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<DATE>2013-12-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>An Adverti&s;ement.</HEAD>
<P>AT the earne&s;t reque&s;t of &s;ome Friends I have been prevailed with to publi&s;h this &s;mall Treati&s;e, which had been &s;ooner done, had it not been &s;eized in the Pre&s;s in the Year <HI>1667;</HI> by which the Reader will ea&s;ily &s;ee what a pro&s;pect the Author <HI>then</HI> had of the Mi|&s;eries we <HI>now</HI> groan under, and with what Zeal he <HI>then</HI> earne&s;tly laboured to open the eyes of Eng|li&s;hmen, again&s;t the cur&s;ed Plots and Contrivan|ces of the bloud-thir&s;ty Papi&s;ts.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>M. D.</SIGNED> <DATELINE><DATE><HI>June 18. 1681.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE INCREASE OF <HI>Popery in England,</HI> Since the Reformation made by King <HI>Henry</HI> VIII.</P>
<P><HI>SHEWING</HI> The great encouragement that Prie&s;ts, Je&s;uits, and other Promoter. of that bloudy Religion have had from <HI>Per|&s;ons of Power and Authority.</HI> The Di&s;couragements and notori|ous Hard&s;hips, even to Silencing, and Bani&s;hment from Cities and Corporations, that have been the portion of many able and faithful <HI>Prote&s;tant Mini&s;ters,</HI> that have eminently oppo&s;ed it. With an E&s;&s;ay towards what may po&s;&s;ibly befall the Chur|ches of Chri&s;t from the Helli&s;h Contrivances and Damnable Plots of <HI>Romi&s;h Emi&s;&s;aries.</HI></P>
<P>With a faithful Extract out of the mo&s;t Authentick Records of the mo&s;t memorable things referring to the Refor|mation, <HI>viz.</HI> King <HI>Henry</HI> VIII. his Rea&s;ons given in his Proclamation for taking away the Popes U&s;urped Power. His Prote&s;tation again&s;t the Pope. His Injunctions to his Clergy. Bi&s;hop <HI>St phen Gardener</HI>'s Oath or Prote&s;tation, and his Rea&s;ons again&s;t the Popes Supremacy in <HI>Eng|land.</HI> And the publick Agreement of the whole Clergy of <HI>England,</HI> as confirmed and ratified in the Book called <HI>The Bi&s;hops Book,</HI> publi&s;hed in the Year 1534.</P>
<P><HI>Intended to be publi&s;hed in the Year</HI> 1667, <HI>but &s;eized at the Pre&s;s by</HI> R.L.S. <HI>and others.</HI></P>
<P><HI>By the late Reverend</HI> William Dell, <HI>&s;ometime Rector of Yelden in Bedford&s;hire.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Richard Janeway,</HI> 1681.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<PB N="1" REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>FOra&s;much as the great and &s;udden growth of <HI>Popery</HI> in the&s;e three Nations, e&s;pecially in <HI>England,</HI> (which hath now for a long time, through the Merciful Goodne&s;s of God, flouri&s;hed and been happy in the True Reformed <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Religion) is now &s;uffici|ently manife&s;t to all who have not either blinded their own Eies, or been blinded by Satan. And fora&s;much as the means whereby this great Mi&s;ery and <HI>My&s;tery of Iniquity</HI> hath been brought thus far, to this dreadful and unhappy &s;ucce&s;s, are al&s;o as fully manife&s;t, to wit:</P>
<P><HI>First,</HI> The great Countenance and Incouragement that this Heretical and Bloudy Religion hath had from Per&s;ons of Pow|er and Authority, together with all the dete&s;table Profe&s;&s;ors and Promoters thereof, <HI>Papi&s;ts, Prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Je&s;uites,</HI> who have their daily Councils and Cabals, in the Highe&s;t Places, to pro|mote this great De&s;ign of the Devil, and of his Fir&s;t-Born on Earth the <HI>Pope,</HI> even to &s;et up the old <HI>Damnable Super&s;tition and Doctrine of that Man of Sin,</HI> whom the <HI>Weekly Pamphleteer</HI> terms (very devoutly) <HI>His Holine&s;s,</HI> and yet is no other indeed and truth, than <HI>His Wickedne&s;s;</HI> the Old Enemy of Chri&s;t and his true Chri&s;tians and Followers, the <HI>Son of Perdition;</HI> the Angel of the <HI>Bottomle&s;s Pit;</HI> the De&s;troyer and Murderer of Souls and Bodies; the impudent <HI>Agent of Hell upon Earth;</HI> the Devils chief Servant and Factor for his Kingdom of Darkne&s;s; the Mon&s;ter of Mon&s;ters, who hath abu&s;ed, aba&s;ed and va&s;&s;alized all Chri|&s;tian <HI>Princes,</HI> made him&s;elf &s;uperiour to them, yea their very <HI>Lord</HI> and <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> even <HI>in their own Dominions;</HI> who hath inforced all their People, not only by his frivolous Excommunications, but al&s;o by Fire and Faggot, by Impri&s;onments, Tortures and all man|ner of exqui&s;ite Cruelties: (which are the only Weapons of his Warfare) to bow down to this <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> and to own him as God, &s;it|ting in the <HI>Temple of God,</HI> not only directly again&s;t God, but mo&s;t Proudly and In&s;olently above him: Who hath pilled and polled them of all their Money and Riches (which is the only Fi&s;h this great Fi&s;her of <HI>Rome</HI> fi&s;hes for) who hath di&s;turbed, interdict|ed, di&s;ordered, wa&s;ted and overturned whole Empires, King|doms and Nations, at his Wicked Plea&s;ure, and hath been no other through all Ages than Satans eminent Vicegerent upon Earth. This, this prodigious and unparalell'd Wretch, mu&s;t now in the mid&s;t of three <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Nations, be publickly &s;tiled
<PB N="2" REF="3" MS="y"> <HI>His Holine&s;s</HI> for&s;ooth! who only is holy as Satan is holy; for it may truly be &s;aid of him, above any other, <HI>He is of his Father the Devil, and of his works he doth.</HI> I &s;ay the countenancing of this Damnable <HI>Religion,</HI> and of this <HI>abominable Sect,</HI> and of <HI>the chief H ad</HI> of it, the <HI>Pope,</HI> is one great cau&s;e of the <HI>new Increa&s;e</HI> of this <HI>Catholique Her<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> among&s;t us.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Another cau&s;e is, <HI>The open and notorious di&s;countenan|cing, di&s;couraging, &s;ilencing, di&s;placing and bani&s;hing from the Chief Cities, and Towns in</HI> England, <HI>all the ab e, faithful, and godly Mini|sters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Who being the diligent, painful and &s;incere Teachers of his true Doctrine, &s;et forth in his Go&s;pel for the &s;al|vation of <HI>Souls,</HI> and for the reducing the <HI>lo&s;t Sheep to the fold of the true Shepherd,</HI> were the greate&s;t and &s;tronge&s;t Bulwark again&s;t <HI>Popery</HI> in the Nation. For <HI>His Wickedne&s;s,</HI> i. e. the <HI>Pope</HI> and his Wicked Followers, knew well enough that <HI>Popery</HI> could never t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke root again and pro&s;per in the&s;e Nations, if the&s;e Mens Mouths were open. They knew well enough that their dark Doctrine and Kingdom could never prevail, where the clear light of the Go&s;pel &s;hines. And therefore they u&s;ed their chief Artifices and Satanical Subtilties, to &s;educe the Secular <HI>Authority</HI> to run on their Errand, and to do their Drudgery; even to Sup|pre&s;s, Impri&s;on and Bani&s;h <HI>The&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> upon &s;light and forged Preten|ces, and in their &s;tead to foi&s;t in a number of ignorant, unlearn|ed, loo&s;e, worldly, profane and debauched Prie&s;ts, in every Ci|ty, Town and Pari&s;h; Men generally, who neither under&s;tand the Law nor the Go&s;pel, neither know God nor Them&s;elves, nor are endued with any &s;ound and &s;erious knowledge of any th ng; that &s;o the&s;e keeping away the Light of the Knowledge of the Truth from the people, they (poor Souls) <HI>might walk in darkn &s;s, and not know whither they go,</HI> though they &s;hould be led into <HI>Popery</HI> again, which is the Open, Broad Way to Hell.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Another Cau&s;e is, <HI>The letting loo&s;e the reins to all man|n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r of Ungodline&s;s and Unrighteou&s;n &s;s what&s;oever,</HI> that Men, not onely without controul, but with countenance, may be as wick|ed as they can be in the World; may Whore, commit Adulte|ry, Revel, Drink, Swear, Bla&s;pheme, Reproach the Holy Word of God, Vilifie his Mini&s;ters, Abu&s;e and Per&s;ecute his People, in the greate&s;t freedom the Devil can give; whereby Hell is let loo&s;e upon Earth, and the Smoak of the Bottomle&s;s Pit, that is, Sin and Wickedne&s;s of all Sorts and Sizes, hath filled and darkened the Nation; and Men are gone to the highe&s;t ex|tent of Wickedne&s;s that can be practi&s;ed on Earth; that if they would be wor&s;e, they mu&s;t go to Hell in Hell. And that which hath had a Stretched-out Arm to bring about this Kingdom of the Devil among&s;t Men, is, the frequent acting and frequent|ing of Stage-Plays, wherein the mo&s;t Holy and Dreadful Name of God is pro&s;tituted to the Abu&s;e and Contempt of every ba&s;e Villain; where the Preaching of the Word and Prayer, the High|e&s;t
<PB N="3" REF="3"> and mo&s;t Sacred Ordinances of God, are &s;corned and jeered in the pre&s;ence of great Per&s;ons, where all Vice, and Wickedne&s;s, and Filthine&s;s are made <HI>familiar and pl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;ant</HI> to the People. The&s;e are the <HI>Nur&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ries</HI> of Hell, and the <HI>Seed-plots</HI> of Damnation, where|by mo&s;t of our greate&s;t Per&s;ons, and of the Gentry are <HI>corrupted, and rendred wholly u&s;ele&s;s for any worthy or noble employment in the Commonwealth:</HI> they being through their influence become <HI>brui|ti&s;h, and without under&s;tanding, wor&s;e than the Bea&s;ts that peri&s;h, and viler than the Earth.</HI> For the <HI>Pope</HI> knows, that as Chri&s;t ga|thers his <HI>Kingdom</HI> here in the <HI>world,</HI> of the <HI>Elect and Faithful;</HI> &s;o <HI>his Wickedne&s;s</HI> mu&s;t gather <HI>his <HI>Kingdom</HI></HI> out of <HI>th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">m that peri&s;h,</HI> who have <HI>made &s;hipwrack of Faith and good Con&s;ci<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nce,</HI> and are throughly practi&s;ed to <HI>commit all inquity with gr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">edine&s;s.</HI> And now when Men are brought to this &s;ad pa&s;s, that they are of no Religion at all, but are very Athei&s;ts, &s;o that they can mock at the Name of God, and at his Holy Word, and mo&s;t Ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, then are they become <HI>&s;it Subjects</HI> to receive Antichri&s;ts Religion, which can plea&s;e them with Organs and Anthems, and with Vain-Shews, Ceremonies and May-Games, and thereby can &s;tifle their unquiet Con&s;ciences: and <HI>He</HI> by his fal&s;e <HI>Pardons</HI> and <HI>Indulgences,</HI> can yet drive them more headlong into Sin; bearing them in hand in the mean time, that though his favour, (which al&s;o is to be procured by Money) though they commit all the&s;e a|bominations, they are notwith&s;tanding in a fair way to Heaven.</P>
<P>By which <HI>Catholique Cheat</HI> of his, he de&s;troys innumerable Souls of tho&s;e whom God in his ju&s;t Judgment, <HI>becau&s;e they re|ceived not the Truth of the Go&s;pel in the love of it, hath given up to <HI>his</HI> &s;trong delu&s;ions, to believe <HI>his Lyes.</HI></HI></P>
<P>By the&s;e <HI>Three Means,</HI> be&s;ides others, things are brought to that pa&s;s, that <HI>Popery</HI> is become the onely <HI>&s;afe</HI> and <HI>thriving way;</HI> and thou&s;ands of People who&s;e Names are not Written in the Book of Life, &s;eeing <HI>&s;afety, favour</HI> and <HI>preferments attend it,</HI> run headlong to it, and greedily take Antichri&s;ts <HI>Mark in their Fore|head and in their right hand,</HI> for the &s;ake of pre&s;ent <HI>&s;ecurity and pro|fit,</HI> not con&s;idering <HI>their latter end.</HI> Yea, they are become &s;o tho|rough and hearty in this their new Undertaking for the <HI>Catho|lique Cau&s;e,</HI> that through the help they have received by Mo|ney and Arms, together with their &s;trong Incouragements from <HI>Rome,</HI> (which is the chief Wheel in this Motion) they are now ready at a Day and an Hour, when the Watch-Word &s;hall be given, (that I may u&s;e their own word of My&s;tery) <HI>To begin their Heats,</HI> that is, to ri&s;e up and de&s;troy all that are, or are called <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> of what Degree, Condition, or Sex &s;oever, by Fire and Sword, and other Methods of De&s;truction; and not to leave any of their Per&s;ons, or &s;o much as their Names, if it may be, to &s;urvive in this Nation. This is like to be their fir&s;t attempt, and had been put in Execution before this, if the Lord him&s;elf, who&s;e Eyes behold the Nations, had not mo&s;t graci|ou&s;ly
<PB N="4" REF="4"> di&s;appointed them. And their &s;econd De&s;ign, which &s;tands behind the Curtain, is like the fir&s;t, to wit, if that &s;ucceed, then afterwards to <HI>de&s;troy all the Engli&s;h Bloud,</HI> again&s;t which they have the greate&s;t Antipathy, and to plant this Land with <HI>French</HI> and other <HI>Foreigners,</HI> that &s;o they may throughly re&s;tore it to its for|mer <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Splendor, to the great Satisfaction of all <HI>Popi&s;h Chri|&s;tendom:</HI></P>
<P><HI>Wherefore (if it be po&s;&s;ible) and if it be the good Plea&s;ure of the Lord to put a Stop, (and Oh that it might be a full Point and Period!) to the&s;e Bold Intru&s;ions of Popery, and to all the Cruel De&s;igns in the Brea&s;t of it; it was thought meet for the common utility of all</HI> Prote|&s;tants <HI>and</HI> Engli&s;hmen, <HI>to repre&s;ent afre&s;h unto them the Memora|ble Acts of</HI> Henry <HI>the</HI> VIII. <HI>King of</HI> England, <HI>for the extirpating the</HI> Pope <HI>and his</HI> Cur&s;ed Religion, <HI>out of his Dominion. And what He &s;aw &s;o great cau&s;e to reject and cast out as Abominable and Intolle|rable, upon &s;uch unan&s;werable grounds as He expre&s;&s;eth; &s;ure no man that is in his right Wits, and of a &s;ound Judgment, hath any just ground to endeavour to bring in again. And this thou thy &s;elf, who|ever thou art, that art either in the right Faith of a Christian, or in the right Wits of a Man, wilt judge, if thou &s;halt wi&s;ely and impar|tially r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ad, and ob&s;erve what followeth.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="proclamation">
<PB N="5" REF="4">
<HEAD>King <HI>Henry</HI> VIII. his Proclamation for the Aboli&s;hing the U&s;urped Power of the Pope; as it is recorded in <HI>Fox</HI> his Book of Martyrs, <HI>Fol.</HI> 335. <HI>Vol.</HI> 2.</HEAD>
<P>TRu&s;ty and Well-beloved, We greet you well.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Kings Proclam<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tion again&s;t the Pope.</NOTE> And whereas not onely upon good, and ju&s;t, and vertuous grounds and re&s;pects, edified upon the Laws of holy Scripture, dy due con&s;ultation, deliberation, advi&s;ement, and con&s;ent, as well of all other our Nobles and Commons Temporal, as al&s;o Spiritual, a&s;&s;embled in our high Court of Parliament, and by Authority of the &s;ame, we have by good and whol&s;om Laws and Statutes made for this purpo&s;e, extirped, aboli&s;hed, &s;eparated, and &s;eclu|ded out of this our Realm, the Abu&s;es of the Bi&s;hop of Rome, his Authority and Iuri&s;diction of long time u&s;urp|ed, as well upon us and our Realm, as upon all other Kings and Princes and their Realms, (like as they them|&s;elves have confe&s;&s;ed and affirmed;) but al&s;o for as much as our &s;aid Nobles and Commons, both Spiritual and Temporal, a&s;&s;embled in our high Court of Parliament, have upon good, lawful, and vertuous grounds, and for the publick weal of this our Realm, by one whole A&s;&s;ent granted, annexed, knit, and united to the Crown Imperial of the &s;ame, the Title, Dignity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Style of <HI>Supreme Head</HI> annexed to the Crown of England.</NOTE> and Style of <HI>Supreme Head or Governour in earth, immediately under God, of the Church of England,</HI> as we be and undoubtedly have hither|to been. Which Title and Style both the Bi&s;hops and Elergy of this our Realm have not onely in Convocation a&s;&s;embled, con&s;ented, recognized, and approved lawfully and ju&s;tly to appertain unto us, but al&s;o by Word, Oath, Profe&s;&s;ion, and Writing under their Signs and Seals, have confe&s;&s;ed, ratified, corroborated, and confirmed the &s;ame, utterly renouncing all other Oaths and Obedience to any other forein Potentates, and all forein Iuri&s;dictions and Powers, as well of the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome, as of all other what&s;oever they be, as by their &s;aid Profe&s;&s;ions and Writings corroborated with the Sub&s;cription of their Names, and Appen&s;ion of their Seals more plainly ap|peareth. We let you to wit, that calling to our remem|brance the Power, Charge, and Commi&s;&s;ion given unto us of Almighty God, and upon a vehment love and affection toward our loving and faithful Subjects, perceiving right
<PB N="6" REF="5"> well what great re&s;t, quietne&s;s, and tranquillity of Con|&s;cience, and manifold other commodities might in&s;urge and ari&s;e unto them, if that the &s;aid Bi&s;hops and other of the Clergy of this our Realm &s;hould &s;et forth, declare, and preach to them the true and &s;yncere Word of God, and without all manner colour, di&s;&s;imulation, and hypocri&s;ie, manife&s;t and publi&s;h the great and innumerable Enormi|ties and Abu&s;es which the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome, as well in the Title and Style, as al&s;o in Authority and Iuri&s;dicti|on, of long time unlawfully and unju&s;tly hath u&s;urped upon us and our Progenitors, and al&s;o other Chri&s;tian Princes; have therefore addre&s;&s;ed our Letters unto the Bi&s;hop of the Diocefe, &s;traitly charging and commanding him in the &s;ame, that not onely he in his own proper per|&s;on &s;hall declare, teach, and preach unto the People, forth|with upon the receipt of our &s;aid Letters unto him direct|ed, every Sunday and other high Fea&s;ts through the year, the true, mere, and &s;yncere Word of God; and that the &s;ame Title, Style, and Iuri&s;diction of Supreme Head appertaineth onely to our Crown and Dignity Royal. Like|wi&s;e as the &s;aid Bi&s;hop, and all other the Bi&s;hops of our Realm, have by Oath affirmed, and confirmed by Sub|&s;cription of their Names, and &s;etting to their Seals, but al&s;o give warning, monition, and charge, to all manner Abbats, Priors, Deans, Archdeacons, Provo&s;ts, Par&s;ons, Vicars, Curats, and all other Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per&s;ons within his &s;aid Dioce&s;e, as well to teach, preach, publi&s;h, and de|clare, in all manner Churches our afore&s;aid ju&s;t Title, Style, and Iuri&s;diction, every Sunday and high Fea&s;t through the year, and further to moni&s;h and command all other Schoolma&s;ters within his &s;aid Dioce&s;e, to in&s;truct and teach the &s;ame unto the Children committed unto them; as al&s;o to cau&s;e all-manner Prayers, Ori&s;ons, Ru|bricks, Canons of Ma&s;s-books, and all other Books in the Churches, wherein the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome is named, or his pre&s;umptuous and proud Pomp and Authority prefer|red, utterly to be aboli&s;hed, eradicate, and razed out, and his Name and Memory to be never more (except to his con|tumely and reproach) rememb<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes Name and Memo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y abo|li<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ed.</NOTE> but perpetually &s;up|pre&s;&s;ed and ob&s;cured. And finally to de&s;i&s;t and leave out all &s;uch Articles as be in the general Sentence, which is u&s;u|al<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y accu&s;tomed to be read, four times in the year, and do tend to the glory and advancement of the Bi&s;hop of Rome, his Name, Title and Iuri&s;diction.</P>
<P>Whereupon we e&s;teeming and reputing you to be of &s;uch &s;ingular and vehment zeal and affection toward the glory of Almighty God, and of &s;o faithful, loving, and obedient heart towards us, as you will not onely do and accompli&s;h
<PB N="7" REF="5"> with all power, wi&s;dom, diligence, and labour, what&s;oever &s;hould or might be to the preferment and &s;etting forward of Gods Word, but al&s;o practi&s;e, &s;tudy, and endeavour your &s;elf, with all your policy, wit, power, and good will, to am|plifie, defend, and maintain all &s;uch Intere&s;t, Right, Title, Style, Iuri&s;diction, and Authority, as is in any wi&s;e ap|pertaining unto us, our Dignity, and Prerogative, and Crown Imperial of this our Realm; have thought good and expedient not onely to &s;ignifie unto you by the&s;e our Letters the particularities of the Charge, Monition, and Commandment given by us unto the &s;aid Bi&s;hop, as be|fore is &s;pecified, but al&s;o to require and &s;traitly charge and command you, upon pain of your Allegeance, and as you &s;hall avoid our high Indignation and Di&s;plea|&s;ure at your utmo&s;t peril, laying apart all vain affecti|ons, re&s;pects, or other carnal con&s;iderations, and &s;etting onely before your eyes the mirror of truth, the glory of God, the dignity of your Sovereign Lord and King, and the great concord and unity, and ine&s;timable pro|fit and utility, that &s;ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l by the due execution of the premi&s;&s;es en&s;ue to your &s;elf, and all other faithful and lo|ving Subjects, ye make or cau&s;e to be made diligent &s;earch and wait, and e&s;pecially in every place of your Shirewick, whether the &s;aid Bi&s;hop do truly and &s;yn|cerely, and without all manner cloke, colour, or di&s;&s;imu|lation, execute, and accompli&s;h our will and command|ment, as is afore&s;aid. And in ca&s;e ye &s;hall hear, perceive, and approvably under&s;tand and know, that the &s;aid Bi|&s;hop, or any other Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per&s;on within his Dio|ce&s;e, do omit and leave undone any part or parcel of the premi&s;&s;es, or el&s;e in the execution and &s;etting forth of the &s;ame, do coldly and feignedly u&s;e any manner &s;ini&s;ter addition, wrong interpretation, or painted colour; then we &s;traitly charge and command you, that forthwith upon any &s;uch default, negligence, or di&s;&s;imulation of the &s;aid Bi&s;hop, or any other Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per&s;on of his Dioce&s;e, contrary to the true tenour, meaning, and effect of the &s;aid Charge by us to him appointed afore&s;aid, ye do make in|delayedly, and with all &s;peed and diligence, declaration, and adverti&s;ement, to us and our Council, of the &s;aid de|fault, and of the behaviour, manner, and fa&s;hion of the &s;ame.</P>
<P>And fora&s;much as we upon &s;ingular tru&s;t and a&s;&s;ured confidence which we have in you, and for the &s;pecial love and zeal we &s;uppo&s;e and think ye bear toward us and the publick and common Wealth, Vnity, and Tranquillity of this our Realm, have &s;pecially elected and cho&s;en you among &s;o many for this purpo&s;e, and have reputed you
<PB N="8" REF="6"> &s;uch men, as unto who&s;e wi&s;dom, di&s;cretion, truth, and fide|lity, we might commit a matter of &s;uch great weight, mo|ment, and importance, as whereupon the Vnity and Tran|quillity of our Realm doth con&s;i&s;t. If ye &s;hould contrary to our expectation and tru&s;t which we have in you, and again&s;t your duty and Allegeance towards us, neglect or omit to do with all your diligence and wi&s;dom, what&s;oe|ver &s;hall be in your power, for the due performance of our mind and plea&s;ure to you before declared in this behalf, or halt or &s;tumble at any part or &s;pecialty of the &s;ame; be ye a&s;&s;ured that we like a Prince of Iu&s;tice will &s;o extremely puni&s;h you for the &s;ame, that all the World be&s;ides &s;hall take by you example and beware, contrary to their Alie|geance, to di&s;obey the lawful Commandment of their So|vereign Lord and Prince in &s;uch things, as by the faithful execution whereof, ye &s;hall not onely advance the Honour of Almighty God, and &s;et forth the Maje&s;ty and Imperial Dignity of your Sovereign Lord, but al&s;o bring an in|e&s;timable weal, profit, and commodity, unity and tranquil|lity to all the common State of this our Realm, whereun|to both by the Laws of God, Nature, and Man, ye be ut|terly bound.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>Given under our Signet at our Palace of We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> <DATE><HI>the 9. day of June.</HI></DATE></DATELINE>
<POSTSCRIPT>
<P>Furthermore, that no man &s;hall cavil or &s;urmi&s;e this fa|tal fall and ruine of the Pope to have come ra&s;hly upon the Kings own partial affection, or by any &s;en&s;ual temerity of a few, and not by the grave and advi&s;ed Iudgment, Ap|probation, and Con&s;ent, generally and publickly, as well of the Nobles and Commons Temporal, as al&s;o upon &s;ub|&s;tantial grounds, and the very &s;trength of truth by the di&s;cu&s;&s;ion and con&s;ultation of the Spiritual and mo&s;t Learned Per&s;ons in this Realm. It &s;hall be requi&s;ite moreover to the&s;e premi&s;&s;es, to adjoyn the words and te&s;ti|monies al&s;o of the Bi&s;hops own oaths and profe&s;&s;ion made to the King, yielding and rendering unto him onely the Style of <HI>Supreme Head next under Chri&s;t of the Church of England;</HI> all other Service, Subjection, and Obedience to be given to any other forein Potentate, which &s;hould be prejudicial to the Kings Highne&s;s in this behalf being ex|cluded, and that both frankly and freely of their own volun|tary motion, and al&s;o upon the faith and fidelity of their Prie&s;thood, as by their own words and handwriting may appear, in form as hereunder followeth.</P>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="oath">
<PB N="9" REF="6">
<HEAD>The Oath of <HI>Stephen Gardener</HI> Bi&s;hop of <HI>Winche&s;ter,</HI> made to King <HI>Henry</HI> VIII.</HEAD>
<DIV2 LANG="lat" TYPE="version">
<P>EGO Stephanus Wintonien&s;is Epi&s;copus, pure, &s;ponte,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Oath of <HI>Stephen Garde|ner</HI> to the King.</NOTE> &amp; ab&s;olute, in verbo Pontificio, profiteor ac &s;pondeo illu&s;tri&s;&s;i|mae ve&s;trae Regiae Maje&s;tati, &s;ingulari ac &s;ummo Domino meo &amp; Patrono, Henrico Dei gratia Angliae &amp; Franciae Regi, Fidei De|fen&s;ori, Domino Hiberniae, atque in terris Eccle&s;iae Anglicanae Supremo immediate &s;ub Chri&s;to Capiti, quod po&s;thac nulli ex|terno Imperatori, Regi, Principi, aut Praelato, nec Romano Pon|tifiei (quem Papam vocant) fidelitatem &amp; obedientiam, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 LANG="eng" TYPE="version">
<HEAD>Tran&s;lated into <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> thus.</HEAD>
<P><HI>I Stephen</HI> Bi&s;hop of Winche&s;ter, do purely of mine own voluntary accord, and ab&s;olutely in the word of a Bi|&s;hop, profe&s;s and promi&s;e to your Princely Maje&s;ty, my &s;ingular and chief Lord and Patron, <HI>Henry</HI> the Eighth, by the grace of God King of England and of France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and in earth of the Church of England Supreme Head immediately under Chri&s;t; That from this day forward I &s;hall &s;wear, promi&s;e, give, or cau&s;e to be given, to no forein Potentate, Emperour, King, Prince, or Prelate, nor yet to the Bi&s;hop of Rome, whom they call Pope, any Oath or Fealty directly or indi|rectly, either by word or writing; but at all times, and in every ca&s;e and condition, I &s;hall ob&s;erve, hold, and main|tain, to all effects and intents, the quarrel and cau&s;e of your Royal Maje&s;ty and your Succe&s;&s;ors, and to the ut|termo&s;t of my power &s;hall defend the &s;ame again&s;t all man|ner of per&s;ons, whom&s;oever I &s;hall know or &s;u&s;pect to be Adver&s;aries to your Maje&s;ty, or to your Succe&s;&s;ors; and &s;hall give my faith, truth, and obedience, &s;yncerely and with my very heart, onely to your Royal Maje&s;ty as to my Su|preme Prince. I profe&s;s the Papacy of Rome not to be or|dained of God by holy Scripture,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Stephen Garde|ner</HI> abrenoun|ceth the Pope.</NOTE> but con&s;tantly do affirm and openly declare, and &s;hall declare it, to be &s;et up onely by Man, and &s;hall cau&s;e diligently other men likewi&s;e to publi&s;h the &s;ame. Neither &s;hall I enter any Treaty with any per&s;on or per&s;ons, either privily or apertly, or &s;hall con|&s;ent thereto, that the Bi&s;hop of Rome &s;hall have or exerci&s;e here any Authority or Iuri&s;diction, or is to be re&s;tored to any Iuri&s;diction hereafter.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="7">
<P>Furthermore, that the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome now being, or any that &s;hall &s;ucc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed him hereafter in the &s;aid See, is not to be called Pope, nor Supreme Bi&s;hop, or Vniver&s;al Bi&s;hop, nor mo&s;t holy Lord, but onely ought to be called Bi&s;hop of Rome, and Fellow Brother, (as the old manner of the mo&s;t ancient Bi&s;hops hath been.) This I &s;hall to my power openly maintain and defend.</P>
<P>And I &s;hall firmly ob&s;erve, and cau&s;e to be ob&s;erved of other, to the uttermo&s;t of my cunning, wit, and power, all &s;uch Laws and Acts of this Realm, how and what&s;oever, as have been enacted and e&s;tabli&s;hed for the extirpation and &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of the Papacy, and of the Authority and Iu|ri&s;diction of the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome. Neither &s;hall I appeal hereafter to the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome, nor ever con|&s;ent to any per&s;on that &s;hall appeal to him; neither &s;hall I attempt, pro&s;ecute, or follow any Suit in the Court of Rome, for any cau&s;e of right or ju&s;tice to be had, or &s;hall make an&s;wer to any Plea or Action, nor &s;hall take upon me the per&s;on and office either of the Plaintiff or Defendent in the &s;aid Court. And if the &s;aid Bi&s;hop by his Me&s;&s;en|ger, or by his Letters, &s;hall make any means or &s;ignifica|tion unto me, of any matter what&s;oeuer it be, I &s;hall with all &s;peed and diligence make declaration and adverti&s;e|ment thereof, or cau&s;e the &s;ame to be &s;ignified either to your Princely Maje&s;ty, or to &s;ome of your &s;ecret Council, or to your Succe&s;&s;ors, or any of their privy Council. Nei|ther &s;hall I &s;end or cau&s;e to be &s;ent at any time any wri|ting or me&s;&s;enger to the &s;aid Bi&s;hop or to his Court, with|out the knowledge or con&s;ent of your Maje&s;ty or your Succe&s;&s;ors, willing me to &s;end writing or me&s;&s;enger unto him. Neither &s;hall I procure or give coun&s;el to any per|&s;on to procure Bulls, Briefs, or Re&s;cripts what&s;oever, ei|ther for me or for any other, from the &s;aid Bi&s;hop of Rome or his Court. And if any &s;uch &s;hall be procured again&s;t my will and knowledge, either in general or in &s;pecial, or el&s;e how&s;oever they &s;hall be granted unto them, I &s;hall ut|ter and di&s;clo&s;e the &s;ame, and not con&s;ent thereunto, nor u&s;e them in any ca&s;e, and &s;hall cau&s;e them to be brought to your Maje&s;ty or your Succe&s;&s;ors.</P>
<P>Furthermore, for the confirmation hereof I give my faith and truth by firm promi&s;e, and in the faith of a Bi|&s;hop, that again&s;t this my fore&s;aid Profe&s;&s;ion and Promi&s;e made I &s;hall defend my &s;elf by no Di&s;pen&s;ation, Excepti|on, nor any remedy or cautel of Law or Example, during this my natural life. And if heretofore I have done or made any Prote&s;tation in prejudice of this my Profe&s;&s;ion and Promi&s;e here made, the &s;ame I do revoke at this pre|&s;ent, and for ever hereafter, and here utterly do renounce
<PB N="11" REF="7"> by the&s;e pre&s;ents. Whereunto I have &s;ub&s;cribed and un|derwritten the name both of my &s;elf and of my Bi&s;hop|rick with my proper hand, and thereto al&s;o have put to my Seal, in perpetual and undoubted te&s;timony of the pre|mi&s;&s;es.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Given the tenth day of February, Anno 1534, and of our So|vereign Lord King Henry the eight twenty &s;ix.</HI></DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Stephanus Wintonien&s;is.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="reasons">
<HEAD>The &s;ame Bi&s;hop of <HI>Winche&s;ter</HI>'s Rea&s;ons again&s;t the Pope's Supremacy.</HEAD>
<P>MOreover the &s;aid <HI>Gardener</HI> in the forenamed Book <HI>De vera Obedientia,</HI> what Con&s;tancy he pretendeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Steph. Wint.</HI> a Lutheran in his Book <HI>De vera obedientia.</HI></NOTE> what Arguments he inferreth, how earne&s;tly and pithily he di&s;puteth on the Kings &s;ide again&s;t the V&s;urped State of the Bi&s;hop of Romes Authority, by the words of his Book it may appear; whereof a brief Collection here fol|loweth.</P>
<P>IN the proce&s;s of his fore&s;aid Book,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Sword of the Church how far it ex|tendeth.</NOTE> he alledging the old di&s;tinction of the Papi&s;ts, wherein they give to the Prince the Regiment of things Temporal, and to the Church of things Spiritual; comparing the one to the greater Light, the other to the le&s;&s;er Light, he confuteth and derideth the &s;ame di&s;tinction, declaring the Sword of the Church to extend no further, than to Teaching and Excommunication, and referreth all preheminence to the Sword of the Prince; alledging for this the &s;econd P&s;alm, <HI>And now you Kings be wi&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al 2.</NOTE> <HI>and be learned ye that judge the earth, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Al&s;o the example of <HI>Salomon,</HI> who being a King,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Par. 28.</NOTE> <HI>accord|ing to his Fathers appointment ordained the Offices of the Prie&s;ts in their Mini&s;teries, and Levites in their Order,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 32.</NOTE> <HI>that they might give thanks and mini&s;ter before the Prie&s;ts, after the order of every day, and Porters in their divi&s;ions gate by gate.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;peaking more of the &s;aid <HI>Salomon</HI> he &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Reg. 22.</NOTE> <HI>For &s;o commanded the Man of God, neither did the Prie&s;ts nor Levites omit any thing of all that he had commanded, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides this, he alledgeth al&s;o the example of King <HI>Eze|chias,</HI> 2 <HI>Paralyp.</HI> 28. He alledgeth moreover the example and fact of <HI>Ju&s;tinian,</HI> which made Laws touching the Faith, Bi&s;hops, Clerks, Hereticks, and &s;uch other.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="8">
<P><HI>Aaron</HI> (&s;aith he) obeyed <HI>Mo&s;es, Salomon</HI> gave &s;entence upon <HI>Abiathar</HI> the High Prie&s;t.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Macch. 10. 1 Macch. 14.</NOTE><HI>Alexander</HI> the King (in the fir&s;t of <HI>Macchabees</HI>) writeth thus to <HI>Jonathas, Now have we made thee this day the High Prie&s;t of thy people, &amp;c.</HI> So did <HI>Demetrius</HI> to <HI>Simon.</HI></P>
<P>Then coming to the words of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;poken to <HI>Peter, Mat|thew</HI> 16.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 16.</NOTE> upon which words the Pope pretendeth to build all his Authority, to this he an&s;wereth, That if Chri&s;t by tho&s;e words had limited to <HI>Peter</HI> any &s;uch &s;pecial &s;tate or preheminence above all Princes, then were it not true that is written, <HI>Coepit Je&s;us docere &amp; facere;</HI> fora&s;much as the words of Chri&s;t &s;hould then be contrary to his own facts and example, who in all his life never u&s;urped either in him&s;elf any &s;uch domination above Princes, &s;hewing him|&s;elf rather &s;ubject unto Princes; nor yet did ever permit to his Apo&s;tles any &s;uch example of ambition to be &s;een, but rather rebuked them for &s;eeking any manner of Majority among&s;t them.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Kings Style and Ti|tle approved by <HI>Steph. Wint.</HI></NOTE>And where he rea&s;oneth of the Kings Style and Title, being called the King of England and of France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England immediately under Chri&s;t, &amp;c. thus he addeth his mind and cen&s;ure, &s;aying, That he &s;eeth no cau&s;e in this Title why any man &s;hould be offend|ed, that the King is called the Head of the Church of Eng|land, rather than of the Realm of England; and addeth his rea&s;on thereunto, &s;aying, If the Prince and King of England be the Head of his Kingdom, that is, of all Eng|li&s;hmen that be his Subjects, is there any cau&s;e why the &s;ame Engli&s;h Subjects &s;hould not be &s;ubject to the &s;ame Head likewi&s;e, in this re&s;pect becau&s;e they are Chri&s;tians, that is to &s;ay, for the title of Godline&s;s, as though that God, which is the cau&s;e of all Obedience, &s;hould now be the cau&s;e of Rebellion?</P>
<P>At length thus he concludeth with an Exclamation &s;ay|ing, To &s;ay (&s;aith he) that a King is the Head of a King|dom, and not of the Church, what an ab&s;urd and a fooli&s;h &s;aying is this?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The King is as well the Head of the Church as of his King|dom.</NOTE>And further, adding for example the &s;ubjection of the Servant and Wife. If the Servant (&s;aith he) be &s;ubject to his Ma&s;ter, or Wife to her Husband, being Infidels, doth their Conver&s;ion afterward, or name of Chri&s;tians, make them le&s;s Subjects than they were before? As Re|ligion therefore doth not alter the Authority of the Ma&s;ter over the Servant, nor of the Husband over the Wife; no more (&s;aith he) doth it between the Prince and Sub|jects.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="8">
<P><HI>Paul</HI> making no exception nor di&s;tinction of Subjection, &s;ave onely of that which belongeth to God, willeth all men to obey their Princes; and what Princes? Tho&s;e Prin+ces which bear the &s;word. And although we are bound by the Scripture to obey our Bi&s;hops and Spiritual Pa|&s;tors of the Church, yet that obedience dimini&s;heth nothing the chief and head Authority that ought to be given to the Prince, no more than the obedience of the Servant to his Ma&s;ter, or of the Wife to her Husband, exempteth them from Subjection due to their Superiour Powers.</P>
<P>And herewithall he inferreth a principle of the Law;<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Rule of the Law.</NOTE> Divers Iuri&s;dictions (&s;aith he) proceeding from one per&s;on do not marry nor hinder them&s;elves, but rather do con|firm and fortifie one another.</P>
<P>Again, whereas the Bi&s;hop of Rome under the name of <HI>Peter</HI> doth appropriate to him&s;elf the highe&s;t place in the Church, for that he is the Succe&s;&s;or of <HI>Peter.</HI> Thereunto he an&s;wereth in one word, but in that one word he an|&s;wereth enough and to the full; I would (&s;aith he) he were,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Wenche&s;ters</HI> with that the Pope were <HI>Peters</HI> Suc|ce&s;&s;or.</NOTE> for &s;o in very deed he might well exceed and pa&s;s all Kings and Princes&punc; if not in preheminency of Dignity, yet in ad|miration and excellency of Virtue; in which kind of &s;upe|riority the Lord Chri&s;t would his Apo&s;tles and Mini&s;ters to go before all Kings and Emperours in the whole world.</P>
<P>After this, in pro&s;ecuting the Argument of <HI>Peters</HI> Con|fe&s;&s;ion, he argueth thus and &s;aith;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Argument: The Preroga|tive was gi|ven to him which con|fe&s;&s;ed. Fle&s;h and Bloud in <HI>Peter</HI> did not con|fe&s;s Chri&s;t. <HI>Ergo</HI> the Pre|rogative was not given to the Fle&s;h and Bloud of <HI>Pe|t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r.</HI></NOTE> that as fle&s;h and bloud did not reveal to <HI>Peter</HI> that Confe&s;&s;ion, &s;o neither was that Prerogative given to the fle&s;h and bloud of <HI>Peter,</HI> but to the better part, that is, to the &s;pirit of <HI>Peter,</HI> which is to mean, in re&s;pect of the &s;piritual Confe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Peter,</HI> and not in re|&s;pect of any carnal place or per&s;on, &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> If the Scholar ought not to be above the Ma&s;ter, how then could either <HI>Peter</HI> take that upon him, which Chri&s;t his Ma&s;ter &s;o con&s;tantly did refu&s;e? Or how can the Bi&s;hop of Rome now claim that by Succe&s;&s;ion, where|of no example is to be found either in the Head, or his Pre|dece&s;&s;or before him? For &s;o we read in <HI>Eu&s;ebius,</HI> both of <HI>Peter, James,</HI> and <HI>John,</HI> that they did arrogate no &s;uch Pri|macy unto them, but were content that <HI>James</HI> &s;urnamed <HI>Ju|&s;tus</HI> &s;hould be the Bi&s;hop of the Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P>And as for the name and &s;ignification of the word <HI>Prima|tus, i.</HI> Primacy,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">matus</HI> or Primacy what it &s;ignifieth.</NOTE> if it be taken for the fir&s;t nomination, or the fir&s;t place given, &s;o he granteth that <HI>Peter</HI> had the prefer|ment of the fir&s;t name and place in the order of the Apo&s;tles; but it followeth not, that with this Primacy he had al&s;o a Kingdom given.<NOTE PLACE="marg">He &s;aith, <HI>Con|firm thy Breth|ren,</HI> but not thy Subjects.</NOTE> And though he were bid of the Lord to confirm his Brethren, yet was he not bid to exerci&s;e an Im|pery upon his Brethren, for &s;o were they not his Brethren but his Subjects.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="9">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Primus Prima|tus, i.</HI> Primacy meaneth as much as the fir&s;t &s;tanding in Vocation, and is the name of Ver|tue and not of Power.</NOTE>That <HI>Peter</HI> was <HI>Primus,</HI> that is, fir&s;t or chief in the num|ber of them which confe&s;&s;ed Chri&s;t, it is not to be denied; for fir&s;t he confe&s;&s;ed, fir&s;t he taught the Iews, fir&s;t he &s;tood in defence of the Verity, and was the fir&s;t and chief Prolo|cutor among them; but yet that maketh not that he &s;hould therefore vindicate a general Primacy and Rule over all other States and Potentates of the world, no more than <HI>Apelles,</HI> becau&s;e he is noted the fir&s;t and chief of all Paint|ers, therefore ought to bear rule over all Painters; or be|cau&s;e the Vniver&s;ity of Paris is nominate for the fir&s;t and chief of other Vniver&s;ities, &s;hall therefore the French King and all other Princes, in their publick Admini&s;tration wherein they are &s;et of God, become Subjects and Vnder|lings to that Vniver&s;ity?</P>
<P>Thus after many other rea&s;ons and per&s;ua&s;ions contain|ed in the &s;aid Book <HI>De obedientia,</HI> (for I do but &s;uperficially skim over the top onely of his Probations and Arguments) finally in the end of his Peroration he concludeth the whole &s;umm of his mind in this effect; fir&s;t denying that the Bi&s;hop of Rome had ever any &s;uch extern Iuri&s;diction a&s;&s;igned to him ab&s;olutely from God, to reign over Kings and Princes; for the probation whereof he hath alledged &s;ufficiently (as he &s;aith) the examples and doings of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, which ought to be to us all a &s;ufficient Docu|ment.</P>
<P>And as concerning the term of Primacy, albeit it be u&s;ed &s;ometimes of the Fathers, yet the matter being well con&s;i|dered and rightly expounded, maketh nothing for the large Dominion of the Bi&s;hop of Rome, which now he doth u&s;urp.</P>
<P>Al&s;o as for the Prerogatives granted unto <HI>Peter,</HI> by the which Prerogatives our Saviour would crown his own Gifts given unto him, crowning not the fle&s;h and bloud of <HI>Peter,</HI> but the marvellous te&s;timony of his Confe&s;&s;ion, all this maketh nothing for the Popes purpo&s;e.</P>
<P>Likewi&s;e as concerning the Local Succe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Peter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Succe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Peter.</HI></NOTE> the Pope hath nothing thereby to claim. If he will be Succe&s;&s;or of <HI>Peter,</HI> he mu&s;t &s;ucceed him in Faith, Doctrine, and Conditions; and in &s;o doing he neither will, neither yet &s;hall need to &s;eek for Honour, but &s;hall be honoured of all good men, according as a good man &s;hould be, and that much more than he being a good man would require.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Steph. Wint.</HI> takes his <HI>Vale</HI> of the Pope, but not his <HI>&V;ltimum Vale.</HI></NOTE>And thus <HI>Stephen Winche&s;ter</HI> taking his leave, and bid|ding the Pope farewell, endeth with a friendly Exhortati|on, willing him to be wi&s;e and circum&s;pect, and not to &s;trive &s;tubbornly again&s;t the truth. The light of the Go|&s;pel (&s;aith he) &s;o &s;preadeth his beams in all mens eyes, that the works of the Go&s;pel be known, the My&s;teries of
<PB N="15" REF="9"> Chri&s;ts Doctrine are opened, both learned and unlearned Men and Women, being Engli&s;h born, do &s;ee and perceive that they have nothing to do with Rome, nor with the Bi|&s;hop of Rome, but that every Prince in his own Domini|on is to be taken and accepted as a Vicar of God, and Vice|gerent of Chri&s;t in his own bounds. And therefore &s;eeing this Order is taken of God, and one in the Church &s;hould bear the Office of Teaching,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Office of Teaching.</NOTE> another &s;hould bear the Office of Ruling,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Office of Ruling.</NOTE> (which Office is onely limited to Princes) he exhorteth him to con&s;ider the truth, and to follow the fame, wherein con&s;i&s;teth our true and &s;pecial Obedience, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<HEAD>A Letter of the Univer&s;ity of <HI>Cambridge</HI> again&s;t the U&s;urped Power of the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rome.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 LANG="lat" TYPE="version">
<P>UNiver&s;is Sanctae Matris Eccle&s;iae filiis, ad quos prae&s;entes Literae perventurae &s;unt, coetus omnis regentium &amp; non regentium Academiae Cantabrigien&s;is, &s;alutem, in omnium &s;al|vatore Je&s;u Chri&s;to.</P>
<P>Cum de Romani Pontificis pote&s;tate, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 LANG="eng" TYPE="version">
<HEAD>Tran&s;lated into <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> thus.</HEAD>
<P>TO all and &s;ingular Children of the holy Mother Church, to who&s;e hands the&s;e pre&s;ents &s;hall come,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Letter of the Univer&s;i|ty of <HI>Cam|bridge.</HI></NOTE> the whole Society of Regents and not Regents of the Vniver|&s;ity of Cambridge, &s;endeth greeting in our Saviour Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Whereas now of late it hath ri&s;en up in que&s;tion among us concerning the Power of the Bi&s;hop of Rome, which he doth both claim to him&s;elf by the holy Scripture, over all Provinces and Nations in Chri&s;tendom, and hath now of long time exerci&s;ed in this Realm of England: And fora&s;much as our Cen&s;ure concerning the cau&s;e is requi|red, to wit, Whether the Bi&s;hop of Rome hath any Power or Authority in this Kingdom of <HI>England</HI> allotted to him by God in the Scripture, more than any other forein Bi&s;hop, or no? We thought it therefore good rea&s;on, and our duty for the &s;earching out of the verity of the &s;aid Que&s;tion, that we &s;hould imploy therein our whole endeavour and &s;tudy, whereby we might tender and publi&s;h to the world what our rea&s;on and cen&s;ure is touching the premi&s;&s;es.
<PB N="16" REF="10"> For therefore we &s;uppo&s;e that Vniver&s;ities were fir&s;t pro|vided and in&s;tituted of Princes, to the end that doth the people of Chri&s;t might in the Law of God be in&s;tructed, and al&s;o that fal&s;e Errors (if any did ri&s;e) might through the vigilant care and indu&s;try of learned Divines be di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, extingui&s;hed and utterly rooted out. For the which cau&s;e we in our A&s;&s;emblies and Convocations (after our accu|&s;tomed manner) re&s;orting&punc; and conferring together upon the Que&s;tion afore&s;aid, and &s;tudiou&s;ly debating and delibe|rating with our &s;elves, how and by what order we might be&s;t proceed for the finding out of the truth of the matter; and at length choo&s;ing out certain of the be&s;t learned Do|ctors and Batchelors of Divinity, and other Ma&s;ters, have committed to them in charge, &s;tudiou&s;ly to in&s;earch and peru&s;e the places of holy Scripture, by the viewing and conferring of which places together, they might certifie us what is to be &s;aid to the Que&s;tion propounded.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Cen&s;ure of the Uni|ver&s;ity of <HI>Cambridge</HI> again&s;t the Popes Supre|macy.</NOTE>Fora&s;much therefore as we having heard and well advi|&s;ed, and throughly di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in open Di&s;putations, what may be &s;aid on both parts of the fore&s;aid Que&s;tion, tho&s;e Rea&s;ons and Arguments do appear to us more probable, &s;tronger, truer, and more certain, and &s;ounding much more near to the pure and native &s;en&s;e of Scripture, which do deny the Bi&s;hop of Rome to have any &s;uch power given him of God in the Scripture. By rea&s;on and force of which Arguments we being per&s;uaded, and conjoyning together in one Opinion, have with our &s;elves thus decreed to an|&s;wer unto the Que&s;tion afore&s;aid, and in the&s;e writings thus re&s;olutely do an&s;wer in the name of the whole Vni|ver&s;ity, and for a Conclu&s;ion undoubted do affirm, approve, and pronounce,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rome</HI> hath no more State in <HI>England</HI> than hath any other Bi&s;hop.</NOTE> That the Bi&s;hop of Rome hath no more State, Authority, and Iuri&s;diction given him of God in the Scriptures over this Realm of England, than any other extern Bi&s;hop hath. And in te&s;timony and credence of this our An&s;wer and Affirmation, we have cau&s;ed our common Seal to be put to the&s;e our fore&s;aid Letters ac|cordingly.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>At Cambridge in our Regent Hou&s;e,</HI> <DATE><HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1534.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="agreement">
<PB N="17" REF="10">
<HEAD>The publick and general Agreement of the whole Clergy of <HI>England,</HI> confirmed and ratified in their own publick Book called <HI>The Bi&s;hops Book, Anno</HI> 1534. with the Names of the Witne&s;&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>WE think it convenient,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">timonies out o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he Bi|&s;hops Book again&s;t the Popes Supre|macy.</NOTE> that all Bi&s;hops and Prea|chers &s;hall in&s;truct and teach the People commit|ted unto their &s;piritual charge, that whereas certain men do imagine and affirm, that Chri&s;t &s;hould give unto the Bi&s;hop of Rome power and authority, not onely to be Head and Governour of all Prie&s;ts and Bi&s;hops in Chri&s;ts Church, but al&s;o to have and occupy the whole Monarchy of the World in his hands, and that he may thereby law|fully depo&s;e Kings and Princes from their Realms, Do|minions, and Seigniories, and &s;o transfer and give the &s;ame to &s;uch per&s;ons as him liketh, that is utterly fal&s;e and untrue; for Chri&s;t never gave unto S. <HI>Peter,</HI> or unto any of the Apo&s;tles or their Succe&s;&s;ors, any &s;uch Authori|ty. And the Apo&s;tles S. <HI>Peter</HI> and S. <HI>Paul</HI> do teach and command, that all Chri&s;tian People, as well Prie&s;ts and Bi&s;hops, as others, &s;hould be obedient and &s;ubject unto the Princes and Potentates of the World, although they were Infidels.</P>
<P>And as for the Bi&s;hop of Rome, it was many hundred years after Chri&s;t before he could acquire or get any Pri|macy or Governance above any other Bi&s;hops out of his Province in Italy; &s;ince the which time he hath ever u&s;urped more and more. And though &s;ome part of his power was given to him by the con&s;ent of the Emperours, Kings and Princes, and by the con&s;ent al&s;o of the Clergy in General Councils a&s;&s;embled; yet &s;urely he attain|ed the mo&s;t part thereof by marvellous &s;ubtilty and craft,<NOTE PLACE="marg">How the Bi|&s;hop of <HI>Rome</HI> ro&s;e by ambi|tion.</NOTE> and e&s;pecially by colluding with great Kings and Princes, &s;ometime training them into his Devotion by pretence and colour of Holine&s;s and Sanctimony, and &s;ometime con|&s;training them by force and tyranny. Whereby the &s;aid Bi&s;hops of Rome a&s;pired and ro&s;e at length unto &s;uch greatne&s;s in Strength and Authority, that they pre&s;umed and took upon them to be Heads,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concilium ter|tium Cartha i|nen&s;e cap. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> and to put Laws by their own Authority, not onely unto all other Bi&s;hops within Chri&s;tendom, but al&s;o unto the Emperours, Kings, and other the Princes and Lords of the world, and that under
<PB N="18" REF="11"> the pretence of the Authority c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">mit|ted unto them by the Go&s;pel;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>Fir&s;t, the General Council of <HI>Nice</HI> de|creed, that the Patriarchs of <HI>Alexandria</HI> and <HI>Antiochia</HI> &s;hould have like power over the Countries about tho&s;e Cities, as the Bi&s;hops of <HI>Rome</HI> had over the Countries about <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P>In the Council of <HI>Milevitan</HI> it was de|creed, that if a Clerk of <HI>Africk</HI> would ap|peal out of <HI>Africk</HI> un<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o any Bi&s;hop be|yond the Sea, he &s;hould be taken as a per|&s;on Excommunicate.</P>
<P>In the General Council of <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> the fir&s;t it was likewi&s;e decreed, that eve|ry Cau&s;e between any per&s;ons &s;hould be determined within the Provinces where the matters did lie; and that no Bi&s;hop &s;hould exerci&s;e any power out of his own Dioce&s;e or Province. And this was al&s;o the mind of holy S. <HI>Cyprian,</HI> and of other holy men of <HI>Africa.</HI></P>
<P>To conclude, therefore the Pope hath no &s;u h Primacy g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ven him, either by the words of Scripture, or by any General Council, or by common con&s;ent of the ho|ly Ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">holick Church.</P></NOTE> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">rein the &s;aid Bi&s;hops of Rome do no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> nely abu&s;e and pervert the true &s;en&s;e and meaning of Chri&s;ts Word, but they do al&s;o clean contrary to the u&s;e and cu|&s;tom of the Primitive Church, and &s;o do manife&s;tly violate as well the holy Canons made in the Church immedi|ately after the time of the Apo&s;tles, as al&s;o the Decrees and Con&s;titutions made in that behalf by the holy Fa|thers of the Catholick Church a&s;&s;em|bled in the fir&s;t General Councils. And finally, they do tran&s;gre&s;s their own profe&s;&s;ion made in their Creation. For all the Bi&s;hops of Rome always, when they be con&s;ecrated and made Bi&s;hops of that See, do make a &s;o|lemn profe&s;&s;ion and vow, that they &s;hall inviolably ob|&s;erve and keep all the Ordinances made in the fir&s;t eight General Councils; among the which it is &s;pecially provi|ded and enacted, that all Cau&s;es &s;hall be fini&s;hed and de|termined within the Province where the &s;ame begun, and that by the Bi&s;hops of the &s;ame Province, and that no Bi|&s;hop &s;hall exerci&s;e any Iuri&s;diction out of his own Pro|vince:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregorius l. <HI>4.</HI> Epi&s;tolarum indictione <HI>13.</HI> Epi&s;t <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> and divers &s;uch other Canons were then made and confirmed by the &s;aid Councils to repre&s;s and take away out of the Church all &s;uch Primacy and Iuri&s;diction over Kings and Bi&s;hops, as the Bi&s;hops of Rome pretend now to have over the &s;ame. And we find that divers good Fa|thers, Bi&s;hops of Rome, did greatly reprove, yea and ab|hor (as a thing clean contrary to the Go&s;pel, and the De|crees of the Church) that any Bi&s;hop of Rome, or el&s;e|where, &s;hould pre&s;ume, u&s;urp, or take upon him the Title and Name of Vniver&s;al Bi&s;hop, or of the Head of all Prie&s;ts, or of the Highe&s;t Prie&s;t, or any &s;uch like Title. For confirmation whereof it is out of all doubt, that there is no mention made neither in Scripture, nor in the Wri|tings of any authentical Doctor or Author of the Church, being within the time of the Apo&s;tles, that Chri&s;t did ever make or in&s;titute any di&s;tinction or difference to be in the preheminence of Power, Order, or Iuri&s;diction, between the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, or between the Bi&s;hops them&s;el|ves, but that they were all equal in Power, Order, Au|thority, and Iuri&s;diction. And that there is now, and &s;ince the time of the Apo&s;tles, any &s;uch diver&s;ity or differ|ence among the Bi&s;hops, it was devi&s;ed by the antient Fa|thers
<PB N="19" REF="11"> of the Primitive Church, for the con&s;ervation of good order and unity of the Catholick Church, and that either by the con&s;ent and authority, or el&s;e at the lea&s;t by the permi&s;&s;ion and &s;ufferance of the Princes and Civil Powers for the time ruling, &amp;c.</P>
<P>And &s;hortly after followeth, And for the better confirma|tion of this part, we think it al&s;o convenient that all Bi|&s;hops and Preachers &s;hall in&s;truct and teach the people committed unto their &s;piritual charge, that Chri&s;t did by expre&s;s words prohibit, that none of his Apo&s;tles, nor any of their Succe&s;&s;ors, &s;hould, under the pretence of the Au|thority given unto them by Chri&s;t, take upon them the Au|thority of the Sword; that is to &s;ay, the Authority of Kings, or of any Civil Power in this world, yea or any Au|thority to make Laws or Ordinances in cau&s;es appertain|ing unto Civil Powers. Truth it is, the Prie&s;ts and Bi|&s;hops may execute all &s;uch Temporal Power and Iuri&s;di|on, as is committed unto them by the Ordinance and Au|thority of Kings, or other Civil Powers, and by the con|&s;ent of the people, (as Officers and Mini&s;ters under the &s;aid Kings and Powers) &s;o long as it &s;hall plea&s;e the &s;aid Kings and People to permit and &s;uffer them &s;o to u&s;e and execute the &s;ame. Notwith&s;tanding if any Bi&s;hop, of what e&s;tate or dignity &s;oever he be, be he Bi&s;hop of Rome, or of any other City, Province, or Dioce&s;e, do pre&s;ume to take upon him Authority or Iuri&s;diction in cau&s;es or mat|ters which appertain unto Kings, and the civil powers and their Courts, and will maintain or think that he may &s;o do by the Authority of Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, although the Kings and Princes would not permit and &s;uffer him &s;o to do; no doubt that Bi&s;hop is not worthy to be called a Bi|&s;hop, but rather a Tyrant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Bi&s;hop o&s; <HI>Rone</HI> judged to be a Ty|rant and U|&s;urper.</NOTE> and as V&s;urper of other mens rights contrary to the Law of God, and is worthy to be re|puted none otherwi&s;e than he that goeth about to &s;ubvert the Kingdom of Chri&s;t. For the Kingdom of Chri&s;t in his Church is a &s;piritual, and not a carnal Kingdom of the world; that is to &s;ay, the very Kingdom that Chri&s;t by him|&s;elf or by his Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ciples &s;ought here in this world, was to bring all Nations from the carnal King|dom of the Prince of darkne&s;s unto the light of his &s;piritual Kingdom, and &s;o him&s;elf to reign in the hearts of the peo|ple by grace, faith, hope, and charity. And therefore <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ith Chri&s;t did never &s;eek nor exerci&s;e any worldly Kingdom or Dominion in this world, but rather refu&s;ing and flying from the &s;ame, did leave the &s;aid worldly Governance of Kingdoms, Realms, and Nations, to be governed by Prin|ces and Potentates, (in like manner as he did find them) and commanded al&s;o his Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ciples to do the
<PB N="20" REF="12"> &s;emblable, as it was &s;aid before; what&s;oever Prie&s;t or Bi|&s;hop will arrogate or pre&s;ume to take upon him any &s;uch Authority, and will pretend the Authority of the Go&s;pel for his defence therein, he doth nothing el&s;e but (in a man|ner as you would &s;ay) crowneth Chri&s;t again with a Crown of Thorn, and traduceth and bringeth him forth again with his Mantle of Purple upon his back, to be mocked and &s;corned of the world, as the Iews did to their own dam|nation.</P>
<P>This Doctrine was &s;ub&s;cribed and allowed by the wit|ne&s;s and te&s;timony of the&s;e Bi&s;hops and other Learned Men, who&s;e Names hereunder follow, as appeareth in the Bi&s;hops Book before named.</P>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TESTES.</HEAD>
<ITEM><NOTE PLACE="marg">Te&s;timonies of Bi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hops and Doctors of <HI>England</HI> again&s;t the Pope.</NOTE><HI>Thomas Cantuarien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Edouardus Eboracen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Londonen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cuthbertus Dunelmen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Stephanus W<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ntonlen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Robertus Carliolen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Exonien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Lincolnien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Bathonien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Rolandus Coventr. &amp; Lichfield.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thomas Elien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Nicolaus Sarum</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Bangor.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Edouardus Herefordien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hugo Wigornien&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Roffen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Richardus Cice&s;tren&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Gulielmus Meneven&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Robertus A&s;&s;aven&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Robertus Landaven&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Guilielmus Norwicen&s;is</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Richardus Wolman Archidia|con. Sudbur.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Guilielmus Knight Archidia|con. Richmond.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Bell Archidiacon. Glouce&s;ter.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Edmundus Bonner Archidia|con. Leice&s;ter.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Gulielmus Skippe Archidia|con. Dor&s;et.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Nicolaus Heth Archidiacon. Stafford.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cuthbertus Mar&s;hall Archidia|con. Nottingham.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Richardus Curten Archidia|con. Oxon.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Guilielmus Glife</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Galfridus Dounes</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Robertus Oking</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Radulphus Bradford</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Richardus Smith</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Simon Matthew</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">in</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Guilielmus Buckma&s;ter</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Guilielmus May</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Nicolaus Wotton</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Richardus Cox</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Edmunds</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thomas Robert&s;on</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Baker</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thomas Barret</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Ha&s;e</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Johannes Ty&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The&s;e were Doctors of Divinity and both Laws.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="protestation">
<PB N="21" REF="12">
<HEAD>A Prote&s;tation in the name of the King, and the whole Council and Clergy of <HI>Eng|land,</HI> why they refu&s;e to come to the Popes Council at his call.</HEAD>
<P>SEeing that the Bi&s;hop of Rome calleth Learned Men from all parts, conducting them by great rewards,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Kings Prote&s;tation why he &s;ends not to the Popes Coun|cil.</NOTE> making as many of them Cardinals as he thinketh mo&s;t m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">et, and mo&s;t ready to defend Frauds and Vntruths; we could not but with much anxiety ca&s;t with our &s;elves, what &s;o great a preparance of Wits &s;hould mean. As chance was we gue&s;&s;ed even as it followed. We have been &s;o long acquainted with Romi&s;h Subtilties and Popi&s;h Deceits,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes craft e&s;pied.</NOTE> that we well and ea&s;ily judged the Bi&s;hop of Rome to intend an A&s;&s;embly of his Adherents, and men &s;worn to think all his Lu&s;ts to be Laws; we were not deceived. <HI>Paul</HI> the Bi&s;hop of Rome hath called a Council, to the which he knew well either few or none of the Chri&s;tian Princes could come; both the time that he indicted it, and al&s;o the place where he appointed it to be, might a&s;&s;ure him of this. But whither wander not the&s;e Popi&s;h Bulls? whi|ther wander they not a&s;tray? What King is not cited and &s;ummoned by a proud Mini&s;ter and Servant of Kings, to come to bol&s;ter up Errors, Frauds, Deceits, and Vn|truths, and to &s;et forth this feigned General Council? For who will not think that <HI>Paul</HI> the Bi&s;hop of Rome goeth &s;ooner about to make men believe that he pretendeth a Ge|neral Council, than that he de&s;ireth one indeed? No, who can le&s;s de&s;ire it, than they that do de&s;pair of their Cau&s;e, except they be Iudges and give &s;entence them&s;elves again&s;t their Adver&s;aries?<NOTE PLACE="marg">The King not bound to come at the Popes call&punc;</NOTE> We which very &s;ore again&s;t our will at any time leave off the procurement of the Realm any common weal, need neither to come our &s;elves, nor yet to &s;end any Procurators thither, no nor yet to make our Ex|cu&s;e for either of both. For who can accu&s;e us that we come not at his call, which hath no Authority to call us?</P>
<P>But for a &s;ea&s;on let us (as a &s;ort of Blindlings do) grant that he may call us, and that he hath Authority &s;o to do; yet (we pray you) may not all men &s;ee, what availeth it to come to this Council,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Who be they that have place in the Popes Coun|cil.</NOTE> where ye &s;hall have no place except y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> be known both willing to oppre&s;s truth, and al&s;o ready t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> confirm and &s;tabli&s;h Errors? Do not all men perceive <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> as we, with what integrity, fidelity, and religion,
<PB N="22" REF="13"> the&s;e men go about to di&s;cu&s;s matters in controver&s;ie, that take them in hand in &s;o trouble&s;om a time as this is? Is it not plain what fruit the Commonweal of Chri&s;tendom may look for there,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The place of the Council not indiffer|ent.</NOTE> whereas Mantua is cho&s;en the place to keep his Council in? Is there any Prince not being of Italy, yea is there any of Italy, Prince or other di&s;&s;enting from the Pope, that dareth come to this A&s;&s;embly and to this place? If there come none that dare &s;peak for trodden truth, none that will venture his life, is it mar|vel if the Bi&s;hop of Rome being Iudge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">No rea&s;on that the Pope &s;hould be Judge in his own cau&s;e.</NOTE> no man repining, no man gain&s;aying, the Defenders of the Papacy obtain that Popi&s;h Authority, now quailling and almo&s;t fa&s;ten, to be &s;et up again.</P>
<P>Is this the way to help things afflict? to redre&s;s trou|bled Religion? to lift up oppre&s;&s;ed truth? Shall men this way know whether the Roman Bi&s;hops (which in very deed are,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rom</HI> in learn|ing and life far under other Bi&s;hops.</NOTE> if ye look upon either their Doctrine or Life, far under other Bi&s;hops) ought to be made like their Fel|lows, that is, to be Pa&s;tors in their own Dioce&s;e, and &s;o to u&s;e no other power; or el&s;e whether they may make Laws, not onely unto other Bi&s;hops, but al&s;o to Kings and Em|perours? O boldne&s;s, meet to be beaten down with force and not not to be convinced with Arguments. Can either <HI>Paul</HI> that now Lordeth, or any of his, earne&s;tly go about (if they alone, or at the lea&s;t without any Adver&s;ary, be th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> in a corner a&s;&s;embled together) to heal the Sickne&s;&s;es, to take away the Errors, to pluck down the Abu&s;es that now are crept into the Church, and there be bol&s;tered up by &s;uch Councils as now is like to be at Mantua?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Paul</HI> the Pope proleth for his own pro|fit.</NOTE>Is it very like that the&s;e, which prole for nothing but profit, will right gladly pull down all &s;uch things as th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> Forefathers made, onely for the increa&s;e of Money? Wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> as their Forefathers, when their Honour, Power, an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">+macy was called into que&s;tion, would either in de&s;pigh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f Gods Law maintain their Dignity, or (to &s;ay better) their intolerable Pride? Is it like that the&s;e will not tread in their &s;teps, and make naughty new Canons, whereby they may defend old evil Decrees? Howbeit, what need we to care either what they have done, or what they intend to do hereafter,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>England</HI> ta|keth her leave of the Pope for ever.</NOTE> fora&s;much as England hath taken her leave of Popi&s;h Crafts for ever, never to be deluded with them here|after? Roman Bi&s;hops have nothing to do with Engli&s;h People; the one doth not traffick with the other, at lea&s;t though they will have to do with us, yet we will none of their merchandi&s;e, none of their &s;tuff, we will receive them of our council no more.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>England</HI> refu|&s;eth the Popes Merchandi&s;e.</NOTE> We have &s;ought our hurt, and bought our lo&s;s a great while too long. Surely their De|crees, either touching things &s;et up or put down, &s;hall have
<PB N="23" REF="13"> none other place with us than all Bi&s;hops Decrees have, that is, if we like them we admit them, if we do not we re|fu&s;e them. But le&s;t peradventure men &s;hall think us to follow our &s;en&s;es too much, and that we moved by &s;mall or no ju&s;t cau&s;es, for&s;ake the Authority, Cen&s;ures, Decrees, and Popi&s;h Coun&s;els, we thought it be&s;t here to &s;hew our mind to the whole world. Wherefore we prote&s;t before God and all men, that we embrace, profe&s;s, and will ever &s;o do, the right and holy Doctrine of Chri&s;t. All the Arti|cles of his Faith, no jot omitted, be all &s;o dear unto us, that we &s;hould much &s;ooner &s;tand in jeopardy of our Realm, than to &s;ee any point of Chri&s;ts Religion in jeo|pardy with us.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>England</HI> goeth not from the unity of Faith although it goeth from the Pope.</NOTE> We prote&s;t that we never went from the unity of his Faith, neither that we will depart an inch from it. No, we will much &s;ooner lo&s;e our Lives, than any Article of our Belief &s;hall decay in England. We, which in all this cau&s;e &s;eek nothing but the glory of God, the profit and quietne&s;s of the World,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Faith of <HI>England</HI> Ca|tholick. <HI>England</HI> ready to &s;end to any General Council where truth may be ad|vanced.</NOTE> prote&s;t that we can &s;uffer Deceivers no longer. We never refu&s;ed to come to a General Council; no, we promi&s;e all our labour, &s;tudy, and fidelity, to the &s;etting up of trodden Truth and trou|bled Religion in their place again, and to do all that &s;hall lie in us to fini&s;h &s;uch Controver&s;ies as have a great while too long vexed Chri&s;tendom. Onely we will all Chri&s;tian men be admoni&s;hed, that we can &s;uffer no longer that they be e&s;teemed willing to take away Errors, which indeed by all the ways their Wits will &s;erve them go about this alone, that no man under pain of Death may &s;peak again&s;t any Error or Abu&s;e.</P>
<P>We would have a Council, we de&s;ire it, yea and crave no|thing &s;o oft of God as that we may have one. But yet we will that it be &s;uch as Chri&s;tian men ought to have, that is, frank and free, where every man without fear may &s;ay his mind. We de&s;ire that it be an holy Council,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What a true General Council ought to be.</NOTE> where eve|ry man may go about to &s;et up Godline&s;s, and not apply all their &s;tudy to oppre&s;&s;ing of Truth. We will it be Gene|ral, that is to &s;ay, kept at &s;uch time and in &s;uch place, that every man which &s;eeketh the glory of God may be pre&s;ent, and there frankly utter his mind.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Conditions of a true Gene|ral Council.</NOTE> For when it &s;hall &s;eem General, either when no man that di&s;&s;enteth from the Bi|&s;hop of Rome is compelled to be from it, or when they that be pre&s;ent are not letted by any ju&s;t terror to &s;ay boldly what they truly think; for who would not gladly come to &s;uch a Council, except it be the Pope, his Cardinals, and Popi&s;h Ri&s;hops? On the other &s;ide, who is &s;o fooli&s;h, whereas the chief point that is to be handled in this Coun|cil is the Popes own Cau&s;e, Power, and Primacy, to grant that the Pope &s;hould reign, &s;hould be Iudge, &s;hould be Pre|&s;ident
<PB N="24" REF="14"> of the Council? If he which indeed can never think him&s;elf able to defend his Cau&s;e before any other Iudge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope would be Judge in his own cau&s;e.</NOTE> be evermore made his own Iudge, and &s;o Contro|ver&s;ies not decided, but Errors &s;et up, what can be devi&s;ed in the Commonwealth of Chri&s;tendom more hurtful to the truth than General Councils?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope hath no pow|er to &s;ummon Councils.</NOTE>And here to touch &s;omewhat their impudent Arrogancy; By what Law, Power, or hone&s;t Title take they upon them to call Kings, to &s;ummon Princes to appear, where their Bulls command them? In time pa&s;t all Councils were appointed by the Authority, Con&s;ent, and Command|ment of the Emperour, Kings, and Princes; why now ta|keth the Bi&s;hop of Rome this upon him? Some will &s;ay, It is more likely that Bi&s;hops will more tender the cau&s;e of Religion, gladlier have Errors taken away, than Em|perours, Kings, and Princes. The world hath good expe|rience of them, and every man &s;eeth how faithfully they have handled religious matters. Is there any man that doth not &s;ee how vertuou&s;ly <HI>Paul</HI> now goeth about by this occa&s;ion to &s;et up his Tyranny again?<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope how he can watch his time.</NOTE> Is it not like that he that choo&s;eth &s;uch a time as this is to keep a Council, much intendeth the redre&s;s of things that now are ami&s;s, that he &s;eeketh the re&s;toring of Religion, that now calleth a Council, the Emperour and the French King, two Prin|ces of great power, &s;o bent to Wars that neither they, nor any other Chri&s;tian Prince can, in a manner do any thing but look for the end of this long War? Go too, go t o, Bi|&s;hop of Rome, occa&s;ion long wi&s;h'd for offereth her &s;elf unto you; take her, &s;he openeth a Window for your Frauds to creep in at: call, your Cardinals, your own Creatures, &s;hew them that this is a jolly time to deceive Princes in.</P>
<P>O Fools! O wicked men! may we not ju&s;tly &s;o call you? Are ye not Fools, which being long &s;u&s;pected not onely of Princes, but of all Chri&s;tian People in a manner, that in no ca&s;e you could be brought to a General Council, plain|ly &s;hew the whole world, that by the&s;e your Conciliables, your Hutter-mutter in corners, you take away all hope of lawful Catholick and General Council? Are you not wicked which &s;o hate Truth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Truth m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y be pre&s;&s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> can|not be op|pre&s;&s;ed.</NOTE> that except &s;he be utterly ba|ni&s;hed ye will never cea&s;e to vex her? The living God is alive, neither Truth his Dearling (he being alive) can be called to &s;o great &s;hame, contumely, and injury; or if it may be called to all the&s;e, yet can it come to none of them. Who is he that grievou&s;ly lamenteth not men to be of &s;uch &s;hameful boldne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope Enemy to Chri&s;t.</NOTE> to &s;hew apertly that they be Enemies unto Chri&s;t him&s;elf? On the other &s;ide, who will not be glad to &s;ee &s;uch men as fooli&s;h as they be wicked? The World is not now in a light &s;u&s;picion, as it hath been hi|therto,
<PB N="25" REF="14"> that you intend no reformation of Errors, but eve|ry man &s;eeth before his eyes your deceits, your wicked minds,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes hatred again&s;t the truth.</NOTE> your immortal hatred that ye bear again&s;t the Truth. Every man &s;eeth how many mi&s;erable Trage|dies your pretence of an Vnity and Concord hath brought into Chri&s;tendom. They &s;ee your fair face of Peace hath &s;erved Sedition, and troubled almo&s;t all Chri&s;tian Realms.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope troubler of all Chri&s;tian Realms.</NOTE> They &s;ee ye never oppugn Religion more, than when ye will &s;eem mo&s;t to defend it. They be &s;orry to &s;ee that great Wits a long &s;ea&s;on have &s;pent their whole &s;trength in de|fence of Deceits, Rea&s;on to put his whole power to the promoting of Pride and Vngodline&s;s, Vertues to &s;erve Vices, Holine&s;s to be &s;lave to Hypocri&s;ie, Prudence to Subtilty, Iu&s;tice to Tyranny. They be glad that Scri|pture now fighteth for it &s;elf, and not again&s;t it &s;elf. They be glad that God is not compelled to be again&s;t God, Chri&s;t again&s;t Chri&s;t. They be glad that Subtilty hath done no more hurt to Religion in time pa&s;t, than now Con&s;tancy doth do good to Truth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes marks where|at he &s;hoot|eth.</NOTE> They &s;ee the Marks that ye have &s;hot at in all your Councils pa&s;t, to be Lucre, Money, Gains; they &s;ee you &s;ought your Profit, yea though it were joyn'd with the Slaughter of Truth. They &s;ee ye would ever that &s;ooner injury &s;hould be done to the Go|&s;pel, than that your Authority, that is to &s;ay, arrogant Impudency &s;hould in any point be dimini&s;hed.</P>
<P>And we pray you,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes craft in &s;teal|ing a General Council.</NOTE> what may <HI>Paul</HI> the Bi&s;hop of Rome &s;eem now to go about, which &s;eeing all Princes occupied in great affairs, would &s;teal (as he calleth it) a General Council? What other thing, than hereby to have &s;ome excu&s;e to refu&s;e a General Council hereafter, when time and place much better for the handling of matters of Reli|gion &s;hall be given unto Princes of Chri&s;tendom? He will think he may then do as Princes now do; he will think it lawful not to come then, becau&s;e Princes now come not. We pray God that we ever brawl not one with another in Religion; and whereas Di&s;&s;ention is among&s;t us, yet for our parts we do &s;ay, that we as much as men may, defend the better part, and be in the right way. We pray God that the world may enjoy peace and tran|quillity, and that then we may have both time and place to &s;ettle Religion. For except fir&s;t Princes agree, and &s;o (War laid a&s;ide) &s;eek peace, he lo&s;eth his labour that &s;eeketh a General Council. If the Bi&s;hop of Rome may keep his Council while they thus be together, will not there be made many pretty Decrees? If they which would come if they had lei&s;ure be ab&s;ent, and we which (though we &s;afely might come) will not lo&s;e any part of our right, trow you in all our ab&s;ence that the Bi&s;hop of Rome will not handle his Profit and Primacy well?</P>
<PB N="26" REF="15">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The time and pl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ce pre&s;ent|ly picked of the Pope.</NOTE><HI>Paul,</HI> how can any of ours not refu&s;e to come to Mantua, through &s;o many perils, a City &s;o far &s;et from England, &s;o nigh your Friends, Kin&s;men, and Adherents? Is he not unworthy of Life, that where he may tarry at home, will pa&s;s through &s;o many Ieopardies of Life? Can he which cometh to Cremona, a City not far from Mantua, be &s;afe if he be taken not to be the Bi&s;hop of Romes Friend,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What an He|retick is among the Papi&s;ts.</NOTE> that is, (as the common &s;ort of deceived people doth interpret) an Heretick? And if there come to Mantua &s;uch a number as would furni&s;h a General Council, may not Mantua &s;&eacute;em too little to receive &s;o many Gue&s;ts? Put the&s;e two toge|ther, all the way from England to Mantua is full of ju&s;t pe|rils, and yet if ye e&s;cape all tho&s;e, the very place w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ere the Council is kept is more to be &s;u&s;pected than all the way. Do ye not know all Civil Laws to compel no man to come to any place, where he &s;hall be in jeopardy of his Life all the way? We have no &s;afe conduct to pa&s;s and return by the Dominions of other Princes. And if we had a &s;afe conduct, yet &s;hould not we be charged with ra&s;hne&s;s, that where ju&s;t terror might have di&s;&s;uaded us from &s;uch a journey,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The way to <HI>Mantua</HI> long and danger|ous.</NOTE> we committed our &s;elves to &s;uch perils? Sure|ly he that (the time being as it is, things &s;tanding as they do) will go from England to Mantua, may be carele&s;s if he lack not wit; &s;ure of his arrival or return from thence he cannot be. For who doth not know how oft the Bi&s;hops of Rome have plaid fal&s;e parts with them that in &s;uch matters have tru&s;ted to their &s;afe conduct? How oft have they cau&s;ed by their Perfidie &s;uch men to be &s;lain,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The fal&s;hood of Popes no new thing.</NOTE> as they have promi&s;ed by their Faith before, that they &s;hould both come &s;afe and go &s;afe? The&s;e be no news, Popes to be fal&s;e, Popes to keep no promi&s;e neither with God nor Man; Popes contrary to their oaths, to defile their cruel hands with hone&s;t mens bloud. But we tarry too long in things that as well touch all men as us.</P>
<P>We will (the&s;e now laid apart) turn our Oration unto &s;uch things, as privately touch both us King <HI>Henry</HI> the Eighth, and all Engli&s;hmen. Is it unknown to any man what mind <HI>Paul</HI> the Bi&s;hop of Rome beareth to us King <HI>Henry</HI> the Eighth, to us his Nobility, to us his Graces Bi&s;hops, and to us all his Graces Subjects&punc; for the pulling down of his u&s;urped Power and proud Primacy, for ex|pelling of his u&s;urped Iuri&s;diction, and for delivering of our Realm from his grievous bondage and pollage? Who &s;eeth not him even enflamed with hatred again&s;t us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The hatred of the P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">pe again&s;t <HI>Eng|land.</HI></NOTE> and the flames to be much greater than he can now keep them in? He is an open Enemy, he di&s;&s;embleth no longer, pro|voking all men by all the means that he can, to endamage us and our Country. The&s;e three years he hath been oc|cupied
<PB N="27" REF="15"> in no one thing &s;o much, as how he might &s;tir up the Commons of England, and corrupting &s;ome with Money, &s;ome with Dignities. We let pa&s;s what Letters he hath written to Chri&s;tian Princes; with how great fervent &s;tudy he hath exhorted them to &s;et upon us. The good Vicar of Chri&s;t by his doing &s;heweth how he under&s;tands the words of Chri&s;t; he thinketh he playeth Chri&s;t's part well, when he may &s;ay as Chri&s;t did, <HI>Non veni pacem mittere in terram,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope bringeth not peace but the &s;word to the earth, other|wi&s;e than Chri&s;t did.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ed gladium;</HI> I come not to make peace in earth, but to &s;end &s;words about: and not &s;uch &s;words as Chri&s;t would his to be armed withall, but &s;uch as cruel Manquellers abu&s;e in the &s;laughter of their Neighbours. We marvel little though they vex'd other Princes oft, &s;eeing they re|compence our favour &s;hewed to them with contumelies, our benefits with injuries.</P>
<P>We will not rehear&s;e here how many our Benefits be|&s;towed upon Roman Bi&s;hops be lo&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Benefits ca&s;t away upon the Pope.</NOTE> God be with &s;uch ungrate Carles, unworthy to be numbered among&s;t men; Certes &s;uch that a man may well doubt whether God or Man hath better cau&s;e to hate them. But that we have learned to owe good will even to them that immortally hate us, what could we wi&s;h them &s;o evil but they have de|&s;erved much wor&s;e? We wi&s;h them this hurt alone, that God &s;end them a better mind. God be thanked we have made all their &s;editious intents &s;ooner to &s;hew their great malice towards us, than to do us much hurt; yea, they have well taught us evermore to take good heed to our Ene|mies. Vndoubtedly it were good going to Mantua, and to leave their Whelps among the Lambs of our Flock. When we be weary of our Wealth, we will even do then as they would have us now do. No, no, as long as we &s;hall &s;ee his heart &s;o good towards us, we tru&s;t upon his warn|ing we &s;hall well provide to with&s;tand his cruel malice. No let him now &s;pend his deceits, when they can hurt none but &s;uch as would deceive and are deceived.</P>
<P>They have by &s;undry ways made us privy how much we be bound to them. It went nigh their hearts to &s;ee the judgment of <HI>July,</HI> of <HI>Clement</HI> the &s;eventh, of <HI>Paul</HI> the third, nothing to be regarded with us. They be afraid if we &s;hould &s;u&s;tain no hurt, becau&s;e we ju&s;tly rejected their Primacy, that other Princes would begin to do likewi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes Cur&s;es not feared in <HI>Eng|land.</HI></NOTE> and to &s;hake from their &s;houlders the heavy burthens that they &s;o long have born, again&s;t Scripture, all right and rea&s;on. They be &s;orry to &s;ee the way &s;topped, that now their Tyranny, Avarice, and Pride can have no pa&s;&s;age into England, which was wont to walk, to triumph, to to&s;s; to trouble all men. They can &s;carce &s;uffer Privile|ges, that is to &s;ay, Licence to &s;poil our Citizens, given
<PB N="28" REF="16"> them by our Forefathers, and brought in by errorfull Cu|&s;tom, to be taken from them. They think it unlawful, that we require things lawful of them that will be under no Laws. They think we do them wrong becau&s;e we will not &s;uffer them to do us wrong any longer. They &s;ee their Merchandize to be bani&s;hed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes Trumpery di&s;pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ned out of <HI>Eng|land.</HI></NOTE> to be forbidden; they &s;ee that we will buy no longer Chalk for Chee&s;e. They &s;ee that they have lo&s;t a fair fleece, vengeable &s;orry that they can di&s;|patch no more Pardons, Di&s;pen&s;ations, Totquots, with the re&s;t of their baggage and trumpery. England is no more a Babe; there is no man here but now he knoweth that they do fooli&s;hly that give Gold for Lead,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gold given for Lead.</NOTE> more weight of that than they receive of this; they pa&s;s not, though <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>Pauls</HI> Faces be graven in the Lead to make Fools fain. No, we be &s;orry that they &s;hould abu&s;e holy Saints Vi&s;ages to the beguiling of the world.</P>
<P>Surely, except God take away our right wits, not one|ly his Authority &s;hall be driven out for ever, but his Name al&s;o &s;hall be forgotten in England.<NOTE PLACE="marg">God grant.</NOTE> We will from henceforth ask coun&s;el from him and his when we li&s;t to be deceived, when we covet to be in error, when we de&s;ire to offend God, Truth and Hone&s;ty. If a man may gue&s;s the whole work by the foundation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes foundation to all deceits.</NOTE> where Deceits begin|neth the work, can any other than Deceits be builded up|on this foundation? What can you look for in this Man|tuan Council, other than the oppre&s;&s;ion of Truth and true Religion? If there be any thing well done, think as eve|ry man doth, Bi&s;hops of Rome to be accu&s;tomed to do a few things well, that many evil may the better be taken at their hands.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope doth a few things well, that many evils may the bet er pro|ceed.</NOTE> They when they li&s;t can yield &s;ome part of their right; they are content that &s;ome of their Decrees, &s;ome of their Errors and Abu&s;es be reprehended, but they are never more to be feared than when they &s;hew them|&s;elves mo&s;t gentle. For if they grant a few they ask ma|ny, if they leave a little they will be &s;ure of a great deal. Scarce a man may know how to handle him&s;elf, that he take no hurt at their hands, yea when they ble&s;s him; which &s;eldom do good but for an intent to do evil. Cer|tainly, come who &s;o will to the&s;e Shops of Deceits, to the&s;e Fairs of Frauds, we will lo&s;e no part of our right in coming at his call,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope ought to be called, and not to call.</NOTE> that ought to be called and not to call. We will neither come at Mantua, nor &s;end thither for this matter, &amp;c.</P>
<P>And &s;o the King proceeding in the &s;aid his Prote&s;tation declareth moreover, how the Pope after he had &s;ummoned his Council fir&s;t to be kept at Mantua,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Pope again pro|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">es his Council.</NOTE> the three and twen|tieth day of May, An. 1537, &s;hortly after directed out ano|ther Bull to prorogate the &s;ame Council to the moneth of
<PB N="29" REF="16"> November, pretending for his excu&s;e that the Duke of Mantua would not &s;uffer him to keep any Council there, unle&s;s he maintained a number of Warriours for defence of the Town. And therefore in his later Bu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l he proro|gueth this A&s;&s;embly, commanding Patriarchs, Archbi|&s;hops, Bi&s;hos, Abbats, and other of the Spiritualty, by the vertue of Obedience, and under pain of Cur&s;ing, to be pre&s;ent, but &s;heweth no place at all where he would be, nor whither they &s;hould come. And in very deed no great matter though no place were named; for as good a Council no where to be called, as where it could not be; and as well no place &s;erved him that intended no Council, as all places. And to &s;ay truth, much better no place to be na|med, than to name &s;uch as he purpo&s;ed not to come to; for &s;o &s;hould he break no promi&s;e which maketh none. And &s;o going forward in his Oration, toward the later end he thus inferreth by his words of Prote&s;tation, &s;aying:</P>
<P>No,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Princes as the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> gave the Pope Prima|cy, &s;o they take it from him again.</NOTE> we will the Pope and his Adherents to under&s;tand that which we have oft &s;aid, and now &s;ay, and ever will &s;ay, He nor his hath no Authority nor Iuri&s;diction in Eng|land; we give him no more than he hath, that is never a deal. That which he hath u&s;urped again&s;t Gods Law, and extorteth by violence, we by good right take from him again. But he and his will &s;ay, we gave them a Prima|cy. We bear them well, we gave it you indeed; if you have Authority upon us as long as our Con&s;ent giveth it you, and you evermore will make your plea upon our Con&s;ent, then let it have even an end where it began; we con&s;ent no longer, your Authority mu&s;t needs be gone. If we be|ing deceived by fal&s;e pretence of evil-alledged Scriptures, gave to you that ye ought to have refu&s;ed, why may we not, our Error now perceived, and your Deceit e&s;pied, take it again? We Princes wrote our &s;elves to be inferiour to Popes; as long as we thought &s;o we obeyed them as our Superiours. Now we write not as we did, and there|fore they have no great cau&s;e to marvel, if we hereafter do not as we did; both the Laws Civil, and al&s;o the Laws of God, be on our &s;ide. For a Fraeman born doth not lo&s;e his Liberty, no nor hurt the plea of his Liberty, though he write him&s;elf a Bondman.</P>
<P>Again, if they lean to Cu&s;tom,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cu&s;tom.</NOTE> we &s;end them to S. <HI>Cy|prian,</HI> which &s;aith, That Cu&s;tom, if Truth be not joyned with it, is nothing but <HI>Erroris vetu&s;tas,</HI> that is, an old Er|ror. Chri&s;t &s;aid, <HI>Ego &s;um via, veritas, &amp; vita;</HI> I am the way, the truth, and the life: he never &s;aid, <HI>Ego &s;um con|&s;uetudo,</HI> I am the Cu&s;tom. Wherefore &s;eeing Cu&s;tom &s;er|veth you on the one &s;ide, and Scripture us on the other, are ye able to match us? In how many places doth
<PB N="30" REF="17"> Chri&s;t moni&s;h you to &s;eek no Primacy, to prefer your &s;elves before nobody, no to be obedient unto all Creatures? Your old Title <HI>Servus Servorum</HI> evil agreeth your new forged Dignity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Popes Title and his Dignity agree not together.</NOTE> But we will not tarry in matters &s;o plain; we onely de&s;ire God, that <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> and other Chri&s;tian Princes, would agree upon &s;ome holy Council, where truth may be tried, and Religion &s;et up, which hath been hurt by no|thing &s;o &s;ore, as by general not General Councils. Errors and Abu&s;es grow too fa&s;t; <HI>Erudimini qui judicatis terram,</HI> Get you Learning you that judge the earth; and excogi|tate &s;ome Remedy for the&s;e &s;o many Di&s;ea&s;es of the &s;ick Church. They that be wi&s;e&s;t do de&s;pair of a General Council;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Be&s;t that eve|ry Prince re|form his own Realm, and tarry not for General Councils.</NOTE> wherefore we think it now be&s;t that every Prince call a Council Provincial, and every Prince to redre&s;s his own Realm. We make all men privy what we think be&s;t to be done for the redre&s;s of Religion: if they like it, we doubt not but they will follow it, or &s;ome other better. Our tru&s;t is, that all Princes will &s;o handle them&s;elves in this behalf, that Princes may enjoy their own, and Prie&s;ts of Rome content them&s;elves with that they ought to have. Princes as we tru&s;t will no longer nouri&s;h Wolves Whelps, they will &s;ub&s;cribe no more to Popi&s;h Pride, to the Papacy, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Favour our doings, O Chri&s;tian Princes, your Honour and ancient Maje&s;ty is re&s;tored. Remember there is no|thing peetaining &s;o much to a Princes Honour, as to &s;et forth Truth, and to help Religion. Take you heed that their Deceits work not more mi&s;chief than your Vertue can do good, and everla&s;ting War we would all Princes had with this Papacy. As for their Decrees, &s;o hearken to them, that if in this Mantuan A&s;&s;embly things be well done ye take them, but not as authorized by them, but that Truth, and things that maintain Religion, are to be taken at all mens hands. And even as we will admit things well made, &s;o if there be any thing determined in prejudice of Truth, for the maintainance of their evil grounded Pri|macy, or that may hurt the Authority of Kings, we prote&s;t unto the whole world, that we neither allow it, nor will at any time allow it.</P>
<P>Ye have, Chri&s;tian Readers, our mind concerning the General Council; we think you all &s;ee that <HI>Paul</HI> and his Cardinals, Bi&s;hops, Abbats, Monks, Friers, with the re&s;t of the Rabblement, do nothing le&s;s intend, than the Knowledge of Truth. Ye &s;ee this is no time meet, Man|tua no place meet for a General Council; and though they were both meet, yet except &s;ome other call this Council, you &s;ee that we neither need to come nor to &s;end. You have heard how every Prince in his own Realm may quiet
<PB N="31" REF="17"> things ami&s;s. If there be any of you that can &s;hew us a better way, we promi&s;e with all our hearty de&s;ire to do that that &s;hall be thought be&s;t for the &s;ettling of Religion, and that we will leave our own Advices if any man &s;hew us better. Which mind of ours we mo&s;t heartily pray God that gave it us, not onely to increa&s;e in us, but al&s;o to &s;end it unto all Chri&s;tian Princes, all Chri&s;tian Prelats, and all Chri&s;tian People.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="injunctions">
<HEAD>Injunctions given by King <HI>Henry</HI> VIII. to the Clergy of his Realm.</HEAD>
<P>IN the Name of God, Amen. In the Year of our Lord God 1536, and of the mo&s;t Noble Reign of our Sove|reign Lord <HI>Henry VIII.</HI> King of England and of France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and in the earth Supreme Head of the Church of England, the twenty eighth, &amp;c.</P>
<P>I <HI>Thomas Cromwell</HI> Knight, Lord <HI>Cromwell,</HI> Keeper of the Privy Seal of our &s;aid Sovereign Lord the King, and Vicegerent to the &s;ame; for and concerning all his Iuri&s;|diction Eccle&s;ia&s;tical within this Realm, to the glory of Almighty God, to the Kings Highne&s;s Honour, the pub|lick weal of this Realm, and increa&s;e of Vertue in the &s;ame, have appointed and a&s;&s;igned the&s;e Injunctions en|&s;uing, to be kept and ob&s;erved of the Dean, Par&s;ons, Vicars, Curats, and Stipendaries, re&s;ident or having Cure of Souls, or any other Spiritual Admini&s;tration within this Deanry, under the Pains hereafter limited and appointed.</P>
<P>THE fir&s;t is, that the Dean, Par&s;ons, Vicars, and other having Cure of Souls any where within this Deanry, &s;hall faithfully keep and ob&s;erve, and as far as in them may lie, &s;hall cau&s;e to be kept and ob&s;erved of all other, all and &s;ingular Laws and Statutes of this Realm, made for the aboli&s;hing and extirpation of the Bi&s;hop of Romes pretended and u&s;urped Power and Iuri&s;diction within this Realm,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Confirmation of the Kings Supremacy.</NOTE> and for the e&s;tabli&s;hment and confir|mation of the Kings Authority and Iuri&s;diction within the &s;ame, as of the Supreme Head of the Church of Eng|land, and &s;hall to the uttermo&s;t of their Wit, Knowledge,
<PB N="32" REF="18"> and Learning, purely, &s;yncerely, and without any colour or di&s;&s;imulation, declare, manife&s;t, and open, by the &s;pace of one quarter of a year now next en&s;uing, once every Sunday, and after at the lea&s;t twice every quarter of a year, in their Sermons and other Collations, that the Bi|&s;hop of Romes V&s;urped Power and Iuri&s;diction,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Again&s;t the Popes Pri|macy.</NOTE> having no e&s;tabli&s;hment nor ground by the Law of God, was for mo&s;t ju&s;t cau&s;es taken away and a boli&s;hed, and that there|fore they owe unto him no manner of Obedience or Subje|ction, and that the Kings Power is within his Dominion the highe&s;t Potentate and Power under God, to whom all men within the &s;ame Dominion, by Gods, commandment owe mo&s;t Loyalty and Obedience, afore and above all other Potentates in earth.</P>
<P>Item, Whereas certain Articles were lately devi&s;ed and put forth by the Kings Highne&s;s Authority, and con|de&s;cended unto by the Prelats and Clergy of this his Realm in Convocation, (whereof part were nece&s;&s;ary to be holden and believed for our Salvation, and the other part do concern and touch certain laudable Ceremonies, Rights, and V&s;ages of the Church, meet and convenient to be kept and u&s;ed for a decent and politick order in the &s;ame) the &s;aid Dean, Par&s;ons, Vicars, and other Curats, &s;hall &s;o open and declare, in their Sermons and other Collati|ons, the &s;aid Articles unto them that be under their Cure, that they may plainly know and di&s;cern which of them be nece&s;&s;ary to be believed and ob&s;erved for their Salvation, and which be not nece&s;&s;ary, but onely do concern the de|cent and politick order of the &s;aid Church, according to &s;uch commandment and admonition as hath been given unto them heretofore by the Authority of the Kings High|ne&s;s in that behalf.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Kings Ar|ticles to be read to the people.</NOTE>Moreover, that they &s;hall declare unto all &s;uch as be under their Cure, the Articles likewi&s;e devi&s;ed, put forth, and authorized of late, for and concerning the abrogating of certain &s;uper&s;titious Holydays, according to the effect and purport of the &s;ame Articles, and per&s;uade their Pa|ri&s;hioners to keep and ob&s;erve the &s;ame inviolably, as things whol&s;om, provided, decreed, and e&s;tabli&s;hed by the common Con&s;ent and publick Authority, for the Common|weals commodity and profit of all this Realm.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Images abo|li&s;hed.</NOTE>Be&s;ides this, to the intent that all Super&s;tition and Hypocri&s;ie crept into divers mens hearts may vani&s;h away, they &s;hall not &s;et forth or extoll any Images, Reliques, or Miracles, for any &s;uper&s;tition or lucre, nor allure the peo+ple
<PB N="33" REF="18"> by any intreatments to Pilgrimages<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pilgrimages Forbidden.</NOTE> of any Saints, otherwi&s;e than is permitted in the Articles lately put forth by the Authority of the Kings Maje&s;ty, and conde|&s;cended unto by the Prelats and Clergy of this his Realm in Convocation, as though it were proper or peculiar to that Saint to give this Commodity or that; &s;eeing all Good|ne&s;s, Health, and Grace, ought to be both looked and ask|ed for onely of God, as of the very Author of the &s;ame, and of none other, for without him it cannot be given; but they &s;hall exhort as well their Pari&s;hioners as other Pil|grims, that they do rather apply them&s;elves to the keeping of Gods Commandments, and the fulfilling of his works of Charity; per&s;uading them that they &s;hall plea&s;e God more by the true exerci&s;e of their bodily Labour, Travel, or Occupation, and providing for their Families, than if they went about to the &s;aid Pilgrimages; and it &s;hall pro|fit more their Souls health, if they do be&s;tow that on the poor and needy, which they would have be&s;towed upon the &s;aid Images or Reliques.</P>
<P>Al&s;o in the &s;ame their Sermons and other Collations,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prayers in the Mother Tongue.</NOTE> the Par&s;ons, Vicars, and other Curats afore&s;aid, &s;hall di|ligently admoni&s;h the Fathers and Mothers, Ma&s;ters and Governours of Youth, being within their Cure, to teach or cau&s;e to be taught their Children and Servants, even from their Infancy, the <HI>Pater no&s;ter,</HI> the Articles of our Faith, and the Ten Commandments in their Mother Tongue, and the &s;ame &s;o taught &s;hall cau&s;e the &s;aid Youth oft to repeat and under&s;tand. And to the intent this may be the more ea&s;ily done, the &s;aid Curats &s;hall in their Ser|mons deliberately and plainly recite of the &s;aid <HI>Pater no|&s;ter,</HI> Articles, or Commandments, one Clau&s;e or Article one day, and another another day, till the whole be taught and learned by little and little, and &s;hall deliver the &s;ame in writing, or &s;hew where printed Books containing the &s;ame be to be &s;old to them that can read, or will de&s;ire the &s;ame; and thereto that the &s;aid Fathers and Mothers, Ma&s;ters and Governours, do be&s;tow their Children and Servants, even from their Childhood, either to Learning or to &s;ome hone&s;t Exerci&s;e, Occupation, or Husbandry; ex|horting, coun&s;elling, and by all the ways and means they may, as well in their &s;aid Sermons and Collations, as otherwi&s;e, the &s;aid Fathers, Mothers, Ma&s;ters, and other Governours, being under their cure and charge, diligently to provide and fore&s;ee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For bringing up of Youth in &s;ome Art or Occupati|on.</NOTE> that the &s;aid Youth be in no manner wi&s;e kept or brought up in idlene&s;s, le&s;t at any time after|ward they be driven, for lack of &s;ome My&s;tery or Occupa|tion to live by, to fall to begging, &s;tealing, or &s;ome other
<PB N="34" REF="19"> unthriftine&s;s; fora&s;much as we may daily &s;ee, through &s;loth and idlene&s;s divers valiant men fall, &s;ome to begging, &s;ome to theft and murther, which after brought to calami|ty and mi&s;ery, impute a great part thereof to their Friends and Governours, which &s;uffered them to be brought up &s;o idly in their Youth; where if they had been brought up and educated in &s;ome good Literature, Occupation or My&s;tery, they &s;hould (being Rulers of their own Families) have pro|fited as well them&s;elves as divers other per&s;ons, to the great commodity and ornament of the Commonweal.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Placing of good Vicars and Curats.</NOTE>Al&s;o that the &s;aid Par&s;ons, Vicars, and other Curats, &s;hall diligently provide, that the Sacraments and Sacra|mentals be duly and reverently mini&s;tred in their Pa|ri&s;hes. And if at any time it happen them, either in any of the ca&s;es expre&s;&s;ed in the Statutes of this Realm, or of &s;pecial Licence given by the Kings Maje&s;ty, to be ab&s;ent from their Benefices, they &s;hall leave their Cure not to a rude and unlearned per&s;on, but to an hone&s;t, well learn|ed, and expert Curat, that may teach the rude and unlearn|ed of their Cure whol&s;om Doctrine, and reduce them to the right way, that they do not erre; and always let them &s;ee, that neither they nor their Vicars do &s;eek more their own profit, promotion, or advantage, than the profit of the Souls that they have under their Cure, or the glory of God.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Every Pari&s;h to provide a Bible in Engli&s;h.</NOTE>Item, that every Par&s;on or Proprietary of any Pari&s;h Church within this Realm, &s;hall on this &s;ide the Fea&s;t of S. <HI>Peter ad vincula</HI> next coming, provide a Book of the whole Bible both in Latin and al&s;o in Engli&s;h, and lay the &s;ame in the Quire, for every man that will to look and read thereon, and &s;hall di&s;courage no man from the read|ing of any part of the Bible, either in Latin or Engli&s;h, but rather to comfort, exhort, and moni&s;h every man to read the &s;ame as the very Word of God, and the &s;piritual food of mans Soul, whereby they may the better know their Duties to God, to their Sovereign Lord the King, and their Neighbour; ever gently and charitably ex|horting them, that u&s;ing a &s;ober and mode&s;t behaviour in the reading and inqui&s;ition of the true &s;en&s;e of the &s;ame, they do in no wi&s;e &s;tiffly or eagerly contend or &s;trive one with another about the &s;ame, but refer the declaration of tho&s;e places that be in controver&s;ie, to the judgment of them that be better learned.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prie&s;ts not to haunt Ale|hou&s;es.</NOTE>Al&s;o the &s;aid Dean, Par&s;ons, Vicars, Curats, and other Prie&s;ts, &s;hall in no wi&s;e at any unlawful time, nor for
<PB N="35" REF="19"> any other cau&s;e than for their hone&s;t nece&s;&s;ity, haunt or re&s;ort to any Taverns or Alehou&s;es, and after their Din|ner and Supper they &s;hall not give them&s;elves to drinking or riot, &s;pending their time idly by day or by night, at Tables or Cards playing, or any other unlawful Game; but at &s;uch times as they &s;hall have &s;uch lei&s;ure, they &s;hall read or hear &s;omewhat of holy Scripture, or &s;hall occupy them&s;elves with &s;ome hone&s;t Exerci&s;e, and that they al|ways do tho&s;e things that appertain to good congruence and hone&s;ty, with profit of the Commonweal, having al|ways in mind that they ought to excell all other in purity of life, and &s;hould be example to all other to live well and Chri&s;tianly.</P>
<P>Furthermore,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Par&s;ons not re&s;ident to pay the 40th. part to their Pari&s;hes.</NOTE> becau&s;e the goods of the Church are cal|led the goods of the Poor, and in the&s;e days nothing is le&s;s &s;een than the Poor to be &s;u&s;tained with the &s;ame, all Par|&s;ons, Vicars, Prebendaries, and other beneficed men with|in this Deanry, not being re&s;ident upon their Benefices, which may di&s;pend yearly twenty pounds or above, either within this Deanry, or el&s;ewhere, &s;hall di&s;tribute hereafter yearly among&s;t their poor Pari&s;hioners or other Inhabi|tants there, in the pre&s;ence of the Churchwardens, or &s;ome other hone&s;t men of the Pari&s;h, the fortieth part of the Fruits and Revenues of their &s;aid Benefices, le&s;t they be worthily noted of Ingratitude, which re&s;erving &s;o many parts to them&s;elves, cannot vouch&s;afe to impart the forti|eth portion thereof among&s;t the poor people of that Pari&s;h that is &s;o fruitful and profitable unto them.</P>
<P>And to the intent that learned men may hereafter &s;pring the more, for the executing of the &s;aid premi&s;&s;es,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Every bene|ficed man worth 100 <HI>l.</HI> to find a Scho|lar at the Univer&s;ity.</NOTE> every Par|&s;on, Vicar, Clerk, or beneficed man within this Deanry, yearly to &s;pend in Benefices or other Promotions of the Church, an hundred pounds, &s;hall give competent Exhibiti|on to one Scholar; and for as many hundred pounds more as he may di&s;pend, to &s;o many Scholars more &s;hall give like Exhibition in the Vniver&s;ity of Oxford or Cambridge, or &s;ome Grammar School; which after they have profited in good Learning, may be Partners of their Patrons Cure and Charge, as well in Preaching, as otherwi&s;e in the execution of their Offices, or may when need &s;hall be other|wi&s;e profit the Commonwealth with their coun&s;el and wi&s;dom.</P>
<P>Al&s;o that all Par&s;ons, Vicars, and Clerks,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Beneficed men to main|tain their Man&s;ions.</NOTE> having Chur|ches, Chapels, or Man&s;ions within this Deanry, &s;hall be|&s;tow yearly hereafter upon the &s;ame Man&s;ions or Chan|cels
<PB N="36" REF="20"> of their Churches being in decay, the fifth part of tho&s;e their Benefices, till they &s;hall be fully repaired, and the &s;ame &s;o repaired they &s;hall always keep and maintain in good e&s;tate.</P>
<P>All which and &s;ingular Injunctions &s;hall be inviolably ob&s;erved of the &s;aid Dean, Par&s;ons, Vicars, Curats, Sti|pendaries, and other Clerks, and beneficed men under pain of Su&s;pen&s;ion, and Seque&s;tration of the Fruits of their Benefices, untill they have done their duties accord|ing to the&s;e Injunctions.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<PB N="1" REF="20">
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P><HI>CHri&s;tian Reader,</HI> Who ha&s;t peru&s;ed and well weigh|ed this Prote&s;tation, thou do&s;t &s;ee therein the Frauds, Pride, Avarice, Treacheries, Cruelties, Enmity to God and Chri&s;t, and his Truth and People, with many other notorious Enormities of the Pope and his Shaveling Prie&s;ts and Clergy, clearly and openly di&s;covered, detected, dete&s;ted and renounced, by &s;o great a King. He pronounces them to be open Enemies to Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and to carry in their Brea&s;ts an immortal Hatred to his Truth. He Proclaimeth to all Chri&s;tian Princes and Peo|ble the mi&s;erable Tragedies, which under pretence of Unity and Concord, they have brought into <HI>Chri&s;tendom,</HI> and that they have troubled all Chri&s;tian Realms with Seditions, under plau&s;ible pretences of Peace. That in all their Councils and Actings touch|ing Religion, the only Marks they have &s;hot at, was Lucre, Money and Gains; yea that they &s;ought their own Profit, with the Slaughter of the Truth, and were infinitely more willing that the greate&s;t Injury &s;hould be done to the Go&s;pel, than that their Authority, that is to &s;ay, their Arrogant Impudence, &s;hould &s;uf|fer the lea&s;t Diminution. That their u&s;ual practice is, to defile their cruel Hands with hone&s;t Mens Bloud, and that contrary to their Oaths. He further declares, That this holy Vicar was &s;o inflamed with Hatred again&s;t the King and Kingdom, for pull|ing down his U&s;urped Power, and Proud Primacy, for expelling his U&s;urped Juri&s;diction, for rejecting his Fal&s;e and Heretical Doctrine, and delivering this Realm from his grievous Bondage and Polage; that <HI>He</HI> &s;ought by all ways to endamage both King and People; and by Enemies at <HI>Home</HI> and Princes <HI>Abroad,</HI> to &s;tir up Troubles and Commotions. Upon which &s;ufficient Grounds, and for which ju&s;t Cau&s;es, he thus re&s;olves, &s;aying, <HI>Surely ex|cept God take away our right Wits, not only his Authority,</HI> to wit the Popes, <HI>&s;hall be driven out for</HI> Ever, <HI>but his Name al&s;o &s;hall &s;hortly be forgotten in</HI> England. And again, <HI>We will ha' the Pope and his Adherents to under&s;tand that which we have oft &s;aid, and now &s;ay, and ever will &s;ay, He nor His hath no Authority or Juri&s;diction in</HI> Eng|land. <HI>That which he hath u&s;urped again&s;t Gods Law, and extorted by Violence, We by good right take from him again.</HI> And <HI>He</HI> exhorts all Chri&s;tian Princes to favour and follow his Godly and Ju&s;t Proceedings.</P>
<P>Thus did God of his Infinite Goodne&s;s rai&s;e up this Great and Wi&s;e King to root out the Pope's U&s;urped Authority, and Fal&s;e Religion al&s;o, in a great mea&s;ure, out of <HI>England;</HI> and the Lord grant that the&s;e Intolerable and Un&s;upportable Evils may be kept
<PB N="2" REF="21"> out of it for ever. For without doubt, that Cur&s;e of God which <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> pronounced again&s;t him that &s;hould <HI>Rebuild Jericho,</HI> which was de&s;troyed by the Word and Power of God, according as it is written, <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> 6.26. <HI>And</HI> Jo&s;hua <HI>adjured them at that time, &s;ay|ing, Cur&s;ed be the Man before the Lord that ri&s;eth up and Buildeth this City</HI> Jericho, which was accordingly fulfiled in <HI>Hiel</HI> the <HI>Bethelite</HI> in the days of <HI>Ahab.</HI> I am very well a&s;&s;ured, that that, and a greater Cur&s;e will be the Portion of that Man from the Lord, that &s;hall ri&s;e up and Rebuild this Spiritual <HI>Babylon</HI> again in <HI>England,</HI> to wit, the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Church, which the Word and Power of God hath de&s;troyed, and now for &s;everal happy Years kept out of this Nation. <HI>Et nunc Reges intelligite, erudimini qui Judicatis terram. Be wi&s;e now therefore O Ye Kings, be in&s;tructed Ye that judge the Earth.</HI></P>
<P>And Oh ye People, be not as the Hor&s;e and Mule that have no Under&s;tanding, but as Men at lea&s;t, and (if it may be) as Chri&s;ti|ans: con&s;ider and weigh well with your &s;elves the great and inex|plicable Evils that the poor Nation now groans under, none can tell for how long; &s;ome of which are the&s;e that follow, and grea|ter cannot be told.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Suppre&s;&s;ing the Glorious Light of the Go&s;pel, and Ba|ni&s;hing it out of Publique View; the &s;ilencing the Grace of Chri&s;ts own Lips, and cau&s;ing the Joyful Sound that Proclaims the Acceptable Year of the Lord, to cea&s;e out of our Borders. And this is the Evil of Evils, and the Mi&s;ery of Mi&s;eries which brings all other Evils and Mi&s;eries along with it; yea this &s;huts up the Kingdom of Heaven from the World, and &s;ets Hell wide open, for all men to run headlong into it, as we &s;ee it done this day. This excludes the Love, Mercy and Goodne&s;s of God from the World, as much as po&s;&s;ibly it can, and brings in his Wrath and heavy Di&s;|plea&s;ure to wa&s;t and con&s;ume it; of which we have had the &s;ad and mo&s;t exqui&s;ite Experience, now alas! for &s;everal years toge|ther. For &s;ince the Go&s;pel, under &s;everal Mulcts and Penalties, hath been forbidden to be Preach'd, how many Manife&s;tations of Gods Ju&s;t Anger have we &s;een in many &s;trange and unu&s;ual Prodigies, in the Heavens, in the Earth, in the Waters, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> be|ing loud Warnings of the Wrath to come. What a grievous and de&s;olating Plague, the Scourge of the Almighty, hath de|&s;troyed Thou&s;ands and Ten Thou&s;ands in that late great C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> and in many other parts of the Nation, the like whereunto hath not been heretofore? What a dreadful Conflagration hath de|voured that Famous and Incomparable City, the Head and Glo|ry of the&s;e Nations, and laid it in A&s;hes and Ruines like <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah?</HI> which Cities were &s;et on Fire from Heaven, but this from Hell, by the Locu&s;ts of the Bottomle&s;s Pit, the Emi&s;&s;a|ries of the Pope and his Clergy, which Vermin have &s;warmed in this Nation, &s;ince the removal of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="21">
<P>And this provoking Sin, is not &s;o much the Sin of the People, as of the Powers of the Nation, who as it were, of very Malice, have openly renounced <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and de&s;ired <HI>Barabbas</HI> to be given to them in his &s;tead; they have rejected the Sweet and Meek Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, and have de&s;ired to be given to then the Cru|el and Murderous Religion of <HI>Antichri&s;t;</HI> a Religion written in Red Letters, even in Letters of Bloud; for it hath &s;hed the bloud of innumerable Saints and Martyrs in the &s;everal Ages, &s;ince An|tichri&s;t fir&s;t lift up his Head out of Hell into this World; &s;educe|ing the Powers of the World to take part with him in this blou|dy Work. This Religion, or rather this Iniquity in the Suburbs of it, we &s;ee Erected already, and now the great City thereof, is ready to be built again; and this Kingdom of Darkne&s;s could never have been founded but in the ab&s;ence of the Light, which they have violently cha&s;ed away. And this one thing carrys weight in it, that they who tolerate <HI>Popery</HI> to take its ea&s;e a|mong us, and to lengthen its Cords, and to &s;trengthen its Stakes, though it be directly again&s;t Chri&s;t; and they who tolerate the open exerci&s;e of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Religion, which denies and bla&s;|phemes Chri&s;t, will by no means &s;uffer nor endure the true and &s;incere Go&s;pel of Chri&s;ts Kingdom to be publi&s;hed by any, but un|der great Penalties. Whereby they declare, that they are of one Council and Work with Satan, who hath with all his Subtilty and Cruelty fought again&s;t Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, from the fir&s;t day of their Heavenly Birth hitherto.</P>
<P>This is the fir&s;t and greate&s;t Evil the Nation mourns and groans under, but this is not all.</P>
<P>For <HI>Secondly,</HI> From hence follows the greate&s;t and deepe&s;t ig|norance of God and Chri&s;t that can be, and of all their un&s;earch|able Riches which the Go&s;pel hath di&s;covered to the World. The greate&s;t ignorance of the Law and of the Go&s;pel, of Sin and of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, of Salvation and Damnation, of Heaven and Hell; in a word, the gro&s;&s;e&s;t ignorance of all the Revealed Truths of God, which concern us either to obtain Eternal Life, or to avoid Endle&s;s Death. So that in <HI>India</HI> and <HI>Ethiopia,</HI> in <HI>Calno</HI> and <HI>Car|chemi&s;h,</HI> in <HI>Pathros</HI> and <HI>Cu&s;h,</HI> in <HI>Me&s;ech</HI> and the Tents of <HI>Kedar,</HI> there is not greater ignorance of Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, and of the way of Salvation, to be found than in many places, and among many People in <HI>England;</HI> the true report that may be given of it is even incredible. And would it not grievou&s;ly affect any Chri|&s;tian Mans heart to behold &s;o many thou&s;ands of Children in this Nation, brought up without any right in&s;truction in the Chri|&s;tian Religion? Oh con&s;ider, what a Profane and Heatheni&s;h Nation this mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily become in a few years! for, what the Children and Youths now are, the Common-Wealth will be in twenty or thirty Years. And what a bruiti&s;h and bea&s;t-like Generation will then People be in this Land, if the Lord take not care of this matter in the mean time. When few will be found
<PB N="4" REF="22"> who &s;hall know any more of Chri&s;ts Name than what thay capa|citate them to bla&s;pheme it, or of his mo&s;t Precious Death and Crucifying, more than to &s;erve them to Swear by his Bloud and Wounds. For the glorious Sun of Divine Knowledge, is three quarters Eclip&s;ed already: the Good Lord prevent the Total Eclip&s;e thereof, by &s;ending forth again Mini&s;ters of his own choo&s;ing and anointing, to feed his People with true Knowledge and Under&s;tanding.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> The third Mi&s;ery we &s;igh under, is the overflowing of Iniquity like the mighty Waves of the Sea. Never was there &s;uch a Deluge of Sin &s;een upon Earth, as now covers the Face of the Nation; this is even become the covering of all Fle&s;h. All &s;orts of People, of High and Low Degree, whether Secular or Ecele&s;ia&s;tical, are all drencht and dyed in it; in &s;uch &s;ort, that Men live in this World in the manife&s;t likene&s;s of the Devil, and if Satan him&s;elf were Incarnate, you could not ea&s;ily di&s;cern one from the other. They &s;et their Faces again&s;t Heaven, and call out upon God to Damn them, Soul and Body. So Diveli&s;h they are, that they would fain be tormented before their time, and do oft|en provoke Hell to &s;wallow them up; for becau&s;e they can be no liker to the Devil in this World, they would ha&s;ten to Hell that there they may be fully like him. Oh Mon&s;ters of Mankind! Oh the true Seed of the Serpent! the right <HI>Generation of Vipers!</HI> Ye have been fore-warn'd by God to flee from the Wrath to come, but who hath warn'd you to flee unto it? Who among the remote Nations would believe the report of all your Villanies? The very rehear&s;al of them would put them into Pangs, and the bare hearing of them into Tremblings: their Sayings and Doings are &s;uch, as are not fit to be mentioned or recited among Men, but onely in the mid&s;t of Devils. For who without horrible fear, could either repeat or hear their de&s;perate Bla&s;phemies again&s;t God him&s;elf, glorious in Holine&s;s, and again&s;t our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, (whom God hath made his Fir&s;t-Bor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, <HI>High<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r than the Kings of the Earth;</HI> and <HI>when he brought him into the World, he &s;aid, Let all the Angels Wor&s;hip Him</HI>) and again&s;t the Holy Spi|rit (again&s;t whom <HI>whoever &s;peaks a word, it &s;hall nev<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r be forgiven him</HI>) again&s;t the ble&s;&s;ed Go&s;pel the great and onely <HI>Power of God to Salvation</HI>) again&s;t the Kingdom of God on Earth, and again&s;t them that dwell in Heaven. Therefore, O Lord, forgive them not.</P>
<P><HI>For their Vine is as the Vine of</HI> Sodom, <HI>and of the Fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lds of</HI> Go|morrah, <HI>their Grapes are Grapes of Gall, their Clu&s;ters are bitter, their Wine is the Poy&s;on of Dragons, and the cruel Venome of A&s;ps. The &s;hew of their Countenance doth witne&s;s again&s;t them, and they de|clare their Sin more than</HI> Sodom, <HI>they hide it not, they boa&s;t of it, and every Man is famous as he can do most wickedly. Wo unto their Souls, for they have rewarded evil again&s;t them&s;elves.</HI></P>
<PB N="5" REF="22">
<P><HI>For therefore H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll hath enlarged her &s;elf, and opened her Mouth without mea&s;ure, and their Glory, and their Multitude, and their Pomp, and he that rejoiceth &s;hall &s;oon de&s;cend into it. This their Day approacheth, it comes, it makes ha&s;t, when they &s;hall peri&s;h for ever like their own Dung, and they that have &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">en them &s;hall &s;ay, where are they?</HI></P>
<P><HI>And therefore howl ye Profane Ones, for the Day of the Lord is at hand, it &s;hall come as a De&s;truction from the Almighty: then &s;hall your Wicked Hands fall down, and your Proud Hearts melt, and you &s;hall be &s;orely afraid; Pangs and Sorrow &s;hall take hold on you, even Pangs as of a Woman in Travel: and when ye &s;hall look to one another ye &s;hall he amazed at one another, and your faces &s;hall alter and change colour as Flames. For b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hold the Day of the Lord cometh cruel, both with Wrath and fierce Anger, to lay the Land de&s;olate for your &s;akes, and he &s;hall de&s;troy the Sinn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rs thereof out of it. And he will puni&s;h the World for th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ir evil, and the Wicked for their wick<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">dne&s;s, he will make the Arrogancy of the Proud Ones to c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;e, and will lay low the Haughtine&s;s of the Terrible Ones. In that day</HI> Sodom <HI>and</HI> Gomor|rah <HI>&s;hall ri&s;e up in Judgment again&s;t you, and it &s;hall be more tolerable for them than for you,</HI> O Ye Profane Ones of <HI>England!</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e Spiritual Evils pre&s;s us &s;ore; As for our Outward Evils, they are well known and felt by All, of all &s;orts; and though I &s;hould be &s;ilent in the rehear&s;ing them, they &s;peak forth them|&s;elves. They are a &s;ore not to be touched; yet if no hand &s;hould touch them, how &s;hould they he healed? Wherefore I will in the Name and Fear of God make mention of one of them, and of &s;uch an one as briefly compreheds all the re&s;t.</P>
<P>And this is, The &s;trange and di&s;mal Withering, Wa&s;ting, Lan|gui&s;hing and Dying Condition of Poor <HI>England,</HI> who&s;e common Welfare no Man now looks after or regards. Oh <HI>England!</HI> where are now thy Wi&s;e Men? where are thy Pilots? where are thy Phy&s;icians? where are thy Coun&s;elors? where are thy Hel|pers? where are they that pity thee, and &s;ay, <HI>Alas, Alas Poor England!</HI> thy Husband hath rejected thee, as a Wife of Whore|doms, and thou art become a Widow of Sorrows: thou art left as a Cottage in a Vineyard; <HI>as a Lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers, as a Be&s;ieged City. Thy brui&s;e is incureable, and thy wound is grie|vous. There is none left to plead thy Cau&s;e, that thou mighte&s;t be bound up: thou hast no healing Medicin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s left thee; Fear and a Snare and the Pit are upon thee, and to whom wilt thou &s;tretch forth thy hands, to whom wilt thou lift up thy Voice for help?</HI></P>
<P>Thou wa&s;t lately Rich and Flouri&s;hing Kingdom, and for thy Plenty, Wealth and Glory wa&s;t both the Wonder and Envy of the World. Whil&s;t thou did&s;t enjoy the Pre&s;ence of God, through his Word and Ordinances; whil&s;t Iniquity was bani&s;h'd out of Publique View; whil&s;t Holine&s;s and Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Ju&s;tice and Judgment, Truth and Equity had their chief place in thee, <HI>Thou wa&s;t a People &s;aved by the Lord,</HI> Honoured by the Lord, Exalted,
<PB N="6" REF="23"> Magnified, Protected by the Lord. <HI>Thou wa&s;t the H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ad and not the Tail, even the Glory of Kingdoms and Nations.</HI> Our Land then, was ble&s;&s;ed with the precious things of Heaven, with the dew and the deep that coutcheth beneath, with the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun, and with the precious things put forth by the Moon, with the precious things of the Earth, and the Fulne&s;s thereof. We had plenty of Gold, and of Jewels of fine Gold; and our Hou&s;es were &s;tored with Silver; our Barns and Store-hou&s;es were repleni&s;hed, and we were plenteous in Goods; in the fruit of our Cattel, and in the fruit of our Ground. Our Sons were as Plants grown up in their Youth, our Daugh|ters as poli&s;ht Pillars; our Oxen were &s;trong to labour, and our Sheep brought forth Thou&s;ands: we did eat our Bread with joy, and drank our Wine with a merry heart, becau&s;e God accepted our Works. Yea then the Fir&s;t-Born of the Poor did feed, and the Needy did ly down in Safety; for there was no breaking in nor going out, nor complaining in our Streets. We were a happy People that were in &s;uch a ca&s;e, yea much more happy, becau&s;e God was our Lord.</P>
<P>And thou O <HI>London,</HI> (for my heart is towards thee, and I am di&s;tre&s;&s;ed for thee O <HI>London,</HI> and pained at the very heart) Thou wa&s;t a Joyous City, who&s;e Antiquity was of Ancient Days; thou wa&s;t the Crowning City, who&s;e Merchants were Princes, who&s;e Traff|iquers were the Honourable of the Earth: by thy great Wi&s;dom, and by thy Traffique thou did&s;t get thee Riches, and thou did&s;t get Gold and Silver into thy Trea&s;uries. The Harve&s;t of the Ri|ver was thy Revenue, and thou wa&s;t the Mart of Nations. All Nations emptied their Delicacies into thy Bo&s;om, and poured forth their plea&s;ant things into thy Lap. And when thy Wares went forth out of thy Seas, thou filled&s;t many People, thou did&s;t enrich the Kings of the Earth with the multitude of thy Riches, and of thy Merchandi&s;e. Thou wa&s;t al&s;o the Mountain of God, thou had&s;t, in the mid&s;t of thee, the &s;tones of Fire. Thou wa&s;t the chief High-Place; the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us were dear to thee, and thy Arms were always open to embrace them; thou did&s;t fre|quent the Solemn A&s;&s;emblies of the Saints, with the Multitude of them that kept right Holy-Day. The Out-ca&s;ts of Chri&s;t were wont to dwell with thee, and thou wa&s;t a Covert to them from the face of the Spoiler. Many Fatherle&s;s Children had harbour and &s;uccour in thee, and thou wa&s;t a Husband to the Widows. It was thy Meat and Drink to feed the hungry, and to cloath the na|ked, and to vi&s;it the Pri&s;oners of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Thou wa&s;t as the Vine-tree among&s;t the Trees of the Fore&s;t, Verily a Noble Vine; But why ha&s;t thou &s;o &s;uddenly turned into the Degenerate Plant of a Strange Vine? Why of a right Seed did you &s;o ea&s;ily be|come &s;trange Children, who&s;e Mouth talketh Vanity, and your Right Hand is a Right Hand of Fal&s;hood? Why did&s;t thou join thy &s;elf with the Wicked, and help the Ungodly? Why did&s;t
<PB N="7" REF="23"> thou love them that hate the Lord, and did&s;t turn thy heart and hand again&s;t them that love the Lord? Thou did&s;t reject his Mini&s;ters: thou did&s;t per&s;ecute his People; thou did&s;t hunt the &s;teps of the Righteous that they could not go in thy Streets; thou did&s;t hawll to Pri&s;on the A&s;&s;emblies of the Saints; and did&s;t make havock of the Church of Chri&s;t till there was no remedy.</P>
<P>For when the Lord &s;aw this he was angry, for he looked for Grapes from you, and you brought forth wild Grapes; he look|ed for Judgment from you, but behold Oppre&s;&s;ion! for Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, but behold a Cry! <HI>Wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">refore he bent his Bow again&s;t thee like an Enemy, He &s;tood with his Right Hand like an Adver&s;ary.</HI> He &s;ent a Fire into the mid&s;t of thee that could not be quenched, and it hath devoured thee, and brought thee to A&s;hes on the Earth, in the &s;ight of all them that beheld thee. He hath &s;wallowed up thy Habitations, he hath thrown down in his Wrath your plea|&s;ant Dwellings, your &s;tately and beautiful Buildings. He &s;ent into thee treacherous Dealers to deal treacherou&s;ly with thee, and Spoilers to &s;poil thee; whil&s;t thou wa&s;t become a &s;illy Dove without heart. He hath brought upon thee the days that have not come on thee &s;ince thou wa&s;t a City; He hath &s;tained the Pride of thy Glory, and brought into contempt all thy Honou|rable Per&s;ons: they that did feed delicately were left de&s;olate in the Streets; they that were brought up in Silks and Scarlet em|braced Dunghils: they that dwelt in well built Hou&s;es were glad to &s;helter them&s;elves in Booths, and to crowd their heads in de&s;o|late places; they are come down from their Glory to &s;it in Du&s;t. For thy filthine&s;s was found in thy Skirts, therefore thou wa&s;t brought down wonderfully. How are thy Merchandi&s;e of Gold and Silver, and Precious Stones, and of Pearl, and of fine Linnen, and Purple and Silk, thy broidered Works, thy Che&s;ts of rich Apparel, thy Spices and Odors, thy Ve&s;&s;els of precious Wood, of Bra&s;s and Iron, and Marble; thy Wine and Oil, thy &s;tately Build|ings and beautiful Structures of many Generations, how in three or four days are they all brought to nothing? <HI>London,</HI> the Glo|ry of the Kingdom, the Beauty of <HI>England's</HI> Excellency, is become as when God overthrew <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah:</HI> and is now at pre|&s;ent, a place for doleful Creatures, for Owls to dwell in, and for Satyrs to dance in, and for Wild Bea&s;ts to cry among the de&s;olate Hou&s;es, and Dragons in their Dwellings. For thou art &s;wept with the Be&s;om of De&s;truction, and the Line of Emptine&s;s is &s;tretched out upon thee; becau&s;e thou did&s;t reject the Word of the Lord, and knewe&s;t not the day of thy Vi&s;itation.</P>
<P>How art thou brought down, which wa&s;t inhabited by Seafa|ring Men? the renowned City which wa&s;t &s;trong at Sea? and thy Inhabitants did cau&s;e terrour to all Nations. All that knew thee formerly are a&s;toni&s;ht at thee; thou art become a Terror to them that &s;ee thee, and they that hear of thee are pained for thee. I was bowed down at the hearing of it, I was di&s;mayed at the &s;ee|ing
<PB N="8" REF="24"> of it. <HI>O Lord b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hold my affliction, for the Enemy hath magni|fied him&s;elf: &s;ee and con&s;ider, for I am become Vile.</HI> Our Enemies &s;ay, This, this is the Day we have looked for; we have found it, we have &s;een it. This Day &s;hall do that which the <HI>Fifth</HI> of <HI>No|vember</HI> could not do; now &s;hall we &s;ee our de&s;ire upon them; for the Strength of the <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Intere&s;t is broken; we have bro|ken the Head of it, and now &s;hall we ra&s;e it, to the very founda|tion of it. But O Lord thou ha&s;t &s;een my wrong, judge thou my Cau&s;e. Thou ha&s;t &s;een all their Vengeance, and all their i|maginations again&s;t me; thou knowe&s;t the Contrivers, the Abet|tors, the Incouragers, the Actors, the Favourers of this Helli&s;h Mi&s;chief; and all tho&s;e that rejoice in it: Give unto them All Sorrow of Heart, thy Cur&s;e unto them. Per&s;ecute and de&s;troy them in Anger, from under the Heavens of the Lord. And let all the People &s;ay <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P>But now I mu&s;t &s;hake hands with thee O <HI>London</HI> in thy Du&s;t and A&s;hes, for there is hope in this thy End. And I mu&s;t turn my &s;elf back again to <HI>England,</HI> the Land of my Nativity, and take up a Lamentation for it. O <HI>England,</HI> what Nation was like un|to thee from the Ri&s;ing of the Sun to the Setting thereof? thou wa&s;t a People &s;atisfied with favour, and full with the Ble&s;&s;ings of the Lord, but art now &s;uddenly become a poor and peeled People, meeted out and trodden down. Thou art &s;mitten with a perpe|tual &s;troke in anger, by a heavy hand: thou art oppre&s;&s;ed, &s;poyl|ed and cru&s;hed in pieces evermore, and there is no man to &s;ave thee. For God hath remembred our Iniquities again&s;t us, and &s;et our &s;ins in the light of his Countenance. For by Lying, and Swea|ring, and Oppre&s;&s;ing, and Slaying, and Drink<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ng, and Whoring and Bla&s;pheming, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the Land is defiled, under the Inhabitants thereof. We have for&s;aken the Laws of God, changed the Ordi|nances of Chri&s;t, and broken the Everla&s;ting Covenant, and therefore hath the Cur&s;e devoured us. Our Labours yield us no Profit: our Plowing, Sowing and Reaping eats up the Husband-Man: our Trade is every where decayed: our Gold and Silver are exhau&s;ted and drained away: our E&s;tates are impoveri&s;ht and wa&s;ted: the Abundance we had gotten and laid up, is departed: our Exactions and Taxes are heavy upon us, &s;o that we eat our Bread with &s;orrow, and drink with &s;ighing; for they have found out our Riches as a Ne&s;t, and as one gathereth Eggs that are left, &s;o have they gathered the Sub&s;tance of the Nation, and there was none that dur&s;t move the Wing, or open the Mouth to the People. We are brought &s;o low that we have forgotten Pro&s;pe|rity; but we daily mourn and fade away; for we are filled with bitterne&s;s, and made drunk with Wormwood. For our Wi&s;e Coun&s;ellors are become Fools, Under&s;tanding is peri&s;hed from them: our Princes are rebellious, and Companions of Thieves; they are Riotous Per&s;ons that eat not for Strength but for Drunk|enne&s;s. Our Coun&s;ellors take Coun&s;el, but not of God, but again&s;t
<PB N="9" REF="24"> him: our Judges abhor true Judgment, and pervert all Equity; they turn Judgment into Gall, and the fruit of Righteou&s;ne&s;s into Hemlock: they ju&s;tifie the Wicked for a Reward, and take away the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Righteous from him. Our Prie&s;ts, of all Titles and Degrees, are like roaring Lions in the mid&s;t of us, ravening the Prey; they rob the Pur&s;es of Men; they im|pri&s;on their Bodies; they devour their Souls: they live in Riot|ing and Drunkenne&s;s, they commit Adultery, and &s;peak Lyes: they &s;trengthen the hands of Evil Doers, that none doth return from his Wickedne&s;s. Our People are fooli&s;h and unwi&s;e, a company of treacherous Men, that ly in wait for precious Souls; they are perver&s;e Children, who have for&s;aken the Law of the Lord, and have &s;aid to the Holy One of <HI>I&s;rael, Depart from us.</HI> Wherefore we are become a ba&s;e Kingdom, becau&s;e we have re|jected all righteou&s;ne&s;s; yea, the ba&s;e&s;t of Kingdoms, becau&s;e we have Apo&s;tatized from the Truth. Of a Plea&s;ant and Joyful Land, we are become a Land of Trouble and Angui&s;h; where is the Young and Old Lion, the Viper and fiery flying Serpent. We are become a Mingled People, Strangers devour us in our pre&s;ence; they devour our Strength, they &s;wallow up our Rich|es, they eat up our Bread; yea they de&s;troy us, our Cities and Towns, and there is none to reprove them. We who were the chief of Nations, the Prince&s;s of Provinces, who when we &s;pake there was trembling to the ends of the Earth, are now become weak and contemptible; becau&s;e our Rock hath &s;old us, and the Lord hath &s;hut us up, Therefore the Pomp of our Strength hath cea&s;ed, and our Spirit fails in the mid&s;t of us. So that we are &s;hamefully brought down, by the lea&s;t and lowe&s;t of the Nations: who have &s;ubdued our Naval Power; taken, burnt and &s;poil|ed our Royal Ships, the Wall and Bulwark of our Nation: fought us in our own Bowels; triumphed over us in our own River; blocked up the Pa&s;&s;age of our chief City; &s;topped all intercour&s;e of Trade; made a Spoil of our Riches, and a Prey of our Merchan|di&s;e; hindred and deprived us of all our plea&s;ant things; berea|ved us of &s;everal of our Rich and Advantageous Plantations; brought us down to their feet, humbly to beg their favour, and have made us a Reproach, a Proverb and a Hi&s;&s;ing to all Nations. O <HI>England</HI> who &s;hall bewail thee? What Lamentations &s;hall we take up for thee? Oh that thou wert &s;en&s;ible of thy Stroke and could&s;t bewail thy &s;elf, for thou ha&s;t &s;inned grievou&s;ly, therefore art thou ca&s;t out of the Mountain of the Lord, thou art ca&s;t to the ground, and laid before Kings and Nations, that they may behold thee. This is the end of the Children of Pride; for they that exalt them&s;elves &s;hall be made Low. And therefore <HI>talk no more &s;o exceeding proudly, let not Arrogance come out of your Mouth again, for God is a God of Judgment, and by him actions are weighed. The Adver&s;aries of the Lord &s;hall be broken in pieces: out of Heaven &s;hall he thunder upon them, and therefore let not the Rebellious exalt them|&s;elves,</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="25">
<P>Thus have I rehear&s;ed the Evils we ly under; and now I &s;hall repre&s;ent &s;ome of the Great and Deadly Dangers that we are in.</P>
<P>And one is, to have the Nation quite overrun with <HI>Popery,</HI> and to have the <HI>Popes Throne of Iniquity</HI> new erected among&s;t us. And are there not &s;warms of <HI>Priests</HI> and <HI>Je&s;uits</HI> earne&s;tly at work to bring this to pa&s;s? they having emptied their <HI>Popi&s;h Cloy&s;ters</HI> and <HI>Mona&s;teri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> from beyond Sea into <HI>England,</HI> to promote their <HI>Catholique De&s;ign</HI> here. And they knowing who &s;tands at their right hand, have done it with great boldne&s;s, and with too great &s;ucce&s;s, For they have perverted not only very many of the Com|mon People, but &s;ome Nobility al&s;o, and many Gentry. And they have two great Engines to advance their de&s;ign, to wit, on the one hand Safety, on the other Danger; on the one hand Pro|motion, on the other De&s;truction; on the one hand Life, on the other Death; with the one of them they allure, with the other they terrifie; with the one they draw whom they can with the other they drive whom they cannot draw. And the&s;e Engines are of that force, that thereby they have conquered many weak, &s;inful and un&s;table Souls, yea and have prevailed with &s;ome Per|&s;ons of Honour and Quality, to &s;end their Sons to Mona&s;teries, and their Daughters to Nunneries beyond Sea, to be trained up in their Damnable Religion there, till better provi&s;ion can be made for them here; of which they now are in full hopes.</P>
<P>And now think with your &s;elves, and con&s;ider well, O my Dear <HI>Protestant</HI> Country-Men, how could you endure to &s;ee the <HI>Pope</HI> Wor&s;hipped here again in <HI>England,</HI> for a God on Earth? to &s;ee him &s;et his proud Foot on the Neck of your King? to &s;ee your King a Tributary to the <HI>Pope,</HI> and to &s;tand or fall at his ba&s;e plea|&s;ure? how could you indure to be forced to acknowledge his &s;inful and fooli&s;h Decrees to be equal to the Holy Word of God? and to own his little Wafer, or piece of Bread, for the very Na|tural Body and Bloud of Chri&s;t which was crucified and &s;hed on the Cro&s;s? how could you indure to have your throats &s;tretched &s;o wide, as to &s;wallow down only this one Abomination of his, which is more va&s;t and rude than the fir&s;t Chaos? how could you indure to &s;ee new Roods erected in every Pari&s;h Church? and to bow your &s;elves down and wor&s;hip Stocks and Stones, Cruci|fixes and Images, in&s;tead of the True and Living God? how could you frame your &s;elves to Auricular Confe&s;&s;ion, and to rehear&s;e or enumerate all your &s;ins in a Prie&s;ts Ear, who him&s;elf &s;tands in need of Forgivene&s;s more than you, being a greater Sinner? how could you indure that their lu&s;ty Prie&s;ts &s;hould defile your Wives and Daughters, they being prohibited Wives of their own; and &s;o &s;hould drive again a General Trade of Whoredom in the Na|tion, as they have been wont to do formerly? how could you &s;ubmit your &s;elves to their <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Pennance, and to travel their <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Pilgrimages, to their feigned Saints and ridiculous Reliques?
<PB N="11" REF="25"> how could you bear the &s;everity of their Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Courts and Cen&s;ures, and to be pronounced Heretiques by tho&s;e who are them&s;elves the greate&s;t Heretiques in the World? how could You Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have your E&s;tates, or part of them, in Abbey and Church-Lands, as they were called, be con|tent to have them taken away from You and your Po&s;terity, and given back again to maintain <HI>Abbots, Monks, Friers, Nuns</HI> and &s;uch kind of <HI>Popi&s;h Vermin</HI> and <HI>Locu&s;ts,</HI> which, if once admitted, will eat up again every green thing in the Land? And let me tell you, that all the&s;e E&s;tates of yours, they do not only promi&s;e to them&s;elves, but verily expect them. Yea farther, how could you indure to have your loving Husbands taken from your Heads, and your dear Wives torn out of your Bo&s;oms, your &s;weet Chil|dren dragg'd out of your Hou&s;es, your near Relations and friend|ly Neighbours hawlled and hurried into Pri&s;ons and Dungeons, and there to be wracked, &s;tarved, tormented, and at la&s;t (if they live to it) to be put alive into the flames of Fire, there to be burnt and con&s;umed to A&s;hes? and that only becau&s;e they &s;incerely cleave to Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, and will not adhere to <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> nor receive his Mark, nor do his Helli&s;h Drudgery? how could you indure to &s;ee this cruel Bea&s;t of <HI>Rome</HI> to play <HI>Rex</HI> here in <HI>Eng|land</HI> again; and though he be the Fir&s;t-Born of the Devil, yet to &s;et him&s;elf up above all that is called God, and Wor&s;hipped? And yet you are now in more danger to &s;ee all the&s;e things come to pa&s;s (<HI>becau&s;e you received not the truth in the love of it,</HI> whil&s;t you enjoyed it) than your Predece&s;&s;ors have been this Hundred Years, they having now gotten both Wind and Tide with them, even <HI>Opportunity</HI> and <HI>Incouragement.</HI> Wherefore a Great Man conclud|ed, <HI>That now certainly the</HI> Papi&s;ts <HI>would do their Work,</HI> they were in &s;o fair a way. But he reckoned without his Hoa&s;t. And le&s;t my <HI>Prote&s;tant Country-Men</HI> &s;hould be too much di&s;couraged in this apparent and approaching Danger, I will furni&s;h you with one Rich Cordial, out of the Words of <HI>Henry</HI> the VIII. which he directed to the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> in his days, in his foregoing Declaration again&s;t them: where he &s;aith, <HI>Are you not wicked which &s;o hate the Truth, that except &s;he be utterly bani&s;hed, ye will never cea&s;e to vex her? The Living God is alive, neither can Truth his Darling, He be|ing alive, be called to &s;o great &s;hame, contumely and injury as you would have her; and if &s;he may be called to all the&s;e, yet can &s;he come to none of them. Who is he that grievou&s;ly lamenteth not! Men to be come to &s;uch Shamele&s;s Boldne&s;s, to &s;hew apertly that they be Enemies to Chri&s;t him&s;elf? on the other &s;ide, who would not be glad to &s;ee &s;uch Men, as fooli&s;h as they be Wicked?</HI> For they work a deceitful Work, and by all their cunning Craftine&s;s, My&s;terious, and Indu&s;trious Actings, they only dig the Pit, <HI>into which they mu&s;t fall them&s;elves,</HI> and contrive the ruine that mu&s;t be their own Portion.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="26">
<P>Your Second Danger, is to have the mo&s;t Cruel and Inhumane Ma&s;&s;acre executed upon you, that ever yet was committed in the World, by the Con&s;ecrated Hands and Weapons of the <HI>Papi&s;ts.</HI> And this Glorious Service of theirs is de&s;igned upon the <HI>Engli&s;h Prote&s;tants,</HI> for the &s;ingular Promotion of the <HI>Catholique</HI> Cau&s;e, which hath its way u&s;ually prepared into all Nations, by Fire and Sword. The Wrath of the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> is &s;o kindled again&s;t you, and they are &s;o thoroughly &s;et on fire from Hell, that they are ready to break forth into their greate&s;t flames, and to endeavour the De&s;truction of All at Once. It is well known, how well they are Hors'd and Arm'd, and how they train their Troops again&s;t the Bloudy Day intended. It is well known, how well they are furni&s;h'd with Money, intended for other purpo&s;es. It is well known what numbers of <HI>French Men</HI> are brought into the bow|els of the <HI>Engli&s;h;</HI> and many Noblemen and Gentlemen are &s;o plea&s;ed with the Children of tho&s;e Strangers, that they have <HI>French</HI> Servants, <HI>Papists,</HI> to attend them, whom they have well Mounted and Armed, enough to make a little Army of them|&s;elves. And this they do that their &s;trength may be hidden till opportunity &s;hall &s;erve to make it appear. It is well known that the chief Places of Strength, and many Chief Commands are in the hands of <HI>Papi&s;ts.</HI> And now they become &s;o numerous, and having &s;uch power, what is there wanting but a convenient Op|portunity to fulfil all that is in their Hearts, upon Secure, Unar|med, Unprepared People, and to di&s;patch their work in few days, and e&s;pecially upon thee O <HI>London,</HI> who art their chiefe&s;t Eye-Sore. <HI>O England,</HI> (except the Lord prevent it) thy Calamity is near, at the very Door: and thou may&s;t expect every day, now Peace is made Abroad, when the&s;e will un&s;heath and draw their Swords upon you here at Home: and you mu&s;t be charg'd in the Kings Name (for &s;o they will abu&s;e it) to &s;tand &s;till, and to hold forth your Throats to Murderers. You cannot forget the dreadful Ma&s;&s;acre at <HI>Paris,</HI> nor that late more dreadful and blou|dy Ma&s;&s;acre of the <HI>Engli&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> in <HI>Ireland,</HI> when more than a Hundred Thou&s;and Innocent Per&s;ons, Men, Women and Chil|dren were in a very &s;hort time, with the greate&s;t Cruelties and Torments that ever were heard of, murdered by them; and what Authority they pretended for it. But they have trea&s;ured up in their minds the fulne&s;s of all Cruelties, for you <HI>Engli&s;h-men.</HI> They have di&s;covered &s;omething of their Kindne&s;s and good Plea&s;ure to you in their firing the City of <HI>London,</HI> which they have left as an Everla&s;ting Monument of their Treachery and Villany to <HI>Eng|land,</HI> and of their hatred to <HI>Engli&s;h Prote&s;tants;</HI> and let this mo&s;t notorious fact of theirs be engraven in great Characters on the Gates and Walls, and Chief Places of your City, when it &s;hall be built again; that all Po&s;terity when they &s;hall &s;ee New <HI>Lon|don,</HI> may know and con&s;ider what Per&s;ons, and what Religion burnt the Old. They have al&s;o often attempted the firing of
<PB N="13" REF="26"> <HI>Southwark,</HI> and of the remaining parts of the City; for nothing but the utter ruine of it will &s;atisfie them. And when the kindl|ing of &s;ome of the&s;e later flames, was related to a Great Per&s;on, they laughing &s;aid, <HI>Now the Game is begun again:</HI> for they make but a <HI>May game</HI> of con&s;uming all. And yet Fire only will not &s;atisfie them, it is bloud mu&s;t follow, or they are never the near. It is you <HI>O Engli&s;h Prote&s;tants,</HI> who&s;e lives they thir&s;t after, and they can neither eat nor drink comfortably, nor &s;leep quietly, till they be filled with this Veni&s;on. And therefore of you it may be truly &s;aid, <HI>Your lives are in jeopardy every hour.</HI></P>
<P>Yet for all this let us not de&s;pond nor ca&s;t away our Confi|dence, &s;aying, <HI>Our hope is cut off, and we are peri&s;hed;</HI> for he that &s;its in Heaven laughs them to &s;corn, even the Lord hath them in Deri&s;ion: and though we hold our peace, he will &s;peak to them in his Wrath, and vex them in his &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ure. He will make his Arrows drunk with their bloud, and his Sword &s;hall devour their fle&s;h, from the beginning of Revenges upon the Ene|my. <HI>Rejoice O ye Nations, with his Paople, for he will av<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nge the Bloud of his Servants, and will render V<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ng ance to his Adver&s;aries, and will be m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rciful to his Land, and to his People.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Another of your Dangers, which al&s;o is one of the greate&s;t, is your own Heedle&s;ne&s;s and &s;trange Security, in the mid&s;t of &s;uch thick Clouds and Storms which have encompa&s;&s;ed us round, able to awaken even dead Men. How &s;tupid and &s;ott|i&s;h were you at the burning of your City, when you &s;aw with your own eies, your Hou&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, your Sub&s;tance, your Riches, all con&s;uming together in tho&s;e furious flames before your faces; yet how in&s;en&s;ible were you of your deplorable condition? how regardle&s;s of that heavy hand of God? how in&s;en&s;ible of the Treachery and Cruelty of Men? who did not only begin tho&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">mes, but al&s;o continue them in the Progre&s;s they had appointed for t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">em. Had you the Brains or Hearts of Men, to &s;uffer tho&s;e Incendiaries who were taken in the very Act, to be re&s;cued from Ju&s;tice, and relea&s;ed to carry on their Villany again? &s;urely you were &s;o Sotti&s;h, that had not the Lord been the more merciful to you, your Lives and Hou&s;es had peri&s;hed together, as it was de|&s;igned. Moreover, how in&s;en&s;ible have you been of the <HI>Popi&s;h Plot,</HI> and intended Ma&s;&s;acre; as if tho&s;e good Men had been but in Je&s;t, when a Regiment of <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> was brought up to &s;ecure the <HI>Prot<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;tants,</HI> and a company of Wolves to guard the Flock; and when &s;ome of their own Pens and Lips reveal their minds, why &s;hould you yet be &s;o ignorant of it, who are wholly concerned in it? Wherefore as your Lives hitherto have been dear to God, &s;o let them now al&s;o be dear to your &s;elves, and do not you &s;ay, <HI>P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ace, Peace,</HI> when the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> intend and prepare <HI>D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;truction, De&s;truction;</HI> but let that be verified of you, which <HI>Henry</HI> VIII. &s;aith of his time; to wit, <HI>The World is not now in &s;o light a &s;u&s;pici|on of you</HI> (Papi&s;ts) <HI>as it hath been hitherto; but every Man &s;eeth
<PB N="14" REF="27"> before his Eies, your deceits, your Wicked Minds, your Immortal Hatred again&s;t the Truth, and the Profe&s;&s;ors af it, every Man &s;ees how many mi&s;erable Tragedies your pretence of an Unity and Concord hath brought into</HI> Chri&s;tendom. <HI>They &s;ee your fair face of Peace hath &s;erved Sedition, and troubled almo&s;t all Chri&s;tian Realms.</HI> And therefore &s;eeing they were &s;o quick-&s;ighted who lived above an hundred and thirty years ago, to &s;ee and fore&s;ee the Treache|ries and Cruelties of the <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> let not us who live &s;o many years after, and have had far greater experience of them, be al|together blind, and &s;ee nothing at all, in the clear Noon-&s;hine of their Doings.</P>
<P>Wherefore let all be admoni&s;hed, that after the de&s;ired Tidings of Peace they be not &s;o eagerly addicted to the rebuilding their Hou&s;es, and regaining their Trade, and pro&s;ecuting their World|ly Affairs and Concernments (whil&s;t yet they are uncertain of the enjoyment of any thing) that they become carele&s;s and re|gardle&s;s how it fares with the Church of Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel (which is the very light and life of our Souls, as well as the foun|dation of all our outward comforts) or how active and watchful the Brood of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> which lurks among&s;t us, becomes, that they may deprive us of our Religion and Lives; and &s;o, be as greedy Birds that are &s;cratching for food, whil&s;t the Net is &s;prea|ding over them to catch them at unawares, for what will it profit you to win E&s;tates, and to lo&s;e your Lives? your Lives are better than your E&s;tates; and your E&s;tates are but for the com|fort of your Lives. And if the Enemy take away your Lives, who&s;e &s;hall your E&s;tates be? they &s;hall even become a reward to the Murderers.</P>
<P>Awaken therefore O <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> and <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Men out of your deep and dangerous Security! and &s;tand upon your feet like Men: Ye dead men live again, and I will humbly and faithfully advi&s;e you (as I am able) out of very love, in a few things.</P>
<P N="1">1. My <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> Advice is, that you believe none of their pretend|ed fairne&s;s and kindne&s;s to you, &s;eeing their hearts are wholly again&s;t you, and their hatred to you is immortal; even the ha|tred of the Devil in the Hearts of Men, which is a certain fire of Hell which goes not out by Day or by Night. But know for cer|tain, when they promi&s;e fair, they are not to perform any thing, but the quite contrary: when they &s;eem to ki&s;s you, they intend to kill you; when they &s;uffer you to be quite, 'tis that they may bring the greater Trouble upon you; when they retreat from the exerci&s;e of their fiercene&s;s, 'tis that they return upon you with the greater Fury, when you &s;hall le&s;s think of it; for their whole Trade is <HI>Deceit</HI> and <HI>Violence.</HI> Though Satan transform him&s;elf into an <HI>Angel of Light,</HI> yet &s;till is he is the <HI>Prince of Darkne&s;s;</HI> and the&s;e his Followers are exactly like him, both to deceive and to de&s;troy: they will change their Colours, like <HI>Proteus,</HI> to de|ceive
<PB N="15" REF="27"> you, but they will never change their cruel Minds; but they that will be deceived, let them be deceived.</P>
<P N="2">2. My <HI>Second</HI> Advice is, that none either Plot or Attempt any thing again&s;t the pre&s;ent Power, but that all &s;tand &s;till in their Place and Calling, like Wi&s;emen with their Eies in their Head, quietly waiting for the Salvation of God. For no Mans Hands can help him in this Matter, but our &s;trength is to &s;it &s;till. We can no more change Kingdoms and Governments in the World, than we can alter the Cour&s;e of the Sun or Moon in the Hea|vens; but it is the Great God that mu&s;t do the&s;e great things. It is the mo&s;t High God that reigns in the Kingdom of Men, and gives them to whom&s;oever he will. And when his time is come, the &s;et and full time, and the mo&s;t High &s;hall utter his Voice, his in&s;truments &s;hall be at his foot, ready to do his work, even to execute the Vengeance written; and all his mighty Providences &s;hall concur, to bring about the Council of his Will. Wherefore remember that Mans ra&s;hne&s;s carrys ruin in it, but Patience per|fects both Gods Works and Mans. <HI>In Patience po&s;&s;e&s;s your Souls.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore all that we would do, if we might be heard by tho&s;e that are in&s;tructed to help, at this needful Time is, only to de&s;ire for the Glory of God, and the Nations good, and their own, the&s;e three things.</P>
<P N="1">1. That the dear and precious Go&s;pel of our Lord and Saviour may be permitted publiquely to be Preached again, in the Purity and Power of it, and that the faithful Teachers may be re&s;tored to their Mini&s;try throughout the whole Nation. For when Je&s;us Chri&s;t who <HI>hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given into his hands,</HI> hath commanded his Mini&s;ters to <HI>go and teach in all Nations.</HI> How can you Worldly Powers, who have but a little Power in this Nation, an&s;wer it to him, when you forbid that to be done which he hath &s;o &s;olemnly commanded? He that <HI>hath all Power in Hea|ven and Earth</HI> hath commanded his Mini&s;ters to teach his Go&s;pel, and dare you who have but a little power on Earth, and none at all in Heaven forbid them? If you do not repent of and amend this our Evils, it had been better for you, that you had never been born.</P>
<P N="2">2. Our &s;econd de&s;ire is, That all <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Commanders may be Disbanded, and put out of all Office and Tru&s;t in a <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> Nation; and that all <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> through <HI>England</HI> may be di&s;armed; &s;eeing they are not armed for us, but again&s;t us.</P>
<P N="3">3. That all <HI>French</HI> and <HI>Outlandi&s;h</HI> Men may be bani&s;hed; for they are but Moths in our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Garment, to fret it by degrees, all to pieces; as they have fretted a great deal of it already.</P>
<PB N="16" REF="28">
<P>And what <HI>Engli&s;h-man</HI> or <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> is there, that wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> not &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> with us in the&s;e nece&s;&s;ary De&s;ires, which if they be not granted, farewel all Good Days from <HI>England</HI> for our time.</P>
<P>And now to conclude all, I &s;hall only leave two or three Sove|reign Antidotes with my dear Country-Men to pre&s;erve them from the noy&s;ome Contagion and Plague of <HI>Popery.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. Con&s;ider with Trembling, that none are given up to this Damnable Delu&s;ion but tho&s;e who&s;e Names are not Written in the <HI>Lambs Book of Life,</HI> as the Spirit of God affirms <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.8. &s;ay|ing, <HI>And all that dwell upon Earth &s;hall wor&s;hip him (i. e.</HI> the Bea&s;t or Antichri&s;t of <HI>Rome) who&s;e Names are not writt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n in the Book of Life, of the Lamb &s;lain from the Foundation of the World,</HI> And what Per&s;on would carry &s;uch a Worm in his Con&s;cience continually, for the whole World, and all the Kingdoms and Gl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">y of it, as to know and certainly to under&s;tand, that his Name <HI>is not written in the Book of Life,</HI> nor can ever be put in; for all the Writings in that Book are from Eternity, and no new thing can be in&s;erted in it. And therefore let Men &s;ay what they will, they are none of Gods Elect, who clo&s;e in with this Fal&s;e and H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">tical Religion, after the Go&s;pel hath been Preached to them, and they have been in&s;tructed in it. For to depart from the known Truth to known Error, is not a Sin of Ignorance, but of Malice; and this is the <HI>Sin unto Death,</HI> for which there is no Remi&s;&s;ion. Wherefore let every one that would attain to any comfortable A&s;&s;urance that his Name is Written in the <HI>Book of Life,</HI> flee from <HI>Popery.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. They that Apo&s;tati&s;e to this Fal&s;e Religion, are a &s;urely to be Damn'd as if they were in Hell already, This is a hard &s;aying, but a True One: as it is evident in that of <HI>Paul,</HI> 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. where &s;peaking of <HI>Antichrist,</HI> that <HI>Wicked One, who&s;e coming is after the working of Satan. with all Pow<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r and Signs, and Lying Won|ders, and with all deceiveablene&s;s of Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s in them that peri&s;h, becau&s;e they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be &s;aved.</HI> He adds, <HI>And for this cau&s;e God &s;hall &s;end th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">m &s;trong Delu&s;ions that they &s;hould b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lieve a Lye, that</HI> they All may be Damn'd <HI>that b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lieve not the Truth, but have plea&s;ure in Unright<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> This &s;ort of People God gives them up to believe a Lye, the Grand Lye of <HI>Popery</HI> (for this whole Religion is nothing el&s;e but one continued Lye, from the beginning to the end of it) to the intent, that they &s;hould all Peri&s;h and be Damn'd. This is the Word of God, a|gain&s;t all wilful <HI>Papists,</HI> and it cannot be made void. <HI>John</HI> al&s;o te&s;tifies <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.9. that an Angel Proclaimed with a loud voice, &s;aying, <HI>If any Man Wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t and his Image, and receive his Mark in his Forehead, or in his hand, the &s;ame &s;hall drink of the Wine of the Wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation. and he &s;hall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone, in the pre&s;ence of the holy Angels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb;
<PB N="17" REF="28"> and the Smoak of their Torment a&s;c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ndeth up for ever and ever: and they have no re&s;t Day nor Night, which Wor&s;hip the Bea&s;t and his Image, and who&s;oever receiveth the Mark of his Name.</HI> In which Scripture you may &s;ee with open face, the &s;ad end of all the <HI>Popi&s;h</HI> Genera|tion: which is to be <HI>tormented for ever and ever.</HI> Wherefore out of very Malice, they have been, are, and will be our Tormentors here, when they get opportunity, becau&s;e the Devil is to be their Tormentor in Hell for ever. Wherefore who ever would avoid the Torments of Hell let him fly from <HI>Popery.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. La&s;tly <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> is now in his Old Age, and draws near his End, yea is drawing his la&s;t breath. He is very &s;hortly to be ut|terly de&s;troyed with the Spirit of Chri&s;ts Mouth, and the Bright|ne&s;s of his coming. And what Wi&s;e-Man, yea what Man of com|mon rea&s;on would join him&s;elf to <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> for one hour, yea for one quarter or minute of his hour? If Men might have reign|ed with him many years, and have enjoyed his Delicacies for a long Sea&s;on, then might it have been a &s;trong inducement to a carnal heart, who &s;eeks his Portion only in this life, to have clo&s;|ed in with him; but now to do it when his De&s;truction draws near, what extream Folly and Madne&s;s mu&s;t it needs be? Who would venture a Board that Ship which is ju&s;t a &s;inking? or be|come a Subject in that Kingdom which is ju&s;t ready to be rooted up? and confident I am through God, that after Antichri&s;t and his Brood of Serpents, have play'd a few more of their old cruel Pranks anew in <HI>England,</HI> both He and They will become &s;o ut|terly odious to All, that their Name &s;hall be no more remembred among us, but with highe&s;t Contempt and Indignation, and that for ever. And let the Lord &s;ay <HI>Amen,</HI> and all his People.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="conclusion">
<PB N="18" REF="29">
<P>AND now O Lord, to whom &s;hould we look? our Eies are only unto thee. And we be&s;eech thee to look down from Heaven, the Habitation of thy Holine&s;s, and of thy Glory, upon us, and upon our pre&s;ent Sad, and almo&s;t De&s;perate Condition: and &s;tretch forth thy Holy Arm to maintain Thine Own Good Cau&s;e, (which thine Enemies &s;corn and deride, and laugh at among them|&s;elves) and to help afflicted Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and thine own poor People, who are brought very low, &s;o that their belly cleaveth, even to the du&s;t. Indeed, Vain is the Help of Man, and our Enemies &s;ay, <HI>There is no help for us in God:</HI> But yet we know there is help in thee, and that thy help is never in vain. For thou canst do the greate&s;t Things by the &s;malle&s;t Means, yea thou can&s;t do the greate&s;t Things, without all Means. For thou &s;pake&s;t and the World was made, thou did&s;t command, and it &s;tood fa&s;t. There|fore our Eies are unto thee, O Lord, and we do believe that thou can&s;t do all things; and can &s;o do them, that none can re&s;i&s;t thee. <HI>Is any thing too hard for the Lord?</HI> &s;hall we call thy Power in Que&s;tion, who didst prepare a &s;afe pa&s;&s;age for thy People through the mighty Waters, and did&s;t cau&s;e them to walk on dry ground through the depths of the Sea? Take therefore thy great Power and come and Reign in the mid&s;t of the&s;e thy greate&s;t Enemies, till thou make them All thy Foot&s;tool, and till thou hast put down all Rule, Authority and Power which lifts up its Head, and &s;tretch|eth forth its Arm again&s;t thee, O Lord, and thy Holy and Ble&s;&s;ed Gospel, and thine Anointed. Oh cau&s;e Iniquity to stop its Mouth, and Wickedne&s;s to hide its face again. Let Violence no more be heard in our Land, nor Wa&s;ting and Destruction within our Bor|ders; let the cau&s;e of the Fatherle&s;s and of the Widows be ju&s;tly judged, Let thy Pri&s;oners be loo&s;ed, and thine oppre&s;&s;ed be ea&s;ed; let them be helped, who have no helper. Make way with thy &s;trong Arm for thy own <HI>Labourers</HI> to continue to come to <HI>thy Harve&s;t-Work;</HI> for thy Harve&s;t (we tru&s;t) is very great in <HI>England.</HI> And therefore O Thou into who&s;e hands all Things are delivered of the Father, and all Power in Heaven and Earth is given; and who by this Greate&s;t and Highe&s;t Authority of Thine, ha&s;t com|manded thy Mini&s;ters, to go and teach all Nations, after thou did&s;t &s;end them: Oh do thou make way for them to teach this Unworthy Nation, before the Coming of the Son of Man; that through their
<PB N="19" REF="29"> ministring thy Word, thy Church may awake and rouze up it &s;elf, and put off its filthy Raiment, and may be re&s;tored to the Bright|ne&s;s of its first ri&s;ing, when it was full of faith and love, and all Graces and Gifts of the Holy Gho&s;t, without any mixture of <HI>Anti|chri&s;tian</HI> Errors, that all thy People may &s;trive together for the Faith of the Gospel, and not quarrel any longer about empty Forms; but may with One Mind, and with One Mouth confe&s;s the Truth as it is in <HI>Je&s;us:</HI> and then &s;hall all Kings bow down before thee, and all Nations that &s;erve Thee, they &s;hall &s;ing forth the Honour of thy Name and make thy Prai&s;e Glorious. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
