An apology or answer in defence of the Church of England with a brief…An apologie or answere in defence of the Churche of Englande with a briefe…

But say they, ye have ben once of our fellowship, but now ye are become forsakers of your profession, and have departed from us. It is true we have departed from them, and for so doing we both give thanks to almighty God, & great ⟨image 91⟩lye rejoice on our own behalf. But yet for all this, from the primitive Church, from the Apostles, and from Christ we have not departed, true it is. We were brought up with these men in darkness, and in the lack of knowledge of God, as Moses was taught up in the learning and the bosom of the Egyptians. We have ben of your company saith Tertullian, I confess it, and no marvel at all, for saith he, men be made and not borne Christians. But wherefore I pray you have they them self, the citizens and dwellers of Rome removed, and come down from those seven hills, whereupon Rome sometime stood, to dwell rather in the plain called Mars his field? They will say peradventure, by cause the conducts of water, where with out men cannot commodiously live, have now failed and are dried up in those hills. Well then, let them give us like leave in seeking the water of eternal life, that they give them selves in seeking the ⟨image 92⟩water of the well, for the water verily failed amongest them. The elders of the Jews saith Jeremy, sent their little ones to the waterings, and they finding no water, being in a miserable case and utterly marred for thirst, brought home again their vessels empty. The needy & poor folk saith Isaiah, sought about for water, but no where found they any, their tongue was even withered with thirst. Even so these men have broken in pieces all the pipes and conduits, they have stopped up all the springs, & choked up the fountain of living water with dirt and mire. And as Caligula many years past locked fast up all the storehouses of corn in Rome, & thereby brought a general dearth and famine amongest the people, even so these men by damming up all the fountains of God's word, have brought the people into a pitiful thirst. They have brought into the world as saith the Prophet Amos, a hunger and a thirst, not the hunger of bread, ⟨image 92⟩nor the thirst of water, but of hearing the word of God. With great distress went they scattering about, seeking some spark of heavenly light to refresh their consciences withal, but that light was already thoroughly quenched out, so that they could find none.