AS our men doe more willingly go to warfare, and fighte with greater courage agaynst straungers, than agaynst their Countreymen: so it is with me in this spirituall warfare. For I woulde haue wished that this controuersie had beene with the Papistes, or with ether (if any can be) more pestilent and pro∣fessed e〈1 line〉〈1 line〉mes of the Churche: for that should haue beene lesse griefe to write, and more conuenient to perswade that which I desire. For as the very name of an enimie dothe kindle the desire of fighting, and styrreth vp the care of pre∣pa〈1 line〉〈1 line〉ng the furniture for the warre: So I can not tell howe it commeth to passe, that the name of a brother 〈1 line〉〈1 line〉aketh that courage, and abateth that carefulnesse whiche sheuld be bestowed in de∣fence of the truthe. But seeing the truthe ought not to be forsaken for any mans cause▪ I en∣forced my selfe, considering that if the Lorde mighte lay to my charge, that I was not for cer∣tayne considerations, so readie as I ought to haue beene, to publishe the truthe, he mighte more iustly condemne me, if beeing oppugned and slaundered by others. I shoulde not according to that measure which he hath dealte vnto me, and for my small habilitie defende it, and delyuer it from the euill reporte that some endeuour to bring vpon it.
An Answere to the Epistle dedicated by T. C. to the Churche of Englande. &c.
IT doth not appeare by the style and maner of writing vsed in this your booke, that there remayneth any portion of suche naturall affection or brotherly loue in you, as you would beare the world in hand, and séeme to haue by these your wordes: For if you should haue written against the veriest Papist in the world, the vilest person, the ignorantest dolt, you could not haue vsed a more spitefull and malicious, more slaunde∣rous and reprochfull, more contemptuous and disdaynfull kinde of writing, than you vse throughout your whole booke: and truly if you had not these two letters T. C. for your name, yet coulde I haue easily coniectured by the haughtinesse of the stile, and contemptuous speaches, who had bene the authour of the booke, so well am I ac∣quainted with your modestie, and suche experience haue I of your myldnesse. But it is well, for nowe such as before haue thought that you had bene sine felle, without gall, and that butter would not melt in your mouth, may perceyue that all is not vntrue that hath ben reported of you. But what woulde they farther thinke if they shoulde compare (you béeing that T. C. that I take you to be) your othe which you once tooke when you were admitted fellowe into T. C. (Item me buic Collegio fidelem & beneuo∣lum* 1.1 futurum, ei & omnibus socijs ac discipulis, atque etiam magistro eiusdem, non solum dum in eo vixero, sed etiam postea pro virili cum opus sit beneuolentiam & opem praestiturū. &c.) with this your good will vttered throughout your whole booke? verily you might haue an∣swered as well as you haue doon, and had better regard both to your othe and to your brethren. But to let that passe, I doubte whether you meane good faith or no, when you would make vs beléeue that you take vs for brethren: for surely that doth not ap∣peare either by the firste or. 〈1 line〉〈1 line〉. Admonition, or by this your booke, if a man consider the fiercenesse and firie heat, almost in euery lyne of them, vttered against vs. In the se∣cond Admonition fol. 35. speaking of the Bishops which be nowe, & their confederates (as you cal them) these words in most spiteful maner be vttered. And take them for bet∣ter* 1.2 who shall, they are no other but a remnant of Antichristes broode, and God amend and for∣giue them, for else they bid battell to Christ and his Church, and it must bid defiance to them, till they yeeld. And I protest before the eternall God I take them so, and thereafter will vse my selfe in my vocation, and many moe too no doubt, which be carefull of God his glory, and the Churches liberty, will vse them selues against them, as the professed enimies of the Church of Christ, if they proceede in this course, and thus persecute as they do. And therefore these be but wordes of dalyance, when you saye, that you cannot tell howe it commeth to passe, that the name of a brother s〈1 line〉〈1 line〉aketh that courage and abateth that carefulnesse, whiche should be bestowed in the de∣fence