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
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
and felyng and to the heade of a mannes bodye besyde all these reason and vnderstādyng Then as so many wittes or senses are nedefully requyred in the head that hath the rule but of one body how much wyt learnyng and knowlege is to be requyred in that heade that hath the rule of an hundreth bodyes Is there not muche more wyt knowlege requyred in the heade that hath the gouernement rule of .x. thousande bodye Where are nowe the fals flatterers and the enuius learned men that wolde haue none learned but themselues that saye that a Kynge or a Quene or any other prince whych hath committed vnto his cure and charge two hundreth thousande mēnes bodyes nede not to haue any more wyt learnynge knowlege then a mā that hath but one bodye to gouerne who wyll be angry wyth the hele yf it heare not who wyll be displeased wyth the kne because it can not se who wyll be myscontent with the thygh yf it can not smel who wyl chyde wyth the breste because it can not taist But yf any of these want in the head then is all the hole bodye hurte therby Be the heade neuer so faire and well fauoured to loke to yf it haue not suche wyt as is requyred in it not only men wyl mocke it and call it blockheade but euen the brute fox wyll saye vnto it as farre as Esop maye be beleued O pulchrumsme cerebro caput O what fayre a braynles head arte thou Though the heade of the cōmon welthe be neuer so wel trimmed and appointed wyth golde and precious stones yf he haue no more wyte thē a poore foole of the coūtre hath what wyll al that costly apparel helpe the cōmō wealth doth costlye apparell and gorgious houses great welfare help the cōmō welth nothyng at all The heade in a mās bodye gyueth felyng and mouynge vnto all the reste of the hole bodye that is sensible Yf the heade be wytlesse and wythout sense howe can it gyue vnto the body it that it hath not it selfe The byshop of Rome of late yeares taunted very properly suche a painted wytles heade as ther are to many in England after this maner A byshop of Germany a Duke by his byrth and a goodly mā of person came to Rome to shewe hymself to his father the Pope the Pope spake latyn to hym and Italien but he coulde speake nothynge at all but Duyche Therfore when the Duche byshop was gon forth the Pope answered one that asked hym howe he lyked the Duche byshop after thys maner par la corpe de sancto Francisco e la bella bestia that is by saint Frances bodye he is a trime fayre or proper beast What thynke you wyll wyse men thinke although they dare not saye so muche when they se a lustye rutterken wyth a hauke on his hād and dogges folowyng hym a golden cheyne dobbel about his necke with a cappe al ful of egglates and a bushe of fethers in it as great as a capones tayle whiche can scantlye wryt his owne name and sauynge the shape hathe nothyng elles of a man Wyll they not thynke of hym as the foxe spake of the paynted head and it that the Pope spake of the forsayd byshop yes I warrant you for all hys bragges hys swearyng and staring and proude lokes A certain Italien beyng demaunded the question who was a gentleman answered thus in latyn meanynge of an vnlearned and wytlesse gentlemā Est vna bestia sedens super bestiam portans bestiam super manum habens bestias se sequentes insequens bestias That is a wytles and an vnlearned gentleman is a beast syttynge vpon a beste bearyng a beste vpon hys hāde hauing bestes folowyng hym and he folowing bestes also It is therfore agaīst nature that he that is a best in wyt and learnyng shulde be the head of resonable men in a common welth or that the head of the cōmon welth shulde be a beste that is a mā wyth out al wyt and learnyng differinge nothyng from a very beste sauyng in forme and lyknes The noble philosophers also thought it mete that a kynge shulde be learned and therfore sayd Plato as I remember Happy is that cōmon wealth wheras ether philosophers are kynges or kinges play the philosophers Vigetius in his first boke de re militari in the first chapter requyreth learnynge of rulers and gouerners in these wordes It becōmeth no man to knowe better thynges and mo thynges then a prince whose learnyng maye be profytable to all hys subiectes Therfore prynces oughte to gyue them selues vnto the studye of wysedome Scipio the greater when as he had any leysure from warre and from cyuil busynes gaue himselfe as Plutarch writeth vnto hys boke and sayd that when he was ydle after that maner he dyd then the greatest worke and labor Iulius Cesar one of the noblest gouerners that euer was or euer shall be thought learnynge so necessarye for a gentleman and namely for an hyghe maiestrate that whyles he was a warfaire he had hys spere in the one hande and hys booke in the other Kynge Alexander the conquerour as noble a mā as well borne as any noble man of thys our tyme is thought it so greatly belonge vnto a gentle man to excel in learning and knowlege that when as he had herde tel that his maister Aristotell had set out his bokes of natural philosophie wrote vnto hym after this maner folowyng Where as thou haste set forthe abrode the bokes of Natural philosophie thou hast not done wel for in what other thynge shall we be able to excell other men in yf they be made common to all men whych we haue learned of the for it is my desyre to excell all other men rather in learning and knowlege then in nombre of hostes and great ryches thys far Alexander whyche I wolde haue you marke wel Mithridates the kynge of Pontus and Bethinia because he knew hymselfe to be the head of al his subiectes and that it was hys dutie to gyue iudgemēt in hys owne person in very many maters toke suche payne to learne to do hys dutie that he learned .xxii. dyuers tonges euē as many nacions as he was kynge ouer and answered euery man parfytly in hys owne tonge The same was so wel learned in philosohhy phisick that he made of hys owne wytre a souerayne remedye against poysone and many greuous diseases of a mans body called after hys name vnto thys daye Mithridatium Alfonsus the noble kynge of Arragon sayd that an vnlearned kynge was lyke vnto a crowned asse and where as there was a Kynge of Spayne which said that it was not semyng that a noble man shulde be learned he sayd that his sayng was the voice of an oxe not of a kynge Yf that a noble man regarde not the workes of nature nether any good reason neyther any authoritie of Man let hym heare what almyghtye God sayeth by the mouthe of
the newe testamēt Because euen in Christes tyme ambition and desyre of superioritie had crepte into the very hartes of hys apostles and he knewe that after hys tyme that the successores of hys apostles shulde also be earnestly pricked of the deuell therto he gaue an expressed cōmaundemēt that hys apostles shuld nether be lordes nor shulde leaue the ploughe loke bakwarde to the worlde to worldly besynes in these wordes Vos scitis quod principes gentium dominentur eis Luce. 22. vos autem non sic ye knowe the princes of the heathen people be lordes ouer them and they that are great exercyse power ouer them but ye shal not be so And Peter to put hys maysters cōmaundemēt in mynde 1. Pet. 5. sayeth vnto the Apostles and preachers thus Ye shall not exercyse lordshippe ouer the parysshes or as some textes haue agaynst the paryshes Now these falslye named Bysshoppes for so do I call them because they loke not vnto theyr flockes leaue theyr owne office of preachynge and ministryng of the sacramentes and of sitting in iugement to se them excommunicate that are open trespassers vndone become embassadoures for where is there any embassache but a Bysshop muste be one therof most commonlye president of Wales and of Yorke Iustices of peace and some full lordly syt at Sices and cessions amonge temporall iuges leauyng their owne courtes to some syngle syr Iohn or to some blynde bryber Other are commed as I heare saye nowe to be counsellers euen in temporall maters in great nōbre and one is nowe clom vp so hyghe that besyde that he is a knyght of the garter and a great lorde is also the hyghe chancelor of Englande and president of the counsel and is aboue all the lordes both temporal and spirituall of the hole counsell and so lordlye behaueth hym selfe that wythout the knowlege of the reste of the counsell he sendeth forth commissiones as he dyd of late to Welles by doctor edgeworthe and offereth pardon alone Edgeworth latimer as he dyd to maister Latimer as thoughe he were ether kynge of Englande or elles had the quene and al the counsels hedes vnder his gyrdle Ether there are gentlemen in Englande enowe to be embassadores presydentes of Wales and Yorke Iustices of peace Counsellers Chauncellers of Englande and Presidentes of the hole Counsell or there are not Yf there be not enow it is excedynge shame for you and for youre hole order that amonge so many as ye be haue not a fewe learned and wyse men amongest you whyche are able to do youre dueties belongynge vnto youre dignitie but ye muste contrary to the wyll of God and to the shame of the hole lande desyre byshoppes to do your duties and offices to serue in temporall maters for you Yf ye haue enowe wyse and learned gentlemen to do and execute all these aboue named offices then is it shame for you to be so lither as when ye are able to do your offices your owne selues ether desyre or suffer the byshoppes and clergye to do your offices for you whereby they take vnto them selues the honour and dignitie dewe vnto the nobilite spoyle you vtterlye of youre name same and renowne whyche your fathers in tymes past haue wyth great labour ieopardye yea sometyme wyth the losse of theyr lyues won for you I Beware that ye spin not at home whylse other go a warfare abrode lest that chaūce vnto you that chaūced vnto Sardanapalus We red both in Iosephus de bello Iudaico and also in aegisippo that the gentlemen of the Iewes were so lither and vnlustye to do theyr offices belongyng vnto them that the hyghe prestes toke theyr offices in hande and at laste became bothe prestes and kynges and had al the noiblitie vnder theyr girdelles as these hyghe prestes of your tyme wyll handell you yf ye pluk them not bak betyme The byshop of Rome after the comming of Christ by to much sufferīg of the nobilite at the begīning hath so lyke an iuy nay rather lyke a cāker crept vpon the nobilite that he hath clom ouer al knightes lordes erles dukes kynges emperores and hath brought them in such subieccion and slauery that he maketh the beste of them al kysse hys fete The byshoppes that ye haue in Englande nowe are not onely of the same false opiniōs in religion that the Pope is and was of but of the same false proud lordly and ambitius order that the pope is of eiusde Coruipulli and burdes of the same rauen For as the Pope contrary vnto the ordinaunce of Christe whiche was Luce. 22. 1. Pet. 5. that no one apostle shulde be hed of the reste of hys felowes hath inhaunsed and set hym selfe aboue al other elders and byshoppes Euē so haue the byshoppes of Englande after the same maner lyfted vp them selues aboue al the elders of thys realme whyche by the worde of God haue as muche authorite as they haue or ought to haue For the worde of God in the newe testamēt nether sheweth nor maketh any difference betwene an elder whych is in latin presbyter and a byshop whyche is called in latin episcopos But your bishoppes wyll haue none to be called episcopos but them selues and other mē wyll they haue onely to be called presbyteros Yf ye sawe them nowe howe slauely and bondly they handle the reste of the clergye in theyr conuocacion house ye wolde saye that they were the Popes ryghte shapen sonnes For where as there sytteth but seuen or eyght lyn in wering byshoppes at the table in the conuocacion house yf there be .lx. pastores and elders that are wolwerers as longe as they shall tarye in the byshoppes conuocacion house so longe muste they stāde there before their lordes thoughe it be .ii. or .iii. houres yea that be the wether neuer so colde or the men neuer so olde or sikely bare heded Is thys pryde to be suffered Nowe maye you se howe they wold handel you yf they coulde get the hygher hande ouer you whyche surelye is lyke to come to passe yf you loke not to your selues betyme Thys is tryed to be true in all ages that where so euer the ydle order of the vnpreachyng prelates cā get power to theyr desyre they cast vnder them and brynge vnder theyr subiection all the nobles and al the hole layte Besyde the Pope the father of thys proude order other haue subdued the layte and broughte them into shameful subiection The sacrificyng prestes of the cathedrall church of Mense in Germany wan the citie from the seculare magistrates and brought all the hole cytie in to theyr subieccion as it dureth yet styll vnto thys daye The byshop of Mense the byshop of Wormes and the byshop of Colen came boldly vnto Henryche the .iiii. Emperor of that name and toke hys crowne of hys heade in a castell a lytle frome Mense and clerely deposed hym because as the byshoppes sayd he had made