A Preface to the Reader conteininge the causes of this newe Impression.

GOod Christian Reader, I doubte
not, but the very Title, and firste entrie of M. Hardinges
laste Booke is sufficient to astonne thy senses.
For thus he beginneth: A Detection of Lies, Cauilles,
Sclaunders &c. As if Hercules Fureus, or Aiax
Mastigophorus, were newely turned into Englishe.
If I shoulde quite him, either with number of
Bookes, or with courtesie of Speache, I should be like
vnto him, and encombre the world with needelesse labours.
Wherefore beinge moued eftsoones to printe
my late Booke, intituled The Defense of the Apologie of the Church of Englande,
I thought it good by a shorte Augmentation to discharge al such quarrelles, as M.
Hardinge in his saide Detection hathe moued againste certaine parcelles of the
same: and therein to vse sutch temperance of woordes, not as maie beste answeare
M. Hardinges eloquence, but as maie be comely for the cause.
Nowe if thou shalte vouchsaue to examine our dooinges, I beseeche thee to
iudge vprightly, and not to suffer thee selfe by shewes, and shiftes to be beguiled.
What man woulde seeme to deale so plainely, as a Iuggler? He wil strike vp his
sleeues, and make bare his armes, and open his Handes, and fingers, and laie at
thinges before thee, and hid thee beholde: and thou wilt thinke him to be a good
plaine man, and marueile that thou shouldest possibly be deceiued. And yet in
deede his whole skil, and seekinge is nothing els, but to deceiue thee: and the more
simply, and plainely he woulde seeme to deale, so mutche the sooner he will deceiue
the. Otherwise he were no Iuggler. Thou shalt thinke, thou seeste al: and yet seeste
nothinge. Thou shalt thinke, thou feeleste it sensibly with thy fingers, that
thou holdest it faste, and canste not loose it: And yet shalt thou open thy handes,
and finde nothinge. So easie a thinge it is to enueigle thy senses.
When thou hearest a Counseller pleadinge for his Cliente at the Barre, perhaps
thou wilt thinke, it is al Lawe, that he speaketh, and that the case is plaine,
and nothinge to be saide to the contrarie. But, when an other Counseller shal
stande foorthe, and replie againste him, and rippe vp his tale, and weighe his reasons,
and disclose the errours, and weakenesse of his pleadinge, then wilt thou beginne
to mislike, that thou likedst before, and woonder at thine owne simplicitie,
that euer thou were so fonde to beleue the former. Yea the Iudge him selfe, notwithstandinge
vpon somme good likelyhoode of the cause, he be inclined to fauour
the one side, yet sommetimes by weighte and force of better reason; he changeth
his opinion, and geueth sentence with the other. There is greate darkenesse in
mannes wisedome. Oftentimes it is true, that wee take to be false. Our phantasie
is no righte measure of Goddes causes.
But M. Hardinge telleth thee, That I falsifie al that I take in hande: that I
forge, and counterfeite, and leaue out, either the beginninge, or the middle, or the
ende, & reporte nothinge, as I finde it: briefly, that al my Writinges are freight
with Lies. It is no harde matter for M. Hardinge, thus to saie. It were more
marueile, if he woulde saie otherwise. Chrysostome saithe, Qui mendax est, neminem
putat Verum dicere. He is a partie, & would be lothe, to yeelde to any thinge
againste him selfe.
For thy better satisfaction in theise cases, good Reader, I haue here laide foorth
before thee, a fewe sutche examples, as wherein M. Hardinge woulde seeme to
haue founde moste aduantage. This haue I donne in as fewe woordes, and as
briefly, as the cause would beare: and yet, I truste, so openly, and so plainely, that
thou maiste easily see the truthe, and vprightnesse of his dealinge. And although
perhaps thou be his frende, and for somme particulare affection wishe fauourably
vnto his side, yet I wil not refuse to make thee iudge bitweene vs bothe.
Firste therefore to beginne with that thinge, whereof M. Hardinge, and certaine
his Welwillers haue made greatest triumphe, where I saie, that one
Eupsychius, beinge within Holy Orders, and the Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia,
married a wife, and shortely after, beinge as yet but newely married,
was put to deathe for the name of Christe, and died a Martyr, M. Hardinge
hereunto answeareth thus: M. Iewel moste falsely corruptethe the Reporter of this Storie:
Beholde the falshed of this man: Sozomenus nameth him NoValue, As muche as, Eupsychius, one of the Lordes, or one of the Nobilitie of the
Cittie of Caesarea in Cappadocia.
M. Iewel was so bolde to falsifie the place, and to put in of his
owne, this woorde, Episcopum, to healpe this matter.
Thus he taketh vpon him, to make him a
Bishop, who was a Laie man, as wel a Bishop, as he him selfe is &c. Herein therefore, good
Reader, standeth the strife. I saie, Eupsychius was a Bishop: M. Hardinge saithe,
he was a mere Laie man, and no Bishop. The issue is this, whether this Eupsychius
were a Bishop, or no. And as thou shalt finde him true herein, so maist thou
truste him in the reste. Firste in the seconde Councel of Nice this selfe same Eupsychius
is called, Eupsychius Presbyter Caesareae: Eupsychius a Prieste of the
Churche of Caesarea. Here maiste thou see, that Eupsychius was a Prieste, that is,
I trowe, sommewhat more then a mere Laie man, and in somme possibilitie to be
a Bishop, al M. Hardinges waste woordes, of Lordes, and Noble menne, notwithstandinge.
If this authoritie suffise him not, let him further be aduised by that
Ancient, and godly learned Father Athanasius, whom Socrates calleth the greate
Starre of AEgypte. He wil telle him by plaine woordes, that Eupsychius, and this
self same Eupsychius in very deede was a Bishop. Thus he saithe of him, Scripta
Leontij, & Eupsychij Episcoporum Cappadociae: The Writinges of Leontius, and
Eupsychius Bishoppes of the Kingedome of Cappadocia. Marke, good Reader, and
telle M. Hardinge, Athanasius saithe not, Eupsychius the Lorde, or Noble man, but
Eupsychius the Bishop. He was the Bishop of Caesarea: and Caesarea was the
chiefe Cittie of Cappadocia. This is plaine dealinge. I leade thee not aboute, as
M. Hardinge doothe, with coniectures, and gheasses. I shewe thee by expresse, and
plaine woordes, that Eupsychius was a Bishop: and that I proue by sufficient authoritie
of Anciente Fathers. Here thou haste the same Countrie Cappadocia, the
same Cittie of Caesarea, the same time of persecution vnder Iulianus Apostata, the
same man, the same Martyr, and the same name. If this be true, as in deede it is,
what maiste thou then thinke of M. Hardinge, that saithe, it is false? what maiste
thou then thinke of him, that so boldely telleth thee, that this Eupsychius was neuer,
neither Bishop of Caesarea, nor of any other place els: no not so mutche as a
Prieste, or a Deacon, or a Subdeacon? What maiste thou then thinke of him, that
blusshethe not thus vainely to blotte his papers, and thus to telle the Worlde:
M. Iewel hathe fathered a shameful Lie vpon Cassiodorus: M. Iewel hathe belied, and falsified Sozomenus,
and his Translatoure ? What maiste thou then thinke of him, that so impatiently
crieth out without cause, Phy vpon sutche shamelesse Liers: O lamentable state, where
the people of God is compelled to heare sutche Prophetes. It were better for M. Hardinge,
to be wise, and sober, and thus to fare.
Where as againste the inordinate Ambition, and Pride of the Bishoppes of
Rome, I allege these woordes out of the Booke called Opus Imperfectum, bearinge
the name of Chrysostome, Who so desireth Primacie in Earthe, shal in Heauen finde Confusion.
M. Hardinge answeareth, Theise woordes are not, neither in Opere Imperfecto,
nor in any other Booke of Chrysostome: Chrysostome hathe no sutch saieinge: It is a forgerie: and
that you knowe wel yenoughe: yet yee are not ashamed to deceiue the ignorante. Here haue
wee a very peremptorie Negatiue boldely presumed. And a man woulde thinke,
that a Doctour of Diuinitie woulde not so stoutely warrant a matter, onlesse He
knewe it. For so perhaps he might be founde ignorante, and be deceiued. But,
good Reader, if thou happen at any time to haue accesse vnto him, I beseeche thee,
euen as thou haste affiance in his woorde, and tenderest his credite, desire him to
open his Booke, called Opus Imperfectum, and to turne to the fiue and thirtie
Homilie of the same. There shalt thou finde theise selfe same woordes, whiche he
so constantly telleth thee, can neuer be founde in al the worlde: Quicunq~ desiderauerit
Primatum in Terra, inueniet in Coelo Confusionem: Who so euer ambitiously
desireth Primacie in Earthe, He in Heauen shal finde Confusion. These woordes, I saie,
M. Hardinge shal finde, not onely in his owne Gratian, whiche thinge vnto him
had benne sufficiente, but also in the Authoure him selfe. Aske him therefore,
what he meante, so out of season to talke of forgerie. Aske him what so heinous
offense M. Iewel hathe committed herein, whereof he ought to be ashamed.