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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13133 ***
+
+TEN REASONS PROPOSED TO HIS ADVERSARIES FOR DISPUTATION IN THE
+NAME OF THE FAITH AND PRESENTED TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEMBERS OF OUR
+UNIVERSITIES BY EDMUND CAMPION PRIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF THE NAME
+OF JESUS Nihil Obstat S. GEORGIUS KIERAN HYLAND, S.T.D, CENSOR
+DEPUTATUS Imprimatur + PETRUS EPUS SOUTHWARC CONTENTS
+INTRODUCTION RATIONES DECEM TRANSLATION INTRODUCTION
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Though Blessed Edmund Campion's _Decem Rationes_ has passed
+through forty-seven editions,[1] printed in all parts of Europe;
+though it has awakened the enthusiasm of thousands; though Mark
+Anthony Muret, one of the chief Catholic humanists of Campion's
+age, pronounced it to be "written by the finger of God," yet it
+is not an easy book for men of our generation to appreciate, and
+this precisely because it suited a bygone generation so exactly.
+Before it can be esteemed at its true value, some knowledge of
+the circumstances under which it was written, is indispensable.
+
+1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE _Decem Rationes_.
+
+The chief point to remember is that the _Decem Rationes_ was the
+last and most deliberate free utterance of Campion's
+ever-memorable mission. During the few months that mission
+lasted he succeeded in staying the full tide of victorious
+Protestantism, which had hitherto been irresistible. The ancient
+Church had gone down before the new religion, at Elizabeth's
+accession twenty years before, with an apparently final fall,
+and since then the Elizabethan Settlement had triumphed in every
+church, in every school and court. The new generation had been
+moulded by it; the old order seemed to be utterly prostrate,
+defeated and moribund. Nor was it only at home that
+Protestantism talked of victory. In every neighbouring land she
+had gained or was gaining the upper hand. She had crossed the
+Border and subdued Scotland, she held Ireland in an iron grip,
+she had set up a new throne in Holland, she had deeply divided
+France, and had learned how to paralyze the power of Spain. What
+could stay her progress?
+
+Then a new figure appeared, a fugitive flying before the law. He
+was hunted backwards and forwards across the country, every man's
+hand seemed against him. It was impossible to hold out for long
+against such immense odds, and he was in fact soon captured,
+mocked, maligned, sentenced and executed with contumely. Yet
+Campion and his handful of followers had meanwhile succeeded in
+doing what the whole nation, when united, had failed to do. He
+had evoked a spirit of faith and fervour, against which the
+violence of Protestantism raged in vain. He had saved the beaten,
+shattered fragments of the ancient host, and animated them with
+invincible courage; and his work endured in spite of endless
+assaults and centuries of persecution. The _Decem Rationes_ is
+Campion's harangue to those whom he called upon to follow him in
+the heroic struggle.
+
+2. THE MAN AND THE MISSION.
+
+Thus much for the inspiration and general significance of
+Campion's work considered as a whole. It will also repay a much
+more minute study, and to appreciate it we must enter into
+further details.
+
+As to the man himself, suffice it to say that he was a Londoner;
+his father a publisher; his first school Christ's Hospital; that
+he was afterwards a Fellow of St. John's, Oxford, and held at the
+same time an exhibition from the Grocer's Company. At Oxford he
+accepted to some extent the Elizabethan Settlement of religion,
+but not sufficiently to satisfy the Company of Grocers, who
+eventually withdrew their exhibition. This was a sign for further
+inquisitorial proceedings, which made him leave the University,
+and retire to Dublin; but he was driven also thence by the
+zealots for Protestantism. Eventually he went over to the English
+College at Douay, whence he migrated to Rome, entered the Society
+of Jesus, and after eight years' training had returned, a priest,
+to his native country, forty years old. His strong point was
+undoubtedly a singularly lovable character, and he possessed the
+gift of eloquence in no ordinary degree. For the rest, his
+natural qualities and acquired accomplishments were above the
+ordinary level, without reaching an extraordinary height. He was
+a man who never ceased working, and whose temper was always
+angelic, though he sometimes suffered from severe depression. He
+was adored by his pupils both at Oxford and in Bohemia. His
+memory was always bright, and his conversation always sparkled
+with fresh thoughts and poetical ideas. He composed with
+extraordinary facility in Latin prose and verse; but the extant
+fragments of these literary exercises do not strike us as being
+of unusual excellence, though genuinely admired in their day. He
+was certainly an ideal missioner: saintly, inspired, eloquent,
+untireable, patient, consumed with the desire for the success of
+his undertaking, and unfaltering in his faith that success would
+follow by the providential action of God, despite the obvious
+fact that all appearances were against him.
+
+Campion landed at Dover late in June, 1580, and reached London
+at the end of the month. There was an immediate rush to hear
+him, and Lord Paget was persuaded to lend his great hall at
+Paget House in Smithfield to accommodate a congregation for the
+feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The sermon was delivered on the
+text from the Gospel of the day, _Tu es Christus, Filius Dei
+vivi_. The hall was filled, and the impression caused by the
+sermon was profound; but the number of hearers had been
+imprudently large. Though no arrests followed, the persecutors
+took the alarm, and increased their activity to such an extent
+that large gatherings had for ever to be abandoned; and after a
+couple of weeks both Campion and Persons left London to escape
+the notice of the pursuivants, whose raids and inquisitorial
+searches were making the lot of Catholics in town unbearable,
+whereas in the country the pursuit was far less active, and
+could be much more easily avoided. The two Fathers met for the
+last time at Hoxton, then a village outside London, to concert
+their plans for the next couple of months, and were on the point
+of starting, each for his own destination, when a Catholic of
+some note rode up from London. This was Thomas Pounde, of
+Belmont or Beaumont, near Bedhampton, a landed gentleman of
+means, an enthusiastic Catholic, and for the last five years or
+so a prisoner for religion. Mr. Pounde's message in effect was
+this. "You are going into the proximate danger of capture, and
+if captured you must expect not justice, but every refinement of
+misrepresentation. You will be asked crooked questions, and your
+answers to them will be published in some debased form. Be sure
+that whatever then comes through to the outer world will come
+out poisoned and perverted. Let me therefore urge you to write
+now, and to leave in safe custody, what you would wish to have
+published then, in case infamous rumours should be put about
+during your incarceration, rumours which you will then not be
+able to answer or to repudiate." Father Persons seems to have
+agreed at once. Campion at first raised objections, but soon,
+with his ever obliging temper, sat down at the end of the table
+and wrote off in half an hour an open letter _To the Lords of
+Her Majesty's Privy Council_, afterwards so well known as
+_Campion's Challenge._
+
+3. THE CHALLENGE.
+
+Campion, after finishing his letter and taking copy for himself,
+had consigned the other copy to Pounde. Persons had done the
+same; but whereas the latter took the precaution to seal his
+letter, Campion had handed over his unfastened. Then the company
+broke up. Persons made a wide circle from Northampton round to
+Gloucester, while Campion made a smaller circle from Oxfordshire
+up to Northampton. When they got back to town in September, they
+found all the world discussing "the Challenge." What had happened
+was that proceedings had been taken by the Ecclesiastical
+Commission against Pounde, and he had been committed to solitary
+confinement in the ruinous castle of Bishop's Stortford. Before
+he left London he began to communicate the letter to others, lest
+it should be altogether lost, and as soon as it was thus
+published it attracted everyone's attention, and his adversaries
+had ironically christened it _the challenge_. The word was indeed
+one which Campion had used, but he had employed it precisely in
+order to avoid any charge that might have arisen, of being
+combative and presumptuous.
+
+Thus in the course of three months Campion, as it were in spite
+of himself, had filled England with his name and with the message
+he had come to announce, and he had reduced his adversaries to a
+very ridiculous position. They had been dared to meet him in
+disputation, and this they feared to do. In effect, they in their
+thousands were hiding their heads in the sand, while their
+constables and pursuivants were raiding the houses of Catholics
+on every side in hopes of catching the homeless wanderer, and of
+stopping his mouth by violence. The pulpits, of course, rang with
+outcries against the newcomer, and in his absence his doctrines
+were rent and scoffed at; but, as Campion said in a contemporary
+letter, "The people hereupon is ours, and the error of spreading
+that letter abroad hath done us much good." This was the first
+popular success which the Catholics had scored for years; and
+after so many years of oppression some popular success was of
+immense importance to the cause. Father Persons, in a
+contemporary letter, says that the Government found that there
+were 50,000 more recusants that autumn than they had known of
+before. The number is, of course, a round one, and is possibly
+much exaggerated, but it gives the Catholic leader's view of the
+advantage won at this time.
+
+We may now turn to _The Challenge_ itself, the only piece of
+Campion's English during this his golden period, which has survived.
+
+[TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, THE LORDS OF HER MAJESTIE'S PRIVY COUNCIL]
+
+RIGHT HONOURABLE:
+
+Whereas I have come out of Germanie and Boemeland, being sent by
+my Superiors, and adventured myself into this noble Realm, my
+deare Countrie, for the glorie of God and benefit of souls, I
+thought it like enough that, in this busie watchful and
+suspicious worlde, I should either sooner or later be intercepted
+and stopped of my course. Wherefore, providing for all events,
+and uncertaine what may become of me, when God shall haply
+deliver my body into durance, I supposed it needful to put this
+writing in a readiness, desiringe your good Lordships to give it
+ye reading, for to know my cause. This doing I trust I shall ease
+you of some labour. For that which otherwise you must have sought
+for by practice of wit, I do now lay into your hands by plaine
+confession. And to ye intent that the whole matter may be
+conceived in order, and so the better both understood and
+remembered, I make thereof these ix points or articles, directly,
+truly and resolutely opening my full enterprise and purpose.
+
+i. I confesse that I am (albeit unworthie) a priest of ye Catholike
+Church, and through ye great mercie of God vowed now these viii
+years into the Religion of the Societie of Jhesus. Hereby I have
+taken upon me a special kind of warfare under the banner of
+obedience, and eke resigned all my interest or possibilitie of
+wealth, honour, pleasure, and other worldlie felicitie.
+
+ii. At the voice of our General Provost, which is to me a
+warrant from heaven, and Oracle of Christ, I tooke my voyage
+from Prage to Rome (where our said General Father is always
+resident) and from Rome to England, as I might and would have
+done joyously into any part of Christendome or Heathenesse, had
+I been thereto assigned.
+
+iii. My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to
+minister the Sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reforme
+sinners, to confute errors--in brief, to crie alarme spiritual
+against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many my dear
+Countrymen are abused.
+
+iv. I never had mind, and am strictly forbidden by our Father that
+sent me, to deal in any respect with matter of State or Policy of
+this realm, as things which appertain not to my vocation, and from
+which I do gladly restrain and sequester my thoughts.
+
+v. I do ask, to the glory of God, with all humility, and under
+your correction, iii sortes of indifferent and quiet audiences:
+_the first_ before your Honours, wherein I will discourse of
+religion, so far as it toucheth the common weale and your
+nobilities: _the second_, whereof I make more account, before the
+Doctors and Masters and chosen men of both Universities, wherein
+I undertake to avow the faith of our Catholike Church by proofs
+innumerable, Scriptures, Councils, Fathers, History, natural and
+moral reasons: _the third_ before the lawyers, spiritual and
+temporal, wherein I will justify the said faith by the common
+wisdom of the laws standing yet in force and practice.
+
+vi. I would be loth to speak anything that might sound of any
+insolent brag or challenge, especially being now as a dead man
+to this world and willing to put my head under every man's foot,
+and to kiss the ground they tread upon. Yet have I such a
+courage in avouching the Majesty of Jhesus my King, and such
+affiance in his gracious favour, and such assurance in my
+quarrel, and my evidence so impregnable, and because I know
+perfectly that no one Protestant, nor all the Protestants
+living, nor any sect of our adversaries (howsoever they face men
+down in pulpits, and overrule us in their kingdom of grammarians
+and unlearned ears)[2] can maintain their doctrine in
+disputation. I am to sue most humbly and instantly for the
+combat with all and every of them, and the most principal that
+may be found: protesting that in this trial the better furnished
+they come, the better welcome they shall be.
+
+vii. And because it hath pleased God to enrich the Queen my
+Sovereign Ladye with notable gifts of nature, learning, and
+princely education, I do verily trust that--if her Highness would
+vouchsafe her royal person and good attention to such a
+conference as, in the ii part of my fifth article I have
+motioned, or to a few sermons, which in her or your hearing I am
+to utter,--such manifest and fair light by good method and plain
+dealing may be cast upon these controversies, that possibly her
+zeal of truth and love of her people shall incline her noble
+Grace to disfavour some proceedings hurtful to the Realm, and
+procure towards us oppressed more equitie.
+
+viii. Moreover I doubt not but you her Highness' Council being, of
+such wisdom and discreet in cases most important, when you shall
+have heard these questions of religion opened faithfully, which
+many times by our adversaries are huddled up and confounded, will
+see upon what substantial grounds our Catholike Faith is builded,
+how feeble that side is which by sway of the time prevaileth
+against us, and so at last for your own souls, and for many
+thousand souls that depend upon your government, will
+discountenance error when it is bewrayed, and hearken to those
+who would spend the best blood in their bodies for your
+salvation. Many innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you
+daily by those English students, whose posteritie shall never
+die, which beyond seas gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge
+for the purpose, are determined never to give you over, but
+either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes. And touching
+our Societie be it known to you that we have made a league--all
+the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must
+overreach all the practices of England--cheerfully to carry the
+cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery,
+while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked
+with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is
+reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be
+withstood. So the faith was planted: so it must be restored.
+
+ix. If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no
+place, and I, having run thousands of miles to do you good, shall
+be rewarded with rigour, I have no more to say but to recommend
+your case and mine to Almightie God, the Searcher of Hearts, who
+send us His grace, and set us at accord before the day of
+payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven, when all
+injuries shall be forgotten.
+
+   *   *   *   *   *
+
+"Direct, true, and resolute," Campion's words certainly are, and
+they are calculated in a remarkable degree to reassure and
+animate his fellow Catholics and their friends, and it is for
+them in reality, rather than for the Lords of the Council, that
+the message is composed. If the composition has a fault it is its
+combativeness; and in effect, though this drawback was not felt
+at the time, it was later. Subsequent missionaries found it best
+to adopt a policy of far greater secrecy and silence. If,
+however, we remember that Campion intended his paper to be
+published under quite different circumstances, we can see that he
+at least hardly deserves the reproach of being contentious, or if
+he does, his failing was venial when we consider the tastes of
+the age. The immediate result of the publication was without
+question a great success.
+
+THE "DECEM RATIONES."
+
+Like a wise general, Father Persons at once bethought himself how
+best to follow up the good beginning already made. Accordingly,
+when he and Campion met at Uxbridge (for it was not safe for
+Campion to come to London), he suggested that the latter, seeing
+that his memory was still green at Oxford, should compose a short
+address on the crisis to the students of the two Universities.
+Campion met the suggestion as he had met the suggestion of
+Pounde, with a gentle disclaimer, "alleging divers difficulties,"
+but soon good-humouredly assented on the condition (not a usual
+one with literary men) that someone else should propose the
+subject. The company therefore made various suggestions, none of
+which met with general acceptance, until Campion proposed "Heresy
+in Despair." "Whereat," adds Persons, "all that were present
+could not choose but laugh, and wonder to see him fall upon that
+argument at such a time when heresy seemed most of all to
+triumph." In truth, with England invincible at sea and on land,
+and the absolute sway of Elizabeth, Cecil, and Walsingham over
+both Church and State, what more hopeful position for
+Protestantism could have been imagined? Campion's meaning, of
+course, was that Protestantism was in despair of holding the
+position of the ancient Church; of ruling in the hearts of a free
+people; of co-existing with Christian liberty. It was unworthy,
+therefore, of the acceptance of minds that aspired to mental
+freedom, as did the youth of the Universities. This subject for
+an address was welcomed with acclamation, and Campion promised to
+undertake it, suggesting on his side that Persons should arrange
+ways and means for printing the tract when finished, and any
+other which might seem needed.
+
+This agreed to, all separated once more, and Campion rode
+northwards on a tour which he took in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and
+Lancashire, and which was not over for six months. Meantime
+Father Persons had set up his "magic press" near London, and
+issued from it five volumes of small size indeed, but of
+remarkable vigour and merit. As soon as any notable attack was
+made on the Catholics, an answer was brought out in a wonderfully
+short time, and these answers were pithy, vigorous, and pointed,
+in no ordinary degree. When one remembers how much co-operation
+is needed to bring out even the slightest volume, one is truly
+astonished at the feat of bringing out so many and such good
+ones, while the hourly fear of capture, torture, and death hung
+over the heads of all. When threatened with danger in one place
+the press was bodily transported to another.
+
+However, our business at present is not with Persons, but with
+Campion. His book was finished and sent up to Persons in March,
+1581, with a title altered to suit the controversy which had
+already begun. It was now _Decem Rationes: quibus fretus,
+certamen adversariis obtulit in causa Fidei, Edmundus Campianus
+&c._ "Ten Reasons, for the confidence with which Edmund Campion
+offered his adversaries to dispute on behalf of the Faith, set
+before the famous men of our Universities." Persons was charmed,
+as he had expected to be, with its literary grace. It was in
+Latin, as had been agreed, and Campion's Latin prose, (though
+critics of our time find it somewhat silvery and Livian), suited
+the tastes of that day to perfection. The only thing which made
+Persons at all thoughtful was the number of references. Campion
+declared that he was sure he had verified them, as he entered
+them in his notebook, but Persons, with greater caution, declared
+that they must be verified anew.
+
+The difficulty of this for men living under the ban, and cut off
+from access to large libraries, was of course great, but through
+the help of others, especially through Mr. Thomas Fitzherbert of
+Swynnerton, the task was happily accomplished. Campion came up
+from the north to Stonor, on the Oxfordshire border where the
+secret press then was; and there, amid a thousand fears, alarms
+and dangers, the book was printed.
+
+5. THE PRINTING.
+
+Of the actual preparations for printing the _Ten Reasons_,
+Persons gives this account in his memoirs[3]: Persons was of
+opinion that Campion should come up to London immediately after
+Easter [March 26th] to examine the passages quoted, and to assist
+the print. Meanwhile Persons began to prepare new means of
+printing, making use of friends and in particular of a certain
+priest called William Morris, a learned and resourceful man, who
+afterwards died in Rome.[4] This was necessary, as the first
+press near London, where the first two books had been printed,
+had been taken down. Eventually and with very great difficulty he
+found, after much trying, a house belonging to a widow, by name
+Lady Stonor, in which she was not living at that time. It was
+situated in the middle of a wood, twenty miles from London.
+
+To this house were taken all things necessary, that is, type,
+press, paper, &c., though not without many risks. Mr. Stephen
+Brinkley, a gentleman of high attainments both in literature and
+in virtue, superintended the printing. Father Campion then coming
+to London, with his book already revised, went at once to the
+house in the wood, where the book was printed and eventually
+published. Persons too went down to stay with him for some days
+to take counsel on their affairs.
+
+* * * * *
+
+Stonor Park, to which Campion and Persons had betaken
+themselves,[5] is still in the possession of the old Catholic
+family of that name, of which Lord Camoys is the representative.
+Father Morris says that "the printing, according to the
+traditions of the place, was carried on in the attics of the old
+house."[6] Being near Henley it was possible to go there by road
+or by water, and one might come and go on the Oxford high-road
+without attracting attention.
+
+Still there was grave risk of discovery from the noise made by
+the press, and from the number of extra men about the house, as
+to the fidelity of each of whom it was impossible to be
+absolutely sure. Day by day the dangers thickened round them.
+One evening, soon after their arrival, William Hartley, a priest
+and afterwards a martyr, who was helping in the work, and had
+then just come back from a visit to Oxford, mentioned casually
+that Roland Jenks, the Catholic stationer and book-binder there,
+was again in trouble, having been accused by his own servant.
+Jenks was doubtless known to all Oxford men, indeed but three
+years before his name had been noised all over Europe. He had
+been sentenced to have his ears cut off for some religious
+offence, when the Judge was taken ill in the court itself, and,
+the infection travelling with marvellous rapidity, the greater
+part both of the bench and of the jury were stricken down with
+gaol fever, and two judges, twelve justices, and other high
+officials, almost the whole jury, and many others, died within
+the space of two days.[7]
+
+In mentioning Jenks's new troubles Hartley probably did not
+realize the extent of the danger to the whole party which they
+portended. Persons had in fact employed the very servant who had
+now turned traitor, to bind a number of books for him at his
+house near Bridewell Church, London, which with all its contents
+was thus in a perilous condition. Early next morning an express
+messenger was sent in to town with orders to hide or destroy
+Persons' papers and other effects. It was already too late: that
+very night the house had been searched, and Persons' letters,
+books, vestments, rosaries, pictures, and other pious objects,
+had all fallen into the hands of the pursuivants. Worse still,
+Father Alexander Briant, afterwards a martyr, and one of the
+brightest and most lovable of the missionaries, was seized next
+door, and hurried off first to the Counter, then to the Tower,
+where he was repeatedly and most cruelly racked to make him say
+where Persons might be found.
+
+Information about his torture was brought to the Jesuits at
+Stonor, and one can easily see how grave and disturbing such
+bad news must have been. "For almost the whole of one night,"
+says Persons, "Campion and I sat up talking of what we had
+better do, if we should fall into their hands. A fate which
+befell him soon after."
+
+The Registers of the Privy Council inform us that their Lordships
+gave orders to have Jenks sent up to London on the 28th of April.
+This settles approximately the date of the beginning of the
+printing at Stonor, and the book was not finished till nearly the
+end of June. So the work lasted about nine weeks, a fairly long
+period when we consider the smallness of the Latin book, here
+reproduced. It will, however, be shown from intrinsic evidence,
+that the stock of type was very small. The printers had to set up
+a few pages at a time, to correct them at once, and to print off,
+before they could go any further. Then they distributed the type
+and began again. When all was finished they rapidly stabbed and
+bound their sheets. Considering the fewness of the workmen[8] and
+the unforeseen delays which so often occur during printing, the
+time taken over the production does not seem extraordinary.
+
+For many years no example of the original edition of the _Decem
+Rationes_ was known to exist: none of our great public libraries
+in London or at the Universities possesses a copy. But it was the
+singular good fortune of the late Marquess of Bute to pick up two
+copies of this extremely rare volume, and he munificently
+presented one of them to Stonyhurst College. Canon Gunning of
+Winchester is the happy owner of a third copy. By the courtesy of
+the Rector of Stonyhurst, I am able to offer a minute description
+of the precious little book.
+
+The volume is, considering the printing of that time, distinctly
+well got up. There is nothing at first sight to suggest that its
+publication had been a matter of so much difficulty and danger;
+but when one scrutinizes every page with care, one finds that it
+bears about it some traces of the unusual circumstances under
+which it was produced.
+
+If we look first for the water-mark in the paper we shall find
+that it is the pot--the ordinary English sign; a proof, if one
+were needed, that the book was really printed in this country.
+The sheets run from A to K (with prefixed [double-dagger]), in
+fours, 16mo; the folios are 44, of which 39 are numbered (but by
+accident the pagination is omitted from 1 to 4 and 40 is blank as
+well as the fly-leaves).
+
+Let us think of what this means. Eleven signatures for 44 folios,
+16mo, means that only eight pages 16mo went into each printing
+frame, or, in other words, that the frame was so small that it
+would have been covered by half a folio sheet, 9 by 13 inches.
+They probably printed off each little sheet by itself, for if
+they had had a larger frame so as to print an entire folio
+sheet--then we should have found in the finished book that the
+water-mark would recur once in each sixteen pages. In point of
+fact, however, it only recurs irregularly in the first, fifth,
+and tenth gathering. This could not have occurred unless the
+sheets used were of half folio size.
+
+A Greek fount was evidently wanting. Campion was fond, after the
+fashion of scholars of that day, of throwing into his Latin
+letters a word or two of Greek, which in his autograph are
+written, as Mr. Simpson has remarked, with the facility of one
+familiar with the language. Here on fol. 24 a we find _adynata_,
+where [Greek: adunata] would have been in Campion's epistolary
+manner. Again, on fol. 4 b he quotes, "Hic calix novum
+testamentum in sanguine meo, qui (calix) pro vobis fundetur," and
+in the margin _Poterion Ekchynomenon_, in Italics, where Greek
+script, if obtainable, would obviously have been preferred. A
+further indication of the difficulties under which type had been
+procured is seen in the use of a query sign of a black-letter
+fount (_i.e. [different question mark]_) instead of the Roman
+fount (_i.e.,?_). This will be the more readily comprehended when
+we remember that Father Persons' books, which Brinkley had
+printed before, were in English, and that English prose was then
+still generally printed in Gothic character[9].
+
+So Persons also made use of it in order that there might be
+nothing in his books to strike the eye as unusual in books of
+that class. Campion's volume on the other hand being in Latin, it
+was necessary to procure a new set of "Roman" type. The use of
+the black-letter query-signs would not at once attract attention,
+so they were kept, though all else was changed.
+
+A further trace of the difficulty in finding type is found in
+the signs for a, e, diphthong. This combination recurred very
+frequently in Latin, and the printers had very few of them. Very
+soon after starting we find them substituting for Roman an
+Italic diphthong, [ae ligature] also o, e ([oe ligature]), and
+even e, an ordinary mediaeval form of the sign. It will be
+noticed that these substitutions become increasingly frequent,
+as we approach fol. 12 (end of signature C), fol. 32 (end of
+signature H), and 36 (end of signature I), whereas as soon as
+the next signature begins the fount of [ae ligature] is ready to
+hand again. The conclusion to be deduced is that leaves C, H,
+and I were each printed off, and the type distributed, before
+the setting up of D, I, and K could be proceeded with. This
+illustrates what has been said before of the very small stock of
+type in the printing establishment.
+
+Another slight peculiarity ought perhaps to be noticed: it is
+the accentuation of the Latin. Adverbs, for instance, are
+generally accented on the last syllable, e.g., doctiu's,
+facile', qua'm, eo', quo': the rule, however, is by no means
+regularly kept. But this has evidently nothing to do with the
+peculiar conditions under which Campion's book was produced, and
+is to be accounted for by the use of accents in other
+publications of the same class. Nothing was then definitely
+settled about the accentuation of either French, Italian, or
+Latin, and Campion's volume does but reproduce the uncertainty
+on the matter which was everywhere prevalent.
+
+Whilst the printers were contending with the difficulties arising
+from the smallness of their stock of type, difficulties which no
+doubt caused vexatious and dangerous delays, Campion and Persons
+resumed their missionary labours with vigour. In his Memoirs
+Persons writes:
+
+* * * * *
+
+Whilst the preparations were being made Campion preached
+unweariedly, sometimes in London, sometimes making excursions.
+There was one place [that of the Bellamy's] whither we often
+went, about five miles from London, called Harohill. In going
+thither we had to pass through Tyburn. But Campion would always
+pass bareheaded, and making a deep bow both because of the sign
+of the Cross, and in honour of some martyrs who had suffered
+there, and also because he used to say that he would have his
+combat there.[10]
+
+* * * * *
+
+Father Bombino[11] managed to find out some further details. Mrs.
+Bellamy's house, he tells us, had a good library, and as to
+Campion's conduct at Tyburn, he explains that the shape of the
+gallows was a triangle, supported at its three angles by three
+baulks of timber; the tie-beams, however, suggested to Campion
+the Cross of Christ.
+
+From the State Papers we hear of other families and places said
+to have been visited by Campion at this period: the Prices, of
+Huntingdon; Mr. William Griffith, of Uxbridge; Mr. Edwin East, of
+Bledlow, Bucks; Lady Babington, at Twyford, Bucks; Mr. Dormer, at
+Wynge, and Mrs. Pollard.[12]
+
+In spite of alarms, dangers, and interruptions, the work of
+printing was concluded without mishap. The method of publication
+was singular. Hartley took the bulk of the copies to Oxford,
+where the chief academical display of the year, the Act, as it
+was called, was taking place in St. Mary's, on several successive
+days. Hartley, coming in at the end of the first day, waited for
+every one to go out, then slipped his little books under the
+papers left on the seats, and was gone. Next morning he entered
+with the rest, and soon saw that his plan had been perfectly
+successful. The public disputation began, but the attention of
+the audience was elsewhere. There was whispering and comparing
+notes, and passing about of little books, and as soon as the
+seance was over, open discussion of Campion's "Reasons." Hartley
+did not wait for more, but rode back to Stonor with the news that
+the book had surely hit its mark.
+
+At Oxford, as Father Persons says, many remembered and loved the
+man, or at least knew of his gentle character, and of the career
+he had abandoned to become a Catholic missionary. The book
+recalled all this; and to those who were able to enter into its
+spirit it preached with a strange penetrating force. By all the
+lovers of classical Latin, and there were many such at that day,
+it was read greedily. The Catholics and lovers of the old Faith
+received it with enthusiasm, but a still more valid testimony to
+its power was given by the Protestant Government, which gave
+orders to its placemen that they should elaborate replies. These
+replies drew forth answers from the Catholics, and the controversy
+lasted for several years. Mr. Simpson has included an outline of
+this controversy in his _Life of Campion_, and to it I may refer
+my readers, having nothing substantial to add to his account.
+
+6. CRITICISM.
+
+It would not be necessary for me to say more about its success,
+except that to us nowadays, the _Rationes_ will not seem at all
+so remarkable as it did to our ancestors. Religious controversy,
+in itself, does not much interest us moderns; and those who will
+read Latin merely to enjoy the style are very few. But in the
+sixteenth century, as Sir Arthur Helps truly says, men found in
+the thrill of controversy the interest they now take in novels.
+At that time, too, of all literary charms, that of good Latin
+prose was by far the most popular, and the language was still the
+"lingua franca" of the learned all the world over. Once we get so
+far as to appreciate that both subject and style were in its
+favour, the popularity of the volume will seem natural enough,
+for it is bright, pointed, strong, full of matter, bold,
+eloquent, convincing.
+
+Without attempting anything like a complete account of the
+reception of the book by the public, I may mention as the most
+obvious proof of its popularity, that more strenuous endeavours
+were made (so far as I can discover) to answer it than were made
+in the case of any other assault upon the Elizabethan religious
+settlement. Lord Burghley himself, the chief minister of the
+Crown, called upon the Bishop of London, perhaps the most forward
+man then on the episcopal bench, to use all endeavours to ensure
+the publication of a sufficient answer. Finally they appointed
+the Regius Professors of Divinity both at Oxford and at Cambridge
+to provide for the occasion, and it took both of these a long
+series of months to propound their answers to Campion's tract,
+which is only as long as a magazine article. Speaking broadly, we
+may say that this was the most that Elizabeth's Establishment
+could do officially; and besides this, there were sermons
+innumerable, and pamphlets not a few by lesser men, as well as
+disputations in the Tower, of which more must be said later.
+
+This hostile evidence is so striking and so ample that it might
+seem unnecessary to allege more, but I attach a great deal more
+importance to the praise of theologians of Campion's own faith:
+for, in the first place this is much harder to obtain than the
+attention of the persons attacked. Secondly, those who are
+acquainted with Catholic theological criticism are at first
+surprised to find what very severe critics Catholic theologians
+are one of another. In this case, where the writer had from the
+nature of his task to make so much use of rhetorical arguments,
+allusions, irony, and unusual forms of expression, there was
+more than usual chance of fault being found, especially as every
+possible thorny subject is introduced somehow, and that in terms
+meant to please not Roman theologians, but Oxford students.
+Evidently there was danger here that critics should or might be
+severe, or at least insist on certain changes and emendations.
+In fact the work was received with joy, and reprinted frequently
+and with honour. I have lately found a letter in its
+commendation from the Cardinal Secretary of State of that day,
+and Muret, as we have heard, perhaps the greatest humanist then
+living in the Catholic ranks, described it as "Libellum aureum,
+vere digito Dei scriptum."
+
+7. THE DISPUTATIONS.
+
+The publication of the _Decem Rationes_ was the last act of
+Campion's life of freedom. He was seized the very next week, and
+after five months of suffering was martyred on 1 December, 1581.
+During that prolonged and unequal struggle against every variety
+of craft and violence the _Ten Reasons_ continued to have their
+influence, and on the whole they were extremely helpful, for
+they enabled the martyr to recover some ground which he had lost
+while under torture. During those awful agonies he confessed to
+having found shelter in the houses of certain gentlemen. It is
+certain that these names were all known to the Government
+before, and that he was not betraying any secret. Nevertheless
+the gentlemen in question were at once seized, imprisoned and
+fined, on the alleged evidence of Campion's confessions only.
+This of course caused much scandal among Catholics, and so long
+as he lay lost in the Tower dungeons, unpleasant rumours about
+his constancy could not be effectively contradicted. Thus far
+Elizabeth's ministers had gained an advantage, which Pounde had
+foretold they were likely to win. But the remedy he had
+suggested also proved effective.
+
+Though under ordinary circumstances Elizabeth's ministers "meant
+nothing less" than having the disputation requested, nevertheless
+now that Campion was so terribly shaken and reduced, they hoped
+that they might arrange some sort of a meeting, which might in
+show correspond with what had been demanded in the _Decem
+Rationes_, and yet leave them with a certain victory. They were
+emboldened too, by finding that their prisoner was not after all,
+such a particularly learned man. He had never been a professor of
+theology, or written or made special studies, beyond the ordinary
+course which in those days was not a long one. It was, therefore,
+settled that four disputations should be held in the Tower of
+London. Theology was still taught at Oxford and Cambridge in
+something of the old mediaeval method and in syllogistic form.
+The men who were pitted against Campion had lately been, or were
+still, examiners at the Universities. Nor is it to be denied for
+a moment that they did their work well. The attack never
+faltered. Their own side quite believed they had won. The method
+they adopted was this. They assumed the role of examiners, and
+starting with the _Decem Rationes_ before them, they plied
+Campion with crabbed texts, and obscure quotations from the
+Fathers. Then they cut short his answers, and as soon as one had
+examined for one quarter of an hour, another took his place, for
+they were anxious above all things to avoid defeat. The number of
+topics broached and left unsettled surpasses belief, indeed the
+scene was one of utter confusion, taunts, scoldings, sneers--a
+very, very different test from the academic argumentation, which
+Campion had requested.
+
+The martyr did not show any remarkable erudition, indeed all
+opportunity to do so was carefully shut off. No University, I
+fancy, would have given him a chair of theology on the strength
+of his replies on that occasion. There was more than one
+premature assertion of victory on the Protestant side. But when
+the Catholic and Protestant accounts are compared, one sees that
+the advantages won against Campion were slight. They evidently
+hoped that by vigorous and repeated attacks they would at last
+puzzle or bear him down. But they were never near this. He was
+always fresh and gay, never in difficulties, or at the end of his
+tether. He stands out quite the noblest, the most sympathetic and
+important figure in those motley assemblies. The Catholics were
+delighted. They succeeded in getting their own report of the
+disputations, which is still extant, and they would have printed
+it, if they had been able. Philip, Earl of Arundel, by far the
+most important convert of that generation, was won over by what
+he heard in those debates.
+
+On the whole then we must say that, if Campion did not come off
+gloriously, he at least acquitted himself well and honourably,
+and distinctly gained by the conflict. Offers of disputation were
+not the ideal way of forwarding a mission such as his.
+Nevertheless, in his case, despite circumstances the most
+adverse, the result had proved advantageous. It had greatly
+strengthened and encouraged his own followers, and that was in
+reality the best that could then be expected. Incidentally too
+the adverse rumours, which had gained ground during his
+seclusion, were dissipated. It was clear that, though he might
+have been deceived, his constancy was unconquerable.
+
+Thus Campion's _Challenge_ and his _Ten Reasons_ not only contain
+the message of his mission enunciated with characteristic
+eloquence, but the delivery of each message is an history-making
+event, big with dramatic consequences. The controversy about his
+book did not die with him, but continued for some years, until it
+was merged into the standing controversy between the two
+religions. We cannot describe it here.
+
+Suffice it to say that Mr. Simpson, in the _Appendix_ to his
+_Edmund Campion_ enumerates not less than twenty works, which
+appeared in those controversies between 1581 and 1585. The chief
+defender of Father Campion's writings was Father Robert Drury,
+S.J., but all his biographers also have something to say on the
+subject. The chief opponents are William Charke, Meredith Hanmer,
+William Fulke, Laurence Humphrey, William Whitaker, R. Stoke,
+John Field, Alexander Nowell, and William Day. Some further
+information on the whole subject may be found in articles by the
+late Father Morris and myself in _The Month_ for July 1889,
+January 1905, and January 1910. [J.H.P.]
+
+[Footnote 1: Of these four are in English translations, dated
+1606 (by Richard Stock), 1632, 1687, and 1827. The present
+translation is thus the fifth into Campion's mother tongue.
+Though each of the quaint old versions has its merits, and some
+do not lack charm, not one would adequately represent Campion to
+the modern reader. A new translation was a necessity--may I not
+say, a most happy one--seeing that Father Joseph Rickaby was at
+hand to satisfy it. [J.H.P.]]
+
+[Footnote 2: The meaning is--"The ministers tyrannize over us, as
+if we were a kingdom of unlearned schoolboys, listening to a
+teacher of grammar."]
+
+[Footnote 3: _Catholic Record Society_ IV., 14-17.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Father Bombino calls him Richard Morris, and says he
+went into exile and lived with Allen first at Rheims, and
+afterwards at Rome, where he died in the English College. (_Vita
+Campiani_, p. 139)]
+
+[Footnote 5: Father Morris identified the lady who let or lent
+Stonor Park, with Dame Cecilia Stonor, daughter of Leonard
+Chamberlain. Father Persons describes her as a widow, and if so,
+the Sir Francis, then alive, was not her husband, but her son.
+Both father and son had the same Christian name.]
+
+[Footnote 6: On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Edward Stonor, in a
+correspondence to be mentioned immediately, says that there were
+no definite traditions as to the actual locality of the press.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Challoner, _Missionary Priests_, Introd. p. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 8: As five printers were subsequently arrested, we know
+their names, and they deserve to be recorded here, viz., Stephen
+Brinkley, John Harris, John Hervey, John Tuker, John Compton. Allen
+speaks of seven workmen. _Diary of the Tower and Douay Diary._]
+
+[Footnote 9: The custom however was already changing, and "Roman"
+type soon afterwards came into general use.]
+
+[Footnote 1: _Memoirs_, i. cap. 24; _Collectanea P._ fol. 155.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Bombino, _Vita Campiani_ 1620, p.136. Some of
+Bombino's additions are not, perhaps, arranged in their true
+chronological order. He tells us, for instance, a propos of
+Brinkley's difficulties in getting printers, that he had to dress
+them, and give them horses to ride, like gentlemen. But he does
+not make it clear whether these were the men who printed the _Ten
+Reasons_, or Persons' previous works. Bombino says that Brinkley
+paid for the type, &c., but Allen, in a contemporary letter, says
+that George Gilbert had left a fund for these purposes. Bombino
+says the printing of the _Decem Rationes_ was commenced at
+Brinkley's own house at Green Street, and had to be removed
+because one of the servants was arrested in London, and tortured
+to make him confess, which he heroically refused. Campion and
+Persons knowing of the torture, not of the man's constancy, at
+once removed the press. But Persons' _Memoirs_ ascribes this
+incident to an earlier period. (_Domestical Difficulties_, p.
+119; _Autobiography_ for 1581).]
+
+[Footnote 12: Simpson, p. 217, following Lansdowne MSS. xxx. 78]
+
+RATIONES DECEM
+
+QVIBVS FRETVS B. EDMVNDVS CAMPIANVS CERTAMEN ADVERSARIIS OBTVLIT
+IN CAVSA FIDEI, REDDITAE ACADEMICIS ANGLIAE.
+
+EPISTOLA [1]
+
+AD REGINAE ANGLIAE CONSILIARIOS, QUA PROFECTIONIS SUAE IN ANGLIAM
+INSTITUTUM DECLARAT, ET ADVERSARIOS AD CERTAMEN PROVOCAT
+
+Quandoquidem, viri ornatissimi, a Germania et Bohemia revocatus,
+non sine ingenti vitae meae periculo, in hoc florentissimum
+Angliae regnum, dulcissimam patriam meam, tandem aliquando
+perveni, pro Superiorum meorum voluntate, Dei gloriam et animarum
+salutem promoturus; verisimile esse putavi, me turbulento hoc,
+suspicioso ac difficillimo tempore, sive citius, sive aliquanto
+tardius, in medio cursu abreptum iri. Quapropter ignarus quid de
+me futurum sit, quum Dei permissu in carceres et vincula forte
+detrudendus sim, ad omnem eventum scriptum hoc condidi: quod ut
+legere, et ex eo causam meam cognoscere velitis, etiam atque
+etiam rogo. Fiet enim, ut hac re non parvo labore liberemini, dum
+quod multis ambagibus inquirere vos audio, id totem aperta
+confessione libere expromo. Atque ut rem omnem, quo melius et
+intelligi, et memoria comprehendi queat, compendio tradam, in
+novem omnino capita eam dispertiar.
+
+1. Profiteor me, quamvis indignum, Ecclesiae Catholicae
+sacerdotem, et iam octo abhinc annis magna Dei misericordia in
+Societatem nominis Iesu cooptatum, peculiare quoddam belli
+genus sub obedientiae vexillo suscepisse; ac simul me omni
+divitiarum, honorum et aliorum huiusmodi bonorum spe, et
+habendi potestate, abdicasse.
+
+2. Generalis Praepositi nostri decreto (quod ego tamquam mandatum
+coelitus missum, et a Christo ipso sancitum veneror), Praga Romam,
+ubi Generalis nostri perpetua sedes est; Roma deinde in Angliam
+contendi: qua animi alacritate etiam in quamcumque aliam orbis
+terrarum partem, sive ad christianos, sive ad infideles, profectus
+fuissem, si me ad eam profectionem superiores mei designassent.
+
+3. Negotium mihi commisum tale est, ut gratis Evangelium
+administrem, rudes in fide instituam, flagitiosos a scelere ad
+meliorem vitae rationem traducam, errores convellam; et, ut
+summatim omnia complectar, pugnae spiritualis signum tuba canam,
+atque alacriter adversus foeda flagitia et superbam ignorationem,
+qua innumeri cives mei, quos intimis animi visceribus complector,
+oppressi iacent, depugnem.
+
+4. Numquam mihi animus fuit, imo et a Patribus, qui me miserunt,
+severe prohibitum mihi est, ut ne reipublicae ac politicae huius
+regni administrationis negotiis me immisceam: nam et aliena haec
+sunt a vocationis meae instituto, et iis animum cogitationesque
+meas libenter avoco.
+
+5. Quamobrem vestra clementia fretus, ad gloriam Dei tria non
+minus aequa, quam ab omni pacis et tranquillitatis reipublicae
+perturbatione aliena, concedi mihi et permitti humillime postulo.
+Primum est, ut Dominationes vestrae, pro sua et reipublicae
+dignitate, me pro religione disserentem audire non graventur.
+Alterum, quod et cumprimis desidero, et maximi momenti esse
+arbitror, ut mihi liceat in consessu doctorum, magistorum et
+utriusque Academiae virorum insignium, sacrosanctae theologiae
+professorum, verba facere. Promitto me catholicae Ecclesiae fidem
+invictis rationibus et sacrarum Scripturarum, Conciliorum, Patrum
+atque historiarum auctoritate, ac denique ex ipsa tum naturali,
+tum morali philosophia efficaciter demonstraturum et defensurum.
+Tertium, ut audiar ab utriusque iuris, sive canonici, sive
+civilis, peritis, quibus eamdem fidei veritatem, legum, quae
+etiamnum vigent, testimonio atque auctoritate comprobabo.
+
+6. Nollem equidem quidquam proferre, quod insolentem
+provocationem aut arrogantiam aliquam prae se ferret; quum et
+mundo mortuus iam sim, et ex animo paratus promtusque, ut me ad
+cuiusvis pedes abiiciam ac vestigia etiam exosculer. Tantus tamen
+animus mihi est pro gloria et maiestate Regis mei Iesu
+amplificanda, tanta in eius favore fiducia, tanta denique in
+causae aequitate et firmissimorum argumentorum ac probationum
+robore confidentia, (quum certo sciam nullum protestantium, nec
+omnes simul iunctos, nec ullam adversariorum factionem,
+quantumvis imperitam multitudinem et grammaticos quosdam
+adolescentulos, apud quos insigniter debacchantur, in errorem
+inducant, posse dogmata sua disputatione aut tueri aut probare);
+ut cum illis omnibus, vel cum eorum quolibet, vel cum
+antesignanis ex omni illorum numero delectis, ultro me offeram
+congressurum; bona fide protestans eo mihi gratius fore certamen,
+quo melius instructi accesserint.
+
+7. Et quoniam Dominus Deus Dominam meam reginam, eximiis naturae,
+eruditionis ac regiae educationis dotibus exornare voluit, si sua
+Maiestas huiusmodi auditionem, qualem in quinto articulo secundo
+loco efflagitavi, sua regali praesentia et benigna attentione
+cohonestare dignaretur, sperarem sane, me articulos controversos
+optima methodo et perspicuis argumentis ita illustrare, atque ab
+omnibus fallaciarum involucris quibus constricti sunt, explicare
+posse, ut zelo veritatis et amore, quo sua Maiestas populum
+complectitur, mediocriter eius animum inclinarem, quum ad
+plurimas res, quae regno suo non parum detrimenti afferunt,
+damnandas et reiiciendas, tum ad nos catholicos, misere iamdui
+oppressos, maiore aequitate prosequendos.
+
+8. Neque vero dubium mihi est quin vos, ornatissimi consiliari
+S. M., quum in maximi momenti negotiis praeclare ac sapienter
+agere soleatis, ubi has de fide controversias, quas adversarii
+nostri non sine fuco et confuse plerumque pertractant, bona fide
+delectas et fuco nudatas perspexeritis, luce meridiana clarius
+cognituri sitis, quam solidis et firmis fundamentis fides
+catholica nitatur. Et quia e contrario protestantium argumenta
+sunt omnino frivola et infirma, quae temporis iniquitate vim
+aliquam contra nos habere putantur; futurum spero, ut vestrarum
+animarum et innumerabilium aliarum, quae a vestro nutu et
+exemplo pendent, miserti, ab huiusmodi falsorum dogmatum
+architectis et doctoribus facies vestras animumque ipsum
+avertatis, ac nobis, qui vitam nostram pro vesta salute
+alacriter profundere parati sumus, aequiori et magis propitia
+mente auscultetis. Multae innocentes manus quotidie et sine
+intermissione pro vobis in coelum attolluntur. Haec in vos
+studia sunt eorum Anglorum, qui in provinciis transmarinis
+numquam interiturae posteritatis patres, virtuti et eruditioni
+adquirendae dant operam; omninoque secum statuerunt, a salute
+vestra promovenda non prius absistere, quam vel animas vestras
+Christo lucrifecerint, vel lanceis vestras confixi generose
+occubuerint. Et quidem quod ad Societatem nostram attinet, velim
+sciatis, omnes nos, qui sumus de Societate Iesu, per totum
+terrarum orbem longa lateque diffusi, (quorum continua successio
+et multitudo omnes machinationes vestras anglicas facile
+superabit), sanctum foedus iniisse ut cruces, quas nobis
+iniicietis, magno animo feramus, neque umquam de vestra salute
+desperemus, quamdiu vel unus quispiam e nobis supererit, qui
+Tiburno[2] vestro fruatur, atque suppliciis vestris
+excarnificari, carceribusque squalere et consumi possit.
+Iampridem inita ratio est, divinique numinis auspicio inchoatum
+certamen; nulla vis, nullus impetus adversariorum superabit. Hac
+ratione consita et tradita olim fides est, eadem in pristinam
+dignitatem revocari et restitui debet.
+
+Quod si hoc scriptum meum, quod offero, reiicitur, nec benevoli
+conatus mei quidquam possint efficere, et pro itinere multorum
+millium milliarium vestri causa suscepto, ingratum animum
+experiar; id unum agendum mihi supererit, ut vos causamque meam
+Deo scrutatori cordium commendem: quem quidem ex animo precor, ut
+nobis tantisper gratiam suam impertiri velit, qua ante extremum
+remunerationis diem in unam sententiam conspiremus; et ut tandem
+aliquando in coelo, ubi nulla erit iniuriarum memoria, amicitia
+sempiterna perfruamur.
+
+PREFATIO
+
+EDMUNDUS CAMPIANVS DOCTISSIMIS ACADEMICIS OXONII FLORENTIBVS ET
+CANTABRIGIAE, S. P. D.
+
+Anno praeterito, quum ex instituto vitae meae iussus in hanc
+insulam remeassem, clarissimi viri, offendi sane fluctus haud
+paulo saeviores in anglicano littore, quam quos in oceano
+brittannico recens a tergo reliqueram. Mox interiorem in Angliam
+ubi penetrassem, nihil familiarius, quam inusitata supplicia;
+nihil certius, quam incerta pericula. Collegi me, ut potui, memor
+causae, memor temporum. Ac ne prius forte corriperer, quam
+auditus a quopiam fuissem, scripto protinus mandavi consileum
+meum, qui venissem, quid quaererem, quod bellum, et quibus,
+indicere cogitarem Autographum apud me habui, ut mecum, si
+caperer, caperetur; exemplum eius apud amicum deposui, quod, me
+quidem nesciente, pluribus communicatum est. Adversarii
+publicatam schedulam atrociter acceperunt quum caetera, tum illud
+invidiosissime criminantes, quod unus omnibus in hoc religionis
+negotio certamen obtulissem; quamquam solus non eram futurus, si
+fide publica disputassem. Responderunt postulatis meis Hammerus
+et Charcus. Quid tandem? Otiose omnia. Nullum enim responsum,
+praeter unum, honeste dabunt, quod numquam dabunt: "Conditiones
+amplectimur, Regina spondet, advola." Interea clamant isti:
+"Sodalitium tuum, seditiones tuas, arrogantiam tuam, proditorem,
+sine dubio proditorem." Ridicule. Operam et oleum et famam
+homines non insipientissimi cur profundunt?
+
+Verum his duobus, (quorum prior animi causa meam chartam delegit,
+in quam incurrerat; alter malitiosius totam rem convolvit),
+praebitus nuper est libellus admodum luculentus, qui quantum
+oportuit, tantum et de Societate nostra, et de horum iniuriis, et
+de provincia, quam sustinemus, edisserit. Mihi supererat,
+(quoniam, ut video, tormenta, non scholas, parant antistites),
+rationem facti mei vobis ut probarem; capita rerum, quae mihi
+tantum fidentiae pepererunt, quasi digito fontes ostenderem. Vos
+etiam hortarer, quorum interest praeter caeteros, incumbatis in
+hanc curam, quam a vobis Christus, Ecclesia, respublica et vestra
+salus exigunt. Ego si fretus ingenio, litteris, arte, lectione,
+memoria, peritissimum quemque adversarium provocavi fui
+vanissimus et superbissimus, qui neque me, necque illos
+inspexerim; sin causam intuitus, existimavi satis me valentem
+esse, qui docerem hunc solem meridie lucere, debetis mihi
+fervorem istum concedere, quem honor Iesu Christi, Regis mei, et
+invicta veritas imperarunt. Scitis M. Tullium in Quintiana, quum
+Roscius victoriam adpromitteret, si efficeret argumentis,
+septingenta millia passuum non esse decursa biduo, non modo nihil
+veritum articulos et nervos Hortensii, sed ne grandiores quidem
+Hortensio, Phillipos, et Cottas, et Antonios, et Crassos, quibus
+maximam dicendi gloriam tribuebat, metuere potuisse. Est enim
+quaedam veritas tam illustris et perspicua, ut eam nullae
+verborum rerumque praestigiae possint obruere. Porro liquidius
+est quod nos agimus, quam illa fuit hypothesis Rosciana. Nam si
+hoe praestitero: coelos esse, divos esse, fidem esse, Christum
+esse, causam obtinui. Hic ego non sim animosus? Equidem occidi
+possum, superari non possum, iis enim Doctoribus insisto, quos
+ille Spiritus erudiit, qui nec fallitur, nec vincitur.
+
+Quaeso a vobis ut salvi esse velitis. A quibus hoc impetraro,
+reliqua minime dubitanter expecto. Date modo vos huic
+sollicitudini, Christum obtestamini, industriam adiungite;
+profecto sentietis id, quod res est, et adversarios desperare, et
+nos, tam solide fundatos, quieto magnoque animo hanc arenam
+expetere oportere. Brevior hic sum, quod reliquo sermone vos
+alloquor. Valete.
+
+RATIONES OBLATI CERTAMINIS
+
+_Ego dabo vobis os et sapientiam, cui non poterunt resistere et
+contradicere omnes adversarii vestri._ Luc. xxi. 15.
+
+Rationum capita.
+
+1. Sacrae Litterae.
+
+2. Sacrarum Litterarum sententia.
+
+3. Natura Ecclesiae.
+
+4. Concilia.
+
+5. Patres.
+
+6. Fermamenta Patrum.
+
+7. Historia.
+
+8. Paradoxa.
+
+9. Sophismata.
+
+10. Omne genus testium.
+
+PRIMA RATIO
+
+SACRAE LITTERAE.
+
+Quum multa sunt, quae adversariorum diffidentiam in causa
+loquuntur, tum nihil aeque atque sanctorum maiestas Bibliorum
+foedissime violata. Etenim qui, posteaquam reliquorum testium
+voces et suffragia contempserunt, eo sunt redacti nihilo secius,
+ut stare nequeant, nisi divinis ipsis codicibus vim et manus
+intulerint; ii se profecto declarant extrema fortuna confligere,
+et rebus iam desperatis ac perditis, experiri durissima velle
+atque ultima. Manicheis[3] quid causae fuit, ut "Evangelium
+Matthei et Acta refigerent Apostolica?" Desperatio. His enim
+voluminibus cruciabantur, et qui Christum negaverant prognatum de
+Virgine, et qui Spiritum christianis tum primo coelitus illapsum
+finxerant quum ipsorum Paracletus, Persa nequissimus, erupisset.
+Quid Ebioniis,[4] ut omnes Pauli repudarient epistolas?
+Desperatio. His enim suam dignitatiem retinentibus, antiquata
+circumcisio est, quam isti revocaverant. Quid Luthero[5] ut
+Epistolam Iacobi "contentiosam, tumidam, aridum, stramineam,"
+flagitiosus apostata nominaret, et "indignam spiritu censeret
+apostolico?" Desperatio. Hoc enim scripto confessus miser atque
+disruptus est, quum "in sola fide iustitiam, constitueret." Quid
+Lutheri catulis, ut Tobiam, Ecclesiasticum, Machabaeos, et horum
+odio complures alios eadem calumnia comprehensos, e sincero
+canone repente dispungerent? Desperatio. His enim oraculis
+disertissime coarguuntur, quoties de angelorum patrocinio,
+quoties de arbitrii libertate, quoties de fidelibus vita
+defunctis, quoties de Divorum hominum intercessione disputant.
+
+Itane vero? Tantum perversitatis, tantum audaciae? Quum Ecclesiam,
+concilia, cathedras, Patres, martyres, imperia, populos, leges,
+academias, historias, omnia vetustatis et sanctitatis vestigia
+conculcassent, scripto Dei verbo tantum controversias velle
+dirimere proclamassent, illud ipsum verbum, quod solum restiterat,
+exsectis e toto corpore tam multis, tam bonis, tam speciosis,
+partibus, delumbasse? Septem enim ipsos de veteri Testamento[6]
+codices, ut minuta dissimulem, calviniani praeciderunt; lutherani
+vero etiam epistolam Iacobi, et huius invidia quinque alias;[7] de
+quibus aliquando fuerat et alicubi controversum. His quoque
+libellum Estheris et tria capita Danielis adnumerant novissimi
+Genuenses; quae quidem Anabaptistae, istorum condiscipuli, iam
+pridem damnaverant atque deriserant.
+
+Quanto modestius Augustinus,[8] qui sacrosanctum catalogum
+pertexens, non sibi neque alphabetum hebraicum, ut Iudaei; neque
+privatum spiritum, ut Sectarii, pro regula posuit; sed illum
+Spiritum, quo totum corpus Ecclesiae Christus animat. Quae quidem
+Ecclesia custos huius depositi, non magistra, quod haeretici
+cavillantur, thesaurum hunc universum quem Tridentina[9] Synodus
+est amplexa, vetustissimis olim conciliis publicitus vindicavit.
+Idem Augustinus,[10] de una Scripturarum particula speciatim
+disserens, inducere in animum non potest, librum Sapientiae, qui
+iam tum Ecclesiae calculo, temporum serie, priscorum testimonio
+instinctione fidelium, ut firmus et canonicus robur obtinuerat,
+cuiusquam temeritate vel susurro extrudi extra canonem oportere.
+Quid ille nunc diceret, si viveret in terris, et Lutheros
+Calvinosque concerneret opifices bibliorum, qui sua lima politula
+et elegantula vetus novumque Testamentum raserint; neque
+Sapientiam tantum, sed et alia permulta de canonicorum librorum
+ordine segregaverint: ut quidquid ex horum officina non
+prodierit, illud ad omnibus phrenetico decreto tamquam incultum
+et horridum conspuatur?
+
+Ad hoc tam dirum et exsecrabile perfugium qui descenderunt, ii
+certe licet in ore suorum asseclarum volitent, sacerdotia
+nundinentur declamitent in concione, ferrum in catholicos,
+equuleum crucemque consciscant; tamen victi, abiecti, squalidi,
+prostrati sunt: quandoquidem arrepta virgula censoria, veluti
+arbitri sedentes honorarii, divinas ipsas tabulas, si quae ad
+stomachum non fecissent, obliterant. Ecquis est vel mediocriter
+institutus, qui talium cuniculos hostium reformidet? Qui homines
+quamprimum in corona vestra, eruditorum hominum, ad eiusmodi
+veteratorias artes, tamquam ad familiarem daemonem currerent, non
+aurium convicio sed strepitu pedum exciperentur. Quaererem ab
+eis, verbi gratia, quo iure corpus biblicum detruncent atque
+diripiant? Respondent: non se veras Scripturas exscindere, sed
+excernere supposititias. Quo iudice? Spiritu sancto. Hoc enim
+responsum a Calvino[11] praescribitur, ut Ecclesiae iudicium, quo
+spiritus examinantur, subterfugiat. Cur igitur alios alii
+lancinatis, quum omnes eodem Spiritu gloriemini?
+
+Calvinianorum spiritus recipit sex epistolas, quae spiritui non
+placent lutherano; freti tamen uterque sancto Spiritu.
+Anabaptistae historiam Iobi fabulam[12] appellant, tragicis et
+comicis legibus intermixtam. Qui sciunt? Spiritu docente.
+Castalio[13] mysticum illud Salomonis Canticum, quod ut
+paradisum animae, ut manna reconditum, ut opiparas in Christo
+delicias catholici admirantur, nihilo pluris quam cantilenam de
+anicula, et cum pedissequis aulae colloquium amatorium venereus
+furcifer aestimavit. Vnde hausit? A spiritu. In Apocalypsi
+Ioannis, cuius omnes apices excelsum aliquid et magnificum
+sonare confirmat Hieronymus,[14] tamen Lutherus[15] et Brentius
+et Kemnitius quiddam, nescio quid, difficiles aristarchi
+desiderant; eo scilicet propendentes, ut exautoretur. Quem
+percontati? Spiritum. Quatuor Evangelia fervore praepostero
+Lutherus[16] inter se committit, et prioribus tribus Epistolas
+Pauli longe praeferens, "unicum" deinceps "Evangelium Ioannis,
+pulchrum, verum, praecipuum" decernit esse nominandum; quippe
+qui, quod in ipso fuit, libenter etiam Apostolos suarum rixarum
+socios adscripsisset. Quo doctore? Spiritu. Quin etiam iste
+fraterculus[17] non dubitavit Evangelium Lucae petulanti stylo
+perstringere, quod in eo crebrius bona nobis virtutum opera
+commendentur. Quem interrogavit? Spiritum. Theodorus Beza ex
+Lucae vigesimo secundo capite : "Hic calix, novum testamentum,
+in meo sanguine, qui (calix) pro vobis fundetur, <Greek:
+potaerion enchunomenon>," ausus est ut corruptum vitiatumque
+traducere, quod haec oratio nullam expositionem, nisi de vino
+calicis converso in verum Christi sanguinem, patiatur. Quis
+indicavit? Spiritus. Denique quum omnia credant suo quisque
+spiritui, nomen sancti Spiritus horribili blasphemia mentiuntur.
+Qui sic agunt, nonne se produnt? Nonne facile refutantur? Nonne
+in concessu talium virorum, quales estis Academici, tenentur ac
+minimo negotio constringuntur? Cum his ego timeam pro fide
+catholica disputare, qui pessima fide voces non humanas, sed
+aethereas tractavere?
+
+Nihil hic dico, quae vertendo perverterint quamvis intolerabilia
+sint, quae accusem. Gregorio Martino, scientissimo linguarum,
+collegae meo, qui doctius et plenius hoc praestabit, nihil
+praeripio, nec aliis, quibus id laboris esse iam prae manibus
+intellexi. Facinorosius crimen est ac tetrius, quod nunc
+persequor. Inventos esse doctorculos, qui temulento quodam
+impetu in coeleste chirographum involarint; idipsum pluribus
+locis, ut maculatum, ut mancum, ut falsum, ut subreptitium
+condemnarint; eius partes aliquas correxerint, aliquas
+corroserint, aliquas evulserint. Hinc omne propugnaculum, quo
+muniebatur, in lutheranos spiritus, tamquam in valla
+phantasmatum pictosque parietes commutarint; ne prorsus
+obmutescerent, quum in Scripturas, erroribus suis infestas,
+impingerent, quas nihilo commodius expedire, quam sorbere
+favillas, aut saxa mandere, potuissent.
+
+Haec ergo mihi prima ratio vehemens et iusta fuit quae ubi partes
+adversarias umbraticas et fractas ostendisset, animum sane
+addidit viro et christiano et in his studiis exercitato, pro
+sempiterni Regis diplomate adversus reliquias profligatorum
+hostium decertandi.
+
+SECVNDA RATIO
+
+SACRARVM LITTERARVM SENTENTIA
+
+Alterum est, quod me quidem ad congressum incitarit, et horum
+apud me copiolas elevarit, adversarii perpetuum in Scripturis
+exponendis ingenium, plenum fraudis, inane prudentiae. Statim
+haec, philosophi, tangeretis. Itaque vos auditores expetii.
+
+Sciscitemur ab adversaras, exempli gratia, quidnam sequuti novam
+sectam intriverint, qua Christus excluditur e coena mystica? Si
+nominant Evangelium, accurrimus. A nobis verba sunt:[18] "Hoc
+est corpus meum. Hic est calix meus." Qui sermo visus est ipsi
+Luthero[19] tam potens, ut quum etiam discuperet fieri
+Zuinglianus, quod ea re plurimum incommodare Pontifici
+potuisset, captus tamen et victus apertissimo contextu, cederet;
+neque minus invitus Christum vere praesentem in Sacramento
+sanctissimo fateretur, quam olim daemones, victi miraculis,
+Christum Dei Filium vociferati sunt.[20] Agedum, pagella scripta
+superiores sumus; de sententia scripti contenditur. Hanc
+pervestigemus ex verbis adiacentibus:[21] "Corpus meum, quod pro
+vobis tradetur. Sanguis meus, qui pro multis effundetur." Adhuc
+durissimae partes Calvini sunt, nostrae faciles et explicatae.
+Quid amplius? Conferte Scripturas, inquiunt. Conspirant
+Evangelia,[22] Paulus adstipulatur; voces, clausulae, tota
+connexio panem, vinum, insigne miraculum, coeleste pabulum,
+carnem, corpus, sanguinem, reverenter ingeminant. Nihil
+aenigmaticum, nihil offusum caligine loquendi.
+
+Tamen perstant adversarii, neque finem faciunt altercandi. Quid
+agimus? Opinor, audiatur antiquitas; et quod nos alteris alteri
+suspecti non possumus, illud omnium saeculorum veneranda
+canities, Christo propior, ab hac lite remotior, decidat
+arbitrio. Non ferunt: prodi se aiunt. Dei verbum purum, purum,
+inclamant; hominum commentarios aversantur. Insidiose inepte. Dei
+verbum perurgemus, obscurant; Divos testamur interpretes,
+obsistunt. In summa, sic instituunt, nisi reorum iudicio
+steteris, nullum iudicium fore.
+
+Atque ita se gerunt in omni, quam exercemus, controversia, de
+infusa gratia, de inhaerente iustitia, de Ecclesia conspicua, de
+necessitate Baptismatis, de Sacramentis et Sacrificio, de piorum
+meritis, de spe et timore, de peccatis imparibus, de auctoritate
+Petri, de clavibus, de votis, de conciliis evangelicis, de
+caeteris. Scripturas neque paucas et ponderosa catholici passim
+in libris, in colloquiis, in templis, in schola citavimus atque
+discussimus; eluserunt. Veterum scholia graecorum et latinorum
+admovimus; abnuerunt. Quid tum denique? Doctor Martinus Lutherus,
+aut vero Phillippus, aut certe Zuinglius, aut sine dubio Calvinus
+et Bezza, fideliter enarrarunt. Egone quemquam vestrum existimen
+tam esse mucosis naribus, qui hoc artificium, monitus, non
+persentiscat? Quare fateor me scholas Academicas cupide
+requirere, ut inspectantibus vobis, calamistratos istos milites,
+in solem et pulverem e suis umbraculis evocatos, non meis
+viribus, qui cum vestris centesima parte non sum conferendus, sed
+valentissima causa et certissima veritate debilitem.
+
+TERTIA RATIO
+
+NATVRA ECCLESIAE
+
+Audito iam Ecclesiae nomine, hostis expalluit. Sed tamen
+excogitavit quiddam, quod a vobis animadverti volo, ut falsi
+ruinam et inopiam cognoscatis. Senserat in Scripturis tum
+propheticis, tum apostolicis, ubique honorificam Ecclesiae fieri
+mentionem: vocari civitatem sanctam (Apoc. xxi. 10), fructiferam
+vineam (Ps. lxxix.9), montem excelsum (Isai. ii. 2), directam
+viam (Ibid. xxxv. 8), columbam unicam (Cant. vi. 8), regnum coeli
+(Matth. xiii. 24), sponsam (Cant. iv. 8), et corpus Christi (Eph.
+v. 23 et 1 Cor. xii. 12), firmamentum veri (1 Tim. iii. 15),
+multitudinem illam, cui Spiritus promissas instillet omnia
+salutaria (Ioan. xiv. 26): illam, in quam universam nullae sint
+umquam fauces diaboli morsum letiferum impacturae (Matth. xvi.
+18); illam, cui quicumque repugnet, quantumvis ore Christum
+praedicet, non magis Christi, quam publicanus aut ethnicus
+(Matth. xviii. 17), potiatur.
+
+Non est ausus contravenire sonitu, videri noluit Ecclesiae, quam
+toties Scripturae commemorant, refragari; nomen callide retinuit,
+rem ipsam funditus, definiendo, sustulit. His enim proprietatibus
+delineavit Ecclesiam, quae penitus ipsam occulant, et dimotam a
+sensibus tamquam ideam platonicam, secretis obtutibus hominum
+perpaucorum subiiciant[23]; eorum tantummodo, qui singulariter
+afflati, corpus hoc aerium intelligentia comprehenderent, et
+huiusce sodalitatis participes subtili quodam oculo lustrarent.
+Vbi candor? Vbi simplicitas. Quae Scripturae, quae sensa, qui
+Patres, hoc penicillo depingunt Ecclesiam? Sunt Christi ad
+Asiaticas ecclesias (Apoc. i. 2, 3), sunt Petri, Pauli, Ioannis,
+aliorum ad diversos epistolae; frequentes in Actis Apostolicis
+inchoantur et propagantur ecclesiae (Act. viii. 10, 11 et seq.).
+Quid istae? Num soli Deo et sanctis hominibus, an christianis
+etiam cuiuscumque generis, manifestae?
+
+Sed profecto durum telum necessitas est. Ignoscite. Nam qui
+saeculis omnino quindecim, non oppidam, non villam, non domum
+reperiunt imbutam doctrina sua, donec infelix monachus (Lutherus)
+incesto connubio votam Deo virginem funestasset; aut Helvetius
+gladiator (Zuinglius) in patriam coniurasset; aut stigmaticus
+perfuga (Calvinus) Genevam occupasset; ii coguntur Ecclesiam, si
+quam volent, in latebris venditare, et eos parentes asserere,
+quos nec ipsi noverint, neque mortalium quisquam aspexerit. Nisi
+forte gaudent maioribus illis, quos haereticos fuisse liquet, ut
+Aerio, Ioviniano, Vigilantio, Helvidio, Iconomachis, Berengario,
+Valdensibus, Lolhardo, Wiclefo, Hussio; a quibus pestifera
+quaedam fragmenta dogmatum emendicarint.
+
+Nolite mirari, si fumulos istos non pertimui, quos, modo ad
+meridianam lucem venero, minime fuerit laboriosum dispellere.
+Haec est enim nostra sermocianatio. Dic mihi: subscribis
+Ecclesiae, quae saeculis anteactis viguit?--Omnino.--Obeamus ergo
+terras et tempora. Cui?--Coetui fidelium.--Quorum?--Nomina
+nesciuntur, sed constat plurimos exstitisse.--Constat? Quibus
+constat?--Deo.--Quis dicit?--Nos, qui divinitus edocti
+sumus.--Fabulae qui credam?--Si arderes fide, tam scires hoc,
+quam te vivere.
+
+/* Spectatum admissi, risum teneatis?
+
+Iuberi christianos omnes adiungere se Ecclesiae, cavere ne
+spiritali gladio trucidentur, in domo Dei pacem colore, huic
+animas credere columini veritatis, istic querelas omnes deponere,
+hinc eiectos habere pro ethnicis; nescire tamen tot centinis, tot
+homines, ubinam illa sit, quive huc pertineant? Vnum illud
+crepare in tenebris, ubi ubi sit Ecclesia, tantummodo sanctos et
+in aethera destinatos ea contineri? Ex quo fit ut, si quis
+imperium sui Praesulis detrectare velit, scelere solvatur,
+dummodo sibi persuadeat presbyterum in crimen incidisse, et ab
+Ecclesia protinus excidisse.
+
+Quum scirem adversarios talia comminisci, quod nullius aetatis
+Ecclesiae consuessent, et orbatos tota re, velle tamen inter
+angustias vocabulum possidere, solabar me vestro acumine, atque
+adeo mihi pollicebar, fore ut quamprimum huiusmodi technas ex
+ipsorum confessione cerneretis, statim homines ingenui et cordati
+stultas argutias in vestram intextas perniciem exscinderetis.
+
+QVARTA RATIO
+
+CONCILIA
+
+Gravis, Ecclesia nascente, quaestio de legitimis caeremoniis,
+quae credentium animos disturbavit, coacto Apostolorum et
+seniorum concilio, soluta est. Credidere parentibus filii,
+pastoribus oves, in haec verba mandantibus[24]: "Visum est
+Spiritui sancto et nobis." Sequuta sunt ad extirpandam haeresim,
+quae varia quibusque saeculis pullulavit, oecumenica veterum
+Concilia quatuor, tantae firmitudinis, ut iis ante annos mille
+singularis honos tamquam divinis vocibus, haberetur[25]. Non
+abibo longius. Etiam domi nostrae, comitiis regni eadem Concilia
+pristinum ius inviolatamque dignitatem obtinent. Haec citabo,
+teque ipsam[26], Anglia, dulcissima patria, contestabor. Si,
+quemadmodum prae te fers, quatuor ista Concilia reverebere,
+summum honorem primae sedis Episcopo, id est, Petro, deferes:[27]
+incruentum corporis et sanguinis Christi sacrificium in altari
+recognosces:[28] beatos Martyres, divosque omnes coelites, ut pro
+te Christo supplicent, obsecrabis:[29] mulierosos apostatas ab
+infando concubitu et incestu publico coercebis:[30] multa facies,
+quae demoliris; multa, quae facis, infecta voles.[31] Porro
+Synodos aliorum temporum, nominatim vero Tridentinam, eiusdem
+auctoritatis ac fidei cum primis illis fuisse, quando usus
+venerit, demonstraturum me spondeo atque recipio.
+
+Auctus igitur Conciliorum omnium valido et exquisito praesidio,
+cur non ingrediar in hanc palaestram animo tranquillo et
+praesenti, observaturus adversarium, quo se proripiat? Nam et
+evidentissima producam, quae distorquere non poterit, et
+probatissima, quae respuere non audebit.
+
+Fortasse verbosius loquendo diem extrahere conabitur; sed ab
+intentis hominibus, si vos rego bene novi, nec aures nec oculos
+compilabit. Quod si quis erit omnino tam demens, qui se unum
+opponat Senatoribus orbis terrae, et iis quidem omni exceptione
+maioribus, sanctioribus, doctioribus, vetustioribus; libenter
+aspiciam illud os, quod ubi vobis ostendero, reliqua
+cogitationibus vestris relinquam. Interim hoc monebo; qui pleno
+Concilio, rite atque ordine consummato, momentum et pondus
+abrogat, videri mihi nullo consilio, nullo cerebro; neque solum
+in theologicis tardum, sed etiam in politicis inconsultum. Si
+umquam Dei Spiritus illuxit Ecclesiae, certe illud est tempus
+immitendi Numinis, quum omnium ecclesiarum, quae sunt in terris
+patentissimae, religio, maturitas, scientia, sapientia, dignitas,
+unam in urbem confluxerint, adhibitisque modis omnibus divinis et
+humanis, quibus indagari veritas possit, promissum implorent
+Spiritum,[32] quo salutariter et prudenter sanciat.
+
+Prosiliat nunc aliquis factionis haereticae magistellus, attollat
+supercilia, suspendat nasum, frontem perfricet, iudicesque suos
+scurriliter ipse iudicet. Quos ille ludos, quos iocos dabit?
+Repertus est Lutherus,[33] qui diceret, anteferre se Consiliis
+duorum suffragia bonorum et eruditorum hominum (putatote suum et
+Phillippi), si quando in Christi nomine consensissent. O
+circulos! Repertus est Kemnitius[34], qui concilium Tridentinum
+ad suos vertiginis importunae calculos exegerit; quid lucratus?
+Infamiam. Dum iste nictaverit, sepelietur cum Ario; Tridentina
+Synodus quo magis inveterascet, eo magis in dies eoque perennius
+efflorescet. Bone Deus! quae gentium varietas, qui delectus
+episcoporum totius orbis, qui regum et rerumpublicarum splendor,
+quae medulla theologorum, quae sanctitas, quae lacrymae, quae
+ieiunia, qui flores academici, quae linguae, quanta subtilitas,
+quantus labor, quam infinita lectio, quantae virtutum et
+studiorum divitiae augustum illud sacrarium impleverunt? Audivi
+ego Pontifices exsultantes, et in his Antonium, archiepiscopum
+Pragensem, a quo sum creatus presbyter, amplissimos et
+prudentissimos viros, quod in ea schola haesissent aliquot annis,
+ut nullum Ferdinandi Caesaris, cui multum debuerant, regalius et
+uberius in se beneficium colerent, quam hoc fuit quod in
+Tridentino gymnasio legati ex Pannonia consedissent. Intellexit
+hoc Caesar, qui reversis ita gratulatus est: "Aluimus vos in
+schola optima."
+
+Huc invitati fide publica, cur non properarunt adversarii, ut eos
+palam refellerent, in quos ranunculi coaxant e cavernulis?--Hussio
+et Hieronymo fregere fidem, inquiunt--Qui?--Constantiensis Concilii
+proceres--Falsum est: nullam dedere. Sed nec in Hussium tamen
+animadversum fuisset, nisi homo perfidiosus et pestilens, retractus
+ex fuga, quam ei Sigismundus Imperator periculo capitis
+interdixerat, violatis etiam conditionibus, quas scripto pepigerat
+cum Caesare, vim omnem illius diplomatis enervasset. Fefellit
+Hussium praecipitata malitia. Iussus enim, quum barbaras in sua
+Bohemia tragoedias excitasset, semetipsum sistere Constantiae,
+despexit praerogativam Concilii; securitatem periit a Caesare,
+Caesar obsignavit, christianus orbis resignavit maior Caesare.
+Redire ad mentem haeresiarcha noluit: periit. Hieronymus vero
+Pragensis furtim venit Constantiam, protectus a nemine; deprehensus
+comparuit, peroravit, habitus est perbenigne, liber abiit quo
+voluit, sanatus est, haeresim eiuravit, relapsus est, exustus est.
+
+Quid toties unum exemplum de sexcentis exagitant? Repetant
+annales suos. Martinus ipse Lutherus (a. 1518) odium Dei et
+hominum, Augustae positus coram Cardinale Caietano, nonne quod
+potuit, eructavit, et Maximiliani litteris communitus excessit?
+Idem accitus Wormatiam (a. 1521), quum et Caesarem et plerosque
+Imperii principes haberet infensos, nonne Caesaris verbo tutus
+fuit? Postremo lutheranorum et zuinglianorum capita, praesente
+Carolo quinto, haereticorum hoste victore, domino, nonne datis
+induciis confessiones suas innovatas exhibuere comitiis
+Augustanis, et sospites abiere? Haud secus litterae Tridientinae
+locupletissimas adversario cautiones providerant:[35] uti noluit.
+Nimirum se iactat in angulis in quibus ubi tria verba graeca
+sonuerit, sapere videatur; abhorret a luce, quae litteratorem in
+numero poneret, et ad honesta subsellia devocaret. Catholicis
+Anglis tale chirographum impunitatis impetrent, si diligunt
+salutem animarum. Nos Hussium non causabimur; verbo Principis
+innixi, convolabimus.
+
+Sed ut, unde sum egressus, eo regrediar, Concilia generalia mea
+sunt, primum, ultimum, media; his pugnabo. Hastam exspectet
+adversarius amentatam, quam avellere numquam poterit.
+Prosternatur in eo satanas, Christus vivat.
+
+QVINTA RATIO
+
+PATRES
+
+Antiochiae, qua primum in urbe Christianorum nobile cognomentum
+increbuit, Doctores,[36] id est, eminentes theologi; et
+Prophetae, id est, concionatores perquam celebres, floruerunt.
+Huiusce generis "scribas et sapientes, doctos in regno Dei, nova
+promentes et vetera,"[37] Christum callentes et Moysem, Dominus
+ipse futuros gregi prospexerat. Hos, ingentis beneficii loco
+donatos, explodere, quanti maleficii est? Explosit adversarius.
+Quid ita? Quia stantibus illis, concidisset. Id ego quum pro
+certissimo comperissem, pugnam simpliciter exoptavi, non illam
+iocularem, qua turbae velitantur in compitis, sed istam severam
+et acrem, qua congredimur in vestris Philosophorum spatiis:
+
+/*-pede pes, densusque viro vir.
+
+Ad Patres si quando licebit accedere, confectum est praelium; tam
+sunt nostri, quam Gregorius ipse decimus tertius, filiorum
+Ecclesiae Pater amantissimus. Nam ut omittam loca sparsa, quae ex
+monumentis veterum conquisita, nostram fidem apposite affirmateque
+propugnant; tenemus horum integra volumina, quae de industria
+religionem, quam tuemur, evangelicam distincte copioseque
+dilucidant. Duplex Hierarchia Martyris Dionysii[38] quas classes,
+quae sacra, quos ritus edocet? Pupugit ea res Lutherum[39] tam
+valde, ut huius opera "simillima somniis, nec non
+perniciosissima" iudicaret. Imitatus parentem Caussaeus,[40]
+nescio quis terrae filius, ex Gallia, non est veritus hunc
+Dionysium, inclytae gentis Apostolum, vocitare "delirum senem."
+Centuriatores[41] vehementer offendit Ignatius et Calvinum,[42]
+ut in eius epistolis "deformes naevos, et putidas naenias"
+hominum quisquiliae notarint. Censoribus[43] illis "fanaticum
+quiddam" Irenaeus edixit; Clemens auctor Stromatum "zizania
+faecesque protulit;"[44] reliqui Patres huius aevi, sane
+apostolici viri, "blasphemias et monstra posteris reliquerunt."
+In Tertulliano rapiunt avide, quod a nobis edocti, nobiscum
+communiter detestentur; sed meminerint libellum de
+Praescriptionibus,[45] qui nostri temporis sectarios tam
+insigniter perculit, numquam fuisse reprehensum. Hippolytus,
+Portuensis[46] episcopus, quam belle, quam clare Antichristi
+nervum, lutherana tempora, praemonstravit? Eum propterea
+"scriptorem infantissimum et larvam" nominant. Cyprianum,
+delicias et decus Africae, Gallicanus ille criticus[47] et
+Magdeburgici[48] "stupidum, et destitutum Deo, et depravatorem
+poenitentiae" nuncuparunt. Quid admisit? Scripsit enim de
+virginibus, de lapsis, de unitate Ecclesiae tractationes
+euismodi, eas etiam epistolas Cornelio, Romano Pontifici, ut nisi
+fides huic martyr detrahatur, Petrus Martyr Vermilius, omnesque
+cum eo foederati, peiores adulteris et sacrilegis habeantur. Ac
+ne singulis insistam diutius, Patres huius saeculi damnantur
+omnes, "quippe qui doctrinam de poenitentia mire
+depravarint."[49] Quo pacto? Nam austeritas canonum, quae viguit
+ea tempestate, maiorem in modum displicet huic sectae plausibili,
+quae tricliniis aptior, quam templis, voluptarias aures titillare
+et pulvillos omni cubito[50] solet assuere.
+
+Quid aetas proxima, quid peccavit? Chrysostomus et ii Patres
+"iustitiam fidei foede" videlicet "obscurarunt."[51] Nazianzenus,
+quem honoris causa, Theologum veteres appellarunt, Caussaeo[52]
+iudice, "Fabulator, quid affirmaret, nesciit." Ambrosius "a
+cacodaemone fascinatus est." Hieronymus "aeque damnatus, atque
+diabolus: iniuriosus Apostolo,[53] blasphemus, sceleratus,
+impius." "Vnus" Gregorio Massovio[54] "pluris est Calvinus, quam
+centum Augustini." Parum est, centum; Lutherus[55] "nihili facit
+adversum se mille Augustinos, mille Cyprianos, mille Ecclesias."
+Longius rem deducere, supervacaneum puto. Nam in hos, qui
+bachantur, quis miretur in Optatum, Athanasium, Hilarium,
+Cyrillos, Epiphanium, Basilium, Vincentium, Fulgentium, Leonem,
+Gregoriumque Romanum fuisse procacissimos?
+
+Quamquam si datur ulla rebus iniustis iusta defensio non inficior
+habere Patres, ubicumque incideris, quod isti, dum sibi
+consentiunt, necessario stomachentur. Etinem qui odere stata
+ieiunia, quo animo oportet esse in Basilium, Nazianzenum,
+Chrysostomum, qui de quadragesima et indictis ieiuniorum feriis,
+tamquam de rebus iam usitatis, conciones egregias publicarunt?
+Qui suas animas auro, libidine, crapula et ambitiosis
+conspectibus vendiderunt, possuntne non esse inimicissimi
+Basilio, Chrysostomo, Hierionymo, Augustino, quorum excellentes
+libri de monachorum instituto, regula, virtutibus, teruntur?
+
+Qui captivam hominis voluntatem invexere, qui christiana funebria
+sustulere, qui Divorum reliquias incendere, sintne placabiles
+Augustino, qui de libero arbitrio libros tres, de cura pro
+mortuis unum, de miraculis ad Basilicas et memorias Martyrum
+prolixum caput nobilissimi operis[56] et conciones aliquot
+exaravit? Qui fidem suis captiunculis metiuntur, nonne
+succenseant Augustino, cuius est insignis epistola,[57] qua se
+profitetur antiquitati, consensioni, successioni perpetuae et
+Ecclesiae, quae sola inter tot haereses Catholicae nomen
+usucapione vindicat assentire?
+
+Optatus, Milevitanus episcopus, Donatianam partem revincit[58] ex
+communione Catholica; nequitiam accusat ex decreto Melchiadis
+(lib. 1); haeresim refutat ex ordine Romanorum Pontificum (lib.
+2); insaniam patefacit ex Eucharistia et chrismate contaminatis
+(lib. 3); sacrilegium horret ex diffractis altaribus "in quibus
+Christi membra portata sunt," pollutisque calicibus "qui Christi
+sanguinem tenuerunt," (lib. 6). De Optato quid sentiant, aveo
+scire, quem Augustinus[59] ut venerabilem et catholicum
+episcopum, Ambrosio parem et Cypriano; quem Fulgentius[60] ut
+sanctum et fidelem Pauli interpretem, Augustini similem et
+Ambrosii, meminerunt.
+
+Athanasii Symbolum in templis concinunt. Num favent ei, qui
+Antonium Eremitam Aegyptium,[61] gravis auctor, accurato libello
+dilaudaverit, quique cum Alexandrina Synodo[62] iudicium Sedis
+Apostolicae, Divi Petri, suppliciter appellarit? Prudentius in
+hymnis quoties precatur Martyres, quos decantat? Quoties ad eorum
+cineres et ossa Regem Martyrum veneratur? Num hunc probabunt?
+Hieronymus pro Divorum reliquiis et honoribas scribit in
+Vigilantium, in Iovinianam pro virginitatis gradu. Huccine
+patientur? Ambrosius[63] tutores suos Gervasium et Protasium,
+celebritate notissima, in Arianam ignominiam honestavit; cui
+facto divinissimi Patres[64] encomium tribuere: quod factum Deus
+non uno prodigio decoravit. Num benevoli sunt Ambrosio futuri?
+Gregorius Magnus, noster Apostolus, planissime noster est, eoque
+nomine nostris adversariis odiosus; quem Calvini[65] rabies negat
+in schola sancti Spiritus educatum, propterea quod sacras
+imagines illitteratorum libros appellasset.
+
+Dies me deficeret numerantem epistolas, conciones, homilias,
+orationes, opuscula, disceptationes Patrum, in quibus ex apparato
+graviter et ornate nostra catholicorum dogmata roborarunt.
+Quamdiu apud bibliopolas ista venierint, tamdiu frustra nostrorum
+codices prohibentur; frustra servantur aditus oraeque maritimae;
+frustra domus, arcae, scrinia, capsulae disquiruntur; frustra tot
+portis minaces tabulae suffiguntur. Nullus enim Hardingus, nec
+Sanderus, nec Stapletonus, nec Bristolius haec nova somnia
+vehementius, quam hi, quos recensui, Patres, insectantur. Talia
+cogitanti accrevit animus et desiderium pugnae, in qua, quoquo se
+moverit adversarius, nisi gloriam Deo cesserit, feret incommodum.
+Patres admiserit, captus est; excluserit, nullus est.
+
+Adolescentibus nobis ita contigit. Ioannes Ivellus antesignanus
+calvinianorum Angliae, catholicos ad Divi Pauli Londinensium
+incredibili iactantia lacessivit, invocatis per hypocrisim et
+imploratis Patribus, quicumque intra salutis annum sexcentesimum
+claruisset. Accipiunt conditionem memorabiles viri, qui tum
+exsulabant Lovanii, summis licet difficultatibus propter
+iniquitatem suorum temporum circumsepti. Ausim dicere, tanto
+popularibus nostris bono fuisse illam Ivellii astutiam,
+inscitiam, improbitatem, impudentiam, quas ii scriptores
+feliciter expanderunt, ut vix aliud quidquam, memoria mea,
+provenerit Anglorum Ecclesiae laboranti fructuosius. Edictum
+continuo valvis appenditur, ne qui codices illiusmodi
+legerentur, neve haberentur. Quum tantis clamoribus propemodum
+extorti prodiissent, didicere quicumque negotium attigissent,
+Patres fuisse catholicos, id est, nostros. Neque hoc sibi
+suisque vulnus inflictum Laurentius Humfredus[66] tacuit; qui
+quum alte Ivellum quoad caetera sustulisset, unam ei notam
+aspersit inconsiderantiae, quod Patrum calculos recepisset,
+quibuscum sibi nihil esse commercii, nec fore, sine ulla
+circuitione proloquitur.
+
+Pertentavimus etiam familiariter aliquando Tobiam Matthaeum, qui
+nunc in concionibus dominatur, quem propter bonas artes et virtutum
+semina dileximus, ut responderet ingenue, possetne qui Patres
+assiduus lectitaret, istarum esse partium, quas ille suaserat.
+Retulit, non posse, si pariter eos legeret iisque crederet.
+Verissimum hoc verbum est, neque aliter eum nunc, aut Mattheum
+Huttonum, qui vir nominatus in paucis, versare Patres dicitur, aut
+reliquos adversarios, qui hoc faciunt, sentire arbitror.
+
+Hactenus ergo securus in hanc aciem potui descendere, bellaturus
+cum, iis, qui quasi auribus lupum teneant, aeternam causae
+maculam cogantur inutere, sive recusent Patres, sive deposcant.
+Nam in altero fugam adornant, in altero suffocantur.
+
+SEXTA RATIO
+
+FIRMAMENTVM PATRVM
+
+Si quibus umquam cordi curaeque fuit id, quod maximopere nostris
+fuit et esse debet: "Scrutamini Scripturas,"[67] facile princeps
+et palmares in hoc genere sanctissimi Patres exstitere. Horum
+opera sumptuque tot gentibus et linguis transcripta Biblia et
+importata sunt; horum periculis et cruciatibus erepta de flammis
+hostilibus et vastitate; horum laboribus et vigiliis omnem in
+partem enucleata studiosissime; die noctuque sacras Litteras
+imbibere, de suggestibus omnibus sacras Litteras edidere, immensa
+volumina sacris Litteris ditavere, fidelissimis commentariis
+sacras Litteras explicuere cibos et inediam sacris Litteris
+condivere, occupati denique sacris in Litteris, ad senectutem
+decrepitam pervenere.
+
+Quod si frequenter ipsi quoque ab auctoritate maiorum, ab
+Ecclesiae praxi, a successione Pontificum, a Conciliis
+oecumenicis, a traditionibus apostolicis, a cruore Martyrum, a
+scitis Praesulum, a visis eventisque mirabilibus argumentati
+sunt; tamen omnium maxime et libentissime sanctarum Litterarum
+testimonia densa conglobant, haec premunt, in his habitant, huic
+"armaturae fortium" duces robustissimi, sarta tecta civitatis Dei
+contra nefarios impetus quotidie munientes, optimo iure primas
+partes honoratissimasque porrigunt.
+
+Quo magis demiror illam exceptionem adversarii superbam et
+fatuam, qui velut aquam in profluente quaeritans, sic in
+Scripturis confertissimis Scripturarum penuriam obiectat.
+Tantisper se Patribus assensurum dicit, dum sacris Litteris
+adhaerescunt. Num loquitur ex animo? Curabo igitur procedant
+armati atque stipati Christo, Prophetis, Apostolis atque omni
+apparatu biblico, celeberrimi auctores, antiquissimi Patres,
+sanctissimi viri, Dionysius, Cyprianus, Athanasius, Basilius,
+Nazianzenus, Ambrosius, Hieronymus, Chrysostomus, Augustinus,
+latinusque Gregorius. Regnet in Anglia fides illa, quam hi
+Patres, amicissimi Scripturarum, ex Scripturis exstruunt. Quas
+afferunt, afferemus; quas conferunt, conferemus; quod inferunt,
+inferemus. Placet? Excrea, dic sodes--Minime vero, inquis, nisi
+recte exponant--Quid est hoc ipsum, recte? Arbitratu tuo. Nihilne
+pudet labyrinthi?
+
+Ergo quum sperem in Academiis florentissimis consociatum iri bene
+multos, qui, non pingui Minerva, sed acuto iudicio in has
+controversias inspecturi sunt, et horum responsa nugatoria
+libraturi, laetus hunc diem campi praestolabor, ut qui contra
+sylvestres tumulos mendiculorum inermium nobilitatem et robur
+Ecclesiae Christi cogitem educere.
+
+SEPTIMA RATIO
+
+HISTORIA
+
+Pristinam Ecclesiae faciem historia prisca retegit. Huc provoco.
+Certe antiquiores historici, quos etiam usurpant adversarii, fere
+numerantur Eusebius, Damasus, Hieronymus, Ruffinus, Orosius,
+Socrates, Sozomenus, Theodoretus, Cassiodorus, Gregorius
+Turonensis, Vsuardus, Regino, Marianus Sigebertus, Zonaras,
+Cedrenus, Nicephorus. Quid narrant? Nostrorum laudes, progressus,
+vicissitudinem, hostes. Imo vero, quod observes diligenter, illi
+qui dissident a nobis odio capitali, Philippus, Pantaleon,
+Funecius, Magdeburgici, quum se ad scribendam vel chronologiam
+Ecclesiae vel historiam appulissent, nisi nostrorum gesta
+colligerent, ac inimicorum Ecclesiae nostrae fraudes et scelera
+coacervarent, mille quingentos annos argumento vacui
+praetermitterent.
+
+Cum his considera peculiares certarum historiographos regionum,
+qui unius acta cuiusque populi curiosius operosiusque scrutati
+sunt. Ii quasi Spartam adepti, quam locupletare modis omnibus et
+perpolire cuperent, qui ne convivia quidem lautiora, aut
+manicatas tunicas, aut pugionum capulos, aut inaurata calcaria,
+talesque minutias, si novitatem saperent, tacuere; profecto, si
+quid in religione mutatum, aut a primis degeneratum saeculis
+inaudissent, frequentes memorassent; si non frequentes, saltem
+aliqui: si non aliqui, unus aliquis absque dubio. Nullus omnino,
+neque benevolus nobis, neque malevolus, non modo quidquam tale
+prodidit, sed nec significavit.
+
+Verbi gratia. Dant nobis adversarii, nec aliter possunt, fuisse
+Romanam Ecclesiam aliquando Sanctam, Catholicam, Apostolicam: tum
+quum haec a Divo Paulo promeruisset elogia:[68] "Vestra fides
+annuntiatur in universo mundo: sine intermissione memoriam vestri
+facio: Scio quia venien ad vos, in abundantia benedictionis
+Christi veniam: Salutant vos omnes Ecclesiae Christi: Vestra enim
+obedientia in omnem locum divulgata est." Tum quum ibi Paulus in
+libera custodia[69] disseminaret Evangelium; tum quum in ea
+quondam "Babylone coelectam Ecclesiam"[70] Petrus regeret; tum
+quum ille Clemens,[71] apprime laudatus ab Apostolo,[72] sederet
+ad ipsa gubernacula; tum quum profani Caesares,[73] ut Nero,
+Domitianus, Traianus, Antoninus, Romanos Pontifices laniarent;
+tum etiam, vel Calvino[74] teste, quum Damasus, Siricius,
+Anastasius, Innocentius, clavum tenerent Apostolicum. Hoc enim
+saeculo nihil adhuc, praesertim Romae, digressos ab Evangelica
+doctrina, liberaliter ille concedit.
+
+Quando igitur hanc fidem tantopere celebratatam Roma perdidit?
+Quando esse desiit, quod ante fuit? Quo tempore, quo Pontifice,
+qua via, qua vi, quibus incrementis urbem et orbem religio
+pervasit aliena? Quas voces, quas turbas, quae lamenta
+progenuit? Omnes orbe reliquo sopiti sunt, dum Roma, Roma,
+inquam, nova sacramenta, novum sacrificium, novum religionis
+dogma procuderet? Nullus exstitit historicus neque latinus,
+neque graecus, neque remotus, neque citimus, qui rem tantam vel
+obscure iaceret in commentarios?
+
+Ergo perspicuum hoc quidem est, si, quae nos credimus, historia
+multa et varia, nuntia vetustatis, vita memoriae, loquitur ac
+repetit affluenter; quae vero isti obtrudunt, nulla naratio post
+homines natos in Ecclesia valuisse commeminit: et Historicos esse
+meos, et incursiones adversarias esse frigidissimas, quae nihil
+movere possint, nisi prius receptum sit, omnes omnium temporum
+christianos in spissam perfidiam atque in gehennae voraginem
+corruisse, donec Lutherus Boram constuprasset.
+
+OCTAVA RATIO
+
+PARADOXA
+
+Ego vero, praestantissimi viri, quum de multis haeresibus quaedam
+apud me opiniosissimorum portenta reputo, quae mihi venient
+expugnanda; meipsum inertiae nequitiaeque condemnem, si cuiusquam
+in experiundo facultatem aut vires extimescerem. Sit ingeniosus,
+sit eloquens, sit exercitatus, sit omnium librorum helluo; tamen
+aridus et balbus appareat necesse est, quum haec tam "adunata"
+sustentabit. Disputabitur enim, si forte nobis annuent, de Deo,
+de homine, de peccato, de iustitia, de sacrimentis, de moribus.
+Videro an ausint asseverare, quae sentiunt, quaeque, rebus
+addicti necessariis, divulgant in scriptiunculis. Faxo norint
+ista suorum axiomata.
+
+DE DEO.--"Deus est auctor et causa[75] peccati, volens,
+suggerens, efficiens, iubens, operans, et in hoc impiorum
+scelerata consilia gubernans. Proprium Dei opus fuit,[76] ut
+vocatio Pauli, sic adulterium Davidis, Iudaeque proditoris
+impietas." Monstrum hoc, cuius Philippum aliquando puduit,
+Lutherus[77] tamen, a quo Philippus hauserat, quasi oraculum
+coeleste miris extollit laudibus, et alumnum suum eo nomine
+tantum non exaequat[78] Apostolo Paulo. Percontabor etiam, quid
+animi Luthero fuerit, quem Angli[79] calviniani "virum divinitus
+datum ad orbem illuminandum" pronuntiant, quum hunc versum
+demeret supplicationibus Ecclesiae.[80] "Sancta Trinitas, unus
+Deus, miserere nobis."
+
+DE CHRISTO.--Mox ad personam Christi progrediar. Quaeram ista
+sibi quid velint; Christus De Filius, Deus de Deo? Calvino:[81]
+"Deus ex sese," Bezae:[82] "Non est genitus de Patris essentia."
+Item: "Duae constituantur in Christo uniones hypostaticae,[83]
+altera animae cum carne, Divinitatis cum humanitate altera."
+"Locus apud Ioannem:" 'Ego et Pater unum sumus,' non ostendit
+Christum Deum 'homoousion'[84] Deo Patri." Sed et 'anima mea,
+inquit Lutherus,[85] odit hoc verbum 'homoousion.'" Pergite:
+"Christus ab infantia non fuit gratia consummatus,[86] sed animi
+dotibus velut caeteri homines adolevit: usu factus quotidie
+sapientior, ita ut puerulus ignorantia laborarit." Quod perinde
+est, ac si dicerent originis labe et vitio sordidatum. Sed
+cognoscite diriora: "Christus, quum orans in horto, sudoribus
+aquae manaret et sanguinis, sensu damnationis aeternae
+cohorruit:[87] vocem edidit sine ratione, sine spiritu, vocem
+doloris impetu repentinam; quam, ut non satis meditatam, cleriter
+castigavit." Estne aliquid amplius? Attendite: "Christus, quum
+actus in crucem exclamaret:" 'Deus meus, Deus meus, ut quid
+dereliquisti me?' accensus est flammis inferni,[88] desperationis
+voceni emisit, non aliter affectus, quam si pereundum ei foret
+internecione sempiterna."
+
+His etiam, si quid possunt, addant: "Christus, inquiunt,[89]
+descendit ad inferos, id est, mortuus gehennam gustavit, nihilo
+minus quam animae damnatorum, nisi quod sibi restituendus
+erat.--Quandoquidem enim morte corporea nobis nihil
+profuisset;[90] anima quoque luctari cum morte debuit aeterna,
+atque hoc modo nostrum scelus suppliciumque dependere." Ac ne
+quis forte suspicetur, istud Calvino per incuriam obrepsisse,
+idem Calvinus:[91] "Omnes vos, si qui doctrinam istam solatii
+plenam exagitastis, perditos" appellat "nebulones." Tempora,
+tempora, cuiusmodi monstrum aluistis? Cruor ille delicatus et
+regius, qui de innocentis Agni corpore lacerato fissoque
+scaturiit, cuius cruoris una guttula propter dignitatem Hostiae
+mille mundos redimere potuisset, nihil humano genet profecit,
+nisi "mediator Dei et hominum (1 Tim ii. 5), homo Christus Iesus
+mortem quoque secundam (Apoc. ii. 11)," mortem animae, mortem
+gratiae, peccati solius et exsecrabilis blasphemiae sociam,
+pertulisset? Prae hac insania modestus videbitur Bucerus,
+quamquam est impudens, qui[92] infernum in symbolo sepulcrum
+accipit, per epexegesim valde praeposteram, ac potius tautologiam
+ineptam atque stolidam.
+
+Anglicani sectarii, pars Calvino, idolo suo, pars Bucero, magno
+magistro, solent accedere; pars etiam submurmurant in hunc
+articulum, ne quid facessat ultra molestiae, quemadmodum sine
+tumultu penitus eximatur de Symbolo. Id veno etiant fuisse
+tentatum in conventiculo quodam Londinensi, memini narrasse mihi,
+qui interfuit, Richardum Chenaeum, miserrimum senem, male
+mulctatum a latronibus foris, neque tamen ingressum in paternam
+domum. Hactenus de Christo.
+
+DE HOMINE.--De homine[93] quid? "Imago Dei penitus in homine
+deleta est, nulla boni scintilla superstite: tota natura quoad
+omnes animae partes ita funditus eversa, ut ne renatus quidem et
+sanctus quidquam sit aliud intrinsecus, nisi mera corruptio atque
+contagio." Quorsum ista? Vt qui sola fide gloriam rapturi sunt,
+in omnium turpitudinum coeno volutati, naturam accusent, virtutem
+desperent, praecepta deonerent.
+
+DE PECCATO.--Huc Illyricus, Magdeburgensium primipilus, illud
+suum adiecit immane placitum[94] de originis peccato, quod esse
+vult: "Intimam substantiam animarum, quippe quas, post Adami
+lapsum, diabolus ipse procreet, et in sese transformet." Hoc
+quoque tritum est in hac faece: "Omnia peccata esse paria:"[95]
+sed ita (ne Stoici reviviscant), "si Deo iudice ponderentur." Ac
+si Deus, aequissimus iudex, oneri nostro cumulum potius, quam
+levamentum faceret, et id, quod non est in re, quum sit ipse
+iustissimus, exaggeraret. Hac trutina non levius in Deum
+severissime iudicantem deliquerit ille caupo, qui gallum
+gallinaceum, quando non est opus, occiderit, quam infamis ille
+sicarius, qui plenus Beza, Gallum heroa Guisium, admiribili
+virtute principem, displosa fistula interemit; quo facinore nihil
+vidit orbis noster aetate nostra funestius, nihil luctuosius.
+
+DE GRATIA.--Sed fortasse, qui tam sunt in peccati conditione
+tetrici, magnifice philosophantur de divina gratia, quae huic
+malo succurrere ac mederi possit. Praeclaras vero isti partes
+assignant gratiae, "quam neque infusam cordibus nostris, neque ad
+resistendum sceleribus validam esse latrant, sedextra nos in solo
+Dei favore[96] collocant: "qui favor non emendet impios, nec
+purget, nec illuminet, nec ditet; sed veterem illam sentinam
+adhuc manantem atque foetentem, ne deformis et odiosa putetur,
+Deo connivente, dissimulet. Quo suo plasmate tantopere
+delectantur, ut ne "Christus quidem aliter apud illos[97] gratia
+plenus et veritate dicatur, quam quod ei Deus Pater mirandum in
+modum faverit."
+
+DE IVISTITIA.--Quae res ergo iustitia est? Relatio.[98] Non enim
+ex theologics concinnata virtutibus, fide, spe, charitate, quae
+animam suo nitore convestiant; sed tantum "occultatio delicti,
+quam qui sola fide prehenderit, ille tam de salute certus est, ac
+si iampridem interminato coeli gaudio[99] frueretur." Age,
+somniet hoc; sed unde constare poterit de futura perseverantia,
+qua qui caruit, exivit infelicissimus, licet ad tempus pure
+pieque iustitiam coluisset? Imo vero, "haec tua fides, Calvinus
+ait[100], nisi tuam tibi perseverantiam firme pronuntiet, ut
+hallucinari nequeas, tamquam inanis et languida sperneretur."
+Agnosco discipulum Lutheri. "Christianus, inquit ille[101] etiam
+volens, non potest salutem perdere, nisi nolit credere."
+
+DE SACRAMENTIS.--Ad Sacramenta festino. Nullum, nullum, non duo,
+non unum, O Sancte Christe, reliquerant. Ipsorum quippe panis
+venenum est; Baptismus etsi adhuc verus, tamen ipsorum iudicio
+"nihil est, non est unda salutis, non est canalis gratiae, non
+derivat in nos Christi merita; sed significatio dumtaxat salutis
+est. Itaque nihilo pluris Baptismum Christi, quoad naturam rei,
+quam Ioannis facere caeremoniam. Si habeas, recte; si careas,
+nihil damni: crede, salvus es, antequam abluere."[102] Quid ergo
+parvuli, qui nisi iuventur virtute Sacramenti, sua fide miselli
+nihil assequuntur? "Potius quam Sacramento Baptismatis quidquam
+tribuamus, inquiunt Magdeburgici,[103] demus inesse fidem ipsis
+infantulis, qua serventur, cuius fidei pulsus quosdam abditos
+intelligant" ipsi, qui vivant necne, nondum intelligunt. Durum. Si
+hoc adeo durum est, Lutheri pharmacum auditote: "Praestat,
+inquit,[104] omittere, quandoquidem nisi credat infans, nequidquam
+lavatur." Haec illi quidem ancipites animo, quidnam enuntient
+categorice. Ergo Balthassar Pacimontanus diribitor interveniat;
+qui parens Anabaptistarum, quum parvulis motum fidei non posset
+affingere, Lutheri cantiunculam adprobavit, et paedobaptismum
+eiiciens e templis, "neminen nisi adultum fonte sacro decrevit
+abluere." Ad reliqua Sacramenta quod attinet, quamvis illa bestia
+multiceps horrendas eiectet contumelias, tamen quia quotidianae
+iam sunt et callum auribus obduxerunt, hic praetereo.
+
+DE MORIBVS.--Restant haereticorum de vita et moribus frusta
+nocentissima, quae Lutherus evomi in chartas, ut ex unius
+pectoris impuro gurgustio pestem lectoribus inhalaret. Audite
+patienter, et erubescite, et mihi date veniam recitanti: "Si
+nolit uxor[105], aut non possit, veniat ancilla. Siquidem res
+uxoria tam est cuique necessaria, quam esca, potus, somnus.
+Matrimonium est virginitate multo praestantius; eam Christus, eam
+Paulus dissuaserunt hominibus christianis." Sed haec fortasse
+propria Lutheri sunt? Non sunt. Etiam nuper a meo Charco,[106]
+sed misere timideque defenduntur. Vultis ne plura? Quidni?
+"Quanto sceleratior es, inquit,[107] tanto vicinior gratiae.
+Omnes actiones bonae peccata sunt; Deo iudice, mortifera; Deo
+propitio, leviuscula[108]--Nemo malum suapte voluntate
+cogitat[109]--Decalogus nihil ad christianos[110]--Opera nostra
+Deus nequaquam curat--Soli recte participant coena Dominica, qui
+tristes, afflictas, perturbatas, confusas, erraticas apportant
+conscientias.--Confitenda crimina sunt, sed cuilibet, qui si te
+vel ioco absolverit, modo credideris, absolutus es.--Legere
+preces horarias non est sacerdotum, sed laicorum--Christiani
+liberi sunt a statutis hominum." Satis superque lacunam istam
+commosse videor. lam finio. Nec vero putetis iniquiorem esse me,
+qui lutheranos et zuinglianos promiscue coarguerim; nam isti
+memores a quo proseminati sint, inter se fratres et amici volunt
+esse,[111] adeoque gravem interpretantur iniuriam, quum in ulla
+re praeter unam, discriminantur.
+
+Equidem non sum tanti, ut vel mediocrem locum mihi sumam in
+selectis theologis, qui hodie bellum haeresibus indixere; sed hoc
+scio, quantuluscumque sum, periclitari me non posse, dum Christi
+gratia fultus adversum talia commenta, tam invisa, tam insulsa,
+tam bruta, coelo terraque iuvantibus, praeliabor.
+
+NONA RATIO
+
+SOPHISMATA
+
+Scitum est, inter caecos luscum regnare posse. Apud rudes valet
+saepe fucata disputatio, quam schola Philosophorum exsibilat. Multa
+peccat adversarius in hoc genere; sed quatuor fallacies plerumque
+consuitur, quas in Academia malim, quam in trevio, retexere.
+
+Primum vitium [Greek: skiamachia] est, quae auras et umbras magno
+contau diverberat. Hoc pacto: contra coelibes iuratos et votos in
+castimoniam, quod nuptiae bonae sint, virginitas melior,
+offeruntur Scripturae loquentes honorifice de coniugio. Quem
+feriunt? Contra meritum hominis christiani, tinctum Christi
+sanguine, alioquin nullum, promuntur testimonia, quibus iubemur,
+nec naturae, nec legi, sed sanguini Christi fidere. Quem
+refellunt? In eos, qui colunt Coelites, ut famulos Christi maxime
+gratiosos, citantur integrae pagellae, quae vetant colere multos
+Deos. Vbinam sunt? Huiusmodi argumentis, quae apud haereticos
+infinita reperio, nobis esse detrimento non poterunt; vobis esse
+fastidio poterunt.
+
+Aliud vitium [Greek: logomachia] est, quae sensa deserens,
+loquaciter cum verbo litigat, "Invenias mihi Missam, inquiunt,
+aut Purgatorium in Scripturis." Quid ergo? Trinitas, Homoousion,
+Persona, nusquam sunt in Bibliis, quia voces istae non sunt?
+Affine est huic peccato litterarum aucupium; quum neglecta
+consuetudine et mente loquentium, quae vita vocabuli est,
+adversus elementa contenditur. Nempe sic aiunt: "Presbyter nihil
+est Graecis, nisi senior; Sacramentum, quodvis mysterium."
+Caeterum acute D. Thomas,[112] ut omnia: "In vocibus, inquit,
+videndum, non tam ex quo, quam ad quid sumantur."
+
+Tertium, [Greek: homonumia] est, longe lateque patens. Vt:
+"Quorsum ordo sacerdotum; quum Ioannes (Apoc. v. 10) omnes nos
+vocaverit sacerdotes?" Etiam hoc addidit: "Regnabimus super
+terram." Quorsum ergo reges? Item: "Propheta (Isai. LVIII. 6)
+celebrat ieiunium spiritale, hoc est, ab inveteratis criminibus
+abstinentiam. Valeat ergo ciborum delectus, et dierum
+praescriptio." Siccine? Igitur insanierunt Moyses, David, Elias,
+Baptistes, Apostoli, qui biduo, triduo, vel hebdomadis inediam
+terminarunt; quae quidem, ut a crimine, debebat esse perpetua.
+Hoc quale sit, iam vidistis: propero.
+
+Quartum his adiicitur "Circulatio," in hunc modum: Da mihi notas,
+inquam, Ecclesiae. "Verbum Dei et purissima Sacramenta." Haeccine
+sunt apud vos? "Quis dubitet?"--Ego vero pernego. "Consule verbum
+Dei."--Iam consului, minusque vobis, quam antea, faveo. "Attamen
+planum est."--Proba mihi. "Quia nos ne latum quidem unguem
+discedimus a verbo Dei."--Vbi est acumen tuum? Semperne capies
+pro argumento illud ipsum, quod ponitur in quaestione? Quoties
+hoc iam inculco? Num tu evigilas? Num faces admovendae sunt? Dico
+a te perperam exponi verbum Dei: testes habeo quindecim aetates,
+sta sententiae, non meae, non tuae, sed harum omnium.--"Stabo
+sententiae verbi Dei: Spiritus ubi vult, spirat." Eccum, quos
+gyros, quas rotas fabricat. Hic nugator, tot verborum atque
+sophismatum architectus, nescio cui formidolosus esse queat,
+molestus erit fortasse. Molestiam vestra prudentia sublevabit,
+formidinem res eripuit.
+
+DECIMA RATIO
+
+OMNE GENVS TESTIVM
+
+"Haec erit vobis directa via, ita ut stulti non errent per
+eam."[113] Quis enim, quamvis hebes in plebecula, dummodo salutis
+cupidus parumper attenderit, semitam Ecclesiae tam egregie
+complanatam, non videat, non teneat; vepres, et cautes, et avia
+detestatus? Erunt haec etiam rudibus explorata, sicut Isaias
+vaticinatus est; vobis igitur, si voletis, exploratissima.
+
+COELITES.--Theatrum universitatis rerum ponamus ob oculos;
+quidquid est uspiam peragremus; omnia nobis argumenta
+suppeditant. Eamus in coelum: "Rosas[114] et lilia
+contemplemur," purpuratos nempe martyrio, candidatos innocentia.
+Romanos, inquam, Pontifices[115] tres et triginta continenter
+occisos; Pastores terris omnibus, qui suum pro Christi nomine
+sanguinem oppignerarunt; greges fidelium, qui Pastorum vestigiis
+institere; Divos omnes coelites, qui turbae hominum puritate et
+sanctimonia praeluxere. Nostros hic vixisse, nostros hinc
+emigrasse reperias. Noster fuit, ut paucula delibemus, ille
+martyrii sitientissimus Ignatius[116] "qui in rebus Ecclesiae
+neminem, ne regen[117] quidem, aequavit Episcopo: qui
+traditiones[118] quasdam Apostolicas, quarum testis ipse fuerat,
+ne dilaberentur, scripto mandavit." Noster anachoreta
+Telesphorus,[119] "qui ieiunium quadragesimale, sancitum ab
+Apostolis, observari severius iussit." Noster Irenaeus,[120]
+"qui a successione Cathedraque Romana fidem Apostolicam
+declaravit." Noster etiam Victor Pontifex, "qui[121] Asiam
+edicto coercuit universam:" quod quum aliquibus, atque etiam
+huic Irenaeo, viro sacratissimo, videretur asperius, nemo tamen
+attenuavit, ut exoticam potestatem. Noster Polycarpus,[122] qui
+super quaestione Paschatis Romam adiit, cuius ambustas reliquias
+Smyrna collegit, anniversario die rituque legitimo suum
+Episcopum venerata. Nostri Cornelius et Cyprianus,[123] aureum
+par Martyrum, ambo magni praesules; sed maior ille, qui Romanus
+Africanum errorem resciderat; hic nobilitatus observantia, qua
+maiorem est prosequutus, amicissimum sui. Noster Sixtus,[124]
+"cui ad aram solemnibus sacris operanti ministrarunt e clero
+septemviri." Noster Laurentius, huius Archidiaconus,[125] quem
+adversarii de suis fastis eiiciunt, quem ante mille ducentos
+annos vir consularis Prudentius[126] sic ornavit:
+
+   Quae sit potestas credita
+   Et muneris quantum datum,
+   Probant Quiritum gaudia,
+   Quibus rogatus annuis.
+   Hos inter, o Christi decus,
+   Audi et poetam rusticum,
+   Cordis fatentem crimina,
+   Et facta prodentem sua.
+   Audi benignus supplicem
+   Christi reum, Prudentium.
+
+Nostrae virgines illae[127] perbeatae, Caecilia, Agatha,
+Anastasia, Barbara, Agnes, Lucia, Dorothea, Catharina; quae
+decretam pudicitiam adversus et hominum et daemonum tyrannidem
+firmaverunt. Nostra Helena, quam dominicae Crucis inventio
+celebravit. Nostra Monica, quae moriens[129] orari et
+sacrificari pro se mortua ad altare Christi, religiosissime
+flagitavit. Nostra Paula,[129] quae ex urbano palatio et opimis
+praediis in speluncam Bethleemiticam tantis itineribus peregrina
+cucurrit, ut ad Christi vagientis cunabula delitesceret. Nostri
+Paulus, Hilarion, Antonius, seniculi solitarii. Noster
+Satyrus,[130] Ambrosii germanus frater, qui tremendam illam
+hostiam circum se gestans in orario, naufragus insiliit in
+Oceanum, et fide plenissimus enatavit. Nostri Nicolaus et
+Martinus, episcopi, exerciti vigiliis, paludati ciliciis,
+ieiunio pasti, Noster Benedictus, tot monachorum pater.
+Chiliadas istas decennio non exsequerer.
+
+Sed nec illos repeto, quos in Ecclesiae Doctoribus ante posueram.
+Memor sum brevitatis meae, Petat ista, qui volet, non solum ex
+abundanti veterum historia, sed multo etiam magis ex gravissimis
+auctoribus, qui paene singuli Divos singulos memoriae[131]
+reliquerunt. Renuntiet mihi, de christianis illis antiquissimis
+et beatissimis quid autumet? Vtrius doctrinae fuerint,
+catholicae, an lutheranae? Testor Dei solium et illud tribunal,
+ad quod stabo rationem rationum harum et dicti et facti
+redditurus, aut nullum coelum esse, aut nostrorum esse; illud
+exsecramur, hoc ergo defigimus.
+
+DAMNATI.-Nunc e contrario, si libet, inspiciamus in Tartara.
+Cremantur incendio sempiterno. Qui? Iudaei. Quam Ecclesiam
+adversati? Nostram.--Qui? Ethnici. Quam Ecclesiam crudelissime
+persequuti? Nostram.--Qui? Turcae. Quae templa demoliti?
+Nostra.--Qui? Haeretici. Cuius Ecclesiae perduelles?
+Nostrae.--Quae enim Ecclesia praeter nostram omnibus inferorum
+portis[132] se opposuit?
+
+IVDAEI.--Quum, pulsis Hebraeis, Christiani[133] succrescerent
+Hierosolymis, Deum immortalem! qui concursus hominum ad loca
+sacra fuit,[134] quae urbis religio, quae sepulcri, quae
+praesepii, quae crucis, quae monumentorum omnium, quibus velut
+exuviis mariti, Ecclesia sponsa delectatur? Hinc manavit in nos
+Iudaeorum odium ferum et implacabile. Queruntur etiam nunc,
+maiores nostros maioribus suis exitio fuisse. A Simone Mago et
+lutheranis nullum ictum acceperunt.
+
+ETHNICI.--In Ethnicis violentissimi fuere, qui toto Imperio,
+trecentis annis, per intervalla temporum, aerumnosissima
+Christianis supplicia machinati sunt. Quibus? Patribus et filiis
+nostrae fidei. Cognoscite vocem tyranni, qui Divum Laurentium
+torruit in craticula:[135]
+
+   Hunc esse vestris Orgiis
+   Moremque et artem, proditum est;
+   Hanc disciplinam foederis,
+   Libent ut auro antistites.
+   Argenteis scyphis ferunt
+   Fumare sacrum sanguinem,
+   Auroque nocturnis sacris
+   Adstare fixos cereos.
+   Tunc cura summa est fratribus,
+   (Vt sermo testatur loquax),
+   Offerre, fundis venditis,
+   Sestertiorum millia.
+   Addicta avorum praedia
+   Foedis sub auctionibus
+   Successor exhaeres gemit,
+   Sanctis egens parentibus.
+   Haec occulantur abditis
+   Ecclesiarum in angulis;
+   Et summa pietas creditur
+   Nudare dulces liberos.
+   Deprome thesauros, malis
+   Suadendo quos praestigiis
+   Exaggeratos obtines,
+   Nigrantes quos claudis specu.
+   Hoc poscit usus publicus;
+   Hoc fiscus, hoc aerarium,
+   Vt dedita stipendiis
+   Ducem iuvet petunia.
+   Sic dogma vestrum est, audio;
+   "Suum quibusque reddito."
+   En Caesar agnoscit suum
+   Numisma, nummis inditum.
+   Quod Caesaris scis, Caesari
+   Da: nempe iustum postulo,
+   Ni fallor; haud ullam tuus
+   Signat Deus pecuniam.
+   Nec quum veniret, aureos
+   Secum Philippos detulit;
+   Praecepta
+   sed verbis dedit
+   Inanis a marsupio.
+   Implete dictorum fidem,
+   Quae vos per orbem venditis,
+   Nummos libenter reddite;
+   Estote verbis divites.
+
+Quis videtur? In quos furit? Cuius Ecclesiae sacra, lychnos,
+ritus, ornamenta convellit? Cui patellas aureas, et argenteos
+calices, et sumptuosa donaria, et opulentam gazam invidet?
+Profecto lutherizat. Quod enim aliud velum suo latrocinio
+nostri Nemrodes[136] obtenderunt, quum depecularentur
+ecclesias, et Christi patrimonium dissiparent? Contra vero
+magnus ille Constantinus Christomastigon terror, quam Eeclesiam
+tranquillavit? Illam, cui Pontifex Sylvester praefuit,[137]
+quem in Soracte latitantem accersiit, ut eius opera nostro
+baptismate tingeretur.--Quibus auspiciis victor? Signo
+crucis.[138]--Qua matre gloriosus? Helena.--Quibus se patribus
+adiunxit? Nicaenis.--Cuiusmodi? Vt Sylvestro, ut Marco, ut
+Iulio, ut Athanasio, ut Nicolao.--Cuius se precibus[139]
+commendavit? Antonii.--Quam sellam postulavit[140] in Synodo?
+Vltimam.--O quanto regalior hac sede, quam qui regis titulum,
+non debitum, ambierunt! Singula narrare longum est. Sed ex his
+duobus altero nobis infestissimo, altero nobis amicissimo,
+licebit singula coniicere, quae sunt horum simillima. Etenim,
+ut nostrorum illa fuit Epistasis turbulenta, sic nostrorum haec
+evasit divina Catastrophe.
+
+TVRCAE.-Turcica videamus. Mahometes et Sergius monachus apostata
+in profundo barathro iacent ululantes, et suis et posterorum
+sceleribus onusti. Haec portentosa et efferata bellua,
+Sarraceni, Turcae, nisi a nostris ordinibus militiae
+sacrae,[141] nisi a nostris principibus et populis accisa
+fuisset ac repressa, per Lutherum quidem, (cui gratias hoc
+nomine Solymanus Turcus litteris egisse dicitur), et per
+lutheranos regulos (quibus Turcorum progressio laetabilis
+existimatur); haec, inquam, Erinnys furiosa et exitiosa
+mortalibus, totam iam depopularetur et vastaret Europam; neque
+indiligentius altaria et signa crucis, quam ipse Calvinus
+everteret. Ergo nostri hostes illi sunt proprii, utpote
+nostrorum industria a christianorum iugulis repulsi.
+
+HAERETICI.--Despectemus in haereticos, faeces, et folles, et
+alimenta gehennae. Primus occurrit Simon Magus. Quid ille?
+"Eripiebat homini liberam[142] voluntatem; solam fidem[143]
+percrepabat." Mox Novatianus: Quis? Antipapa Cornelio,[144]
+Pontifici Romano, "hostis sacramentorum poenitentiae et
+chrismatis."[145] Deinde Manes Persa: hic docebat "baptismum
+salutem[146] non conferre." Post Aerius Arianus "preces damnabat
+pro mortuis,[147] confundebat episcopis sacerdotes." Hinc Aerius
+"solam[148] et ipse fidem personabat," cognominatus atheos[149]
+non minus quam Lucianus. Sequitur Vigilantius,[150] qui "Divos
+orari non ferebat:" ac Iovinianus, qui "virginitatem et nuptias
+aequiparabat." Denique colluvies universa Macedonius, Pelagius,
+Nestorius, Entyches, Monothelitae, Iconomachi, caeteri, quibus
+Lutherum et Calvinum posteritas aggregabit. Quid isti? Omnes mali
+corvi, eodem ovo geniti, ab Ecclesiae nostrae Praesulibus
+desciverunt, ab illis evicti et exinaniti sunt.
+
+Deseramus avernum, reddamur terris. Quocumque me oculis et
+cogitatione convertero, sive Patriarchas intueor et sedes
+Apostolicas, sive Antistites caeterarum gentium, sive laudatos
+principes, reges, caesares, sive christianorum cuiusque nationis
+initia, sive ullum iudicium vetustatis, aut lumen rationis, aut
+honestatis decus; nostrae fidei serviunt et suffragantur omnia.
+
+SEDES APOSTOLICA.--Testis Romana successio, "In qua semper
+Ecclesia, (ut cum Augustino ep. 162 loquar), Apostolicae
+Cathedrae viguit principatus." Testes illae reliquae sedes
+apostolicae, in quas hoc nomen insignite convenit, quod ab ipsis
+Apostolis horumve auditoribus exaedificatae[151] fuerint.
+
+DISIVNCTTISSIMAE TERRAE.--Testes ubivis gentium pastores, loco
+dissiti, religione nostra concordes, Ignatius et Chrysostomus,
+Antiochiae; Petrus, Alexander, Athanasius, Theophilus,
+Alexandriae; Macharius et Cyrillus, Hierosolymis; Proclus,
+Constantinopoli; Gregorius et Basilius, in Cappadocia;
+Thaumaturgus, in Ponto; Smyrnae, Polycarpus; Iustinus, Athenis;
+Dionysius, Corinthi; Gregorius, Nissae; Methodius, Tyri; Ephremus,
+in Cyria; Cyprianus, Optatus, Augustinus, in Africa; Epiphanius,
+in Cypro; Andreas, Cretae; Ambrosius, Paulinus, Gaudentius,
+Prosper, Faustus, Vigilius in Italia; Irenaeus, Martinus,
+Hilarilius, Eucherius, Gregorius, Salvianus, in Gallia;
+Vincentius, Orosius, Ildefonsus, Leander, Isidorus, in Hispania;
+in Britannia, Fugatius, Damianus, Iustus, Mellitus, Beda. Denique,
+ne ambitiosus videar in nominibus, quaecumque vel opera, vel
+fragmenta supersunt eorum, qui disiunctissimis terris Evangelium
+severunt, omnia nobis unam fidem exhibent, quam hodie catholici
+profitemur. Christe, quid causae tibi afferam, quo minus me de
+tuis extermines, si tot luminibus Ecclesiae tenebricosos homulos,
+paucos, indoctos, dissectos, improbos, antetulero?
+
+PRINCIPES.--Testes item principes, reges, caesares, horumque
+respublicae, quorum et ipsorum pietas, et ditionum populi, et
+pacis bellique disciplina, se penitus in hac nostra doctrina
+catholica fundaverunt. Hic ergo quos ab oriente Theodosios, quos
+ab occidente Carolos, quos Eduardos ex Anglia, Ludovicos e
+Gallia, Hermenegildos ex Hispania, Henricos a Saxonia, Wenceslaos
+e Bohemia, Leopoldos ex Austria, Stephanos ex Hungaria,
+Iosaphatos ex India, quos orbe toto dynastas atque toparchas
+possim arcessere; qui exemplo, qui armis qui legibus, qui
+sollicitudine, qui sumptu, nostram Ecclesiam nutrierunt? Sic enim
+praecinuit Isaias (xlix. 23): "Erunt reges nutricii tui, et
+reginae iutrices tuae." Audi, Elisabetha, Regina potentissima,
+tibi canit, te tuas partes edocet. Narro tibi: Calvinum et hos
+principes unum coelum capere non potest. His ergo te principibus
+adiunge, dignam maioribus, dignam ingenio, dignam litteris,
+dignam laudibus, dignam fortuna tua. Solum hoc de te molior ego
+et moliar, quidquid me fiet, cui, tamquam hosti capitis tui,
+toties iam isti patibulum ominantur. Salve bona crux. Veniet,
+Elisabetha, dies ille, ille dies, qui tibi liquido commonstrabit,
+utri te dilexerint, Societas Iesu, an Lutheri progeies Pergo.
+
+NATIONES AD CHRISTAM TRADVCTAE.--Testes iam omne sorae plagaeque
+mundi, quibus evangelica tuba post Christum natum insonuit.
+Parumne hoc fuit, idolis ora claudere, Dei regnum gentibus
+importare? Christum Lutherus, catholici Christum loquimur. "Num
+divisus est Christus?"[152] Minime. Aut nos, aut ille, falsum
+Christum loquimur. Quid ergo? Dicam. Christus ille sit, et
+illorum sit, quo Dagon[153] invecto cervices fregerit. Noster
+Christus opera nostrorum uti voluit, quum Ioves, Mercurios,
+Dianas, Phaebadas, et illam noctem saeculorum atram, Erebumque
+tristem, e tot populorum cordibus relegaret. Non est otium
+longinqua perquirere; finitima tantum atque domestica speculemur.
+Hiberni ex Patritio, Scoti ex Palladio, Angli ex Augustino, Romae
+sacratis, Roma missis, Romam venerantibus, fidem aut nullam aut
+certe nostram, id est, catholicam insuxerunt. Res aperta. Curro.
+
+CVMVLVS TESTIVM.--Testes academiae, testes legum tabulae, testes
+vernaculi mores hominum, testes selectio caesarum et inauguratio,
+testes regum ritus et inunctio, testes equitum ordines, ipsaeque
+chlamydes, testes fenestrae, testes nummi, testes urbanae portae
+domusque civicae, testes avorum fructus et vita, testes res omnes
+et reculae, nullam in orbe religionem, nisi nostram, imis umquam
+radicibus insedisse.
+
+Quae mihi quum suppeterent, et certe sic efficerent meditantem,
+ut his omnibus nuntium remittere christianis, et consociari cum
+perditissimis quibusque, videretur insolentis insaniae; non
+diffiteor, animatus sum et incensus ad conflictum, in quo nisi
+Divi de coelo deturbentur, et superbus Lucifer coelum recuperet,
+cadere numquam potero. Quo mihi sit aequior Charcus, qui me tam
+immaniter concerpit, si hanc animulam peccatricem, quam tanti
+Christus emit, viae tutae, viae certae, viae regiae malui
+credere, quam Calvinis scopulis dumetisve suspendere.
+
+CONCLVSIO
+
+Habetis a me, florentes Academici, hoc munusculum, contextum
+operis in itinere subcisivis. Animus fuit et purgare me vobis de
+arrogantia, et satisfacere de fiducia, et interim dum ab
+adversariis una mecum in scholas invitemini, quaedam apponere
+degustanda. Si aequam, si tutum, si honestum ducitis, haberi
+Lutherum, aut Calvinum, canonem Scripturae, mentem sancti
+Spiritus, normam Ecclesiae, Conciliorum Patrumque paedagogum,
+omnium denique testium et saeculorum Deum, nihil est quod
+sperem, vobis lectoribus vel auditoribus. Sin estis ii, quos
+apud animum formavi meum, philosophi occulati, amatores veri,
+simplicitatis, modestiae; hostes temeritatis, nugarum,
+sophismatum; facile diem in aprico videbitis, qui dieculam
+angusta rima dispicitis. Dicam libere, quod meus in vos amor, et
+vestrum periculum et rei magnitudo postulat. Non hoc nescit
+diabolus, vos istam lucem, si quando coeperitis oculos attolere,
+conspecturos. Cuius enim stuporis fuerit, antiquitati
+christianae Hammeros et Charcos anteponere? Sed sunt quaedam
+illecebrae lutheranae, quibus suum ille regnum amplificat,
+quibus ille tendiculis hamatus multos iani vestri ordinis
+inescavit. Quaenam? Aurum, gloria, deliciae, veneres.
+Contemnite. Quid enim aliud ista sunt, nisi terrarum ilia,
+canorus aer, propina vermium, bella sterquilinia? Spernite.
+Christus dives est, qui vos alet; Rex est, qui ornabit; lautus
+est, qui satiabit, speciosus est, qui felicitatum omnium cumulos
+largietur. Huic vos adscribite militanti, ut cum eo triumphos,
+vere doctissimi vereque clarissimi, reportetis. Valete.
+Cosmopoli 1581.
+
+[Footnote 1: A Beato Edmundo anglice scripta, ab alio
+latine reddita.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Est hic locus supplicii anglice _Tyburn_.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Aug. l. 28 contra Faust. c. 2 et de utilit. cred. c. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Iren. l. 1, c. 26.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Lut. in novo test. german.; Praef. in ep. Iac.;
+vide etiam l. de capt. Babyl. cap. de extr. unct. et cent,
+Magd. 2 p. 58.]
+
+[Foonote 6: Ii sunt Baruch, Tobias, Iudith, Sapientia,
+Ecclesiast., duo Machab.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Ep. ad Hebr., Ep. Iudae, Ep. 2 Petri, Epist. 2 et 3 Ioan.]
+
+[Footnote 8: De doctr. christ. l. 2 c. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Conc. Trid. sess. 4; vid. Melch. Can. l. 2 de loc, theol.]
+
+[Footnote 10: De praedest, sanct. c. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Instit. I. lib. I, c. 7, num. 4 et 5.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Xistus Sen. l. 8, haer. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Praef. in Cant. Vide Bezam in sua praef. ante comm.
+Calv. in Iosue.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Epist. ad Paulinum.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Lut. praef. in Apoc.--Kemn. in exam. Conc.
+Trid. sess. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Praef. in nov. Test.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Lut. serm. de Pharis. et Publ.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Matth. xxvi. 26; Marc. xiv. 22; Luc. xxii. 19.]
+
+[Footnote 19: In epist. ad Argent.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Matth. viii. 29; Marc. i. 24.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Luc. xxii. 19; Matth. xxvi. 28; Marc. xiv. 24.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Ioan. vi.; Matth. xvi.; Marc. xiv.; Luc. xxii.;. 1
+Cor. x. et xi.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Calv. Instit. l. iv., c. 1 n. 2 et 3.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Act. xv. 28.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Greg. I. 1, ep. 24.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Ang. I Elizab.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Nic. can. vi.; Chalc. act. iv.; Const. c. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 28: Ephes. conc. in epist. ad Nestor; Nic. c. xiv.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Chalc. act. xi.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Nic. conc. apud Soc. I. i. c. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Vide Chalc. can. iv., vii., xvi., xxiv.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Matth. xviii. 20; Ioan. xiv. 26.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Lib. de capt. Bab.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Exam. Conc. Trid]
+
+[Footnote 35: Vide Conc. Trid. sess. 11, 15 et 18.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Act. xiii. 1; 1 Cor. xii. 28; Ephes. iv. 11; 1 Cor.
+xiv., 1 et seq.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Matth. xiii. 52.]
+
+[Footnote 38: S. Dion. Areop. de quo vide. 6 Syn. act. 4, Adon.,
+Tren. in martyr. Turon., Syng., Suid., Metap.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Comm. in 1, 13, 17 Deut. Item in capt. Babyl.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Dial. 5 et 11.]
+
+[Footnote 41: Cent. 2, c. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Inst. l. I, c. 13, n. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Cent. 2, c. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 44: Cent. 1, l. 2, c. 10 et seq.]
+
+[Footnote 45: Tert. l. de praescr. contr. haer.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Orat. de cos. secul.]
+
+[Footnote 47: Causs. dial. 8 et 11.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Cent. 3, c. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Ibid.]
+
+[Footnote 50: Ezech. xiii. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Praef. in Cent. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 52: Dial. 6, 7, 8.]
+
+[Footnote 53: Beza in act. c. 23, v. 3]
+
+[Footnote 54: Test. Stanch. l. de Trinit.]
+
+[Footnote 55: Contr. Henr. reg. Angl.]
+
+[Footnote 56: Lib. 22 de Civit. Dei c. 8 et serm. de
+divers. 34 et seq.]
+
+[Footnote 57: Contr. ep. Man. quam vocant funda c. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Lib. 1 contr. Parmen.]
+
+[Footnote 59: Aug. l. 1. contr. Parmen.; De unit. c 16; et De
+doctr. christ. c. 40.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Lib. 2 ad Monim.]
+
+[Footnote 61: Vide S. Hieron. de Script. Eccles.]
+
+[Footnote 62: Vide Epist. Syn. Alexandr. ad Felic. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 63: Epist. ad Ital. Item serm. 91.]
+
+[Footnote 64: Aug. l. 22 de Civ. Dei; Greg. Tur. l. de glor,
+Mart. e. 46 et Metaph.]
+
+[Footnote 65: Instit. l. 1, c. 11, n. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 66: Lib. de vita Ivelli.]
+
+[Footnote 67: Ioan. v. 39.]
+
+[Footnote 68: Rom. 1, 8, 9; xv. 29; xvi, 16, 19.]
+
+[Footnote 69: Act. xxviii. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 70: 1 Pet. v. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 71: Hieron. in cap. script. Eccles.; Euseb. 2 hist.c, 14.]
+
+[Footnote 72: Phillip. iv. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 73: Iren. l. 3, c. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 74: Inst. l. 4, c. 2, n. 3 et in epist. ad Sadol.]
+
+[Footnote 75: Calv. Inst. l. 1, c. 18; l. 2, c. 4; l. 3, cc. 23
+et 24; Petr. Mart. in 1, Sam. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 76: Melanct. in cap. Rom. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 77: Sic docet Luth. in asser. 36 et in resol. asser. 36
+et in libr. de servo arbitrio.]
+
+[Footnote 78: Praef. in Phillip. in ep. ad Rom.]
+
+[Footnote 79: In Apol. Eccl. Anglic.]
+
+[Footnote 80: Vide enchir. prec. an. 1541.]
+
+[Footnote 81: Calv. Inst. l. 1, c. 13, n. 23, 24.]
+
+[Footnote 82: Beza in Hes.]
+
+[Footnote 83: Beza cont. Schmidel. l. de unitat. hypost. duas
+in Christ. nat.]
+
+[Footnote 84: Calv. in Ioan. x, 30.]
+
+[Footnote 85: Luth. contr. Latom.]
+
+[Footnote 86: Bucer. in Luc. 2; Calv. in har. ev.; Luc. Los.;
+Melanct. in ev. Dom. 1 p. Epiph.]
+
+[Footnote 87: Marlorat. in Matth. 26; Calv. in harm. eveng.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Brent. in Luc. part. 2, hom. 65 et in Ioan. hom.
+54; Calv. in harm. evang.]
+
+[Footnote 89: Schmidel. Conc. de pass. et coena Dom.; Aepinus
+comm. in Ps. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 90: Calv. Inst. l. 2, c. 16, n. 10, 11; Brent. in
+catech, an. 1551.]
+
+[Footnote 91: Ibid. n. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 92: Buc. in Matt. cap. 26.]
+
+[Footnote 93: Illyr. in var. l. de orig. pecc.; Sarcer. de cons.
+vet Eccles.; Aepinus de imb. et pecc. Sanct.; Kemn. contra cens.
+col.; Calv. Inst. l. 4, c. 15, n. 10, 11.]
+
+[Footnote 94: Illyr. in var. l. de pecc. orig.--Vide Hesbusium
+in ep. ad Illyr.]
+
+[Footnote 95: Calv. in antidot. Conc. Trid.--Idem docuerat
+Wiclef. apud. Wald. l. 2, de Sacr. c. 154.]
+
+[Footnote 96: Luth. in resp. contra Lovan.]
+
+[Footnote 97: Bucer. in Ioan. 1; Wald. in nat. Christi; Brent.
+hom 16 in Ioan.; Cent. l. 1, c. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 98: Hesb. de iustif. in resp . asv. 115 obiect.
+Illyric. in Apol. confes. Antuerp. c. 6 de iustif.]
+
+[Footnote 99: Calv. Inst. l. 3, c. 2, n. 28 etc.]
+
+[Footnote 100: Calv. Inst. l. 3, c. 2, n. 40.]
+
+[Footnote 101: Lib. de capt. Babyl.]
+
+[Footnote 102: Calv. Inst. l. 4, c. 15, n. 2 et 10; Cent. l. 1,
+c. 19; Luth. l. de capt. Babyl.]
+
+[Footonote 103: Cent. 2 et 5, c. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 104: Luth. adv. Cochlae, Item epist. ad Melanct. t. 2;
+et in ep. ad Wald.]
+
+[Footnote 105: Luth. serm. de matrim. et lib. de vit. coniug.; in
+asser. art. 16; lib. de vot. monast.]
+
+[Footnote 106: Charc. in Cens. suum.]
+
+[Footnote 107: Luth. serm. de Pet.; in asser. art. 32.]
+
+[Footnote 108: Id. l. de serv. arbit.]
+
+[Footnote 109: Id. serm. de Moyse.]
+
+[Footnote 110: Id. l. de capt. Bab. c. de Euch.]
+
+[Footnote 111: Apol. Eccles. Angl.]
+
+[Footnote 112: In 1, p. q. 13, a. 2 ad 2.]
+
+[Footnote 113: Isai. xxxv. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 114: Aug. serm. 37 de Sanct.]
+
+[Footnote 115: Dam. in vit. Pont. Rom.]
+
+[Footnote 116: Hier. cat. Script.]
+
+[Footnote 117: Ign. epist. ad Smyrn.]
+
+[Footnote 118: Euseb. l. 3, c. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 119: Dam. in vita Telesph. to. 1 con. c. stat. d. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 120: Lib. 3, c. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 121: Euseb. 5 hist. 24.]
+
+[Footnote 122: Euseb. 4 hist. 13 et 14.]
+
+[Footnote 123: Euseb. 7 hist. 2 interp. Ruff.]
+
+[Footnote 124: Prud. in hym. de S. Laur.]
+
+[Footnote 125: Vid. Aug. Ser. 1 de S. Laur.; Ambr. l. 1 offi, c.
+41; Leo serm. in die S. Laur.]
+
+[Footnote 126: Prud. in hym. de S. Laur.]
+
+[Footnote 127: Metaph.; Ambr. et alii.]
+
+[Footnote 128: Aug. l. 6 confess. c. 7 ad 13.]
+
+[Footnote 129: Hier. in epit. Paul.]
+
+[Footnote 130: Ambr. in orat. fun. de Satyro.]
+
+[Footnote 131: Vide sex tomos Surii de vitis Sanct.]
+
+[Footnote 132: Matth. xv. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 133: Euseb. 4 hist. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 134: Hieron, in epit. Paul. et passim in epist.]
+
+[Footnote 135: Prudent. in Pin. de S, Laur.]
+
+[Footnote 136: Gen. x. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 137: Dam. in Sylv.; Niceph. l. 7, c. 33; Zonaras, Cedremus.]
+
+[Footnote 138: Euseb. l. 2 de vit. Const. c. 7, 8, 9; Sozom.
+l. 1, c. 8, 9.]
+
+[Footnote 139: Athan. in vita S. Ant.]
+
+[Footnote 140: Theod. l. 1, hist. cap.]
+
+[Footnote 141: Vid. Volate, lovium Aemilium l. 8, Blond. l. 9 de 2.]
+
+[Footnote 142: Clem. l. 1, recog.]
+
+[Footnote 143: Iren. l. 1, c. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 144: Cypr. ep. ad Iubatam et l. 4 ep. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 145: Theod. de fab. haeret.]
+
+[Footnote 146: Aug. haer. 46, 53, 54.]
+
+[Footnote 147: Epiph. haer. 75.]
+
+[Footnote 148: Aug. haer. 54.]
+
+[Footnote 149: Socr. l. 2, C. 28.]
+
+[Footnote 150: Hier. in Iovin. et Vigilant.; Aug. haer. 82.]
+
+[Footnote 151: Vid. Tert. de praescr.; Aug. l. 2 de
+doctr. christ. c. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 152: 1 Cor. i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 153: 1 Reg. v. 4.]
+
+TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
+
+This is no dry controversial divinity, but a sort of illuminated
+copy of _theses_, the call of a knight's trumpet challenging his
+antagonist to come forth. The Ten Reasons represent the ten
+_theses_, which Edmund Campion would fain have maintained in the
+Divinity School at Oxford against all comers, sharing, as he did
+to the full, the passion which his age felt and seems entirely to
+have lost, for such intellectual tournaments, as the natural
+means to bring out the truth and compose religious differences.
+The reader, then, must not be surprised to find in this little
+work quite as much of rhetoric as of logic; if he is unfriendly,
+he may say considerably more. Nor, if he knows anything of the
+controversial methods of the sixteenth century, will he be
+surprised at the vehemence of the language. Compared with his
+opponents, Luther for example, Edmund Campion is mere milk and
+honey. His book made a great stir: it is what a successful book
+must be, instinct with the spirit of the age in which and for
+which it was written.
+
+The Protestant answer to the Ten Reasons was not given in the
+Divinity School at Oxford. It was the rack in the Tower, and the
+gibbet at Tyburn; and that answer was returned ere the year was out.
+
+J.R.
+
+Pope's Hall, Oxford
+
+May 1910
+
+PREFACE.
+
+_Edmund Campion, to the Learned Members of the Universities of
+Oxford and Cambridge, Greeting._
+
+Last year, Gentlemen, when in accordance with my calling in life
+I returned under orders to this Island, I found on the shore of
+England not a little wilder waves than those I had recently left
+behind the in the British Seas. As thereupon I made my way into
+the interior of England, I had no more familiar sight than that
+of unusual executions, no greater certainty than the uncertainty
+of threatening dangers. I gathered my wits together as best I
+could, remembering the cause which I was serving and the times in
+which I lived. And lest I might perhaps be arrested before I had
+got a hearing from any one, I at once put my purpose in writing,
+stating who I was, what was my errand, what war I thought of
+declaring and upon whom. I kept the original document on my
+person, that it might be taken with me, if I were taken. I
+deposited a copy with a friend, and this copy, without my
+knowledge, was shown to many. Adversaries took very ill the
+publication of the paper. What they particularly disliked and
+blamed was my having offered to hold the field alone against all
+comers in this matter of religion, though to be sure I should not
+have been alone had I disputed under a public safe conduct.
+Hanmer and Chartres have replied to my demands. What is the
+tenour of their reply? All off the point. The only honest answer
+for them to give is one they will never give: "We embrace the
+conditions, the Queen pledges her word, come at once." Meanwhile
+they fill the air with their cries: "Your conspiracy! your
+seditious proceedings! your arrogance! traitor! aye marry,
+traitor!" The whole thing is absurd. These men are not fools: why
+are they wasting their pains and damaging their own reputation?
+Nevertheless, in reply to these two gentlemen (one of whom has
+chosen my paper to run at for his amusement, the other more
+maliciously has confused the whole issue) there has recently been
+presented a very clear memorial setting forth all that need be
+said about our Society and their calumnies and the part that we
+are taking. The only course left open to me (since as I see, it
+is tortures, not academic disputations, that the high-priests are
+making ready) was to make good to you the account of my conduct;
+to show you the chief heads and point my finger to the sources
+from whence I derive this confidence; to exhort you also, as it
+is your concern above others, to give to this business that
+attention which Christ, the Church, the Common Weal, and your own
+salvation demand of you. If it were confidence in my own talents,
+erudition, art, reading, memory, that led me to challenge all the
+skill that could be brought against me, then were I the vainest
+and proudest of mortals, not having considered either myself or
+my opponents. But if, with my cause before my eyes, I thought
+myself competent to show that the sun here shines at noon-day,
+you ought to allow in me that heat which the honour of Jesus
+Christ, my King, and the unconquered force of truth have put upon
+me. You know how in Marcus Tullius's speech for Publius Quintius,
+when Roscius promised that he should win the case if he could
+make out by arguments that a journey of 700 miles had not been
+accomplished in two days, Cicero not only had no fear of all the
+force of the pleading of the opposing counsel, Hortensius, but
+could not have been afraid even of greater orators than
+Hortensius, men of the stamp of Cotta and Antonius and Crassus,
+whose reputation for speaking he set higher than that of all
+other men: for truth does sometimes stand out in so clear a light
+that no artifice of word or deed can hide it. Now the case on our
+side is clearer even than that position of Roscius. I have only
+to evince this, that there is a Heaven, that there is a God, that
+there is a Faith, that there is a Christ, and I have gained my
+cause. Standing on such ground should I not pluck up heart? I may
+be killed, beaten I cannot be. I take my stand on those Doctors,
+whom that Spirit has instructed who is neither deceived nor
+overcome. I beg of you, consent to be saved. Of those from whom I
+obtain this consent I expect without the least doubt that all the
+rest will follow. Only give yourselves up to take interest in
+this inquiry, entreat Christ, add efforts of your own, and
+certainly you will perceive how the case lies, how our
+adversaries are in despair, and ourselves so solidly founded that
+we cannot but desire this conflict with serene and high courage.
+I am brief here, because I address you in the rest of my
+discourse. Farewell.
+
+FIRST REASON
+
+HOLY WRIT
+
+Of the many signs that tell of the adversaries' mistrust of their
+own cause, none declares it so loudly as the shameful outrage
+they put upon the majesty of the Holy Bible. After they have
+dismissed with scorn the utterances and suffrages of the rest of
+the witnesses, they are nevertheless brought to such straits that
+they cannot hold their own otherwise than by laying violent hands
+on the divine volumes themselves, thereby showing beyond all
+question that they are brought to their last stand, and are
+having recourse to the hardest and most extreme of expedients to
+retrieve their desperate and ruined fortunes. What induced the
+Manichees to tear out the Gospel of Matthew and the Acts of the
+Apostles? Despair. For these volumes were a torment to men who
+denied Christ's birth of a Virgin, and who pretended that the
+Spirit then first descended upon Christians when their peculiar
+Paraclete, a good-for-nothing Persian, made his appearance. What
+induced the Ebionites to reject all St. Paul's Epistles? Despair.
+For while those Letters kept their credit, the custom of
+circumcision, which these men had reintroduced, was set aside as
+an anachronism. What induced that crime-laden apostate Luther to
+call the Epistle of James contentious, turgid, arid, a thing of
+straw, and unworthy of the Apostolic spirit? Despair. For by this
+writing the wretched man's argument of righteousness consisting
+in faith alone was stabbed through and rent assunder. What
+induced Luther's whelps to expunge off-hand from the genuine
+canon of Scripture, Tobias, Ecclesiasticus, Maccabees, and, for
+hatred of these, several other books involved in the same false
+charge? Despair. For by these Oracles they are most manifestly
+confuted whenever they argue about the patronage of Angels, about
+free will, about the faithful departed, about the intercession of
+Saints. Is it possible? So much perversity, so much audacity?
+After trampling underfoot Church, Councils, Episcopal Sees,
+Fathers, Martyrs, Potentates, Peoples, Laws, Universities,
+Histories, all vestiges of Antiquity and Sanctity, and declaring
+that they would settle their disputes by the written word of God
+alone, to think that they should have emasculated that same Word,
+which alone was left, by cutting out of the whole body so many
+excellent and goodly parts! Seven whole books, to ignore lesser
+diminutions, have the Calvinists cut out of the Old Testament.
+The Lutherans take away the Epistle of James besides, and, in
+their dislike of that, five other Epistles, about which there had
+been controversy of old in certain places and times. To the
+number of these the latest authorities at Geneva add the book of
+Esther and about three chapters of Daniel, which their
+fellow-disciples, the Anabaptists, had some time before condemned
+and derided. How much greater was the modesty of Augustine (_De
+doct. Christ. lib._ 2, _c._ 8.), who, in making his catalogue of
+the Sacred Books, did not take for his rule the Hebrew Alphabet,
+like the Jews, nor private judgment, like the Sectaries, but that
+Spirit wherewith Christ animates the whole Church. The Church,
+the guardian of this treasure, not its mistress (as heretics
+falsely make out), vindicated publicly in former times by very
+ancient Councils this entire treasure, which the Council of Trent
+has taken up and embraced. Augustine also in a special discussion
+on one small portion of Scripture cannot bring himself to think
+that any man's rash murmuring should be permitted to thrust out
+of the Canon the book of Wisdom, which even in his time had
+obtained a sure place as a well-authenticated and Canonical book
+in the reckoning of the Church, the judgment of ages, the
+testimony of ancients, and the sense of the faithful. What would
+he say now if he were alive on earth, and saw men like Luther and
+Calvin manufacturing Bibles, filing down Old and New Testament
+with a neat pretty little file of their own, setting aside, not
+the book of wisdom alone, but with it very many others from the
+list of Canonical Books? Thus whatever does not come out from
+their shop, by a mad decree, is liable to be, spat upon by all as
+a rude and barbarous composition. They who have stooped to this
+dire and execrable way of saving themselves surely are beaten,
+overthrown, and flung rolling in the dust, for all their fine
+praises that are in the mouths of their admirers, for all their
+traffic in priesthoods, for all their bawling in pulpits, for all
+their sentencing of Catholics to chains, rack and gallows. Seated
+in their armchairs as censors, as though any one had elected them
+to that office, they seize their pens and mark passages as
+spurious even in God's own Holy Writ, putting their pens through
+whatever they cannot stomach. Can any fairly educated man be
+afraid of battalions of such enemies? If in the midst of your
+learned body they had recourse to such trickster's arts, calling
+like wizards upon their familiar spirit, you would shout at
+them,--you would stamp your feet at them. For instance I would
+ask them what right they have to rend and mutilate the body of
+the Bible. They would answer that they do not cut out true
+Scriptures, but prune away supposititious accretions. By
+authority of what judge? By the Holy Ghost. This is the answer
+prescribed by Calvin (_Instit. lib._ I, _c._ 7), for escaping
+this judgment of the Church whereby spirits of prophesy are
+examined. Why then do some of you tear out one piece of
+Scripture, and others another, whereas you all boast of being led
+by the same Spirit? The Spirit of the Calvinists receives six
+Epistles which do not please the Lutheran Spirit, both all the
+while in full confidence reposing on the Holy Ghost. The
+Anabaptists call the book of Job a fable, intermixed with tragedy
+and comedy. How do they know? The Spirit has taught them. Whereas
+the Song of Solomon is admired by Catholics as a paradise of the
+soul, a hidden manna, and rich delight in Christ, Castalio, a
+lewd rogue, has reckoned it nothing better than a love-song about
+a mistress, and an amorous conversation with Court flunkeys.
+Whence drew he that intimation? From the Spirit. In the
+Apocalypse of John, every jot and tittle of which Jerane declares
+to bear some lofty and magnificent meaning, Luther and Brent and
+Kemnitz, critics hard to please, find something wanting, and are
+inclined to throw over the whole book. Whom have they consulted?
+The Spirit. Luther with preposterous heat pits the Four Gospels
+one against another (_Praef. in Nov. Test._), and far prefers
+Paul's Epistles to the first three, while he declares the Gospel
+of St. John above the rest to be beautiful, true, and worthy of
+mention in the first place,--thereby enrolling even the Apostles,
+so far as in him lay, as having a hand in his quarrels. Who
+taught him to do that? The Spirit. Nay this imp of a friar has
+not hesitated in petulant style to assail Luke's Gospel because
+therein good and virtuous works are frequently commended to us.
+Whom did he consult? The Spirit. Theodore Beza has dared to carp
+at, as a corruption and perversion of the original, that mystical
+word from the twenty-second chapter of Luke, _this is the
+chalice, the new testament in my blood, which_ (chalice) _shall
+be shed for you_ [Greek: potaerion ekchunomenon], because this
+language admits of no explanation other than that of the wine in
+the chalice being converted into the true blood of Christ. Who
+pointed that out? The Spirit. In short, in believing all things
+every man in the faith of his own spirit, they horribly belie and
+blaspheme the name of the Holy Ghost. So acting, do they not give
+themselves away? are they not easily refuted? In an assembly of
+learned men, such as yours, Gentlemen of the University, are they
+not caught and throttled without trouble? Should I be afraid on
+behalf of the Catholic faith to dispute with these men, who have
+handled with the utmost ill faith not human but heavenly
+utterances? I say nothing here of their perverse versions of
+Scripture, though I could accuse them in this respect of
+intolerable doings. I will not take the bread out of the mouth of
+that great linguist, my fellow-Collegian, Gregory Martin, who
+will do this work with more learning and abundance of detail than
+I could; nor from others whom I understand already to have that
+task in hand. More wicked and more abominable is the crime that I
+am now prosecuting, that there have been found upstart Doctors
+who have made a drunken onslaught on the handwriting that is of
+heaven; who have given judgment against it as being in many
+places defiled, defective, false, surreptitious; who have
+corrected some passages, tampered with others; torn out others;
+who have converted every bulwark wherewith it was guarded into
+Lutheran "spirits," what I may call phantom ramparts and parted
+walls. All this they have done that they might not be utterly
+dumbfounded by falling upon Scripture texts contrary to their
+errors, texts which they would have found it as hard to get over
+as to swallow hot ashes or chew stones. This then has been my
+First Reason, a strong and a just one. By revealing the shadowy
+and broken powers of the adverse faction, it has certainly given
+new courage to a Christian man, not unversed in these studies, to
+fight for the Letters Patent of the Eternal King against the
+remnant of a routed foe.
+
+SECOND REASON
+
+THE SENSE OF HOLY WRIT
+
+Another thing to incite me to the encounter, and to disparage in
+my eyes the poor forces of the enemy, is the habit of mind which
+they continually display in their exposition of the Scriptures,
+full of deceit, void of wisdom. As philosophers, you would seize
+these points at once. Therefore I have desired to have you for my
+audience. Suppose, for example, we ask our adversaries on what
+ground they have concocted that novel and sectarian opinion which
+banishes Christ from the Mystic Supper. If they name the Gospel,
+we meet them promptly. On our side are the words, _this is my
+body, this is my blood._ This language seemed to Luther himself
+so forcible, that for all his strong desire to turn Zwinglian,
+thinking by that means to make it most awkward for the Pope,
+nevertheless he was caught and fast bound by this most open
+context, and gave in to it (_Luther, epistol. ad Argent._), and
+confessed Christ truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament no less
+unwillingly than the demons of old, overcome by His miracles,
+cried aloud that He was Christ, the Son of God. Well then, the
+written text gives us the advantage: the dispute now turns on the
+sense of what is written. Let us examine this from the words in
+the context, _my body which is given for you, my blood which hall
+be shed for many_. Still the explanation on Calvin's side is most
+hard, on ours easy and quite plain.
+
+What further? Compare the Scriptures, they say, one with another.
+By all means. The Gospels agree, Paul concurs. The words, the
+clauses, the whole sentence reverently repeat living bread,
+signal miracle, heavenly food, flesh, body, blood. There is
+nothing enigmatical, nothing befogged with a mist of words. Still
+our adversaries hold on and make no end of altercation. What are
+we to do? I presume, Antiquity should be heard; and what we, two
+parties suspect of one another, cannot settle, let it be settled
+by the decision of venerable ancient men of all past ages, as
+being nearer Christ and further removed from this contention.
+They cannot stand that, they protest that they are being
+betrayed, they appeal to the word of God pure and simple, they
+turn away from the comments of men. Treacherous and fatuous
+excuse. We urge the word of God, they darken the meaning of it.
+We appeal to the witness of the Saints as interpreters, they
+withstand them. In short their position is that there shall be no
+trial, unless you stand by the judgment of the accused party. And
+so they behave in every controversy which we start. On infused
+grace, on inherent justice, on the visible Church, on the
+necessity of Baptism, on Sacraments and Sacrifice, on the merits
+of the good, on hope and fear, on the difference of guilt in
+sins, on the authority of Peter, on the keys, on vows, on the
+evangelical counsels, on other such points, we Catholics have
+cited and discussed Scripture texts not a few, and of much
+weight, everywhere in books, in meetings, in churches, in the
+Divinity School: they have eluded them. We have brought to bear
+upon them the _scholia_ of the ancients, Greek and Latin: they
+have refused them. What then is their refuge? Doctor Martin
+Luther, or else Philip (Melancthon), or anyhow Zwingle, or beyond
+doubt Calvin and Besa have faithfully laid down the facts. Can I
+suppose any of you to be so dull of sense as not to perceive this
+artifice when he is told of it? Wherefore I must confess how
+earnestly I long for the University Schools as a place where,
+with you looking on, I could call those carpet-knights out of
+their delicious retreats into the heat and dust of action, and
+break their power, not by any strength of my own,--for I am not
+comparable, not one per cent., with the rest of our people;--but
+by force of strong case and most certain truth.
+
+THIRD REASON
+
+THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH
+
+At hearing the name of the Church the enemy has turned pale.
+Still he has devised some explanation which I wish you to notice,
+that you may observe the ruinous and poverty-stricken estate of
+falsehood. He was well aware that in the Scriptures, as well of
+Prophets as of Apostles, everywhere there is made honourable
+mention of the Church: that it is called the holy city, the
+fruitful vine, the high mountain, the straight way, the only
+dove, the kingdom of heaven, the spouse and body of Christ, the
+ground of truth, the multitude to whom the Spirit has been
+promised and into whom He breathes all truths that make for
+salvation; her on whom, taken as a whole, the devil's jaws are
+never to inflict a deadly bite; her against whom whoever rebels,
+however much he preach Christ with his mouth, has no more hold on
+Christ than the publican or the heathen. Such a loud
+pronouncement he dared not gainsay; he would not seem rebellious
+against a Church of which the Scriptures make such frequent
+mention: so he cunningly kept the name, while by his definition
+he utterly abolished the thing, He has depicted the Church with
+such properties as altogether hide her away, and leave her open
+to the secret gaze of a very few men, as though she were removed
+from the senses, like a Platonic Idea. They only could discern
+her, who by a singular inspiration had got the faculty of
+grasping with their intelligence this aerial body, and with keen
+eye regarding the members of such a company.
+
+What has become of candour and straightforwardness? What
+Scripture texts or Scripture meanings or authorities of Fathers
+thus portray the Church? There are letters of Christ to the
+Asiatic Churches (Apoc. i. 3), letters of Peter, Paul, John, and
+others to various Churches; frequent mention in the Acts of the
+Apostles of the origin and spread of Churches. What of these
+Churches? Were they visible to God alone and holy men, or to
+Christians of every rank and degree? But, doubtless, necessity
+is a hard weapon. Pardon these subterfuges. Throughout the whole
+course of fifteen centuries these men find neither town, village
+nor household professing their doctrine, until an unhappy monk
+by an incestuous marriage had deflowered a virgin vowed to God,
+or a Swiss gladiator had conspired against his country, or a
+branded runaway had occupied Geneva. These people, if they want
+to have a Church at all, are compelled to crack up a Church all
+hidden away; and to claim parents whom they themselves have
+never known, and no mortal has ever set eyes on, Perhaps they
+glory in the ancestry of men whom every one knows to have been
+heretics, such as Aerius, Jovinianus, Vigilantius, Helvidius,
+Berengarius, the Waldenses, the Lollards, Wycliffe, Huss, of
+whom they have begged sundry poisonous fragments of dogmas.
+Wonder not that I have no fear of their empty talk: once I can
+meet them in the noon-day, I shall have no trouble in dispelling
+such vapourings. Our conversation with them would take this
+line. Tell me, do you subscribe to the Church which flourished
+in bygone ages? Certainly. Let us traverse, then, different
+countries and periods. What Church? The assembly of the
+faithful. What faithful? Their names are unknown, but it is
+certain that there have been many of them. Certain? to whom is
+it certain? To God Who says so! We, who have been taught of
+God--stuff and nonsense, how am I to believe it? If you had the
+fire of faith in you, you would know it as well as you know you
+are alive. Let in as spectators, could you withhold your
+laughter? To think that all Christians should be bidden to join
+the Church; to beware of being cut down by the spiritual sword;
+to keep peace in the house of God; to trust their soul to the
+Church as to the pillar of truth; to lay all their complaints
+before the Church; to hold for heathen all who are cast out of
+the Church; and that nevertheless so many men for so many
+centuries should not know where the Church is or who belong to
+it! This much only they prate in the darkness, that wherever the
+Church is, only Saints and persons destined for heaven are
+contained in it. Hence it follows that whoever wishes to
+withdraw himself from the authority of his ecclesiastical
+superior has only to persuade himself that the priest has fallen
+into sin and is quite cut off from the Church. Knowing as I did
+that the adversaries were inventing these fictions, contrary to
+the customary sense of the Churches in all ages, and that,
+having lost the whole substance, they still wished in their
+difficulties to retain the name, I took comfort in the thought
+of your sagacity, and so promised myself that, as soon as ever
+you had cognisance of such artifices by their own confession,
+you would at once like men of mark and intelligence rend asunder
+the web of foolish sophistry woven for your undoing.
+
+FOURTH REASON
+
+COUNCILS
+
+In the infant Church a grave question about lawful ceremonies,
+which troubled the minds of believers, was solved by the
+gathering of a Council of Apostles and elders. The Children
+believed their parents, the sheep their shepherds, commanding in
+their words, _It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us_
+(Acts xv). There followed for the extirpation of various heresies
+in various several ages, four Oecumenical Councils of the
+ancients, the doctrine whereof was so well established that a
+thousand years ago (see St. Gregory the Great's Epistles, lib. i.
+cap. 24) singular honour was paid to it as to an utterance of
+God. I will travel no further abroad. Even in our home, in
+Parliament (ann. 1 Elisabeth), the same Councils keep their
+former right and their dignity inviolate. These I will cite, and
+I will call thee, England, my sweet country, to witness. If, as
+thou professest, thou wilt reverence these four Councils, thou
+shalt give chief honour to the Bishop of the first See, that is
+to Peter: thou shalt recognise on the altar the unbloody
+sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ: thou shalt beseech the
+blessed martyrs and all the saints to intercede with Christ on
+thy behalf: thou shalt restrain womanish apostates from unnatural
+vice and public incest: thou shalt do many things that thou art
+undoing, and wish undone much that thou art doing. Furthermore, I
+promise and undertake to show, when opportunity offers, that the
+Synods of other ages, and notably the Synod of Trent, have been
+of the same authority and credence as the first. Armed therefore
+with the strong and choice support of all the Councils, why
+should I not enter into this arena with calmness and presence of
+mind, watchful to keep an eye on my adversary and see on what
+point he will show himself? I will produce testimonies most
+evident that he cannot wrest aside. Possibly he will take to
+scolding, and endeavour to talk against time, but he will not
+elude the eyes and ears of men who will watch him hard, as you
+will do, if you are the men I take you for. But if there shall be
+any one found so stark mad as to set his single self up as a
+match for the senators of the world, men whose greatness,
+holiness, learning and antiquity is beyond all exception, I shall
+be glad to look upon that face of impudence; and when I have
+shown it to you, I will leave the rest to your own thoughts.
+Meanwhile I will say thus much: The man who refuses consideration
+and weight to a Plenary Council, brought to a conclusion in due
+and orderly fashion, seems to me witless, brainless, a dullard in
+theology, and a fool in politics. If ever the Spirit of God has
+shone upon the Church, then surely is the time for the sending of
+divine aid, when the most manifest religiousness, ripeness of
+judgment, science, wisdom, dignity of all the Churches on earth
+have flocked together in one city, and with employment of all
+means, divine and human, for the investigation of truth, implore
+the promised Spirit that they may make wholesome and prudent
+decrees. Let there now leap to the front some mannikin master of
+an heretical faction, let him arch his eyebrows, turn up his
+nose, rub his forehead, and scurrilously take upon himself to
+judge his judges, what sport, what ridicule will he excite! There
+was found a Luther to say that he preferred to Councils the
+opinions of two godly and learned men (say his own and Philip
+Melanchthon's) when they agreed in the name of Christ. Oh what
+quackery! There was found a Kemnitz to try the Council of Trent
+by the standard of his own rude and giddy humour. What gained he
+thereby? Infamy. While he, unless he takes care, shall be buried
+with Arius, the Synod of Trent, the older it grows, shall
+flourish the more, day by day, and year by year. Good God! what
+variety of nations, what a choice assembly of Bishops of the
+whole world, what a splendid representation of Kings and
+Commonwealths, what a quintessence of theologians, what sanctity,
+what tears, what fears, what flowers of Universities, what
+tongues, what subtlety, what labour, what infinite reading, what
+wealth of virtues and of studies filled that august sanctuary! I
+have myself heard Bishops, eminent and prudent men,--and among
+them Antony, Archbishop of Prague, by whom I was made
+Priest,--exulting that they had attended such a school for some
+years; so that, much as they owed to Kaiser Ferdinand, they
+considered that he had shown them no more royal and abundant
+bounty than this of sending them to sit in that Academy of Trent
+as Legates from Bohemia. The Kaiser understood this, and on their
+return he welcomed them with the words, "We have kept you at a
+good school." Invited as our adversaries have been under a safe
+conduct, why have they not hastened thither, publicly to refute
+those against whom they go on quacking like frogs from their
+holes? "They broke their promise to Huss and Jerome," is their
+reply. Who broke it? "The Fathers of the Council of Constance."
+It is false; they never gave any promise. But anyhow, not even
+Huss would have been punished had not the perfidious and
+pestilent fellow been brought back from that flight which the
+Emperor Sigusmund had forbidden him under pain of death; had he
+not violated the conditions which he had agreed to in writing
+with the Kaiser and thereby nullified all the value of that
+safe-conduct. Huss's hasty wickedness played him false. For,
+having instigated deeds of savage violence in his native Bohemia,
+and being bidden thereupon to present himself at Constance, he
+despised the prerogative of the Council, and sought his
+safe-conduct of the Kaiser. Caesar signed it; the Christian
+world, greater than Caesar, cancelled the signature. The
+heresiarch refused to return to a sound mind, and so perished. As
+for Jerome of Prague, he came to Constance protected by no one;
+he was detected and arraigned; he spoke in his own behalf, was
+treated very kindly, went free whither he would; he was healed,
+abjured his heresy, relapsed, and was burnt. Why do they so often
+drag out one case in a thousand? Let them read their own annals.
+Martin Luther himself, that abomination of God and men, was put
+in court at Augsburg before Cardinal Cajetan: there did he not
+belch out all he could, and then depart in safety, fortified with
+a letter of Maximilian? Likewise, when he was summoned to Worms,
+and had against him the Kaiser and most of the Princes of the
+Empire, was he not safe under the protection of the Kaiser's
+word? Lastly, at the Diet of Augsburg, in presence of Charles V.,
+an enemy of heretics, flushed with victory, master of the
+situation, did not the heads of the Lutherans and Zwinglians,
+under truce, present their Confessions, so frequently re-edited,
+and depart in peace? Not otherwise had the letter from Trent
+provided most ample safe-guards for the adversary; he would not
+take advantage of them. The fact is, he airs his condition in
+corners, where he expects to figure as a sage by coming out with
+three words of Greek: he shrinks from the light, which should
+place him in the number of men of letters [_lilleratorum_
+{transcribers note: the Latin is interpolated into the
+translation here}] and call him to sit in honourable place. Let
+them obtain for English Catholics such a written promise of
+impunity, if they love the salvation of souls. We will not raise
+the instance of Huss: relying on the Sovereign's word, we will
+fly to Court. But, to return to the point whence I digressed, the
+General Councils are mine, the first, the last, and those
+between. With them I will fight. Let the adversary look for a
+javelin hurled with force, which he will never be able to pluck
+out. Let Satan be overthrown in him, and Christ live.
+
+FIFTH REASON
+
+FATHERS
+
+At Antioch, in which city the noble surname of Christians first
+became common, there flourished _Doctors_, that is, eminent
+theologians, and _Prophets_, that is, very celebrated preachers
+(Acts xiii. 1). Of this sort were the scribes and wise men,
+learned in the kingdom of God, bringing forth new things and old
+(Matth. xiii. 52; xxiii. 34), knowing Christ and Moses, whom the
+Lord promised to His future flock. What a wicked thing it is to
+scout these teachers, given as they are by way of a mighty boon!
+The adversary has scouted them. Why? Because their standing means
+his fall. Having found that out for certain beyond doubt, I have
+asked for a fight unqualified, not that sham-fight in which the
+crowds in the street engage, and skirmish with one another, but
+the earnest and keen struggle in which we join in the arena of
+yon philosophers,
+
+   Foot to foot, and man close gripping man.
+
+If ever we shall be allowed to turn to the Fathers, the battle is
+lost and won: they are as thoroughly ours as is Gregory XIII.
+himself, the loving Father of the children of the Church. To say
+nothing of isolated passages, which are gathered from the records
+of the ancients, apt and clear statements in defence of our
+faith, we hold entire volumes of these Fathers, which professedly
+illustrate in clear and abundant light the Gospel religion which
+we defend. Take the twofold _Hierarchy_ of the martyr Dionysius,
+what classes, what sacrifices, what rites does he teach? This
+fact struck Luther so forcibly that he pronounced the works of
+this Father to be "such stuff as dreams are made of, and that of
+the most pernicious kind." In imitation of his parent, an obscure
+Frenchman, Caussee, has not hesitated to call this Dionysius, the
+Apostle of an illustrious nation, "an old dotard." Ignatius has
+given grievous offence to the Centuriators of Magdeburg, as also
+to Calvin, so that these men, the offscouring of mankind, have
+noted in his works "unsightly blemishes and tasteless prosings."
+In their judgment, Irenaeus has brought out "a fanatical
+production": Clement, the author of the _Stromata_, has produced
+"Tares and dregs": the other Fathers of this age, Apostolic men
+to be sure, "have left blasphemies and monstrosities to
+posterity." In Tertullian they eagerly seize upon what they have
+learned from us, in common with us, to detest; but they should
+remember that his book _On Prescriptions_, which has so signally
+smitten the heretics of our times, was never found fault with.
+How finely, how, clearly, has Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto pointed
+out beforehand the power of Antichrist, the times of Luther! They
+call him, therefore, "a most babyish writer, an owl." Cyprian,
+the delight and glory of Africa, that French critic Caussee, and
+the Centuriators of Magdeburg, have termed "stupid, God-forsaken
+corrupter of repentance." What harm has he done? He has written
+_On Virgins, On the Lapsed, On the Unity of the Church_, such
+treatises as also such letters to Cornelius, the Roman Pontiff,
+that, unless credence be withdrawn from this Martyr, Peter Martyr
+Vermilius and all his associates must count for worse than
+adulterers and men guilty of sacrilege. And, not to dwell longer
+on individuals, the Fathers of this age are all condemned "for
+wonderful corruption of the doctrine of repentance." How so?
+Because the austerity of the Canons in vogue at that time is
+particularly obnoxious to this plausible sect which, better
+fitted for dining-rooms than for churches, is wont to tickle
+voluptuous ears and to sew _cushions on every arm_ (Ezech. xiii.
+18). Take the next age, what offence has that committed?
+Chrysostom and those Fathers, forsooth, have "foully obscured the
+justice of faith." Gregory Nazianzen whom the ancients called
+eminently "the Theologian," is in the judgment of Caussee "a
+chatter-box, who did not know what he was saying." Ambrose was
+"under the spell of an evil demon." Jerome is "as damnable as the
+devil, injurious to the Apostle, a blasphemer, a wicked wretch."
+To Gregory Massow--"Calvin alone is worth more than a hundred
+Augustines." A hundred is a small number: Luther "reckons nothing
+of having against him a thousand Augustines, a thousand Cyprians,
+a thousand Churches." I think I need not carry the matter
+further. For when men rage against the above-mentioned Fathers,
+who can wonder at the impertinence of their language against
+Optatus, Hilary, the two Cyrils, Epiphanius, Basil, Vincent,
+Fulgentius, Leo, and the Roman Gregory. However, if we grant any
+just defence of an unjust cause, I do not deny that the Fathers
+wherever you light upon them, afford the party of our opponents
+matter they needs must disagree with, so long as they are
+consistent with themselves. Men who have appointed fast-days, how
+must they be minded in regard of Basil, Gregory, Nazianzen, Leo,
+Chrysostom, who have published telling sermons on Lent and
+prescribed days of fasting as things already in customary use?
+Men who have sold their souls for gold, lust, drunkenness and
+ambitious display, can they be other than most hostile to Basil,
+Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, whose excellent books are in the
+hands of all, treating of the institute, rule, and virtues of
+monks? Men who have carried the human will into captivity, who
+have abolished Christian funerals, who have burnt the relics of
+Saints, can they possibly be reconciled to Augustine, who has
+composed three books on Free Will, one on Care for the Dead,
+besides sundry sermons and a long chapter in a noble work on the
+Miracles wrought at the Basilicas and Monuments of the Martyrs?
+Men who measure faith by their own quips and quirks, must they
+not be angry with Augustine, of whom there is extant a remarkable
+Letter against a Manichean, in which he professes himself to
+assent to Antiquity, to Consent, to Perpetuity of Succession, and
+to the Church which, alone among so many heresies, claims by
+prescriptive right the name of Catholic?
+
+Optatus, Bishop of Milevis, refutes the Donatist faction by
+appeal to Catholic communion: he accuses their wickedness by
+appeal to the decree of Melchiades: he convicts their heresy by
+reference to the order of succession of Roman Pontiffs: he lays
+open their frenzy in their defilement of the Eucharist and of
+schism: he abhors their sacrilege in their breaking of altars "on
+which the members of Christ are borne," and their pollution of
+chalices "which have held the blood of Christ." I greatly desire
+to know what they think of Optatus, whom Augustine mentions as a
+venerable Catholic Bishop, the equal of Ambrose and of Cyprian;
+and Fulgentius as a holy and faithful interpreter of Paul, like
+unto Augustine and Ambrose. They sing in their churches the Creed
+of Athanasius. Do they stand by him? That grave anchor who has
+written an elaborate book in praise of the Egyptian hermit
+Antony, and who with the Synod of Alexandria suppliantly appealed
+to the judgment of the Apostolic See, the See of St. Peter. How
+often does Prudentius in his Hymns pray to the martyrs whose
+praises he sings! how often at their ashes and bones does he
+venerate the King of Martyrs! Will they approve his proceeding?
+Jerome writes against Vigilantius in defence of the relics of the
+Saints and the honours paid to them; as also against Jovinian for
+the rank to be allowed to virginity. Will they endure him?
+Ambrose honoured his patron saints Gervase and Protase with a
+most glorious solemnity by way of putting the Arians to shame.
+This action of his was praised by most godly Fathers, and God
+honoured it with more than one miracle. Are they going to take a
+kindly view off Ambrose here? Gregory the Great, our Apostle, is
+most manifestly with us, and therefore is a hateful personage to
+our adversaries. Calvin, in his rage, says that he was not
+brought up in the school of the Holy Ghost, seeing that he had
+called holy images the books of the illiterate.
+
+Time would fail me were I to try to count up the Epistles,
+Sermons, Homilies, Orations, Opuscula and dissertations of the
+Fathers, in which they have laboriously, earnestly and with much
+learning supported the doctrines of us Catholics. As long as
+these works are for sale at the booksellers' shops, it will be
+vain to prohibit the writings of our controversialists; vain to
+keep watch at the ports and on the sea-coast; vain to search
+houses, boxes, desks, and book-chests; vain to set up so many
+threatening notices at the gates. No Harding, nor Sanders, nor
+Allen, nor Stapleton, nor Bristow, attack these new-fangled
+fancies with more vigour than do the Fathers whom I have
+enumerated. As I think over these and the like facts, my courage
+has grown and my ardour for battle, in which whatever way the
+adversary stirs, unless he will yield glory to God, he will be in
+straits. Let him admit the Fathers, he is caught: let him shut
+them out, he is undone.
+
+When we were young men, the following incident occurred. John
+Jewell, a foremost champion of the Calvinists of England, with
+incredible arrogance challenged the Catholics at St. Paul's,
+London, invoking hypocritically and calling upon the Fathers, who
+had flourished within the first six hundred years of
+Christianity. His wager was taken up by the illustrious men who
+were then in exile at Louvain, hemmed in though they were with
+very great difficulties by reason of the iniquity of their times.
+I venture to assert that that device of Jewell's, stupid,
+unconscionable, shameless as it was, qualities which those
+writers happily brought out, did so much good to our countrymen
+that scarcely anything in my recollection has turned out to the
+better advantage of the suffering English Church. At once an
+edict is hung up on the doors, forbidding the reading or
+retaining of any of those books, whereas they had come out, or
+were wrung out, I may almost say, by the outcry that Jewell had
+raised. The result was that all the persons interested in the
+matter came to understand that the Fathers were Catholics, that
+is to say, ours. Nor has Lawrence Humphrey passed over in silence
+this wound inflicted on him and his party. After high praise of
+Jewell in other respects, he fixes on him this role of
+inconsiderateness, that he admitted the reasonings of the
+Fathers, with whom Humphrey declares, without any beating about
+the bush, that he has nothing in common nor ever will have.
+
+We also sounded once in familiar discourse Toby Matthews, now a
+leading preacher, whom we loved for his good accomplishments and
+the seeds of virtue in him; we asked him to answer honestly
+whether one who read the Fathers assiduously could belong to that
+party which he supported. He answered that he could not, if,
+besides reading, he also believed them.[1] This saying is most
+true; nor do I think that either he at the present time, or
+Matthew Hutten, a man of name, who is said to read the Fathers
+with an assiduity that few equal, or other adversaries who do the
+like, are otherwise minded.
+
+Thus far I have been able to descend with security into this
+field of conflict, to wage war with men, who, as though they held
+a wolf by the ears, are compelled to brand their cause with an
+everlasting stigma of shame, whether they refuse the Fathers or
+whether they call for them. In the one case they are preparing to
+run away, in the other they are caught by the throat.
+
+SIXTH REASON
+
+THE GROUNDS OF ARGUMENT ASSUMED BY THE FATHERS
+
+If ever any men took to heart and made their special care,--as
+men of our religion have made it and should make it their special
+care,--to observe the rule, _Search the Scriptures_ (John v. 39),
+the holy Fathers easily come out first and take the palm for the
+matter of this observance. By their labour and at their expense
+Bibles have been transcribed and carried among so many nations
+and tongues by the perils they have run and the tortures they
+have endured the Sacred Volumes have been snatched from the
+flames and devastation spread by enemies: by their labours and
+vigils they have been explained in every detail. Night and day
+they drank in Holy Writ, from all pulpits they gave forth Holy
+Writ, with Holy Writ they enriched immense volumes, with most
+faithful commentaries they unfolded the sense of Holy Writ, with
+Holy Writ they seasoned alike their abstinence and their meals,
+finally, occupied about Holy Writ they arrived at decrepit old
+age. And if they also frequently have argued from the Authority
+of Elders, from the Practice of the Church, from the Succession
+of Pontiffs, from ecumenical Councils, from Apostolic Traditions,
+from the Blood of Martyrs, from the decrees of Bishops, from
+Miracles, yet most persistently of all and most willingly do they
+set forth in close array the testimonies of Holy Writ: these they
+press home, on these they dwell, to this _armour of the strong_
+(Cant. iii. 7), for the best of reasons, is the first and the
+most honourable part assigned by these valiant leaders in their
+work of forgiving and keeping in repair the City of God against
+the assaults of the wicked.
+
+Wherefore I do all the more wonder at that haughty and famous
+objection of the adversary, who, like one looking for water in a
+running stream, takes exception to the lack of Scripture texts
+in writings crowded with Scripture texts. He says he will agree
+with the Fathers so long as they keep close to Holy Scripture.
+Does he mean what he says? I will see then that there come
+forth, armed and begirt with Christ, with Prophets and Apostles,
+and with all array of Biblical erudition, those celebrated
+authors, those ancient Fathers, those holy men, Dionyius,
+Cyprian, Athanasius, Basil, Nazianzen, Ambrose, Jerome,
+Chrysostom, Augustine, and the Latin Gregory. Let that faith
+reign in England, Oh that it may reign! which these Fathers,
+dear lovers of the Scriptures, build up out of the Scriptures.
+The texts that they bring, we will bring: the texts they confer,
+we will confer: what they infer, we will infer. Are you agreed?
+Out with it and say so, please. Not bit of it, he says, unless
+they expound rightly. What is this "rightly"? At your
+discretion. Are you not ashamed of the vicious circle?
+
+Hopeful as I am that in flourishing Universities there will be
+gathered together a good number, who will be no dull spectators,
+but acute judges of these controversies and who will weigh for
+what they are worth the frivolous answers of our adversaries, I
+will gladly await this meeting-day, as one minded to lead forth
+against wooded hillocks [cf. Cicero _in Catilinam_ ii. 11],
+covered with unarmed tramps, the nobility and strength of the
+Church of Christ.
+
+SEVENTH REASON
+
+HISTORY
+
+Ancient History unveils the primitive face of the Church. To this
+I appeal. Certainly, the more ancient historians, whom our
+adversaries also habitually, consult, are enumerated pretty well
+as follows: Eusebius, Damasus, Jerome, Rufinus, Orosius,
+Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret Cassiodorus, Gregory of Tours,
+Usuard, Regino, Marianus, Sigebert, Zonaras, Cedrinus,
+Nicephorus. What have they to tell? The praises of our religion,
+its progress, vicissitudes, enemies. Nay, and this is a point I
+would have you observe diligently, they who in deadly hatred
+dissent from us,--Melancthon, Pantaleon, Funck, the Centuriators
+of Magdeburg,--on applying themselves to write either the
+chronology or the history of the Church, if they did not get
+together the exploits of our heroes, and heap up the accounts of
+the frauds and crimes of the enemies of our Church, would pass by
+fifteen hundred years with no story to tell.
+
+Along with the above-mentioned consider the local historians, who
+have searched with laborious curiosity into the transactions of
+some one particular nation. These men, wishing by all means to
+enrich and adorn the Sparta which they had gotten for their own,
+and to that effect not passing over in silence even such things
+as banquets of unusual splendour, or sleeved tunics, or hilts of
+daggers, or gilt spurs, and other such minutiae having any smack
+of revelry about them, surely, if they had heard of any change in
+religion, or any falling off from the standard of early ages,
+would have related it, many of them; or, if not many, at least
+several; if not several, some one anyhow. Not one, well-disposed
+or ill-disposed towards us, has related anything of the sort, or
+even dropped the slightest hint of the same.
+
+For example. Our adversaries grant us,--they cannot do
+otherwise,--that the Roman Church was at one time holy,
+Catholic, Apostolic, at the time when it deserved these
+eulogiums from St. Paul: _Your faith is spoken of in the whole
+world. Without ceasing I make a commemoration of you. I know
+that when I come to you, I shall come in the abundance of the
+blessing of Christ. All the Churches of Christ salute you. Your
+obedience is published in every place_ (Rom. i. 8, 9; xv. 29;
+xvi. 17, 19): at the time when Paul, being kept there in free
+custody, was spreading the gospel (Acts xxviii. 31) : at the
+time when Peter once in that city was ruling _the Church
+gathered at Babylon_ (1 Peter v. 13): at the time when that
+Clement, so singularly praised by the Apostle (Phil. iv. 3) was
+governing the Church: at the time when the pagan Caesars, Nero,
+Domitian, Trajan, Antoninus, were butchering the Roman Pontiffs:
+also at the time when, as even Calvin bears witness, Damasus,
+Siricius, Anastasius and Innocent guided the Apostolic bark. For
+at this epoch he generously allows that men, at Rome
+particularly, had so far not swerved from Gospel teaching. When
+then did Rome lose this faith so highly celebrated? when did she
+cease to be what she was before? at what time, under what
+Pontiff, by what way, by what compulsion, by what increments,
+did a foreign religion come to pervade city and world? What
+outcries, what disturbances, what lamentations did it provoke?
+Were all mankind all over the rest of the world lulled to sleep,
+while Rome, Rome I say, was forging new Sacraments, a new
+Sacrifice, new religious dogma? Has there been found no
+historian, neither Greek nor Latin, neither far nor near, to
+fling out in his chronicles even an obscure hint of so
+remarkable a proceeding?
+
+Therefore this much is clear, that the articles of our belief are
+what History, manifold and various, History the messenger of
+antiquity, and life of memory, utters and repeats in abundance;
+while no narrative penned in human times records that the
+doctrines foisted in by our opponents ever had any footing in the
+Church. It is clear, I say, that the historians are mine, and
+that the adversary's raids upon history are utterly without
+point. No impression can they make unless the assertion be first
+received, that all Christians of all ages had lapsed into gross
+infidelity and gone down to the abyss of hell, until such time as
+Luther entered into an unblessed union with Catherine Bora.
+
+EIGHTH REASON
+
+PARADOXES
+
+For myself, most excellent Sirs, when, choosing out of many
+heresies, I think over in my mind certain portentous errors of
+self-opinionated men, errors that it will be incumbent on me to
+refute, I should condemn myself of want of spirit and discernment
+if in this trial of strength I were to be afraid of any man's
+ability or powers. Let him be able, let him be eloquent, let him
+be a practised disputant, let him be a devourer of all books,
+still his thought must dry up and his utterance fail him when he
+shall have to maintain such impossible positions as these. For we
+shall dispute, if perchance they will allow us, on God, on
+Christ, on Man, on Sin, on Justice, on Sacraments, on Morals. I
+shall see whether they will dare to speak out what they think,
+and what under the constraint of their situation they publish in
+their miserable writings. I will take care that they know these
+maxims of their teachers:--"God is the author and cause of evil,
+willing it, suggesting it, effecting it, commanding it, working
+it out, and guiding the guilty counsels of the wicked to this
+end. As the call of Paul, so the adultery of David, and the
+wickedness of the traitor Judas, was God's own work" (Calvin,
+_Institut_. i. 18; ii. 4; iii. 23, 24). This monstrous doctrine,
+of which Philip Melanchthon was for once ashamed, Luther however,
+of whom Philip had learned it, extols as an oracle from heaven
+with wonderful praises, and on that score puts his foster-child
+all but on an equality, with the Apostle Paul (Luther, _De servo
+arbitrio_). I will also enquire what was in Luther's mind, whom
+the English Calvinists pronounce to be "a man given of God for
+the enlightenment of the world," when he wished to take this
+versicle out of the Church's prayers, "Holy Trinity, one God,
+have mercy on us."
+
+I will proceed to the person of Christ. I will ask what these
+words, "Christ the Son of God, God of God," mean to Calvin, who
+says, "God of Himself" (_Instit._ i. 13); or to Beza, who says,
+"He is not begotten of the essence of the Father" (Beza in Josue,
+nn. 23, 24). Again. Let there be set up two hypostate unions in
+Christ, one of His soul with His flesh, the other of His Divinity
+with His Humanity (Beza, _Contra Schmidel_). The passage in John
+x. 30, _I and the Father are one_, does not show Christ to be
+God, consubstantial with God the Father (Calvin on John x.), the
+fact is, says Luther, "my soul hates this word, _homousion._" Go
+on. Christ was not perfect in grace from His infancy, but grew in
+gifts of the soul like other men, and by experience daily became
+wiser, so that as a little child He laboured under ignorance
+(Melanchthon on the gospel for first Sunday after Epiphany).
+Which is as much as to say that He was defiled with the stain and
+vice of original sin. But observe still more direful utterances.
+When Christ, praying in the Garden, was streaming with a sweat of
+water and blood, He shuddered under a sense of eternal damnation,
+He uttered an irrational cry, an unspiritual cry, a sudden cry
+prompted by the force of His distress, which He quickly checked
+as not sufficiently premeditated (Marlorati in Matth. xxvi.;
+Calvin _in Harm. Evangel._). Is there anything further? Attend.
+When Christ Crucified exclaimed, _My God, my God, why hast Thou
+forsaken me,_ He was on fire with the flames of hell, He uttered
+a cry of despair, He felt exactly as if nothing were before Him
+but to perish in everlasting death (Calvin _in Harm. Evangel._).
+To this also let them add something, if they can. Christ, they
+say, descended into hell, that is, when dead, He tasted hell not
+otherwise than do the damned souls, except that He was destined
+to be restored to Himself: for since by His mere bodily death He
+would have profited us nothing, He needed in soul also to
+struggle with everlasting death, and in this way to pay the debt
+of our crime and our punishment. And lest any one might haply
+suspect that this theory had stolen upon Calvin unawares, the
+same Calvin calls _all of you who have repelled this doctrine,
+full as it is of comfort, God-forsaken boobies_ (Institut. ii.
+16). Times, times, what a monster you have reared! That delicate
+and royal Blood, which ran in a flood from the lacerated and torn
+Body of the innocent Lamb, one little drop of which Blood, for
+the dignity of the Victim, might have redeemed a thousand worlds,
+availed the human race nothing, unless _the mediator of God and
+men, the man Christ Jesus_ (I Tim. ii. 5) had borne also _the
+second death_ (Apoc. xx. 6), the death of the soul, the death to
+grace, that accompaniment only of sin and damnable blasphemy! In
+comparison with this insanity, Bucer, impudent fellow that he is,
+will appear modest, for he (on Matth. xxvi.), by an explanation
+very preposterous, or rather, an inept and stupid tautology,
+takes _hell_ in the creed to mean the tomb. Of the Anglican
+sectaries, some are wont to adhere to their idol, Calvin, others
+to their great master, Bucer; some also murmur in an undertone
+against this article, wishing that it may be quietly removed
+altogether from the Creed, that it may give no more trouble. Nay,
+this was actually tried in a meeting at London, as I remember
+being told by one who was present, Richard Cheyne, a miserable
+old man, who was badly mauled by robbers outside, and, for all
+that, never entered his father's house.[2]
+
+And thus far of Christ. What of Man? The image of God is utterly
+blotted out in man, not the slightest spark of good is left: his
+whole nature in all the parts of his soul is so thoroughly
+overturned that, even after he is born again and sanctified in
+baptism, there is nothing whatever within him but mere corruption
+and contagion. What does this lead up to? That they who mean to
+seize glory by faith alone may wallow in the filth of every
+turpitude, may accuse nature, despair of virtue, and discharge
+themselves of the commandments (Calvin, _Instit._ ii. 3). To
+this, Illyricus, the standard-bearer of the Magdeburg company,
+has added his own monstrous teaching about original sin, which he
+makes out to be the innermost substance of souls, whom, since
+Adam's fall, the devil himself engenders and transforms into
+himself. This also is a received maxim in this scum of evil
+doctrine, that all sins are equal, yet with this qualification
+(not to revive the Stoics), "if sins are weighed in the judgment
+of God." As if God, the most equitable judge, were to add to our
+burden rather than lighten it; and, for all His justice, were to
+exaggerate and make it what it is not in itself. By this
+estimation, as heavy an offence would be committed against God,
+judging in all severity, by the innkeeper who has killed a
+barn-door cock, when he should not have done, as by that infamous
+assassin who, his head full of Beza, stealthily slew by the shot
+of a musket the French hero, the Duke of Guise, a Prince of
+admirable virtue, than which crime our world has seen in our age
+nothing more deadly, nothing more lamentable.
+
+But perchance they who are so severe in the matter of sin
+philosophise magnificently on divine grace, as able to bring
+succour and remedy to this evil. Fine indeed is the function
+which they assign to grace, which their ranting preachers say is
+neither infused into our hearts, nor strong enough to resist sin,
+but lies wholly outside of us, and consists in the mere favour of
+God,--a favour which does not amend the wicked, nor cleanse, nor
+illuminate, nor enrich them, but, leaving still the old stinking
+ordure of their sin, dissembles it by God's connivance, that it
+be not counted unsightly and hateful. And with this their
+invention they are so delighted that, with them, even Christ is
+not otherwise called _full of grace and truth_ than inasmuch as
+God the Father has borne wonderful favour to Him (Bucer on John
+i: Brent hom. 12 on John).
+
+What sort of thing then is righteousness? A relation. It is not
+made up of faith, hope and charity, vesting the soul in their
+splendour; it is only a hiding away of guilt, such that, whoever
+has seized upon this righteousness by faith alone, he is as sure
+of salvation as though he were already enjoying the unending joy
+of heaven. Well, let this dream pass: but how can one be sure of
+future perseverance, in the absence of which a man's exit would
+be most miserable, though for a time he had observed
+righteousness purely and piously? Nay, says Calvin (_Instit._
+iii. 2), unless this your faith foretells you your perseverance
+assuredly, without possibility of hallucination, it must be cast
+aside as vain and feeble. I recognise the disciple of Luther. A
+Christian, said Luther (_De captivitate Babylonis_), cannot lose
+his salvation, even if he wanted, except by refusing to believe.
+
+I hasten to pass on to the Sacraments. None, none, not two, not
+one, O holy Christ, have they left. Their bread is poison; and
+as for their baptism, though it is still true baptism,
+nevertheless in their judgment it is nothing, it is not a wave
+of salvation, it is not a channel of grace, it does not apply to
+us the merits of Christ, it is a mere token of salvation
+(Calvin, _Instit._ iv. 15). Thus they have made no more of the
+baptism of Christ, so far as the nature of the thing goes, than
+of the ceremony of John. If you have it, it is well; if you go
+without it, there is no loss suffered; believe, you are saved,
+before you are washed. What then of infants, who, unless they
+are aided by the virtue of the Sacrament, poor little things,
+gain nothing by any faith of their own? Rather than allow
+anything to the Sacrament of baptism, say the Magdeburg
+Centuriators (Cent. v. 4.), let us grant that there is faith in
+the infants themselves, enough to save them; and that the said
+babies are aware of certain secret stirrings of this faith,
+albeit they are not yet aware whether they are alive or not. A
+hard nut to crack! If this is so very hard, listen to Luther's
+remedy. It is better, he says (_Advers. Cochl._), to omit the
+baptism; since, unless the infant believes, to no purpose is it
+washed. This is what they say, doubtful in mind what absolutely
+to affirm. Therefore let Balthasar Pacimontanus step in to sort
+the votes. This father of the Anabaptists, unable to assign to
+infants any stirring of faith, approved Luther's suggestion;
+and, casting infant baptism out of the churches, resolved to
+wash at the sacred font none who was not grown up. For the rest
+of the Sacraments, though that many headed beast utters many
+insults, yet, seeing that they are now of daily occurrence, and
+our ears have grown callous to them, I here pass them over.
+
+There remain the sayings of the heretics concerning life and
+morals, the noxious goblets which Luther has vomited on his
+pages, that out of the filthy hovel of his one breast he might
+breathe pestilence upon his readers. Listen patiently, and blush,
+and pardon me the recital. If the wife will not, or cannot, let
+the handmaid come (_Serm. de matrimon._); seeing that commerce
+with a wife is as necessary to every man as food, drink, and
+sleep. Matrimony is much more excellent than virginity. Christ
+and Paul dissuaded men from virginity (_Liber de vot. evangel._).
+But perhaps these doctrines are peculiar to Luther. They are not.
+They have been lately defended by my friend Chark but miserably
+and timidly. Do you wish to hear any more? Certainly. The more
+wicked you, are, he says, the nearer you are to grace (_Serm. de.
+pisc. Petri_). All good actions are sins, in God's judgment,
+mortal sins; in God's mercy, venial. No one thinks evil of his
+own will. The Ten Commandments are nothing to Christians. God
+cares nought at all about our works. They alone rightly partake
+of the Lord's Supper, who bury consciences sad, afflicted,
+troubled, confused, erring. Sins are to be confessed, but to
+anyone you like; and if he absolves you even in joke, provided
+you believe, you are absolved. To read the Hours of the Divine
+Office is not the function of priests, but of laymen. Christians
+are free from the enactments of men (Luther, _De servo arbitrio,
+De captivilate Babylon_).
+
+I think I have stirred up this puddle sufficiently. I now finish.
+Nor must you think me unfair for having turned my argument against
+Lutherans and Zwinglians indiscriminately. For, remembering their
+common parentage, they wish to be brothers and friends to one
+another; and they take it as a grave affront, whenever any
+distinction is drawn between them in any point but one. I am not
+of consequence enough to claim for myself so much as an
+undistinguished place among the select theologians who at this day
+have declared war on heresies: but this I know, that, puny as I
+am, I run no risk while, supported by the grace of Christ, I shall
+do battle, with the aid of heaven and earth, against such
+fabrications as these, so odious, so tasteless, so stupid.
+
+NINTH REASON
+
+SOPHISM
+
+It is a shrewd saying that a one-eyed man may be king among the
+blind. With uneducated people a mock-proof has force which a
+school of philosophers dismisses with scorn. Many are the
+offences of the adversary under this head; but his case is made
+out by four fallacies chiefly, fallacies which I would rather
+unravel in the University than in a popular audience. The first
+vice is [Greek: skiamachia], with mighty effort hammering at
+breezes and shadows. In this way: against such as have sworn to
+celibacy and vowed chastity, because, while marriage is good,
+virginity is better (1 Cor. vii.), Scripture texts are brought
+up speaking honourably of marriage. Whom do they hit? Against
+the merit of a Christian man, a merit dyed in the Blood of
+Christ, otherwise null, testimonies are alleged whereby we are
+bidden to put our trust neither in nature nor in the law, but in
+the Blood of Christ. Whom do they refute? Against those who
+worship Saints, as Christ's servants, especially acceptable to
+Him, whole pages are quoted, forbidding the worship of many
+gods? Where are these many gods? By such arguments, which I find
+in endless quantity in the writings of heretics, they cannot
+hurt us, they may bore you.
+
+Another vice is [Greek: logomachia], which leaves the sense, and
+wrangles loquaciously over the word. _Find me Mass or Purgatory
+in the Scriptures_, they say. What then? Trinity, Consubstantial,
+Person, are they nowhere in the Bible, because these words are
+not found? Allied to this fault is the catching at letters, when,
+to the neglect of usage and the mind of the speakers, war is
+waged on the letters of the alphabet. For instance, thus they
+say: _Presbyter to the Greeks means nothing else than elder;
+Sacrament, any mystery_. On this, as on all other points, St.
+Thomas shrewdly observes: "In words, we must look not whence they
+are derived, but to what meaning they are put."
+
+The third vice is [Greek: homonumia], which has a very wide
+range. For example: _What is the meaning of an Order of Priests,
+when John has called us all priests?_ (Apoc. v. 10). He has also
+added this: _we shall reign upon the earth_. What then is the use
+of Kings? Again: _the Prophet_ (Isaias lviii.) _cries up a
+spiritual fast, that is, abstinence from inveterate crimes.
+Farewell then to any discernment of meats and prescription of
+days._ Indeed? Mad therefore were Moses, David, Elias, the
+Baptist, the Apostles, who terminated their fasts in two days,
+three days, or in so many weeks, which fasting, being from sin,
+ought to have been perpetual. You have already seen what manner
+of argument this is. I hasten on.
+
+Added to the above is a fourth vice, Vicious Circle, in this way.
+Give me the notes, I say, of the Church. _The word of God and
+undefiled Sacraments_. Are these with you? _Who can doubt it?_ I
+do, I deny it utterly. _Consult the word of God._ I have
+consulted it, and I favour you less than before. _Ah, but it is
+plain._ Prove it to me. _Because we do not depart a nail's
+breadth from the word of God._ Where is your persecution? Will
+you always go on taking for an argument the very point that is
+called in question? How often have I insisted on this already? Do
+wake up: do you want torches applied to you? I say that your
+exposition of the word of God is perverse and mistaken: I have
+fifteen centuries to bear me witness stand by an opinion, not
+mine, nor yours, but that of all these ages. _I will stand by the
+sentence of the word of God: the Spirit breatheth where it will_
+(John iii. 8). There he is at it again; what circumvolutions,
+what wheels he is making! This trifler, this arch-contriver of
+words and sophisms, I know not to whom he can be formidable:
+tiresome he possibly will be. His tiresomeness will find its
+corrective in your sagacity: all that was formidable about him
+facts have taken away.
+
+TENTH REASON
+
+ALL MANNER OF WITNESS
+
+_This shall be to you a straight way, so that fools shall not go
+astray in it_ (Isaias xxxv. 8).
+
+Who is there, however small and lost in the crowd of
+illiterates, that, with a desire of salvation and some little
+attention, cannot see, cannot keep to the path of the Church, so
+admirably smoothed out, eschewing brambles and rocks and
+pathless wastes! For, as Isaias prophesies, this path shall be
+plain even to the uneducated; most plain therefore, if you
+choose, to you. Let us put before our eyes the theatre of the
+universe: let us wander everywhere: all things supply us with an
+argument. Let us go to heaven: let us contemplate roses and
+lilies, Saints empurpled with martyrdom or white with innocence:
+Roman Pontiffs, I say, three and thirty in a continuous line put
+to death: Pastors all the world over, who have pledged their
+blood for the name of Christ: Flocks of faithful, who have
+followed in the footsteps of their Pastors: all the Saints of
+heaven, who as shining lights in purity and holiness have gone
+before the crowd of mankind. You will find that these were ours
+when they lived on earth, ours when they passed away from this
+world. To cull a few instances, ours was that Ignatius, who in
+church matters put no one not even the Emperor, on a level with
+the Bishop; who committed to writing, that they might not be
+lost, certain Apostolic traditions of which he himself had been
+witness. Ours was that anchoret Telesphorus, who ordered the
+more strict observance of the fast of Lent established by the
+Apostles. Ours was Irenaeus, who declared the Apostolic faith by
+the Roman succession and chair (lib. iii. cap. 3). Ours was Pope
+Victor, who by an edict brought to order the whole of Asia; and
+though this proceeding seemed to some minds, and even to that
+holy man Irenaeus, somewhat harsh, yet no one made light of it
+as coming from a foreign power. Ours was Polycarp, who went to
+Rome on the question of Easter, whose burnt relics Smyrna
+gathered, and honoured her Bishop with an anniversary feast and
+appointed ceremony. Ours were Cornelius and Cyprian, a golden
+pair of Martyrs, both great Bishops, but greater he, the Roman,
+who had rescinded the African error; while the latter was
+ennobled by the obedience which he paid to the elder, his very
+dear friend. Ours was Sixtus, to whom, as he offered solemn
+sacrifice at the altar, seven men of the clergy ministered. Ours
+was his Archdeacon Lawrence, whom the adversaries cast out of
+their calendar, to whom, twelve hundred years ago, the Consular
+man Prudentius thus prayed:
+
+   What is the power entrusted thee,
+   And how great function is given thee,
+   The joyful thanks of Roman citizens prove,
+   To whom thou grantest their petitions.
+   Among them, O glory of Christ,
+   Hear also a rustic poet,
+   Confessing the crimes of his heart
+   And publishing his doings.
+   Hear bountifully the supplication
+   Of Christ's culprit Prudentius.
+
+Ours are those highly-blest maids, Cecily, Agatha, Anastasia,
+Barbara, Agnes, Lucy, Dorothy, Catherine, who held fast against
+the violent assault of men and devils the virginity they had
+resolved upon. Ours was Helen, celebrated for the finding of the
+Lord's Cross. Ours was Monica, who in death most piously begged
+prayers and sacrifices to be offered for her at the altar of
+Christ. Ours was Paula, who, leaving her City palace and her rich
+estates, hastened on a long journey a pilgrim to the cave at
+Bethlehem, to hide herself by the cradle of the Infant Christ.
+Ours were Paul, Hilarion, Antony, those dear ancient solitaries.
+Ours was Satyrus, own brother to Ambrose, who, when shipwrecked,
+jumped into the ocean, carrying about his neck in a napkin the
+Sacred Host, and full of faith swam to shore (_Ambrose, Orat.
+fun. de Satyro_).
+
+Ours are the Bishops Martin and Nicholas, exercised in watchings,
+clad in the military garb of hair cloths, fed with fasts. Ours is
+Benedict, father of so many monks. I should not run through their
+thousands in ten years. But neither do I set down those whom I
+mentioned before among the Doctors of the Church. I am mindful of
+the brevity imposed upon me. Whoever wills, may seek these
+further details, not only from the copious histories of the
+ancients, but even much more from the grave authors who have
+bequeathed to memory almost one man one Saint. Let the reader
+report to me his judgment concerning those ancient blessed
+Christians, to what doctrine they adhered, the Catholic or the
+Lutheran. I call to witness the throne of God, and that Tribunal
+at which I shall stand to render reason for these Reasons, of
+everything I have said and done, that either there is no heaven
+at all, or heaven belongs to our people. The former position we
+abhor, we fix therefore upon the latter.
+
+Now contrariwise, if you please, let us look into hell. There are
+burnt with everlasting fire, who? The Jews. On what Church have
+they turned their backs? On ours. Who again? The heathen. What
+Church have they most cruelly persecuted? Ours. Who again? The
+Turks. What temples have they destroyed? Ours. Who once more?
+Heretics. Against what Church are they in rebellion? Against
+ours. What Church but ours has opposed itself against all the
+gates of hell? When, after the driving away of the Hebrews,
+Christian inhabitants began to multiply at Jerusalem, what a
+concourse of men there was to the Holy Places, what veneration
+attached to the City, to the Sepulchre, to the Manger, to the
+Cross, to all the memorials in which the Church delights as a
+wife in what has been worn by her husband. Hence arose against us
+the hatred of the Jews, cruel and implacable. Even now they
+complain that our ancestors were the ruin of their ancestors.
+From Simon Magus and the Lutherans they have received no wound.
+Among the heathen, they were the most violent who, throughout the
+Roman Empire, for three hundred years, at intervals of time,
+contrived most painful punishments for Christians. What
+Christians? The fathers and children of our faith. Learn the
+language of the tyrant who roasted St. Lawrence on the gridiron:
+
+   That this is of your rites
+   The custom and practice, it has been handed down to memory:
+   This the discipline of the institution,
+   That priests pour libations from golden cups.
+   In silver goblets they say
+   That the sacred blood smokes;
+   And that in golden candlestick, at the nightly sacrifices,
+   There stand fixed waxen candles.
+   Then is it the chief care of the brethren,
+   As many-tongued report does testify,
+   To offer from the sale of estates,
+   Thousands of pence.
+   Ancestral property made over
+   To dishonest auctions,
+   The disinherited successor groans,
+   Needy child of holy parents.
+   These treasures are concealed in secret,
+   In corners of the churches;
+   And it is believed the height of piety
+   To strip your sweet children.
+   Bring out your treasures,
+   Which by evil arts of persuasion
+   You have heaped up and hold,
+   Which you shut up in darkling cave.
+   Public utility demands this,
+   The privy purse demands it, the treasury demands it,
+   That the soldiers may be paid for their services,
+   And the commander may benefit thereby.
+   This is your dogma, then:
+   Give every man his own.
+   Now Caesar recognises his own
+   Image, stamped on the coin.
+   What you know to be Caesar's, to Caesar
+   Give; surely what I ask is just.
+   If I am not mistaken, your Deity
+   Coins no money,
+   Nor when he came did he bring
+   Golden Jacobuses[3] with him;
+   But he gave his precepts in words,
+   Empty in point of pocket.
+   Fulfil the promise of the words
+   Which you sell the round world over.
+   Give up your hard cash willingly,
+   Be rich in words.
+
+(_Prudentius, Hymn on St. Lawrence_).
+
+Whom does this speaker resemble. Against whom does he rage? What
+Church is it whose sacred vessels, lamps, and ornaments he is
+pillaging, whose ritual he overthrows? Whose golden patens and
+silver chalices, sumptuous votive offerings and rich treasure,
+does he envy? Why, the man is a Lutheran all over. With what
+other cloak did our Nimrods[4] cover their brigandage, when they
+embezzled the money of their Churches and wasted the patrimony of
+Christ? Take on the contrary Constantine the Great, that scourge
+of the persecutors of Christ, to what Church did he restore
+tranquillity? To that Church over which Pope Silvester presided,
+whom he summoned from his hiding-place on Mount Soracte that by
+his ministry he might receive our baptism. Under what auspices
+was he victorious? Under the sign of the cross. Of what mother
+was he the glorious son? Of Helen. To what Fathers did he attach
+himself? To the Fathers of Nice. What manner of men were they?
+Such men as Silvester, Mark, Julius, Athanasius, Nicholas. What
+seat did he ask for in the Synod? The last. Oh how much more
+kingly was he on that seat than the Kings who have ambitioned a
+title not due to them! It would be tedious to go into further
+details. But from these two [Emperors, Decius and Constantine],
+the one our deadly enemy, the other our warm friend, it may be
+left to the reader's conjecture to fix on points of closest
+resemblance to the one and to the other in the history of our own
+times. For as it was our cause that went through its agony under
+Decius, so our cause it was that came out triumphant under
+Constantine.[5]
+
+Let us look at the doings of the Turks. Mahomet and the apostate
+monk Sergius lie in the deep abyss, howling, laden with their own
+crimes and with those of their posterity. This portentous and
+savage monster, the power of the Saracens and the Turks, had it
+not been clipped and checked by our Military Orders, our Princes
+and Peoples,--so far as Luther was concerned (to whom Solyman the
+Turk is said to have written a letter of thanks on this account),
+and so far as the Lutheran Princes were concerned (by whom the
+progress of the Turks is reckoned matter of joy),--this frantic
+and man-destroying Fury, I say, by this time would be
+depopulating and devastating all Europe, overturning altars and
+signs of the cross as zealously as Calvin himself. Ours therefore
+they are, our proper foes, seeing that by the industry of our
+champions it was that their fangs were unfastened from the
+throats of Christians.
+
+Let us look down on heretics, the filth and fans and fuel of
+hell[6] the first that meets our gaze is Simon Magus. What did he
+do? He endeavoured to snatch away free will from man: he prated
+of faith alone (Clen. lib. i. recog.; Iren. l. 1, c. 2). After
+him, Novatian. Who was he? An Anti-pope, rival to the Roman
+Pontiff Cornelius, an enemy of the Sacraments, of Penance and
+Chrism. Then Manes the Persian. He taught that baptism did not
+confer salvation. After him the Arian Aerius. He condemned
+prayers for the dead: he confounded priests with bishops, and was
+surnamed "the atheist" no less than Lucian. There follows
+Vigilantius, who would not have the Saints prayed to; and
+Jovinian, who put marriage on a level with virginity; finally, a
+whole mess of nastiness, Macedonius, Pelagius, Nestorius,
+Eutyches, the Monothelites, the Iconoclasts, to whom posterity
+will aggregate Luther and Calvin. What of them? All black
+crows,[7] born of the same egg, they revolted from the Prelates
+of our Church, and by, them were rejected and made void.
+
+Let us leave the lower regions and return to earth. Wherever I
+cast my eyes and turn my thoughts, whether I regard the
+Patriarchates and the Apostolic Sees, or the Bishops of other
+lands, or meritorious Princes, Kings, and Emperors, or the origin
+of Christianity in any nation, or any evidence of antiquity, or
+light of reason, or beauty of virtue, all things serve and
+support our faith. I call to witness the Roman Succession, _in
+which Church_, to speak with Augustine (_Ep_. 162: _Doctr.
+Christ_. ii. 8), _the Primacy of the Apostolic Chair has ever
+flourished_. I call to witness those other Apostolic Sees, to
+which this name eminently belongs, because they were erected by
+the Apostles themselves, or by their immediate disciples. I call
+to witness the Pastors of the nations, separate in place, but
+united in our religion: Ignatius and Chrysostom at Antioch;
+Peter, Alexander, Athanasius, Theophilus, at Alexandria; Macarius
+and Cyril at Jerusalem; Proclus at Constantinople; Gregory and
+Basil in Cappadocia; Thaumaturgus in Pontus; at Smyrna Polycarp;
+Justin at Athens; Dionysius at Corinth; Gregory at Nyssa;
+Methodius at Tyre; Ephrem in Syria; Cyprian, Optatus, Augustine,
+in Africa; Epiphanius in Cyprus; Andrew in Crete; Ambrose,
+Paulinus, Gaudentius, Prosper, Faustus, Vigilius, in Italy;
+Irenaeus, Martin, Hilary, Eucherius, Gregory, Salvianus, in Gaul;
+Vincentus, Orosius, Ildephonsus, Leander, Isidore, in Spain; in
+Britain, Fugatius, Damian, Justus, Mellitus, Bede. Finally, not
+to appear to be making a vain display of names, whatever works,
+or fragments of works, are still extant of those who sowed the
+Gospel seed in distant lands, all exhibit to us one faith, that
+which we Catholics profess to-day. O Christ, what cause can I
+allege to Thee why Thou shouldst not banish me from Thine own, if
+to so many lights of the Church I should have preferred
+mannikins, dwellers in darkness, few, unlearned, split into
+sects, and of bad moral character!
+
+I call to witness likewise Princes, Kings, Emperors, and their
+Commonwealths, whose own piety, and the people of their realms,
+and their established discipline in war and peace, were
+altogether founded on this our Catholic doctrine. What
+Theodosiuses here might I summon from the East, what Charleses
+from the West, what Edwards from England, what Louises from
+France, what Hermenegilds from Spain, Henries from Saxony,
+Wenceslauses from Bohemia, Leopolds from Austria, Stephens from
+Hungary, Josaphats from India, Dukes and Counts from all the
+world over, who by example, by arms, by laws, by loving care, by
+outlay of money, have nourished our Church! For so Isaias
+foretold: _Kings shall be thy foster-fathers, and queens thy
+nurses_ (Isaias xlix. 23).
+
+Listen, Elizabeth, most powerful Queen, for thee this great
+prophet utters this prophecy, and therein teaches thee thy part. I
+tell thee: one and the same heaven cannot hold Calvin and the
+Princes whom I have named. With these Princes then associate
+thyself, and so make thee worthy of thy ancestors, worthy of thy
+genius, worthy of thy excellence in letters, worthy of thy
+praises, worthy of thy fortune. To this effect alone do I labour
+about thy person, and will labour, whatever shall become of me,
+for whom these adversaries so often augur the gallows, as though I
+were an enemy of thy life. Hail, good Cross. There will come,
+Elizabeth, the day, that day which will show thee clearly which
+have loved thee, the Society of Jesus or the offspring of Luther.
+
+I proceed. I call to witness all the coasts and regions of the
+world, to which the Gospel trumpet has sounded since the birth of
+Christ. Was this a little thing, to close the mouth of idols and
+carry the kingdom of God to the nations? Of Christ Luther speaks:
+we Catholics speak of Christ. _Is Christ divided?_ (1 Cor. i.
+13). By no means. Either we speak of a false Christ or he does.
+What then? I will say. Let Him be Christ, and belong to them, at
+whose coming in Dagon broke his neck. Our Christ was pleased to
+use the services of our men, when He banished from the hearts of
+so many peoples--Jupiters, Mercuries, Dianas, Phoebades, and that
+black night and sad Erebus of ages. There is no leisure to search
+afar off, let us examine only neighbouring and domestic history.
+The Irish imbibed from Patrick, the Scots from Palladius, the
+English from Augustine, men consecrated at Rome, sent from Rome,
+venerating Rome, either no faith at all or assuredly our faith,
+the Catholic faith. The case is clear. I hurry on.
+
+Witness Universities, witness tables of laws, witness the
+domestic habits of men, witness the election and inauguration of
+Emperors, witness the coronation rites and anointing of Kings,
+witness the Orders of Knighthood and their very mantles, witness
+windows, witness coins, witness city gates and city houses,
+witness the labours and life of our ancestors, witness all things
+great and small, that no religion in the world but ours ever took
+deep root there.
+
+These considerations being at hand to me, and so affecting me as
+I thought them over that it seemed the part of insolence, nay of
+insanity, to renounce all this Christian company and consort
+with the most abandoned of men, I confess, I felt animated and
+fired to the conflict, a conflict wherein I can never be worsted
+until it comes to the Saints being hurled from heaven and the
+proud Lucifer recovering heaven. Therefore let Chark, who
+reviles me so outrageously, be in better conceit with me, if I
+have preferred to trust this poor sinful soul of mine, which
+Christ has bought so dearly, rather to a safe way, a sure way, a
+royal road, than to Calvin's rocks or woodland thickets, there
+to hang caught in uncertainty.
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+You have from me, Gentlemen of the University, this little
+present, put together by the labour of such leisure as I could
+snatch on the road. My purpose was to clear myself in your
+judgment of the charge of arrogance, and to show just cause for
+my confidence, and meanwhile, until such time as along with me
+you are invited by the adversaries to the disputations in the
+Schools, to give you a sort of foretaste of what is to come
+there. If you think it a just, safe, and virtuous choice for
+Luther or Calvin to be taken for the Canon of Scripture, the Mind
+of the Holy Ghost, the Standard of the Church, the Pedagogue of
+Councils and Fathers, in short, the God of all witnesses and
+ages, I have nothing to hope of your reading or hearing me. But
+if you are such as I have pictured you in my mind, philosophers,
+keen-sighted, lovers of the truth, of simplicity, of modesty,
+enemies of temerity, of trifles and sophisms, you will easily see
+daylight in the open air, seeing that you already see the peep of
+day through a narrow chink. I will say freely what my love of
+you, and your danger, and the importance of the matter requires.
+The devil is not unaware that you will see this light of day, if
+ever you raise your eyes to it. For what a piece of stupidity it
+would be to prefer Hanmers and Charks to Christian antiquity! But
+there are certain Lutheran enticements whereby the devil extends
+his kingdom, delicate snares whereby that hooker of men has
+caught with his baits already many of your rank and station. What
+are they! Gold, glory, pleasures, lusts. Despise them. What are
+they but bowels of earth, high-sounding air, a banquet of worms,
+fair dunghills. Scorn them. Christ is rich, who will maintain
+you: He is a King, who will provide you: He is a sumptuous
+entertainer, who will feast you; He is beautiful, who will give
+in abundance all that can make you happy. Enrol yourselves in His
+service, that with Him you may gain triumphs, and show yourselves
+men truly most learned, truly most illustrious. Farewell. At
+Cosmopolis, City of all the world, 1581.
+
+THE END.
+
+[Footnote 1: Cf. Newman, _Lectures on Anglican Difficulties_,
+Lect. xii.: "I say, then, the writings of the Fathers, so far
+from prejudicing at least one man (J.H.N.) against the modern
+Church, have been singly and solely the one intellectual cause of
+his having renounced the religion in which he was born and
+submitted himself to her."]
+
+[Footnote 2: Richard Cheyne, Anglican bishop of Gloucester, to whom
+there is extant a letter from Campion, dated 1 November, 1571.]
+
+[Footnote 3: The Latin is Philippos.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Seems to refer to the first Protestant bishops,
+_mighty hunters_ (Genesis x. 9) after place, and, to secure it, all
+too ready to alienate the manors and possessions of their see.]
+
+[Footnote 5: I have here paraphrased, as any literal translation
+would have been hopelessly obscure to most modern readers.
+Campion could but hint darkly his comparison of the Elizabethan
+persecution to the Decian. The Latin runs: _Etenim, ut nostrorum
+illa fuit Epistasis turbulenta, sic nostrorum haec evasit divina
+Catastrophe_. _Epistasis_ is "the part of the play where the
+plot thickens" (Liddell and Scott). _Catastrophe_ is "the turn
+of the plot" (Id.).]
+
+[Footnote 6: _Faeces et folles et alumenta gehennae_.]
+
+[Footnote 7: _Mali corvi_.]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13133 ***