AS it is a poynt of infamye in a valeant warry­our to steale on his enymyes ere they be ware, or to go aboute to entrappe them, and haue them at a vauntage, vnlesse he do fyrste gyue them a notable warnyng, eyther by the thunderinge of a bombarde, ey­ther by the bounchynge on a drum­slade, eyther by scrikinge of a trum­pet, eyther els by some other coura­giousse alarme, noyse, or shoutynge, whereby hys audacitie, hardynes, and cōfidence of victorie, myght ra­ther be insituated vnto his enemies than crafty wyles, sely cowardnes and distruste of hauynge the vpper hande: so myne enemyes peraduen­ture [Page] wold impute vnto me the lyke in glory & reproch, if I do not admonysh thē before hād of my proposed cōflict in besieging their Botereulx. Forth auoidinge wherof (and for y ^t in no wyse I may be faynt or false harted, as longe as I war vnder y ^e most triūphātestādert blased w ^t the gioriouse armes of y ^e moost victori­ouse Lyō of y ^e trybe of Iehuda) let thē therfor take this for a warning pece y ^t now I intēd furthw ^t (for euerye mā knoweth y ^e opē war is pro­clamed betwixt vs lōg ago) to bat­ter, bet down, & arase not y ^e oldmā nor y ^e yōg mā, but an other like for­tres of the old mās making, for the onli defēce of his made god: whych fortres y ^e papists cal an alter: y ^e god the sacrament of the alter. But they might as wel & as anagogicalli cal their alter y ^e tower, & their houerīge god hāged therouer, y ^e hauke of the [Page] tower. But as I cā gyue their god no propre name: (so at this time for the pariforme, proporciō, & situatiō of it I wil name their alter a Botereulx, which if we by might of y ^e lord of hosts cā bater down to y ^e groūd the popes church shal greatly stag­ger, y ^e papists wōderously wauer, and their god euer houer.

Nowe therfore ye Papistes take hede to your Botereulx, for now I go in hand to charge my baterynge pieces, and say not but that I giue you warnyng that neyther the out­worne puisaūce of y ^e douty captain Moses, who was so mightye for a time, nor yet y ^e presēce of your erth­ly God, the glitteringe of his triple crown, ne yet y ^e cōiuring charecters crosewise grauē shal be a sufficiente fortification for to defēd your sayd Botereulx: No though ye cluster & daube it roūd about w ^t woll, clods [Page] turfes, erth, mire, dyrt, & such trish­trashe: no no though ye pray in aide the greate Turke, the Soulden the Sophy & al the Saracens, yea and though al the hereticall sectes of the whole world came to you and prac­tyse on your syde all the wicked sec­tes that their high general Sathan shall suggerate into theire braynes. Take hede therfor yet ne left y ^t your Botereulx haue not a stedfast foū ­dacion: For if we can proue that it be founded vpō Moses and not on Chryst: than was it destroyed in ef­fecte. M.D.lxxvii. yere a goo.

But fyrst or we go about y ^e demo­licion of this Botereulx, bi the good dylygence of master Grammer the chiefe vndermyner, we wyll searche what foundaciō it is of: and bicause y ^e first Botereulx or altare was v­sed amongest the Hebrues: we wyl see what was the primatiue name [Page] that they gaue it (for thereby wee may happē to thrust open one win­dow) for truly thei according to the veri vse therof, in their holy lāgage, named y ^e alter Midhsbach, y ^t is the sacrary or the place to offre vp sacri­fice on. The priest, the offycer or the doer therof, thei called medhsa beach The sacrifice or y ^e offeryng they na­med it Dhsebach. So lykewise the grace of the Greke tong shal declare vnto them the self nature of y ^e same vocables & that by the help of these words: Thysiasteriō, Thyscos or Thytes, Thysia. Which words a mā shal not lightly expresse w ^t the lyke con­cinnitie nother in latyn nor English except a man wold speake on this wyse, Sacrariū, sacrificus, sacrifi­ciū: y ^t is sacrari, sacraficer, sacrifice. And than do we take this word sa­crarye for an altare, whiche worde altare and none other, all Nacions [Page] that receiued the faith at their hāds of the see of Rome: do vsurpe stil in this significacion. Neuertheles ye do now perceiue bi the Etimology and true exposition of y ^e aboue said Hebrue and greke words: that thei be so nighe of kinne in betokening, and so like in speakinge in those lan­guages, as be these thre wordes in Englishe: House, husbande, & hus­bandry. So y ^e ye can not wel denye but that they be so cōiugate, yoked, and knitte togither, as well in signi­fication as in syllabication, that vn­neth one of them can not be seuered from an other: nor the nature of one of theym canne be declared wyth­out makynge mencion of the other: nor one can be abolished, forbidden or destroyed: excepte the other two be abolyshed, forbidden & distroy­ed also. Therefore may you gather that we do not greatly stray frome [Page] our hygh way, at what time so euer we speke of sacrificer, or of sacrifice besyde this terme Altare.

Now therfore O thou Lorde of Hoostes, make my face to preuayle agaynst all lyinge braggers faces: and harden thou my forhed agaynst their forheades: so that my forhead be harder than an adamant or flynt stone, that I may be lesse afrayde of them. O thou most myghtie Lorde Iah, defend me against the cankred malyce and wycked pollecye of the Popes soldiours, who (I dare wel saye) wyl not onelye stand styflye in defence of theyr popysh fortres, but with a terrible countenaūce bi gnas­shing their tethe togyther wyl step forth, vibrate and shake their veny­mous dartes towardes me threte­nyng me after thys sorte. Thou vn­exercised tyron, thou fresh water sol­dyoure: thou yongeman I saye: da­reste [Page] thou approch vs? darest thou assault vs? dareste thou once aduē ­ture to assiege oure inuincible for­tresse? Yea, or thinkest thou it possi­ble for any gunne shote to brose the weakesse part of the wals, which continued so manye. M. yeares vn­assaulted, vnuiolated, & vntouched? whose mortare is waxen as harde as the flint stone, whose stones are as hard as stele, & whose timbre is as toughe & as durable as it were of fyr tre. Recule therfore my good sonne recule. But bycause we per­ceiue the to be so desperate a felow that thou wilt sance remedy, other sinke or swymme, and either take a fal or giue a fal, & ether hab or nab, we thinke it beste for vs (least per­aduēture thi captain come w ^t grea­ter force vpō vs thā we loke for) to make our selues in a redines to de­fend our holye altare which y ^e cal­leste [Page] Botereulx, yea this Botereulx shall not passe on thy baterye (but god forgiue me to misname so holy a thynge) but nowe I perceiue the olde sayde sawe to be to true. Qui taug [...]t picem, comquinabitur ab ea. I will say no more, but good inough.

And nowe not to dissemble, ye are a starcke heritike, in that you do fantasy to haue our altares throwē downe in al churches. But thys is a wonderful matter, that we must be faine to proue y ^t whiche our mo­ther the holy churche of Rome had neuer in questiō, but let vs alone w ^t this matter, & wolde god we could proue our transubstanciation, oure purgatory fyre, our popes primacy & other like matters of no lesse im­portāce as wel & as euidētli as we cā proue this. The ma­ner of the papistes in wre­styng the scripturs For we cā proue how our altares had their beginning .ii. M. & odde .C. yeres passed, as any [Page] Christen man that listeth may reade Genesis capitulo octauo. How the holye Patriarke Noe, after that he had come oute of the Arke, buylded an altare to the lord and toke of eue­ry cleane beaste, and of euerye cleane foule, and offred sacrifices in the al­tare. And the lorde smelled a swete sauour: And the Lorde sayd in hys herte: I wyll not procede to curse y ^e ground any more for mans sake, for the imaginacion of mannes herte is euell from his youth &c. And Abra­ham likewise builded an altare vn­to the lord euen in that place where he had appeared vnto hym and dyd call on the name of the Lorde. And Iacob also beyng commaunded of the Lord and bycause he had heard hym in the daye of hys tribulacyon, buylded an altare vnto the Lorde: and called the place the God of Be­thell: bycause that God had apeared [Page] vnto him there, when he fled frome he face of his brother. &c.

And farther ye shal reade how that God after that he had yeuen the ten Commaundementes, by the hande of Moses commaunded also thus. An altare of earth thou shalt make vnto me, and theron offre thy burnt offringes, and thy peace offringes, thi shepe and thine oxen in al places where I shal put the in remēbraūce of my name, thithir wil I come vn­to the, and blesse the. Item. Exodi. xxix. Seuen dayes (sayth the lorde) thou shalt reconcile vpon the altare & sanctify it, & it shal be an altermost holy. Exo. xxx. And y ^u shalt make an altare to burne incēce. Of Sethim woode shalt y ^u make it, a cubit lōg & a cubite bredth: euen fowre square shall it be, and .ii. cubites hye. &c.

Item .iii. Reg. xviii. The holy Pro­phet Elias vtterly to bringe to con­fusion [Page] y ^e false God Baall & his pro­phetes & to set furth the glory of the liuynge God: toke xii. stones accor­dynge to the numbre of the twelue Tribes of the Sonnes of Iacob, & with y ^e stones he made an altare, in the name of the lord &c.

We could alledge .vi. hūdred pla­ces out of y ^e bible beside these y ^t we now recited, which shold styl make on oure parte if nede requyred, but bicause they are so comenly knowē of all mē we wyl at this time ouer­passe them: for we trust y ^t we haue alredy brought auctorities inough to proue the aūcientie, the laudabi­litie, & cōtinual acteptaūce of alters before almighti God in the old law. But now to proue the confirmaciō of them bi the new law ye shal read these other textes. But first marcke well how that Chryst himselfe sayd Mat. v. If y ^u offrest thy gift at y ^e al­tare, and ther remembrest y ^t thy bro­ther [Page] hath ought against y ^e: leaue thē thine offringe before the altare, and go thy way firste and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come & of­fer thy gyft. Lo ye may se here how the altare is twyse spoken of, and y ^t where the reason consysteth but of very few wordes. Itē ye shal reade of this word altare in y ^e xxiii. chapt. of y ^e same Euangelist, wher Christ himselfe also sayth: from the bloud of the rightouse Abel, vnto y ^e bloud of zacharias the sōne of Barachias whom ye slew betwen the temple & the altare, Itē Lu. i. Ther appered vnto zacharias an Angel of the lord stāding on y ^e right side of the altare, of incēse. Itē Act. xvii. As I passed bi (saith. s. Paule) & beheld y ^e maner how ye worship your gods, I foūd an alter wherin was writtē: to the vnknowē god. And again, the holy Apostell Paule to putte vs herein oute of all doubtes, sayeth:

[Page]Do not you knowe howe that they which minister about holy thinges lyue of the sacrifice? and they why­che wayte on y ^e alter, are partakers of the alter?

More ouer in the sixte chapter of the Apocalipsis ye shal reade of an altare to.

And whē he had opened the fifth seale (sayth Iohn) I saw vnder the altare the soules of them that were killed for the worde of god, and for the testimonye whiche they had. &c. And in the eyght chapter of y ^e same Apocalipsis, you shall reade of thre altares, and so nighe togither, that they fall w ^tin y ^e cōpasse of thre lines almoste, and one of them beynge a golden altare. &c. Item Apoca. xi.

Than was geuen me a reed (sayth thys holy Euaungelist) like vnto a rodde, and an angel stode and said. Ryse and measure the tēple of God [Page] and the altare, & thē that worshyp therin: and the quyre that is within the temple. &c. Lo syr, here ye maye playnelye reade in the verye texte of a tēple, of an altare, & of a quyre to, & yet these mē of the new learning, wyl nether haue temple, altare, nor quyre, or at the leaste wayes if they muste haue a temple, they by their wyl, woulde haue it to be without quyre, w ^toute altare, without ima­ges, and without any maner of ho­ly ornamētes, vestimentes, and dec­kynges. Yea, they wold haue it like a barne, or like a mannes dwelling house, hauynge neyther respecte to the fashyon of the tabernacles, nor the temples of the Hebrues, nether to the tēples of the church of Rome

But blessed be God, that lefte vs in the holye wryte suche manifeste testimonyes as wee haue nowe re­hearsed, whereby we maye easilye [Page] confoūd all such naughty heritikes as wil presume to talk against our laudable ceremonies, or any other decent things which haue bene ac­customed to be had in our temples and haue continued amonge all na­tiōs since Christ was borne, & ma­ny hūdred yeres before, as I haue already declared by sōdry textes of the scripture, as well of the new te­stamēt, as of y ^e olde. And beside all thys we might ratifye the same by diuerse places of our Canon lawe, vnles it were now abrogated, & by thauctoriti of very aunciēt doctors For doth not the holy doctour. S. Augustine. Li. xxi. cap. x. De ciui. dei (speaking of the infideles) wryght thus. They vnto their gods haue builded tēples also, & haue set vp alters, & haue offred sacrifices. Now bicause these felowes of y ^e new ler­ning cā scāt away w ^t the lerning of old catholike doctours, we wil cite [Page] no more of their work: But shal we not be as blameles as .s. Paule to brīg in for our purpose such places of noble Poets, as may be thought cōuenient. For as I remēbre Ouid in a certaine place of hys worckes writeth much after this sence.

Ye may read also in the chiefeste Poete amōg the Latines, as thus.

But bicause mē now a daies giue no credite in a maner to poetry and not very much to y ^e gloses of y ^e olde fathers we wil allege no mo places of them nother: trusting y ^e al good catholike people wil be established [Page] by these sufficiēt proues which are brought hitherto, & seyng y ^e alters haue bē vsed & had in such cōdigne reuerence euer since Noes floude (& who is it that can tell the contrarye but that Cain and Abel the sonnes of Adam offred their oblacions vpō altares?) And wher al maner of na­ciōs thorowe out the wide worlde (were they neuer so ignorāt in true knowledge) ether by the instinction of the Lawe of Nature printed by Gods fyngere in their hertes, ether by imitacion of Gods owne electe people, the Hebrues thought it ve­ry expedyent and no lesse necessarye to buylde them altares whereupon they myght offre theire sacrifices to worship, pacifie, and gratifie theyre Gods wythall. Without which al­tares as most agreable instrumēts euery man knoweth no sacryfce can be cōueniētlye offred or orderly fre­quēted. [Page] Wherfore let al thē y ^t do re­gard the good and holsom constitu­cions of the holy churche of Rome: herken, embrace and cleaue vnto thē that mainteigne altares as thinges most necessary and most fetest to minister the sacrament of the altare v­pon: in which sacrament for a sacri­fice (as sayeth. s. Augustine) al chri­sten men offre vp them selues in the selfe same offring, which the church doth celebrate. Ergo to conclude of the whole summe of all the prymis­ses, altares must nedes be had in al churches to minister the sacrament of the alter vpō. Now therfore hēce fourthe let vs haue no more ado a­bout this mater, for ye se how plainly how largely and howe trulye we haue takē paines to discusse it: yea & I warrant you that this ergo shall greue to the guttes (if they so escap) all those altary heretikes specially y ^e [Page] bragger which wold so faine bater oure Botereulx (as he termeth it) nay I warāt you we haue batered him out of y ^e way: wher art y ^u I say y ^u baterer of our Botereulx? where art thou? yt is to the that we speke? No? The Papistes triumph be­fore the victory. not as muche as one woorde? why thā mum bouget, and we are cōtent. Heih let vs be of good chere, our fortresse shall not yet downe.

And if youre fortresse shall not yet downe, I tell you, I the selfe mā y ^t you thought you had nowe of late slayne or at the lest wayse put to sy­lence, it is euen he that telleth you a­gayn that your fortresse shall down if not yet, yet shortli. And it shal not only be throwen downe, but it shal be arraced & made euē handsmothe w ^t the groūd. For now I haue you by y ^e back, I haue spied, al your succour, all your refuge, all your pore pieces, your disordered ordinaūce & [Page] your harmeles harneys. For youre pieces are so pore y ^t euē shortly you shal not drinke a halfe penyworth of ale by them: your ordinaunce are so disordered y ^t thei are liker to destroy your owne men than others: & your harneys are so harmeles that their werers some hornwode or dronkē. For the head piece lieth cast down & troaden: the gauntletes are worne on the fete, the sappodines on y ^e handes, the collar on the ancles, the vā ­braces on the legges: the greues on the armes: & all the rest are no righ­ter placed. Neyther wyll I denaye but that all your armoure be verye strong of them selues, of the ryght makynge, and of greate force if ye coulde welde them: but bicause you haue stolen them oute of oure Cap­tayn his armory, and entend also so vnshamefastly to abuse them agein his honour and magnyfycence they [Page] shal stande you in no stede (& howe can they, seynge ye can not rightlye vse them?) whan ye shall haue most nede of them.

But nowe to put on our armour that we maye immediatlye go tho­rowe w ^t this oure begon combate, and to speake more playnely. Al the testimonyes that you broughte on your behalfe oute of the olde testa­mente, are as true, as nothynge is more true: neyther (as I signifyed before) do I doubte anye thinge of the trueth of them: and I thinke no lesse of y ^e other textes which you al­ledged out of the newe testamente.

Neuertheles I am not so dull, so farre seduced, nor so void of al god­ly vnderstandynge, but that I per­ceiue howe craftely, and howe sub­tilly ye go about by your long reci­tall of all the sayde textes, to blinde and cast duste in the eyes of the vn­learned [Page] and symple people, who haue not that capacitie that they (by comparynge together the olde law & the new) can cōprehend how to seuer the one frome the other, or to knowe in what point y ^e one agre­yth or disagreeth wyth the other, or howe to accord them togyther: for they both are one in effecte, though diuersly set forth. They both tend to one ende: but the one is consūmate and ended, the other endureth to the laste daye.

Neither is it any wonder at all, if the vnlearned people, or the car­nally learned attaine not the descre­tion to examine the exacte differēce betwene the lawe and the Gospell, or cā not iustely discusse after what sort the lawe is abrogated, and af­ter what sort the obseruatiō of the lawe is damnable in a christiā. Yea it is no wonder I saye, though the [Page] worldlye wise manne can not right lye iudge in such diuine matters, se­inge that some of the holy apostles were in the same takinge, whiles it pleased the gloriousse maiestye of GOD as it were to wythdrawe his Spirite frome them (therefore good Lord do not thou put vs out of thy presence, neither take awaye thy holye Spirite frome vs) for what caused Peter and Iames to attribute ouer muche vnto the law of Moses, but that they were de­stituted (for that while) of the spi­rite of God: which Spirit neuer a­bode (I meane cōtinually) vpon a­nye man sauing on christ only.

And what made so manye vaine ceremonies and damnable super­sticions as well oute of the Lawe of Moses as out of Hethens rites to crepe into Christes religion, but bycause that the spirite of GOD [Page] hadde departed frome the maynte­ners thereof, and for that the pure gospell ne was not discretely seue­red from Moses his lawe, nor wel purged of the Heathen and infidels their folyshe traditions? As for an exemple. To praye and our faces turned eastwarde, to faste these im­bringe dayes, haue we taken of the Heathen, or infideles.

And to truste that we do a good dede in restinge and ceassinge onely frome bodilye laboure and excer­cise, on Sondayes or Holye dayes and not rather to the entente that we might giue our selues wholy to reste and cease to worcke or excer­cyse oure owne carnall worckes, and to heare the worde of GOD preached, occupiynge oure selues in prayers and meditation to god­warde.

[Page]Such vngodly idle rest & mock holy day, haue we sucked oute of the dug of Moses law, & to offer bodi­lye sacrifices, is to be fathered v­pon the same Moses, & not vpon Iesus Christe: whyche misfathe­rynge hath filled Christes churche with so many popyshe altares, as we shal anon begin to declare more particulerly, according to the mea­sure or gyfte whych we receiued of Christ. But bicause y ^e altares were made but for Sacrifices sake, we shal fyrst speke sōwhat of sacrifices

And in as muche as this worde sacrifice is but a borowed terme in Englyshe, and therefore the signifi­cation therof not cōmunely knowē, we shal opē to the vnlearned what is mente by sacrifice. What sacrifice is Sacrifice is an offering vp of our work, which we exhibite to God, whom we ac­knowledge to be suche one, y ^t wor­thely [Page] we ought to present this our seruice or worshyppe vnto. Which seruice, worship, or reuerence (as is afore sayd) is naturallye planted in the hertes of all men, as well of the Heathen as of the Iewes, of the learned as of the vnlearned: & euen in the hertes of thē that neuer heard of god, which thīg causeth such as haue not y ^e true knowlege of gods word (as it were childrē bi making of babes, or the like trifeling imita­tiōs) to inuēt sōdry kindes of sacri­ficing or worshippīg him whō they take for god. All which sacrifices & worshipping being inuēted bi y ^e fā ­tasy of y ^e corrupt & sinfull nature of man, & not groūded on true faieth, is no better estemed for acceptable worship before god, thā is y ^e babe or y ^e pupet of y ^e childs makīg thou­ght to be a perfite workemāship in y ^e iugmēt of a seuere & a sage old father. [Page] And therfore (me thynketh) it is no lesse folli for vs, who professe Christes doctrine to learne of the Heathen people (to whom the mi­sterye of the euangelye is not reuei­led) any poynte of religion, then if prudente princes, learned lawiers, honeste husbande men, would con­sulte wyth infantes or chyldren of two or thre yere of age, how to rule their Realmes, pleade their plea­dynges, or to husbande their hus­bandrye. For it is to euident as wel bi prophane as holi scripture, how the Heathen nations dyd not onely swarue from the true worshipinge of god, but dyd greuously displease hys diuine maiestye. And thoughe God shewed him self vnto them by the worcke of the Creation of the worlde, yet they haue not praysed nor thanked hym accordinglye, but became vayne in their imaginatiōs [Page] and their folyshe hertes were blyn­ded. Whan they counted them sel­ues wyse, they became foles: and turned the glory of the incorrupti­ble god, into the image of a corruptible man, and of byrdes, and four foted, and of creping beastes. Wherfore god likewise gaue them vp vnto their hertes luste, into vncleane­nes, which turned the truth of god into a lye, and worshipped and ser­ued the creature more thē the crea­tor, whych is blessed for euer. Amē. Therfore god gaue them vp vnto shamefull lustes. For their women chaunged the naturall lustes into the vnnaturall: lykewyse the men also left y ^e natural vse of the womā, & brēt in their lusts one on another, & mā w ^t man wroughte filthines, & receiued in thē selues the reward of their erroure, as it was according. And as thei regarded not to knowe [Page] God, euen so God delyuered them vppe vnto a leude mynde, that they shoulde do those thynges whyche were not comely, beynge full of all vnrighteousnes, fornicacyon, wyc­kednes, couetousnes, maliciousnes full of enuye, murther, debate, dis­ceite, euel cōdicioned, whisperers, backbyters, haters of god, disdain­full, proude, boasters, bryngers vp of euell thinges, disobediente to fa­ther and mother, without vnderstā ­ding, couenaūt breakers, vnlouinge truce breakers, vnmercifull.

Whiche men though they knew the righteousnes of God, cōsidered not how that they which committe such thynges, are worthy of death, not only they y ^e do the same, but also they which haue pleasure in them y ^t do them. And fathermore besyde all this mischeuous absurditie that S. Paule declared by them, y ^e wic­ked [Page] imaginacion of theire corrupte nature beyng not regenerate of the spirite of God did so far cōtrary to nature it selfe, Psa. cvi. Leui. xx. y ^t thei kylled men yea their owne begotten chyldrene and sacrificed them not to God nor yet to the creatures of god, but euen to verye deuyls. And if you (I meane you altare pryestes) do delyght to learne the Heathens maner of sacri­ficynge, recorde well these verses in your mynde.

But how hydeouse, how terrible & howe deuelish a thing it is for any Christian to folowe any such mens rites or ceremonies: I leaue to the iudgment of any godlye man.

Neyther wyll I denye but y ^t the Heathen had altares amongest thē, but onely inuented, made, and occupied [Page] for no better purpose, than is nowe before sayd: whyche is to saye, to offer vp Sacrifices vnto Deuelis.

And as many so euer as lyste to offer vp sacrifices vnto Deuilis: they maye full well grownde theyr procedyngs vpon the heathēs lear­nyng, & so builde as many altares as shall please them and mayntane the same as longe as they may.

But nowe to returne to the sacri­fices of the Iews. The Iews had diuers sacrifices or sortes of offer­ynges (whose names in the Hebrue tonge I wyl nowe omitte, for thes Englysh printars are so thryfty as to haue neuer an Hebrue letter to printe wythal.

But I wyll name theym as they be communely englyshed, that is: Peace offerynge, Synne offe­rynge, Meate offeryng, Drincke [Page] offeryng, Waue offerynge, Heaue offerynge.

All whych sacrifices or offerings are comprehendyd in these two names: Pacifiyng Sacrifice, and Gratifiyng Sacrifice.

The occasion of the Pacifiynge Sacrifice, Thocca­tiō of the pacifiyng sacrifice. was the laps or fall of our forefather Adam, by whose fal all mankynde halteth, hoppeth and walloweth in the dyrty Puddle of synne, lyith cheyned wyth the Iron cheynes of Gods Wrath and ven­geaunce, taken Captyues of the Prynce of thys world, and become Enimies and Rebelles agaynste the God of myght.

For whose presumptuouse De­fiaūce and sturdy Rebellion, it lay in no mans powre to make a loue-daye bytwene God and man, nor paye so greate a raunsome as was iustly to be demaundyd.

[Page]Therfore if man wold recouer hys old fall, go an vpright gate agayne, aryse vp oute of the fyllthye puddle of synne, be released of the vntolle­rable cheynes of Gods wrath and vengeaunce, and be deliuered out of the captiuite of the deuel, & brought agayne into the amytie, fauour and frendshyp of God: than by al iustice it behoued him to pacify the ire and indignacion of God with as full sa­tisfaction and with as dewe and as plentiful compensacyon as shoulde counteruayle the transgressyon and displeasure whyche was perpetra­ted agaynst the gloriouse maiestie of y ^e great god. But now who was able to make satisfaction for so hey­nouse a displeasure? Was there a­nye man vpon earthe able to do it? no not one. Was there any Angel in heauen able to do it? no not one no­ther: for why should any other crea­ture [Page] then man satisfy or make amē ­des for mans fault?

And it resteth nowe that man is vtterly lyke to remayne oute of the fauouor of god and so cōsequently, to continue in the miserable thraldū of the deuell. But alas for sorow to se how man is deseruedly condem­ned by the righteouse iudgement of god which no mās cōsciēce cā iustly gaynsay. Oh is there than no help? is ther no remedi? is ther no refuge? No surely: there is no refuge at all: vnles this onely shyft may be allo­wed, that is to appeale from the se­uere iustice of God, vnto his greate mercy, and to make an humble and an herty peticyon vnto hys grace to send his dere sonne into the worlde to be incarnate and to become man to pay a full raūsume vnto God for man to delyuer man out of the De­uyls captiuitie, to recōcyle, & make [Page] at one God and man, & to offer him selfe vp for a pacifiynge Sacrifice vnto his father for mannes trans­gression.

Whiche thing the vnspeakeable mercye and the naturall kindnes of God beynge not required dyd vn­deseruedly graunt vnto man as he was yet hys very enemie and most disobedient rebell.

And thys was the sole and one­lye raunsome that redemed Adam and all hys posteritye oute of the greadye chawes of the olde Ser­pente, Al the pa­cifiyng sacrifices of Moses lawe were but signi­fications of christes sacrifice. thys was the sole and one­lye propiciatory sacrifice that paci­fied the yre of god, that wholy satis­fied for mannes synnes, and resto­red man againe into frendeship and fauour of God.

And so all the Pacifiynge Sa­crifices that euer GOD instituted [Page] and commaunded hys Seruaunte Moses to publyshe and sette forthe to the Israelites or Iewes dyd a­lonelye signifye the sayde Sacri­fice of Christe.

For after that the worlde had continued aboute two thousande yeares wythout lawe, or any other prescribed maner of liuynge, than nature it selfe dyd minyster: at the laste it pleased the hyghe maiestie of God (that the mooe myghte be saued) to establyshe a lawe, The b [...] of Moses lawe. whiche shoulde as it were declare and o­pen the Lawe that was obscurate, darckened, and farre degenerated by the sinister corruption, which li­niallye did issue from the fyrste fa­ther Adam into all hys ofsprynge.

Howebeit as God dyd not gyue thys lawe, vnto all Nations, but only to the Iewes beyng but a few [Page] in numbre in comparison of all the people in the worlde, so dyd not he forthwith open the misteries con­teined therein, but ouer shadowed them with manifold sacrifices, and diffuse rites and ceremonies being significations of good thynges to come.

And moreouer as y ^e lord wēt be­fore thē in y ^e wildernes y ^e day time in a piller of a cloude to lead thē the waye, and the nyght tyme in a pyl­ler of fire to giue their corporal eies lyght, that they might iorney both day & night toward the lād of pro­myse: so lykewyse dyd the tender loue of God practise in furtheringe them to the very lande of promissi­on: for he did so tempre hys traditi­ons which he commaūded vnto thē y ^t they which were neuer wont be­fore to be grouerned by the light of anye morall lawe (and therefore [Page] grosse, rude, and pore blind) might be traded vnder a clowdye and mi­sticall doctrine, but yet hauing ma­ny sparcles of his sunny bright go­spell, and so the eies of their mynde beyng nother vnmeasurably dark­ned nor noseled in blindnes, nor yet ouermuche daseled and ouercome wyth the eyeing of shyning bright­nes, they mighte rather atchiue the ende of their spirituall progresse.

And therfore all the ceremonies cō ­teined in this law were none other thing, The ceremonies of y ^e lawe but introductiōs to lead vn­to Christe.

And all these fleshe sacrifices be­tokened the fleshe sacrifice of Chri­stes bodye, once offered vpon thal­tare of y ^e crosse. But nowe to beate downe the Iewishe bulwark that the Popes souldiours haue round about their fortresse, we will recite certaine testimonies, as well out of [Page] the olde testamente, as of the new, whyche shal euidently proue y ^t god delighteth not (though he required them for a time) in the externe ob­lation or the vtter offerynge of the sacrifices commaunded by hym in Moses hys lawe. The abrogation of sacrifice.

Wherefore he declared the same by the mouth of diuerse of his pro­phetes, as it is written. Mala. i. I haue no pleasure in you, sayeth the Lorde of hostes: and as for youre meat offerynge. I wyll not accepte it at your hād. Again. Ose v. They kyll sacrifices bi heapes: and turne farre frō the lorde, and I haue bene a rebuker of them all. And agayne. Prou. xv. The lorde abhorreth the sacrifice of the vngodly. &c. Item Eccle. xxxiiii. The hiest doth not a­lowe the giftes of the wicked. And God hath no delite in the offerings of the vngodly, nether may sinne be [Page] reconsiled in the multitude of obla­tions. Who so bringeth an offering out of the goodes of the pore, doth euē as one y ^t killeth the sōne before the fathers eyes. And in the .l. Psal. I wil not reproue the (saith y ^e lord) bicause of thy sacrifices, or for thy burnt offerings, bicause they were not alway before me. I wil take no bullock out of thy house: nor no he goates out of thy folde. For all the beastes of the foreste are myne, and so are the cattell vpon a thousande hylles. I knowe all the foules vpō the mountaynes: and the wild bea­stes of the feild are in my syght. If I be hungry, I wyl not tell the: for the whole worlde is mine, & al that therin is. Thinkest thou that I wil eate Bulles fleshe, and dryncke the bloude of goates?

And in Ieremy .iii. Chapter you shal read, not of the abrogation of [Page] Sacrifices onely, but also of the a­brogation, & disanullynge of all the lawe, The abrogation of the olde lawe. and of the olde testamente w ^t ­all. The texte goeth thys. When ye are increased and multiplied in the lande, than (saieth the Lorde) there shal no more boaste be made of the arcke of the Lordes testament. No man shal thinke vpon it, nether shal anye man make mention of it: For from thence forth it shall neither be visited nor honoured with giftes.

Moreouer in the .xxxi. Chapter of the same prophete, you shall not al­onely reade, of resoluyng and repel­lyng of the olde couenaunt or testa­mente and the cause therof, but al­so of the substitution of the newe, & of the descriptiō, nature, and tenure of the same.

The new testament propheci­ed of.And the words of y ^e text be these: Beholde, the daies wyll come (saith the Lorde) that I wil make a new [Page] couenaunte with the house of Isra­ell, and wyth the house of Iudah: not after the couenaunte whyche I made wyth their fathers, whan I toke them by the hande, and ledde them oute of the lande of Egypte, whiche couenaunt they brake: Yea euen whan I as an husbande had rule ouer them, sayeth the Lorde.

But thys shall be the couenaunte that I wyl make with the house of Israell after those dayes, sayth the Lorde. I wyll plante my lawe in the inner part of them, and write it in theyr hertes, & wyl be theyr god, and they shal be my people, & from thence forth, shall no man teach his neighbour or his brother, and saye: knowe the Lorde, but they shall all knowe me, from the loweste to the hyeste, sayth the Lorde. For I wyl forgiue their misdedes, and wil ne­uer remēbre their sinnes any more.

[Page]These testimonies (I thyncke) shall easilye perswade euerye true christian (whyche hath not a verye Iewyshe herte) to be certified that as wel the carnall gratifiyng sacri­fices required in Moses lawe, be as vtterli determined, and as clear­ly abolished, as y ^e other pacifiynge sacrifices, whom mooste speciallye we treated of hytherto.

And if the gunne shote of these olde culuerynge pieces and double Cannons haue not sufficientlye o­uerthrowen the bulworcke of the sayde Popyshe forteresse, we wyll yet shote of a piece or two of strong newe ordinaūce of Sacres and A­postles: whereof we shall furnyshe thys for one.

Hebr. viii ix.The newe testamente weareth oute the olde: Nowe that whyche is worne out and waxed old, is ready to vanishe awaye. For that first [Page] tabernacle verily had ordinaunces and seruynges of GOD and oute­warde holines. &c. But into the se­conde wente the hye Prieste alone, once in the yere, not wythout bloud whyche he offered for him selfe, and for the ignoraunce of the people.

Wherewyth the holye gooste this signifieth, that the waye of holines was not yet opened, whyle as yet the fyrste tabernacle was standing. whyche was a similitude for the tyme than presente, in whych were offered giftes and Sacrifices, and coulde not make perfite (as pertey­nyng to the cōscience) hym that dyd the gods seruice only with meates and drynckes, & diuerse washinges and iustifiynges of the flesh, whych were ordeyned vnto the time of re­formatiō. Hebru. x. For it is vnpossible that the bloude of Oxen and of Goates shoulde take awaye synnes.

[Page]Wherfore whā he cometh into y ^e the worlde, he sayth. Sacrifice and offeringe thou wouldest not haue, but a body hast thou ordeyned me. Burnte Sacrifices and synne offe­ringes haste thou not alowed. Thā sayd I, Lo I come: in the chiefeste of the boke, it is written of me, that I shuld do thy wil, O God. Aboue whan he had sayde. Sacrifice and offerynge, and burnt sacrifices and synne offeryngs thou wouldest not haue, neither haste alowed, whiche yet are offered after the lawe: than sayde he: Lo, I come to do thy wyll O God. There taketh he away the fyrste, Al bodely sacrifices ended in Christe. to establyshe the later. In which wil we are sanctified by the offeringe vp of the bodye of Iesus Christe once for all.

So than nowe, if it be a cleare case, and that by the playne textes of holy scripture, that synce Christ [Page] was once offred on the altare of the crosse, al carnal sacrifices and al maner of offerynges that euer were wont to be offered vpon the altares be wholy extinguished, vtterli void and of none effect. And in as muche as no man (beynge in hys ryghte wytte, whan he aduisedly percey­ueth, and playnely vnderstandeth that the cause of the fyrste Inuen­tion and buildynge of the Altares was for none other purpose, That al­tares dis­continue with the sacrifices but to burne, or to offer sacrifices or obla­tions vpon, whyche maner of sacri­fices God wyl no lōger accept) but he wil straight wayes acknowlege that there ought not anye altare to remayne to any vse among vs chri­stians, after the death and passiō of our maister Christe: at which time as he protested hym selfe, sayinge: Consummatum est, it is finished, sig­nifiynge therby, that Moses lawe [Page] was not onely by hym preuented, fulfilled & finished: but that y ^e same lawe, or any commaundement, rite, ceremonie, or any other parte ther­in conteined (as concernynge anye burthening or iurisdiction ouer the christians) was to al intentes tol­led, taken away, and fully determi­ned and ended, and the gospell as it were a newe lawe surrogated, con­firmed, & established in steade of the old. The temporal lawiers. You se how the temporal law­iers can tell on their fingers endes whyche is the aunciente commune lawe of the Realme, whyche be the customes of olde boroughes, terri­tories, and contries, whiche is sta­tute law, and which not, what esta­tutes be exspired, what statutes be mitigated, what repealed, & what euiued. Or what statutes continue but from parliament to parliamēt, [Page] and what statute expoundeth an o­ther, yea or what braunches of any statute is cut away by the vygoure and egged force of an other statute: Howe many do agre and concurre in one thynge, and howe manye be contrary one to an other.

They know farther (euen as re­dilye as their Pater noster) all the boke cases that remaine in writing the yere of the raygne of the kinge, and the Terme also, and the better opinion of the Iudges, and what case ruled and what not.

And I know wel that such knowledge requireth as greate, as dili­gente, and as industrious a studie, as for to be perfect in the bible and al the good writers and expositers thereof.

Yet you, who glorye to be called by the name and title of doctours [Page] of diuinitie, or bachiler of diuinitie, and professe the exacte knoweledge thereof, The di­uines. are not (as it semeth by the confuse hotchepotte that you haue made of your learnynge) so perfite­lye sene in your science, as they in theyrs. And yet their ignoraunce is more excusable than yours, & their Practise more tollerable also than yours, for their ignoraūce or prac­tice: shal onli preiudice or endomag a man of his worldely goodes, dis­herite him of his earthly landes, or losse of hys body, which is nothing in comparison of the soule, whome your ignoraūce and preposterous practice shall disinherite of the land of promise, which is the kingdome of heauen.

But shall wee be folishe, grosse, and vnapte in spiritual feates, and in thynges longynge to the Soule, and only wise and circumspect, po­lityke [Page] and fitte in al worldely mat­ters whyche appertayne to bodily affayres? That the lerned papistes be more vn­discrete & folysh, thē the vnler­ned sīple people. Or shall the learned be more fonde than the vnlearned? or doeth muche learnynge make a mā madde or doultishe? For what hus­bandmā (be he neuer so simple) wil be about to plow his land wyth a whelebarowe, to harrowe it wyth a slede, or to carye with an harow? What husbandman, I say is so fo­lyshe, as to go aboute to wede hys corne with a sithe, to mowe his hey wyth a wedinge hoke, and to tedde the same with a rake? Is a leaden cesterne made for to sayle on y ^e sea? is a shyp made to be drawē of hor­ses as a waggen vpon the land? do noble men build sumptuous pala­ces for their horses to stand in, and lye them selues in olde ruinous sta­bles? or do men ordain fetherbeds for their dogges, and lye thēselues [Page] in kennellis? Who maketh a Gar­nar of an Ouē, or an Ouē of a Gar­nat? Or who maketh a threshynge flore in hys dwellyng house, and a herth in hys barne? Who can make a pleasaunte and a soote bāketyng house, of fylthy Schamebles or of a stynking Slaughter house?

Yea or who had not rather haue hys supper layed on a fayre Table before hym than on a bloudy But­chars Cradle?

And so lyke wyse (to apply some of these straing Anagogies & darke saynges to oure purpose) is not a Garnar more mete to lay vp grain in, than an Ouen? Is it not more mete to make a threshynge flore in a barne than in a mans dwellynge house? And to make an herth to kē ­dle fyre on in the myddes of a mās house, thā by y ^e mowes syde in hys barn? And so who cā make y ^e Iewes [Page] olde slaughter Synagoge to serue for the newe Euangelyke banket­ynge. Temple? Or who had rather ease y ^e heauēly bāket of the Lordis Supper on a Iewish, a heathelyk or a Popysh altare: then on a decent and a fayre comly Table?

The vnbeleuynge Iewe defiyth Christes Table and his supper al­so. The vnfaythfull heathen thynke scorne of the same. The pope & his papists make of it a god or a popet

The Iew abhorryth vtterly our Religion. The Heathen in no sauce can awaye wyth it.

The Pope is well contented to be called a christiā, The pope dissem­bleth. yea to be thoght to be Christ him self, so that ye geue hym leaue to lyue lyke a Iewe or an Heathen. And shall we seke vpō thē? Shal we be partakers of their damnable Ceremonies, of theyr execrable Rites, and cursed Vsages? [Page] Or is Christes religion so vnperfit of it selfe, so neady & beggerly that it muste borowe imbring fastes of the Heathen, borowe altares of the Pope, and borowe vestimentes of the Iewes? beside an vnnumerable sorte of other like baggage, Wedes in our religion. whych hath bene weded nowe of late oute of Christes religion, and now resto­red home to the owners therof.

Therefore lette vs either render home againe vnto the Heathen, the supersticion of the imbrynge daies and to y ^e pope his halowed altares and vnto the Iewes, Exo. xxix. their Aarons vestimentes: or els let vs like good Companions ioyne togyther in a league wyth thē, The wic­ked prouisiō of mā ­nes fāta­sye. and be tenauntes in commune, and put oure religion wyth theirs in hotche potche, & ac­cording to y ^e lawiers vulgar terme Qui primum happat primum cappat. And by my fey that peraduenture [Page] were greate wisedome: for so dyd oure fathers & ancesters: and were it not good felowship to do as they did? Yea were it not good policy to holde on the bigger side? And are not more in numbre of y ^e Papistes Heathens and Iewes than of the Christians? yea no doubte, thrise so many at the leaste: why then let vs be of one religion with them, & they wyll take vs as their frendes, and we lykewyse wyl take their parte. And so, we beyng than so many in numbre, and gathered togither and rayed in a puisaunt and a myghtye army, shall rushe into heauen, whe­ther God & hys angels wyll or no. And if all fayle, after that wee haue made mery by the waye, in the do­minion of the Popes purgatorye, we wyl march forward and come to the large and wyde kyngedome of the Prynce of thys worlde, euen [Page] the myghty prynce Satā (who re­fuseth no man) and there shall wee be so curtesly enterteyned, so choise­ly cherished, and so muche made of, as though we were his owne dere chyldren. For he loueth them alyfe whoe be at defiaunce wyth Iesus Christ, & haue forsakē him for theyr souerayne. Nowe as ye haue heard the fātasticall aduisemēt, & brayne­les councell of mans naturall wyt, (who perceyueth not the thynges that belong to the spirite of god) so herken what the spirit of god spea­keth by the mouth of hys chosē ve­ssel, s. Cor. ii. s. Paule, euen by these wordes.

Dearlye beloued, fle from wor­shippinge of idoles. s. Cor. x I speake vnto them that haue discretion, iudge ye what I say. The cuppe of thankes geuynge, wherwyth ye gyue than­kes, is it not the partakynge of the bloude of Christe? The breade that [Page] we breake, is it not the partakinge of the body of Christe? For we be­ynge manye are one breade and one bodye, in as muche as we are par­takers of one breade. Beholde Is­raell after the fleshe. They that eate sacrifices, are thei not partakers of the altare? What shall I nowe say then? Shall I say that the idole is any thynge? Or that whyche is of­fered vnto the idole is anye thyng? Naye. But thys I saye, that loke what y ^e Hethen offer, y ^e offer thei to deuils & not to god. Ye cā not drink of y ^e cup of the lord, & of y ^e cup of y ^e deuils. Now wold I not y ^t ye shuld be in y ^e felowship w ^t deuils, Ye can not be partaker of y ^e lordes table, & of y ^e deuils? Or will ye prouoke the lord? Are we strōger thē he? I may do al thinges, but al things are not expedient. I may do al thyngs, but all thynges edifye not.

[Page]Nowe I truste y ^t as many of vs as haue receyued the spirite of God shall sone perceyue by the meanyng of the texte nowe before rehearsed, that the christians in no wyse maye be partakers with the Heathens or Iewes in idoles, altares, sacrifices offerynges, or suche other vnchri­stenlyke ceremonies.

For (as the same Apostle sayth) what felowshyp hath ryghtuouse­nes w ^t vnrightuousenes? ii. Cor. vi what cō ­pany hath lyght wyth darckenes? howe agrreeth Christ and Belial? or what parte hathe the beleuer w ^t the vnbeleuer? howe accordeth the temple of god wyth images? &c.

But nowe I praye you, do you not see wyth what a care, w ^t what a diligence, and wyth what an ear­neste affection the holye Apostle of Christe exhorteth, The gret [...]iligence [...]f saynte counceleth, and calleth vpon the christians, lest they [Page] shoulde kepe company or be yoked wyth the Heathen or the Iewes, Paule y ^e Christes religion shold not be min­gled. or leste they should admit and receyue anye of theyr supersticious rites, or wycked ceremonies, and myngle the same wyth Christes religion?

Yea, & the Apostles dyd so much abhorre, eschew and feare, lest such confuse mingle mangle of straunge supersticions (whether they were of the Heathens vayne rites, or of the Iewes lawe) in so muche that they bade not onely farewell to all the ceremoniall and Iudicial lawe of Moses, but also (bycause they woulde differ frome the Iewes in keping holyday) they trāslated and chaunged the celebration of the sa­both from Saturdaye to Sōday. For the seuenth day wherupon by one of hys ten commaundementes God commaunded vs to rest, was on Saturday, and not on Sōday. [Page] The lyke affection and mynde was Constantine the Emperour of (ab­horrynge the memorial of the vaine Heathens Goddes) whan he sued vnto one Siluester the fyrste, By­shoppe of Rome, that it myghte be decreed, that the dayes of the weke whyche had before the names and tytles of the Sūne, The na­mes of y ^e daies in the weke bi a decre altered. Mone, Mars, Mercury, Iupiter, Venus, & Sa­turne, shoulde be called the fyrst fe­rye, the second ferye, the thyrde fery, the fourthe, the fyfte, the syxte, the seuenth: in lyke maner as y ^e Iewes counted theyr dayes from the Sa­both daye.

But it pleased hym that the first fery myght be called Dies Dominicꝰ also, whyche we name Sondaye, and that Saturday should be cal­led Sabatum, of the olde holydaye and reste of the Hebrues.

And if suche vigilante circum­spection [Page] and carefull mynde to flee from hauynge any mutual conuer­sation (as wel in wordes as in thin­ges) w ^t the Iewes & other infidels had styll continued in christen men­nes hertes euer since the Apostles tyme hytherto: Maister Negli­gēce careles, holpe the Pope to set vp his alta­res. than neded no man to trauayle at thys presente daye to wryte or inueyghe againste the vn­iuste intrusion of altares.

But well worthe the tyme of the olde prymatiue church, whan eue­rye thynge (as Polidorus Vergili­us recordeth) in the administration of the Lordes supper was playne, ☜ syncere, and wythoute any minling of ceremonies, contaynynge more vertue than solemnitie.

Herken than to thys testimonye (al ye Papistes) and giue good cre­dite vnto it, (for he that fyrst wrote it) is the Pope his owne countrey manne.

[Page]For surely he speaketh herein as trulye as dyd the bishop Cayphas whan he affirmed that it was bet­ter that one man should dye for the people, than all the people shoulde peryshe.

But woulde God it had pleased hys holye Spirite to speake by the mouth of the pope, as he hath done bi the mouth of Balaam, Cayphas and of other as euyll menne. Than shoulde not all the people haue pe­rished, but rather one manne. And would God I saye, that thys Po­lidorie of Polidorus had ben more liberally bestowed on the common people in Englande. Than would they more frelye and wyth a better wyll obeye and imbrace the ecclesi­astical proceadynges of the hygher powers. And seynge than that of a verye trueth (accordinge to the gol­den sētēce of Polidorus) the religiō [Page] of Christe was replenished wyth more vnfeyned holines, and garni­shed wyth manye mooe godly ver­tues, before it knewe any thynge of these newe foūde solemne ceremo­nies, and holylyke traditions.

What the deuill than was it, that put into the Popes braynes, to o­uer charge y ^e religion wyth so ma­nye folde vayne ceremonies, and so diuerse pernitious traditiōs? it was but euen the same deuill that sette a worcke Mahometh the notorious false prophete to play the like part. Yea it was the selfe same blynd de­uyll that maketh euen at thys daye all the Papistes and the Mahume­thistes to adhere & stycke to their false goddes the Popes and Ma­hamethes disceitful lawes & vaine traditions, more than to the Lorde Christ, and hys healthsome gospel.

But nowe to let passe these two [Page] greate vsurpers of Christes digni­tie and moste hyghe power, and to let them syncke in theyr owne sinne and to talk no more of them but ra­ther styckinge stedfaste to our tack­lynge to defende oure selues frome the dartes whom we se already di­rected, and shaken agaynste vs by oure aduersaryes the poysonfull Papystes.

Howe be it bycause my chiefest entente is, to wryte thys treactyse for them that be vnlearned, I wyl fyrste open and declare somewhat of the nature of one terme lately bo­rowed of the Latines, and therfore not so well knowne of euerye En­glyshe Reader: whyche terme per­aduenture I shall haue occasion to vse nowe and than, ere I shal haue done wyth this matter.

What is [...]o alludeThe terme is to Allude. And a manne doeth allude, whan he spea­keth [Page] that whyche hath a priuye re­specte or resemblaunce to an other thynge: as somtime a man alludeth to a worde as thus.

The good mome is fole a towne, meanynge that the good manne is forthe of the towne. Here the allu­sion is in mome and foole, for man and forth. Sometyme a man allu­deth to a practice or a dede doynge, as when I saye: Let me alone with hym for I wyll walke hym, I wyll dresse hym lyke a Lennarde, I will make Stockefishe of hym. &c. And sometime a man alludeth to an hi­story as thus.

By lyke oure Kynge (God saue hys grace) after his fathers depar­tynge, dyd aske of GOD in hys prayer Wysedome, and vnderstan­dyng & not long lyfe, neither riches neither reuengment on his enimies [Page] seynge the Lord hath so endued his herte wyth suche vnspeakable wis­dome & vnderstādyng &c. and hys maiestie wyth such ryches and ho­nour &c.

Nowe in so sayinge the allusion is had vnto the history of Solomō iii. Reg. iii. And so at the laste to re: turne frome alludyng to defēdyng.

Where soeuer therfore, ye do read in the newe testament of thys word altare: if ye marke it well and circū ­spectly, ye shall clearly perceiue that the vse therof is not ther awhyt re­newyd or confirmyd, but by some occasion spoken of, and rather de­termined, ended, and adnulled.

As in the .v. of Math. The text I wyll not reherse now, because it is here once before rehersed, the sēce wherof (though in many wordes) is not farre disagreable from this.

[...] place of Math. expoun­dedYou Iewes, sayth Christ, which [Page] receyued a Lawe of my Father by the ministerie of Moses: by whych Lawe ye were commaunded to vse certaine outwade ceremonies, as it wer to enure your selfes in a religiō and that it shoulde appeare to all nations, that you were my fathers owne peculiar People.

And ye were also cōmaundyd by the same Lawe, that when so euer you shuld transgresse or breake the same or any Article therof: that thē you shoulde offer vp Sacrifices or Offeryngs vnto my Father where ye myght be blamelesse, holden ex­cused and be acquited by the same lawe, al youre former trespaces & synnes notwithstādyng, and rather iustified before the worlde, than in the presence of God.

But sence ye haue altogether ab­used the sayed sacrifices, chewynge the Barcke therof, and grossely fe­dynge [Page] on the vtter parte of it, tak­ynge no fode of the inner pyth, ney­ther haueynge any regarde to those thynges which were chiefly signifi­ed by the same sacrifices: my father hath warned alredy by the mouthe of hys Prophetes, that he passethe nought of your sacrifices and offe­rynges that you offer vnto hym on Altares (whiche were but tokyns of inwarde holynes) but the sacrifi­ces and offerynges whych he is re­conciled and pleased wythe al, are these: Psal. ii. a stomake broken with repen­taunce, and a herte smytten & woū ­ded with sorow, Ose. vi. and to shew mer­cie one to an other. And if ye wil of­fer vp these, my Father shall neuer despise them. Therfore thou Iewe whā so euer thou brekest ani of the x. cōmaundemētes, as whan thou kyllest anye man, other by thought or dede: whan thou arte angrye w ^t [Page] thy brother by hys faulte or misde­meanour, or els whan thou hast ge­uen him occasion (by reuilyng, scof­yng or callyng hym knaue or other wise by vseyng or practiseyng anye dispytfull worde or dede towardes hym) to be moued to wrath and to be displeased wyth the.

Than if thou wylt pacifye the wrath and Indignation of my Fa­ther for the Iniurie and displeasur that thou hast don to hys seruaunt: verilye I tell the it auayleth the no­thyng at all, to come and offer any maner of bodily sacrifices or obla­tions vpon the altare: yea & though thou be come nere vnto the altare and thy gyft wyth the, euen redy to be offered (if it chaunce the than to remēbre any maner of displeasure betwixt the and thy brother) thou must not, I saye, offer vp thy gyfte immediatly (as though thy offerīg [Page] should rather pacifie & more please my father than brotherly loue and concorde) thou muste not I say go that way to worke: but thou must leaue thy gifte (as a thynge nought worthe of it selfe) before the altare: and than go thy way to satisfye thy brother, to please thy brother, and to reconcile the to thy brother. And whan thou hast after this sort plea­sed the seruaunt, thā maist thou the bolder approch to the presēce of the maister: s. Ioh. iii and than if thou wilt nea­des offer vp thy gyfte, he wyll ra­ther accepte it, and take it in good worthe.

Nowe haue you heard howe li­tle Christe doeth attribute vnto sa­crifices and offerynges, for whose vse altares are ordeined, and onelye serue. For ye muste speciallye note thys, that Christe in thys place ex­pounded & opened vnto the Iewes [Page] moste chyeflye, the true vnderstan­dynge and meanynge of their lawe wyth the ryghte vse of the ceremo­nies thereof.

For it fared than wyth theim as it dyd wyth me, whan I was a ho­lye Papiste, at what tyme I was at thys poynte wyth god. That if I had hearde masse boeth sondaye and holye day, The chiefest poīts of the po­pes reli­gion. had sayde our Lady mattens, or our ladyes psalter, kis­sed and lycked deuoutly saintes fete (for so called thei their images) and besprynkeled my selfe well fauou­redlye wyth coniured water, & had done the supersticious penaūce en­ioyned to me by my goostly, shall I saye enemye or father? Than I say was I at such poynte wyth God, I thought it, and assuredly beleued that I had done my full dutie vnto hym, thoughe I neuer once called to remēbraūce the benefite of Chri­stes [Page] death, as wel in satisfiyng and pacifiynge for all the trespaces and synnes of my former euill life, and naughty conuersation.

Yea besides all thys popysh and deuillishe presumption, I thought farther, that if I had done the saide vayne workes & such other no bet­ter, The wic­ked vn­thākeful­nes of a Papiste. that I was no more beholden vnto god thā he was to me; neither gaue I him more thankes for par, donyng me of my synnes: than one marchaunt man geueth to another for the optaynynge a peny worthe for a penie.

But thankes be vnto the Lorde who of hys mere clemency, deliue­red me out of thys blynde popyshe heresye, and vouchsafe of hys lyke goodnes to worcke the semblable myracle in as manye as yet conti­nue in suche damnable errour.

[Page]But nowe againe to come to the purpose.

And as I was thus tangeled, and abhominablye deceyued, and trayned, and brought vp in tender age, in the Popes holilyke Religi­on before Christes seconde byrthe here in Englande, euen so were the Iewes before hys fyrste byrthe in Iudea wonderously deceyued, and shamefully seduced and that by the fayned newe Doctryne that their Popes I meane theyr scribes and Pharises hadde brought into their churche.

And for to roote that doctryne oute of the Iewes lawe, was the occasion of Christes Sermō in the sayde place of Mathew.

So lykewyse in the .xxiii. chap­ter of the same Euangeliste he ex­horteth the Iewes for to dooe all thynges bothe greate or small that [Page] the Scribes and Phariseis prea­ched vnto them, as long as thei tū ­ble not oute of Moses chayre, nor swarue not from teachyng the sin­cere & pure lawe of Moses. There amōg other matters he doth sharply condemne theyr blynd doctours for a certaine constitucion that they had made, beynge ledde wyth aua­rice or couetuousenes: The summe and effecte of whyche constitution whych they had made be conteined in these fewe wordes.

Who so euer swereth bi the tem­ple that is nothynge: but who so e­uer swereth by the gold of the tem­ple, he is bounde by hys othe. And who so euer swereth by the Altare that is nothynge, but who so euer swereth by the offerynge that is v­pon the altare, he is bounde by hys Othe.

Thys cōstitution of theirs doth [Page] Christe confute wyth naturall rea­son callyng them foles and wonde­rous blynde, that they woulde in­stitute so grosse, and so farre frome reason, a tradition as this is.

But I thynke that Christe wyll neuer say to the Pope for hys fine Canons, decrees, and constituti­ōs (though they were made for the like purpose) as he dyd to y ^e scribes and phariseis: But I wyll not vn­dertake that he wyll not (as he cal­led Herode) saye vnto hym on thys wyse. Thou wyly Fox, why didest thou loose that, whyche I bounde? or why dideste thou bynde what I dyd loose?

Nowe I praye the gentle Rea­der do not blame me for this short digressiō, but rather the fox, whose craftye wiles caused the same. And thus from Pope to Papiste. Thou Papist, euen thou that of late woldest [Page] defend thyne altare w ^t this text and so thou mayste in dede if thou wilt subdue thy necke vnto the hea­uie yoke of Moses his lawe, vnder which law al those people wer subiect to whō Christ preached as is a­foresayd. And if y ^u wylt be cōtent to lyue vnder the lawe of Moses, thā hath Christe dyed in vayne for the: and therefore gette the hence vnto the Iewes, whyche styll loke for a worldely Christe to come.

But thou good Papist that art wyllynge to renounce thy Poperye and to receyue Christianitye, thou muste consider, that where so euer Christe doeth inculcate the lawe of Moses vnto his contrey men after the flesh (I meane the Iewes) that he doeth it chieflye to thys entente, that they shoulde wythdrawe their necks from the vntollerable yocke and heauy burthen of the lawe and [Page] receyue the easy yocke and the lig [...] burthen of his most blessed gospel.

For the lawe, M [...] [...]. Iohn. i as Saynct Iohn sayeth, was geuen by Moses, but grace and trueth came by Iesus Christe.

Euerye good christian therefore muste marcke thys also. That the merciful lord Iesus Christe (whose nature and propertye was not to striue nor to breake a brosed rede) thoughe the strength and vygoure of the law and prophetes extended no lenger but to the tyme of Iohn the Baptiste as Christe hym selfe dyd signifye the same vnto theym, and declarynge that the kingdome of heauen being the Gospel succea­ded and was at hande euen before hys passion: yet dyd he rather per­mitte or somewhat derogate than vtterly abrogate y ^e law of Moses [Page] vntyll such tyme as he thorowe his bloude and Death sealed vppe and stablyshed hys newe Testamente, whych then immediatly dyd wear­out the olde. Therefore euery Chri­stian y ^t is as prudēt as the Serpēt fyrste (all the circumstancis beyng wel perpensed) wyll be ware to be­leue euery sentence and euery word wrytten in the newe Testament as parte therof, or confirmyd by the same: as where Christe declareth the Lawe &c. or where Christe in the same .xxiii. cha. speaketh of an altare menyng nothing lesse then to cōfirme or renewe the vse of altars emonge hys christians but all togi­ther to vpbrayde y ^e Iewes for suc­cedyng theyr wicked aūcesters cru­elnes in kyllyng of Prophetis.

Here hys owne wordes are these. Beholde I sende you Prophetis & Wise men, and Scribes and some [Page] of thē you shal kyll and crucifie and some of them shall you scourge in your Synnagoges, and persecute them frome Citie to Citie: that v­pon you maye come all the ryghtu­ouse bloude, whyche hath ben shed vpō earth, from the bloud of righ­tuouse Abell, vnto the bloud of za­the sonne of Barachias whome ye slewe bitwene the Temple and the altare &c. But ful lyttle (god kno­weth) wotteth he what an Altare meanith that wol alledg thys place for an altare.

And euen of lyke force be the .ii. places before rehersed, in the bigin­yng of the boke, on the papistes be­halfe, whych places were chopped out of y ^e first cha. of .s. Luks gospel & of the .xvii. of his boke of y ^e actes. But I can not denay but one might gather thereof suche an argumente as this. The Iewes had theyr al­tares, [Page] and the Heathen had theyr altares, Ergo y ^e christiās must haue altares. But either I am a simple Logician or els the argumēt wolde better frame, and a more true conse­quent folowe after thys sorte. The Iewes had altares, & the Heathen had altares also, ergo the Pope be­yng a participle must haue halteres lykewise. But I promes you there be two places, one .i. Cor. ix. & the other, Heb. xiii. whych myght hap­pē to make one y ^t is not somewhat trauailed in y ^e scriptures to thincke verili y ^e alters be there spokē of as things apertaining to vs y ^t hold of Christes newe Testamēt, where it is nothynge so. For the texte to the Corh. hath thus. An nescitis quoniam qui in sacrario operātur, que de sacrario sunt edunt? Et qui in altario deseruiunt, cum altario participant? Ita et Domi­nus ordinauit [...]is qui Euāgelium anūci­ant, de Euāgelio viuere. Wher y ^e greke [Page] texte for Altario hath Thysiasterion, which signifieth Sacrarium a place for holy thynges, as wel as Altarist an altare. But to make no moe wordes than nede: Prea­chers of y ^e gospel. all the argumēt of .s. Paul in thys place tendeth to proue that they wych preach y ^e gos­pel, oughte of duitie to haue a cōpe­tēt liuyng therby. And to perswad the Corhinth. therto: he vseth thys Induction. Whye, you Corhinthi­ans, do you not remēbre howe you your selfes before ye had receiued y ^e preachyng of Christes gospell, dyd fynd such as ministered in y ^e tēples of the Idoles? And do you not se emonge the Iewes also howe the priestes & the Leuites which wait on the altare, haue the offrings de­uided amōg thē toward their susti­naūce and liuing? And why should not he likewise that taketh pains to preach y ^e gospell haue a liuing also?

[Page]The authour of the gospell wil­led and ordeyned that the true go­spellers shoulde haue a liuynge: yet had I rather vse greate scarcitie, & worcke wyth myne owne handes, than to be onerous and chargeable vnto you.

Neuertheles if ye denay a liuyng to an other that shall require it of you, if he preache the Gospell vnto you, ye must nedes be adiudged to contemne and set nought by the ho­lye wordes that are preached vnto you, and euen despise the authoure thereof, whiche is the Lord Iesus Christe. &c.

And. S. Thomas and Remigi­us (as we haue nowe declared this place accordynge to their mind) do thynke that Sacrarium here hathe a relatiō vnto the idoles of the hea­then, and Altarium vnto the sacri­fices of the Iewes. Now therfore [Page] who so deliteth in y ^e heathens deuillyshe idolatry, or Iewish sacrifices he maye well inoughe wreste thys place to maintane his altares: whi­che thing I had leuer he dyd thā I. But nowe or we set vpon to bater, and beate downe the heade corner stone of their Popishe Botereulx: we wyl fyrst declare yet one gram­mer terme mooe, for the vnlearned sake, whyche thoughe it be no hygh point of diuinitie, neuertheles who so hath not y ^e knowlege therof, hys diuinitie is but humaniti, or rather carnalitie, than true knowledge in diuine matters.

And so the grammarians cal it a speach spoken by a fygure called Metonimya, whan the thynge con­tayned is mente by the name of the thyng that contayneth it. Metonymia or d [...] nomina­tion. As whan wee saye, reache hyther the cuppe: meanynge to haue the dryncke con­tayned [Page] in the cuppe. Thys figura­tyue speache vsed Christe him selfe whan he saide. Luk. xxii. Thys cuppe is the new testament in my bloud. Wher he ment of the wine, and not of the cuppe. And likewise Mathew .xxiii where he speaketh by the name of the City vnto them that dwelled in the citie, sayinge: Ierusalem Ieru­salem, thou that slayest the prophe­tes. &c. Suche maner of speache is also muche vsed in the olde Testa­mente. As Esai. i. Heare O heauen and herkē O earth. And in an other place. Howle ye ships of Tharsis.

And so the Papistes must eyther graunt that, that kind of speache is vsed in the text, that we shall anone rehearse hereafter, or els must they graunt that the Iewes (whose al­tares or rather Sacrifices and for­bydden meate, the writer of the E­pistle alludeth vnto) were wonte to [Page] eate vp theyr altares beynge made of stones or of other metall harder thā stones. And y ^t wer hard meat in dede. Yea that were meate alone for Ostriches? Yea or rather stone meate were more mete for such as haue stony hertes, Ostriche is a beast that swaloweth gaddes of stele & digesteth them. as haue al Papisticall Doctours who againste their con­science, knoweledge, and learnynge, and beynge all destitute of the spi­rite of God, cry and shoute for the defēce of their welbeloued altares, Habemus altare, Habemus altare, Ha­bemus altare.

Yea and I maye tell you thys Habemus altare, is their iudgelynge sticke, whereby they dooe Iuggle vnto the vnlearned, it is al their hi­bernacle and onely refuge agaynste all tempestes, and this is as well their shote anker as their halow at their hoysinge vp of their ankore.

[Page]But to hale in my saile and to lād at the proposed hauē. The english texte of Habemus altare written. He­brue .xiii. is thys: Be not caried a­boute wyth diuerse & straung lear­nynges: for it is a good thinge that the herte be stablished wyth grace, and not wyth meates, which haue not profited them that haue hadde their pastyme in them.

We haue an altare, of the which they haue no power to eate, which serue in the tabernacle. &c.

Here he dothe in a maner make a bryefe rehearsal of all the chiefest maters that he entreated of before, addynge thereto diuerse godly sen­tences to perswade the Hebrues to abyde in thys learnynge: Indu­cynge them also, by alludynge vnto theyr lawe beynge but a shadowe to cleaue vnto the gospell, and to let go y ^e shadow. And therfore he saith [Page] thus vnto them. And as you hadde certayne Sacrifices offered on the altares whereof it was not lawe­ful euen for the very offerers to eat: so lykewyse haue wee a Sacri­fice once offered vpon the altare of y ^e crosse, wherof it is not lawfull for as many of you as be yet duskened wyth the shaddowe of the lawe to eate, nor to be patakers of it at al.

Nowe therefore muste the Pa­pystes be thought not only to be of to childyshe a wytte and of no vn­derstandynge, but rather furiouse and mad, if they continue to proue their stony altares by thys text.

And therefore woulde I thinke it an exceadyng good dede for such as inioye their ryght wytte, to pick out from amongest them selues as manye as are vexed wyth the spi­rite of the sayde kynde of phrenesy, and sēd them to Bedlem, or to their [Page] owne citye of Rome. For els they shall styll infect other, and do more hurte then euery man is ware of.

At the laste to drawe toward an ende in thys matter. Where thys worde altare is read in the .vi. viii. and .xi. Chapters of the reuelation of saint Iohn: if altare in those pla­ces, admittynge the lyke trope and figuratiue speache, do not signifye Christe also (God knoweth) it sig­nifieth nothynge lesse than the con­firmation of suche Altares as the Pope hathe fylled euerye corner of Christes churche wythall.

And if the Papystes (after that all the testimonies, as wel of thold and the new testament haue fayled them) go aboute to wreste the say­inge of the old doctours, for the sta­blyshyng of their altares, they shal get nothynge therby, but styl vtter [Page] their owne grosse ignoraunce, or theyr peruerse blyndnes. For wher so euer thold catholyke doctours, vsed thys worde altare for the lor­des Table, than alluded they vnto the Iewes altare and mente there­by the crosse whyche serued as an altare to offer vpon the sacrifice of Christes naturall bodye.

And forsoth, ye Papistical prie­stes, as many of you as vnderstode the Latine, and marked what you reade (and if ye hadde bene Bees, The Bee gathe­reth honi on y ^e same flour y ^t the Spider gathe­reth poy­son. and not Spiders) you might haue gathered the nature of thys maner of allusion or resemblaūce of Chri­stes crosse vnto the Altares of the Iewes euen out of your own poy­soned masse.

Whyche well myghte be called Massa, farrago, vel Chaos, quo sacra prophanis, miscebat Papa.

[Page]Euen a very hotch pot, in y ^e whych the Pope put al maner of religiōs and al maner of rites & ceremonies, both good & bad, & lessons of holy scripture, and of vnholye scripture: thys hotch pot I saye ordeyned he, euen for hys deare children, & catch who catche maye: happe good or badde: happe holye, happe vnholy, happe godlye, happe deuillyshe.

For do you not remembre howe ye mūbled (howe ye redde I wold saye) in a certayne ryme of youre sayde hotche potte whyche began. Laudes crucis extollamus, nos qui cru­cis crult [...]mus. &c. O quā feli [...] quam pre clara, fuit hec salutis ara, rubens agni sanguine.

O howe excellent and howe hap­pye, was thys Altare of tree, be­sprynckeled wyth Lambes bloud?

And agayne in an other prose.

Ara crucis, lampas lucis, vera salus ho­minum. Whose sence in Englyshe [Page] worde for worde is thys. The al­tare of the cros, the lampe of light and the verye healthe of men.

Nowe thoughe your owne time makers of youre Popyshe seruyce haue vsed so manye Metaphories, so many tropes, and so manye bo­rowed speches, vsurping one word for an other, vntyll at the laste they ran on the rocke of vnexcusable I­dolatrye, and plaine superstition: you muste not therefore thyncke that the holye Doctours ranne so headlynge in their worckes, that they abused any one terme of Chri­stes religion, wherbi y ^e same might be a stomblinge blocke vnto anye, sauynge vnto the chyldrene of per­dition, who continuallie stumble at the verye worde of God.

And to confesse the trueth, the old holy fathers and catholyke wri­ters no doubte are worthye much [Page] commendation, for that thei great­ly traueyled in reuolutynge and ex­poundynge the sacred Scriptures committyng to wryting theyr cen­sures thereof: wyllynge and requy­rynge that al their posteritie should gyue no farther credite thereto, thā their censures and interpretations shoulde seme to be agreable vnto fayeth.

Whose worthye antiquitie and graue authority notwythstanding, wee yet neades muste preferre and esteme of more importaūce, and be­leue also that he is a greate deale of a more infallible and vndeceyua­ble iudgemente, Act. ix. Galat. ii. whome the Euan­geliste saynte Luke so to be, doeth beare wytnesse vnto vs.

And I meane none other, but euen oure Apostle Saynte Paule whoe calleth the borde where the [Page] Spirituall feaste of the Lordes Supper is celebrated and eaten v­pon, the table of the Lorde.

O the depenes of y ^e riches, both of the wysedome and knoweledge of GOD, who so manye hundreth yeares passed, dyd fore see that hys moste holye worde ne shoulde not be sette to a fall, Luke. ii. but to an vprisyng to all hys chosen people?

And of thys place we maye ga­ther, that it pleased God to poure more aboundaunce of foreknowe­ledge in hys Apostle Paules com­pendious doctrine, thā in the large writing of y ^e notable learned doctor Saynt Augustine.

For saynte Paule throughe the secrete aduertisement of the holye Gooste dyd knowe before hande, that if he hadde geuen the name of an Altare vnto the LORDE hys [Page] Table, that there would be in time to come certayne Iewysh teachers that woulde builde and sette vppe Popyshe altares in stede of tables to serue the Lordes supper vpon.

And surely the holy doctor. s. Au­gustyne nor anye other godly wri­ter woulde neuer haue vsed thys terme altare so often after that sort as they dyd, if they had hadde but the leaste inckelynge in the worlde of foreknowlege what absurditie, what inconuenience and what mis­chiefe and abhomination haue ben groūded on their trāslated termes.

And I praye you what though sainte Augustine or other doctours vsed to terme the lordes supper the Sacrament of the altare, Sacra­ment of y ^e altare. whych if it be as I take it (I take it after the moste sounde and fayeth fulliste vn­derstandynge) the vnlearned people shoulde not be greatelye beholden [Page] vnto them for their straūge termes beyng so farre fetched. For thus I vnderstand them.

The Sacramente of the altare that is to saye: the sygne of the Al­tare, whyche altare betokeneth the crosse, whych crosse betokeneth the Sacrifice that was offered on the crosse, or the passion and deathe of Iesus Christe.

Wherefore good Christen brea­thrē let vs that are homely felowes not be ashamed of the olde termes that wee haue at oure home in the texte of holy scripture, whyche cal­leth the reuerende and healthfull re­membraunce of the Lordes death by breakinge of bread, i. Cor. x. i. Cor. xi. by the name of the Lordes supper, or the com­munion and partakynge of the bo­dye and bloude of Christe.

And the thynge wherat we Vel propter arto latriam vitādam tutius e­rit vt se­dens (quam) genu flectēs mense dominice populus accūbere assuescāt. sit deuoutlye to eate the Lordes sup­per, [Page] lette vs boeth haue it, and call it the Lordes borde, or the Lordes table, and not a borowed towell, nor a Popyshe stone altare, nor yet a wodden altare, with a Superhal­tare. And lette vs Presente wyth so far fetched termes and so deare­lye boughte, the Popes glace, and hys fayre Ladyes of Rome.

Nowe bicause I truste that we haue vaunquished and geuen an o­uerthrow to the chiefest part of the Popes souldiers, batered and beaten downe to the grounde the one­ly Botereulx, and the greate stay of hys stronge holde & Fortecesse: therefore shall oure trum­pet blow a retreit in this battayle. Praised be the Lorde. Amen.