how pure a Latine stile he attayned vnto his singular epistles yet extant to diuerse personages doe euidently shewe so that one would imagine he had spent all his life time in Humanitie only And although his aptnesse for eloquence seemed farre to disagree from the serious studies of the Common Law of this land so that few could suppose such a witt would haue had the patience to haue taken a lawbooke in hand yet such was his obedience to his father that at his cōmaund he studied the Law diligently 7. He vsed to eate at his meales but of one dish which was most commonly powdered biefe or some such like salte meate although his table was alwaies furnished with much varietie and what meate he first tasted on the same would he for that time make his whole refection of In his youth he abstained wholy from wine and in his latter yeares he would taste thereof but first it must be well alayed with water as Erasmus to Huttenus wittnesseth He had noe care what apparrell he wore in so much that being once tolde by his secretarie Mr. Harris that his shoes were all torne he bad him tell his man that looked vnto him thereof to buy him new whome for this cause he called his Tutour for he bought and made all his apparrell at his owne discretion Sir THOMAS neuer busying his head about such matters choosing rather to be in all things at the discretion of other men then at his owne guiding that he might in all his actions exercise the chiefe vertues of a Christian man obedience and humilitie Yea although he were most wise and dexterous in discerning truth from falshood and vertue from cloaked vice yet would he for the most parte in his greatest affaires and studies aske his man Harris his aduise and counsell and if he thought the contrarie better he would willingly submitt himselfe to his opinion And indeede Harris was a man of good vnderstanding and iudgement and a very trustie seruant 8. These were the foundations on which he layde his future building which by how much the more it was to be raysed to splendour and beautie by so much he layd his ground-worke of humilitie the lower and whatsoeuer hardnesse he vsed secretely still kept he in outward semblance a singular alacritie being merry in companie and full of ieastes especially eschewing the vice of singularitie yea he was verie cunning in dissembling his vertues so that few came to knowe what holie exercises he practised euen as in his writings he often fayned matters cunningly to haue heard them of others which he himself had inuented as in his preface to his Vtopia he artificially discourseth as though Raphaël Hithlodius had tolde that whole storie vnto him commento periucundo as Paulus Iouius doth testifye So he fayned as though an Englishman called Rosse had pleasantly confuted Luther's booke as he discoursed with his hoste in Italie who afterward published all their communication in printe by which meanes Luther could neuer learne who he was that answered him after his owne furious fashion which angred him sore lastly his three bookes of Comfort in tribulation a worke most excellent and diuine he inuented to haue bene spoken by two Hungarian kinsmen about the Turkes persecution but thereby he most liuely represented the terrible stormes of crueltie which king Henrie the eight and heresie would raise in our poore distressed Countrie THE SECOND CHAPTER SIR THOMAS MORES his mariage first preferment and serious vvritings vvith his danger in time of K. Henry 7. and entry into fauour vvith King Henry 8. 1. S. Thomas Mores first mariage and wife 2. His second mariage vvith a vvidowe 3. His integrity in profession of the lavve 4. He offendeth K. Henry 7. by crossing in parlament an iniust imposition 5. The beginning of his fauour vvith King Henry the eight 6. His studious employments amidst his serious offaires 7. The first honours bestovved by K. Henry 8. vpon S. Thomas 8. He is by the K. made speaker of the lovver hovvse of parlament 9. Cardinal vvolseys proposition in parlament frustrated by S Thom. More 10. Sir Tho. made chauncellour of the Duchy of Lancaster 1. SIR THOMAS MORE hauing determined by the aduise and direction of his ghostlie father to be a married man there was at that time a pleasant conceipted gentleman of an ancient familie in Essex one Mr. Iohn Colie of Nevvhall from whome Sr. Henry Colt that now liueth is lineally descended that inuited him to his house being much delighted in his companie and proffered vnto him the choyce of anie of his daughters who were yong gentlewomen of verie good carriadge and complexions and very religiously inclined whose honest and sweete conuersation whose vertuous education enflamed Sir THOMAS not a little and although his affection most serued him to the second for that he thought her the fayrest and best fauoured yet when he thought with himselfe that this would be a griefe and some blemish in the eldest to see her yonger sister preferred before her he of a kinde of compassion settled his fancie vpon the eldest and soone after married her with all her friends good liking Now when he began to be clogged with wife and familie children also began to growe fast vpō him for his wife whose name was Iane Colt as long as she liued with him which was but some six yeares brought vnto him almost euerie yeare a childe for whose maintenance he applyed himself busily to the practise of the law and because he would haue his wife neare vnto his father he placed her in Bucklers-bury By her he had one sonne called Iohn More my owne grandfather who was his youngest childe and three daughters his eldest daughter Margarett a woman of singular witt and wisedome rare pietie and extraordinarie learning was wife vnto William Rooper of Eltham in the Countie of Kent Esquier whose grandchilde now liuing is Sir William Rooper his second daughter called Elizabeth was afterward matched with Sir Iohn Dancy's sonne and heyre the third called Cicilie was married to Mr. Giles Heron of shakclvvell in the Countie of Middlesex esquier his sonne my grandfather married Anne Cresacre sole daughter and heyre of E'dvvard Cresacre deceased of Baronborough in the Countie of Yorke esquier whome Sir THOMAS bought of the King being his warde vpon errour for another bodie 's land lying in the same towne as was afterware proued 2. My great grandmother hauing brought forth these foure children dyed soone after and within two or three yeares he married a widdow called Mris Alice Middleton by whome he had no children this he did not of anie concupiscence for he would often affirme that Chastitie is more hardly kept in wedlock then in a single life but because she might haue care of his children that were verie yong from whome of necessitie he must be verie often absent she was of good yeares of no good fauour nor
Chancellour againe Would you be accounted more wise and of more sincere conscience then all the Bishopps learned Doctours Nobilitie and Commons of this realme To which Sir THOMAS replyed I am able to produce against one Bishopp vvhich you can bring forth of your side one hundred holie and Catholike Bishopps for my opinion and against one realme the consent of all Christendome for more then a thousand yeares The Duke of Norfolke hearing this sayd Now Sir THOMAS you shew your obstinate and malicious minde To whome Sir THOMAS sayd Noble Sir not any malice or obstinacie causeth me to say this but the iust necessitie of the Cause constrayneth me for the discharge of my Conscience and I call God to vvittnesse no other then this hath moued me herevnto After this the Iudges courteously offered him their fauourable audience yf he had anie thing else to alleage in his owns defence who answered most mildely and charitably More haue I not to say my Lords but that like as the blessed Apostle S. Paul as vvee reade in the Acts of the Apostles vvas present consenting to the death of the protomartyr S. Stephen keeping their cloathes that sloned him to death and yet they be novv both tvvaine holie Saints in heaven and there shall continue friends togeather for euer so I verily trust shall therefore hartily pray that though your Lordshipps haue bene on earth my Iudges to condemnation yet vve may hereafter meete in heauen merrily togeather to our euerlasting saluation and God preserue you all especially my Soueraigne Lord the king and graunt him faythfull Councellours in which prayer he most liuely imitated the example of holie S. Stephen ne statuas illis hoc peccatum yea of our Sauiour himself speaking on the crosse Pater dimitte illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt All these of Sir THOMAS his speaches were faythfully deliuered from Sr. Antonie Sentleger Richard Hayvvood and Iohn Webbe gentlemen with others more of good creditt who were present and heard all which they reported to my vncle Rooper agreing all in one discourse THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER THE HOLY DEATH and glorious martyrdom of Sir THOMAS MORE 1. The manner hovv Sir Thomas was led back to the tovver from his arraignement vvhere his sonne publiquely demanded his blessing 2. Mistresse Margaret Roper his daughters noble and laudable loue to her father Sir Thomas novv condemned 3. Hovv deuoutly and magnanimously Sir T. M. expected his exequution 4. Aduertisment of the day of his death sent him from the king 5. The manner and forme of his glorious death and martyrdom 6. The kings sadnes vpon report of his death withsome notable circumstances of his buriall 7. A consideration of the last blessing vvhich he gaue to his heires and their progenie after them 8. Physiognomy of Sir Thomas More 1. AFter his Condemnation he was conducted from the barre to the Tower againe an axe being carried before him with the edge towards him and was lead by Sr. William Kinston a tall strong and comelie gentleman Constable of the Tower and his verie good friend but presently a dolefull spectacle was presented to Sir THOMAS and all the standers by for his onlie sonne my grandfather like a dutiefull childe casteth himself at his father's feete crauing humbly his blessing not without teares whome he blessed and kissed most louingly whose loue and obedience Sir THOMAS in a letter praysed saying that this his behauiour pleased him greately When Sr. William had conducted Sir THOMAS to the Olde Swanne towards the Tower there he bad him Farewell with a heauie heart the teares trickeling downe his cheekes but Sir THOMAS with a stayed grauitie seing him sorrowfull beganne to comfort him with chearefull speaches saying good Mr. Kinston trouble not your selfe but be of good cheare for I will pray for you and my good Ladie your wife that we may meete in heauen togeather where we shall be merrie for euer and euer Soone after this Sr. William talking hereof to my vncle Rooper sayd In good fayth Mr. Rooper I was ashamed of myselfe that at our parting I found my hart so weake and his so stoute that he was fayne to comfort me who should rather at that time haue comforted him but God and the clearenesse of his Conscience is a comfort which no earthlie prince can giue or take away 2. When Sir THOMAS was come now to the Tower-wharfe his best beloued childe my aunte Rooper desirous to see her father whome she feared she should neuer see in this world after to haue his last blessing gaue there attendance to meete him whome as soone as she had espyed after she had receaued vpon her knees his fatherlie blessing she ranne hastily vnto him and without consideration or care of herselfe passing through the midst of the throng and guarde of men who with billes and halberds compassed him round there openly in the sight of them all embraced him tooke him about the necke and kissed him not able to say anie word but Oh my father oh my father He liking well her most naturall and deare affection towards him gaue her his fatherlie blessing telling her that whatsoeuer he should suffer though he were innocent yet it was not without the will of God and that she knew well enough all the secretts of his hart counselling her to accommodate her will to Gods blessed pleasure and bad her be patient for her losse She was no sooner parted from him and gone ten steppes when she not satisfyed with the former Farewell like one who had forgottē herselfe rauished with the intire loue of so worthie a father hauing neither respect to herselfe nor to the presse of the people about him suddenly turned backe and ranne hastily to him tooke him about the necke and diuerse times togeather kissed him whereat he spoke not a word but carrying still his grauitie teares fell also from his eyes yea there were very few in all the troupe who could refrayne hereat from weeping no not the guarde them selues yet at last with a full heauie hart she was seuered from him at which time Margarett Gigs embraced him kissed him also yea mine Aunt 's mayde one Dorothie Collie did the like of whome he sayd after it was homelie but verie louingly donne all these and also his sonne my grandfather wittnessed that they smelt a most odoriferous smell to come from him according to that of Isaac Odor filij mei sicut odor agri pleni cui benedixit Dominus Oh what a spectacle was this to see a woman of nature shamefast by education modest to expresse such excessiue griefe as that loue should make her shake of all feare and shame which dolefull sight piercing the harts of all beholders how doe you thinke it moued her fathers surely his affection and forcible loue would haue daunted his courage if that a diuine spiritt of constancie had not inspired him to beholde this most generous woman his
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
learning and good qualities the next of vvhich those are especially to be learned vvhich vvill auayle them most that is to say pietie tovvards Gods Charitie tovvards all men modestie and Christian humilitie in themselues by vvhich they shall reape from God the revvarde of an innocent life by certaine confidence thereof they shall not neede to feare death and in the meane while enioying true alacritie they shall neither be puffed vp vvith the vaine praises of men nor deiected by anie slander of disgrace these I esteeme the true and solide fruits of learning vvhich as they happen not I confesse to all that are learned so those may easily attaine them vvho beginne to studie vvith this intent neither is there anie difference in haruest time vvhether it vvas man or vvoman that sovved first the corne for both of them beare name of a reasonable creature equally vvhose nature reason only doth distinguish from bruite beastes and therefore I do not see vvhy learning in like manner may not equally agree vvith both sexes for by it reason is cultiuated and as a fielde sovved vvith vvholesome precepts it bringeth forth excellent fruit But if the soyle of vvomans braine be of its ovvne nature bad and apter to beare fearne then corne by vvhich saying manie doe terrifye vvomen from learning I am of opinion therefore that a vvoman's vvitt is the more diligently by good instructions and learning to be manured to the ende the defect of nature may be redressed by industrie Of vvhich minde vvere also manie vvise and holie ancient Fathers as to omitt others S. Hierome and S. Augustine vvho not only exhorted manie noble matrones and honourable virgins to the getting of learning but also to further them therein they diligently expounded vnto them manie hard places of Scriptures yea vvrote manie letters vnto tender maydes full of so greate learning that scarcely our olde and greatest Professours of Diuinitie can vvell reade them much lesse be able to vnderstande them perfectly vvhich holie Saints vvorkes you vvill endeauour my learned Gunnell of your courtesie that my daughters may learne vvhereby they may chiefly knovve vvhat ende they ought to haue in their learning to place the fruits of their labours in God a true Conscience by vvhich it vvill be easily brought to passe that beinge at peace vvithin themselues they shall neither be moued vvith praise of flatterers nor the nipping follies of vnlearned scoffers but me thinkes I heare you replye that though these my precepts be true yet are they too strong and hard for the tender age of my yong vvenches to hearken too For vvhat man be he neuer so aged or expert in anie science is so constant or stayed that he is not a little stirred vp vvith the tickeling of glorie And for my parte I esteeme that the harder it is to shake from vs this plague of pride so much the more ought euerie one to endeauour to do it from his verie infancie And I thinke there is no other cause vvhy this almost ineuitable mischiefe doth sticke so fast in our breasts but for that it is ingrafted in our tender mindes euen by our nurses as soone as vve are crept out of our shelles it is fostered by our maisters it is nourished and perfected by our parents vvhilst that no bodie propoundeth anie good thing to children but they presently bidde them expect praise as the vvhole revvarde of vertue vvhence it is that they are so much accustomed to esteeme much of honour and praise that by seeking to please the most who are alvvaies the vvorst they are still ashamed to be good vvith the fevvest That this plague may the farther be banished from my children I earnestly desire that you my deare Gunnell their mother and all their friends vvould still sing this song vnto thē hammer it alvvaies in their heads and inculcate it vnto them vpon all occasions that vaine glorie is abiect and to be despised neither anie thing to be more vvorthie or excellent then that humble modestie vvhich is so much praised by Christ the vvhich prudent Charitie vvill so guide and direct that it vvill teache vs to desire vertue rather then to vpbrayde others for their vices and vvill procure rather to loue them vvho admonish vs of our fault then hate them for their holesome counsell To the obtayning vvhereof nothing is more auayleable then to reade vnto them the holesome precepts of the Fathers whome they knowe not to be angrie vvith them and they must needes be vehemently moued vvith their authorities because they are venerable for their sanctitie Yf therefore you reade anie such thing vnto Margarett and Elizabeth besides their lessens in Salust for they are of riper iudgement by reason of their age then Iohn and Cecilie you shall make both me and them euerie day more bound vnto you moreouer you shall hereby procure my children being deare by nature after this more deare for learning but by their increase of good manners most deare vnto me Farevvell From the Court this Whitfuneeue Another epistle of Sir THOMAS MORE to his Children Thomas More to his vvhole schoole sēdeth greetinge Beholde hovv I haue found out acompendious vvay to salute you all and make spare of time and paper vvhich I must needes haue vvasted in saluting euerie one of you particularly by your names vvhich vvould be verie superfluous because you are all so deare vnto me some in one respect some in another that I can omitt none of you vnsaluted Yet I knovve not vvhether there can be anie better motiue vvhy I should loue you then because you are schollars learning seeming to binde me more straytely vnto you then the nearenesse of bloud I reioyce therefore that Mr. Drue is returned safe of vvhose safetie you knovve I vvas carefull Yf I loued you not exceedingly I should enuie this your so great happinesse to haue had so manie great schollars for your maisters For I thinke Mr. Nicolas is vvith you also and that you haue learned of him much astronomie so that I heare you haue proceeded so farre in this science that you novv knovve not only the pole-starre or dogg and such like of the common Constellations but also vvhich argueth an absolute and cunning astronomer in the chiefe planetts themselues you are able to discerne the sunne from the moone goe forvvard therefore vvith this your nevv and admirable skill by vvhich you do thus climbe vp to the starres vvhich vvhilst you daily admire in the meane vvhile I admonish you also to thinke of this holie fast of Lent and lett that excellent and pious song of Boethius sound in your eares vvhereby you are taught also vvith your mindes to penetrate beauen least vvhen the bodie is lifted vpon high the soule be driuen dovvne to the earth vvith the brute beasts Farevvell From the Court this 23 th of March Another Thomas More to his best beloued Children and to Margarett Gigs vvhome he numbreth amongst his ovvne
most worthie daughter endewed with all good guifts of nature all sparkes of pietie which are wont to be most acceptable to a louing father to presse vnto him at such a time and place where no man could haue accesse hanging about his necke before he perceaued holding so fast by him as she could scarce be plucked of not vttering anie other words hut oh my father what a sword was this to his hart and at last being drawen away by force to runne vpon him againe without anie regarde either of the weapons wherewith he was compassed or of the modestye becoming her owne sexe what comfort did he want what courage did he then stande in neede of and yet he resisted all this most couragiously remitting nothing of his steadie grauitie speaking only that which we haue recited before and at last desiring her to pray for her fathers soule This and other his heroicall actes made Cardinall Poole write thus of him Strangers and men of other nations that neuer had seene him in their liues receaued so much griefe at the hearing of his death that reading the storie thereof they could not refraine from weeping bewayling an vnknowne person only famous vnto them for his worthie acts Yea saith he I cannot holde myselfe from weeping as I write though I be farre of my countrie I loued him dearely who had not so manie vrgent causes of his loue as manie others had only in respect of his vertues and heroicall acts for which he was a most necessarie member of his Countrie and now God is my wittnesse I shedde for him euen whether I would or noe so manie teares that they hinder me frō writing and often blott out the letters quite which I am frāing that I cā proceede no further 3. So remained this vnconquerable Conquerour of the fllesh the world and the diuell some seuenight after his Iudgement in the Tower arming himself with prayer meditatiō and manie holie mortifications for the day of his Martyrdome and walking about this chāber with a sheete about him like a corps readie to be buried and vsing to whippe himselfe very sore and long In this meane time and space came to him a light headed Courtier talking of no serious matter but only vrging him this that he would change his minde and being wearied with his importunitie he answered him that he had changed it who presently went and tolde the king thereof and being by him commaunded to knowe wherein his minde was changed Sir THOMAS rebuked him for his lightnesse in that he would tell the king euerie word that he spoke in ieaste meaning that whereas he had purposed to be shauen that he might seeme to others as he before was wōt now he was fully minded that his beard should take such parte as his head did which made the fellow blanke and the king verie angrie In this while also he wrote a most kinde letter vnto Mr. Antonie Bonuise an Italian marchant in Latine calling him the halfe of his hart which is to be seene amongst his other letters Last of all the day before he was to suffer being the Fifth of Iuly he wrote a most louing letter with a coale to his daughter Margarett sending therein his blessing to all his children in which he writeth very affectionately yet he knew nothing of his death as then in these words I cumber thee daughter Margarett very much but I vvould be sorie that it should be anie lōger then to morrovv for to morrovv is S. Thomas of Canterbury's eeue and the vtas of S. Peter and therefore to morrovv I long to goe to God it vvere a day very meete and conuenient I neuer liked your manner tovvards me better then vvhen you kissed me last For I like vvhen daughter lie loue and deare charitie haue noe leasure to looke vnto vvorldlie courtesie Farevvell deare daughter pray for me and I vvill pray for you and all your friends that vve may meete togeather in heauen Commende me vvhen you can to my sonne Iohn his tovvordlie carriage tovvards me pleased me very much God blesse him and his good vvife and their children Thomas who was my father and Augustine who dyed vnmarried and all that they shall haue In which wordes I hope by Gods helpe to haue some parte of his blessing But oh good God! voluntate labiorum eius non fraudastieum For vpon the eaue of his speciall patron and the vtas of S. Peter for whose supremacie he suffered martyrdome God heard his petition and he suffered death that very day most couragiously Togeather with this letter he sent also vnto her his shirt of hayre and his whippe as one that was loath to haue the world knowe that he vsed such austeritie For he cunningly all his life time had with his mirth hidden from the eies of others his seuere mortifications and now hauing finished his combatt he sent away his weapons not being certaine of anie notice of the king's minde but either taught by reuelation or hauing a firme confidence of God's great goodnesse desiderium cordis tribuit ei Dominus 4. For vpon the next morning being Tewsday the sixt of Iuly there came vnto him Sir Thomas Pope very earely in the morning his singular good friend with a message frō the king and the Councell that he was to suffer death on that day before nine of the clocke therefore he should forthwith prepare himselfe thereto Mr. Pope saith he I most hartily thāke you for your good tydings I haue bene much bound to the king's highnesse for the benefitts and honours that he hath most bountiefully bestowed vpon me yet am I more bound to his Grace I assure you for putting me here where I haue had conuenient time and space to haue remembrance of my ende And so helpe me God most of all I am bound vnto him that it pleaseth his maiestie to ridde me so shortly out of the miseries of this wretched world The king's pleasure further is sayd Sir Thomas Pope that you vse not manie words at your execution Mr. Pope answered he you doe well to giue me warning of the king's pleasure for otherwise I had purposed at that time somewhat to haue spoken but no matter wherewith his Grace or anie other should haue cause to be offended howbeit whatsoeuer I intended I am readie obediently to conforme myselfe to his Highnesse's commaunde And I beseech you good Mr. Pope be a meanes to his Maiestie that my daughter Margarett may be at my buriall The king is contented allready sayd he that your wife Children and other your friends should haue libertie to be present at it Oh how much am I beholding to his Grace that vouchsafeth to haue so much consideratiō of my poore buriall Then Sir Thomas Pope taking his leaue of him could not refrayne frō weeping Which Sir THOMAS perceauing comforted him in these wordes Quiett yourselfe Mr. Pope and be not