Archidamus , Plutarch . inter Laconica apothegmata . not much vnlike to the former exampl●● beeing chosen an arbitrator betweene two that were at variance , brought them into the Temple of Minerva , and hauing first bound them with an oath to stand to his sentence , decreed , that they should not depart thence , before they had compounded the controuersie . Crates Thebanus is said to haue vsed to resort vnto fa●●●lies that disagreed , and with perswasions of peace to haue adiudged their strifes . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . So your ( Honour ) not so much by choice an arbitrator , as by office and place a Iudge in these causes , will bring vs both ( I trust ) into the Temple of GOD , there to be tried by the Scriptures : And as Crates endeauour was to pacifie families , so I hope , your Gr. care is , to settle this Church in peace : approouing that godly saying of Basilius ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil. ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that nothing is so proper to a ( Bishop ) as to be a peacemaker .

Mine aduersarie hath had the prioritie of complaint , and first filled your eares ( though not possessed them ) with his vntrue surmises : for I doubt not , but as Alexander , when one of his familiar friends was traduced before him , stopped one of his eares , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as reseruing it for him that was absent : so your Gr. hath one eare left for me : according to that rule of Seneca , Vtrique parti actiones dares , dares tempus , Lib. 2. de ira . non semel audires : magis enim veritas elucet , quo saepius ad manum venit : to giue vnto both parties their action , and to graunt them time , to heare more then once : for the oftner the truth cometh to hand ( to be scanned ) the more the light thereof appeareth . Cicero against Antonie said : Cicer. Philip. 2. quid mihi plenius , quid vberius , quam mihi , & pro me , & contra Antonium , dicere : But I may adde the third ; that it contenteth me , that I may speake not onely for my selfe , and against such an one , but before your Gr. As for his accusations , I feare them not , mine owne conscience testifying with me : I will ( as Iob saith ) take them vpon my shoulder , Iob 31. 36. and bind them as a crowne vnto me . For , as Cyprian well saith , de baptism . Christ . but vpon an other occasion ; nequaquam sub hoc onere lassitudinem , sed quietem inventuri : vnder this burthen I shall not finde wearines , but rest . As Augustine also saith : Lib. 3. contra Petil. c. 7. qui volens detrahit famae meae , nolens addit mercedi : he that willingly detracteth from my fame , doth against his will adde to my reward .

But two things I doe not a little , wonder at , that he durst abuse your Gr. eares , with such vntrue and vncharitable invectures in his Epistle , and the Reader , with such grosse and absurd ouersights in his booke .

In the first , Epist. Dedicat. he chargeth me with a prophane and irreligious fact in denying a a p. 3. an Article of the Christian faith : b b p. 6. with errors , or heresies rather in ●ppugning the doctrine of the Church : c c p. 6. striking at some maine points of faith , shaking the foundation it selfe , and calling in question , heauen and hell , the diuinitie and humanitie , yea the very soule , and saluation of Christ our Sauiour himselfe : d d p. 7. so bard●ed in error that they neither she contrition of heart to repentance , nor confession of mouth to obedience : e ep. 10. that neither Rhemist nor Romanist , could lightly haue more disgraced the discipline and doctrine of the Church in diuers points ▪ To these iniurious slaunders , Imput . 2. recriminat . 3. 5. 7. my particular answer afterward followeth , which were needlesse to be inserted here . Thus much concerning my selfe I say in generall in Hieromes words : Lib. 3. adv. Pel. Egone haereticus , quare ergo me haeretics non amant : am I an heretike , wherefore then doe not heretikes loue me ? f f Apologicall epistle , written as is supposed by one Phillips a Iesuite : and in the Retection by Woodeward an other of that faction . which in their rayling pamphlets and libells haue made me a marke to shoote at . But that saying of Cyprian doth giue 〈…〉 Scias hoc semper opus esse diaboli , vt servos dei 〈…〉 laceret , vt qui conscientiae suae luce clarescunt , alienis rumoribus sordidentur : Know this to be alwaies the worke of the deuill , Lib. 4. epist. 2. to vexe the seruants of God with lies , that they which are cleare in the light of their conscience , should be blemished with other mens reports . Now , though he tooke vnto himselfe this libertie , in this vnfriendly manner to disgrace me , yet he might haue shewed more modestie , then to outface me with such vntruths , in your Gr. presence . It is said , that the actors of those wanton playes , called Floralia : Catone praesente agere recusarunt : refused to play in Catoes presence : and he might haue forborne to haue vttered his forged calumniations before so graue a personage . But I trust it will fall out here , as sometime in the like case with Augustine : Experti dicimus , Tom. 10. ser. 49. nam non crederemus , multi à nobis mala consilia petunt , consilia mentiendi , consilia circumveniendi , sed in nomine Christi nullus talis nos tentavit : I speak ( saith he ) by experience , otherwise I would not haue beleeued , many doe aske of vs euill counsell , counsell to lie , counsell to circumvent ; but in the name of Christ , none such hath tempted vs . Neither ( I hope ) hereafter , your wisdome will giue passage or licence to such mens intemperate pennes , to wound and gall their brethren : yet had hee staied here onely , in censuring the liuing , and not proceeded to taxe the memorie of the dead , it had been more tolerable : that godly learned man Doctor Reynolds , who is now at rest in the Lord , is thus iniuriously handled by him , and that since his Christian departure ; whereby grace may so happily worke in their hearts , Epist. dedi . p. 11. that where the truth hath beene heretofore frowardly excluded , &c. as though that worthy man , were either voide of grace , or did frowardly exclude the truth : nay he spareth not to charge him , as guiltie of profane , See Impu . 1. recrim . irreligious , hereticall , sacrilegious opinions , of grosnes , sophistrie , profanenesse , &c. It is said of Themistocles , that in his returne from battell , seeing a dead body lying with iewels of gold , hee thus spake to one that was with him , Take thou away these things , Plutarch . praecept . de regend . republic . for thou art not Themistocles : neither would this man , if he had beene , ( I say not of an heroicall spirit , as Themistocles ) but of a sober and charitable spirit , as euery good Christian , haue stripped the dead of his well deserued ornaments : in seeking to impaire his credit , he doth but blemish and obscure his owne ; and sheweth himselfe to bee of those , who as Hierome saith , Hippocratis fomentis magis , quam monitis nostris indigent : had need rather of Hippocrates medicine , then our admonition .

Now may it please your ( Reuerend Fatherhood ) to giue me leaue , to offer vnto your view some of the principall contents of his booke : by the tast whereof , it will appeare , what relish the rest haue ; & by the smell of some of his flowers , Dixit se foetor●e eius ferre non posse , non sentis ( inquit ) putorem teterrimum , & in cicere foetere avaritiam . Hieron . vit. Hilar. one may guesse , what herbs grow in his garden : as Hilarion said to Hesychius , when a bunch of small pulse was brought them out of a Churles garden , that hee could not abide the stinch thereof : Doe you not feele ( saith he ) a filthy sauour , and euen his couetousnesse to smell in the pulse ? So by this handfull , which I shall gather out of his booke , the euill sauour will be found of the rest .

1. Hee much forgetting himselfe , thus breaketh out beyond the limits of modestie , 1. Impu . recrim . charging me with folly , hypocrisie , falshood , lying , infidelitie , impudency , sawcinesse , Machiauell sme , Atheisme , Heresie ; as particular instance is giuen , in more then 80. railing speeches vsed against me , and others : Contr. Sallust . so that I may say vnto him in Tullies words , Neque qui tam illoto sermone vtitur , vita honestior est : It is not like that he which vseth such vncleane spech , can be much honester in life .

2. I haue obserued 22. slaunderous imputations , wherof some are these : that I would transforme the order of the Church into an a a Imp. 2. Slan . ● . Anarchie : that their heads plot , and their hands b b Slaund . 9. practise Babylonicall warre : c c Slaund . 11. that he defendeth diuers things contrary to the truth of the Gospell : d d Slaund . 17. that he iustifieth pestilent & blasphemous heretiks , against the learned , and holy Fathers : e e Slaund . 18. that he holdeth the flames of hell to be temporall : f f Slaund . 22. that he called the blessed rootes of the Christian faith ▪ cursed rootes : with such like .

3. Instance is giuen of 34. vntruthes vttered by him : a a 3. Imp. vntr . 6. As that he beleeueth , I was one of those , which writ the Letter to Master Hooker ; the writers whereof , I knowe not to this day : b b 9. vntr . that I borrowe diuers things from Carlils booke ; which I neuer sawe : c c vnt . 11. that I fasten all the torments of hell , vpon the blessed soule of Christ ; which I neuer thought : d d truth denied ● that there is not one word through his booke , that insinuateth any suspition of Limbus patrum : whereas , in the preface following , the contrary is prooued directly , in 20. seuerall places out of his booke .

4. Among the errors which he is charged with , to the number of 14. these specially are noted : a a Imp. 6. recr . 2. he iustifieth the Latine text , against the originall Greeke in the newe Testament : b b error . 2. hee calleth the booke of Ecclesiasticus the word of God , which the Church of England holdeth for one of the Apocryphall bookes : artic. 6. c c error 11. that the baptisme of infants is not to be found in Scripture , by any expresse mention ; whereas the Church of England holdeth it to be most agreeable to the institution of Christ : artic. 27. He calleth these sound positions , d d imp. 2. scla . 15. that the Scriptures alone are not compleate vnto saluation : that mans will is naturally apt without grace , to beleeue : that mens naturall workes are acceptable to God : which are directly opposite to the doctrine of the Church of England , which holdeth the contrary : that the holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to saluation : artic. 6. that man of his owne natural strength cannot turne and prepare himselfe to faith : artic. 10. that workes done before the grace of Christ , are not pleasant to God : artic. 13.

5. Diuers harsh and vnsauorie speeches are laid vnto his charge ; as that hee applyeth those words of Christ to himselfe , a a imp. 7. recr . 1. de bono opere lapidor : I am stoned for a good worke : b b ibid. recrim . 3. that Christs conquest vpon the crosse was openly an ouerthrow , and therefore no triumph : if it were , it was a triumph before victory : c c recrim . 6. that there is a most plaine distinction betweene the holy Ghost and Christ , not in person onely , but in his diuine nature . These and the like assertions , ( which he would haue tearmed blasphemies ) to the number of tenne , are obserued out of his booke .

6. Diuers points of arrogancy , and vaine ostentation are obserued , to the number of 13. whereof this is one , that hee maketh his boast , that my Lord of Winchester hath in his last booke much altered his iudgement concerning the place of Peter , Imp. 8. recr . 10. mooued by the reasons laid downe by me ( saith he ) and none but me : wheras it is not true , that that Reuerend learned father , hath therein altered his iudgement : at the lest , it becam not him so to brag : It might haue better beseemed the other , if any such thing were , to haue acknowledged it : As August . thus modestly writeth to Petrus , De orig. ani● lib 2. tom . ● . a Bishop to a Presbyter : Vellem rescriptis tuis , quid te docuerit me docere : absit enim vt erubescam à presbytero discere , si tu non erubuisti à laico : I would haue thee by thy rescript to teach me , what taught you : farre be it , that I should be ashamed to learne of a Presbyter , if you were not ashamed to learne of a lay man .

Further he chargeth the great English Bible , Imput . 8. recrim . 6. which is authorised to be read in our Curches , with error in the translation , and with blasphemie in the annotations .

7. Concerning the allegation of the Fathers , I haue shewed partly his ignorance , in mistaking and misquoting them , partly his vnfaithfulnes in vntrue alleadging them , in 30. seuerall places : as namely his ignorance in a a Imput . 1● iustif. 2. 2. Cyril , b b ibid. iustif. 3. and recrim . 1. 4. Hierome , c c recrim . 7. 3. and 4. Augustine : d d ibid. recr . 2. 3 Tertullian also is strangely produced , contrarie to his owne iudgement : thus he dealeth also with the new writers , as with Calvine , Beza .

8. Neither can the Scripture escape his vncleane fingers : as instance is giuen in 26. places : as loc. 17. the Scripture saith , He shall not preserue the vngodly , Iob 36. 5. he readeth , thou wilt not preserue : loc. 19. S. Iames saith , which hath conuerted , &c. and shall saue a soule , Iam. 5. 20. he readeth , which conuerteth , in the present : and shall saue his soule : adding ( his : ) and he maketh as bolde with many places beside .

This it is for one to deale out of his element , and to meddle beyond his skill , for a professor of Grammer , to take vpon him to teach Diuinitie . He must needes stumble that walketh in darkenes , and he can not be without error , that is corrupt in iudgement . Now is verified that saying of the wise man , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Prov. 13. 7. There is that maketh himselfe rich , and hath nothing : As this man maketh himselfe skilfull in the tongues , in the Scriptures , in the Fathers , and in what not , in all these proclayming his ignorance : Hierome spake it modestly of himselfe : Perorat in Orig . ad Roman . Fateor , frater Heracli , dum tui , desiderijs satisfacere cupio , oblitus sum pene mandati , quo praecipitur , onus supra vires tuas ne levaveris : I confesse ( brother Heraclius ) while I satisfie thy desire , that I had almost forgotten the commandement that biddeth , Take not vp a burthen beyond thy strength . But it is most true of him : who hath ( vnbidden ) thrust his shoulders vnder a burthen , that is like to crush him . As Cleon was vnfit to lead an armie , and Philopoimen to guide a navie , Plutarch . praecept . de Repub. regend . and Hannibal to play the Orator : so is this Grammarian to meddle with Diuinitie . Euripides saying may well be applied to such : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : a Carpenter thou art , and yet dost not deale with carpenters worke . Seneca well said , Necesse est , vt opprimant onera , quae ferente maiora sunt , Lib. 1. de vit. tranq. &c. nec accedendum eo , vnde non sit liber regressuo . Those burthens must needes presse to the ground , which are greater then the bearer : And it is not safe going thither , whence there is no returne . And so it falleth out to such according to the saying of Hierome : Qui scribunt , non quod inveniunt , Hier. ad Lucin. sed quod intelligunt , & dum alienos errores emendare nituntur , ostendunt suos : They write , not what they finde , but what they vnderstand , and while they goe about to correct the errors of others , they bewray their owne .

Now let me craue a little further leaue to adde some what concerning the former booke , which is by him impugned , and this written in defense thereof . The first , entituled ( Limbomastix ) I acknowledge to be mine ; and am not ashamed of any matter therein handled , though for the manner it might haue beene more exact , I confesse . And for the publishing thereof , this is my excuse , or rather defense : first , that I was thereunto prouoked in particular : againe , I saw in his pamphlet maintained that Popish opinion of Limbus patrum , which suspition the author can not auoide , as it is at large declared in the Preface following : who if he be sound in other points of Protestants doctrine , it is well : but then is he much wronged both in the opinion , and reports of them that know him : further , that booke passed vnder the censure of a graue and learned writer of our Church : D Sutcliff . and yet it was printed without my priuitie .

As touching mine opinion of CHRISTS Descension , handled in that booke , I will freely deliuer what I thinke : first , I beleeue the Article of the Descension , to be a necessarie part of our faith : Lib Instit. 2. c. 16. sect. 8. and say with Calvine , In the descent of Christ to hell , there is no small force to the effect of our Redemption , &c. and it auaileth so much vnto the ( cheife ) summe of our redemption , that it beeing pretermitted , much will be lost of the fruit of Christs death : thus much for the substance of the Article . Secondly , concerning the manner of Christs descension , I doe hold and beleeue whatsoeuer can be prooued out of Scripture , and truly collected from thence . Thirdly , yet I affirme , that out of those three places , Act. 2. 27. 1. Pet. 3. 19. Eph. 4. 9. the locall descension of Christs soule to hell , can not necessarily be concluded . And herein I affirme no more , then other graue and learned writers of our Church haue done before me . Confut. of the Rhem. annot. D. Fulke saith , that the article of Christs descension , is not grounded vpon the first text : 2. Act. 3. Bish. Bilson resigneth the second place : B. Bils . Survey . 676. and D. Fulke out of Theodoret sheweth , Confut. Rhem. ann. Eph. 4. 1. that the third maketh not for the passing of Christ from place to place , and so consequently belongeth not to his locall descension . Fourthly , I say notwithstanding , and professe in the same words , which I set downe before : They which hold not the locall descent of Christs soule to hell , Limbom . p. 5. should not condemne the other , as Popish and superstitious men , that are so perswaded : They which affirme it , ought not to account them as enemies , or aduersaries to the truth , that dissent from them therein . He that thus writeth , is farre from either hauing his head plotting , or his hands practising Babylonicall warres : as I am slaundered , as I haue shewed before . Fiftly , I hold the Article of Christs descension , as the Church of England propoundeth it : Articl. 3. As Christ died for vs , and was buried : so also it is to be beleeued that he went downe to hell : in which words the Article of the descension is commended in generall to be held , without any the determination of the sense : as a a M. Rogers in his booke of the Catholike doctrine of the Church of England , printed at Cambr. ann. 607. he that lately hath learnedly b b I would he had written as soundly in some points , as namely concerning the doctrine of the Sabbaoth . p. 163. 195. 192. and in other places . written ( dedicating his booke to your Gr. ) vpon the Articles of Religion , by publike authoritie , hauing deliuered diuers senses of this Article , and especially these three : 1. some hold that Christ descended as God onely not as man , &c. powerfully and effectually , not personally : 2. some as man onely , either in bodie onely , &c. to the graue , or in soule onely , when he went to the place of the reprobate , &c. 3. as God and man in one person , &c. that he went , as it were into hell , when vpon the crosse , and els where , he suffered the torments , &c. Then he inferreth thus : But till we know the natiue and vndoubted sense of this Article , and mysterie of religion , persist we aduersaries to them which say , that Christ descended not into hell at all , &c.

This was the summe of my first booke , which beeing written without gall and bitternesse ; as he saith , Ego sine iracundia dico , Cicer. Philip. 8. vt omnia , tamen non sine dolore : I speake it without anger , though not without griefe : and the party being not knowne , which was the author of that Pamphlet , and so no man beeing personally touched : as Hierome saith , ●d Nepotian . Nullum laesi nullius nomen mea scriptura designatum est : I hurt no man , no mans name is in my writing decyphered : He might in silence haue corrected this error , as Ambrose saith , 〈◊〉 Luk. Et si nostra voce non proditur , vel su● tamen crubescat affectu : though he bee not by my voice bewraied , yet hee might in his owne opinion haue beene ashamed : Yet could he not containe himselfe , but must set pen to paper , and publish his owne shame , by his vnchristian and intemperate rayling : according to that saying of Hierome to Helvidius : 〈…〉 . Arbitror te veritate superatum , ad maledicta conuerti : I thinke , you beeing ouercome with the truth , did turne to rayling . I haue felt before this , the whip of popish tongues , and haue tasted of their virulent pennes ; but the badge of heresie , impiety , profanenes , blasphemy , atheisme , was neuer set vpon my sleeue before ; himselfe , that there pin●ed it , beeing more worthy to weare it in his forehead : hee hath nothing almost in his mouth , but lying , falshood , hypocrisie , corruption of Scriptures , contradictions , falsification of Fathers : which things , if he could fasten vpon me , as he neuer shall , yet it would nothing helpe his cause ; Apolog. 3. adv. Ruffin . as Hierome saith Quid vulneribus tuis prodest , si ego fuero vulneratus ? what doth it helpe your wounds , if I likewi●e be wounded ? and againe , Quid refert , si causa cadis , & crimine superes ? what doth it auaile , if you faile in the cause , and bee superiour in obiecting of crimes ? I feare not what he can lay to my charge , for I haue read , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : that neither a weake mans blowes , nor an vnwise mans threats are to be feared .

Now in this other booke , I haue framed a briefe answere vnto his calumnious accusations , not medling at all with the argument and matter it selfe , both because it remaineth by him vnanswered , and for that I will not crosse the iudgement of some Reuerend learned men of our Church , but content my selfe with that , which I haue formerly written thereof : I haue onely answered his vncharitable slaunders , and returned them with aduantage vpon his owne head . I haue obserued of raylings , slaunders , vntruths , contradictions , falsification of Fathers , corruption of Scriptures , with such other ouersights , not fewer then 300. his errors beeing more then the leaues , and almost equall to the pages of his booke : if hee had had the like aduantage against me , he would not haue doubted to vse that sentence of Hierom against me ; Lib. 1. conr . Iovin . Proponam aduersarij sententias , & de tenebrosis libris eius , quasi de foueis serpentes protraham , neque sinam venenosum caput spiris maculosi corporis protegi : I will propound the aduersaries sentence , and out of his darke bookes I will drawe the serpents , as out of their holes ; neither will I suffer his venemous head to lie lurking within the windes of his speckled body . But I will forbeare him ; yet I must confesse , that in returning this answer , I wanted the patience of Ioseph , of whom Ambrose saith , Epist. 44. Mal●it falsum ●●rimen subire , quam verum referre● that he had rather vndergoe a false crime , then report a true : or as Hierom writeth of Blesilla , Blesilla nostra rid●●it , ●es dignabitur loquacium ranarum audire convitia that shee would smile , ad Marcel . nor vouchsafing to heare the raylings of the clamorous frogges ▪ For my ease is diuers , who beeing charged with her esie , blasphemy , atheisme , must either by silence confesse the crime , or by a iust Apologie wipe it away : So indeed , I was driuen to a great straite , Hieron . Pammach. Ocean . as Hierome againe saith ; Hoc mihi praestiterunt vt si tacuero , re●s , si respondero , inimicus iudicer , d●ra vtraque conditio fed è duobus eligam quod leuius est : simultas redintegrari patest , blasphemia veniam non meretur ▪ They haue brought mee to this , that if I hold my peace , I shall be held to be guiltie ; if I answer , I shall be iudged an enemie : an hard condition of each side : but of the two , I will choose the easier : a priuie grudge may ( well ) bee renewed , but blasphemy cannot be pardoned : which as it seemeth , was imputed vnto Hierome , as now vnto mee . Now then , he may thanke himselfe , that began the quarrell , if he be well beaten for his labour , that might haue slept in a whole skin : and if he cannot fence off that blow , which is comming toward him , let him afterward learne to play with his matches . For as Origen well saith , writing vpon those words in the Gospel ; * * tract. 35. in Math. Omnes belli concitatores , in eo bello per●bunt , quod concitant : all that take the sword , shall perish with the sword : all the raisers of warre , shall perish in that warre , which they haue raised .

Now vnto your Gr. wise and graue censure , I present this my iustification ; of whome I might craue iustice against this defamer and slaunderer , who hath obiected capitall crimes of blasphemie , and heresie , against a Minister of the Church , contrary to the a a atrocem tibi iniuriam esse factam manifestum est , si tibi illata est , cum esses in sacerdotio . Cod. lib. 9. tit. 35. leg . 4. Valerian . Gale . lawe : which by imperiall constitution deserueth b b si minime haec vera ostenderit capitali poeua plectetur . Cod. lib. 9. tit. 36. l. 1. Valentin . capitall punishment , if he cannot prooue the things● obiected to bee true : by the Canons it was censured , by c c qui in alterius famam publice scripturam confinx erit , flagelletur . Caus. 2. q. 5. c. 1. Hadrian . whipping , or by beeing d d qui inuenti fuerint famosos libellos in Ecclesia ponere , anathematizentur . Caus. 2. q. 5. c. 3. concil . Elib . excommunicate and anathematized . But I craue no such reuenge of him but onely pray ; touching himselfe , that hee may become an honest man hereafter : and that your Gr. would be pleased , that as I haue beene publikely defamed and traduced by him , so it may be lawful for me publikely to defend my selfe : that according to the e e Cod. lib 9 ▪ tit. 36. l●g . 1. lawe , hu●us●odi libellus alterius opinionem non ledat , such an infamous libell doe , not hurt the op●●on of another : which cannot be preuented , vnlesse some publike satisfaction should be made : for as f f Lib. de bon. viduitat . cap. 22. Augustine saith well , nobis necessaria est vita nostra , alijs fama nostra : as our life is necessarie to our selues , so our fame is 〈…〉

Now lastly 〈◊〉 prayeth g g Epist ded. p. 11. that my bookes as abortiue brats be not suffered to see the sunne , whose light they seeke to obscure ; I am content to stand herein to your iudgment also , whether of bu● writings are more worthy to come into the sunne light : as for mine , ( whereof some are extant in your Gr. name , which may deliuerme from his iniurious accusation , as beeing as enemie vnto that eminent place and calling ) if they were no more meete then his , to be admitted vnto the publike view of men , I could wish them not onely out of the sunne light , but in the fire light also . But which be the abortiue brats , I referre me to the midwiues that brought them out , I meane the Stationers that printed them : I thinke some of them may wish , that his beggerly brats had beene yet vnborne .

Con●●ning 〈…〉 I am not ashamed to say with Hierom: Ad Cresiphon . Multi anni sunt , quibus ab adolescentia , vsque ad hanc aetatem , diuer sa scripsiopuscula , &c. prouoco aduersaries vt 〈…〉 ●●artulas exintegro discutiant , & si quid in meo ingeniolo vitij repererint , proferant in medium , confitebor errorem , malens emendare , quam perseuerare in prauitate sententiae : There are many years , wherein since my youth , vnto this age , I haue written diuers works : I do prouoke mine aduersaries , to examine all my writings afresh , and if they finde any fault in my small wit ( and vnderstanding ) let them bring it forth . I will confesse mine error , willing rathr to amende it , then to perseuere in a wrong sentence . And concerning such slaunderous libels , and immodest inuectiues , as his are , I say vnto your Gr. as Bernard wrote sometimes to Eugenius : De consid. lib. 1. Miror , quomodo religiosae aures tuae , audire sustinent huiusmodi pugnas verborum , que magis ad subversionem , quam inventionem proficiunt veritatis : corrige pravum morem , & pra●ide linguas vaniloquas ; &c. flagellum tenes , timea●t nu●●●ularij ne fidant nūmis : I maruel , how your religious eares can endure to heare such strife of wordes , which auaile more for the subuersion , then finding out of the truth : correct this euill vse , and stay such vaine tongues , &c. you hold the whip , let the money chaungers feare to trust to their ( counterfeit ) coyne . And so I ende with that salutation of the same Father , Plenum vos dierum suscipiat dies vna illu melior in atrijs Domini super millia , Venerabilis pat●r ▪ Epist. 61.