A Brief Apology Against Sutcliffes Slanderous Accusations, Title page – To the reader
A brief Apologie of THOMAS CARTWRIGHT againſt all ſuch ſlaunderous accuſations as it pleaſeth Mr Sutcliffe in ſeuerall pamphlettes moſt iniuriouſly to loade him with.
A righteous man abhorreth lyes: But th'vngodly ſhameth him ſelf and is put to ſilence, Pro. 13.5.
1596.
To the Reader.
IF thou be deſirous (good Reader) to ſee the right pourtraiture of Innocency truely laied foorth vntounto thee in her proper lineaments, then reade this diſcourſe which is not long. Beeing thou ſeest thus prouoked as ſhee is, or rather, to ſpeake the trueth, thus violentlie drawne into th'encounter by the wretched aſſaultes of an vnleauened mouth, yet marke, I pray thee, howe ſhee caries her ſelfe, and how ſhee comes armed into the fielde, Patience, Mildneſſe, Trueth, and a good Conſcience. This is her armour, theſe be her weapons, and with theſe onelyonly ſhee fights, repelling and ſtriking backe all the bitter dartes that are throwen against her, only with, The Lord rebuke thee, and none otherwiſe. Farre vnlike to that babling declaimour who left vsus this leſſon of olde: Si quam maledicēdo voluptatē coepiſti, eam malè audiendo amittes, &c. That is, If thou hauehave taken any pleaſure in ſpeaking that thou ſhouldeſt not: Thou muſt looſe it againe by hearing that thou wouldeſt not. Well knewe the defendour, that howſoeuer this might be pleaſing to the fleaſhe, or keepe deſcant with our corruption, yet he that ſayes, Mihi vindicta, had taught him another leſſon, namely, That it could in no ſorte ſute with the ſinceritie of the Goſpell, to giuegive check for check, and rebuke for rebuke: And therefore it is that in his whole Apologie he hath not giuen his aduerſarie ſo much as one glaunce of reproche.
Let this then be thy Paterne (good Reader whoſoeuer thou art) howe to wreastle with thy affections in the like aſſaultes: It is lamentable I cōfeſſe, that ſuch vncleane mouthes as this ſhould thus take their libertie to diſgrace at will. But muze not at it, good Reader, it hath bene ſo in all ages and will be ſo ſtill: For ſo long as the Lord giueth Satā leaue to buffet & aſſaile his church, ſo long thou maieſt be aſſured there wil neuer want a Rabſhakeh, a Shimei, or a Senacherib to play their partes. Neuertheleſſe, heerein thou maiest comfort thy ſelfe, if thou marke how and in what ſorte this reviling generation is curbed, as it were, ſnaffeled and restrained by the powerfull and righteous hand of God, that in the middest of their forwardneſſe and boldneſſe to blunder out what they list without bluſhing, they can hardly for their liues blunder out a trueth, as if the Lord in his ſecrete iudgement had purpoſely and apparauntly blaſted their penne with a lying and diſtempered ſpirit. All which if thou find verefied without all gaineſay and exception in the writings of Mr D. Sutcliffe and others of that haire, and withall if thou ſee theſe men that doo thus headely and deſperatlie laſh on in diſgrace of others, to be them ſelues in their ſeuerall accuſations ſo palpably taken tardie, that the very walles and ſtones of the ſtreetes may convince them of vntrueth: if I ſay thou find this to be true (and for proofe therof I referre thee to this ſhort and modest defence) hauehave patience in thy ſelfe and giuegive the glory to God, who doth thus, thou ſeest, in his wiſedome make a way and paſſage for the clearing of th'innocent, euen thorough the mouth and malice of th'accuſer him ſelfe.
Cōcerning ſuch things as it pleaſeth him ſo earneſtly to father vpō Mr Cart. & others by hereſay & report, I can not but muze that a man of his coate and calling is no more ſmitten & abaſhed at it then he is, For preſuppoſe that one ſhould heare by report that Mr Sutcliffe was once taken with falſe dice at Geneva, and thervpon being forced to flie the Towne, ſhould euer ſince beare a kind of inveterate hatred & malice to Mr Beza and th'Elders there: This beeing knowen onelyonly to vsus by report (how true ſoeuer the thing might be in it ſelfe) I would faine know for my learning, whether this were aequalance, or how it might ſute with any meaſure of indifferency, forthwith without any farther examinatiō to ſpread it abroade in print. And yet this you ſhall finde to be an vſuall and ordinarie courſe with Mr Deane of Exeter, in his ſolemne informations and perſonall pleadinges againſt good men: Marke it who liſt in him, if the caſe concerne anie of theſe Diſciplinarians, he is of that good nature & ready witte, that rather then he wil be to ſeeke for matter, he will not ſticke to rake the chanell ſometimes & take whatſoeuer comes next to hand, though it lie all to be troden and trāpled on in the ſtreetes: yea and of that which I beleeue the pooreſt Scavenger in a towne would be loth to ſtoupe for, he with a little helpe and forbiſhing of Mr Surveiour of Diſcipline, frameth for the most parte ſome irrefragable & tempeſtuous concluſion against theſe new plot-formers, and then forſooth to the Preſſe it must in all post hast with ſome rhetoricall varniſh of Innovation: as if Quidlibet ex quolibet, or as if the poorest & most patched Record vnderunder the ſunne (that bluſheth, it may be, to ſee the light) were evidence ſtrong enough against a Preciſian.
Now there bee that thinke that of all other charges thus ſtrangely and vnwoorthily impoſed vppon this Reuerend man, the charge of ignorance, and that his woorkes ſhould be a fardle of fooleries, is the moſt out of ioint and approching neareſt to impudency. But ſure for mine owne parte I doo not thinke ſo, neither doo I ſee why his aduerſarie might not with as great reaſon, yea and eueryevery way with as good a conſcience appeache him of ignoraunce as of diſloyaltie. For allow that our Vniuerſities togeather with forreine Nations and Churches may ſufficientlie controll the Reporter in the one, yet this letteth not but that the Countries and places of the Mans reſiance, can, for neede, giuegive as plentifull testimonie in th'other. And therefore why a man of that eaſie gift and rolling veine, ſo ſlipper in the ſeare as Maister Sutcliffe is, ſhould make it more daintie to ſpare Mr Cart. in his learning then he doeth in his loialty (hauing the like warrant and authoritie for both) I ſee neither reaſon nor ſenſe. The best is, thou hast heere by this meanes (good Reader) (in th'euenneſſe and equabilitie of the Dostors hande towards this man) an vnfallible line laied before thee, whereby thou mayest meaſure all the rest of his reproches ſo vnconſcionablie throwen vponupon others. For hath he dealt truely, modestly, charitably, and chriſtianly with this man? Then make thou no doubt or question but he hath afoorded full as good meaſure to others. On the contrarie, hath he made no bones hande ouer heade and that beyonde all compaſſe of chriſtianitie to ſpeake his pleaſure of this man, beeing a man ſo notably graced in giftes, and one that hath ſo many vncontrollable euidences of his wiſe and duetifull cariage of himſelfe? If he hauehave done this (as the reading of this Apologie will make it cleare vntounto thee) Then what reaſon haſt thou to maruell or thinke ſtraunge if thou ſee him nowe and then moſt fowly and ſhamefully ouer-reache him ſelfe against others that are farre ſhort of this man in iudgement and ſufficiencie?
It is written of Socrates, that beeing vniustly put to death without cauſe: while he was going to execution, his wife followed him aloofe of howling and weeping and crying aloude: O my huſband dieth guiltles, dieth guiltleſſe. Wherevnto the good old man (looking backe vponupon her with a frowning & angry countenance) replied thus: Why, thou fooliſh woman, wouldeſt thou hauehave me dye guiltie? This being the ſpeach of a heathen man, voied of the true knowledge of God, will riſe vp, I feare, in iudgement againſt many of vsus that profeſſe chriſtianitie in this age, whoſe common corruption is ſuch, that when we are wrongfully burdened with any matter of diſgrace, we frette at nothing more then that the thing is falſe that is ſo charged vppon our heades. Why, if I were guiltie (ſayeth one) or if it were true that they report of me, it would neuer grieue me: wheras in trueth (if we did rightlie conſider of it) it ſhould grieue vsus and humble vsus most to be guiltie, or that thoſe things ſhould bee true that are thus blowen abroad againſt vsus. Wilt thou knowe then (good Reader) howe to cary thy ſelfe when thou art thus iniuriouſlie dealt with by any falſe charge or impoſition? Looke vppon th'example of the holy Saintes and ſeruants of God in the Scriptures, and as thou ſeeſt them doo, ſo doo thou. Anna when ſhee was charged by Eli to be druncken, did not frette or ſnuffe at it, or looke vponupon the man with a diſdainfull eye, but in much patience and modeſtie made aunſweres Nay, my Lord, not ſo, 1 Sam. 1.15.16.I hauehave drunke neither wyne nor ſtrong drinke, but hauehave powred forth my ſoule before the Lord, count not thy handmayde a wicked woman, for of th'aboundance of my griefe hauehave I ſpoken, &c. Saint Paul likewiſe, when hee was charged by Feſtus, to be beſides him ſelfe, was, we ſee, no whit diſtempered or inflamed with it, but made anſwere in all wiſedome and reuerence: I am not madd, moſt noble Feſtus, Act. 26.25but I ſpeake the wordes of trueth and ſoberneſſe, &c. This then muſt be thy courſe (good Reader) and theſe be the ſteppes that thou muſt treade in. Thou knoweſt whoſe counſell and admoniſhment it is, not to ſuffer as a malefactour: 1 Pet. 4.15Looke thou to that then in anie caſe.
Hic murus aheneus eſto
Nil conſcire ſibi, nulla palleſcere culpa.
Keepe thou ſtill a good conſcience, and let the cleareneſſe of thy heart, and innocency of thy hands be as a wall of braſſe vntounto thee, and leaue the reſt to the Lorde, to doo what ſeemeth good in his owne eies, And then if Satan doo rage, or his instrumentes doo revell or revile neuer ſo much, tearming thee a drunkard, a madd man, a Traitour, a Conſpirator, an Innovatour, or what they will els, be not thou troubled or diſmaied with it, but rather reioice and giuegive God thankes. For if thou be able truely to ſay with th'Apoſtle in the teſtimony of thine owne hart, By honour and diſhonor, By good report and euill report, 2 Cor. 6.8.as deceyuers and yet true, &c. Then (howſoeuer the bloudthirſtie may gnaſhe and grind their teeth at thee) thy conſcience may be at peace: and thou maieſt chearefully anſwere thy good friendes (that are peradventure agrieued to ſee the falſehoode and indignity of th'impoſitions laied vppon thee) as Socrates did to his wife, Why my Maiſters would you hauehave me ſuffer guilty, or be ſlaundered and ill ſpoken of deſervedly?
Thus dooing what knowest thou, whether the Lord (who hath the hartes of all men in his handes) will make thy condemners to be thy clearers, and thy enemies thy friends, yea and turne all this ſtorme and tempest of vntruthes to thy farther peace, clearing, & ſecuritie in th'end? For was there euer a more bitter and malicious enemy then Saul was to Dauid? And yet we ſee how the Lord forced this wretched man (after many falſe ſurmiſes and vniust ielouſies of treaſon and conſpiracy againſt him) to pronounce ſentence for Dauids acquitall in theſe woordes:1 Sam. 24.17. Thou art more righteous then I. And who knowes whether the Lorde may woorke the like effecte and remorſe in Mr Sutcliffe ere hee die, euen to force him in like maner (after all his bundle of outcryes and vniuſt accuſations) to paſſe the white ſtone on the behalfe of th'accuſed, and him ſelfe to pronounce: That certeinly Tho. Cart. & Steph. Egertō are much more righteous thē he, and therevppon to adde farther as the ſame Saul did afterward, I hauehave ſinned, 1 Sam. 26.21.I hauehave played the foole, I hauehave erred exceedingly, in ſlaundering and belying th'innocent. Sure I am, it were happie and thrice happy for him if he might liue to doe this of conſcience. But whether he doo or no, labour thou alwayes (good Reader) ſo to walke as thou maieſt not iustly bee touched, with anie thing that may be a ſtaine to thy holy profeſsion. And ſo harbouring ſtill in thy breaſt the comfortable gueſt of a good conſcience (as an aſſwagement of all the miſeries and diſcontentmentes of this life) ceaſe not to pray in the ſpirit for the peace of Ieruſalem, and for her right excellent Maieſtie that hath bene ſo long Gods good inſtrument of that happie peace, That as Ioſua commaunded the ſunne to ſtand till he were avenged on his enimies, So the Lord would commaund this Sunne-ſhine of our peace to ſtand and neuer to goe downe, till all the Enemies of his church be brought low to the duſt. And as that was the longeſt day that euer was, ſo this (hauing bene already by the mercy of God the happieſt) may alſo prooue by the power of God to be the longeſt raigne that euer was: That the date of her life may (if it pleaſe the Lord) and with the laſt date and diſſolution of this earth, to the continuall bliſſe and renown of this Land, to the terror & amazing of the wicked, to the comfort and reioycing of the godly, and to her owne euerlaſting peace and happines in the life to come.
❧ A brief of Thomas Cartwright to the printed ſlaūders of Mr D. Sutcliffe, Deane of Exeter, ſo farre as they concerne the ſame Tho. Cartwright.
HIs ſlaunders are either in breach of neceſſarie dueties impoſed vppon all Chriſtians: or in thinges which, in their nature being indifferent, are by him (in reſpect of mine eſtate) giuen out as things of no good report.
Mr D. Sutcliffes charge.
In the former kinde is his charge of Conſpiracie with Hacket and Copinger to a mutuall communication with Copinger by woord, writing and conſenting, Fol. 10. p. 2. and fol. 44 p. 2. And that he did not diſſwade him, but rather willed him that he ſhould attempt nothing but by adviſe, and that he ſhould bee wiſe and circumſpect: which woordes he ſetteth downe in a diuers letter from the letter of his own booke: as if they were woordes of a letter of Thomas Cartwrightes to Copinger, fol. 48. p. 2.