THE Church of God the which the Apo­postle Saint Paul termeth the piller and the foundation of trueth: is as Augustine writeth vpon the 28. Psalme, planted in the middest of thornes and briers, omnes amici & nulli pacifici, Gen. 8. sayeth Hierom wri­ting to Damasus. The crow that retur­ned not, and the Doue that brought an Oliue branch were preserued from the generall deluge by the arch of Noah. Christ and his Church are one, therefore inseperable: Christ the head, we his members. One God, one faith, one baptisme. Is Christ deuided? or haue we re­ceiued any prerogatiue, but by the Crosse of Christ? Saint Paul gloried in this onely, that he was crucified to the world, and the world vnto him. In these perilous and dangerous daies, where­in euery peculiar phantasie be it neuer so ridiculous once shrou­ded vnder hypocrisie is accounted piety, wherein likewise, quot auditores tot detractores, as many auditors, so many detractors, I haue thought it necessary, to stay them that are running head­long to their owne perdition and if it may be to plucke them out of the fier that are already schorched, and to remoue all occasion of schisme and dissension, that as God is a God of peace, so wee likewise may endeuour to obserue the vnity of the spirit in the bonde of peace. The Apostle speaketh vnto vs, telling vs, that in God there is no change or shadow of chaunge, and if God bee alwaies one and the same, we ought likewise to conforme our selues vnto him, and to stand fast in that doctrine which we haue receiued. And not to be caried away, with euery blast of vaine doctrine. The Apostle Saint Peter in these three verses propoun­deth [Page] vnto vs, three seuerall partes to be obserued: The first a propheticall prediction of the future calamities incident vnto the Church of Christ by false teachers conteined in these words: There were false Prophetes among the people so likewise their shalbe false teachers among you. During the time of the lawe Iannes and Mambres, Balam the sonne of Bosor with others sedu­ced the Church of God: Pharisies and Saduces, Elymas & Simon Magus, Alexander the copper smith, raised sedition among them Since their time Diosciorus, Iouinian, Ʋigilantius issued forth, and these with Arrius and Eunomius brake downe the heads of the vineard [...], corrupting the word of God and perverting the same. False prophets there were among the people so likewise there shall be false teachers among you. The second containeth in it a description of them: They shall priuily bring in sects, damnable sects denying the Lord that redeemed them and shal bring vpon themselues a sudden destruction, ma­ny men shall followe their riotousnes, the way of trueth shalbe blasphemed by them, and to enrich themselues, they shall buy and sell you, according to their owne disposition. The third is the rigorous and feareful iudgement of God that houereth ouer their heads seta equina by a twine thread cōtained in these words The iudgement of these men doeth not linger, and the ruine and destruction of them all doeth not slumber. You see beloued, the scope and final end of the apostle, his words are plaine & ma­nifest verified at this day in the eies and eares of you all: and the like euent, that campe vpon them wil also light vpon vs, in that we haue deuided the cote of Christ that had no seame, and haue dried vp the ointment of vnity that ranne downe vpon Aarons beard euen vnto the skert of his garment. Saint Paul perpending the state of his time, protested plainely, that if hee should labour to please men, he could not be a Disciple of Christ. And I would to God that there were not some to be found among vs that will preach according to the direction of their auditory from whence haue rysen diuisions tending to the subuertion of Christian faith and religion, And from this sort of men the Apostle exhorteth euery one to depart. The haruest approacheth the Master of the ground expecteth a good croppe: but the tempestuous blast of schisme and diuision, hath shaken the blade that the corne is pe­rished, and he that thresheth the same shall well perceiue his la­bour [Page] to bee lost. Men and brethren in this militarie expedition, let euery one be aduised, how, and in what order hee standeth. He that is persuaded that he is sure of foot, may fal, he that rūneth may forthwith stumble: but in humility, let euery one learne: for God resisteth the proude, and applieth himselfe to the humble, and hath dealt mercifully with the poore in spirit, when the rich men of the world haue beene sent empty away. The Apostle S. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothy cap. 4. The spirit speaketh plainely, that in the later daies certaine shall reuolt from the faith. [...] addicting themselues to spirits of errour, Oecumenius in 4. cap. epist. ad Timoth. so Oe­cumenius speaketh [...]. That hee that hath once swarued from the verity of Gods word, is presently caried awaie with euery fantasie. In the infancy of the Church sprang forth Cerinthus and Saturninus, in the second centenarie issued forth Carpocrates and Montanus, in the third Nouatus and Sabellius, in the fourth, Eunomius, Ʋigilantius, and Heluidius, in the fift Pelagius and Nestorius, in the sixt, Agnoitae, Monophysitae, in the seuenth, Iacobitae and Sergius, that retchlesse helhound, of whom Ana­stasius Bibliothecarius maketh mention. And in these latter daies certaine shall reuolt from the faith, giuing attendance vnto spi­rits of errour, and doctrine of deuils, as Palmerius did with Menno the Anababtist, denying the deity of the sonne of God. As Frā ­cis Ket did, not long since in Norwich, sounding forth innouati­ons contrary to the doctrine already receaued, with Browne and Barrow, making an externall shewe of piety, as the Puritanes in England doe at this day: diuiding themselues from the Church of Christ, as withered branches, cōtending de lanae caprina, for moon­shine in the water, haue among them a spotlesse spouse, as they tearme it, in the which there is no direct or prescript forme of praier, but as the spirit ministreth, so euery one to speake & pro­phecy. And these recusants are planted in the superlatiue de­gree, they are omnium infime, and yet superbissimi, not able to de­fend a bad cause by argument, exclaime against the gouernmēt of the Church of England and her ministers, and each of these is assured that he hath the spirit of God. Brethren wheresoeuer you be, and whosoeuer you are, be not deceaued, for God assure your selues wil not be mocked. For a time he forbeareth but in his due time he striketh: he is not tied or chained to any one corner of [Page] this land: his name is glorious in the middest of his people: there hath he planted an holy temple for himselfe, an habitation for the God of Iacob. I pray you, looke into the practise of the di­sturbers of the Church: I am a Prophet aswell as you are, and my doctrine is deriued from heauen by reuelation. So those ir­regular Friers tearmed pauperes de Lugduno that rose vp in the yeare a thousand fiue hundreth and seuenty vnder Lucius the third and Alexander, the 3. Popes of Rome, as writeth Abbas Vrspergensis in the yeare a thousand two hundreth and twelue af­firmed that they had a peculiar calling from God, and therefore they regarded not the ordinance of man. What was Samosate­nes, Epiphanius in his second booke contra haereses reporteth, [...], puffed vp with a little learning that he had fell from the trueth. What caused Iulian surna­med the Apostata to decline, In Julianum oratio prima. it was a Gregory Nazianzene spea­keth of him, a presumptuous opinion that he had of himselfe, the which in the ende turned to his owne destruction. This selfe same thing Saint Augustine confesseth in his 53. tracte vpon Iohn: Quosdam nimia suae voluntatis fiducia extulit in superbiam, & quosdam nimia suae voluntatis diffidentia deiecit in negligentiam. Certaine there are saieth hee, that of a re­uerent opinion conceiued of themselues, wax proude, and others distrusting themselues, sitte at home and doe no­thing. And as Bernarde de consideratione, to Eugenius, ocio­sus est, non tantum quia nihil operatur, sed qui continuè laboran­do nihil tandem lucratur. That man saieth Bernarde, is not onelie saied to bee idle, that doeth nothing, but hee like­wise that alvvaies turmoyleth, and reapeth nothing. So these zealous men caried awaie with a popular applause Saxum su­dant nitendo, nec proficiunt hylum: They are alwaies inueigh­ing against the scandalous gouernement of our Church, and as Hierom vvriting to Marcellam speaketh: Itur in verba: ser­mo teritur, lacerantur absentes, vita aliena describitur, & mor­dentes inuicem consumimur ab inuicem. Here the quarrell beginneth, a disputation is intended, and thereof procee­deth malice and rancour, and one enuying the other, one in the ende consumeth another. Heretofore the controuer­sie was about [...], bookes extant at this day pro & con, by [Page] that right honourable, right reuerende, and most learned fa­ther of the Church of Englande his grace of Canterburie suffici­ently approued the same. The question is now, whether our ecclesiasticall order bee allowable by the word of God, and hereupon, as the Poet speaketh successit vetus comaedia & in vi­tium libertas excidit & vim, dignam lege regi: for the liues of our spirituall fathers are made scandalous, their doctrine for fashion sake lightly regarded, and cursed cham Iohn Penrie of Wales hath laied open the shame of his father, but a curse shall light vpon his heade, his daies shall bee prolonged to his ovvne shame, and like a fugitiue hee shall begge his breade. A lewde liuer doeth not argue a corrupt teacher: Scribes and Pharisees were lewde liuers, and yet good prea­chers, and their doctrine ratyfied and approued by the sonne of God. Christ was preached for enuy, hee that preached Christ in that order was a lewde liuer, yet a good preacher: Saint Paule gloried in him. Christ was preached for osten­tation; hee that preached him in that order was a lewde li­uer, yet a good preacher, Saint Paule gloried in him. Bee the preacher in life lasciuious, if his doctrine bee good, Saint Paule speaketh I haue reioyced in him, and I will reioyce. Men and brethren, I speake not this to defende the irregu­lar liues of anie, but onely to stoppe the mouthes of them that for a small infirmitie vvoulde exclude the best prea­chers in this lande from preaching, and beeing vnlearned la­bour to determine matters, the which they doe not vnder­stande. Although I wish daielie, that euery one of vs would conforme his life to his doctrine, for the vvorde and the woorke agreeing, doeth as Basil speaketh in his Homi­ly vpon the Prouerbes, [...], it causeth the worde preached to bee better accepted. False Prophets there were saieth the Apostle among the people, I haue not sent them and they are gone: false Prophets are dispersed among the people, so likewise there shall bee false teachers among you. Hieronimus ad Fabiolam. Hierom obserued in his time three se­uerall sorts of false teachers, the worlde, the flesh, and the deuill. The world maketh a great shewe of security, and in the ende it offereth vnto vs anguish and sorrow. The flesh [Page] assureth vnto vs continuall ioy, and sudaine destruction is inci­dent vnto her. The deuill, hee will not breake his promise, for honour and dignity are his rewards, and in them hee bringeth vs to perpetuall shame: sic solet amicos beare suos, in this order doeth he magnifie himselfe in his frends. In these daies wher hypocrisie can hardly be discerned from piety, it standeth vs vpon to know a false teacher. Hieron. lib. 1. ad Iouinianum. For as Hierō speaketh, O quantus est numerus falsorū Prophetarum in omni statu, omnes vicissim qui ex habitu suo, aut digni­tate, aut officio, aut conditione praetendunt bonum & faciunt malum, om­nes igitur habitum religionis deferentes, & religionis opera non facientes. False teachers, they swarme in euery corner, in euery place and age, men are apt enough to deceaue, and religion is nowe a har­bour to gracelesse and thriftlesse men. The doctrine recea­ued in the Church of God is not mutable, and the reason is, be­cause God is not mutable, so Augustine in his booke de vera reli­gione cap. 53. affirmeth: The doctrine of our Puritanes it is muta­ble, therefore it is not of God: Miseri homines, & miserabiles quibus cognita vilescunt, & nouitatibus gaudent: they are saith Augustine the miserablest men in the world, that cannot digest the knowen truth, but continually addict themselues to nouelties: for proofe of this, T. C. I. P. I. D. I. P. T. C. G. W. no singing in the Church is lawfull: afterward the singing of the Psalmes was lawfull. The Psalmes of Dauid saieth a fugi­tiue of Scotland selected are and may bee vsed: The Psalmes of Dauid saieth Penrie, concerne not vs, therefore not to be vsed in diuine seruice. Allegations of fathers and councels are impious, assertions of fathers and decrees of councels saieth one that shal be namelesse, may be vsed. Sermons preached with premedi­tation, derogate, from the maiesty of God, dabitur vobis in illa ho­ra: Sermons preached without premeditation, they are but far­dels of verball diuinity. Innouations in doctrine, in religion, are dangerous, Endoxius, and Acacius peruerted the greeke Church, and as Nicephorus in his 9. booke of his ecclesiastical historie c. 46. Men saieth he, were so rash, that they did contemne the custome of the Church, & nouas leges sibi pro se quisque conderet, euery man had a religion peculiar vnto himselfe: and is not this verified among vs at this day? and what is the reason thereof? men are caried awaie with a shew of doctrine, so head-strong, that they will not stande to the iudgement of the Church: corruption in maners, in religi­on, are very rife, all haue erred, and the trueth is reuealed but [Page] vnto a fewe, and that is vnto them. Saint Paul would haue all things done [...], in decent and good order, and according to ordinance: but our conformers are so repugnant vnto that, as the Poet speaketh, qui rectum nil esse putat, quod non facit ipse decorum: that they labour to controule the custome of the Church, & to call in question controuersies already decided, and to auoide an inconuenience, Epiphan. in Anchorato. they doe as Epiphanius speaketh [...], flying away from the smoke, they fall into the fire. False Prophets there are among the people, so likewise there shall be false teachers among you. The Church of Christ hath not bene free from this malady. Master, didst thou not sow good corne in thy fielde: from whence came these tares? The Church is saied to be Columba vnica; his onely Doue: via directa, a direct way. The Church is saied to be vnica, quia in vnitate con­sistit, because she consisteth in vnity: sancta, holy; because shee is sanctified by the holy Ghost, and because shee is the piller & the foundation of trueth: and saied to be corpus Christi, he himselfe the head. Ephes. 1. & 5. Coloss. 1. 1. Timot. 3. shee is saied to bee vniuersalis, because shee is not onely resident in one place, but is extended to the confines of the whole earth. The same affir­meth Isidorus in his first booke de officijs ecclesiasticis cap. 1. Aluarus, Pelagius, lib. 1. de planctu ecclesiae art: 65. Torquemada lib. 1. de ecclesia c. 13. The church was instituted in paradise, & after the fal of our first parents being barrē, she became fertle, watered with the pre­cious bloode of Iesus Christ: the benefit whereof, we all haue re­ceiued, and shal continue to the ende of the world, and the gates of hell shall not preuaile against her. Are wee all agreed of a Church? and of the vnity thereof? from whence arise these dissē ­tions? the Seruetian, he hath a Church by himselfe, and is his the true Church? the Anabaptist he is a member of the true Church, therefore he cannot miscary? The Familie of loue, he is of the true Church: Frauncis Ket opposeth himselfe against them all, for his reasons and allegations are of themselues so euident, that they cannot be answered. Our Puritanes of England, are now a pur­ging of the Church in taking away humane traditions, and vn­necessary ceremonies, and will offer vp a Church pure, vndefi­led, without spot. If ancient Hilarie were aliue at this day, Hilar. ad Con­stantium Au­gustum. and should see vs contend at noone day, in the heate of sommer de Asini vmbra: I am very well assured he would vse the same words [Page] that he did long ago whenas the like occasion was offered in his time: periculosū admodū, at (que) etiā miserabile est, tot nunc fides existere, quot voluntates: It is lamentable that there should be as many seueral faithes, as there are diuersities in wils. Et tot nobis doctrinas esse, quot mores. And as many chāges of maners, so many diuersities in doctrin; Et tot causas blasphemtarū pullulare quot vitia sunt, & as ma­ny vices, so many causes of blasphemy, sith that we are cōe to this point, that we wil haue one faith writē according to our will, or els the exposition thereof shall bee according to our direction. Thus spake this Anciēt father of his time, I appeale to you whi­ther these wordes of his are not veried among vs in these daies? But is the Church of England throughly purged? What obstacles haue you remoued? Assuredly the Reuenues Ecclesiasticall, Bishoprickes and Deaneries, Cathedrall Churches, haue beene obstacles vnto them, for had they beene able to remoue these they had brought in Idaeam Platonicam the like vnto this at anie time should neuer haue bene knowen. But God hath taken the raigne into his own hād & hath put a snaffle into their mouthes, and hath asswaged the corages of them, that to run forward they cannot, and the vigilant eie of our soueraigne hath caused them like Seriphian frogges to liue in silence, and whereas heretofore the hole Realme hath swarmed with there bookes the date of thē is now expired, & God graunt them grace that in time they may see there owne infirmities, and al occasions of dissention taken a way, we may liue togither in Christian vnity, that in this world we we may so glorifie God, that into the world to cōe we al likewise may be glorified of him. It were not altogither repugnant vn­to this matter, if a question were demaunded wherefore God permitteth his Church to be persecuted by false Apostles, false teachers. Ʋt qui in vobis sunt manifesti fiant, to this end, that their good and best men among you may be made manifest. A grea­ter punishment cannot be laied vpon vs then this, when as God as Aug. speaketh in his 19 sermon de verbis Apostoli permitteth vs to be seduced by them, they which make a glorious shew of piety & religion: & in the end they bring both soule & body to cōfusiō Arrius deluded Irene the Empres with hipocrisie, Menno the A­nabaptist corrupted multitudes with the same, Castellio infected with pharisaical leuen was the ouerthrow of himselfe & his audi­ditory, and as Hierom obserueth: writing to Lucilius, there is no heresie, [Page] be it neuer so pestilēt, but carieth a resemblāce of christiā pi­ety. The D. spake in paradise, but how, in the forme of a serpent. There is no place be it neuer so wel fenced & garded, but the de­uil wil intrude himselfe, & he that spake to Adā in paradise, in the likenes of a serpēt, to the which of Endor & to Saule in the likenes of Samuel to the Iews in the likenes of Moses to benefit himselfe wil easily be perswaded to deceiue us to trāsforme himselfe into the likenes of an angel of light. Georgius Ce­drenus lib. 2. Annal. ad Jsasi. com. Therfore it stādeth vs vpō to look into our own estate, not to addict our selues to diuersities of do­ctrine & to be caried away with any blast, resident in no one place like wandering starres and like Euripus beeing alwaies in motion like the raging waues of the sea, we cast forth our owne shame. I say that, saith the Apostle that each of you saith, I hold with Paul I am with Cephas, I am with Apollo, and what are all these but the ministers of Christ. And in these daies the laity of Englād is so preiudiciall, that if they once haue conceiued an opinion of one preacher, presētly they magnifie thar one aboue the clouds, & labour to bring the other in contēpt: this mā is a good liuer, a right Cephas, he canot abide circūcision, no ceremonies, & Apollos a mighty man in the scripture, able to put al my Lord B. in Englād to silence, what learning there is cōcealed in any of these I know not, I come not hitherto disgrace any: but wel I am assured, that this popular applause of our laity, hath caused sūdry meane schollers to step vp into the pulpit, the incōueniēce whereof the right reuerend fathers the Bishops of this land, haue to their no small griefe already found. And this malady S. Aug. found in his time as hee confesseth in his booke de anima ad Renatum, illud est mo­lestum & periculosum vel perniciosum, si cum laudatur eloquenti­a persuadetur insipientia vt in praetioso poculo bibatur pestifera po [...]io. This is a dāgerous matter saith he, that one shal presume of himselfe so far aboue his reach in that he is not able to performe halfe that is expected at his hāds, in the mean season his ignorāce is detected & his doctrine scorned, from hence springeth diuisiō scādalus to the church of God: the waring of a decēt garmēt in the church as a Cap or a Sirples is superstitious: vnlearned men haue we spred this in corners & vnlearned men maintaine it publikely that as Hierom writeth ad Demetriadem virginē feruentissimi in terrenis fri­gidissimi in caelestibus sumus & summā in rebus paruis exhibentes autho­ritatem ad maiora torpescimus: In things that doe not concerne vs [Page] we are very carefull but in matters that doe concerne vs, for thē we take no care at all. Luther in his time found no incōuenicence in them, in so much that he vsed them. Erasmus ad fratres inferio­ris Germaniae was so farre from condemning them, that he defen­ded them, if Caluin or Beza haue exclamed against them as abu­ses scandalous. Caluinus ad pa­storem Helueti­cum. Beza ad Edm: Grindallum Episcop: Londi­nensem Epi. 38, Yet Caluine and Beza founde at the last that they might be vsed, and no offence at all in the vsing. Wherefore should we contend beloued so seriously for nothing, & make our selues ridiculous to the sight of the world, and to leaue that do­ctrine that was bequeathed vnto vs, and now to begin to frame a new doctrine, the which as Hilarie writeth ad Constantium Au­gustum: scribendae & innouandae fidei vsus inoleuit, it is a common cu­stome to euery one to haue a new faieth, a new religion: qui post­quam noua potius caepit condere quam accepta retinere, nec veterata de­fēdit, nec innouata firmauit, & hauing one according to our humor, we neither regarde the olde faieth, neither doe we labour to cō ­firme the new religion, & facta est fides temporum potius quam E­uangeliorū, and our faith doth more fit the present time, then the course of Scripture. Men and brethren, I haue beene somewhat long in these points, I will leaue them to your good considerati­on: in the meane time, let vs be assured of this, that God permit­teth this cockle and darnell to grow among vs, vntill in due time he flingeth them into the fire. And if wee persist in these conten­tions, God he will seperate himselfe from vs, and leaue vs to our owne direction, and then we shall very well perceaue, that it is a fearefull thing to fall into the handes of the liuing God, And happie and blessed is he, that hath escaped the heat of his indig­nation, for our God is a consuming fire.

The causes that moued our professed enemies to sende forth these teachers are diuerse: among the which I wil at this time ob­serue one, and that is, the short continuance that he hath in this world, the reason is in that he furmised, that this worlde is langui­shing and lieth at the last gaspe, and by reason the time is short, he doeth not omit any oportunity, diuerse are allured with an externall shew of piety, others are caried away with a persuasiue hope of permanent felicity, some are drowned in despaire: in fine, there is but one way to heauen and the by-waies and crosse paths that leade to hell, are Innumerable. Bernard lamenting the disordered liues of the Cleargy in his time, compared them [Page] to conduit pipes the which yeeld water vnto vs plentifuully, but in fine reserue none themselues, so these that speake wel, and doe ill, in sending forth a shrill sound vnto others, benefit them­selues nothing at all. Thomas Aquinas writing vpon the 9, of Genesis affirmeth that the priestes in his time were disordered, in that they reserued the Reuenues of the Church to their owne peculiar vse and in the end he concludeth, exorti sunt in ecclesia gigantes qui potius videntur reges quam episcopt. The priests saith he are so sumptuous in their diet, and so prodigal in superfluous expences that they liue more like princes, then priests. Bernard that liued 5. hundred yeares agoe lamenting the irregular behauiour of his time, nostri praelati facti sunt pilati, nostri pastores facti sunt tonsores, and in another place plus calcaria quam altaria fulgent. Is the cleargy of England in this point so reformed as at their hands is required? I will not defend any where he is faulty, we are full gorged, we haue aboundance, plenty is harbored among vs and there is no complaining in our streetes. Our children they are brought vp i­dely, I will not say lewdly, fewe of thē will follow there fathers in this spirituall function, & what is the reason thereof. Assure your selues beloued our spirituall landes are turned into temporalles, hundreds by the yeare, are not sufficient to maitaine them, this is scandalous to the eie of the multitude, and their disordered liues are laied as heauy burdens vpon the backes of their aged parents. Bona ecclesiae, bona pauperum. But it is nowe inuerted. God hee prouided for there parentes aboue their expectation, & is not God able to prouide aswell for them, in the meane seasō manie an hungry belly is not filled, manie naked are not clothed the halt, the diseased, the blinde lie in the streetes, and are not called to bee refreshed, and the reason is, in that our sonnes and daughters must bee made spectacles for euery one to gase vpon: and adorned like Lords, and ladies, they forget their owne state, and the honorable calling of their parents.

Erasmus of Roterodame writing to a frend of his in Germanie certi­fieth him of the death of two famous and learned men in Eng­land, the greatest patrons that he had the one, Farrag. Epist. lib. 15. was William War­ham, Lord Chancelor of England and Archbishop of Canterbu­ry in the latter end of the raigne of Henry the 7. and the greatest part of the raigne of Henry the 8. he liued vs (que) ad decrepitā etatem This man had many children the which he kept for charity some [Page] at the Vniuersities, others that were not ingenious he disbursed a sum of money, and placed them in an occupation, for his daugh­ters that were fatherles and motherles, fearing least they should encline to leudnes, he gaue not many hūdreds as we doe in these daies, but a competent dowry of twenty nobles, and bestowed them to their great likings. This man was summoned by sicke­nes to depart out of this world, three houres before his departure he called his treasorer vnto him, charging him to bring vnto him his accompts, that hee might make euen with the world, be­fore he departed, the which when he had done, it was foūd that the olde Bishop was not in debt: and that he had in redy money a great masse of currant coyne 10. pounds: 10. pounds, O saith he satis viatici, there is enough for me to spēd by the way, I haue but a short iourney to take, & forthwith departed. The other was Iohn Colet a cuntry mā of mine born in London, vnto whō al his fathers lands, & substance came, by reason of the death of all his childrē, 22. Eras. ad Jodo­cum Jonam. he had, & it pleased god to take thē al away this mā excepted. I neede not to tel you what he did his schoole at my back can tel you, he hath sent forth frō thēce heretofore many a famous scholler, that haue proued necessary & profitable mē in the church of god. This learned father hath left yet somwhat to be finished by some of you, whom it hath pleased God, not to blesse with chil­dren, the which hauing borne all offices belonging to this Citty, and liuing in great wealth and abundance, craueth of you, that you would ioyne with him, in begetting children, spirituall chil­dren to Christ, that where some of you haue not a child, and o­thers likewise but one, that you would follow the example of that famous and honourable gentleman Sir Thomas Wight, to be­stow some part of your liuings, vpon some one poore Colledge or other in Oxforde or Cambridge, that once a yeare there might be a free election, that those children whose parents are poore, might according to their desert be preferred in the Colledge to a scholler-ship or fellow-ship, I doubt not, but the smoke of this incense would ascend like a sweete perfume in the nostrels of or God.

As there were false Prophets among the people, so likewise there shall bee false teachers among you. Among manye plagues vvherewith God did afflict and punish his people, this was the greatest, that for their contempt and disobedience of [Page] his people, he would giue thē their hearts desire, he would per­mit them to be seduced by euery spirit. Doth God afflict his people by famine, vpon their repentaunce hee sendeth abun­dance: doth hee afflict them vvith pestilence vpon their con­uersion, the plague ceaseth. Doeth hee afflict them with war God at their amendment, hee breaketh the bowe and speare insunder, and ouerthroweth all the chariots and horsemen of the AEgyptians, and causeth the violent vvaues of Iordan to returne backewarde, and deliuereth his people in great secu­rity from imminent dangers by the handes of Moses and Aa­ron. But are his people light headed? Will they haue Gods to goe before them as the heathen haue, this light meate in the wildernesse cloyeth vs, it is not comparable in any degree, to the flesh pots of Aegypt: the tabernacle of Moloch, and the starre of Rempham, their Altars vvhereon they vsed to sa­crifice the body of their Sonnes and Daughters to deuils: all these ascended vp into the presence of God, and then they neglected the due seruice of God, and laied open their eares to the inchantments of false Prophets, and brought a speedy destruction vpon them, haec loquutus est Dominus, thus saieth the Lord vvhen I haue not saied it. Among many incon­ueniences that the Church susteyneth, this is the greatest, that the simplest and the vnlearnedst among vs, are easily perswa­ded to take vpon them the exposition of Gods booke, and a phantasie beeing once conceiued can hardly bee remooued. This caused Saint Augustine in an Epistle that he writeth to Ho­noratus, to lament the folly of certaine in his age: Nulla imbu­tus poetica disciplina, Terentium sine magistro attingere non auderet, he that is ignorant in poetry, hee will not presume to take Te­rence in his hande and expounde him, Asper, Cornutus, Do­natus his interpreters are had in great reuerence and admira­tion vt quilibet poeta possit intelligi, for this cause that euery Poet bee hee neuer so harde and obscure, may the easier bee vn­derstoode, Tu in sanctos libros sine duce irruis, & de his sine preceptore audes ferre sententiam? Wilt thou then saieth Augustine, beeing vnlearned, vvithout a guide take vpon thee to expounde Scripture? The like hath Saint Ambrose in his thirde booke de fide ad Gratianum, and Hierom vvriting to Paulinus, is copious in this argument and Leo his Epist. 33. ad [Page] Theodosium. I speak this the more confidently in that the Scrip­tures, are thought to be so easie, that the simplest may read and vnderstand them, and what hath followed, diuerse haue prefer­red their owne fantasie before the right and perfect exposition. Laymen haue in their nocturnall conuenticles presumed to in­terprete the same, and the weaker sort likewise, whom Saint Paul in any wise would not permit to teach, haue peruerted the ordi­narie meanes of saluation to their owne destruction. Demosthenes a seruant and Cooke to Valens the Emperour, intruding himselfe into that secret conference that the Emperour had with Basil, as you may reade in the tripartite history, lib. 7. cap. 36. had texts of Scripture so rife and copious in his mouth, that the old father be­ganne to muse, vnto what ende all his textuall cotations tended. Sir Cooke saieth he, tuum est de pulmentarijs cogitare, non dogmata diuina decoquere: Master Cooke saith he, if I be not deceiued, your office belongeth to the seasoning of the pot, and in matters ap­pertayning to Gods Church you haue no interest. Reade belo­ued the holy Scriptures with feare and reuerence, preferre not a priuate interpretation before that which hath beene receaued, and is approued a truth. If any be ignorant, let him repaire to the learned, that all sects & schismes and false teachers detected, we may so heare, reade and beleeue the Scriptures, that they may be vnto vs a sauor of life vnto life, that the course of our life ended, each of vs may receaue a full reward in the kingdome of heauē, of the which God for his mercy make vs all partakers. And thus much, by your fauourable patience shall suffice to haue spoken of this first part.

The second part conteineth a description of them: they shall bring in damnable heresies tending to the destruction of the in­structer and the instructed, they shall impugne the deity and the humanity of Christ: the people that are credulous shal follow them, the trueth shal be blasphemed and corrupted by thē, & of a greedy appetite, to enrich themselues, with pleasing and per­swasiue words, they shall buy & sel you according to their owne disposition. The Apostle writing to the Hebrewes, exhorteth them not to be caried away with strange doctrine, from heauen, to earth, from Angels, to damned spirits, from faith, to infidelity, from felicity, to misery, and in fine, to euery mischiefe: for they that leaue faith, hope, and charity, and with the contrary vnto [Page] these doe conuerse, are forthwith caried into eternall damnatiō, being of the seede of Abraham, they degenerate and are of the seede of Cain: descending lineally of Christ, they approue them­selues of the seede of Antichrist, Iude exhorteth all Christians to remember the words of the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ, which tolde you, that in the later daies there should come moc­kers, which should walk according to their carnall desires: world­ly minded men hauing not the spirit. Our sauiour in the 18. of Luke, the son of man whē he cōmeth, doe you think that he shal find faith vpon the earth? And againe, take heede of false Pro­phets that come vnto you in sheeps cloathing, yet inwardly they are rauening wolues, whereunto the Apostle addeth this, that they shall make merchandize of godlinesse, and as our Sauiour speaketh vnder a pretence of piety, they shall deuoure widowes houses. Whosoeuer, saieth Christ is not with me, is against me, & he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroade: professour of Christ and professed enemies to Christ, gathering multitudes together and dispersers of them, whose ende shall be according to their workes.

Christ is preached to many: beleeued of a fewe: some require dis­cipline in the Church of Christ, the whip of Christ is not exerci­sed, the streight way is laied open for euery passenger and liberty standeth at the gate and offereth free accesse to euery one, peo­ple are incredulous, Master we would see a signe from thee: an extraordinary signe would sufficiently approue thy doctrine. Simon Magus flew vp into the aire as he corrupted men on earth, Arnobius lib. 2, cont. gentes. he would if it might be, peruert Angels in heauen: but his suppor­ters the princes of the aire, forsooke him, and let go their holde, and as sinne of it selfe is heauy, so likewise at the voice of Peter, downe fel Simon the man of sinne, and the fal of him is a memo­rable president for curiosity: hereupon Saint Augustine in his 22. booke de ciuitate Dei. cap. 8. quisquis adhuc prodigia vt credat inqui­rit, magnum est ipse prodigium qua mundo credente non credit: he that to ratifie his faith, requireth a wonder, that man saieth Augustine is a wonder, that standeth in doubt of his faith, when all the world receaueth the same. Christ and Christianity cannot be seperated: Luciferians, Vigilantians, Donatists, Anababtists, and as many as glory in the bare title of any man: these haue separated themselues from Christ, and are none of his folde. [Page] Ignoro Miletium, Paulinum respuo, & qui Christiani non est, An­tichrist saieth Hierom to Damasus, I neither care for the one or the other, I am assured of one thing saieth Hierom, that hee that is not vvith Christ, is against Christ. Sathan hath sent forth his messengers, I came saieth Christ in the name of my father, and you receaued me not. Another hath come in his his owne name, and him you haue receaued.

Gog and Magog in the Reuelation are abroade, and their armies are as the sandes of the sea. The gnostique heretique that sprang from the rotten roote of Carpocrates, they preten­ded piety and integritie of life, and practised secretly by Ma­gique: Arrius he perceiued that the deity of Christ was gene­rally receaued, in that hee was tearmed [...], hee likewise peruerted multitudes in adding a letter, and drowned the same in the sounde, affirming, that Christ was [...] not of the same substance vvith God his father, but of the like, and brought vpon his owne heade suddaine destruction: Christ is very God and very man, God of his father before the world, and man of his Mother borne in the world, perfect God and perfect man, his humane flesh subsisting. Yet Ioannes Langius affirmed, that Christ was not man, whose damnable heresie vvas long ago condemned in Eutiches, in the 3. Cal­cedon Councels, and the 2. councels helde at Constantinople. Christ became sinne, that is, hee offered himselfe to God the father a sacrifice for sinne, hee died for the sinnes of the worlde: if any presumptuous and blasphemous mouth will saye, that there vvas sinne in Christ. Anathema sit, let him bee accursed, I hope there is no preacher in Englande will say so, if any haue affirmed it, that man is in the highest de­gree of heresie and blasphemy, and if he persist in the same, I assure him, little comfort shall hee reape by the passion of Christ: for the benefit of his passion is extended in omnes pec­catores, but as Durand speaketh respicientes, but vnto them that haue conceiued within themselues a godly sorrow for sinne the grace of God assisting. If then this doctrine be true, as with­out controuersie it is most true, where are they which vvere tearmed patropassiani and the like, from vvhence Michaell Seruetus deriued his execrable and damnable assertions op­posite and repugnant to the analogy and proportion of [Page] our faith.

Christ suffered in his humanity, the deity impassible, Lutherus in 2. ca. ep. 1. Petri. Lu­ther defended the contrary and vvas ouer-reached, Christ descended into hell, and preached vnto the spirits that vvere in prison: here Erasmus of Rhetrodame decyphered his ver­ball diuinity, and his Atheisme, in affirming, that the pas­sion of Christ extended it selfe so farre, that it released the soules of Cicero, Homer, Plato, Socrates. If any learned man doubt of this his assertion: I refer him to his epistle vvriten Iacobo Tutori. Mē in these daies are curious: Erasmus he misliked the old interpreter: Beza misliked him, Castellio condemned him, Tremelius magnified of a number: Vatablus little regarded our ordinary translation of the Bible in English, in pulpits not long since reprehended. What haue these procured but a defe­ction from Christ and Christianity: Laurentius Ʋalla in his sixt booke of Elegances cap. 34 by nomeanes could be perswa­ded to allowe of the woorde persona in the Trinity: Jouius in vitis virorum illustrium. Pomponius Laetus had conceiued so pleasing an opinion of himselfe, that hee vtterly detested the Greeke tongue, in that hee feared it would corrupt his fluent and copious stile in Latine. And oftentimes it falleth out, that men standing too much in their owne light forgette themselues, and are perswaded of a verity, the vvhich of them is not conceiued: sectes are rife among vs, the trueth is blasphemed, and diuerse in these daies for lucre sake to obtayne a poore benefice can preach according to the direction of the patrons▪ Demosthenes beeing once corrupted by money by Legates, protested that he had little to say in the behalfe of his King and Countrey, for his tongue was not his ovvne, in that hee had solde it: so these Clurina peccora, that vvith money cary deaneries and preben­daries vpon their backes, they haue but litle to say in the church of God, for they paide extremely for it, & if they may saue him­selfe he careth not.

It vvas an oulde verse Curia Romana non captat ouem si­ne lana, so they maye reape the benefite, lette them that list take the laboure. And that vvhich is a soule incon­uenience, vvhen menne that haue spente all their dayes in phisicke, or in the studies of the Ciuill Lawe, if hee can­not [Page] by that aspire to promotion presently he intrudeth himselfe into the ministry, and with their flesh hookes like Elies childrē they snatch the flesh out of the pot which in equity belonged to the priest, and not vnto them. In the meane season, many a fa­mous scholler in the vniuersity, whose frends are poore, lingereth away his daies and is not regarded. Our patrones should be vigi­lant in this point: but euery man prouideth for his owne, one mā he supporteth 4 steeples on his shoulders, like Atlas that suppor­teth heauen, that by reason of his burden he cannot speake. O­thers that haue cōsumed their patrimonies in chambering & wā ­tonnesse and excessiue Rioting they forthwith take sanctuary in some one Cathedrall Church or other, and are prebendes in the same. The Church of God feeleth the inconuenience of it. And as yet, it is not redressed. Heresies creepe into the Church of God sects and diuisions abound, the way of trueth is blasphemed and diuers are caried away with faire and pleasant speeches. Lucian in a treatise that he writeth de non credendo calumniae. [...] is a seducer crept in among you well furnished with learning this man saieth he would with great diligence bee regarded: lest in the end hee seduce o­thers.

Are these teachers in outward shew religious? auoid them, for as Leo speaketh in his 9. Sermon ac qudragesima, plus plerun (que) pericili est in insidiatore occulto quam in hoste manifesto: there is more daun­ger saieth he in him that is not detected, then in a professed ene­mies, Matters that nothing at all concerne vs haue bene scanda­lous to the Church of God. Augustine and Hierom contended a­bout the gourd of Ionas. Hierom and Ruffinus whither Origen were saued: Aug. in his 17. booke de ciuitate Dei cap. 20 doubteth wi­ther Solomon were saued so doeth Chrysostome in the 68. homily vp­on Matthew and Alphonsus Abulensis writing vpon the 2 of Reg. cap. 7. quaestione vltima. Those thinges that doe not concerne vs, let vs not contend about them, wee haue no such custome, nei­ther the Church of God. Let vs not search into the misteries of God, for what man is he that is able to comprehend them?

Pride is properly incident vnto these teachers, and as Aug. speaketh it is mater omnium haereticorum. The wisdome of man it is foolishnes with God, of our selues wee are not able to thinke a good thought, much lesse to perfourme any thing that is good. [Page] Ambrose compareth the night oule to these kinde of men, Ambr. in Hexa. Ani­mal ist ud haereticorum figura est qui tenebras amplectuntur diaboli lucē saluatoris horrescunt: this creature saieth hee, is a right and perfect figure of heretiques, which delight in palpable darckenesse pe­culiar to the deuill, and cannot abide the light of Christ, & gran­bus disputationum oculis cernunt vana non respiciunt sempiterna, and with their great eies of contention they looke after vanity, and regard not those things that concerne eternity acuti ad superstiti­osa, quicksighthd to spy superstition, hebetes ad diuina, slowe and very dull in Christian Religion, qui dum se putant sub limibus euolare sermonibus by which perswade themselues to flee into heauen with great words, tanquam noctuae veri luminis splendore turbantur: like vnto night oules are throwen downe at the brightnesse of the true light.

A man infected with some one dangerous malady is auoided: for as Aristotle speaketh [...] an infection is alwaies in motu, forthwith it will disperse herselfe. But the infection of the soule, which is heresie as Bernarde speaketh, serpit vt cancer, whē we think it is going away from vs, it commeth vpon vs that is not regarded. The body being sicke, we forthwith haue recourse to sundry expert physicians, and be the disease neuer so dange­rous, one or other is perswaded that he can cure the same. But the soule of man lying in a consumption, that the very essence of Religion, faith in Christ is almost brought to nothing, few re­sort vnto him, that with clay and spittle can open our eies: whose hem of his gramēt can immediatly stay the issue of bloud, who in saying: puella tibi dico surge, damsell I say to thee arise, who can raise the dead to life, who waketh Lazarus out of his sounde sleepe, Lazare veni foras, Lazarus cōe forth? This physician is not sought nor regarded, but it is with vs, as with desperate patients, when the physician perceiueth that there is no way but death, leaueth the patient to his owne appetite, so ducimus in laetis dies nostros, & in puncto ad inferos, descendimus we keepe holy day al the yeare long, and in the twinckling of any eye, we are turned into the pit. We are al perswaded of a trueth, yet we are not resolued of the trueth, much like to the goast that in his traūce pasquill discerned houering in the sphear of the Moone with a weighty stone at his heeles, that gladly would ascend higher, yet the loue that he bare to the world did keep him downe, this was Erasmus [Page] of Roterodame that knew the trueth, and yet for feare of loosing his dignities, in the world durst not professe the same. He that denieth me before man, I will likewise deny him before my father in heauen: he that confesseth me before man, I likewise will ac­knowledge him before my father in heauen. That man that wea­reth the cognisance of a noble man, and vnder him is protected from diuerse that lie in waite to slay him, and receauing sundrie benefits of him, doeth in eury place reuile and slaunder him, he is vnworthy of his benefites already receaued: so wee that beare the cognisance of Christ, & vnder him are protected from three capitall enemies, the world, the flesh, and the diuel, that continu­ally lye in waite to kill both soule and body, doe keepe the cō ­panie of his professed enemies, and associate our selues with pride, luxurie and prodigality, and with them little esteeme of him and his Crosse: we approue our selues vnprofitable seruāts, and greater iniurie then these vnto him, cannot be offered. If we professe Christ in outward shewe, for feare of the Rigour of some penall statute, and in our harts doe not beleeue in him, this pro­fession of ours serueth not. So the diuels likewise know him and acknowledge him, yet they beleeue not in him. In the meane season we are secure, euery one doubteth not his owne estate, ca­thedra Mosis, the chaire of Moses, and we haue Abraham to our father, but these auaile not: diuision is crept in among vs: a king­dome deuided in it selfe cannot stand, concordia res paruae crescunt discordia mazimae dilabuntur. Antioch a famous Citty, as you may read in the 11. of the Acts. in that the faithful beleeuing were cal­led Christians, a Citty greatly honored for Religiō: in so much, it was had in so great honour and reputation that the patriarch had vnder him: 14 metropolitanes, as Ʋolaterane in his 11. book reporteth, there were an hundred and fifty Bishops. The Cittie double walled, for it had foure hundred and threefcore strong towers, and three hundred threescore beautifull Churches, but what of these, they were at diuisiō: some followed the doctrin of Nestorius, others relied wholly vpō Macarius, denying the sonne of God that redeemed them. Insomuch that God being offēded with thē, he sēt Cosroe king of Persia, inuaded the Citty, ouerthro­weth it, put the inhabitāts to fire & sword, & this euēt had schism & diuision. To let passe Constantinople cōquered by the Turke, to omit the Empire of Trapez [...]t, vanquished by him, in that the in­habitants [Page] disseuered themselues in matters of Religiō, in that the Greeke Church dissented from the latin: the Emperor of Constā ­tinople came with the Patriarch to a councel holden at Florence in Italy, & there confirmed the vnity of both Churches, what follo­wed? Marcus B. of Ephesus kindled sedition, peruerted the Em­pire in 14. years after, made great variance among thē: insomuch, that the Turke came suddainly vpon thē, cōquered the Empire, and put them al to the sword: the Emperour in fleeing away was slaine, his head caried vpon a pole in derision, his wife & daugh­ters reserued to satisfie their carnall appetite. This is the ende of sects and schisme. In the time, of Iohn the 9. Pope of Rome, Platina in vi­ta Joh. 9. when as barbarisme had ouer run all Italy, insomuch, that we read nothing worthy memory to haue beene done in that age, that is recōmēded to posterity: there was foūd a monster, in proportion like vnto a man, his head excepted, and that was like vnto a dog, the which resembled the estate and condition of that time, for so long as in hand and foote we cary the shape of a man, if wee haue not that reason and discretion that is giuen vnto vs by God, but according to our appetite, follw that which is not expedient for vs, we approue our selues in the end more like beasts then men, the question at this day betwixt vs & the church of Rome is, whe­ther we fel frō thē, or they from vs. There is say they, no change, no innouatious in our doctrin, that which was deliuered vnto vs, we haue receaued, & that which we receaued, haue we preached & beleeued. Is this true; all of thē agree in it: what is the reason that in their Masse of late years, there haue bene such sundry in­nouations & alterations. Leo the 10. defended in his time, that or­der of the Masse which was secundū vsum Sarum: so did Clemēt the 7. yet Paulus the 4. he began to vary a little from it. Afterwarde came Pius the 5. and he sub anathemate sanxit, none to be authen­ticall but that which hee allowed: Gregory the 13. he liked not of his, & he set out one according as he thought expediēt: afterward Sixtus 5. he caused a new one to printed at Rome with his additiōs which in the year 1588. was printed by Plantine at Andwerp. Tho: Stapleton, he exclameth against vs for our oftē chāge. In that Hē ­ry the 8. lest his 6. articles in force: Edw. the 6. he put thē not in executiō, & her M. hath varied frō thē both. Beloued I knowe no chāge or alteratiō in our doctrine, the book of cōmō praier is the sāe now, that it was at the first, hir M. hath defēded it agaīst the monarchs of Europe, & in great lenity she hath gouerned vs & peace [Page] hath lodged within the wals of our Citties: I pray God long to continue the same euen to the last generation. Gregory Martin in his discouery of corruptions, seemeth to sport at the seueral edi­tions of our English Bibles, in that there is no harmony or cōsent betweene them. The words may vary, but the sense is one & the same, and he whosoeuer he be, forraine or domestique, that shall goe about to alter a knowen and receaued trueth, a white lepro­sie shall marke his forehead, as we haue beene taught, so haue we beleeued, and he that addeth to this booke, God shall adde vnto him all the plagues conteined therein, and hee that taketh any thing away, God shal likewise race out his name out of the book of life, and giue vnto him his portion in the burning lake with hypocrites and foxes.

No Priest may marry: diuerse haue maintayned the same, so Alphonsus Ʋiruesius aduersus Lutheri dogmata affirmeth, and Pe­rionius l. 2. topic: theolog: the Greeke Church haue allowed thereof. Our late Canonists haue founde out a newe deuise, that it is not lawfull for a Monk or a priest to marry openly, but priuatly mino­ri cum dispendio, aliud esse aiunt cum occulto Monachus duxit vxorem, quia tunc magis praesumitur delo peccasse quam intellectus errore. So holdeth Francis Squilla de fide catholica cap. 15. & Ludouicus Carer tractatu de haereticis numero 38. I could lay open seuerall repugnā ­ces among thē, all which will sufficiently approue this, that in the Church of Rome there haue beene and are at this day to be foūd, sundry and diuers innouations. Let vs beloued, be firme and re­solute in the trueth, if any offer vnto vs any other doctrine ten­ding to schisme and dissension refuse the same, and as Basil wri­ting aduersus Anomaeos & Sabillianos [...]: Christ himselfe hath so taught vs: The Apostles of christ haue so preached [...] the fathers in the primitiue church haue obserued the sāe [...]. Let it be sufficiēt then for thee to say, I haue bene thus taught. The A­postle Saint Peter obserueth two especiall properties in them, the one is [...], their intemperancy: they shall be so licentious in their doctrine, that they care not what they speake, the se­cond is their couetousnesse, they preach vnto you, saieth the Apostle not to saue your soules, but to saue themselues to enrich themselues, and these are two notable tokens to discerne a false teacher.

A riotous and luxurious person ouerthroweth himselfe in his prodigality: so these riotous and luxurious preachers they ouer­throw themselues in their superfluities: he that in diputatiō hath once made a breach into any absurdity, he wil not spare to swal­low many: so these hauing erred in the principal points, of chri­stian religion care not what they say. A foole saieth Salomon, he is lauish of his tongue, and hee that is vnaduised in his speach shall feele mischiefes. Dauid attributeth to a slaunderous tongue a fit reward, and that is hoat consuming coales. Saint Iames in his third cap. A horse, saith he, is an vnruly beast, if once he haue the bit in his mouth, will turne according to the will of the rider: a ship, a huge and vast vessell is ruled in the sea by a little peece of tim­ber: the tongue is a little member, and it polluteth the whole bo­dy. There are few years in the which our physicians doe not giue out, that there is a new disease, insomuch, they are ignorant how and in what order to proceede. This sommer past, diuerse haue beene infected with a dangerous malady tearmed [...], their tongues haue had such a shaking ague, that seldome they were at rest: Hee saieth the Apostle, that offendeth not vvith his tongue, he is a perfect man. Homer obserueth, that Irus the begger was [...], one that vsed no measure in speaking, but in Menelaus he noteth this in him, that he vsed to speake [...], few words, yet [...], euery word weighed a pounde. Au­gustine in xlv. Sermon, ad fratres in eremo, describeth sundry incō ­ueniences that haue happened vnto diuers by this excessiue ri­ot: videte fratres, saith he, quanta mala habet lingua: brethren, sun­dry are the inconueniences that the tongue bringeth. In bono magna est, in malo mors est, laudable in a good man, but present death it is in a wicked man. Diabolus vnde cecedit? Can you tel me how the diuell came by his fall: numquid adulterium fecit? assure your selues he committed no adultery: numquid furtum fecit, theft he neuer committed: diabolus non propter hoc cecidit, the diuill was not expelled out of heauen for these things: sed propter linguam, cum dixit in caelum ascendam super sydera, ponā thronum meum, & ero altissimo: onely his tongue was in fault, when he saied, hee would ascend vp into heauen, and place his seate aboue the starres, and be equall to God himselfe.

In the Church of England there is but one vniforme consent of praier, ratified by autority, yet that forme and order of praier, [Page] cannot by no meanes be receaued. For we wil pray as we are dis­posed. This mans praier is effectuall, it conteineth in it, all things that are requisite to corporall sustenance, or spirituall comfort. The prayer prescribed in the Church by authority, they are thankesgiuings for victories obteyned by Dauid, or else if of late yeares they haue beene set downe, they doe not concerne the state of the present time. Againe, diuerse are so addicted to their own fātasies, that if it be not adorned with variety of choise words, and beautified with metaphors, contayning sundry and diuerse repetitions, they doe not regarde the same. Our cōming to the Church is to praise God, with one vniforme consent of praier, one man he hath writen praiers, and so he praieth to him­selfe. Another, he deuiseth a praier as he kneeleth, if the preacher be not as they require, they will not repaire to heare him. One man he commēdeth the order of praiers, prescribed by the faith­full brethren of the Church of Scotland, another alloweth not so well of that, as he doeth of certaine praiers that were priuily printed of late yeares: in fine, so they may deface the vniforme order of praier, in the booke of common prayer they could bee con­tent to receaue any order whatsoeuer. John Penry his vnlerned confutation of Master D. Bancroftes sermon. Iohn Penrie hath of late set forth a paltry pamphlet, carying a shew of a confutation of a learned Sermon, preached out of this place, by a learned and a reuerende man, wherein hee inueigheth against notable and learned pointes of doctrine, the which the poore seely soule doeth not vnderstand. And to aggrauate the matter, hee desireth them vnto whose hands his booke shall come, to per­use the Collect appointed for Saint Michaell the Archangell, wherein he saieth, there is plainly set downe a plaine article, of popery, praier to Saints. On the other side, I desire you, that at this day heare me, at your comming home to peruse the collect, if you can finde any one such point therein conteyned, tending to his wordes. I will recant this that I say, if not, I beseech you for Gods cause suspect these men, that seeke nothing but the ouerthrow of Religion, and the subuersion of the state, yet all is not they would haue it, you haue gotten the start of vs. Our bookes are forbidden, our printing presses are taken from vs, and our prolocutor. T. C. is now in durance. Libanius the Sophist, made a Rhetoricall declamation, adorned with tropes, beau­tified with variety of sentences, and the phrase of it selfe so [Page] fluent and copious that Iulian the Apostate perusing the same, cried out, [...]. Libanius saieth he, thou art aureus partus matris tuae. I neuer heard of the like: [...], O the excel­lencie of thy declamation [...], what an inuincible ar­gument hast thou, [...], I haue not seene so elegant a dispo­sition, [...], and so forth. So these men T. C. hath ouerthrown them by the word of God, if his tongue and pen were at liber­ty, he is now better furnished then euer he was. The presbytery of England should be furnished with sufficient preachers, all scā ­dals remoued, the gouernement of the Church should peacea­bly be gouerned, and the spirit of prophecy should not be ex­tinguished. Well I am assured of one thing, I shall haue no thankes for my labour, and I looke for none, what I haue spoken is for the duty that I owe to the Church of God, and to benefit the same.

The Apostle would haue vs to pray continually, lifting vp pure handes vnto heauen, and as long as we heape one innoua­tion vpon the necke of another, so long we exceed in excessiue riot and blaspheme the way of truth. The second thing that the Apostle obserueth in these false teachers is, their couetous­nesse, a fault not tolerable in them that are appointed by God to instruct his people. This vice it is too too common among vs. Our liuings are pared and little is reserued for vs, patrones cā be content to keepe them in their owne hands, or if they cannot he that is presented vnto it, of necessity he must offer somewhat to the siluer shrine of Simon before his institution. Others againe that haue sufficient, they prouide for others, & heap vp riches for their childrē. In the meane season, open exclamatiōs are soūded forth derogatory to the church & her ministers. Hierō writing v­pō the 143. Psa. Videtis saith he, magistros haereticorum nihil aliud fa­cere nisi studere diuitijs: diuitijs studēt & pauperē Christū cōtēnunt, it is the custōe of false teachers to heap vp riches in making greater accoūt of this world, thē they doe of Christ. Couetousnes, it hath ouerthrowen multitudes, it is the root of al mischiefe, vnde habeas, quaerit nemo, sed oportet habere, so we haue it, we care not how, & in what order we come by it, [...]. Bern. in a treatise that he writeth de bonis deserēdis deciphereth the estate of his time. A gentleman saith hee hath 4. children. This say they shall haue an aduousion of some cōpetent personage, [Page] the other shall attend vpon my Lord Bishop, vt ditetur de bonis do­mini ne in nostros liberos nostra diuidatur haereditas. This shall attend in the Vniuersity vpon some one man that shall be heade of an house. And in time it may so fall out, that in delicijs & delictis nu­tritus Archidia conatu dignus habeatur, he shall be a fit man to bee an Archdeacon. Another, that by reason of his pouerty hath no frends, vndi (que) sedulus circuit, rangeth vp and downe the country: obsequitur blanditur, simulat & dissimulat, with cap and knee he at­tendeth on his patrone, if at the last he may intrude himselfe in patrimonium crucifixi & bona domini, vpon the goods of the Church: quae sola ex omnibus hodie inueniuntur exposita, the which a­lone at this day are laied open for euery one, in the meane season he vnto whom these goods appertaine which is Christ, peregre profectus est, hee is gone abroade, in plenilunio rediturus, at the full moone he purposeth to returne: and of all these he will seuerely exact his own. If any think that I haue gone further thē I should, he is deceaued, Bernard de bo­ [...]is deserendis. these words are not mine but Bernards. Saint Paul he pointeth at these teachers and telleth vs: quae sua sunt quaerentes non quae Iesu Christi, they seeke those things that concerne them­selues, and not those things which concerne the honour of god. Such a one was Nicholas one of the seuen deacons: and Simō Ma­gus if he could haue purchased the holy Ghost with his money, he would not haue bene a loser. Liuings of the Church are sale­able ware in these daies, sundry intrude themselues into liuinges, of the which they are vnworthy. Giez [...] in the 4. Reg. c. 5. for his si­mony was stricken with a leprosie. Iudas in selling our redēption hanged himselfe. Simon Magus for his voluntary proffer, hee was vtterly reiected by S. Peter Act. 8. Christ he draue away these money changers out of his temple.

Men so that they may obtain riches what waies they vse they care not. Church lands are not greatly sought for: but if they lie in their way, they can easily be intreated to take them. Our aun­cestores, thought it works of charity to builde Churches, & their progeny vpon a zeale, pull downe Churches ecclesias Christi quas fundauere parentes, perdere nitunturnati pietate carentes. I will leaue this, and hasten to the thirde and last part of my diuision. Let vs beloued, liue together in Christian vnity, verily saieth Christ, if you loue one another then are you my Disciples, let vs auoide al excesse whatsoeuer, and euery one labour to maintain the truth, for