A disclosing of the great bull and certain calues that he hath gotten, and specially the monster bull that roared at my Lord Byshops gate.

EXperience of the leud lusti∣nesse & vnchastitie of Po∣pishe clergie hath long agoe ministred an olde tale, how a person of a towne hauing the lordship annexed to his personage, as many haue, by reason ther∣of was by speciall custome charged, as in many places they be, to kéepe a common Bull for the towne, wherby theyr cattell and his tithe might be encreased, which Bull had great libertie and is by custome not poundable. It happened that com∣plaint was brought to him by hys neigh∣bors of the insufficiencie of his Bull, that he dyd not get calues so plentifully as in tyme past they were wont to haue. The person a wise man of good skill as it should seme, c••used hys Bull to be tyed fast and hys crowne to be shauen, and then let him goe, saying, now goe thy way, there was neuer any bad of thys marke, he will get calues I warrant him. So is it happened that of late a holy Bull, I thinke some Iu∣piter is come for loue of hys Io, or rather for iust to some leud Pasiphae arriued in this land.

It is the great persons bull, which per∣son was wont by custome to finde com∣mon

Buls for all England, when he clai∣med or vsurped the Lordship of England as annexed to hys personage. It is the same Bull that begat the famous Mone∣calfe that of late yeares made the terrible expectation. Of late being against custome empounded, or kept from breaking of hedges as he was wont to do, and from spoyling of seuerall pastures, he grew to some faintnesse. But now hath his owner new shauen hys crowne & sent hym to get calues agayne for encrease of the townes hearde and the persons tithe.

And surely the experience is notable, for since he came ouer so lately disguised, he hath light vpon certaine ranke kyen, who I thinke by their long forbearing are become the lustier, that is, treason, super∣stition, rebellion, and such other, and with them he hath so bestirred him, that by the helpe of maister Doctor Harding, San∣ders, and other, some there, some here, iolly cowkéepers and herdemen of Popish clergie, which sent and brought him ouer, & brake open for him the seuerall hedges and senses of true religion, obedience, al∣legeance, fayth, and honestie, he hath be∣gotten a marueilous number of calues in fewe yeares, that is, since the yeare. 1567.

he hath begotten multitudes of all the formes of calues hereafter mentioned, be∣side other in the wilde woodes not yet knowen, & lastly he hath begotten a most horrible monster, of whom shall hereafter be entreated.

He hath begotten some traitorous calues, as the practisers and vnderminers of the state. Some rebellious calues, as those that haue combred the realme with vnhappy sedition. Some deinty calues with white faces, as dissembling hypo∣crites that watch their time. Some calues with blacke faces, as black soule and his fellowes common bleaters and railers at true religion. Some Apostaticall calues, that haue forsaken fayth and do impugne the knowen truth. Some tame drousy calues, that with their brutishe superstiti∣on can not raise vp their heads from ground, nor their eyes to heauen. Some mad wilde calues, as Roges and Rumor spreaders. Some running and gadding calues, wiser than Walthams calfe that ranne nine miles to sucke a Bull, for these runne aboue nine hundred miles. And no maruell, for they desire not to sucke milke but bloud. Some calues with hornes, and some without, some with power run∣ning

fiercely, some pushing with their vn∣armed heades as eluishly as they be able. Some doctor calues, some proctor calues, and some of other degrees. Some wey∣ward calues, euer running backward and athwart, without regard of ditch behinde them, or hedge before them. Some calues whom no fense will hold, no not the brode sea. Some cow calues, some bull calues. Some calues that neuer wil be but calues, though they liue these hundred yeares. Some winking calues. Some suttle vn∣dermining calues. And some fonde licking calues there he that be none of the same Buls calues, but calues out of Gods own hearde, seduced by leude companie of o∣ther stray calues. These in séeking to licke woundes whole, do not onely licke poy∣son into their owne bodies, but also enue∣nime other therby, and specially the good damme with whose wholesome milke them selues be fedde. This Bulles calues since they receaued their sires blessing, are waxen wilder then they were, no heardman can rule them, but as if the gad flye were in their tailes, they runne whis∣king about, or of mere eluishnishe will taste no wholesome and naturall foode.

The Monster of whom I tolde you,

is no way so fitly to be described, as by the olde tale of the ancient Poetes, that seme as it were to haue foreshewed him in fi∣gure, as followeth. Pasiphae Quéene of Creta, not sufficed with men, conceiued inordinate, vnnaturall, and therewith vn∣temperable lust to engender with a Bull. Neither regard of vertue, honor, kind∣nesse, nature or shame, in respect of God, her husband, her countrey, her selfe, or the whole world, could restrayne her violent rage of vncleane affection. Yet wist she neither how to wooe the Bull, nor how to apply her selfe vnto him. A meane at length was founde to make this vnkind∣ly coupling.

There liued then a cunning craftes∣man Dedalus, the selfe same Dedalus of whome it is famous how he made hym winges, wherewith by cunning guiding him selfe he passed seas & countries at his pleasure. And winges he made also for Icarus his sonne to fly with him. But the vncunning Icarus, climbing to neare the sonnes heate, his winges melting, fell in∣to the water and gaue name to the sea.

This fine Dedalus, to satisfie the wic∣ked Quéenes feruor of lust, & to match her and the Bull in abhominable copulation,

framed a cowe, and so made couered and vsed it with leud deuises, and therein so inclosed and placed the good innocent and vertuous Lady, that of the Bull she con∣ceiued the abhomination of the world, and in time brought forth the monster Mi∣notaurus halfe a Bull and halfe a man, fierce, brutish, mischeuous, cruell, defor∣med, and odious.

To shroud thys monster from com∣mon wonder, & yet therewithall to deli∣uer him the foode and contentment of hys crueltie the destruction of men, a Laby∣rinth or Maze was builded by the same cunning Dedalus, wherein Minotaurus the Man bull or Bull man lurked, and men passing in thether to him by entan∣glement of the Maze & vncertayne error of wayes, were brought to miserable end, till at length valiant Theseus, furnished with the policy of wise Ariadna, receaued of her a clew of thred, by which, leauing the one end at the entrie, he was continu∣ally guyded and preserued from the decea∣uing Maze, and hauing slayne the mon∣ster, by conduct of the same thred safely returned.

The appliance hereof to the experience of our times hath an apt resemblance,

not to proue but to shew the image of some doinges at these dayes, and there∣with by conference not onely to sharpen an intentiue sight of that which we winck at, but also to rayse a iust lothing of that whereof by some hurtfull impedimentes we haue not discerned or rather not mer∣ked the horror.

Lecherous Pasiphae may well be ap∣plyed to treason in hys estates addicted to papistrie, forsaking Gods ordinance of humane royall gouernement. Which when so euer it happeneth, (for happe it may and hath oft so chaunced) such trea∣son destroyeth good and naturall affection, it kindleth vile and beastly desires, and a∣mong all other none comparable in filthi∣nesse to the lust of yelding them selues to beare the engendring of the great Bull of Basan or rather of Babylon, the oppres∣sion, incumbence, and tiranny of Rome, the vsurpation of the Romaine siege the siege of all abhomination. This princi∣pall traitorous lust, that throweth downe the person vnder this vncleane desire, throweth away vertue & respect of God, for Romane pride hath climbed into the seate of God and shooued to shoulder him out, and banished vertue by open dispen∣sing

with vice. It expelleth remembrance of honor and kindnesse in regard of hus∣band, for fayth of wedlocke hath no place in adulterers, and by Romane practises neither doth superstition permit the soule to keepe her chastitie from idolatries and from forsaking Gods rules of religion, nor the wife her due fayth from wande∣ring lust, nor the husband his safetie from traitorous violence. It driueth out natu∣rall loue of countrey, for it prostituteth all dominions to the common adulterer, vn∣derminer, and forcer of kingdomes, the Bull of Rome. It banisheth shame, for it boasteth her filthinese to the worldes sight, soliciteth it publikely, practiseth it o∣penly, defendeth it impudently, and cari∣eth it in glorious pompe and triumph, not as Iö ryding on a Bulles backe through the water, but as it were carna••ly wal∣lowing with a beast on the toppe of Tra∣ianes piller. And surely no more sodo∣miticall is in nature the vnnaturall mix∣ture of a Bull and a woman, than is sodo∣miticall in policie and religion the inter∣medling of the popish vsurpation of Rome with a temporall prince, yelding his or her realme to Popish iurisdiction, or with the spouse of Christ the vniuersall church ra∣uished

by that Bulles force or desyled by his abuses. But as in Pasiphae, so where such rage of traiterous and superstitious desire entreth, Gods grace forsaketh, ho∣nest feare departeth, shame flyeth, and the lust is vntemperable.

The Daedalus that must bryng the enioyeng of this horrible lust to effect, is the treason of Popish Clergie, full of cun∣nyng workmanshyp, as the world hath long had great experience, euen the same Popish Clergie that hath framed to hym selfe wynges, not naturally by Gods or∣dinance growyng to the body therof, but made of fethers pulled from temporall Princes and from Byshops in theyr owne Dioceses by vsurpation, fastened together by art of symonie, and ioyned to theyr bo∣dyes with the glew of superstitious credu∣litie. With these haue they passed landes and seas, clymbyng & flyeng in ayre, that is, vpon no stedfast ground, aboue moun∣taines, trées and countries, that is, aboue Emperours, kinges, iust prelates and common weales.

The sonne of this Dedalus, that is, of treason of popish clergie, is Icarus, that is, aspiring treason of subiect, which follo∣wing

his father and guide popish treason, but not so well guiding himselfe for lacke of experience, and desiring to sodenly to climbe to nere the Sunne, or perhappes mounting with more hast than good spéede before his winges were well fastened, or while himselfe could but yet flutter with them and not perfectly flie, as God would, his glew melting, and his winges drop∣ping away, fell downe in his climbing, and no doubt will geue name to the place where he lighteth for perpetuall memorie of his vndue presumption, surely yet pite∣ously bewayled of papistes as Icarus was of Dedalus his father.

This cunning Daedalus, Popish trea∣son, to bring this copulation to content∣ment of the vnchast Pasiphae, encloseth her in a counterfait cow, that is, such prin∣ces or great estates as desire to lie vnder the Bull of Rome, popish clergie turneth into brutish shape to serue brutish lust, ma∣keth them beastly, forsakyng the dignitie of man and womans shape, whom God made vpright to looke to God and Gods seate the heauen, & it maketh them cow∣ishly stoupe to earthward, without regard of the nature of man, the dignitie of kyng∣domes,

the reuerent aspect to diuinitie, or any other manly and reasonable conside∣ration, without any more vigor, agilitie of soule and industrie to do noblely than is in a cowe: a beast in déede profitable for worldly foode, as Papistrie is, but (as most part of beastes be) redy to promiscuous & vnchosen copulations, and specially méete for a Bull, and among other prety quali∣ties hauyng one speciall grace, (as one of theyr owne Popish Doctours preached) to swynge away flyes with her tayle wett in the water, as foolish papistes swinge away sinnes and temptations with a holy water sprinkle.

In this beastly likenesse, degenerating from manly forme, and maiestie of go∣uernance, by Dedalus workmanship, that is, by popish clergies traitorous practise, ensued the copulation of a Bull and a Quéene in a cowishe shape, that is, Sodo∣miticall and vnnaturall mixture of popish vsurpation with and vpon royall gouer∣nance in brutish and reasonlesse forme.

Of this ingendring is begotten Mi∣notaurus, a compounded monster, halfe a Bull and halfe a man, a beastly cruell bodie, roaring out with the voyce or sound

of a Bull, and wordes of a man, the sense of a deuill. The selfe same monster Bull is he that lately roared out at the Bishops palace gate in the greatest citie of Eng∣land, horrible blasphemies agaynst God, & villanous dishonors agaynst the noblest Quéene in the world Elizabeth the law∣full Quéene of England, he stamped and scraped on the ground, flong dust of spite∣full speches and vaine curses about him, pushed with his hornes at her noble coun∣sellers and true subiectes, and for pure an∣ger all to berayed the place where he stoode. And all this stirre he kept, to make a proofe if hys horned armye of calues would or durst come flyngyng about him toward midsommer moone.

But he looked so beastly, and he raged so vaynely, that though the whole wood rang of hys noyse, yet hys syre the great Bull, hys damme the prostitute cowe, and hys children the foolish calues, were more ashamed of hym than the noble Lion was afraide of him. And therfore the Bull hys fire, the cowe hys damme, and the wysest of hys calues, fled once agayne to Daeda∣lus the treason of Popish Clergie, for suc∣cour and good counsell, by whose good workmanshyp this myngled monster is

closed vp in a Maze, that is, in vncertain∣tie of vayne and false reportes, and (as it happeneth in a Maze) by wayes leadyng to other places than they seme to tend vn∣to, by crokednesse of deuises, by spredyng into sondry créekes of rumors, to hyde whence the Bull came or where he lur∣keth, euen as in the Maze of Daedalus it happened, so it commeth to passe that the Minotaure is not found out, and such as enter into the Maze, that is, into folow∣yng of Popish reportes and deuises, en∣tangle them selues so, that wanderyng vncertainely at length they may hap to perish in Daedalus engyne. And iudge∣ment they lacke (the euident proufes con∣sidered that are in that behalfe to be mini∣stred) that beleue the report to be true of transferring that Bull to Protestantes de∣uises. But I feare a worse thing: for if they haue no wisedome that say so, wise great persons can not beleue them: and if they lacke not witte, then can not them selues beleue it, and so is their truth to the Prince to be perilously suspected.

The remedie resteth that some The∣seus, some noble and valiant counseller, or rather one bodie and consent of all true and good nobilitie and counsellers

follow the good guiding thred, that is, god∣ly policie deliuered them by the virgine whom they serue, and conducted there∣by not onely may passe without error through the Maze and finde out the mon∣ster Minotaure that roared so rudely, but also destroy hym and settle theyr Prince and them selues in safetie: so as, Pasi∣phae duely and deseruedly ordered, Dae∣dalus vnwynged and banished, hys fe∣thers ryghtly restored, Icarus fayre drow∣ned, the cowe transformed, the Maze dis∣solued & razed, the monster destroyed, the calues (after the cow perished) sent with Walthams calfe to sucke theyr Bull, Theseus may be victorious, the virgine Ladie most honorable, the land quyet, the subiectes safe, and Gods prouidence euer iustly praysed not vaynely tempted, hys kyndnesse thankfully embraced, his name louyngly magnified, hys policies wisely folowed, hys Religion zelously maintey∣ned.

But till these noble enterprises be ac∣chieued, it is not good to be hedelesse. The Monster may be let out of the Maze, when it pleaseth Pasiphae and Daedalus.

It is good to be awake. Some men be wakened with tickelyng, and some with

pinchyng or pullyng by the eare, that is, some with mery resemblances, and some with earnest admonitions. Some be ray∣sed out of sléepe with noyse, as by the spéech or calling of men, or by brute voy∣ces, as the roaring of Bulles and noyse of beastes, that is, either by aduises of them that warne with reason, or with the bragges & threateninges of the enemies, or inklinges slipped out of vncircumspect aduersaries mouthes. Some be wake∣ned with very wisperinges, as with secret rumors and intelligences. Some agayne are so vigilant and carefull, that the very weight of the cause and pensiue thinking of it, wil scarcely let them sléepe at all. But most miserable is their drowsinesse, or ra∣ther fatall semeth their sléepinesse, that for all the meanes aforesayd, and specially so leude and loude roaring of so rude and terrible a Bull, can not be wakened or made to arme and bestirre them, till the tumult and alarme in the campe, the clin∣king of armour, the sounde of shotte and strokes, the tumbling downe of tentes round about them, the groning of woun∣ded men dying on euery side of them, trea∣son, force, and hostilitie triumphing in their lustiest rage, and Sinon, that per∣swaded

the safetie of the traiterous horse, insulting among them, yea till the very e∣nemies weapon in theyr body awake them. Such may happe so to sléepe as they may neuer wake.

Let vs all wake in prayer to God. Let vs cry louder in sinceritie and deuoti∣on, than the Bull is able to roare in trea∣son and blasphemie. Let vs pray God to arme our Quéene and Counsell with all wisedome and fortitude, and our selues with all fidelitie and manhoode, and to re∣pose our selues vpon confidence of their most blessed gouernance, and redy with our liues and all that we haue to follow and serue them.

Let vs dayly and nightly pray God to send a curst Cow and a curst Bull short hornes, or to be well capped, or well sawed of, that they budde no more, for els it were better to take away head and all to be sure, least honester then these calues be made calues, or knocked on the head as though they were calues. Surely as of a body there is but one head that can not be spared, so in a body may be many hods that must néedes be spared, as perhappes twenty byles & euery one hath a head, in which case there is no perill but least they

goe into the body againe & then perchance infect the hart bloud and put the body in danger. And the onely perill of driuing them in agayne you wote is colde and colde handling. Some of our botches be runne already, of some theyr heads be broken, some ryping and I trust shall be well launced or cleane drawne out in time. In the meane time beware cold. And God send & main∣tayne the warmth of his grace.

Amen.