Answer to John De Albines, Title page – Dedication
AN ANSWERE TO MASTER IOHN DE ALBINES, NOTABLE DISCOVRSE AGAINST hereſies (as his frendes call his booke) compiled by THOMAS SPARK paſtor of Blechley in the County of Buck.
And I heard a voice from heauen ſaying, Come out of her my people that yee be not partakers of her ſinnes, and that yee receaue not of her plagues. Revelat. 18. verſ. 4.
Put your ſelues in aray againſt Babylon rounde about, all yee that bende the bowe, ſhoote at her, spare no arrowes, for ſhee hath ſinned againſt the Lord. Ierem. 50. verſ. 14.
ACADEMIA. OXONIENSIS.
SAPIENTIAE: ET FELICITATIS
Printed at Oxforde by IOSEPH BARNES, Printer to the Vniverſitie. 1591.
TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE ARTHVRE LORD GREY OF WILTON, Knight of the moſt honourable order of the Garter, his eſpeciall good Lord and Patrone, Thomas Sparke Wiſheth all good perſeuerance in Chriſtian courage and conſtancy in the profeſſion and furtherance of Gods ſincere truth, with all other ornaments of true nobility, to Gods glorie, our comfort, and his owne heart, good contentation nowe and euer.
ALthough (Right Honourable) when I had firſt peruſed this treatiſe of Iohn de Albines, I foūd it thorow out a moſt bitter inuectiue & a malitious declamation, written onelyonly of purpoſe to deface & diſgrace amongſt the ſimple, both our religion, & the miniſters, & profeſſors thereof: yet finding withal as I did, & as anie indifferent man that reads it ſhal, that neither for matter nor manner of writing, there is any newe thing of any importance in it, which hath not beene, before euer this diſcourſe of his ſawe the light, oftē & that far more ſubſtantially vrged by ſome other of that ſide, & therefore which hath not alſo heretofore been as oftē fully & effectually anſwered by ſome or other of ours: I not only iudged this to be the reaſon, when it hauing now been amōgſt vsus in engliſh theſe 16. or 17. yeares, none hitherto had vouchſafed it any further particular anſwere, but alſo (though vrged as your Honour knoweth to frame vntounto it a ſpeciall & direct anſwere) I could yet hardly be brought to thinke it neceſſary (ſo baſely I eſteemed of it) to aford it any other anſwere, then either a fewe marginal notes that whē I firſt red it I beſtowed vpō it, or frō point to point, as it were in a table to hauehave ſhewed the reader, where and by whom he might read the ſame thing long ago, & often obiected on the one ſide, & anſwered by the other, which might hauehave bene in one ſheet of paper very well diſpatched. Howbeit in the end calling to minde what your Lordſhip tolde me, concerning the opinion that our poore ſeduced cuntrimen ſeeme ſecretly to hauehave amōgſt thēſelues of it, as you learned by one of their owne ſpeeches had thereof vntounto your ſelfe in acquainting you firſt with the booke, and marking how not onelyonly by publiſhing it in engliſh, but alſo by entitling it both in the forhead, & ouer eueryevery leafe a notable diſcourſe againſt hereſies, they themſelues hauehave plainely ſhewed that they hauehave it in no baſe account, & finding it alſo ſince to be the iudgement of a certaine learned man of auncient and long experience euen of our owne ſide, now this laſt yeare publiſhed in print, that the hauing of this very booke ſo long in ſecret amongſt them vnanſwered, hath bene one great cauſe of the apoſtaſy of ſo many yong mē as of late yeares in this our cuntry hauehave reuolted from the truth to popery: at the laſt I reſolued with my ſelfe, (though I know that whē I had done what I could herein, that I ſhould be foūd to hauehave ſaid litle or nothing not ſaid & writtē aſwel before by ſome one or other of our ſide) that yet your Lordſhips requeſt made vntounto me to anſwere it, as fully and directly as I coulde, when you firſt ſhewed me the booke & how you came by it, was & is ſuch, as that (both of duty to your ſelfe particularly for ſundry cauſes, & to the church of Chriſt generally, for that by this means many may ſee togither an anſwere to that, which otherwiſe in great part either they might chance neuer to hit of in any other wryter of ours, or elſe be driuen to ſearch more, & thoſe further then it was likely they would or could) I was bound to ſatisfy in as good ſort as any way conueniently I could. Hauing therefore encouradgement by theſe reaſons to take it in hand, & hauing now by Gods grace finiſhed it in maner as you ſee, I preſent the ſame vntounto your Honour as an vndoubted token of my dutifull affection towards you, beſeeching you not onelyonly to take the paynes as your leaſure ſerueth you to peruſe it ouer your ſelfe, but alſo deſyring you to bee vntounto it ſuch a patrone, as that it comming abroade thus by your prouocation, it may hauehave your beſt protection and countenaunce, to paſſe vp and downe openly and boldly, both in the veiw of frendes and foes vntounto it. There was prefixed before Jhon de Albines book, vvhichwhich your honour deliuered me, a long preface to the reader, made as it ſhould ſeeme, by the publiſher thereof in engliſh, and there was annexed vntounto it in the later ende an offer of a catholicke (as hee is there termed) to a learned proteſtant, conſiſting of two and twenty demaunds and ſix ſignes of falſe prophets, heretiques, and ſchiſmatiques: the preface I hauehave aunſwered, and the anſwere thereunto I hauehave placed next vntounto my aunſwere vntounto Albines booke it ſelfe: ſomewhat alſo I hauehave annexed (that anſwere of mine to his booke finiſhed) in the latter ende, to ſhewe the vanitie and childiſhneſſe of thoſe things, which the author hath vttered in the application of thoſe ſix ſignes to vsus: but to that which hee hath written concerning thoſe two and twenty demaunds I hauehave ſaid nothing. And indeed, becauſe otherwiſe the booke was growen farre greater then I imagined at the firſt it woulde, I hauehave not at all inſerted that offer nor anie part thereof. The reaſon of my not medling at all with thoſe two and twenty demaunds, and not troubling this my booke at all with anie part of that offer, is, that Doctor Fulke long agoe hath aunſwered thoſe demaundes, and that alſo nowe of late Maſter Crowley hath at large aunſwered, both them and that which is added concerning thoſe ſignes. Doctor Fulkes anſwere thereunto maie bee had vnderunder the title of an aunſwere of a Chriſtian proteſtant, to the proude Chalenge of a popiſh Catholicke, and it is prefixed commonly before his booke written in confutation of Allens of Purgatorie. Indeede concerning the ſix ſignes hee ſaieth nothing, not becauſe of any greater matter in them then in the reſt, but becauſe at the firſt they were not publiſhed with the other: The demaunds though hee hauehave aunſwered ſhortly according to his manner, yet ſo ſharpely and effectuallie hee hath doone it, that, if the Chalenger were a man of his worde, hee continued not long after a popiſh Catholicke. Maſter Crowleys aunſwere to the whole offer worde for worde, as it was annexed to John de Albines booke, is extant vnderunder the tytle of a deliberate aunſwere to a raſh offer &c. and it vvas printed by Iohn Charlewoode in London 1588. They both hauehave vvith their aunſwere ſet downe the words of the offerer. The trauels of theſe two men hauehave eaſed both me & this booke of mine of medling any further then I hauehave ſayed with that Chalenger: and the rather becauſe ſince hee had his firſt aunſwere, we neuer yet heard that hee had either skill or will to replie. I might well ynough, conſidering the largeneſſe and ſufficiency of Maſter Crowleys anſwere thereunto, hauehave omitted that vvhichwhich I further hauehave ſayed to aunſwere his ſix ſignes not touched by Doctor Fulke, but that vvhat I hauehave vvritten thereabout vvas written before I ſawe Maſter Crowleys anſwere, and that I thought it not amiſſe to let it ſtande, that ſo betvvixt vsus three the vvhole thus might bee tvvyſe aunſwered. Though it were Maſter Crowley (vvho as I noted before) in the firſt leafe of his booke making aunſwere to this offer, that gaue that iudgement that Iohn de Albines booke had beene the cauſe of ſo much apoſtaſy of late here amongſt vsus, yet he, as he there ſhows, would not beſtowe tyme in aunſwering of it, becauſe ſuppoſing by the title it was written by a Frenchman, & therefore either in french or latine, he thought that either Beza or ſome other french proteſtant had done it already ſufficiently. This when I redde firſt, it cauſed me to be the ſlacker both in finiſhing and publiſhing this anſwere of mine. Yet in the ende foraſmuch as this was now amongſt vsus in Engliſh, and therefore in his opinion had hurt ſo much and ſo many Engliſh perſons, and I could neuer learne of any certainty, that in any other language it had beene directly anſwered by any: I thought it needefull and the beſt way (whether any ſuch anſwere in any other tongue had beene made vntounto it elſewhere or not) to preuent as much as maie bee anie further ſuch danger amongſt vsus by it, to accompany ſuch poyſon with his fit counterpoyſon, that is, ſuch an Engliſh popiſh diſcourſe with an Engliſh chriſtian anſwere. And the rather becauſe howſoeuer by the title there is ſhew that the author was a Frenchman, yet indeede I can hardly be perſwaded that he was ſo. For his publiſher in Engliſh taking leaſure as he hath to trouble his reader with a long tedious and friuolous preface, hath not therein ſo much as ſecretly once inſinuated vntounto vsus, in what language the author wrote it, yea he hath not once mētioned any trā ſlation of it, either by himſelfe or any other, the conſideration whereof together with ſundry phraſes and matters conteined in the booke, makes me rather thinke that ſome of our owne fugitiues, Engliſh Ieſuits, or ſeminary prieſts indeede hauehave made it, then any ſuch Archdeacon of Toloſa in France, as is pretended. But howſoeuer it be in this reſpect, it is not much materiall, and therefore I hauehave not beene herein curious, for theſe my reaſons notwithſtanding in all this my anſwere vntounto him, I frame my ſpeech as to the author whoſe name it beares. And howſoeuer I may doubt of his perſon and cuntrey, of this I am certaine whoſoeuer he were, French or Engliſh, the ſonne of that bondwoman, Iſmael, was neuer cunninger in perſecuting the ſon of the freewoman, Iſaac, with ſcoffes & mocks, then the author thereof was by the ſame meanes, to doe what might be done, to vex and grieue vsus. Whoſoeuer he was, the right popiſh vaine & ſpirit of writing he had. For in ſo ſhort a peece of worke (I am perſwaded by that you hauehave viewed him ouer together with this anſwer of mine) your Lordſhip will be of opiniō, that neuer any of that factiō wēt beyond him, in ſhameful begging alwaies the things moſt in queſtiō, in ſubtle ſlipping frō the matters vndertakē to proue, into other more eaſy for him & not in queſtion, in falſe quoting & abuſing the teſtimonies which he alleadges, or in barrennes of matter or methode, in ſuch copy of ſwelling, bragging, and triumphing words. Sure I am for my owne part, though I know theſe be the common ornaments of popiſh writers, that I neuer redde any whoſe book cōſiſted ſo wholy of theſe as this of his. But to leaue him as hee is, whoſoeuer he was, and to returne vntounto your Lordſhip, once againe I dedicate and offer this my poore labour, vntounto your honourable view & protection, which I doe not becauſe the truth of god, which I hauehave therein taught and defended, ſtandeth neede of the patronage of man. For god the author thereof can and will defende and protect that, though al the great mē in the world ſhould band themſelues againſt it, but for diuers and ſundry other reaſons iuſtly me mouing thereunto. One is (which I hauehave touched already) that of right the dedication hereof appertayneth to you, becauſe I had neuer taken it in hand, but by your Lordſhips motion & perſwaſion. An other is, that you ſince my comming to the place where I am, for theſe eleuen years laſt paſt, hauehave alwaies been, & yet are, a moſt louing & fatherly patrone to my miniſtry, mee, and mine: by which right, though that former reaſon had not beene, your honour may worthily chalenge, not onelyonly in this, but alſo in all other, ſuch poore fruites of mine, growing from me thus nouriſhed and cheriſhed vnderunder your Lordſhippes patronage, greater intereſt then this which I offer you nowe herein: But if neither of theſe two reaſons had been, yet you being the man you are, that is by the grace & goodneſſe of God as far as you are knowen, (which is very farre) amongſt the godly and truly religious, a man by birth honourable, for martiall proweſſe more, and for giftes of ſounde learning, religion, and vertue moſt of of all to be honoured and eſteemed, euen that would hauehave drawen me, though otherwiſe I had been a meare ſtranger vntounto you, by this means to hauehave ſought to hauehave teſtified my duetifull and hartie good affection towardes you. For pietie ioyned with Chriſtian nobilitie hath been the aunciēt cauſe, why the godly learned in auncient times hauehave dedicated their works to ſuch, as they hauehave iudged truly qualified therewith, doubtleſſe therby both the better to encourage them, to whom they dedicated their labours to proceede and goe on in the good courſe they had begun, and thereby to prouoke others to imi…ate their good exāple, that the like honourable opinion may by ſuch alſo bee conceaued of them, & likewiſe when occaſion ſhould ſerue to their comfort teſtified publickely of them in the church of God. What elſe mooued Ambroſe to dedicate his bookes of fayth and the ſpirite to Gratian the Emperour? What elſe cauſed Lactantius to dedicate his diuine inſtitu…ons to Conſtantine, or what elſe enduced the holy …uangeliſt S. Luke, to dedicate his hiſtorie of the …ctes of the Apoſtles to noble Theophilus? It was …oubtleſſe great honour vntounto theſe men in their …imes in the churches of Chriſt, that thus Am…roſe, Lactantius, and Luke teſtified their good liking of them. Wherefore though I be no body in cōpariſon of thoſe, & therefore hereby vnable to …onour you as thoſe did them, yet being but as I …m, giuegive me leaue (my good Lord) as farre as the credite of my poore teſtimony will ſtretch, to teſtifie that way my good will according to their example towards you. And thus preſuming of your fauourable acceptation of this my offer, I ceaſe from any further troubling you at this time, beſeeching (as alwaies I pray and will for you) the Lord of heauen and earth in theſe buſie, dangerous, and ſinnefull daies, ſo inwardly to encourage and ſtrengthē your noble heart, and the heart alſo of your right vertuous Ladie and duetifull wife, as that you both, and all yours, may be ſo adorned, decked, and beautified with all neceſſarie and comfortable giftes and graces of knowledge, faith, zeale, and ſinceritie in Gods holie religion, and with all true vertues both of bodie and minde readie alwaies to bee ſhewed in your life and conuerſation, that you may all goe on and finiſh your daies moſt conſtantly and comfortably, in all true Honour and happines from generation to generatiō, to gods glory, the churches needfull example, & to your owne eternall ſaluation. Amen.
Your Honours alwaies at commaundment moſt ready: THOMAS SPARKE.