BOOK III. "before you to my God and your God, to my Father and your Father, to my Christ and your Christ, to my home Anno 1554. and your home." Bradford gaineth some of them. Careless's them. By Bradford's pains and diligence he gained some from their errors and particularly one Skelthorp: for whom, in a letter to Careless, he thanked God, who gave this man to see the truth at the length, and to give place to it; hoping that he would be so heedy in all his conversation, that his old acquaintance might thereby think themselves gone astray. Careless also, another eminent martyr, as well as Bradpains with ford, had much conference with these men, prisoners with him in the King's Bench. Of whose contentiousness he complained in a letter to Philpot. And there is extant an answer of Philpot to Careless about them: where he writes, Martyrs' 66 66 66 That he was sorry to hear of the great trouble which "these schismaticks did daily put him to, and wished that " he were with him in part, to release his grief. He bad "him take his advice, and to be patient, whatsoever his "adversaries could say or do against him: that he should "commit the success of his labours [in rightly informing "these men] unto God; and not to cease, with charity, to "do his endeavour in the defence of the truth, against these arrogant and self-willed blinded scatterers. That these "sects were necessary for the trial of our faith, and for the beautifying thereof: not to be perverted with them that were perverse and intractable. That he should shew as "much modesty and humility as he might possible: and "that then others, seeing his modest conversation among "these contentious babblers, should glorify God in the truth "of him, and the more abhor them. That he should be "content that Shimei do rail at David, and cast stones "a while. That he should desire all the brethren, in the "bowels of Jesus Christ, to keep the bond of peace, which "is the unity of Christ's church: to let no root of bitterness spring up, which the Devil, with all his diligence, "seeketh to thrust in among the children of God. To kiss "one another with the kiss of unfeigned brotherly love, "and to take one another by the hand cheerfully, and say, "Let us take up our cross together, and go to the mount “of Calvary.” 66 XIV. Anno 1554. 352 Careless draws up a of faith. This contention could not be laid asleep amongst them, CHAP. notwithstanding the grievous tribulations they endured for the same cause of religion. They wrote also against one another: for, in 1556, Careless wrote a confession of his faith, some part whereof favoured absolute predestination against freewill. This confession he sent unto the Protestant confession prisoners in Newgate from the King's Bench, where he lay. Whereunto they generally subscribed; and particularly twelve that were a little before condemned to die. Hart, having gotten a copy of this confession, on the back-side thereof wrote his confession in opposition thereunto. When they in Newgate had subscribed Careless's confession, this Hart propounded his unto them; and he, with one Kemp and Gybson, would have persuaded them from the former to the latter, but prevailed not. One Chamberlain also wrote against it. I do not meet with this confession; only I find one article was, "That the second book of Common Prayer, "set forth in King Edward's days, was good and godly: "but that the church of Christ hath authority to enlarge “and diminish things in the same book, so far forth as it is "agreeable to Scripture." This paper of Careless's confession, with the answer wrote on the back-side by Hart, fell by some accident into the hands of Dr. Martin, a great Papist; who took occasion hence to scoff at the professors of the Gospel, because of these divisions and various opinions amongst them. But Careless, before the said Martin, disowned Hart, and said that he had seduced and beguiled many a simple soul with his foul Pelagian opinions, both in the days of King Edward, and since his departure. Besides these anti-predestinarians, there were some few, who laid in prison for the Gospel, were Arians, and disbelieved the divinity of Jesus Christ. Two of these lay in the King's Bench. These different opinions occasioned such unseemly quarrelsome disputes and heats among them, that the Marshal was fain to separate them from one another. And, in 1556, the noise of this reached to the council; who, the better to know the matters controverted between them, sent Dr. Martin to the King's Bench to examine it. Some few Arians. These were some of the transactions that passed among The the prisoners. Another matter concerning them deserves prisoners offer to proceed ings. BOOK relating: which was this; they boldly and bravely made a III. declaration to the Queen and parliament that sat this year: Anno 1554. taxing them for overthrowing (as they had lately done) the justify King Edward's laws of King Henry and King Edward, and the reformation so maturely and deliberately made, and after the rejection. of a religion, which, as they said, there was not a parish in England desired to have restored again. They offered likewise to maintain the homilies and service, set forth in King Edward's days, before them, either by writing, or by disputation in the English tongue. By whom this declaration was drawn up, unless by John Bradford, I know not: for I meet with it in a MS. which contains divers pieces of that good man. This remarkable declaration I have reNumb posited in the Appendix. This now is the second time a public challenge was made to justify King Edward's refor mation; the former the last year by Cranmer, the latter now by divers of the learned men in prison. LXXXIV. 353 offer it. After they had lain fifteen or sixteen months thus in And again prison, their livings, houses, and possessions, goods and books taken from them, they made such another address unto the King and Queen, and the parliament: therein undertaking, either by word or writing, before them, or indifferent arbiters to be appointed by them, to prove themselves no hereticks, nor teachers of heresy, as they were pretended to be, nor cut off from the true catholick church; (though by the popish clergy excommunicated :) and, secondly, by the testimony of Christ, his Prophets and Apostles, and the godly fathers of the church, to prove the doctrine of the church, the homilies and service, taught and used in King Edward's time, to be the true doctrine of Christ's catholick church, and most agreeable to the articles of the Christian faith. And this was the third public challenge Edit. 1610. they made. This being preserved in Fox's Acts, I forbear to transcribe it. p. 1348. CHAP. XV. The Exiles, and their Condition. BUT let us now turn our eyes from the prisoners, which Anno 1554. were kept under close confinement here in England, unto The exiles. the exiles, that, by the good providence of God, made their flight into foreign countries from these storms at home. These were both of the clergy and laity: who, though great watch was laid for them, and prohibitions given out against any that should privately attempt to transport themselves, yet, by taking their opportunities, and the favour of divers masters of small vessels at Lee in Essex, and upon the coasts in those parts, they safely got to the other side of the sea. Lutherans They scattered themselves, and took up their harbours The as they could. But they found little hospitality in Saxony refuse to and other places in Germany, where Lutheranism was pro-bour to the give harfessed. But, on the contrary, the exile English were much exiles. hated by those of that profession, because they looked upon them as Sacramentaries, and holding as Calvin and Peter Martyr did in the doctrine of the sacrament. Therefore, when any English came among them for shelter, they expelled them out of their cities. And when a grave pastor of Saxony (a friend of Peter Martyr's, who, though he were a Mart. Ep. minister, yet was not of their mind) had entertained some of them, the rest clamoured against him, and hated him for it. About this time the Saxon divines wrote many books against the Sacramentaries; and namely, one Joachim Westphalus wrote a book against Calvin. And he and the rest Ep. Pet. got these books printed at Frankford, on purpose, as Mar- Martyr. ad tyr conjectured, the more to spite the English and French Auno 1555. churches that abode now there, and to provoke them. p. 770. Calvin. Wesel. At Wesel the English were under some trouble: and the The Engsenate were about to command them to depart thence, be-lish at cause of their different sentiments from the Augustan Con- Bal. Præf. fession in some points. But Philip Melancthon interposed, ad Act. and interceded with the senate on their behalf. And, when 354 some clamoured against them, he took their part, saying, Pontif. III. 66 BOOK "That their case ought to be weighed by friendly dis"putations, and not exploded by noise and hissing: and deAnno 1554. "clared his judgment to be, that these poor exiles were to "be retained and helped, not afflicted and vexed by any rough sentence." He wrote also to the governors of Frankford to the same purpose; viz. "That the English "were not to be oppressed, but to be cherished, considering "their sentiments were sound in the main articles of the "Christian confession: and that whereas they differed in 66 some points, they were to be instructed and informed, and "not to be rudely thrown out from among them by force "and violence." The Lutherans' taries. And indeed it was admirable to observe at this time the heat against exceeding heats that were in the Lutherans against all other Sacramen- Protestants, only for differing from them in this one point of the sacrament. There was a book published in the year 1555, in favour of their opinion of the corporeal presence, which was called, Farrago Doctrina Lutherana. This P. Martyr called valde insulsa, a very foolish book. It contained a collection of sentences out of the Fathers, and also out of the writings of Luther, Philip, Brentius, Pomeran, &c. They added some out of Bucer, Illyricus, and Joachim Westphalus, to shew that they agreed together. They inserted divers letters, sometime writ against the Sacramentaries. Indeed Calvin and Martyr they mentioned not by name, but A Laseo they did. In this book there was a discourse added under this title, Quod Christi corpus sit ubique: which was to serve as a proof of their doctrine. And in the conclusion there was a common-place, De Magistratus officio: which was thought to be put in upon no other reason, but to inflame and irritate princes against the Sacramentaries. These Saxon divines were exceeding hot against those that believed not as they did in their ordinary discourses they styled them Hereticks, False Prophets, Suermeros, Sacramentiperdas. About this time they were gathering new votes against Calvin, and, as it was thought, they intended to attempt some excommunication against such as differed from them in this point. And this that I have said is enough to explain the reason of the inhospitality of the Lutherans to our exiles. |