Work for a Cooper 2, Rebuttal 3 – Argument 8

Work for a Cooper 2 · Rebuttal 3 – Argument 8

p. 4Reuerend Martin.

Why T.C. ſaye Eulojin for Eulogein as often as you will / and I wil neuer ſpight you / or the Biſhop of Wincheſter eyther for the matter. But doe you thinke our Churche gouernement / to be good and lawfull becauſe p. 5hir Maieſtie and the ſtate / who maintaine the reformed religion alloweth the ſame? Why the Lorde doth not allow it / therefore it cannot be lawfull. And it is the falt of ſuch wretches as you biſhops are / that her Maieſtie and the ſtate alloweth the ſame. For you ſhould hauehave other / wiſe inſtructed them. They know you not yet ſo thorowly as I doe. So that if I can prooue / that the Lord diſliketh our Church gouernement / your endeuors to maintaine the ſame / ſhew that thereby you cannot chuſe / but be traytors to God and his worde / whatſoeuer you are to her Maieſtie and the State. Nowe T.C. looke to your ſelfe / for I will preſently make all the hoops of your biſhoppricks flie aſſunder. Therefore

Our Churche gouernement, is an vnlawfull Churche gouernment, and not allowed in the ſight of God.

Becauſe

That church gouernment is an vnlawful church gouernment / the offices and officers whereof / the ciuil maieſtrate may lawfully abolliſh out of the church / marke my craft in reaſoning brother T.C. I ſay the offices and officers for I grant that the maieſtrate may thruſt the officers of a lawful church gouerment out of the church if they be Diotripheſes / Mar-elmes / Whitgifts / Simon Mauguſtes / Coopers / Pernes / Kenoldes / or any ſuch like Iudaſes / (though the moſt of theſe muſt be packing offices and al) but their offices muſt ſtand / that the ſame may be ſupplied by honeſter men. But the offices of Archbiſhops and biſhopps / and therefore the officers much more / may be lawfully abolliſhed out of the church by her Maieſtie and our State. And truely this were braue weather to turne them out: it is pitty to keepe them in any longer. And that would do me good at the hart, to ſee Iohn of London / and the reſt of his brethren ſo diſcharged of his buſines / as he might freely runn in his caſſocke and hoſe after his bowle / or floriſh with his 2. p. 6hand ſword. O tis a ſweete trunchfiddle.

But the offices of Archbiſhops and biſhops / may be lawfully abolliſhed out of the church by her Maieſtie / and the ſtate. As I hope one day they ſhalbe. Therefore (marke now T.C. and cary me this concluſion to Iohn O Lambehith for his breakefaſt) our church gouerment by Arch. and biſhops / is an vnlawful church gouerment. You ſee brother Cooper / that I am very courteous in my minor / for I deſire therein no more offices to bee thruſt out of the church at one time / but Archb. and Biſhops. As for Deanes Archdeacons and Chancellors / I hope they wilbe ſo kind vntounto my Lords grace / as not to ſtay / if his worſhip and the reſt of the noble clergie Lords weare turned out to graſſe. I wil preſently proue both maior and minor of this ſillogiſme. And hold my cloake there ſombody / that I may go roundly to worke. For iſe ſo bumfeg the Cooper / as he had bin better to hauehave hooped halfe the tubbes in Wincheſter / then write againſt my worſhips piſtles.

No ciuil maieſtrat may lawfully either maime or deforme the body of Chriſt / which is the church / but whoſoeuer doth abolliſh any lawful church officer / out of the church gouernment / he doth either maime or deforme the church. Therefore T.C. no ciuil magiſtrate / no prince / no ſtate / may without ſinn abolliſhe any lawfull officer / together with his office / out of the gouernement of the church / and per conſequence, the offices of Archbiſhops and Lord biſhops / which her Maieſtie may without ſinn lawfully abolliſh out of the church / are no lawful church officers / and therefore alſo / the church gouernment practiſed by Iohn Whitgift / Iohn Mar-elme / Richard Peterborow / William of Lincolne / Edmond of Worceſtor / yea and by that olde ſtealecounter maſſe prieſt / Iohn O Gloſſeſter / with the reſt of his brethren / is to be preſently thruſt out of the church. And me thinks this geare cottons p. 7in deed my maſters. And I tould you T.C. that you ſhould be thumped for defending biſhops. Take heed of me while you liue. The minor of my laſt ſillogiſme / that whoſoeuer doth abolliſh the office of any lawfull thurch officer out of the church / he either maimeth or deformeth the church / I can proue with a wet finger. Becauſe eueryevery lawful Churche officer / euen by reaſon of his office / is a member of the bodye of Chriſte Ieſus / whiche is the church / and being a member of the body / If the maieſtrate doth diſplace him by abolliſhing his office / and leaueth the place thereof voide / then the maieſtrate maimeth the body. If he put another office vntounto an officer in ſtead thereof / he deformeth the ſame. Becauſe the maieſtrate hath neither the ſkil nor the commiſſion / to make the members of the body of Chriſt. Becauſe he cannot tel to what vſe / the members of his making may ſerue in the church. Do you thinke T.C. that the maieſtrat may make an eie for the viſible body of the church. (For you muſt vnderſtand / that wee al this while ſpeake of the viſible body) can he make a foote or a hand for that body? I pray you in what place of the body would you hauehave them placed? If our Sauiour Chriſt hath left behind him a perfect body: ſurely he hath left therein no place or / no vſe for members of the maieſtrates making & inuention: if an vnperfect and maimed body / I am wel aſſured that the maieſtrate is not able to perfect that which he left vnfiniſhed. But I hope T.C. that thou wilt not be ſo mad / and wicked / as to ſay that our Sauiour Chriſt / left behind him heere on earth an vnperfect and maimed body. If not / then where ſhal theſe offices / namely theſe members inuented by the maieſtrate be placed therein.

Would you hauehave the naturall eies put out (as your brethren the biſhops hauehave don in the church of England / euer ſince Iohn of Canterbury vrged his wretched ſubſcription) and vnnatural ſquint gogled eies put in their p. 8ſteede: when the body cannot ſee with any eies / but with the natural eies thereof / diſplace them howſoeuer you may ſeme to help the matter / by putting others in their ſteed / yet the body ſhalbe ſtil blind and maimed. What ſay you T.C. may the Maieſtrate cut of the true and natural legges / and handes of the body of Chriſte / vnderunder a pretence to put woodden in their ſteed. I hope you wil not ſay that he may. How then commeth it to paſſe T.C. that you hold Iohn of Canterbury his office / and Iohn Mar-elms to be true and natural members of the body / that is true officers of the church / and yet hold it laweful for her Maieſtie to diſplace them out of the church. I-cannot tel brother what you hold in this point. Me think I hauehave diſturbed your ſences. Do you thinke that the maieſtrat may diſplace the true members of the body of Chriſt / and place woodden in their ſteed. Why this is to hold it lawful for the maieſtrate to maſſacre the body. Do you thinke he may not? Then may not her maieſtie diſplace Iohn of Canterburies office out of our church: if ſhee may not diſplace his office / then either he by vertue of his office / is a lawfull Pope aboue all ciuill magiſtrates / or els the Church gouernment is ſo preſcribed in the word / as it is not lawfull for the mageſtrate to alter the ſame. But Iohn of Canterburie / as the puritans their ſelues confeſſe / is no Pope.Puritans confes Iohn Cant. to be no Pope. Then either the church gouernment is ſo preſcribed in the word as it may not be altred / or els the mageſtrat may aboliſh a lawful church gouernement / and place another in ſtead thereof. If the Church gouernment be ſo preſcribed in the worde / as it cannot be altered / then either our gouernment is y^e ſame which was therein preſcribed / or our Church gouerment is a falſe Churchgouerment. If ours be the ſame which is mentioned in the word: Then Paule and Peter were either no true Church gouernours / or els Paul and Peter / and the reſt of Church gouernors in their time were p. 9Lordes / for all our Church gouernours are Lordes. But Paule and Peter / &c. were no Lords / and yet true church gouernours. Therefore our Church gouernment is not that which is preſcribed in the word: and therfore a falſe and vnlawfull church gouernement. If you thinke that the magiſtrate may diſplace the lawful offices of the bodie / then as I ſaid before / you hold it lawfull for the magiſtrate to maime or deforme the bodie. Becauſe whatſoeuer he pulleth in the roome of the true and right members / muſt needs be a deformitie / and what place ſoeuer he leaueth vnfurniſhed of a member / muſt needes be a maime. And this is the onelyonly and ſole office of Chriſte onelyonly / to place and diſplace the members of his bodie: to wit / the officers of his Church / he may lawfully do it / ſo cannot man. And therefore the ſots (of which nomber you T.C. and you Iohn Whitgift / and you Deane Iohn / and you D. Cooſins / and you D. Copcot / with the reſt of the ignoraunt and wretched defendors of our corrupt church gouernement are to be accounted) which thinke that the offices of paſtors / doctors / elders and deacons / or the moſt of them / may be aſwell nowe wanting in the Church / as the offices of Apoſtles / prophets and Euangeliſts: do notably bewray their vile ignorance / but the cauſe they doe not hurt. For the beaſtes do not conſider that the offices of Apoſtles / Euangeliſts and Prophets / were remoued out of the church / not by man / but by the Lord / becauſe hee in his wiſdome did not ſee any vſe of ſuch members in his body / after the time of the firſt planting of the Churche.The apoſtles choſe non in fled of Iames being beheded as they did in ſteed of Iudas Act. 1. which they would hauehave don if the apoſ…olicall calling had ben permanent.Acts 1 I ſay they were remooued by the Lord himſelfe and not by man: becauſe / partly the giftes wherewith they were endued / partly the largeneſſe of their commiſſion / with certaine other eſſentiall properties to them belonging / were by him abrogated and taken away / which no man could do. Againe / the Apoſtolicall / Euangelical and propheticall callings / were either p. 10lawfully or vnlawfully aboliſhed out of the Churche / if lawfully / then they were aboliſhed by the Lord: & therefore they are neither to be called backe vntill he ſheweth it to be his pleaſure that it ſhoulde be ſo / neither can the church be truely ſaid to be maimed for want of them: becauſe he which could beſt tell / what members were fitte for his Churche did aboliſhe them. If vnlawfully / then thoſe callings may be lawfully called backe againe into the church / & the church without them is maimed / that is / wanteth ſome members. For if their callings were iniuriouſly abrogated / they are as iniuriouſly kept out of the churche: & being members of the church / the church is maimed without / vnleſſe the Lorde hath ſhewed / that the time of their ſeruice in the bodie is expired. But they are not iniuriouſly kept out (for ſo her Maieſtie ſhoulde be ſaid to iniurie the church / vnleſſe ſhe would ſee Apoſtles / prophets and Euangeliſts / planted therein) neither can the church be ſaide to be maimed for want of them / becauſe the Lorde by taking them away hath declared / that now there can be no vſe of them in the bodie: therefore the Lorde abrogated them. Therefore alſo they may be wanting / & the churche neither maimed nor deformed thereby. Whereas the keeping out of eyther of the former offices of paſtors / doctors / elders and deacons / is a maiming of the churche / the placing of others in their ſteed / a deforming. Now reuerend T.C. I beſeech you entreat miſtris Cooper / to write to M.D. Day / ſomtimes of magdalins / that he may procure D. Cooper / to know of him that was the laſt Thomas of Lincolne / whether the now B. of Wincheſter be not perſwaded / that reuerend Martin hath ſuffiently prooued it to be vnlawful / for the ciuill mageſtrate / to aboliſhe any lawfull churche officer out of the church. Becauſe it is vnlawfull for him to maime or deforme the bodie of Chriſte / by diſplacing the members thereof. But it may be / your Coopers noddle p. 11profane T.C. doubteth / (for I knowe you to be as ignorant in theſe points / as Iohn Whitgift / or dean Iohn their ſelues.)

Whether a lawfull Church officer, in regard of his office, be a member of the bodie of Chriſt, which is the Church.

Therefore looke Rom. 12. verſ. 4.5. &c. and there you ſhall ſee / that whoſoeuer hath an office in the bodie / is a member of the bodie. There alſo you ſhall ſee / that he that teacheth / which is the Doctor: he y^t exhorteth / which is the Paſtor: he that ruleth / which is the Elder: he that diſtributeth / which is the Deacon (as for him that ſheweth merciemercy that is there ſpoken off / he is but a church ſeruant / and no church officer) There I ſay / you ſhall alſo ſee / that theſe 4. offices / of Paſtors / Doctors / Eleders & Deacons / are members of the bodie: and 1. Cor. 12.8. & 28. you ſhal ſee that God hath ordained them. Out of al / which hitherto I hauehave ſpoken T.C. I come vponupon you / & your biſhopprickes / with 4. or 5. (yea halfe a dozen and neede be) ſuche drie ſoopes / as Iohn of London with his two hand ſword neuer gaue the like. For they aunſwere your whole profane booke. Firſt / that the platforme of gouernment / by Paſtors / Doctors / Elders and deacons / which you ſay was deuiſed you knowe not by whom / is the inuention of our Sauiour Chriſt. For God ordained them / ſaith the apoſtle / 1. cor. 12.8.28. And therefore vnleſſe you will ſhew your ſelfe / either to be a blaſphemer / by terming Ieſus Chriſt / to be you cannot tell whom / or els to be ignorant who is Ieſus Chriſt: you muſt needs acknowledge the platforme of gouernment / which you ſay / was inuented by you know not whō / to hauehave Chriſt Ieſus for the author thereof.

Secondly / that the word of God teacheth / that of neceſſitie / the gouernment by Paſtors / doctors / elders / &c. ought to be in eueryevery Churche / which is neither maimed nor deformed.This. T. Cooper gainſaieth pag. 2. of his Epiſtle. Becauſe that Church muſt needs be maimed p. 12which wanteth thoſe mēbers / which the Lorde hath appointed to be therein: vnleſſe the Lord himſelfe hath / by taking thoſe members away / ſhewed that nowe his bodie is to hauehave no vſe of them. But as hath bene ſayde / God hath ordained paſtors / doctors / elders and deacons to be in his Church / proued out of Rom. 12.6.7.8. 1. cor. 12.8.28. ephe. 4.12. And he hath not taken theſe officers away out of his church / becauſe the Church hath continuall need of them. As of Paſtors to feed with the word of wiſedome: of the Doctors / to feede with the worde of knowledge / and both to builde vp his bodie in the vnitie of fayth: of Elders / to watch and ouerſee mens maners: of Deacons to looke vntounto the poore / and church treaſurie. Therefore / where theſe 4. officers are wanting / there the Church is imperfect in her regiment.

T. Cooper ſaith it is / pag. ſecond / Epiſt.Thirdly that this gouernement cannot be inconuenient for any State or kingdom. For is it inconuenient for a State or kingdome / to hauehave the bodie of Chriſt perfect therein?

Fourthly that eueryevery chriſtian mageſtrate is bound to receue this gouernment / by Paſtors / Doctors / Elders & deacons into the church / within his dominions / whatſoeuer inconuenience may be likely to follow the receuing of it. Becauſe no likelyhood of inconuenience ought to induce the magiſtrate willingly to permit the church vnderunder his gouernment / to be maymed or deformed.

Fiftly that the gouerment of the church by Lord Archbiſhops and biſhops / is a gouernment of deformed and vnſhapen members / ſeruing for no good vſe in the church of God. Becauſe it is not the gouernment by paſtors / doctors elders and deacons / which as I hauehave ſhewed are now the only true membes / that is the only true officers of the viſible body.

Sixtly and laſtly. That they who defend this falſe and baſtardly gouernment of Archbiſhops and biſhops / and p. 13withſtand this true & natural gouernment of the church / by Paſtors / Doctors / Elders and deacons / are likely in awhile to become / Mar-prince / Mar-ſtate / Mar-lawe / Mar-mageſtrate / Mar-common wealth. As for Mar-church / and Mar-religion / they hauehave long ſince proued them ſelues to be.

Theſe ſix points doe neceſſarily follow / of that which before I hauehave ſet downe / namely that it is not lawfull for any to abolliſh or alter / the true and lawful gouernment of the church / becauſe it is not lawfull for them to maime or deforme the body of the church.

And I chaleng you T.C. and you Deane Iohn / and you Iohn Whitgift / and you D. Cooſins: and you D. Copcot / and al the reſt that wil or dare defende our eſtabliſhed Churche gouernement / to be tried with me in a iudgement of life and death / at any barre in England in this point. Namely /

That you muſt needs be, not onelyonly traytors to God and his word, but alſo enemies vntounto hir Maieſtie and the land, in defending the eſtabliſhed Church gouernment to be lawfull.

You ſee the accuſation which I lay to your charge / and here followeth the proofe of it. They who defend that the prince and ſtate / may bid God to battel againſt them / they are not only traitors againſt God and his word / but alſo enemies to the Prince and ſtate. I thinke Iohn of Gloceſter himſelfe / wil not be ſo ſenſles as to deny this.

But our Archbiſhops and biſhops / which hold it lawful for her maieſtie and the ſtate / to retain this eſtabliſhed forme of gouernment / and to keepe out the gouernment by paſtors / doctors / elders and deacons / which was appointed by Chriſt / whom you profane T.C. cal you know not whome / hold it lawful for her maieſtie and the ſtate to bid God to battel againſt them. Becauſe they bid the Lord to battel againſt them which maime and deforme p. 14the body of Chriſt / vz. the church. And they as …as declared maime & deforme the body of the church / which keep out the lawful offices / apointed by the Lord to be members thereof / & in their ſteed / place other woodden members of the inuenteon of man. Therefore you T.C. and you Deane Iohn / and you Iohn Whitgift / and you the reſt of the beaſtly defendors of the corrupt church gouernment / are not only traytors to God and his word / but enemies to her maieſtie and the ſtate. Like you any of theſe Nuts Iohn Canterbury. I am not diſpoſed to ieſt in this ſerious matter. I am called Martin Marprelat. There be many that greatly diſlike of my doinges. I may hauehave my wants I know. For I am a man. But my courſe I knowe to be ordinary and lawfull. I ſawe the cauſe of Chriſts gouernment / and of the Biſhops Antichriſtian dealing to be hidden. The moſt part of men could not be gotten to read any thing / written in the defence of the … and againſt the other. I bethought mee therefore / of a way whereby men might be drawne to do both / perceiuing the humors of men in theſe times (eſpecialy of thoſe that are in any place) to be giuen to mirth. I tooke that courſe. I might lawfully do it. I / for ieſting is lawful by circumſtances / euen in the greateſt matters. The circumſtances of time / place and perſons vrged me thereunto. I neuer profaned the word in any ieſt. Other mirth I vſed as a couert / wherin I would bring the truth into light. The Lord being the authour both of mirth and grauitie / is it not lawfull in it ſelfe / for the trueth to vſe eyther of theſe wayes / when the circumſtances do make it lawful?

My purpoſe was and is to do good. I know I hauehave don no harme howſoeuer ſom may iudg Martin to mar al. They are very weake one that ſo think. In that which I hauehave written I know vndoubtedly / that I hauehave done the Lord and the ſtate of this kingdom great ſeruice. Becauſe I hauehave in ſom ſort / diſcouered the greateſt enemies p. 15thereof. And by ſo much the moſt peſtilent enemies / becauſe they wound Gods relligion / and corrupt the ſtate with Atheiſm and looſnes / and ſo cal for Gods vengance vppon vsus all / euen vnderunder the coulor of relligion. I affirm them to be the greateſt enemies that now our ſtate hath / for if it were not for them / the trueth ſhould hauehave more free paſſage herein / then now it hath. All ſtates thereby would be amended: and ſo we ſhould not be ſubiect vntounto Gods diſpleaſure / as now we are by reaſon of them.

Nowe let me deale with theſe that are in authority. I do make it knowne vntounto them / that our biſhops are the greateſt enemies which we hauehave. For they do not only go about / but they hauehave long ſince / fully perſwaded our ſtate / that they may lawfully procure the Lord / to take the ſword in hand againſt the ſtate: if this be true / hauehave I not ſaid truly / that they are the greteſt enemies which our ſtate hath. The papiſtes work no ſuch effect / for they are not truſted. The Atheiſtes hauehave not infected our whol ſtate / theſe hauehave. The attempts of our forraine enemies may be pernicious. But they are men as wee are. But that God / which when our biſhops hauehave / and doe make our prince / and our gouernors to wadge war / who is able to ſtand againſt him?

Wel to the point / many hauehave put her maieſtie / the parliament & counſell in minde / that the church officers now among vsus / are not ſuch as the Lord aloweth of: becauſe they are not of his owne ordaininge. They hauehave ſhewed that this falt is to be amended / or the Lords hand to be looked for. The biſhops on the otherſide / hauehave cried out vponupon them / that hauehave thus dutifully mooued the ſtate. They with a loud voice gaue out / that the maieſtrat may lawfully maintaine that church gouerment / which beſt fitteth our eſtate / as liuing in y^e time of peace. What do they elſe herein / but ſay that the mageſtrat in time of peace / may maime and deforme the body of Chriſt his p. 16church. That Chriſt hath left the gouerment of his own houſe vnperfect / and left the ſame to the diſcretion of the mageſtrate / wheras Moſes before whome in this point of gouernment / the Lord Chriſt is iuſtly preferred / Heb. 3.6. made the gouernment of the legal politie ſo perfcet / as he left not any parte thereof / to the diſcretion of the mageſtrate. Can they deny church officers / to be members of the church. They are refuted by the expreſſe text. 1. Cor. 12. will they affirme Chriſt to hauehave left behinde him an vnperfect body of his church / wanting members at the leſt wiſe / hauing ſuch members as were only permanent at the mageſtrates pleaſure. Why Moſes the ſeruant / otherwiſe gouerned the houſe in his time. And the ſonne is commended in this point for wiſdome / and faithfulnes before him. Heb 3.6. Either then / that commendation of the ſonn before the ſeruant / is a falſe teſtimony / or the ſonne ordained a permanent gouernment in his church. If permanent / not to be changed. What then / do they that hold it may be changed at the mageſtrates pleaſure / but aduiſe the maieſtrate by his poſitiue lawes / to proclaime that it is his will / that if there ſhalbe a church within his dominions / he will maime and deforme the ſame. He wil ordaine therein / what members he thinketh good. He will make it knowne / that Chriſt vnderunder his gouernment / ſhalbe made leſſe faithfull then Moſes was. That he hath left the placing of members in his body vntounto the mageſtrate. O curſed beaſtes / that bring this guilt vppon our eſtate. Repent Caitifes while you hauehave time. You ſhal not hauehave it I feare when you wil. And looke you that are in authority vntounto the equity of the controuerſie / betwene our wicked biſhops / and thoſe who woulde hauehave the diſorders of our Churche amended. Take heed you be not caried away with ſlaunders. Chriſts gouerment is neither Mar-prince / Mar-ſtate / Mar-law nor Mar-magiſtrate. The liuing God p. 17whoſe cauſe is pleaded for / will bee reuenged of you / if you giuegive eare vntounto this ſlander / contrary to ſo many teſtimonies as are brought out of his word / to prooue the contrary. He denounceth his wrath againſt all you / that thinke it lawfull for you / to maim or deform his church: he accounteth his Churche maimed / when thoſe offices are therein placed / whiche hee hath not appointed to be members thereof: he alſo teſtifieth that there be no mē bers of his appointment in the Churche / but ſuch as he himſelfe hath named in his word / and thoſe that he hath named / man muſt not diſplace / for ſo he ſhoulde put the bodie out of ioynt. Nowe our biſhops holding the contrary / and bearing you in hande / that you may practize the contrary / do they not driue you to prouoke the Lorde to anger againſt your owne ſoules? And are they not your enemies? They hold the contrary I ſay / for they ſay that her Maieſtie may alter this gouernment now eſtabliſhed / and thereby they ſhew either this gouerment to be vnlawfull / or that the magiſtrat may preſume to place thoſe members in Gods Church / which the Lord neuer mentioned in his word. And I beſeech you marke howe the caſe ſtandeth betweene theſe wretches / & thoſe whom they call puritans.

1 The puritans (falſely ſo called) ſhew it to be vnlawfull for the magiſtrate / to goe about to make any members for the bodie of Chriſt.

2 They hold all officers of the Church / to be members of the bodie / Rom. 12.6. 1. cor. 12.8.28.

3 And therfore they hold the altering / or the aboliſhing of the offices of church gouernment / to be the altering & aboliſhing of the members of the Church.

4 The altering & aboliſhing of which members / they holde to be vnlawfull / becauſe it muſt needs be a maime vntounto the bodie.

5 They hold Chriſt Ieſus to hauehave ſet downe as exact / p. 18and as vnchaungeable a churche gouernement / as euer Moſes did. Heb. 3.6.

Theſe and ſuch like are the points they holde / let their cauſe be tried / and if they hold any other points in effect but theſe / let them be hanged eueryevery man of them.

Now I demand / whether they that hold the contrary in theſe pointes / and cauſe the State to practize the contrary / be not outragious wicked men / and dangerous e / nemies of the ſtate / it cannot be denied but they are. Becauſe the contrarie practize of any the former points / is a way to worke the ruine of the ſtate.

Now our Biſhopps holde the contrary vntounto them al / ſaue the 3. and 2. points / whereunto it may be they will yeeld / & cauſe our eſtate to practize the contrary: whence at the length / our deſtruction is like to proceed. For

1 They denie Chriſt Ieſus to hauehave ſet downe as exact / and as vnchangeable a forme of church gouernment as Moſes did. For they ſay / that the magiſtrat may change the church gouernment eſtabliſhed by Chriſt / ſo could he not do that / preſcribed by Moſes.

2 In holding all offices of the Church to be members of the bodie / (for if they be not members / what ſhoulde they do in the body) they hold it lawful for the magiſtrat to attempt the making of new members for that bodie.

3 The altering or abolliſhing of theſe members by the magiſtrates / they holde to be lawfull. And therefore the maiming or deforming.

Now you wretches (Archb. and L. Biſhops I mean) you Mar-ſtate / Mar-law / Mar-prince / Mar-maieſtrat Mar-commonwealth / Mar-church / and Mar-religion Are you able for your liues / to aunſwere any part of the former ſyllogiſme / whereby you are concluded / to be the greateſt enemies vntounto her Maieſtie and the State? You dare not attempt it I know. For you cannot denie / but they who holde it and defend it lawfull / (yea enforce the p. 19magiſtrate) to maime or deforme the bodie of Chriſt / are vtter enemies vntounto that magiſtrat / and that ſtate / wherin this diſorder is practized. You cānot denie your ſelues to do this / vntounto our magiſtrate and State: becauſe you beare them in hand / that a lawfull church gouernment / may conſiſt of thoſe offices / which the magiſtrate may abolliſhe out of the church without ſinne: and ſo / that the magiſtrate may lawfully cut off the members of Chriſt from his body / and ſo may lawfully maſſacre the body. You are then the men by whome our eſtate is moſt likely to be overthrowne / you are thoſe that ſhal anſwere for our blood which the Spaniard / or any other enemies are like to ſpil / without the Lords great mercy: you are the perſecutors of your brethren / (if you may be accounted brethren) you & your hirelings are not only the wounde / but the very plague and peſtilence of our church. You are thoſe who maime / deforme / vex / perſecute / greeue / & wound the church. Which keepe the ſame in captiuity & darknes / defend the blind leaders of the blind / ſlander / reuile and deforme Chriſtes holy gouernment / that ſuch broken and woodden members as you are / may be ſtill maintayned / to hauehave the romes of the true and natural members of the body. Tel me I pray / whether the true and natural members of the body may be lawfully cut of by the mageſtrate. If you ſhould ſay they may / I knowe no mā would abide the ſpech. What? May the maieſtrat cutt of the true and naturall members / of the body of Chriſt? O impudency / not to be tollerated. But our mageſtrate / that is her maieſtie / and our ſtate / may lawfully by your owne confeſſion / cut you of / that is diſplace you and your offices out of our church. Deny this if you dare Then in deed it ſhal appeare / that Iohn of Canturbury meaneth to be a Pope in deede / & to hauehave the ſoueraignty ouer the ciuill mageſtrate. Then will you ſhewe your ſelfe in deed / to be Mar-prince / Mar-law & Mar-ſtate. p. 20Now if the mageſtrate may diſplace you as he may then you are not the true members. Then you are (as in deed you ought) to be thruſt out / vnleſſe the mageſtrate would incur the wrath of God / for maiming and deforminge the body of the church / by ioyning vnnatural members thereunto.

Anſwere but this reaſon of mine / and then hang thoſe that ſeeke reformation / if euer againe they ſpeke of it / if you doe not / I wil giuegive you litle quiet. I feare you not. If the mageſtrate wil be ſo ouerſeene as to beleeue / that becauſe you which are the maim of the church are ſpoken againſt / therefore they / namely our prince & ſtate / which are Gods lieftenaunts / ſhal be in like ſort / dealt with / this credulity wil be the mageſtrates ſinne. But I know their wiſdome to be ſuch as they wil not. For what reaſon is this / which you profane T.C. hauehave vſed. pag. 103.

The ſinful / the vnlawful / the broken / vnnatural / falſe and baſtardly gouernors of the church / to wit archb. and biſhops / which abuſe euen their falſe offices / are ſpoken againſt. Therefore the true / natural and lawful / and iuſt gouernors of the common welth / ſhalbe likewiſe ſhortly miſliked. Ah ſenceleſſe and vndutifull beaſtes / that dare compare your ſelues with our true mageſtrates / which are the ordinaunces of God / with your ſelues / that is / with Archbiſhops and biſhops / which as you your ſelues confeſſe (I will by and by proue this) are the ordinances of the Diuell.

I knowe I am diſliked of many which are your enemies / that is of many which you cal puritans. It is their weaknes / I am threatened to be hanged by you. What though I were hanged / do you thinke your cauſe ſhalbe the better. For the day that you hange Martin / aſſure your ſelues / there wil 20. Martins ſpring in my place. I meane not now you groſſe beaſtes / of any commotion as profane T.C. like a ſenſles wretch / not able to vnderſtand p. 21an Engliſh phraſe / hath giuen out vponupon that which he calleth the threatning of fiſtes. Aſſure your ſelues / I wil proue Marprelat ere I hauehave don with you. I am alone. No man vnderunder heauen is priuy / or hath bin priuie vntounto my writings againſt you / I vſed the aduiſe of non therein. You hauehave and do ſuſpect diuers, as maſter Paggett / maſter Wiggington / maſter Vdall / & maſter Penri / &c. to make Martin. If they cannot cleare their ſelues their ſillineſſe is pitifull / and they are worthy to beare Martins puniſhment. Well once againe anſwere my reſons / both of your Antichriſtian places in my firſt epiſtle vntounto you / and theſe nowe vſed againſt you. Otherwiſe the wiſdome of the magiſtrate muſt needs ſmel what you are. And cal you to a reckoning / for deceauing them ſoe long / making them to ſuffer the church of Chriſt vnderunder their gouernment to be maimed and deformed.

Your reaſons for the defence of your hierarchie / and the keeping out of Chriſts gouernment / vſed by this profane T.C. are already anſwered. They ſhew what profane beaſtes you are. I wil heere repete them. But heere firſt the reader is to know what anſwere this T.C. maketh vntounto the ſyllogiſmes / whereby I prooue all L. biſhops to be petty popes / and petty Antichriſtes. I aſſure you no other then this / he flattly denieth the coicluſion / wheras he might (if he had any learning in him / or had read any thing) know / that eueryevery dunſtical logician / giueth this for an inuiolable precept / that the concluſion is not to be denied. For that muſt needs be true / if the maior and minor be true / he in omitting the maior and minor / becauſe he was not able to anſwere thereby / granteth the concluſion to be true. His anſweare vntounto the concluſion is / that al lord Gb. were not pety popes. Becauſe pag. 74. Cranmer / Ridly / Hooper / were not petty Popes. They were not pety popes / becauſe they were not reprobates. As though you block you / eueryevery petty pope and petty Antichriſt p. 22were a reprobate. Why no man can deny Gregory the great / to be a pettye Pope / and a petty & petty Antichriſt. For he was the next immediate pope before Boniface the firſt / that knowne Antichriſt: and yet this Gregory left behind him / vndoubted teſtimonies of a choſen childe of God: ſo might they / & yet be petty Popes / in reſpecte of their office. Profane T.C. his 1. and 2. reaſon / for y^e lawfulnes of our church gouerment. And what though good men gaue their conſent vntounto our church gouernement / or writing vntounto biſhops / gaue them their lordly titles? Are their offices therefore lawfull / then ſoe is the popes office. For Eraſmus was a good man you cannot deny / and yet he both alowed of the popes office ſince his calling / and writing vntounto him / gaue him his titles. So did Luther / ſince his calling alſo / for he dedicated his booke of chriſtian liberty vntounto pope Leo the tenth. The booke & his Epiſtle vntounto the Pope / are both in Engliſhe. Here I would wiſh the magiſtrat / to marke what good reaſons you are able to afford for your hierarchie.

Thirdly / ſaith profane T.C. page 75. All Churches hauehave not the gouernment of Paſtors and Doctors: but Saxoni and Denmake / hauehave L. biſhops. You are a great State man vndoubtedly T.C. that vnderſtand / the ſtate of other Churches ſo well. But herein the impudencie of a proude foole appeareth egregiouſly. As though the teſtimonie of a ſiely Schoolemaſter / being alſo as vnlearned / as a man of that trade and profeſſion can be / with any honeſtie / would be belieued againſt knowne experience. Yea / but Saxonie and Denmarke hauehave Superintendents / what then? ergo L. Archb. and biſhops? I deny it. Though other Churches had L. Archb. and Bb. this prooueth nothing els / but that other Churches are maimed and hauehave their imperfections. Your reaſon is this / other good Churches are deformed / therefore ours muſt needes be ſo to. The kings ſonne is lame / therefore the p. 23children of no ſubiects muſt go vpright. And theſe be all the good reaſons which you can bring for the gouerment of Archb. and biſhops / againſt the gouerment of Chriſt. You reſon thus. It muſt not be admitted into this kingdome / becauſe then Ciuillians ſhal not be able to liue / in that eſtimation / and welth / wherein they now do. Carnal and ſenſles beaſtes / whoe are not aſhamed to prefer / the outward eſtate of men / before the glory of Chriſts kingdom. Here againe / let the mageſtrate and other readers conſider / whether it be not time / that ſuch brutiſh men / ſhould be looked vntounto. Which reaſon thus. The body of Chriſt which is the church / muſt needes be maimed and deformed in this common welth / becauſe otherwiſe ciuillians ſhould not be able to liue. Why you enemies to the ſtate / you traytors to God and his worde / you Mar-prince / Mar-law / Mar-mageſtrate / Mar-church / and Mar-common welth: do you not know that the worlde ſhould rather go a begging / then that the glory of god by maiming his church / ſhould be defaced? Who can abide this indignity. The prince and ſtate / muſt procure god to wrath againſt them / by continuing the deformity of his church / and it may not be otherwiſe / becauſe the ciuilians els muſt fall to decay. I wil tel you what / you monſtrous & vngodly biſhops / though I had no feare of God before mine eies / and had no hope of a better life / yet the louelove that I owe / as a natural man / vntounto her maieſtie and the ſtate would inforce me to write againſt you: her maieſtie and this kingdome / (whome the Lord bleſſe / with his mighty hand / I vnfainedly beſeech) muſt endanger them ſelues vnderunder the peril of Gods heauy wrath / rather then the maime of our church gouernment muſt be healed / for we had rather it ſhould be ſo / ſay our biſhops / then wee ſhould be thruſt out / for if we ſhould be thruſt out / the ſtudie of the ciuil lawe / muſt needs goe to wrack. Well / if I had liued ſometimes a citizen / in that olde and auncient p. 24(though heatheniſh) Rome / and had heard kinge D…iotarus / Ceſar / yea or Pompei himſelf giuegive out this ſpech / namely: that the citty and empire of Rome muſt needes be brought ſubiect vntounto ſome danger / becauſe otherwiſe / Catelin / Lentulus / Cethegus / with other of the nobilitie / could not tell how to liue / but muſt needs go a begging. I woulde ſurely / in the louelove I ought to the ſafetie of that ſtate / hauehave called him that had vſed ſuch a ſpeech / in judicium capitis, whoſoeuer he had bin: and I woulde not hauehave doubted to hauehave giuen him the ouerthrow. And ſhal I being a chriſtian Engliſh ſubiect / abide to heare a wicked crue of vngodly biſhopps / with their hangones and paraſites / affirme that our Queene / and our State / muſt needs be ſubiect vntounto the greateſt daunger that may be / vz. the wrath of God / for deforming his Church / and that Gods Church muſt needes be maimed and deformed among vsus / becauſe otherwiſe / a few Ciuillians ſhal not be able to liue. Shall I heare and ſee theſe thinges profeſſed and publiſhed / and in the louelove I owe vntounto Gods religion and her Maieſty / ſay nothing. I cannot / I will not / I may not be ſilent at this ſpeech: come what will come of it. The louelove of a chriſtian Church / prince and ſtate / ſhal I truſt / worke more in me / then the louelove of a heathen Empire and ſtate ſhould do. Now iudge good reader / who is more tollerable in a commonwealth / Martin that would hauehave the enemies of her Maieſty remoued thence / or our biſhops which would hauehave her life / and the whole kingdomes proſperitie hazarded / rather then a few Ciuillians ſhould want maintenance. But I praye thee tell me T.C. why ſhould the gouernment of Chriſt impoueriſh Ciuillians? Becauſe ſaith he / pag. 77. the Canon law by which they liue / muſt be altered / if that were admitted. Yea but Ciuillians liue by the court of Amraltie / & other courts as well as by the Arches / vz. alſo the probatts of Teſtaments / the controuerſies of tythes / matrimonie / and many p. 25other cauſes / which you biſhops Mar-ſtate / do vſurpingly take from the ciuill magiſtrate / would be a means of Ciuillians maintenance. But are not you aſhamed / to profeſſe your whole gouernment / to be a gouernment ruled by the Popes Canon lawes / which are banniſhed by ſtatute out of this kingdome? This notably ſheweth that you are Mar-prince and Mar-ſtate. For howe dare you retaine theſe lawes / vnles by vertue of them / you meane eyther to enforce the ſupremacie of the prince to go again to Rome / or to come to Lambeth. It is treſon by Statute / for any ſubiect in this land / to proceed doctor of the Canō law / and dare you profeſſe your church gouerment to be ruled by that law. As though one ſtatute might not refer all matters of the Canon law / vntounto the temporall & common law of this Realme: and is this all you can ſay / T.C.

Yes ſayth he / the gouernment of Chriſte / would bring 2in the iudiciall law of Moſes. As much as is morrall of that law / or of the equitie of it / would be brought in. And do you gaineſay it. But you ſodden headed Aſſe you / the moſt part of that law is abrogated. Some part thereof is in force among vsus / as the puniſhment of a murtherer by death / and preſumptuous obſtinate theft by death / &c. Hir 3Maieſties prerogatiue in eccleſiaſtical cauſes / ſhould not be a whit diminiſhed / but rather greatly ſtrengthened by Chriſts gouernment. And no lawe ſhould be altered / but ſuch as were contrary to the lawe of God / & againſt the profit of the common wealth: and therefore there can be no danger in altering theſe.

The miniſters maintenance by tythe / no puritane denieth 4to be vnlawfull. For Martin (good M. Parſon) you muſt vnderſtand / doth account no Browniſt to be a puritane / nor yet a ſottiſh Cooperiſt.

The inconuenience which you ſhew of the gouerment 5which is that men would not be ruled by it / is anſwered afore. And I praye you / why ſhould they not be better obedient p. 26vntounto Gods law / if the ſame alſo were eſtabliſhed by the lawe of the lande / then to the Popes lawe and his Canons. You think that all men are like your ſelues: that is / like biſhops / ſuch as cannot chuſe but breake the laws and good orders of God and her Maieſtie.

7The lawes of Englande hauehave bene made / when there was neuer a biſhop in the Parliament / as in the firſt yere of her Maieſtie. And this reaſon as al the reſt / may ſerue to maintaine poperie / as well as the hierarchie of Bb.

8The gouerment of the church of Chriſt / is no popular gouernement / but it is Monarchicall / in regarde of our head Chriſt / Ariſtocraticall in the Elderſhip / and Democraticall in the people. Such is the ciuill gouernement of our kingdome: Monarchicall in her Maieſties perſon: Ariſtocraticall in the higher houſe of Parliament / or rather at the Councell table: Democraticall in the bodie of the commons of the lower houſe of Parliament. Therefore profane T.C. this gouernment ſeeketh no popularity to be brought into the Church: much leſſe entendeth the alteration of the ciuill ſtate / that is but your ſlaunder / of which you make an occupation. And I will ſurely paye you for it. I muſt be brief now / but more warke for Cooper ſhall examine your ſlaunders. They are nothing elſe but prooffes / that as by your owne confeſſions you are biſhops of the Diuell / ſo you are enemies vntounto the ſtate. For by theſe ſlaunders / you go about to blinde our ſtate / that they may neuer ſee a perfect regiment of the Church in our dayes. I ſaye / that by your owne confeſſion / you are biſhops of the Diuell. I will prooue it thus. You confeſſe that your Lordly gouernment / were not lawfull and tollerable in this cōmonwealth / if her Maieſty & the ſtate of the land did diſclaime the ſame. Tell me / doe you not confeſſe this. Denie it if you dare. For will you ſay / that you ought lawfully to be here in our commonwelth whether her Maieſty and the Counſell wil or no: Is this the p. 27thankes that her Maieſtie ſhall hauehave / for tollerating you in her kingdome all this while / that nowe you will ſaye / that you and your places ſtand not in this kingdome by her curteſie / but you hauehave as good right vntounto your places / as ſhe hath vntounto her kingdome. And by this meanes your offices ſtande not by her good liking / and the good liking of the ſtate / as do the offices of our L. high Chancellor / high Treaſurer / and high Steward of Englande. But your offices ought to ſtand & to be in force / in ſpight of her Maieſtie / the Parliament / Counſell / and euerie man els / vnles they woulde doe you iniury. Soe that I know / I / you dare not deny but that your offices weare vnlawfull in our common wealth / if her Maieſtie the Parliament / and the Counſell woulde hauehave them abolliſhed. If you grant this / then you doe not hold your offices as from God / but as from man. Her maieſtie ſhe holdeth hir office / and her kingdome / as from God / and is beholding for the ſame / vntounto no prince nor ſtate vnderunder heuen. Your caſe is otherwiſe / for you hold your offices as from her Maieſtie / & not from god. For otherwiſe / you needed not to be any more beholding vntounto her Maieſtie for the ſame in regarde of right / then ſhe is bounde to be beholding vntounto other ſtates in regarde of her right: and ſo you in regarde of your Lordly ſuperioritie / are not the biſhops of god / but as Ierom ſayth / the biſhops of man. And this the moſt of you confes to be true / and you ſee how dangerous it woulde be for you / to affirme the contrary: namely / that you holde your offices as from god. Well ſir / if you ſay that you are the biſhops of man. Thē tell me whether you like of Dean Iohn his booke.T.C. 38. O yes ſayth T.C. For his grace did peruſe that book / & we know the ſufficiencie of it to be ſuch / as the Puritans are not able to anſwere it. Well then / whatſoeuer is in this booke is authenticall. It is ſo / ſaith T.C. otherwiſe / his grace would not hauehave alowed it. What ſay you then to the 140. p. 28page of that booke / where he ſaith / (anſwering the treatiſe of the biſhop of God / the biſhop of Man / and the biſhop of the Diuell) that there is no biſhopp of man at all / but euerie B. muſt be either the Biſhopp of God / or the Biſhop of the Diuel. He alſo affirmeth / none to be the biſhop of god / but he which hath warrant / both incluſiuely and alſo expreſly in gods word.Deane Iohn, lib. 4. page 340. line 7. Now you Biſhops of the Diuell / what ſay you now / are you ſpighted of the Puritans / becauſe you like good ſubiects dofend the lawes of her Maieſtie / or els becauſe like incarnate Diuells / you are biſhops of the Diuells / as you your ſelues confeſſe.

Here againe / let the Magiſtrate once more conſider / what peſtilent and daungerous beaſts theſe wretches are vntounto the ciuill ſtate. For either by their owne confeſſion / they are the Biſhops of the Diuell (and ſo by that means will be the vndoing of the ſtate / if they be continued therin) or elſe their places ought to be in this commonwealth whether her Maieſtie and our ſtate will or no: becauſe they are not (as they ſay) the biſhops of man / that is / they hauehave not their ſuperioritie / and their Lordly callings ouer their brethren by humane conſtitution / as my LL. Chancellor / Treaſurer / and other honorable perſonages hauehave / but by diuine ordinance. Yea / & their callings / they holde (as you hauehave heard) not onelyonly to be incluſiuely / but alſo expreſlie in the word. What ſhifte will they vſe to auoyde this point? Are they the Biſhopps of men / that is / holde they their iuriſdiction as frō men. No ſaith Deane Gridges / no ſayth Iohn of Canterburie and the reſt of them / (for all of them allowe this booke of Iohn Bridges) for then we are the biſhops of the deuill / we cannot auoid it? Are they then the biſhops of God / that is / hauehave they ſuch a calling as the Apoſtles / Euangeliſtes / &c. had: that is / ſuch a calling as ought lawfully to be in a chriſtian common wealth (vnleſſe the magiſtrate woulde iniurie the Church / yea maime / deforme / and make a monſter of the p. 29Church) whether the magiſtrate will or no. We hauehave ſay they. For our callings are not onelyonly incluſiuely / but alſo expreſſely in the worde. So that by Deane Bridges his confeſſion / and the approbation of Iohn Canterburie / either our biſhops are biſhops of the diuel / or their callings cannot be defended lawful / without flat and plaine treaſon / in ouerthrowing her Maieſties ſupremacie. And ſo Deane Bridges hath written / and Iohn Whitgift hath approoued and allowed / flat treaſon to be publiſhed.

Is Martin to be blamed for finding out and diſcouering traitors? Is he to be blamed for crying out againſt the Bb. of the Diuel. If he be / then in deed hauehave I offended in writing againſt biſhops? If not / whether is the better ſubiect Martin or our biſhops: whether I be fauored or no / I wil not ceaſe / in the louelove I owe to her Maieſtie / to write againſt traitors / to write againſt the Diuels biſhops. Our biſhops are ſuch by their owne confeſſion. For they proteſt them ſelues to be biſhopps of the Diuel. If they ſhould holde the preheminence to be from man / If they hold it otherwiſe then from man / they are traytors. And vntil this beaſt Docter Gridges wrote this booke / they neuer as yet durſt preſume to claim their Lordſhips any otherwiſe lawful then from her maieſtie / yea and D. Bridges about the 60. page ſaith the ſame. But they care not what contrariety they hauehave in their writings / what treaſon they hold / as long as they are perſwaded that no man ſhalbe tollerated to write againſt them. I hauehave once already ſhewed treaſon to be in this booke of the Deane of Sarum / page. 448. I ſhew the like now to be pag. 340. Becauſe Deane Bridges durſt not anſweare me. They hauehave turned vntounto me in his ſtead / a beaſt whome by the length of his cares / I geſſe to be his brother / y^t is / an Aſſe of the ſame kinde. But I wil be anſwered of the Deane him ſelfe in this and the former point of treaſon / or elſe / his cloiſter ſhal ſmoake for it. And thus profane T.C. you p. 30perceue what a good ſubiect you are / in defending the eſtabliſhed gouernment. Thus alſo I hauehave anſwered all your booke in the matters of the lawfulnes of the gouerment by Paſtors / Doctors / Elders and Deacons / and the vnlawfulnes of our baſtardly Church gouernment / by archbiſhops and biſhops / where alſo the reader may ſee / that if euer there was a church rightly gouerned / that is a church without maime or deformity / the ſame was gouerned by Paſtors / Doctors / elders and deacons.

whan / whan / but where hauehave I bin al this while. Ten to one among ſome of theſe puritans. Why Martin? Why Martin I ſay / haſt tow forgotten thy ſelfe? Where haſt ti bene / why man / cha bin a ſeeking for a Samons neſt / and cha vound a whol crue / either of eccleſiaſticall traitors / or of biſhops of the Diuel / of broken and maimed members of the church: neuer winke on me good fellow / for I will ſpeke the truth / lett the puritans doe what they can. I ſay then that they are broken members / and I ſay Iohn of Canterbury if he be a member of the church / I ſay he is a broken member / and that Thomas of Wincheſter is a Cholerick member. Yea and cha vound that profane T. C. is afraid left her Maieſtie ſhoulde giuegive Biſhops liuings away from them. And therefore ſhutteth his booke with this poſition / vz. That it is not lawful to beſtow ſuch liuings vppon lay men / as are appointed by Gods law vppon miniſters. But hereof more warke for Cooper ſhal learnedly diſpute.

Reuerend. T.C. Admonition page. 1. 2. 3.

We vſe the Miniſters moſt vile nowe a dayes. God will puniſh vsus for it / as hee did thoſe which abuſed his prophets.

Reuerend Martin.

Look to it T.C. then. For out of thine own mouth ſhalt thou be iudged / thou vnrighteous ſeruant. Our biſhops are they which abuſe the miniſters. Our biſhopps were p. 31neuer good miniſters as yet / and therefore they are not to be compared with the prophets.

Reuerend. T.C. Page. 4.

Some men will ſay / that I do great iniurie to the prophets and apoſtles / in comparing our Biſhops vntounto thē. But we may be happie if we may hauehave tollerable miniſters in this perilous age.

Reuerend Martin.

I hope T.C. that thou doſt not mean to ſerue the church with worſe then we hauehave: what worſe then Iohn of Canterburie? worſe then Tom Tubtrimmer of Wincheſter? worſe then the vickers of Hell / ſyr Iefferie Iones / the parſon of Micklain / &c. I pray thee / rather thē we ſhould hauehave a change from euil to worſe / let vsus hauehave the euil ſtil. But I care not if I abide y^e venture of the change. Therfore get Iohn with his Canterburineſſe / remooued / &c. (whome thou acknowledgeſt to be euill) and I doe not doubt / if worſe come in their ſtead / but the diuell will ſoon fetch them away / and ſo we ſhalbe quickly rid / both of euill and worſe. But good T.C. is it poſſible to finde worſe then we hauehave. I do not maruel though thou calleſt me libeller / when thou dareſt abuſe the Prophets farre worſe / then in calling thē libeliers: for I tel thee true / thou couldeſt not hauehave anye way ſo ſtayned their good names / as thou haſt done / in comparing them to our biſhopps. Call me Libeller as often as thou wilt / I do not greatly care: but and thou loueſt me / neuer liken me to our biſhops of the diuell. For I cannot abide to be compared vntounto thoſe. For by thine owne compariſon / in the 9. page / they are iuſt Balaams vp and downe.

Reuerend T.C. page 8. 9. 10.

Though our biſhops be as euil as Iudas / the falſe Apoſtles / and Balaam / yet becauſe they hauehave ſometimes brought vntounto vsus Gods meſſage / wee muſt thinke no otherwiſe of them / then of Gods meſſengers. For God p. 32will not ſuffer diuelliſh and Antichriſtian perſons to be the chiefe reſtorers of his goſpell.

Reuerend Martin.

Firſt T.C. I hauehave truly gathered thine argument / thogh thou nameſt neither Iudas nor the falſe apoſtles. Prooue it otherwiſe. Then haſt thou reuerend Martin / prooued thy ſelfe a lyar. Now ſecondly then ſeeing it is ſo / I pra…e thee good honeſt T.C. deſire our Iudaſſes (who was alſo one of the firſt Apoſtles) not to ſell their maſter for money / deſire our falſe Apoſtles (who preached no falſe doctrine for the moſt part) not to inſult ouer poore Paule / & deſire our good Balaams / not to followe the wages of vnrighteouſnes. The counſell is good. For Iudas / thogh one of the firſt publiſhers of the goſpell (ſo were not our biſhops in our time) yet hung himſelf. The falſe apoſtles had their reward / I doubt not. And Balaam / as ſoon as euer the Iſraelites tooke him / was iuſtly executed for his wickednes. The forced bleſſing wherewith he bleſſed thē ſaued him not.

Reuerend T.C. page 10. 11. 12. 13.

May coniecturall ſpeeches flye abroad of biſhops / as that they are couetous / giuegive not to the poore / hinder reformation / Simoniacks / &c. but the chiefe gouernours ought to take heede / that they giuegive no credit to any ſuche things. I truſt neuer any of them / commited idolatrie as Aharon did.

Reuerend Martin.

Yea / I beſeeche you that are in authoritie in any caſe / not to beleeue any trueth againſt our biſhops. For theſe puritans (although the biſhops grant themſelues / to bee as euill as Balaam) coulde neuer yet prooue the good fathers / to hauehave committed idolatrie as Aharon did. And as long as they bee no worſe then Balaam was / there is no reaſon why they ſhould be diſliked. You know this is a troubleſome worlde / men cannot come vntounto any meare p. 33liuing without friendes. And it is no reaſon why a man ſhould trouble his friende and giuegive him nothing / a hundred poundes and a gelding / is yet better then nothing. To b…w…e but ſeuen dayes in a weeke / is a very tollerable recreation. You muſt knowe / that Iohn of London / hath ſometimes preached (as this profane T.C. hath giuen out to his no ſmall commendations) thriſe in a yeare at Paules croſſe. A ſore labor / it is reaſon that he ſhould beſtowe the reſt of they care / in maintaining his health by recreation / and prouiding for his family: giuegive him leaue but to keepe out the gouernment of the Church / to ſwear like a ſwag / to perſecute / and to take ſome ſmall ten in the hundred: and truely he will be loath euer to commit idolatrie as Aharon did. I hope / though Iudas ſold his maſter / yet that it cannot be prooued ſince his calling / that euer he committed idolatrie.

Reuerend T.C. page 16. 17.

Though biſhops ſhould offende as Noah did in drunkennes / yet good childrē ſhould cou…r their fathers falts. For naturall children / though they ſuffer iniuries at their fathers hands / yet they take their griefes verie mildely.