The Vocation of John Bale to the Bishopric, Title page – Illustration
The vocacyon of Iohā Bale to the bishoprick of Ossorie in Irelāde his persecuciōs in ye same / & finall delyueraunce.
The English Christiā / The Irishe Papist.
¶ God hath deliuered me from the snare of the hunter / & frō ye noysome pestilēce.
Psal. xcj.
¶ If I must nedes reioyce / I wil reioyce of myne infirmytees,
ij. Cor. xj.
The preface.
¶ Iohan Bale to ye folowers of Christes Gospell.
FOr thre consyderacyons chefely (dere bretherne) hauehave I put fourth thys treatyse of my vocacyon to the churche of Ossorye in Irelāde / of my harde chaūces therin / and of my fynall deliueraunce by the great goodnesse of God.Ossorie The first of them is / for that mē shulde wele knowe / that the office of a Christen byshop / is not to loyter in blasphemouse papistrie / but purely to preache ye Gospell of God / to his christened flocke.ye flocke The secōde is / that they shulde also vnderstande / that contynuall persecucyons / and no bodyly welthe / doeth folowe the same most godly office / in them which truly executeth it. The thirde is / that they myght beholde how gracyously our most mercyfull God wyth hys power wayteth vponupon them / and fynally delyuereth them in most depe daungers.Deliueraunce.
These .3. thynges notable / concerninge the electe membres of Gods congregacyon in thys life / comprehendeth muche matter in the scriptures of both testamentes / with abundaunce of examples from Abel the first to Iohan the euā gelyst / which was the last lyuer in the same. The examples also therof are both lyuely and innumerable / Exāplesin the first propagacion and longe contynuaunce of the christen churche from hys tyme to thys our tyme / as the chronycles & hystoryes most abundauntly specifieth.
First / as concernynge the examples of holye scripture.Iesus. Adam. Iesus the eternall sonne of the euerlastynge father / in the Godhede preached to Adam in paradyse terrestre / and constytute hym so wele an instructour as a father ouer hys posteryte. He proued him also after he had sinned / by dyuerse afflyctyons / and fynally promysed both to hym and to hys / deliueraūce in the sede of the woman / which at the lattre in hys owne persone he louingly ꝑfourmed.Christe Christe ye seyde sonne of God contynually still taught / by the mouthes of the fathers and prophetes / tyll suche tyme as he hymselfe came in the fleshe. Than was he aboue all others / of hys heauēly father appoynted / a vniuersall doctor ouer all the worlde / and commaunded to be hearde / Math. iij.Adoctor He folowed hys vocacyō in most ample wyse / very cruelly was he of the clergie thā persecuted / and gloriously delyuered in hys resurrectyon from deathe. The members of hys true churche / the prophetes and Apostles / were in case like as he their head was / first called / than afflicted / and gracyously alwayes in the ende delyuered.Fathers He that shall marke the laboriouse procedinges of Abraham / Ioseph / & Moyses / of Dauid / Helyas / and Daniel / with the other olde fathers and prophetes / shall fynde it no lesse. He lyke wyse that shall dyscretely searche the doynges of Peter / Iames and Iohan / with the other of the Apostles and dysciples / shall wele perceyue the same.
Hieremye for the olde lawe / Paule for the newe lawe / and Iohan Baptyst betwixt them both / were called from their mothers wombe to that heauenly offyce of preachynge. Hier. j.Called. Luce. j. Gala. j. yea / they suffered extreme persecucyons vndre tyrauntes / and fynally were deliuered / in this lyfe from parelouse daūgers▪ and in deathe / frō synne / helle / and dāpnacyō. To rehearce the exāples of the primatyue churche / and of the ages folowynge / Ages.concernynge these matters / it wolde requyre muche tyme / they are so manye / and therfor at thys present I omit thē. Thus ā I not alone in these 3. matters of vocaciō / persecucion / & deliueraūce / but hauehave on my syde an infinyte nōbre of exāples. Which maketh me the more a great dele to reioyce / like as I wishe them to do / The author.which hauehave in these troublouse dayes the lyke. Neyther am I ashamed to tell my bretherne / what God hath most graciously done for me / nomor thā s. Paule was for hymselfe in hys owne Epistles / and Luke in ye actes for saint Peter / though I be farre vnlyke them.s. Peter For I fare lyke the byrde which is deliuered from the snare of the catcher. He flyeth to a bough / and reioyceth in his delyueraunce / and euen so do I. In the which reioyce / I make not only my selfe merye / but also all my louinge frindes. And as for my cruel enemyes the papistes / papistesif I make them sorye in the rehearsal of my delyueraunce / I am not yll apayde therof. For it is better (they saye in Northfolke) that yonge lyddernes wepe / than olde men. I call them yonge and not olde / for God is oldar than Sathan / if age maye be attributed to his eternyte / Danielas Daniel sayeth it maye / and Christe oldar than the deuyls vycar at Rome / their vngracyouse father.
As we are in most thinges contrarie to these papistes / so hauehave we reioyces cōtrary to theirs.papistes They reioyce in helthe / prosperite / riches and worldly pleasures for their bellies sake.
We in our infirmytees / afflictions / losses / and sorowfull crostes / for Christes veritees sake. And thus maye we wele do / and boast of it also without offence / for so ded the forenamed S. Paule.s. Paule 2. Cor. 11. and earnestly willed vsus to be his folowers. Phil. 3. first he boasted of his vocacion / and sayde. God sorted me out and appoī ted me from my mothers wombe / and also he called me by his grace / to preache his liuely gospell amonge the heathē / Gal. 1. what if I shoulde in like case boaste / yt he by his grace had also called me in this age / to preache the same Gospel to the Irishe heathens / wc neuer hearde of it afore / to knowledge?Irishe. I shulde not do other wise than the truthe is. For I was put to it against my wille / by a most christen kynge / and of his owne mere mocion only / without sute of fryndes / mede / labour / expensis / or any other sinistre meane els. By his Regall power and authorite / which both were of God / EdwardRo. 13. was I both allowed and confirmed / and not all vnioyfully receiued of ye people / which causeth me in conscience to iudge my vocaciō iust. Yet was not my reioyce so muche in ye dignite therof / as in doinge for the time / the office therūto belonginge.Office. But now is it most of all in the leauinge of that bishopricke / the Gospell beinge so vnthankefully of the prestes receiued / I so terribly of them persecuted / and my seruauntes so cruelly slayne.
S. Paule.Moreouer saint Paule boasted muche of his persecucions / & described them at large / concludinge thus in ye ēde / Very gladly (saith he) will I reioyce of my weakenesse / yt the strength of Christe maye dwell in me. Therfor hauehave I dilectaciō in infirmitees / in rebukes / in nedes / in persecucion / and anguyshes / for Christes sake.The Author. 2. Cor. 12. If I hauehave lyke wyse / felte a great meanie of the same afflictions / as I hauehave done in dede / maye not I also with him reioyce in them? Maye I not be glad / that I am in sorowes for the Gospell / lyke fashioned to him / & not pranked vp in pōpe & pleasures / lyke ye wantō babes of this worlde? As at this daye is lecherouse Weston / weston.which is more practised in the arte of breche burninge / than all ye whores of the stues / to the great infamye of his virginall ordre. The truthe of it is / that sens I toke that wayghtie office in hande / I hauehave bene sycke to the very deathe / I hauehave bene greued with the vntowardnesse of ministers.
Troubles.I hauehave bene in iournayes and labours / in iniuryes and losses / in peines and in penuries. I hauehave bene in strifes and contencions / in rebukynges and slaunderynges / and in great daunger of poyseninges and killinges.
I hauehave bene in parell of the heathen / in parell of wicked prestes / in parell of false iustyces / in parell of trayterouse tenauntes / in parell of cursed tyrauntes / in parell of cruell kearnes and galloglasses.Tyrauntes.
I hauehave bene in parell of the sea / in parell of shypwrack / in parell of throwynge ouer the boorde / in parell of false bretherne / in parell of curiouse searchers / in parell of pirates / robbers and murtherers / and a great sort more.
Sanct Paule also reioyced / that God had so miraculously delyuered him from so manye daungerouse ieopardyes / Parels.and spareth not so to report them. 2. Cor. 11. et. 12. Whie shulde I than shrinke or be ashamed to do the lyke / hauinge at Gods hande the lyke miraculouse deliueraunce? Are they not left to vsus for example / that we shulde do the lyke whan we fele the lyke?Writtē. Whatsoeuer thinges are writtē afore tyme (sayth he) they are written for our learninge / that we through pacyence and confort of the scriptures might hauehave hope▪ Rom. xv. He in the cytie of Damascon / beīge layde waite for / by ye liefe tenaūt of Kinge Aretha / was lete downe at a windowe in a basket / & so escaped his handes. Act. ix.dubline. I ī ye cytie of Dubline / beīge assaulted of papistes / was cōuayed awaye in ye nyght in mariners apparell / & so escaped ye daunger by Gods helpe. Whan Paules death was sought by certayn Iewes at Ierusalem / the vpper captaine there / cōmaūded ij. vnderunder captaines / ī the nyght to conveye hī to Cesarea with 200. souldyers .70. horsmen / Cesareaand 200. spearemē / and so to to delyuer him. Actes. 23. In lycke case / whā the prestes whith Barnabe Bolgar and other had sought my death at Holmes court / and had slayne .v. of my howsholde seruauntes by their hyred kearnes / Kilkennye.the good suffren of kylkennie with ā hūdred horsemē / ād 300. fotemē brought me thyder in the night and so deliuered me that tyme.
As Paule against his wylle / was put into a shippe of Adramitiū / coupled with other prisoners of Iewrie / cōuaied fourh into Italie / and there safely deliuered.Italie. Act. 27. and 28. So was I & my companyō Thomas against our willes taken īto a shippe of Zelāde / coupled with frenche prisoners / cōuayed furth īto flanders / and so at the lattre / safely there deliuered. As their shippe was caught betwixt Candia and Melita / and coulde not resyste the wyndes / ye windeso was ours betwixt Mylforde hauen / and Waterforde. As they had an excedynge tempeste vponupon the sea / so had we lykewyse. As they were withoute hope of sauegarde / so were we also.
As they feared Syrtes or daungerouse sandy places and rockes / so ded we. As they were almost famyshed and drowned / so were we.Cōfort. As God conforted them / so ded he vsus. As they were in conclusion cast into an ylande / so were we into S. Iues in Cornewale. As the people shewed thē kyndnesse at Melita / so ded they vsus at the seyd S. Iues. As Paule gaue thankes and brake breade amonge them / so ded we also. As the captayne Iulius courteously intreated hym and gaue hym lyberte to go vntounto hys fryndes at Sydon / and to refreshe hym / Iulius.so ded our captayne Cornelis vse vsus very gētilly with all fauour and lyberte / what though he had so currishely and cruelly intreated vsus afore. As Paule was stonge of a bytyng vyper ād not hurte / so was I of that viperous Walter being most vniustly accused of treason afore ye iustices ther / Walterand yet through Gods deliueraūce / not hurte. As he appealed to Cesar / so ded I to the trone of God.
As great dyspycyōs were amōg the Iewes at Rome concernīg Paule / Rome.so were there afterwarde amonge the shyppers in our returne to their shippe concerning vsus. As the souldyers gaue counsell to kylle the prisoners / so were there some of our men that gaue counsell to hauehave drowned vsus for our moneye / and of some to hauehave delyuered vsus vp to the counsayll of Englande / in hope of great rewardes.Publiꝰ. As Publius gentilly receiued Paule / and by hym was healed of all hys dyseases / so ded myne hoste Lambert receyue me also gentylly / and by me was delyuered from hys vayne beleue of purgatorye / and of other Popysh peltryes. As the people reported Paule to be a murtherer / and after changed their myndes / and sayde he was a God / A God.so our wycked maryners reported me to be a most haynous traytour / and yet afterwarde in my delyueraunce called me the seruaūt of God. As he was for the hope of Israel ledde īto captiuite / ād at last deliuered / so was I also for the same captiued / and in fyne delyuered into Germanie.Bretherne. As the bretherne met Paule with reioyce at Appij forum / so ded they me in diuerse partes of Duchelande / and lawded God for my so miraculouse deliueraunce. As he sayde that he had committed nothyng against the lawe of his fathers / so saye I also that I hauehave in this acte cōmitted nothyng against the Apostels ād Prophetes doctryne / I thāke my Lord God therof.The author. Thus had I in my troublous iournaye from Irelande into Germanye all those chaūces ī a maner that S. Paul had in his iournaie of no lesse trouble / frō Ierusalē to Rome / sauing that we lost not our shippe by the waye·
If Helias / that wetherdryuen rūnegate / remayne now in a foren lāde in penurie with the Sareptysh wydowe whyls Baals chatteringe chaplaynes and sorcerouse sacrifiers do dwell styl at home florissing in prosperouse welth / Presteslecherouse ydelnesse / and lordely dignite / maruele not of it / for so hath he done afore. I speake not thys for myne owne part only / nether vtterly exclude I my selfe / but I vttre it also for my exyled bretherne / of whom a great nombre is at this tyme in Germanie / Denmarcke / and Geneua.For others. The true churche of God had neuer sumptuouse hospitalles any lōge tyme together but very simple cottages ād caues / if ye marke the sacred hystoryes and aūcyent cronicles. The plesaūt possession / Possessions.and gorgious dwelling places / hauehave euermor remained to ye glorious Epicures / ye very enemyes alwayes of Christes gospel. We are not now to lerne how to take these our present afflictiōs in good part / for we knowe them afore hande / and hauehave had them long tyme / as it were in an exercise.Exercise Nether are we all barayne of frindely receptacles / for the heauenly doctrynes sake / though our aduersaryes in Englande with violence throwe stones at vsus / and seke vtterly to destroye vsus. They are truly muche deceiued which thinketh the Christen churche to be a politicall commen welthe / churcheas of Rome and Constantinople / mayntayned by humayne polyces / and not by the only wurde of God. Suche are they which now hauehave the doynges in these present controuersyes / and oppresse the most manifest verite. God amende it.
I write not this rude treatise / for that I woulde receyue praise therof / but that I wolde God to hauehave all the prayse / which hath bene a moste wonderfull wurker therī.Prayse. For I am but a clodde of coruption / felinge in my self as of my self / nothinge els but sinne and wickednesse. I hauehave done it also / to declare my most earnest reioice ī the same God / which by grace hath called me by persecucion hath tried me / ād of fauour / beniuolence and mercye / hath most wonderfully deliuered me.Gods wurke▪ Lete hym that reioyceth (saith S. Paule) reioyce in the Lorde. For he that prayseth him selfe / is not allowed / but he whō the Lorde prayseth 2. Corint. 10. Moreouer I hauehave done it / Bretherne.for that my persecuted bretherne might in lyke maner hauehave their reioyce in that heauē ly Lorde / whiche mightelye hath wrought in them their saluacion / by his graciouse callinge of them from wicked Papisme to true christianyte / and now tryeth their paciences by contynuall afflictions / and finally will delyuer thē / Delyueraunce.eyther from tyrannouse molestacions / as he hath done me / eyther els into martirdome for his truthes sake. For god wil be knowne by none other doctryne / than he hath sent hyther by hys sonne / whom he so earnestly commaū ded to be heard. He will also be worshipped by those rules ōly / whom he hath to hys church proponed by hys prophetes and apostles.Prayer. I besiche that euerlastyng God for hys dere sōnes sake / ī the holy Ghost to rule vsus / and alwayes to augmēt and preserue hys true churche cōfessing his only name. Amen.
I called vppon the Lorde in my trouble / and the Lorde hearde me at large. The Lorde is my helper / I wyll not feare what man doeth vntounto me. Psal. 118.
¶ VERITAS DOMIMI, MAnet in aeternum.
Psalm. 116.
¶ NOVIT DOMINVS VIAM iustorum, & iter impiorum peribit.
Psalm. 1.