the better there by but fylled wyth il moysture whiche ingendreth a new thyrst so is it also in the spirituall water syknes the golde and the syluer the landes the houses the fermes the shepe the bullockes oft tymes do nether the couetous men them selues any good at length nether theyr chylder for whome they are so gredy and so carefull For some dice awaye theyr shepe some lawe awaye their bullockes some banket awaye theyr benefices and fermes some pisse all that they get agaynst the walles some waite theyr euel gotten goodes vpō hores and harlotes And thoughe they kepe theyr goodes stil for them selues and theyr chylder for a while as some do thē vnthrifty sonne wil as vnthryftelye spende hys fathers euell gotten goodes as hys father got them vnlawfully or vncharitably dyd holde them from the poore people whyche ought to haue parte of them Nature philosophye and holy scripture and the cōmon and dayly experiēce do teache vs that the goodes of the couetous men for the moste parte nether profyt the couetus mā him selfe nor make his childrē ryche in suche ryches at the least that wyl endure For the cōmon sayeng is that the thirde heyre shal neuer enioye goodes or landes euell gotten A couetus gentleman is lyke a gredy gliede A gliede otherwyse called a pottock or a kyte hath the forme and fashion of an hauke and a farre of loketh very lyke an hauke whyche is a noble byrde but yf ye come nere hande hym ye shall knowe hym by hys whinning and lamentable pewynge as thoughe he coulde neuer get enoughe ye shall also se hym do other thynges then a ryghte hauke dothe whyche for the moste part fedeth vpō his owne praye that he hath gotten hym self The kyte resteth but lytle and is almoste alwayes flyeng and euer he loketh downewarde to the earth after one praye or other In the tyme that he byldeth hys neste he caryeth al that he can catche and snatche vnto it ragges cloutes napkins kerches boyes cappes and sometyme purses as I haue herde saye And all the hole yeare thorowe there is no pray the cōmeth amysse vnto him he eateth vpō al kynde of carion he thinketh no shame to eat wormes he cleketh away goslynges ducklinges chickins al kindes of yōge birdes that can not flye or otherwyse prouide for thē selues He is so bold sōe tyme in Englād I neuer saw it so nether in Italy nether in any part of Germany where as I haue bē that he dare take butter bread out of boys hādes in that stretes of townes cities villages He is more vnshamefaced thē euer ani begging frere was For he wil without any axyng or beggyng take away trypes and puddynges frō wyues whylse they are in washynge of them And thys doth he moste eranestly and vnshamefastly when as he hathe yonge But what profyt cōmeth vnto hym and all hys for hys manyfolde robbery and rauin very lytle For he abydeth styl a foule kyte hys yonge ones as I haue sene it my selfe ar always slaueryng it out that the father hath stollē and robbed for thē Marke here howe that nature teacheth vs howe that it whych is gotten wyth rauin and robbery is as soone spent and wasted of the chyldren as the couertus fathers haue gotten it Dauid in the .36 psalme speaketh thus of the couetus men and of theyr heires and chyldren The armes of the synners shal be broken Psal 36 but the Lord strengtheneth the ryghtuous The Lorde knoweth the dayes of the vndefyled and theyr he ritage shal be for euer But the enemyes of the Lorde anone after that they be set in honour and be alofte they shall fade as smoke vanyshe awaye The vnryghteous shal be ponyshed and the sēde of the wycked men shall peryshe Salomō also in the .xx. Pro. 20 chapter of hys prouerbes wytnesseth that suche heritage as is gotten hastely and with couetousnes shal not endure The heritage sayeth Salomon whereto is great haste made in the begynnyng shall not prosper at the length Ecclesiasticus wrytyng both of the right godly gentle and of the vngodly and false gentlemen sayeth these wordes Ecc. 44 Ecclesiastici 44. Al these haue gotten glory in the generations of theyr kynred and in theyr dayes they were praysed They that were borne of them haue lefte a name to tell the prayses of them And there are some whose memory are quyte worne out They haue perished as thoughe they had neuer bene and they are borne as not borne and so are theyr children with them But the other men are of mercy who haue not wanted god lynes and a good heritage continueth the sede of theyr chylders chyldren hath stande in the testament and theyr chyldren for theyr sake abyde for euer Theyr sede and theyr glory shal neuer decaye Eccle. 5. Ecclesiastes in the .v. chap. hath a sayeng not vnlyke vnto thys The couetous man sayeth he shall neuer be fylled with mony he that loueth ryches shall not take any profyt of them Besydes all these authorities we learne by experience dayly that cōmonlye the greatest grediest gatherers are not alwayes the rychest at the length that theyr chyldren for the whych they vse suche catchyng and snatchyng ether are taken out of the worlde or els become fooles or vnthryftes so that the euel gotten vncharitably holden ryches prosper not in the chylder of the watersyck Ye remember what gentlemē sick in the dropsy haue of late yeres ben taken away from al their gredely vncharitably purchased landes ye can name some chylder which haue loste by theyr fathers death all that they prepared for them Ye knowe also one watersyck gentleman yf ye wyl gyue me leaue to cal such a carle a getlemā whych had dronkē vp almoste an hole contre that his children myghte haue drinke enoughe who is now chyldles hath not thē for whom he had so gredely scraped and scratched so muche ryches together Whether dranke kinge Henry the seuenth or kynge Hēry the .viii. more I thynke that there is none of you all but that ye wyll saye that kynge Henry the eyght dranke .xx. tunnes more then hys father dyd For he dranke vp all the monkries freries and nunries in Englande he dranke vp the tenthe parte of all spirituall mennes lyuynges in all the hole realme Yea and al the profytes and fyrste fruytes of all benefyces that fell in hys tyme for the fyrste yeare after that he fell in to the greate dropsye that is sence the makynge of the deuelyshe and abhominable acte of fyrste fruites and tenthes Yf one man had sene bothe the kynges cut vp after theyr deathes as it is not vnlyke but doctour Chambers dyd perchaunce he shulde haue sene as muche blood in kynge Henry the seuentes harte as in kinge Henry the eyghtes and perchaunce more But I let that passe and wyll talke of it that is better knowen Whether of these two dyed the rycher the greater drynker or the lesse whyche of these two kynges heyres was lefte rycher at the death of
saintes in purgatory in the iustificacion of workes in the nombre of the Sacramentes in the ceremonies of the Church or in defendyng of the real presence of Christes body in the Sacrament or in what other articles he erred in Because he dyd not tel in what pointes he erred in it may chaunce that he is fallē into the same errores againe as we se certaine of hys secte which had forsworne in the two last kynges dayes diuers errores and had subscribed to the cōtrary and nowe afreshe are fallen into the same errores agayne Yf that master Gardiner alowe his doctrine styl of kyng Henries mariage let hym set forth the same doctrine in Englyshe at large because the cōmō people may learne some holsome doctrine of it euen as he or at the leste some of his haue handeled maister Barlowe which wrote a noughtye and a false lyeng boke compelled by feare to do so But yf he wyll not set out hys booke in Englyshe both because he knoweth in hys conscience that it is a false boke and an heretical boke and therfore wyll not knowlege it now to be his boke because he was compelled by feare to wryte against the open truthe he or at the leste some of hys popyshe prentises is very vncharitable vniust vnto maister Barlowe whych hādeleth hym otherwyse then he wolde or wyll be handeled hym selfe Yf that men wemen that are so maryed vnto certein men that they wyl not examin theyr doctrine but take it to be the veri truthe what so euer they saye wold stande to the iudgement of the holy scripture I shulde easely condemne them for theyr so doynge and proue that they dyd playne contrary vnto the mynde of the holy ghost But because they care not for scripture I wyll let them alone and talke a lytle with you my lordes and masters that are indifferent men and haue not sworen to holde wyth the wordes of any one scole maister Saint Iohn in the .iiii. chapter sayeth 1. Io. 4. Ne cui vis spiritui credatis sed probate spiritus an ex Deosint Beleue not euery spirite but trye the spirites whether they be of God or no but they beleue all spirits that holde wyth the messe purgatory holy water holy bread inuocation of saintes and such lyke ordinaunces of man and trye not whether they be of God or no and yf they wolde trye the spretes shuld they not trye them wyth the worde of God Haue they knowlege in the worde of God they confesse they haue none at all but they saye that it is enoughe for them to trye all doctrine wyth theyr fathers fayth and other of theyr olde ancetores with the authorite of the catholyke churche What yf some of theyr forfathers or els of theyr mothers wythin these fewe hundreth yeares were heathen men or heathē wemē shall it be mete for them to iudge all doctrines by theyr fathers fayth Whych of theyr fathers or mothers was not a Papist Shall men iudge ryghtly matters of religion by the fayth of papistes What yf theyr fathers haue erred shall we be compelled to folowe theyr fathers errors that were great pytie What yf some of theyr fathers bylded Abbayes to fynde a sorte of ydle monkes in and founded chantre prestes to synge for soules in purgatory What yf some of theyr fathers put downe abbayes and chantres howe shall they iudge here who dyd better and whome they and we ought to folowe Yf some of theyr fathers helde thys opinion that it was lawfull to put awaye theyr lawfull wyues to cleue to hores as some of them can not denye but that theyr fathers haue both so beleued and also so done Was thys a good beleue I thynke that they theyr selues will saye that the beleue was nought Shall it be then mete to examine al doctrines wyth theyr fathers fayth and theyr ancetores beleue Yf any of the ydle and vnscripture learned traditioners for so muste we call them because we maye call no man now a Papist do holde that it is not requyred that a Kynge or a Quene or any ruler shulde be well learned in the scripture because all matters and controuersies of religion oughte to be tryed by the authoritie of the catholyke churche meanynge therby the common consent of almoste al the byshoppes prelates and vniuersities in all the west parte of Europa and the determinacions of generall counselles I answere yf we shulde folowe the iugement of thys catholyke church then shulde we boldly pronoūce that the mariage betwene kyng Henry the eyght and his fyrst wife Quene Katherine was not lawfull For the moste principall parte of the catholyke churche of our tyme as it is taken that is the moste parte most notable vniuersities of thys part of the world and the moste part of learned men and all the Byshoppes of the churche of Englande sauynge one condemned the mariage betwene kynge Henry the eyght and lady Katherine thys Quenes mother I haue enowe to beare me wytnes that it is true that I saye Cuthbert Steuen Sāpson besyde Cuthbert nowe byshop of Durram Steuen byshop of Wynchester Samson nowe byshop of Couentre But yf these forsayd Vniuersities and byshoppes of Englande had ben corrupted for money as scolares are poore and sometyme graunt it that ought not to be graūted for mony namely suche where as that Pope beareth rule and these .iii. fornamed byshoppes as some other lawyers do as they be had sold theyr tonges and handwrytynges for mony and promotion and for theyr princes fauour Yet the olde Canones and generall counselles are not so to be suspected of corrupcion as paraduenture some of these forsaid byshoppes be heare therfore what the olde Canones and counselles iudge of thys matter Thys that I wyll allege is wrytten in the seconde parte of the decrees the .xxvii. cause seconde questiō Cap. Si quis disponsauerit sibi aliquam praeueniente mortis articulo eam cognoscere non potuerit frater eius non potest eam ducere in vxorem That is yf any man be handfaste or betrouthed vnto a woman and he beynge preuēted wyth death could not haue carnall copulaciō wyth her hys brother maye not mary her Gregory the bysshop of Rome also speaketh thus of thys matter in the same place as he is alleged Nulli christiano licet de sua consanguinitate vel quā cognatu suus habuit in matrimonium assumere It is not lawfull for any christen man to mary any of hys owne kyn or her that hys kynsman hath had The same Gregory sayeth also these wordes in the same place Si quir vxorem desponsauerit c. Yf any mā betrouthe or be handfast vnto a wyfe or gyue earnest vnto her and he beyng taken awaye by death before so can not mary her none of thys mānes kyn may take her afterwardes to wyfe Iulianus also byshoppe of Rome as he is alleged in the same place hath the same sentence and
hys father ye wyll saye I am sure that the heyre of the lesse drynker was left much rycher Or els what neded kynge Edwardes counsellers and good housbandes so ofte crye the kynge is poore the kynge is poore and to get al the chauntries in Englande vnto him and so ofte to spoyle the byshoppes landes to enryche hym therewyth ye se therfore that in both the kyndes of dropsy that the exceding plentye of drynke nether quencheth the thyrst of the syke nether helpeth the disease nether increaseth any good blood Therfore seyng that the spirituall dropsye wherein dyuers gentlemen of Englande are sycke in at thys tyme bryngeth at length death of both body and soule and maketh suche a folishe opinion in them that they beleue that it that moste of all engendreth the syknes helpeth it that it that most destroyeth both the blood naturall heate ingendreth bothe the same it muste nedes be a perillous disease Then where as it is so perillous a disease they that ar syke in it had nede of some remedy for it whych I intende to offer vnto them But before I shewe the remedye of thys dysease it is mete that I shewe the causes of it that I in healyng of it maye shewe the practice more lyke a workeman then a foole for he that knoweth not the cause of the disease howe shall he take the cause away of it And he that knoweth not the cause of the disease how shal he take it awaye and he that taketh not the cause of that disease away howe shall he take the disease away when as the cause abydyng styll the effecte muste nedes folowe It is also necessary for all my patientes to knowe the cause of theyr diseases that after that they are ones healed they maye exchewe the disease by puttyng awaye and auoydyng the causes of it It shal be also necessary for them that are not yet sycke in that sycknes but are disposed naturally therto to knowe the causes of thys disease that by flyeng and eschuyng the causes of it they maye auoyde it Sycknesses come two wayes moste cōmonly of a naturall cause and sometyme though it be but seldome immediatly of God without any natural cause for the reuēging and ponyshyng of some open synne or offence As for an exemple The leprye moste cōmonly cōmeth of a melancholike humour or of a salt burned humour that is in a mannes body But we reade that wythout any suche natural cause it commeth immediatly of God ponyshyng sōe notable and opē offence 4. Re. 5. Nu. 12. 2. pa. 26. as it came vnto Gehasi to mary Moses syster to kynge Osias The bodely dropsye cōmonly cōmeth of the stopping of the liuer and the stoppyng commonly commeth ether of colde or of grosse humores Euen so the spiritu all dropsye cōmeth of colde or grosse humores Vnder the name of colde humores I vnderstande suche spirituall drinke as is not warmed with an earnest preacher but is coldely serued out wythout any zele or feruentnes in sprete after whych maner our newtralles and manpleasers of late and now the latin sacrificers serue the people in England By grosse humores I vnderstande fleshely and grosse ceremonies whiche were neuer tryed wyth the fyer of Goddes worde But as thys is the cōmon waye wherby mē come to the dropsye so is there also an other preuye straunge and seldome waye wherby I reken that many of oure gentlemen haue fallen into the spiritual dropsye That is by the ponyshment of almyghtye God whych suffered them to fall in to thys sycknes for theyr open synnes as he brought the .iii. aforenamed persones into the lepry The noble wel borne kyng Henry the .viii. by the counsel of certeine of hys scripture learned counsellers toke in hāde to reforme heale some of hys clergie whyche was so sycke in the dropsye that they had almoste dronkē vp a quarter of the hole realme and accordynge vnto the worde of God and hys bound deutye he began to dryue out of hys lande the seuen kyndes of people whereof is motion made in the seuenth chap. of Deuteronomi that is the Hethites the Bergelces Deu. 7. the Amores the Canarees the Pherisees the Euees and the Iebusees And in dede he healed the clergye after one maner that phisicianes vse that is per ablati onem he droue out after a maner the forsayd enemies of God whych had gotten them by continuaunce of longe tyme seuen newe names Yf any man wyll knowe theyr names that he droue out their names are these Iacobites and Minorites Augustinianes Carmelites whyt monkes blacke monkes and Chanones c. Because he coulde nether heale all the watersyke alone nether coulde alone dryue out so many enemyes he cōmaunded hys nobilite to helpe hym and they not vnwyllyngly toke hys parte But howe healed they the dropsye howe droue they awaye the seuen heathen nacions Surely nether accordynge vnto the rules of bodely nor of spiritual phisyck What maner of phisiciane is he that cōmeth vnto a house where as there are some parsons syck because they had to many humores and others for lacke of sufficient humores other are not syck he not onely cōmaundeth them al together both syck and hole to faste alyke for the space of an hole yeare and to gyue hym for hys labour al it that they shulde haue eaten that yeare but enioyneth thē al alyke for all the tyme of theyr lyues euer after to departe wyth the tenth parte of the meate that they had wont to spende and to gyue it vnto hym Haue not the noble phisiciās occupyed the same phisick whylse they went about to heal the clergie yes doutles For some of the clergye had to muche and some to litle some no more thē enough and yet muste euery man haue one kynde of medicine all muste be purged bothe the sycke and the hole and all muste faste and kepe one dyet both the hole and the two kindes of sycke Wolde these phisicians be cōtent that doctor Wendy or doctor Owen doctor Wotton or doctor Huic or I shuld practise wyth them so yf we were called to theyr houses to heale certeyne syck persones there Doutles they wolde not Wherfore when as they do otherwyse vnto theyr brethren then they wolde be done to them selues they haue broken the rule of oure maister doctor Iesus the chife phisician and haue cōmitted an open synne that all the world may se For the which synne God hath suffered them to fall into thys foule dropsy that they are syck in now euen as he ponished Gehasy wyth a lepry for cōmittynge the same synne that our gentlemē dyd For as Gehasy synned in couetousnes in takynge of rewardes of the heathen man that hys maister healed hauyng no cōmaundemēt so to do so these when as they had no commaundemēt of theyr maister Christ