PREF. I. To the Most Excellent, Mighty, and Religious.
PREF. I. To the Most Excellent, Mighty, and Religious.
P rincess Elizabeth, by the grace of God Queen of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the true Christian faith, &c.
If almighty God (most gracious sovereign Lady) had but as meanly furnished me with understanding and utterance, as he hath plentifully enriched your Majesty with many most excellent gifts and graces, my pen at this time would run more agreeable to your Highness ears, and my words pierce more deep into your Princely breast. Then might I, though with some boldness, yet with all humbleness, approach your presence, and present you with such matter, as God by his holy spirit hath offered me: and in such manner as might be most liking to your godly disposition. Not that I poor simple man can prefer aught as yet unknown to your excellent Majesty, to whom God in his son Christ hath imparted as great abundance of his wisdom and knowledge, as flesh and blood in this life can well conceive, but that I have of long time been carried with an extraordinary zeal and desire incomparable once in my life, by some perpetual record of your royal name, to give an outward testimony of mine inward heart, and an assured
seal of my bounden duty, so long borne to your manifold virtues, religious profession, and high estate. And for the better performance of this my determined purpose, perceiving myself, though not unwilling, yet unable to publish any work wholly of mine own devise, worthy the regard of so great a Prince, and the reading of so judicial a censure, I resolved at last upon this book: a work, not so long, as learned; containing matter, not so hard, as true: written by an Author, not so late, as famous, which I have faithfully translated, and partly gathered, and wholly dedicated to your excellent
Majesty. For as all scripture inspired from above, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, and to instruct in righteousness, that the man of God may be wise unto salvation, and perfect unto all good works: so in this work is drawn a perfect form of the most ancient religion, and true service of God set down by the Apostles. In it is reproved the huge heap of heresies and errors sprung up in the church, since the incarnation of Christ, with the particular discovery of the Roman Antichristian kingdom: In it is comprised a due correction of sundry defaults in life, and defects in government: In it is delivered a perfect instruction for soundness of conscience and sincerity of conversation to all estates: besides many special comforts to the troubled, exhortations to the slow, persuasions to the doubtful, encouragements to the forward, reprehensions of the obstinate, explications of hard scriptures, distinctions of difficult sayings, discoveries of false arguments, and definitions of diffuse questions. And as for the Author in a word or two: never was there yet found any adversary so envious, as to deny his learning; nor so subtle, as to refell his arguments; nor so wise, as to over-reach his discretion; nor so terrible, as to drive him from his godly purpose; no nor so malicious, as to slander his life: wherein he bestowed his time, and behaved himself not only as a right Evangelist, but (if it be lawful so to say) as a
very Apostle. Wherefore, I most humbly beseech your Majesty, that according to your accustomed gracious favor, it will please you to be partaker of these fruits of his, and protector of these labors of mine, sown and sprung up, ripened and gathered, begun and ended within the walls of your Highness Court, by your most faithful and loyal subject and servant.
But now in making mention of this matter, I cannot but call to mind with joy and reverence, that this our native country did first of all kingdoms in the world, faithfully receive, and publicly profess the religion of Christ.
And it rejoiceth me much more, that after so long and so foul a fall of the house of God, this of all other kingdoms did first openly endeavor to repair the ruins thereof: a principal laborer in which work was D. Peter Martyr, who long sustained upon his own, and almost only shoulders the greatest weight of this burden: but most of all do I praise the Lord even from my heart, that after Satan our ancient enemy had given a sharp assault upon God's saints, who began to lay both their heads and their hands to the new building of this temple, the Lord, by your Majesty, though weak in respect of your sex, yet strong by his power (who chooseth the weak things of this world to confound the strong, that his power might appear in our infirmity) repelled his violence, defeated his practices, withstood his force, overthrew his accomplices, and proceeded to the re-edification of his church. O that blessed day, wherein your Majesty was placed in your royal seat, to restore the decayed church, so long captivated under cruel Pharaoh and idolatrous
Nebuchadnezzar! Wherein the blood of so many thousand servants of God was saved from the vile hands of Antichristian tormentors: wherein the desperate estate of poor silly afflicted banished souls was recovered and restored by a mighty hand and stretched-out arm, from Babylon, to Jerusalem; from Dan and Bethel, to the holy hill of Zion; from superstition,
to religion; from idolatry, to true worship; from the heathenish mass, to a Christian Communion; from papistical rites, to apostolical ceremonies; from beads to prayers; from legends to sermons; from bondage to liberty: and even as it were from hell to heaven. O that all Christian English hearts would celebrate that happy day with all joyful solemnity, with all praises to God, and prayers for you, who reduced us in triumph, yourself as principal captive leading the dance before the ark of the Lord! It was your Majesty that revived those good and godly decrees, which your most renowned father and gracious brother had made for the repairing of the Lord's tabernacle. You sent laborers unto the building, you prescribed them perfect rules, whereby to square every stone and piece of timber according to the pattern that the Lord showed Moses in the mount: You commanded them to raise their building upon the foundations of the prophets and apostles, Jesus
Christ being the head corner stone. But O lamentable case to be sorrowed of all such, as seek salvation in Christ alone, and sigh with unspeakable groans to see the perfect finishing and furnishing of the holy temple. The enemy hath sowed tares among the good seed, Reum and Samsai with their adherents have bended themselves against the children of God. The son of perdition exalting himself in the temple of God, above all that is called God, hath spread diverse nets, laid many snares, digged deep pits, used sundry, some bloody, some crafty means to hinder the work, and to destroy the workmen: now by out-crying's and horrible roaring's of the Romish bull: now by attempting foreign power, to depose your Highness from your state, and discharge your loyal subjects of their allegiance: now by assaying how he could prevail by more than civil sword: now by raising sundry dangerous and damnable sects and sectaries to diminish the credit, and hinder the good success of the Gospel: now by sophistical writing and printing against the
received truth, mightily confirmed by the invincible word of God: and lastly by conveying in that secret seminary of sedition, which closely and craftily entering into this realm, under pretense of long prayers, devour widows houses, lead captive simple women, and other silly seduced souls; travel by land and sea to make proselytes double worse the children of hell than they themselves: and so rob your Majesty of your subjects, God of his creatures,
Christ of his members, the people of their salvation: and under a colorable cloak of defending themselves, and bewailing their own estate, in their pharisaical libels, over-boldly dedicated to your Majesty, and the Lord's of your Honorable privy Council, do traitorously insinuate and unjustly accuse you and your most moderate laws and statutes of intolerable rigor and cruelty. But such as their doctrine is wicked and worldly, such are their words false and forged. Howbeit, all these their pestilent devises and designments notwithstanding, as your Majesty hath begun most godly, and most marvelously proceeded, so go you forward most happily from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and from glory to glory, until Christ shall tread down his and your enemies under his feet and yours. Arm yourself, most mighty Princess, with the principal spirit of fortitude, strengthen your heart with the certainty of the truth, repose your faith on the only written word, cast your hope and care upon the providence divine. So shall you never need to fear, neither the main forces of your professed enemies, nor the dissembled practices of your pretensed friends. For so renowned is your name and honor among all godly Princes, as no envy can diminish your glory; so truly do your people love you, as no secret treason can be hid from your person; so wise and circumspect is your Council, as no foreign practices can prevail against you; so strong is your Kingdom, so well furnished your munition, so terrible your navy, and so steadfast your
fortune. Again, so valiant are your subjects, so many in number, so frequented with victories, so ready to your defense, so assured to their country, and so zealous in religion: On the other side, so godly are your own purposes, so miraculous your proceedings, so peaceable your desires, so bountiful your benefits, and so clear your own conscience; so clear, I say, specially from the blood of all men, as there remaineth no more in this work of yours, but that you utterly shake off all fear, and put your trust in the Lord of hosts, and so finish this glorious building. Which being performed, bless you with Solomon all the church of Israel, and with all your people give thanks unto God the father in his deer son, because he hath dealt mercifully with you, and made you more gracious and honorable in his sight, than any King and Prince of the earth. And now, as your Majesty for your own part, by the special assisting grace of God, hath been hitherto, and is at this day, and shall by God's grace forever be thoroughly settled and grounded on the right side, of all questions now in controversy between us and our adversaries; so to the end that your people may continually understand how they have been carried away by false teachers from the sincerity and singleness of the Gospel published by the Apostles, and established in this your realm, unto a multitude of erroneous opinions and man's inventions: and that no faithful subject hereafter may justly complain of ignorance, or pretend a readiness to follow the truth, if it were rightly taught, and easy to be found; your Majesty of your godly zeal, hath vouchsafed to suffer the works of many learned and true professors to have free course in all your dominions to all good and godly effects and purposes. Wherein you have not only performed all the good parts of a gracious Christian Queen; but have thereby saved infinite souls, which otherwise without the benefit thereof had lived still in blindness, and died in
danger of everlasting damnation. Wherefore, seeing this book of D. Peter Martyrs Common places, among and above all other books written of like argument will most fully and sufficiently satisfy all those that read the same with a single eye, and bring not with them consciences insensible, seared up with an hot iron: and seeing all the doctrine herein comprehended, is agreeable to the word of eternal life, and conformable to the religion restored in this your Realm, I am eftsoons most humbly to desire your
Majesty, that the same may obtain free passage throughout your Kingdom.
Whereby your Majesty, besides all other benefits, for the which I stand most deeply bounden unto your Highness, shall heap upon me a gracious favor, by vouchsafing my labors so great a credit: upon the Author himself, by giving him so famous a testimony: upon your natural subjects, by granting them so singular a commodity: yea and upon yourself, by witnessing to all posterity and succeeding ages, how highly you esteem the learning and virtue of so excellent a man. Finally, you shall do that, which will redound to the glory of almighty God, to the credit of the time, the increase of the church, the furtherance of the Gospel, the extirpation of error, the advancement of virtue, and to the utter overthrow of all ungodliness together with Antichrist and all his adherents.
At your Majesty's Court in Greenwich, the 8th of May, 1583.
Your Majesty's most humble subject and faithful servant, Anthony Marten.