A replie vnto M. Hardinges ansvveare by perusinge whereof the discrete, and diligent reader may easily see, the weake, and vnstable groundes of the Romaine religion, whiche of late hath beene accompted Catholique. By Iohn Iewel Bishoppe of Sarisburie.

The B. of Sarisburie.

A shorte answeare may serue, where nothinge is obiected. This gheasse stan∣deth vpon these twoo pointes: The First is this: The people of Gallia vnderstoode not the Latine tongue: The seconde is this: That not withstandinge, the same people had their Seruice in Latine: Whereof the Conclusion foloweth, Ergo, they had Seruice

in an vnknowen tongue.* 1.1 The Maior hereof is prooued with muche a doo, by Titus Liuius, by Ulpianus, by Aelius Lampridius, and by S. Hierome. He might as wel haue added the storie of Brennus:* 1.2 Caesars Commentaries: Quintilian, y^• nameth twoo méere Frenche woordes, Rheda, & Petoritum: and Cicero, who in his Oration pro Fonteio,* 1.3 & els where, calleth the men of y^• Countrie, Barbaros. Thus M. Harding taketh great paines to prooue that thinge, that is confessed, & néedeth no proouinge.

But the Minor, which is vtterly denied, and wherein standeth al the doubt••, and without proouinge whereof he prooueth nothinge, he passeth ouer closely, and prooueth by silence. If the mater be doubtful, it hath the more néede of proufe: if it be plaine, & out of doubte, it is the sooner prooued. Surely, to say without any kinde of proufe, or euidence, onely vpon M. Hardinges bare woorde, The people of Gallia had the Latine Seruice, it is but a very simple warrant. For what learning, what au∣thoritie, what coniecture, what gheasse hath he, so to say? Some holde y^t Ioseph of Arimathae••, Philip the Apostle, Nathanael, and Lazarus, were the firste that euer opened the Gospel in Fraunce. But these foure neither came from Rome, nor to my knowlege, euer spake the Latine Tongue: They came from Hierusalem out of Iewrie, and spake the Hebrew tongue. Therefore, I recken, M. Hardinge wil not say, that any of these foure, erected there the Latine Seruice.

The best that he can make hereof, is but a gheasse and a likelihoode: for thus he saith: It wil seeme probable, I doubt not. But I assure thée, good Reader: it wil prooue no∣thinge: I doubt not. For weigh the probabilitie of these reasons: The people of Galli•• had a speache peculiar to them selfe, and spake no Latine: Ergo, they had the Latine Seruice. Or thus: The first preachers in Gallia, came from Hie••usalem, and spake the Hebrew tongue: Ergo, they ministred the Seruice and common praiers in the Latine tongue. These be M. Hardinges probabilities, wherewith he doubteth not this mater is prooued.

But once againe, let vs vewe the Maine Reason: The Maior, The people of Gallia•• vnderstoode no Latine: The Minor, The same people had the Latine Seruice: The Conclusion, Ergo, They had Seruice in an vnknowen tongue.

Here, M. Hardinge, we doo vtterly denie your Minor: whiche onlesse ye prooue otherwise, then ye haue hitherto begonne, very Children may sée, that your Con∣clusion cannot folowe. Ye shoulde not so stoutely haue saide, ye haue so throughly prooued the mater, hauinge in déede as yet prooued nothinge.

But that the Seruice in the Churches of Gallia, was not saide in suche order as M. Hardinge gheasseth, but in a tongue knowen vnto the people, it is euident by Seuerus Sulpitius in the life of S. Martine. The people of the Citie of Tours, in Fraunce, then called Gallia, vpon the vacation of the Bishoprike, were desi∣rous to haue S. Martine, to be their Bishop: notwithstandinge there were others that thought him a very simple man, & in al respectes, vnwoorthy of any Bishop∣rike. In this contention the mater fel out in this wise, as Sulpitius sheweth. Cum fortuitu Lector,* 1.4 cui legendi eo die officium erat, interclusus à populo defuisset, turba∣tis ministris, dum expectatur, qui non aderat, vnus è circunstantibus, sumpto Psalterio, quē primum versum inuenit arripuit: Psalmus autem hic erat: Ex ore infantium, & la∣ctentium, perfecisti laudem, &c. Quo lecto, clamor populi tollitur, & pars aduersa cō∣funditur. Where as by chaunce the Reader, whose office was to reade in the Churche that day, was shutte out by meane of the thronge, and the Ministers were troubled, looking about for him that was not there, one of the cōpanie, tooke the Psalter, and readde that verse, that came nexte to hāde. The verse of the Psalme was this: Our of the mouthe of Infantes and sucklinges, thou hast vvrought praise. As soone as that verse was read, the people made a shoote, and the contrary parte was confounded. Here we sée the practise of the Church of Gallia. The Reader pronounced the Scriptures, & the people vnder∣stoode them. Whether it were in the vulgare tongue, or in y^e Latine, it was a tonge

knowen vnto the people. Therefore M. Hardinge might haue better aduised him selfe,* 1.5 before he thus assured the worlde, that the people of Gallia had their Seruice vn∣doubtedly in an vnknowen tongue.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Fraunce.
• * 1.2

  Quintil. li. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 9.
• * 1.3

  Cicero pro Fon∣t••io.
• * 1.4

  Sulpitius in vi∣ta•• Martini.
• * 1.5

  Englande Augu∣stine.