A counterblast to M. Hornes vayne blaste against M. Fekenham Wherein is set forthe: a ful reply to M. Hornes Answer, and to euery part therof made, against the declaration of my L. Abbat of Westminster, M. Fekenham, touching, the Othe of the Supremacy. By perusing vvhereof shall appeare, besides the holy Scriptures, as it vvere a chronicle of the continual practise of Christes Churche in al ages and countries, fro[m] the time of Constantin the Great, vntil our daies: prouing the popes and bishops supremacy in ecclesiastical causes: and disprouing the princes supremacy in the same causes. By Thomas Stapleton student in diuinitie.

Stapleton.

M. Horne would fayne fastē some ecclesiasticall iudge∣mēt, vpō these lay men, as the depositiō of certain bishops: which he shal fynd, whē he cā fynd that they deposed Di∣oscorus.

It is playn, sayth M. Horn, for the whole councell maketh humble suyt, to the Emperour, to licēce thē to determi∣ne towching fyue bisshops, which otherwise Must be deposed, as Dioscorus was. Ha good M. Horn, haue ye found now at the length, a must? That is wel and in high tyme espied out of you, or els al theis your great doīgs must lie in the mire. But I belieue whē we haue al done, we shal fynd no must, but a playn myst, that ye lyke a wily shrew, haue cast be∣fore the eies of the simple readers, to blind thē withall. Yf I say not true, thē like a true mā of your word point with your finger, the leaf ād line wher, in al the acts of this coū∣cel your must lieth. I am assured, that neither in the 4. actiō wherby ye now plead, nor in the .1. actiō, wherby ye haue alredy pleaded (which both places spake of those fyue bi∣shops) is anie mutterīg in the world of your musting. Truth it is that in the first actiō, theis senatours, thowght it reaso∣nable, that Dioscorus ād theis fyue bishops, being the ring∣leaders of that wycked conuenticle at Ephesus, should be deposed, but not by the way of any finall or iudiciall sen∣tence, as ye fable. But as they thowght them worthy to be depryued, so neither did they depryue thē, nor thought them selues or the Emperour mete parsons to depryue them, but the councel. And therfore immediatly followeth that they should be put, from all theire bishoply dignitye. But by whome M. Horne? A sancto Concilio: by the holy councell. And howe I pray yow? secundùm regulas. Accor∣dinge to the canons. Then here standeth the case. The Emperoure, and not withowt cause, was in this mynde, that as they mighte and owghte by the Canons to haue bene depryued, so that execution shoulde haue bene done accordinglye: for example sake, as yt was allredye

done vpon Dioscorus. And yet leauing the final determi∣nation (as otherwise he could not choose, if he would fol∣lowe the Canons by his deputies alleaged) to the Bishops. And this is the Licence ye falsely speake of. For proprely licēce it was none, neither doth the latine word inforce it, but that he permitted and suffered them to do therin their pleasure: which words doe not necessarilie declare his or∣dinary authority to let them (as the Prince may let your Conuocation Decrees by act of Parliament) but onely the geauing ouer and yelding to the Fathers, in that mater, frō his owne mind and sentence, which he thought good and reasonable. The Fathers on the other side, thought not best to exact the rigour and extremitie of the Canons, but seing these fiue were hartely penitent, and had subscribed to the Epistle of Leo, whiche before they refused, and for feare of a great schisme, as Liberatus noteth, that happely might by this rigorouse dealing ensue, toke the milder way, and suffred them to remaine in their dignitie, and in the Coun∣cell with them. See now M. Horne, if this be not rather a mist then a muste, a darke mist, I say, mete for theues as Homer saith, and not mete, as he saith, nor acceptable to the shepheard. How vnmete then for you M. Horne, that taketh vpn you to be the shepheard and pastor of so many thousand soules, that should kepe your flocke, from al such hurtefull mystes of false doctrine? Yea to feed them with the same, and to make him beleue, and that by the authori∣tie of this honorable Councel, that ye feed them well, and that ye must so feed them. And yet, lo, like a blind Prophet ye haue said truer then ye wist of: saiyng they must be de∣posed as Dioscorus was. For Dioscor{us} was not deposed at all, by those whome ye fable to haue geauen sentence.

Again see what falleth out otherwise against you. For yf the lay iudges deposed in the first action Dioscorus, they deposed also these fyue. For al cometh vnder one trade ād course of woordes. And thus euery waye ye walke in a miste, wandring pitifully to and fro, ye can not tell why∣ther.

Notes

• A sancto concilio se¦cundū re∣gulas, ab episcopali dignitate fieri alie∣nos.

  Pag. 831. col. 2.
• The true meaning of the place by M. Horne alleaged. Anno. 25. Hē. 8. c. 19. Sententiae vestrae per∣misit deli∣berare de Thalassio & quae vobis pla∣cuerint. Fol. 872. col. 2. Liberatus. in Breuia. cap. 13. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

  Quia con∣senserant in subscri∣ptione epi∣stolae Leo∣nis, &c.
• Dicta pa. 931. col. 2. Videtur nobis se∣cundum quod Deo placitum est, iustum esse si placuerit diuinissimo & pijssimo Domino nostro, eidem poenae Dioscorum reuerend. episcopum Alexandriae, & Iuuenalem reuerend, episcopum Hie••os. & Thalassium &c.