To the True and Faithful Congregation of Christ's Universal Church, with all and singular the Members thereof, wheresoever congregated or dispersed, throughout the Realm of England, a Protestation or Petition of the Author, wishing to the same abundance of all peace and tranquillity, with the speedy coming of Christ the Spouse, to make an end of all mortal misery.

SOLOMON, the peaceable prince of Israel, as we read in the First Book of Kings, after he had finished the building of the Lord's Temple, (which he had seven years in hand) made his petition to the Lord for all that should pray in the temple, or turn their face toward it; and his request was granted, the Lord answering him, as we read in ch. ix. 3. "I have heard thy prayer and have hallowed this house," &c. although the infinite Majesty of God is not to be confined within any material walls, yet it so pleased his goodness to respect this prayer of the king, that he not only promised to hear them who prayed there, but also filled the same with his own glory. For we read, "The priests could not stand to minister, because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord," 1 Kings viii. 11.

Upon the like trust in God's gracious goodness, if I, a sinful wretch, not comparing my work with the building of that temple, but yet following the zeal of the builder, might either be so bold as to ask, or so happy as to speed, after my seven years' labour about this Ecclesiastical History, I would most humbly crave of Almighty God to bestow his blessing upon the same; that as the prayers of them who prayed in the outward temple were heard, so all true disposed minds which shall resort to the reading of this history, containing the acts of God's holy martyrs, and monuments of his church, may, by the example of their life, faith, and doctrine, receive some spiritual fruit to their souls, through the operation of his grace, that it may be to the advancement of his glory, and profit of his church, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

But as it happened in that temple of Solomon, that all who came thither came not to pray, but many to prate, some to gaze and hear news, some to talk and walk, some to buy and sell, some to carp and find fault, and some also at the last to destroy and pull down, as they did indeed; (for what is in this world so strong, but it will be impugned? what so perfect, but it will be abused? so true, that will not be contradicted? or so circumspectly done, but wranglers will find fault?) Even so in writing this history, I expect that amongst many well disposed readers, some wasp's-nest or other will be stirred up to buzz about my ears, so dangerous a thing is it now-a-days, to write or do any good, but either by flattering a man we must offend the godly, or by true speaking procure hatred of the wicked. Of such stinging wasps and buzzing drones I had sufficient trial in my former edition; who, if they had found in my book any just cause to find fault, or upon any true zeal of truth had proceeded against the untruths of my history, and

had brought just proofs for the same, I could right well abide it, for God forbid but that faults, wheresoever they be, should be detected and accused. And therefore, accusers in a commonwealth, after my mind, are of no small service.

But then such accusers must beware they do not act like the dog of whom Cicero in his oration speaks, which being set in the capitol to frighten away thieves by night, let the thieves alone, and barked at true men walking in the day. To bay and bark where true faults are, is not amiss. But to carp where no cause is; to spy straws in others, and leap over their own blocks; to swallow camels and to strain at gnats; to oppress truth with lies, and to set up lies for truth; to blaspheme the dear martyrs of Christ, and to canonize for saints those whom scripture would scarcely allow for good subjects; that is intolerable: such barking curs, if they were well served, would be made awhile to stoop: but with these brawling spirits I intend not at this time much to wrestle.

Wherefore, to leave them a while, till further leisure serve me to attend upon them, thus much I thought in the mean season, by way of protestation or petition, to write unto you, both in general and particular, the true members and faithful congregation of Christ's church, wherever either congregated together or dispersed through the whole realm of England, that for so much as all these adversaries seek, is to do what they can, by discrediting of this History with slanders and sinister surmises, to withdraw the readers from it: this, therefore, shall be in few words to warn and desire all wellminded lovers and partakers of Christ's gospel, not to suffer yourselves to be deceived with the boastings and hyperbolical speeches of those slandering tongues, whatever they have, or shall hereafter, exclaim against the same; but impartially deferring your judgment till truth be tried, that you will first peruse, and then refuse; measuring the untruths of this history, not by the scoring up of their hundreds and thousands of lies which they give out, but wisely weighing the purpose of their doings according as you find, and so to judge of the

matter.

I allure neither one nor other to read my books; let every man do as he pleases. If any shall think his labour too much in reading this history, his choice is free, either to read this or any other work. But if the fruit thereof shall recompence the reader's trouble, then I would wish no man so light-eared as to be carried away by any sinister clamour of adversaries, who many times deprave good doings, not for the faults they find, but only find faults because they would deprave. As for me and my history, as my purpose was to profit all and displease none; so if skill in any part be wanting, yet hath my purpose been simple, and the cause no less urgent also, which moved me to take this enterprise in hand.

For first to see the simple flock of Christ, especially the unlearned sort, so miserably deluded, and all for ignorance of history, not knowing the course of times, and true descent of the church, it grieved me that that part of history had been so long unsupplied in this my

country church of England.

Again, considering the multitude of chronicles and history-writers, both in England and out of England, of whom the most part have been either monks or clients to the See of Rome, it grieved me to behold how partially they handled their stories. Whose diligent labour, although I cannot but commend, in committing many things to writing not unfruitful to be known, nor unpleasant to be read; yet I lamented to see that the principal points, which chiefly concerned the state of Christ's church, and were most necessary to be known by all christian people, were either altogether omitted in their monuments, or if any mention thereof were inserted, yet all things were drawn to the honour specially of the church of Rome, or else to the favour of their own sect of religion. Whereby the unlearned, hearing and reading in their writings no other church mentioned or magnified, but only that church which flourished in this world in riches and riot, were led, to think that no other church stood in all the earth but only the church of Rome.

In the number of this sort of writers, besides our monks of England (for every monastery almost had its chronicler) I might also recite both Italian and other authors, as Platina, Sabellicus, Nauclerus, Martin, Antony, Vincent, Onuphrius, Laziard, George Lilius, Polydore Virgil, with many more, who taking upon them to intermeddle with matters of the church, although they express some part of the truth in matters concerning the bishops and see of Rome, yet in suppressing another part they play with us, as Ananias and Sapphira did with their money, or as the painter Apelles did, who, painting the one half of Venus coming out of the sea, left the other half imperfect. So these writers, while they show us one half of the bishop of Rome, leave the other half of him imperfect, and utterly untold. For as they paint him on the one part glittering in wealth and glory, in showing what succession the popes had from the chair of St. Peter, when they first began, and how long they sat, what churches and what famous buildings they erected, how far their possessions reached, what laws they made, what councils they called, what honour they received of kings and emperors, what princes and countries they brought under their authority, with other like stratagems of great pomp and royalty; so on the other side, what vices these popes brought with them to their seat, what abominations they practised, what superstition they maintained, what idolatry they procured, what wicked doctrine they defended contrary to the express word of God, to what heresies they fell, into what division of sects they cut the unity of christian religion, how some practised by simony, some by necromancy and sorcery, some by poisoning, some indenting with the devil to come by their papacy, what hypocrisy was in their lives, what corruption in their doctrine, what wars they raised, what bloodshed they caused, what treachery they traversed against their lords and emperors, imprisoning some, betraying some to the templars and Saracens, in bringing others under their feet, also in beheading some, as they did with Frederick and Conradine, the heirs and offspring of the house of Frederick Barbarossa, A. D. 1269. Furthermore, how mightily Almighty God hath stood against them, how their wars never prospered against the Turks, how the godly and learned from time to time have ever opposed their errors, &c. Of these and a thousand other things not one word hath been said, but all kept as secret as in auricular confession.

When I considered this partial dealing and corrupt handling of historians, I thought nothing more wanting in the church than a full and complete history, which being faithfully collected out of all our monastic writers, and written monuments, should neither contain every vain written fable, for that would be too much; nor yet leave out any thing necessary, for that would be too little; but with a moderate discretion taking the best of every one, should both ease the labour of the reader from turning over such a number of writers, and should also open the plain truth of times lying long hid in the obscure darkness of antiquity. Whereby all studious readers, beholding as in a glass the stay, course, and

alteration of religion, decay of doctrine, and the controversies of the church, might discern the better between antiquity and novelty. For if the things which are first, (after the rule of Tertullian) are to be preferred before those that are later, then is the reading of history very necessary in the church, to know what went before, and what followed after; and therefore, not without cause in old authors history is called the Witness of Times, the Light of Verity, the Life of Memory, Teacher of Life, and Shewer of Antiquity, &c. Without the knowledge of which, man's life is blind, and soon may fall into any kind of error, as by manifest experience we see in these desolate times of the church, when the bishops of Rome under colour of antiquity have turned truth into heresy, and brought such new-found devices of strange doctrine and religion, as in the former age of the church were never heard of, and which are now believed, all through ignorance of times, and for lack of true history.

For to say the truth, if times had been well searched, or if they who wrote histories had without partiality gone upright between God and Baal, halting on neither side, it might well have been found, that the most part of all this catholic corruption intruded into the church by the bishops of Rome, as transubstantiation, elevation and adoration of the sacrament, auricular confession, forced vows of priests not to marry, veneration of images, private and satisfactory masses, the order of Gregory's mass now used, the usurped authority and supreme power of the see of Rome, with all the rest of their ceremonies and weeds of superstition now overgrowing the church; all these (I say) to be new nothings lately coined in the mint of Rome, without any stamp of antiquity, as by reading of this History shall I trust sufficiently appear. Which history, therefore, I have here taken in hand, that as other writers heretofore have employed their labour to magnify the church of Rome, so in this history there might appear to all christian readers the image of both churches, as well of the one as of the other; especially of the poor, oppressed and persecuted church of Christ. Which persecuted church though it has been of long season trodden under foot by enemies, neglected in the world, not regarded in histories, and scarce visible or known to worldly eyes, yet has it been the only true church of God, wherein he has mightily wrought hitherto, in preserving the same in all extreme distresses, continually stirring up from time to time faithful ministers, who have always kept some sparks of his true doctrine and religion.

Now, forasmuch as the true church of God goeth not lightly alone, but is accompanied with some other church of the devil to deface and malign the same, it is necessary that the difference between them should be seen, and the descent of the right church described from the apostle's time, which hitherto has been lacking in most histories, partly for fear, because men durst not, partly for ignorance, because men could not discern rightly between the one and the other, who beholding the church of Rome so visible and glorious in the eyes of all the world, so shining in outward beauty, to bear such a port, to carry such a train and multitude, and to stand in such high authority, supposed the same to be the only right catholic mother: the other, because it was not so visibly known in the world, they thought, therefore, could not be the true church of Christ. Wherein they were much deceived: for, although the right church of God is not so invisible in the world that none can see it, yet neither is it so visible that every worldly eye may perceive it. For like as is the nature of truth, so is the proper condition of the true church, that commonly none see it, but such only as are the members and partakers of it. And therefore, they who require that God's holy church should be evident and visible to the whole world, seem to define the great synagogue of the world, rather than the true spiritual church of God.

In Christ's time, who would have thought but that the congregations and councils of the pharisees had been the right church? And yet Christ had another church in earth besides that; which, although it was not so manifest in the sight of the world, yet it was the only true