A Scourge for a Railer, Title page – Dedication
Loidoromastix: THAT IS, A SCOVRGE FOR A RAYLER; CONTAINING A FVLL AND SVFFICIENT ANSWER VNTOUNTO the Vnchristian raylings, slaunders, vntruths, and other iniurious Imputations, vented of late by one RICHARD PARKES master of Arts, against the author of LIMBOMASTIX.
Wherein three hundred raylings, errors, contradictions, falsifications of Fathers, corruptions of Scripture, with other grosse ouersights, are obserued out of the said vncharitable discourse, by ANDREVV WILLET Professor of Diuinitie.
Iob 31. 35, 36.
Though mine aduersarie should write a booke against me, would I not take it vponupon my shoulder, and binde it as a crowne vntounto me?
August cont. Petilian. lit. lib. 3. c. 8.
Nec malam conscientiam sanat praeconium laudantis, nec bonam vulnerat convitiantis opprobrium:
Neither doth the commendation of the praiser heale an euill conscience, nor the reproach of a Reviler wound a good.
Printed by CANTRELL LEGGE, Printer to the Vniversitie of CAMBRIDGE. 1607.
And are to be sold in Pauls Churchyard by RICHARD BANKEVVORTH at the signe of the Sunne.
TO THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, RICHARD, by the Diuine prouidence Archbish. of CANTERBVRIE, Primate and Metropolitan of all England: and of his Maiesties most Honourable priuie Counsell.
AVgustine (Right Reuerend Father) when a certaine young man of no good fame,Epist. 1… had accused one Bonifacius, a Minister or Presbyter, of a great crime (they both beeing of his owne Colledge and societie) though he gaue more credit vntounto the Presbyter,Quamvis magis Presbytero …redidissem. yet the matter hanging in suspense and doubt, he sent them both for the more full manifestation of the truth, vntounto the tombe of Felix the Martyr: for they had a great opinion of such places in those daies. My case at this time in some things is not much vnlike: who hauing beene a Minister and Presbyter of this Church, and a poore Preacher and writer of the same now these twentie yeares, am at the last, by one of obscure fame and name,See Imput. 1. recrimin. accused before your Grace, of heresie, blasphemie, and charged with the deniall of an Article of the faith. In which accusation, as I doubt not, but that your Gr. opinion is as indifferent toward me (whose Parents, education, studies, and trauailes, you hauehave knowne these many yeares) as Augustines was toward Bonifacius; yet herein my case is better, that I doe referre my selfe to the iudgement of a Reuerend Prelate liuing, and am not sent to the triall of the dead.
Archidamus, Plutarch. inter Laconica apothegmata.not much vnlike to the former exampl… beeing chosen an arbitrator betweene two that were at variance, brought them into the Temple of Minerva, and hauing first bound them with an oath to stand to his sentence, decreed, that they should not depart thence, before they had compounded the controuersie. Crates Thebanus is said to hauehave vsed to resort vntounto fa…lies that disagreed, and with perswasions of peace to hauehave adiudged their strifes. foreign.So your (Honour) not so much by choice an arbitrator, as by office and place a Iudge in these causes, will bring vsus both (I trust) into the Temple of GOD, there to be tried by the Scriptures: And as Crates endeauour was to pacifie families, so I hope, your Gr. care is, to settle this Church in peace: approouing that godly saying of Basilius; foreign Basil.) foreign, that nothing is so proper to a (Bishop) as to be a peacemaker.
Mine aduersarie hath had the prioritie of complaint, and first filled your eares (though not possessed them) with his vntrue surmises: for I doubt not, but as Alexander, when one of his familiar friends was traduced before him, stopped one of his eares,foreign. as reseruing it for him that was absent: so your Gr. hath one eare left for me: according to that rule of Seneca, Vtrique parti actiones dares, dares tempus, Lib. 2. de ira.non semel audires: magis enim veritas elucet, quo saepius ad manum venit: to giuegive vntounto both parties their action, and to graunt them time, to heare more then once: for the oftner the truth cometh to hand (to be scanned) the more the light thereof appeareth. Cicero against Antonie said:Cicer. Philip. 2. quid mihi plenius, quid vberius, quam mihi, & pro me, & contra Antonium, dicere: But I may adde the third; that it contenteth me, that I may speake not onelyonly for my selfe, and against such an one, but before your Gr. As for his accusations, I feare them not, mine owne conscience testifying with me: I will (as Iob saith) take them vponupon my shoulder, Iob 31. 36.and bind them as a crowne vntounto me. For, as Cyprian well saith,de baptism. Christ. but vponupon an other occasion; nequaquā sub hoc onere lassitudinem, sed quietem inventuri: vnderunder this burthen I shall not finde wearines, but rest. As Augustine also saith:Lib. 3. contra Petil. c. 7. qui volens detrahit famae meae, nolens addit mercedi: he that willingly detracteth from my fame, doth against his will adde to my reward.
But two things I doe not a little, wonder at, that he durst abuse your Gr. eares, with such vntrue and vncharitable invectures in his Epistle, and the Reader, with such grosse and absurd ouersights in his booke.
In the first,Epist. Dedicat. he chargeth me with a prophane and irreligious fact in denying ap. 3.an Article of the Christian faith: bp. 6.with errors, or heresies rather in …ppugning the doctrine of the Church: cp. 6.striking at some maine points of faith, shaking the foundation it selfe, and calling in question, heauen and hell, the diuinitie and humanitie, yea the very soule, and saluation of Christ our Sauiour himselfe: dp. 7.so bard…ed in error that they neither she contrition of heart to repentance, nor confession of mouth to obedience: ep. 10.that neither Rhemist nor Romanist, could lightly hauehave more disgraced the discipline and doctrine of the Church in diuers points▪ To these iniurious slaunders,Imput. 2. recriminat. 3. 5. 7. my particular answer afterward followeth, which were needlesse to be inserted here. Thus much concerning my selfe I say in generall in Hieromes words:Lib. 3. adv. Pel. Egone haereticus, quare ergo me haeretics non amant: am I an heretike, wherefore then doe not heretikes louelove me?fApologicall epistle, written as is supposed by one Phillips a Iesuite: and in the Retection by Woodeward an other of that faction. which in their rayling pamphlets and libells hauehave made me a marke to shoote at. But that saying of Cyprian doth giuegive … Scias hoc semper opus esse diaboli, vt servos dei … laceret, vt qui conscientiae suae luce clarescunt, alienis rumoribus sordidentur: Know this to be alwaies the worke of the deuill,Lib. 4. epist. 2. to vexe the seruants of God with lies, that they which are cleare in the light of their conscience, should be blemished with other mens reports. Now, though he tooke vntounto himselfe this libertie, in this vnfriendly manner to disgrace me, yet he might hauehave shewed more modestie, then to outface me with such vntruths, in your Gr. presence. It is said, that the actors of those wanton playes, called Floralia: Catone praesente agere recusarūt: refused to play in Catoes presence: and he might hauehave forborne to hauehave vttered his forged calumniations before so graue a personage. But I trust it will fall out here, as sometime in the like case with Augustine: Experti dicimus, Tom. 10. ser. 49.nam non crederemus, multi à nobis mala consilia petunt, consilia mentiendi, consilia circumveniendi, sed in nomine Christi nullus talis nos tentavit: I speak (saith he) by experience, otherwise I would not hauehave beleeued, many doe aske of vsus euill counsell, counsell to lie, counsell to circumvent; but in the name of Christ, none such hath tempted vsus. Neither (I hope) hereafter, your wisdome will giuegive passage or licence to such mens intemperate pennes, to wound and gall their brethren: yet had hee staied here onelyonly, in censuring the liuing, and not proceeded to taxe the memorie of the dead, it had been more tolerable: that godly learned man Doctor Reynolds, who is now at rest in the Lord, is thus iniuriously handled by him, and that since his Christian departure; whereby grace may so happily worke in their hearts, Epist. dedi. p. 11.that where the truth hath beene heretofore frowardly excluded, &c. as though that worthy mā, were either voide of grace, or did frowardly exclude the truth: nay he spareth not to charge him, as guiltie of profane, See Impu. 1. recrim.irreligious, hereticall, sacrilegious opinions, of grosnes, sophistrie, profanenesse, &c. It is said of Themistocles, that in his returne from battell, seeing a dead body lying with iewels of gold, hee thus spake to one that was with him, Take thou away these things, Plutarch. praecept. de regend. republic.for thou art not Themistocles: neither would this man, if he had beene, (I say not of an heroicall spirit, as Themistocles) but of a sober and charitable spirit, as eueryevery good Christian, hauehave stripped the dead of his well deserued ornaments: in seeking to impaire his credit, he doth but blemish and obscure his owne; and sheweth himselfe to bee of those, who as Hierome saith, Hippocratis fomentis magis, quam monitis nostris indigent: had need rather of Hippocrates medicine, then our admonition.
Now may it please your (Reuerend Fatherhood) to giuegive me leaue, to offer vntounto your view some of the principall contents of his booke: by the tast whereof, it will appeare, what relish the rest hauehave; & by the smell of some of his flowers,Dixit se foetor…e eius ferre non posse, non sentis (inquit) putorem teterrimum, & in cicere foetere avaritiam. Hieron. vit. Hilar. one may guesse, what herbs grow in his garden: as Hilarion said to Hesychius, when a bunch of small pulse was brought them out of a Churles garden, that hee could not abide the stinch thereof: Doe you not feele (saith he) a filthy sauour, and euen his couetousnesse to smell in the pulse? So by this handfull, which I shall gather out of his booke, the euill sauour will be found of the rest.
1. Hee much forgetting himselfe, thus breaketh out beyond the limits of modestie,1. Impu. recrim. charging me with folly, hypocrisie, falshood, lying, infidelitie, impudency, sawcinesse, Machiauell sme, Atheisme, Heresie; as particular instance is giuen, in more then 80. railing speeches vsed against me, and others:Contr. Sallust. so that I may say vntounto him in Tullies words, Neque qui tam illoto sermone vtitur, vita honestior est: It is not like that he which vseth such vncleane spech, can be much honester in life.
2. I hauehave obserued 22. slaunderous imputations, wherof some are these: that I would transforme the order of the Church into anaImp. 2. Slan. …. Anarchie: that their heads plot, and their handsbSlaund. 9. practise Babylonicall warre:cSlaund. 11. that he defendeth diuers things contrary to the truth of the Gospell:dSlaund. 17. that he iustifieth pestilent & blasphemous heretiks, against the learned, and holy Fathers:eSlaund. 18. that he holdeth the flames of hell to be temporall:fSlaund. 22. that he called the blessed rootes of the Christian faith▪ cursed rootes: with such like.
3. Instance is giuen of 34. vntruthes vttered by him: a3. Imp. vntr. 6.As that he beleeueth, I was one of those, which writ the Letter to Master Hooker; the writers whereof, I knowe not to this day: b9. vntr.that I borrowe diuers things from Carlils booke; which I neuer sawe: cvnt. 11.that I fasten all the torments of hell, vponupon the blessed soule of Christ; which I neuer thought: dtruth denied …that there is not one word through his booke, that insinuateth any suspition of Limbus patrum: whereas, in the preface following, the contrary is prooued directly, in 20. seuerall places out of his booke.
4. Among the errors which he is charged with, to the number of 14. these specially are noted:aImp. 6. recr. 2. he iustifieth the Latine text, against the originall Greeke in the newe Testament: berror. 2.hee calleth the booke of Ecclesiasticus the word of God, which the Church of England holdeth for one of the Apocryphall bookes: artic. 6.cerror 11. that the baptisme of infants is not to be found in Scripture, by any expresse mention; whereas the Church of England holdeth it to be most agreeable to the institution of Christ: artic. 27. He calleth these sound positions,dimp. 2. scla. 15. that the Scriptures alone are not compleate vntounto saluation: that mans will is naturally apt without grace, to beleeue: that mens naturall workes are acceptable to God: which are directly opposite to the doctrine of the Church of England, which holdeth the contrary: that the holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to saluation: artic. 6. that man of his owne natural strength cannot turne and prepare himselfe to faith: artic. 10. that workes done before the grace of Christ, are not pleasant to God: artic. 13.
5. Diuers harsh and vnsauorie speeches are laid vntounto his charge; as that hee applyeth those words of Christ to himselfe, aimp. 7. recr. 1.de bono opere lapidor: I am stoned for a good worke:bibid. recrim. 3. that Christs conquest vponupon the crosse was openly an ouerthrow, and therefore no triumph: if it were, it was a triumph before victory:crecrim. 6. that there is a most plaine distinction betweene the holy Ghost and Christ, not in person onelyonly, but in his diuine nature. These and the like assertions, (which he would hauehave tearmed blasphemies) to the number of tenne, are obserued out of his booke.
6. Diuers points of arrogancy, and vaine ostentation are obserued, to the number of 13. whereof this is one, that hee maketh his boast, that my Lord of Winchester hath in his last booke much altered his iudgement concerning the place of Peter,Imp. 8. recr. 10. mooued by the reasons laid downe by me (saith he) and none but me: wheras it is not true, that that Reuerend learned father, hath therein altered his iudgemēt: at the lest, it becam not him so to brag: It might hauehave better beseemed the other, if any such thing were, to hauehave acknowledged it: As August. thus modestly writeth to Petrus, De orig. ani… lib 2. tom. ….a Bishop to a Presbyter: Vellem rescriptis tuis, quid te docuerit me docere: absit enim vt erubescam à presbytero discere, si tu non erubuisti à laico: I would hauehave thee by thy rescript to teach me, what taught you: farre be it, that I should be ashamed to learne of a Presbyter, if you were not ashamed to learne of a lay man.
Further he chargeth the great English Bible,Imput. 8. recrim. 6. which is authorised to be read in our Curches, with error in the translation, and with blasphemie in the annotations.
7. Concerning the allegation of the Fathers, I hauehave shewed partly his ignorance, in mistaking and misquoting them, partly his vnfaithfulnes in vntrue alleadging them, in 30. seuerall places: as namely his ignorance inaImput. 1… iustif. 2. 2. Cyril, bibid. iustif. 3. and recrim. 1. 4.Hierome, crecrim. 7. 3. and 4.Augustine: dibid. recr. 2. 3Tertullian also is strangely produced, contrarie to his owne iudgement: thus he dealeth also with the new writers, as with Calvine, Beza.
8. Neither can the Scripture escape his vncleane fingers: as instance is giuen in 26. places: as loc. 17. the Scripture saith, He shall not preserue the vngodly, Iob 36. 5. he readeth, thou wilt not preserue: loc. 19. S. Iames saith, which hath conuerted, &c. and shall saue a soule, Iam. 5. 20. he readeth, which conuerteth, in the present: and shall saue his soule: adding (his:) and he maketh as bolde with many places beside.
This it is for one to deale out of his element, and to meddle beyond his skill, for a professor of Grammer, to take vponupon him to teach Diuinitie. He must needes stumble that walketh in darkenes, and he can not be without error, that is corrupt in iudgement. Now is verified that saying of the wise man, foreign,Prov. 13. 7. There is that maketh himselfe rich, and hath nothing: As this man maketh himselfe skilfull in the tongues, in the Scriptures, in the Fathers, and in what not, in all these proclayming his ignorance: Hierome spake it modestly of himselfe:Perorat in Orig. ad Roman. Fateor, frater Heracli, dum tui, desiderijs satisfacere cupio, oblitus sum pene mandati, quo praecipitur, onus supra vires tuas ne levaveris: I confesse (brother Heraclius) while I satisfie thy desire, that I had almost forgotten the commandement that biddeth, Take not vp a burthen beyond thy strength. But it is most true of him: who hath (vnbidden) thrust his shoulders vnderunder a burthen, that is like to crush him. As Cleon was vnfit to lead an armie, and Philopoimen to guide a navie, Plutarch. praecept. de Repub. regend.and Hannibal to play the Orator: so is this Grammarian to meddle with Diuinitie. Euripides saying may well be applied to such: foreign: a Carpenter thou art, and yet dost not deale with carpenters worke. Seneca well said, Necesse est, vt opprimant onera, quae ferente maiora sunt, Lib. 1. de vit. tranq.&c. nec accedendum eo, vnde non sit liber regressuo. Those burthens must needes presse to the ground, which are greater then the bearer: And it is not safe going thither, whence there is no returne. And so it falleth out to such according to the saying of Hierome: Qui scribunt, non quod inveniunt, Hier. ad Lucin.sed quod intelligunt, & dum alienos errores emendare nituntur, ostendunt suos: They write, not what they finde, but what they vnderstand, and while they goe about to correct the errors of others, they bewray their owne.
Now let me craue a little further leaue to adde some what concerning the former booke, which is by him impugned, and this written in defense thereof. The first, entituled (Limbomastix) I acknowledge to be mine; and am not ashamed of any matter therein handled, though for the manner it might hauehave beene more exact, I confesse. And for the publishing thereof, this is my excuse, or rather defense: first, that I was thereunto prouoked in particular: againe, I saw in his pamphlet maintained that Popish opinion of Limbus patrum, which suspition the author can not auoide, as it is at large declared in the Preface following: who if he be sound in other points of Protestants doctrine, it is well: but then is he much wronged both in the opinion, and reports of them that know him: further, that booke passed vnderunder the censure of a graue and learned writer of our Church:D Sutcliff. and yet it was printed without my priuitie.
As touching mine opinion of CHRISTS Descension, handled in that booke, I will freely deliuer what I thinke: first, I beleeue the Article of the Descension, to be a necessarie part of our faith:Lib Instit. 2. c. 16. sect. 8. and say with Calvine, In the descent of Christ to hell, there is no small force to the effect of our Redemption, &c. and it auaileth so much vntounto the (cheife) summe of our redemption, that it beeing pretermitted, much will be lost of the fruit of Christs death: thus much for the substance of the Article. Secondly, concerning the manner of Christs descension, I doe hold and beleeue whatsoeuer can be prooued out of Scripture, and truly collected from thence. Thirdly, yet I affirme, that out of those three places, Act. 2. 27. 1. Pet. 3. 19. Eph. 4. 9. the locall descension of Christs soule to hell, can not necessarily be concluded. And herein I affirme no more, then other graue and learned writers of our Church hauehave done before me.Confut. of the Rhem. annot. D. Fulke saith, that the article of Christs descension, is not grounded vponupon the first text:2. Act. 3. Bish. Bilson resigneth the second place:B. Bils. Survey. 676. and D. Fulke out of Theodoret sheweth,Confut. Rhem. ann. Eph. 4. 1. that the third maketh not for the passing of Christ from place to place, and so consequently belongeth not to his locall descension. Fourthly, I say notwithstanding, and professe in the same words, which I set downe before: They which hold not the locall descent of Christs soule to hell, Limbom. p. 5.should not condemne the other, as Popish and superstitious men, that are so perswaded: They which affirme it, ought not to account them as enemies, or aduersaries to the truth, that dissent from them therein. He that thus writeth, is farre from either hauing his head plotting, or his hands practising Babylonicall warres: as I am slaundered, as I hauehave shewed before. Fiftly, I hold the Article of Christs descension, as the Church of England propoundeth it:Articl. 3. As Christ died for vsus, and was buried: so also it is to be beleeued that he went downe to hell: in which words the Article of the descension is commended in generall to be held, without any the determination of the sense: asaM. Rogers in his booke of the Catholike doctrine of the Church of England, printed at Cambr. ann. 607. he that lately hath learnedlybI would he had written as soundly in some points, as namely concerning the doctrine of the Sabbaoth. p. 163. 195. 192. and in other places. written (dedicating his booke to your Gr.) vponupon the Articles of Religion, by publike authoritie, hauing deliuered diuers senses of this Article, and especially these three: 1. some hold that Christ descended as God onelyonly not as man, &c. powerfully and effectually, not personally: 2. some as man onelyonly, either in bodie onelyonly, &c. to the graue, or in soule onelyonly, when he went to the place of the reprobate, &c. 3. as God and man in one person, &c. that he went, as it were into hell, when vponupon the crosse, and els where, he suffered the torments, &c. Then he inferreth thus: But till we know the natiue and vndoubted sense of this Article, and mysterie of religion, persist we aduersaries to them which say, that Christ descended not into hell at all, &c.
This was the summe of my first booke, which beeing written without gall and bitternesse; as he saith, Ego sine iracundia dico, Cicer. Philip. 8.vt omnia, tamen non sine dolore: I speake it without anger, though not without griefe: and the party being not knowne, which was the author of that Pamphlet, and so no man beeing personally touched: as Hierome saith,…d Nepotian. Nullum laesi nullius nomen mea scriptura designatum est: I hurt no man, no mans name is in my writing decyphered: He might in silence hauehave corrected this error, as Ambrose saith,… Luk. Et si nostra voce non proditur, vel su… tamen crubescat affectu: though he bee not by my voice bewraied, yet hee might in his owne opinion hauehave beene ashamed: Yet could he not containe himselfe, but must set pen to paper, and publish his owne shame, by his vnchristian and intemperate rayling: according to that saying of Hierome to Helvidius: ….Arbitror te veritate superatum, ad maledicta conuerti: I thinke, you beeing ouercome with the truth, did turne to rayling. I hauehave felt before this, the whip of popish tongues, and hauehave tasted of their virulent pennes; but the badge of heresie, impiety, profanenes, blasphemy, atheisme, was neuer set vponupon my sleeue before; himselfe, that there pin…ed it, beeing more worthy to weare it in his forehead: hee hath nothing almost in his mouth, but lying, falshood, hypocrisie, corruption of Scriptures, contradictions, falsification of Fathers: which things, if he could fasten vponupon me, as he neuer shall, yet it would nothing helpe his cause;Apolog. 3. adv. Ruffin. as Hierome saith Quid vulneribus tuis prodest, si ego fuero vulneratus? what doth it helpe your wounds, if I likewi…e be wounded? and againe, Quid refert, si causa cadis, & crimine superes? what doth it auaile, if you faile in the cause, and bee superiour in obiecting of crimes? I feare not what he can lay to my charge, for I hauehave read, foreign: that neither a weake mans blowes, nor an vnwise mans threats are to be feared.
Now in this other booke, I hauehave framed a briefe answere vntounto his calumnious accusations, not medling at all with the argument and matter it selfe, both because it remaineth by him vnanswered, and for that I will not crosse the iudgement of some Reuerend learned men of our Church, but content my selfe with that, which I hauehave formerly written thereof: I hauehave onelyonly answered his vncharitable slaunders, and returned them with aduantage vponupon his owne head. I hauehave obserued of raylings, slaunders, vntruths, contradictions, falsification of Fathers, corruption of Scriptures, with such other ouersights, not fewer then 300. his errors beeing more then the leaues, and almost equall to the pages of his booke: if hee had had the like aduantage against me, he would not hauehave doubted to vse that sentence of Hierom against me;Lib. 1. conr. Iovin. Proponam aduersarij sententias, & de tenebrosis libris eius, quasi de foueis serpentes protraham, neque sinam venenosum caput spiris maculosi corporis protegi: I will propound the aduersaries sentence, and out of his darke bookes I will drawe the serpents, as out of their holes; neither will I suffer his venemous head to lie lurking within the windes of his speckled body. But I will forbeare him; yet I must confesse, that in returning this answer, I wanted the patience of Ioseph, of whom Ambrose saith,Epist. 44. Mal…it falsum …rimen subire, quam verum referre… that he had rather vndergoe a false crime, then report a true: or as Hierom writeth of Blesilla, Blesilla nostra rid…it, …es dignabitur loquacium ranarum audire convitia that shee would smile,ad Marcel. nor vouchsafing to heare the raylings of the clamorous frogges▪ For my ease is diuers, who beeing charged with her esie, blasphemy, atheisme, must either by silence confesse the crime, or by a iust Apologie wipe it away: So indeed, I was driuen to a great straite,Hieron. Pammach. Ocean. as Hierome againe saith; Hoc mihi praestiterunt vt si tacuero, re…s, si respondero, inimicus iudicer, d…ra vtraque conditio fed è duobus eligam quod leuius est: simultas redintegrari patest, blasphemia veniam non meretur▪ They hauehave brought mee to this, that if I hold my peace, I shall be held to be guiltie; if I answer, I shall be iudged an enemie: an hard condition of each side: but of the two, I will choose the easier: a priuie grudge may (well) bee renewed, but blasphemy cannot be pardoned: which as it seemeth, was imputed vntounto Hierome, as now vntounto mee. Now then, he may thanke himselfe, that began the quarrell, if he be well beaten for his labour, that might hauehave slept in a whole skin: and if he cannot fence off that blow, which is comming toward him, let him afterward learne to play with his matches. For as Origen well saith, writing vpō those words in the Gospel;*tract. 35. in Math. Omnes belli concitatores, in eo bello per…bunt, quod concitant: all that take the sword, shall perish with the sword: all the raisers of warre, shall perish in that warre, which they hauehave raised.
Now vntounto your Gr. wise and graue censure, I present this my iustification; of whome I might craue iustice against this defamer and slaunderer, who hath obiected capitall crimes of blasphemie, and heresie, against a Minister of the Church, contrary to theaatrocem tibi iniuriam esse factam manifestum est, si tibi illata est, cum esses in sacerdotio. Cod. lib. 9. tit. 35. leg. 4. Valerian. Gale. lawe: which by imperiall constitution deseruethbsi minime haec vera ostenderit capitali poeua plectetur. Cod. lib. 9. tit. 36. l. 1. Valentin. capitall punishment, if he cannot prooue the things… obiected to bee true: by the Canons it was censured, bycqui in alterius famam publice scripturam confinx erit, flagelletur. Caus. 2. q. 5. c. 1. Hadrian. whipping, or by beeingdqui inuenti fuerint famosos libellos in Ecclesia ponere, anathematizentur. Caus. 2. q. 5. c. 3. concil. Elib. excommunicate and anathematized. But I craue no such reuenge of him but onelyonly pray; touching himselfe, that hee may become an honest man hereafter: and that your Gr. would be pleased, that as I hauehave beene publikely defamed and traduced by him, so it may be lawful for me publikely to defend my selfe: that according to theeCod. lib 9▪ tit. 36. l…g. 1. lawe, hu…us…odi libellus alterius opinionem non ledat, such an infamous libell doe, not hurt the op…on of another: which cannot be preuented, vnlesse some publike satisfaction should be made: for asfLib. de bon. viduitat. cap. 22. Augustine saith well, nobis necessaria est vita nostra, alijs fama nostra: as our life is necessarie to our selues, so our fame is …
Now lastly … prayethgEpist ded. p. 11. that my bookes as abortiue brats be not suffered to see the sunne, whose light they seeke to obscure; I am content to stand herein to your iudgment also, whether of bu… wri…ngs are more worthy to come into the sunne light: as for mine, (whereof some are extant in your Gr. name, which may deliuerme from his iniurious accusation, as beeing as enemie vntounto that eminent place and calling) if they were no more meete then his, to be admitted vntounto the publike view of men, I could wish them not onelyonly out of the sunne light, but in the fire light also. But which be the abortiue brats, I referre me to the midwiues that brought them out, I meane the Stationers that printed them: I thinke some of them may wish, that his beggerly brats had beene yet vnborne.
Con…ning … I am not ashamed to say with Hierom: Ad Cresiphon.Multi anni sunt, quibus ab adolescentia, vsus que ad hanc aetatem, diuer sa scripsiopuscula, &c. prouoco aduersaries vt … …artulas exintegro discutiant, & si quid in meo ingeniolo vitij repererint, proferant in medium, confitebor errorem, malens emendare, quam perseuerare in prauitate sententiae: There are many years, wherein since my youth, vntounto this age, I hauehave written diuers works: I do prouoke mine aduersaries, to examine all my writings afresh, and if they finde any fault in my small wit (and vnderstanding) let them bring it forth. I will confesse mine error, willing rathr to amende it, then to perseuere in a wrong sentence. And concerning such slaunderous libels, and immodest inuectiues, as his are, I say vntounto your Gr. as Bernard wrote sometimes to Eugenius: De consid. lib. 1.Miror, quomodo religiosae aures tuae, audire sustinent huiusmodi pugnas verborum, que magis ad subversionem, quam inventionem proficiunt veritatis: corrige pravum morem, & pra…ide linguas vaniloquas; &c. flagellum tenes, timea…t nu…ularij ne fidant nūmis: I maruel, how your religious eares can endure to heare such strife of wordes, which auaile more for the subuersion, then finding out of the truth: correct this euill vse, and stay such vaine tongues, &c. you hold the whip, let the money chaungers feare to trust to their (counterfeit) coyne. And so I ende with that salutation of the same Father, Plenum vos dierum suscipiat dies vna illu melior in atrijs Domini super millia, Venerabilis pat…r▪ Epist. 61.
Your Gr. readie to be commanded in the Lord Iesus, ANDREVV WILLETT.