Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Appendix · Letters
¶The copy of Queene Maries letters to the Duke of Northfolke.
RIght trustie & right entirely beloued Cosin, we greete you well,A letter of Q Mary to … Duke of Northfolke… and hauing by the assistance of God and our louing subiects discomfited Wiate and the other rebels of our Countie of Kent, who hauyng passed the Riuer of Kingston, came backe agayne towards London, & were encountred aboue Charing crosse, and there were ouerthrowen, and the most part of them were there slame, Wiate, and three of the Cobhams, Bret, Kneuet, Rudstone, Iseley, and other the chiefe Captaines taken prisoners: Wee hauehave thought good as well to geue you knowledge hereof, to the ende ye may with vsus and the rest of our louyng subiects reioyce and geue God thankes for this our victory, as also further to signifie vntounto you, that where the sayd rebell did alway pretend the matter of our mariage to be the cause of this vnlawfull stirre, now playnely appeareth by good and substantiall examinations of diuers of the sayd traitours, that whatsoeuer they pretended, the finall meanyng was to hauehave depriued vsus frō our estate and dignitie royall, and consequently to hauehave destroyed our person, which thing as we do ascertaine you of our honour to bee matter of truth, so wee praye you to cause ye same to be published in all places of that our countries of Norfolke and Suffolke, to the intent our good and louing subiects thereof be no more abused with such false pretenses or other vntrue rumours or tales, by whom so euer the same shall be set forth. And now things beyng in this sort quieted, we cannot but geue you thankes for the readinesse that you hauehave bene in with the force of our said countrey, to hauehave serued vsus if neede had bene, praying you to do the like on our behalfe to all the Gentlemen and others with you, with whom neuerthelesse we require you to take such orders as the force of our sayd countrey may be still in like readines, to be employed vnderunder good & substantiall Captaines, to be chosen of the Gentlemen inheritours within the sayd shiere for our further seruice, vpō one houres warning, when so euer we shall require the same. And in the meane tyme our pleasure is, that ye hauehave good regard to the quietnes and good order of the country, specially to the apprehension of spreaders of false and vntrue tales & rumors, wherby ye shall both deserue well of your whole country, and also do acceptable seruice, which we will not faile to remember accordingly. Yeauen vnderunder our signe at our pallace of Westminster, the 8. of Febr. the first yeare of our raigne. In hast.
¶A Treatise of M. Nich. Ridley, in the name, as it seemeth, of the whole Clergie, to King Edward the vj. concernyng Images not to be set vp, nor worshipped in Churches.
❧Certaine reasons which mooue vsus that we cannot with safe consciences, geue our assentes that the Images of Christ, &c. should be placed and erected in Churches.
FIrst the words of the Commandement, Thou halt not make to thy selfe any grauen image,Exod. 20. &c. And the same is repeated more playnely, Deut. 27. Maledictus homo qui facit sculptile & conflatile, &c. ponit que illud in abscondito, &c. Deut 27.That is, Curied is the man which maketh a grauen or molten image, &c. and setteth it in a secret place, and all the people shall say, Amen.
In the first place these wordes are to be noted, Thou shalt not make to thy selfe, that is, to any vse of religion.
In the latter place these words: And setteth it in a secret place: for no man durst then commit idolatry openly. So that conferring the places, it doth euidently appeare, that images both for vse of religion, and in place of perill for idolatry, are forbidden.
God knowyng the inclination of man to Idolatry, sheweth the reason why he made this generall prohibition, Ne fortè errore deceptus adores ea & colas: That is to say, Least peraduenture thou beyng deceiued, should bow downe to them and worship them.
This generall lawe is generally to be obserued, notwithstanding, that peraduenture a great number cannot be hurt by them, which may appeare by the example followyng.
God forbade the people to ioyne their children in mariage with strangers, addyng the reason: Quia seducit filium tuum …e sequatur me: That is, For she will seduce thy sonne, that he shall not follow me. Deut. 7.
Moses was not deceyu…d or seduced by Iethroes daughter, nor Booz by Ruth, beyng a woman of Moab. And yet for all that, the generall law was to be obserued, Thou shalt ioine no mariage with them. And so likewise, Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen image, &c.
Deut. 4. God geueth a speciall charge to auoyde images. Beware (saith he) that thou forget not the couenaunt of the Lord thy God which he made with thee, & so make to thy selfe any grauen image of any thing which the lord hath forbidden thee, for the Lord thy God is a consumyng fire, and a iealous God.
If thou hauehave children and nephews, and doe dwell in the land, and beyng deceiued, do make to your selues any grauen image, doyng euill before the Lord your God and prouoke him to anger, I do this day call heauen and earth to witnesse, that you shall quickly perish out of the lande which ye shall possesse, ye shall not dwell in it any longer tyme, but the Lord will destroy you & scatter you amongst all nations, &c.
Note what solemne obtestation God vseth, and what grieuous punishments he threateneth to the breakers of the second commaundement.
In the tabernacle and temple of God, no image was by God appointed openly to be set, nor by practise afterwards vsed or permitted, so long as religion was purely obserued: so that the vse and execution of the lawe, is a good interpreter of the true meaning of the same.
If by vertue of the second commaundement Images were not lawfull in the temple of the Iewes, then by the same commaundement they are not lawfull in the Churches of the Christians. For beyng a morall commaundement and not ceremoniall (for by consent of writers, only a part of the precept of obseruyng the Saboth, is ceremoniall) it is a perpetuall commandement, and byndeth vsus as well as the Iewes.
The Iewes by no meanes would consent to Herode, Pilate, or Petronius, that Images should bee placed in the temple at Hierusalem, but rather offred themselues to the death, then to assent vntounto it. Who besides that they are commended by Iosephus for obseruyng the meanyng of the law, would not hauehave endangered themselues so farre, if they had thought images had bene indifferent in the tē ple of God: For as S. Paule sayth: 2. Cor. 6. Quid templo Dei cum simulachris, &c. Ioseph. Antiq. libr. 17. cap. 8, lib. 18. cap. 5. & 15.
Gods Scripture doth in no place commend the vse of Images, but in a great number of places doth disallowe and condemne them.
They are called in the booke of Wisedome, the trap & snare of the feete of the ignorant.
It is sayd the inuention of them was the beginnyng of spirituall fornication. And that they were not from the beginnyng, neither shall they continue to the end.
In the xv. chap. of the same booke it is sayd, Vmbra pictura labor sine fructu, &c. And againe, they are worthy of death both that put their trust in them, & that make them, and that louelove them, and that worship them.
The Psalmes and prophets are full of like sentences, and how can we then prayse the thing which Gods spirit doth alwayes disprayse.
Furthermore, an Image made by a father (as appeareth in the same booke) for the memoriall of his sonne departed was the first inuention of images, and occasion of Idolatry. Sap. 14.
How much more then shall an image made in the memory of Christ, and set vp in the place of religion occasion the same offence. Euseb. Eccles. histor. lib. 7. cap. 18. Images hauehave their beginning frō the heathen, & of no good ground therfore they cannot be profitable to Christians. Whereunto Athanasius agreeth, writing of Images agaynst the Gentils. Athanas. con. gentes, foreign. That is to say: The inuention of Images came of no good but of euill and what so euer hath an euill beginning can neuer in any thing be iudged good seing it is wholly nought.
S. Iohn sayth, my little children beware of Images, but so set them in Churches which are places dedicated to the seruice and inuocation of God, and that ouer the Lordes table, being the highest & most honorable place where most daunger of abuse both is and euer hath bene, is not to beware of them nor to flee from them, but rather to embrace and receiue them. Tertullian expounding the same wordes, writeth thus. Lib. de corona militis. Filioli custodite vos ab idolis, non iam ab idolatria quasi ab. officio, sed ab idolis. i. ab ipsa effigie eorum. That is to say. Little Children keepe your selues from the shape it selfe, or forme of them.
Images in the Churche either serue to edify or to destroy, if they edifye, then is there one kinde of …ification which the scriptures neither teach nor commaūd, but alwayes dissalow: if they destroy, they are not to be vsus…d for in the church of God all thinges ought to be done to edify. 1. Cor. 14.
The commaundement of God is, thou shalt not laye a stumbling blocke or stone before the blinde: and cursed … he that maketh the blinde wander in his way.
The simple & vnlearned people who hauehave bene so long vnderunder blinde guides, are blind in matters of religion and inclined to error and idolatry. Therfore to set images before them to stumble at▪ (Nam laquaei pedibus insipientium sunt) that is, They bee snares and …rappes for the … of the ignoraunt, or to lead them out of the true waye is not onelyonly agaynst the commandement of God but deserueth also the malediction and curse of God. Sap. 14.
The vse of images is to the learned & confirmed in knowlege neither necessary nor profitable. To the superstitious a confirmation in error. To the simple & weak an occasiō of fall and very offensiue and wounding of theyr consciences: And therfore very daungerous. For S. Paul sayth 1. Cor. 9. offending the brethren and woūding their weake consciences, they sinne agaynst Christe. And Math. 18. Woe be to him by whom offense or occasion of falling cō meth, it were better that a milstone were tyed about hys necke and he cast into the sea then to offend one of the … ones that beleeue in Christ. And where obiection may bee made that such offence may be taken away by sincere doctrine and preaching, it is to be aunswered that that is not sufficient as hereafter more at large shall appeare.
And though it should be admitted as true, yet shoulde it followe that sincere doctrine and preaching shoulde alwayes and in all places continue as well as Images: & so that whersoeuer an Image to offend were erected there should also of reason a godly and sincere preacher be continually mayntayned: for it is reason that the remedye … as large as the offence, the medicine as generall as the poison, but that is not possible in the realme of England that Images should be generally allowed, as reason and experience may teach.
As good magistrates which intēd to banish al whoredome, doe driue away all naughty persons, specially out of such places as be suspected: euen so Images being Meretrices. id est. Whores for that the worshipping of them is called in the prophetes fornication, and adultery ought to be banished and especially out of churches which is ye most suspected place, and where the spirituall fornication hath bene most omitted.
It is not expedient to allowe and admitte the thinge which is hurtfull to the greatest number, but in all Churches and common wealths the ignoraunt and weake are the greatest number to whome Images are hurtfull and not profitable.
And where it is commonly alledged that Images in Churches do stirre vp the minde to deuotion, it may be aunswered that contrariwise they doe rather distracte the minde from prayer, hearing of Gods word & other godly meditations, as we read that in the Counsell Chamber of the Lacedemonians no picture or Image was suffered, least in consultation of wayghty matters of the common weale, their mindes by the sight of the outward Image might be occasioned to be withdrawne or to wander from the matter.
The experience of this present time doth declare that those partes of the realme whiche thinke and are perswaded that God is not offended by doing outward reuerēce to an image, do most desire the restitution of Images, and hauehave bene most dilligent to set them vp agayne▪ Restitution therfore of them by common authoritie shall confirme them more in theyr error to the daunger of theyr soules, then euer they were before, for as one man writeth.
Nihil magis est certum, quam quod ex dub…o factum est certum, that is to say nothing is more certayne or sure, then that which of doubtfull is made certayne.
The profit of Images is vncertayne, the perill by experience of all ages and states of the Churche (as afore) is most certayne.
The benefite to be taken of them (if ther be any) is very smale: the daunger in seeyng of them which is the danger of Idolatry is the greatest of all other. Nowe to allowe a moste certayne perill for an vncertayne profite, and the greatest daunger for the smallest benefite, in matters of fayth and Religion is a tempting of God and a grieuous offence.