Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	grant_v	jesu_n	mercy_n	3,288	5	9.7693	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68197	The first and second volumes of Chronicles. [vol. 1] comprising 1 The description and historie of England, 2 The description and historie of Ireland, 3 The description and historie of Scotland: first collected and published by Raphaell Holinshed, William Harrison, and others: now newlie augmented and continued (with manifold matters of singular note and worthie memorie) to the yeare 1586. by Iohn Hooker aliàs Vowell Gent and others. With conuenient tables at the end of these volumes.; Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande. vol. 1	Holinshed, Raphael, d. 1580?; Stanyhurst, Richard, 1547-1618.; Fleming, Abraham, 1552?-1607.; Stow, John, 1525?-1605.; Thynne, Francis, 1545?-1608.; Hooker, John, 1526?-1601.; Harrison, William, 1534-1593.; Boece, Hector, 1465?-1536.; Giraldus, Cambrensis, 1146?-1223?	1587 (1587)	STC 13569_pt1; ESTC S122178	1,179,579	468

hope in that grace which is freelie granted through Iesu Christ and to flee vnto the mercies of God which are offered vnto vs in with and by his son to the end that we may at the last find the testimonie of his spirit working with ours that we are his chosen children whereby commeth peace of conscience to such as doo beléeue Thus we sée how new deuises or orders of religion and heresie came in together I could shew also what Comets and strange signes appeared in Britaine much about the same time the like of which with diuers other haue beene perceiued also from time to time sithence the death of Pelagius at the entrance of anie new kind of religion into this I le of Britaine But I passe them ouer onelie for that I would not seeme in my tractation of antiquities to trouble my reader with the rehersall of anie new inconueniences To procéed therefore with my purpose after these there followed in like sort sundrie other kinds of monasticall life as Anachorites Heremits Cyrilline and Benedictine monkes albeit that the heremeticall profession was onelie allowed of in Britaine vntill the comming of Augustine the monke who brought in the Benedictine sect framed after the order of the house which Benedict surnamed Nursinus did first erect in Monte Cassino about the 524. of Christ was finallie so well liked of all men that we had few or as I suppose no blacke monkes in England that were not of his order In processe of time how Benedict Biscop also our countrieman restored the said Benedictine profession greatlie decaied in England our histories are verie plentifull which Biscop went oft into Italie and at one time for a speciall confirmation of his two monasteries which he had builded at other mens costs vnto Paule and Peter vpon the bankes of the Were as Beda dooth remember So fast also did these and other like humane deuises prosper after his time that at their suppression in England and Wales onelie there were found 440. religious houses at the least of which 373. might dispend 200. li. by the yéere at the least as appeareth by the record of their suppression which also noteth the totall summe of their reuenues to amount vnto 32000. pounds their moueables 100000. li. and the number of religious men conteined in the same to be 10000. which would make a pretie armie where vnto if you adde those 45. of late standing in Scotland you shall soone see what numbers of these dens of spirituall robbers were mainteined here in Britaine What number of saincts also haue béene hatched in them I could easilie remember and beside those 160. which Capgraue setteth down other likewise remembred in the golden Legend and Legendarie of Excester I might bring a rable out of Scotland able to furnish vp a calendar though the yere were twise as long As touching Pelagius the first heretike that euer was bred in this realme notablie knowne and parent of Monachisme it is certeine that before his corruption and fall he was taken for a man of singular learning deepe iudgement and such a one as vpon whome for his great gifts in teaching and strictnesse of life no small péece of the hope and expectation of the people did depend But what is wisedome of the flesh without the feare and true knowledge of God and what is learning except it be handmaid to veritie and sound iudgement Wherefore euen of this man we may see it verified that one Roger Bakon pronounced long after of the corruption of his time when all things were measured by wit and worldlie policie rather than by the scriptures or guidance of the spirit Better it is saith he to heare a rude and simple idiot preach the truth without apparance of skill and learned eloquence than a profound clearke to set foorth error with great shew of learning and boast of filed vtterance Gerson in like sort hath said fullie asmuch These follies of Pelagius were blased abroad about the 400. of Christ and from thencefoorth how his number of monkes increased on the one side and his doctrine on the other there is almost no reader that is vnskilfull and ignorant This also is certeine that within the space of 200. yeares and odde there were manie more than 2100. monkes gathered togither in his house whose trades notwithstanding the errors of their founder who taught such an estimation of merits and bodilie exercise as Paule calleth it that therby he sought not onlie to impugne but also preuent grace which was in deed the originall occasion of the erection of his house were yet farre better and more godlie than all those religious orders that were inuented of later time wherein the professours liued to themselues their wombs and the licentious fruition of those parts that are beneath the bellie For these laboured continuallie for their owne liuings at vacant times from praier as did Serapions monkes which were 10000. ouer whome he himselfe was Abbat and likewise for the better maintenance of such learned men as were their appointed preachers Their liues also were correspondent to their doctrine so that herein onelie they seemed intollerable in that they had confidence in their déeds and no warrant out of the word for their succor defense but were such a plant as the heauenlie father had not planted and therefore no maruell though afterward they were raised by the roots But as Pelagius and his adherents had a time to infect the church of Christ in Britaine so the liuing God hath had a season also to purge and cleanse the same though not by a full reformation of doctrine sith Germanu● Lupus Palladius Patricius and such like leaning for the most part vnto the monasticall trades did not so much condemne the generall errors of Pelagius one waie as mainteine the same or as euill opinions another For as Patricke séemed to like well of the honoring of the dead so Germanus being in Britaine repaired an old chapell to s. Albane wherein Lupus also praied as Palladius vph●ld the strictnesse of life in monasticall profession to the vttermost of his power Wherfore God wrought this purgation of his house at the first rather by taking awaie the wicked and pompous schoolemaisters of errour out of this life hoping that by such meanes his people would haue giuen eare to the godlie that remained But in processe of time when this his mercifull dealing was forgotten and our countriemen returned to their former disorders he brought in the Saxons who left no idoll vnhonored no not their filthie Priapus vnto whom the women builded temples and made a beastlie image Cum pene intenso and as if he had beene circumcised whome they called Ithypallus Verpus and as Goropius Atvatic pag. 26. addeth Ters calling vpon him in maner at euerie word yea at the verie fall of a knife out of their hands and not counted anie shame vnto the most ancient and sober

ranne awaie and made an outcrie in the citie how there sat a man in such a place so great as an hill the people hearing the newes ran out with clubs and weapons as if they should haue gone vnto a foughten field and 300. of them entring into the caue they foorthwith saw that he was dead and yet sat as if he had béen aliue hauing a staffe in his hand compared by mine author vnto the mast of a tall ship which being touched fell by and by to dust sauing the nether end betwéene his hand and the ground whose hollownesse was filled with 1500. pound weight of lead to beare vp his arme that it should not fall in péeces neuerthelesse his bodie also being touched fell likewise into dust sauing three of his aforesaid teeth the forepart of his scull and one of his thigh bones which are reserued to be séene of such as will hardlie beleeue these reports In the histories of Brabant I read of a giant found whose bones were 17. or 18. cubits in length but Goropius as his maner is denieth them to be the bones of a man affirming rather that they were the bones of an elephant because they somwhat resembled those of two such beasts which were found at the making of the famous ditch betwéene Bruxels and Machlin As though there were anie precise resemblance betwéene the bones of a man and of an elephant or that there had euer béene any elephant of 27. foot in length But sée his demeanour In the end he granteth that another bodie was found vpon the shore of Rhodanus of thirtie foot in length Which somewhat staieth his iudgement but not altogither remooueth his error The bodie of Pallas was found in Italie in the yeare of Grace 1038. and being measured it conteined twentie foot in length this Pallas was companion with Aeneas There was a carcase also laid bare 1170. in England vpon the shore where the beating of the sea had washed awaie the earth from the stone wherein it laie and when it was taken vp it conteined 50. foot in measu●● as our histories doo report The like was seene before in Wales in the yeare 1087. of another of 14. foot In Perth moreouer a village in Scotland another was taken vp which to this daie they shew in a church vnder the name of little Iohn per Antiphrasin being also 14. foot in length as diuerse doo affirme which haue beholden the same and whereof Hector Boetius dooth saie that he did put his whole arme into one of the hanch bones which is worthie to be remembred In the yeare of Grace 1475. the bodie of Tulliola the daughter of Cicero was taken vp found higher by not a few foot than the common sort of women liuing in those daies Geruasius Tilberiensis head Marshall to the king of Arles writeth in his Chronicle dedicated to Otho 4. how that at Isoretum in the suburbes of Paris he saw the bodie of a man that was twentie foot long beside the head and the necke which was missing not found the owner hauing peraduenture béene beheaded for some notable trespasse committed in times past or as he saith killed by S. William The Greeke writers make mention of Andronicus their emperour who liued 1183. of Grace and was ten foot in height that is thrée foot higher than the Dutch man that shewed himselfe in manie places of England 1582. this man maried Anna daughter to Lewis of France before assured to Alexius whome he strangled dismembred and drowned in the sea the ladie not being aboue eleuen yeares of age whereas he was an old dotard and beside hir he kept Marpaca a fine harlot who ruled him as she listed Zonaras speaketh of a woman that liued in the daies of Iustine who being borne in Cilicia and of verie comelie personage was neuerthelesse almost two foot taller than the tallest woman of hir time A carcase was taken vp at Iuie church neere Salisburie but of late yeares to speake of almost fourtéene foot long in Dictionario Eliotae In Gillesland in Come Whitton paroche not far from the chappell of the Moore six miles by east from Carleill a coffin of stone was found and therein the bones of a man of more than incredible greatnes In like sort Leland speaketh of another found in the I le called Alderney whereof you shall read more in the chapiter of our Ilands Richard Grafton in his Manuell telleth of one whose shinbone conteined six foot and thereto his scull so great that it was able to receiue fiue pecks of wheat Wherefore by coniecturall symmetrie of these parts his bodie must needs be of 24. foot or rather more if it were diligentlie measured For the proportion of a comelie and well featured bodie answereth 9. times to the length of the face taken at large from the pitch of the crowne to the chin as the whole length is from the same place vnto the sole of the foot measured by an imagined line and seuered into so manie parts by like ouerthwart draughts as Drurerus in his lineall description of mans bodie doth deliuer Neuertheles this symmetrie is not taken by other than the well proportioned face for Recta orbiculata or fornicata prona resupinata and lacunata or repanda doo so far degenerate from the true proportion as from the forme and beautie of the comelie Hereby also they make the face taken in strict maner to be the tenth part of the whole bodie that is frō the highest part of the forehead to the pitch of the chin so that in the vse of the word face there is a difference wherby the 9. part is taken I say from the crowne called Vertex because the haire there turneth into a circle so that if the space by a rule were truelie taken I meane from the crowne or highest part of the head to the pitch of the nether chap and multiplied by nine the length of the whole bodie would easilie appeare shew it selfe at the full In like maner I find that from the elbow to the top of the midle finger is the 4. part of the whole length called a cubit from the wrist to the top of the same finger a tenth part the length of the shinbone to the ancle a fourth part and all one with the cubit from the top of the finger to the third ioint two third parts of the face from the top of the forehead Which obseruations I willinglie remember in this place to the end that if anie such carcases happen to be found hereafter it shall not be hard by some of these bones here mentioned to come by the stature of the whole bodie in certeine exact maner As for the rest of the bones ioints parts c you may resort to Drurerus Cardan and other writers sith the farther deliuerie of them concerneth not my purpose To proceed therefore with other examples I read that the bodie of king Arthur being found in the

after the flood if we diuide therefore the said 133. by seauen you shall find the quotient 19. without any ods remaining From hence also vnto the comming of Samothes into Britaine or rather his lawes giuen vnto the Celts and with them vnto the Britons in the second of his arriuall in this land we find by exact supputation 126. yeares which being parted by nine or seauen sheweth such a conclusion as maketh much for this purpose Doubtlesse I am the more willing to touch the time of his lawes than his entrance sith alteration of ordinances is the cheefe and principall token of change in rule and regiment although at this present the circumstances hold not sith he dispossessed none neither incroched vpon any From Samothes vnto the tyrannie of Albion are 335. yeares complet so that he arriued here in the 335. or 48. septenarie which also concurreth with the 590. after the flood In like sort the regiment of Albion continued but seauen yeares and then was the souereingtie of this I le restored againe by Hercules vnto the Celts The next alteration of our estate openlie knowne happened by Brute betweene whose time and death of Albion there passed full 601. yeares for he spent much time after his departure out of Grecia before he came into Albion so that if you accompt him to come hither in the 602. you shall haue 86. septenaries exactlie From Brute to the extinction of his posteritie in Ferrex and Porrex and pentarchie of Britaine are 630. yeares or 70. nouenaries than the which where shall a man find a more precise period after this method or prescription for manie and diuers considerations The time of the pentarchie indured likewise 49. yeares or seauen septenaries which being expired Dunwallo brought all the princes vnder his subiection and ruled ouer them as monarch of this I le After the pentarchie ended we find againe that in the 98. yeare Brennus rebelled against Beline his brother wherevpon insued cruell bloodshed betwéene them So that here you haue 14. septenaries as you haue from those warres ended which indured a full yeare more before Brennus was reconciled to his brother to the comming of Caesar into this Iland whereat our seruitude and miserable thraldome to the Romans may worthilie take his entrance 48. or 336. yeares than the which concurrences I know not how a man should imagine a more exact After the comming of Caesar we haue 54. or sixe nouenaries to Christ whose death and passion redoundeth generallie to all that by firme and sure faith take hold of the same and applie it vnto their comfort From the birth of Christ to our countrie deliuered from the Romane yoke are 446. yeares at which time the Britains chose them a king and betooke themselues to his obedience But neither they nor their king being then able to hold out the Scots and Picts which dailie made hauocke of their countrie the said Vortiger in the third yeares of his reigne which was the 63. septenarie after Christ did send for the Saxons who arriued here in the 449. and 450. yeares of Grace in great companies for our aid and succour although that in the end their entrances turned to our vtter decaie and ruine in that they made a conquest of the whole I le and draue vs out of our liuings Hereby we sée therefore how the preparatiue began in the 449. but how it was finished in the tenth nouenarie the sequele is too too plaine In like sort in the 43. nouenarie or 387. after the comming of the Saxons the Danes entred who miserablie afflicted this I le by the space of 182. yeares or 46. septenaries which being expired they established themselues in the kingdome by Canutus But their time lasting not long the Normans followed in the end of the 49. yeare and thus you sée how these numbers do hold exactlie vnto the conquest The like also we find of the continuance of the Normans or succession of the Conquerour which indured but 89. yeares being extinguished in Stephen and that of the Saxons restored in Henrie the second although it lacke one whole yeare of ten nouenaries which is a small thing sith vpon diuers occasions the time of the execution of any accident may be preuented or proroged as in direction and progression astronomicall is often times perceiued From hence to the infamous excommunication of England in king Iohns daies wherevpon insued the resignation of his crownes and dominions to the pope are eight septenaries or 56. yeares Thence againe to the deposition of Richard 2. and vsurpation of Henrie 4. are 77. yeares or 11. septenaries From hence to the conspiracie made against Edward 2. after which he was deposed murdered are 117. yeares or 13. nouenaries From hence to the beginning of the quarell betwéene the houses of Yorke and Lancaster wherein foure score and od persons of the blood roiall were slaine and made awaie first and last and which warres begunne in the 1448. and the yeare after the death of the Duke of Glocester whose murther séemed to make frée passage to the said broile are 72. yeares or eight nouenaries From hence to the translation of the crowne from the house of Lancaster to that of Yorke in Edward the 4 are 14. yeares or two septenaries and last of all to the vnion of the said houses in Henrie the eight is an exact quadrat of seuen multiplied in it selfe or 49. yeares whereof I hope this may in part suffice Now as concerning religion we haue from Christ to the faith first preached in Britaine by Iosephus ab Aramathia and Simon Zelotes as some write 70. yeares or 10. septenaries Thence also to the baptisme of Lucius and his nobilitie in the yeare after their conuersion 12. nouenaries or 108. yeares After these the Saxons entred and changed the state of religion for the most part into paganisme in the yeare 449. 39. nouenarie and 273. yeare after Lucius had beene baptised which is 39. septenaries if I be not deceiued In the 147. or 21. septenarie Augustine came who brought in poperie which increased and continued till Wicklif with more boldnesse than anie other began to preach the gospell which was Anno. 1361. or 765. yeares after the comming of Augustine and yeeld 85. nouenaries exactlie From hence againe to the expulsion of the pope 175 yeares or 25. septenaries thence to the receiuing of the pope and popish doctrine 21. yeares or 3. septenaries wherevnto I would ad the time of restoring the gospell by Quéene Elizabeth were it not that it wanteth one full yeare of 7. Whereby we may well gather that if there be anie hidden mysterie or thing conteined in these numbers yet the same extendeth not vnto the diuine disposition of things touching the gift of grace and frée mercie vnto the penitent vnto which neither number weight nor measure shall be able to aspire Of such Ilands as are to be seene vpon the coasts of Britaine Cap. 10. THere are néere

And herevpon their Hector Boetius as an hen that for laieng of one eg will make a great cakeling solemnlie triumphing for a conquest before the victorie alledgeth that hereby the Britons were made tributaries to the Scots and yet he confesseth that they won no more land by that supposed conquest but the same portion betwéene them and Humber which in the old partitions before was annexed to Albania It is hard to be beléeued that such a broken nation as the Scots at that time were returning from banishment within foure yeares before and since in battell loosing both their kings and the great number of their best men to be thus able to make a conquest of great Britaine and verie vnlikelie if they had conquered it they would haue left the hot sunne of the south parts to dwell in the cold snow in Scotland Incredible it is that if they had conquered it they would not haue deputed officers in it as in cases of conquest behooueth And it is beyond all beliefe that great Britaine or any other countrie should be woon without the comming of anie enimie into it as they did not but taried finallie at the same wall of Adrian whereof I spake before But what need I speake of these defenses when the same Boecius scantlie trusteth his owne beliefe in this tale For he saieth that Galfride and sundrie other authentike writers diuerslie varie from this part of his storie wherein his owne thought accuseth his conscience of vntruth herein also he further forgetting how it behooueth a lier to be mindfull of his assertion in the fourth chapter next following wholie bewraieth himselfe saieng that the confederat kings of Scots and Picts vpon ciuill warres betwéene the Britons which then followed hoped shortlie to inioie all the land of great Britaine from beyond Humber vnto the fresh sea which hope had bene vaine and not lesse than void if it had béene their owne by anie conquest before Constantine of Britaine descended from Conan king thereof cousine of Brutes bloud to this Maximian and his neerest heire was next king of Britaine he immediatlie pursued the Scots with wars and shortlie in battell slue their king Dongard in the first yeare of his reigne whereby he recouered Scotland out of their hands and tooke all the holdes thereof into his owne possessions Uortiger shortlie after obteined the crowne of Britaine against whom the Scots newlie rebelled for the repressing whereof mistrusting the Britons to hate him for sundrie causes as one that to auoid the smoke dooth oft fall into the fire receiued Hengest a Saxon and a great number of his countriemen with whom and a few Britons he entred Scotland ouercame them wherevpon they tooke the Iles which are their common refuge He gaue also much of Scotland as Gallowaie Pentland Mers and Annandale with sundrie other lands to this Hengest and his people to inhabit which they did accordinglie inioie But when this Hengest in processe of time thirsted after the whole kingdome of the south he was banished and yet afterward being restored he conspired with the Scots against Aurilambrose the sonne of Constantine the iust inheritor of this whole dominion But his vntruth and theirs were both recompensed togither for he was taken prisoner by Eldulph de Samor a noble man of Britaine and his head for his traitorie striken off at the commandement of Aurilambrose In the field the Scots were vanquished but Octa the sonne of Hengest was receiued to mercie to whome and his people this Aurilambrose gaue the countrie of Gallowaie in Scotland for which they became his subiects And hereby appeareth that Scotland was then againe reduced into his hands Uter called also Pendragon brother to Aurilambrose was next king of the Britons against whome these sworne Saxons now foresworne subiects confederate with the Scots newlie rebelled but by his power assembled against them in Gallowaie in Scotland they were discomfited Albania againe recouered vnto his subiection Arthur the sonne of of this Uter begotten before the mariage but lawfullie borne in matrimonie succéeded next to the crowne of great Britaine whose noble acts though manie vulgar fables haue rather stained than commended yet all the Scotish writers confesse that he subdued great Britaine and made it tributarie to him and ouercame the Saxons then scattered as far as Cathnesse in Scotland and in all these wars against them he had the seruice and obeisance of Scots and Picts But at the last setting their féet in the guilefull paths of their predecessors they rebelled and besieged the citie of Yorke Howell king of the lesse Britaine cousine to king Arthur being therein But he with an host came thither and discomfited the Scots chased them into a marsh and besieged them there so long that they were almost famished vntill the bishops abbats and men of religion for as much as they were christened people besought him to take them to his mercie and grace and to grant them a portion of the same countrie to dwell in vnder euerlasting subiection Upon this he tooke them to his grace homage and fealtie and when they were sworne his subiects and liegemen he ordeined his kinsman Anguisan to be their king and gouernour Urian king of Iland and Murefrence king of Orkeneie He made an archbishop of Yorke also whose authoritie extended through all Scotland Finallie the said Arthur holding his roiall feast at Cairleon had there all the kings that were subiects vnto him among which Angusian the said king of Scots did his due seruice and homage so long as he was with him for the realme of Scotland bare king Arthurs sword afore him Malgo shortlie after succéeded in the whole kingdome of great Britaine who vpon new resistance made subdued Ireland Iland the Orchads Norwaie and Denmarke and made Ethelfred a Saxon king of Bernicia that is Northumberland Louthian and much other land of Scotland which Ethelfred by the sword obteined at the hands of the wilfull inhabitants and continued true subiect to this Malgo. Cadwan succéeded in the kingdome of great Britaine who in defense of his subiects the Scots made warre vpon this Ethelfred but at the last they agréed and Cadwan vpon their rebellion gaue all Scotland vnto this Ethelfred which he therevpon subdued and inioied but afterward in the reigne of Cadwallo that next succeeded in great Britaine he rebelled Whervpon the same Cadwallo came into Scotland and vpon his treason reseised the countrie into his owne hands and hauing with him all the vicerois of the Saxons which then inhabited here as his subiects in singular battell he slue the same Ethelfred with his owne hands Oswald was shortlie after by Cadwallos gift made king of Bernicia and he as subiect to Cadwallo and by his commandement discomfited the Scots and Picts and subdued all Scotland Oswie the brother of this Oswald was by the like gift of Cadwallo made next king of Bernicia and he by like commandement newlie subdued the Scots and Picts and held them in that

the cleargie of England and soone after confirmed by the thrée estates of the realme in the high court of parlement And out of the first sort that is to saie of such as are called to the ministerie without respect whether they be married or not are bishops deanes archdeacons such as haue the higher places in the hierarchie of the church elected and these also as all the rest at the first comming vnto anie spirituall promotion doo yéeld vnto the prince the entire taxe of that their liuing for one whole yeare if it amount in value vnto ten pounds and vpwards and this vnder the name and title of first fruits With vs also it is permitted that a sufficient man may by dispensation from the prince hold two liuings not distant either from other aboue thirtie miles whereby it commeth to passe that as hir maiestie dooth reape some commoditie by the facultie so the vnition of two in one man dooth bring oftentimes more benefit to one of them in a moneth I meane for doctrine than they haue had before peraduenture in manie yeares Manie exclame against such faculties as if there were mo good preachers that want maintenance than liuings to mainteine them In déed when a liuing is void there are so manie sutors for it that a man would thinke the report to be true and most certeine but when it commeth to the triall who are sufficient and who not who are staied men in conuersation iudgement and learning of that great number you shall hardlie find one or two such as they ought to be and yet none more earnest to make sute to promise largelie beare a better shew or find fault with the state of things than they Neuerthelesse I doo not thinke that their exclamations if they were wiselie handled are altogither grounded vpon rumors or ambitious minds if you respect the state of the thing it selfe and not the necessitie growing through want of able men to furnish out all the cures in England which both our vniuersities are neuer able to performe For if you obserue what numbers of preachers Cambridge and Oxford doo yearelie send foorth and how manie new compositions are made in the court of first fruits by the deaths of the last incumbents you shall soone sée a difference Wherefore if in countrie townes cities yea euen in London it selfe foure or fiue of the litle churches were brought into one the inconuenience would in great part be redressed And to saie truth one most commonlie of these small liuings is of so little value that it is not able to mainteine a meane scholar much lesse a learned man as not being aboue ten twelue sixteene seuentéene twentie or thirtie pounds at the most toward their charges which now more than before time doo go out of the same I saie more than before bicause euerie small trifle noble mans request or courtesie craued by the bishop dooth impose and command a twentith part a three score part or two pence in the pound c out of our liuings which hitherto hath not béene vsuallie granted but by consent of a synod wherein things were decided according to equitie and the poorer sort considered of which now are equallie burdened We paie also the tenths of our liuings to the prince yearelie according to such valuation of ech of them as hath beene latelie made which neuerthelesse in time past were not annuall but voluntarie paid at request of king or pope Herevpon also hangeth a pleasant storie though doone of late yeares to wit 1452 at which time the cleargie séeing the continuall losses that the king of England susteined in France vpon some motion of reléefe made granted in an open conuocation to giue him two tenths toward the recouerie of Burdeaux which his grace verie thankefullie receiued It fortuned also at the same time that Uincentius Clemens the popes factor was here in England who hearing what the clergie had doone came into the conuocation house also in great hast and lesse spéed where in a solemne oration he earnestlie required them to be no lesse fauourable to their spirituall father the pope and mother the sée of Rome than they had shewed themselues vnto his vassall and inferiour meaning their souereigne lord in temporall iurisdiction c. In deliuering also the cause of his sute he shewed how gréeuouslie the pope was disturbed by cutthrotes varlots and harlots which doo now so abound in Rome that his holinesse is in dailie danger to be made awaie amongst them To be short when this fine tale was told one of the companie stood vp and said vnto him My lord we haue heard your request and as we thinke it deserueth litle consideration and lesse eare for how would you haue vs to contribute to his aid in suppression of such as he and such as you are doo continuall vphold it is not vnknowen in this house what rule is kept in Rome I grant quoth Uincent that there wanteth iust reformation of manie things in that citie which would haue béene made sooner but now it is too late neuerthelesse I beséech you to write vnto his holinesse with request that he would leaue and abandon that Babylon which is but a sinke of mischiefe and kéepe his court elsewhere in place of better fame And this he shall be the better able also to performe if by your liberalitie extended towards him vnto whome you are most bound he be incouraged thereto Manie other words passed to and fro amongst them howbeit in the end Uincent ouercame not but was dismissed without anie penie obteined But to returne to our tenths a paiement first as deuised by the pope and afterward taken vp as by the prescription of the king wherevnto we may ioine also our first fruits which is one whole yeares commoditie of our liuing due at our entrance into the same the tenths abated vnto the princes cofers and paid commonlie in two yeares For the receipt also of these two paiments an especiall office or court is erected which beareth name of first fruits and tenths wherevnto if the partie to be preferred doo not make his dutifull repaire by an appointed time after possession taken there to compound for the paiment of his said fruits he incurreth the danger of a great penaltie limited by a certeine statute prouided in that behalfe against such as doo intrude into the ecclesiasticall function and refuse to paie the accustomed duties belonging to the same They paie likewise subsidies with the temporaltie but in such sort that if these paie after foure shillings for land the cleargie contribute commonlie after six shillings of the pound so that of a benefice of twentie pounds by the yeare the incumbent thinketh himselfe well acquited if all ordinarie paiments being discharged he may reserue thirtéene pounds six shillings eight pence towards his owne sustentation and maintenance of his familie Seldome also are they without the compasse of a subsidie for if they be one yeare cleare from this paiement a thing

barnacle whose place of generation we haue sought oft times so farre as the Orchades whereas peraduenture we might haue found the same neerer home and not onelie vpon the coasts of Ireland but euen in our owne riuers If I should say how either these or some such other foule not much vnlike vnto them haue bred of late times for their place of generation is not perpetuall but as opportunitie serueth and the circumstances doo minister occasion in the Thames mouth I doo not thinke that manie will beleeue me yet such a thing hath there béene seene where a kind of foule had his beginning vpon a short tender shrub standing néere vnto the shore from whence when their time came they fell downe either into the salt water and liued or vpon the drie land and perished as Pena the French herbarian hath also noted in the verie end of his herball What I for mine owne part haue séene here by experience I haue alreadie so touched in the chapter of Ilands that it should be but time spent in vaine to repeat it here againe Looke therefore in the description of Man or Manaw for more of these barnacles as also in the eleuenth chapter of the description of Scotland I doo not doubt but you shall in some respect be satisfied in the generation of these foules As for egrets pawpers and such like they are dailie brought vnto vs from beyond the sea as if all the foule of our countrie could not suffice to satisfie our delicate appetites Our tame foule are such for the most part as are common both to vs and to other countries as cocks hens géese duckes peacocks of Iude pigeons now an hurtfull foule by reason of their multitudes and number of houses dailie erected for their increase which the bowres of the countrie call in scorne almes houses and dens of theeues and such like wherof there is great plentie in euerie farmers yard They are kept there also to be sold either for readie monie in the open markets or else to be spent at home in good companie amongst their neighbors without reprehension or fines Neither are we so miserable in England a thing onelie granted vnto vs by the especiall grace of God and libertie of our princes as to dine or sup with a quarter of a hen or to make so great a repast with a cocks combe as they doo in some other countries but if occasion serue the whole carcasses of manie capons hens pigeons and such like doo oft go to wracke beside béefe mutton veale and lambe all which at euerie feast are taken for necessarie dishes amongest the communaltie of England The golding of cocks whereby capons are made is an ancient practise brought in of old time by the Romans when they dwelt here in this land but the gelding of turkies or Indish peacocks is a newer deuise and certeinlie not vsed amisse sith the rankenesse of that bird is verie much abated thereby and the strong taste of the flesh in sundrie wise amended If I should say that ganders grow also to be gelded I suppose that some will laugh me to scorne neither haue I tasted at anie time of such a foule so serued yet haue I heard it more than once to be vsed in the countrie where their géese are driuen to the field like heards of cattell by a gooseheard a toie also no lesse to be maruelled at than the other For as it is rare to heare of a gelded gander so is it strange to me to sée or heare of géese to be led to the field like shéepe yet so it is their gooseheard carieth a rattle of paper or parchment with him when he goeth about in the morning to gather his gostings togither the noise whereof commeth no sooner to their eares than they fall to gagling and hasten to go with him If it happen that the gates be not yet open or that none of the house be stirring it is ridiculous to sée how they will peepe vnder the doores and neuer leaue creaking and gagling till they be let out vnto him to ouertake their fellowes With vs where I dwell they are not kept in this sort nor in manie other places neither are they kept so much for their bodies as their feathers Some hold furthermore an opinion that in ouer ranke soiles their doong dooth so qualifie the batablenesse of the soile that their cattell is thereby kept from the garget and sundrie other diseases although some of them come to their ends now and then by licking vp of their feathers I might here make mention of other foules producted by the industrie of man as betwéene the fesant cocke and doonghill hen or betwéene the fesant and the ringdooue the peacocke and the turkie hen the partrich and the pigeon but sith I haue no more knowledge of these than what I haue gotten by mine care I will not meddle with them Yet Cardan speaking of the second sort dooth affirme it to be a foule of excellent beautie I would likewise intreat of other foules which we repute vncleane as rauens crowes pies choughes rookes kites iaies ringtailes starlings woodspikes woodnawes rauens c but sith they abound in all countries though peraduenture most of all in England by reason of our negligence I shall not néed to spend anie time in the rehearsall of them Neither are our crowes and thoughs cherished of purpose to catch vp the woormes that bréed in our soiles as Polydor supposeth sith there are no vplandish townes but haue or should haue nets of their owne in store to catch them withall Sundrie acts of parlement are likewise made for their vtter destruction as also the spoile of other rauenous fouls hurtfull to pultrie conies lambs and kids whose valuation of reward to him that killeth them is after the head a deuise brought from the Goths who had the like ordinance for the destruction of their white crowes and tale made by the becke which killed both lambs and pigs The like order is taken with vs for our vermines as with them also for the rootage out of their wild beasts sauing that they spared their greatest beares especiallie the white whose skins are by custome priuilege reserued to couer those planchers wherevpon their priests doo stand at Masse least he should take some vnkind cold in such a long péece of worke and happie is the man that may prouide them for him for he shall haue pardon inough for that so religious an act to last if he will till doomes day doo approch and manie thousands after Nothing therefore can be more vnlikelie to be true than that these noisome creatures are nourished amongst vs to deuoure our wormes which doo not abound much more in England than elsewhere in other countries of the maine It may be that some looke for a discourse also of our other foules in this place at my hand as nightingales thrushes blackebirds mauises ruddocks redstarts or dunocks larkes tiuits kingsfishers buntings turtles white