A Mystery of Iniquity Disclosed and Confuted, Part 28
A mysterye.
1 To the commanndement. Of the hygh povvers At anye hovvres.
2 On payne of synne But vvhat ded he vvynne.
3 He vvas tyed at a poste. And there ded roste.
4 Onnis anima potestatibus subdita sit. Rom. 8.
¶The openinge .1.
MAlice hath so blinded this imprudēt pratler / that he seyth not the waye he goeth in. And though he doth se it playne ynough yet doubteth he not the daungers therof. And parauenture he nedeth nor neyther. For the wynker of wyles and y• seker out of subtyltees hath put him and his companye in assuraunce / that though they slyde a lytle in the darke / yet shall they catche no scathe. For nought is it not that they daunse attendaunce / plainge placebo with Reynarde the foxe. At all tymes shall they be redye to geue warninge / yf anye parell be towardes their whelpes. Lete them do nothinge els in the meane season / but se alwayes that the people obeye the commaundement of the high powers / meaninge by thē the spiritual prelates. And that they beleue as holye churche doth teache thē after the olde customes of their aūciēt elders / for these newe falshyoned wayes are nothinge worthe. If any be busye with these newe bokes ageynst those hygh powers / lete them cause their sworne satellites to indite them of heresye. Come they ones that wayes vndretheir spirituall handes / they shall fynde lesse ease of it than eyther thefe or murtherer. Therfor it shall be mete at all houres & seasons for him that will lyue in rest / to be obediēt to these hygh powers / though he shuld for their obedience vtterlye forsake God and obeye the deuyll. For their obedience is non other.
2 A farre diuerse obedience is this frō al other. For it bideth vntounto sinne / as witnesseth also the great wyse clarke Iohan Standishe in his treatise of reporche ageīst Barnes. And I beleue it wele / for their lawes / commaundementes / and customes / to whō they wolde binde vsus / are nothinge els but fylthye Idolatrye & sinne. Agreinge with y• sainge of Saint Paule. That is not of the faithe which Christ hath taught / is wickednesse and sinne. I wote that of a craft they wyll saye here they meane the kīge / though they mynde nothinge lesse / but vndre that coloure to establishe ageyne the decayed a… ctorite of their whorishe churche. Whye shuld Pantolabus els call Barnes here craftelye / an Apostata. That clause was not all brought in for nought. The manne ment sumwhat more thā he durst wele vtter. But where as he doth scornefullye axe this question / what Barnes ded winne by so disobeinge the holye fathers? I will answere it for him / bycause he is now dead. He hath wonne so moche as Christ promised him / which set him a worke. That is / persecucion / enprisonment and deathe. And trulye that was a swete winninge / for therwith hath he wonne also the lyfe euerlastinge. Who so euer will saue his lyfe (saith Christ) shall lose it. And he that shall lose his lyfe for my sake / shall fynde it ageyne in the lyfe euerlasting. Saint Paule sayed boldelye vntounto the Philippyanes that deathe was vntounto him a winninge. And I knowe that the lyberall hande of the lorde is not yet abreuiated.
3 Now steppeth forth Pantolabꝰ as bragge a bodye lowse / and as one depelye lerned in y• scole of scornefulnesse / he soluteth his owne wyse questiō. He declareth to the worlde what Barnes d…d… wynne for not obeienge holye churche / as though menne were ignoraunt therof. He telleth them with so moche spight as he can wele Imagine / that Barnes was tyed to a poste in Smytfelde at London with .ii. companions more / and that he there ded roste. But he sayeth nothinge (I trowe) of the Popes .iii. sworne chaplaynes Powell / Abell / and fetherston his owne swete companions which were the some daye & houre in the same selfe smithfelde both hanged and quartered for treason. No / that disobedience toucheth not Pantolabus. I tolde yow afore that he wolde at the last declare vntounto yow for all his craftye colours what obediēce he ment. O holy Rome holy Rome / thu spirituall Sodome and Egipt / moche beholden art thu to thy secrete louers in Englande so workemāly to cloyne in thy cause. As concerninge good Robert Barnes whose ende is thought without honour of y• daintye babes of this worlde. He is counted amonge the dere children of God / and hath his porcion with the saintes. Though he semeth lost to y• vngodlye wise / yet resteth he swetelye in the peace of the lorde. As golde in the hote fyerye fornace tryeth he his electes / and as a brent offeringe receyueth thē For soche matters passeth not after ye blinde iudgement of menne lyuinge here in wā tonnesse.
4 Alwayes is Pantolabus lyke him wc tempted Christ in the desart / whose Apostleship he hath here deuoutlye taken vpō him. Styll vseth he his olde roberyes and legerdemaynes with the scripture. Here geueth he vsus a mangled texte of Saint Paule to the Romanes / appointing vsus the .viii. chapter instede of the. xiii. If it be not honest playe and cleane conueyaunce / I report me to yow. Omnis anima potestatibus subdit… sit sayth he in both his coppyes but sublimioribus is out there / for seruinge his spirituall purpose. Lete euerye sowle (sayth he) submit it selfe to the powrs / but the hyghar powers he nameth not / least he shuld hauehave mencioned the kynge / myndinge nothingelesse. For he is the hygher power / and God is y• hyghest of all. Powers without hygher or hyghest are alwayes indifferent / & maye be iudgled with / & therfor he putteth them here for the Prelates of his churche. But Saint Iohan sayth in the Apocalyps / that their powers are of the Serpent / which gaue his auctorite and seate to that beastlye Antichrist of theirs. Whan Christ spake of worldlye powers / he ernestlye charged his Apostles to obeye them / but in no case to take them vponupon them. I wondre of the blyndenesse of Pantolabus / that he perseyueth not what foloweth in the same Chapter. Nemini debeatis quicquam / nisi vt inuicem diliga…is. Lete nothinge be donne amonge yow but in mutuall louelove / sayth Saint Paule. Lete charite be the power that yow shall occupye / for that fulfylleth the lawe. If this power regned in Prelates / and were so well taught of them as it is commaunded / neyther shuld the hygh powers hauehave so moche a do in ponnyshinge theft / whoredome / and murther / nor yet so many of their spirituall swarme be whoremongers / murtherers / & robbers of the common people as they are.