyelyddes for the inaccessible brightnesse of them.

And yet do not I condemne vnmaried lyfe, or that kynde of sole lyfe. I condemne your false and wicked argument, where­by you would persuade the vnmaried Christian to be better and more holy then the maried, and the solitarie, better then the Ci­tizen. S. Paule is of a contrary iudgement.Rom. 3. But the righteous­nesse of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ, is with all men and vpon all men that beleue, for there is no differēce. We haue all sinned, and haue neede of the glorie of God, but we are iustified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Iesu. Paul doth [Page] speake here playnly: There is no difference: Osorius doth make a difference: whom shall we beleue? Agayne: The same Paule. Glorie honor and peace to euery person that worketh good, to the Iewe first, then to the Gentile, Rom 2. for there is no respect of persons be­fore God. If God doe not respect the person, where is then the singularitie of your Mōckes? if he regard not the place, as ap­peareth by the wordes of Christ to the womā of Samarie: The tyme shall come, and now is. &c. Iohn. 4. whereunto tendeth your solita­rines, wherof you dispute so idlely? All persons (sayth Paule) which are Baptized, haue put on Christ: Galat. 2.3. here is nother Iewe, nor Gentile, bonde, nor free, man, nor womā, for we are all one in Christ Iesu. If Christians bee all one in Christ Iesu, as S. Paule witnesseth, what shall become of your differēces of tymes, and professions? But we will leaue the scriptures, whiche euery where do confute your vayne superstitions, and false forged distinction. How shall we satisfie the auncient fathers, who do prayse Monckery wonderfully? They doe commende men ex­cellent in learnyng and vertue, which doe employ their quyet leysures to the commoditie of the Church. Such men will I a­boundaūtly prayse as well as they. For Iohn Baptist liued in the deserte, then whom arose not a greater amōgest the childrē of women. But what will ye conclude hereof? Was Iohn Bap­tist a more perfect Christian liuyng in the wildernes, then our Lord Iesus Christ that was cōuersaunt amongest men? Truly your wicked distinction doth emplye this doctrine in effect: but y^e auncient Fathers say not so, of whō you rehearse nothyng be­sides bare names: & although they would iustifie your wordes, I would not beleue them agaynst the Scriptures: neither do they desire to be credited otherwise. And to this point forsooth, your gay defence of Monckerie so stoutly trauailed, garnished with such a trimme Coape of paynted wordes, wherew̄t whole leaues are beblotted, is come at the last: as to be adiudged ei­ther altogether superstitious, or wicked, or nothyng necessary. At the last you departe from men and come to women: and with a flat deniall affirme that virgines were not forced into Nun­neries. I neéde not to make any great proofe hereof, for all mē that do know any thyng at all, are well acquainted herewith: I will therfore for this tyme content me with your own wordes: [Page 36] For you say that it was forbidden by the Tridentine Coun­cell, that frō thence forth they should do so any more. How say you fine man? He that forebyddeth a thyng to be done in af­ter tyme, doth hee not couertly emplye that the same was done before? Write more circumspectly (my Lord) if you can, and if you can not, you were better speake nothyng at all.

But our reuerend father is now at very good leysure, for he now begynnes to Fable with vs.Osor. Fable of an hypo­criticall Monckes. He sayth that he had much conference with an idiot or simple Moncke, who was often as any mention is made of the loue of God, so often he fal­leth grouelyng on the grounde, as if his senses were raui­shed, and yet the mā is prettie witted enough, and is busied about heauēly thyngs and godly cōtemplation. Truly this your speach doth not describe vnto vs any godly Moncke, but either some notorius hypocrite, or happely some drunkard, or some one distraught of his wittes. For why should his senses be ouerwhelmed at the namyng of God? They should rather be liuely and ioyfull. Wherfore should he fall to the ground (on the deuils name) if he were a true Christian? he should rather rayse him selfe vp, and reioyce in him, from whom onely com­meth all saluatiō. How chaunceth this holy father, that you an old man, a Byshop, a Deuine of so great estimation are so fal­len to Fables? Certes a meéte aduocate for so monishe a mat­ter. You demaūde of me, why we suffered our Mōckeries to escape vnpunished if there were such licentiousnes of lyfe amongest them? How did they escape vnpunished good Syr? we ouerthrew their durtie dennes: The Brothelles them sel­ues beyng bondslaues to all vnthriftynes, we haled out of their swynestyes, & set a libertie: we did abolish the occasiōs of their treachery, as much as we might, not hatyng y^t persōs but their vyces: when their vyce was rooted out, what els might haue bene exacted, not of you onely (who blinded with malice know nothyng) but of any other reasonable person? To this daūce, you hauge the Uestale virgines, whom the aūcient Romanes reuerēced greatly: & so in lyke maner require our Nunnes to be honored of vs. Surely you handle this matter very kindly: Salij Priestes of Mars did daūce naked in their opē filthy Pa­geantes, for this was a speciall Article of their Religion, why [Page] then do not you likewise beyng an old priest, thinke it as seéme­ly for you to daunce for Religion sake? Herein I may seéme to scoffe ouer bytterly: No truely. For what can be lesse tollera­ble then an old grayheaded Byshop and a Deuine (as he per­suadeth him selfe) to march with the madde superstitiōs of the Romaines, agaynst the veritie of the Gospell of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ?

Of the vowes of widowes.You turmoyle your selfe much about y^e vowes of widowes, which doth not cōcerne our disputation, and argue as though virgines vowyng chastitie could not bee ioyned in lawfull mariage without great haynousnesse. How can men or may­dens promise single life? or if they promise rashly, how can they performe truly? when as chastitie is the peculiar gift of God, and is not in our own power? Get you to S. Paule, whom you produce in your behalfe touchyng the same matter. These be his wordes.1. Cor. 7. But euery man hath his proper gift of God, one after this maner, and an other after that: What can be alledged more manifest then this? If you be not yet satisfied, annexe hereunto our Sauiour Christ, and withall his owne wordes touchyng Eunuches, wherein you triumph so Iollylye, bycause that our Lord, Iesus reported, that some did geld them selues for the kyngdome of heauen. Is not this also added a litle before? He that can take it, let him take it, all men can not conceaue this say­ing, but those to whom it is geuen. Luke. 19. Wherefore if chastitie be the proper gift of God: we may not assure to our selues the thyng that is the proper gift of God. And if none can be chast, but to whom it is geuē, how can we promise to our selues, that which we know not whether we shall euer attaine or no? Great is the force of the truth, & greater then this our great Maister of Is­raell can cōprehend. And howsoeuer he lyst to iangle here, he confesseth the same a litle before in expresse wordes,Osorius fol. 37. Hoc tantum mu­nus. &c. that cha­stitie is the gift of God, as in deéde it is. And for proofe therof vrgeth the same wordes of Christ mentioned before: namely: All men can not comprehēd this saying, but vnto whom it is geuen. I maruell much Osorius, that you haue so quickely forgotten your selfe. But I ought not maruell thereat, bycause of a very greédy affection to cauill an [...]rabble, you rush headlong many tymes into most pestilent errours.

[Page 37] You accuse Luther, Bucer, Zuinglius, Oecolampadius, Caluin, and Martyr of lust. As though men liued not chastly which hold them selues within the limittes of lawfull Matri­monie? or as though all the Cowled droues of Sophisters as­well of your Nation, as of any part of the world els, were com­parable with these godly fathers in commendable conuersatiō of life, or excellencie of learnyng? or as though the namyng of those persons made your cause any myte y^t better? or as though Paule (whom you do wrest and peruert for the mainteynaunce of your single lyfe) did not sufficiently interprete him selfe? or as though there were any thyng in you besides arrogancie, ca­uillyng, and choler? You moue a very saucie question of Chri­stian libertie: Whether the same appeare greater in your Cowled generations, then in maryed folkes? I aunswere: that the pure Eunuches whom God hath endued with the gift of chastitie, do enioy most excellent freédome of mynde: but the question cōcerneth not those persons in this place. But the rest of your mocke Eunuches, haue no freédome, of mynde: except you lift to tearme it a wicked fréedome, & an horrible libertie to whoredome. Neither am I alone of this iudgement, for that were of no credite. Paule is of the same mynde. Who hauyng sayd, It is good for a man not to touch a wife, immediatly addeth:1. Cor. 7. But for auoyding fornication, let euery mā haue his owne wife: and thereof presently rendreth this reason: For better it is to marry then to burne. The first part of this sentēce you vrge very stout­ly, Osorius, but the later you doe wickedly wincke at. But we may not halt so bycause (as Paule sayth) we goe the right way to the Gospell, not haltyng as you do: But halt you as ye lift,Gal. 2. dis­semble still, & wincke still at y^e horrible actions of your cowled Lurdeines, yet is this true, yea to true (alas) that these hypo­criticall professours of chastitie, doe not burne onely, but swell also, and are enflamed with insaciable firebrandes of Lecherie. And it is not a whiueryng voyce of a vow, blowē out in respect of gayne or idlenes, that can very easely quenche & suppresse in y^e myndes of young persons, those intollerable flames of natu­rall corruptiō. There be great droues, nay rather vnmeasura­ble herdes of your drousie Uotaries (to be so bold as to coyne a new name for a new thyng) whose poysoned filthynesse hath so [Page] defiled the earth, that they may with horrible feare, looke for Gods iust terrible vengeaunce to bee poured vpon them, with Gomorrhean and Sodomiticall brimstone, and fire hea­uen, vnlesse they repent be tymes.

Luthers Mariage re­proued. You do reproche Luther with his Mariage: and slaun­derously rayle that at the celebratyng thereof, Venus was President, not Venus of Paphia nor Erycina, but Venus the furie of hell. O vncleane mouth. Dare you so blasphemously rayle agaynst the estate of Matrimonie commēded with so glo­rious titles, as which the holy Ghost commaunded to be hono­rable amongest all persons? whiche our Lord Iesus Christ did honor with his presence? which was ordeined of God the father in Paradise? confirmed by the Patriarches and Prophetes? e­stablished by the Apostles and Martyrs?Gene. 1. & continued most ho­norable in the best and purest ages of the world, and by most no­table personages? Dare you with so blasphemous a mouth de­file the dignitie of this Matrimonie, beautified with so many ornamentes? Dare you name that execrable furie of hell to be President at this honorable Mariage? Beseémeth an old man, a Byshop, a Minister of the Sacraments so to dally and scoffe in matters of so great importaunce? Forsoth I do reprehend (say you) the Mariages which the Votaries do contract to­gether. Uery well remēbred Syr, what monument then can you geue vs of those gay professours of chastitie, in that golden age of the primitiue Church, when our Lord Iesus Christ and his Apostles did dwell vpon the earth? If you can shewe vs no one exāple of those chast soules in that most blessed tyme: Nay rather if that pestilent cōtagion of Uotaries did long after be­gyn to infect the Churche: Packe ye hence with that deuilishe Priest of hell from vs, and acknowledge your owne Priest that Satanish hellhounde Hildebrand, Pope Gre­gory the 7. Hildebrand by name, was the first that did e­stablishe single lyfe by Decree. who first of all enacted by publicke authoritie that infamous Canon of cōstrained vnma­ried life. Curse ye that your own hellhounde Priest, and batter him with your thunderboltes of wordes and Sentences. For Beelzebub him selfe, withall y^e furies of hell, could neuer haue practized a more pestilent infection of lyfe.

You proceéde to defend Images, wherein you fight so stout­ly agaynst your selfe, that you neéde none other aduersary. But [Page 38] first ye furnish your selfe with a startyng hole, wherein you may shroude your selfe from a showre. For you deny that Images are worshypped, Of Images. that pictures are honored, but you con­fesse that in them is a certeine naturall power, which may bryng some helpe to vnlettered persons. If it were so (O­sorius) we could be somewhat tractable herein: & would some­what frendly tollerate the rude weakenesse, and grosse igno­raunce of the people. But how say you? Is not worshyp geuen to Images? Truly people fall prostrate before thē, they stretch out their handes vnto them: they perfume them with franken­cense: they set cādles before them: they call vpō them by name: they decke them gorgeously: they carry them solēnely abroad, and make a shew of them openly: they waxe hoarse with scri­chyng and cryeng out vnto them in their sicknes and diseases: They gadde many a wéerysome iourney on pilgrimage vnto them: they powre out prayers vnto them with great reuerence: they enlarge vnto then magnificently: yea they do beléeue that they do worke miracles. If all these doe not playnly denounce worshyppyng: by what other Argument may a man discerne the nature of worshyppyng? But if ye yeld not that these blas­phemies are committed in your Romishe Church, yea in your owne Temples of Siluania, it is very well, and I would to God it were true for your credites sake. But if you graūt it (as ye can not deny it) why doe you so impudently deny in wordes, the thyng whiche you know to bee haynously handled in dayly practize? How much better had it bene for you (Osorius) to haue defended worshyppyng of Images as well as ye could (though without all colour of truth) thē so stoutly to deny that, which your women and childrē do sée to be dayly, & hourely fre­quented in your Churches? yea your selues the very Authours therof, ministryng example to others? But you haue lost both your witte and modestie, that in so dayly and manifest abuses will séeme to be ignoraunt, and withall mainteine your vntruth with pretie popet demaundes, so blockish and so farre from the purpose, that a man may iudge you to be fast a sleépe with your eyes open.The Ima­ges of Che­rubins. You demaunde earnestly of me whether the I­mages of the Cherubines were placed before the Arcke of Couenaunt in the old tyme? and whether the Brasen Ser­pent [Page] were erected, that such as were wounded with Ser­pentes might behold it, The brasen Serpent. and be made hole? what then wise man? as though any man could or would deny that Images & pictures were made in all ages? or that it came euer into my thought to condemne the commendable Arte of Engrauyng & Paintyng: I graunt that there may bee some vse of Images, but I deny worshyppyng of them: I doe allow that there may be pictures, but I do abhorre all honor in them. And the same hath our Lord and heauenly father prohibited by expresse com­maundement.Exod. 20. Deut. 5. You tell vs that the Auncient Israelites had diuers Images of Cherubines. I confesse it, but you can not shew, that they were worshypped at any tyme. The Image of the Brasen Serpent [...] as a remedy for them that were bytten with Serpentes: I graunt it. But when in processe of tyme, the people came at length to worshyp it, the godly kyng Eze­chias detestyng their Idolatry,Ezechias. cōmaūded the Image to be ta­ken downe, and broken in peéces: and herein your selfe do won­derfully cōmende him. You marre therfore all your owne mat­ter (Osorius) by this your owne example. For ye graunt that the worshyppyng of Images is damnable, & defiled with poy­soned Idolatry.

Ye deny that men are now at this present or euer here­tofore were at any tyme so blockish and senselesse as to be­leue that godlynesse was included in Images: and withall yeld your selues to be accoūpted for madde and buzzard­ly blynd, if this can be iustified agaynst you. What els do ye then? whenas you throw your selues prostrate before pictures, and neuer make any end almost of embracyng them? lickyng them? kissyng them? deckyng them? presentyng them with giftes? goyng on pilgrimage vnto them? when you call vpon & inuocate the Images of dead persons, by the proper names of your Saintes pictured there? when you keépe such a sturre before stockes and stones, and confesse neuerthelesse that in thē is neither vertue nor sense? your selues surely be worse thē rot­ten blockes, that will geue such reuerēce to dead stockes. But I will sticke somewhat neare to your skinne in this matter.

The people of Israell (as ye know) were a chosen Nation, an holy kinred, a peculiar and elect people: and yet in the ab­sence [Page 39] of Moyses they forged a golden Calfe, and beleued that there was in this Image, not onely lyfe and sense, but with o­pen mouth did professe also, that it was God, yea the very same God that brought them out of the land of Egypt. For when they had commaunded that this Image should be borne before them, as the cōduct of their iourney, they added hereunto these blasphemous wordes also.Exod. 32. These be thy Gods O Israell, whiche brought to passe that thou were deliuered out of the land of Egipt. There followeth yet more. And Aaron seyng this, erected an Aultar before it. What say you Osorius? Truely though you conceaue neuer so well of your selfe, and loue your coūtrey (as meéte is you should) neuer so much: yet you do not beleéue (I suppose) that those your countrey men what soeuer they be, are more deare now vnto God, then the children of Israell were at that tyme: no nor deéme your selfe more holy thē Aaron. Ther­fore where you seé so manifest Idolatry in them, why make you so proude bragges of the innocencie of your Nation? But you will happely say, that those dayes are out of memory, & no such matter sticketh now in your fingers: will ye therefore that I bryng you home? and euidently disproue the ignoraūce and vn­aduised follie of you, & your people, by the testimonies of your owne fraternitie? Truly I am contented so to doe and I will paint out your Idolatry so playnly in the sight of all men that can seé, and be willyng to seé, that no well disposed persons may doubt thereof hereafter. Peraduduenture your eyes will dazell through corruption of dayly custome: as it happened to Cerbe­rus, Sence. in Hercul. fur. the dogge of hell sodenly drawen out of his darcke doun­geon into the bright sunne shyne.

First,The Pa­pistes are taken tardy in commit­tyng mani­fest Idola­try. you will graunt me this, as I suppose, which all your Papisticall Godmakers will yeld vnto: that in that your tran­substantiated white Wafers is inclosed a certeine Diuine es­sence, and the onely substaunce of bread flowen quyte away (I know not whither) but that the accidents of bread remayne as at the first: to witte, the roundnes, white colour and such like. Hereof then followeth of necessitie euen by your owne Argu­ment, that who soeuer doth worshyp y^e white colour, or any ex­ternall thyng therof subiect to the senses & spectible view, is a manifest Idolatour. Aunswere me to this place my Lord I be­seéch [Page] you, if there be any sparckle oftene fayth in you: Tell me when your simple vnlettered people, cluster in heapes toge­ther to your Altares, heaue vppe their handes, knocke their brestes, reuerently behold and humbly worshyp that your white rounde singyng Cake holden betwixt your fingers and lifted ouer your heades, as if it were our Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesu him selfe: when (I say) this seély rude multitude doth so humble them selues, and are moued in affection, can they dis­cerne betwixt the accidentes of the bread and the substaunce? if they can, surely your nation is deépely seéne in Logicke. But if they cannot. Then we may rightly conclude vpon the suppo­sitions of your owne Deuines, that they commit open. Idola­try: bycause they do worshyp not onely the essence of God farre hidden within, & wholy remoued from their senses, but also the outward signes which they behold and seé with their eyes. You are taken here (Osorius) neither can you escape me, for either you must serape out your Decreés and Canōs, which will pro­cure you mortall hatred, or els you must neédes cōfesse the day­ly Idolatry of your people, except ye deny that the outwarde forme of bread is worshypped by them: wherein they will wit­nes agaynst you if neéde shall require. And therfore if your fay­ned God may euidently be founde culpable of euidēt Idolatry. Your errour is much more apparant in worshyppyng of Ima­ges. I did set downe before the wordes of our Sauiour Iesu Christ vsed to the woman of Samaria touchyng the true wor­shyppyng of God: Aboue alledged also the auncient custome of the Primitiue Church, when as no grauen or paynted Ima­ges were permitted to be worshipped.

In this most assured testimonies and ordinaunces of our Religion, this our great Deuine and Maister is altogether mumme, but that hee cauilleth a litle (I know not what) about the Images of the Crosse,Of the I­mages of the Crosse. to witte: That the fame was deepely emprinted in the harts of mē in that aūcient and florishing age of the primitiue Church, but that pictures were neede­lesse sith that tyme. The same doe we also confesse franckly. For there be two notable rules very true, & prescribed by God as Principles whereby the auncient vse and rule of Christian Religion and dueties of Christian lyfe may be dayly enured & [Page 40] preserued. The one is, that we apply our myndes to read the holy Scriptures. The other is that we yeld attētiue eare vn­to them. For all Scripture (sayth Paule) is geuen by inspiration of God, and is profitable to teache, to admonish, to improue, 2. Tim. 3. to a­mende and to instruct in righteousnes. that the man of God may be perfect and prepared vnto all good workes. If we bee made abso­lute and perfect by the holy Scriptures, what neéde we any helpe of your pictures? In those holy Scriptures is the liue­ly Image of God the Father, the liuely picture of Iesu Christ our Sauiour, the true Crosse, true worshippyng, true Reli­gion to bee founde. But you are fouly fallen away from this auncient veritie, you haue wickedly buryed in darkenesse the Testament of Iesu Christ, you haue treacherously discredited the authoritie of holy Scriptures: and in place of these pure and knowen founteines of our true Religion, ye haue in your Churches planted a wonderfull rabble of wo [...]meeaten pictu­res, and portraictes of dead bodyes to be worshipped: you haue instructed the rude and vnlettered people with mens traditi­ous, and haue vtterly drowned the holy Scriptures beyng the most pleasaunt and plentyfull foode of the soule with ouerflow­yng puddles of stinckyng Ceremonies. This is very true O­sorius, yea it is to true: And you beyng a Byshop and a distri­buter of the holy misteries of God shall to your intollerable an­guish of mynde, feéle this to be true, which you shalbe sommo­ned before the dreadfull: Iudgement seate of the Lord: From whence you shalbe throwen into euerlasting tormentes, if ye amende not in tyme. But there is no droppe of sounde or sober witte in you: for amyddes your disputation touchyng the wor­shyppyng of God, you sodenly skippe from the matter, and returne to your wonted shiftes and demaunde of vs. If wee haue founde our selues more inclinable to praye sith the abolishyng of Images then before? First of all. This con­cerneth not the controuersie anythyng at all. Then who hath authorised you beyng a Portingall, to be Iudge and Inquisi­tour ouer vs Englishmen? Enquire ye for the demeanours of your owne people of Siluain, and let vs alone with our owne Byshops. It greéueth you much that the Reliques of Thomas of Caūterbury are defaced:Thomas of Canterbu­ry. whom it pleaseth you to call a most [Page] holy man beyng in very déede an exectable Traytour. O good­ly Doctour of the Church, that require vs to worshyp the rot­ten stinckyng carkase of a pielde trayterous Priest. Persuade that els where, for in England women, children, and naturall fooles do detest the stincking Rames, crauyne, and Idolatrous Shryne of that Rebellious traytour.

Neither are you pleased bycause I rubbe your Schoole­men on the gall, a very sacred societie (if we credite you) most pure pillers of Christian Religiō, agréeyng & consentyng with the auncient Apostles: but if they be tryed by their owne trinc­kettes,Of Schoole Diuinitie. they wilbe founded a pestilent generation of Uipers, full of vnsauory brabbles, corrupt doctrine, altogether boyde of witte, & addicted to all superstitiō. And there is no discréet per­son amongest our aduersaries that hath any smatche of founde learnyng (except a very fewe) but doe vtterly detest and reiect this filthy puddle of Schoolemē. And yet you sir Ierome, sup­pose to bolster out & uphold this sowsie ragged rabble w^t stout countenaūce. But it will not be, you come all to late. And your labour is all lost. It was not without reason, that I noted haw this huge heapes of Pictures were the offcombe of that vnsa­uory schoolekitchen. Neither did I erre in notyng the certeine limitation of their whelpyng: no more can you cease from your old cankred custome of cauilling scarse one minute of an houre. You flée ouer to your Councell of Nice as to an inuincible bul­warke:The second Coūcell of Nice. as though what soeuer a Councell doth thrust vpon vs ought to be holden of vs for inuiolable. In déede your filthy vn­maryed life crawled first into the Churche after this maner. So also your friuolous and Sophisticall Transubstantiation was commaunded in the begynnyng. But let vs scanne this Deuine Decrée of the Councell touchyng Images which was vttered in that second Nicene Coūcell vnder these wordes. I­mages ought to be worshipped as reuerētly as God is wor­shipped. But you will not admit this to be true I trow,Osori. fol. 47. when as els where you are of opinion that Images and Pictures re­maine to be viewed onely, all worship set apart: wherein ne­uertheles you disagrée in your selfe also. For in the same place, you tell vs a tale of Robinhoode alledgyng miracles withall, to witte, that bloud hath bene séene to gush out of Images perdy, [Page 41] and certeine uertue of healyng hath issued frō thē. And that for this cause they ought to be worshypped. Hereby meanyng to proue both: of the whiche a litle earst you admitted neither. What grossenesse is this Osorius? what ouersight? what for­getfulnesse of your selfe and your owne wordes? you reporte that Eusychius did behold the Images of the Apostles ex­quisitely paynted. What hereof? This was but a commen­dation of Paynters my good Osorius, and not a prayse of Pic­tures. Yet you notwithstādyng as though you had made a fayre speake, do affirme that it is without all cōtrouersie, that Ima­ges were in the Apostles tyme. How? or from whence doe you persuade this Osorius? is this a good Argument to proue that Images were uisited in the Apostles tyme, bycause without comptrollement you tell vs a smoath tale of Thomas of Inde? of Eusebius and of Pope Siluester? Do ye so conclude my Lord beyng an old man, a Priest and a Byshop?

Semblable and lyke drousinesse is in you, where you charge me that I did accuse your Scholemen to be the first founders of Images? This is false: I doe not charge them withall: but I will abyde by this, that this uenemous doctrine was wonderfull encreased with the corruption of this poyso­ned Schoole. [...]y wordes are as followeth.In myne answere to Osor. Epist. When true Reli­gion began to decay: Images crept into the Churche by title and litle, and that former earnest desire of pure doctrine wa­xed cold in mens hartes: and that bastard and deformed super­stitious Schoole Diuinitie vaunted it selfe at the length, and immediatly all places were patched vppe with Images. &c. Now speake Parrotte of Portingall, I pray you. Did I not orderly enough distinguish the seasons of tymes? By litle and litle crept Images in, yea long before the péepyng of Schoolemen abroad: but beyng settled in their stalles, all places were stuffed with Pictures. You sée their Originall before Schoo­lemen, but the increasinges thereof, in the chief reigne and sway of that brotherhoode: And yet ye dare impudently affirme that I named Schoolemen to bee the very wellsprynges of Pictures. And at length ye crye out. What dulnesse? what negligēce? when as I might more iustly haue exclaimed, O for­getfull dottard, O rayling scolde. After that you haue long [Page] turmoyled your selfe in this gulfe, sometymes treatyng of Pictures, sometymes inducyng them as representations of holy personages: you packe vp your trunckes, and returne to your former course of exhortation, wherein you persuade that bycause Images be sauory Instrumentes to enforme the vn­lettered people, therefore they ought bee reserued to that vse. But learned and godly men will rather say, that Images are daungerous Rockes of manifest Idolatry. And as I will not much gaynesay, that discréete men and well exercized in the Scriptures may haue in their Closettes without any perill, the Image of the Crucifixe, so doe I boldly pronounce that without great daunger of Idolatry, Images can not be pla­ced in Churches, to the uiewe of the rude people beyng natu­rally incliuable to all superstition. And therefore it is most ne­cessary to abandone Images out of Churches, and to instruct the people in the holy Scriptures, the often hearyng and rea­dyng wherof, will make the diligent and uertuous followers, to finde no want of any such paynted bables: Sathan cary­ing our Lord and Sauiour Iesus into the wildernesse willed him to fall downe and worshyp him. Our Lord Iesu despising and rebukyng him sayd.Luke. 4. It is written. Thou shalt worshippe the Lord thy God, and him onely shalt thou serue. Ueryly when I pon­der the Maiestie of these wordes throughly in my mynde, and the dayly practizes of your Churches, wherein so perillous and euident tokens of Image worshyp and knéelyng to Pictu­res is frequented, my very hart panteth and trembleth with­in me, to thinke, how this expresse commaundement of God the Father, and of our Lord Iesus Christ séemeth vtterly bu­ried in obliuion with you.

But runne on, sith it so pleaseth you, and scorche your soules in the flames of Idolatry: we beyng terrified with the Deuine Oracles of the sacred Scriptures, haue vtterly subuerted I­mages and Pictures, and exiled them from our Churches. In like maner we passe ouer the Saintes in our prayers, & make intercession onely vnto God the Father and our Lord and Sa­uiour Iesu Christ, and vpon them do we call onely for succour. Unto whom with the holy Ghost we do confesse and professe all glory, all honour, all power, & euerlastyng eternitie to be due. [Page 42] And to confirme this our confession to bee most pure and true, the testimonies of eche Testament are plentyfull: wherein we doe also follow the manifold examples of the Patriarches, A­postles and Martyrs. As for you, there is nothyng vttered of your part sauoryng of the auncient, pure founteine of the pri­mitiue Church, either in cōuersation of life or profession in Re­ligion. We haue heard the voyce of our Lord Iesu: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue. Certes if y^e onely Maiestie of God must be worshipped alone, the wor­shipping of saintes ought in no case to be admitted thē. The E­uangelist Iohn begā to worship y^e Angell:The last chap. of the Apocal. but the Angell with­stood him & yelded the reason. ‘I am (quoth he) thy fellow seruant.’ If we haue Angels our fellow seruaunts Osor. surely we haue no Saints to be our Aduocates.1. Timo. There is but one Aduocate be­twixt God and man: The God and man Christ Iesu. If Saintes make no intercession for vs, then to worship them is but vayne. Semblably take worshyp away, to what purpose serue Ima­ges? For to gaze vpō them auayleth litle. Let the people heare the Scriptures. Let them be busied therein: There is Christ painted vnto vs: there may the eyes of the soule behold him: in them doth hee breath, in them doth hee lyue, in them doth hee reigne and triumphe.

My Dylemma, or double Argument doth not content you, wherein I did conclude agaynst Images, to witte, that hauing life there was no want of them, & wantyng breath there was no vse nor profite in them. How you say thē hereunto? may not [...] parcell be iustified by the Scriptures?Exod. 1 [...]. Why doest thou cry vnto me (sayth God the father vnto Moyses) And yet Moyses in his prayer opened not his mouth. Therfore the spirite beyng pre­sent, doth present the prayers vnto God though all the sences els be silent. On the other side. If the hart be otherwise occu­pyed. God will not accept the prayers though neuer so many and neuer so laboursome. For after this maner the Lord Ie­sus doth recite out of Esay the Prophet. This people doth ho­nour me with their lippes, but their hart is farre awaye from me but they worshyp me in vayne. &c. Behold here worshyppyng is to no purpose, the spirite beyng absent: Why doe ye therefore spurne agaynst matters so manifest?

[Page] [...]ay but you presume to contend agaysnt the holy Ghost in these wordes, saying. The spirit being present, Images do no hurt: and being absent, they do very much auayle. Amiddes our prayers thynges may not be enterlaced, y^t do not hurt (good Syr) but matter wherewith our prayers may haue accesse vn­to God. But whereas you would haue Images to bée auayla­ble being without spirite. This is very straunge & monstruous in a Deuine to affirme that our prayers can be commended vn­to God by Images or by any other way els without the spirit. God is a spirite (sayth our Lord Iesus Christ) and it behoueth his worshippers to worship in spirite and truth. Iohn. 4. The Lord Iesus doth pronoūce that the true worshippers ought to worshyp in spirit. Our Prelate doth contend that pictures may auayle to prayer without spirite: Away Osorius Away. For euen on this wise and in the same cause the Lord Iesus did put Sathā to flight. We assuryng our selues vpon the authoritie of God the father and of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ, wil together with the Prophetes and Apostles, honour the Lord God the father, and him onely will we worshyp, the Lord Iesus Christ and the holy Ghost makyng intercession vnto him for vs. As for you (if you be so altogether persuaded) raunge on in this your crooked procession together with these gorgeous titles of Councels & Fathers, and with that filthy raggema [...]oll of your schoolemen. There will come a day, when this matter will be more déepely sifted before the Iudgemēt seate of our Sauiour Iesu Christ. Then shall we know whether part haue more safely and more duetyfully profited in the worshyppyng of Gods Maie­stie. And so now at the last your first goodly Inuectiue is come to an end: from out the whiche if a man will plucke awaye your outrage in cauillyng, your venemous scoldyng & your superfluous sen­tences: surely very litle will remayne wherein the learned Reader may be desirous to spend any tyme.

I Am ashamed (you say) to vse so ma­ny wordes in the confutatiō of your Booke. It is modestly done of you to confesse your fault. But your vnmea­surable braulyng hath altogether we­ryed me: of the same opinion are all o­thers also that haue séene your wri­tyng, who with one cōsent do wōder­fully condēne this your idle superflui­tie of toung in an old man. Yet can we sée no amendement in you: for the further ye procéede, so many the more Fables you do vtter, wherby all men may perceaue, that you are not indu­ced to writyng of any iudgement or discretion: but enflamed with excessiue malice & violēt outrage: with neither of y^t which your person and grayheaded yeares ought in any wise bee ac­quainted. But whereas you reporte that I seeme to haue ta­ken wonderfull pleasure in that my litle booke. Herein you follow the example of wayward men, whiche estéemyng other mens affections by their owne be of opinion that scarse any mā ­els can be well disposed bycause they bee vndiscréete them sel­ues. You begyn to quarell at the ouerthrowe of the Sacra­mentes, wherewith, you say also, that I do séeme somwhat dis­pleasaunt: and therfore you commend me with a scoffe, no lesse vnpleasaunt then vnsauory. But mocke on & spare not. You do trauayle with your contumelious wordes to bryng this noble Iland my deare beloued coūtrey into obloquie with all men, & with an abhominable lye doe exclame, that our Deui [...]es haue vtterly subuerted all Sanctuaries, Ceremonies, and Sacra­mentes. This your infamous, shamelesse,Hyperbole is called an excessiue vehemency of speach. and reprochfull Hi­perbolycall speach I haue scattered abroad, crusht in péeces, and brought, to nought, & haue so déepely emprinted your flesh with an. S. for a slaunderour to your perpetuall shame, that neither you nor any of all your feet shalbe euer able to wipe it out agayne. You do accuse Luther, Carolostadius, Oecolā ­padius, Zuinglius, and my Peter Martyr as men that do vn­reuerently rende asunder the Lordes Supper.

First of all. I haue sundry tymes heretofore protested, that [Page] your controuersse concerned vs, and not them. For your qua­rell was agaynst our English Deuines,Whereunto the Apolo­gie of Had­don had es­peciall re­gard. whom I vndertooke to defend: you slaundered our England, I stoode to the defence of y^e same. And therfore I might well haue referred all this con­tention touchyng their doctrine to them selues: & so I do: yet I will presume to say this much by the way, that you deale ve­ry vngently herein, to scold so importunately agaynst the good name of them, which can not now plead their owne cause: I do adde hereunto, that the rest (except Carolostadius onely, of whom I can say nothyng, bycause I doe not know him) all the rest I meane, were men of such excellēcie, not onely in y^e know­ledge of toungues, and other liberall sciences, but also such sin­gular Deuines, as that Ierome Osorius might haue bene scho­ler to the meanest of them. I say this withall, that you vtter your vnskilfulnesse herein, to couple Luther and Zuinglius to­gether in matter of the Sacrament, whose opiniōs were som­what discrepāt in the same. Lastly touchyng the matter it selfe, I aunswere briefly: That those famous and worthy patrones of the Gospell and true Religion (whose names you rehearse in reproch) did reuerently and religiously treate of the Sacramēt of the body, and bloud of our Lord if they may be tryed by y^e true touchstone of the scriptures: in whō likewise you can finde no iust cause of reprehēsion cōcernyng the other Sacraments, vnlesse you suppose, that with your naked clamorous affirma­tiues ye may expell them out of the Church, as mē are wont to driue common players from the Stage with hissing and clap­pyng of handes. But they can not be so quayled Osorius. They haue obteined better footyng and déeper roote in the harts of mē by their learnyng & vertue, thē you can be able to remoue with your penne though it bee neuer so cruell: whom the bootcherly crueltie of your side be it neuer so sauadge, can with fire & Fa­got cōsume out of the myndes of the godly. But this our new maister dispatcheth all thyngs in scoffes & a petie questiōs. He demaundeth of vs, what is to be vnderstanded of those Sa­cramentes which we doe reteine? First of all, if we doe vse a­ny Sacraments at all, you are taken tardy for a common lyar agaynst vs especially: for you rayled a litle earst, that all Sa­cramentes were vtterly abolished by our preachers, and that [Page 44] you haue as many witnesses of this solemne lye, as England hath inhabitauntes.

But you proceede, and would know. What Sacraments be. If you doe know already and will dissemble, why doe you playe the foole in so earnest a matter? but if you bee ignoraunt hereof, what maner of Deuine will you be accoumpted? that know not the first principles of Religion? Nay (say you) I am not doubtfull of the Sacraments of Scholemen: but I know not your bare and naked Images, by the whiche you deny the grace of God to bee obteined. How many faultes O­sorius, in so few wordes? For first of all, who euer called Sa­cramentes, by this name Images, but you alone? in déede they are named signes, and markes of holy thynges, many tymes seales of our saluatiō, many mē call them tables: and so diuers men geue diuers names. But your selfe are the very first, that euer gaue this tearme of Images to Sacramēts. But as tou­ching wordes, though you be oftētymes ouer captious, we wil­be more tractable with you therein, and will prosecute the mat­ter. You say that our Deuines doe place naked Images in steade of Sacramentes. How naked, my Lord I pray you? we do agrée with S. Augustine, that Sacramentes are signes of holy thynges: or thus: that Sacramentes are visible signes of inuisible grace. I trust you will permit me the same libertie of wordes, which you vse to take to your selfe. We do graūt, that we are by Baptisme regenerate to eternall lyfe: we doe also yeld, that in the holy Communion our Lord Iesus is truely re­ceiued of the faythfull in spirite by fayth. Whereby it appea­reth, that our Deuines do not accoumpt the Sacramentes as bare naked signes, but for thynges most effectuall, most holy, & thynges most necessaryly apperteyning to our comfort: they be sacred mysteries of our Religion, they be assured pledges of heauenly grace:Exod. 32. And yet God y^e father which made vs of clay is not tyed to his workemāshyp, nor bounde to his creatures,Rom. 9. But taketh mercy of whom he will haue mercy, and forgeueth our sinnes for his owne sake, not for the Sacraments sake. Lastly,Rom. 6. Life e­uerlasting is the gift of God through Iesus Christ, not through o­peration of the Sacramentes. And therfore we do refuse and detest such naked & falsely forged Images, as dreames of your [Page] owne drousie braynes,How we ought to e­steeme of the Sacra­mentes. and vse the true Sacramentes as most sacred thynges, as pledges of our fayth, and seales of our salua­tion: & yet we do not attribute so much vnto them, as though by the meanes of them, the grace of God must of necessitie be pou­red our vpō vs,Ex opere operat. Rom. 4. by the Workes wrought, as through conduct pipes. This impietie we turne ouer to your Schoolemen, the very first sprynges of this poyson, For inheritaunce is geuen of faith, accordyng to grace. The Sacramentes are reuerend sig­nes of Gods grace vnto vs, are excellēt monumētes of our Re­ligion, are most perfect witnesses of our saluation. If you can not be satisfied with these commendations of the Sacramēts, heape you vp more vnto them at your choyse, we shalbe well pleased withall, so that you binde not the grace of God to these signes of very necessitie. For we are not saued by the receauing of these Sacramēts,Rom. 10. But if we cōfesse with our mouth our Lord Iesus Christ, and with our hartes beleeue, that God raysed him a­gayne from death, this confession onely will saue vs. Iulian the Emperour was Baptized in the name of Iesus, yet dyed in manifest blasphemie: Iudas Iscariote did féede vpon the Sa­crament of Euchariste, yet immediatly after Supper, hee de­parted to the enemyes of our Lord Iesu, and betrayed innocēt bloud: what néedeth many wordes? Sacramētes are most pre­cious tokens of Gods fauour,Sacraments are tokens of saluatiō, but do not worke sal­uation. 1. Cor. 1. but they doe not obteine Gods fauour: Sacramētes are excellent monumentes of godlynes, but they do not make godlynes: He that will glory, let him glory in the Lord, not in the Sacraments. For by God, we are engraf­fed into Christ Iesu, whiche was made vnto vs by God, wisedome, righteousnes, sanctification and redemption.

And this much to your generall obiections framed agaynst our order of administryng the Sacramentes. Now I will come to those two principall points, which you séeme specially to haue culled out, that in them you might braue out y^e nimble­nes of your witte, & eloquence of toung: Confession, Confessiō. Sacrament of the Al­tar. you name and the Sacrament of the altar, as you tearme it: Of Confes­sion you draw forth a tedious talke, and in the same endeauour to include the Sacrament of Repentance. First of all, you cast your accōptes amisse in your numbryng, Osorius, for if you re­ceaue Repētaunce in the name of a Sacramēt, either you must [Page 45] admit eight Sacramentes contrary to the old custome of your Church, or els you must turne one of your other seuen Sacra­ments out of the doores: wherein vnlesse you deale more circūspectly, you will haue more fistes about your eares then your owne, euen amongest your owne fraternitie. But please them as well as you may, and vs you shall easely winne to wincke at you, which do content our selues with two Sacramentes one­ly, to witte, Baptisme, and the Supper of the Lord: Two Sa­cramentes. yet do we also exercize the rest withall as matters singularly profitable, and so fast knitte to the rule of true godlynesse, that Christian pro­fession can not want them. When I name the rest, I do not cō ­prehend all, but Confession, and yet not your hypocriticall and schoole cōfession (wherof we will treate hereafter) but the pure, and auncient confession, authorized by the Scriptures, & pra­ctized by the Prophetes, and Apostles: I adde hereunto amen­dement of lyfe, ordination of Ministers, celebration of Matri­monie, and prayer: although you passe by this last as a foreine straunger. All these (I say) are in dayly vse with vs, and had in great estimatiō, though they reteine neither name nor nature of Sacramentes properly: There be some other also, wherof it is néedelesse to make any mentiō at this present: for these are the chiefest: which though we do not vsurpe for Sacraments, as you do: yet we do allow of them reuerently, and religiously accordyng to the ordinaunce of the Gospell of God. Whiche I thought méete to touch briefly by the way, left any person vnac­quainted with our orders, and geuyng to much credite to Oso­rius, may estéeme so much the lesse of our Religion. Now I re­turne to your Cōfessiō whispered into y^e eares of your Priests:Au [...]icular Confessiō. whō though you embrace as your swéet babe, and enriche with a great dower of wordes, and decke with gay copes of senten­ces: yet ye lose herein both your trauaile & coste. For you gar­nishe but a schooleharlotte, a nurse of superstition, a drudge of couetousnes, and the common shoppe of all abomination. And therfore you do well, that in the enshryning of so filthy an inuē ­tion of man, you flye from all ayde of Scriptures: And yet by­cause ye produce some, somwhat sty [...]ye, & according to your dis­cretion apply them as wisely, though ye promise quyte contra­ry, we will sift them a litle by your leaue, and sée how they will [Page] helpe you in your iourney.

I speake nothyng here (you say) how in the old law [...] in their sacrifices offred for cleansing of sinnes, a certein con­fession of vnpure liuyng was brought to the Priestes. But speake aloude rather, what confession was that you speake of? by what custome receaued? in what place, when, and with what circumstaunces was it frequented? either you ought haue vtte­red one of these, or els we must playnly iudge, that this confes­sion was a certeine somewhat, we know not what. Whereof is no such thyng in all Scriptures, as you make it: or if any such were amongest the ordinaunces of the Priestes,Heb. 9.10. the same is worne out of [...]re euen as the old sacrifices are, & quyte for­gotten: and this you can not deny: vnlesse you be altogether ig­noraunt in Diuinitie, No nor that you thinke worthy to be noted (you say) that those whiche came to the Baptisme of Iohn Baptiste did of an earnest zeale confesse their sinnes. You do wel (Osorius) y^t you do not, note it, but you had done bet­ter, if you had neuer touched y^t place. For at that tyme were no Massemōgers nor Cowled lozelles, into whose eares the wret­ched rude people might particularly whisper their offences, without whom this your goodly confession is of no value. No, nor it pleaseth you (you say) to rehearse the confession that Christiā men made to the Apostles of Christ, mētioned in the Actes of the Apostles. If it pleased you not to rehearse it, why do you rehearse it thē? nay rather why do ye make a speci­all note out of y^e Actes,Actes. 2. of that which is not there? The hartes of the Iewes were pricked at the preaching of Peter, whom also Pe­ter doth exhort to amendemēt of lyfe. Here is no word of Con­fession: and yet I doubt not, but they did confesse their sinnes vnto God. But I would not haue you (Osorius) beyng a De­uine, and a Byshop so vnaduisedly to vouche any thyng out of scriptures wherof is no mentiō made there. You say also that you will passe ouer in silence the Commaundement which Iames gaue cōcernyng Confession. Truly you ought to haue made no mention therof, bycause that cōmaundement cā not be restrayned to Priests onely, but extēdeth it selfe to all persons indifferently, and belongeth no lesse to common prayer, then to mutuall confession:Iames the last chap. as is euident by Iames his owne wordes.

[Page 46] Lastly (you say) that you will not vse these wordes where with Christ did manifestly commit vnto Priestes the iuris­dictiō of the soule. Osorius. Ye do very well truly that you will not vse those places, I would to God you would not abuse them. But you do corrupt them fouly (Osorius) and that laudable & whole­some order of the Apostles in remittyng offences, whiche they vsed with prayers openly spoken, in the name of our Lord Ie­su, you do depraue with a certeine authoritie of your owne, in blynd corners, either for lucre of some powlyng pence, or for someother worse matters. In a straunge toung ye send away y^e people that come vnto you, nothyng amēded, nay rather oftē ­tymes, more apte to deuise mischief: surely for the more part, much more corrupted rather then amended. I do not lye, Oso­rius, though you stomacke my wordes. Dayly practize, & com­mon experience, and the perpetuall hystorie of all ages, will witnes the same to be true. And beyng here destitute of Diui­nitie, you hauke for other helpes abroad, and you raunge to two vertues very godly ones I promise you, yet such as they be, as farre wyde from your forged Cōfession, as heauē is di­stant frō the earth. You suppose it a goodly matter, that we do know our selues. And so it is in deéde. You commende hu­militie much, & I agreé with you therein: But from whence come these vnto vs? out of Friers Cowles or Priestes wyde sleéues, or from the bosome of God the father?Iames. 1. from whom eue­ry good and perfect gift is deliuered vnto vs? Peruse you y^t Psal­mes of Dauid, what shall you finde in them but submission,Psal. 22.30. hu­militie, knowledge, and embacyng of a mans selfe? and yet that Prophet of God did not learne them of your Priests, but of the creatour of all thynges God our most louyng, and bountefull father, of that same great & mighty God (I say) who pronoun­ceth of him selfe, saying:Deut. 32. Behold therfore that I, euen I, I say, am the same Lord, and that there is no God besides me. I do kill, and I make aliue agayne, I doe make the wounde, but I will heale a­gayne. &c. Wherefore we must obey Iames, who pronounceth in this maner. Humble your selues in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalte you: But wherfore bryng you these thynges seue­rally? The whole discourse and tenour of the Scriptures doth teach humilitie, and submissiō of myndes, it breaketh ob­stinacie, [Page] it abateth pride, and [...]ameth arrogancie. And yet O­sorius a Deuine, and a Byshop doth leade vs away from the Scriptures, and will thrust vs vnto market Confession, to ga­ther preceptes of good lyfe from Massemongers, and Cowled Friers: O blynd guide of the blind. It is no maruell truely, though you and your sheépe of Siluain fall both together into the ditche. But at the length hee bringeth forth an inuincible Argumēt and doth testifie of him selfe in earnest and as it were with Protestation.

Mercena [...]ie Confessiō. That the holy Ghost hath wrought all that goodnesse that is in him by the meane of Confession. He doth playnly Confesse, that confession hath bene his Schoolemystres, and nurse of all his godlynes, in so much that he hath not one spar­kle of the loue of God (for so hee speaketh) besides that, whiche hath bene reuealed vnto him by illumination of this eare. Con­fession. First of all (Maister Doctour) I am easely persuaded this to bee true that you speake of your selfe: and next I am a­shamed, and wery of you, that haue altogether so hanged vp­on Cōfession, that neither prayers, nor study, nor preceptes of holy Scriptures, haue preuailed in any respect to enduce your mynde to godlynesse, beyng a grayheaded Deuine, a man of threé score yeares almost: Then also I can not but beleue, that either you haue bene a very blockheaded Scholer, or that your maisters of Confession, were very vnlucky, which in so many yeares, after so much buzzing in their eares, after so many cō ­ferences of godly matters, could worke nothyng els in you, thē to shape a madde Byshop, of a senselesse Priest. Epicure (as you know) was accustomed to glory, that hee had neuer instru­ctour in Philosophie: I beleue it (quoth Cicero) for if you had bene taught any thyng at all, you would neuer haue written so absurdely. Euen in like maner may I beleue no man better thē Osorius him selfe, that he neuer had any other Schoolemisters besides Confession. For of a wicked and corrupt Schoolemy­sters, is hatched a proude and hautie sholer, standyng in his owne light, a despiser of all others, an importunate brauler, a prattlyng Sophister, a shamelesse rayler, an vnmeasurable slaūder and a peruertour of holy Scriptures, and true godly­nes. How much better had it bene for you, if you had had lesse [Page 47] conference with Massemongers, and bene more acquainted with S. Paule? Hee would haue instructed you in all sobrietie, modestie, iustice, pietie, fayth, charitie, patience and meckenesse: Whereof you seéme to haue le [...]rned no title in all your sweéte confessions, nor so much as heard, whether any such matter be, or euer haue bene: So farre and wyde doth both your speach & your reason dissent, and disagreé, as altogether estraūged from them. Yet ye proceéde notwithstandyng in this desperate tra­uaile of Confession, which beyng staggeryng and ready to fall, you doe vnderproppe with workes, least it fall to the grounde, For thus ye write.

Yet notwithstandyng we doe not so content our selues with this Confession of sinnes, but that we exact fruites of Repentaūce, which we vse to name Satisfactions, a word that you scorne at most insolētly. Behold this fine scholer of Confession, so well poolished in y^e schoole of his Massemongers, that hee hath learned, that Christians are required to bryng foorth fruites worthy of Repentaunce. O deépe and profounde doctrine: as though any Cobbler or Carter did euer deny, or were ignoraunt in this point? but you haue coupled hereunto an other new companion a meare straunger to Christiā eares. For you say that the fruites of Repentaunce are named of you by this name Satisfactiōs. I do know very well that your Massemōgers, Friers & schoolemen haue thrust into the church this new wicked name of Satisfaction: but I know this also, that you haue done this, to your great shame, and reproch. For it is a manifest vntruth contrary to all holy Scriptures, con­trary to the doctrine of the sacred and Apostolicque Church, & contrary to the iudgements of the approued auncient fathers. But we do heare Iohn (say you) exhorting them, which had confessed their faultes, to bryng forth fruites worthy of Repentaunce: and you adde, that the same wordes were re­peated by that great maister of righteousnes the Redemer of mankynd. I doe confesse this Osorius, what conclude you hereof? we must bryng forth fruites worthy of Repentaunce, Ergo, fruites worthy of Repentaūce must be named Satisfac­tiōs. Cursed be your Confessours Osorius, that could instruct you no better in Logicke. Osorius hath suckt out of Confession [Page] the rules of good lyfe, Ergo, he must do nothyng els. A very like conclusion, a fit whelpe of that schoole where you were trayned vp. But let vs seé, if your Satisfactions be not vtterly ouer­throwen with the same Scriptures, wherewith you thinke to establish them. Iohn pointyng vnto Christ with his finger, Be­hold (quoth he) the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world: Iohn. 1. If Christ take away the sinnes of the world, how cā workes satisfie? but harken vnto Christ him selfe whom you do worthely name the great Schoolemaster of righteousnesse. When you haue done all (sayth hee) that are commaunded you, say yet, we are vnprofitable seruauntes, we did no more then we ought to doe: Luke. 17. Behold we are vnprofitable seruauntes in the chiefest perfection of our workes, Ergo, your Satisfactions are cold & nothyng worthe.

That pure and chosen vessell of God Paule, doth teache in this maner.1. Cor. 4. I am not guiltie of any thyng, yet am I not iustified hereby. If Paules vndesiled conscience, cleare of all crimes, were not auaylable to iustification: then of very necessitie all your owne, and the Satisfactiōs of all your sect, are lame and cripled. But let vs learne of the same Paule from whe [...]ce true Christians ought to fetche full Satisfaction and absolute per­fection. Christ (sayth he) hath by one onely oblation made perfect for euer; them whiche are sanctified. This one onely Sacrifice of Christ, offred vp in the Altar of the Crosse, is our Satisfaction, our perfection, and our witnessing, and shalbe for euer, not ours one­ly, but of all those also, which shalbe made perfect in tyme to come. We doe beleue Paule, we doe beleue Iohn, and we doe beleue Christ. If you do not beleue those, there be other companions fit for you to company withall, namely, the Pharisies whiche scorned Christes preachyng, vnto whom he sayd.Luce. 16. You be they, which iustifie your selues before men, but God knoweth your harts: for that whiche is glorious in the sight of men, is abhomination be­fore God. Take heéde Osorius, take heéde (I say) y^t you be not of the nūber of those Pharisies, lest God abhorre you, & turne his face frō your glorious Satisfactiōs, shyne they neuer so gor­giously in the sight of mē. You cauill after your old maner, I can not tell what, agaynst the vanitie of me, and our Deuines: wherein I will not braule with you, lest I fill whole Uolumes [Page 48] with superfluous matters, as you do, but I will meéte with you in those thynges onely, wherein seémeth some matter of cōtro­uersie. You bryng a very sit and elegant cause surely, whereby you would shewe, why we should not confesse to God alone, but rather fleé out to your Confessours.

For that God (you say) can not be so easily perceaued of vs, hee hath appointed his Vicares on the earth, whiche should exercise his authoritie so that who would refuse them, would refuse God him selfe. &c. First of all, ye deny that God cā be clearely perceaued: as though the sight of God were necessarie to y^e dānation of sinners. This is to to lumpish Osorius more fit for that Cowled Asse your companiō then for you.1. Tim. vlt Ad Heb [...]. vlt. No mā euer hath sene God, nor cā seé him, and yet through Christ, we do offer vnto God the father, the sacrifice of thankesge­uyng, and magnifie his holy name. This matter apperteineth not to the sight of the eyes, it apperteineth to the mynde, and in­ward seélyng of the soule which clyming vnto God in harty sor­row, and sighyng is neuer throwen downe from the beholdyng of his infinite goodnesse.Ezech. 33. I liue, sayth the Lord, and take no plea­sure in the death of a sinner, but rather that the wicked conuerte from his wicked way, and liue: be ye conuerted therfore, be ye con­uerted, from your wicked wayes, wherfore will ye dye, O ye house of Israel? With like gētlenes doth our Sauiour Iesus Christ call vs vnto him. Come vnto me, all ye that are laden, and I will refresh you, I will geue to them that are thirstie of the well of life, freely. And yet Osorius beleueth, that bycause of y^e absence of Christ, Uicares must be substituted: Paule taught vs farre o­therwise, saying.Apoc. 21. The Lord is neare vnto all them, that call vpon his name: Christ teacheth farre otherwise, of him selfe.Apoc. 3. Behold I stand at the doore, and knocke, if any mā heare my voyce, and o­pē vnto me the gate, I will enter vnto him, and will suppe with him, and hee with me. O sweéte and most comfortable voyce of our Lord, & Sauiour Iesus Christ, which if once may be through­ly rooted in the inward partes of our soule, will easely rase out, & abolish that priuy blind buzzyng in the eares of those Masse­mongers and Friers. But Osorius sticketh fast to his substi­tution and mainteineth earnestly, that the Apostles were assig­ned to be Christes Uicares on earth, whiche should supply his [Page] iurisdiction, and should enterlace their owne definitiue senten­ces with his. These are both false. God is a ielous God, and will not geue his honour to any other. Hee hath appointed no Uicare, and the holy Scripture doth acknowledge no such word, neither was it his will, that the Apostles should enter­medle in his Iurisdiction. Your surmise is false, quite contra­ry to his heauenly prerogatiue.

Apoc. 1. For Christ onely hath the keyes of hell, and death. Christ onely, is the slayne Lambe, and the Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda, the roote of Dauid, which openeth the booke, and louseth the seuen seales ther­of, neither was there any besides him in heauen, in earth, or vnder the earth, that could open the booke, and looke into it. Apoc. 5. Our Lord Iesus beyng raysed from death, and appearyng vnto his Apo­stles spake vnto them in this maner:Math. 28. All power is geuen vnto me in heauē, and in earth. Of this power was neuer iote empaired in any respect, and neuer shalbe. What was the Commission of the Apostles then? Christ him selfe doth open it in the selfe same place. Goe ye therfore, and teach all nations, Baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost: teachyng them to obserue all those sayings, which I haue commaū ­ded you. This was the Embassie of the Apostles, this was their Commissiō, & Iurisdiction, or to speake more playnly & blunt­ly, this was their function, this was their office. To this au­thoritie the keyes of heauen, and remission of sinnes and what­soeuer els of the same kynde must be applyed. S. Paule doth comprehend all these briefly in these wordes.Ad Cor. 4. Let men so esteeme vs, as Ministers of Christ, and Stewardes of the mysteries of God. You be not Uicares thē Osori you be Ministers: ye be not iud­ges to constitute Lawes (as you do wickedly take vpō you) but ye be Stewardes to dispose y^e mysteries of God: or at the lest you ought to bee. But how belongeth this doctrine of Christ and his Apostles to your Massemongers & Confessours? They haue an other Romishe doctrine, whereby they doe receiue the seély rude people, runnyng in heapes, vnto them, rehearsing their sinnes priuily, and in some close corner, superstitiously: & when they haue vttered what them listeth, they pronounce ouer them, of their own power, an absolution in a straūge language: & in steade of Satisfaction, they do enioyne them some fastyng [Page 49] dayes or some long pilgrimages: and to make an ende of the play, they pike from them a few pēce for their labour. This is your vsurped power of Cōfessiōs (Osorius) which you affirme was geuen first to the Apostles, afterwardes to you, by a cer­t [...]ine title of Succession. Tell me now, did you euer read, that any thyng was whispered into the Apostles eares priuily? or that sinnes were seuerally repeated? or the people absolued by their owne absolute power? or any thyng done in a language not vnderstanded? or any penaūce (as you tearme it) enioyned? or at the last any reward taken?

What vnshamefastnes is this? what impietie is it to defend this close superstitious, and mercenarie eare confession vnder pretence of the authoritie of our Sauiour Christ? & example of his Apostles? especially whē as none of these was euer institu­ted by Christ, or frequented of his Apostles. But your braynes are so be witched and intoxicated with eare confessions, that ye shame not to alledge other stuffe yet whiche is most absurde of all the rest, You say that it is daungerous for men to bee left in their owne libertie, whē they should confesse them sel­ues to God. For if it were so, we would not willingly yeld to that embacing and throwyng down of our selues, which Dauid named to bee the most acceptable sacrifice to God. You do heare and acknowledge your owne wordes, my Lord, then the which I neuer heard any thyng vttered more blockish: The matter shalbe made manifest by the same example of Da­uid, which your selfe do alledge. Dauid beyng a Patriarche, a Kyng and a Prophet, and a mā accordyng to Gods hart (to vse the wordes of the Scripture) was notwithstandyng continu­nually exercized in this kynde of Confession, whiche is betwixt God onely & vs: in whom there is such store of sorowyng, sigh­yng, lamentyng, weépyng, afflictyng, and bewayling: as the like hath neuer bene in all your se [...]et whisperyngs, no not sith the first whelpyng of the same. For [...] els is there in all that heauenly & golden Psalmes of Dauids p [...]ayer? then a mourne­full, and lamentable confession of sinne? ioyned with hartie re­pentaunce, & sure hope of pardon?Psal. 51. Be mercyfull to me. O Lord (sayth hee) accordyng to thy manifold mercies, wash me throughly frō my wickednes, and clense me frō my sinnes: for I do acknowledg [...] [Page] my faultes, and my sinne is [...]er before me. Agaynst thee onely haue I s [...]ed, and done wickedly in thy sight. Loe here a true and soūde forme of Cōfession fully described in Dauid, A true forme of Confession out of Da­uid. whō you haue al­ledged. In this cōfession we do exercize our selues: In this we remaine, & in this we do dwell. We do also poure out publicke Confessions of sinnes in our Churhes,Publique Cōfession. where the godly Mini­ster is harkened vnto, which may minister an wholesome plai­ster to our wounded consciences, some sentence [...] of the au­thoritie of the Scriptures. These be the keyes, wherewith he doth opē the kyngdome of God, to thē which do vnfaynedly re­pent, & pronounceth vs that are boūde with the chaines of our sinnes, freély loosed, and deliuered from them in the name of our Lord, and Sauiour Iesu Christ. These Confessions as well priuate as publicke, these keyes, this power of byndyng & loo­sing we doe acknowledge appointed by the Scriptures, and practized in the tyme of the Apostles. Neither was any thyng done with Iohn in a corner, touchyng Confession, nor yet with the Disciples of Christ. This matter was referred and ended also to and before God: wherof we haue a most manifest exam­ple in the Gospell, which ought not onely enter the eares, but also pearce the very hartes of all well disposed persons.

Luce. 15.When the lost and prodigall sonne, had riotously consumed and wasted all his substaunce in so much that he was driuen to eate Peascoddes with hogges, he begynneth at the last, to call him selfe home, and earnestly to deuise how he might be recon­ciled to his father: herein he prayeth no ayde of any Leuite, nor sittyng in a corner vnfoldeth vnto him by peécemeale how wic­kedly, and filthyly, he had behaued him selfe, in all his misdo­ynges, in hope to receaue pardon of him, who could not relieue him: but with an assured confidence, commeth to his heauenly father, and maketh his humble Confession into his eares, in this wise.An exam­ple of pri­uate Con­fessiō in the prodicall Sonne. Father I haue sinned agaynst heauen, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy sonne, make me as one of thy hired seruauntes. Truly this is both an humble, and lowly Confession, the sentence wonderfully effectuall, nor any whit tedious in wordes: And yet it came to passe hereupō, that this most myld father was very ioyous, and clothed his sonne gor­giously, rendryng therof this reason: My sonne was dead, and it [Page 50] aliue: was lost, and is founde agayne. Behold here a pure and Gos­pel like Confession, by the which we passe from death vnto life, from destruction, to saluatiō. And therfore we that are instru­cted with these godly preceptes, ought to obey the holy Ghost, which teacheth vs by the mouth of S. Paule, That,Heb. 4. because we haue an high Priest, that hath pearced the heauens, euen Iesus the sonne of God, we should boldly approch to the Throne of his grace, with affiaunce, that from thence we may obteine mercy and grace and finde necessarie relief. Yet for all this, our great Proctour of Confession speaketh on, and faceth out the matter endeuou­ryng to fetch the petigreé therof out of the Prophecies of Esay and demaundeth of me How I thinke that place of Esay must be vnderstode: Esay. 11. that it Should come to passe, that after the birth of Christ, the suckling Babe should thrust his hand into the denne of the Cockatrice and draw him out from thence? First let vs heare the famous interpretation of this reuerend father.

If you will interpret this place (sayth he) as becommeth a Christian, by children, you must vnderstand those persons to whom Christ hath geuen power to treade downe Ser­pentes, and Scorpions, that is to say all sauadgenes of wic­kednesse, the deceites of Deuils, and all crueltie lurkyng in the very Dennes of the soules. For although those persons be of a childishe simplicitie, yet are they endued with such force and strength, that they may easely kill Vipers, beyng baled out of the most inward entrailes of the soules. Marke here Reader this deépe interpretatiō of this graue father, By­shop and Deuine. But what shall I reprehend in this old Dot­terell first? He resembleth Confessours to sucklyng babes. By what reason? by what resemblaunce? by what likelyhoode? Paul doth enforme the Ministers farre otherwise, whom hee requi­reth amongest other thynges,1. Tim. 3 To hold fast the mysterie of faith in a pure conscience, then, that a triall be had of them first, and af­ter admitted to the Ministerie. Both which are farre beyond the age of Childish simplicitie: but the power to treade vpō Ser­pentes,The place of Esay wrongfully wrested by Osorius. & Scorpions, was graūted to the Disciples of Christ, as apperteinyng to their bodyes, not to their soules: That they should be dayly conuersaūt amongest poyson, without any em­pairyng of their health: for euen so doth our Lord Iesus pro­mise [Page] thē. Behold I geue you power to tread vpon Serpēts, and Scor­pions, and vpon all the force of the enemie, and nothing shall hurt you. Luke. 10. So did Paule shake from his hand into the fier the Uiper, which by chaunce stacke fast vpō him, beyng him selfe safe and whole, when all men did looke that hee should haue swollen and burst in peéces. Wherfore this promise of Christ, whereby the health of the Apostles was preserued, that nothyng might hurt them, can not bee so mistourned, and wrested to the edifieng of soules through Confessiō, vnlesse it be, by you and your schoole­men: which in mydday ouerspread all thynges with cloudes, disguise all thynges licentiously at your owne will, whiche chaūge white blacke, and blacke white, that by such meanes y^t peéuishe and cold inuentions of your Commētaries may be im­puted vnto our charge. In like maner, bycause God did place in the firmamentone great light, and an other lesse, in the first creation of the world: ye will haue this also to be almost an Ar­ticle of our fayth, that hereof it came to passe, that the Pope is in degreé aboue the Emperour. O passing witte, that can make of the Sunne a Pope, and of the Moone an Emperour. But ye route so soundly in these drousie dreames, that you can not bee awakened out of them: and therfore I will leaue you snortyng in them, and will aūswere you of the true meanyng of the Pro­phecie whereof you moued your question. Esay the Prophet doth in that place treate of the commyng of our Sauiour Ie­su Christ, and doth foreshew, that in that tyme, shall peace and full tranquillitie of all thyngs be: which peace after a Prophe­ticall maner he doth beautifie and make apparaūt, vnder allu­sions and variable figures, that by them we might be enduced to haue a better tast and feélyng therof.

And to expresse the same more playnly. I will recite that part of Esay frō the begynnyng which you haue slightly runne ouer.Esay. 11. The Prophecy is knit together in this phrase of wordes. And there shall spring a braunche out of the roote of lesse, and ae blossome shall grow out of his roote. &c. Vpon whom the spirite of the Lord shall rest. &c. then a litle after. The Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe, and the Leoparde shall lye downe by the Kidde. And agayne. The Bullockes, Lions, and Cattaile, shall keepe com­panie together, so that a litle Child shall leade them. The Cowe, [Page 51] and Beare, shall feede together, and their yoūg ones shall lye toge­ther. The Lyō shall eate straw like the Oxe or the Cow, the suckling babe shall haue delight to the Serpentes neast, and when he is wea­ned, he shall put his hand into the Cockatrice `Denne. This much Esay: who did most eloquently describe vnto vs the cōmyng of Christ into the earth, florishyng to the great benefite of vniuer­sall peace and publike prosperitie, by way of allusion of the cō ­corde and agreément of sauadge beastes accompanyeng toge­ther peacybly. And because he would Emprinte the same more deépely into our inward senses, he is plētyfull in comparisons, and figures:The place of Esay ex­planed amongest the which, he bringeth in, this comfor­table similitude of the sucklyng babes, desirous to playe with the Serpentes: whereby, he doth most manifestly expresse vn­to vs, the happy estate of those dayes, and the wonderfull cle­mencie, and innocencie of Christ. All men may well know, that this was the true, and vnfayned meanyng of the Prophecie, whiche will consider the purpose of the Prophet: and withall will know this also, that your Fable therof is very triflyng, a meéte lesson for your peltyng schoole of Cōfessours and schoole­men. Now here is your goodly Confession so gorgiously pain­ted by you, which you affirme to be the Queéne of all Christian discipline, beyng in very deéde (as you haue set her out in stage) a most filthie handmayde of your Schoolemen, and most pesti­lent bondslaue of the Romish Seé.

Now come we to deale with you of y^e Supper of the Lord:Of the Sa­crament of Euchariste. whiche beyng of it selfe a most precious and sacred monument of our redemption, you haue so defiled and corrupted with your traditiōs, that the true vse therof is almost vtterly extinct. Yet in the meane space You accuse vs as violatours of the Maie­stie of this sacred Sacrament, and that we haue in the same, I know not, how haynously offended. Which horrible accu­sation beyng enflamed with outragious burnyng firebrandes of Sentences, if it be vnfolden & throughly perused, will seéme to sauour of nothyng at all, but of malicious smoke of your shameles railing. You make a preface hereūto in some leaues, with a great rable of wordes, but altogether contrary to the matter, As that we do not cōceaue all the creatures of God by reason: and a litle after, you roll in your Rhetoricke com­myng [Page] downe to the fashionyng of mans body, and the whole creatiō of the world and herein bycause you will be accoumpted no small Ciceronian, Osori. Tul­lyes coūter­saite. you besturre your selfe: & packe and stuffe together a whole sarpler full of Tullies owne sentences, and at length with a long & laboursome talke, ye conclude that, wher­of no sensible man of our Deuines euer doubted: That is to say:Cicero. de natura Deo [...]um. That mās reason onely must not be vsed to the conceauyng of all the creatures of God, but that fayth must be many tymes enterlaced withall: And last of all you name our Lord Iesus Christ commyng downe vnto vs from heauen, and of his infi­nite mercy takyng vpon him our frayle nature, the whiche you preach to exceéde reason aboue measure. What say you Osori­us? what do you meane hereby? who hath distempered you? you do suppose (I thinke) that ye write to stones, and blockes, not to men. Who did euer doubt that there are as many thyngs to be woūdred at, as be creatures in nature? Let vs behold all the workes of God. Or what Christian person hath euer bene foūd amongest vs so blockish, and so voyde of perseueraunce, which doth not confesse the commyng downe of Christ from heauen? and all the Articles of our belief, to be vnto vs, as secrete and heauenly mysteries of our fayth? wherfore do you so wastfully lose your own and other mens tyme in so euident, approued, & confessed matters? why are you so madde in the introduction onely of so great a matter, to make so long a discourse, of Maximes already manifest, and whereof our children can not be ignoraunt.

Forsooth to this end I do it (you say) thereby to display your errour. Who doe not comprehend the Sacrament of Euchariste by the mysterie of fayth, but esteeme the same by reason onely. That is false (my Lord) it is vntrue: we doe earnestly vrge fayth:Actes. 1. we adioyne the Spirite, we do graūt, & defend it to be both a Sacrament, and a mysterie also. You on the other side, do plucke God out of heauen, contrary to the ex­presse Article of our fayth: and beyng pluckte from thence (the holy Ghost crying out agaynst you in y^e Scriptures) you shut him vp into bread, and beyng shut vp therein ye doe transub­stantiate him, & disguise him with your Argumentes, & illusi­ons of schooleianglers chopt together, framed vpō accidentes, [Page 52] substaunces, quantities, and qualities, and to helpe your iug­glyng, you borow a point of Paule, cleane contrary the cause: videl. He that hath not spared his owne Sonne, but hath deliuered him vp for vs all, how hath he not geuen vs all thynges together with him? I would to God Osorius you did as firmely and sin­cerely beleue this sentence of Paule, as we doe. There would not then be such a swarme of ceremonies, and superstitions in your Church, there would not bee such gaddyng on pilgrima­ges, and lyeng grouelyng before Images, neither should we seé the Uicare of God enstalled a Lord ouer mens consciences, vtteryng his pardons of sinnes for a fewe pence, tossing and turmoyling the poore and wretched soules in y^e flames of Pur­gatory, not enhaunsing market of the holy Scriptures, after hiw owne pleasure. Lastly your Confessours and cowled gene­ration of Uipers would not esteéme the worthynes of workes as a portion of our Iustification. Yea if you had beleued Paul, you would neuer haue admitted those poysoned monsters of Religiō, but would haue cōfessed with vs: That all thyngs are geuen vnto vs together with our Lord Iesus. But I pray you what doth that sentence of Paule auayle to the Exposition of the Sacrament of the Supper of the Lord? Truely nothyng at all: yet this our goodly graue father turmoyleth all thyngs, confoundeth all thynges, not regardyng what may be agrea­ble to the cause, but poureth out all thynges at happe hassard as they come into his vagaraunt quill.

Now followeth a decreé of your owne stāpe in these wordes. I am of this opiniō that those persōs which do professe the true fayth, should cōsider nothyng els herein, but how that thyng, that is decreed vpon to bee beleued, may be agrea­ble to the goodnes of God. That no man might doubt by any meanes the mysterie of our Redemption. What speake you (Osorius) shall we iudge how agreable any thyng may be to the goodnes of God? Who hath made vs iudges of the good­nes of God, that we should determine what may bee agreable, and not agreable to the same? but your toung doth folter: for you would haue sayd, the will of God, or ye should haue so sayd: as farre forth as we can vnderstād, it as farre forth as the Pa­triarches,Hebr. 1. Prophetes our Lord Iesus also & his Apostles hath [Page] reuealed vnto vs by the sacred Scriptures. And if your decreé tende to this effect, we will accept thereof. For we make no doubt of the power of God (although you falsely reproche vs herein) but do grope after his deuine will in his word, and do humbly apply all our actions thereunto, as farre forth as the imbecillitie of our frayle and weake nature will permit. And therefore teache you I pray you, what thyng God would haue to bee made in that Sacrament, we will neuer enquire whe­ther God be able to performe it: sor whē we are made assured of Gods good will, we will acknowledge with all reuerence and humblenesse his power, as meéte is: Next after your foo­lish and childish Preface ensueth a very graéuous accusation a­gaynst Peter Martyr, a meéte hotchepot for your Confessours, Schoolemē & Friers. For if they had couchte all their noddles together, they could haue vomited out scarsely halfe so much poyson in so short a tyme. To make this matter somewhat playne of all partes what maner a thyng it is, we will rippe a­broad his Budget of tales euen as Osorius hath patchte it to­gether. These therefore are the wordes, wherewith Osorius doth challenge the combate agaynst the soule of Peter Martyr.

Osori. Pro­lopopo [...]ia agaynst Pe­ter Martyr. O thou most wicked mā, how came it into thy mynde to handle that most sacred mysterie? I would to God my sweéte Peter were alyue agayne, & did heare this franticke slaunder agaynst him. Forsooth he would easely suppres this brawlyng toung, with the chaynes of holy Scriptres, and tame your waywardnes. Now therfore, albeit God hath called him hence vnto him selfe: let vs imagine that hee were alyue, and in fewe wordes confutyng your cursed declamation after this maner. First of all,The aun­swere of Peter Mar­tyr agaynst the Prolo­popo [...]ia of Osorius. how may I take this (reuerend Prelate) that you beyng an old man, a Deuine, and a Byshop, at the first choppe should call me most wicked man? whereas I am not knowen vnto you, nor haue euer bene sene o [...] you, nor haue deserued any euill of you? Is this the brotherly loue, which Christ requireth of his Disciples? Is this the mildnesse and modestie of a By­shop, wherof Paule maketh mention? I haue written (I con­fesse it) & haue spoken in the commō Argument of Religiō, as seémed good vnto me: I haue not offēded you, in any thyng, nei­ther haue I had any disputation with you touchyng matters of [Page 53] Religion, neither was any contention betwixt vs at any tyme. Wherfore then doe you storme agaynst me so vnciuilie? why do ye call me most wicked, which can not duely charge me with any wickednes at all? But be it, that your maners are so natu­rally of an euill disposed inclination, that ye can not choose but oppresse your brother with infamous reproches, whom of due­tie you ought gently haue admonished, beyng in errour: why do ye haynously offende in the cause, whiche you haue vnderta­kē, that you must neédes stampe out so manifest a lye in the very begynnyng: for ye write that the Sacrament of Euchariste, is defaced, defiled & peruerted by me. This is false, and you here­in are iniurious and slaunderous: I call to witnes myne owne bookes, let them be brought forth & perused, & it shall euident­ly appeare, that I haue beautified this excellent Sacrament with most honorable titles, & haue spoken therof alwayes with greatest reuerence: But whereas you demaunde of me, and my maisters, with what face we durst attempt so execrable a fact, contrary to so many former ages: and where you also demaūde if so many Martyrs, and so many Religious men haue strayed from the truth, and we onely haue seéne the truth: Truely I cā not coniecture what Maisters, what Martyrs and what Reli­gious men you doe meane. Neither doe I presume any thyng vpon my selfe, nor do derogate from any other man, neither cā I iudge you to be sober enough, which in matter of nothyng cā gush out such a Sea of idle words. But you are come somwhat nearer the matter, and would bee certified of me, What great matter our Lord Iesus Christ did, if in his last Supper he did leaue nothyng els vnto vs but a naked remembraunce of his death? In this question I turne you ouer to the Anabap­tistes, whose speaches are these: A bare signe, bare bread, and bare remembraunce: which their nakednes of speach I do ab­horre and condemne as well as you. I do speake honorably, & iudge most reuerently of the excellencie of this godly Sacra­ment. The Sacrament is the most excellent, and effectuall vi­sible signe of inuisible grace, y^e heauenly bread, mysticall bread, the pledge, and vessell of our redemption: finally, it is the true body of our Lord Iesus Christ, euen in the same maner, as the true body of our Sauiour may be present in a Sacrament spi­ritually, [Page] by fayth, and in a mysterie. Therfore away with those your bare signes, your bare remembraunce: I call them yours bycause they are your slaūders, your manifest quarels agaynst me: for I do not acknowledge, nor defend any such matter for myne. As often therfore as you do repeate the same (which you do very often) so oftē you do repeate not myne errour, but your owne lye. You imagined in my writyng very monstruous interpretations, and absurde disputations. Wherof I neuer thought of once so much as in my dreame: All whiche come to this onely effecte, as if I had taught, that nothyng had bene in the Sacrament, but a bare signe of Christ Crucified for vs. Wherein you are very farre wyde, not onely from the duety of a Byshop and person of a Deuine, but also from the profession of a true Christiā man, for you thrust vnto me a Bastard whelpe as it were myne own, and the same also you tosse topsie tyruie, from post to piller after your own [...], as if it were mine. But this whelpe is not myne, it is a Bastard, I hate it and abhorre it, and will forsweare it also, if you will haue me so do.

At the length you are come to the very bowels of the contro­uersie, and do stoutly affirme, that the matter is most manifest, & proue the same with the wordes of Paule. But let a man first proue him selfe, and so eate of that bread, and drinke of that cuppe, alledgyng also these wordes of our Lord Iesu. This (sayth hee) is my body, do ye this in remembraunce of me, You will therfore that we should stand fast to these wordes beyng so notable and euident, and accuse my wicked interpretation of Chri­stes wordes, & affirme that I do make none accoūpt of the meanyng of Paule. Doe I apply a wicked interpretation of Christes most sacred wordes (Syr Ierome) Do I esteéme the sence and mynde of S. Paule of no value? shewe the place, re­cite the wordes, bryng forth in the face of the world this hay­nous crime, that all men may abhorre myne impudencie, detest myne impietie, and spitte at myne ignoraunce. If you can dis­couer nothing in so notorious an escape, if you exclame against me without cause, if you be clamorous without reason, if none of all these be in me, but if it be your foule and vnshamefast slaū ­der: what maner of Christian, what Deuine, and what kynd of Byshop shall mē surmise you to be? Now I will returne to your [Page 54] allegations, whereby (to deale in playne & open tearmes with you) if vpon those wordes you will haue it cōcluded, that Christ is truely deliuered in the Sacrament, to the true beleuers, in fayth, and spirite: I will not gaynsay you. But if you meane to grounde the foundation of your grosse, & Idolatrous Tran­substantiation vpon the same (wherof you make mention a litle after) I must neédes tell you, that I doe vtterly dissente from you, and your Maisters the Schoolemen herein: and do so no­thyng refuse to debate this controuersie by the very selfe same testimonies, whiche you haue alledged, that I doe rather de­sire, and most earnestly require the same. This is therfore the sentence of Paule. Let a man examine him selfe, and so eate of that bread, and drinke of that cuppe: 1. Cor. 11. Which word, Bread, Paule through the whole discourse of that Chapiter, once, twise, yea many tymes doth inculcate. Whereby it appeareth playnly, that when a man hath tryed him selfe to the vttermost, when he hath done all that apperteineth to the due receiuing of the Sa­crament, he must yet at the last eate Bread. So that after your consecrations, Bread, remaineth: and neuertheles the Sacra­ment, yea Bread remaineth euen to the last. Wherfore the sub­staūce of the materiall Bread can not passe into an heauēly sub­staunce (as you do imagine) for Bread can not remaine materi­all Bread without the substaunce of Bread, no nor be surmised by thought to be Bread.

Paule doth sondry tymes call the Sacrament,1. Cor. 11. Bread.

But naturall Bread is not the body of Christ.

Ergo. The Sacrament can not be the naturall body of Christ.

I do speake here euen of the consecrated Bread, as you call it, or as Paule calleth it, the Bread whi [...]h is blessed. Whereof Paule hath an infallible sentence in his Epistle to the Corin­thians. The bread which we breake, is it not the partaking of the body of Christ? 1. Cor. 10. This Sacramentall Bread therfore after bles­sing, when it is taken to be eaten, is euen then Bread, and brokē as naturall Bread. Ergo, it loseth not his naturall substaunce, nor is trāsubstanciated into the naturall body of Christ, as you vse to speake monstruously in a monstruous matter.

How then (say you) doth Paule call Bread the participa­tion of the body of Christ? For sooth in the same maner: in the [Page] which a litle before, he doth call Christ a spirituall Rocke. They did all drinke (sayth Paule) of one spirituall Rocke which folowed them, and the same Rocke, was Christ, and by and by after, is set downe in the same Chapiter, We many are one bread, and one bo­dy. In both which we do acknowledge the most wholesome, and familiar speache of the holy Ghost, but can not acknowledge your monstruous and newfangled Trāsubstantiation. To this purpose are the wordes of our Sauiour Christ to bee applyed. This is my body whiche is deliuered for you, doe ye this in remem­braunce of me. For the latter part doth explane the first part of the sencence most expressely. For if the transubstantiated bread should conteine in it selfe the very naturall body of Christ, han­ged vpon the Crosse and thrust into the side for vs (as you doe dreame) what neéded then so often a rehearsall to be made vnto vs of the Remembraūce of his body, especially the body it selfe beyng presente, and subiect to our senses, and dayly handled in our handes? But for as much as our Lord Iesus in the sight of the Apostles (and the Angell declaryng the same) did ascende vp into the heauens,Actes. 1. and sitteth there now at the right hand of his father, of his infinite mercy, hee hath left behynde him this most fruitefull, and most healthfull Sacrament vnto our vse: by the receauyng wherof, we might be exceédyngly comforted, and should emprinte deépely in our memory, and reserue inuio­lably the liuely and effectuall remembraunce of his most bitter death and Passion, apperteinyng to the sauetie of our soules. Now if any man doubt whether this bee so or no, let him heare our Lord Iesus in the Gospell of S. Iohn,Iohn. 6. so playne and per­fect an interpretour of him selfe, that nothyng can be added to make it appeare more manifest. My fleshe (sayth our Lord Ie­sus) is meate is deede, and my bloud is drinke in deede. He that eateth my sleshe and drinketh my bloud, the same dwelleth in me and I i [...] him. Many therefore of his Disciples hearyng this, sayd. This is an hard saying, who can abide it? But Iesus knowing with in him selfe that his Disciples did murmure at this saying, said vn­to them. Doth this offende you? Thē what if you shall see the sonne of [...] ascendyng where he was before? it is the Spirite that geueth life, the flesh profiteth nothing at all: my wordes are spirite and life. Your speach is a hard speach (Osori.) it is a hard speach of trā ­substantiating [Page 55] the bread into the naturall body of Christ. Tou­chyng the carnall and fleshly eatyng of Christes body your say­ing is hard, yea as hard as yron: who can heare or abide it?

Let vs here take our Lord Iesus to be the Expositour of his own wordes, who doth so attēper & mollifie this his speach be­yng in outward apparaunce most hard of all other with a most sweéte interpretation, as y^t nothyng cā be thought more mylde, & more apte for our cōsolation. Be not offended at my wordes sayth our louyng Lord and most sweéte Sauiour Iesus: for I must ascēde vp vnto my father, from whence I dyd de [...]cēd vnto you at y^e first: And my body I must neédes take vp w^t me, which you may not frō thenceforth hādle here on the earth. Therfore in this case, to witte, to conceaue this mysticall eatyng of my flesh whiche I haue commended vnto you, behoueth of very ne­cessitie that you bee endued with a spirituall vnderstandyng. For it is the Spirite that doth quicken, the flesh pro [...]iteth nothing at all. Iohn. 6. That is to say, the spirituall feédyng vpon my body, which is, geuen for you, shall nourishe you to life euerlastyng. But that fleshly eatyng, which doth trouble you so much, profiteth nothyng at all. At the last our Lord Iesus cōcludeth this place wholy vnto them in this wise. The wordes that I do speake vnto you, are spirite, and life. Iohn. 6. The wordes which Christ spake of the eatyng of his flesh are spirituall. The flesh profiteth nothyng at all, if we may beleue our Lord Iesus speaking of him selfe. Let vs therefore take hold of that quickenyng spirite, whiche may make vs partakers of euerlastyng lyfe, beyng authorized here­unto by Christ him selfe: and sithence you can not disgest this sweét and comfortable foode of the heauenly Table, by fayth, & spirite, we will leaue that other carnall and grosse banquet of the transubstantiated bread to you, and to your Capernaites. You seé now whereunto your testimonies, that you trusted so much, are come at the last, whose authoritie I do not refuse, but reuerence them: and suppose that your transubstantiation is o­uerthrowē and vtterly brought to naught by conferryng those two sentences, with the other processe of the text. Neither am I alone of this iudgement in the interpretatiō of these places. For S. August. August. de doct. christi. Tertullian. writyng vpon Iohn alledgeth the same sentence in expresse maner of speach. Tertul. also pronoūceth the same [Page] most euidently in his treatize vpon the distribution of the Sa­cramentall bread: which two haue bene alwayes accoumpted learned and auncient Authours.

You presse me with a whole forest full of slaūders affirming that this Sacramēt is fowly deformed by me, the body and bloud of Christ is troden vnder feete, the power and force of this wonderfull Sacramēt is dusked and vtterly extinct by me. I demaunde of you agayne, what my wordes be? where these botches doe lurcke in my bookes? what I haue written? what I haue done, where? and by what meanes? I am ready ei­ther to repulse your errour, or to cōfesse mine own: if I haue cō ­mitted any such fault, I craue no pardō. But if there be no such matter, if it be rather all cōtrary, if mine innocēcie be blameles herein, I call to witnesse God & men, heauen and earth agaynst that most wicked toung, whiche hath practized falsely to con­demne the credite of your brother, with so greéuous an accusa­tion, and so horrible a crime. Fie fie (Osorius) what vnbridled licentiousnesse of Scorpionlike stinge is this, to make guiltie of the body and bloud of Christ, your naturall brother, that hath not offended you? as though he had written that which he neuer wrate, as though he had done y^t which heé neuer did, as though you haue affirmed that which you do not proue nor can euer iu­stifie: nay rather which you haue not endeuoured to proue: for what haue you alledged of myne? what wordes what sentences haue you noted out of my writyngs, lastly what one thing haue you explaned? whereby you may not bee adiudged of all men a most shamelesse slaunderour and notorious rayler.

Your processe that ensueth is stuffed full with demaundes, wherein albeit I dyd pittie your singular amazednesse very much, yet could I scarse hold my laughter in them, they were so cold, so friuolous, so variable, and to speake my mynde at a word, so altogether like Osorius him selfe. Your first question is That though myne eyes are so dazeled in matters of Di­uinitie, that I can not cōceaue that wonderfull chaunge of earthly bread into the nature of heauenly bread yet why I would notwithstādyng with quarelling peruert so wonder­full a benefite of God? Truely I doe confesse, right reuerend Prelate, y^t myne eye sight hath bene alwayes so dymme, that I [Page 56] could neuer discerne this your counterfait Trāsubstantiation. But I ought to haue beén pardoned herein, bycause it hath beén a generall disease, and blindnes of all tymes, of all ages, and of all Nations. The Apostles neuer saw so foolishe a thyng. The auncient Fathers could neuer discerne so cloudy a forgerie: at the last Sathan opened the eyes of your Schoolemen, & made them so sharpe sighted, that in Distinctions, eccyties and quid­dities, they could many time easely seé that thing which was no where at all. This kinde of people, enlumined by the Prince of darkenes, furnished w^t the authoritie of the Laterane Coūcell, and Innocentius Pope of Rome, not much aboue 300. yeares past, did rayse out of hell, this newfangled monster of Trāsub­stantiation. Euen then, when that Councell had sitte abrood: Transubstantiation began first to peépe out of the shell,What tyme Transubstā ­tiation was brought in first. beyng neuer heard of before any where, nor knowē so much as by any name. Why then do ye vpbrayde me with blindnes so sharpely, sith your selfe (I say) your selfe do know, that all the world was as blind, as I, before that Laterane Coūcell? But do you as ye list. I for my part, will continue blind still, w^t Christ, with the Apostles, with the aūcient Fathers, with all the commendable company of godly Deuines, in this Laberinthe of Transubstā ­tiation, rather then I will acquaynte my selfe with so monstru­ous a frameshapen new start vp puppet, with your Schoole­ianglers, confessours and lousie Friers. But you begyn here to waxe very whote and teastie and spurre questions at me on all sides: What is it (you say) that you do vnderstand? what do you conceaue in your mynde, and reasons? Lastly what is it, that your vnderstandyng doth feele and know? I will tell you, my good father, and without any cholor, I promise you, if you will heare me patiently. First I do seé that you doe childishly wander in this bitter talke, that demaunde one and the selfe same thyng in threé seuerall distinct questions. Then I do also playnly seé, that you are so doltishe, and blockishe a pa­trone of Transubstātiation, that ye can not with any honesty, open your packe amongest your owne pedlers. But you neuer cease demaundyng.

You aske of me what doth trouble me in the mysterie of the Sacrament. Truly nothyng at all, graue Prelate, trou­bleth [Page] me there, but your vnmeasurable vnskilfulnes in so great a mysterie, which is no small reproch to your profession and di­gnitie, yea & to your gray heares also. But ye will know more yet. Whether I doe mistrust the power or the clemencie of God? Neither of both, finewitted Gentleman: no more doe I trust your selfe, nor yet your Transubstantiation, bycause ye goe about to throw it vpon vs, contrary to the meanyng of the holy Scriptures, in the which God the Father hath most fully declared vnto vs, his power, and will, by his Sonne our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ. Lastly ye demaūde What the cause should be, why I should thinke wherefore you should be­leue, that the body, and bloud of Christ, is cōteined in the Sacrament in a wonderfull meane, and that I my selfe can not beleue the same? whereunto you annexe this, that in witte and learnyng ye doe farre surmonte me: It is a very hard matter (holy father) to descry any peculiar cause, whiche moueth you to beleue, and defende Transubstantiation: but I will gesse somewhat nearer the chiefest. Forsooth you are addi­cted wholy to your Schooletriflers, and Confessours, but very litle to the Scriptures: by meanes wherof it is come to passe, that ye skyppe ouer the open Oracles of truth, and are entan­gled in the weuett of errour: peraduenture also ye are become an apprētice to the Romish Seé, and ye meane to procure with the prety Marchaūdize of your pedlers pilfe, some Cardinals Hatte. It may likewise be, that for countenaunce sake ye will face out your false packe with a carde often, bycause ye thinke it will empaire the credite of your gray heares to be ouersene in any thyng. Besides all these, custome perhappes of many yeares had made your iudgement rotten before it was ripe, as men vse to say of common lyers, which redouble a lye so often, that by their often rehearsall beleue it to be true at the length: euen so may you thinke to establishe the countenaunce of your imagined Transubstantiation by alledgyng in defence therof, a continuall allowaunce of long tyme. If none of all these haue moued you: I thinke surely ouermuch pride hath blinded you, wherewith ye swell in such sort, that you dare boldly without blushyng make vaunt of your selfe, more like vnto a bragging Thraso, or if any thing cā be more vayne thē Thraso, then like [Page 57] a Deuine.A shew of Osorius pride. For you doe not exceede me in witte (say you) nor excell me in learnyng. Truely I will not compare my selfe with you, nor with any other person. Neither do I professe my selfe to know any thyng at all, but Iesus Christ, and him also Crucified. As for you, if one droppe of Christian humilitie, or ciuill modestie, were in you, so hautie a bragge of your braue witte, and learnyng, would neuer haue escaped you. Consider with your selfe in good earnest, my holy father, this your foolish communication, and learne somewhat of Christian humilitie, lest almightie God besides this your most vnsauory errour of Transubstantiation, adde a more heauie plague vpon you for your vnmeasurable arrogancie.

You accuse me that I doe trust to much to my naturall senses, but that you doe direct all the course of your life to the fayth of the Churche: and that I doe shake of from my shoulders the yoke of Christ, but you take it vpon you: and that I doe forsake the benefites of God, but that you doe leane stedfastly to fayth. All which are cleane contrary. For you apply your senses to y^e vnderstādyng of Transubstātiatiō, wherby you will haue Christ to be felt, to be tasted, & to be swal­lowed downe into y^e stomacke. But I accordyng to y^e doctrine, & approued vse of the true Catholicke & Apostolicke Churche, doe vtterly renounce senses, accidētes, substaunces, & transfor­matiōs: & do aduisedly behold, and comprehend in my mynde, y^e Sacrament, the mysterie, and the Spirite. You cast away the yoke of Christ, and embrace the licentious outrage of the Ro­mishe Bulles. I am a poore miserable exile of Christ, and his afflicted seruaunt. You doe choppe and chaunge the benefites of Christ: with the peéuishe trinckettes of your Schoolemen: I do search for the true doctrine of Christian fayth in the most approued preachyngs of Christ, & his Apostles. Ye do snarle at my conuersation of lyfe as if it were most wicked. Wher­in though you doe me a great iniurie, yet ye geue your selfe a deéper wounde, which in so open and manifest a lye, doe put all your credite in hassarde of losse. For albeit I am a miserable sinner in the sight of God, yet I hope, I haue so led my whole lyfe, through his onely great mercy, that I neéde not to feare Ierome Osorius to be myne accuser. I could call to witnesse [Page] for my innocencie here in Italy, Germanie and England: in e­uery of which Regiōs I haue so behaued my selfe, that hauyng testimony of all good & commendable personages, I may easely despise your slaunderous, & shameles rayling. Wherfore a way with this your friuolous, and insolent custome of scolding once at the last, for it empaireth not the estimatiō of honest persons, whiche though be vnknowen vnto you, yet haue commendable report els where abroad: but it rather hurteth your profession, diminisheth your credite, and loseth your estimation. You doe prayse the Sacramēt plentifully, and with many good wordes beautifie the benefites therof. Wherein you doe very well: for what thing vnder the heauens can be founde, more prayse wor­thy, more comfortable, more honorable, more precious, more heauenly, then this sacred Supper of the Lord? whiche we not onely call by the names of Synaxim, & Euchariste, as you doe, but also bread come downe frō heauen, and Angels foode. Nei­ther can you deuise to speake so fully and aboundauntly, in the displaying of the excellent worthynes of this most singular sa­crament but I will gladly consent with you therein.

Cyprian. You say that Cyprian was accustomed to geue this hea­uenly foode to Martyrs, and that he would lykewise re­moue from this heauenly Banquet, men that were notori­ous for any great crime. We doe acknowledge this godly v­sage of Cyprian: and the same do I for myne owne part Imi­tate as much as I may: and I know not, whether I haue em­ployed any so great endeuour, in any one thyng so much, as that the pure, and naturall honour of this Sacrament might be established, and the same dayly frequented in all Churches. Let my bookes bee perused, let enquirie bee made of my fami­liars, and such as I haue bene conuersaunt withall, let the con­tinuall course of my maners, and lyuyng bee examined, and I shalbe founde of all men to haue bene a most humble, and day­ly folower, and guest of this heauenly Supper. Wherfore thē do you so immorderatly exclame agaynst me, That I doe main­teyne combate agaynst the ordinaunce of Christ, agaynst the doctrine of Paule, agaynst the excellencie of so delicate fruites, agaynst the knowen experience of that wonderfull commoditie and pleasauntnesse, and agaynst the vndefiled [Page 58] fayth of the vniuersall Church? Wherfore do you adde here­unto, That I haue reprochfully abused the body and bloud of Christ, and outragiously peruerted the benefite of Gods mercy? Why do you knitte vp your knot at the length and say, That I doe sport my selfe in these mischiefes and doe infect many persons with the poyson of this pestilēt errour? God cōfounde that vnshamefast and blasphemous mouth with some horrible plague, most cursed Semei, whose cancred toung can finde no end, nor measure in rayling. I haue alwayes most re­uerētly esteémed of y^e Euchariste, as of a most precious, & most fruitefull sacramēt of Christes death, as a most assured pledge and Seale of our redemption, as a most precious treasure and mysterie of our fayth, and hereunto haue I bene enduced by the ordinaunce of Christ our Sauiour, by the doctrine of Paule, by the iudgement of aūcient Fathers, and by the discipline and receaued custome of the vniuersall Catholicke and Apostolicke Church. Touchyng the doctrine therof I haue oftē tymes spo­ken before: now therfore touchyng the Custome: The same is perceaued by the dayly Custome of the Disciples, which after Christ was takē vp into heauē, did continually perseuere toge­ther in the doctrine of the Apostles,Actes. 2. and in participation and breakyng of bread and prayers, as appeareth by these wordes: Vpon a day of the Sabbaoth, Actes. 20. when the Disciples came together to breake bread. &c. Awake Ierome Awake: you do heare the holy Ghost call it Bread, and bicause you should not doubt therof, you heare it agayne and ägayne, yea and brokē also, and this much more ye finde, that the Disciples of Christ continually remay­ned in this holy custome: And yet it was not bare Bread, as you do wickedly diffame my sayinges therein: but it was mysticall Bread, sacred Bread, finally, it was the participation of the bo­dy of Christ, in the same maner, as the body of Christ may bee deliuered in a Sacrament, by fayth, and Spirite.

Therfore,The confu­tatiō of the Transub­stantiation. for as much as our Lord Iesus hath so instituted this Sacramēt, to the euerlastyng Remēbraunce of his death, & passiō, sithence Paule doth make mention of the sayd institu­tion after the same maner, sithence the auncient Fathers haue applied their doctrine to the same sense, sithēce the primitiue & Apostolicke Churche hath confirmed the same with perpetuall [Page] Custome, Awake (Ierome) at the lēgth for shame awake if you can, and rid your stomacke of that dronken Schoolesurfet of Trāsubstantiation, which neither Christ did ordeine, nor Paul acknowledged, nor the Fathers euer thought of, ne yet the A­postolique Church did euer medle withall. It is a new deuised mockerie, foūded first by Innocētius, proclaymed by Schoole­ianglers, scattered abroad by Sathā, to the rootyng out of the true remembraunce of Christ, from out our soules: to the vtter ouerthrow of the power of that euerlastyng sacrifice of y^e crosse: Lastly to the erecting of a damnable Idoll in our myndes, sup­plying the place of Christ him selfe to be worshipped of vs. For what els meaneth this your Transubstantiated bread, so much adorned with all ceremony of Religion, so reuerently carried abroad? so superstitiously reserued, and kept in boxe? lastly so blasphemously holden vp to the gaze, & worshypped? did Christ our Sauiour do or teach euer at any tyme any of all these? did Paule? did the first and primitiue Church? did the auncient Fa­thers? Christ gaue Bread to his disciples. Paule pronoūceth it by y^e name of Bread, once, twise, thrise. The Apostolicke church brake Bread in the remembraunce of Christes death, and per­seuered in the same Custome. The Fathers name it Bread, and a Sacrament, a mysterie, and a figure of Christes body. And yet Pope Innocentius commyng lately out of hell with a de­testable superstition & horrible Sacriledge doth Transubstan­tiate this mysticall Bread into our Sauiour Iesus Christ.Pope Inno­centius the thyrd.

There followed him certeine phantasticall Schoolemen, which did most wickedly defile the pure Supper of our Lord, with durtie schoole dregges. And now at the length starteth by our Osorius a braue champion of this Schoole tromperies, Ie­rome Osorius I say, that great Maister in Israell, a deépe and incomparable Deuine, whō no man exceédeth in witte, nor sur­mounteth in learnyng, if a man may beleue him as hee repor­teth him selfe. Wherfore I would now aske one question (good maister Proctour) of you, of this Transubstātiation: whether our Lord Iesus Christ when hee did first institute the Sacra­ment of the Euchariste, did make any mention in his speach, of any remouing of the substaunce of Bread? of the accidentes that should remayne? or whether the substaunce of his body, should [Page 59] supply the substaunce of Bread? Did Paule touche any of these? did the primitiue and Apostolique Churche receiue any such thyng? haue the auncient Fathers made mention of any such matter in their bookes? Sithence therefore this your wonder­full conuersion of the Substaunce of Bread, into the body of Christ (whiche your Schoolemen by a more grosse name call Trasubstantiatiō) hath bene shapen & forged out of these Mo­nasteries, whereof not so much as one title can be founde in the holy Scriptures, in the Custome of the Apostles, in the bookes of auncient Fathers: it is a wonderfull straunge matter that a bishop, so exquisite in diuinity, as you are, or would seeme to be, would yet vndertake so desperate a cause, and obtrude vpon vs such cold schoole dreames, in steéde of most apparaūt & knowen thynges. Ye seé now how pitthily my Peter Martyr hath aun­swered you in all thyngs: whose soule you would not haue tea­zed to quarell, if you had had any witte. For he was worthe­ly esteémed an excellent Deuine amongest the chiefest De­uines of our age: whose Scholer you might haue bene in all knowledge and litterature, except your eloquence onely in the Latine tounge.

But you do leaue our Peter now at y^t length, whō if you had neuer prouoked, you had done better: so neéded you not to doe me so great iniurie as to challēge me for my familiar acquain­taunce with him. For if you thinke that ye may with your ho­nesty keépe company and vse frendly familiaritie with that dol­tish Calfe Angrence hauyng no vtteraunce, no witte, no sence & no vnderstādyng: why should not I rather acquainte my selfe with a man not onely excellēt in learnyng but replenished with all comlynesse & ciuilitie of maners? Make choise of your fami­liars Osorius, as you please. Suffer me to enioy myne owne: neither is it reason that you should limitte me, or I you in this kynde of affaires: humanitie, & cōmon course of mās life requi­reth that choise be made of frendship as liketh eche mans owne iudgement best, & not to be ruled by others phantasies. Be not you squeymish therfore at the cōmēdations of godly & learned men, my especiall frendes Martin Bucer, and Peter Martyr, I loued thē when they lyued, I will not forget them beyng dead, I frequēted their familiaritie whiles they lyued as much as I [Page] might, their names, & remēbraūce of thē though they be dead, I will defende as much as I may, and if they were now alyue, I would esteéme more of a whole yeares conference with them, then of one day with you, for their conuersation had a certeine discreéte pleasauntnes, their conference had a wholesome wise­dome, y^e whole course of their demeanour was a most absolute paterne of honestie and godlynesse: And I am throughly per­suaded that nothing could haue aduaunced my estimation (such as it is) more, then myne acquaintaunce and familiaritie with these two godly Fathers.

You come at the length to our Church, the orders whereof you do captiously snatch at, but this ye do so disorderly & stāme ringly, that all men may iudge that ye did roaue at it in your dreame rather then dispute beyng awake. I affirmed, that fayth came by hearyng. What say you? is it no so? I sayd also, that our Preachers are sent abroad into all the coastes of our Realme, to teach the cōmon people their duties in all thynges: what? will you deny this to be done? You can not: the matter is manifest. But you exclaime, and say that our Preachers are Lutherans, Bucerans, and Caluinistes. First of all, how know you this to be true? then, if it be so, let the names goe: confute their doctrine, if you can: But this lesson you learned of your Cowled Coockowes, to braule alwayes with bare names, whē you cā not ouerthrow a sillable of their doctrine. Your Maister shyp will not allow that our Parliamēt and publicke assem­blie of the Realme should entermedle with matters of Re­ligion, for herein ye suppose that the dignitie of Priestes is empayred. First what thyng can be publiquely receaued, vn­lesse it be proclaymed by publique authoritie? Then, our Pre­lates and Ecclesiasticall Fathers do propoūde the rules of Re­ligion: after that, the Prince, with the consent of the whole e­states, do ratifie the same. What may be done more orderly or more circumspectly? This custome was obserued in the tyme of the kynges of Israell: This vsage preuayled in all Coun­seils, vntill that Romishe Ierarche had burst in sunder these lawes, with his false ambitious picklockes, and had commaū ­ded all thyngs to be subiect to his absolute power. I wrate al­so, that there was great reuerence geuen to the holy Scrip­tures [Page 60] in our Churches, and that vnitie and the bonde of peace was wonderfully preserued. You demaunde on the other side, From whence so troublesome contentions in opinions are raysed in our Churches? Shew what contentions there be, and we will satisfie your request. But if you will not, or cā not, hold your toūg most wicked rayler, & require not to be beleued for your onely affirmatiues sake. Deale in this maner with your charge of Siluain, for ye shall obteine nothyng here, but by meare force of Argument.

I did affirme likewise,1. Cor. 14. that our deuine seruice is ministred with vs in the mother and vulgare toūg accordyng to Paules doctrine, & the approued custome of the Apostolicke Churche:Of vn­knowē and straunge tounges in Churches. what say you to this? forsooth you can not like of it, bycause it is repugnant to the ordinaūce of Rome, and yet you can not well deny so manifest a truth: for S. Paule did establish this doc­trine of the holy Ghost, with so many and so strōg Argumētes, as though hee did euen then foreseé in mynde that some such er­ronious botches would infect our Religion, y^t by such meanes they might blot out, & vtterly extinguish out of our Churches this most fruitefull worshyppyng of God, beyng the very foun­dation of all Christian godlynes. And therfore this godly mā,Ibidem. and most excellent seruaunt of God, Paul, trauaileth very ear­nestly in this place, partly by course of nature, partly by rea­son, partly by examples, partly by similitudes to proue that cō ­mon prayers should bee ministred in Churches in the vulgare, and knowen language, and herein is so plentyfull, and so aboū ­daunt, and vseth so many infallible Argumentes, that if the whole swarmes of Schooleiāglers, and Friers, and couled ge­neration did conspire together, they were not able to abyde the force and strength of his disputation. And therefore Osorius, craftely cloakyng this matter, slydeth away from thence to the vices of men. And sayth that some of our Preachers are puf­fed vp with pride of their science, many of them be entan­gled in snares and difficulties and doubtfull questiōs. This is true: & this also is as true, that there is a great rable of false Christiās, amōgest whom our Doctour Ierome seémeth chief­taine & standard bearer which call light darkenes, & darkenesse light, whiche forbid wedlocke, deny lawfull vse of meates, ob­serue [Page] serue dayes and monethes, yeares & minutes of tymes, which are turned to the naked and beggerly elementes:Gallat. 4. Enemyes of the Crosse of Christ, flow bellyes.Phil. 3. And yet may not godly men be defrauded of the Gospell, bycause such Lurdaines do abuse the holy Scriptures, to their lust & filthy lucre. For our Lord Iesus Christ doth thunder with manifold curses agaynst such Pharisies, Maisters of ignoraunce and darkenesse: saying,Luke. 11. Wo be to you Lawyers, for you haue taken away the keye of knowledge, and haue not entred in your selues, and those that would haue en­tred in, you haue forbidden. Math. 33. And agayne. Woe bee to you Scri­bes and `Pharisies hypocrites. For you shut fast the kingdome of hea­uen from men, whereunto you enter not your selues, nor will suffer others to enter in that would enter. You are a Byshop Osorius, you haue y^e keyes of knowledge, or ought to haue, but you keépe it close and hyde it, and will not suffer it to bee opened to your selfe nor to others. You are a Shepheard of Christes flocke, or you ought to bee, you locke fast the Gospell (wherein is the kyngdome of God) from your sheépe, and enter not your selfe, nor will suffer others to enter. This is daungerous, this is damnable, you are accursed by the very mouth of our Lord and Sauiour Iesu Christ, yea euen by the testimonie of your owne mouth, Osorius.

For after your long, idle and counterfaite deuises imagined vpon the wordes of Paule, you conclude at length in this ma­ner:Osori. fol. 69. Paule doth not forbid to vse straunge language. Yet he doth preferre and commende prophecyeng, that is to say the expoūdyng of the will of God, & the maner of edi­fieng the Church. If Paule doe preferre prophecieng more, why do you embace it? if Paule would haue the congregations to be edified, why do you practize to destroy them.1. Cor. 14. If Paule of an infinite loue, do commaunde all thynges to be expounded in Churches, by an interpretour, by what tyrānie do you procure all thynges to be kept in couert in Churches? and the people to bee defrauded in all thynges of vnderstandyng by meanes of straunge tounges? For it is true in deéde that you say, that to speake with toūges is allowed of Paul, if you admit also an in­terpretour, whiche may expresse the meanyng of the tounges, But it is false that straunge languages shalbe receaued in cō ­gregations, [Page 61] without an interpretour. For this speaketh Paul.1. Cor. 14. If a man speake with tounges, let the same be done by two, or at the most by three, and so by turnes, & let one interprete: if there be no interpretour, let him holde his peace in the congregation, or let him speake to him selfe and to God. Saint Paule commaundeth straunge lāguages to be silent in the congregation, if there be no interpretour. Let vs therfore obey him, or rather the holy Ghost speakyng in him with all humilitie, and banish from vs this chatteryng chough of languages to his Confessours and cowled generation.

But we can not so driue away this vnportunate fleshfly frō y^e godly banguets of soules, for he is alwayes bussing about thē & at the last fleéth to this desperate cariō, That this doctrine of Paule was but for a tyme, and enioyned to be receaued to the Corinthians, and not of vs, bycause we are not so apte to be taught therein, as they were, and are also more inc [...]i­nable to arrogancie. Doth this kynde of Expositiō please you Osorius, and will you be accompted a Deuine and a Byshop in this your Diuinitie to say that y^e doctrine of the holy Ghost in matters of fayth, in thynges eternall, in ordinaūces assured & permanent, not in any part chaūgeable in them selues, is but a doctrine for a tyme? Our Lord Iesus commaūdeth otherwise. Searche the Scriptures (sayth he) the same be they which beare re­corde of me. How shall we searche that whiche we do not vnder­stand? or how shall we receaue testimonie in a toung vnknowen vnto vs? There is a commaundement of God the Father from heauen.Luke. 3. This is my beloued sonne, heare ye him. And how shall we heare him, except he speake vnto vs in a knowen toūg? The Lord Iesus commaundeth vs to watch, and to pray, yea to do the same continually, for that we know not in what houre he will come: what therfore, shall we pray in an vnknowen language? Truly if it bee so, the spirite shall pray,1. Cor. 14. but the soule shall receaue no fruite therof, by the euident te [...]monie of Paule. Whē I name the spirite, I doe meane thereby, the breath that issueth out of y^e mouth: for so doth Paule interprete it in that place. Did our Lord Iesus vse a knowē or a straūge language, whē he taught y^e Apostles the forme of prayer? Lastly I demaūde of you whe­ther you can finde one sillable in the whole doctrine of the pri­mitiue [Page] Churche, or whether any remembraunce or vse of this praying in a straunge toung, was frequented in the tyme of the Apostles. I adde hereunto, that after the opinion of S. Au­gustine prayer is nothing els, thē a communicatiō betwixt vs, & almightie God. What request then shall we make vnto God the father, for our necessities, when we vnderstand not what we aske? No sober man will seéme so franticke before men, much lesse will he trifle so pernitiously with God. That foule mouth Osorius, that foule mouth therfore would be choaked vp with euerlastyng infamie, whiche contrary to the manifest doctrine of the holy Ghost, contrary to the receaued custome of the Apo­stolicke Churches, contrary to nature, to reason, and contrary to all feélyng of common capacitie, will auowe that prayers ought to bee made in the congregation in straunge and vn­knowen tounges.

You demaunde further of me. Why we haue cōmitted the interpretatiō of Scriptures to all Carters and Porters? I aske of you likewise w^t what face you could write so vnshame­fast a lye in your paper? You say that all order is subuerted with vs, for that all are Pastours, all are Prophetes, all are teachers and therupō that confusiō of all thyngs doth en­sue amōgest vs. Both these are false Osorius, and it becōmeth you nothyng at all, beyng a Bishop and an old man, to imagine all thynges so licentiously & disorderly in the face of the whole world after your owne phantasie. Yet make you no ende of de­maundyng. And therfore you desire to know, what we dyd lacke at any tyme heretofore to the sober discipline of good myndes? There lacked both the old and the new Testa­ment, which is the onely instrumēt of the health of our soules, beyng close locked fast from vs, by the wicked practize of your Confessours, and Friers and Monckes:Iohn. 21. we wanted godly Pa­stours, and especially good Byshops, vnlike vnto you, whiche should haue fed the flocke of Christ committed to their charge, with that heauenly foode of the holy Scriptures, accordyng to Christ his own institution. And yet ye demaunde once agayne. Whether we wanted learned Priestes, who could deliuer out so much of the holy mysteries, as was needefull, which without daunger might haue bene expoūded to vnlearned [Page 62] men? What is this that you say (Osorius) so much as is neéde­full? do ye beleue that in the Scriptures is any thing to much? will ye prescribe any boundes or limites to the holy Ghost? our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ was of an other mynde, who spake in this maner.Luce. 4. Man doth not liue by bread onely, but by euery word proceedyng from the mouth of God. Your meanyng is that some tast bee taken onely of the holy Scriptures: Christ commaundeth vs to be instructed in euery word: you teach that men should warely touch so much of the heauēly doctrine, & as farre forth as may be without daunger. But the holy Ghost by the mouth of Paule teacheth farre otherwise, in these wordes.2. Timo. 3. All Scripture inspired by the holy Ghost, is profitable to teach, to admonishe, to reproue, to instruction, which is in righteousnesse, that the mā of God may be made perfect, & prepared to all good workes. Paule doth commende vnto vs all heauenly Scripture, & iud­geth that we ought to be instructed with the same vnto all per­fection of godlynes. It pleaseth Osorius that so much onely be taken, as may be deliuered without daunger. O blasphe­mous toung, do you feare ieopardie in the doctrine of the holy Ghost? do you thinke that there is to much in the Scriptures? or any thyng neédelesse that may be cut of, and left out?

But this foolish demaunder proceédeth yet forewardes and enquireth, If heretofore wanted any that might supply the place of the vnlearned, that might pronounce this worde, Amen. Truly I dare not tearme you by the name of an Idiot, my Lord, beyng a stately Prelate and a profound Deuine, but I shall not do amisse if I call you a playne blockish Asse. Paule commaundeth all doctrine and all prayer to bee vttered in the congregation, in a knowen tounge, that all the people vnder­stāding the matter may say. Amen. You in steade of the whole cōgregation, do appoint some one Idiote or vnlearned Parish Clarke to vtter this word. Amen. But I beseéch you with what reason, by what Custome, w^t what Argumēt do you proue your Assertion? except you will obiect vnto vs the monstruous rable of your Cowled generation and Confessours, late vpstartes, whose wickednesse and ignoraunce we do condemne as execra­ble and abhominable: at the last our Syr Ierome concludeth. That errours, vprores, pride, and a thousand other discom­modities, [Page] are wont to ensue by the vnderstanding of Scrip­tures. These do so in deéde as you say Osorius, The know­ledge of Scriptures ignoraunce accordyng t [...] Osoriu [...]. but they come from the deuill, they proceéde out of the durtie pudles of your Massemongers, Confessours and Monckes, not from the pure riuers of holy Scriptures, whiche are plentyfull vnto vs into euerlastyng lyfe:Iohn. 4. Not from the engraffed worde, which is able to saue our soules:Iames. 1.not out of the preachynges of the Prophetes, to whom we must geue diligent heede as to a candle geuyng light in the darke: Peter. 1. Lastly not from the readyng of holy Scriptures, whiche our Lord Iesu Christ commaunded vs to searche, bycause they bee the same that hold most faithfull testimonie of our Sauiour Iesu Christ. You may now perceiue by these most true and inuinci­ble sentences, partly taken out of the Decreés of our Lord Ie­sus, partly out of the Apostles, how detestable, & blasphemous your conclusion is, which doth make the Scriptures to be Au­thours of all wickednes: when as by the infallible testimony of the holy Ghost,Psal. 12.19. The law of the Lord, is an vndefiled law, conuer­tyng soules, the testimonie of the Lord is true and geueth wisedome to the simple, whenas the Statutes of the Lord are right, and re­ioyce the hart, and geueth light vnto the eyes. In deéde this is the wisedome of your scarlet Doctours, whiles you are not cōten­ted to persecute the professours of the Gospell with all maner of crueltie, but also diffame the Gospell it selfe, & make it guil­tie of all naughtines. When notwithstandyng that godly reue­rend Elder Peter (whom ye do shamefully alledge as founder of your Churche) doth in expresse wordes pronounce,1. Peter. 1. That the word of the Lord, which endureth for euer, is deliuered vnto vs by the Gospell: Now you doe perceaue Osorius, or the Christian Reader may easely vnderstand (although ye will exclame a­gaynst it) how you haue behaued your selfe in this question, not onely mischieuously and wickedly, but blockishly and ignoraūt­ly, whiles ye doe so blasphemously defend that prayers should be ministred in the cōgregation in an vnknowen language, cō ­trary to reason, contrary to auncient Custome, contrary to na­ture and contrary to the holy Ghost.

And now glauncyng along by the rest of the doctrine of the Church, you make a long rehearsall of my wordes, & yet touch not one sillable of thē so much as to confute them. Surely (my [Page 63] Lord) you are at very good leysure, when you can spare so much tyme to entermixt whole sentences of myne in your writyngs, & play mumme budget in thē all, if you do allow them, why doe ye recite them? if you doe not allow them, why do ye not repre­hēd some one of them? was euer any man besides your selfe, so franticke, that would in a long discourse recite whole sentēces out of the writyngs of his aduersary, and would refell nothyng in any one of them? This is very fond, foolish, childish, & vtter­ly to be scorned at, but it is altogether your owne, the common fault of your selfe Osorius. Consider I pray theé (Christian Reader) and behold what a sage and wise aduersary I haue. At the last you take vp that by the toe, which I did confesse. That we had shaken from our neckes the Popes yoke. At this you seéme to bee wonderfully displeased, yet I know no cause why you should not be pleased withall. For you proue nothyng, you discouer nothyng with any Argument, but after your old ma­ner heape vp a number of slaunders together, wherein is nei­ther truth, nor any likelyhoode of truth. At the last, you adde hereunto a deuise no lesse wicked then false. To witte, that the auncient Churche is peruerted by our Deuines and a new Church fashioned after our owne phantasies. Whiche doe you call the auncient Church Osorius? truly you name the Catholicke and Apostolique Churche to be auncient, or so you ought to say, founded in the Patriarches and Prophetes, en­larged by our Lorde Iesu and his Disciples with vndefiled doctrine, and vprightenesse of conuersation. Haue we peruer­ted this holy Church Osorius? haue we erected a new? nay ra­ther, the matter is quite contrary. We do most reuerently em­brace this blessed Churche, sealed vnto vs by the finger of our Lord Iesu and ordered by the pure ordinaunces of his Disci­ples: we do appeale vnto this Church, the same Church do we urge agaynst you: and the same we do oppose agaynst you, we combate agaynst all your filthy corruptions with the decreés of this Churche. Herein we do persiste, and cleaue fast vnto this Church, and fight agaynst you in her defence directly with her owne weapons.

You are fallen away by litle and litle from this auncient Churche the inuincible fortresse of all truth, and haue set your [Page] trust vpō the whyueryng reéde of the Romish Seé. Then also you are so whirled vp & downe as it were with whirlewyndes, with the whirlyng and vnsauory Constitutions of Schoolemē, ech contrary to other, that ye cā finde no ankerhold any where. Out of these tempests and whirlewindes of vpstart doctrines, out of this immoderate gulfe of your idle braynes, so manifold routes of fayned Gods peéped abroad, so many sundry sortes of prayers, made vnto them, so many and so tedious pilgrima­ges, to dumme blockes, so many impieties of offrynges, inuo­cations, massinges, adorations: Finally so many blasphemous markets, and fayres of pardons, and redeémyng of soules out of Purgatory pickpurse are made. To this beadroll may bee linked, superstitious swarmes of Friers, Mōckes & Nunnes, sproutyng and dayly buddyng one out of an other, in infinite droues and innumerable factions: This euen this, is the true Image of your Church, Osorius, wherupon you doe bragge so much, increased with the ofscombe of rascall brothells, made dronken with the drousie dregges of Schoolemen, and so farre estranged from the right trade of the auncient and Apostolicke Church, that there is scarse any hope, that it wil euer haue any regarde to her former duetie, or euer returne frō whence it is estrayed. In this your new Churche or rather Conuenticle of lozelles, which you haue newly erected vnto your selues with the motheaten mockertes of your Schoolemen, you moyle and wallow after your accustomed maner. We are desirous to re­newe the auncient dignitie of the Catholique Church, as much as in vs lyeth. Hereunto we do employ all our endeuoures, to this we doe direct all our thoughtes: that siftyng through, and throwyng away all the dānable darnell whiche the enemy hath scattered abroad at this present in these newe Churches, we may at the lēgth be vnited and gathered agayne into the true, and auncient worshyppyng of God, prescribed vnto vs by Ie­su Christ in his Gospell.

Of Christ being a king and a By­shop.And here our old peéuish wayward, piketh a new quarell a­gaynst me, bycause I will not acknowledge any other chief Bi­shop, but Iesus Christ, and that I do also by the name of a By­shop, call him a kyng. Truly I hartely confesse, that our Lord Iesus was both a Byshop, and a Kyng, but that the name of a [Page 64] kyng, is cōteined vnder the tearme of a Byshop is false, as you haue set it downe as all other your doynges are, for the most part Osorius. But our vnconquerable Logiciā goeth onward, & demaūdeth, Why we do admit any other kyng besides the Lord Iesus, and yet abandone the chief Byshop? whereas both dignities are conteined in the person of our Lord Ie­su: and in this place our glorious Peacocke pounceth out his feathers, and the same question repeateth agayne and agayne very boyeshly, in other wordes and sentences. If it be lawfull (sayth he) that ye may haue vpon earth an other Kyng, Vi­care of that great kyng: what reason is there that ye will not haue an other most holy Byshop, Vicare of that hygh Byshop? Will ye know why we do acknowledge a kyng vpon earth Uicare of that great and heauenly kyng? The holy Ghost shall most euidently and expressely aunswere for vs, and shall aunswere by the mouth of Peter, from whom you deriue your clayme of supreme Byshop:1. Pet. 2. Bee ye subiect (sayth hee) to euery humane creature for the Lord, whether it bee to the king as chief ouer the rest, or to the Magistrates whiche are appointed by him, to the punishment of the euill doers, and the commendation of well doers, for this is the will of God. &c. Behold how playnly, how distinctly, and how plētyfully, Peter doth aunswere you:A kyngly power. which by expresse speache, hath settled the Maiestie of kynges, in the highest place aboue all, vnto whom hee commaundeth vs to be subiect for the Lord. Then next vnder that authoritie, he pla­ceth other Magistrates, whom notwithstandyng he ordeineth, to be Ministers of his highe power. Besides this, heé instruc­teth vs withall, how commodious this authoritie of kynges is, and whereunto it ought to belong. Lastly to take away all doubt, he concludeth that this Is the will of God.

If you had any droppe of shame at all in you Osorius: You would not haue moued this question so malapertly. Why we doe acknowledge a kynges authoritie vpon earth: When as ye can not be ignoraūt of this doctrine of Peter: nay rather of y^e holy ghost, being so euidēt, so firme, so notable, so plētyful, and so of all partes defensible: When as also Peter a litle after cōmaundeth in this wise, Feare God, honor the king. Rom. 13. When as Paule likewise doth pronounce that A king is the Minister of [Page] God, to whom he commaundeth euery soule to bee subiect, to whom hee geueth the sword, and willeth Tribute to be payde, in euery of which thynges most royall and principall souereignetie is con­teined. And to y^e end the sentēce of Paule should stand firme out of all controuersie,1. Tim. 2. he commaundeth That prayers, intercessions, petitions, thankesgeuynges be frequented for kinges, and all others, that are set in authoritie. What say you now, brablyng Sophi­ster, what cā you hisse out agaynst so many, so strong, and so no­table testimonies approuyng the authoritie of kynges? What shalbe done vnto you (brablyng Sophister) that will so madde­ly, so proudly, so blasphemously kicke agaynst the doctrine of the holy Ghost? But ye allowe of the authoritie of a kyng (say you) in some respect, so that we will likewise admit the supre­macie of the hyghe Byshop. We haue already iustified the au­thoritie of a kyng, by the inuincible testimonies of y^e holy scrip­tures, if you can in lyke maner coyne vnto vs out of the same Scriptures, a chief Byshop, we will yeld. But you can not, for there is not one sillable of chief Byshop to bee founde in the Gospell besides our Lord Iesus alone, and besides that que­stion moued of the rites and ceremonies of chief Priest, vsed of old amongest the Iewes.To the He­brues euery where. Sithence therfore these thynges are so apparaunt, either you doe wickedly dissemble the truth, or you bee shamefully ignoraunt in all Diuinitie, when as in the meane time you being an old man and a Bishop, will neédes be accoumpted a most passing Deuine. Here our Ierome tosseth and tumbleth to and fro, and snatcheth after Sophisticall sha­dowes, but the more he trauaileth to get out, the more he is en­tangled in perplexities.

He sayth that we defende the title of kyngs not the au­thoritie, bycause many are foūde aswell in Portingall as in England which do exercise kyngly authoritie without the name of kyng, and those (a Gods name) he thinkes must be called petty kynges. Truely I am not able to speake any cer­teintie of your vsage in Portingall. But of Englād I dare af­firme, y^t no mā as of him selfe doth presume vpō authority roy­all, further thē he is thereunto authorized by the kyng, neither doe we know any such pettye kynges: but of your shamelesse custome in lyeng we are most assured, & the same can not choose [Page 65] but abhorre, in respect of your person. Like idle tyme ye bestow vpon debatyng of your Monarchie. As though it were as ne­cessary, that there should bee one chief supreme Byshop o­uer the vniuersall Church of Christ, as we defende in Eng­land the supreme power of the kyng. O most senselesse So­phister. Perceaue ye not how your comparison is wrested to thynges that are meére contrary eche to other? Can you not seé that the one part of your comparison, cōcerneth the particular Churche of England, the other part indirectly altogether, all the whole Churches of Christendome? And yet sufficeth it not that you play the foole mōstruously your selfe, vnlesse with your supposall ye make me partener also of your errours, which all and euery of my senses doe vtterly abhorte and detest: nay ra­ther your cōparison ought to haue bene framed contrarywise. As bycause in all seuerall cōmon weales, seuerall kynges haue the principall and chief preheminence, so in all seuerall Chur­ches, seuerall Priestes should gouerne, who ought to haue sin­gular authoritie in matters of Religion. After this maner should your cōparison haue proceéded, if you had followed here­in the aduise of Philosophie. But sithēce we argue now as De­uines, settyng Philosophie apart, we must enforce onely the testimonies of holy Scriptures, wherein bycause we finde cō ­maūded by expresse wordes, y^t it is y^e will of God, That we must honour the king, that we must obey the king, that we must be sub­iect to the king, that we must feare the kinges sword, that we must pay Tribute to the king, that we must make our supplication and prayers to God, first and chiefly for the king, We can not choose but acknowledge, & reuerēce this chief royall & kyngly autho­ritie, so oftē & in so many sondry maners mētioned in y^e Scrip­tures. As for your high & chief Byshop we will make no more accoumpt of, then of a straunger vntill ye can iustifie his supre­macie by the authoritie of the holy Scriptures. And yet in the meane tyme shall you finde amongest vs, all degreés of Iu­risdiction Ecclesiasticall: by the which all matter apperteining to the Church is duely and orderly executed. Which albeit can not cōtent our troublesome Prelate, yet we doubt not but will throughly satisfie all vertuous, wise, & well disposed persons.

I did write that the garmēt of Christ was not cut in peéces [Page] amongest our Deuines, as you seémed to conster of vs; but that the Byshop of Romes Pall peraduenture was somewhat scratchte. What do you say to this? Do you make any demon­stration by holy Scriptures that we have deuided or rente a­sunder the vnitie of the Church? (I meane alwayes the Catho­licke & Apostolicke church) do you alledge any argumēts here­unto? do you proue it with exāples? you do nothyng lesse. What do ye then? truly euē as you are wont, and as you haue accusto­med to doe, & as ye haue learned of your father the deuill: that is to say, you doe continually throw out of that foule mouth, most noysome poyson of slaūderous lyeng: Wherein though ye be so nooseled y^t hee haue stuffed vp the greater part of your In­uectiues with false & venemous accusations: Yet bycause this place doth bewray your mōstruous insolēcie by singular demō ­stratiō, I will set down here your own wordes, as you haue pē ­ned thē, that the Christiā Reader may by the same, discerne the meékenes of a Byshop, the modestie of an aunciēt Deuine, and w^t what spirite also ye were inspired, when ye vomited out this foule filthy cholericke baggadge. And these are your wordes.

When as ye do dayly behold swarmyng rounde about you, such pestiferous dissensiōs of sectes and so horrible di­uisions, whereas you haue no sure fayth, no agreement in Religion, whenas dayly almost you bryng in newe con­fessions, Articles of the Creede amended, old places blot­ted out, and new places propte vp in their places, when as many sundry sectes growe and encrease, and the auncient Churche is rent and cut in so many gobbettes, dare ye yet say, that this fallyng awaye hath not cut the garment of Christ in peeces? A shewe of Osorius slaunderous speach. When as also ye see with your eyes, inso­lencie, arrogancie, rebellion, lauishnes of toung, slaunde­rous backbyting, lust, wickednesse, vncleanesse, tumultes and vprores to attempt all thynges in all places boldly, wheresoeuer your maisters take once footyng? with what face dare ye affirme, that your maners and conuersatiō of lyfe hath bene well ordered amiddes all this rebellion? The matter declareth it selfe euidently: dayly examples make good profe therof, the places of publicke gouernemēt, yea the most secret closettes do bewray the same. Behold here [Page 66] (good Reader) the liuely paterne of Osorius his eloquence. Be­hold a mighty & vnconquerable champion of the Romish Seé, is not this felow worthie to be made a Cardinall suppose you? that in so many choloricke, sharpe, venemous and Scorpion­like wordes hath vttered nothyng, but that the most Rogishe Rascall commyng out of some Brochellhouse would haue bene halfe ashamed of? hath hee not made a trimme speake agaynst vs, & proued thereby that we haue most haynously scattered a­broad, and torne in sunder the vnitie of Christes Churche? in this that he doth nothyng els, but exclaime agaynst vs backe­biters, insolent, slaunderous, lecherous, wicked, vncleane and rebelles? O franticke and mischieuous raylour? of whose cur­sed speach, bycause I haue deliuered this litle tast, I will from henceforth as much as I may in silēce despise & passe ouer his infinite accusatiōs, & will deale with his pretty poppet Argu­mentes briefly. I dyd cite out of Paule. One God, one Fayth. Now (sayth he) neither one God, nor one Fayth is receaued amongest the Ministers of your Gospell. First of all, I did not signifie of what opinion euery of vs were particularly, but I shewed what ought to be receiued of all Christiās generally. Then where you affirme that we do not worshyp one God one­ly, nor professe one fayth onely, how can you persuade so incre­dible a matter? It is very manifest (you say) for one of you doth sacrifice to lust, an other to frensie, an other to the paunche, an other to slaūderyng. Cursed be thou, thou Chap­plein of the deuill. Thy sect doth publickly worshyp a peéce of bread, insteade of a golden Calfe, and lyeth grouelyng on the grounde before a God made of bread: your solemnities be ló Bacchus, ló Venus. You are defiled and contaminated with all kynde of wickednesse, you do most abhominably mainteine slewes, and Brothelhouses, and yet in the meane whiles will translate your Idols vnto vs. But ye cā not Osorius, Printe, and painte and do what ye list, ye cā not bring that to passe. All the world almost is so well acquainted with your horrible fil­thy lyfe, that a boye of seuen yeares of age, can point with his finger at the places, the persons, and the whole course of your abhominations.

But where as you adde further, that there is one fayth of [Page] Luther, an other fayth of Bucer, an other of Zuinglius, and an other of Caluine. This is your old quarell, alwayes hacked vpon, but neuer proued. These worthy persons and graue Fa­thers of the Churche were alwayes of one fayth: and of most a­greable constācy, to the ouerthrow of your erreonious deuises. In some pointes they did varie, but in the substaunce of fayth they were of one mynde. The like blemish happened to Augu­stine, Ierome and Cyprian, men very famous for their lear­nyng & vertue: in Origine & Tertulliā were somewhat greater blottes: whose fayth notwithstandyng, as farre forth as is a­greable w^t the Scriptures, is not discredited by our Deuines, ne yet by your owne Maistershyp (if a mā may be so bold to tell you, as also what I thinke you shall perhaps know hereafter) in those your huge Uolumes entituled De Iusticia, The bookes of Osorius De Iustitia. wherin you are of a cleane contrary opiniō to that learned man August. in y^e thiefest part of all, not in any small matter, but in y^e Treatise of righteousnes it selfe, wherein is conteined the foundation of our fayth: and herein ye wrangle so bitterly, so obstinately, and so ouerthwartly that Cardinall Poole did wonderfully repre­hend your arrogancy herein, and thereunto replyed with most godly wordes.Cardinall Pooles iud­gement of Osorius bookes of Iustitia. That the abilitie of man could not bee to much embaced, and the power of God could not be to much aduaun­ced. But sith you can presume so much vpon your selfe, as with such proude boldnesse to attempt the ouerthrow of so notable a father, in the principall point of our Religion: We neéde not marueile, that ye can not forbeare vs, if we varie in small mat­ters of no value: for amongest them truely was no litle contro­uersie in matters of great importaunce, if they might haue had vpright iudges and learned, vnlike to this our Osorius. The functiō of the Apostles was equall, their Iurisdiction in all re­spect one, whereby it commeth to passe, that amongest them no one may be in hyghest authoritie, and this haue we partly ap­proued before by the examples of Paul, Peter and Iames, and the same also haue I made so manifest in this Booke, where I treated of y^e Monarchie of the Romish Prelate: That you haue now no startyng hole to hyde your head in.

You say that it is euident in the writynges of Clement, of Euaristus, Lucius, Marcellus and Pius, that they were of [Page 67] opinion alwayes that the supremacie of the vniuersa [...]l Churche of Christendome was attributed to the Romishe See. You rehearse vnto them Irenaeus, Augustine and other holy auncient Fathers. Afterwardes you vouche the whole Register of Antiquitie. What impudencie is this? What vn­tollerable arrogancie, nay rather what retchiesse negligence and singular foolishnesse is this? you doe recken vp many By­shops of Rome by name, and yet alledge no one sillable so much out of their writinges, to establish this prerogatiue of this Ro­mish See: no more do you cite out of Augustine and Irenaeus, any one title for the maintenaūce of this your Ierarchie. Last­ly you make mention of all the auncient antiquitie, & yet vouch no one worde out of all that great number of yeares: whereby that may appeare to bee true, whereof you make so stoute a warraunt by your bare affirmatiue. Is this to be accoumpted a Deuine? Do ye defende the Romishe Seé, no better? Haue you no better a Target to couer this your holy and Emperour­like power? Belike ye come vnto vs a new Pithagoras, & would haue the old Poesie in vre agayne [...]. [...] Hee hath sayd. But we yeld not so much Osorius, we receaue not your affirmatiue: neither can you wryng any thyng out of our hands, in the cōference of mat­ters apperteinyng to fayth, more then that you shalbe able to Iustifie by good and sounde Argumentes. We follow not your sayth, as the which we haue tasted to bee almost in all thynges most detestable. Wherfore if you meane to wynne any credite herein: Let this be a watchword for you, that ye must vnfold a­gayne, all that lumpe of confused disputation, and abandone those vnmeasurable raylinges, forsake those clamorous excla­mations, & renounce that vnaduised rashnesse of bare affirma­tiues: and argue with probable reasons, iustifie with appro­ued Argumentes, and make good proofe by expresse sentences of holy Scriptures & aūcient Fathers. But you are well fur­nished with Fathers forsooth, for in your Bedroll, ye haue lap­ped together not onely the old fathers, but vnfold also vnto vs a certeine new Schoole of Fathers. That is to say Ecckius, Coclaeus, Rossensis & Pighius. Auaunte with all these sworne bondslaues of your Monarchie: whereof part were common dronkardes, some lechers, & some traytours, the remembrance [Page] of whom is odious as yet, and notoriously infamous for sun­dry their notable crimes. Or if ye will neédes allowe of these dregges of the Church, beyng in deéde the sworne humble vas­sals of the Romish Seé. Yeld me this much agayne my re­quest, to peruse the writynges of Bucer, Melancthon, Zuin­glius, Oecolampadius, Peter Martyr, Caluin and Beza, men most excellent in conuersation of life, and of singular learning. And ye shall seé the contagious botches of your Papacie, so ra­ked abroad and ransackt by them, that ye will neuer hereafter take any regard to any such scabbed Iades, if you be wise.

You seeme to marueile much that I beyng a Ciuiliā, and exercized in pleadyng temporall causes would spend my tyme to knowe your mysteries. Truly you are herein some­what to inquisitiue Osorius. For albeit I do professe the Ciuill Law, yet am I a Christian and desire to be edified in the law of the Lord: And if you will haue this much graunted vnto you, to apply your selfe to the knowledge of the tounges, to be addict wholy to the study of eloquence, to raunge in the bookes of Phi­losopers, and will notwithstanding be accompted a ruler of the Roast in Diuinitie, as in the speciall peculiar of your own pro­fession: looke not so coye vpon vs poore Ciuilians I pray you, bycause we geue our endeuour to learne y^e Statutes of Chri­stian Religion, and are desirous to bathe our selues somewhat in the liuely wellsprynges of holy Scriptures, wherewith we acknowledge our soules to bee throughly watered to eternall lyfe. You are very much offended with me, bycause I did write That Gregory would not acknowledge this extraordinary Papane preheminence: and ye do beleue, that I can not iu­stifie this to be true. If therfore I do cite the place, if I do di­rect your singer to Gregories own speaches, wherein he doth mislike the name of vniuersall Byshop once, twice, thrise, and more, yea and as much as in him lyeth, vtterly detect and re­iect the same from him selfe, what shall men deéme of you reue­rend Prelate? which either of a singular ignoraunce know not, or of an horrible impietie of gaynsaying, will dissemble so ma­nifest a matter? so confessed & so often rehearsed? and how dare you desire to bee credited in all the rest of your Protestations, when as your selfe haue wiped away your whole estimation by [Page 68] facyng out so false a proposition?Gregor. lib. [...]. Epist. [...]0. 24. lib. 7. E­pist. 3 [...]. lib. 4. Epist. 34. 38. 36. &c. Looke vpon Gregory who that list, turne to the places that I haue noted in the Margent, and iudge the honestie of this man. Nay rather haue recourse therunto your selfe, & learne at the least to shake of this shame­lesse custome of cauillyng. I proued by the examples of the A­postles, that the pure, & primitiue Churche did neuer acknow­ledge this Papall Monarchie. I cited to the same effect, their successours Byshops of Rome, some that were godly men, and Martyrs, which did neuer aspire to that superioritie, and here­upon I argued, that the same principallitie beyng altogether vnknowen to those best, & purest ages of the Church, might al­so haue bene let slip ouer of vs. What say you vnmeasurable brabler? why do you quarell so bitterly? why do ye so contume­liously stomacke agaynst me? why report you that I proue no­thyng, when as I do make all thyngs euident with examples? why do ye finde fault with the sequele of thyngs then the which there can be none greater or more assured? Finally why do ye reiect those sayinges as meére false, the falseshoode wherof, ye endeuour not in one sillable so much as to discouer? vnlesse par­aduenture you be of opinion that your bare braules, shalbe re­ceaued as infallibe truthes: whiche I will neuer yeld vnto, as I haue sayd before. I added also a litle after that we might lacke this Papane Monarchie well enough, yea that we ought to be without it, aswell bycause the Gospell interditeth it, as also bycause reason reclaimeth agaynst it (At which wordes, the Gospel enterdityng) Our Syr Ierome sets vp his bristles & although he know my meaning, yet mooseleth at the wordes, & accuseth me that I can not expresse myne own meanyng sen­sibly, what say you Osorius. Are ye so sodenly fallen an old Do­ctour of Diuinitie to a punie Scholer and carper of wordes, are ye so sodenly disgraded from a Reuerend Prelate and be­come a malitious and hungry fawconer of titles & sillables? O grauitie beseéming a Byshop, O fūctio most agreable for those gray heares. But let vs view the matter it selfe. We ought to lacke this Papane Monarchie (the Gospell interdityngit) y^t is to say bycause the Gospel doth enterdite it, forbid it, cōmaū ­deth y^e contrary, letteth it, hindereth it, withstādeth it, resisteth it, openly exclaymeth y^t no such Monarchie be admitted. Do I [Page] not speake after y^e Latin phrase? doth not euery of these wordes properly and playnly expresse the thynges that I meane? En­quire amongest all your Massemongers and of that betlehead Dalmada your familiar and companion. They will all con­demne you for tomme trifler. And your sweét piggesnye Ema­nuell will smoyle close in his sleaue, that somewhat is founde out in the world at the last, that exceédes his filthy Commen­taries, and blockishnesse.

But our Aristarchus proceédeth notwithstādyng Peacock-lyke, and requireth proofe, whereby the countermaunde may be manifest, that we should now be subiect to this one­ly great Vicare of Christ? First of all, this do I aunswere, that it is sufficient for me to deny all things with a bare nay, to him that affirmeth all things by a bare yea: for there is no differēce of authority betwixt our estates, but y^e [...]urisdictiō of a Bishop, whiche may hold your charge of Siluain to consent, but tou­cheth not me. And therefore after that you had packt together a tedious Epistle to the Queénes Maiestie full of reproches & slaunders, and had in the same vttered all your cankred malice, agaynst the professours of true Religion, yet all the whiles had vsed thereunto neither proofe nor probabilitie, it sufficed for me to haue confuted that pestilent inuectiue, fortified with bare affirmatiues onely, euen by the contrary therof, to witte bare negatiues. But now for asmuch as you haue stopt vp a fewe shardes in these your last tedious Commentaries, though very hardly and quyte from the purpose, yet as well as you could: I thought good to reply likewise with some Argumentes, there­by to ouertake you at euery loupe hoale. So that I haue now so entāgled and snarled fast in coupe your Lordly Ierarchy, by force of holy scriptures, euē with y^e same tooles, that you bele­ued to haue erected & established it, that I neéde nothing doubt, of y^e consent of all y^e godly, but y^t they are fully satisfied herein. As for you nothyng can content you, y^t are so captious in titles of wordes, as to slippe from Diuinitie to extreme Sophistrie.

I affirmed that an Italian Monarche could not aptly be a ruler ouer vs, and I alledged the cause in these wordes. For the head cā not Conueniently be distaunt from the members so farre asunder: Here Osorius playeth the man, and vttereth [Page 69] all his skill at a brunt. And beleueth that some monster I cā not tell what, lurketh in those wordes, and therfore rusheth vpon me, with pretie young questions. Must ye be taught to speake Latine (sayth hee) for what meaneth this? What is this, cōueniētly to be distaūt? For that which agreeth with it selfe, doth not dissent, wherfore when you say that some one thing is conueniently distaunt, To be con­ueniently distaunt. ye doe not speake true Latine but vse a monstruous kynde of Latine phrase. Listen hereunto agayne prattlyng Sophister. I doe not affirme, that any thyng doth conueniently disagreé, as you doe maliciously i­magine: but I do playnly deny, that the head cā conueniently be distaunt frō the members. But you beyng ignoraunt what difference is betwixt an affirmatiue, & a negatiue proposition, must be turned downe agayne behinde the Schoolehouse doore, amongest the apsie boyes, to learne this lesson agayne. And bycause you are so grosse of cōceauyng, that ye cā not perceaue a thyng spoken briefly, and aptly, I will rehearse my wordes agayne, and will apply hereunto other phrases of the lyke ef­fect. That all men may know, what a childishe and blockehea­ded aduersary I haue. This is it therefore. For the head can not conueniently bee distaunt from the members so farre of. That is to say, it is not conuenient that the head should bee so farre asunder from the members, A frend doth not conueni­ently disagreé from his frend: nor the Scholer from his Mai­ster, nor the Seruaunt from his Lord, ne yet the wife from the husband: That is to say it is not conueniēt that the frend from his frend, the Scholer from his Maister, the Seruaunt from his Lord, or the wife should disagreé from her husband. What say you Osorius, is any of these not spoken after the Latine phrase? are they not vttered playnly? and properly? doe ye not in all these conceaue the negatiue and not the affirmatiue? Are you not ashamed? doe ye blush nothyng at all at this manifest fault and marke of your follie? I haue a boye of sixten yeares age, whom I keépe to Grammar Schoole, who shoulde haue felt the smarte hereof, if hee had made so foule an escape in these Grammer principles. Truely I am wery long sithence (gentle Reader) to bee so childishly occupyed in siftyng out the titles and sillables of wordes after this maner, but you may [Page] note the amazednesse and ouerthwartenes of myne aduersary, to whom the fault must be imputed accordyng to reason, which beyng both bussardly blynd in ponderyng bare wordes, and al­so fondly franticke, and senselesse in the substaunce of thynges, doth altogether deny any difference to be in this: how farre so euer a sunder the head bee separated from the members so that they be vnited in one fayth. Surely experience hath not onely taught vs here in England, but the practize of all other natiōs also doth playnly bewray his singular ignoraūce and blockish­nesse, what it is to be seuered from Italy, by farre distaunce of regions when as in matters of Religion iustice & equitie could not bee ministred, but it must bee procured with immesurable charges, and tedious pursuite of many yeares. From whiche inconueniēces we have good remedy prouided through the spe­ciall goodnesse of God. For we haue in our owne Realme both Iudges and Consistories.

But our reuerend Father cā not disgest this by any meanes, that the Queénes Maiestie should entermedle with y^e Churche, and after a long friuolous preamble after his accustomed ma­ner at the length choppeth downe to a sentence of myne, videl. The Queenes Maiestie is Lord ouer all maner of persons in England. Dominari. And these wordes he supposeth to be spoken barba­rously: bycause the gouernement of a kyng is not with force & Tyranny, nor tendeth to keépe his Coūtrey people, (whom he hath vndertake to defende of a fatherly loue) in seruile subie­ction nor is referred to the consideration of his owne profite, but to the publicke sauetie of his subiectes: And therfore, sayth he, it is false that a kyng doth rule as a Lord vnlesse we should take him for a Tyraunt rather then a kyng. Harken I pray you, harken vnto this Aldermā brable, harken vnto this most subtill corrector of the Latine toung. There was neuer such an other Valla, or Varro in our tyme: for this our notorious Prelate doth farre surmount all Vallaes and Varroes who by his fine pythe and polished Iudgement hath fishte a Poole and caught a Foole: and with his new sharpenesse of witte, hath es­pied that, wherof no man could euer conceaue so much as a sha­dow in his dreame, what say you, my Lord Byshop, doth no mā rule as a Lord, except he be a Tyraunt? Ergo, no man is a Lord [Page 70] vnlesse he be a tyraūt, if at least he bare any rule. Truly you had neéde of Helleborous to purge that Calues braynes.Rom. 14. Our Lord Iesus Christ is sayd sometymes to bee a Lord of the quicke and the dead, sometymes to be a Lord in heauen, and in earth, and in all the holy Scriptures throughout is called by this name Lord. Therefore this your blasphemous and horrible Grammar di­stinction ought be accompted a Tyraūt, this can not be denied. Becommeth you an old Byshop to vtter such mockeries? can you beyng a Prelate either through fury or maddenesse to be so frame shappenly translated to bee openly franticke and make your selfe a laughyng stocke to litle boyes? Truely I am asha­med in your behalfe, for I did neuer seé so great, so foule, & so monstruous absurdities in a mā of such yeares, that hath bene all his life long conuersaunt in learnyng.A miserable distinction of Osorius. Afterwardes you do make a very subtill distinction I promise you of the authoritie of kynges: y^t is to say, though they gouerne all their subiectes, yet are they not Lordes ouer all causes. Yes in deéde (good sir) they are Lordes ouer all causes, aswel Ecclesiasticall as Tem­porall, which may seéme to apperteine to the good gouernemēt of the cōmon wealth.How far & in what causes kynges doe beane rule. And yet they do not minister in their own persons in matters Ecclesiasticall, as I wrate before: for how can they so do? but they doe assigne and authorise other Magi­strates vnder them, who may execute euery thyng in due or­der. In like maner albeit Emperours be onely chief of their Armyes, yet haue they vnder them Centurians, Lieutenaūts, Serieauntes, Corporals, and other meaner officers, which do trayne in due order and exercize the whole affaires, the rest of the Souldiours. So doe Maisters of Nauies and Shippes, appointe vnder them their Mates, and Boateswaynes, and o­ther meaner degreés to their seuerall offices, by this meanes to preserue their course the better at Seaboorde: whereby appea­reth that the chief authoritie is resiaunt alwayes in the chief and knowen estates, but the trauaile, toyle, and execution of or­ders, is ministred by inferiour Magistrates.

But ye require to make demonstration how these things can be so? First of all, your question is worthy to bee scorned, beyng so voyde of reason: to haue euident demonstration to be made of those thynges which common course of mans lyfe, and [Page] dayly practize of all common weales, may assure you, were you neuer so voide of sense. But I will satisfie that captious grosse­head of yours in this matter, w^t threé wordes. I do affirme that the authoritie of kynges is aboue all other, and yet that kyngs them selues do not minister in Ecclesiasticall matters. Which two are most manifestly proued aswell by the gouernement of kyngs in the old Testamēt, as also in the later age, in the tyme of the new Testament. For Dauid, Salomon, losias, Ezechi­as, and other godly kynges amongest the people of Israell, did commaunde the Priestes in matters of Religion: yet did not they entermedle with execution of any thyng. In the tyme of the Gospell, Paule that great teacher of the Gentiles cōmaū ­deth That intercessions and publicke prayers bee made with fayth and truth, first of all for kinges, then for all others that are set in authoritie. 1. Timo. 2. Peter also that excellent Elder, (For other name then Apostle or Elder did hee neuer acknowledge, howsoeuer you do cōuey your false Papisticall Seé frō him) Peter (I say) in open and expresse wordes doth verifie my saying,Peter. 1.2. when as he geueth commaundement in this wise. Submit your selues to euery humane creature for the Lordes sake, whether it [...]ee to the king as most excellent, or to the Magistrates as to them that are sent by him, assigning the punishement of the wicked doers and the laude and prayse of them that doe well, for so is the w [...]ll of God. Beholde you haue both my propositions out of Peter. First the chief and most excellent authoritie of kinges, then rulers and Magistrates sent and assigned by kinges, for the punishment of the vngodly, and the cōfort of the godly. Lastly you heare also, that it is the will of God, that by this meanes executiō of Iustice may duly proceéed. Wherfo [...] cast away all your cauillations, and beyng an El [...]r your selfe (if you bee wise) geue attentiue and speédy eare to Peter the Elder. You thunder out your malici­ous slaunders agaynst the demeanour and ignoraunce of our Byshops, & discharge your venemous stomacke agaynst them. And here vnhappely as it chaunced, ye begyn your talke w^t ex­treme incongruitie, yea redoubling y^e same for your more skill.

Il [...]ne.For thus ye write. What Byshops name you (Illino) whe­ther they whom you haue disgraded from their Sees, and deteine them in chaines? Illi. or (Illi) they rather whō you haue [Page 71] takē out of Brothelhouses and Tauernes and haue enstal­led in the degree of holy Byshops? False Latin in Osorius, puttyng Il­li, for Illos, Is it euē so proude comp­troller? Can you make so euident a fault contrary the princi­ples of Grāmar and write Illi they, in steéde of Illos them? En­quire of your wormeeatē companion Dalmada, he will amend your escape, and will be sory that you haue s [...]ypped your penne so childishly, I doe medle with these trifles much agaynst my will, neither would I haue done it at all but to treade downe your hautynesse a litle, which can continually quarell with me for titles, and sillables, yea & without cause. I know that such escapes chaunced many tymes to Tully him selfe: but I ought not forgeue you any fault at all, consideryng you do so w^t cruell wordes [...]ourge my poore speach, though otherwise both cleane and pure Latin. And now this I do aūswere to that your filthy accusatiō agaynst our Byshops:Ofori. ray­ling agaynst our Bishops of England. 1. Timo. 3. that they are replenished with more ornamentes of true Byshops (wherof Paule made men­tion to Timothe) then Osorius hath, or euer will haue except he shape him selfe to a new mā betymes. And how much y^e more their vertue & godlynes, beau [...]ified with singular learnyng, is manifestly approued & extaūt to all our eares & eyes: so much more detestable & hatefull is your quarell agaynst those aun­ciēt Fathers, especially for that you do rage so beastly agaynst your brethren, whō ye neuer haue seéne, nor do know. Paule cō ­maundeth that a Byshop bee vnreprouable, but you do not onely reproue, but maliciously deface the estimatiō of Byshops, who haue neuer offended you in word or deéde, I pray you good sir, how can you cleare of reprehension and fault, that your cākred choler so lauishly vomited agaynst those graue Fathers whom you know not? You demaunde also why those same Byshops, did not vndertake the defence of Religion agaynst you? and by what meanes I crept thereunto beyng a Ciuilian? Tru­ly I do franckely acknowledge my selfe to be a Ciuilian (Oso­rius) and not a Deuine. As for you, you are neither Ciuilian nor Deuine, and therfore I might be the more [...]old to try Mai­strie with you. Let any men that will peruse that your tedious Epistle to her Maiestie, and he shall finde nothyng therein, but huge heapes of idle wordes, madde mazes of long Sentēces, full of yrkesomnesse, vnmeasurable and haynous lyes and slaū ­ders [Page] agaynst true godlynesse. Agayne let your second great Uolume bee layde abroad, what is in it els but a dounghill of tauntes and reproches agaynst me? No sparcke of Diuinitie except those pestilent deuises forged out of Schoolemen, of pardons, of couled Uipers, Confessions, flames of Purgatory, and other patcheries of these late vpstartes. Wherefore if ye will prouoke our Byshops to disputation, you must open your Budget, and make a shewe of better ware, of purer, or at lest somewhat more learned Diuinitie: then you shall finde what spirite and courage they be of, in the meane tyme, whiles they are occupyed in matters of more importaunce, you may con­tent you with Haddon, beyng but a meane aduersarie, whiche hath and will alwayes haue skill enough to suppresse your in­solencie, and confute your trifles.

You demaunde an other question touchyng our Byshops. By what Religion, by what Ceremonie, by what authori­tie they were instituted? who layd handes vpon them? who consecrated them? how holyly? how sincerely this matter was executed? I aunswere you at a word. Handes were layd vpō them lawfully, and prayers likewise poured out for them, accordyng to the prescript ordinaunce of the Gospell, we doe vse our owne ceremonies, like as you doe yours, and as other Nations doe minister their owne. At the last you Enquire of their holynesse, foolishly forsooth, consideryng it is an inward action of the mynde, and wherof no man liuyng can pronounce any certaintie: Ye murmur I can not tell what Of a confused functiō of Byshops and Deuines, bycause I ascribed the of­fice of administration of the Sacramentes to Byshops, but of determinyng causes to Deuines. As though Byshops are not Deuines, and Deuines Byshops? or as though seuerall functions may not be vndertaken many tymes in y^e Church? or as though Byshops beyng the chiefest of y^e Clergy, haue not a charge to execute matters apperteinyng to the Church in their own right: or as though this question seémeth not to haue pro­ceéded from a captious Sophister, rather thē from a gray hea­ded Byshop. You say That the rumour goeth abroad how that our Byshops are chosen to this end especially, that be­yng contented with some portion of Reuenewes of their [Page 72] Byshoprickes, the rest should be confiscate vnto our posses­sion as a cleare gayne. If this bee a rumour, this rumour is wicked and slaūderous, and such a one, as the grauitie of your person should stoppe your eares from, and deceit in hart. But if this lye be deuised by you, and your fraternitie, into how hor­rible a sinne doe ye wilfully drowne your selues, that will scat­ter such wicked slaunders agaynst your brethren whō ye know not? But you say that I & such as I am, are charged with the greater part of this infamie, for when we choose such By­shops, we geue iust cause to men to conceaue some suspi­tion of our auarice and couetousnesse: Ye write monstru­ously Osorius: Do we choose Byshops? or do I choose Byshops? how long and in what places hath this custome preuayled, that euery particular subiect or the vulgare multitude should choose Byshops? your frāticke communication denounceth you a mā more worthy to be whipped in Bedlem, thē to be disputed with all in Schooles. For ye seéme to be altogether voyde of commō sense. The election of our Byshops Syr Ierome, is ordered accordyng to the auncient, and best receaued Canons: & choyse is made by the Deane and Chapter of the most excellēt in ver­tue, and learnyng: The Prince doth confirme the election. The Archbyshops do consecrate them that are chosen: Of whō some are nothyng inferiour to your Maister shyppe in auncientie of race, wherein you vaunt your selfe so much, yet this discent in gētry, was not valued of Paule amongest the vertues, & quali­ties, which he assigned to a Christian Byshop: But other orna­mentes, where w^t I wishe you were better acquainted: perhaps ye would then seéme somewhat a woorse Rhetorician, but sure I am you would bee farre better Byshop. But now you haue enured your selfe so much to vnmeasurable raylyng, that ye seéme rather a cōmon brauling Thersites, Thersites a notable brauler Homer in I­liad. thē a meéke Prelate.

You thinke that I yelde to much to the authoritie of kynges, because I affirmed that the kynges of Israell dyd rule the Priestes in matters of Religion. And this you say is not true. Why so, I pray you?Out of the bookes of the Kynges and Parali­pom. is it false bycause you say that it is false? O notable Pithagoras, the credite of your naked af­firmatiues beyng bolstered vp with no reason nor witnesse bee not crept so farre on high benche as yet, to be takē for Iudges, [Page] I did alledge a litle before Dauid, Salomon, Iosias, Ezechias. Peruse who so list, the Chronicles of them, and thē let him de­cide this controuersie betwixt vs. The sentences of Paule and Peter in the new Testament are very manifest, as I haue sayd before. For Paule Commaundeth prayers to be made for kinges, and for all other set in authoritie. In which sentence you may di­scerne a distinct degreé of Power, and Nobilitie, & vnlesse you will bee blinded with malice conceaued agaynst the truth, you may also seé the kyng to be placed first and highest. In the same wise Peter Submit your selues to euery humune creature for the Lord, whether to the king, as most excellent, or to the Magistrates, as beyng appointed by him. Loe here the lyke degreés, loe here al­so the kyng placed chief, and most excellent. Here you cry out & exclame Comically, or rather tragically. O heauē, O earth, O the Seas of Neptune. When as it had bene better for you to stoppe that lauishe foule mouth, with the euident testimonies of the Apostles. But you proceéde on rather Saying, if kynges obteine the highest authoritie, the whole world would be turned vpsidowne as ye thinke: for that kynges would bee subiect to flatterers, and so nothyng could bee executed in due order and truth, but all thyngs would be gouerned af­ter the lust of flatterers. First of all, kings of this our age are much beholdyng vnto you surely, and amongest the rest your owne kyng especially.The courtes of Princes subiect to flatterers. For if it bee true that you stampe out so boldly, that all Counsels of kyngs are corrupted by flatterers, what one thyng do ye leaue vpright in their gouernement? Be­holde (my good Lord) and behold earnestly, how trecherously and perillously you beguile your selfe with rashnesse and igno­raunce, that blemish all regiment of kynges with so cōmon an infamie. But admit vnto you for this time, that your saying is true in this respect that to to great store of flatterers swarme in Princes Courtes. What then? doth this let, that in the Pa­laces of your holy Monarchies, this kynde of vermine (that we call a flatterer) is not fostered? is not dallied with all? yea n [...]u­rished, & had in high price? I will passe ouer myne owne neigh­bours and will referre you to all that new puddle of Schoole­men, amongest whom you shall not finde any one sounde Ex­position of Diuinitie, but whole Commentaries of flatteries [Page 73] and Parasiticall poyson.

For they beautifie the Pope with these Titles videl. The Popes Parasites. They call him the Sunne of the worlde, they ascribe vnto him both swordes Temporall & Spirituall. They create him the Lord of Purgatory. They aduaunce him aboue the authoritie of the Canon Lawes. They deny that hee is to be directed by any o­ther person. They affirme in their writynges that the Pope hath all lawes engrauen, or rather lockt fast in the closet of his hart. They say that the Pope can be guilty of no fault, though hee throw many thousandes Soules into hell, they make the Pope high Steward of Pardōs, as though they were the tre­asurie of the Churche, so that hee may forgeue infinite sinnes both past already, and sinnes not yet committed. Furthermore they haue enthronized him chief Uicare of Christ vpon earth, who can neither erre him selfe, nor bryng others into errours: vnto whom onely all generall Councels must be in subiection, at whose feéte Emperours and Kyngs ought to prostrate them selues: last of all whom all Christendome must honor, and wor­ship as an earthly God. These blasphemous flatteries, detesta­ble and horrible blaunchyngs, are not vttered onely by mouth, at all aduenture, but are extaunt in the monuments and bookes of the Romish patrones, written by them aduisedly and in ear­nest. Can you charge any kynges Courtes with the lyke? Ye name Henry the eight a most excellent kyng endued with all kyngly ornaments,Kyng Hen­ry the viij. who ye say tooke vnto him absolute au­thoritie ouer his subiectes, through the enticemēts of flat­terers & loue that he bare vnto thē, boylyng also with ma­lice agaynst the Byshop of Rome, frō out whiche fountaine forsooth, I know not how many floudes of wickednes and mischief did issue. These be no proofes of a sober Byshop (my good Lord) but drōkē dreames of a drousie Sophister. For the noble kyng of most famous memory attempted nothyng, either of loue, or of hatred, or by procurement of flatterours. But whē he perceaued that it was most euidēt by the Gospell that gene­rally all England was committed vnto him, as his proper pe­culiar charge aswell by the authoritie of Gods law, as mans law, he banished out of his Realme that foreine authoritie, and resumed his owne lawfull gouernement wholy into his owne [Page] handes, studying to reserue the same inuiolable to him selfe, as meéte was: wherein he performed the duetie of a wise, and per­fect kyng, and easing so his subiectes of great, and importable trauailes, and charges, he left vnto his successours a very riche and florishyng kyngdome. But touchyng the Iustice executed vpon More and Roffensis, was not without much sorow of his Royall hart, in respect of their witte, and learnyng: But after that they were publickly attainted of high treason, and would by no persuasion be reclaymed from their wilfull errours, hee must neédes suffer the law to proceéde agaynst them, left wyn­king at their treachery, he might haue opened a greater gappe of obstinacie and rebellion to others.

At y^e length you are come to Peters wordes, but by y^e way spurnyng at me, and calling me a most filthy person. Wher­in you do me no small iniurie like a wicked Sophister. You de­maūde of me out of what wordes of Peter, I framed my sen­tence, which I vouched before, touchyng the superioritie of kynges? whether that enduced me, bycause Peter doth name the kyng to be most excellent? Not that onely (graue Gentleman) but the whole processe of Peters communication. You doe argue in this wise: That men are many tymes cal­led excellent either in nobilitie or learnyng, bycause they be very notable therein, not bycause they are set in autho­ritie aboue all men: and here a Gods name it pleaseth you to produce me for example: whom though some may bee of opiniō to excell in the knowledge of the Ciuill Law, yet will not forthwith vnder that title, yeld vnto me the lyke commendation in the interpretyng of holy Scriptures. All this matter is resolued at a word (O counterfait Grammariā) For if accordyng to the doctrine of Peter, and Paule, certaine degreés bee limited in eche dignitie, and by the same doctrine likewise determined, that y^e royall dignitie of a Kyng doth ex­cell aboue all other power: Then is it manifest by the same de­creé, that the authoritie of the kyng must be honored without all cōparison as chiefest: But after your wonted guise ye runne at raundon with many wordes, concernyng the meanyng of Paule, and of a distinction to bee made betwixt the ciuill and Ecclesiasticall authoritie. First of all no mā can so snaffle [Page 74] that vnbridled toūg, but that it will roue and raunge triflyngly whether it lusteth: And yet the meanyng of Paule and Peter can not bee vnknowen to any men, that will haue but a will to vnderstand it: for they doe make a diuision, or speciall distin­ction of Magistrates by certaine degreés, and in the same doe precisely, and manifestly ascribe chief rule, and highest autho­ritie to kyngs: And albeit ye triumphe iolylye in your differēce of tymes, yet this will nothyng preuayle you.

For ye beleue that this speache of the Apostles, ought not to be applyed to Christiā kynges, bycause it was writ­ten in the tyme of wicked Emperours, which were enemies to Christian Religion. Consider the sayings of the Apostles more aduisedly peéuish Prelate, and acknowledge once at last your owne vnskilfulnesse. Peter writeth in this maner. Sub­mit your selues to euery humane creature for the Lord, whether it be to the king as to the most excellēt, or to the Rulers as vnto them who are sent by him to punishe the wicked doers, and to aduaunce the well doers. Now therfore I demaunde this question of you (Osorius) whether God did send Nero that sauadge and beast­ly cruell Tyraunt,Sueto. in the lyfe of Nero. & (as you know) an horrible bloudsucker of Christian professiō, to punish the wicked & aduaunce y^e well do­ers? if ye affirme that he dyd, you are madde: if ye deny it, then all your former Assertiō, lyeth in the durte. Let vs seé likewise what Paule sayth. Whose sentence herein is much more plen­tyfull:Rom. 13. Princes (sayth he) are not fearefull to well doers, but to the wicked: wilt thou not feare the power? doe well then, and thou shalt haue prayse of the same, for they be the ministers of God ap­pointed for thy wealth. But if thou doe euill, then feare thou, for they beare not the sworde in vayne. For they bee the ministers of God to take vengeaūce on them that do euill. What say you now? could this speach of Paule touch Nero in any respect, whiche embrued his sword in y^e bloud of innumerable Christiās? who alwayes oppressed the innocentes? who wallowed all his lyfe long in all maner of outrage and crueltie? No discreét or sober person, will thinke so. But albeit the Apostles beyng enspired with the holy Ghost, gaue these preceptes in the time of tyran­nous Emperours, yet they had relation thereby to Christian and godly kynges: because they should vndertake the defence [Page] of their subiectes, and should be nurses of the congregation of Christ, accordyng to the Prophecie of Esay. And yet due obe­dience is not thereby forbidden to be geuen vnto kynges in Ci­uill causes, though they bee in [...]idels: as appeareth manifestly both by the example and doctrine of our Sauiour Christ. You are contented that kinges should be placed aboue the No­bilitie, Ciuill Magistrates and other officers in temporall causes, accordyng to the saying of Peter, but not to be a­boue the holynesse of Churches, nor the profession of Reli­g [...]ous persons, ne yet to reconcile the fauour of God. Paule commaundeth euery soule to be in subiection to the hygher power, amongest whom the kyng is chiefest:Rom. 13. Math. 17. [...]uce. 20. And therfore all ye Byshops, together with all other what soeuer Ecclesiasti­call orders, are holden subiect vnder the authoritie of the kyng, vnlesse ye bee without soules, as perhappes your maistershyp is: if then ye be subiect to kynges, ye ought to obey their com­maundementes,Wherein the office of a kyng consisteth. vnlesse they prescribe agaynst God. And yet they beare no function in your Churches, nor [...]it in your Chur­ches as rulers of them, nor administer the Sacramentes: but they may and ought to chastize you, & reduce you into good or­der, if happely ye neglect your dueties, or behaue your selfe vnseémely in your function, which is to be approued by the au­thoritie of both the old and new Testament, as it is oftētimes repeated before.

To cōfirme your Assertiō you bryng for example Core, Dathan, and Abyron, of a singular blockishnesse and igno­raunce. For they made Rebellion agaynst Moses, and to vse the very wordes of the holy Scriptures. They were gathered together agaynst Moses and Aaron,Numb. 16. and sayd vnto them. Ye take enough and to much vppon you, seyng all the multitude are holy euery one of them and the Lorde is amongest them. Why lifte you your selues vppe aboue the Congregation of the Lord? Behold here in this their execrable speach, ouer and be­sides a most pernitious rebellion, we heare also in the same one onely equabilitie in all degrees. For asmuch therefore as they did abrogate all maner of authoritie from Magistrates, beyng appointed by God, as the Anabaptistes of our age do practize, they were accordyng to their desert swallowed vp of y^e gapyng [Page 75] gulfe, prouided by God for that purpose: But why do ye thrust these persons into the stage, who cā occupy no part of the play? For we doe neither entreate of any Rebellion, nor of any tray­terous suppression of Magistrates, but our cōmunication ten­deth to this ende, whether kynges haue any lawfull gouerne­ment ouer Ecclesiastical persons? No lesse foolishly haue ye patcht to your purpose, Oza, Ozias and Balthesar, whom ye do affirme to haue bene greuously plagued of the Lord, bi­cause they did rashly handle holy thynges: and thus ye say was done accordyng to their deserte. Likewise should our kynges be worthely punished of the Lord, if they would vnder­take to minister Baptisme to infantes, or would in their owne persons distribute the Lordes Supper, or clymbe vp into pul­pittes, and vsually preache. For they should entrude into other mens functions, namely Ministers, and Elders, whom God hath peculiarly chosen to execute those orders in Ministerie. Euen so the Lord hath aduaunced kynges in hyghest superio­ritie, bycause they should commaūde, and prouide that all mat­ters should be executed, by others their subiectes in due & con­uenient order. This doctrine beyng both [...]ounde and profita­ble, approued by the testimonies and examples of the purest a­ges, and most applyable to the ordinaūce of holy Scriptures, yet this our pelting Prelate seémeth so squeymishe at it, that he spareth not to curse vs to the pitte of hell, bycause we will not agreé with him in his most friuolous Assertions.

Ye maruell much, why I am so hatefully bent agaynst the Byshop of Rome & why I doe alwayes inueighe at him. Truely I doe not hate the Byshop of Rome, for hee neuer did me any iniurie personally: it is his extraordinarie superioritie, that I write agaynst. Bycause in my opinion it is a manifest rebell agaynst the holy Scriptures, agaynst saluation and the whole state of Christianitie: Neither doe I reproue their Ca­nons, especially those, whiche were established in that first and purer age of the Churche: ne yet those later Canons such I meane, as doe concerne Iudiciall Courtes. Which teach good and commendable preceptes and rules for the administration of Iustice. But I do vtterly detest and as much as in me lyeth abhorre those ambitious, and flatteryng constitutions, and pe­stilent [Page] dispensations, and such like infinite filthy absurdities, erected for the procurement of dignities, or for pillyng and pollyng of coyne. I will alledge two holy constitutions for ex­ample sake. Wherof the one is described in these wordes:Distinct. 22. Cap. Om­nes. The Lord hath committed the charge of all earthly & heauenly Em­pire, vnto Peter beyng appointed porter of eternall life. What Christian hart can willingly suffer such Sathanicall arrogan­cie to be yelded vnto a mortall creature? And yet I will shewe one other of the same stampe farre more horrible.Decrees ful of blasphe­mie. The Pope hath an heauenly will, and in those thinges that his will is bent vnto, his will must bee taken for law, neither can any man say the contrary why he should not doe so: For he may dispence be­yond all law, and make that to bee right, that is quyte cōtrary, in amendyng and alteryng of lawes: bycause the fulnesse of all power resteth in him. These be those golden Decreés for sooth, wherewith our Syr Ierome would haue vs yoked. This is that notable Iurisdiction of that Papane Seé, for the whiche our Osorius waxeth so whotte: That (though I burst in son­der) yet ought all Christian Nations be subiect vnto it (as he affirmeth.) But I on the contrary part do iustifie, that this Papane supremacie is no more mentioned in the Scriptures then a meare straūger,The Popes power. & so altogether vnknowen vnto Peter, vnto Paule, and the rest of the Apostles, and to the succeédyng course of the primitiue and purer Churches, that there was ne­uer one worde spoken of it, vntill the reigne of the Tyraunt Phocas, at what tyme was the very first hatchyng of it. After­wardes in deéde by litle and litle through pride, pillage, & pel­tyng flatteryng, it enhaunced it selfe so farre aboue measure, that it claymeth now Iurisdiction ouer Heauen, Earth, and Seas, as I haue declared somwhat before, & doth more plēty­fully appeare by other blasphemous Decretalles, published by the very mouthes of these holy Popes them selues. Wherfore this extraordinarie Iurisdiction of the Pope, is a most friuo­lous, paynted, disguised, and deformed frameshapen chaunge­lyng, though Osorius would hange him selfe therefore. And kingly authoritie shall beare chief preheminence vpō the earth, accordyng to the sundry and euerlastyng testimonies both of the old and new Testament, vnto the whiche Peter and Paule [Page 76] do in expresse wordes subscribe, & whereunto all cōmēdable an­tiquity, & most approued aūcientie, haue willingly yelded their agreable cōsent, which hath alwayes exercized their gouerne­ment in so well disposed moderation, as beyng contented with her owne limites & territories, hath not licentiously presumed vnlawfull clayme ouer all the worlde, as your most arrogant chaire of pestilēce doth challenge: whose vnsatiable greédy ga­pyng for filthy lucre the heauens, the earth, nor hell it selfe is able to satisfie. You affirmed in your Epistle: that through the abolishyng of your Canons, all feare, and care was vtter­ly rooted out of our hartes. I made aunswere, that many men were wonderfully enriched by your Canons: but very fewe en­duced to haue any especiall regarde to feare God by y^e know­ledge of them. But you trustyng to discredite myne aunswere, demaunde a question of me, Whether the Ciuill Law doe in­struct men in the feare of God? whiche albeit they doe not (say you) yet the monumentes therof ought not be consu­med with fire. What is the matter Osorius? How hanges this together? The question was moued of Canon Lawes, and you on eche parte vbrayde agaynst vs the Ciuill Law. Our communication was concernyng the feare of God, You deny that the Ciuill Lawes ought to be burnt. Are ye starcke dronke? or doe ye bable this out in a dreame? Are ye not asha­med of this monstruous talke? truely it is very irkesome to me, and I am throughly tyred out with so blockish an aduersary.

I affirmed that the authoritie of the Canon Lawes dyd so farre forth preuayle with vs, as they were founde agreable to godlynes: and that Iustice was ministred by the Decreés ther­of in our Ecclesiasticall Courtes. You maruaile how this cā be true for so much as Luther had already burnte them all. First of all I demaunde this question of you. Why do ye mar­uaile at that thyng now, which earste ye did so constauntly de­ny? why did you so w^tout all shame dissemble in matters so eui­dent? Wherewithall neither all Portingall nor your Maister­shyp could, but bee acquainted, consideryng the dayly enter­course and continuall traffique betwixt vs. Agayne what mo­ueth you to name Luther herein? Uerely we for our partes haue the name of Luther in such great admiration, that we do firme­ly [Page] beleue that you might likewise haue easely bene his Scho­ler in Diuinitie. All which notwithstandyng, we name not our selues Lutheranes, but Christians: neither doe we iudge any man so absolutely perfect amongest the whole ofspryng of A­dam: whose wordes and deédes we may accoumpt without ex­ception vnreproueable. Furthermore I founde fault with you, bycause you accused our Preachers, as though they taught in their publicke Sermons, vnpunishable libertie in sinning: and herein I likened your saucie malapertenes, to litle better then to blasphemie, because with so horrible reproche you did infa­mously slaunder y^e doctrine of the Gospell, preached by our De­uines: whiche sentence after your wonted guise you turne in and out, and peruert the same from thyngs to persons: and say that I doe ascribe Deuine Godhead to Luther, Bucer, and Martyr. O monstruous vermine: did I euer speake or thinke any such matter? I did esteéme them in deéde, when they lyued as famous & worthy personages, in respect of their learnyng and godlynesse, in like maner now they are dead, I will defend the remembraunce of their names as much as I may, namely Bucer, Martin Bu­cer. and Martyr, Peter Mar­tyr. with whom I was familiarly acquainted: and did know them, to be auncient godly Fathers exquisite in all vertue & learnyng, and so much more furmountyng you in Diuinitie, as you do excell that your drawlatche derlyng Dal­mada in your deintie delicacie of y^e Latin toūg. But sithence it hath pleased you with so grosse and foolish a lye, to forge new gods for me, whō I should worshyp: I will be bold by our leaue to disclose your Idoll,The Idoll of Rome. whom maugre your teéth ye shall not de­ny, but your selfe doe worshyp with Deuine honour, I meane that Romishe Prelate of the Papall Seé: The whiche for as­much as (accordyng to your owne saying) hath authoritie to dispence with sinnes, by vertue of his Bulles, not for a day, a moneth, or for a yeare onely but for euer & euer, which also keé­peth the keyes of heauen at his pleasure, wherewith he geueth the kyngdome of heauen vnto some persons, and from others locketh it fast, which is inuested in the fulnesse of all power: & is y^e vndoubted Uicare of God: to whose most royall maiestie: all and euery other powers and Magistrates must humble, yeld & submit them selues: Whereas (I say) you allowe of all those [Page 77] titles of dignitie, and not onely teache and defend them in this your vnbridled insolēcy, but also so lustely & couragiously vaūte and rayse vp your crest: What doe you els in that blazyng bra­uerie of speach, but coyne to your selfe & others, a most mani­fest Idoll which you may worshyp, before whom you may pro­strate your selfe, & most lowly & humbly make intercessiō vnto.

And therfore dissemble Ierome as ye liste, yet that is your Romish Idoll. Your selfe also a manifest Idolatour. You must with all willyngly endure all trauaile be it neuer so hard, to at­taine the fauour and blessyng of that your God: perhappes you may picke vp some crommes thereby, and through him be pro­moted so highe, that ye may more nearely behold y^t your earth­ly God, and be enstalled vnder his elbow in his palace, wherin you may do sacrifice vnto his Maiestie. You say that I do pro­uoke you to disputation. This is vntrue. I do not prouoke you, but confute your false accusations, wherewith you charge vs as mainteinours of a fayth voyde of all vertue and Religi­on. And euer amōg you thrust in the name of Luther. What perteineth that to vs? Cast out your challenge to some one De­uine in England by name,The bookes of Osorius de Iustitia. Tenne. you shall seé how quickly he will take vp your gloue, & with no labour crush your Sophisticall canes in peéces, You do wish me to peruse those your bookes en­titled De Iustitia, and in thē you say that I may throughly satisfie my selfe touchyng the iustifyeng of fayth. Truly I haue perused your Uolumes deuided into threé bookes entitled De Iustitia, in the first wherof ye speake much in the commen­dation of fayth, and therein vse testimonies and Argumentes, who doth reprehend you herein, I pray you? And yet all that your endeuour hath obteined no more, but to shewe your selfe an vnnecessary arguer in an vndoubted controuersie. Of the same stampe also is your second booke, wherein you commend much the worthynes of good workes: and herein we do nothing dissent from you, but will aduaunce the same as much as you will wish vs. But your thyrd booke, is almost altogether a Pe­lagian, and beyng throughly poysoned with the heresies of the Greéke Church, doth blasphemously inueighe agaynst the freé mercy of God the Father in Christ Iesu: and namely agaynst S. Augustine, an vnvanquishable patrone of the heauēly grace. [Page] And therfore this your gaye poppet, so gorgiously paynted, whiche liketh your selfe so well, is partly friuolous, ouerwhel­med with to much tattlyng, and partly wicked and execrable, whiles it practizeth to trāsforme vs from naturall men almost to be Gods. Neither am I alone of that opinion, for Cardinall Poole also was for the most part of the same Iudgement: whō although Rome had maruailously disguised, yet all men knew to be farre better man in liuyng, and much more expert in Di­uinitie then you are: he did alwayes withstand your attempt of publishyng in printe, that your delicate impe, which you as thē did so louyngly embrace, and had in so great estimatiō, as your owne derlyng. And accomptyng the same to be most perillous and pestiferous, gaue this famous verdit thereof worthy to be deépely engrauen in the very entrailes of all Christian hartes.Cardinall Poole his iudgement of Osorius his bookes. It is not possible (sayth Cardinall Poole) it is not possible to yelde to much to the mercy of God, nor to abase the strength of man to much. If you had had so much grace, as to haue concea­ued and emprinted in your braynes this doctrine of humilitie & abacement, you would neuer haue so nakedly stripped Christ of his grace, nor so hautely and arrogantly enhaunced the pow­er of mans will: ne yet so proudely and boldly reproued and de­spised S. Augustine.

This worde Osor. signi­fieth bolde in the Por­tingall toung. Ascham.But what dare not Osorius doe, who accordyng to the na­ture of his name dare boldly presume vpō all thyngs? peraduē ­ture you will demaunde, how I knew Pooles mynde herein. I will tell you. Our familiar & very frēd not vnknowen vnto you M. Ascham did sondry tymes aduertize me therof, affirmyng y^t he did heare y^e same vttered by the mouth of the Cardinall him selfe. This also doth trouble you very much, bycause I affir­med it to be your own errour, as which being imagined in your own braynsicke mazer, you would falsely lay to others charge. What then? did I not say the very truth herein? is it not your owne lye, your owne haynous acte? your owne slaunder? yea your owne errour? fayned, coyned, and imagined by your selfe, though afterwardes you would poast it ouer to others without cause? And yet you spare not to pinche me cruelly for so saying. And amongest other scornes reproche me of my stamme­ryng speach as though I can not speake playnly? But in the [Page 78] meane whiles you wryng your selfe by the nose, and geue your selfe two foule blowes. First of all in the matter it selfe, as e­uen now, and els where I haue declared sufficiently. Then in the maner of speache: where in steéde of barbarous endytyng, ye reprehende me for my stammeryng toung. Which neuer a­ny person would doe, that hath bene enured to write pure and cleane Latine. Surely Syr I do speake very playnly and di­stinctly through the inestimable benefite of God,Stāmeryng of [...]he toūg turned vpō Osorius necke. but your toūg doth both stammer and stutte, if the report of them be true, who haue had conference with you, which blemish, bycause it proceé­deth of nature, I would neuer haue obiected against you, if you had not first of all vpbrayded me with y^e same fault, wherewith your selfe are naturally encombred.

At the length you are entred into the treaty of Iustification but first ye snatche at a few sentences of Scriptures,Of the cause of Iu­stification. which I haue set downe. And the same without all reason after a cer­teine cōtinuall crooked vsage of cauillyng, ye writhe and wrest ouerthwartely. And therfore I will bid adewe to that your vn­measurable captious Sophistry: and will sift your Diuinitie a whiles, which wil appeare to be your own, that is to say most foolish & detestably corrupt. You rehearse out of my writing, e­uē as it is, that these workes are vnprofitable to Iustification, & yet that they ought not be despised: bycause Paule doth seéme to verifie both positions. Let vs seé what our Doctour Ierome sayth to this? for sooth he raungeth abroad to originall sinne al­together besides the cushian. He doth cruelly accuse Luther, Caluine and Melancthon, bycause they do cōdemne all the workes of the most holy men, being cōpared with the glo­ry of God. And that the same could not be forgeuen, but through the merites of Iesu Christ. What then? doth not Paul affirme truly that Iewes and Gētiles are all cōcluded vnder sinne? Doth not y^e Propheticall kyng Dauid likewise lōg before him pronoūce truly?Psal. 13. There is not one righteous person, no not one, there is not one, that will vnderstand, not one that will seeke after god. All are gone out of the way they are all together become vnprofitable, there is not one that doth good, no not one. If there be not one righteous mā, no not so much as one, what shalbe come of the worthynes of your workes then, yea euen amōgest the most [Page] perfect and godly? If there bee no man that will vnderstand, then also the best workes of the godly are of no value. If no mā seéke after God, what can be duly performed of any person? If all haue declined out of the way, where be they that haue wal­ked perfectly in the right way? Lastly if there be no person that doth good, whether then are all your excellent workemaisters vanished a Gods name? if all, I say all, as well Iewes, as Gē ­tiles, that is to say, if all generally are concluded vnder sinne, where can those pretie holy men bee founde, of whom ye will neédes haue some, but Paule vtterly none at all? Through the sinne of one man, sinne is poured vpon all fleshe to condemnation. These be the expresse wordes of Paule, which will not admitte any startyng hole, yet your Mastershyp notwithstandyng will vrge a certeine perfection of our workes, contrary to the ma­nifest authoritie of sacred Scriptures.

But this Prelate doth make more accompt of the wordes of Christ our Sauiour, saying. Not he that sayth Lord, Lord: but he that doth the will of my Father shal enter into the kingdome of heauen. And then hee demaundeth. If the yoke of sinne bee so alwayes fastened vnto our shoulders, that it can by no meanes be remoued, how we may then obteine the state of righteousnesse through the grace and goodnesse of Christ? Your selfe haue told it wise man, truely euen through the very same grace and goodnes of Christ, which you haue named. And therfore Dauid being full of y^e holy Ghost, lifting his hādes vp vnto God, cryeth out in this maner.Psal. 50. Wash me throughly from my wickednes, and clense me frō my sinne, for I knowledge my faultes, and my sinne is euer before me: Why should we desire to bee wa­shed, if we did not welter in the filthy puddle of sinnes? and why should we require to bee clensed, and throughly purified? if we were not corrupted, & wholy defiled with y^e stinckyng dregges of sinne?Rom. 13. As by the fall of one mā (sayth Paule) sinne is deriued by way of propaganaciō vpon all men vnto condēnation, euen so by the righteousnesse of one, good is extended vnto all men to iustification of life. Agayne. The same Paule:Rom. 11. God hath shut vp all men vn­der vnbelief, that he might haue mercy vpon all. Frō our selues therfore proceédeth euill vnto damnatiō. And from God com­meth Iustification vnto lyfe. Of our selues riseth vnbelief: but [Page 79] mercy issueth from God. But let vs heare our Lord and Sa­uiour Iesus Christ him selfe most sweétely cōfortyng vs with these wordes.Math. 11. Come vnto me all ye that doe trauaile and be heauy laden, and I will refresh you. And therfore all anguish and grief of sinne, all burden of trespasses, wherewith we are ouerladen and haled down not onely to the groūde, but euen to hell gates, spryng out from our owne selues: euen so the asswagyng of all sorrowes, and ease of all our importable burdens come from Iesu Christ onely. If you bee ignorant of these sentences good Syr, wherewith the holy scriptures doe euery where swarme so plentyfully, what is it I pray you that you vnderstand in the Gospell? if you doe know them, why doe ye so maliciously in­ueighe agaynst those learned men and singular seruauntes of God without cause, especially being as now departed this life? agaynst whom if they could speake for them selues, ye durst not mutter one worde. For what are you beyng compared with them? But to let them passe, whom I did not vndertake to de­fend: what extreme amazednesse is this in you, to rehearse my wordes, and cull them out of purpose, to carpe at them, and from them to glaūce away to Luther and Caluin? if your qua­rell be to me, why do you not let them alone? if ye liste to striue with them, then also cauill not with me. Doth not reason re­quire this? and is not my request allowable? Surely it is ex­treme maddenesse, to challenge me vnto the Barriers, and then to sckyppe ouer away to others, and to pursue them with your venymous toung.

You say further that it seemeth by my maisters doctrine (for so it pleaseth you to tearme thē) that the force of sinne is not as yet extinguished in vs through the bloud of Christ. Truely you and I both may acknowledge those men whose names you did recite before, to be our maisters, not in Diuini­tie onely but in practize of pietie also. But whereas ye would haue them to teache that the force of sinne is not as yet extin­guised through the bloud of Christ (I doe expresse here your owne wordes) This is onely your horrible and most shamelesse slaūder agaynst them. For vnto this marke alwayes they bent their whole endeuour to expresse vnto you Iesu Christ liuely, before your eyes, & the same also crucified, to emprint through­ly, [Page] in the very bowels of your soules the most precious bloud of Iesu Christ shed for vs vpon y^e Crosse:Gallat. 3. to preach vnto vs remis­sion of sinnes through his bitter death and passion, to beate into the blind and deafe eares of the world this glad tydyngs of the Gospell, beyng ouerwhelmed & oppressed by your couled gene­ratiō, massemongers, confessours and mens traditions, & alto­gether choaked & buried vnder grounde, through the silence of holy Scriptures, and to disclose agayne abroad into the open light, and put miserable captiues in remembraunce of the sayd doctrine, beyng vtterly subuerted by the tyrannous trechery of your gallauntes. And therfore in all their sermons, lessons, and writynges, they vsed these and such like speaches.1. Iohn. 1. The bloud of Iesu Christ doth clense vs frō all sinne. You do know that you were redemed from your vayne conuersation which you receaued by the traditiō of your forefathers not with transitorie thyngs as gold and siluer, 1. Peter. 1. but with most precious bloud as of an vndefiled lambe. &c. Apoc. 1. neither whoremōgers, nor worshippers of images, nor adulterers. &c. shall inherite the kingdome of God. 1. Cor. 1. And such ye were, but you are clensed, but you are sanctified, but you are iustified through the name of Iesu Christ, and through the spirite of our God. You heare, men clensed from all sinne, redeémed from their vayne conuer­sation, washed, sanctified, and iustified through the bloud of Iesu Christ: Ye know likewise that these men did take vpon them alwayes infinite labours and trauaile about the establi­shyng and enlargyng of the Gospell of Christ: and are you not ashamed to obtrude vnto them this grosse errour whiche is ech where most euidently conuinced in the whole discourse of the Gospell, & treatise of holy Scriptures? Cākred malice hath not onely blinded you (Osorius) but so bewitched your senses that as ye can not seé the truth your selfe, so yet of a most ar­rogaunt waywardnesse, you will frowardly kicke agaynst the Preachers of the truth.

Rom. 7.And yet this notwithstāding is most true, That sinne doth al­wayes dwell within vs, and that there is alwayes a law lurking in our mēbers rebellyng agaynst the law of the mynde, which draweth vs as bondeslaues to sinnyng. But the Lord doth deliuer vs from this body of death through the bloud of Iesu Christ, not by rootyng out sinne from vs altogether, but for Christes sake pardonyng the [Page 80] sinnes of them that repent. And hereof arise those comfortable reioysinges of the faythfull. He that spared not his onely begot­ten Sonne but deliuered him to be slayne for vs all, how can it bee possible, but that he should geue vs all thynges together with him? Rom. 8. Agayne, who shall accuse the elect of God? Thirdly, it is the Lord that doth Iustifie, who shall condemne vs? These are not spoken to the end to set out our innocencie & perfection, where­unto we can not aspire whiles we are pilgrimes in this mise­rable flesh:Luke. 5. but doe expresse vnto vs that God doth geue vs freé remission through Iesu Christ: so that we will set our whole affiaunce and hope vpon him, which pronounceth of him selfe that hee was sent not to the righteous but to the Sinners, by­cause they should repent and amende their lyues. But you can not well disgest these sayinges, my Lord, for what can you be­yng an old Byshop, allow in the Scriptures, that haue bounde your selfe apprentice to such bussardly Schooledregges? And yet this confidence in the death and bloud of Christ, will rayse vs vp into heauen at that dreadfull day, when you and your couled generation, with all your peltyng trinkettes of super­stitious workes shalbe throwen headlong into hell, vnlesse ye repent in tyme. For we doe assuredly knowe, that if we confesse with our mouthes our Lord Iesus, and beleue stedfastly in our hart that God hath raysed him from death to lyfe, we shalbe saued. Rom. 10. For with the hart we beleue vnto righteousnesse, and with the mouth we confesse to Saluation. And yet this confession of fayth, doth neuerthelesse want no testimonie of good workes, as where withall she is alwayes accompanied, for we are not so indebted to the fleshe, that we should walke accordyng to the flesh, for if we liue accordyng to the fleshe, we shall dye. But if in the spirite we mortifie the sinnes of our bodies we shall liue. For all those that are guided by the spirite of God, the same are the sonnes of God. Rom. 8. Wher­fore renoūce once at the length such lothsome communicatiō: where withall, lyke a most filthy hogge mooselyng in the dur­tie swynesty of Epicure, you vse most wickedly to scorne and deride the faythfull seruauntes of Christ. For ye write that it is the maner of their thought: We are in good case enough, for we are most acceptable vnto GOD through fayth. Wherfore we are as righteous as Peter and as Paule, yea as [Page] the most holy mother of God. Ye goe amasked altogether (Osorius) the faythfull Ministers of Christ doe not acquainte them selues with this vnsauory and hautie spirite of pride: but rather doe earnestly call to their remembraunce the sayinges of Paule.Rom. 13. The night is passed, the day is come nye, let vs there­fore cast awaye the workes of darkenesse, and let vs put on the ar­mour of light. Let vs walke honestly as it were in the day light, not in eating and drinking nother in chambring and wan­tonnesse. &c. But let vs put on Iesu Christ, and not make prouision for the fleshe fulfill the lustes thereof. &c.