And first this; that though the pens of Mr. Cartwright and the Bishop
were now at rest, yet there was sprung up a new generation of restless
men, that by company and clamours became possessed of a faith, which
they ought to have kept to themselves, but could not: men that
were become positive in asserting, "That a papist cannot be saved:"
insomuch, that about this time, at the execution of the Queen of
Scots, the Bishop that preached her Funeral Sermon--which was Dr.
Howland,[21] then Bishop of Peterborough--was reviled for not being
positive for her damnation. And besides this boldness of their
becoming Gods, so far as to set limits to His mercies, there was
not only one Martin Mar-Prelate,[22] but other venomous books daily
printed and dispersed; books that were so absurd and scurrilous, that
the graver Divines disdained them an answer. And yet these were grown
into high esteem with the common people, till Tom Nash[23] appeared
against them all, who was a man of a sharp wit, and the master of
a scoffing, satirical, merry pen, which he employed to discover
the absurdities of those blind, malicious, senseless pamphlets, and
sermons as senseless as they; Nash's answers being like his books,
which bore these, or like titles: "An Almond for a Parrot;" "A Fig for
my Godson;" "Come crack me this nut," and the like; so that this
merry wit made some sport, and such a discovery of their absurdities,
as--which is strange--he put a greater stop to these malicious
pamphlets, than a much wiser man had been able.
[Sidenote: Mr. Travers]
And now the Reader is to take notice, that at the death of Father
Alvey, who was Master of the Temple, this Walter Travers was
Lecturer there for the Evening Sermons, which he preached with great
approbation, especially of some citizens, and the younger gentlemen of
that Society; and for the most part approved by Mr. Hooker himself,
in the midst of their oppositions. For he continued Lecturer a part of
his time; Mr. Travers being indeed a man of competent learning, of a
winning behaviour, and of a blameless life. But he had taken Orders
by the Presbytery in Antwerp,--and with them some opinions, that could
never be eradicated,--and if in anything he was transported, it was
in an extreme desire to set up that government in this nation; for
the promoting of which he had a correspondence with Theodore Beza at
Geneva, and others in Scotland; and was one of the chiefest assistants
to Mr. Cartwright in that design.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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