WHat is your name?

N. or M.

Who gaue you this name?

My Godfathers, and Godmothers in my Baptisme, wherein I was mad [...] a member of Christ; the child of God, [...] an inheritor of the kingdome of Heauen

What did your Godfathers, and Godm [...] thers then for you?

They did promise and vowe thr [...] things in my name.

First, that I should forsake the Diue [...] and all his works, and pomps, the vanities of the wicked World, and all t [...] sinfull lusts of the flesh.

Secondly, that I should beleeue the Articles of the christian faith.

And thirdly, that I should keepe [...] [...]ly will and commaundements [...] [Page] walkein the same all the daies of my life.

Dost thou not thinke that thou art bound to beléeue, and to doe as they haue pro­mised for thée?

Yes verely. And by Gods helpe so I will. And I hartely thanke our heauen­ly Father, that he hath called me to this state of saluation, through Iesus Christ our Sauiour. And I pray God to giue me his grace that I may continue in the same vnto my liues end.

Rehearse the Articles of thy Beléefe.

I Beleeue in God, the Father al­mighty, maker of Heauen and earth. And in Iesus Christ his onely Son our Lord, which was con­cei [...]ed by the holie Ghost. Borne of the Virgin Marie. Suffered vnder Ponce P [...]late. Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into Hell, the third day he rose agayne from the dead. He ascended into Heauen, & sitteth at the right hand of God the father almighty. From thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the [Page] dead. I beleeue in the holy Ghost. The holy Catholike Church. The Commu­nion of Saints. The forgiuenes of sins, The resurrection of the body. And the life euerlasting, Amen.

What doest thou chiefly learne in these Ar­ticles of thy beleefe?

First, I learne to beleeue in God the Father, who hath made mee and all the World.

Secondly, in God the Sonne, who hath redeemed me and all mankinde.

Thirdly, in God the holy Ghost, who sanctifieth mee and all the elect people of GOD.

You said that your Godfathers & Godmo­thers did promise for you, that you should keepe Gods commaundements: tell mee how many there be?

Tenne.

Which be they?

THe same which God spake in the xx. Chapter of Exodus, saying, I am the Lord thy GOD, which haue brought thee out of the Land of E­gipt, [Page] out of the house of bondage.

i. Thou shalt haue none other Gods but mee.

ii. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image, nor the likenesse of any thing that is in Heauen aboue, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the water vnder the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to thē, nor worship thē. For I y ^e Lord thy God am a iealous God, & visite the sins of the fathers vpon their children, vnto y ^e third & fourth generatiō of them that hate me, & shew mercie vnto thousands of them y ^e loue me, & keepe my Commandements.

iii. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine, for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine.

iiii. Remember that thou keepe holy the Saboath day, Six daies shalt thou la­bour & do all that thou hast to doe. But y ^e [Page] seuenth day is the Saboath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of worke, thou & thy son, & thy daughter, thy man seruant, & thy maid seruant, thy cattell & the stranger that is within thy gates. For in sixe dayes the Lord made Heauē & Earth, the Sea, & all y ^t in them is, & rested the seuenth day: wherefore y ^e lord blessed y ^e seuenth day, & hallowed it.

v. Honor thy Father and thy Mother, that thy dayes may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giueth thee.

vi. Thou shalt doe no murder.

vii. Thou shalt not commit adulterie.

viii. Thou shalt not steale.

ix. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy Neighbour.

x. Thou shalt not couet thy Neighbors house. Thou shalt not couet thy Neigh­bours [Page] Wife, nor his Seruant, nor his Maid, nor his Oxe, nor his Asse, nor a­ny thing that is his.

What doest thou chiefly learne by these Commaundements?

I learne two things. My duty toward god. And my duty toward my neighbor.

What is thy dutie towards GOD?

My duty towards God, is to beleeue in him, to feare him, & to loue him, with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soule, and with all my strength. To worship him, to giue him thankes, to put my whole trust in him: to call vpon him: to honour his holy name & his word: and to serue him truly all the days of my life.

What is thy dutie towards thy Neighbor?

My dutie towards my Neighbour, is to loue him as my selfe. And to doe to all men as I would they should do vnto me. To loue, honor, & succor my Father and Mother. To honor, & obey the Queene, & her Ministers. To submit my selfe to [Page] all my gouernours, teachers, spirituall Pastors, & Ministers. To order my selfe lowly, and reuerently to all my betters. To hurt no body by word nor deed. To bee true and iust in all my dealing. To beare no malice nor hatred in my heart. To keepe my hāds from picking & stea­ling. And my tongue from euil speaking, lying & slandering, to keepe my body in temperance, sobernesse, & chastitie. Not to couet nor desire other mens goods: but learne & labour truly to get my owne li­uing, & to do my duty in that state of life, vnto which it shal please God to call me.

My good Child know this, that thou art not able to doe these things of thy selfe, nor to walke in the commaundements of God, & to serue him without his especiall grace, which thou must learne at all times to call for by diligent prayer: let me heare there­fore if thou canst say the Lords prayer.

OVr Father which art in Heauen, hallowed be thy name. Thy king­dome come. Thy will be done in [Page] earth, as it is in Heauen. Giue vs this day our dayly bread. And forgiue vs our trespasses, as we forgiue them that tres­pas against vs. And leade vs not into temptation. But deliuer vs from euill.

What desirest thou of God in this prayer?

I desire my Lord God our heauēly fa­ther, who is the giuer of all goodnes, to send his grace vnto me and vnto all peo­ple. That we may worship him, serue him, and obey him as wee ought to doe. And I pray vnto God, that he will send vs al things that be needful both for our soules and bodies. And that he will bee merciful vnto vs, & forgiue vs our sinnes. And that it will please him to saue & de­fend vs in all dangers ghostly & bodily. And that he will keepe vs from all sinne & wickednes, & from our ghostly enemy, and from euerlasting death. And this I trust he will doe of his mercy & goodnes, through our Lord Iesus Christ, & there­fore I say, Amen. So be it.

I would my good Child heare of thée yet more largely the speciall duties of certain persons: and first of those duties that doe stand chiefly in obedience, and vertue, (by reason of thine age and condition) special­ly appertaining vnto thee. Tell me there­fore first, what is the dutie of Subiects towards their Prince?

The holy Apostles saint Paule & saint Peter declaring that the higher powers are ordained of god, & that who­soeuer do resist the power, resist the ordi­nance of God, and doe purchase to them­selues damnation: do straightly charge all Subiects to feare, loue, and to honor their Prince. Humbly to obay all their Princes Lawes, Commaundements, & Ministers or Officers. And that not for feare onely, but for conscience sake also. To pay all Tributes, & Subsidies due to their Prince. And with al their goods & bodie, faithfully to serue their Prince. Hartely to pray to God for their Prince, that he may continue, and encrease in all goodnes & godlines, Or for his amend­ment [Page] if it chance that he be euill. And in all things to bee themselues good Sub­iects, that they may the better deserue to haue a good Prince.

Now tell mée the duties of Children to­wardes their Parents.

The holy Scriptures doe teach Chil­dren to obey their Parents, and to serue them, to feare, loue, honor, and reuerence them, not onely in word and deed, but in their hearts and minds also. To follow their good precepts and examples of life. And patiently to take correction at their hands. And to make continuall and har­tie prayers to God for them. And to re­lieue & nourish their Parents in case they shall fall into pouertie or decay. And in all points (by shewing themselues obedi­ent and good children) to mooue their pa­rents to bee louing and good to them.

I would now haue thée to shew mee what thou hast learned concerning the dutie of spirituall Children, as Parishioners and Hearers, towards their Pastors & Prea­chers, as their spirituall Fathers.

Parishioners and Hearers are commaunded in the word of GOD, to giue double honor vnto their Pastors, & preachers, that is, aswell to reuerence and obey them, as also to assist and ayde them in word & deed. And they ought to take great care, that the good seede of Gods word by them sowne, through the lacke of their good heed taking, and following of the same, do not perish, as cast into sto­nie and barren grounds.

Declare now the dutie of Seruants.

Seruants are thus taught their du­ties to their Masters in the holy Scrip­tures: seruants obey them that are your bodily Maisters in al things with feare & trembling, in singlenes of your hart as vnto Christ, not with eye seruice as men pleasers, but as the seruants of Christ, & whatsoeuer you doe, doe it as the will of God, hartily & with good wil, as seruing the Lord and not men: Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receiue y ^e reward of in­heritance, for ye serue the Lord Christ.

Now my good Child, though thou by age hast as yet more néed of thy precepts of obedi­ence, then of gouernement, yet because God may & will I trust make thée a good old man, I would not haue thée ignorant how to be­haue thy selfe in any estate of life, whereunto God may call thée hereafter. Wherefore I would haue thée to tell me, what on the other part thou hast learned touching the duties of Parents, Maisters, or Houshoulders, & also of Husbands & Wiues: and first what is the dutie of Parents toward their Children?

The dutie of Parents towards their children (as the same Apostle S. Paule teacheth) is to bring them vp euen from the cradle, in the feare and nurture of the Lord, in shamefastnesse, hatred of vice, and loue of all vertue. And to be them­selues vnto their children, examples of all godlines, and vertuousnes. And they ought to see their children kept frō idle­nesse, the Mother of all mischiefes, and brought vp either in learning, or in some good science or Art, whereby they may get their liuings with honstye & truth, when they doe come to age.

Procéed now to the duties of Maisters and Houshoulders.

I haue learned that Maisters and Houshoulders, as they are become in the stead of Parents to their Seruants and families, so ought they to refraine them from idlenesse, and by diligent instructi­on and good example, to bring vp their seruants and housholdes in honest and comely manners, and in all vertue. And they ought to instruct their Apprentices in the knowledge of their occupatiōs, e­uen as Parents would teach their own Children, without all fraude, delaying, or concealing: and when correction is necessarie, they ought to giue it thē with such discretion, pitie, and desire of their amendment, as louing Parents vse to deale with their deare children, remem­bring alway that they haue also a Mai­ster in Heauen.

Tell me nowe the dutie of Husbands to­warde their Wiues.

I haue learned that the holy Apostle [Page] Saint Peter, (who was himselfe a ma­ried man) and S. Paule also, doe teach maried men to liue with their wiues dis­creetlie, according vnto knowledge and without all bitternesse. And to loue, che­rish, and to nourish their wiues, euen as their owne bodies. Yea that Husbands ought to loue their wiues euen as Christ loued the Church, and gaue himselfe for it to sanctifie it.

Shew me now how Wiues ought to be­haue thēselues towards their Husbands.

I haue learned also, that the same holy Apostles S. Paule and S. Peter do teach that wiues ought to reuerence their Husbands, and that they should submit themselues, and be obedient vnto their owne husbands, as vnto the Lord: for the Husband is the Wiues head, e­uen as Christ is the head of the Church. Therefore as the Church or Congrega­tion is subiect vnto Christ: so likewise the Wiues also should bee in subiection vnto their own Husbands in all things [Page] as is conuenient in the Lord, euen as Sa­ra obayed Abraham & called him Lord. And Wiues are forbidden in the holie scriptures to weare gorgious or sump­tuous apparell, or broydred haire trim­med with gold. But that after the ex­ample of holy womē that trusted in god, they should be sober in outward apparell and be decked inwardly with vertues of their mindes, as with gentlenes, meeke­nes, quietnes, and chastitie, which are most precious things in the sight of god.

How many Sacraments hath Christ or­dayned in his Church?

Two. Baptisme, and the Supper of the Lord.

What meanest y ^u by this word Sacrament?

I meane an outward and visible signe, representing an inward and inui­sible spirituall grace, ordayned by Christ himselfe, to testifie Gods good will and bountifulnes towards vs, through the same Christ our Sauiour, by the which Gods promises, touching forgiuenes of [Page] sinnes, and eternall saluation, giuen through Christ, are as it were sealed, & the truth of them is more certainely con­firmed in our hearts.

How many parts then bée there in a Sa­crament?

Two: the outward visible signe, and the inward spirituall grace.

What is the outward signe or forme in Baptisme?

Water, wherein the person Baptised is dipped or sprinkled with it, in the name of the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghost.

What is the secret and spirituall grace?

Forgiuenes of sinnes, & regeneration or new birth. Both which we haue by y ^e death & resurrectiō of Christ, & therof we haue a pledge & seale in this Sacramēt.

Shew mée the effect of Baptisme yet more plainely.

Where by nature wee are none of Gods Church or houshould, but through [Page] sin are the children of wrath, most wor­thy of eternall damnation: wee are by baptisme receiued into the Church, and assured that we are now the Children of God, ioyned and grafted into the body of Christ, and become his members, and doe grow into one body with him.

What is required of persons to be baptized?

Faith and Repentance.

Declare this more largely.

First, wee must earnestly repent vs of our former wicked life, and beleeue assu­redly that we are clensed frō our sinnes by the blood of Christ, and so made ac­ceptable to God, and that his holy spirit dwelleth in vs. And according to our profession & promise made in baptisme, wee ought to endeauour our selues to mortifie our flesh, and by our godly life to shew that we haue put on Christ, and haue his spirit giuen vs.

Why then are Infants baptized, when by reason of their tender age, they can­not yet performe these things?

Because they belong to GODS [Page] Church, and Gods blessing and promise made to the Church by Christ, in the faith of the which Christ our Sauiour they are baptized, pertayneth vnto thē. Which when they come to age, they must themselues learne, beleeue, and acknow­ledge, and endeauour in their liues to ex­presse the dutie at their baptisme profes­sed and promised.

What is the order of the Lords Supper?

The same which the Lord Christ did institute, who in the same night that he was betraied, tooke bread, and when he had giuen thankes, he brake it and gaue it to his disciples, saying: Take, eate, this is my body which is giuen for you, doe this in remembrance of mee. Like­wise after Supper, he tooke the cuppe, and when he had giuen thanks, he gaue it to them saying: Drinke ye all of this, for this is my blood of the newe Testa­ment, which is shed for you and for ma­ny, for remission of sinnes: do this as oft as ye shall drinke it, in remembrance of [Page] me. This forme and order we ought to hold, truly to keepe, and to celebrate de­uoutly till he come againe.

To what vse?

For a continuall thankefull remem­brance of his death, and the benefites that wee receiue thereby. And that as in baptisme we are borne againe, so with the Lords Supper we are alwaies fed and sustained to spirituall & euerlasting life. And therefore it is ynough to bee once baptised, as to be once borne: but as we need oft to be fed, so is the Lords Supper oft to be receiued.

What are the parts and matter of this Sa­crament?

The matter and parts hereof, euen as of baptisme, are of two sorts: the one is earthly and sensible, the other is heauen­ly & remoued from all outward senses.

What is the earthly and sensible part?

Bread and Wine: both which mat­ters, the Lord hath expresly commanded all to receiue.

What is the heauenly part and matter [Page] remooued from all outward sences?

The body & blod of Christ, which are giuen, taken, eaten, and drunken of the faithfull in the Lords supper, only after a heauenly and spirituall maner, but yet verely & indeed. Insomuch that as the Bread nourisheth our bodies: so Christs body hath most singuler force spiritually by faith to feed our soules. And as with wine mens hearts are cheered, and their strengths confirmed, so with his blood our soules are refreshed through faith, which is the meane whereby the body & blood of Christ are receiued in the Sup­per. And that Christ as surely maketh them that beleeue in him, partakers of his body and blood, as they surely know that they haue receiued the bread & wine with their mouths and stomacks.

Is then the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body & blood of Christ?

No. For that were to destroy the na­ture of a sacrament, which must consist both of heauenly and earthly matter.

Was this Supper ordayned of Christ to be [Page] offered as a Sacrifice to God the Fathe [...] for remission of sinnes?

No. For the burden of sin, and dam­nation due vnto it, is so great & horrible that the sonne of God Iesus Christ one­ly was able to offer sacrifice for our deli­uerance frō the same. When Christ ther­fore our Sauiour died vpon the crosse, he once for all fullie made that euerlasting sacrifice acceptable to God the Father, for the propitiation of sinne, washing vs from the same in his blood for our salua­tion for euer: & hath left nothing for vs to do, but firmely to fix our faith in him, and thankefully to take the vse and be­nefite of that eternall sacrifice which we chiefly doe in the Lordes Supper.

What is our dutie to doe, that wée may come rightly to the Lords Supper.

To examine our selues whether wee be true members of Christ.

By what token shall wée know this?

First, if wee hartily repent vs of our sinnes. Next, if we stay our selues and rest in a sure hope of Gods mercie tho­row [Page] Christ, with a thankefull remem­ [...]rance of our redemptiō purchased by his [...]eath. Moreouer, if we conceiue an ear­ [...]est minde & determinate purpose to lead [...]ur life godly hereafter. Finally, if seing [...] the Lords Supper is conteyned a to­ [...]en of friendship & loue among men, wee [...]eare brotherly loue to our neighbours, [...]hat is, to all men, without any euill will [...]r hatred.