OF all the Idolatries in the world, there is none more displeasing to God, nor more hurtfull to a super­stitious man, then that which he committeth by the religious worshipping of the bones and reliques of the dead. For, if God would never suffer, that we should worship his living creatures, cre­ated after his owne image & likenesse; noe not his Angels themselves, which are pure and im­mortall, and haue noe participation with our humane corruptiō: how much lesse wil he per­mit vs to attribute that honour due vnto his o­nely Maiesty, to the bones & garments of rot­ten bodies returned into ashes? Moreover if the [Page 2] worshippers of the false Gods haue estranged themselves from our Creator,Ier. 13. 17. 13. who is the foun­taine of living waters, to digg them pitts that can containe noe water: how much more are all those gone astray out of the right waie of sal­vatiō, which runne after I know not what pie­ces of old raggs, in-uented at their pleasure, and seeke for the light of lyfe, among the shad­dowes of death.

Now whereas the Canons of Awcon in Ger­manie, haue not long since put forth an index of their relickes, with a Iesu-iticall Epistel stuf­fed with false gloses and sophisticall reasons, to stirt-vp thereby the poore abused people of this age vnto the visitation of their said reliques, and to change at an instant, their natural stupiditie into a self-obstinacie, by preferring the deceitful shewes of religion, before he service which God prescribs vs in his holy word. So I desiring to accomplish the earnest request of some of my freindes, and also my vocation which bindes mee to pre-advertise the ignorant to take heed of these blind-leaders, which leads them vnto perditiō, haue spent some houres in composing of this Treatise, that may serue as a preseruative to the weake, against the venomous errours eontain­ed in the saide writing, as a morning-watch to awaken & rouse vp the sluggish, as a Guide to such as are gone astray out of the path of truth, [Page 3] and as a spurre to the dull to convert them to God, & to divert them from the pernicious adoration of things dead & corruptible, vnto the wholsome worship of our heauenly Fa­ther the onely God living & incorruptible, who is a spirit, and loues such as worship him in spirit & truth.

Whereunto I will indevour to bring them by three degrees. First,The deputation di­vided in­to three parts. I will lay downe to them the principall causes for which Christi­ans are not permitted to doe anye religious seruice vnto the reliques of the dead.

Afterward, I will refute the arguments of the Canons of Awcon, whereby they seeke to prooue the contrarie.

Finally, I will advertise the Reader of the falsities of those reliques specified in their index.

I will confirme this my proposition (that Christians are not permitted to doe any religious ser­vice to the reliques of the dead) by three reasons: whereof the first shall be, that the tradition of visiting and reuerencing religiously the reli­ques of the departed Saints, hath no founda­tion in the holy Scripturs, nor from the ex­ample of those which haue followed invari­ably their paterne.

The second, how some Christians inconstāt in their waies, hauing learned this superstiti­ous [Page 4] ceremony in the Schoole of the Gentiles, haue brought it into the Primitiue Church about foure hundred yeeres after Christ.

The third, that the consideratiō of the sun­dry abuses, sprung from this wicked custome, nourished and maintayned yet vnto this pre­sent in the Idolaters Synagogue, ought to mooue and stirre vp the true worshippers of God, wholly to banish it frō out of the christi­an Church.

Touching the first poynt of my admoni­tion, surely we finde in the Byble,The se­cōd part. that the ho­ly Patriarckes and their children haue buried honourably their dead, according to the ordinance of the Lord,Gen. 3. 19 Thou art dust, & to dust shalt thou returne; but we read not in any place of it, that they haue torne their bodies, and trāsported them by peece-meal after their de­ceasse: placed their bones in sundrie places, showne their garments to the vulgar people with cōmand to worship them, and promisse that in calling vpon thē they should be heard, Neither reade wee also in it, that God hath commanded vs by his auncient prophets, to goe on pilgrimage to those parts where their inheritours had carried thē, to offer vp there vnto them burning tapers and holy candles, to touch, salute & kisse their bones with great devotion: Much lesse reade we in it, that God [Page 5] hath prescribed them to solēnize the memo­rie of their reliques by certain convocations of the people & publicatiōs of solemne fests, nor yet to load the Churches & Altars with them, nor to carry them vppon their necks & shoulders, nor to walke vp & downe with thē in processions; to the intent to moue every one to reverence them, with confidence to obtaine succour from God and his Saincts by worshipping them.

And albeit that the Patriarke Iacob, and Io­seph his son, grounding them-selues vpon the truth of Gods promisse, that he would giue for an inheritance to their posterity the land of Canaan, enioyned their children to trans­port them forth of Egypt, when the houre of their deliuerāce should come into the cōtrey which God had promissed them: and that Moses tooke their bones alonge with him when the children of Israel came forth of E­gipt: notwithstanding he never shewed thē vnto the people of God in his greatest distres­ses, either in his passage through the redd sea, or in the wildernesse: much lesse did he lift them vp into the ayre, and sett them vppon a Perch (as he did the brasen serpent) or orday­ned that any should behold them, with sted fast assurance that every of them should bee delivered from their euils by contemplating [Page 6] them: but contrary wise he kept them secret, & close in their coffins: and the Elders of the people that surviued Moses and Ioshua, cau­sed thē to be buried so soone as they arrived in the land of Canaan,Ios. 24. 32 in a field which Abra­ham & Iacob had bought before time of the sonns of Hamor the father of Sechem.

Also the Prophet Samuel sheweth vs,2 Sam. 21 13. 14. that K. Dauid hauing taken the bones of Saul and Io­nathan frō the inhabitants of Gabish Gilead which had taken them vp from the streete of Beth-shan, brought them from thence into the contrey of Beniamin, caused thē to be bu­ried in the sepulchre of Kis the father of Saul, and that in the Solemnizatiō of their funer­alls his subjects did all that the King cōman­ded them: but there is no mention made of any pilgrimage, or any religious seruice: which they should doe in honour of thē about their Sepulchre.

Likewise,2 Kings. 23. 17. in the second booke of kings, the Authour of this Historie writeth, that King Iosiah willing to prophane the Altar which King Ieroboham had caused to be built in Be­thel, and to dishonour eternally the Priests & other Idolaters, which he had maintained there; caused the bones of the false priests & other their confederates to be digged vp, cō ­manding them to burne thē vppon the same [Page 7] Altar: But on the contrary espying an other Tombe in the same Cittie, demanded of the cittizēs thereof, What title is that which I see? & hauing vnderstod by their answer, that it was the sepulchre of the man of God, which be­fore prophesied the things which the sayde King came then to doe vpon that very Altar, to shewe the publick reverence he bore vnto that man of God even after his buriall, bad the inhabitants of Bethel Let him alone, let none remoue his bones, whereto this Historiā addeth, that the citizens of the said city obeied there­in king Iosiahs commandement.

Although the holy Scriptures giues vs to vnderstand, that among all that are borne of woemē, God hath not raised vp more excellēt servants of his house, then Moses and Iohn Baptist: nor a more faithfull Martyr of his son Christ Iesus then S. Stephē, one of the seaven deacons of the Apostolique Church, & one of the first witnesses of Christ persecuted in Ie­rusalem: Neueverthelesse their bodies were presently interred after their departure, that of Moses by God himself after a miraculous manner,Deut. 34. 6. in the contrey of Moab, in a place vnknowne vnto the children of Israel, and in­accessible for the deuil, to the end, they might not abuse it by Idolatrie: that of S. Iohn Bap­tists by his disciples, and S. Stephens by some [Page 8] men that feared God,Marc. 6. 29. Act. 8. 2. Iud. ver. 5 as appeareth by the History of Moses, the Gospel according to S. Marke, the book of the Acts of the Apost­les and the Epistle of S. Iude.

Among all the auncient Prophets, there is none whose buriall is more memorable then that of the Prophet Elishas; in regard it plea­sed God to raise vp miraculously by touching of his dead and buryed bodie: a man which in great hast for feare of their enemies they had cast into the grave of this prophet, as we read in the second booke of Kings & 2. Chap, howbeit the Authour of this historie addeth not for all that, that the Priests of the old Testament, haue commanded the people of God to resort vnto that tombe, to offer vp their praiers and sacrifices, or that they insti­tuted any Feasts vpon certain daies in memo­rie of this miracle, or enclosed the bones of this Prophet into a shrine, or chose out any expresse place to raise vp some altar in his ho­nour, or did perswade any to resort thither from all partes, to offer vp there their praiers and sacrifices in the name of the vulgar peo­ple, as if it were before the face of God him­self.

Morover the prophet Isaiah, hauing respect vnto the auncient custome of interring the dead, and hiding them in their graues, com­pareth [Page 9] the sepulchres of the righteous vnto bedds, to shew by this similitude, that wee can doe noe greater pleasure to God, nor a grea­ter honour to his wel-beloved Sainctes after their departure, then to wrap vp their bodies in the beddes of the Earth, to rest there from their labours vntil the day of their resurrecti­on, in which Christ wil come to awaken & call them vnto him, & bring them into the posses­sion of life eternall.

I say moreover, that the greatest hypocrits among the last Doctors of Israel, to wit, the Scribes and Pharises, who through hypocri­sie and vaine glorie buylt vp the sepulchres of the prophets, and repaired the tombles of the righteous, stoned & massacred to death by their auncestors did not deterre their corpses to dismember them, and shew their bones vnto the meaner sort of people, or to adorne the Altars of the Tempel of Ierusalem with them, but suffered thē to rest in their graues, as Christ himself witnesseth in the 23. Chap. of S. Mathews Gospel, the 27. verse and the next following.

Touching the Apostles & disciples of our Saviour Christ, the historie of his burial shews vs, that S. Peter & S. Iohn approching neere vnto his sepulchre, to see whether he was tru­ly risen or noe, found there his kerchief with [Page 10] his linen clothes laied aside, but the Euāgelist S. Iohn noteth more expresly, that they came thither one after another, to behold the more earnestly his hand-kerchief and linnē which he had left behinde him after his resurrectiō, addeth not (which neverthelesse would have ben soo much the more remarkeable) that they either handled thē, or bore awaie those reliques with them, to shewe them vnto their con-disciples, or put them into any shrine or boxe, which with out all doubt they would haue done, if they had receued any such charg frō ther M^r. or if they could haue gathered by any of his familliar speeches he had with thē before, that such a collection & transportatiō of his reliques would haue pleased him after his resurrection, & haue ben as a fitt meanes, to confirme their bretheren in the Christian faith.

As for S. Luke who discribs vnto vs all the memorable acts of the Apostles, since the as­sention of Christ, vntil the second yeere of S. Pauls imprisonment at Rome, to the intent they might serue as a miror and exsample to all our actions, he makes no recitall, nor rec­kons vp in his second booke any of Christs reliques, his Parents or faithful Martyrs, col­lected by his Apostles, or giuen into the custo­dy of their frends: but hee shewes that the [Page 11] christians of his time perseuered with the A­postles in the sincere doctrine of the H. Gos­pell, and in breaking of bread, the true reli­quaries and memorialls of the instructions &Act. 2. 42 suffrances of our sole Redeemer Iesus Christ.

In like manner the Apostle S. Peter while he was living, would not promisse the faith­full dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, to leave after his death any other reliques behinde him, thē his Epistles which he wrote vnto them, as him self declareth by these wordes, that he wold en­devour alwaies (to wit,2 Pet. 1. 15. by his writings) that they also might bee able to haue rememberance of those things after his departure.

I could here alleadg for this purpose ma­ny excellent admonitions, and notable exam­ples of the auncient Fathers, and true succes­sours of the Apostles: by which they shew vs, that they vnderstood right well, that the last degree of honour, and charitable office which survivours are bound to yeild vnto the dead, according to the rule of holy Scripture, and the custome of the chiefest fathers, aswel of the olde, as of the niew Testament, consist­eth in burying of their corpses: but for this present I will onely recite that which Origen writeth thereof in his disputations against Celsus, S. Augustin in his firste booke of the [Page 12] Cittie of God, S. Athan. in the life of S. An­thony, Eusebius in his history of Policarpus mar­tyrdome, and what Prudentius the Poet saith thereof in his verses vpon the death of one of his frendes.

Humane bodies (saith Origen) hauing once ben the soules mansion,Origen. ought not to be cast awaie after their death:Cont. cōsidering that through the permission of good Lawes,Celsus lib. 5. & 8 wee must doe them that honour, as is befitting them in laying them into the Earth. We haue learned to honour the reasonable soule, and to burie honorablie the Corps, which is the instrument thereof.

According to which S. Augustine saieth, that we ought not to dishonour and reiect the bodies of the departed, especially those of the faithfull, which the H. Ghost vsed as vessells & instruments vnto all good workes. For if our affection hath ben great towards our Parents, the more pleasing is their garment or ringe vnto posterity, their corps which touch vs more neerly; and with whom wee haue more familiarity, ought in noe wise to bee dispised, sith they serue not onely for an aide & ornament, but also partly vnto humane Nature. From hence it proceedeth that through a seruiceable piety they haue heretofore taken care for the buriall of the righteous, solemnized their funeralls, and prouided for their interring.Tob. 12. 13. As for Tobie hee obtained that speciall grace of God to burie the dead, as the [Page 13] Angel witnesseth.Ioh. 12. 3 Moreover, our Lord which was to rise againe, commendeth the good worke of the religious woeman that had cast the costly oyntment vpon his body, commandeth to divulge it abroad be­cause she had done it for the preparation of his sepul­chre.Matt. 27. 57. The like honourable mention is made of those which tooke downe his body from the Crosse, and were carefull to burie it honourably.Marc. 15. 42. So then all thiese testimonies teach vs,Luk. 23. 50. though there be noe sence in the dead bodies; yet they fortifie vs in the beleefe of our refurrection,Ioh. 19. 38. and shewes vs that these bodies appertaines also vnto the prouidence of God, & that such Godly offices are pleasing vnto him.

S. Athanasius reporteth, that S. Anthony tould his frendes a while before his death, Athana. in the life of S. An­thonie. let none (saith he) carry my reliques into Egipt: least my body be honoured with a false honour, and least the solenities and obsequies, which so many tymes I haue condemned (as you know) should be practised vpon me. For the shuning thereof am I chiefly come hiether. Couuer then with earth this poore corps of your Father, and hide him, forgetting not this commandement from me your aged Father.Eusebe lib. 4. 15. & 5. 1.

Eusebius hauing in his historie commended the zeale of the Christians of his time, which with the daunger of their lives had gathered vp the most precious ashes of Policarpus the Martyr, to bury them: complaineth after­ward of the Tyrants of that age, which com­manded their hang-men to cast the bodies [Page 14] of those holy maryrs to their ravēous curres, appoynting besides certaine guardes to re­straine & keep back the faithfull from taking vp the torne peeces of their corpses, gnawne by the dogges, and from laying thē into the earth.

Prudentius comparing the Church-yeard wherein they went to burie one of his frends vnto a Mother that imbraceth her childe,Prudent. and fouldeth him vp in her armes. as if she would put him again in to her belly, crieth out.

That is.

We must not forgett also how Bellarmin himself confesseth,Rob. Bel­larmin li. 2. de Eccl. trium. c. 3 & lib. 2. de purgat c. 19. that God being willing to honour the body of Moses his faithfull ser­vant, buried it with his owne handes, & that to laie abroad dead corpses in the ayre & be­fore the view of the worlde, is the way to dis­honour them: whereas on the contrarie to interr them, is to vse them honestly & to doe them honour. Prima vtilitas (saith he) quae mortuis accedit ex sepultura, est quòd consulitur ho­nori eornm adhuc in hominum memorijs viven­tium. Non enim caret ignomina quadam, quòd faeditas nostri corporis aliorum conspectibus pa­teat, that is to say, The first benefit that befalleth the dead from their buriall. is, that we haue respect vnto their honours which are yet living in the me­mories of men. For it is not without some shame that the foulenesse of our bodies should stincke before the sight of others. A most true saying where by this Cardinall condēneth the impudencie [Page 16] of theis Porters of reliques. and imitatours of Ham, who vncouver before their bretheren the nakednesse and shame of their fathers, & are not ashamed in some places to shewe the navel and fore-skinne of our blessed Savi­our, and at Rheimes in Campania the print of his buttockes. True it is, that in those daies some of the imitatours of the Gentiles, begann (as we shall vnderstand hereafter) to attribute more honour vnto the Martyrs thē in times past, and to solemnize the constancie of their faith and other christian vertues, with the like pompe and solemnity, as the Atheni­ans did, which yeerely assembled about the graues of the Grecians to call there to minde, and to extoll to the Heauens the valour of those which had resisted couragiously the ar­my of Xerxes, and who for the good of their contrey had lost their lives in the battell of Marathon. Neverthelesse, their principall ad­vocate S. Ierom alleadgeth for their excuse, that the ceremonies which they did about the tombes of the Martyrs, was neither superstiti­ous nor contrarie to that onely adoration due to the name of God.Hierone in his dis­pute a­gainst Vi­gilantius. Who is he (saith hee in his dispute against Vigilantius) which hath e­ver worshipped the Martyrs? who ever hath thoguht man to be God? O brainelesse head Paul & Bar­nabas did they not ren [...] their cloths, and said they [Page 17] were even men, when the Lyconians hold them for Iupiter and Mercurius, and would have offered thē sacrifices? So farre is it thē, that the Chistians of his time should bee so debau­ched, as to transferre the worship due vnto God, vnto the ashes of their Martyrs, that contrari-wise he denieth, that they did not once thinke to worship any other creature, which he preferreth before the reliques of Saincts, by this manner of speech follow­ing. We neither serue nor worship, I say not onely the reliques of Saincts, but also the Sonne and Moone, neither Angels nor Archangels, neither Cherubines, nor Seraphins, nor any name which is named, either in this world, or in that which is to come: Least we should rather serue the creature, then God, who is blessed for euer­more. Now we honour the reliques of the Mar­tyrs, to worship him whose Martyrs they are. From whence it appeareth plainely, that the collection and religious seruice which those of the Papacie doe vnto the reliques of such as God hath with-drawne long since out of this world, being not groun­ded vpon any commande of the Lord, nor from the' exsample of any of the true wor­shippers of his diuine Majesty,Col. 2. 23 can neither be acceptable to God, nor available vnto those superstitious men which giue them­selves [Page 18] to this Idolatrie through a volunta­ry devotion, without faith or assurance that God doth approove it in his holy word, which is the light of our faith, the rule of our religion, the measure of all our devotion, the guide of our conversation, & a lawe for all our workes,Rom. 14 23 He. 11. 6 1. Sam. 15. 22. without which all our actions & intentions are but sinne, displeasing to our Souveraigne Lord, who had rather that we should obay, and be at­tentiue to his voice, then to offer sacrifice. Now if there were noe other consideratiō, then this which I haue expressed, it were sufficient enough to make them renounce this errour: but the perversity and obsti­nacie of such, as take for a light their fool­lish imaginations, for a rule their false tra­ditions, for a law their absolute will, for a guide their old customs, and for a paterne the exsample of their predecessors, con­straines me to proceede forward vnto the second point of my discourse, and to proue that the Christians in time past haue lear­ned this superstitious veneration of the re­liques of the departed, in the Gentils scho­le, and since haue followed it, and brought it into the primatiue Church by cer­taine steps and degrees, to the great heart breake of their faithfull teachers, and law­full [Page 19] successours of the sacred and holy A­postles.

I say, that this corruption is entred into the Christian Church by certaine stepps;The se­cōd part. because that heretofore the source and be­gining thereof was but small and simple: whereof Eusebius and some other Histori­ans propounds vs a cleare exsample in the life of Constantine the Emperour: For they all confesse with one accord, that this Em­perour thought good to coūcell the Chri­stiās to immitate many sumptuous ceremonies, which the gentiles vsed in solemniz­ing the funeralls of their ancestours, espe­cially in tansporting the dead corps of il­lustrate personnages, and men of great re­noume in their Contrey, out of base and vnknowne places into Church-yeards, and others that were more publique, to make the memory of the Martyrs & other faith­full servants of God the more comēdable, and the Christiā religiō so much the more pleasing vnto all sorts of men.

But they witnesse in noe place, that hee commanded his Bishops to lock them vp in their Church-Coffers, niether to trans­port them by mamockes into diuerse pla­ces, to represent them vpon feastiuall daies vnto the vulgar sort of people, with an ex­hortation [Page 20] that they should salute and kisse them: but on the contrarie enjoyned his subjects to burie them honorably, and lay them in the Earth. Notwithstand [...]ng the Devill taking hold and making vse of the Carnal wisedome of this Emperour turned it litle by litle into a cēsurable superstition. For since that time many Christians haue suffred them-selues to bee carryed away through there in considerate Zeale from one vanity vnto another, imagining with them-selues, that the bodies of the faith­full deserued more, or asmuch seruice after their departure as the infidels: were not onely contented to remoue them from farr and remote places of their countreies, into there Church-yardes, wherein they ordi­narily assembled in those days to watch & pray, and to doe therein some others rites of religion, because then they had no Chur­ches. And euen thus sought to eternize the memorie of their vertues, by building them Sumptuous tombes, & solemnising, their funeralls with too excessiue praises.

To shew then to euery man, that Sathan the Athenians Law giver and other Idola­ters, instituted this Ceremonie, I wil onely alledg without reciting the testimonies of other Historians, what Plutarke writeth [Page 21] thereof in his discourse vpon the interring of Theseus and Cimon. His wordes are these, that when Cimon by fore of armes had conquered the Ile of Scycros, bee remembred with himself, that the auncient Theseus sonne vnto Ageus, flying from Athens came into that Ileland, where Lycomedes for some bad sus­pition hee had of him, caused him to be slayne by tresaon. Now by all meanes hee laboured to finde out his graue, in regard the Athenians had receaved before an or Oracle or prophesie from Apollo (or to speake more properly from the Deuill,) by which hee commaunded them to bring backe to Athens the bones and ashes of Theseus, & to honour him as a Demy-God: but hee knew not where they had enterred him, because the inhabitants of that Ile kept his graue secret and vnknowen, and would suffer no man to seeke it out: Howbeit; Cimon vsing all expedition to search it out, espied by chance an Aegle, which strook the ground with her beake and talents, in a place some what higher then the rest, whereupō it came into his minde, (as it were by divine inspiration) to cause that place to be digged, where they found the graue of some great corps, and the poynt of a brasen lance with a sworde. In such sorte, that hauing at last found the tombe, he tooke forth Theseus bones, and brought them into the Admirall-Galley [Page 22] somptuously adorned, and transported them pre­sently into his Contrey foure hundred yeeres after Thesius had departed from thence. For this seruice the people receaued him with great ioy and he gott thereby the good will of the Atheni­ans, which receaved theise reliques with great Applause, with somptuous sacrifices, & processi­ons, as if Thesius himself had ben liuing, and had returned back again into the Citie. And his reliques are in the midst of the Towne, yet vnto this day, neere vnto the Parcke where the young mē resort together for the excercising of their bo­dies, & where is freedom both for slaues and all poore a [...]flicted ones.

More-ouer, the Sepulchres which yet vnto this day are called Cimonia testefie that Cimon [...] bones & ashes were brought back againe into Attica. Notwithstanding the inhabitants of the towne of Citium honour still a certaine Tombe which they affirme should be Cimons, because that in the time of a great dearth & famine they had an oracle (that is an answere from the Deuill) which commaunded them to haue a care vnto Cimon, and not to neglect him, but to ho­nour and reverence him as a God, as Nancicra­tes the Orator hath recorded it in writting. The like hee saith also of Demetrius and Phocyon in the storie of their death whereunto for breuitie sake I will send the Reader.

[Page 23] Now al-be it that the Christians & members of the primitiue Church, were borne away with the torrent of this heathenish custome, wherevnto the Emperour Con­stantine had opened the sluces, passing beyond the boundes of Christian puretie & simplicity: yet the honour which they did about the graues & bons of their Martyrs, was in noe wise comparable, nor so super­stitious as that was of the Athenians, and other pagans, nor like to that which at this day is committed amongst the Ido­laters of the Romane Church. For let vs consider what S. Augustine saith thereof in his 8. booke of the cittye of God. Wee nei­ther (saith hee) build Temples, August. 1. 8. ciuitat. Dei. c. 27 nor make priest­hood nor sacrifies, nor any other diuine seruice, as a religion to the Martyrs. For they are not our Gods, but their God is ours. Truth it is, that wee honour their memorie, as the holy men of God. Which haue fought valiantly for the truth euen vnto the death of their bodies, to the end, that true religion might bee knowne & the false convicted. What man is it amonge the faithfull that ever heard a preist say standing be­fore an Altar, built vppon the corps of Some Martyre to the honour and seruice of God, Pe­ter, Paul or Cyprian I offer thee Sacrifice, seing that in memorie of them wee offer vp vnto God [Page 24] who hath made them both men and martyrs, & hath conioyned them through a celestiall glorie vnto his angels, that in the assembly of the people, wee might giue thankes vnto the true God for their victories, and by the remembrance of their crownes & palmes, might exhort others vnto the imitation of their vertues. The funeralls then which the religious solemnize by the monumēts of the Martyrs, are noe other-wise then orna­ments of their memorialls, & noe sacrifices which they doe offer vnto the dead as vnto Gods. These are S. Augustins wordes, by which hee testi­fieth, that notwith-standing the ouverture, which the Christiās of his time made vnto this paganish superstition, in solemnising the Martyrs feastes: yet true pietie & the right invocation of the name of God bore some sway and aucthority amonge them. But if S. August. and his fellow-souldiers, could haue ben able to haue prevented the euils and mischiefs that this superstition drew after her taile, they would then haue redoubled their forces and fell vppon her with all their might, to haue hindred her from winning so many countryes in Chri­stendome.

So then it is my duty to excuse them, considering they opposed thēselfs against her, both by word and writing.

[Page 25] To begin with S. Ambrose, S. Augustin giues him this testimonie,Aug. li. 6. de cōfess. cap. 2. that hee did dis­swade his Mother, and some other of his frendes, from frequenting of those publi­que feasts, which the Christians solemnized yeerely in praise of their Martyrs, & that for sundry reasons, among others, Quia illa quasi parentalia superstitioni Gentilium essent simillima, (that is to say) because that theise funerall banquets, and solemne feasts, held in honour of their neerest kinred, was al­most like vnto the superstition of the Gentils.

As for S. Augustin himself, he plainely cōdemns it in his eight booke of the Citie of God, wherein hee doth not coulour it, but saies that such as brought their victu­alls vnto the sepulchres of the Martyrs, to solemnize there their feastes, were not of the better sort of Christians.

The same authour returning an answere vnto the reproch which the Manicheans made against him, to wit, that those which vaunt themselues so much at the name of Christians, worshipped notwithstanding the Tombes of Martyrs, following therein the exsample of the Heathen, saith (Pick mee not out from among the Christian name; those which neither know, nor follow the vertue of [Page 26] their profession? seeke me not out the troupes of ignorant men which are superstitious, euen in the true religion, and so much giuen ouer vnto their pleasures, that they haue forgotten what they promised vnto God. I know (saith hee) that there are many which adore the monuments & pictures. &c. and among so great a multitude of people it is no wonder. Cease then I pray you at last from slandering the Catholique Church, in blaming the fashion of those, which her self condemneth and hath evermore sought to correct as wicked childeren.

Also hee complaineth in his Epistle hee wrote vnto Ianuarius. That they had over­ladē mens consciences with seruil burdens, and addeth thereunto, that the condition of the Iewes was more tollerable then that of the Christians, because men had made them subject onely to the burdens of the Lawe: but Christians vnto humane pre­sumptiōs, that is, according to the opiniōs taken among them-selues, obstinatly to maintaine them to prejudice the truth. He confesseth likewise therein, that the church of God being plāted amonge much chaffe & daernell tolerated many things which neuer-the-lese her self did niether doc, ap­proue, nor conceale. Also hee plainely sig­nifies in that Epistle, that hee could not [Page 27] allowe of diuerse things which they had instituted in the Church of God, ouer and besides the aunciēt custome of the fathers, of the old Testament, as if it were the ob­servation of a Sacrement, which yet not-with-standing he confesseth, on th'other side, hee durst not so freely reject for avoy­ding the scandall of some persons, wher­of some were holy and others seditious, where vpon hee openeth his minde more clearely by the distinction which hee pro­poundes against Faustus saying, One thing is that which wee support, August. contra Faustus. Lib. 20. cap. 21. another that which wee are commaunded to teach, & another that which wee are commaunded to amend; and constrayned to beare with, vntill wee haue amended it.

If S. Augustin hauing conceaued some hope, sought to cure his auditorie of this contagious maladie, rather by gentlenesse then by seuerity. Not-with-standing called them wicked Children, superstitious euen in the true religion, giuen ouer to their de­lights, forgetfull of that which they had promissed to God, and finally that they were not of the better sort of Christians, would hee not crie out with greater vehe­mencie, against the Idolaters of the Romish Church, who scornefully and obstinately, refuse the fit remedies which should purge [Page 28] them of their bad humours, being laden with so many corruptiōs almost incurable? would he not cry out louder, and tell them that they are not of the better sort of Chri­stians, but of the wickedest? would hee not call them with the Prophet Esaye a sinfull nation:Esa. 1. a people ladē with iniquitie, a seede of the wicked, corrupt childrē: which haue forsaken the Lord, and haue provoked the holy one of Israel to anger?

I could here produce many other testi­monies to the like effect, were not these suf­ficient to conuict all contradictours, and to shewe the ignorant, that S. Augustin & his fellow labourers (which liued foure hun dred yeeres after Christ) perceiued noe soo­ner the bitter fruit of this dāgerous plant, which Sathā the wicked spirit had brought from the Athenian Schole into their chur­ches, but they laboured with all their po­wer to root it vp; & hew downe the braun­ches thereof. From whence necessarely we may inferre, that these Canons of Awcon, which anone wee will refute more perticu­larly, bragg of the antiquity of this tradi­tiō with false brauadoes, since God who is the auncient of dayes, hath never taught it to our Fathers, in the first dayes of his grace, by his auncient Prophets, nor in the [Page 29] beginning of the latter by his Sonne Christ Iesus and his Apostles, nor for some hun­dred yeeres after their time by their true successours: but on the contrarie, raised vp holy and faithfull Doctors to resist & con­tradict it. So that the title of Heretiques which they so vsually giue vs in all occurrē ­ces, may by a good consequence be retur­ned vpon them. And here-upon I entreat the vnpassionate Reader, to censure whe­ther this reproch which S. Tertullian made heretofore vnto their predecessours, who alwaies had antiquety in their mouths and noveltie in their braines, may not justly be appropriated to them.Tertul. in Apog. cap. 6. Where is the reli­gion? where is the reuerence you owe vnto your ancestours? you haue renounced the custome of your Graundsirs in education, in apparell, in sence & in speech it self: You euermore praise anti quity & liue frō daie to daie after nouelty, wherby it is euident, seing that of your selues you forsake the good institutions of your predecessours, you remember & keepe the things which you ought not, and obserue not those which you should.

Now resteth the lait part of our disputation,The dis­couerie of nine seuerall abuses. that this law and custome of going to salute the reliques of the dead, ought to be abolished & banished out of the Christiā church, because of the manie-fold abuses [Page 30] which heretofore haue ben committed, & which they yet committ vnto this daye in Christendome by obseruing them.The first abuse. The first is, It withdraweth the hearts & spirits of men, frō the right waie by which it hath pleased God to draw vs to the knowledge, and enioying the benefits of his son Christ Iesus. For in stead that God commandeth vs to seeke his son in his word and sacra­ments, & in th' assemly of the liuing, which worship him in spirit and truth, amongst whom he is found. It perswadeth vs the contrarie to seeke him among the shrines and reliques of the dead, and in the com­pagny of those which dwell in the dust of the earth,Luc. 24. 5. where hee forbids them by his Angel to seeke him. Againe, instead that the Apostle exhorteth vs to seeke Christ in Heauen where he sitteth at the right hand2 Cor. 5. 7. 16. Col. 3. 1. 2. of God his Father, and learnes vs to know him after the spirit and to assend vp vnto him in the high Places with the feete of our faith, it councels vs the contrarie, to seeke him and knowe him after the flesh, to seeke him now here, and now there, some-times by pilgrimages from one Contrey into an other, and sometimes to descend into the caues of the earth,Mat. 24. 23. 24. to contemplate there the reliques of his bodie, directly against [Page 31] his owne expresse prohibition quoted by S. Mathew in the 24. Chap. of his Gospel.

The second abuse is, that they haue transported the reliques of Saincts into di­verse places, and admonished everie one to resort thether vpon feastiuall daies dedica­ted to their memory, and so they intoxi­cate the simple with this false opinion, that not only the saints but God himself taketh delight in such pilgrimages, and that their prayers made neere to the theise religious reliques, are sooner heard of the Saincts, & of God himself, then when they are made else where, as appeareth by the decree of the Councell of Trent, and the praiers which are forged by the Priests of the Ro­mane Church, according to the tenour thereof.

The decree of the Trent Coūcell is this.The de­cree of the Councell of Trent touching reliques. Mandat sancta Synodus omnibus Episcopis & caeteris docendi munus curamqué sustinentibus, ut iuxta Catholicae & Apostolicae Ecclesiae usum à primaevis Christianae Religionis tempo­ribus receptum, sanctorumqué Patrum consen­sionem & sacrorum Conciliorum decreta de sanctorum inter cessione, invecatione, reliquarum honore & legitimo imaginū usu fidelis diligenter instruant, docentes eos sanctorum Martyrum & aliorum cúm Christo vivētium sancta cor­pora, [Page 32] quae viva membra fuerunt Christi & templa Spiritus sancti, ab ipso ad vitam aeternam suscitanda & glorificanda, á fidelibus veneranda esse, per quae multa beneficia à Deo [...]ominibus praestantur: ita ut affirmantes Sanctorum reli­quijs venerationem atque honorem non debe­ri, vel eas aliaquè sacra monumenta à fidelibus inutiliter honorari, atque cornm opis impetrandae causa, Sanctorum memorias frustra frequentari, omnino damnandos esse, prout jampridem eos dānavit & nūcetiā dānat Ecc. that is, The holy Counsel enioyneth all Bishops & others, to whom the charge and care of teaching is committed, that (according to the vse of the Catholique and Apostolique Church, receiued from the first age of Christian Religion, the consent of holy Fa­thers, and the decrees of sacred Counsels) they diligently instruct the faithfull in the Doctrine of the interecssion and invocation of Saincts, in honouring their reliques, and in the Lawfull vse of images, admonishing them touching the reli­ques, that the holy Boddies of the Martyrs & other Saincts living with Christ, who while they liued in this worlde were his liuely members & temples of the holy Ghost, whome one day hee will raise vp and glorifie vnto eternall life, ought to be reuerenced by the faithfull, because GOD bestowes many benefits one men through those reliques. So that those which maintaine that [Page 33] their reliques are neither to be reuerenced, nor ho­noured, & that the faithfull reverence them, and other holy memorials to noe end. More-ouer that they in vaine frequent the places, wherein such reliques are, to obtaine succour from the Saincts, ought expresly to be comdemned, as for a longe time the Church hath condemned them, and condemns them yet vnto this present.

The first prayer consormable to this de­cree made by their Presbiters is this.

That is to say,

[Page 34]The second is.

That is to say.

The third is,

That is to say.

I maintaine that this opinion is false, that God heareth soner our Prayers neere vnto the reliques of the dead, then else where; because it is grounded on princi­ples directly contrarie to the infallible in­structions of holy Scripture, where of the first is. That Christians are permitted to in­vocate the departed Saincts, and to honour religiously their reliques. The second, that the deceased Saincts know whatsoeuer is done vnder the Sunne, and consequently vnderstand the Prayers of those which crie vnto them in this world. The third, that the Saincts after their departure, should re­gard the seruice of such as salute, kisse, and honour their reliques, by way of religion. Fourthly, that God hath instituted the pil­grimages which they obserue in the Ro­mane Church, and had rather be worship­ped in a place, wherein there is some reli­ques, or memorials of the Saints, thē where there is none.

Now inregard they haue not long agoe [Page 36] reimprinted at Sedan my refutation against the invocation of Saincts, by which I haue represented vnto the reader the falshoode of the three first principles, I will send the Reader vnto it. But for the latter, I will set downe before him, that which S. Gregorie Nyssene iudgeth thereof in his Epistle a­gainst the pilgrims, that went to Ierusalem, to see the sepulchre of Christ, and the most remarkeable memoriall of our Redeemer.

When the Lord (saith Gregorie Nyssene)Gregorie Nyssene. calleth the blessed into the inheritance of the king­dome of Heaven, he places not amonge the num­ber of their workes which brings them thither, the pilgrimage vnto Ierusalem, neither maketh hee anie mention of such a worke, amonge the number of the Blessed. And why should men employ their time then, in doing that which nei­ther makes them happie, nor is available vnto the Kingdome of Heauen? Wherein cann that man advantage himself, which should come into those parts, as if more abundance of the holy Ghost were there, and that his grace were more ample in that place? If Grace were more aboun­ding in Ierusalem, then sinne would not bee so rife amonge those that inhabit there: but at this present, there is noe manner of wickednesse which is left vncommitted amonge them. Let our exsample offend noe man, but let rather our per­swasion [Page 37] finde beliefe, seing wee diswade them from that which wee haue seene with our eyes. As for vs, before and after wee came thither, wee al­waies confessed that Christ is true God, and our faith was neither impaired, nor engmented therby. This good I haue gathered by it, that by the con­ference I haue had therof, I must alwaies acknowledge, that there is more sanctitie in vs, which dwell fardest from it. You then which feare God, praise him at home in the places were you make your abode, for the alteration of the place makes not God to come the neerer vnto you: But wheresoeuer thou shall be, he wil come vnto the, if he finds the Lodging of thy soule readie to enter­taine him. But if the inward man bee la­den with wicked thoughts, thou shalt not re­ceiue Christ, though thou wert in Golgotha, in mount olivers, or in the tombe of his resurrection. Perswade the Bretheren then, that they goe on pilgrimage out of their Bodies vnto the Lord, & not out of Cappadocia into Palestina. If that which was done there in the beginning did last still, the holy Ghost dispensing his gifts in the like­nesse of fire, then would it behooue vs all to be pre­sent there, where he maketh such distribution to all: But if the Spirit bloweth where it pleaseth him, those which haue beleeved there, are made partakers of his diuine gift, according to the proportion of their faith, and not according [Page 38] to their pilgrimage vnto Ierusalem.

I could here likewise coppie out S. Chri­sost. admonition,Chrys. ad Philem. hom. 1. that to obtaine pardon for his sinnes, he needed not to make any long iourneis into farre Countries, neither to spend his mony.August. serm. 3. de [...]art. Also that of S. Aug. that God commaunds vs not to goe into the East, nor to saile into the West to seek out righteousnesse: likewise that of S. Ber­nards, Bernard. serm. 1. de advēt. that to finde the Lord it behooues vs not to passe the Seas, and Alpes, but that euerie man should goe vnto God within himself: & many other instructions of the true Doctours & Fathers of the primitiue Church, conformable to those of Christ & his Apostle S. Paul, that God wil bee wor­shipped by vs in al places, in Spirit & truth; if I feared not to abuse the Readers patiēce, and knew moreouer, that our adversaires makes no account of the Doctrine of the Orthodoxe Fathers, whēsoeuer it refelleth their inventions, & is repugnant vnto the authority of their Pope, whome they pre­ferre, as wee can proue by their writtings, before a thousand Chrysostomes, Augustins, Bernards, and Gregories.

The third abuse is, that through the visi­ting of these reliques, the hearts of super­stitious men are moued, to transferre that [Page 39] worship which is due onely vnto the liuing and incorruptible God, to dead & corrup­tible things. For as in the time of S. Ierom S. Christostom, & S. Augustin, the Christiās were adicted vnto this ceremonie, of going to visite the sepulchres and monuments of the Martyrs, and other holy men, and to solemnize yeerely certaine solemne feastes in memorie of them. So ever since, their foolish Imitatours, haue buylt Temples & Altars in honor of their reliques, lighted vp Candles about them, and haue craued succour and help by their praiers, not one­ly of God himself and his saincts, but also from these dead an insensible things, which neuer had any communion with humane life, neither could in any wise vnderstand them, nor neuer shalbe capable of hauing participation in the knowledg of our God, and of that eternall life, which he hath promised vnto his children.

For confirmatiō whereof, I wil not here speake of the Monkes, which in time past worshipped the arme of S. Maurus, nor of some other Idolaters which praied to the bones of their Saincts; nor of those which adore our Sauiours crosse vnto this day, onely for the present, I will but re [...]ite the praier, which the Monkes of the Abbey of [Page 40] Fons make ordinarily vnto the table-cloth vpon which, & according to their traditi­on, they saie our Sauiour and Lord Iesus Christ hath celebrated the holy Sacrament with his disciples. And those which the Monkes of Cahors sing vsually going in procession, in honour of his kerchiefe, and to the great dishonor of the person of our blessed Sauiour, and onely mediator Iesus Christ.

The Monkes of Fons, esteeming more of an olde and false table-cloth, then of our Lord Iesus Christ, the authour of truth and niewnesse of life, call vpon it for aide in this manner, Sanctissima Dei mappa ora pro nobis, O most holy table-cloth of God pray for vs.

The Monkes of Cahors addressing thē ­selves rather vnto the Napkin or kerchief, which our Redeemer left behinde him to rot in his sepulchre, thē vnto this high Priest who shortly after his resurrection was takē vp by his Father into Heavē, to make there continuall intercession for vs, cryes vnto it singing in this manner Sancte Sudari ora pro nobis that is, O holy handkerchiefe pray for vs. againe, Sudarium Christi liberet nos a peste & morte tristi. that is, O kerchiefe of Christ deli­ver vs from plague and a heavie death. More­over, they cr [...]ue that for his kerchiefes sake [Page 41] representing the face of Christ by picture, it would please him to let them behold his face aboue in Heauen.

That is to say.

O Lord how long wilt thou endure this idolatrie?Ier. 4. 13. ô poore Superstitious men, how long will yee continue on, in seeking our Lord Iesus Christ, who is all in all of vs, in things that are nothing worth?

The fourth abuse consisteth,THE fourth abuse. in the ado­ration of false reliques, so artifcially coun­terfeited and invented by the one, as foo­lishly beleeved and receiued by the other. [Page 42] The cause why S. Augustine complaineth in his treatise,Augus. de Labore Mon. c. 28. touching the travelling Monkes, that Sathan had dispersed throw­out Christendome, many Hypocrites vn­der the habit of vagabond Monkes, strag­gling vp & downe through countries not sent, neuer still, nor never setled, whereof some of them made Marchandise of the members of the Martyrs, which made him to doubt & suspect, that they were not the right members of the Martyrs.

To this purpose Socrates reporteth in the 14. Chap. and 7. booke of his Historie,Socrates l. 7. c. 14. that the Christians for some time honou­red through ignorance, the dead carkiese of a seditious Monke called Ammomus, thinking it had bene the body of some ho­ly Martyr.

Also, Erasmus of Rotterdam reporteth in his Conferences, Eras. coll. de pilgri. that two Pilgrims arriving at Canterburie, the one of them was so amazed, at the impudencie and deceit of those, which presented before them al sorts of reliques to be worshipped, and amonge the rest an Arme bleeding with the flesh vpō it, that they seemed thereat to be horribly affrighted, & flying back would not kisse it.

Gregorie surnamed Turonensis, and diverse other Historians affirme,Gregory Turonensis. that in the shrine [Page 43] of a departed Sainct, they found the roots of sundry plantes, the teeth of Moses, the bones of Mice, and the feete of foxes, in stead of the true reliques of his bodie.

It is most manifest, that presently after the reformatiō of the Churches in France, Helvetia, Germanie, and some other ad­joyning places, they founde in the shrines & chestes of the papall reliques, the bones of diverse Beasts, pieces of brickes, spriggs of trees, cordes, and manie other trifles, & small trash, which these superstitious men had worshipped, during the night of their ignorance, & the thicke darknesse of their idolatries.

Calvin noteth in his admonitiō against the reliques of the Romish Church,Calvin. that they found at Geneve the taile of a Hart, which these Superstitious people had often times kissed, imagining that it had ben S. Anthonies Arme: and a pumeise stone saluted by these Doltes besotted with this opinion, that it was S. Peters braines.

Theodorus Besa proueth by the testimo­nie of more then fiftie eye-witnesses,Theodo­rus Bela. in his Apologie against the calumnies of a certaine Apostate, by name Francis Baul­dwin, that at Bourges they found a wheele turning about vpon a staff adorned [Page 44] with this laciuious and magicall verse writ­ten vpon a scrole of parchment.

That is to say,

And at Tours a Card which gamesters call the knaue of Dyamants, with a baw­die and villennous song written vppon it by some whoremonger, & put into a silver Arme. And after that a silver crosse besett with many precious perles, and with an Agath, wherevpon was engravē the picture of Venus bewailing the death of Adonis her Louer lying by her, which the vulgar sort [Page 45] of people adored vpō the day of the death and passion of our Lord Iesus Christ.

Rodulphus Hospaniā attesteth likewise,Rodol­phus Ho­spinian. in his recitall of the originall of Reliques, that in the shrines & treasuries of the Cat­holique Church at Zurich, they foūd some of the ribs of a Cat, or some such like crea­ture with a cord twelue ells long, which be­fore the reformation of the said Church, was worshipped by the blinde people there perswaded there-vnto by the guilfull glo­ses of their pastours, that they were the re­liques of Felix, and of some other holy Martyr.

Although these Testimonies are wor­thy of beliefe, and approved by every man without contradiction: yet I assure my­self, that our adversaries will take a small occasion, at the very name of these Au­thours, to quarrell at the Title of their bookes, & to call them in question and re­ject them.

I feare I shall not get much more, by in­serting here the wordes of George Cassander one of their chiefest writers,Cassan­der. whereby he admonisheth the Emperours Ferdinand and Maximilian, that this abuse began to thrust vp her head litle by litle through the often visiting of the monuments of the re­nownedst [Page 46] Martyrs, that in S. Augustins and S. Ambroses time, the custome of bringing victualls in memorie of the martyrs, was forbidden by S. Ambrose himself: that in the ages ensuing, they haue attributed too much honour vnto the memorie of the Saincts, that some men of noe note, had perswaded the simple, to place a false confi­dence in a superfluous & fond seruice, and had added many other euils vnto it, to wit, that the priestes & monkes coveteous of dishonest gaine, haue counterfeited reli­ques, & preached false miracles, to nourish superstition in the hearts of men, and drew them, rather vnto the admiration of their miracles, then vnto the imitation of the Saincts. Finally, that the Devill making vse of the superstition of these men, reuea­led euery day new reliques, when he saw that the Bishops of the Romish church, were so earnestly giuen to enquire foorth the inventers and promoters of those reliques, and they should finde therein (as he saith) abuses, & deceits, as great and as abhomi­nable, as that was which S. Martyn dis­couvered, who passing by the sepulchre & reliquaire of a Martyr greatly renowned in his Countrey, & having vnderstood (after hee was throughly and seriously informed [Page 47] thereof) that it was the tombe of a Mur­derer, caused it to be demolished, and cast downe, that noe more mention might bee made thereof, nor that they might vse it any more after that superstitious manner. I say, I shall not get much more, by repeating Cassanders wordes vpon this matter, be­cause the Iesuites who dommineere at this present in the Romaine Church, approue not all what this Catholique Doctour hath writ, but according to the authority which was giuen them by the Council of Trent, commaunds al Readers to cancel & deface the best sentēces in his writtings, extracted from the holy Scripture, and from the true fathers and successours of the Apostles. As for example, they commaund in their in­dex which they tearme purgatiue, printed at Antwerp by Chrystopher Plantine Anno. 1521. to purge his writtings of that, which hee teacheth in thē, of the true & naturall signification of the word Merit, and of the ancient custome of the Fathers & Aposto­lique Doctors, concerning the administra­tion of the holy Sacrament of the Lordes supper, vnder the two signes of bread and wine, vsed for more then a thousand yeeres after the comming of Christ. Likewise they cōdemne therein his booke intituled Pre­ces [Page 48] ecclesiasticae, that is ecclesiasticall Prayers; and his exhortation touching the extenua­tion of the invocation of Saincts, and al his Disputations vpon their merits. Now if these Physitions make noe conscience, to prescribe vnto Christians, that they should apply their expurgatorie index vnto Cassander books, to draw from them the pure blood and vitall sappe, & leaue nothing in them but the corrupt and badd humours: haue not I then just occasion to suspect the like answere vpon the allegation of his testimo­nie, and that they will say Cassander passed the limits of their rules and traditions in his discourse abouesaid, & so consequent­ly they ought to cutt of what-soever they judge therein vicious and superfluous? Not-with-standing, there is the bodye of a whole Council, called the Council of the auncient Bishops, which their cheifest Do­ctours hold for perfectly found, and can in no manner bee stayned with any corrup­tion, and wherein they can finde nothing that is worthie of purging and correcting, whereby wee can shew them, that manie ages agoe, the reliques of Saints haue bē su­spected by their predecessours, assembled in the ancient Councils.

Wee reade then in the 14. Canon of the [Page 49] 5. Council of Carthage, that Aurelius Bishop of the Carthagian Church, accompanied with two and seventy Byshops of the neigh­bouring Churches, reprooved therein cer­taine reliques, counterfeited by some falsi­fiers, & priuily brought into the primitive Church, for loe, the Contents of the Canon rune thus.

That is to say.

By these wordes it appeareth then, that wee are not the first which haue warned the superstitious, first, that the simplicity of their ancestours, and their naturall inclina­tion in giving eare vnto the dreames and lies of all sort of Doters, hath opened the way vnto many false reliques. Secondly, that their foolish devotion made them lay them vnder, and afterward neere vnto Al­tars. Thirdly, that their obstinacie hath [Page 51] by all force, with-held the good Bishops from purging the Churches of them, men­tioned in the Canon already cited.

More-over, we could here copie out the decrees of some other Counsells, especially that of Lions, whereby their Pries [...]s in for­mer times haue ben advertised of this a­buse, and exhorted to seeke remedy for it. We could also produce many sentences of the Fathers, conformable to them: But in doing it, we should offend the Romanists, who beleeue that Counsells cannot erre, to alledge thē for a proofe vnto the said Can­non, approoued long agoe by their prede­cessours, and which they holde still for au­thentique.

The fift abuse testifies,THE fifth abuse. that one supersti­tion hath drawne many others after her. For as the Prelats of the Romane Church make noe conscience to allure the silly peo­ple vnto the adoration of their reliques: So to induce them the more, to put their con­fidence therein, they promisse indulgences and pardons, to such as will kisse them, & permits their Idolaters to carrie them vpon their neckes, & to sweare by them, tramp­ling vnderfoot by this meanes, the second and third commaundement of the diuine Lawe, and maliciously contradicting the [Page 52] Doctrine of the auncient Prophets & Apo­stles, who teach vs all with one common accord, that no man ought not to vnder­prop his faith vpon any other, then vppon God himself, nor to sweare by any other, then by him, nor to seeke the remission of his sinnes in any other, then in our onely Saviour Iesus Christ. Therefore, these Sa­crilegious persons, wilbe so much the more inexcusable before God, at the day of judg­ment, because they are not ignorant, that God threatens with a Curse, by his Pro­phet Ieremiah the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arme. Ier. 17. 5. For if the Lord, which in his word permitteth vs, to craue the assistance of living mē, as those whome hee hath ordained dispensators of his bles­sings, to relieue vs in our necessities, con­demneth not-with-standing those which assure themselues of the help which they expect from mortal men, hath he not farre greater reasō to curse those Idolaters, which put their confidence in the bones and gar­ments of the dead,Deut. 18. 11. to whom hee forbids vs to goe to enquire, or to haue any recourse vnto them, to aske their Counsell or help in our distresses?

Also, they haue read for the most part, that the marke whereby God discerneth [Page 53] the way of his people from strangers, who are not yet cōverted vnto him, is, according as the same Prophet Ieremiah propounds it, that the people of God sweare by his name, to wit,Ier. 12. 16. The Lord liveth: but the idolatrous people which haue noe communior. with him, sweare by Baal.

Beside, they are not ignorant that the Apostle. S. Paul (according to the transla­tion of the two & seauentie interpretours) translateth in his Epistle the word swearing which the Prophet Isaiah vseth in the 45. Chapter of his prophesie, for a Confession, from which exposition of the Apostles, euerie man of a sounde judgment may dis­cerne by a necessary consequence, that as the Apostle, calleth the swearing, made by the name of God, a confession, and an ac­knowledgment of his divine Maiestie, and of the Souveraine authority he hath ouer all his Creatures: So on the contrary, wee may tearme a deniall, and abiuration from his name, euery oath which is sworne in the name of the departed Saincts, or of their reliques.

But this is not all. For euen by their owne consciences they are convicted. First, by that testimonie which S. Peter giues vs, in the booke of the Actes of the Apostles, [Page 54] that there is noe saluation in any other thē in Christ,Act. 4. 12. neither is there any other name vnder Heaven giuen vnto men, whereby wee must bee saued. Secondly, by that of S. Pauls in his Epistle to the Hebrewes, that by the onely Sacrifice of Christ,Heb. 9. 12. wee haue full deliverance, & remission of our sinnes. Thirdly,Iam. 4. 12 by that of S. Iames in the fourth Chapter of his Epistle, that there is but one Law giuer, (to wit God) which is able to saue, and to destroy. Who can then excuse the malice and impietie of these Doctours, which with holding the trueth in vnrighte­ousnesse, attribute to their Pope this diuine aucthority, of forgiving and binding the sinnes of men, according to his Law and will, & to the rotten reliques of dead bod­dies, the incommunicable power, onely proper to Christ, who is able perfectly to saue them, that come vnto God by him, seeing he euer-liveth, to make intercession for them? And how is it possible, that God should bee so gentle and full of long suf­france, as to endure these sacriledges so longe?

The sixt abuse is, that the Monkes and Priests of the papacy, more zealous in kee­ping a good fire in their kitchin, then the ashes of the Martyrs and other deceased [Page 55] Saincts to make their reliques the more to be respected, haue attributed to them the power of doing many miracles, after the manner and imitation of the Sorcerers, & false Prophets of the Heathen. For, as S. Augustine reporteth in the one and twen­tith, and two and twentith booke of the citie of God, that the Heathenish Sorcerers, maintained heretofore night & day (throw a diabolicall slight, admirable to the eyes of the ignorant) the light of Venus lampe, & bragged because they had the reliques of Hercules, Romulus, and Bacchus, which had done some miracles in the temples dedi­cated to their memory: so before that the auncient pagans, went oftentimes on pil­grimage out of Egypt (witnesse Epiphanus) vnto the Prophet Ieremias sepulchre, because their Diviners made them beleeue, that their Gods had revealed, that the bones of this Prophet could preserue them from the stinging of Aspes, and Crocodils. And that Ptolomeus their king, was perswaded to haue the corps of Alexander the great trans­ported into Aegypt, through the predicti­on of Aristander, who tould them, that the Countrey wherein the body of king Alex­ander rested, should abounde in all riches, and should bee preserved from the oppres­sion [Page 56] of their ennemies, as Aelian gives vs to vnderstand in the 12. booke of his sun­dry Histories.

If the Priestes of the Romane Church vsed but this in comon with the abouesaid Sorcerers and sooth sayers, that manie mi­racles haue bene done, by touching and worshipping the reliques of some great personnages, renowned in their Coun­treys: then they would not be so much of­fended with vs; because wee make noe rec­koning of them. But they proceede fur­ther: for some of their Sorcerers haue also done miracles & cured many diseases with the braines of a Cat, the head of a Raven, & such like reliques of dead beastes, as Bodin proueth in his third booke of Sorcerers, by the testimonie of Idocus Damhouder of Bruges, and other credible Historians. So that there is noe more likelihood of truth, in the one sort of miracles, thē in the other, seeing that the former haue ben done with asmuch shewe of devotion towards the de­parted Saincts, and their reliques, as those which at this present are so much esteemed in the papacy. For Bodin reporteth in the same booke, and second Chapter, how a Sorceresse of Bruges cured an infinit num­ber of diseases, and that shee tould such as [Page 57] came vnto her, that they must steadfastly beleeue, that she had the power to help them of their sicknesses. Afterward, shee com­maunded them to fast, and then to repeate ouer certaine times a Pater-noster, or that they should goe on pilgrimage to S. Iames or to S. Arnoult.

What an impudencie is it then, in these Boasters of reliques, to bragg and vaunt themselues, at there miracles, wherein often times hath bene discouuered many deceits and illusions. For behold how S. Augustin answered the miraclers of his time, especi­ally the disciples of Donat,August. l, de Vnit. Eccl. cap. 16. Let not the Dona­tist (saith hee) tell mee that this or that is true, because that Donat, Pontius, or some other, hath done such and such like miracles, or because some men, which pray vnto the memory of our dead, are heard, or because that vpon it, there comes to passe such and such like things, or that this our sister hath seene waking such a vission, or dreaming hath dreamed such a dreame. Away with all these fictions of lying men, or shewers of guilfull Spirits. For either that which they say is false, or if the Heretiques doe some wonders, so much the more ought we to take heede of thē, be­cause the Lord after he had said, that there should come many deceivers, which in shewing great signes and wonders, should deceiue the Elect, If [Page 58] it were possible, addeth therevnto worthy of great commandations, Behold, I haue tould you be­fore.

It were an endlesse labour then, to vtter all the falacy and guiles, whereby they de­ceiue the people, yea, which their owne Do­ctours haue found out & amonge others, that which Nicolas Lyra, heretofore percei­ved in the miracles, which the Priests of his age feigned (as this writter speaketh) for temporall gaine.

Now these jugling trickes of the mini­sters of Antichrist, are so much the more detestable; in regard they attribute not one­ly the power of doing miracles to the reli­ques of Christ, of the virgin Mary, of the Apostles, of the holy Martyrs, and other excellent personnages, renowned for their good life & purenesse in doctrine, but also to the reliques of the greatest deceivers of the world.

To begin then with the reliques of S. Francis, (who for his impiety was condem­ned by Pope Iohn the 22. as a pervertour of the Christian religion,) it is written in the booke of Conformities, that a woman trou­bled with the bloody flix for the space of thirteene yeeres, was cured thereof by tou­ching the hemme of his gowne, and that a [Page 59] blinde man recouvered his sight by tou­ching of his hoode.

S. Gregory also rehearseth in the first booke of his Dialogues, & second Chapter, That a provost of the monasterie of Funda in Italie called Libertinus, having drawne on a stocking of the Abbot S. Honorats, mett a woeman that went to burie her Sonne, who importuned him with many prayers to raise him from the dead, & this good prouost graunting her her request, laid the stocking ouer her said son, and put life into him againe through the vertue thereof.

He likewise reporteth in the third booke of his Dialogues, that in the time of a drought, the Citizens of Spoleta made great store of raine to fall vpon their Soile, by lif­ting vp towards heauen the gowne of S. Eutychus.

Wee knowe also that some woemē with Child, following the Counsell of their Monkes, haue kissed S. Ioostlings breeches in Flaunders, others lifted vp S. Arnoults—, others haue stradled ouer S. Guerchilous image, hoping by this meanes to bee the more safely deliuered of their children.

Wee are not ignorant likewise, that many Idiots of the Romane Church, be­leeue, [Page 60] that there is in the citie of Orleans some residue of the marriage wine, of Cana in Galile, which never diminisheth although they drinke oftentimes thereof. And in our Ladies Church at Rome, and at S. Salvader in Spaine, some of the morcells of those Loaues, wherewith Christ fed fiue thou­sand persons in the wildernesse, which neuer lesseneth, although they oftentimes eate their bellies full thereof.

Moreouer they beleeue, that the Pre­lates of Rome haue in some of their Chur­ches, diverse reliques of a wonderfull force and vertue, as at S. Iohn Latrans, the wast­coate of the Apostle S. Iohn, which being heretofore laid ouer three dead bodies, made them to rise vp a liue in the field.

At S. Pauls, that crucifix which spake vnto S. Brigit, Queene of Sweethland, whē shee came to pray in that place.

At S. Iohn del' Isle, that image of the vir­gin Maries, which at the overflowing of the Tiber, could not be spoiled, nor her lampe put out with the water.

At S. Francis the bodie of S. Lodovica, a a Romaine lady, which doth many mira­cles.

At S. Maries Trāspontina a cruci [...]ix, which spake heretofore to S. Peter & S. Paul.

[Page 61] To S. Mary en voy large, a small picture of the virgin Maries, which hath wrought many miracles.

At S. Maries laneufve, an other small picture of the virgin Maries, which was mi­raculously preserved in the midst of a great fire, which burned the other ornaments of this Church.

At S. Augustins, an image of the virgin Maries, painted by S. Luke, which did also many miracles in the time of pope Innocent the eight.

At S. Martins, a gowne which the virgin Mary made for her sonne Christ Iesus in his minority, which miraculously groweth to the same stature as himself grew.

In S. Pontials Church-yeard an host con­secrated by a Priest, singing masse in the Chappel, which because he doubted, whe­ther it was the body of Christ, sprung out of his hand in a wonderfull manner; and falling vppon the ground made a marke of blood which is to be seene within a litle grate of iron yet vnto this day. A jest not vnlike to that of the Iesuits, and advocats of that horrible conspiracie of Garnet, and of his complices, against the Crowne of the King of great Britanie, who were so im­pudent (as this wise King accuseth them, [Page 62] thereof, in the preface of his Apologie dedicated to the Emperour, & all other Princes in Christendō) that thy were not ashamed to say and write, that after the execution of that Traitor, quartered with his cōfederats in London, a woman found a straw tinctu­red with a dropp of bloode which sprunge from the body of of this traitour, and was miraculously metamorphosed into the resemblance of his head chopt off, with a crowne set vpon it. But as this deceit was soone after discouvered, and manifested to the world, aswell by the penn of this King and Solomon of our age, as by the art of his painters, who according to his Maiesties desire, drew a picture vpon a straw and a drop of blood taken from some other body like vnto the same in all things: So, I beseech God, that it will please him by this exsam­ple and advertisment, to awaken all other Christian Kings, to sift out and examine more deligentlie then they haue done in times past, the other jugling trickes of the forgers of reliques, and lying wonders.

This is that (Gentle Reader,) which our Iosiah my dread Souverain (vpon whose sacred person, the Lord hath experimented his preservations from their damnable treasons: because he dwelleth in the secret of the most hie,Psal. 91. and shall abide in the [Page 63] shadow of the Almighty; he will cover thee vn­der his wings, & thou shalt be sure vnder his fea­thers: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and tenn thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come neere thee,) toucheth in his premonition as in a passage, having reference to that straw, which the fathers the Iesuites would haue fathered vpō Gar­net their auricular-traitour, but as my Authour saith, his Maiesty ingeniously found out as cun­ning a Parrahsius in his great Ile of Britanie, as a Zeuxes in Italie.

At S. Maries de la consolation an image of the virgin Maries, which hath done many miracles.

In S. Vitus Church an oyle drawne from the reliques of that Sainct, which being mixed with them, healeth the byting of madd doggs.

At S. Sabinaes a huge blacke stone, chai­ned to the great Altar, which the Divel threw at S. Dominicus to overwhelme him while he prayed in that place: but it chaunced, that this stone burst miraculously, & that S. Dominicus was not hurt there­with.

At S. Iulians a water distilled with the re­liques of S. Iulian whi [...]h helpeth al manner of-fevers and diseases.

In the same Church an Image of the vir­gin [Page 64] Maries, brought from the citie of E­dessa, which vpon a day, seing the holy man S. Alexis comming towards her, after his wonted manner to say his prayers, and hearing him knock at one of the Church-doores spake twise together vnto the Sex­ten, Open, and let in that holy man of God S. Alexis, for he hath merited Heaven.

In S. B [...]bians Church-yeard an herbe which shee herself planted, thar cureth the falling sicknesse.

At S. Anastases a pillar wherevpon they cut of S. Pauls head, which being falne from his body, gaue three jumpes, and at euery jump sprang forth three fountains a mira­culous-lie, which (if you will beleeue it) are to be seene there yet vnto this day.

At S. Maries de la voy, an Image of the virgin Maries, which hath done diuerse miracles.

By the Church of the Abbey of Save, a fountaine, which cureth many diseases, but especially the bloody flix.

Also they approue the fallacy of the pa­risian Priests, who say, that the Crucifix, which they keepe in S. Denis Church, spake in time past to testifie that this Church was dedicated vnto him: and other Deceiuers which maintaine that their Crucifixes haue [Page 65] wept heretofore, and that they still haue of their teares.

They approue also that palpable jest of their Doctours, that the speare of Pilates souldier called Lonchè, was trāsformed into a blinde man, which they call Longin, and that being advanced from a souldier to a Captaine, recouvered his sight after he had washed his eyes with the water and blood, which issued foorth of Christs side, which himself had wounded, and through this miracle, was mooued to make profession of the Christian religion, & to seale it with his owne martyredome.

But who is able to reckon vp all the false miracles, which the Quacksalvers of the Romane Church, attribute to the gownes, dubblets, hose, jackets, shirts, smocks, gird­les, and other ragges of the departed? And who dares make any questiō of it, but that the Pope, who at this present liveth in Rome, & maketh himself to be worshipped as a God,2 Thes. 2 hath receiued this power of doing signes and lying wonders, seeing it is found in the reliques of the dead, and espe­cially in theirs, who while they liued in this world, would not suffer none to worship thē,Act. 10. 25. 26. but acknowledged themselues alwaies to be but dust & putrefaction? Who would [Page 66] not wonder at their Priests, which no soner swallow downe their litle God, which to their thinking is the very bodie of Christ, but presently after it they doe some new signe or wonder to solace and [...]ase those which daily frequent them, seeing those which at some times doe onely behold but his garments, which is of a farre lesser price thē his body: & also diverse others, which salute his Mothers image, or touch the hoode of some Monke, or the gowne of some departed Nune, receiue some ease for their grevances.

The seauēth abuse is worthier of laugh­ing then of refuting.The 7. abuse. For these Gypsians rancks in the nomber of their reliques one of the feathers of Gabriel the Archangel, as though hee had appeared to the virgin Mary in the likenesse of foule. An ano­ther of the H. Ghosts, as if the holy Ghost descending vpon Christ in the likenes of a doue, had let falne one of his feathers in Iorden, to be taken vp, and to be enclossed into a reliquarie in memorie of his ligh­ting vpon our Saviour, & of his apparition to S. Iohn Baptist.

They also put amonge the pieces of their reliques, things invisible and imposi­ble to be showne, as the sounde of the bells [Page 67] in the Temple of Ierusalem, the puffing of Ioseph when he cloue woode, which they keepe al Court-cheverni.

They giue likewise to the Angels and in­visible Spirits, corporall and visible armes. As for example, they glory at Carcassonnae & at S. Iulian de Tours for having S. Michels buckler and poinyard.

Also they shew with them the taile of that asse that carryed out Lord Iesus Christ into Ierusalem when he made his royall en­trie therein: The feathers of the chickins pro [...]reated by the Cock which crew when S. Peter denied his master: and a morcell of the broiled fish which S. P [...]ter presented to Christ after his resurrection, whē he appea­red vnto them by the Zea side, which hath lasted ever since without rotting, and cann be better preserued from corruption, then Christs flesh, which notwithstanding the Consecration of the host, which s [...]rueth him as a couver [...]ed, spoileth if the priest keepe it too longe in his boxe.

Beside all this, they shewe at Rome the impression of Christs feete, which is to be seene in S. Laurences Church, where our Sa­viour meeting with S. Peter after his ascen­tion, tould him that hee should suffer at Rome.

[Page 68] And who would not mocke at these & such like reliques of these cōnicatchers, whē they themselues mock at one another, and take delight in deceiuing each other, and sporting some crafty devise or another vp­pon the poore ignorant people, which attend and waite with great devotion for the representation and sight of them? Whereof we finde sundry examples in our moderne Histories, of which I will onely, alledge two, which are so abhominable that noe man that feareth God and is pure in heart, cann consider them, without dis­daine and horrour.

So then, Martinus Chemnicius repor­teth in his treatise of reliques, made against the decree of the Counsell of Trent, tou­ching the veneration of them, That a cer­taine Orator & porter of the popes bulls, vaunted vpon a day, that amonge other of his reliques, hee had some of the feathers of the holy Ghost, now a chiefe companiō of his consort, over hearing him, picked cuningly his boxe and taking away his fea­thers, laid coales into it in stead of thē. On the morrow this Oratour was to make a longe Sermon and discourse vpon the fea­thers of the holy Ghost, and seing the peo­ple falne downe vpon their mariebones to [Page 69] behold & worship them, opening his boxe to pull foorth his feathers, found coales in it, whereat he neither blushed nor was put out of countenance, but presently chaun­ging his discourse, was so expect in his art of lying, that he tould them he had mista­ken his boxe, & that those were the coales taken vp from vnder the gridyron, where­vpon S. Laurence had bene carbinadood.

Another Germaine Divine named Iaco­bus Herbrandus, auoucheth in his disputati­on de Sceloatriae, that a certaine priest of Ro­tenborough neare vnto Nicre, called Pfaff Isele, hauing bene at Rome and created the popes Indulgentiar, returned from thence into his Countrey furnished with diverse reliques, amonge others one of the winges of Michael the Archangel: Now to make it the more beneficiall vnto him, he extol­led the vertues thereof in all his Sermons. But vpon a Sunday, being loged in an Inn, within the village of Altingue, and being overcome with wine, he kept not his boxe of reliques so carefully as hee had done before. So that through this mischance, his reliques were stolne: On the morrow being got vp, & perceiving the theft, spake not a worde thereof to his Hostis, because hee suspected that shee knew it: but went [Page 70] and fott a handfull of haye out of the next cratch in the stable, & laying it in his boxe, called his Hostis and tould her. See, here are my reliques, whereat she begann to laugh, notwithstanding hee tould her, that when shee came to church, to bee an assistant in the holy service, shee should also kisse those reliques, shee replyed vpon it shee would not, but hee wagered that shee should. Af­ter this coming to Church, this priest be­gann to preach of the admirable vertues of his reliques, and to declare vnto the peo­ple, that he had a handfull of the hay of the stable in Bethelem, wherevpon our Redee­mer Iesus Christ had oftentimes slept, whē hee was a babe, which had the power to preserue from the plague (wherewith Ger­manie was then infected) all those which did but kisse it, and to driue away all Adul­terers and Adulteresses which came neere vnto it: Now his Hostis that knewe full well the deceit of this shamelesse Priest, see­king on the side to spare her monie, and fearing on the other side to lose wholly her good name, because her chastitie was cal­led into question before, choose rather at last after longe deliberation, to cast away her money, then to bring her reputation into a furder danger, so that shee was the [Page 71] very last that came to kisse the reliques of her owne stable, and the priest tould her in her eare, What, art thou come too?

The same Doctour annexeth vnto this storie, that many Germanies having heard say of the vertue of his reliques, ranne in al hast vnto this Priest to kisse them, but for all that, they were not preserued from the plague, but miserable a [...]icted therewith.

Beside, that Duke Everhard being ad­vertised of the cossenning trickes of this Priest, commaunded the Divines of Tu­binque to call him in question before them into their Vniversitie, to reprooue him therefore: but hee too well vnderstanding his craft, answered them impudentlie, that he neither had lied, nor beguiled any man. In fine, after a serious warning, which these Divines gaue him, that it was more then mainfest to all the world, that many which had kissed his reliques, were notwithstan­ding dead of the plague, he replyed in a flouting manner at those poore superstiti­ous people, that they had not kissed his re­liques; but the glasse onely wherein he had putt them.

The eight abuse is noted in that they place in the Catalogue of their religious reliques, as worthy of Adoration the in­struments [Page 72] and meanes which the ennemies of our Lord vsed to intrapp, crucifie, and perce him, as the lanterne which Iudas car­ryed to lighten the Sergeants that sought his Master: the money which he had recei­ved of the hie-Priest to betray him: The Crowne of thornes which they put vppon his head, and the nailes and speare of Pi­lates hangman, vnto which they pray in this manner.

That is,

To which also they add the Crosse, where vnto Pilates souldiers had nailed the body of our Lord Iesus Christ, which they blesse and call vpon in this manner.

That is,

[Page 74]Againe.

That is to say.

And againe,

That is to say.

[Page 75] And although at some time they ad­dresse their prayers to God himself, or to his son our Redeemer; yet they attribute not onely to the crosse, whereto Christ was nailed, but also to the signe thereof, made by the hand of man, the vertue of purcha­sing vs his grace, and maintaining vs there­in, which cannot be attributed to anie o­ther (without Idolatrie) then to the very person of our Saviour, heretofore crucified, and now sitteth at the right hand of God his father, to make intercession for vs, and to intreate him to be merciful & fauorable vnto vs.

First they craue of Christ by this prayer.

That is to say.

By the Second,

That is to say,

The third.

That is to say,

The first prayer they addresse to God the Father is,

That is to say.

The Second.

That is,

But yet this is worse, For they attribute more honour to the crosse, then to Christs resurrectiō, saying in their prayer to Christ, [Page 78] ‘Crucem tuam adoramus, Domine, resurrectio­nem tuam sanctam glorificamus.’

That is,

‘Lord wee worship thy crosse, and glorifie thy resurrection. ’ And to the one, & to the other: ‘Ecce lignum crucis in quo salus pependit, venite, adoremus.’

That is,

Is not this then to seeke in rotten wood which serues christiās for no vse that which cannot be founde; but in that immaculate Lambe Christ Iesus, which is without ble­mish, who was taught vnto vs by our Fa­thers, who hath redeemed vs from our vaine conversation, not with corruptible things, as silver and golde, or by the woode of the crosse, but with his most precious bloode,1 Pet. 1. 18. 19. as the Apostle S. Peter witnesseth in the first Chapter of his first Epistle? Is not this to attribute as much honour to a creature dead & insensible, whervnto none of vs would willingly resemble, as to the living God the creatour of heauē & earth?

[Page 79] The last abuse is daylie seene, in the sun­dry opinions,The 9. abuse. and disputes, which the one hold directly contrarie to the other, tou­ching the right place, and the true Gardi­ans, and keepers of these reliques, whereby one lie overthroweth another: For it is not possible for [...]hem, to agree without gi­ving each other the lie, and without giving to the Saincts, more bodies and members, after their departure, then they had while they were liuing.

Which is easie to bee showne by their owne writings, and the inventories of their reliques.

To begin with the reliques of Christ, as our aduersaires are not ashamed to main­taine, that the body of Christ, (which is as­sended vp into Heaven, to remaine there, vntill the restauration of all things,Act 3. 21 which God hath spoken by the mouth of his ho­ly Prophets) is also here beneath on earth, in all the hosts consecrated by their Priests, which administer the sacrifice of the masse: so they make no conscience to affrme, that they haue the foreskinn & navell of Christ in diverse places, which they keepe and a­dorne with this fine verse,

[Page 80]That is to say.

For they haue showne heretofore the first foreskinn of our Lord Iesus Christ in our Ladies Church at Awcon, which wee shall come to speake of more amply in the third part of our disputation. The second, in our Ladies Church at Anwerpe. The third at Hildesham in Germanie. The fourth is to be seene yet according to their saying at Rome in S. Iohn Latrans church. The fifth in the citie of Byzanson in the free-Countie: and the sixt in the Abbey of Charroux in France. So that by this reckoning, they would make Christ Iesus not a man, like vn­to vs in all things, saue in sinne, but in stead of a small skinn of his circumcision, hee should haue six, and consequently as manie bodies.

Also S. Iohn Baptist, according to their tradition hath had manie heads & visages: For notwithstanding that the Monkes of Rome, glory in that they haue his whole head in the Cloister of S. Sylvester, those of Malta vaunt that they haue the hinder­part, [Page 81] and they of Amiens with those of S. Iohn Angelique for having the forepart with the gash of a knife, which Herodias should giue him ouerthwart the eye, as the hangman brought her his head, to present it by her daughter in a platter to Herode & his frends, invited to the feast of his nativity But who would not thinke it strange and incredible, that the Euangelists, which haue represented vnto vs in their historie, all the markes, which could bee perceiued in this incestuous strumpet of a cruell heart, thir­sting after the innocent bloode of S. Iohn Baptist, should haue forgotten to shewe vs this last, which if it had bene true, would haue bene more remarkeable then all the rest.

And although that Eusebius, and some other Historians attest, that the body of this Fore-runner of Christ, was burned to ashes, yet: these forgers of reliques, would make the Idolaters of the papacie beleeue, that the finger wherewith Sainct Iohn Bap­tist showed our LORD Iesus Christ vnto his Disciples, in saying: Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sin­nes of the world, was miraculously preser­ved by the providence of the Lord, & mul­tiplyed into so manie fingers, that their at [Page 82] least six of them found, to wit, one at Lions, another at Bourges, the third at Bezanson in S. Iohn the greats Church, The fourth at S. Fortuits, the fifth at Thoulouse, and the sixt at Florence.

As for the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul. Albeit the Prelates of Rome say, that they keepe in S. Iohn Latrans church their whole heads, & their bodies parted in the midst, weighed, and divided in to equall shares by S. Sylvester in S. Pauls Church: yet those of Poitiers seeke to perswade the comon peo­ple, that they haue S. Peters chinn and his beard, those of Argenton in Berri, that they haue one of S. Pauls shoulders, those of Trier that they haue manie of the bones of these two Disciples of our Lord Iesus Christ.

Likewise those of Thoulouse shew one bo­dy of S. Andrews, and those of melphe ano­ther.

The Priests of Rome also wrangle with those of Trier and Padoua for S. Matthias body; because euerie one of these three townes, thinke they haue his corps in his owne Church.

The same presbiters striue for the body of S. Iames the yonger, S. Phillips, S. Symons, and S. Iudes, with those of Thoulouse, which [Page 83] maintaine aswell on the one side, as on the other, that they haue in their Churches the same bodies of these Apostles aboue said.

The Romanists shew besides, two seue­ral bodies of two other Saints in two other places, as the body of S. Anne mother vnto the virgin Marie, and Magdalenes sister vnto Lazarus, the wise men of the East, S. De­nises, S. Anthonies S. Petronelles, S. Susannas, S. Hilaries, S. Honorats, S. Gilses, S. Williams, and S. Ferreols. For they shew one of S. Anns bodies at Apt in Provence, and ano­ther at our Ladies de [...]isle at Lions. Then one of Magdalenes corps at Vezelè by Auxerna, and another at S. Maximnis in Provence. Likewise the bodies of the three wise men of the East, both at Milan, and Cologne S. Denises at S. Denis in France, and at Reges­bourgh in Almaine, S. Anthonies at Arles and at Vienna, S. Petronels daughter vnto S. Peter at Rome, and at Mans in the Iacobins Covent: S. Susannas at Rome and at Tholose: S. Hilaires at Poitiers, & in two other chur­ches▪ the one in that which the Canons of that place dedicated vnto him, & the other in the Monkes Church at Sella: moreouer, S. Honorats bodie at Arles, and in the Ile of Lyrnis nere vnto Anti [...]ou: S. Gilses in a towne in Languedoc, which beareth his [Page 84] name, and at Tholose: S. Williams at an Abbey in Languedoc called S. William vppon the desert, and in a towne in Anssoy called Ecrichen: S. Ferrcels at Vses in Languedoc & al Breienda in Auvergne: and S. Longins trans­formed from a speare by a monstrous meta morphesie into a blinde man, both in our Ladies church de l'isle by Lions, and at Man­toua in Italie.

Vpon others they bestowe three bodies, as to S. Matthias, to Lazarus, to S. Gervis, to S. Protis, and to S. Wolfe. For they shew the corps of S. Matthias at Rome, at Pado­va and at Trier. S. Lazuruses, at Marseille, at Authun, and at Avalon: S. Gervises and S. Protises at Milan, at Brisac, and at Bysanson: S. Wolfes at Lyons, at Senes and at Ausserre.

To some others they attribute foure, as to S. Sebastian whereof the one is nigh vn­to Narbonna, in the place of his nativitie, the second at Rome in S. Laurences Church, the third at Soissons, and the fourth at Piligni neare vnto Nantes.

They attribute to Matthias foure heads, whereof one is to bee seene at Padoua, an other at Tryer, and the other two at Rome: and also seaven armes, three at Rome, two at Tryer, and two at Padoua.

To S. Andrew, three heads, one at Thou­louse, [Page 85] and other at Melphe, and the third at Rome: and fiue armes, two at Thoulouse, two at Melphe, and one at Rome: then fiue feete, one at Awcon in Provence, two at Thoulouse and the other two at Melphe.

To S. Barthelmew fiue handes, one at Pisa, two at Rome, and two in the kingdome of Naples.

To S. Phillip three feete, one at Rome, and two at Thoulouse.

To S. Stephen two heads, one at Arles, an other in his owne Church at Rome.

To S. Laurence three armes, two at Rome in his owne church another in the church surnamed Palisperna.

To S. Anthonie fiue knees, one in S. Augu­stins Church of Albi, two at Arles, and two at Vienna.

To S. Sebastian twelue armes, one at Mombrison in Forest, an other at S. Servins de Tholose, an other at Case-Dieu in Auvergne an other at Angers, two at Soissons, two at Pi­ligni, two in the place where he was borne, and two at Rome.

To S. Lambert two heads, one at Tryer, and an other at Leige.

To S. Anne fiue heads, one at Lions, an other at Apt in Provence, the third at S. Annes in Turingue, the fourth at Duran in [Page 86] Iuilliers, and the fifth at Trier.

To S. Vrsell two, one at S. Iohn Angeli­ques, an other at Cologne.

Likewise to S. Hilarie two, one with his Corps at Venise, the other separated from his bodie at Cologne.

Moreover, they shew the blood of Christ in so many places, and in so many goble [...]s, that on maye plainely see, they mock at the effusion of the most precious bloode of our Redeemer, and willingly are igno­rant, that the bloode of Christ could not bee sheade in such an abundance, as th [...]y showe, in diverse of their Chur [...]hes, neither was it taken vp so fluently, by some of the Apostles, or friends of Christ, when his hands and fe [...]te were nailed, and his breast wounded with the push of the speare.

To conclude, I could heare speake of the multiplication of the virgin Maries milke, through the craft of these Alcumists, of her smockes, kerchiefes, phillits, girdles, gownes, pantofles, combes, Needles, Des kes, Linnen, pictures, and jewells: Like­wise, of the garments of Christ, of his teares, of the Cupp, out of which hee dran ke with his Disciples, of the linnen girdle, wherewith hee girded himself when hee washed their feete, of his purple gar­ment, [Page 87] of his speare, which wounded his side, of the dice which in those daies were not in request, of the stone pichers of Cana in Galile: of the miraculous Loanes where­with our Saviour fed fiue thousand per­sons, of his garment without seame, of the reede which they put into his handes in steade of a Scepter, of the spunge where­with they put gal into his mouth, of the Crown of Thornes they set vpon his head, of the pillar whervnto (according to their tradition) they bound him to scourg him, of the Staires of the Sessions-house of Pon­tius Pilate, besprinckled with the drops of the bloode which fell from his body. In like manner, of the bones, ashes, garments, chaines, and other reliques of the Apostles and Martyrs of Christ: but who is able to number vp all the inventions of the olde raggs found out in the shopps of the bro­cards of the Romane church? For albeit Calvin hath made a booke expressely a­gainst them, yet he confesseth therein, that the number of them is innumerable.

I entreat therefore the Reader to con­tent himself at this present with the proofs of these brasen-fac'd inventors of reliques, which I haue vttered, and to consider thē without passion.

[Page 88] By meanes whereof, I assure my selfe hee will judge, that wee haue just reason, to haue in abhomination these deceiuers of the ignorant, and to hold the adoration of their reliques for a heathenish super­stition and Idolatrie, condemned and for­bidden by the Lord, and not to be tollerated by those whose eyes God hath opened to see the abuses thereof.