themselues to cardes or dice. The men abode on the one side of the house the women on the other seldome conuersing togeather he vsed before bedtime to call them togeather and say certaine prayers with them as the Miserere psalme Ad te Domine leuaui Deus misereatur nostri Salue Regina and De profundis for the dead and some others he suffered none to be absent from Masse on the Sondaies or vpon holie daies and vpon great feasts he gott them to watche the eeues all the Mattins time Vpon Good Fryday he would call them togeather into the New-buildings and reading the holie Passion vnto them he would now and then interpose some speaches of his owne to moue them either to compassion compunction or such pious affections Erasmus sayth that there was a fatall felicitie fallen on the seruants of that house that none liued but in better estate after Sir THOMAS MORE 's death none euer was touched with the least aspersion of anie euill fame He vsed to haue one reade daily at his table which being ended he would aske of some of them how they vnderstood such and such a place and so there grew a friendlie communication recreating all men that were present with some ieaste or other My aunte Rooper writing hereof to her father in the Tower sayth What doe you thinke my most deare father doth comfort vs at Chelsey in this your absence surely the remembrance of your manner of life passed amongst vs your holie conuersation your holesome counsells your examples of vertue of which there is hope that they do not only perseuere with you but that they are by Gods grace much more encreased 2. His children vsed often to translate out of English into Latine and out of Latine into English and Doctour Stapleton testifyeth that he hath sene an Apologie of Sir THOMAS MORE 's to the vniuersitie of Oxford in defence of learning turned into Latine by one of his daughters and translated againe into English by another And to stirre vp his wife and children to the desire of heauenlie things he would sometimes vse these and the like wordes vnto them It is now noe maisterie for you my ioyes to gett heauen for euerie bodie giueth you good example euerie one storeth your heads with good counsells you see also vertue rewarded and vice punished so that you are carried vp thither by the chinnes but yf you chance to liue that time wherein none will giue you good example nor none anie good counsell when you shall see before your eyes vertue punished and vice rewarded if then you will stand fast and sticke to God closely vpon paine of my life though you be but halfe good God will allowe you for whole good Yf his wife or anie of his children chanced to be sicke or troubled he would say vnto them we must not looke to goe to heauen at our pleasure and on fotherbeds that is not the way for our Lord himself went thither with greate paine and the seruant must not looke to be in better case then his maister As he would in this sorte animate them to beare their troubles patiētly so would he in like manner teache them to withstande the diuell and his temptations valiantly comparing our ghostlie enemye to an ape whith if he be not looked vnto he will be busie and bolde to doe shrewede turnes but if he be espyed and checked for them he will suddenly leape backe and aduenture no further so the diuell finding a man idle sluggish vsing no resistance to his suggestions waxeth hardie and will not fayle still to continue them vntill he hath throughly brought vs to his purpose but if he finde a man with diligence still seeking to withstand and preuent his temptations he waxeth wearie and at last he vtterly forsaketh him being a spiritt of so high a pride that he cannot endure to be mocked and againe so enuious that he feareth still least he not only thereby should catche a fowle fall but also minister vnto vs more matter of meritt When he saw anie of his take greate paines in dressing themselues to be fine either in wearing that which was vneasie or in stroaking vp their hayre to make themselues high foreheads he would tell them that if God gaue them not hell he should doe them great iniurie for they tooke more paynes to please the world and the diuell then manie euen vertuous men did to cleanse their soules and please God Manie such speaches tending to deuotion and care of their soules had he euerie day at dinner and supper after the reading was done as is before sayd with such heauenlie discourses flowing with eloquence that it might well be sayd of him which the Queene of Saba sayd of Salomon Blessed art thou and blessed by thy Lord God and blessed are all they that attende and wayte on thee For no doubt there was the spirite of God in that familie where euerie one was busied about somewhat or other no cardes no dice no companie keeping of the men with the women but as it were in some religious house all chaste all courteous all deuout their recreations was either musike of voices or viols for which cause he procured his wife as I haue sayd to play thereon to draw her minde from the worlde to which by nature she was too much addicted but so as Sir THOMAS would say of her that she was often penny-wise and pound-foolish sauing a candle's ende and spoyling a veluett gowne Of her also he meant it when in his bookes of Comfort in Tribulation he telleth of one who would rate her husband because he had no minde to sett himself forward in the world saying vnto him Tillie vallie tillie vallie will you sitt and make goslings in the ashes my mother hath often sayd vnto me it is better to rule then to be ruled Now in truth answered Sir THOMAS that is truly sayd good wife for I neuer found you yet willing to be ruled And in another place of the same booke he calleth this wife of his a iollie Maister-woman 3. For all his publike affayres and housholde exercises he neuer left of to write learned bookes either of deuotion or against heresies which now beganne to spreade themselues from Germanie into Flanders from thence into England by manie pestiferous pampheletts and bookes against which Sir THOMAS MORE laboured with his penne more then anie other English man whatsoeuer in regarde of his zeale to God and the honour of his immaculate spouse the Catholike Church as appeareth by his foure bookes of Dialogues a worke full of learning and witt where he argueth most profoundly of the Inuocation of Saints pilgrimages relikes and Images he teacheth also substantially how we may knowe which is the true Church and that that Church cannot erre After he had ended this booke there was a lewde fellow sett out a pamphlett intituled the Supplication of Beggers
that be enuenomed and poysoned with these pestilent heresies would with indifferent mindes reade the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE 's answer there were good hope as it hath God be thanked chanced to manie alreadie of their good speedie recouerie But alacke the while and woe vpon the subtle craft of the cursed diuell that so blindeth them and the wretched negligent and little regarde that these men haue to their soule 's health that can be content to sucke in the deadlie poyson of their soules by reading and crediting these mischieuous bookes yet will not once vouchsafe to take the holesome depulsiue Triacle not to be fetched from Geneua but euen readie at home at their hands in Sir THOMAS MORE 's bookes against this dreadfull deadlie infection But to returne now againe to the sayd Tindall Lord what open fowle and shamefull shifts doth he make for the defence of his wrong and pestiferous assertions with what spitefull shamefull lyes doth he belye Sir THOMAS MORE and wretchedly depraueth his writings not being ashamed though his playne manifest wordes lye open to the sight of all men to the cōtrarie to depraue his answers And amongst other that he should affirme that the Church of Christ should be before the Gospell was taught or preached which things he neither writeth nor once thought as a most absurde vntruth but that it was as it is very true before the written Gospell And the sayd Sir THOMAS MORE seing that by Tindall's owne confession the Church of God was in the world manie hūdred yeares before the written lawes of Moyses doth well thereof gather and conclude against Tindall that there is no cause to be yeelded but that much more it may be so and is so indeede in the gracious time of our redemption the holie Ghost that leadeth the Church from time to time into all truth being so plentiefully effused vpon the same The Church of Christ is and euer hath bene in manie things instructed necessarie to be belieued that be not in anie Scripture comprized These manie other strong reasons to proue the common knowne Catholike Church and none other to be the true Church of Christ And seing we doe not knowe the verie bookes of Scripture which thing Luther himselfe confesseth but by the knowen Catholike Church we must of necessitie take the true and found vnderstanding of the sayd Scriptures and all our fayth from the sayd Church which vnderstanding is confirmed in the sayde Church from the Apostles time by infinite miracles and with the consent of the olde Fathers and holie martyrs with manie other substantiall reasons that Sir THOMAS MORE here layeth downe haue so appaled and amazed Tindall that he is like a man that were in an inexplicable labyrinth whereof he can by no meanes gett out And Tindall being thus brought oftentimes to a bay and vtter distresse he scuddeth in and out like a hare that had twentie brace of grayhounds after her and were afeared at euerie foote to be snatched vpp And as Sir THOMAS MORE merrily yet truly writeth he did winde himself so wilily this way and that way and so shifteth him in out and with his subtile shifting so bleareth our eyes that he maketh vs as blinde as a catt and so snareth vs vp in his matters that we can no more see where about he walketh then yf he went visible before vs all naked in a nett in effect playeth the verie blinde hobbe about the house sometimes when there is no other shift then Tindall is driuen to excuse himselfe and his doings as he doth for the word Presbyter which he translated first Senior then Elder wherein for excuse of his fault at great length he declareth 4. fayre vertues in himselfe malice ignorance errour and follie And where that he sayd he had amended his fault in translating Elder for Senior this is a like amending as yf he would where a man were blinde on the one eye amende his sight by putting out the other As Sir THOMAS MORE answered Tindall touching his vnknowen Church so did he also Fryer Barnes for in that point both agreed and would haue the Church secrett and hidd in hugger mugger but in the meane season they handle the matter so hansomely and so artificially that their owne reasons plucke downe their vnknowne Church And albeit they would haue vs belieue the Church were vnknowen yet doe they giue vs tokens and markes whereby it should be knowen And in pervsing the vnknowne Church they fall into manie foolish and absurde paradoxes that Sir THOMAS MORE discouereth And this vnknowē Church would they fayne reare vp in the ayre to plucke downe the knowen Catholike Churh on the earth and so leaue vs no Church at all which Church to ouerthrowe is their finall and onlie hope for that standing they well knowe their malignant Church cannot stande being by the Catholike Church both now manie hundred yeares condemned These and manie other things doth Sir THOMAS more at large full well declare and setteth the limping and halting goodwife of the Bottle at Bottles wharfe at disputation with F. Barnes in which the indifferent reader shall see that she did not so much limpe and halte as did the lame and weake reasons that F. Barnes brought against her of his vnknowen Church which she vtterly ouerthroweth but yet as they doe both Tindal and Barnes agree as we haue sayd in their secrett vnknowen Church so in other points touching their sayd Church as in manie other articles besides they doe iarre and disagree and not so much the one from the other as from themselues as Sir THOMAS MORE sheweth more at large For sayth he as they that would haue built vp the Tower of Babylon had such a stoppe throwen vpon them that suddenly none knewe what another sayd surely so God vpon these heretikes of our time that goe busily about to rayse vp to the skye their fowle filthie dunghill of all olde and new false skin king heresies gathered togeather against the true Catholike fayth of Christ that himself hath hitherto taught his true Catholike Church God I say when the Apostles went about to preache the Catholike fayth sent downe the holie spirit of vnitie Concorde and truth vnto them with the guift of speach and vnderstanding so that they vnderstood euerie man and euerie man vnderstood them sent amongst these heretikes the spiritt of errour and lying of dissension and diuision the damnable diuell of hell which so entangleth their toungs and distempereth their braynes that they neither vnderstande one another nor anie of them well himselfe The bookes of the sayd Tindall and Barnes are more farced and stuffed with ieasting and rayling then with anie good substantiall reasoning and notwithstanding that a man would thinke that Tindall were in fonde scoffing peerelesse yet as Sir THOMAS MORE declareth Barnes doth farre ouerrunne him and oftentimes fareth as if he were from a Fryer waxen a fidler and
tell this reason thereof because she dyed soone after she had brought forth this childe but to haue bene a woman of more then ordinarie vertue that which Doctor Clement reporteth from SIR THOMAS his owne mouth of a vision which she had the next night after her marriage seemeth in my iudgement forcible to argue in which she sawe in her sleepe as it were ingrauen in her wedding ring the number and fauour of all her children she was to haue whereof the face of one was so darke and obscure that she could not well discerne it and indeede afterwards she suffered of one of her children an vntimelie deliuerie but the face of one of her other she beheld shining most gloriously whereby no doubt Sir THOMAS his fame and sanctitie was foreshened and presignifyed She brought forth before him to Sir Iohn two daughters one called Iane afterwards married to à noble gentleman Mr. Richard Staffretō Elizabeth wife to the worthie gētleman Mr. Iohn Rastall Iudge Rastall's father Sir Iohn after his first wife's death married successiuely two others whereof the last as I haue heard was called Alice one of the Mores of Surrey and great aunte to Sir William More whose sonne now liuing is Sir George lieftennant of the Tower a man little inferiour to his noble Anncestours if his religion were answerable to theirs This Ladie outliued her sonne in law Sir THOMAS dwelling vpon her Iointure in Hartfordshire at a Capitall messuage then called More-place now Gubbons in the parish of Northmimes but being a little before her death thrust out of all by king Henry's furie she dyed at Northall a mile from thence and lieth buried in the church there 2. Sir THOMAS MORE was borne at London in Milke-streete where the Iudge his father for the most parte dwelt in the yeare of our Lord 1480. in the twentieth yeare of Edvvard the Fourth Shortly after his birth God would shew by another signe how deare this babe was vnto him For his nurce chancing to ride with him ouer à water and her horse stepping aside into a deepe place putt both her and her Childe in great danger and ieopardie whose harmes she seeking suddenly to preuent threw the infant ouer a hedge into a fielde neere adioyning and after by God's helpe escaping safe also when she came to take him vp againe she found him to haue no hurt at all but sweetely smiled vpon her that it might well be sayd of him Angelis suis Deus mandauit de te ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum and not his foote only but his whole bodie 3. This was no doubt a happie presage of his future holinesse and putt his parents in minde that he was that shining Childe of whome his mother had that former vision wherefore his father had the greater care to bring him vp in learning as soone as his tender age would permit it and so he putt him to the Free-schoole of London called S. Anthonies where he had a famous and learned man called Nicolas Holt for his maister vnder whome when he had rather greedily deuoured then leasurely chewed his Grammar rules he outstripped farre both in towardnesse of witt and diligence of endeauours all his schoole fellowes with whome he was matched And being borne to farre greater matters his father procured him to be placed shortly after in the house of the most worthie prelate that then liued in England both for wisedome learning and vertue whose like the world scarcely had Cardinall Morton Archbishopp of Canterburie and Lord high Chancellour of England whose graue countenance and carriage was such that he easily allured all men to honour and loue him a man as Sir THOMAS MORE describeth him in his Vtopia of incomparable iudgement a memorie more then is credible eloquent in speach and which is most to be wished in Clergiemen of singular wisedome and vertue so that the King and the Common wealth relyed chiefly vpon this mans counsell as he by whose policie King Henrie the Seauenth both gott the Crowne of England from Richard the third the vsurper and also most happily procured the two houses of Lancaster and Yorke to be vnited by marriage In this famous mans house this youth learned most diligently aboundance of wisedome and vertue and now he beganne to shew to the world what man he was likelie to proue For the Cardinall often would make triall of his pregnant witt especially at Christmas merriments when hauing plaies for recreacion this youth would suddenly steppe vp amongst the players and neuer studying before vpon the matter make often a parte of his owne inuention which was so wittie and so full of ieasts that he alone made more sporte and laughter then all the players besides for which his towardlienesse the Cardinall delighted much in him and would often say of him vnto diuerse of the Nobilitie who at sundrie times dined with him that that boy there wayting on him whosoeuer should liue to see it would proue a maruelous rare man But when this most reuerend Prelate sawe that he could not profitt so much in his house as he desired where there were manie distractions of publike affaires hauing great care of his bringing vp he sent him to the Vniuersitie and placed him in Canterbury-Colledge at Oxford now called christs-Christs-church where in two yeares space that he remained there he profited exceedingly in Rhetorick Logick and Philosophie and shewed euidently what wonders witt and diligence can performe when they are ioyned as seldome they are in one painefull student There his whole minde was sett on his booke for in his allowance his father kept him verie short suffering him scarcelie to haue so much monie in his owne custodie as would pay for the mending of his apparrell euen no more then necessitie required and of his expences he would exact of him a particular accounte which course of his fathers he would often both speake of and praise it when he came to riper yeares affirming that by this meanes he was curbed from all vice and withdrawen from manie idle expences either of gayming or keeping naughtie companie so that he knew neither play nor other riott wherein most yong men in these our lamentable daies plunge themselues too timely to the vtter ouerthrow as well of learning and future vertue as their temporall estates This strictnesse of his father increased in him also a great reuerence and obedience after vnto him againe in so much that in all his life after he was so dutiefull vnto him that he neuer offended nor contradicted him in anie the least worde or action still shewing towards him admirable deedes of humilitie euen at that time when in the eye of the world he farre surpassed his father in dignitie which may be seene by asking him blessing euerieday duly euen after he was Lord Chancellour of England and when he and his father mett publikely at Lincolnes-Inne or other
speake vvith my servants and seing this must needes be donne I number it amongst my affaires and needefull they are vnlesse one vvill be a stranger in his ovvne house for vve must endeauour to be affable and pleasing vnto those vvhome either nature chance or choice hath made our companions but vvith such measure it must be donne that vve doe not marre them vvith affabilitie or make them of seruants our maisters by too much gentle entreatie and fauour vvhilst these things are doing a day a moneth a yeare passeth VVhen then can I finde anie time to vvrite for I haue not yet spoken of the time that is spent in eating and sleeping vvhich things alone bereaue most men of halfe their life As for me I gett only that spare time which I steale from my meate and sleepe which because it is but small I proceed slovvly yet it being somevvhat I haue novv at the length preuailed so much as I haue finished and sent vnto you Peter my Vtopia Besides all this to shew the more his excellent partes of readie vtterance pleasant conceipts and sharpenesse of witt euen to the admiration of all men he read a lecture in S. Laurence church at Lothburie where Sir Iohn More his father lieth buried out of S. Augusten's bookes De Ciuitate Dei not so much discussing the points of Diuinitie as the precepts of morall philosophie and historie where with these bookes are replenished And he did this with such an excellent grace that whereas before all the flower of English youthes went to heare the famous Grocinus who was lately come out of Italie to teache Greeke in the publike vniuersitie vnder whome as also that famous Grammarian Linacre Sir THOMAS himself had profited greatly of whome he had Aristotle's workes interpreted in Greeke now all England almost left his lecture and flocked to heare Sir THOMAS MORE 7. It fortuned shortly after that a shippe of the Popes arriued at Southampton which the King claimed as a forfeyture yet the pope's legate so wrought with the king that though it was seysed on yet he obtained to haue the matter pleaded by learned Councell For the Pope's side as their principall man was chosen Sir THOMAS MORE and a day of hearing being appointed before the Lo Chancellour and other the chiefe Iudges in the Starre-chamber Sir THOMAS argued so learnedly and forcibly in defence of the pope's parte that the afore sayd forfeyture was restored and he amongst all the audience so highly commended for his admirable and wittie arguing that for no intreatie would the king anie longer forbeare to vse him Wherefore he brought him perforce to the Court and made him of his Priuie Counsell as Sir THOMAS testifyeth himselfe in a letter to that worthie prelate Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rothester saying I am come to the Court extreamely against my vvill as euerie bodie knovveth and as the king himself often tvviteth me in sporte for it And hereto do I hang so vnseemely as a man not vsing to ride doth sitt vnhansomely in his saddle But our Prince vvhose speciall and extraordinarie fauour tovvards me I knovve not hovv I euer shal be able to deserue is so affable and courteous to all men that euerie one vvho hath neuer so little hope of himselfe may finde somevvhat vvhereby he may imagine that he loueth him euen as the Cittizens vviues of London doe vvho imagine that our ladies ' picture neare the tovver doth smile vpon them as they pray before it But I am not so happie that I can perceaue such fortunate signes of deseruing his loue and of a more abiect spiritt then that I can persvvade myselfe that I haue it already yet such is the vertue and learning of the king and his daily increasing industrie in both that by hovv much the more I see his Highnesse increase in these kinglie ornaments by so much the lesse troublesome this Courtier 's life seemeth vnto me And indeede king Henrie's Court for the first twentie yeares was a seate of manie excellent witts a pallace of rare vertues according as Erasmus wittnesseth thereof in an epistle to Henrie Gilford a gentleman of an ancient familie For thus he writeth The fragant odour of the most honourable fame of the Court of England vvhich spreades it selfe ouer all the vvorld it hauing a king singularly endevved vvith all princelie excellencies a Queene most like vnto him and a number of sincere learned graue and vvise personages belonging vnto it hath stirred vp the prince of Berghes to putt his sonne Antony to no other schoole but that Within a while after the king had created him one of his high Councellours of state perceauing euerie day more and more his fidelitie vprightnesse dexteritie wisedome dubbted him knight and after Mr. Weston's death he made him Threasurer of the exchequer a place of great trust of which increase of honour Erasmus writeth to Cochleus saying VVhen you vvrite next to MORE you shall vvish him ioy of his increase of dignitie and good fortune For being before only of the king's priuie Councell novv of late by the beneuolencc and free guift of his most gracious prince he neither desiring nor seeking for it is not only made knight but Threasurer of the king's Exchequer an office in England both honourable and also commodious for the purse Yea king Henrie finding still more and more sufficiencie in Sir THOMAS vsed him with particular affection for the space of twentie yeares togeather during a good parte whereof the king's custome was vpon holie daies when he had donne his deuotions to sende for Sir THOMAS into his Trauerse and there some times in matters of Astronomie Geomitrie and Diuinitie and such other sciences to sitt and conferre with him otherwhiles also in the cleere nights he would haue him walke with him on the leads there to discourse of the diuersitie of the courses motions and operations of the starres as well fixed as the planetts And because he was of a verie pleasant disposition it pleased his Maiestie and the Queene at supper time commonly to call for him to heare his pleasant ieastes But when Sir THOMAS perceaued his wittie conceipts so much to delight him that he could scarce once in a moneth gett leaue to goe home to his wife and children whome he had now placed at Chelsey three miles frō London by the water side and that he could not be two daies absent from the Court but he must be sent for againe he much misliking this restrainte of his libertie beganne therevpon to dissemble his mirth and so by little and little to disvse himselfe that he from thēceforth at such seasons was no more so ordinarily sent for The great respect which the Cittie of London bare vnto him caused the king as a speciall man to sende Sir THOMAS to appease the apprentises which were risen vp in a mutine against the strangers that dwelt then amongst them vpon a May day and
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
wherein I may really show vnto you my loue there God vvilling I vvill neuer be vvanting Commende me to my Mistrisse your vvife for I dare not novv inuerte the order begunne and to your vvhole familie vvhome mine doth vvith all their harts salute From my house in the Countrie this 10th of Iune 1528. Conradus Goclenius a Westphalian was commended by Erasmus vnto Sir THOMAS MORE thus I praise your disposition my dearest MORE exceedingly for that your content is to be rich in faithfull and sincere friends and that you esteeme the greatest felicitie of this life to be placed therein Some take great care that they may not be cosened vvith counterfaite ievvells but you cōtemning all such trifles seeme to yourself to be rich enough if you can but gett an vnfayned friend For there is no man taketh delight either in Cardes dice Chesse hunting or musike so much as you doe in discoursing vvith a learned and pleasant conceyted Companion And although you are stored vvith this kinde of riches yet because that I knovve that a couetous man hath neuer enough and that this manner of my dealing hath luckily happened both to you and me diuerse times heretofore I deliuer to your custodie one friend more vvhome I vvould haue you accept vvith your vvhole hart His name is Conradus Goclenius a Westphalian vvho hath vvith great applause and no lesse fruit lately taught Rhetorick in the College nevvly erected at Louaine called Trilingue Novv I hope that as soone as you shall haue true experience of him I shall haue thankes of you both for so I had of Cranuilde vvho so vvholy possesseth your loue that I almost enuie him for it But of all strangers Erasmus challenged vnto himself his loue most especially which had long continued by mutuall letters expressing great affection and increased so much that he tooke a iournie of purpose into England to see and enioy his personall acquaintance and more intire familiaritie at which time it is reported how that he who conducted him in his passage procured that Sir THOMAS MORE and he should first meete togeather in London at the Lo Mayor's table neither of them knowing each other And in the dinner time they chanced to fall into argument Erasmus still endeauouring to defende the worser parte but he was so sharpely sett vpon and opposed by Sir THOMAS MORE that perceauing that he was now to argue with a readier witt then euer he had before mett withall he broke forth into these wordes not without some choler Aut tu es Morus aut nullus whereto Sir THOMAS readily replyed Aut tu es Erasmus aut diabolus because at that time he was strangely disguised and had sought to defende impious propositions for although he was a singular Humanist and one that could vtter his minde in a most eloquent phrase yet had he alwaies a delight to scoffe at religious matters and finde fault with all sortes of Clergie men He tooke a felicitie to sett out sundrie Commentaries vpon the Fathers workes censuring them at his pleasure for which cause he is tearmed Errans mus because he wandreth here and there in other mens haruests yea in his writings he is sayd to haue hatched manie of those eggs of heresie which the apostata Fryer Luther had before layde not that he is to be accounted an heretike for he would neuer be obstinate in anie of his opinions yet would he irreligiously glaunce at all antiquitie and finde manie faultes with the present state of the Church Whilst he was in England Sir THOMAS MORE vsed him most courteously doing manie offices of a deare friend for him as well by his word as his purse whereby he bound Erasmus so straytely vnto him that he euer after spoke and wrote vpon all occasions most highly in his praise but Sir THOMAS in successe of time grew lesse affectionate vnto him by reason he saw him still fraught with much vanitie and vnconstancie in respect of religion as when Tindall obiecteth vnto Sir THOMAS that his Darling Erasmus had translated the word Church into Congregation and Priest into Elder euen as himself had donne Sir THOMAS answered thereto yf my darling Erasmus hath translated those places with the like vvicked intent that Tindall hath donne he shall be no more my darling but the Diuells darling Finally long after hauing found in Erasmus's workes manie thinges necessarily to be amēded he counselled him as his friend in some latter booke to imitate the example of S. Augustin who did sett out a booke of Retractations to correct in his writing what he had vnaduisedly written in the heate of youth but he that was farre different from S. Augustin in humilitie would neuer follow his counsell and therefore he is censured by the Church for a Busie fellow manie of his bookes are condemned and his opinions accounted erroneous though he alwaies liued a Catholike Priest and hath written most sharpely against all those new Gospellers who then beganne to appeare in the world and in a letter to Iohn Fabius Bishopp of Vienna he sayth that he hateth these seditious opinions with the which at this day the world is miserably shaken neither doth he dissemble saith he being so addicted to pietie that if he incline to anie parte of the ballance he will bende rather to superstition then to impietie by which speach he seemeth in doubtfull words to taxe the Church with superstition and the new Apostolicall bretheren with impietie Now to conclude this matter of Sir THOMAS MORE 's friends lett vs heare what Erasmus speaketh of him in an epistle to Vlderick Hutten MORE seemeth to be made and borne for friendshipp vvhereof he is a most sincere follovver and a fast keeper neither doth he feare to be taxed for that he hath manie friends vvhich thing Hesiodus prayseth nothing euerie man may attaine to his friendshipp he is nothing slovve in choosing most apt in nourishing and most constant in keeping them yf by chance he falles into ones amitie whose vices he cannot amende he slackeneth the raines of friendshipp disioynting it by little and little rather then dissoluing it suddenly vvhome he findeth sincere and constant agreing vvith his ovvne good disposition he is so delighted vvith their companie and familiaritie that he seemeth to place his chiefe vvorldlie pleasure in such mens conuersation and although he be verie negligent in his ovvne temporall affaires yet none is more diligent then he in furthering his friends causes What neede I speake manie vvords yf anie vvere desirous to haue a perfect patterne of friendshipp none can make it better then MORE In his companie there is such rare affabilitie and such svveete behauiour that no man is of so harsh a nature but that his talke is able to make him merrie no matter so vnpleasing but he vvith his vvitt can shake from it all tediousnesse declaring plainely in these words the most pleasant disposition of Sir THOMAS MORE whose onlie
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
to his hart as to thinke that he was not able as he gladly would with the losse of one of his chiefest limmes to finde anie thing in that matter whereby with integritie of his conscience he might serue his Grace to his contentment And he alwaies bore in minde those most godlie wordes that his Highnesse spoke vnto him when he first admitted him into his royall seruice the most vertuous lesson that euer prince gaue vnto his seruant whereby he willed him First to looke to God and after God to him as in good fayth he sayd he did and would or else might his Maiestie accounte him for his most vnworthie vassall whereto the king courteously answered that if he could not therein with his conscience serue him he was contented to accept his seruice otherwaies and vsing the aduise of other his learned Councell whose consciences could well agree thereto he would notwithstanding continue his accustomed fauour towards him and neuer with that matter molest his conscience after but how well he performed his promise may be seene by the discourse following And indeede there is no prince be he bent to neuer so much wickednesse but shall finde counsellours enough that will alwaies seeke to please his humours but to finde anie one that will not agree to what that king is bent to haue wrongfully brought to passe these are verie rare and therefore most to be admired THE SEAVENTH CHAPTER A VIEW OF SOME especiall and most remarkeable virtues of SIR T. MORE in middest of his Honours 1. Incredible pouerty in so eminent a personage signe of vnmacheable integrity 2. Admirable zeale in cause of catholike religion against all heresie 3. Cheerful myrthe in all occasions ioined vvhith grauity 4. Solid deuotion and reuerence in diuine seruice 5. Patience resignation in temporall losses 6. Contempt of vvorldly honour declared in deposing of the dignity of Chauncellour 7. A resolution to liue poorly neuer like seen in a great states man 8. With vvhat deep ponderation he resigned vp that high honour 1. ABout this time it happened Sir Iohn More to fall sick of a surfeit of grapes as I haue heard who though he was verie olde yet had he till then bene more lustie then his yeares afforded him In his sicknesse his sonne whome now he had scene Lo Chancellour often came visited him vsing manie comfortable words vnto him and at his departure out of this miserable world with teares taking him about the necke most louingly kissed and embraced him commending his soule deuoutly to the merciefull hands of his Creatour and redeemer so with a heauie hart departed from him who left him now bettered with a verie small encrease of estate because his chiefe house and lands at Gubbins in Hartfortdshire his last wife enioyed who outliued Sir THOMAS some ten yeares and therefore Sir THOMAS neuer enioyed almost anie inheritance from his father in so much that he affirmed in his apologie which he wrote about this time that all his reuenues and pensions except that which had bene granted by letters patents from the king of his mere liberalitie to witt the mannours of Duckington Frinckford and Barlyparke in Oxfordshire all the rest he saith amount not to aboue Fiftie pound by the yeare as those which he had from his father or by his wife or by his owne purchase Surely a rare saying that one of the king's Counsell who had gone through manie offices for almost twentie yeares should not be able to purchase one hundred pound land when as now a priuate Atturney by his owne practise wil leaue his childe fiue hundred pound land of inheritance Therefore in so great an officer this sheweth an admirable contempt of worldlie commodities a bountiefull hand to spende liberally and abundantly vpon the poore his owne kinsfolke and familie the Church and vpon hospitallitie And as for readie monie he had not in all the world when he gaue vp his office aboue one hundred pound either in golde or siluer which is as strange as the former All which doth demonstrate his vprightnesse his munificence his singular perfections and his diuine wisedome For what could millions of golde haue stoode him in steede but to cumber his conscience when he lost all from himselfe and his posteritie by reason of the malice of a spitefull queene who pursued him and his to death to their vtter temporall ouerthrowe shewing perfectly that saying non est malitia super malitia mulieris For the king could not by his fall promise himself anie great increase of goods as he had gotten by the Cardinall's ouerthrow 2. Now the Bishops of England at this time considering with themselues that for all his prince's fauour he was neither a rich man nor in yearelie reuenues aduanced as his worthinesse deserued weighing with themselues what paines and trauailes he had taken in writing manie learned bookes for the defence of the true Catholike faith against manie heresies secretely sowen abroad in the realme to whose pastorall charge the reformation of them principally appertained there being not one Clergie man that had matched his writings either in the greatnesse of the volumes the soundnesse of the arguments to conuince the aduersarie or the paines taken to reduce them They called therefore a Conuocation togeather whether most of the Clergie came where they concluded to offer vnto him the summe of foure thousand pound at the least thereby to recompence in parte his trauailes there in sustayned To the paymēt whereof euerie Bishop Abbott and the rest of the Clergie after the rate of their abilities were liberall contributours hoping that this summe would contente him Wherefore his deare friends Tunstall Bishopp of Durham and Clarke B. of Bath and as is supposed Veysey of Exeter came to Sir THOMAS and spoke thus vnto him how that they held themselues bound to consider him for his paynes taken and bestowed to discharge them in Gods quarrell and albeit they could not according to his deserts requite him so worthily as they willingly would but must referre that only to the goodnesse of God yet for a small parte of recompence in respect of his estate so vnequall to his worth they presented vnto him that summe in the name of the whole Conuocation desiring him to take it in good parte And though this were a bountiefull deede in respect of those prelates yet little knew they Sir THOMAS his magnificent disposition who answered them in this manner That like as it was no small comfort vnto him that so wise and learned men accepted so well of his simple doings for which he neuer purposed to receaue anie rewarde but at the hands of God alone to whome the thankes thereof was chiefely to be ascribed so gaue he most humble thankes vnto their Lordshipps all for their so bountiefull friendlie consideration but he purposed not to receaue anie thing from them And when they with great importunitie pressed still vpon him that
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
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
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