e Catholic faith to Christ their Head,
must needs be said, so many hundreds of years, to have been
ignorant, to have erred, to have blasphemed, to have believed they
knew not what."

Lastly, "_novelties_:"--

"'Avoid (quoth he) profane _novelties_ of words,' to receive and
follow which was never the custom of Catholics, but always of
heretics. And, to say truth, what heresy hath ever burst forth, but
under the name of some certain man, in some certain place, and at
some certain time? Who ever set up any heresy, but first divided
himself from the consent of the universality and antiquity of the
Catholic Church? Which to be true, examples do plainly prove. For
who ever before that profane Pelagius presumed so much of man's
free will, that he thought not the grace of God necessary to aid it
in every particular good act? Who ever before his monstrous
disciple Celestius denied all mankind to be bound with the guilt of
Adam's transgression? Who ever before sacrilegious Arius durst rend
in pieces the Unity of Trinity? Who ever before wicked Sabellius
durst confound the Trinity of Unity? Who ever before cruel Novatian
affirmed God to be merciless, in that He had rather the death of a
sinner than that he should return and live? Who ever before Simon
Magus, durst affirm that God our Creator was the Author of evil,
that is, of our wickedness, impieties, and crimes; because God (as
he said) so with His own hands made man's very nature, that by a
certain proper motion and impulse of an enforced will, it can do
nothing else, desire nothing else, but to sin. Such examples are
infinite, which for brevity-sake I omit, by all which,
notwithstanding, it appeareth plainly and clearly enough, that it
is, as it were, a custom and law in all heresies, ever to take
great pleasure in profane novelties, to loath the decrees of our
forefathers, and to make shipwreck of faith, by oppositions of
falsely-called knowledge; contrariwise that this is usually proper
to all Catholics, to keep those things which the holy Fathers have
left, and committed to their charge, to condemn profane novelties,
and, as the Apostle hath said, and again forewarned, 'if any man
shall preach otherwise than that which is received,' to
anathematize him."--_Ch._ 27-34.

From these extracts, which ar