There was in our Countrey an honest and sober man, who before the light of the Gospell began to appeare, vsed this =Dilemma=: The Bishop of _Rome_ either hath authoritie to bring soules out of the paines of Purgatorie, or else he hath no authoritie: If he haue that power, and will not vse it, except he receiue money, he cannot escape the fault of crueltie and couetousnesse: But if hée haue no such authoritie, surely it is great villainie to robbe so many widowes and fatherlesse children, and so arrogantly to boast himselfe of authoritie whiche hée hath not. And if there bee no Purgatorie (as by the holy Scriptures it plainly gathered there is not) surely then mennes soules can neyther returne from thence, nor offer themselues to be séene of men. [Sidenote: Limbus puerorum.] Nowe as touching the fourth place, namely =Limbus puerorum=, (in the which innocent children, as they call them, are saide to be) Papistes themselues scant dare affirme, that they returne againe and appeare vnto men, and craue their helpe: for they teache, that if they depart without baptisme, they shall neuer enioy the sight of God, and for that cause they may not be buried in the same Churchyard with other Christians. Merciful God! how many godly matrones hath this false deuise miserably vexed? I call it a false deuise, for that they bring nothing out of the holie scriptures whereby to proue this poynt of doctrine. The scriptures do not attribute so much vnto external baptisme, which is by water. Was the condition of infants better in the olde Testament than in the new? You do not reade that the olde Fathers, supposed that infants which died before the eight day, and therfore were not circumcised, should be separated from the sight of God for euer. =Dauid= the king and prophet, said he should follow his sonne, whom God had called out of this life before he was circumcised. But it was not =Dauids= meaning that hee should goe into a place where he should bee depriued of the sight of God for euer. But it appertaineth not much vnto our purpose to dispute any further hereof. Thus haue I now answered the cheefest arguments of our aduersaries, whereby they would proue the soules of good and euil men, to offer themselues to be séene sometimes of them that liue, after their departure by death from their bodies. CHAP. XIIII. What those things are which men see and heare: and first that good Angels do sometimes appeare. [Sidenote: Angells appeare. _Matth._18.] [Sidenote: _Esay_.63.] [Sidenote: _Dani._10.] [Sidenote: _Psal._34.] [Sidenote: Whole armies of Angels.] [Sidenote: Cōstantinople preserued by the appearing of Angels.]