them during his owne lyfe And than after his deth / the heyres of his bodye shall haue the landes accordynge to the fyrst gyfte c. If an infant make a couenauÌ„t to gyue one for his meate drinke for suche a certayne tyme / a horse / and whan he hath ben with him accordynge / he gyueth him the horse And also he selleth him another horse for a certayn some of money iÌ„ this case he is bouÌ„deÌ„ to restore the last horse to the infant agayne / but nat the horse that he had for hys meate and drinke c. An infant of the age of .xx. yeres hauyng suffycient reason to ordre him selfe and his goodes / selleth a maner / with the money thereof bieth another maner that is of better value more profytable to him than the fyrst was / and after he entreth into the fyrst maner / bycause he was within age at the tyme of the sale in that case he is bounde to restore the money that he receyued for the fyrst maner / excepte the ê‘fites that the byer receyued of the saÌ„e maner in the meane tyme / but the maner he is nat bouÌ„d to restore / for he hath rizt to it by the law of the realm A man maketh a feoffement in fee to another vpoÌ„ condicyon that the feoffe shall nat alyen the lande to none other ê‘sone And if he do that it shal be lauful for the feoffour his heyres to reentre / after the feoffe alyeneth the lande contrary to his condicyon the feoffoure entreth in this case the feoffour is bounde to restore the lande to the alyene And the reason is bycause the seyd condicyon is voyde in the lawe A tenaunt for terme of lyfe doth waste in this case he is bounde in conscience to restore him in the reuercyon of the value of the thynge wasted / immedyately after the wast done But of the treble damages nâ— of the lyeu wasted he is nat bouÌ„d to make restitue tyll it be recouered agaiÌ„st hiÌ„ by the law of the realme If a man dissease another dye seased his heyre eÌ„treth / that heyre and all his heyres after hiÌ„ knowiÌ„g the wronge / be bouÌ„d to restore the lande to the disseysye his heyres and no prescription ne contynuaÌ„ce of long possession can helpe in this If a man dissease another case dye seased his heyre entreth as in the case before remeÌ„bred after the disseasye dyeth without heyre generall or specyall in this case the heyres of the disseasour is discharged of any restitucioÌ„ as for the rizt of the lande to any ê‘son for there is none that can clayme that right as heyre to him that the wronge was done vnto and the lorde of whoÌ„ the lande was holden can nat haue it by eschete / for the grounde of the lawe is / that lande shall nat eschete where the lorde hathe a tenaunt / vpon whom he shal be compelled to auowe / and therfore the right in this case shall extyncte to the tenaunte and also in some case a man maye haue right to lande and a tytle of entre also and yet if he dye without heyre the tenaunte shall nat be bounde to make restitucyon to the lorde by way of eschete as if an infant be disseased / and the disseasour dyeth seased / so that the lande descendeth to his heyre / after the infant dieth without heyre general or specyall in this case the heyre of the disseasoure is nat bounde to restore the lande to the lorde by waye of eschete yet the infant might haue entred And the dyuersyttes of these cases and of manye other lyke / depende onely vpon the groundes maxismes of the lawes of the realme / therfore if they be natte knowen / the right can natte be knowen But than in what maner a man that hath godes or landes wrongefully in any maner / knoweth nat to whoÌ„ he ought to make restitucyon / shall ordre him selfe for discharge of his conscyence haue ben dyuers opinyons / some men haue thoughte in tyme past / that if the party so bouÌ„den to restitucyon / opteyned a dispensacyoÌ„ fro Rome / that some porcyon therof shulde be dysposed in suche wyse / as it shulde be therein assygned that it shulde suffyce I thynke that no lesse porcyon than the whole coulde neuer haue suffyced But if a man accordynge to suche dispensacyon dysposed the whole value in suche vse as the dispensacyon lymyted I thynke it suffyced if the partye that shulde restore / thought the vse lymited in the dyspensacyon so charytable / that he thought his conscyeÌ„ce was thereby dyscharged But if he thought a nother vse more charitable he might / yet may dyspose it accordingly if he wyll / and let the dyspensacyon alone And yet the people haue ben brought in belefe that in suche case restitucyon must of necessytie be made by auctorytye of suche a dyspensacyon / orels at the lest by counsell of his ghostly father And if it be so done / I wyll nat saye but that it is righte well done / so that the counsell satysfye the conscyence of him that shall do it But if they gyue counsell that suche goodes shall be dysposed in such maner / that after the conscience of him that must restore is nat most charytable / as for syngynge of trentalles / kepynge of obyttes / fyndyng of scolers / or such other And he therfore that muste restore refuse that counsell / and dispose it to suche vse as his conscieÌ„ce serueth him beste to as percase to releue poore men in extreme necessytie to make high wayes / or such other lyke I thynke he taketh the better waye / and that he is therby clerely dyscharged in conscyence Howe be it if he take to hiÌ„ some of the clergye or some laye men in whose conscyence he hathe good trust to gyue him counsell therin I thynke he dothe the better / but that he shulde be enforced of necessytie either to dyspose it only after as suche dyspensacyon fro Rome haue apoiÌ„ted in tyme past / or elles as some spyrituall counsell shulde appoynte and in non other maner there is no cause ne assured grouÌ„d why it shulde be so And I haue shewed you my conseyte in these maters before rehersed / to none other intent / but that I wold gyue you occasyon to helpe / if ye coulde to haue such maters ordered / here after in suche maner / as shall be thought most to the pleasure of god and to the helth of the soules of the people / al couetyce syngularytie layd aparte For surely right gret parcyalytie hath ben sene in suche maters in tyme past but yet there be some cases wherin many men and that such men as haue ben notably lerned haue douted in / whether restitucyon shulde be made to the partye that ought it or nat as in case that a man wyn money by vsury / or at dyse or
shall enheryte If a man haue landes in fee symple by discent fro his father / dye without yssue of his bodye / haue no heyre on the parte of his father / wherfore the nexte heyre of the parte of his mother pretendiÌ„g to be his nexte heyre / entreth taketh the profites / that heyre is bouÌ„den to make restitucyon to the lorde of whom the lande is holden for the lorde oughte to haue it by the lawe as his eschete But if a man purchase landes in fee / dye with out heyre of his body / thaÌ„ for lack of heyres of the parte of his father the heyres of the parte of his mother / shall haue the lande and nat the lorde by eschete If a man haue landes in fee by dyscent tro his mother / and he maketh a feoffament therof c. And feoffe maketh a lease for terme of lyfe to a stranger the remaindre iÌ„ the fee to him agayne and to his heyres And after he dyeth withoute heyre of his body / in this case the heyres of the parte of hys father shall haue the lande And if the remayndre in that case were that it shuld go to him and to his heyres of the parte of his mother / yet the remayndre shuld go to his heyres of the parte of his father for those wordes of the parte of his mother be voyde in the lawe / as they shulde be if a man wold infeoffe another to haue to him and to his heyres of the parte of his mother for the heyres of the parte of his father natwithstaÌ„ding those wordes shal haue the lande / and therefore in both the seyde cases if the heyres of the ê‘te of the mother entre iÌ„to the laÌ„de / they be bouÌ„deÌ„ to restore it to the heyres of the ê‘te of the father If a man that hath landes in fee by dyscent fro his mother / dyeseased / the landê discende to his son heyre and that son heyre dyeth without heyre of his body in this case / the heyres of the parte of his graundmother shall haue the laÌ„de And if either the heyres of the part of the father or the heyres of the ê‘te of his mother entre / they be bouÌ„deÌ„ to make restitucyon to the heyres of the parte of his graundmother A man hath two sonnes by seuerall wyfes / the one son purchaseth landes to him to his heyres / and dieth without heyre of his body if his brother in this case entre as heyre / he is bouÌ„de to restore it to hiÌ„ or her that is heyre to his brother on his fathers syde for the grounde of the lawe is / that one of the halfe blode shall neuer be heyre to him that he is but of the half blode vnto Also if a man holde .ii. houses of two seuerall lordes by heryote custome / wher the custome is that no heryote shall be payed but of quycke catell he hath no quycke catell but one horse dyeth / one of the lordes seaseth the horse after the other Lorde fyndeth the same horse / seaseth him as his heryote in this case he his bound to restore the horse to the lorde that fyrst seased him for by that fyrst seasynge he hath by the lawe of the realme right to the horse / the other hath lost his herriot for that tyme. And the same lawe is / if a maÌ„ holde .ii. acres of lande of .ii. seuerall lordê by knyghtes seruyce / by owelty of feffemeÌ„t dyeth / his heyre with in age in this case that lorde that fyrst seaseth the body hath rizt to it If a man holde an acre of laÌ„de of one maÌ„ by knyghtes seruyce by prioritye / an other acre of lande of another man by knyghtes seruyce by posteryoritye dyeth seased his heyre beynge within age / and the lorde of whom the lande is holden by posteryoritye / seaseth the body of the said infaunte as his warde In this case he is bouÌ„den to restore it to the lorde by prioritye for by the lawe the wardship of the body belongeth to him / excepte that the same auncestre holde any laÌ„de of the kyng by knyghtes seruyces for if he dyd the kynge shall haue the prefermente of the body by his prerogatyue whether the lande were holden of hym by prioritye or posteryorite in cheyfe or as an eschete If there be two ioynt tenauÌ„tes of a wode / the one of theÌ„ selleth al the wode / taketh the money to his owne vse in this case he is bouÌ„deÌ„ to restore the half of that money to the other ioynttenauÌ„t for though the law gyue no remedy to the other ioynttenauÌ„t for it yet it wareÌ„teth nat him that hath the money / that he maye with conscyence retayne it If one ioynttenaunt take all the gresse and frutes to his owne vse / where els they shuld haue ben lost for laches of the other there he is nat bounde to restore any parte but if his felowe wolde haue taken his parte / the other wold nat suffre hiÌ„ / than he is bounde to restore hiÌ„ his ê‘te And so it is / if one ioynte tenaunt or tenauÌ„t in comon / sowe the one half of the errable grouÌ„de leueth the other halfe for his felowe / whan the corne is ripe / his felowe taketh halfe of the corne / pretendynge that the halfe is his through all In this case he is bouÌ„de to restore the whole to him that sewe the grouÌ„de c. If a womaÌ„ haue goodê ê‘sonall and also reall / as a lease for terme of yeres a wardship or such other and after she taketh a husbande / he dyeth after whose deth his executours taketh al the sayd chatels / aswell reall as parsonall / in this case the executoures be bounde to restore the wyfe of the chatels reall but nat of the chatels personall / nor no parte of them / her necessary werynge apparell onely excepted A man hath a maner / whereto comen is appeÌ„daunt And also an aduouson / and he of his mere motyon maketh a feoffameÌ„t of the sayd maner / putteth nat iÌ„ these wordê cum ê‘rineÌ„ciis c. the feoffe occupieth the comen And also whaÌ„ the aduouson falleth void he preseÌ„teth to the aduouson in this case he is bouÌ„de to restore the feoffer for the aduouson But the comen he may lawfully occupye styll c. If the sonne be attaynted of felonye in the lyfe of the father / and after hath the kynges chartoure of pardon c. and than his father dyeth / seased of lande in fee symple and the soÌ„ne so attaynted / entreth as heyre In this case he is bouÌ„de to restore the lande to the lorde of whome the lande is holden For though he haue his chartoure of pardon / yet his blode is so corrput by the attayndour / that he may nat be heyre to anye man And if the landes be entayled / he is bounde to let the kynge haue
cardes / or such other vnlaufull games / whether restitucyon oughte to be made in such cases to the partye selfe or nat bycause he was partye to the same offence / many haue thought nay but that it must be dysposed in some other good charytable vse And I can right well agree to their opynyon therin But I thynke verily that if a man wyn money of another by false dyse or other falshed / that he is boūde in that case to restore it to the partye selfe for the partye shall in that case haue an accyon at the kinges lawes vpō that falshed and recouer his damages And furthermore I wyll shewe some cases where the lawes of the realme / the lawes which the clergye do oft folowe in restitucyons do varye / whereby euery mā may lyghtely coniecture / that there be many moo that they varye in if they were wel dilygētly serched Fyrst if a man bye a thyng in opē market he is nat bounden after the lawes of the realme to restore it againe / onlesse that he know at the time of the bargeyne that he that solde it had no right in the goodes And yet after the seyde other lawes he is bounden to restore it if he come to the knowlege after who is the very owner And that he may nat without dedly synne holde that is bought And that is nat so in this realme Also if a man bye landes with the churches moneye in his owne name / and to his owne vse / the landes after the lawes of the realme be his And he is nat boūd to restore the landes to the churche but the money only And yet after the lawe Canon / the lande in that case is the churches landes bycause it is boughte with the churches money and therfore the lawes concernynge restytucyons wolde be sene and be dryuen for clerenesse of conscyence to a more nerer certayntie than they be yet And thus I haue shewed you somewhat of my conceyte concernynge restitucyon to gyue other that shall se this letter occasyō to treate further of that mater herafter And now wyll I somwhat speke of the declarynge of Scrypture ¶ Who hathe power to declare expounde scrypture / and whose declaracyon we be bounde to folowe and whose nat The .vii. chapiter THis questyon is of so gret difficulty that I shal desyre you to holde me excused though I fully satisfy nat your mynd therin for surely I wyl protest that it passeth my power to speke in the mater as were necessarye to be spoken / for there be fewe maters as I take it that moore requyreth to be playnely touched declared than that doth ne that wolde do more good nowe in this daungerouse tyme / than that wold do / if it were set in a clere in an vpright way howbeit I consyder with all / that if I sayde nothyng to it / ye wolde somewhat merueyl why I did nat answere to that questyon / as well as to the other contayned in your letter Therefore to gyue you and other that shall happen to see this letter / occasyon to treate moore groūdly more throughly of this mater herafter than I do I shall with good wyl say somwhat to it Fyrst it is to be vnderstande that there be some textes of scrypture that be so opē playne in them selues that euery man is bounde to gyue full credence vnto them for the lytterall sence is the playne exposytion in it selfe As whan it is sayde / Mat. primo This is the booke of the generacyon of Iesu Christ / sonne of Dauid / sonne of Abraham Abraham forsoth begat Isaac c. And who maye make any exposition vpon these wordes but that it must nedes be graunted that Iesu Christ was the sonne of Dauyd / sonne of Abraham And that Abraham begat Isaac But he speke directly agaynst the wordes of the gospell in somoche that if all the clerkes of the worlde wold make any exposytion to the contrarye therof no man were bounden to beleue them And they for that exposytion were worthy to be disseuered fro the company of al faith full people for the lytterall sence is so playne agaynst them / wherin the holyghost is alwaye the very auctour speker that they shulde be without all excuses / for he that resysteth Scrypture / resysteth the holy ghost And so it is vpon this gospell Missus est angelus c. An angell was sent fro god into a cytie of Galylye that had to name Nazareth / to a vyrgin espoused to a man called Ioseph of the house of Dauyd And the name of the vyrgin was Marye And who maye saye therfore that the angell was nat sent fro god to the vyrgī Mary / or that she was nat espoused to Ioseph / or that Ioseph was nat of the house of Dauyd but he playnly denyed the texte for the texte is so playne in it selfe that it nedeth therein no declaracyon And so it is in the moost parte of all the Scrypture / both of the old testament and new But yet there be some other textes in Scrypture whiche be nat so euydente and playne / as those and manye other be / and yet if they be truly vnderstande / accordynge to the mynde of the maker / that is to say / of our maister Christe / the lytterall sence of them is as true as the other that be moste playne / as it is of thys texte Mat. vi Ego dico vobis non iurare omnino I say to you swere nat for euery cause / neyther by heuen / for it is the Throne of god nor by the erthe / for it is the seate for his fete neyther by Hierusalem / for it is the Cytie of the greate kynge / nor by thy heedde thou shalt nat swere for thou canst nat make one here whyte or blacke Let these be youre wordes It is it is / it is natte / it is nat Forsoth whatsoeuer is more thā this / it is of euyl Thus farre goth the sayd text of Mat. vi before rehersed / Also of this texte that is Mar. xvi He that beleueth and is baptysed shal be safe And therfore he that bi reason of the seyd fyrst text Mat. v. wolde thinke it were nat lauful to him to swere in any case / were foule disceiued for ī such coūtreis wher othes haue bē vsed for tryall of the trouth / euery man is boūde to swere accordynge to the lawes for the tryall of the trouth / for els iustyce shulde many tymes perissh And in lykewise if any man by reson of the seyd other text Mat. xvi wolde say that if a man byleued were baptysed / that he shulde be saued though he dyd no good workes / where he had tyme conuenyēt after his baptysme to haue done them / he were also farre disceyued wherfore it wer good for him that wer in dout in those cases or other lyke / as be concernynge scrypture to aske counsell of