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1 And one of his heads (saith Saint Iohn) séemed vnto mée, as it had béene wounded vnto death. And it was not so indéed, for his dedly woūd was healed againe. Euident it is that in Iohns tyme, Rome the mother of all whordome hadde, subiecte vnto
hir the .vij. clymates or vniuersall parts of the world, with all their po∣wers, gouernours, kinges, possessiōs, pōpes, false worshippinges, and such lyke. Whom some wryters suppose méete to be takē here for ye .vii. heads of this beaste. But I finde an other thing in it, the body of these .vii heads being but one, & stil cōtinuing so. For though all were at yt time vnder hir, yet is it not so now, & yet stil remay∣neth this beast. Therefore I doo take it for one vniuersall Antichrist (as I did afore) cōprehēding in him so well Mahomet as the Pope, so wel the ra∣ging tyrant as ye stil hipocrite, & all ye wickedly worketh ar of ye same body. The .vii. heads of ye beast, may so wel be his presumptuous doings for ye .vij ages of the church, as any thing els, & yet no preiudice done to that hath ben said afore What should ayle this woūded head here, not to signifie his supremite suppressed, his vsurped authoritie & power diminished, & his whole prodigious occupying cōdem∣ned in this latter age of the church?
I suppose nothing more manifest, vn∣lesse we haue eies & will not sée. Are not now in may parts of Germany, & in England also the Popes pardons layed aside? His power put downe, his name abolished, his Purgatorye, pilgrimages, & other peltries vtterly exiled? and so lyke to be within short space in other regions also. If this be not a deadly wounding of one of the beastes heads, I think there is none. If this be not an apparent likelihood of his fall, there is none to be looked for.
2 But the healing againe of this mor¦tall wound is lyke to mar all, & make the last errour worse than ye first. In many places where as the Gospell hath béene preached, the bishoppe of Rome deposed, sectes, shrynes, & sanc∣tuaries destroyed, monasteries, prio∣ries and fryers turned ouer, remay∣neth still theyr poyson wt those same instrumentes wherewith they haue wrought all mischiefe. Stil cōtinueth their more then Iewish ceremonies, their priestybulous priesthoode, theyr
vowing to haue no wiues, and their sodomitical chastitie. Stil remineth their sale masses, of all abhominati∣ons the principall, their prodigious sacrifices, their sensing of of Idoles, their boyesh processions, thieir vncō∣maunded worshippings, & their con∣fessiōs in the eare, of all trayterie the fountayne, with many other strange obseruatiōs whom ye scripture of God knoweth not. Nothing is brought as yet to Christes instituciō & sincere or∣dinance, but all remaineth still as ye Antichristes left it. Nothing is tryed by gods word but by ye aūcient aucto∣rity of fathers. Now passeth all vnder theyr title. Though the olde bishops of Rome were of late yeares proued Antichristes, and their names raced out of our bookes, yet must they thus properly for old acquaintāce be called still our Fathers. If it were naught afore I thinck it is now much worse, for nowe are they become laudable cerimonies wheras before time they were but cerimonies alone. Now are they become necessary rites, godly cō∣stituciōs, séemely vsages, & ciuill ordi∣nances,
where as afore they had no such names. And he that disobeieth them shall not onely be iudged a fel∣lon and worthy to be hanged by their newe forged lawes, but also condem∣ned for a traytour against his king, though he neuer in his lyfe hindred, but rather to his power hath furthe∣red the common wealth. To sée this also with such like put in execucion, the Bishoppes haue authoritie euery moneth in the yeare if they list, to call a cession, to hange and burne at theyr pleasure. And this is ratyfied and confirmed by acte of Parliament to stande the more in effect. If this be no healing of Antichristes woun∣ded head, neuer is lyke to be any. Whan men shall defende frée wyll, & allow theyr popish masse to be a sacri¦fice satisffactory for the quick and the dead, labour they any other (thincks you) than the healing of this wound? He lykewyse that in an open au∣dience mayntayneth our owne wor∣kes to iustifie, by Dimitte nobis, and other not rightly vnderstanded
scriptures, doth he any other than pre¦pare a salue for the same? Nay sure∣ly. No lesse also dooth he that setteth men to open penāce at Pauls crosse, for holy water making, for processiō and sensing, wt other Popetish gauds, constrayning them to promise the a∣nauncement of the old fayth of holy church by such fantastical fopperyes, as Bonner bishoppe of London dyd now of late, to the lawhinge game & wonderment of all the world. Alas how is the people abused? None other doo they but mock Christen Princes with flattery, that giue them olde po∣pish titles and blasphemous names of antichrist. As to call thē most chri∣sten kinges and defenders of ye catho¦like faith, meaning the Popes old tra¦dicions, to heale the head of ye beaste. This is surely none other, but with the sayde beast to receiue authoritie, seate and power of sathan. Lette them therefore take héede least they be founde the same antichristes that they haue condemned, and so throwe thēselues double vnder ye same plage.
Necessarye it is they beware what they drinke, or what titles they take vpon them at their appointmēt, least they forgetting them selues be foūde dronken by taking excesse of the Ba∣bilonish cup, and so perishe with the wicked. Marke here diligently thys word head, and ye shal well perceyue how wonderfully the story agréeth wyth the mysterie.
3 And all the world (sayeth Sainct Iohn) wondred at the beast. All foo∣lishe, carnall, and worldly people, not vnderstanding the wisdome of Gods holy spirit, dependeth all vpon theyr beastly baggage, thinking all yt they doe to be godly, meritorious, and spi∣rituall. They magnifie it, prayse it, and haue it in most hygh estimation, yea, they haue it in much more pryce than any thing that is of God. In no wyse will they from theyr olde fre∣nesie, such is their excéeding blynde∣nesse. For whan they heare tell their customes shall continue, their gouer∣nours agréeing to the same, they clap their hands for ioye, and sing Gaude∣amus
with the priestes.
4 Yea, they worship the Dragon which gaue such power to the beast. With their hartes they reioyce tru∣sting vpon longer continuance, whan they sée his heade restored agayne in their rulers, the godly teachers bur∣ned, and the preachers put to silence.
5 They worship also the beaste, so many as worshipped the Dragō. For as they which worship Christ, wor∣ship his father also, so they ye worship Antichrist, agréeing to his lawes and decrées, doth also worship the diuil, of whom he receiued his pryde. They wonder with ye Iewes yt séeketh caui∣lations to cōtēpne Christes doctrine, as doth ye filthie family of the dotyng dodipolles, priestes, & vnlerned law∣yers. They worship with the Heathē that admitteth their power and allo∣weth their faces, as doeth the foolysh multitude, that neuer will be godly wyse. None other iudgement remay∣neth in these dayes to these wonde∣rers and worshippers of the newlye restored head of ye beast, then did vnto
them, yt with double deuotiō agréed to ye abhominatiōs of Mahomet & ye pope.
6 And this will be their saying as foloweth in the text, spoken in ye time past for ye certaintie of the thing, as the maner of the scripture is.
7 Who is lyke vnto the beaste, in outward glittering workes, or in the externo obseruations of counterfayt religion.
8 Who is able to war with hir the worldly powers now so déeply main∣tainīg hir quarel? All seketh ye papists that they can in ye world imagine, to vpholde the glory, magnificence, and beautie of their holy whorish church, or malignaūt muster. No cautels nor craftes leaue they vnsought nor vn∣searched out, to cause the people to estéeme hyr of incōparable power. No small labour tooke standyshe in hand in Whittington College, when he made his more thē foolish booke of reproch against Barnes being dead. Nor no lessē diligēce ye wise poet Iohn Hūtīgtō whē he registred in his gene∣alogy of heritikes, wt out grace, wit,
learning ye names onely of such godly men as were the Popes enimyes, no heretike agaynst God once mentio∣ned. No more dyd Thomas Smith, Richard Dallison, Williā Stawne, Steuē Prowet, Fryer Adriā, Quar∣rie the Pardoner, with suche other blynde Popish Poetes, and dyrtye metristes, when they vttered theyr shitton rymes and poesies. And sure I am that many moe be yet abroade of the same wicked zeale and spirite, to the great blasphemie both of God and his trueth, now that the beastes wounde is made whole agayne, by so many new actes, so many new tit∣led Bishops, so fresh sale of benifices, maisterships, and dignities, spiritual offices, degrées, and aucthorities, as plētuous as euer was in Rome. And least we should be depryued of our new pleasaunt Euphrates, and so bée compelled by the word of God to fol∣low the Monks, Chanons, Nunnes, and Fryers, in theyr banyshments.
We haue procured certaine actes to be made for our commoditie, and
those only to be published among the people once in a quarter, or so oft as shall please vs to blemishe all Godly preachings of the scriptures. Thus séeke we our selues and not God, our owne strength and not his, our owne glorie and not Iesus Christs. But let vs not thynke that he sléepeth with Baall the false God, knowyng the most hydden thoughtes of the harte, but that he will within shorte space sende foorth his lightnyngs and sca∣ter vs, brynging our heathenishe de∣uises to nought. For the kyngdome of one faith in vs, and the Pope thus manifestly in certayne points deuy∣ded, must surely decay.