Reproof of Howlets Untimely Shrieking, Part 1 · Section 2
3 THere are at this day in this your Maiesties Realme, Howlets third section.foure knowne religions, and the professours thereof, … religions.distinct both in name, spirite, and doctrine: that is to say, the Catholikes, the Protestants, the Puritanes, and the housholders of louelove. Besides all other petie sects, newly borne, and yet groueling on the ground. Of these foure sortes of men, as the Catholikes are the first, the auncientest, the more in number, and the most beneficiall to all the rest (hauing begotten and bred vp the other, and deliuered to them this Realme, conserned by Catholike religion, these thousand yeres and more:) so did they alwaies hope to receiue more fauour then the rest, or at leastwise, equall tolleration with other religions disalowed by the state. But God knoweth, it hath fallen out quite contrary. For other religions, hauehave been permitted to put out their heades, to growe, to aduaunce themselues in common speech, to mount to pulpits, with litle or no controulement. But the Catholik religion, hath been so beaten in, with the terrour of lawes, and the rigorous execution of the same, as the very suspition thereof hath not escaped vnpunished.
FIrst let mee aske M. Howlet, where you were when…. 3. you wrote thus to her Maiestie, you say in the beginning of these wordes, in this your Maiesties Realme, and in the latter ende againe, this Realme. Were you at Doway printing your book, or occupied in Londō, or els where in England about it, the booke possible might be sēt to Doway, Sect. 16. &. 18.or you bee printing it there another time, shift it ouer I pray you. Heere your wordes importe you were in Englande when you wrote this preface, elsewhere in the same preface, they import you were beyond Sea. Alyar had neede hauehave a good memory, sauing that you Catholiks can worke wonders, and by coniuring make one, and the same humane body to bee in many and diuers places at one time. A man might make a doubt of this question, but let yt passe. When you would perticularly reckō vp ye seueral knowne religiōs not all approued nor allowed (nay all disallowed & condemned, sauing that only one which is Iesus Christes) but being onelyonly in this Realme: ye bring them into foure heads, as for the petie sects that you are so priuie of, as birds of your own hatching, till they be fledge, and come abroad, that we may knowe them, we can say little: But your Popish religion M. Howlet, were lesse vnhappie, and both we & the world should be lesse troubled with you nowe a daies, (if to speake but of religious men besides seculer priests, among regulars) it had but foure distinct religions and orders of beggerly fryers, eueryevery one stoutly standing against other in defence of his Patron and order of religion. TheseDomini, Francis. Augusti. Carmel, Aposalip. 9. 3. be to to many, and yet is the worlde troubled with a great many moe: for besids the great swarines of these Locustes, there be I wot not how many sectes or religions crept in, so as the Popes them selues hauehave bin faine to restraine frō rashnes in instituting mo or newe religions, for bringing in confusion. And yet obserue (gentle reader) that the Pope hath authoritie to institute newe …, and none without his authoritie may doe the same: obserue also that there be in Poperie old religions, and newe religions, &c. It were … long to speake of Canonists, Schoolemen, Thomists, Scotistes, and such other and the seuerall & different opinions they holde: but in the late dayes of Poperie here, were there not, sir, as many religions and moe to, besides your owne sectes, Arrians, Anabaptistes, Libertines, &c. Though none in effect were persecuted but the poore Protestantes as ye call them. These mens peculiar heresies in examinatiōs were commonly neuer touched, peruse the recordes, of these, there was little or no accompt made in those dayes of ignorance and darkenes, while men slept the enemy was busie in sowing his tares. As you … giuegive here names of sects, to bring these times into hatred, so all ambiguitie & spitefulnes laid aside, first take to your selues & your religion some fitter name, for true Catholiks we btterly denie you to be. All are not Catholiks, that take the name of Catholikes: for so should the Arrians, and other herettques in their time hauehave been Catholikes, & true Catholikes, heretiques & sectaries, as antiquitie reporteth. Under the name of Protestants, ye comprehende all those yt forsaking the Pope, & Popish religion hauehave betaken thēselues to Christ and his holy Gospel, grounding their religion vpō Gods word & his heauenly truth, comprised in the Canonical scriptures, of the old & newe Testament, written by the Prophets & Apostles, and thereuppon are called in these tyntes Gospellers, a fitter naine than that you call them by Protestants: Of which religion and number wee acknowledge our selues to bee, and thanke God for the same. Cathari,Fol. 39. pag. 2 or Puritan heretiques, I knowe none heere, God bee thanked, but I ghesse whome you meane. Your Authour …, the whotter sorte of Protestants are called Puritans. Nowe supposing their religion that you call the Protestants, to bee the trueth of God, as it is indeede: and that you that will bee called Catholikes, like not but condemne colde Catholikes as badde ones, and require zeale and feruentnesse, I pray you tel vsus euen in your consciēce if Protestants bee to bee allowed: whether sorte of … are to be liked, the whotter or the colder, yet such still, (that ye abuse not your self) as with their zeale carry & ioine godly knowledge. It is good to bee zealous in a goodGalat. 4. 18. thing, alwaies saith the holy Ghost. And you wot what is said to them of Laodicea in the Reuelat. for that they wereApocal. 3. 16 luke warme & neither cold nor whot, that they shoulde bee spued out. We hope that if you whot Catholikes wil allow any Protestāts, ye poore Puritās will finde grace with you. We once make but one religiō of those yt you cal protestāts & Puritās (meaning yet such stil, that yee abuse not your self (I say) & others, as ioine godly knowledge with their zeale) except we may do ye like with you whot & cold Catholikes, as ye cal them, & wee are troubled with so many sorts of you false Catholikes already, that wee are lothe to make any more, except yee needes will your selues. Housholders of louelove, as better agreeing with your religiō, thā with Christs Gospel, we cast to your heape, as we doe al other false religions which we condēne, & acknowledge no other than that I hauehave … described you. Summe, The true religiō, or the religion of Christ, heere professed, is but one, your religion is not only one, but many distinct religions, saith euen your Angelical Doctor. Talke no more therefore of foure2. 2. q. 188. Ar. 1. religions, in this Realme, when but one is auowed heere: & there bee moe then foure or fiue either, diuers religions, and distinct in name, …, &c. not in a Realine but in one Citie & Towne with you: this is your glorie. I trust you wil not charge yt religiō I hauehave shortly described, to be a sect, nor the professors therof to be Sectaries. I am sure … ye can not, considering that neither it nor they, holde of men, nor of names by them deuised, or by you put vppon them. That hath been hitherto proper to you & them of your religion. If you impugne this Religion, Take what name you will, yee shal shewe your selues to bee neither true Christians, nor good subiects. Take heede vntounto it, it lyeth vppon you. And let not that moue you, because in the day and cleere light of the Gospel, when you M. Howlet are gone, Heresies appeare and bee espted, that for the most parte were sowen in your tyme before, & in the night, that is in the tyme of Ignorance and darkenesse: It is the nature and propertie of the light to disclose and shewe things that otherwise lie hidde, It is a blessing of God.
Againe, you knowe where G O D hath a Churche, the Deuill will hauehave a Chappell harde by. And taresMatth. 13. in the night are sowen in the same field, euen among1. Cor. …. &. 9. the good seede. Heresies also must be euen among you, saith the Scripture, &c.
You say: Of these foure sorts of men, the Catholikes are the first, the auncientest, the more in number, & the most beneficiall to al the rest, (whome you accompt Heretiques & Sectaries) hauing begottē & bred vp the other and deliuered to them this Realme, conserued by Catholike religion these thousand yeres and more, &c. Here, hauehave I to aske you who then be the fathers to all those supposed Sectaries, and men of diuers religions, that you say are at this day in this Realme: Who? but you Catholikes yt hauehave begotten them? Whose children be they, & of whose bringing vp, that are accompted to be of so diuers & naughty religions: whose? but yours yt will be Catholikes, who hauehave begotten and bred them vp. Howe come these yee accompt Sectaries, here, and by this Realme, howe you Catholikes deliuered it them, if al the sortes of men yee recken vp were such Sectaries, and naughty men in deede as yee accompt them to be, they might wel bee accompted your broode, butMat. 23. 9. first, syr, wee must desire you to take out of your heape, those that you cal Protestants and Puritans. They wil call no man their father, I tell you vponupon earth, as they be taught by their onelyonly Maister Christe: for there is but one father which is in heauen, for the rest, the more we looke vponupon thē the better wee knowe them by the face, and confesse them to bee the Ghostly children of you false Catholikes, they bee so like you: you bee the first yee say, and the auncientest: But the great Dragon (syr) that old Serpent called theRenela. 12. 9 Deuil and Satan, as the holie Ghost speaketh, is elder and before you, againe. You bee the more in number, The…. 3. 15. serpents seede is greatly multiplyed, but the womās seede, I doubte not, shal matche you wel ynough, not shee, that is the woman herself, as your … translation, to commonly corrupt, lewdly translateth the wordes, and so ouerthrowes the true sense. Of the battaile, victorie, and this whole matter reade the Reuelation of S. Iohn, namely: the 12. and 13. Chap. &c. In Catholikes and Sectaries wee see the Ghostly fathers and their children. Goe no higher to Grandsire, and great Grandsire, stay your wisedome I aduise you, for opening your Pedegrue to much. OnelyOnly as you Catholikes hauehave begotten & bred vp Sectaries, so I pray you at this time tell vsus of whome ye begate them? That is, let vsus learne who was their mother & nurse whose breasts they suckt, and vnderunder whome so vntoward impes, were brought vp: To saue your honesties, and to make all alike father, mother, & children, Babylon or Rome, in one word, I thinke will serue all, if not, helpe me and teach me better, I speake as your Doctours teach mee. Howe beneficiall you Catholikes are to Protestantes or Gospellers, amongest others, your hot burning charitie, where they stande to your curtesie, sheweth: and the bloodie daies here in Christes Martyres, &c. did sufficientlie expresse. The more beneficiall you are to all the rest that are Sectaries, the worse yee deserue of this Churche. You plaine in another place of lawlesse proceeding, and crie out of Riot: Section. 13.heere you say, you deliuered the Realme, to them that … it. They tooke it not then by violence nor against your willes, they did you no wrong.
Howe this Realme hath been conserued by Catholike religion … thousand yeeres and more, that should you hauehave shewed & made plaine; your wordes carry an ambiguitie. Poperie once, and your religion, as it is professed and exercised at this day, is not (wee tell you) so olde. Againe, Christians, as wee professe our selues to bee, holding of Christe, and builte vponupon the Prophets and Apostles, &c. Fetch the antiquitie of their religion, not from a thousand yeeres agoe, as you pretende to doe: but from a very long tune before your 1000. yeeres, and so may iustlier then yours hee called the olde religion. This Realme hath from time to time been conserued by Gods mercifull and fatherly prouidence, and blessing, by wise and vertuous Princes, and their good and wholesome lawes, not by your blinde superstition rather then religion. Gods Churche and true Christians sometime moe, sometime fewer, not in this Realme, but throughout the whole worlde, hauehave receiued and conserued Christes religion heere now professed, and by mee more shortly described, these fifteene hundred yeeres and more, that I may goe somewhat aboue your thousande yeeres, euen since the Ascension of the Lorde Iesus, though after a diuers manner, sometime and most commonly shrouded vnderunder the crosse, sometime otherwise, according to the dispensation and wisdome of the immortal God. It is wisedome & safetie for you not to goe aboue a thousand yeres, but to descende: for since that time Antichrist and his corruptions hauehave growen apace in the Churche, shewed themselues and preuailed much, God so punishing mens ingratitude: But if yee ascende from a thousande yeeres, if ye list to the beginning of the world, and let Gods booke bee iudge (wee shut out Aristotle, your Philosophers, and prophane men, in this case) you will finde … vantage, not in Auncientnesse, though without trueth that were no great matter, yet you will stil be found to come after & behind, giuegive vsus leaue to say as he in old time said: christ is my ātiquity. Thus if you … of ye old & trueIgnatius … Philadelphiens. religion, thus must ye think; thus must ye do. Thus for trial… antiquitas Christus. we wish you to do, ioining gods booke euer with antiquitie. And so, Let that that is first be true: & let that that is afterward…. brought in, be false. As one speaketh. Gods holyFol. 16. pag. … word is afore al, is aboue al, & … than al, that yee alledge or can do, for proufe of your religion, carying any good shew with it, & this is ye touchstone yt we woulde hauehave our religiō, your religiō, & al religiōs in the world tried by. It is a lowd lie & a vile slander to reporte & crie in her Maiesties eares, yt such … & fauour is here shewed on ye one side, as that other religiōs, thā Christs, hauehave been … to put out their heads, to grow, to aduance themselues in cómon speech, to moūt to pulpits without controulmét, & such extremitie on the other side, that the verie suspicion of your religion, hath not escaped vnpunished by terror of Lawes & rigorous execution therof. For one part: those of your side and godles men among vsus by raising slanders hauehave done what they can from time to time as you do, to bring diuers godly men into discredite, & hauehave but to much preuailed with some, though God hath alwaies giuen … to the truth & cleered innocencie. What yt smart of some the whilest hath beene you dissemble, eueryevery body knoweth best where their shoe pincheth them. I write not An Apologie nowe, nor take not vponupon mee to enter into euerie mans particular cause, to maintaine or defend yt same, much lesse to diffame & accuse our Lawes and the executiō therof by her Maiesties Ministers (I owe more reuerence to the state than so to do) I only shew the vanitie of your reporte: you can for your vantage finde out & tel her Maiestie in this epistle of, one whom Newgate possessed long timeSection. …. for his fantastical opinions, as you … & speake: wherfore soeuer the matter were in deed: you vtter your choler, nay your malice & spight, you cannot finde out one of your owne side so brainesicke, that euen nowe writing an Apology, on your behalfs taketh vponupon him by expresse tearmes, to confute her Maiesties late proclamations &c. You cānot finde one so brainesicke that euen now being obstinately giuen to poperie, … one of his owne fellowes in his heate or rage rather. Againe (syr) may you not remember, if it please you, of executiō done by fire vpō some in London & abroade not long since, for heresie, which were no Papists, nor of your Catholike religion, as you define & deuide things? Was this litle or no controlement? Litle surely or none in your opinion, so long as it is not vponupon your selues.
But what tragedies make you vsus of fleabitings vponupon any of your side, which yet deserue worst both of church and cōmon wealth? Ye thinke to winne by exclamatiō & outcry. Neuer was there any of your side yet, that in her Maiesties daies, and happy raigne euer suffred death, or was executed for this religiō, nor any other that I know for, but these few I hauehave named, & yet this is yt string ye heere so much harpe on, this is your argument, that your religiō hath found lesse fauor & tolleratiō thā any other newer sect or religiō whatsoeuer, yea that the tempest hath been so terrible, & your persecution so vniuersal, as the like was neuer felt nor heard of in England before, &c,