him to sende Congratulatorie letters vnto him saying that he came vnto it nec ambiens nec expetens vltroneo fauore Principis humanissimi that is neither ambitiously seeking it nor once asking it but by the meere fauour of his most gracious Prince King Henry tooke such extraordinarie loue in Sir THOMAS his companie that he would sometimes on a suddain as before I touched come ouer to his house at Chelsey and be merrie with him whither on a time vnlooked for he came and dined at his house And after dinner walked with him the space of an hower holding his arme about his necke most louingly in the gardin VVhen his Maiestie was gone my vncle Rooper reioyced thereat and tolde his father how happie he was for that the king had shewed him such extraordinarie signes of loue as he had neuer seene him doe to anie other except the Cardinal whome he saw with the king once walke arme in arme VVhereto Sir THOMAS answering sayd I thanke our Lord God I finde his Grace my verie good Lord indeede and I belieue he doth as singularly fauour me as anie other subiect within this realme how beit sonne Rooper I may tell you I haue no cause to be proude thereof for if my head would winne him a Castle in France for then there was warres betweene France and vs it should not faile to go of By which wordes he euidētly shewed how little he ioyed either in the king's fauour or in his worldlie honour piercing with his singuler eie of iudgement into king Henry's nature that what shew of friendship soeuer he made to anie yet he loued none but to serue his owne turne and no longer was anie in his fauour but as long as they applyed themselues to his humours yet could he not choose but loue Sir THOMAS for his singular partes his profound iudgement his pleasant witt and intire sinceritie for which causes the rare and admirable Queene Catherine king Henrie's first wife would often say that the king her husband had but one sound Counseller in his kingdome meaning Sir THOMAS MORE for the rest she sayd that either they spoke as the king would haue them or had not such matter of iudgement in them and as for Cardinal VVolsey who was then the greatest subiect in the realme for his owne benefitt and ende he cared not what counsell he gaue the king He was of base parentage and as they say a butchers sonne of Ipsvvich yet had he crept vp into fauour partely by his learning partely by his nimble witt and louelie carriadge whereby he could in sinuate himself into great mens fauours he had also a readie toung and a bolde countenance and had gotten manie spirituall liuings togeather bestowing them vpon vanities as great and sumptuous buildings costlie bancketts and greate magnificence for he was vaine glorious aboue all measure as may be seene by Sir THOMAS MORE 's booke of Comfort in Tribulation where he meaneth of him what is spoken vnder the name of a great Prelate of Germanie who when he had made an oration before a great audience would bluntely aske them that sate at his table with him how they all liked it but he that should bring forth a meane commendatiō of it was sure to haue no thankes for his labour And he there telleth further how a great spirituall man who should haue commended it last of all was putt to such a non plus that he had neuer a word to say but crying oh and fetching a deepe sigh he cast his eies into the welking and wept On a time the Cardinal had drawen a draught of certeine Conditions of peace betweene England and France and he asked Sir Thomas More 's counsell therein beseeching him earnestly that he would tell him if there were anie thing therein to be misliked And he spake this so hartily saith Sir THOMAS that he belieued verily that he was willing to heare his aduise indeede But when Sir THOMAS had dealt really therein shewed wherein that draught might haue bene amended he suddenly rose in a rage and sayd By the Masse thou art the veriest foole of all the Counsell At which Sir THOMAS smiling sayd God be thanked that the king our Maister hath but one foole in all his Councel But we shall haue occasion to speake more hereafter of this Cardinal THE THIRD CHAPTER THE COVRTEOVS and meeke behaueour of Sir THOMAS MORES his frinds at home and abroade 1. The gentle disposition of S. T. More in all occasions 2. His prompt and ready vvitt 3. His frindship vvith learned men at home 4. With learned men of other nations 5. His pleasaunt and merry conuersation 1. SIR THOMAS MORE for all his honour and fauour with his Prince was nothing puffed vp with pride disdaine or arrogancie but was of such a milde behauiour and excellent temper that he could neuer be moued to anie passion or anger as mine vncle Rooper wittnesseth who affirmeth that in sixteene yeares space and more that he dwelt in his house and was conuersant with him alwaies he could neuer perceaue him so much as once in a fume Yea Margaret Gigs who was brought vp from a childe amongst Sir THOMAS his children and vsed by him no otherwise then one of them and afterwards married Doctour Clement a singular learned woman would say that sometimes she would committ a fault for the nonce to heare Sir THOMAS MORE chide her he did it with such grauitie such moderation such loue and compassion His meekenesse and humilitie was also perceaued in this that if it had fortuned anie schollar to come to him as there did manie daily either from Oxford Cambridge or else where some for desire of his acquaintance as he had intercourse of letters with all the men of fame in all Christendome some againe for the report of his learning and singular wisedome some for suites of the Vniuersities if anie of them I say had entred into argument whrein few were able to dispute long with him he would vrge verie forcibly and if it fortuned that they entred togeather so farre to dispute that he perceaued they could not without some inconueniēce holde out much further against his arguments then least he should discourage them as he that sought not his owne glorie he would seeme to be confuted that the student should not be discomforted euer shewing himselfe more desirous to learne then to teache and so by some wittie deuise he would courteously breake out into some other matter 2. Such was also his readinesse of witt that going euer in progresse with the king either to Oxford or Cambridge when they were receaued with verie eloquent orations he was alwaies the man appointed by his Maiestie ex tempore to make answer vnto them as he that was promptest and most readie therein Yea when the king went into France to meete the French king Sir THOMAS MORE made a speach of their congratulation which he also
time hath bene betvveene vs as also in respect of the sinceritie of your minde because you vvould be alvvaies readie to take thankefully vvhatsoeuer in this vvorke should seeme gratefull vnto you and whatsoeuer should be barren therein you vvould make a courteous construction thereof whatsoeuer might be vnpleasing you vvould be vvilling to pardon I vvould to God I had as much vvitt and learning as I am not altogeather destitute of memorie As for Bishopp Tunstall he was a learned man and wrote a singuler booke of the reall presēce And although during king Henrie's raigne he went with the sway of the time for who almost did otherwise to the great griefe of Sir THOMAS MORE yet liuing to the time of Q. Elizabeth whose Godfather he was when she berayed the fonte in his olde age seing her take strange courses against the Church he came from Durham and stoutely admonished her not to change religiō which if she presumed to doe he threatned her to leese Gods blessing and his She nothing pleased with his threates made him be cast into prison as most of the Bishops were where he made a glorious ende of a Confessour and satisfyed for his former crime of Schisme contracted in the time of king Henrie's raigne Sir THOMAS MORE 's friendshipp with the glorious Bishop of Rochester was neither short nor small but had long continued and ended not with their famous martyrdomes See how good Bishop Fisher writeth vnto him Lett I pray you our Cambridge men haue some hope in you to be fauoured by the king's Maiestie that our schollars may be stirred vp to learning by the countenance of so vvorthie a prince VVe haue fevv friends in the Court vvich can or vvill commende our causes to his royall Maiestie and amongst all vve accounte you the chiefe vvho haue alvvaies fauoured vs greatly euen vvhen you vvere in a meaner place and novv also shevv vvhat you can doe being mised to the honour of knighthood and in such great fauour vvith our prince of vvhich vve greately reioyce and also doe congratulate your happinesse Giue furtherance to this youth vvho is both a good schollar in Diuinitie and also a sufficient preacher to the people For he hath hope in your fauour that you can procure him greate furtherance and that my commendations vvill helpe him to your fauour To this Sir THOMAS MORE answereth thus This Priest Reuerend Father vvhome you vvrite to be in possibilitie of a Bishopricke if he might haue some vvorthie suiter to speake for him to the king I imagine that I haue so preuayled that his Maiestie vvill be no hindrance thereto c. Yf I haue anie fauour vvith the king vvhich truly is but litle but vvhatsoeuer I haue I vvill employ all I can to the seruice of your Fatherhood and your schollars to vvhome I yeelde perpetuall thankes for their deare affections tovvards me often testifyed by their louing letters and my house shall be open to them as though it vvere their ovvne Farevvell vvorthie and most courteous prelate and see you loue me as you haue donne His loue and friendshipp with yong Poole afterwards a famous Cardinal may be seene by their letters he maketh mention of him with great praise in a letter he wrote to his welbeloued daughter Margaret Rooper in this wise I cannot expresse in vvriting nor scarcely can conceyue it by thought hovv gratefull to me your most eloquent letters deare daughter Margarett are Whilst I vvas reading them there happened to be vvith me Reinald Poole that most noble youth not so noble by birth as he is singularly learned and excellently endevved vvith all kinde of vertue to him your letter seemed as a miracle yea before he vnderstoode hovv neare you were besett with the shortenesse of time and the molestation of your vveake infirmitie hauing notvvithstanding sent me so long a letter I could scarce make him belieue but that you had some helpe from your Maister vntill I tolde him seriously that you had not only neuer a maister in your house but also neuer another man that needed not your helpe rather in vvriting anie thing then you needed his And in another to Doctour Clement a most famous phisitian and one that was brought vp in Sir THOMAS his owne house he sayth thus I thanke you my deare Clement for that I finde you so carefull of my health and my childrens so that you prescribe in your absence vvhat meates are to be auoided by vs. And you my friend Poole I render double thankes both because you haue vouchsafed to sende vs in vvriting the counsell of so great a phisitian and besides haue procured the same for vs from your mother a most excellent and noble matrone and vvorthie of so great a sonne so as you do not seeme to be more liberall of your counsell then in bestovving vpon vs the thing itselfe vvhich you counsell vs vnto VVherefore I loue and praise you both for your bountie and fidelitie And of Sir THOMAS MORE 's friendship Cardinal Poole boasteth much after his martyrdome in his excellent booke De vnitate Ecclesia saying yf you thinke that I haue giuen scope to my sorrowe because they were my best beloued friends that were putt to death meaning Sir THOMAS MORE and Bishop Fisher I do both acknowledge and professe it to be true most willingly that they both were deare vnto me aboue all others For how can I dissemble this seing that I doe reioyce more of their loue towards me then if I should boaste that I had gotten the dearest familiaritie withall the princes of Christendome His frienshipp also with Doctour Lea afterwards the worthie Archbishopp of Yorke was not small nor fayned although he had written an excellent booke against Erasmus his Annotations vpon the new Testament Erasmus being then Sir THOMAS his intire friend and as it were the one halfe of his owne hart For Sir THOMAS writeth thus vnto him Good Lea that you request of me not to suffer my loue to be diminished tovvards you trust me good Lea it shall not though of myselfe I incline rather to that parte that is oppugned And as I could vvish that this Cittie vvere freed from your siege so vvill I alvvaies loue you and be glad that you do so much esteeme of my loue He speaketh also of Lupset a singular learned man of that time in an epistle to Erasmus Our friend Lupsett readeth with great applause in both toungs at Oxford hauing a great auditorie for he succeedeth my Iohn Clement in that charge What familiaritie there was betwixt him and Doctour Collett Grocine Linacre and Lillie all singuler men we haue spoken of heretofore VVilliam Montioy a man of great learning and VVilliam Lattimer not Hugh the heretike that was burnt but another most famous for vertue and good letters were his verie great acquaintance as also Iohn Croke that read Greeke first at Lipsia in Germanie and was after King Henrie's Greek maister
Supremacie and marriage was comprized in few wordes in the first Statute the Lo Chancellour and Mr. Secretarie did of their owne heads adde more wordes vnto it to make it seeme more plausible to the king's eares and this Oath so amplifyed they had exhibited to Sir THOMAS and others of which their deede Sir THOMAS sayde to his daughter I may tell thee Megg that they who haue committed me hither for refusing an oath not agreable with their owne statute are not able by their owne law to instifye mine imprisonment wherefore it is great pittie that anie Christian prince should be drawen to followe his affections by flexible counsell and by a weake Clergie lacking grace for want of which they stande weakely to their learning abuse themselues with flatterie so shamefully Which wordes coming to the Councell's eares they caused another Statute espying their ouersight to be enacted with all these conditions Another time looking out of his windowe to beholde one Mr. Reynolds a religious learned and vertuous Father of Sion and three monkes of the Charterhouse going forth of the Tower to their executiō for now king Henry beganne to be fleshed in bloud hauing putt to death the Nunne and diuerse others and manie after for the Supremacie and his marriage Sir THOMAS as one that longed to accompanie them in that iourney sayde to his daughter thē standing besides him Loe doest not thou see Megg that these blessed Fathers be now as chearefully going to death as if they were bridegroomes going to be married whereby good daughter thou maist see what a great difference there is betweene such as haue in effect spent all their daies in a straight hard and penitentiall life religiously and such as haue in the world like worldlie wretches as thy poore father hath donne consumed all their time in pleasure and ease licentiously For God considering their lōg continued life in most sore and grieuous pennance will not suffer them anie longer to remaine in this vale of miserie but taketh them speedily hence to the fruitiō of his euerlasting deitie whereas thy sillie father who hath most like a wicked Caytife passed forth most sinfully the whole course of his miserable life God thinketh him not worthie to come so soone to that eternall felicitie but leaueth him still in the world further to be plunged and turmoiled with miserie By which most humble and heauenlie meditation we may easily guesse what a spirite of Charitie he had gotten by often meditations that euerie sight brought him new matter to practise most heroicall resolutions Within a while after this Mr. Secretarie coming to him from the king who still gaped more for Sir THOMAS his relenting then all his other subiects pretended much friendshipp towards Sir THOMAS and for his comfort tolde him that the king was his good and gratious Lord and minded not to vrge him to anie matter wherein he should haue anie cause of scruple from thenceforth to trouble his consciēce As soone as M. Secretarie was gone to expresse what comfort he receaued of his words he wrote with a coale as he did vsually manie other letters because all his Inke had bene taken from him by the king's expresse commaundement certaine wittie verses which are printed in his booke All the while Sir THOMAS was in the Tower he was not idle but busied himself in writing with a coale for the most parte spirituall treatises as the Three bookes of Comfort in Tribulation where in a dialogue manner vnder the names of two Hungarians fearing the Turkes running ouer their Countrie who had made great preparations therefore he paynteth out in liuelie coulours both the danger that England stoode then in to be ouerwhelmed with heresie and how good Catholikes should prepare themselues to loose libertie life and lands and whatsoeuer can be most deare vnto them rather then to forsake their fayth It is a most excellent booke full of spirituall and forcible motiues expressing liuely Sir THOMAS his singular resolution to apply all those holesome medicines to himself now being readie to practise in deede whatsoeuer he setteth downe in wordes 4. When he had remained a good while in the Tower my Ladie his wife obtained leaue to see him that he might haue more motiues to breake his conscience who at the first comming to him like a plaine rude woman and somewhat worldlie too in this māner beganne bluntely to salute him What the good yeare Mr. More I maruell that you who haue bene hitherto alwaies taken for a wise man will now so play the foole as to lie here in this close filthie prison and be content to be shutt vp thus with mice and ratts when you might be abroad at your libertie with the fauour and good will both of the king and the Councell if you would but doe as all the bishopps best learned of his realme haue donne and seing you haue at Chelsey a right fayre house your librarie your bookes your gallerie your gardine your orchard and all other necessaries so handsome about you where you might in companie of me your wife your Children and housholde be merrie I muse what a Gods name you meane here still thus fondly to tarrie After he had a good while heard her he sayd vnto her with a chearefull countenance I pray thee good Mris Alice tell me one thing What is that sayth she Is not this house as neare heauen as mine ovvne she āswering after her custome Tillie vallie tillie vallie he replyed how sayst thou Mris Alice is it not so indeede Bone Deus man will this geare neuer be left Well then Mris Alice if it be so I see no great cause vvhy I should much ioye either of my fayre house or anie thing belonging therevnto vvhen if I should be but seauen yeares buried vnder the ground and rise and come thither againe he might haue sayd but seauen moneths I should not fayle to finde some therein that vvould bid me gett me out of doores and tell me plainely that it vvere none of mine what cause haue I then to like such a house as vvould so soone forgett his Maister Againe tell me Mris Alice how long doe you thinke may we liue and enioye it Some twentie yeares sayd she Truly replyed he yf you had sayd some thousand yeares it had bene somewhat and yet he vvere a very bad marchant that vvould putt himself in danger to leese eternitie for a thousand yeares hovv much the rather if vve are not sure to enioy it one day to an ende And thus her perswasions moued him but a little thinking of those wordes of Iob to his wife tempting him quasi vna ex stultis mulieribus locuta est Not long after this came there to him at two seuerall times the Lord Chancellour the Duke of Norfolke and Suffolke with Mr. Secretarie and certaine others of the Priuie Councell to procure him by all meanes and policies they could either to confesse
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF Sr. THOMAS MOORE WHO WAS LORD CHANCELOR OF ENGLAND TO KING HENRY THE EIGHT Printed for N.Y. 1642 The Preface to the Reader 1. AS I cannot but daily thinke of the rare and admirable vertues both of nature and grace which did shine most perspicuously in the blessed life and glorious death of that worthie Champion of Christs Church Sr. THOMAS MORE so also haue I often had an earnest desire especially for the spirituall behoofe of my selfe and my Children who are as small brookes deriued by naturall propagation frō that spacious sea of rare perfections or like tender twigs drawing sappe from the fruitfull roote of his noble excellēcies to giue them a taste according to my poore abilitie of some few of his most heroical vertues professing my self vtterly vnable to sett downe his life in writing as he deserueth 2. For if that Apelles the principall paynter that euer liued was thought only fitt to drawe with his pencell the pourtraicture of Alexander the Great or if Lysippus the most curious engrauer was the onlie man which was suffered to carue in brasse the beauteous feature of the same so worthie a personage for feare least that some vnskillfull workeman might rather blemish his fauour then anie waies grace it what courage can I haue to vndertake a worke of so great difficultie as this who know myselfe a verie puney in comparison of so manie famous men that haue vndergone this businesse alreadie finding in the verie beginning of this mine enterprise my small capacitie ouerwhelmed with the plentie and copiousnesse of this subiect and yf I should boaste my witt and skill to be equall with learned Stapleton's who at large and with great diligence and dexteritie hath sett forth the life of this great seruant of God in his booke intituled The three Thomases I should vanish away in mine owne pride knowing my self right well most vnworthie to be compared vnto him or if I should challenge vnto my selfe more certaintie of the matter related then my great vncle Mr. William Rooper could haue euerie one might iudge me both vaine and arrogant of whose sinceritie none that euer knewe him or heard of him can doubte I being the third in descent from S. THOMAS and he his owe sonne-in law with whome he had familiarly conuersed y space of sixteene yeares togeather as he himself confesseth yet for all this I haue now at last ventured to discourse a little of the life and death of this glorious Martyr for so without enuie I hope I may call him non vt electus ex multis sed quasi relictus ex omnibus not as one that may be thought fitt to sett his life forth with good grace but as he who only vpon a naturall affection to his Ancestour trusting chiefly of Gods ayde and this Saint's holie praiers is emboldened to say somewhat thereof this being one propertie of affection to suppose that whosoeuer hath spoken or whatsoeuer hath bene sayd of him whome we loue all that we thinke nothing if we ourselues haue not sayd somewhat in his praise although alas we are often the vnfittest men for that purpose we being not able to vtter what we conceaue because our passion taketh away much of our conceipt and therefore we vtter for the most parte either broken words or vnperfect sentences more intelligible to him that searcheth the secretts of mens harts then to others that heare them spoken or reade them in our writings 3. But one may aske me why I should challenge more affection to this man then anie other of my kinne of whome few or none haue endeauoured to write any thing hitherto I answer that though I haue had more cause perhaps then anie man else to loue him and honour him which is best knowen to my selfe and not fitt to be related vnto all men secretum meum mihi yet will I not ascribe to my selfe so great a priuiledge of louing him best I being the yongest and meanest of all my familie lett this suffice him that is a curious searcher of this my deede that as Doctour Stapleton was moued to take paines in setting forth the actions of S. THOMAS MORE because he was borne in the verie same moneth and yeare wherein he suffered his glorious martyrdome so was I borne anew and regenerated by the holie Sacrament of Baptisme on the verie same day though manie yeares after on which Sr. THOMAS MORE entred heauen triumphant to witt on the sixt day of Iuly And therefore haue I had some speciall confidence of his particular furtherance and blessing For how I pray you could I euer haue hoped to haue liued as heyre of Sr. THOMAS his familie and to enioye at this time some parte of his inheritance all which by his attaynder he had lost vtterly from himself and his children if his praiers had not as it were begged it at Gods hands besides I was the yongest of thirteene children of my father the last meanest of fiue sonnes foure of which liued to mens estate and yet it hath bene Gods holie pleasure to bestowe this in heritance vpon me which though perhaps I haue no cause to boaste of because it may be a punishment vnto me for my faultes if I vse it not well and a burden which may weighe me downe full deepe yet will the world coniecture it to be a great blessing of God and so I ought to acknowledge it And although I knowe myself the vnfittest and vnworthiest of all the foure to manage this estate yet they either loathed the world before the world fawned on thē liuing in voluntarie contempt thereof and dyed happie soules in that they chose to be accounted abiect in the sight of mē or else they vtterly cast of all care of earthlie trash by professing a strayte and religious life for feare least the dangerous perills of worldlie wealth might gaule their soules and the number of snares which hang in euerie corner of this world might entrappe thē to the endangering of their eternall saluation and left me poore soule to sinke or swime or as I can wade out of these dangerous whirle pooles amongsts which we wordlings are ingulphed the multitude of which eminent perils doe force me to cry first and chiefly to CHRIST IESVS saying with his Apostles Lord saue me for I am in danger of drowning and then also to craue the especiall assistance of Sr. THOMAS MORE his prayers by whose intercession I hope to wafte this my poore barke vnto her assured hauen of heauen though shaken and crushed with winde and weather 4. But none of vs must thinke that his assistance is all we must putt our owne helping hands thereto Nāgenus proauos quae non fecimus ipsi Vix ea nostra voco his meritts are not our warrant yea rather his exāples haue layde a greater loade on the backes of his posteritie in that we are bound to imitate his actions more then
so merrie so modest and so friendlie that lett me be baked if I vvould not purchase this one mans familiaritie vvith the losse of a good parte of my estate And in his Vtopia he speaketh thus of him Whilst I liue here in Anwerp I am visited often amongst the rest by Peter Giles then vvhome none is more gratefull vnto me he is natiue of Anwerp and a man of good reputation amongst his countriemen and vvorthie of the best For he is such a yong man that I knovve not vvhether he is more learned or better qualifyed vvith good conditions for he is a most vertuous man and a great schollar besides of courteous behauiour tovvards all men of such a sincere carriage loue and affection tovvards his friend that you can scarce finde such another youth to sett by him that may be compared vnto him he is of rare modestie all flatterie is farre from him plainenesse vvith vvisedome are seated in him togeather moreouer so pleasant in talke and so merrie vvithout anie offence that he greately lesseneth by his pleasant discourse the desire I haue to see my Countrie my house my vvise my children of vvhose companie I am of myself too anxious and vvhome to enioy I am too desirous Of Beatus Renanus a verie learned man he writeth in an epistle to Erasmu thus I loue Renanus maruelously and am much in his debt for his good Preface vvhome I vvould haue thanked a good vvhile agoe but that I haue bene troubled vvith such a govvte of the hand that is to say idlenesse that by no meanes I could ouercome it Cranuilde also an excellent learned man and one of the Emperour Charles his priuie Councell was brought to Sir THOMAS MORE 's friendshipp by Erasmus for which both of them thanked Erasmus exceedingly as appeareth first by Cranuild's letter to him which is thus I cannot but thanke you greatly vvith these my though rude letters most learned in all sciences for your singular benefitt lately bestovved vpon me vvhich I shall alvvaies beare in remembrance and vvhich I esteeme so much as that I vvould not leâ—se it far Craesus's vvealth You vvill aske me vvhat benefitt that vvas truly this that you haue brought me to the acquaintance and svveete conuersation of your friend MORE but novv I vvill call him mine vvhome after your departure I often frequented because he often sent for me vnto him vvhose bountiefull entertainement at his table I esteeme not so much as his learning his courtesie and his liberalitie Wherefore I accounte myself deepely indebted vnto you and desire God that I may be able to demonstrate vnto you a gratefull signification of this good turne donne me In his absence he sent my vvife a ring of golde the posie vvhereof in English vvas All things are measured by good will He gaue me also certaine olde peeces of siluer and golde coyne in one vvhereof vvas grauen Tiberius's picture in another Augustus vvhich I am vvilling to tell you because I am somevvhat to thanke you for all Whome Erasmus answered thus This is that sure vvhich is vulgarly spoken I haue by the meanes of one daughter gotten tvvo sonnes in lavv you thanke me because by my meanes you haue gotten so speciall a friend as MORE is and he on the other side thanketh me also for that I haue procured his knovvledge of Cranuilde I knevv vvell enough that because your vvitts and manners vvere alike there vvould easily arise a deare friendshipp betvvixt you if so vvere that you did but knovve each other but as the hauing of such friends is precious so is the true keeping of them as rare Heare how Sir THOMAS writeth to Cranuilde I both perceaue and acknovvledge hovv much I am in your debt my deare Cranuilde because you neuer cease to doe that vvhich is most gratefull vnto me in that you certifye me still of your affayres and friends For vvhat can be either more acceptable to THOMAS MORE in his aduersitie or more pleasing vnto him in his prosperitie then to receaue letters from Cranuilde except one could bring me to the speach of him a most learned man of all others But as often as I reade your vvritings I am enamoured therevvith as yf I vvere conuersing vvith you in presence Wherefore nothing troubleth me more then that your letters are no longer yet haue I found a meanes to remedie that because I reade them ouer againe and againe I do it leasurely that my suddaine reading them may not bereaue me of my pleasure But so much for this That vvhich you vvrite concerning our friend Viues vvho hath made a discourse of vvicked vvomen I agree so well vvith your opinion that I thinke one cannot liue vvithout inconueniencies vvith the verie best vvoman For if anie man be married he shall not be vvithout care and in my conceipt Metellus Numidicus spoke truly of vviues vvhich I vvould speake the rather if manie of them through our ovvne faultes vvere not made the vvorse But Viues hath gotten so good a vvife that he may not shunne only as much as possible any man all the troubles of marriage but also thereby he may receaue great contentment yet novv mens mindes are so busied vvith publike garboiles vvhilst the furie of vvarres doth so rage euerie vvhere that no man is at leasure to thinke of his priuate cares vvhere fore if anie housholde troubles haue heretofore oppressed anie they are novv all obscured by reason of common mischiefes But this suffiseth for this matter for that I returne to your self vvhose courtesies and friendshipp tovvards me as often as I thinke of vvhich is verie often it shaketh from me all sorrovv I thanke you for the booke you sent me and I vvish much ioy vvith your nevv childe not for your ovvne sake only but for the Common vvealthes vvose great benefitt it is that such a parent should encrease it vvith plentie of children For from you none but excellent children can be borne Farevvell and commende me carefully and hartily to your vvife to vvhome I pray God sende happie health and strength My vvife and children also vvish you health to vvhome by my reporte you are as vvell knovven and as deare as to myself Againe farevvell London 10. Aug. 1524. Another letter he wrote vnto him in this sorte I am ashamed so God help me my deare Cranuilde of this your great courtesie tovvards me that you do salute me vvith your letters so often so louingly and so carefully vvhen as I so seldome do salute you againe especially seing you may pretende yea alleage as manie troubles of businesses as I can but such is the sinceritie of your affection and such the constancie thereof as although you are readie to excuse all things in your friends yet you yourselfe are alvvaies readie to perfurme euery thing and to goe forvvard vvithout omitting that vvhich might be pardoned in you But persvvade yourself good Cranuild that if there happen anie thing at anie time
by which vnder pretence of helping the poore he goeth about to cast out the Clergie and to ouerthrowe all Abbies and religious houses bearing men in hand that after that the Gospell should be preached beggars and bawdes should decrease thiefes and idle people be the fewer c. Against whome Sir THOMAS wrote a singular booke which he named A Supplication of the soules in Purgatorie making them there complaine of the most vncharitable dealing of certaine vpstarts who would perswade all men to take from thē the spirituall almes that haue bene in all ages bestowed vpon these poore soules who feele greater miserie then anie beggar in this world and he proueth most truly that an ocean of manie mischieuous euents would indeede ouerwhelme the realme Then sayth he shall Luther's gospell come in then shall Tindall's Testament be taken vp then shall false heresies be preached then shall the Sacraments be sett at naught then shall fasting and praier be neglected then shall holie Saints be blasphemed then shall Almightie god be displeased then shall he vvithdravve his grace and lett all runne to ruine then shall all vertue be had in derision then shall all vice raigne and runne forth vnbrideled then shall youth leaue labour and all occupation then shall folkes waxe idle and fall to vnthriftinesse then shall vvhores and thieues beggars and bavvdes increase then shall vnthriftes flocke togeather and eache beare him bolde of other then shall all lavves be laughed to scorne then shall seruants sett naught by their maisters and vnrulie people rebelle against their gouernours then vvill rise vp rifeling and robberie mischiefe and plaine insurrection vvhereof vvhat the ende vvill be or vvhen you shall see it onely God knovveth And that Luther's new Gospell hath taken such effect in manie partes of Christendome the woefull experience doth feelingly to the great griefe of all good folkes testifye to the world Of all which and that the land would be peopled to the deuouring of one another he writeth particularly more like one that had seene what had ensued alreadie then like one that spoke of things to come He wrote also a laboursome booke against Tindall refuting particularly euerie periode of his bookes a short treatise also against young Father Fryth in defence of the reall presence which that heretike did gainesay and for that was after burnt Against Fryer Barnes his church he wrote also an Apologie and a defence thereof vnder the name of Salem and Byzanze which are all sett forth togeather with that most excellent peece of worke comprised in three bookes of Comfort in Tribulation which subiect he handleth so wittily as none hath come neare him either in weight of graue sentences deuout considerations or fit similitudes seasoning alwaies the troublesomnesse of the matter with some merrie ieastes or pleasant tales as it were sugar whereby we drinke vp the more willingly these wholesome druggs of themselues vnsauorie to flesh and bloud which kinde of writing he hath vsed in all his workes so that none can euer be wearie to reade them though they be neuer so long 4. Wherefore I haue thought it not amisse to sett downe in this place amongst a thousand others some of his Apophthegmes which Doctour Stapleton hath collected in two whole Chapters Doe not thinke saith Sir THOMAS MORE that to be alwaies pleasant which madde men doe laughing For one may often see a man in Bedlem laugh when he knockes his head against the wall vttering this to condemne them that esteeme all things good or badde which the common people iudge to be Againe A sinner saith he cannot taste spirituall delights because all carnall are first to be abandoned By an excellent similitude he teacheth vs why few doe feare death thus Euen as they which looke vpon things afarre of see them confusedly not knowing whether they be men or trees euen so he that promiseth vnto himselfe long life looketh vpon death as a thing farre of not iudging what it is how terrible what griefes and dangers it bringeth with it And that none ought to promise himselfe long life he proueth thus Euen as two men that are brought out of prison to the gallowes one by a long way about the other by a direct short path yet neither knowing which is which vntill they come to the gallowes neither of these two can promise himself longer life the one then the other by reason of the vncertaintie of the way euen so a yong man cannot promise himself longer life then an olde man Against the vanitie of worldlie honour he speaketh thus Euen as that criminall person who is to be lead to execution shortly should be accounted vayne if he should engraue his Coate of Armes vpon the prison gate euen so are they vaine who endeauour to leaue with great industrie monuments of their dignitie in the prison of this world By a subtile dilemma he teacheth vs why we are not to thinke that we can be hurt by the losse of our superfluous goods in this manner he that suffereth anie losse of his goods he would either haue bestowed them with praise and liberalitie and so God will accept his will in steede of the deede itselfe or else he would haue waisted them wickedly and then he hath cause to reioyce that the matter of sinning is taken away To expresse liuely the follie of an olde couetous man he writeth thus a thiefe that is to dye to morrow stealeth to day and being asked why he did so he answered that it was a great pleasure vnto him to be maister of that money but one night so an olde miser neuer ceaseth to encrease his heape of coyne though he be neuer so aged To expresse the follie and madnesse of them that delight wholy in hording vp wealth he writeth in the person of the soules in purgatorie thus in his booke of the Supplication of the Soules We that are here in purgatorie when we thinke of our bags of golde which we horded vp in our life time we condemne laugh at our owne follie no otherwise then if a man of good yeares should finde by chance the bagg of Cherrie stones which he had carefully hidde when he was a childe In his booke of Comfort in tribulation that men should not be troubled in aduersitie he writeth thus The mindes of mortall men are so blinde and vncertaine so mutable and vnconstant in their desires that God could not punish men worse then if he should suffer euerie thing to happen that euerie man doth wish for The fruit of tribulation he describeth thus all punishment inflicted in hell is only as a iust reuenge because it is no place of purging In purgatorie all punishmēts purge only because it is no place of meritt but in this life euerie punishment can both purge sinne and procure meritt for a iust man because in this life there is place for both He
vsed also manie wittie sayings as that it is an easie matter in some cases for a man to loose his head and yet to haue no harme at all Good deedes the world being vngratefull is wont neuer to recompence neither can it though it were gratefull Speaking of heretikes he would say they haue taken away hipocrisie but they haue placed impudencie in the roome thereof so that they which before fayned themselues to be religious now doe boaste of their wickednesse He prayed thus O Lord God grant that I endeauour to gett those things for which I am to pray vnto thee When he had anie at his table speaking detraction he would interrupt them thus Lett anie man thinke as he pleaseth I like this roome very well for it is well contriued and fayrely built Of an vngratefull person he would say that they wrote good turnes donne vnto them in the dust but euen the least iniuries in marble He compareth reason to a handmayde which if she be well taught will obey and Faith to the mistrisse which is to keepe her in awe captiuans intellectum in obsequium fidei To seeke for the truth amongst heretikes is like to a man wandring in a desert meeting with a companie of lewde fellowes of whome he asketh his way they all turning back to backe each poynteth right before him assureth him that that is his true way though neuer so contrarie one to the other He sayth that he were a madde man that would drinke poyson to take a preseruatiue after that but he is a wise man that spilling the poison leaueth the antidote for him that hath need thereof As it is an easier thing to weaue a new nett rather then to sowe vp all the holes of an olde euen so it is a lesse labour to translate the Bible a new then to mende heretical versions He is not wise that eateth the bread which is poysoned by his enemies although he should see a friend of his scrape it away neuer so much especially hauing other bread to eate not poysoned The heretikes saying that none ought to fast but when they are troubled with the motions of the flesh he answereth if it be so no married man needes to fast for they haue another remedie athand and virgins durst not fast least wanton fellowes should marke them when carnall temptations most assayle them and this were for one to shew to others their fleshlie fraylties He was wont to say that he may well be adadmitted to heauen who was verie desirous to see God but on the contrarie side he that doth not desire earnestly shall neuer be admitted thither Against an heretike he speaketh thus that if monasticall life be against the Gospell as you seeme to say it must needes be that the gospell be contrarie vnto it and that were to say that Christ taught vs to pamper ourselues carefully to eate well to drinke well to sleepe well and flowe in all lust and pleasure Yf Faith cannot be without good workes why then bable you so much against good workes which are the fruicts of fayth That people should fall into bad life and lust is as great a miracle he saith as stones to fall downewards Whereas he sayth you inueighe against Schoole-Diuinitie because truth is there called in doubt not without danger we inueighe against you because false matters are held by you vndoubtedly for truth it selfe These good fellowes speaking of heretikes will rather hang out of Gods vinyarde then suffer themselues to be hired into it Heretikes writings seing they conclude no good thing are altogeather tedious be they neuer so short And againe As none can runne a shorter race then he that wantes both his feete so none can write shorter then he that hath not anie good matter nor fitt wordes to expresse it When an heretike tolde him that he should not write against heretikes vnlesse he could conuerte them he sayd that it was like as if one should not finde faulte with burners of housen vnlesse he were able to builde them vp againe at his owne charge He telleth that heretikes vse to frame Catholikes arguments very weake and friuolous that they may the more easily confute them euen as little children make houses of tyleshardes which they cast downe with great sporte againe presently Of their contumelious speaches against himself he sayth I am not so voyde of reason that I can expect reasonable matter from such vnreasonable men When they sayd his writings were nothing but ieasting toyes he sayth I scarce belieue that these good brethren can finde anie pleasant thing in my bookes for I write nothing in them that may be pleasing vnto them When the heretike Constantine had broken prison in his house he bad his man goe locke the doore fast and see the place mended sure least he should come back againe and when the heretikes reported that he was sorie for this that he could not for anger eate in three daies he answered that he was not so harsh of disposition to finde fault with anie man for rising and walking when he sate not at his ease All his English workes were sett out togeather in a great volume whilst Q. Marie raigned by Iudge Rastall Sir THOMAS his sister's sonne by which workes one may see that he was verie skillfull in Schoole-Diuinitie and matters of Controuersie for he argueth sharpely he confirmeth the truth profoundly and citeth both Scriptures and Fathers most aptely besides he vrgeth for the aduerse parte more a great deale then anie heretike euer did that wrote before him But to see how he handleth Luther vnder the name of one Rosse would do anie man good faining that Rosse wrote his booke from Rome against the most ridiculous and scurrilous pāphlett which Luther had made against King Henrie the eighth who of good zeale had sett out with great praise a booke in defence of the Seauen Sacraments the Pope's authoritie for which Pope Leo the tenth gaue him the tile of Defender of the Faith Wherefore in defence of his Soueraigne whome Luther had most basely rayled at calling him often Thomistical asse that he would beray the king's Crowne who was not worthie to wipe his shoes with manie other scurrilous speaches Sir THOMAS painteth out the fowle mouthed fellowe in his liuelie coulours and made him so enraged that it stung him more then anie other booke that euer was sett out against him Finally in euerie one of his bookes whensoeuer he toucheth anie controuersie he doth it so exactly that one may see that he had diligently read manie great Diuines and that he was very well seene in S. Thomas the father of all Diuinitie this may be an euident signe which his Secretarie Iohn Harris a man of sound iudgement and great pietie reported of him that on a time an hereticall booke newly printed and
learned wise and expert that could begotten she could by no meanes be kept from sleepe so that euerie one about her had iust cause to despaire of her recouerie giuing her vtterly ouer her father as he that most loued her being in noe small heauinesse at last sought for remedie of this her desperate case from God wherefore going as his custome was into his new building there in his Chappell vpon his knees most deuoutly euen with manie teares besought Almightie God vnto whome nothing was impossible of his goodnesse if it were his blessed will that at his meditation he would vouchsafe gratiously to graunt this his humble petition where presently came into his minde that a glister was the onlie way to helpe her which whē he tolde the phisicians they confessed that it was the best remedie indeede much marueling of thēselues they had not remembred if which was immediately ministred vnto her sleeping for else she would neuer haue bene brought to that kinde of medicine And although whē she awaked throughly Gods markes an euident and vndoubted token of death plainely appeared vpon her yet she contrarie to all expectations was as it were miraculously and by her fathers feruēt prayer restored to perfect health againe whome if it had pleased God at that time to haue taken to his mercie her father solemnely protested that he would neuer haue medled with anie worldlie matters after such was his fatherlie loue and vehement affection vnto this his Iewell who most neerely of all the rest of his Children expressed her fathers vertues although the meanest of all the rest might haue bene matched with anie other of their age in England either for learning excellent qualities or pietie they hauing bene brought vp euen frō their infancie with such care and industrie and enioying alwaies most vertuous and learned maisters So that the schoole of Sir THOMAS MORE 's children was famous ouer the whole world for that their witts were rare their diligence extraordinarie and their maisters most excellent men as aboue the rest Doctour Clement an excellent Grecian and phisician who was after reader of the phisicke-lecture in Oxford and sett out manie bookes of learning After him one William Gūnell who read after with greate praise in Cambridge and besides these one Drue one Nicolas and after all one Richard Hart of whose rare learning and industrie in this behalfe lett vs see what may be gathered out of Sir THOMAS his letters vnto them and first to Mr. Gunnell thus I haue receaued my deare Gunnell your letters such as they are vvont to be most elegant full of affection Your loue towards my children I gather by your letter their diligence by their owne for euerie one of their letters pleaseth me very much yet most especially I take ioy to heare that my daughter Elizabeth hath shevved as greate modestie in her mother's absence as anie one could doe if she had bene in presence lett her knovve that that thing liked me better then all the epistles besides for as I esteeme learning vvhich is ioyned vvith vertue more then all the threasures of kings so vvhat doth the fame of being a great schollar bring vs if it be seuered from vertue other then a notorious and famous infamie especially in a vvoman vvhome men vvill be readie the more vvillingly to assayle for their learning because it is a rare matter and argueth a reproche to the sluggishnesse of a man vvho vvill not stick to lay the fault of their naturall malice vpon the qualitie of learning supposing all their ovvne vnskillfullnesse by comparing it vvith the vices of those that are learned shal be accounted for vertue but if anie vvoman on the contrarie parte as I hope and vvishe by your instruction and teaching all mine vvill doe shall ioyne manie vertues of the minde vvith a little skill of learning I shall accounte this more happinesse then if they vvere able to attaine to Craesus's vvealth ioyned vvith the beautie of fayre Helene not because they vvere to gett great fame thereby although that inseparably follovveth all vertue as a shadovve doth the bodie but for that they should obtaine by this the true revvarde of vvisedome vvhich can neuer be taken avvay as vvealth may nor vvill fade as beautie doth because it dependeth of truth and iustice and not of the blasts of mens mouthes then vvhich nothing is more foolish nothing more pernicious for as it is the dutie of a good man to eschevv infamie so it is not only the propertie of a proude man but also of a vvretched and ridiculous man to frame their actions only for praise for that mans minde must needes be full of vnquietnesse that alvvaies vvauers for feare of other mens iudgements betvveene ioye and saddenesse But amongst other the notable benefitts vvhich learning bestovveth vpon men I accounte this one of the most profitable that in getting of learning vve looke not for praise to be accounted learned men but only to vse it in all occasions vvhich the best of all other learned men I meane the philosophers those true moderatours of mens actiōs haue deliuered vnto vs from hand to hand although some of them haue abused their sciences ayming only to be accounted excellent men by the people Thus haue I spoken my Gunnell somevvhat the more of the not coueting of vaine glorie in regarde of those vvordes in your letter vvhereby you iudge that the high spiritt of my daughter Margarett's vvitt is not to be deiected vvherein I am of the same opinion that you are hut I thinke as I doubt not but you are of the same minde that he doth deiect his generous vvitt vvhosoeuer accustometh himself to admire vaine and base obiects and he rayseth vvell his spiritts that embraceth vertue and true good they are base minded indeede that esteeme the shadovve of good things vvhich most men greedily snatch at for vvant of discretiō to iudge true good from apparent rather then the truth it self And therefore seing I holde this the best vvay for them to vvalke in I haue not only requested you my deare Gunnell vvhome of yourself I knovve vvould haue donne it out of the intire affection you beare vnto them neither haue I desired my vvife alone vvhome her mother lie pietie by me often and manie vvaies tryed doth stirre them vp thereto but also all other my friēds I haue intreated manie times to perswade all my children to this that auoyding all the gulphes and dovvnefalls of pride they vvalke through the pleasant meadovves of modestie that they neuer be enamoured of the glistering hue of golde and siluer nor lament for the vvant thereof vvhich by errour they admire in others that they thinke no better of themselues for all their costlie trimmings nor anie meaner for the vvant of them not to lessen their beautie by neglecting it vvhich they haue by nature nor to make it anie more by vnseemelie art to thinke vertue their chiefe happinesse
his learning had bene kindely vsed by Sir THOMAS MORE as he writeth himself did dedicate Plato and other bookes in Greeke vnto my grandfather Iohn More as to one that was also very skillfull in that toung See what Grineus speaketh vnto him There vvas a great necessitie why I should dedicate these bookes of Proclus full of maruelous learning by my paynes sett out but not vvithout the singular benefitt of your father effected vnto you to vvhome by reason of your fatherlike vertues all the fruite of this benefitt is to redounde both because you may be an ornamēt vnto them and they also may doe great good vnto you vvhome I knovve to be learned and for these graue disputacions sufficiently prouided and made fitt by the continuall conuersation of so vvorthie a father and by the companie of your sisters vvho are most expert in all kinde of sciences For vvhat Authour can be more gratefull to those desirous mindes of most goodlie things such as you and the Muses your sisters are vvhome a diuine heate of spiritt to the admiration and a nevv example of this our age hath driuen into the sea of learning so farre and so happily that they see no learning to be aboue their reache no disputations of philosophie aboue their capacitie And none can better explicate entangled questions none sifte them more profoundly nor none conceaue them more easily then this authour Lett vs see another letter to his daughter Margarett only You aske monye deare Megg too shamefully fearefully of your father vvho is both desirous to giue it you and your letter hath deserued it vvhich I could finde in my hart to recompence not as Alexander did by Cherilus giuing him for euerie verse a Philippine of golde but if my abilitie vvere ansvverable to my vvill I vvould bestovve tvvo Crovvnes of pure golde for euerie sillable thereof Here I sende you as much as you requested being vvilling to haue sent you more but that as I am glad to giue so I am desirous to be asked and favvned on by my daughters thee especially vvhome vertue and learning hath made most deare vnto me Wherefore the sooner you haue spent this money vvell as you are vvont to doe and the sooner you aske me for more the sooner knovve you vvill doe your father a singular pleasure Farevvell my most beloued daughter This daughter was likest her father as well in fauour as witt and proued a most rare woman for learning sanctitie and secrecie and therefore he trusted her with all his secretts She wrote two Declamations in English which her father and she turned into Latine so elegantly as one could hardly iudge which was the best She made also a treatise of the Foure Last things which her father sincerely protested that it was better then his and therefore it may be neuer finished his She corrected by her witt a place in S. Cyprian corrupted as Pamelian and Iohn Coster testifye in steede of nisi vos sinceritatis rectoring neruos sinceritatis To her Erasmus wrote an epistle as to a woman not only famous for manners and vertue but most of all for learning We haue heretofore made mention of her letter that Cardinal Poole so liked that when he had read it he would not belieue it could be anie womans in answer whereof Sir THOMAS did sende her the letter some parte whereof we haue seene before the rest is this which though there were no other testimonie of her extraordinarie learning might suffice In the meanetime saith her father I thought vvith myself hovv true I found that novv vvhich once I remember I spoke vnto you in ieaste vvhen I pittied your hard happe that men that read your vvritings vvould suspect you to haue had helpe of some other man therein vvhich vvould derogate somevvhat from the praises due to your vvorkes seing that you of all others deserue least to haue such a suspition had of you for that you neuer could abide to be decked vvith the plumes of other birds But you svveete Megg are rather to be praised for this that seing you cannot hope for condigne praise of your labours yet for all this you goe forvvard vvith this your inuincible courrage to ioyne vvith your vertue the knovvledge of most excellent sciences and contenting yourself vvith your ovvne pleasure in learning you neuer hunte after vulgar praises nor receaue them vvillingly though they be offered you And for your singular pietie and loue towards me you esteeme me and your husband a sufficient and ample theater for you to content you vvith vvho in requitall of this your affection beseech God and our Ladie vvith as hartie praiers as possible vve can povvre out to giue you an easie and happie childbirth to encrease your familie vvith a childe most like yourself except only in sexe yet yf it be a vvench that it may be such a one as vvould in time recompēce by imitation of her mothers learning and vertues vvhat by the condition of her sexe may be vvanting such a vvenche I should preferre before three boyes Farevvell dearest daughter But see I pray you how a most learned bishopp in Englād was rauished with her learning and witt as it appeareth by a letter which her father wrote vnto her to certifye her thereof Thomas More sendeth hartie greeting to his dearest daughter Margarett I vvill lettt passe to tell you my svveetest daughter hovv much your letter delighted me you may imagine hovv exceedingly it pleased your father vvhen you vnderstande vvhat affection the reading of it raysed in a stranger It happened me this euening to sitt vvith Iohn Lo Bishopp of E'xeter a learned man and by all mens iudgement a most sincere man As vve vvere talking togeather and I taking out of my pockett a paper vvhich vvas to the purpose vve vvere talking of I pulled out by chāce therevvith your letter The handvvriting pleasing him he tooke it from me and looked on it vvhen he perceaued it by the salutaciō to be a vvomans he beganne more greedily to read it noueltie inuiting him therevnto but vvhen he had read it and vnderstood that it was your vvriting vvhich he neuer could haue belieued if I had not seriously affirmed it such a letter I vvill say no more yet vvhy should not I reporte that vvhich he sayd vnto me so pure astile so good Latine so eloquent so full of svveete affections he vvas maruelously rauished vvith it vvhen I perceaued that I brought forth also an Oration of yours vvhich he reading and also manie of your verses he vvas so moued vvith the matter so vnlooked for that the verie countenance and gesture of the man free from all flatterie and deceipt bevvrayed that his minde vvas more then his vvords could vtter although he vttered manie to your greate praise and forthvvith he drevv out of his pockett a portegué the which you shall receaue enclosed herein I could not possibly shūne the taking of it but he vvould needes
doore to sing a Salue regina whereby wee shall still keepe companie and be merrie togeather O worthie resolution see how he expresseth his loue towards his Children but more towards God taking patiently whatsoeuer might befall him And he that prouideth for the worst will the better be prepared to endure lesser Crosses But what an admirable thing is this that whereas he was by the king taken into his Maiestie's seruice from a verie worshipfull liuing as I haue sayd foure hundred pounds by the yeare to deale in the greatest and weightiest Causes that concerned his Highnesse and the realme he had spent with painefull cares trauells troubles as well beyond the seas as with in this kingdome in effect the whole substance of his life yet with all the gayne he gott thereby being neuer himself a wastefull spender he was not now able after the resignement of his offices to finde for himself and those that necessarily belonged vnto him sufficient meate drinke fewell apparrell and such needefull charges all the lands which he euer purchased being as my vncle Rooper well knew not aboue the value of twentie markes by the yeare and after his debts payde he had not of my vncle's owne knowledge his Chayne excepted in golde and siluer left him the worth of one hundred pounds Wherefore his Children went to their owne liuings all but my vncle Rooper my aunte who liued in the house next vnto him 8. And how really he had desired himselfe to resigne vp his place of Chancellourshipp partely for the aboue mentioned consideratiō and partely also for his owne content quiett enioying of himself may well appeare in that he so much liked and highly commended the like deede in William Warrham that worthie Archbishopp of Canterburie immediately before Card. Wolsey as by this letter vnto him is to be seene I haue alvvaies esteemed your most reuerend Fatherhood happie in your courses not only vvhen you executed vvith great renovvne the office of Chancellourshipp but also more happie novv vvhen being ridde of that great care you haue betaken yourself to a most vvished quiettnesse the better to liue to yourself and to serue God more easily such aquietnesse I say that is not only more pleasing then all these troublesome businesses but also more honourable farre in my iudgement then all those honours vvhich you then enioyed For manie men and amongst those some vvicked men also may oftentimes be raised to great offices but vvhen you had that high Office of Chancellourshipp vvhich as all others of the like kinde are is of that nature that the more authoritie and povver one hath vvhilst he doth beare it the more slaunders he is subiect vnto hauing left it to resigne such an office voluntarily vvhich yet your Fatherhood could scarce gett leaue to doe vvith all the meanes you could vse none but a modest minded man vvould nor anie but a guiltlesse man dare doe Wherefore manie and amongst them myself doe applaude and admire this your acte vvhich proceeded from a minde I knovve not vvhether more modest in that you vvould vvillingly forsake so magnificent a place or more heroicall in that you could contemne it or more innocent in that yon feared not to depose yourself from it but surely most excellent and prudent it vvas to do so for vvhich your rare deede I cannot vtter vnto you hovv I reioyce for your sake and hovv much I congratulate you for it seing your Fatherhood to enioye so honourable a fame and to haue obtayned so rare a glorie by sequestring yourselfe farre from all vvorldlie businesses from all tumult of Causes and to bestovve the rest of your daies vvith a peaceable conscience for all your life past in a quiett calmenesse giuing yourselfe vvholy to your booke and to true Christian philosophie vvhich pleasing and contented state of yours my ovvne miserie causeth me daily more and more to thinke of vvho although I haue no businesses vvorth the talking of and yet he was then one of the King 's priuie Counsell Threasurer of the exchecker and employed in manie embassages yet because vveake forces are easily oppressed vvith small matters I am so troubled daily vvith businesses that I haue not as much as once leasure to visite your Fatherhood or to excuse myself therefore by letter and scarcely was I able to write this vnto you by vvhich I vvas to commende this my little booke of Vtopia vnto your most reuerende Fatherhood vvhich an Antwerpian friend of mine loue svvaying his iudgement hath thought fitt to be published and hath putt it in printe vvithout my priuitie being rather hudled vp then polished vvhich I vvas emboldened to sende to you though it be vnvvorthie of your learning experience and dignitie relying on your courteous nature vvhich is vvont to conster to the best euerie man's endeauoures also trusting in your tryed loue tovvards me by which I hope though the vvorke itself should not like you that yet for the authors sake you vvill fauour it Farevvell most honourable prelate A little after this time he wrote thus to Erasmus I haue a good vvhile expected if anie man could accuse me of anie thing since the deposing myself of the Chancellourshipp and as yet no man hath come forth to complaine of anie my iniustice either I haue bene so innocent or so craftie that my aduersaries must needes suffer me to glorie in the one if they cannot abide I should do so in the other Yea this the king's maiestie also as vvell in priuate discourse often as also tvvice in publike hath vvittnessed for that vvhich shamefastnesse vvill not suffer me to speake of myself he commaunded the most noble Duke of Norfolke high Threasurer of England vvhen my successour an excellent man vvas settled in my place to testifye this to all the assemblie that he had hardly at my earnest intreatie suffered me to lett the office goe and not content vvith that singular fauour in my behalfe he caused the same againe to be spoken of in his ovvne presence vvhen in the audience of a publike meeting of the Nobilitie and people my successour recited his first speach as the custome is in the assemblie of all the Estates vvhich vve call the Parlement He writeth also to Erasmus in another letter thus That vvhich I haue from a childe vnto this day almost continually vvished my most deare Desiderius that being freed from the troublesome businesses of publike affayres I might liue some vvhile only to God and myselfe I haue novv by the especiall grace of almightie God and the fauour of my most indulgent prince obtayned And then hauing spoken somewhat of the weakenesse of his health he goes on saying Hauing these things often in my head either that I vvas to depose myself of the office or that I should fayle in the performāce of my dutie therein seing that I could not dispatche those affaires but that I must endanger my life
grew first by occasion of a certaine Nunne called Elizabeth Berton dwelling in Canterburie who for her vertue and holinesse was not a little sett by amongst the common people vnto whome for that cause manie religious persons Doctours of Diuinitie and diuerse lay men of good worshipp vsed to resorte she affirming to them constantly that she had reuelations oftentimes from God charging her to giue the king warning of his wicked life and of his abusing of the sword and authoritie committed from almightie God vnto him She moreouer knowing that my Lo of Rochester Bishopp Fisher was of a singular and rare vertuous life and of admirable learning repaired to Rochester and there disclosed vnto him all her reuelations desiring his aduise and counsell therein which the holie Bishopp perceauing might well stande with the lawes of God and his holie Church aduised her as she before had warning to doe and intended it to goe to the king herselfe and lett him vnderstande all the circumstances thereof which she perfourmed stoutely telling him all the reuelations and so returned to her cloyster againe In a short space after he making a iourney to the Nunnes of Sion by meanes of one Fa Reynold a priest of that house there she happened to enter into talke with Sir THOMAS MORE concerning such secretts as had bene reuealed vnto her some parte thereof touching deepely the matter of the king's supremacie which shortly after this followed and about the vnlawfullnesse of the king's marriage Sir THOMAS though he might well at that time without danger of anie lawe of which there was then none freely talke with her therein yet notwithstanding he demeaned himself so discreetely in all his talke with her that he deserued no blame but rather great cōmendations as it was proued after most euidently when it was sore layd to his charge 6. After the diuorce was pronounced there was sett out a booke by authoritie from the Councell which layde downe the reasons why this diuorce was donne wherein amongst other matters it was sayde that therefore the king would not stay for the Pope's sentence because he had already appealed from him to the next Generall Councell Strayte after it was rumoured abroad that Sir THOMAS MORE had answered and refuted this booke of which slaunder Sir THOMAS purged himselfe by a letter to Mr. Cromevvell now Secretarie and in the king's greate fauour shewing by manie arguments that he neither would nor could confute that booke which letter is at large in the latter ende of Sir THOMAS his workes· But for all his purging himselfe accusations still came thicke and threefolde vpon him For the king by threates and sifting of his former deedes would either winne him to his minde or else finde some occasion to except against his doings and had he not bene a man of singular integritie free from all bribes and corruption in all his offices euerie light matter would haue bene layde now heauie vpon him as of some things he was indeede accused which addes more to his honour and reputation There was one Parnell that grieuously complayned against Sir THOMAS because when he was Lo Chancellour at the suite of one Mr. Vaughan his aduersarie he had made a decree against him for which at his wife's handes Sir THOMAS had taken a greate guilt Cuppe as a bribe for the clearing of which accusation Sir THOMAS being called before the bodie of the Councell the whole matter was in grieuous manner layde to his charge and when Sir THOMAS confessed the taking thereof saying that for as much as that Cuppe was giuen him long after the decree for a new yeares guift he at her importunitie of courtesie refused not to take it Then the Lo of Wiltshire Q. Anne's father who was the preferrer of the suite hated Sir THOMAS both for his religion and for that he had not consented to his daughter's marriage with much ioy sayd vnto the other Lords Loe did I not tell you that you should finde the matter true wherevpon Sir THOMAS desired their Honours as they had courteously heard him tell the one parte of his tale so they would voutsafe to heare the other with indifferent eares which being granted he further declared vnto them that albeit at her vrging he had indeede receaued the Cuppe yet immediately therevpon he caused his buttler to fill it vp with wine and therein drunke to her which when he had donne and she pledged him then he as freely as her husband bestowed it vpon him did euen as willingly bestowe the same vpon her againe for her new yeares-guift so forced her to receaue it though much against her will all which herselfe and manie others there then present deposed before that honourable assemblie Thus his accusers were putt to shame enough and he with great honour acquitted At another time on a new-yeares day also there came vnto him Mris Croaker a verie rich womā for whome with no smal paines he had made a decree in Chauncerie against the Lo of Arundel neuer fearing in acte of Iustice anie nobilitie of bloud or greatenesse of personage who presented him with a paire of gloues and fourescore Angells in them he thankefully receaued the gloues of her but refused the monie saying Mris seeing it were against good manners to refuse a gentlewomans new-yeares-guift I am content to take your gloues but as for the lining I vtterly refuse it and so caused her to take her monie againe One Mr. Gresham likewise hauing at the same time a Cause depending before him in the Chancerie sent him for a new-yeares-guift a fayre guilt Cuppe the fashiō whereof he very wel liked wherefore he caused the messenger to take one of his owne Cuppes which was in value better though the fashion pleased him not so well deliuer it to his maister in recōpence of the other vnder no other cōdition would he receaue it wherefore he was fayne so to doe Manie like vnto those actes did he which declared how cleane his hands were from taking of anie bribes which for tediousnesse sake we will omitt these are enough to shew anie liuing man how little he gayned yea how litle he cared for all transitorie wealth esteeming vertues of the minde his richest threasure and Christ naked on the Crosse his chiefe desire which holie pleasure of his almightie God before his death fulfilled when for his loue he lost all that might be most deare vnto worldlie men separation from wife and children losse of all libertie and the vtter ouerthrowe of all his goods and estate yet by leesing these things he gayned better for in steede of temporall he atchieued eternall in lieu of transitorie he hath purchased permanent in roome of deceiptfull trash he hath bought to himselfe a Crowne of glorie centuplum accepit vitam aeternam possidet he was a true marchant that by selling all he had bought the precious margarite spoken of by
Christ in S. Matthew then which there can be imagined nothing more precious which without doubt he enioyeth for all eternitie 7. Now there was another parlement called where in there was a bill putt into the Lower house to attaynte the nunne and manie other religious men of high treason and Bishopp Fisher with Sir THOMAS MORE of misprision of treason which bill the King supposed would be so terrible to Sir THOMAS that it would force him to relente and condescende vnto him But therein he was much deceaued for first Sir THOMAS sued that he might be admitted into the Parlement to make his owne defence personally which the king not liking of graunted the hearing of this Cause to my Lo of Canterburie the Lo Chancellour the Duke of Norfolke and Mr. Cromvvell who appointing Sir THOMAS to appeare before them my vncle Roper requested his father earnestly to labour vnto them that he might be putt out of the parlement bill who answered then that he would but at his coming thither he neuer once entreated them for it when he came into their preseÌ„ce they entertained him very courteously requesting him to sitt downe with them which in no case he would then the Lo Chancellour beganne to tell him how manie waies the king's maiestie had shewed his loue and fauour towards him how gladly he would haue had him continue in his office how desirous he was to haue heaped still more and more benefittes vpon him and finally that he could aske no worldlie honour and profitt at his Highnesse's hands but that it was probable that he should obtaine it hoping by these words declaring the king's affection towards him to stirre Sir THOMAS vp to recompence the king with the like by adding his consent vnto the king's which the Parlement the Bishopps and manie Vniuersities had already consented vnto Wherevnto Sir THOMAS mildely made this answer that there vvas no man liuing that vvould vvith better vvill doe anie thing vvhich should be acceptable to his Highnesse then he vvho must needes confesse his manifolde bountie and liberall guifts plentifully bestovved vpon him hovv be it he verily hoped that he should neuer haue heard of this matter anie more considering that from the beginning he had so plainely and truly declared his minde vnto his maiestie vvhich his highnesse of his benigne clemencie had euer seemed like a gracious prince very vvell to accept of neuer minding as he sayd vnto him to molest him anie more therevvith since vvhich time sayd he I neuer found anie further matter to moue me to anie change and if I could sayd he there is not one in the vvhole vvorld vvhich vvould haue bene more ioyfull for it Many speaches hauing passed to and fro on both sides in the ende when they saw euidently that they could not remoue him from his former determination by no manner of perswasion then beganne they more terribly to threaten him saying the king's maiestie had giuen them in commaunde expressely yf they could by no gentle meanes winne him that they should in his name with greate indignatioÌ„ charge him that neuer there was seruant so villanous to his Soueraigne nor anie subiect so trayterous to his prince as he For by his subtile and sinister sleights he had most vnnaturally procured and prouoked the king to sett forth a booke of the assertion of the Seauen Sacraments and for the maintenance of the Pope's authoritie so that he had caused his Maiestie to putt a sword in to the Pope's hands to fight against himselfe to his greate dishonour in all the partes of Christendome Now when they had displayed all their malice threates against him my Lord sayd Sir THOMAS these terrours be frights for children and not for me but to ansvver that vvhere vvith you chiefely burtheÌ„ me I belieue the king's Highnesse of his honour vvill neuer lay that booke to my charge for there is none that can in that point say more for my discharge then himselfe vvho right vvell knovveth that I neuer was procurer promotour nor counseler of his Maiestie therevnto only after it vvas finished by his Grace's appointment and the consent of the makers of the same I only sorted out and placed in order the principall matters therein wherein vvhen I had found the Popes authoritie highly aduanced and vvith strong arguments mightily defended I sayd thus to his Grace I must putt your Highnesse in remembrance of one thing and that is this the Pope as your Maiestie vvell knovveth is a Prince as you are in league with all other Christian princes it may hereafter fall out that your Grace and he may varie vpon some points of the league vvhere vpon may grovve breache of amâ—tâ—e and vvarre betvveene you both therefore I thinke it best that that place be amended and his authoritie more slenderly touched Nay quoth his Grace that shall it not vve are so much bound to the Sea of Rome that vve cannot doe to much honour vnto it Then did I further putt him in minde of our statute of Praemunire vvhereby a good parte of the Pope's authoritie pastoral cure vvas payred avvay to vvhich his Maiestie ansvvered vvhatsoeuer impediment be to the contrarie vve vvill sett forth that authoritie to the vttermost For vve haue receaued from that Sea our Crovvne Imperiall vvhich till his Grace vvith his ovvne mouth so tolde me I neuer heard before Which things vvell considered I trust vvhen his Maiestie shal be truly informed thereof and call to his gracious remembrance my sayings and doings in that behalfe his Highnesse vvill neuer speake more of it but vvill cleare me himselfe with which wordes they with great displeasure dismissed him parted 8. Then tooke Sir THOMAS his boate to Chelsey wherein by the way he was verie merrie and my vncle Rooper was not sorrie to see it hoping that he had gotten himself discharged out of the bill When he was landed and come home they walked in his gardin where my vncle sayd vnto him I trust Sir all is well because you are so merrie It is so indeede soÌ„ne I thanke God Are you then Sir putt out of the parlement Bill sayd my vncle by my troth sonne I neuer remembred it Neuer remembred that sayd he that toucheth you and vs all so neare I am verie sorie to heare it For I trusted all had bene well when I saw you so merrie Wouldst thou knowe sonne why I am so ioyfull In good Faith I reioyce that I haue giueÌ„ the diuell a fowle fall because I haue with those Lords gone so farre that without great shame I can neuer goe back This was the cause of his ioye not the ridding himself of troubles but the confidence he had in God that he would giue him strength willingly to suffer anie thing for Christs sake that he might say with Christ IESVS Desiderio desideraui c. I thirst greatly to drinke of the Cuppe of Christ's passion
and with S. Paule Cupio dissolui ess cum Christo But these speaches though they liked Sir THOMAS well yet pleased they my vncle Rooper but a little Now after the reporte made of this their examinacion of Sir THOMAS to the King by the Lo Chauncellour and the rest king Henry was so highly displeased with Sir THOMAS MORE that he plainely tolde them that he was resolutely determined that the foresayd parlement-bill should vndoubtedly proceede against them Yet to this the Lo Chancellour and the rest sayd that they had perceaued that all the vpper house was so powerfully bent to heare Sir THOMAS speake in his owne defence that if he were not putt out of the Bill it would vtterly be ouerthrowen and haue no force against the rest Which words although the king heard them speake yet needes would he haue his owne will therein adding that he would be personally present himselfe at the passing of it But the Lo Aud ley and the rest seing him so vehemently bent vpon it fell downe vpon their knees and besought his Maiestie not to doe so considering that if he in his owne presence should be confronted and receaue an ouerthrowe it would not only encourage his subiects euer after to contemne him but also redounde to his his honour for euer throughout all Christendome and they doubted not in time but to finde some other fitter matter against him For in this Case of the Nunne they sayd all men accounted him so cleare and innocent that for his behauiour therein euerie one reckoned him rather worthie of praise thē of reproofe At which words of theirs the king was contented at their earnest perswasion to condescende to their petition yet was not his displeasure against Sir THOMAS anie whitt asswaged but much more incensed On the next morning Mr. Cromevvell meeting my vncle Rooper in the parlement house tolde him that his father was putt out of the bill which message he sent presently to Chelsey and when my aunte Roper toulde her father thereof he answered In fayth Megg quod differtur non aufertur knowing as it were the verie bottome of the King's hart and all his Counsells imagining that this was not anie fauour donne vnto him but that they might finde afitter matter to worke on as it shortly after proued Within a while after the Duke of Norfolke fell into familiar talke with Sir THOMAS and amongst other speaches he sayd vnto him By the masse Mr. More it is perillous striuing with princes therefore I could wish you as a friēd to encline to the king's pleasure for by God bodie Mr. More Indignatio principis mors est Is that all my Lord sayd Sir THOMAS in good faith then there is no more differēce betweene your Grace and me but that I shall dye to day and you to morrow Yf therefore the anger of a prince causeth but a temporall death we haue greater cause to feare the eternall death which the king of heauen can condēne vs vnto if we sticke not to displease him by pleasing an earthlie king THE NINTH CHAPTER THE REFVSALL OF the oath of supremacy cause of Sir THOMAS MORES imprisonment in the Tovver 1. The oath of supremacy and succession refused by Sir Thomas 2. His imprisonment first in vvestminster after in the Tovver 3. A notable discourse betvveen him and his daughter Margarit Roper 4. Some other passages of his in the time of his durance 5. A prety dialogue betvveen him and his vvife the Lady More 6. Maister Riche his sophisticall case put to Sir Thomas More 7. His bookes and meanes of vvriting taken from him 8. His great care to giue no occasion of offence to the King 1. NOw in this parlement in the yeare 1534. whē as Queen Elizabeth had bene borne the September before and Q. Anne had bene proclaimed Queen the 12th of April before that and Q. Catherine declared the widowe only of prince Arthur there was I say at this parlement an oath framed whereby all English subiects should both renounce the Pope's authoritie and sweare also to the succession of Q. Anne's children accounting the Ladie Marie illegitimate within a moneth or thereabouts after the enacting of this statute all the Clergie as well Bishops as priests yet no lay man but Sir THOMAS MORE were summoned to appeare at Lambeth before the Lo Archbishop Cranmer the Lo Chancelour Audley Mr. Secretarie Cromevvell the Abbott of Westminster with others appointed Commissioners by the King to tender this oath vnto them On the same morning that Sir THOMAS was to goe thither as he was accustomed before he tooke anie matter of importance in hand he went to Chelsey church and there was Confessed and receaued at masse deuoutly the blessed Sacrament and whereas euer at other times before he parted from his wife and children they vsed to bring him to his boate and there kissing them bad them Farewell at this time he suffered none of them to follow him forth of his gate but pulled the wickett after him and with a heauie hart as by his countenance appeared he tooke boate with his sonne Rooper and their men in which sitting sadly a while as it were with Christ in his agonie in the gardin at the last sodainely he rounded my vncle in the eare and sayd I thanke our Lord sonne the field is wonne whereto my vncle answered at randon as not knowing then his meaning I am very glad thereof But one may easily knowe what he meant and so my vncle afterward perceaued that the burning loue of God wrought in him so effectually that it now had conquered all carnall affections trusting to that saying of our Sauiour Beholde and haue confidence I haue conquered the vvorld How wisely he behaued himself at Lambeth may be seene in a letter of his sent after to my aunte Rooper which is sett out in printe in the latter ende of his English Workes with others his most singular letters wherein he liuely describeth to his children all his troubles sheweth what a heauenlie spiritt he had to endure all for Gods sake trusting still chiefely to Gods goodnesse not to his owne strength the effect whereof is this After he vvas called before them he requested of them to see the oath vvhich vvhen he had read vnto himselfe he ansvvered that he neither vvould finde faulte vvith the oath nor with the authors of it nor vvould blame the conscience of anie man that had taken it but for himselfe he could not take it vvithout endangering his soule of eternall damnation vvhich if they doubted of he vvould svveare vnto them that that vvas the chiefe cause of his refusall in vvhich second oath if they doubted to trust him hovv then could they trust him in the former Which he hauing sayd my Lo Chancelour replyed that all there were hartily sorie he should make such an answer for they constantly affirmed that he was the first mā that denyed to take it
rather enforceth them to the vttermost and oftentimes further then the partie himself doth or perhaps could doe And he was of this minde that he sayde he would not lett while he liued wheresoeuer he perceaued his aduersarie to say well or himselfe to haue sayd otherwise indifferently for both to say and declare the truth And therefore himselfe after the printing finding the bookes diuulged and commonly read of the Debellation of Salem and Bizanze albeit manie had read the place and found no faulte therein yet he finding afterwards that he mistooke certaine wordes of the Pacifyer without anie man's controulement meerely of himselfe reformed them The like he counselled his learned friends especially Erasmus to doe and to retract manie things that he had written whose counsell wherein he had a notable president in the worthie Doctour S. Augustine yf Erasmus had followed I trowe his bookes would haue bene better liked of by posteritie which perchance shall be fayne either vtterly to abolish some of his workes or at least to redresse and reforme them Here is now further to be considered in his writings that he neuer hunted after praise or vayne glorie nor anie vile and filthie gaine or commoditie yea so that enuenomed and poysoned bookes might be once suppressed abolished he wished his owne on a light and fayre fyre Yet did the Euangelicall bretheren after he had abandoned the office of Lo Chancellour as they otherwise spread and writt manie vaine and false rumours to the aduancement of their new Gospel and oppressing of the Catholike lay to his charge in their bookes that he was partiall to the Clergie and for his bookes receaued a great masse of monie of the sayd Clergie And Tindall and diuerse others of the good bretheren affirmed that they wist well that Sir THOMAS MORE was not lesse worth in monie plate and other moueables then twentie thousand markes but it was found farre otherwise when his house was searched after he was committed to the Tower where a while he had some competent libertie but after on a suddaine he was shutt vp very close at which time he feared there would be a new more narrower search in all his houses because his minde gaue him that folkes thought he was not so poore as it appeared in the search but he tolde his daughter Mris Rooper that it would be but a sporte to them that knew the truth of his pouertie vnlesse they should finde out his wiue's gay gyrdle and her goulde beades The like pouertie of anie man that had continued so long a Chancellour with the king and had borne so manie great offices hath I trowe seldome bene founde in anie lay man before and much lesse since his time As for his partialitie to the Clergie sauing the reuerence due to the sacred Order of priests by whome we are made Christian men in Baptisme and by whome we receaue the other holie Sacraments there was none in him and that they felt that were naught of the Clergie that had so little fauour at his hands that there was no man that anie medling had with them into whose hands they were more loath to come then into his but for fees annuities or other rewardes or anie commoditie that should encline him to be euer propēse partiall to the Clergie none cā be shewed First touching anie fees he had to his liuing after that he had left the Chaūcellourship he had not one groate grāted him since he first wrote or begāne to write the Dialogues that was the first booke that euer he wrote in matters of religion And as for all the lands and fees he had besides those of the king's guift was not nor should be during his mother in lawe's life who liued after he relinquished the office of Chaūcellourship worth yearely the sūme of 100. pound thereof had he some by his wife some left by his father some he purchased and some fees had he of Temporall men so may euerie man soundly guesse that he had no greate parte of his liuing of the Clergie to make him partiall to them Now touching rewardes or lucre which rose to him by his writing for which good Father Tindall sayd he wrote his bookes and not for anie affection he bare to the Clergie no more then Iudas betrayed Christ for anie fauour he bare to the Bishopps Scribes and Pharisies it is a most shamefull lye and slaunder as may appeare by his refusall of the 4. or 5. thousand pound offered him by the Clergie Concerning Tindall's false translation of the New Testament first it is to be considered as these good bretheren partely denye the very Text it selfe and whole bookes of the sacred Scripture as the booke of the Machabies and certaine others and Luther S. Iames's Epistle also and as they adulterate and commaculate and corrupt the whole Corps of the same with their wrong and false expositions farre disagreeing from the Comment of the ancient Fathers and Doctours and from the fayth of the whole Catholike Church So haue they for the aduancing and furthering of the sayd heresies of a sett purpose peruerted mistranslated the sayd holie Scripture And after such shamefull sorte that amōgst other their mischieuous practises whereas in the Latine Epistle of S. Paul is read in the olde translation fornicarij in the new they haue Sacerdotes that is priests for the good deuotion they beare to the sacred Order of Priesthood And their patriarche Luther with his translation of the sayd holie Scripture into the Dutch toung hath wonderfully depraued corrupted and defiled it as we could by diuerse proofes easily shewe whome his good schollar Tindall in his English translatiō doth matche or rather passe wherein he turneth the word Church into Congregation Priest into Senior or elder which word Congregation absolutely of itselfe as Tindall doth vse it doth no more signifye the Congregation of Christiā men then a fayre flocke of vnchristian geese neither this word Presbyter for Elder signifyeth any whitt more a Priest then an eldersticke manie other partes of his Translation are sutable to this as where in spight of Christ's and his holie Saints images he turneth Idolls into Images and for the like purpose of setting forth his heresie Charitie into Loue Grace into Fauour Confession into repentance and such like for which as also for diuerse of his false faythlesse hereticall assertions as well that the Apostles left nothing vnwritten that is of necessitie to be belieued That the Church may erre in matter of Fayth That the Church is only of chosen elects Touching the manner and order of our election Touching his wicked and detestable opinion against the free wil of man Touching his fond and foolish paradoxes of the elect though they doe abhominable haynous actes yet they doe not sinne and that the elect that doth once hartily repent can sinne no more he doth so substantially pleasantly confute and ouerthrowe Tindall that yf these men
would at a tauerne goe gett him a pennie for a fitt of mirth yet sometimes will the foole demurely and holily preache and take so vpon him as if he were Christ's owne deare Apostle as doe also the residue of the bretheren that write and especially Tindall who beginneth the preface of this booke with the grace of our Lord and the light of his spiritt c. with such glorious and glistering salutations as if it were S. Paul himselfe but Sir THOMAS MORE doth accordingly dresse him and doth discouer to the world Fr. Luther's and Tindalls and such other false fayned and hypocriticall holinesse in their so high and sollemne salutations and preachings and concludeth not more pleasingly that when a man well considereth these their salutations and preachings he may well and truly iudge those their counterfitt salutations and sermons to be a great deale worse then Fryer Frapp who first gapeth then blesseth and looketh holily and preacheth ribaudrie was wont at Christmas to make And thus will we leaue Tindall and Barnes and speake of some other of their fraternitie amongst whome there was one that made The Supplication of Beggars the which Sir THOMAS MORE answered very notably before he wrote against Tindall and Barnes this Supplication was made by one Simon Fish for which he became penitent returned to the Church againe and abiured all the whole hill of those heresies out of the which the fountaine of his great zeale that moued him to write sprang After this Sir THOMAS MORE wrote a letter impugning the erroneous writing of Iohn Frith and whereas after he had giuen ouer the office of Lo Chancellour the heretikes full fast did write against him and found manie faultes with him and his writings he made a goodlie and learned Apologie of some of his answers which sayd Apologie we haue alreadie touched especially that they layd to his charge the slender recitall and misrehearsall of Tindall Barne's arguments and sheweth that they were calumnious slaunders and that himself vsed Tindall and Barnes after a better manner then they vsed him For Tindall rehearseth Sir THOMAS MORE 's arguments in euerie place fayntely and falsely and leaueth out the pith and strengthe the proofe that most maketh for the purpose And he fareth therein as if there were one hauing a day of challenge pointed in which he should wrastle with his aduersarie would finde the meane by craft before the day to gett his aduersarie into his owne hands and there keepe him and dyett him with such a thinne dyet that at the day he bringeth him forth feeble faynt and famished and almost starued and so leane that he can scarce stande on his legs and then is it easie you wote well to giue the sillie foole the fall And yet when Tindall had donne all this he tooke the fall himselfe but euerie one may see that Sir THOMAS MORE vseth not that play with Tindall nor with anie of those folke but rehearseth their reasons to the best that they can make it themselues and rather enforceth and strengtheneth it as we haue before declared rather then taketh anie thing therefrom Whereas now they found farther faulte with the length of his booke he writeth amongst other things that it is lesse maruell that it seemes to them long and tedious to reade within whome it irketh to do so much as to looke it ouer without and euerie way seemeth long to him that is wearie before he beginne But I finde some men to whom the reading of the booke is so farre from being tedious that they haue read the whole booke ouer thrice and some that make tables thereof for their owne remembrance and are men that haue as much witt and learning both as the best of all this blessed Bretherhood that euer I heard of And for the shortnesse of Barnes's booke that the aduersaries did commende he writeth that he woteth not well whether he may call them lōg or short sometimes they be short in deede because they would be darke and haue their false follies passe and repasse all vnperceaued sometimes they vse some compendiors eloquence that they conuey and couche vp togeather with a wonderfull breuitie foure follies fiue lyes in lesse then as manie lines but yet for all this I see not in effect anie men more lōg then they for they preache sometimes a very long processe to a little purpose and sith that of their whole purpose they proue neuer a whit at all were their writings neuer so shorte yet were their worke too long at last all togeather Besides manie other things his aduersaries layde to his charge that he handled Tindall Frith and Barnes vngodly and with vncomelie wordes to which he this answereth now when that against all the Catholike Church both that now is and euer hath bene before frō the Apostles daies hitherto both temporall and spirituall lay men and religious and against all that good is Saints Ceremonies Seruice of God the verie Sacrament of the Altar these blasphemous heretikes in their vngracious bookes so villanously wrest and raile were not a man weene you farre ouerseene and worthie to be accounted vncourteous that would in writing against their heresies presume without great reuerence to rehearse their worshipfull names yf anie of them vse their wordes at their pleasure as euill and as villanous as they list against myself I am content to forbeare anie requiting thereof and giue them no worse words againe then yf they spake me fayre nor vsing themselues towards all other folke as they doe fayrer words will I not giue them thē yf they spake me fowle for all is one to me or rather worse then better for the pleasant oyle of heretikes cast vpon my head can doe my minde no pleasure but contrariewise the worse that folke write of me for hatred they beare to the Catholike Church and fayth the greater pleasure as for mine owne parte they doe me but surely their rayling against all other I purpose not to beare so patiently as to forbeare to lett them heare some parte of like language as they speake how beit how to matche them therein I neither can though I would but I am content as needes I must to giue them therein the maisterie wherein to matche them were more rebuke then honestie for in their rayling is all their roste meate sawced all their pott seasoned and all their pye meate spiced and all their wafers and all their pottage made He addeth further yf they sayth he will not be heretikes alone themselues and holde their toungs and be still but must needes be talking corrupte whome they can lett them yet at the leastwise be reasonable heretikes and honest and write reason and leaue rayling and then lett all the bretheren finde faulte with me yf I vse them not after that in wordes as fayre and as milde as the matter may suffer About this time there was one that had made
a booke of the Spiritualtie and the Temporaltie of which booke the bretheren made greate store and blamed Sir THOMAS MORE that he had not in writing vsed such a softe and milde manner and such indifferent fashion as the same person did By which occasion Sir THOMAS MORE discourseth vpon the same booke the authour whereof pretendeth to make a pacification of the aforesayd diuision and discorde and openeth manie faultes and follies and false slaunders against the Clergie vnder a holie conclusion and pretence of pacificatiō in the sayd bookes To which discourse of Sir THOMAS MORE 's there came an answer afterwards in printe vnder the title of Salem and Bizanze to the which Sir THOMAS MORE replyed and so dressed this prettie proper politike pacifyer that he had no list nor anie man for him afterwards to encounter with the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE The pleasant and wittie declaration of the title of the sayd booke of Sir THOMAS MORE 's because the booke is seldome and rare to be gott I will now gentle reader sett before thine eies The sayd title is framed in this sorte The debellation of Salem and Bizanze sometime two greate townes which being vnder the Turke were betweene Easter and Michelmas last 1533. by a maruelous metamorphose and enchantment turned into Englishmen by the wonderfull inuentiue witt and witchcraft of Sir Iohn Somesay the Pacifyer and so conueyed by him hither in a dialogue to defende his diuision against Sir THOMAS MORE knight but now being thus betweene Michelmas and Allhallovvntide next ensuing the debellation vanquished they are fledde hence and are become two townes againe with these olde names changed Salem into Hierusalem and Bizanze into Constantinople the one in Greece the other in Syria where they may see them that will and winne them that can and yf this Pacifyer conuey thē hither againe and ten such townes embatteled with them in Dialogues Sir THOMAS MORE hath vndertaken to putt himselfe in aduenture against them all but yf he lett them tarrie still there he will not vtterly forsweare it but he is not in the minde age now coming on and he waxing vnweldie to goe thither to giue the assaulte to such wellwalled townes without some such lustie companie as shal be likelie to leape vt a little more lightly This is the title of the aforesayd booke and that indeede Sir THOMAS MORE hath most valiantly discomfited the Pacifyer and ouerthrowen his two great townes may easily appeare to such as will vouchsafe to reade Sir THOMAS MORE 's answer the circumstances and particularities whereof to sett downe would make our present treatise to growe too bigg I will only shew you one declaration or two whereby you may make some ayme to iudge of the whole doing of the sayd Pacifyer yf it were so sayth the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE that one found two men standing togeather and would steppein betweene thē and beare them in hand that they were about to fight and would with the word putt one partie backe with his hand and all to buffett the other about the face and then goe forth and say he had parted a fray and pacifyed the parties some men would say as I suppose he had as lief his enemie were lett alone with him and thereof abide the aduenture as haue such a friēd steppe in to parte them Another of a man that were angrie with his wife and happely not without cause now sayth Sir THOMAS MORE yf the authour of this booke would take vpon him to reconcile them and helpe to make thē at one and therein would vse this way that when he had them both togeather before him would tell all the faultes of the wife and sett among them some of his owne imagination then would goe about to auoyde his wordes vnder the fayre figure of Some-say which he commonly vseth in his booke of Pacifyng either by forgettfullnesse or by the figure of playne follie then would tell her husband's parte-verse too and say vnto him that he himselfe had not dealt discreetely with her but hath vsed to make her too homelie with him hath suffered her to be idle and hath giuen way to her being too much cōuersant amongst her gossips and hath giuen her ouergay geare and sometimes giuen her euill wordes and called her as I suppose cursed queane and shrewe and some say that behinde your backe she calles you knaue and Cuckolde were not there a proper kinde of pacification And yet is this the liuelie patterne and image of Mr. Pacifyer's doings with the which and with the spinning of fine lyes with flaxe fetching them out of his owne bodie as the spyder doth the Cobbewebbe fayning and finding faulte with Sir THOMAS MORE for these matters and wordes whereof he sayth the playne contrarie he had greate cause to be ashamed howbeit litle shame could cleaue to his cheekes but that he would soone shake it away while his name was not at his booke We haue now one booke more written in matter of religion and that is of the B. Sacramēt of the altar by the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE We tolde you before of a letter of his wherein he impugneth the heresie of Iohn Frith albeit he was prisonner in the Tower of London he found the meanes to make answer to that letter and to conuey it beyond the seas where it was printed and it was afterwards brought into this realme as Sir THOMAS MORE did certainely vnderstande who minded when the booke came to his hands to answer it but now in the meane season came there from beyond the seas an Answere made to the same letter by another and printed without the Authour's name entituled The Supper of the Lord. But I beshrewe quoth Sir THOMAS MORE such a Sewer that serueth in such a supper as he conueyeth away the best dish and bringeth it not to the borde as this man would if he could cōueye from the B Sacrament Christ's owne flesh and bloud and leaue vs no thing there in but for a memoriall only bare bread and wine But his handes are too lumpish and this messe too great for him especially to conuey cleane sith the man hath his hart bent thereto and therefore his eye sett thereon to see where it becometh This naughtie namelesse authour Sir THOMAS MORE doth not only by the authoritie of the Sacred Scripture and holie ancient Fathers but by his owne reasons and textes that himself bringeth forth plainely and euidently conuince Now haue we besides other excellent and fruitfull bookes which he made being prisoner in the Tower as his Three bookes of Comfort in Tribulation a Treatise to receaue the B. Sacrament Sacramentally and virtually both a treatise vpon the Passion with notable Introductions to the same He wrote also manie other godlie and deuout Instructions and prayers and surely of all the bookes that euer he made I doubte whether I may preferre anie of them before the sayd Three bookes
of Comfort in Tribulation yea or anie other man 's either heathen or Christian that haue written as manie haue either in Greeke or Latine of the sayd matter And as for heathen I doe this worthie man plaine iniurie and doe much abase him in matching and comparing him with them especially in this poynt seing that were they otherwise neuer so incomparable they lacked yet and knewe not the very especiall and principall ground of Comfort and Consolation that is the true sayth of Christ in whome and for whome and whose glorie we must seeke and fetche all our true comfort and consolation well lett them passe and lett vs further say that as the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE notably passeth manie learned Christians that haue of the same matter written before so lett vs adde that it may well be doubted all matters considered and weighed yf anie of the rest may seeme much to passe him There is in these bookes so wittie pithie and substantiall matter for the easying and remedying and patiētly suffering of all manner or griefes and sorrowes that may possibly en comber anie man by anie manner or kinde of tribulatiō whether their tribulation proceede from anie inward temptation or ghostlie enemie the diuell or anie outward temptation of the world threatening to bereaue or spoile vs of our goods lande honour libertie and freedome by grieuous sharpe imprisonment and finally of our life withall by anie painefull exquisite and cruell death against all which he doth so wonderfully and effectually prepare defende and arme the reader that a man cannot desire or wishe anie thing of any more efficacie or importāce therevnto to be added In the which booke his principall drift and scope was to stirre and prepare the mindes of Englishmen manfully and couragiously to withstande and not to shrinke at the imminent and open persecution which he foresawe and immediately followed against the vnitie of the Church and the Catholike Fayth of the same albeit full wittily and wisely that the bookes might the safer goe abroad he doth not expressely meddle with those matters and couereth the matter vnder the name of an Hungarian and of the persecution of the Turkes in Hungarie and of the booke translated out of the Hungarian toung into Latine and then into the English toung Of these bookes then there is great account to be made not only for the excellent matter comprised in thē but also for that they were made when he was most straytely shutt vpp and enclosed from all cōpanie in the Tower in which sorte I doubte whether a man shall finde anie other booke of like worthinesse made by anie Christian and yet yf anie such be found much Surely should I yeelde to the same But there is one thing wherein these bookes of Sir THOMAS MORE by speciall prerogatiue surmounte or else I am deceaued all other of this sorte and that is that they were for the most parte written with noe other pēne then a coale as was his treatise vpon the Passion which Coppies yf some men had them they might would esteeme more then other bookes written with golden letters and would no lesse accounte of it then S. Hierome did of certaine bookes of the martyr Lucian written with his owne hand that by chāce he happened on and esteemed them as a pretious lewell And yet is there one thing that in the valuing and praysing of these bookes he is not as manie great Clerkes are like to a whettstone that being blunt and dull itselfe whetteth other things and sharpeth them it was not so with this man for though he wrote these bookes with a dead blacke coale yet was there a most hote burning coale such an one as purifyed the lippes of the holie prophett Esaias that directed his hand with the black coale and so enflamed incensed his hart withall to heauēward that the good and holesome instructions and counsell that he gaue to other men in his bookes he himselfe afterward in most patient suffering the losse of his goods and landes imprisonment death for the defence of iustice and of the Catholike Fayth experimented worthily practised in himselfe And these be in effect the bookes he made either in Latine or English which his English bookes yf they had bene written by him in the Latine toung also or might be with the like grace that they now haue be translated into the Latine speach they would surely much augmente and increase the estimation which the world already hath in forraine Countries of his incomparable witt learning and vertue FINIS The end and scope of this vvork Though beyond my ability and capacity Yet vndertaken out of zeale and loue to the memory of S. Th. M. And for speciall cause knovvn to my self alone As also for being borne on the day of his martyrdom And by his prayers hauing the honour to be the heyre of his family Not presuming only vpō his merits VVhich lay à greater burden of imitation vpon vs But trusting vpō his prayers and setting his life death as a sampler before our eyes S. Thom. Moores parētage and nobility S. Iohn Moor Knight father of Sir Thomas and his virtues Descēded of aūciēt gentry Sir Tho. Moores mother a very virtuous gentle vvoman Her visiō concerning her children and especially Sir Thomas Sir Iohn Moore his secōd vvife out liued Sir Thomas 2. The place and time of S. Th. Mor. birthe An euidēt dāger strangely escaped in his childhood 3. His first studies imployments In S. Anthonies schoole in London In Cardinal Moortōs house The praise of the L. Cardinal S. Thom. Moore his tovvardlynes in the Cardinals retinevv The Cardinal sendeth him to Oxenford Brought vp there neerly austerly by his father The great reuerēce vvhich he alvvays bare to his father 4. His first vvorkes and vvritings Hovv much esteemed of by learned men Aquarrel stirred up betvveen him and Germanus Brixius Easily giuen ouer by S. Th. Moor. 5. His Mortificatiōs Hearshirt Watching fasting Exercises amōg the Charthusians Not permitted by God to take an ecclesiasticall course To be a paterne of maried men 6. His deuotiōs prayers At dayly masse His dayly orisons Much pleased vvith the life of Picus Mirandula His diligence in frequenting good preachers Doctour Colets excellent employments Doctour Colet chosē by S. Th. M. for his ghostly father S. Th. his letter to D. Colet hauing left London He professeth vvhat spirituall comfort he receaued from D. Colet Populous cities fuller of dāgers of sinne then the country life The plesure and innocēce of a coūtry life Cities stād more in need of skilfull pastours thē coūtry mansions Preachers that liue not vvell edyfy no thing He inuiteth D. Colet to returne to the city to help soules The inestimable profit of a good ghostly father Sir Tho. Mo. learned more by prayer then by study 7. His sober diet And plaine apparell 8. He dissembled his virtuous mortification by pleasunt and
T. M offer proceedeth not of vncertāty but because he was certain his reasons were vnanswerable All Christendom of more autority then all england The oath of succession 2. Sir Tho. Mores imprisonmēt First in Westminster Then by Q. Annes importunity in the Tower His willingnesse to leese all for Christ The vpper garment the porters fee. His mans oath His wonderfull courage 3. His discours with his daughter Margaret Preuēted with prayers The cōfort he found in his emprisonment Fiue reasons vsed by his daughter to make him relēt 1. Obedience to the King 2. Autority of wise mē 3. Only B. Fisher of his mind 4. Him self a lay man 5. against a parlament Sir T. M. answers All the saints of God acknowleged the Popes supremacy Why he neuer touched that point in his writings Motiues with which many deceaue their owne cōsciences He knew not of B. Fishers mind The Doctours of the Church greater then Doctours of England And generall Coūcels then a Parlamēt His trust in Gods mercy against the fear of death A heauēly resignation 4. Sir T. M. prophecieth Q. Annes death His plesant answer to his keepers honest excuse The inconstācy and ignorance of the oath makers His meditation vpon the martyrdom of 24. religious mē Maister Secretary Cromwells visit Sir T. M. writ in the tower his book of comfort 5. A prety dialogue between Sir T. M. and his wife Her worldly obiectiō His heauenly answer Prison as neer heauen as our owne house Eternity to be preferred before temporality An other visit 6. M. Rich his sophisticall case A poor ground for an inditement of treasō 7. A remarkable accident at the taking away his bookes His mery ieast vpō it 8. How great care he took not to offend the king The substance of his inditement 1. The arraignmēt of Sir Th. More His iudges His inditement The iudges charges His Christian resolution 2. Sir Th. his āswer to the inditement 1. How sincerly he had always told the K. his mind touching the marriage The durance of his emprisonment and afflictiōs 2. Why he refused to tell his iudgemēt of the law of supremacy Lay men not touched with that law No law can punish silēce that is without malice Whether his silence were malicious Obediēce first to God and then to man 3. That he neuer counselled or induced B. Fisher. The contents of his letters to the said Bishop 4. The law of supremacy like a two-edged sword 3. M. Riches oath against Sir T. More Euidētly disproued by Sir Tho. Mores oath to contrary By iust exceptiō against the witnesse vnworthy of credit Yf it had been true ther had been no malice Malice in law The improbability of M. Rich his deposition M. Rich his witnesses do faile him 4. The Iurie verdict guiltie Excepted against by Sir Thomas The act of parlament against Gods law No lay man can be head of the churche Against the lawer of the realme Against the kings owne oath Against the peculiar obligation of England to Rome Against all Christendom that euer was 5. The condemnatiō of S. Tho. More By yfs ands but no proofes The sentence Mitigated by the king 6. Sir Thomas fully deliuereth his iudgement of the act of suoremacy to be vnlawfull Against all the churche of God Constācy no obstinacy Sir Tho. Mores blessed charity to his iudges The truth of this relation frō present witnesses of credit 1. The manner of Sir Thomas his returne to the tower His sōne asketh him blessing Great cōstancy courtesy and charity 2. His childrens behauiour to him His daughter Matgarets laudable passion A ponderation vpon this mutuall passiō of Father daughter Cardinal Pooles estimatio of Sir Thomas his death 3. How deuoutly cheerfully he attēded his exequution A pleasaunt cōceipt vpō a leight courtyer His last letters To Antony Bōuise To his daughter Margaret His desito dy vpō the octaue of S. Peter which was also S. Thom. of Canterburys commemoratiō An blessing to his heire God grāted him his desires to dy the day he wished His heir-shirt and discipline 4. Aduertisment giuē him of the day of his death frō the K. Most welcome vnto him The K. willed him to vse but few words at his exequution His wife childrē permitted to be at his buriall His comfortable courage He put on his best apparell that day Liberally to his executiō 5. The forme of his death and martyrdom Persons hired to disgrace him A good cōsciēce He freeth one from the tētation of despaire by his prayers His wordes at his death His prayers Words to the executioner He couereth his eyes himself His happy death 6. The kings sadnes vpō the newes of his exequution The place of his buriall A notable accidēt about his windnig-sheet His bloudy shirt His head His martyrdom encouraged many other to the like Mr. Gardiner Euen his owne Parish-priest 7. A cōsideratiō vpon the blessing which he gaue to his heires children A praise of M. Iohn More sonne heire to Sir Thomas The vnmercifull dealing of K. Hēry with Sir Tho. Mores heires With the Lady his widow M. Iohn More cōmitted to the tower for denial of the oath The imprisonment of his daughter Margaret 8. The fauour and Physiognomie of Sir Tho. More 1. Cardinal Pooles lamentatiō vpon Sir Tho. Mores death 2. Erasmus of Roterdam 3. Doctour Cochlaeus of Germany Iob 12. 4. Bishop Iouius of Italy 5. W Paradin a dearned historiā of France 6. Riuius a Protestāt 7. Charles the Emperour 8. Circumstances notable in the death of Sir Tho. More From the kings part From Sir Thomas Mores part Nota. 9. An apology for his mery iestes A fit cōparison between Catoes seuerity and Sir T. M. his pleasaūt disposition 10. Sir Tho. More a lay man martyr for Ecclesiasticall autority neuer before questioned Epigrammes History of K. Richard the 3. in English and Latin His Vtopia Many deemed Vtopia to be a true nation and country Sheep deuour men in England Sir Tho. More his book against Luther His epistle against Pomeranus His English writings The dialog with the messinger Great sincerity in his writing and loue of the truth He writt neither for gaine nor report His pouerty almost incredible in so greate a man Sir Tho. M. no partiall frind to the clergy Tindals false trāslation of the scripture Cōfuted learnedly by Sir Th. M. The wilfulnes of heretikes Tindal falsifieth Sir T.M. words Tindals maze Tindals māner of amēding Against Frier Barnes his inuisible Churche The notable disagreemēt of heretikes among thēselues Hereticall scoffing Heretikes Hypocrisy Against the supplication of beggars Against Iohn Frith Sir Tho. Mores Apologie How heretikes recite the catholik argumēts Touching the length of Sir Tho. Mores bookes Heretiks blaspheming the fathers vvould thēselues be reuerently handled Whē heretikes railings are to be neglected Heretikes excellent railours The pacificatiō Cōfuted by Sir T.M. The debellation of Salem and Bizance How the Pacifier reconcileth points in controuersy Sir T. M. his book of the blessed Sacrament The heretiks supper of the Lord wants the best dishe Sir Tho. Mores bookes written in the tower Comfort in tribulation Of Cōmunion Of the Passion The excellencn of the booze of Comfort The said book a preparation against the persequutiō which he did forsee Written when he had no book about him Written with cole Like Esaias his cole that purified his lippes