The Vocation of John Bale to the Bishopric, Conclusion
The conclusion.
I Wryte this vntounto the / thu sorowfull churche of Englāde / yt in ye middes of thy afflictions thu shuldest not despayre. Beholde how gracyously / yea / if I maye so speake it / how miraculously and gloriously / ye autor.the heauenly lorde hath deliuered me / his most vnworthie seruaunt of all men / and an excedinge great sinner. He called me of grace to that office in his vyneyarde / by sore persecuciōs he proued me of louelove / and at the lattre of mercye & goodnesse he preserued me from the deadly furye of most fearce enemies.Of mercye. Thy callinge to the Gospell is not vnknowne to the / thu carefull congregacion. Now suffrest thu persecucions diuersly / for not regardinge the time of thy visitaciō. Repent yet in the ende / and doubtlesse thu shalt hauehave a most prosperouse delyueraunce. They are no noble men / yt do vexe the at this present. They are but pilde peltinge prestes / knightes of the dongehill / though they be sir Swepestretes / maistre doctours / and lorde bishoppes.Repent. Loke vponupon their faces / though thu measure not them by their frutes / & thu shalt sone knowe their vertues. They are fierye / hawtie / and lecherouse as gootes / the chastest amōge them. But that shall other mennis wyues knowe / & not thu.prestes. A wele papped Pygion of Paules / is wholsome (they saye) for a tippetted gentilmā of the popes spialte / ī a darke euenīge / to coole the contagiouse heates of a coltish confessour.
No noble men are they / which trouble the in this age / as I tolde the afore. For true nobylite neuer yet hated ye truthe of God / but hath aduaunced it by all ages.noiblite Examples we hauehave in Adam, Noe, Abraham, Moyses, Dauid, Iosias, Nycodeme, Ioseph, Kynge Lucius, Constantine, Iustinyane, Theodosius, kinge Arthour, AlPhrede, Ethelstane, Henry the seconde, Edwarde the thirde, and now last of all ye virgine Kynge Edwarde the .vj. which neuer was defyled with the popes ydolatryes.K. Edward. Immortall fame and note of renowme / remayneth yet to them for it. Suche men (sayth the lorde) as worshipp me / will I make worshipfull / and they that despise me / shall become ignoble or wretched .j. Reg. 2. These will not take awaye the keye of knowledge from Gods people / as do the hypocrites / Math. 23. and as the wicked lawers do also / Luce. 11. wo to them for it.Noble men. But as the noble Dauid requireth / they will opē ye gates yt ye kinge of glorie maie entre. Open the gates (sayth he) O ye noble men / lete the euerlastinge dores be opened / that the kinge of glorie maye come in / Psalm. 24. If any be wicked in this behalfe / which beare ye name of noble men and women.opē / opē Lete thē wele weygh with themselues / how Pharo / Antiochus / Herode / and suche other / whome God by princely autorite had made noble / by only tirannie against his manifest truthe / are now become more vile, thā any kichine slaue or yet lazar.Tirānie Foelix (sayth Horace) quem faciunt aliena pericula cautū. Happie is he / whome an other mannis misfortune maketh wyse.
Ouer the now triumpheth the bishoppes / the pharisees / the prestes / and the couetouse lawers. At thy late soden fall / reioyceth the hypocrites / the epicures / the ydolatours / and the wicked papistes. What shall I saye more?Lawers Iohā Baptist, is now derided in the prison. Iesus the sonne of God is grenned at vponupon the crosse. Paule now in Athens is hyssed at. The poore Apostles are sliely laughed to scorne. Naye / shall I yet saye more. Mycheas is smittē on the face / whils Sedechias plaieth ye false harlot. 2. Parali. 18. Helias is driuē into ye wildernesse / whils Baals chaplaines are banketinge amōge ladies.Preachers. 3. Reg. 18. Esaye is contēpned / whils the prestes are giuen to ydolatrie and dronkēnesse / Esa. 28. Hieremie is sore afflicted / whils▪ Semeias peruerteth the truthe of the lorde / Hiere. .29. Daniel is throwne into the lyons dēne / whils mischefes are in wurkinge amonge the wicked / Dan. 6.Peruerters. Peter is accused of the bishoppes wenche / whils Cayphas sitteth in consistorie, condēpninge ye innocent / Math. 26. Steuen is called to a reckenninge / whils the prestes and wicked lawers are bannishinge the Gospell / Acto. 6. Antipas (they saye) is now slaine at Pergamos, prestes.whils Simō Magus triūpheth in Samaria / Apo. 2. And Iohan Zebede is sent into Pathmos, whils Cerinthus, Menander, and Hebion playe the heretike knaues at home / Apo. 1. well / lete them plye it a pace. It maye chaunce to cost theyr poluted Hierusalem a fowle ouerthrowe / for so persecutynge ye seruaūtes of God / in her whoredome / Esa. 1. yea / seruaūtes I saye,Spiritualte. for they serued faithfully in the paynefull office of the Gospell.
Those ydell mercenaries / not only loyter in ye vineyarde / but also like cruell wolues they rauishe and destroye / Ioan. 10. Of that which God hath expressely forbidden / woluesthey make now a solempne religion / both in the refusall of marryage / and in the prodygyouse veneracyon of ymages / sainge yea to his naye / and naye to his yea. God sayth / it is not good for man to be alone / without an helpe / which is a wife in marriage / Gene. 2. They saye contrariously / that it is more than good / for it is holye / religiouse / A wyfe.and prestlike / to hauehave no wiues of their owne / what so euer they hauehave of other mennis / besides buggery boyes. I trowe Doctour Weston will saye none other at this daye / what though not lōge a go he brēt a beggar in S. Botolphes parishe wtout bishops gate,weston. geuīge her no wurse thā he had receiued afore of ye religiouse occupienge. The same Westō ꝓponed to an other womā of his parrish / which was a mannis wife / yt her husbande beinge a slepe / she might lawfully occupie with him / by vertue of this texte / Mulier dormiente viro, a lege soluta est. Occupienge.1. Cor. .7. If this scripture were not religiously applyed / lete them tell me which knowe the right handelinge of them. Whils this priapustick prelate / is prolocutour in the conuocacion howse / I trust we shall lacke no good lawes for religiō, the man is so religiouse. O abhominacion. Though they now are busily spisinge and paintinge of a toorde (their ydolatrouse masse) yet will a toorde be but a stinkinge toorde / priapusboth in smelle and syght / pepper him and bawme him / garnish him and gilde him as wele as they can / all the packe of them. To conclude. Now are their most filthie buggeries in the darke / with their other prodigiouse whoredomes, holden a most pure state of liuinge,Celibatus. holy marriage disgraced / contempned / and bannished.
God sayth. Thu shalt make no grauen ymage to worshipp. They saye / ye shalt not only make ymages / but ye shall also gylde them / sense them / worshipp them / and axe helpe of them / for whie they are ye laye mēnis Gospell.ymages In dede Porphirius ye blasphemouse heretike / and troubler of the Christen churche / as Eusebius reporteth him / was the first that called thē the laye mennis Calender. And though S. Gregorie the great / comminge after / confirmed ye same Calender / yet shall it remaine an horrible blasphemie / bycause God hath in paine of dāpnacion forbidden it.Gregorie. Epiphanius that worthie father of the churche / nombreth the worshippinge of our ladyes ymage amonge heresies. If we be of his opinion / we must iudge yow no lesse than most perniciouse heretikes. Moreouer it is now become a religion agayne in Englande / to call vponupon dead men / with Sancte Petre ora pro nobis.Heretykes. This also is fatched from ye olde paganes sorceries, for holde hath it none of the scriptures canonicall. How howlinge and iabberinge in a foren language shulde become Gods seruice, yt cā I not tell. But wele I wote yt S. Paules doctrine doth vtterly cōdempne it / as supersticiouse beggerie / bycause it is but an ydell noise & nothinge to edificaciō. 1. Cor. 14.In Latine.
Some men perauenture will maruele / that I vtteringe matters of Irelande / shulde omitt in this treatise / to write of Coyne and lyuerie. Which are so cruell pillages & oppressions of ye poore commens there / as are no where els in this whole earthe / Coyne & liuerieneither vndre wicked Saracene nor yet cruell Turke / besides all prodigiouse kindes of lecherie and other abhominacions therin committed. Thre causes there are / which hath moued me not to expresse thē here. One is / for so muche as they perteine nothinge to the tyttle of this boke / which all concerneth religion. An other is for that the matter is so large / as requireth a muche larger volume.3. causes The thirde cause is / for that I hauehave knowne .ij. worthie men / whome I will not now name / to hauehave done that thinge so exactly / as noman / (I suppose) therin can amende thē. But this will I vtter breuely / that the Irishe lordes and their vndrecaptaines / supportīge the same / are not only companions with theues / ij. bokesas the prophete reporteth / Esa. 1. but also they are their wicked maisters and mainteners. So that they both coupled togyther / the murtherer with his maistre / and the thefe with his maintener / leaue nothinge vndeuoured behinde them in that fertile regiō / nomore than ded the deuouringe locustes of Egypte.ij. sortes Exo. 10. Anon after their haruestes are ended there / the Kearnes, the Galloglasses / and the other brechelesse souldiers / with horses and their horsegromes / sumtyme. .iij. waitinge vponupon one iade / enter into the villages with muche crueltie and fearcenesse / they continue there in great rauine and spoyle / and whan they go thens / they leaue nothīge els behinde them for payment / but lice / lecherye / and intollerable penurie for all the yeare after.villages Yet set the rulers therupon a very fayre colour / yt it is for defence of the Englishe pale. I besiche God to sende suche protection a shorte ende / & their lordes & Captaines also / if they see it not sone amended.An ende For it is the vtter confusyon of ye lande / and a mayntenaunce to all vices.
Thre peoples are in Irelāde in these dayes / prestes / lawers / and kearnes / which will not suffre faythe / truthe / and honestye to dwelle there. And all these hauehave but one God their Bellye / and glorie in that wicked feate to their shame / whose ende is dampnacion / Phil. 3.ij. threes I speake only of those which are bredde and borne there / and yet not of them all. These for the more part / are sworne bretherne togyther in mischefe / one to maītaine an others maliciouse cause / by murther preuily procured. And to bringe their conceyued wickednesse to passe / they cā do great miracles in this age / by vertue of trāsubstanciacion belyke / for therin are they very conninge.preuily. For they can very wittely make / of a tame Irishe a wilde Irishe for nede / so that they shall serue their turne / so wele as though they were of the wilde Irishe in dede. Lyke as they ded properly and fynely / in the most shamefull and cruell slaughter of my .v. seruauntes / by ye lorde Mountgarrettes kearnes / and the Barne of vpper Ossoryes farye knightes.practyse By suche fyne conueniaunce of accusinge the wilde Irishe / and colour of the holy daye broken / as is writtten afore / they can alwayes apere to hauehave fayre white handes / and to be innocent maydes / what murther so euer is by thē committed. But I axe of the prestes / chefely of Richarde Routhe ye treasurer and of sir Iames Ioys his companion / Finely.what they ment by their so oft rydinge to that Barne of vpper Ossorie / whan I was dwellīge at Holmes court? Whome they neuerthelesse to me reported / to be the most errande thefe and mercilesse murtherer of all the lande. And what they hauehave ment also / to be so familyar with the furiouse famelye of Mountgarrett?doublenesse. Commenly resortinge in the endes of all those iournayes / to the howse of Barnabe Bolgar. As I suspected the matter thā / so hauehave I sens yt time proued it effectually true. Moreouer I myght axe of the lawers / whie they seke to hauehave so many theues & murtherers perdoned / specially whā they hauehave slaine English mē and done their robberies within the English pale?Lawers But at this time I leaue thē / and returne againe to my purpose.
Now must I saye sumwhat to the / thu carefull churche of Englande / cōcerninge thy misbehauer against thy most louinge Creatour. God chose the for his elect vyneyarde / yea / he plenteously pourged and prepared the.A churche. But whan thu shuldest hauehave brought hym fourth frute / for grapes thu gauest him thornes / Esa. 7. He loked to hauehave had at thy handes after the Gospell preachinge there / faythe / knowledge / feare / louelove / repentaunce / obedience / true inuocacion / & hartie thankes for his manifolde giftes, with suthe other wholsome frutes of lyfe.Grapes And in stede of them / thu hast brought fourth / ydolatrie / blindenesse / impenitencie / frowardnesse / crueltie / pride / fornicacion / vnclennesse / couetousnesse / ingratefull cōtempte of the truthe / and hate of the faithfull preachers therof / with other sower crabbes of dampnacion. Thu woldest faine be like the Malignaūt churche of the papistes / thornesprosperouse and welthye in worldly affaires / and therwith sumwhat gloriouse. But thy eternall father in heauen / will not so hauehave the / but by persecucions transfourmeth the into the very similitude of his derely beloued sōne / to whome he hath espowsed the / to reigne wt him at the lattre in eternall glorie.Lyke Christe
God hath sufficiently declared in the scriptures / what his churche is in this worlde. As yt it is an afflicted and sorowfull congregacion / forsaken in a maner / and destitute of all humaine confort in this lyfe. It maye right wele be compared to a flocke of orphanes / ye churche.which beinge destitute of father and mother / are in this worlde subiect to manye sorowfull calamitees & miseryes. But because that poore churche shulde not vtterly discourage in her extreme aduersitees / the sonne of God hath taken her to his spowse / and hath promised her protectiō / helpe and confort / in all her afflictions and parels. So that she maye at all tymes confort herselfe with this verse of Dauid / Though my father and mother hath left me / yet hath the lorde takē me vp / for his / Psalm. 26.Helpe. In the first promyse was she taken to grace after transgressio… assured of delyueraunce from synne / deathe / helle / and the deuill.Cōfort. For if God had not most wonderfully collected her togyther / preserued her / saued her / and defended her / it had not bene possible for her to hauehave escaped ī so horrible daungers / as were in the vniuersal …ude / in the burninge of Sodome and Gomer / and the tirānie of Pharao / defence.in the iourneie through the reade sea / in the captiuite of Babylon / and destruction of Ierusalem / and in so manye woderfull alteracyons and terryble ruyth… of th… Romane Empyre / so manye Deuyls / Paganes / Mahumetes / Turkes / Iewes / Epicures / heretykes / popes / byshoppes / monkes / prestes / and tyrauntes reigninge.
EmpireA perpetuall and vnplacable enemye is … than / and euermore hath bene / to that poore congregaciō / sekinge not only to disfigure her / but also to spoyle her and destroye her vtterly. Like as it is saied, Gen. 3. yt he shulde treade christe on the hele. This excedinge great benefigh… of the goodnesse of God / Sathanought to be remēbred / yt he after ye sinne of our first parētes / not only receiued this churche to grace / but also hath …uer sēs / both preserued & defended it. But … great is yt vntowardnesse & muche is yt h… nesse / of manis harte / yt he neglecteth so high a benefight / as is also ye patefaction of Christe in ye Gospell / by whome we are redemed / & so remayne vnthankefull for ye same. A most swete voyce is it vntounto vsus / frō ye sonne of God Iesus Christe / yt he will not leaue vsus as orphanes / or fa…erlesse & motherlesse childrē without cōfort, but will come vntounto vsus / Ioā. 14. That is / Like a gētill & mercifull lorde / he will cōtinually stāde by his churche / assistinge / helpinge / & socourīge it alwai… . I will be wt yow (saith he) to ye ende of ye worlde / Math. 28. Lete this be thy cōfort yu sorowfull churche of Englāde, & staie thy selfe ī hī wc was incarnate / lyued / wrought / taught / & dyed for thy sinne / yea / he arose frō ye deathe & ascended to heauē for thy iustificaciō / Rom. 4. Cleaue thu fast to him / repēt thy folyes past / & take heede to thy doīges frō hensfourth. Praye & fast busily / for this frantyck kinde of Deuyls is neuer taken awaye / but in prayer & fastīge Math. 17. So shalt yu be restored plēteously / & florish in vertues herafter frutefully / to the prayse of one God eternall. Which liueth and reigneth worlde without ende. Amen.
FINIS.