An Expostulation Against the Blasphemies of a Frantic Papist, Expostulation – Psalm 2

An Expostulation Against the Blasphemies of a Frantic Papist · Expostulation – Psalm 2

¶An Expostulation or complaint agaynst the blasphemyes of a frantyke papist of Hamshire. Compiled by Iohan Bale.

DAniel the mā of desyres, & Iohan Boauerges or the sonne of thō dre, bryngeth me to remembraunce of a mouth that vttered blasphemyes.A mouthe.

Thys mouthe (sayth Daniel) spake presūptuouse thynges. And hys horne (whych is y^e power that maynteyneth hym) made battayle agaynst the sayntes, yea, and gote the vyctory of them, tyll suche time as they had the kyngedome in possessyon. Dan. vii. To the Beast (sayth .S. Iohan)Dani. vii. was gyuen a mouthe, that spake great thynges and blasphemyes. And he opened that mouthe in blasphemye agaynst God to blaspheme his name, and hys tabernacle, and thē y^t dwell in heauen. And power was gyuen hym to make warre with the sayntes, and to ouercome them. Apoca. xiii.Apo. xiii. Not only is thys to be verifyed vponupon the Romysh Antichrist & hys synneful synagoge of spiritual calcars but also vponupon suche pratlynge papystes as are hys dayly maynteyners. For cōsequētly it foloweth in the same reuelacyon of.Apoca, xvi. S Iohan. And I sawe (sayth he) thre vncleane spretes, lyke frogges come out of y^e mouthe of the dragon, and out of the mouthe of the beast, and out of the mouthe of the false prophete, and they are spretes of deuels. Apo.A Papyst. xvi. Lo sir, the false prophete, whych is the wycked papyst, is so wele touched here, as is eyther the Beast or the Dragon.

Now to thys frantyck papyst thā, whych on the .xxix. daye of Decembre last past,Conuenticles. in the house of a gentylman of hys affynyte within Hamshire, beynge in the full heate of hys frenesye, brast out into thys vnreuerent, blasphemouse▪ and cōteptuouse talke of the Kinges Maiestie and of hys mooste godly procedynges.Blasphemy Alas poore chyld (sayd he) vnknowne is it to hym, what actes are made now a dayes. But whan he cometh ones of age, he wyll se an other rule, and hange vp an hondred of suche heretyke knaues. Meanynge the preachers of our tyme, and their maynteyners by lyke. For at the same season he had most spyghtfully rayled of one of thē, beynge absent,A rayler▪ whych neuer in hys lyfe ded hym dysple asure, nether in dede nor in wurd, that he was able to burden hym wyth. The fyrst part of this blasphemouse clause toucheth the kynges hyghnes, the second hys honourable Coū sell, & the thyrd,Marke i….Mark 1 the true ministers of Gods wurde. By the fyrst is Gods name blasphemed, by the second is his tabernacle yll spoken of, and by the thyrd are they that dwell in heauen contempned. But thys pernycyouse poyson hauehave thys wycked papyst sucked out of the vngraciouse pappes of hys mother the synnefull synagoge of Rome, whose deuylyshe nature hathe it alwayes bene, to despyse those kinges y^t are not her mainteyners, to cōdēpne those magistrates y^t wyll not become her slaues,Cōdicions & to kill those preachers that impugne her Idolatryes.

Concernyng the fyrst. In that thys frantycke papyst wyth poluted mouthe,A Chylde. reporteth the kinges maiestie to be a poore Child, he blasphemeth the name of God. For ther is no power (S. Paule saythe) but it is of God. And who so euer abuseth the power, abuseth the ordinaunce of God to hys dāpnacion, Rom. xiii.Take hede Beare no wicked hart to thy kyng (sayth Salomon) neyther reporte any euyl of the gouernours in thy malycyouse anger. For if thou do, the birdes of the ayre wyll discouer thy wickednes, Eccls. x Double is the blasphemye of this furiouse papyst against the kynges highnes, in that he hath disdainously called him both poore and a Childe, in contempt of his most christen procedynges. Poore is as much to say as contēptuouse,Poore. abiect, wretched, forsaken myserable, or of such byrth as is nothynge estemed. And so is it taken in diuers places of the scriptures, whych all are farre vnsemyng the maiestie of a kynge.A kyng. And wele is it knowen to all the world, that neyther nature for her parte, nor yet fortune for her part, hath so left hym, hys hyghnes beynge the naturall sonne of so noble a kyng as his father was. Neyther is he destitute, but on euerye syde most habundauntlye replenyshed with the most graciouse giftes of god,Learned. specially wyth all kindes of good learning far aboue all hys progenytours, kynges of thys imperiall regyon.

Childishnes in a kyng, is reproued by y^e mouth of God, & giuen many times of him to y^e people as a cursse,Esay. iii.Isa 3 plage, or scourge for their vnfaithful nes. I shal giuegive you childrē (saith the Lord) to be your princes, & babes shal hauehave rule ouer you. Esa. iii. That is, ye shal hauehave for your disobediēce in neglectīg my lawes & cōmaundemētes, mē to your gouernours, that are dyssolute, rashe, wanton, and carelesse, yea men vnexpert and vnexercysed in pryncely affayres,Vnwyse. and men whych wyll not regarde your cōmē welthe but folow their owne lustes. Wo be to such a land (sayth Salomon) as hath so chyldysh rulers, and whose princes are early at their bankettes. Eccls. x, These be those rulars whose lyues are wanton, actes lycencyouse and iudgementes babyshe, wherby theyr commen welthes in the end,Ruyne, are brought to confusyon. Yea, S. Hierome sayth, y^t these are suche worldly gouernours, as neglectynge Gods holy preceptes, do set vp the vayne tradycyons of men synnefull. And though all these chyldysh wayes be detestable in a kynge yet is not the chyldehode of youthe in him to be reproued. For so might kynge Iosias hauehave bene reproued,Iosias. whych began to reigne in the .viii. yeare of hys age iiii, Regum, xxii. and kynge Dauid discommended,Dauid. for being the yongest of his brethrē i. Reg, xvii, whose prayses are neuertheles habundaunt in the scriptures,Ioas. Ioas beyng but .vii. yeares old was a kyng also, and for the tyme of his youth pleased God, what though in hys age he ded otherwyse.ii. Par. xxiii2 Chr 23

In England here, kyng Hēry the, vi, was but .viii. yeares old, king Hēry the third, ix, yeares olde, and kynge Edwarde the third scarse, xv. yeares of age,iii. Kynges when they were crowned kynges, yet was there neuer chronycle writer, nor yet honest, faythfull, and obedient subiect, that euer called them poore chyldren. But with reuerence and honour, euen from the first daye of their reignes, toke them alwayes for whole and persyght kynges, lyke as the sacred Bible holdeth of the afore named kinges,Iosias. Ioas & godly Iosias, in the .vii. and .viii, yeares of their ages, iiii, Re. xi, et. ii. Pa. xxxiiii. What shuld this franctyck papyst here meane than, so blasphemously to report our most noble & wurthie kinge Edwarde y^e .vi. in the, xv. yeare of hys age, and, v, yeare of his reigne, w^tout al honour and reuerēce, but that he hath done on y^e vnshamefast face of hys whorysh mother,Babylon, the monstruouse madame of Rome whych is full of the names of basphemye, Apo. xvii. Hym hath our eternal God most graciously gyuē vntounto vsus in the latter age of his noble father, not without euydent miracle, and wyll preserue hym, no doubt, to his owne glorye and welthe of thys realme, in spyght of all hys popysh enemyes, if we be not vnthākefull.Educacion. Hys wurthie educaciō in liberall letters & godly vertues, & hys naturall aptenesse in retaynyug the same, plēteously declareth him to be no pore child, but a manifest Salomō in princely wisdō. Hys sober admonicions, & open exāples of godlines, at this day sheweth him, mindfully to prefer y^t welth of his cōmēs, as wele gostly as bodyly,Relygyon, aboue all forē ▪ matters. Marke what his maiestie hath done already in religiō, in abolishing the most shameful idolatries of Antichrist, besides his other actes for publyque affayres, & ye shal find at this day, no christen prynce lyke to hym.

Now foloweth the secōd part of the blasphemouse sētēce of this frātick papist, whiche is,Blasphemy y^t the actes put fourth now a dayes, are vnknown to the kyng, & y^t he wyl chāge them whan he cometh of age. Thys not only toucheth y^e kinges wurthie maiestie, whiche is gods hygh minister, in iudginge him chyldysh, mutable, & inconstaūt, but also it pearceth hys most honorable coūsel, which are vnderunder him,Ioseph. as was Ioseph in Aegipt, y^e staies of his people. Ecc .xlix. as cōsentinge to y^e same, So is Gods tabernacle by him blasphemed. For if y^t tabernacle of God be w^t meane men, as, S, Iohā sayth, it is. Apo, xxi. Moch more with the coūcel of a christē king, which is gods high magestrate, & thei his assistētes. They y^t despise y^t rulers (saith the Apostle Iude) & speake euil of thē which are in autoryte,Rulers. shal suffre y^t vengaūce of eternall fyre. Whan Michael y^t archangell stroue agaynst the deuyll,Sathan. & disputed about the body of Moyses, he durst geue no rayling sētence, but sayd. The Lord rebuke the, But such (as is here this pratlynge papyst) speake euyll of those thynges whych they knowe not. And what thynges they knowe naturally, as beastes which are w^tout reasō they corrupt in thē selues. Wo be vntounto thē, for they hauehave folowed y^e way of Cain,Cain. & are vtterly giuē to y^e errour of Balaā for lucres sake, and shal perish in the treason of Core.Iude .i,

If Christ be in the middes, whē .ii. or, iii. pryuate men be collected in his name, as he saith, he is, Mat. xviii. much more amōge y^e faithful coūsel of so vertuouse & Christen a king,Councell. Who cā thā deny them to be the tabernacle of God? specially whā they wyth all endeuer possyble, hauehave sought and yet daily seketh, clerly to bānysh out of thys christen realme, the manyfolde abhomynacyons of Antichrist, or idolatryes without nombre. Which he by his smoky locustes,Locustes, y^e mōkes and shauen prestes, hathe craftely planted here, contynually from tyme to tyme, euer sens the dayes of that wycked Emproure Phocas.Phocas, Who can denye them (I saye yet ones agayne) to be y^t seyd tabernacle or chosen māsyon of God, eyther that cōgregaciō amonge whome he dwelleth by promesse. Luke, x, et. Ioan. xiiii, Whan they so earnestly labour, to place here in Englād, the true relygyō agayne, aud to set vp hys true worshippinges, as in the primatiue church of the faythfull Bryttayues,Brytans. fyrste planted by them ihat were hyther sente by Christes Apostles,Asia. aud fashyoned after the perfight rules of the .vii. churches in Asia, the filthy corrupcions of those Romysh Idolatours, in the power of hys wurde taken from vsus. If God doothe not dwell wyth them, that thus dayly seketh hys glory, wyth whome doth he dwell? Than hath thys arrogaunt papyst wyth poluted mouthe,Blasphemy blasphemed the tabernacle of God, iu reportyng them, nowe to make actes wythoute the kynges knowledge, concernyng relygyon, or els at thys day to buylde that hereafter they wyl breake. And thys that enemy hathe done to brynge them in hate of the commen people, as though not regardynge hys Maiestye, they now went about not to establysh thē, but deceyue them in the same.A Beast, Suche is the mad frenesy of so brutysh a beast.

But vnworthy are suche reprobate vessels of so godly Magistrates. Of thys are we certayne & sure,The Councell. so many as hauehave Gods knowledge, roare those ragynge raylers what them lusteth to the contrarye, wyth lyes after theyr leude lykynges, that had it not bene in the feare of God & theyr kinges true obedyence agaynst the wycked Antichrist, they coulde neuer hauehave propounded so godly lawes. And hauyng God presently assistent vntounto thē, as all they hauehave which seketh hys only glory,Gods honour. they can not be so far to hys heauenly wyll contrariouse, as their vyle report is, in the quarel of that horrible monster. No, they are no suche wauerynge reedes, as for a Christen commen welthe, are thys yeare of one mynde, and the nexte yeare wyll be of an other. No truly, it standeth not so wyth the vnchaungeable wysdome of Christes sprete,Constaun… wherin they hauehave earnestly wrought, for tyme of the prosperouse raygne of our present Iosias. Theyr foūdaciō hauehave they set vpō so sure a rocke, euen vponupon Gods wurd, that neither winde nor water, stormy tempest, nor wether, can ouerthrowe it, Math. vii,Strong. Neyther shall the great gates of hell, nor yet the stronge power of Sathan, euer preuayle agaynste it. Math, xvi, Neyther yet the deuyls vnholy vycar at Rome, wyth all hys curssynges & cuniurynges, calkynges and coblynges, brawlynges and bablinges, massinges and mutterynges, Images and Idolles, pardons and purgatory, with the deuil and all of hys other sorceryes,Sorceries, whych these graceles papistes cōtynually gapeth for yet ones agayne, as the hongry hownde for the carreine, & the ful fed sowe for her puddel. But as Baldad the Suhyte sayd vntounto pacyent Iob. The hypocrites hope shall come to nought, Hys confydence shall be destroyed for he trusteth in a spyders webbe.Baldad. Iob. viii The sober abydynge of the ryghtouse (saith Salomou) shal turn him to much gladnes, but y^e hope of y^t vngodly shal perysh. pro, x.

The thirde or last part of that most wycked sentence, whych thys malygnaunt papyst with blasphemouse mouthe hath vttered,Blasphemi is thys, that when the kynge cometh to age, he will hang vp an hūdred of such here tyke knaues, meanynge the true preachers of our tyme. As wele in reproche of men godly, obseruynge the Gospell, as in contempt of y^e true ministers of Gods wurd,Poyson. hauehave thys furyouse enemye & sonne of Beli aloute vometed that poyson, whyche hathe longe tyme lyen boylynge in hys papystycall stomack. Neyther hath he abashed in y^e heate of that frenesye and forgetfulnesse of reason, to abuse the christen modestie of our godly and innocent kynge, in iudgyng him acompanyon herafter, with the most cruel tyrauntes of the worlde, Antiochus, Herode, Caiphas, Nero,Tirauntes Domycyane, Traiane, & hys bloudthurstie father of Rome, whych in their wycked tymes, malycyously murthered vp the true witnesses of God And thus are they whych dwell in heauen, most spightfully of this brutish babler blasphemed, as is towched in the texte of .S. Iohan.A babler. Apoca. xiii. In manye places of the holy scripture, is the congregatyon of the faythfull called heauen, or the kyngedome of heauen, chefely in the prophecyes and y^e parables of Christe, for so muche as God is inuysybly the inhabytour, ouersear,Heauen. and gouernour therof, Math. xiii. et. xxv. Who then can denye the true preachers, whych are the dystributers of Gods mysteryes, to be dwellers in the same.

Saynt Paul is not all behind, in boasting him self to be one of them, which also was a preacher, Our cōuersaciō (sayth he) wher so euer we remain,A preacher is in heauē, frō whens we loke for y^e sauyour. Phil. iii, If ye be rysen agayne with Christe, seke the thinges whych are aboue, wher he sytteth on y^e right hād of god, Set your affectyō on thynges y^t are in heauē, & not on tryfles whych are here on y^e earthe. Col, iii. These are they, which in the houshold of god,what he is are y^e profitable buylders the fyshers of men, the feaders of the flock, the salte of the earth, the light of the world, the clowdes full of moysture, the starres, lanternes, and candelstyckes, y^t stewardes, searchers, and releuers, the kepers of the vyneyearde, planters, tyllers, sowers, and repers of the Lordes haruest,Helpers. yea the helpers of Christe, & vpholders of his church. All these names & offyces do the holy ghost giuegive them, and a great sort more in the scriptures, reportynge them also wurthie of double honour, whan they labour in the wurde i. Timoth .v. In sprete and veryte teach thei our heauenly father to be wurshipped.Shadows. Ioh iiii. and not in the beggerlye shaddowes of mennes tradycyons. They hauehave the holye angels for their fellowe seruauntes and brethreue, for hauynge the noble testimonye of Iesu in their mouthes. Apoc. xix. These are no heretyke knaues than, neyther yet wurthie to be hanged, as thys Popysh scismatyck do both iudge them and wishe them,A Papyst. in the hastie sprete of his whote stomacked mother. So hath he them blasphemed y^t dwelle in heauen, whych is the cōgregaciō of god.

If they were hanged for teachynge the truthe of God and impugnyng falfe relygyon,Hangynge they shulde hauehave the same rewarde for wele doynge that their maistre Iesus Christe had afore them, For he for that verytees sake, was most spyghtfully, shamefully, and contemptuously hanged vp betwyn, ii, theues, in the cōmen place of their executyons, as though he had bene a greate malefactour, so whote was the malyce of the holye clergie than against him, Diuerse of hys Apostles for maynteynyuge his doctryne,Apostles come to the same hygh promocyon of hangynge, specyally Peter, Andrew, Bartylmew, Philyp, and Simon, as the historyanes of them hath written, because they shulde seme no better then was Christ their maister. Amonge their disciples the nombre so excedeth of them that were hanged for y^e testimony of Iesu, that it wold axe to much tyme to rehearce them.Disciples. And this vyle kinde of hangynge, was no dishonoure to them. How shulde it now then become a dyshonour to these, in the same iust quarel? As the cause made that contēptuouse death in thē gloryouse, so shulde it also do now in these men, in the syght of the Lorde & his electes, Psal. Cxv, But thys syghte is not gyuen to suche reprobate vessels,Syght. as is thys furiouse papist, whose malice hath vtterli made him blynd. Sap. ii. Yea, so frantyckly and beastly blyude, that he shameth not to attrybute vntounto our most godly and vertuouse kynge, that kynde of tyranny, whych is of al other the most wycked & blasphemouse. But far other is the gentyll nature of our religiouse Iosias▪ Iosias,whych hath already ouerthrowne the hyll aulters, brokē in peces the Idolles, destroyed the relygyouse buggery, restored the boke of the Lorde, set vp hys true wurshppyynges, and kept suche a passouer to y^t Lorde as neuer was afore, iiii. Reg. xxiii, et ii.Apoynted. Paral, xxxiiii. Of God is he appoynted to turne y^e people agayne, & to take away al the abhominaciōs of the vngodly. Ec. xlix.

Breuely to conclude the matter. These iii. blasphemyes, whych thys malycyouse papyst in one wycked sentence here vttered are those .iii.iii. Spretes vnclene spretes, y^e like frogges came out of the monthe of y^e false Prophet, Apoca, xvi. And they are not all vnlyke to the wylde fyre, smoke, & brymstone, whych the terryble horses, or fat pampered vp locustes of Antichrist e…me…ed, Apo. ix, for fearce,Locustes. noyfull, and stynkynge are they, yea furyouse, erronyouse, and full of infamye, accordynge to the sygnifycatyons of wylde fyre, smoke, and brymstone. Not only hath it spronge of the doctryne of deuyls, so blasphemously to abuse the maiestie and power of a kinge,Abuse, the estate of his honourable coū sell, and the godly offyce of hys preachers, in iudgynge them chyldyshe, inconstaunte, and heretycall, but also it hath rysen of errour in the hipocresie of y^t Romysh Bishop Whan the iust man Simeon both beheld & wurshypped the maiestie of Gods sonne in y^e little babe Iesu,Simeon. he called not him a poore chylde, but the sauer of the worlde, y^e syght of the gētyles, & the glory of Israel, Luc, ii, A faythfull true subiect wyll reuerētly respect in a kyng, not what he is of nature,A kyng. but rather what he is of gods election and ordinaūce. Rom, xiii, Neyther is he for his tendre youthe to be contēpned, hauynge gods knowledge, as he hath in wōdrefull habundaūce. Christ Iesus gaue thākes to his heauenly father, bicause he had hydden godly wysdome from the wyse and prudent, & geuen it vntounto babes.Wysdome Math. xi. whan Prophecye (saythe Salomon) is in the lyppes of a kynge, hys mouthe shall not go wronge in iudgemente. Prouer. xvi.

¶He is proued a Papist.

THat it may apere to y^e reader, y^t thys maliciouse fellowe is not here called a papyst wythoute iust cause, I wyl declare what a Papyst is, and by what frutes he is chefelye knowne.A Papyst. A Papyst is he that in lyfe and doctryne maynteyneth the Romyshe Popes dyuelish tradycyōs, contempnynge the pure testamente and Gospell of Iesus Christe. As we saye in the vnyuersyte, that he is a Platonyst, Ciceronyst, Scotyst, or Thomyst, that defendeth the doctryne of Plato,Doctrine. Cicero, Scotus, or Thomas against them that holdeth not the same. Thys frantyck fellowe is of the same kynde of doyng Ergo he is a wycked and an obstynate papyst. Wycked, for so muche as he dishonoureth god, and obstynate, because he dysobeyeth hys kynge.Frutes. The Minor, whych is the seconde part of thys argument, is proued true by hys cursed frutes. For a false Prophete, or popysh hypocryte whether ye wyl is alwayes knowne by hys wycked frutes Christe sayth. Math, vii, et Luce. vi. In, ii. specyall poyntes shall ye knowe a ranke papyst, whych he hath firste of hys father the great Antichrist of Rome, and than of hys mother hys malignaunt synagoge. For the naturall chylde foloweth father & mother. And these are they breuely, as afore is touched,ii. Pointes He blasphemeth God, and contempneth the christen magistrates. Of thys are euydent examples, in the Chronicles of our christen nacyons, yea, innumerable, specyally of thys realme of Englande.

Daniel ones prophecyed of that vnshā fast faced vsurper,The Pope that he arrogantly shuld stande vp agaynst the Prynce of Prynces, (whych is God in his Christe) and yet in y^e ende shulde be destroyed wythoute hande, Dan, viii, Saint Paule calleth hym Gods great aduersary, the wycked one, the man of synne, and the sonne of perdycyon, reportynge of hym, that he shulde exalte hys fylthie seate here iu earthe aboue god, and hys dongyshe decrees aboue Gods set ordynaunce, to the vtter dampnacyon of thousandes, for not beleuynge the truth, ii. Thes ii. Saynt Iohan in hys reuelatyon,Thess. ii. calleth the churche of that aduersarye, great Babylon the mother of all whoredome and abhomynacyons done vponupon the earthe, yea such a fylthie whore, as hath both subdued to her obedyence the kynges of the earthe, and also made them dronke with the wyne of her fornycacyon,Apo, xvii. Apo, xvii. If yefynde in thys frantyck fellowe, these naturall condicyōs, naturally planted, what els cā ye iudge him but a naturall chylde of that father and mother, and so an obstynate papyst? The propyrtie whych he hath of that vnhappye father and mother, is to blaspheme God, and in that he hath shewed hymselfe plenteouse First by a chaplayne whych popyshly mynystred in hys hyred benefyce.Thre knaueryes. Secōdly by conueyaunce of certen ymages in hope of a change; And thirdlye in iudgyng it a fowle heresye to write any thynge in reproche of the Byshopp of Rome.

Concernynge the first, VponUpon the, xx, day of September last past, I was (as he wele knoweth) at seruyce there,A Prieste. to beholde the workemanly conueyaunce of hym and that popysh chaplayn of his, and to know what wholsome frutes I shulde fynde after that tyme, of their .ii. plantinges. Such an other ape of Antichriste as that prest was, neuer sawe. I afore in my lyfe, for he coulde not reade a Psalme, neyther yet speake Englyshe, beynge an allyen, an Armoricall or frenche Britayne.Cōuaiaūce And to excuse hys most beastly ignoraunce, his own self was cōpel led, I being ther presēt, to slauer out y^e .ii. lessōs of y^e Byble, with no small stutting & stā beryng, turnyng his arse to the people after the old popysh maner, to helpe forward the kynges most godly procedynges. More apysh toyes & gawdysh feates,Feates. could neuer a dysarde in England hauehave plaied (I think) than that apysh prest shewed there at the cō munyon. He turned and tossed, lurked and lowted, snored and smirted, gaped and gasped, kneled and knocked, loked and lycked, with both his thombes at hys eares & other tryckes more, that he made me, xx, tymes to remembre wylle Somer,Wyl Sommer. Yet of them both, that prest semed y^t more foole a great deale And to amende the matter, he had than a new shauen crowne, which I rebuked him for, By thys I proue hys maistre,iii, vertues a mocker of God, a deceyuer of the people, and a contempner of the kynges iust procedynges.

Concernyng the second, which is y^e craftie conueyaunce of certen ymages in hope of a change.Images. In that poynt hath he also notable folowed both father and mother, to be proued a naturall papyst. For God hath he blasphemed in sekynge to vphold ydolatry, and the kynge hath he contempned in so derydyng hys most godly ordynaunce. The kynge hath commaunded, and that by acte of hys parlement, that all yma es shulde,An Acte not only be remoued out of the churches of Englande and Irelande, but also that they shulde be defaced, mangled, and vtterly de destroyed for theyr abhomynacyons. How is thys wurthie commauudement obeyed, whan they are so subtylly conuayed, and so craftely retayned aloft in the belfreye or steple, and neyther deformed nor yet altered? Parauenture he wyll saye, that he was neuer of counsell in that propre poynt of conueyaunce.Suttle foxe Wherin he doth lye most falsely For who is more of counsell in a noughtie matter, thā he that knoweth it, and yet wynketh at the doynge therof? The abolyshyng of ydolles, is a churche matter, and chefely perteyneth to religyon. If it had touched either offeringes or tithes, I doubt it not, but he woulde hauehave stande fourth for the chefe head of the parryshe, and no man so hardie to hauehave medled afore him therin.Chefehead Why was he not then of counsell in thys reckenynge. He remayned as maistre and heade of that churche, by the space of more thā, ii. yeares after. Wolde not hys syght serue hym to se so fowle a blot, in so long tyme space? Well sir, whan thys matter came ones to a tryall afore the iustyces at wynchestre sessyons, a man that had bene dead more thā, ii, yeares afore, was able to discharge him of that horrible contempt of Gods wurd,Cōueiaūce and hys kinges procedinges. So workemanly doth one hounde of y^t race lycke an other in this age.

Concerninge the thirde, that it is a great heresie,Heresy. to write ought in reporche of the Bishopp of Rome, In the weke afore Christmas last past, as he chaūced to be in y^e house of the forseyd gentylmau af hys owne affynyte, where he myght alwayes be bolde to do hys lewde feates, hys accustomed frenesie came sodenly vponupon him. In y^t heat wherof, he most shamefully reuyled a seruaūt of that house calling hym heretyke aud knaue, because he had begonne to studie a parte in suche a Comedie,A Comedy as myghtely rebuked the abhomynacyons and fowle fylthie occupienges of the Bishopp of Rome, Moreouer he requyred hym, in hys own stought name to do a lewde massage, whych was to call the compiler of that Comedie, both heretike and knaue, concludynge that it was a boke of most perniciouse heresie, That boke was imprynted about .vi. yeares a go, and hath bene abroad euer sens,Abroade. to be both seane and iudged of men, what it cōtayneth. And thys is the name therof. A Comedie concerning. iii. lawes, of nature, Moyses, & Christ. etc, Therin is it largely declared, how y^t faythe lesse Antichrist of Rome with his clergye, hath bene a blemysher, darkener, confounder, and poysener,Lawes. of all wholsom lawes. And that wyth ydolatricall Sodometrie he hath defyled nature, by ambytyouse Auarice he hath made Gods commaundemēts of non effecte, and with hypocrytycall doctryne peruerted Christes moste holye Gospell. Thys is wele knowne to al men. How commeth than an heresye, thus to report or wryte? By lyke this fonde fellaw, hath learned of Lanfrancus and fryre Walden,Lālfrācus. Walden, that he is only an heretyke, whych in doctryne dyssenteth from the synagoge of Rome,Guido, Or els of fryre Guido in hys boke De heresibus, that he is a most perniciouse heretyke, whych sayth, that the Romysh pope is not heade of the christen churche, neyther maye make lawes for the christyanyte, But he neuer yet marked the wurdes of Athanasius,athanasius that they are the most wycked sorte of heretykes, whyche persecuteth Christes true seruauntes.

Other argumentes are there els, to proue thys wycked fellawe, a natural child of that father & mother, & so a most spyghtfull Papyst. In the tyme that stought Steuen Gardyner was Byshopp of Wynchestre,Steuen. Gardiner. and made hauocke of Christes poore stocke, no mā was so madde as thys madde fellawe, to searche and to seke, to accuse, to reuyle to shame, and to brynge menne in daunger of deathe, for their Christen beleues sake.A Sawle. No where was anye sessyons wythin Hamshire, but he was alwayes there agaynst them, conducted by y^t prestes, pratynge and scoldynge, stuttinge and stam berynge, with frothe yssuynge out on both sydes of hys mouthe for anger. The supersticyouse Nonnes of Wynchestre,Nonnes. dysobeyenge both the Byshopp and hys chaunceller concernynge their apparell, and vtterly contempning the preachinges that are now had their daily resortes to him, and became as flickering culuers about hys house. The preachers of Gods wurde there, were nothynge els wyth hym, as he fat on the ale bē ches, but heretykes & knaues, vagaboūdes, traiters, apostataes, & runnegates,A bloud▪ w^t bloud and soule, that he wold laye hys dagger on their faces. No mā knoweth this to be more true then I do, vponupon whome he not only bestowed these vncomelye names, and that a great sort of tymes, but also in y^t opē streate at Wynchestre, cōming sodenly out of an house of purpose vponupon me,A Ruffyan he sette hys one hande vponupon my Bearde and bosome, and hys other hande sometyme on hys Dagger and sometyme bent it ouer my heade, as thoughe he wolde hauehave buffetted me on the face, wyth suche madde exclamacions as I neuer hearde of man of Bedlem, besydes the vnreasonable spoyle that he had made afore that of my house,A spoyle, Yet neuer in my life ded I offende hym, to my knowledge, neyther in my dede nor my wurde.

Not thus yet satled in all thys ragynge furye,A beast. he procured the clarke of my parrish of bishops Stoke a man y^t knoweth not his A. B. C. & .ii. more as vnlearned and popish as he was, to indyghte me at Wynchestre sessions, for not hallowing the funte at the baptyme of a Childe, wyth candel lyghte, salt, oyle, creame, and waxe droppinges, as in the popysh tyme, notwythstandyng the kynges inhybycion concernynge all suche papystycall beggeryes. He caused them to report there, to the rediculouseRydiculus wondermēt of all men learned, that I should hauehave sayd than, that the wurd of God was hallowed ynough alredy, But that Gods wurd at any tyme should be prophane and nede hallowyng, or els that it hath bene hallowed, it is their blasphemouse and beastly opynion, and not myne.Foolysh, I thynke a more folysh & vnlearned a sentence, was neuer vttered of any man. Se how depely the Lord hath permytted these papystes to spew fourth their owne rydyculouse shame. Yet was it not so doltish and brutish, but it toke place there, and was wele allowed. They that could do nothynge in matters of truthe for the kyng at the sessyons afore,Sessions. coulde in the popes secrete quarell at that sessions, for falshehode fynde me wurthy an indightment, & wurkmanly made it out. And it wanted no circū staunce that myght be deuysed to aggrauat the matter. For there was I called an obstynate persone, a sedycyouse fellowe, a trobler of thys whole realme, a prophaner of of the sacramentes,Slaunders a deprauer of the kynges boke, a slaunderer of hys procedinges, an abhominable example gyuer, & a contēpner of the kynge and hys crowne. Al the papystes of England, had neuer at that bench so muche layed agaynst thē, And all for pretermyttynge y^t one poynte of olde papistrie If thys conueyaunceCōuaiaūce be not sūwhat wurth I report me. Well, he hath made his boast, that for doynge of suche feates, he can lacke no lyuyng. Twētie prestes within Hāshire, (he saithe) wyll rather giuegive me vp their personages and profyghtes, vponupon a small pensyon, than I shulde be without a dwellinge house. And he y^t shall seke hym at thys day shall fynde him tabernacled in one of their personages,Found out what though he hath protested by othe, that he wyll be no longer a papyst.

Thus hauehave I set out thys frantyck papystA Papyst. in hys owne lyuely colours, agreynge to hys most maliciouse frutes, to make him knowne to others, and to cause hys other companyons to be a shamed of hys lewde lunitick waies. If he be not a papist, which with poluted mouth, in defence of papistrie blasphemeth the kynges Maiestie, his honourable counsell, & the preachers of gods wurd, signified by Gods name, Gods tabernacle, and thē that dwell in heauē, who is a wicked papist? If he be not a false prophet, that euometeth such .iii. filthy frogges at ones, as this busy babler hath done here in one blasphemouse sētence, who is a false prophet? If he be not a malignaunt mēbre of Antichrist, that so malicyously and madlye defendeth hys noughtye quarell, wyth pratlynges and scoldynges, stuttynges and stamberynges,Antichrist. supportynge supersticiouse Noōnes and other Idolaters in theyr open Idolatries, conteptuouslye reuylynge the preachers wyth dagger in hande or fyst on theyr faces, besides indightmentes, I wold fayne knowe who were a member of Antichist? Thau shall it be no slaundre to thys frātyck fellow, to be called a papyst, a false prophete, and a malycyouse lymme of Antichrist,iii. Persōs but a most manifest truth, consideryng he hath played al those franticke partes at tymes so stoutlye. None other is the tree that bryngeth sowre crabbes, than a crabbe tree, neyther yet the yll manne that wurketh wyckednesse, but a wycked fellawe. The eternall God chaunge the hatefull hartes of suche papystycall enemyes,God graūt as thys is one, and send them more gentyll myndes in obeying hys heauenlye truthe, that they may at the latter becom of so headye and malycyouse Saules, moste gentyll and pacient Paules, to the glorye of his most holye name, Amen.

☞Thus endeth the Expostulacion or complaynt against the blasphemyes of a franticke papist of Hāshyre, Compiled by Iohā Bale Finis.

¶The .xxiii. Psalme of Dauid. called: Dixit insipiens.

FOoles that true fayth yet neuer hod,

Sayth in theyr hartes, ther is no God

Fylthie they are, in theyr practyse.

Of them not one, is godly wyse.

From heauen the Lord on man dyd looke,

To knowe what wayes, he vndertooke▪

All they were vayne, and weut astraye,

Not one he found, in the ryght waye.

In hart and tunge, hauehave they deceyte,

Their lips throw forth, a poisened baite

their minds ar mad, their mouthes ar wod

And swyft they be, in sheddyng blood,

So blynde they are, no truth they knowe,

No feare of God, in them wyll growe,

How can that cruell sort be good?

Of gods dere flock, which suck y^t blood

On hym ryghtly, shall they not call,

Dispayre wyll so, theyr hartes appall,

At all tymes God, is wyth the iust,

Because they put, in hym theyr trust,

Who shall therfore, from Syon geue,

That helth which hāgeth, in our beleue

Whan God shal take from hys the sma…

Than wyl Iacob, reioyce in hart.

Prayse to God.

¶The .Cxxx. Psalme of Dauid, called. De profundis.

To God thus faithfull Dauid songe, Hys depe and dayly cates amonge.

FRom faith of soule and hartes reioyce,

I call to the, Lorde heare my voyce.

Thyne eares (good Lord) enclyned be,

VntoUnto the poore complaynt of me.

If thou shuldest waye our wyckednesse,

Who can abyde thy ryghtousuesse?

Bicause I fynde all helpe in the,

I doubte no fearce extremyte.

In my Lorde God is al my trust,

To walke as hys wurde hath dyscust,

The churche for her contynuaunce.

Hopeth in the Lordes good gouernaūce.

For in the Lorde great mercye is,

And full redemptyon after thys,

He wyll redeme all Israel,

From deuyll and death, frō synne & hell.

¶Prayse to God.

Imprynted at London by Ihon Daye, dwellyng ouer Aldersgate beneth Saynte Martyns, and are to be soulde at the shope by the litle Condite in Chepesyde.

End of the text · John Bale, An Expostulation Against the Blasphemies of a Frantic Papist (1552)