A Defense of the Sermon Preached at the Consecration of the Bishop of Bath, Book 1 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Answering the Refuters Preamble.
THE refuter,Ad pag. … before he would encounter the Sermon it selfe, thought good to spend some of his splene vponupon the Author of the Sermon, the matter, and the text: proudly insulting ouer the Author; scornefully gibing at the matter, and captiously carping at the choyse of the text.His insul… ouer the …thor of th… Sermon. His insultation is ioyned with scorne, and with slander, therein behauing himselfe like another insulting Goliah, gibing Tobiah, slandering Sanballat. He insulteth I say, Goliah-like, despising the Author of the Sermon (comming against him in simple maner, like Dauid, with (1)The points in … Sermō, m… and plain… handled.fiue smooth stones taken out of the fountaine of Gods word, & streames of antiquitie) as not able to stand in his hands, being as he saith, litle worth, yea miserable poore indeed. He scoffeth Tobiah-like (2)Neh… 4.3.at my building as ruinous and tottering, so readie to tipe and fall, as if belike but one of the foxes (3)Cant… 15. The foxe… heretikes schi… ma…l… ▪that trouble the vine doe come vponupon it, the goodly mansion built for our reuerend Bishops, as a tower of defence for their Lordships to rest in, (which proud and disdainefull sco…fe hee repeateth againe pag. 8.) will fall to the ground.
For answere whereof, I desire the Reader to compare the latter end of his preface, with this begining of his confutation. For there, bearing the Reader in hand, that he hath sufficiently confuted my Sermon; hee vseth my praise as a steppe to raise himselfe, and to aduantage his cause, giuing me greater commendation, then either I doe desire, or deserue: but here, beginning his confutation, he would perswade the Reader he shall easily performe it; his aduersarie being little worth, yea miserable poor… indeed, his building ruinous and tottering ready to tipe and fall. Which imputations, if they be not true, proue him to be a lyer; if true, a worthlesse and witlesse fellowe; worthlesse, who passing by all the worthies of our side, and their most accurate and learned treatises,Answ. to the … pag. 15. as himselfe tearmeth them; maketh choyce, either of such an aduersarie to contend with, as is little worth, yea miserable poore indeed, or of such a building to assaile, as is ruinous and tottering, ready of it selfe to tipe and fall. Witlesse, in making choyse of such an aduersarie, in vanquishing of whom, being so weake and miserable poore, as he can gaine no credit to himselfe or his cause; so can hee bring no great disaduantage to the aduerse partie. The fault being in all reason to be ascribed to the weakenes of the Champion, not to the badnesse of the cause. But if so weake and worthlesse a defendant, did in a Sermon prouided in 9. or 10. daies at the most, so foret…fie the cause of the Bishops, that the greatest worthies of the aduersarie partie assailing it withall their force, hauehave not beene able in twice so many monethes to make the least breach therein, then must it be confessed, that howsoeuer his aduersarie may be inferiour to him in other things, yet he is superiour in the cause.
1. King. 20.11.But soft… let not him that putteth on his armour boast as he that puts it off. When I consider the weakenesse of your strength, and badnesse of your cause, I wonder at your confidence. You might doe well to followe the counsell of …rch…damus to his foole-hardy sonne, foreign, either adde to your strength, or abate from your confidence.
And whereas Sanballat-like he saith, I make great boast in my Sermon of much riches, &c. I answere with Nehemiah, Ne…it is not done according to these words, there is no such matter in my Sermon, but it is a fiction of your owne heart. Such vanting suiteth better with my aduersarie, who, as in the forefront of his booke, most arrogantly applyeth the words of wisedome and truth to these his owne writings,Pro which for the most part are either false or friuolous; GiueGive care saith he, for I will speake of excellent things, and the opening of my lippes shall teach things that be right: for my mouth shall speake the truth, and my lippes abhorre wickednes: so now in the very entrance hee playeth Pyrgopolinices himselfe,Pl… glori… tu le… dissi… spiri… si ver… soli… taking on, as if with a little paper-shotte he could ouerthrowe all my building, and blowe poore me away as it were with a breath.
Sect. 2. The matter also he scoffeth at, applying vntounto it the speech of one of the sons of the Prophets (whō he calleth (a)H… at the … of the… 2. Ki…a poore laborer, to make him, as it seemeth the liker to me) saying of his axe when the head fell into the water, Alas Maister, it is but borrowed. Neither doubteth he with what forhead I knowe not (for he goeth vnderunder a vizard) to affirme, that my whole building from the foundation to the roofe, is but old stuffe taken out of D. Bilsons booke of the perpetuall gouernement of the Church. Which base calumniation framed (as it may seeme) according to his owne practise, he doth odiously repeate ad nauseam vsus que , euen so often harping on this string, as I hauehave occasion to handle, (though neuer so differently,) the same points with that most learned and reuerend diuine. To which obiection I answere, that if it were true, it would proue the refuter to be but a childish, and yet an odious wrangler. Childish, for it is the fashion of wrangling boyes in their Sophemes and disputations, when they cannot tell how to answere an argument, to tell the opponent, he had it in such a booke. And it is the part of an odious wrangler to seeke the disgrace of my person, by that which doth no whit aduantage his cause. For what aduantage is this to his cause, to obiect, that my proofes are the same with D. Bilsons; seeing his proofes be such, as neuer were, and neuer wilbe answered. But if the obiection be false, as eueryevery man that compareth the treatises may easily discerne; then, besides the testimonie of odious wrangling, he shall gaine to himselfe the commendation of a slanderous libeller. For, besides my consent in iudgement with that most reuerend learned man, which I most willingly and gladly professse, there is not any thing almost besides concurrence in diuerse allegations, which should breed any iust occasion of this surmile. And as for them, I doe professe, that the most of them are of mine owne reading, and those, which before I had either not read, or not obserued, I did not content my selfe to alleadge them as it were at the second hand; but to examine the allegations, and to cite them out of the Authors themselues. So that, although the liquor many times is the same, yet I drewe it at the fountaine, and not at the streame; remembring who saith, Tardi est ingenij riuulos consectari, Cic. de orat.fontes non videre. Which course, better Schollers then my aduersarie, would allowe, especially to one that had no more time then I had, both to prouide what to speake, and to speake what I had prouided.
And forasmuch as in many places of his booke, he maketh references to D. Bilsons booke, to shew, that what I deliuer, was taken thence: I intreat the Reader once for all to compare the places. For thereby he shall see this cauiller to hauehave played the Ratte, both in discouering his owne falshood,Suo iudicio tanquam sore… &c. and in betraying his cause. For as touching the former; I doe vnfainedly professe, that I am not conscious to my selfe, either in that Sermon, or any other writing that I hauehave published, to hauehave taken any one line, from any, without citing the Author. His cause also shalbe notably disadvātaged, because those things which I did perhaps briefly, and as it were, in hast set downe; the Reader shall sometimes in the booke (whereunto hee is referred) reade the same points fully & accurately handled, to his great satisfaction, and good contentment.
And whereas he obiecteth, that my house is built of old stuffe, &c. Let him knowe, that in these kindes of buildings, the oldnes of the stuffe is a great commendation. For that, which is the oldest, is the truest. And that which hath beene of greatest antiquitie, for the time past, will also be of the longest continuance for the time to come. As for those buildings which our new Church wrights hauehave lately set vp specke and spanne new,1. C… building Churchframes as it were of wood couered ouer with strawe, which will not abide the fire, I verily thinke they will not continue vntill they be old.
His third quarrell is against the choyse of the text,Ad … His … at the … of the … Abo… as it were the plot of ground whereon to set my building. The which because it is allegoricall, is compared to a marish ground, where though I digge deepe, and doe what I can, I shall hardly find fast ground whereon to lay my foundation. The which quarrell doth please him so well, that he repeateth it againe, pag. 3. But without cause. For seeing the exposition of the allegory is not doubtfull, but is confessed on both sides, that as by the 7. starres, are meant the 7. Angels, so by the Angels the Bishops of the Churches: who seeth not, that this assertion, that the calling of Bishops is lawfull & good, is built on the foundation of the Apostle Iohn, as it were vponupon a Rocke. For although some obiect, that by the Angels are meant, either all Ministers in generall, as the newe sect of disciplinarians doth,Bez. i… 2. or the presidents of the Presbyteries, as the Elder and more learned disciplinarians doe, who doe not stand for the new-found parish-discipline; yet I doe proue both by the text it selfe, and by other euidence, that the calling of Diocesan BB. is in this text commended vntounto vsus vnderunder this title of the Angels of the Churches. But hereof more in my answere to the third pag.