Letter Censuring Cheapside Cross, Part 2
The approbation of Maſter Vicechancellor's Letter, by five other learned men, then heads of the Vniverſitie.
WE doe approve as ſound and true, the rather becauſe hee followeth that which was done wiht the brazen Serpent after that it was ſuperſtitiouſly worſhipped by the people, and wiſh that the materiall Croſſe, now it hath been ſuperſtiouſly adored, and is mayntained by Mart. in a Booke dedicated unto her Majeſty, and by all the Jeſuits and Seminary Prieſts and all their Scholers this day in England, to be worſhipped and adored, be not tumultuouſly taken away, but in the ſame manner the brazen Serpent was by conſent and authority of our gracious Hezekiahs, & them whom cauſes Eccleſiaſticall have authorized under her Highneſſe.
This only wee adde, that as example of Hezekiah be notably and ſufficient to encourage her Majeſty and ſuch as be in authority under her zealouſly to remove ſuch occaſions of Idolatry, and to remove them out of the peoples way, for the examples of Gideon is terrible if they be let alone, and continued ſtill.
Hee erected an Ephod in Ophra after his victory over the Madianites, both to teſtifie his thankfulneſſe unto the true God of Iſrael, for his victory obtained, and alſo to ſhew the Midianites, that the God whoſe ſervice in an Ephod without Idoll or Image they did refuſe had given unto them the overthrow, and thus farre Gideon is not reproved, but when hee grew old and knew that the people did worſhip before the Ephod, becauſe he would not pull it downe, nor take it away, his poſterity was grievouſly puniſhed after him, and the people became enthralled unto their enemies.
In like manner, the fact of Conſtantine, after his victory over Maxentius, in erecting the ſigne of the Croſs in Rome, was commendable, becauſe hee teſtified his thankfulneſſe to Chriſt crucified for the victory atchieved, and alſo it openly ſhewed unto the Heathen and Gentiles, who fought againſt him, that hee whom they ſo much deſpiſed becauſe hee was crucified gave him victory. But now this outward and materiall ſigne of the Croſſe hath been, and is abuſed to Idolatry and Superſtition, therefore if the chief Magiſtrates erect ſuch things now, when they be well taken away, and if they pull them not downe, when with peace and quietneſſe they may be removed, they leave unto the godly a fearfull expectation, as of that which came to paſſe In Iſrael, after the days of faithfull Gideon, for ſo we call him notwithſtanding his grievous fault, for ſo hee is nanamed. But the danger of ſuch negligence is moſt carefully to be avoided.
From the Vniverſitie of Oxenford, January the 23. 1600.
This Letter is in the hand of a Merchant of good credit in this Citie thus ſubſcribed.
Thomas Thornton.
Iohn Reinolds.
Leonard Tailor.
Henry Ayray.
R. Kettley.
You have heard learnedly proved from Antiquity the unlawfulneſſe of this Croſſe.
Here follow ſome arguments from Scripture againſt Cheap-ſide Croſſe, as they were preached in Lombard Street.
THis worthy Miniſter preaching on Eſay 10. Verſ. 5, 6. Shews divers ſignes of Gods wrath againſt a Nation, among others hee ſhews this to be one Plague token.
When God gives over a Land to hainous ſins, when hee ſuffers a Land that hath been delivered from Idolatry, againe to bee given up unto Idols. This is a certain ſigne of Gods wrath aginſt a Land.
For this is a ſtanding rule, that when any Idoll is ſuffered to bee in a Land, though it be not worſhipped, yet it is a remarkable ſigne, that they are a people of his wrath. See what the Lord ſaith, Pſal. 81. 8, 9. Heare, ô my people, and I will testifie unto thee, ô Iſrael, if thou wilt hearken unto me, there ſhall no ſtrange god be in thee, neither ſhalt thou worſhip any ſtrange god. (Marke) he doth not only ſay thou ſhalt worſhip no ſtrange god, but there ſhall be no ſtrange god in thee, as the Lord commands them, Exod. 34. 12. ſaying, Take heed to thy ſelf, that thou make no covenant with the inhabitants of the Land, whether thou goeſt, lest they be cauſe of ruine among you: but yee ſhall overthrow their Altars, and break their Images in pieces, and cut downe their groves, for thou ſhalt bow downe to no other god, becauſe the Lord whoſe name is Jehovah is a jealous God. For when ever Idols goe before, then certainly warre will follow after, and therefore to ſuffer an Idoll to be in a Land, although unworſhipped is no ſmall ſin, as the Lord ſaith, Hoſ. 6. 10. I have ſeen villany in the houſe of Iſrael, there is whoredome in Ephraim, Iſrael is joyned to Idols, let her alone, &c.
Thus we ſee how greatly we provoke God to anger, when we ſuffer an Idoll to be among us.
And though the Lord had formerly freed this Land from Idolatry. Are not the Images of Baal againe re-edified among us? this never went before, but a Plague came after it. For by this, if by any thing, a Land breaks covenant, nay, goes about to breake their Marriage bond with God. Therefore may I ſay to this Land, nay, to you of this Citie, (to goe no further into other places,) where the Word of God is moſt powerfully preached among you, that you are in an eſpecially manner guilty of this lewd crying ſin. Witneſſe the Croſſe in Cheap-ſide, that is lately beautified by you. I am troubled to think how God expreſly hath beene provoked, and wrath I feare will be poured out upon you for this ſame golden Croſſe. For whereas the Lord ſaith, Iſaiah 30 22, 23. Ye ſhall defile the coverings of your graven Images of ſilver, and the ornaments of your molten Images of gold, and cast them away as a menſtruous cloth: and then ſhall he give you a great bleſſing. You on the other ſide, have adorned the covering of your Images: now, all men know that the Croſſe is that which the Papiſts make an Idoll of: and yet you have not ſtained the covering thereof but have beautified and adorned it. So that as a bleſſing came on them that ſtained the covering of their Images; ſo a curſe will moſt certainly follow the beautifying of the covering of thoſe Images of that Croſſe. For it is that which doth become a ſnare unto the ignorant people: As Gideon made an Ephod of gold, and put it in his City, Judges 8 27. and all Iſrael went thither, a whoring after it, which thing became a ſnare unto Gideon, and to his houſe: And ſeeing Papiſts will worſhip a Croſſe at Rome, ſurely they will then worſhip it alſo in England, and your ſelves know alſo what reſpect hath been ſhewed to this Croſſe, by Popiſhly affected amongſt us. Beſides the beautifying of this Croſſe, was a lauiſhing of your gold. And though you laviſhed it not on it, as on an Idoll, but as an ornament, yet it being an Idoll, your gold was laviſhed on it, as on an Idoll. O, this Croſſe, is one of the Jewels of the Whore of Rome, & its left and kept here as a Love-token, And gives them hope, one day, that they ſhall enjoy it; and us again. Therefore this is one of the ſpeciall plague tokens of Gods anger, and it ſhews this Land in generall, nay, this City in particular, to be a people God is angry with.
What this Reverend man feared then, and was much troubled at in his owne ſpirit, (as his often expreſſions yet, in the memory of his familiar friends teſtified) namely, that the wrath and judgements of God ſhortly would fall down upon this Kingdom and City, we have found, and with ſad hearts have cauſe to acknowledge, having felt the ſmart of it not only in this the great decay of trade which hath occaſioned the ſinking of many chief Citizens amongſt us, but that which is more then either our trades or lives, the great decay of the Goſpel, the faithfull Preachers thereof being hunted out from amongſt us, And this religious pious man, a leſſed light, was enforced in the midſt of his dayes to breath his laſt in a ſtrange Land.
If more Arguments in this kind are deſired, you may read at large a new Treatiſe of Maſter Gurney againſt Images, extracted out of the Homilies.
There is not ſuch a ſuperſtitious Monument in Spain, France, no not in Rome, nor in any part of the Chriſtian World as this Croſſe is, as Travellers report: & that we ſhould gild it, & Papiſts adore it on their knees, (as many witneſſes teſtifie) is abominable, wee doubt not but our Worthies in the Honorable Houſes of Parliament will take away the memory of it.
FINIS.
End of the text · Archbishop George Abbot, Letter Censuring Cheapside Cross (1641)