7. “That any layman, though he have not studied at College, has a right to preach the Gospel everywhere, and that he may teach (provided he has been properly elected thereto by his church, as has been stated elsewhere) upon his own authority, without permission from his ordinary bishop.
8. “That it is sin to give anything to the Dominicans, Minorites, Augustinians, and Carmelites.
9. “That we ought not to sacrifice at the funerals of the dead.
10. “That auricular confession of sins to the priest is unnecessary.
11. “That every good man, though he be unlearned, is a priest before God.
12. “That a child, though it die unbaptized, will be saved.”
NOTE.--This is putting down infant baptism out and out as of no value; since the papists were not ashamed to say, that it were better, that a whole country should sink out of sight, than that a child should die without baptism; maintaining, that all unbaptized infants would go to hell, and be eternally damned.
13. “That neither the Pope, nor the prelates, nor any ordinary, can compel any one to swear, either by any of God’s creatures, or by the Bible, or by the New Testament.”
Here it must be observed, that these people thereby denied all manner of swearing of oaths, not only that which is done by the creature, but also by the Creator himself; since even in England they did not, at that time, swear by the creature; but in the form of swearing this custom was observed by the papists, namely, he who was to swear, knelt down, and laid his hand upon the Bible, or the Testament, and said: “I swear by God and his holy Gospel, etc., so truly help me God.”
But who does not know, that the Gospel or the word of God is no creature? And though it be that in swearing the hand was laid upon the Bible, or upon the Gospel book, in token of the testimony, the swearing was not done by the material book; as also in our countries, when in swearing (among those who hold thus) the hand or the finger is held up, the swearing is not done by that hand or that finger.
Hence, said people were opposed not only to the manner of swearing, but to swearing itself, even though they have been required to swear, not by the creature, but by the Creator himself. Concerning this, see their own confession.
14. “That the bishop as well as a common man, and a layman as well as the priest, are of equal authority, as long as they live aright.
15. “That no one is bound to accord any bodily reverence (that is, by bending the knee and worshiping, as was then customary in England), to any prelate.”
These are briefly the chief articles which, according to the preceding decree of the King, and the ecclesiastical ordinance, or much rather inquisition of the archbishop, were laid before the Christians in England, for recantation. See large Book of _Christian Martyrs, fol. 517, col. 3, 4_, from _John Fox, Hist. Angl. 485_.
_A. D. 1402._--About this time, Thomas Walsingham, a bitter papistic historian records some articles of the abovementioned people, which, as he states, one Louis of Clifford, formerly a defender of the faith of these people, had discovered to the archbishop of Canterbury. The fifth of those articles reads as follows: “If they (the said people) had a new-born infant, they would not have it baptized in church, by the hands of the priest.” _Thom. Wals._, in _Hist., Reg. Angl. and Hypodigmate Neustrie, A. D. 1402_.
To this article several words are immediately added; but these are denied by a certain writer, who quotes said passage, and says, that the apostate, Louis of Clifford, in order to please the archbishop, or the bishop himself, surreptitiously added these words; therefore we will leave it as it is. _A. Mell., 2d book, fol. 518, col. 1._