vsed of Christ Iohn 6. The olde passeouer compared with the Supper of our Lord. Baptisme compared with Circumcision 1. Cor. 10. 11. and 12. Rom. 6. Ephes 4. Eucharistia thaÌ„kes giuyng 1. Cor. 10. and 11. 1. Tim. 1. Baptisme was figured by Circumcision and the Lordes Supper by the paschall lambe Luke 12. 1. Cor. 5. Exod. 12. Luke 22. The Paschall lambe eaten and the Sacrament instituted Twoo thynges to be considered in the Sacramentes The matter and substaunce of of the SacrameÌ„t and the signes of the 〈◊〉 â–ª The signe is called the thyng Gene. 17. Exod. 12. The scripture calleth the signe by the name of the thing that it signifieth The bread in the SacrameÌ„t called the body of Christ the wyne called the bloud of Christ â—st is takeÌ„ for significat Gene. 40. The figuratiue speches vsed in the scripture 〈◊〉 Pet. 2. Ezech. 5. The maner of speakyng in the scripturo Iohn 3. The naturall body of Christ is not in the SacrameÌ„t â–ª The Sacrament is to be receaued with thankes geuyng The vse of the supper Luke 22. Note here the whole circumstaunce of the maner and institution of the SacrameÌ„t of Christes body Luke 22. 1. Cor. 11. Iohn 6. Abacuk 2. Christ declared to his disciples that he would leaue this world 〈◊〉 go to his father in heauen Scriptures are many that shewe Christ as touchyng his natural body is gone and is not here Actes 2. Christ asceÌ„ded into heauen Iohn 14. and. 16. Christ â—â—playne wordes declareth his bodely departure out of this world Christ playnlye shewed vnto the disciples that he must depart from this world to his father in heauen Christes â—…rified body is in heauen Christes 〈◊〉 scention was witnessed by many The here 〈◊〉 of Marcâ—… what it was 1. Timo. 6. 2. Timo. 2. 1. Timo. 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 11. The Supper of the Lord is the commemâ—ration and memoriall of Christes death S. Paule calleth the SacrameÌ„t bread after the consecration By one loafe of bread we are fignified to bee one body in Christ The cup of the Lord 〈◊〉 the cup of the deuill how they differte Who they are that eate of the bread and drinke of the cup vnworthely Euery 〈◊〉 did eate his own supper and not the Supper of the â—â—rd We must firste examine out stlues and theÌ„ come to the table of the Lord. Loke more of this in the Epistle to the reader If we come not thankfully and charitably vnto y t Lordes borde we eate and drinke our damnation S. Paule calleth the poore the Church of God This place the Papistes alledge to proue vnwritten be ritie More belyeth Decolampâ—dius and Zuingitus Loke more of this in the Epistle to the reader Tertulian The worâ—es of Tertulian AusteÌ„ cap. xij against â—dimâ—nt Gene. 6. Leui. 7. Deut. 12. Austen calleth Sacrament the signe of his body Homâ— 83. operitiâ— imperfectâ— Chrisostome calleth the sacrameÌ„t the signe of Christes body The confutatioÌ„ of the Papistes gloses The Papistes are wreâ—ters peruerters of the scriptures The Papistes say that the traÌ„ substantion is done by miracles All true miracles are done to let forth the glory of God Christ dyd miracles to declare hâ—m selfe to be both God and man 〈…〉 〈…〉 1. Thes 2. 1. Iohn 2. 〈…〉 scriptures The conteÌ„tious and wicked doctrine of y â— Papistes hath prouoked the lyght of gods truth to be set forth to the vnderstandyng of the people How the 〈…〉 Aâ—…â—2 The Sacrament is not vsed in these dayes as it was in the tyme of the Apostles A good doctrine for al such ministers as haue cure of soules to vse to his flocke Thankes geuyng The bread and wyne are not prophane but Sacramentes to holy vse 1. Cor. 1. A wholesome and good lesson namely for all ministers Rom. 5. At the ministration of the Sacrament let the minister exhorte all men to haue faith and lone to pray for grace I good and necessary exhortatioÌ„ to be mate to y â— people of the tâ—… they receaue the communioÌ„ None may come to the commuâ—… without y â— weddyng germent 〈◊〉 â—ayth Iohn 13. Thankesgeuyng to God Those wordes of his are in his booke that he made for y t pore soules in Purgatory Marke 42. Not who speaketh but that whiche is spoken is to be weyed most 1. Tim. 4. The holy ghost inspireth where when and on whom he pleaseth Actes 2. 1. Cor. 12. The talent of our learnyng is to be employed to the edifiyng of Christes congregation Wilfully to resist Gods worde is sinne agaynst the holy ghost Ezech. 33. Obiection Aunswere 1. Thess Our imperfection forgeuen thorough faith in Christes bloud The Byshop of Rochesters owne opinion concernyng the vnderstandyng of the scriptures in his time and long a forâ— that Actes 17. The cause of our blindnes and grosse errours 2. Thess 2. Rom. 15. Voluntary ignorauÌ„ce not to bee excused The cause of Iohn Frithes writyng against Purgatory Mans reason must be obedient to the Scriptures Aulus Gelius The rebuke of an open enemy better then the sclender prayse of a frend M. More my Lord of Rochester can not agree The Purgatoryes that God hath ordeyned Iohn 15. The Purgatory of the hart The Purgatory of the hart is fayth The Purgatory of the members Heb. 12. The Purgatory of the meÌ„bers is the crosse of Christ Psal 89. God nayleth vs to the crosse to heale our infirmities So euill was the life of the Papistes that they imagined a Purgatory for them selues The wisedome of the world foolishnes afore God Symon Fishe the maker of the booke of the Supplication of Beggers Our riches is to be bestowed on the poore Either there is no Purgatory els the Pope is mercylesse Whereat M. More first began to fume agaynst such as denye Purgatory Rastell foloweth M. More The names of the disputers in the matter of Purgatory The soÌ„me and contentes of Rastels iij. Dialogues An aunswere to Rastels Dialogue Rastels booke is either true or false If naturall reason conclude agaynst the Scripture then is naturall reasoÌ„ false Roma 5. Iohn 11. 2. Rastels boke clearely quickly confouÌ„ded Rastel beaten to the wall The first chief reason made for Purgatory Rastell Aunswere to the first argument Psal 81. 1. Thess 4. Question Math. 24. The confutatioÌ„ of Rastels first chief argument 1. Iohn 1. 1. Cor. 15. 1. Thess 4. Ephes 1. and. 5. Rastell ouerthroweÌ„ in his owne turne 3. Hebr. 1. Christ is the onely Purgatory and purger of our sins 4. Ephe. 5. A frutefull and excelleÌ„t argument 5. Ephe. 1. Christ by his election doth purge and clense vs. 6. 1. Iohn 1. Ephe. 1. Gallat 5. Roma 7. Roma 8. Roma 5. Roma 4. Psal 31. Iustification freely doth exclude Purgatory Roma 3. Obiection In aunswere to the first obiection Obiection 1. In aunswere to the second obiection 2. The Pope â—elleth Christes merites for money 3. We may not robbe God of his honour 4. Blasphemy to say Christes bloud is not full
â—…st nedes bee caught and moste shamefully and cruelly haÌ„dled and tormented No power nor potentae maye hinder the gayne and profites of the Clergy Is y t false preacher is a persecuter so the true preacher is a sufferer Roma 13. 1. Pet. 2. The scriptures in the common toung teach all obedieÌ„ce to the rulers and is not the mouer of sedition The Gospell of Christ is not y e cause of insurrection No Prophet that euer styrred vp the people agaynst the Prince Christ submitted himselfe to the higher powers The Apostles obeyed the Princes All true preachers teach obedience to the Prince In 6. Lib. 1. titulo 33. de matori obedientiae cap. Solite The Pope falsifyath the Scriptures The Papistes teach disobedience to Princes The doctrine of the Papist Dist xl c. Si papa 9. q. 6. ca. Cuncta 30. q 1. cap. Ideo permit In 6. Lib. 2. de sen re iudic 15. q. 6. cap. Alius 26. q. capit Quotiens In 6. de coÌ„c preb ca. Ad Apostolatus in verb. continetur dist 40. cap. Si Papa The shamelesse doings of the Papistes â—5 quest 6. Alius item The shamefull arrogaÌ„cie and tyranny of the Pope A cast of Antichrist Popes take vpon them the deposition of kinges We ought not to depose a king though he be wicked 1. Pet. 2. Christ and his Apostles are the ouerthrowers of the Popes doctrine Dist. ul Si Papa De hereticis CuÌ„ ex iniuncto Et sieut in Dauid Salomon Nathan Herode The Pope will dispeÌ„ce with y e othe of obedience that subiectes make to their prince Actuum 5. 23. q. 5. ReguÌ„ officium An. 1366. Byshops captaynes of Rebelles against the Prince Kynge Iohn was cruelly handled of the Clergy Kynge Iohn poysoned Abhominable hypocrisie There is no such ennemy to a true man as is a theefe The story of Germaine one of y e popes Saintes A worthy miracle for the Popes Saintes A kyng deposed by a Saint and a cowheard set vp in his kyngdome Iust li. ij de sen re iuds ca. ad Apost Fridericke the Emperour deposed Articles alleged against Friderike the Emperour Note here the difference betweene the Papistes and Protestantes xxxiij q. q. Inter haec xxiij q. viij Conuenter The hauty mynde and loftie courage of a Byshop The pacience of Bishops are soone turned to wrath Henry the second Alexander the thyrd The true occasions matters that styrre vp insurrection agaynste Princes Master Bylney Iohan Fros in Croni suis Pope ClemeÌ„t against Pope Vrbane and Vrbane against Clement eche defiyng and cursing other Popes the styrres vp and procurers of warre and destruction of people countreys Dist xix Si. Ro. enim vero nul ifas ca. Sic omnes How ready the spiritualtie is is to helpe the Pope What profite England hath by the Gospell In. vi lib. ij tit de iure iurando c. Ego Episcopus The othe of the Byshops made to the pope Isidorus in Decretis Gregoris mi noris c. In nomine The Pope chaungeth the bishops oth as ofteÌ„ as it maketh for his profite Firste kynges hee brought w t violence vnder the Popes foote then Byshops bee sworne to maintaine it The holy workes of Byshops In Prohe vi ca. Quoni in verbo Papa 1. Peâ— 5. Byshop Fisher otherwise called B. of Rochester answered that hee was sworn to y t Pope and therefore hee woulde not sweare to y e kinges supremacye A true description of the leudnes of the Byshops of Rome How commeth the Pope by the name of Lord. 1. Pet. 5. 2. Cor. 8. 1. Cor. 4. Math. 20. Seruus seruorum The Pope is a monstrous hipocrite What good minde Clement the Pope bare vnto kyng Henry the viij In. 6. lib. 2. de senten et re iudicata ca. pastoralis in verbo homoque Excuse the Byshops periurie who can Byshops be assoyled of their oth towarde their prince but neuer from othe made to the Pope Di. 23. Qui episcepus ex consilio 4. Cartha 1. Timo. 3. Tit. 1. Who is lawfull to be Pope The popes wickednes described at large Clement the Pope was the sonne of a Curtisan If Popes shoulde bee chosen after S. Paules rule then all y e vayne trompery of y e clergie were clearly ouerthrowne Charitie byâ—…deth all men to thinke well one of another The fleshe of the pope is now much more holy then in tyme past it hath beene The Pope doth practise counsailes against the honourable state of Princes 〈◊〉 quest vi c. Alius Here is specially to bee noted the practise of Prelates For such are the doyngs of the holy father of Rome that for the rebellion agaynste princes hee woulde geue absolution but for matter agaynst his popedome there was neuer absolutioÌ„ might bee obteyned The popes Regales Peter was acquaynted with hys nettes but not with Regalles In Verbe salue ordine These Articles bee now graunted and are none heresie The Prelates can not abyde to vse obedience to their prince We haue beene leade by blynde guydes The kings power is immediatly of God 1. Pet. 2. Roma 13. He that defendeth the Pope agaynst hys soueraigne Lorde or Lady is a vnnaturall subiect Sauyng of order hath two significations The Pope will hold a Councell where and wheÌ„ it pleaseth hym In. vi lib. i. de maioritate obedientia Dilecti filij De iure iurando ca. Ego in verbe singulis The Prelates will obeye the Pope but not the Prince A deuilish practise of Prelates The Byshoppes sweare to visite the Pope yerely The Pope taketh sure order with his Byshops for his owne gayne â—ij quest ij c. Quatu de reditibus c. Mosest xij quest ij c. non liciat Papa In vi tit iiij ca. ad Apost in verbo contiâ—etur This is the clause that mainteyneth the Popes pompe and glory And this is that y t to geueth him libertie say and doe what hee list Dist xl ca. Non nos Glosa in verbo quis The preachers of the doctrine of Christe must nedes bee heretickes for the said doctrine is agaynst the Pope and so they preach agaynst the Pope and therfore are heretickes The writers petitioÌ„ of the kynges grace 〈◊〉 1525. die 14. Deâ—…bris The first Article Galat. 5. Why holy dayes were ordeined There is not one day of it selfe higher or better then an other The Byshop of Rochesters great and deepe iudgement Let vs not playe the Iewes That wold they not doe if it were against gods coÌ„maundement The Byshop of Rochester agaynst the Byshop of Winchester Gallat 4. All dayes bee alyke Epist. c. xix Aduersus Iudeos Do consec dist iij. cap. peruenit The second article The thyrd article The iiij article God forgeue them that layd this to me The fifth article As it is lawfull for a Christen man to demaunde his debt by the order of the law So is it not lawfull to vexe and sue vncharitably those in whoÌ„ there is such necessitie as
man a lier as Scripture sayth For the truth of God lasteth euer to whom onely be all honour and glorie for euer Amen The ende of the Parable of the Wicked Mammon ¶ The obedience of a Christen man and how Christen rulers ought to gouerne Wherein also if thou marke diligently thou shalt finde eyes to perceaue the craftie conueyaunce of all iugglers Set forth by William Tyndall 1528. Octob. 2. William Tyndall otherwyse called Hitchins to the Reader GRace peace and increase of knowledge in our Lord Iesus Christ be with thee reader and with all that call on the name of the Lord vnfaynedly and with a pure conscience Amen Let it not make thee dispayre neither yet discourage thee O Reader that it is forbidden thee in payne of life and goods or that it is made breaking of the Kinges peace or treason vnto his highnesse to read the worde of thy soules health but much rather be bold in the Lorde and comforte thy soule for asmuch as thou art sure and hast an euident token through suche persecution that it is the true worde of God which worde is euer hated of the worlde neyther was euer without persecution as thou seest in all the stories of the Bible both of the newe Testament and also of the olde neyther can be no more then the Sunne can be without his light And forasmuch as contrariwise thou art sure that the popes doctrine is not of God which as thou seest is so agreable vnto the world and is so receiued of the world or which rather so receaueth the world and the pleasures of the worlde and seeketh nothing but the possessions of the worlde and aucthoritie in the world to beare a rule in the world persecuteth the worde of God with all wilinesse driueth the people from it and with false and sophisticall reasons maketh them afeard of it he curseth them and excommunicateth them and bringeth them in beleef that they be damned if they looke on it and that it is but doctrine to deceaue men and moueth the blinde powers of the world to slay with fire water and sworde all that cleaue vnto it For the world loueth that which is his and hateth that which is chosen out of the world to serue God in the spirite as Christ sayth to his Disciples Iohn 15. If ye were of the world the world would loue his owne but I haue chosen you out of the worlde and therefore the world hateth you An other comfort hast thou that as the weake powers of the worlde defende the doctrine of the worlde so the mighty power of God defendeth the doctrine of God Which thing thou shalt euidentlye perceiue if thou call to minde the wonderfull deedes whiche God hath euer wrought for his word in extreame necessitie since the worlde began beyond all mans reason Whiche are written as Paule sayth Roma 15. for our learning and not for our deceauing that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might haue hope The nature of Gods word is to fight agaynst hypocrites It beganne at Abell and hath euer since continued and shall I doubte not vntyll the laste daye And the hypocrites haue alway the world on their sides as thou seest in the time of Christ They had the elders that is to witte the rulers of the Iewes on theyr side They had Pilate and the Emperors power on theyr side They had Herode also on theyr side Moreouer they brought all theyr worldlye wysedome to passe and all that they coulde thinke â–ª or imagine to serue for theyr purpose Fyrst to feare the people withal they excommunicated all that beleeued in him and put them out of the temple as thou seest Iohn 9. Secondly they founde the meanes to haue him condemned by the Emperors power and made it treason to Cesar to beleeue in him Thirdly they obtayned to haue him hanged as a theefe or a murtherer which after theyr belly wisedome was a cause aboue all causes that no man should beleeue in him For the Iewes take it for a sure token of euerlasting damnation if a man be hanged For it is written in theyr lawe Deutero 21. Cursed is whosoeuer hangeth on tree Moyses also in the same place commaundeth if any man be hanged to take him downe the same day and bury him for feare of polluting or defiling the countrey that is least they shoulde bring the wrath and curse of God vpon them And therfore the wicked Iewes themselues which with so venemous hate persecuted the doctrine of Christ and did all the shame that they coulde do vnto him though they would fayne haue had Christ to hang still on the crosse and there to rotte as he shoulde haue done by the Emperors lawe yet for feare of defiling theyr Sabboth and of bringing the wrath and curse of God vpon them begged of Pilate to take him downe Ioh. 19. which was against them selues Finally when they had done all they coulde and that they thought sufficient and when christ was in the hart of the earth so many billes and pollares about him to keepe him down and when it was past mans helpe then holpe God when man coulde not bring him agayne Gods truth fetched him agayne The oth that God had sworne to AbrahaÌ„ to Dauid to other holy fathers Prophetes raysed him vp agayne to blesse and saue all that beleeue in him Thus became the wisedome of the hypocrites foolishnes Loe thys was written for thy learning and comfort How wonderfully were the children of Israell locked in Egipt In what tribulation combraunce and aduersitie were they in The land also that was promised them was farre of and full of great cities walled with high walles vp to the skye inhabited with great giantes yet Gods truth brought them out of Egipt and planted them in the land of the giantes This is also written for our learning For there is no power agaynst Gods neyther any wisedome against Gods wisedomeâ— he is stronger and wiser then all his enemies What holpe it Pharao to drowne the men childreÌ„ So little I feare not shall it at the last helpe the pope and his byshops to burne our men children whiche manfully confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lorde and that there is no other name geuen vnto men to be saued by as Peter testifieth Actes 4. Who dryed vp the red sea Who slew Golias Who did all those wonderfull deedes which thon readest in the Bible Who deliuered the Israelites euermore from thraâ—dom and bondage as soone as they repented and turned to God Fayth verely and Gods truth and the trust in the promises which he had made Read the xj to the Hebrues for thy consolation When the children of Israell were ready to dispayre for the greatnes the multitude of the Giantes Moyses comforted them euer saying RemeÌ„ber what your Lord God hath done for you in Egipt his wonderfull plagues his
them whiche with their false doctrine and violence of sword enforce to quenche the true doctrine of Christe And as thou canst heale no disease except thou begyn at the roote euen so canst thou preach agaynst no mischief except thou begyn at the Byshops Kinges they are but shadowes vayne names and thynges idle hauyng nothing to do in the world but when our holy father nedeth their helpe The Pope contrarie vnto all conscience and agaynst all the doctrine of Christ which sayth my kyngdome is not of this world Iohn xviij hath vsurped the right of the Emperour And by policie of the Byshops of Almany and with corruptyng the Electours or chosers of the Emperor with money bryngeth to passe that such a one is euer chosen Emperour that is not able to make his partie good with the Pope To stoppe the Emperour that he come not at Rome he bringeth the French kyng vp to Milane and on the other side bryngeth he the Venetians If the Venetiās come to nye the Byshops of Fraunce must bryng in the French kyng And the Socheners are called and sent for to come and succour And for their labour he geueth to some a Rose to an other a cappe of mayntenaunce One is called most Christen king an other defender of the fayth an other the eldest sonne of the most holy seate He blaseth also the armes of other and putteth in the holy crosse the crown of thorne or the nayles and so forth If the Frēch kyng go to hye and crepe vp other to Bononie or Naples then must our English Byshops bryng in our kyng The craft of the Byshops is to entitle one kyng with an others Realme He is called kyng of Dennemarke and of England he kyng of England and of Fraunce Then to blinde the Lordes and the commons the kyng must chalenge his right Then must the lande be taxed and euery man paye and the treasure borne out of the Realme and the land beggerde How many a thousand mens liues hath it cost And how many an hundred thousand poundes hath it caried out of the Realme in our remembraunce Besides how abhominable an example of gatheryng was there such verely as neuer tyraunt sence the world began did yea such as was neuer before heard or thought on neither among Iewes Saresens Turkes or Heathen sence God created the Sunne to shyne that a beast should breake vp into the Temple of God that is to say into the hart and consciences of men and compell them to sweare euery man what hee was worthe to lende that should neuer be payd agayne How many thousandes forsware thē selues How many thousandes set them selues aboue their habilitie partly for feare lest they should be forsworne and partly to saue their credence When the pope hath his purpose then is peace made no man woteth how and our most enemy is our most frend Now because the Emperour is able to obteine his right French English Venetians and all must vpō him O great whore of Babylon how abuseth she the Princes of the world how dronke hath she made them with her wyne How shamefull licences doth she geue them to vse Nichromancy to hold whores to diuorse them selues to breake the fayth and promises that one maketh with an other that the confessours shall deliuer vnto the kyng the confession of whom he will and dispēceth with them euen of the very lawe of God whiche Christ him selfe can not do ¶ Agaynst the Popes false power MAthew xxvj Christ sayth vnto Peter put vp thy sword into his sheth For all that lay hand vpon the sword shal perish with the sword that is who soeuer without the cōmaundement of the temporall officer to whom God hath geuē the sword layeth hand on the sword to take vengeaunce the same deserueth death in the deede doyng God did not put Peter onely vnder the tēporall sword but also Christ him selfe As it appeareth in the fourth Chapter to the Galathiās And Christ sayth Math. iij. Thus becommeth it vs to fulfill all righteousnes that is to say all ordinaunces of God If the head be then vnder the tēporall sword how can the members be excepted If Peter sinned in defendyng Christ against the temporall sword whose authoritie and Ministers the Byshops then abused agaynst Christ as ours do now who can excuse our Prelates of sinne which will obey no man neither Kyng nor Emperour Yea who can excuse from sinne either the Kynges that geue either the Byshops that receaue such exemptions contrarie to Gods ordinaunces and Christes doctrine And Math. xvij both Christ and also Peter pay tribute where the meanyng of Christes question vnto Peter is if Princes take tribute of straungers onely and not of their children then verily ought I to be free whiche am the sonne of God whose seruaūtes and Ministers they are and of whom they haue their authoritie Yet because they neither knew that neither Christ came to vse that authoritie but to bee our seruaunt and to beare our burthen and to obey all ordinaunces both in right and wrong for our sakes and to teach vs therfore sayd he to S. Peter Pay for thee and melest we offend thē Moreouer though that Christ Peter because they were poore might haue escaped yet would he not for feare of offendyng other and hurtyng their consciences For he might well haue geuen occasion vnto the tribute gatherers to haue iudged amisse both of him and his doctrine yea and the Iewes might happely haue bene offended thereby and haue thought that it had not ben lawful for them to haue payd tribute vnto Heathen Princes and Idolaters seyng that he so great a Prophet payd not Yea and what other thyng causeth the lay so litle to regarde their Princes as that they see them both despised disobeyed of the spiritualtie But our Prelates whiche care for none offendyng of consciences and lesse for Gods ordinaunces will pay nought but when Princes must fight in our most holy fathers quarell and agaynst Christ Then are they the first There also is none so poore that then hath not somewhat to geue Marke here how past all shame our schole Doctours are as Rochester is in his Sermon agaynst Martin Luther which of this text of Mathew dispute that Peter because he payd tribute is greater then the other Apostles and hath more authority and power then they and was head vnto thē all cōtrary vnto so many cleare textes where Christ rebuketh them saying that is an Heathenish thyng that one should clyme aboue an other or desire to be greater To be great in the kingdome of heauē is to be a seruaunt and he that most humbleth hym selfe and becommeth a seruaunt vnto other after the ensample of Christ I meane his Apostles and not of the Pope and his Apostles our Cardinals and Byshops y e same is greatest in that kingdome If Peter in paying tribute became greatest how
offering and hys going in once in the yeare into the inner temple signifie the offering wherewyth Christ offered hymselfe and Christes goyng in vnto the father to be an euerlasting mediator or intercessor for vs. Neuerthelesse Rochester proueth the contrary by a shadow by a shadow verely For in shadowes they walke with out all shame and the light will they not come at but enforce to stoppe and quench it with all craft and falshod lest their abhominable iugling shoulde be sene If any man looke in the light of y e new testament he shal clearely see that that shadow may not be so vnderstād Vnderstand therfore that one thing in the Scripture representeth diuers thynges A Serpent figureth Christ in one place and the Deuill in an other And a Lyon doth lykewise Christ by Leuen signifieth Gods worde in one place and in an other signifieth thereby the traditions of y t Phareseis which sowred altered Gods word for theyr auauntage Now Moyses verely in y ◠sayd place representeth Christ and Aaron which was not yet hye Priest represēted not Peter onely or hys successour as my Lord of Rochester woulde haue it for Peter was to litle to beare Christes message vnto all the world but signifieth euery disciple of Christ euery true preacher of Gods worde For Moyses put in Aarons mouth what he should say and Aaron was Moyses Prophet and spake not hys owne message as the Pope and Byshoppes doe but that which Moyses had receaued of God and deliuered vnto hym Exod. 4. and also 7. So ought euery preacher to preach Gods worde purely and neither to adde nor minish A true messenger must doe his message truely and say neither more nor lesse then he is commaunded Aaron when he is hye priest and offereth and purgeth the people of their worldly sinne which they had fallē in in touching vncleanly thynges and in eating meates forbidden as we sinne in handling the chalice and the Alter stone are purged wyth the Bishops blessing representeth Christ which purgeth vs from all sinne in the sight of God as the epistle vnto the Hebrues maketh mentiō When Moyses was gone vp into the mounte and Aaron left behynde and made the golden Calfe there Aaron representeth all false preachers and namely our most holy father y ◠Pope which in like maner maketh vs beleue in a Bull as y t Bishop of Rochester ful wel alleageth the place in hys sermon If the Pope be signified by Aaron and Christ by Moyses why is not the Pope as well content with Christes law and doctrine as Aaron was with Moyses What is the cause that our Bishops preach the pope and not Christ seyng the Apostles preached not Peter but Christ Paul ij Cor. iiij sayth of hym selfe and of his felowapostles we preache not our selues but Christ Iesus the Lord and preach our selues your seruauntes for Iesus sake And. i. Cor. iij. Let no mā reioyse in men For all thynges are yours whether it bee Paul or Apollo or Peter whether it be the world or life or death whether they be present thinges or thynges to come all are yours ye are Christes Christ is Gods He leueth out ye are Peters or ye are the popes And in the Chapter folowyng he sayth Let men thus wise esteme vs euē the ministers of Christ c. And. ij Cor. xj Paul was gelous ouer his Corinthians because they fell from Christ to whom he had maried thē did cleaue vnto the authoritie of men for euē then false Prophetes sought authoritie in the name of the hye Apostles I am sayth he gelouse ouer you with godly gelousie For I coupled you to one mā to make you a chast virgine to Christ but I feare lest as the Serpent deceaued ◅e through his suttiltie euen so your wittes should be corrupt from the singlenesse that is in Christ And it followeth If he that commeth to you preached an other Iesus or if ye receaue an other spirite or another Gospell then might ye well haue ben content that is ye might haue well suffered him to haue authoritie aboue me But I suppose sayth he that I was not behynd the hye Apostles meaning in preaching Iesus his Gospell and in ministring the spirite And in the said xj Chapter he proueth by y ◠doctrine of Christ that he is greater then the hye Apostles For Christ sayth to be great in the kingdome of God is to do seruice and take payne for other Vpon which rule Paul disputeth saying if they be the ministers of Christ I am more In labours more aboundaunt in stripes about measure in prison more plenteously in death oft and so forth If Paul preached Christ more then Peter and suffered more for hys congregation then is he greater then Peter by y e testimony of Christ And in the xij he sayth In nothing was I inferior vnto y ◠hye Apostles Though I be nothing yet the tokēs of an Apostle were wrought amōg you with all pacience with signes wōders mighty dedes So proued he his authority not with a bulle frō Peter sealed with cold lead either with shadowes of the old Testament falsly expounded Moreouer the Apostles were sent immediatly of Christ and of Christ receaued they their authoritie as Paul boasteth him selfe euery where Christ sayth he sent me to preach the Gospell i. Corint i. And I receaued of the Lord that which I deliuered vnto you i. Cor. xi And Gal. i. I certifie you brethrē that the Gospell which was preached of me was not after the maner of men that is to witte carnal or fleshly neither receaued I it of man neyther was it taught me but I receaued it by y t reuelation of Iesus Christ And Gal. ij He that was mighty in Peter in the Apostleship ouer the circumcision was mighty in me among the Gētiles And 1. Timoth. 1. Readest thou lykewyse And Iohn xx Christ sent them forth indifferently and gaue them lyke power As my father sent me sayth he so send I you that is to preach and to suffer as I haue done and not to conquer enemyes and kyngdomes and to subdue all temporall power vnder you wyth disguised hypocrisie He gaue thē the holy Ghost to bynde and loose indifferently as thou seest And afterward he sent forth Paule wyth like authority as thou seest in the Actes And in the last of Mathew sayth he all power is geuen me in heauē and in earth goe therfore and teach all naciōs baptising them in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holy Ghost teaching them to obserue whatsoeuer I commaunded you The authoritie that Christ gaue thē was to preach yet not what they would imagine but what he had commaunded Loe sayth he I am with you alwayes euen vnto the ende of the world He sayde not I goe my way and loe here is Peter in my stede But sent them euery man to
teaching other to pray to them None of them also which taketh vpon them to saue other wyth their prayers trusteth to be saued thereby themselues but hyre other to pray for them Moyses taketh recorde of God that he tooke not of any of the people so much as an Asse neither vexed any of them Numeri xvj Samuell in y t fyrst booke of kynges the xij chapter asked all Israell whether he had taken any mans Oxe or Asse or had vexed any man or had taken any gift or rewarde of any man And all the people testified nay yet these two both taught the people and also prayed for them as much as our prelates doe Peter j. Peter v. exhorteth the elders to take the ouersight of Christes flocke not for filthy lucre but of a good will euen for loue Paul Act. xx taketh the Priestes or elders to recorde that he had taught repentaunce and fayth and all y â— councell of God And yet had desired no mans golde siluer or vesture but fedde himselfe with the labour of hys handes And yet these two taught and prayed for the people as much as our Prelates doe wyth whom it goeth after the common saying no penny no Pater noster Which Prelates yet as they teach not but beate onely so wote they not what prayer meaneth Moreouer the lawe of loue which Christ left among vs is to geue and not to receaue What prayer is it then that thus robbeth all the world coÌ„trary to that great commaundemeÌ„t which is the ende of all commaundementes and in which all other are conteyned If men should continue to buie prayer foure or fiue hundred yeares moe as they haue done there would not be a foote of grounde in Christendome neither any worldly thyng which they y â— will be called spirituall onely shoulde not possesse And thus all shoulde be called spirituall Wo be to you Lawyers for ye lade men wyth burdeÌ„s which they are not able to beare ye yours selues touch not the packes wyth one of your fingers saith Christ Luke xj Our Lawyers verely haue laden vs a thousand tymes more What spirituall kynred haue they made in baptime to let matrimonie besides that they haue added certaine degrees vnto the law naturall for the same purpose What an vnbearable burthen of chastitie do they violently thrust on other meÌ„s backes and how easely beare they it themselues How sore a burden How cruell a haÌ„gman How greuous a torment yea how paynefull an hell is this eare confession vnto mens consciences For the people are brought in beliefe that with out that they can not be saued In so much that some faste certayne dayes in the yeare and pray certayne superstitious prayers all their lyues longe that they may not die without confession In perill of death if the Priest be not by the shippemen shriue themselues vnto the Mast If any be present they runne then euery maÌ„ into his eare but to gods promises flye they not for they know them not If any man haue a deathes wounde he cryeth immediatly for a Priest If a man die without shrift many take it for a signe of damnation Many by reason of that false beliefe die in desperation Many for shame keepe backe of their confession xx xxx yeares and thinke all the while that they be damned I knew a poore woman with childe which longed and being ouercomen of her passion eate fleshe on a Friday which thing she durst not confesse in the space of xviij yeares and thought all that while that she had ben damned and yet sinned she not at all Is not this a sore burden that so weyeth downe the soule vnto the bottome of hell What shoulde I say A great booke were not sufficient to rehearse y â— snares which they haue layde to robbe men both of their goodes and also of the trust which they shoulde haue in Gods worde The Scribes and Phariseis do all their workes to be sene of men They set abroade their Philacteries make long borders on their garmentes and loue to sit vppermost at feastes and to haue the chiefe seates in the synagoges that is in the congregations or councels and to be called Rabby that is to saye maisters sayth Christ Math. xxiij Beholde the deedes of our spiritualtie and how many thousand fashions are among them to be knowen by Which as none is like an other so loueth none an other For euery one of them supposeth that all other polle to fast and make to many captiues yet to resiste Christ are they all agreed least they shoulde be all compeld to deliuer vp their prisoners to hym Beholde the monsters how they are disguised with miters croses and hattâ—s with crosses pillers and pollaxes and wyth thre crownes What names haue they my Lord Prior my Lord Abbot my Lord Byshop my Lord Archbishop Cardinall and Legate if it please your fatherhod if it please your Lordship if it please your grace if it please your holines and innumerable such like Beholde how they are esteemed and how hie they be crept vp aboue all not into worldly seates onely but into the seate of God the hartes of men where they sit aboue God himselfe For both they whatsoeuer they make of their owne heades is more feared and dread then God and his commaundements In them and their deseruinges put we more trust then in Christ and hys merites To their promises geue we more fayth then to the promises which God hath sworne in Christes bloud The hypocrites say vnto the kings and Lordes these heretickes would haue vs downe first and then you to make of all coÌ„mon Nay ye hypocrites and right heretickes approued by open Scripture the kinges and Lordes are downe already that so low that they can not go lower Ye treade them vnder your feete and lead theÌ„ captiue and haue made them your bonde seruaunts to waite on your filthy lustes and to auenge your malice on euery man contrary vnto the right of Gods word Ye haue not onely robbed them of their laÌ„d authoritie honour and due obedieÌ„ce which ye owe vnto them but also of their wittes so that they are not without vnderstaÌ„dyng in Gods word onely but eueÌ„ in worldly matters that pertaine vnto their offices they are more then children Ye beare them in hand what ye will and haue brought them eueÌ„ in case like vnto them which when they daunce naked in nettes beleue they are inuisible We would haue them vp agayne and restored vnto the rowme and authoritie which GOD hath geuen them and whereof ye haue robbed them And your inward falsehode we do but vtter onely with the light of Gods word that your hypocrisie might be sene Be learned therfore ye that iudge the world lest God be angry with you and ye perish from the right way Wo be to you Scribes and Phariseis hypocrites For ye make cleane y t vtterside of the cuppe and of the platter
by blessing vnderstand not the wagging of the popes or Bishops hand ouer thyne head but prayer as when we say God make thee a good man Christ put his spirite in thee or geue thee grace and power to walke in the truth to folow hys coÌ„mauÌ„dementes c. As Rebeccas frendes blessed her wheÌ„ she departed Gene. xxiiij saying Thou art our sister grow vnto thousand thousandes and thy seede possesse the gates of their enemies And as Isaac blessed Iacob Gene. xxvij saying God geue thee of the dew of heauen and of the fatnes of the earth aboundaunce of corne wyne and oyle c. And Gene. xxviij Almighty God blesse thee and make thee grow and multiply thee that thou mayst be a great multitude of people and geue to thee and to thy seede after thee the blessings of Abraham that thou mayst possesse the land wherin thou art a strauÌ„ger which he promised to thy graundfather and such lyke Last of all one singular doubt they haue what maketh the Priest the annoynting or puttyng on of the handes or what other ceremonie or what wordes About which they braule and scolde one ready to teare out an others throte One sayth this an other that but they caÌ„ not agree Neither caÌ„ any of them make so strong a reason which an other can not improue For they are all out of the way and without the spirite of God to iudge spirituall things Howbeit to this I auÌ„swere that wheÌ„ Christ called xij vp into the mouÌ„taine and chose them then immediatly without any annointing or ceremony were they his Apostles that is to witte ministers chosen to be sent to preach his Testament vnto all the whole world And after the resurrection wheÌ„ he had opened their wittes and geuen them knowledge to vnderstand the secretes of hys Testament how to bynde loose and what he would haue theÌ„ to do in all thynges then he sent them forth with a commaundemeÌ„t to preach and bynde the vnbeleuyng that continue in sinne and to loose the beleuyng that repent And that commaundemeÌ„t or charge made theÌ„ Byshops priestes Popes and all thyng If they say that Christ made theÌ„ priestes at his Maundey or last Supper when he sayd do this in the remembrauÌ„ce of me I aunswere though the Apostles wist not then what hee ment yet I will not striue nor say that agaynst Neuer the latter the commaundement and the charge which he gaue them made theÌ„ Priestes And Actes the first when Mathias was choseÌ„ by lotte it is not to be douted but that the Apostles after their common maner prayed for him that God would geue him grace to minister his office truely and put their handes on him and exhorted him and gaue him charge to be diligent faithfull and then was he as great as the best And Actes vj. When the Disciples that beleued had chosen vj. Deacons to minister to the widdowes the Apostles prayed and put their handes on them and admitted them without more adde Their putting on of hands was not after the maner of the dome blessing of our holy byshops with two fingers but they spake vnto them and tolde them their dutie and gaue them a charge and warned them to be faythfull in the Lordes busines as we chuse temporall officers and read their duty to them and they promise to be faythfull ministers and then are admitted Neither is there any other maner or ceremonie at all required in makyng of our spirituall officers then to chuse an able person and theÌ„ to rehearse him his dutie and geue him his charge and so to put him in his rowme And as for that other solemne doubte as they call it whether Iudas was a Priest or no I care not what he then was but of this I am sure that he is now not onely Priest but also Byshop Cardinall and Pope ¶ Of Penaunce PEnaunce is a word of their owne forgyng to disceaue vs with all as many other are In the Scripture we finde panitentia repentaunce Agite poenitentiam do repent Poeniteat vos let it repeÌ„t you Metanoyte in Greeke forthinke yo or let it forthinke you Of repentaunce they haue made penaunce to blinde the people and to make them thinke that they must take payne and do some holy dedes to make satisfaction for their sinnes namely such as they enioyue them As thou mayst see in the Cronicles when great kynges and tyrauntes which with violence of sword conquered other kynges landes and slew all that came to hand came to them selues and had conscience of their wicked dedes then the Byshops coupled them not to Christ but vnto the Pope and preached the Pope vnto them and made them to submit them selues and also their realmes vnto the holy father the Pope and to take penaunce as they call it that is to say such iniunctions as the Pope and Bishops would commaund them to do to build Abbays to endote them with liuelode to be prayed for for euer and to geue them exemptions and priuilege and licence to do what the lust vnpunished Repentaunce goeth before faith and prepareth the way to Christ and to the promises For Christ commeth not but vnto them that see their sinnes in the law and repent Repentaunce that is to say this mornyng and sorrow of the hart lasteth all our liues long For we finde our selues all our liues long to weake for Gods law and therfore sorrow morne longyng for strength Repentaunce is no Sacrament as faith hope loue and knowledge of a mans sinnes are not to be called Sacramentes For they are spirituall and inuisible Now must a Sacrament be an outward signe that may be sene to signifie to represent and to put a man in remeÌ„braunce of some spirituall promise which can not be sene but by faith onely Repentaunce and all the good dedes which accompanie repentaunce to slay the lustes of the fleshe are signified by Baptisme For Paule sayth Roma vj. as it is aboue rehearsed Remember ye not saith he that all we whiche are baptised in the name of Christ Iesus are baptised to dye with him we are buryed with him in Baptisme for to dye that is to kil the lustes and the rebellion which remayneth in the flesh And after that he sayth ye are dead as concernyng sinne but lyue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. If thou looke on the profession of our harts and on the spirit and forgeuenes which we haue receaued thorough Christes merites we are full dead but if thou looke on the rebellion of the flesh we do but begyn to dye and to be baptised that is to drowne and quench the lustes and are full baptised at the last minute of death And as coÌ„cernyng the workyng of the spirite we begyn to lyue grow euery day more and more both in knowledge and also in Godly lyuyng accordyng as the lustes abate As a child receaueth yeâ—ull soule at the first day yet
vttered the wickednes of the spiritualtie the falshead of the Byshops and iugglyng of the Pope and how they haue disguised them selues borowyng some of their pompe of y e Iewes and some of the Gentiles and haue with suttill wyles turned the obedience that should be geuen to Gods ordinaunce vnto them selues And how they haue put out Gods Testament and Gods truth and set vp their owne traditions and lyes in which they haue taught y e people to beleue there by sit in their consciences as God and haue by that meanes robbed the world of landes goodes of peace and vnitie and of all temporal authoritie and haue brought the people into the ignoraunce of God haue heaped the wrath of God vpon all realmes namely vpon the kings Whom they haue robbed I speake not of worldly thinges onely but euen of their very natural wittes They make theÌ„ beleue that they are most Christen wheÌ„ they lyue most abhominably and will suffer no man in their Realmes that beleueth on Christ and that they are defenders of the fayth when they burne the Gospell promises of God out of which all fayth springeth I shewed how they haue ministred Christ Kyng and Emperour out of their rowmes how they haue made them a seuerall kyngdome which they gote at the first in deceauyng of Princes and now peruert the whole scripture to proue that they haue such authoritie of God And lest the lay men should see how falsely they alledge the places of the Scripture is the greatest cause of this persecution They haue fained confession for the same purpose to stablish their kyngdome with all All secretes know they therby The Bishop knoweth the confession of whom he lusteth throughout all his Dioces Yea and his Chaunceler commaundeth the ghostly father to deliuer it written The pope his Cardinals and Byshops know the confession of the Emperour Kyngs of all Lordes by confession they know all their captiues If any beleue in Christ by confession they know him Shriue thy selfe where thou wilt whether at Sion charterhouse or at the obseruaÌ„ts thy confession is knowen wel inough And thou if thou beleue in Christ art wayted vppon Wonderfull are the thinges that therby are wrought The wife is feared and compelled to utter not her own onely but also the secretes of her husband and the seruaunt the secretes of his master Besides that thoraugh confession they quench the fayth of all the promises of God and take away the effect and vertue of all y e Sacramentes of Christ They haue also corrupted y â— Saintes liues with lyes and fayned miracles haue put many thinges out of the sentence or great curse as raysing of â—ente and fines and hyring men out of their houses and whatsoeuer wickednes they them selues do haue put a great part of the stories and Chronicles on t of the waye lest their falshead shoulde be sene For there is no mischieues or disorder whether it be in the temporall regiment or els in the spiritual wherof they are not the chief causes and eueÌ„ the very fountayne and springes and as we say the wel head so that it is impossible to preach agaynst mischief except thou begyn at them or to set any reformation in the world except thou reforme them first Now are they indurate and tough as Pharao and will not bow vnto any right way or order And therefore persecute they Gods word and the preachers therof and on the other side lye awayte vnto all princes stirre vp all mischief in the world and send them to warre and occupy their myndes therewith or with other voluptuousnes lest they should haue laysure to heare the word of God and to set an order in their realmes By them is all thing ministred and by them are all kynges ruled yea in euery kynges conscience sit they â—re he be king and persuade euery king what they lust and make theÌ„ both to beleue what they will and to doe what they will Neither can any kyng or any realme haue rest for their businesses Behold kyng Henry the v. whom they seÌ„t out for such a purpose as they sent out our kyng that now is See how the Realme is inhabited Aske where the goodly townes and their walles and the people that was wont to be in theÌ„ are become and where the bloud royal of the Realme is become also Turne thine eyes whether thou wilt thou shalt see nothing prosperons but their suttle pollyng With that it is flowyng water yea and I trust it wil be shortly a full see In all their doynges though they pretend outwardly the honour of God or a common wealth their entent and secret Councell is onely to bryng all vnder their power and to take out of the way who soeuer letteth them or is to mighty for them As wheÌ„ they send the Princes to Hierusalem to coÌ„quere the holy land and to fight agaynst the Turkes What soeuer they pretende outwardly their secret entent is while the Princes there conquere them more Bishoprikes to conquere their landes in the meane season with their false hipocrisie and to bryng all vnder them which thou mayest easely perceaue by that they will not let vs know y â— fayth of Christ And when they are ones on hye then are they tyrauntes aboue all tyrauntes whether they be Turkes or Saracenes How minister they prouyng of testamentes How causes of wedlocke or if any man dye intestate If a poore man dye and leaue his wiâ—e and halfe a dosen young children but one cow to finde them that will they haue for a mortuary mercylesse let come of wife and children what will Yea let any thyng be done agaynst their pleasure and they will interdite the whole realme sparyng no person Read the Chronicles of England out of which yet they haue put a great part of their wickednesse thou shalt finde them all wayes both rebellious and disobedient to the kinges and also churiish and vnthankeful so that wheÌ„ all the Realme gaue the kyng somewhat to maynteine him in his right they would not geue a myte Consider the story of K. Iohn where I dout not but they haue put the best fayrest for them selues the worst of kyng Iohn For I suppose they make the Chronicles them selues Compare the doings of their holy Church as they euer call it vnto the learnyng of Christ and of his Apostles Did not the Legate of Rome assoyle all the Lordes of the realme of their due obedieÌ„ce which they ought to the king by the ordinaunce of God would he not haue cursed y â— king with his solemne pompe because he would haue done that office whiche God commaundeth euery kyng to do and wherfore God hath put the sword in euery kynges hand that is to wete because kyng Iohn would haue punished a wicked Clerke that had coyned false money The lay men that had not done halfe so great fautes must dye but
to minister to him Christes Gospel Wherfore if they say it is here or there in Saint Fraunces coate or Dominickes and such like that if thou wilt put on that coat thou shalt finde it there it is falfe For if it were there thou shouldest see it shyne abroad though thou creptst not into a sell or a monkes coule as thou seest y â— lightning without crepyng into the cloudes yea their light would so shine that men should not onely see y â— lyght of the Gospell but also their good workes which would as fast come out as they now runne in In so much that y â— shouldest see theÌ„ make theÌ„sel es pore to helpe other as they now make other poore to make theÌ„selues rich This lyght and salt pertayned not then to the Apostles and now to our Bishops and spiritualtie onely No it pertayneth to the temporall men also For all kynges and all rulers are bound to be salt and light not onely in example of liuing but also in teaching of doctrine vnto their subiects as wel as they be bounde to punishe euill doers Doth not the scripture testifie that kyng Dauid was chosen to be a shepeheard and to feede his people wyth Gods worde It is an euill scholemaster that cannot but beate onely But it is a good scholemaster that so teacheth that few neede to be beateÌ„ This salt and light therefore partayne to the temporaltie also and that to euery meÌ„ber of Christes Church so that euery man ought to be salt light to other Euery man then may be a common preacher thou wilt say and preach euery where by his owne auctoritie Nay verely No man may yet be a commoÌ„ preacher saue he that is called and chosen thereto by the commoÌ„ ordinaunce of the congregation as long as the preacher teacheth the true worde of God But euery priuate man ought to be in vertuous lyuing both light and salt to hys neighbour in so much that the poorest ought to striue to ouerrun the Byshop and to preach to hym in ensample of liuing Moreouer euery man ought to preach in worde deede vnto his houshould and to them that are vnder his gouernaunce c. And though no maÌ„ may preach openly saue he that hath the office committed vnto hym yet ought euery maÌ„ to endeuour himselfe to be as well learned as the preacher as nie as it is possible And euery man may priuatly enforme hys neighbour yea and the preacher and Byshop to if nede be For if the preacher preach wrong then may any man whatsoeuer he be rebuke him first priuately and then if that helpe not to complayne further And when all is proued according to the order of charitie and yet none amendment had theÌ„ ought euery man that caÌ„ to resist him and to stand by Christes doctrine to ieoparde lyfe all for it Looke on the olde ensamples they shal teach thee The Gospel hath an other fredome with her then the temporall regiment Though euery mans body and goods be vnder y â— kyng do he right or wroÌ„g yet is the auctoritie of Gods woorde free and aboue the kyng so that the worst in the realme may tell y e kyng if he do hym wrong that he doth nought and otherwise theÌ„ God hath coÌ„maunded hym and so warne hym to auoide the wrath of God which is the pacient aduenger of all vnrighteousnes May I then and ought also to resist father and mother and all temporall power wyth Gods worde when they wroÌ„gfully do or commaunde that hurteth or killeth the body and haue I no power to resiste the Byshop or preacher that wyth false doctrine slayeth the soules for which my maister and Lord Christ hath shed his bloud Be we otherwise vnder our Byshops then Christ and hys Apostles and all the other Prophetes were vnder the Byshops of the olde law Nay verely and therefore may we and also ought to do as they dyd and to aunswere as the Apostles dyd Act. v. Oportet magis obedire deo quà m hominibus We must rather obey God then men In the Gospell euery man is Christes Disciple and a person for himself to defend Christes doctrine in his owne person The fayth of the Byshop will not helpe me nor the byshoppes keeping the lawe is sufficient for me But I must beleue in Christ for the remission of all sinne for myne owne selfe and in myne owne person No more is the Bishops or preachers defending Gods woorde inough for me But I must defende it in mine owne person and ieopard lyfe and all thereon when I see neede occasion I am bouÌ„d to get worldly substauÌ„ce for my selfe for myne houshold with my iust labour and somewhat more for theÌ„ that cannot to saue my neighbours body And am I not more bouÌ„d to labour for Gods word to haue therof in store to saue my neighbours soule And when is it so much tyme to resiste with Gods word and to helpe as wheÌ„ they which are beleued to minister the true word do slea the soules with false doctrine for couetousnes sake He that is not ready to giue hys lyue for the maintenaunce of Christes doctrine agaynst hypocrites with what soeuer name or title they be disguised y â— same is not worthy of Christe nor can bee Christes Disciple by the very wordes and testimony of Christ Neuerthelesse we must vse wisedome pacieÌ„ce mekenes and a discrete processe after the due order of charitie in our defendyng the word of God least while we go about to amende our Prelates we make theÌ„ worse But when we haue proued all that charitie bindeth vs yet in vaine then we must come forth opeÌ„ly and rebuke their wickednes in the face oâ— the world and ieoparde life all theron Ye shall not thinke that I am come to destroy the law or the propheres no I am not come to destroy them but to fulfill them For truly I say vnto you till heaueÌ„ and earth perish there shal not one iote or one title of the law scape till all be fulfilled A litle before Christ calleth his Disciples the light of the world the salt of the earth that because of their doctrine wherewith they should lighten the blynd vnderstandyng of man and with true knowledge driue out y â— false opinions and sophisticall persuasions of natural reason deliuer the Scripture out of y â— captiuitie of false gloses which the hypocritishe Phariseis had pâ—â—ched therto and â—o out of the light of trueknowledge to styrre vp a new liuyng and to salt season the corrupt maners of the old blind conuersation For where false doctrine corrupt opinions and sophistical gloses raigne in the witte and vnderstandyng there is the liuing deuilish in the sight of God how soeuer it appeare in the sight of the blind world And on the other side where the doctrine is true and perfect there foloweth godly liuing of
for the subdueyng of the flesh and not commaund as a tyraunt vnder payne of damnation and to make satisfaction Thus wise let him say brother or sister ye be bouÌ„d vnder payne of deadly sinne to tame your flesh by some maner of way that ye sinne not agaynst God I know no better then this my councell my desire therfore is that ye vse this till either ye haue no more nede or till god shew you some better c. And let the elders consider diligently the course of their youth and with wisedome counsell and discrete gouernaunce helpe the younger to auoyde the perils and ieopardies whiche they haue learned by their owne experieÌ„ce to be in that dauÌ„gerous iourney Moreouer when the people be falleÌ„ from their professioÌ„ and from the law as it shal be impossible for the preacher to kepe the great multitude together if the temporal sword be slacke and negligent in punishing open offences as they euer haue and wil be saue in those poyntes onely wherein lyeth the pith of their owne profite and aduauntage and the weight of their honour main tenaunce of their dignities and when God also as hys promise is hath brought vppon them the curses of the law hunger dearth battaile pestilence and all maner of plagues with all misfortune and euill lucke Then let the true preachers be importune shew the people the causes of their miserie wretched aduersitie and expounde the law to them and bring them to knowledge of their sinnes and so binde their consciences and draw them to repentaunce and to the appointement couenaunt of the Lord agayne As many holy Prophetes Priestes and Kinges in the old Testament did call the people backe and brought them agayne in tyme of aduersitie vnto the appoyntement of the Lord. And the Priest Prophete or Kyng in Gods stede smote handes with them and tooke an oth of them to be the Lordes people and to turne agayne to the Lordes couenauÌ„t for to keepe his law and to beleue in his promises And God immediatly withdrew his hand and ryd them out of all captiuitie and daunger became as mercyfull as euer before But we ChristeÌ„ haue bene very seldome or neue called agayne to the couenaunt of the Lord the law of God and fayth of Christ But to the couenaunt of the Pope often As he now clocketh a pase for his chekyns will both proue all his old policies seke and imagine new practises And if the people come agayne let the Priest or Byshop after the ensample of the Prophetes and hygh Priestes of the Israelites take an oth in Gods stede of the Kyng and Lordes And let the Kyng and Lordes receaue an othe of the people and folow the example of the Niniuites in fastyng and praying Some man will say seyng fastyng is to withdraw all pleasures from the body and to punish the flesh then God deliteth in our payne takyng c. I auÌ„swere God deliteth in true obedience in all that we do at his commaundement and for the entent that he commanndeth it for If thou loue and pitie thy neighbour and helpe him thy almose is acceptable If thou do it of vayne glory to haue the prayse that belongeth to God or for a greater profite onely or to make satisfactioÌ„ for thy sinnes past and to dishonour Christes bloud which hath made it all ready then is thyne almose abhominable If thy prayer be thaÌ„kes in hart or callyng to God for helpe with trust in him accordyng to his promise theÌ„ thy prayer pleaseth If thou beleue in Christes bloud for the remission of sinnes and henceforth hatest sinne that thou punishest thy body to fle thy lustes to kepe them vnder that thou sinne not again then it pleaseth God excedingly But if thou thinke that God delyteh in the worke for the worke it self the true intent away in thy payne for thy pame it selfe y â— art as farre out of the way as froÌ„ heauen to the earth If y â— wouldest kil thy body or wheÌ„ it is tame inough â–ª payne him further that thou were not able to serue God thy neighbour accordyng to the rowme and estate thou art in thy sacrifice were cleane without salt all together vnsauery in the tast of God and thou mad and out of thy witte But and if thou trust in thy worke then art thou abhominable Now let vs looke on the Popes fast First the entent should be to â—ame thy lustes not lechery onely but prâ—… chiefly wrath malice hate 〈◊〉 couetousnes and to keepe the lawe of God and therefore standeth not in meate and drinke onely but how they keepe Gods lawe compare it to their deedes and thou shalt see Secondarily the fast of the olde lawe was to put on mourning clothes as heire or sack and neither to eate nor drinke vâ—…ll night and all the while to pray and to do almose deedes and shewe mercy And at euen they eate fleshe and what God geue soberly as little as woulde sustaine the body c. The Popes fast is commonly onely to eate no fleshe I say not looke how leaue they be but consider what a taming of the fleshe it is to eate ten or twenty manner of fishes dressed afâ—er the costliest maner to sitte a cople of houres and to poure in of the best wine and Ale that may be gotten And at night to banquet with dew as they say of all maner of fruits and confections marmelad Succad Grenegynger comffettes sugerplate with malmesay romney burnt with suger Synamond cloues with bastarde Muscadell and Ipocrasie c. Thinke ye not that such dewes wyth drinking a peece of saltfishe or a Pickrell doth not tame y t body excedingly Furthermore that the true entent is away both of their fasting prayers it is euident first by the multiplying of them for when the Iewes had loste the vnderstanding of their sacrifices and did beleue in the worke then they were mad vpon them that well was he that could robbe him selfe to offer most in so much that the Prophetes cryed out against them that their offeringes stanke in the nose of God And ours had so multiplyed their fasting that they coulde no longer beare them At the beginning they were tollerable for the vauntage quia leuis est labor cuÌ„ lâ—â—ro But when they had purchased inough and inough agayne they became intollerable And therefore all our Monkes whose profession was neuer to eate fleshe set vp the Pope tooke dispensations both for that fast and also for their straite rules made their straite rules as wide as y e hoodes of their cowles And as for the hipocrisie of the fratrie where they eate but inuisible flesh or that is interpret to be no fleshe is spoken of in other places An other prooffe is that they so long a tyme haue geuen pardons of
Elders because of their age grauitie sadnesse as thou mayâ—t see by the text and Byshops or ouersears by the reasoÌ„ of their offices And all that were called Elders or Priests if they so wil were called Bishops also though they haue diuided y t names now which thing thou mayst euidently see by the first Chapter of Titus And Actes xx and other places mo And when he layth Tâ—mothe vnto my charge how he was young theÌ„ he weâ—eth that he hath woâ—â—e his gâ—lden spuâ—…s But I would pray hym to shew me where he readeth that Paule calleth hym Presbyteros Priest or Elder I 〈◊〉 not then cal him Episcopus properiy For those ouerâ—ears which we now call Byshops after the Greke word weâ—… alway bidyng in one place to 〈…〉 the congregation there Nâ—w was Tâ—…the an Apostle And Paule also writeth that he came shortly agayn well will he say it commeth yet all to one For if it be commeth the lower Minister to be of a sad and disâ—… much more it becommeth the hygher It is â—…h But ij thyngs are without law God and necessitie If God to shew his power shall shed out his grace more vpon youth then vpon age at a 〈…〉 who shall let him weâ—eÌ„ be no 〈◊〉 vâ—… to rule or to preach for both are forbidden them yet hath God enâ—owed them with his spirite at sondry tymes and shewed his power and goodnesse vpoÌ„ them and wrought wonderfull thynges by them because he would not haue them â—…d We â—â—ad that women haue iudged all Israâ—ll and haue bene great prophetiâ—ies and haue done mighty dedes Yea and if stones be true women haue preached sence the openyng of y t new TestameÌ„t Do not our wâ—men now Christen and minister the Sacrament of Baptisme in tyme of nede Might they not by as good reason preach also if necessitie required 〈◊〉 a woman were driueÌ„ into some Iland where Christ was neuer preached might she there not preach him it she had the gâ—…t thereto Might she not also Baptise And why might she not by the same reason minister the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ and teach them how to chose â—…rs ministers O poore wemen how despite ye them The viâ—… the better welcome vnto you An whore had ye leuer theÌ„ an honest wife If onely shauen and annoynted may do these thinges then Christ dyd them not nor any of his Apostles nor any man in long tyme after For they vsed no such ceremonies Notwithstanding though God be vnder no lawe and necessitie lawlesse yet be we vnder a lawe and ought to preferre the men before the women age before youth as â—he as we caÌ„ For it is agaynst the lawe of nature that young men should rule the elder and as vncomely as that women shoulâ—e rule the men but when neede requireth And therfore if Paule had had other shift and a man of age as mete for the roome he would not haue put Timothy in the office he should no doubt haue bene kept backe vntil a fulier age and haue learned in the meane time in silence And whatsoeuer thou be that readeâ—t this I exhort thee in our lord that thou read both y t episâ—…s of Paule to Timothy that thou mayst see how diligently as a mother careth for her childe if it be in perill Paule writeth vnto Timothy to instruct him to teach hym to exhort to corage hym to shâ—â—e him vp to be wise sober diligent circumspect sad humble and meâ—ke saying â–ª these I write that thou mayest know how to behaue thy selfe in the house of God which is the church or congregation Aâ—oyâ—â—â—ustes of yoâ—…h beware of vngodly fables old wiues tales auoyde the company of men of corrupt myndes which wast theyr braynes about wrangling questions Let no man dispise thyâ—e youth As who shoulde say youth is a dispised thyng of it selfe whereunto men geue none obedience or reuerence naturally See therefore that thy veâ—â—ue exceede to recompence thy lacke of age and that thou so behaue thy self that no fault be founde with thee And againe rebuke not an Elder sharpely but exhort him as thy father and yongmen as thy brethren and the elder women as thy mothers and y t youÌ„g womeÌ„ as thy sisters and such like in euery chapter Admâ— none accusation agaynst an Elder vnder lesse then two witnesses And Paule chargeth hym in the sight of God and of the Lord Iesus Christ and of his elect Angels to do nothing rashely or of affection And shortely whereunto youth is most proue and ready to fall therof warneth he hym with all diligence euen almost or altogether halfe a â—osen times of some one thyng And finally as a man woulde teach a childe that had â—…euer beâ—ore gone to schole so teÌ„derly so carefully doth Paul teach him It is an other thyng to teach the people and to teach the preacher Here Paule teacheth the preacher young Timothy And when he affirmeth that I say how that the oyling and shauing is no part of the Priesthode That improneâ—h he not nor can do And therfore I say iâ— yet And when he hath insearched the â—…most that he caÌ„ this is all that he can say agaynst me that of an hundred there be not x. that haue the properties which Paule requireth to be in them Wherfore if oyling and shauyng be no part of their Priesthode then euermore of a thousand ix hundred at the lest should be no Priests at all And quoth your frend would confirme it with an oth and sweare depely that it would folow and y t it must nedes so be Which argument yet if there were no other shift I would solue after an Oxford fashion with concedo consequentiam consequens And I say moreouer that their annoynting is but a ceremonie borowed of y e Iewes though they haue somewhat altered the maner and their shauing borowed of the heathen Priestes and that they be no more of their priesthood then the oyle salte spittell â—aper and chrisome cloth of the substaunce of baptime Which thinges no doubt because they be of their conâ—uring they would haue preached of necessitie vnto the saluation of the childe except necessitie had driuen them vnto the contrary And seing that the oyle is not of necessitie let M. More tell me what more vertue is in the oyle of confirmatioÌ„ in as much as the bishop sacreth the one as well as the other yea and let hym tell the reason why there shoulde be more â—ertue in the oyle wherewith y t Byshop annointeth his Priestes Let him tell you from whence the oyle coÌ„meth how it is made and why he selleth it to the curates wherewyth they annointe the sicke or whether this be of lesse vertue then the other And finally why vsed not the Apostles this greke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the interpreter this Latin woorde Sacerdos but alway this worde Presbyteros and Senior
thou feâ—e theÌ„ and that thine hart mourne for them and that with al thy power thou helpe to amende them and cease not to crye to God for theÌ„ neither day nor night and that thou let nothing be founde in thee that any man may rebuke but whatsoeuer thou teachest them that â—e thou and that thou be not a Wolfe in a Lambes skinne as our holy â—ather y e Pope is which commeth vnto vs in a name of hypocrisie and in the â—…e of curssed Cham or Ham calling hymselfe Seruus seruorum the seruaunt of all seruauntes and is yet founde tyrannus tyraâ—norum of all tyrauntes y e most cruell This is to receaue young children in Christes name and to receaue young children in Christes name is to beare rule in the kingdome of Christ Thus ye see that Christes kingdome is all together spirituall and the bearing of rule in it is cleane coÌ„trary vnto the bearing of rule temporally Wherfore none that beareth rule in it may haue any temporall iurisdiction or minister any temporall office that requireth violence to compell withall ¶ Peter was not greater then the other Apostles by any authoritie geuen him of Christ THey saye that Peter was chiefe of the Apostles verely as Appeâ—â—â—s was called chief of Painters for his excellent cunninge aboue other euen so Peter may be called chiefe of the Apostles for his actiuitie and boldnes aboue the other but that Peter had any auctoritie or rule ouer his brethren and felow Apostles is false and contrary to y e scripture Christ forbad it the last euen before his passion and in diuers tunes before and taught alway the contrary as I haue rehearsed Thou wilt say thou caust not see how there should be any good order in that kyngdome where none were better then other and where the superior had not a lawe and authoritie to compell the inferior with violeÌ„ce The worlde truely can see no other way to rule then with violence For there no man absteineth from euil but for feare because the loue of righteousnes is not written in their hartes And therefore the Popes kingdome is of the world For there one sorte are your grace your holines your fatherhode An other my Lord Byshop my Lord Abbot my Lord Pryor An other master Doctour Father Bachelar mayster Parson maister Vicar and at the last commeth in simple syr Iohn And euery man raigneth ouer other wyth might and haue euery ruler his prison his iayler his chaynes his tormentes euen so much as the Fryers obâ—eruauntes obserue that rule and compell euery man other with violeÌ„ce aboue the cruelnesse of the heathen tyrauntes so that what commeth once in may neuer out for feare of telling taâ—es out of schole They rule ouer the bodye with violence and compell 〈◊〉 whether the harte will or not to obserue thinges of their owne making But in the kingdome of God it is contrary For the spirite that bringeth them thether maketh them wilâ—ing and geueth them lust vnto the law of God loue coÌ„pelleth them to worke and loue maketh euerty maÌ„s good all that he can do coÌ„mune vnto his neighbours nede And as euery maÌ„ is stroÌ„g in that kyngdome so loue compelleth him to take the weake by the hand and to helpe hym and to take him that can not go vppon his shoulders and beare him And so to do seruice vnto the weaker is to beare rule in that kingdome And because Peter did excede the other Apostles in ferueÌ„t seruice toward his brethren therefore is â—e called noâ— in the Scripture but in the vse of speakyng the chiefest of the Apostles not that he had any dominion ouer them Of which truth thou mayst see also the practise in the Actes of the Apostles after the resurrection For when Peter had bene and preached in the house of Cornelius an heathen maÌ„ the other that were Circumcised chode him because he had bene in an vncircumcised mans house had eaten with him for it was forbidden in the law neither wist they yet that the heathen should be called And Peter was fayne to geue accountes vnto them which is no token of superioritie and to shew them how he was warned of the holy ghost so to do Actes xj And Actes xv when a CouÌ„cell was gathered of the Apostles and disciples about the Circumcision of the heatheÌ„ Peter brought forth not his commauÌ„dement and the authoritie of his Vicarshyp but the miracle that the holy ghost had shewed for the heathen how at y â— preachyng of the Gospell the holy ghost had lighted vppon them and purified â—heir hartes through fayth and therefore proued that they ought not to be Circumcised And Paule and Barnabas brought soorth the miracles also that God had shewed by them among the heathen through preachyng of saith And then Iames brought soorth a prophecie of the olde Testament for the sayd part And therewith the aduersaries gaue ouer their hold and they coÌ„cluded with one assent by the authoritie of the scripture and of the holy ghost that the heathen should not be Circumcised not by the commaundement of Peter vnder payne of cursing excommunicatioÌ„ 〈◊〉 interditing and like bugges to make fooles and children afrayed withall And Actes viij Peter was sent of the other Apostles vnto the Samaritanes whiche is an euident token that he had no iurisdiction ouer them for then they could not haue sent him But rather as the truth is that the congregation had authoritie ouer him ouer all other priuate persones to admitte them for ministers and send them forth to preach whether so euer the spirite of God moued them and as they saw occasion And in the Epistle vnto the Galathians thou seest also how Paule corrected Peter when he walked not the straight way after the truth of the Gospel So now thou seest that in the kingdome of Christ and in his Churche or congregation and in his couÌ„sels the ruler is the Scripture approued through the miracles of the holy ghost and men be seruauntes onely and Christ is the head and we all brethren And wheÌ„ we call men our heades that we do not be cause they be shorne or shauen or because of their names Parson Vicare Byshop Pope But onely because of the word whiche they preach If they erre froÌ„ the word theÌ„ may whosoeuer God moueth his hart play Paule and correct hym If he will not obey the Scripture then haue his brethren authoritie by the Scripture to put hym downe and send hym out of Christes Church among the heretickes whiche preferre their false doctrine aboue the true word of Christ ¶ How the Gospell punisheth trespassers and how by the Gospell we ought to go to law with our aduersaries THough that they of Christes coÌ„gregation be all willyng yet because that the most paâ—t is alway weake because also that the occasions of the world be euer many and great in so much that
siluer wythout care of thinges to come despising God whom they worshipped for their bellies sake onely and also maÌ„ Moreouer it was the custome eueÌ„ then saith the auctor to aske what the Byshopprike was worth yea and to leaue a worse for a better or to kepe both with a vnion And at the same tyme Isacius the deputie of the Emperour came to Rome to confirme the Pope in his sea with the Emperours auctoritie for y e election of the Pope was theÌ„ nothing worth except it had bene confirmed by the Emperour and he founde so great treasure in the Church of Saint Iohn Lateran that for disdayne which he had that they should haue such treasure in store and not to helpe the Emperour in his warres against y e Turkes â—…ng his soldiars lacked wages he tooke it away with violence against the wyll of y e Prelates of which he exiled some and payde his owne meÌ„ of warre with one part and tooke an other part vnto him selfe and sent the third part vnto the Emperour which must needes haue bene a great treasure in one Church ¶ By what meanes the Prelates fell from Christ THe office of a byshop was a roume at the beginning that no man coueted and that no man durst take vpoÌ„ hym saue he onely which loued Christ better theÌ„ his owne life For as Christ saith that no man might be his disciple except that he were ready to forsake life and all euen so might that officer be sure that it woulde cost him his lyfe at one time or another for bearing record vnto the truth But after that the multitude of the Christen were encreased many great men had receaued y â— faith then both landes and rentes as well as other goodes were geuen vnto the maintenaunce as well of the clergie as of the poore because they gaue then no tythes to the Priestes nor yet now do saue in certaine countryes For it is to much to geue almes offeringes landes and tithes also And then the Byshops made them substitutes vnder them to helpe them which they called priest and kept the name of Byshop vnto themselues But out of the Deacons sprang all the mischiefe For thorow their hands went all thing they ministred vnto y e clergie they ministred vnto the poore they were in fauoure with great and small And when the Byshops office began to haue rest and to be honorable then the Deacons thorow fauour and giftes climed vp therunto as lightly he that hath the olde Abbotes treasure succedeth with vs. And by y e meanes of their practise and acquintaunce in y e worlde they were more subtile and worldly wise then the olde Byshops lesse learned in Gods woorde as our Prelates are when they come froÌ„ stuardships in Gentlemens houses and from surueying of great mens landes Lordes secretes kinges counsels Embassidourship from warre and ministring all worldly matters ye worldly mischiefe and yet now they come not thence but receaue all and bide there still yea they haue enacted by playne parliament that they must byde in the courte still or els they may not haue pluralitie of benefices And then by litle and litle they enhaunsed theÌ„selues and turned all to themselues minishing the poore peoples part and encreasing theirs and ioyning acquaintaunce with great men and with their power climed vp and entitled them w t the chusing and confirming of y e Pope and all Byshops to flatter and purchase fauour and defenders trusting more vnto their worldly wisdome theÌ„ vnto the doctrine of Christ which is y e wisdome of God and vnto the defeÌ„ce of man then of God Then while they that had the plow by the tayle looked backe the plow went awry faith wax ed feble and faintie loue waxed colde the Scripture waxed darcke Christ was no more seene he was in y e mouÌ„t with Moses and therefore the Byshops would haue a God vppon the earth whom they might see and therupon they begaÌ„ to dispute who should be greatest ¶ How the Byshop of Rome became greater then other and called hymselfe Pope THen quod worldly wisdome HierusaleÌ„ must be the greatest for ytwas Christes seat Et factuÌ„ est so it came to passe â—or a season And in conclusion where a great Citie was and much riches there was the Byshoppe euer greater then his felowes Alexandre in Egipte and Antioch in Grece were greater then their neighbours Then those decaying Constantinople and Rome waxed great and stroue who shoulde be greater And CoÌ„staÌ„tinople sayd where the Emperour is there ought to be the greatest seat and chiefest Byshop For the Emperour lay most at Constantinople because it was I suppose nigh the middes of the Empyre therfore I must be the greatest sayde the Byshop of ConstaÌ„tinople Nay quod y e Byshop of Rome though y e Emperour lye nener so much at ConstaÌ„tinople yet he is called Emperour of Rome Rome is the head of the Empyre wherefore of right I must be the father of all WateÌ„ And thus whether they chaleÌ„ged their â—itle by the auctoritie of God or man or by Peter or pouling it was all one so they might be greatest And great intercession was made vnto the Emperours of both parties but in vayne a great ceason for y e Emperours stopped their â—ares at such ambitious requestes long tyme till at y e last there came an Emperour called Phocas which lay long in Italye and was a very soft man a pray for Prelates In whose tyme Boniface the iij. was Byshop of Rome a man ambitious and greedy vppon honour and of a very suttle witte nothing inâ—erior vnto Thomas Wolsee Cardinall of Yorcke This Boniface was great w t the Emperour Phocas and with hys wyly perswasions and great intercession together obtayned of Phocas to be called the chiefest of all Byshops and that his Church should be the chiefe Church Which auctoritie as soone as he had purchased he sent immediatly his commaundement with the Emperours power vnto all the Byshops of Almany commaunding that euery byshop should call all the priestes of hys diocese and charge them that euery man should put away his wife vnder payne of excommunication Which tyranny though great resistaunce was made against it he yet brought to passe with the Emperours sworde and his subtletie together For the Byshops were riche and durst not displeaâ—e the Pope for feare of the Emperour Assoone as Nemroth that mighty hunter had caught this pray that he had compelled all Byshops to be vnder him and to sweare obedience vnto him then he began to be great in the earth and called hymselfe Papa wyth this interpretation father of fathers And when the Pope had exalted hys throne aboue his fellowes then the vnitie that ought to be among brethren in Christes Church brake and deuision began betwene vs and y e Grekes which Grekes I suppose were at y
of the spiritualtie and iij. of the temporaltie with the kyng of Bohem the vij to be the odde man Vmpere should â—huse him for euer and sende hym to the Pope to receaue his othe and to be crowned Neuerthelesse the Pope to keepe the Emperour a far of sendeth hym hys coronation home to him ofttymes much leuer than that he should come any nearer as a meeke spryted man that had leuer liue solitarie and alone then haue his holinesse seene ¶ A proper similitude to describe our holy father ANd to se how our holy father came vp marke the example of an Iuytree first it springeth out of y â— earth then a while crepeth along by y t grouÌ„d till it finde a great tree then it ioyneth it selfe be neath alow vnto the body of the tree and creepeth vp a litle and a litle fayre and softly And at the begynnyng while it is yet thynne and small that the burthen is not perceaued it semeth glorious to garnishe the tree in the wyntre to beare of the tempestes of the weather But in the meane season it thrusteth his rootes into y t barck of the tree to hold fast with all and ceasseth not to clyme vp till it be at the top and aboue all And then it sendeth hys braunches a long by the braunches of the tree and ouergroweth all and waxeth great heauy and thicke and sucketh the moysture so sore out of the tree and his braunches that it choketh and stifâ—eth them And then the foule stinckyng Iuye waxeth mighty in the stoÌ„pe of the tree and becommeth a sete and a nest for all vncleane byrdes for blind Oules whiche hauke in the darke and dare not come at the light Euen so the Byshop of Rome now called Pope at the begynnyng crope a long vppon the earth and euery man trode vpon him in this world But assoone as there came a Christen Emperour he ioyned him selfe vnto hys feete and kissed them and crope vp a litle with beggyng nowe this priuilege now that now this Citie now that to finde poore people with all and the necessary Ministers of Gods word And hee entitled the Emperour with chosing the Pope and other Bishops and promoted in the spiritualty not whom vertue and learning but whom the fauour of great men coÌ„mended to flater to get frendes and defenders with all And the almes of the congregation which was the fode and patrimony of the poore and necessary preachers that he called S. Peters patrimony S. Peters reutes S. Peters landes S. Peters right to cast a vayne feare and an heathenish superstitiousnesse into the hartes of meÌ„ that no man should dare meddle with what soeuer came once in to their handes for feare of Saint Peter though they ministred it neuer so euil and that they which should thinke it none almes to geue them any more because they had to much already should yet geue S. Peter somewhat as Nabucodonesser gaue his GOD Beel to purchasse an aduocate and an intercessor of S. Peter and that S. Peter should at the first knocke let theÌ„ in And thus with flateryng and fayning and vayne superstition vnder the name of S. Peter he crept vp and fastened his rootes in the hart of the Emperour and with his sword clame vp aboue all his felow byshops brought them vnder his feete And as he subdued theÌ„ with the Emperours sword euen so by sutiltie helpe of them after that they were sworne saythfull he clame aboue the Emperour and subdued hym also and made sâ—oupe vnto his feete and kisse theÌ„ an other while Yea pope Coelestinus crowned the Emperour Henry the fift holdyng y e crown betwene his feete And when he had put the crowne on he smote it of with his feete agayne saying that he had might to make Emperours and put them downe agayne And he made a constitution that no lay man should medle with their matters nor be in their Councels or witte what they did and that the pope onely should call the Councell and the Emperour should but defeÌ„d the Pope prouided allway that the Councel should be in one of the Popes Townes and where the Popes power was greater then the Emperours then vnder a pretence of condemnyng some heresie hee called a generall Councell where he made one a Patriarcke an other Cardinall an other Legate an other Primate an other Archbyshop an other Bishop another Deane another Arch deacon and so forth as we now see And as the Pope played with the Emperour so dyd his braunches and his members the Byshops play in euery Kyngdome Dukedome Lordshyp in so much that the very heyres of them by whom they came vp hold now their landes of them and take theÌ„ for their chief Lordes And as the Emperour is sworne to the Pope euen so euery kyng is sworne to the Byshops and Prelates of his Realme and they are the chiefest in all Parlamentes yea they and theyr money and they that be sworne to them and come vp by them rule all together And thus the Pope the father of all hypocrites hath with falsehode guile peruerted the order of the worlde and turned the rootes of the trees vpward and hath put downe the kyngdome of Christ and set vp the kyngdome of the deuil whose Vicare he is and hath put downe the Ministers of Christ and hath set vp the Ministers of Sathan disguised yet in names and garmentes lyke vnto the aungels of light ministers of righteousnes For Christes kyngdome is not of the world Iohn xviij and the Popes kyngdome is all the world And Christ is neither iudge nor diuider in this world Luke xij But the Pope iudgeth deuideth all the world and taketh the Empyre and all kyngdomes and geueth them to whom he lusteth Christ sayth Math. v. Blessed are the poore in spirite so that the first step in the kyngdome of Christ is humblenesse or humilitie that thou canst finde in thyne hart to do seruice vnto all meÌ„ and to suffer that all men treade thee The Pope sayth Blessed be the proude hygh mynded that can clyme and subdue all vnder them and mayntaine their right and such as will suffer of no man so that he which was yesterday taken from the dongehill and promoted this day by his Prince shall tomorow for the Popes pleasure curse him and excommunicate him and interdite his Realme Christ sayth Blessed be the meke or soft that be harmlesse as Doues The Pope blesseth them that can set all the world together by the eares and fight and sâ—ea mafully for his sake that he may come haote from bloudsheddyng to a Byshopricke as our Cardinall dyd and as S. Thomas of Canterbury did which was made Byshop in the field in complete harnesse on his horse backe and his speare bloudy in his hand Christ hath neither holes for Foxes nor nestes for byrdes nor yet whereon to lay his
wise The body of our Sauiour which was broken on the crosse for the sinne of all that repent and haue good hartes and would fayne keepe his law be broke vnto my danmation if I breake this othe then is it a terrible othe and they had nede to take hede how they make it and if it be lawfully made not to breake it at all But as they care for their othe whiche they make in wedlocke so they care for this What soeuer nede the Pope hath he wil not send to the Emperour to come and helpe him in Italy for feare lest he would take to him selfe what soeuer he conquered of the Frenchmen and waxe to strong and minish our holy fathers power and become our holy fathers Vicare as he is S. Peters Neuerthelesse if we Englishmen wil hyre the Emperour to come and fight agaynste Fraunce for the right of the Churche in these quarters that be next vnto vs his fatherhode is content to admitte his seruice When our kyng hath graunted to take our holy fathers part then the pretence and cloke outward must be that the kyng will chalenge his right in Fraunce And to ayde the kyng in hys right must the commons be milked till they blede agayne Thē to do the kyng seruice the Lordes sel or lay their lādes to morgage Then is cleane remission geuen to flea French dogges He that dyeth in the quarell shall neuer see Purgatory but flye to heauen streight euē with a thought WHen the Pope hath what he desireth in Italy then must we make peace with the Frēchmen agayn immediatly that Fraunce be not all to gether troden vnder the foote but that it remayne alwaye in a meane state strōg inough to match the Emperour and to keepe him downe but not to mighty for oppressing the Pope And then our Prelates to bryng the peace about send immediatly a Frier Forest or a Vicare of Croyden to preach before the Kyng and his Lordes which preacher roareth and crieth vnto them as though he halowed his houndes maketh exclamations saying Alas what will ye do spare Christen bloud will ye sea your owne soules Be not the Frenchmen as wel Christen as ye Moreouer ye slea poore innocētes that neuer offended Make peace for the passion of Christ Kill not one an other as though Christ had not dyed for you but fight rather agaynst the Turkes Then come in the Ambassadours of Fraunce and money a few Prelates certaine other the kinges playfelowes that be sworne with them to betray both the kyng and the Realme to And then is peace concluded But outwardly there is nothyng saue a truce taken for halfe an yeare till our souldiers be at home agayn for feare lest they wold not bee content Then commeth the whole host home beggarde both great and small And the poore that can not sodenly get worke fall to stealyng and be hanged at home This could More tell in hys Vtopia before he was the Cardinals sworne Secretary and fallen at his foote to betray the truth for to get promotion Take an example the Bishops sent kyng Henry the fifte out to conquere Fraūce The cause was saith the Chronicles that the kyng wēt about to take their temporalities from them And therfore to bryng the kyng into an other imagination they monyed hym sent him into Fraunce When they had sent out the kyng he conquered more then was their will and more then they supposed possible for him in so short space and brought Fraunce cleane vnder the foote so that our Prelates had much secret businesse to set it vp agayne but what is impossible vnto so great Gods In kyng Henryes dayes the vi our holy father of Rome made the Bishop of winchester a Cardinal which went shortly after into Fraunce to treate of a truce betwene England Fraunce And him mette a Legate of Rome a Cardinall also after which meatyng Englishemen had euer the woorse in Fraunce and their chiefest frende the Duke of Burgaine forsoke them For when Cardinals and Byshops mete together they haue their secret counsell by them selues wherin they conclude neither what is good for England nor yet for Fraunce but what is best for our holy fathers profite to kepe him in his state When kyng Henry was of age there was a mariage made betwen him and the Earle of Arminackes daughter in Gyan with the which should haue ben geuen many Castles and Townes in Gyan a great somme of money therto But that mariage was broken not without the secret working of our Prelates and dispensation of our holy father thou maist be sure And a mariage was made betwen him and the kyngs daughter of Cecile for which England gaue vp the whole Dukedome of Gyā and Earledome of Mayne wherby we lost all Normandy whereof they were the kaye And beside that the commons gaue a fiftene and an halfe to fette her in wyth pompe And then was the good Duke of Glocester trayterously murthered partly because he coulde iudge false myracles partly because of the deliueraunce of these two countryes For he beyng a liue they durste not do it And when kyng Edwarde had put downe kyng Harry a mariage was made and concluded betwene him and the kyng of Spayne this quenes mother that now is But yet the Embassadours were come home our Prelates had bewitched kyng Edwarde by their apostle Fryer Bongaye and maryed hym vnto a wydow that was a knyghtes wyfe least if Spayne and England had bene ioyned together kyng Edwarde should haue recouered Fraunce agayne But what folowed after the breaking of the mariage betwene kyng Edwarde and the Erle of Warwicke and what came of his children yea and what came on king Hēry of Windsores children also But what care our prelates what vēgeaūce or mischiefe fall on Princes or on their realmes so their kingdome prosper In kyng Henryes dayes the vij the Cardinall Murton and Byshop Fox of Winchester deliuered vnto y t kinges grace the confessions of as many Lordes as his grace lusted Who so euer was mistrusted if he shroue himselfe at the Charter houses Sion Grenewich at Saint Iohns or wheresoeuer it was the confessour was commaunded by the auctoritie of the Pope to deliuer his confession written sworne that it was all And Cardinall Murton had a licēce of the Pope for xiiij to to studie Necromācy of which he him self was one other I haue heard named which at this tyme I passe ouer with silence And how the holy Friers obseruauntes caryed fayned letters to trye who was true I passe ouer with silence also Howbeit such tēptations fayned profers were inough to moue thē that neuer would haue thought amysse yea in cōfession mē will shrine thē selues of thoughtes which they neuer went about in the outward deede Whē any great man is put to death how his confessour entreateth him what
sister considered the old amitie betweene the house of Burgaine the old kings of England so that they could neuer do ought in Fraunce without their helpe last of al considered the course of marchandise that Englād hath in those parties also the naturall hate that Englishmen beare to Frenchmen Wherefore if we shall vse our old practise and set the French king against him then he shall lightly obtayne the fauour of the King of Englande by the meanes of his aunt and his wife ayd with men and money Wherefore we must take heed betimes and breake this amitye Which thing we may by this our old craft easely bring to passe Let vs take a dispensation and breake this mariage and turne the Kinges sister vnto the French King If the Frenche King gette a male of her then wee shall lightly make our king protector of Fraunce and so shall England and Fraunce be coupled together and as for the Queene of England we shall trim hir well enough and occupy the king with strainge loue and keepe hir that she shall beare no rule And as the goddes had spoken so it came to passe Our fayre yong doughter was sent to the old pocky king of Fraunce y ◠yeare before our mortall enemie and a miscreant worse them a Turke and disobedient vnto our holy father and no more obedient then he was compelled to be against his will The cause of the iorny to Callice IN shorte space thereafter Thomas Wolfse now cardinall and Legate a latere and greatly desirous to be pope also thought it exceding expedient for his many secret purposes to bring our king the king of Fraunce that now is together both to make a perpetuall peace and amitie betweene them and that while the two Kinges and theyr lordes dalied together the great Cardinales and Bisshops of both parties might betray them both and the Emperour and all christen kinges therto Then he made a iourney of gentlemen arayed altogether in silk so much as their very shoes and lining of their bootes more like their mothers then men of warre yea I am sure that many of their mothers would haue bene ashamed of so nice and wanton array Howbeit they went not to make war but peace for euer a day longer But to speake of the pompous apparell of my Lord himself of his chaplaines it passeth y ◠xij Apostles I dare swere that if Peter and Paule had sene them sodenly at a blush they would haue bene harder in beleefe that they or any such should be their successoures then Thomas Didimus was to beleeue that Christ was risen againe from death When all was concluded betweene the King of Fraunce and oures that Thomas Wolfse had deuised and whē the Prelates of both parties had cast their peniworthes against all chaūces and deuised remedies for al mischeifs Thē the right reuerend father in God Thomas Cardinal Legate wold go see the yong Emperour newly chosen to the roome and haue a certaine secreat communication with some of his prelates also And gatte him to Bridges in Flaunders where he was receaued with great solemnity as belongeth vnto so mighty a pillar of Christes church and was saluted at the entring into the towne of a mery fellow which sayd Salue rex Regis tui atquè regni sui Hayle both king of thy king and also of his Realme And though there were neuer so greate striffe bewene the Emperour and the French king yet my lord Cardinal iugled him fauour of them both finally brought the Emperour to Cales to the kinges grace where was great triumph and great loue and amitie shewed on both parties insomuch that a certaine man marueiling at it asked the old Bishop of Deram How it might be that we were so great with the Emperour so shortly vpon so strong and euerlasting a peace made betwene vs the frenchmen the Emperour and the King of Fraūce being so mortall enemies My lord aunswered that it might be well enough if he wist all but there was a certaine secret sayd he wherof all men knew not Yea verily they haue had secrets this vi◠hundred yeres which though all the lay men haue felt them yet few haue spyed them saue a few Iudases which for lucre haue bene confederate with them to betray their own kinges and all other Then were we indifferent stood still and the Emperour the French king wrasled together and Ferdinādus the Emperors brother wan Millane of the frenchmen and the Emperour Turnay our great cōquest which yet after so great cost in building a castle we deliuered vp againe vnto the Frenchmen in earnest and hope of a mariage betweene the Dolphine and our Princesse How the Emperour came thorow England AFter that the Emperour would into Spaine came through England where he was receaued w t great honour and with all that partaineth to loue and amitie The kings grace lent him mony and promised him more the Emperour should tary a certayne yeres and mary our princesse not that the Cardinal entended that thou maist be sure for it was not profitable for their kingdome but his minde was to daly with the Emperour and to keepe him without a wife that insomuch as he was yong and lusty he might haue bene nozeled entangled with hores which is their nurturing of kinges made so effeminate and beastly that he should neuer haue bene able to lift vp hys hart to any goodnesse or vertue that Cardinals and Bishoppes might haue administred hys dominions in the meane time vnto our holy fathers profite The king of Fraunce hearing the fauour that was shewed vnto the Emperour sent imediatly a defiaunce vnto our king not without our Cardinals and Bishops counsell thou mayst well wite For frenchmen are not so folish to haue done it so vnaduisedly and so rashly seing they had to many in their toppes already Then our king spake many great woordes that he would driue the frenchking out of his realme or els the frenchking should driue him out of his But had he added as the legate Pandulph taught king Iohn with the Popes licence his words had soūded much better For there can no vow stand in effecte except the holy father confirmed it We sent out our souldiers two summers agaynst the Frenchmen vnto whose cheef Captayne 's the Cardinall had appointed how far they should go and what they should do and therfore the French king was nothing afrayd but brought all his power against the Emperour in other places so was the Emperor euer betrayed And thus the Cardinall was the Emperours frend openly and the french kinges secreatly For at the meeting with the french king beside Cales he vtterly betrayed the Emperour yet for no loue that he had to Fraunce but to helpe the Pope and to haue bene Pope happly to saue their kingdome Which treason
Neyther is it maruell for it hath cost more then London and xl mile about it is able to make I think at this houre beside the effusion of innoceÌ„t bloud that was offred vnto the idoll and dayly is offred therto When this glorious name was come from our holy father the Cardinall brought it vnto the Kinges grace at Greenwich And though the king had it already and had read it yet against the morning were all the lordes gentlemen that could in so short space be gathered together sent for to come and receaue it in with honour And in the morning after the Cardinall gat him through the backside into the frier obseruantes And part of the gentils went round about and welcommed him from Rome as representing the Popes person part met him halfe way part at the court gate and last of all the kings grace him self met him in the hall and brought him vp in to a great chamber where was a seate prepared on hye for the Kinges grace and the Cardinal while the Bull was read in so much that not the wise onely but men of meane vnderstanding laughed the vaine pomp to scorne not far vnlike to the receauing of the Cardinals hatte Which wheÌ„ a ruffian had brought vnto him to Westminster vnder his cloke he clothed the messenger in rich aray and sent him backe to Douer againe and appoynted the Bishop of Canterbury to meete him and then an other company of lordes and gentles I wotte not how oft ere it came to Westminster where it was set on a cupborde and tapers about so that the greatest Duke in the lande must make curtesie thereto yea and to his empty seat he being away And shortly for lacke of authoritie of Gods worde Martin must be condemned by the authoritie of the king And the kinges grace to claw the Pope againe must make a booke in which to proue all that they would haue stablished for lacke of scripture yea and contrary to the opeÌ„ scripture is made this mighty reason Such prelates are the church and the church cannot erre and therfore all that they do is right we ought to beleeue them without any scripture yea and though the scripture be contrary Wherefore God offended with such blasphemy to make his enemies feele that they woulde not see in the open scripture nor in the practise of their liuings and doings cleane contrary vnto the scripture and vnto the liuing of Christ and his Apostles this viij hundred yeares hath poured his wrath vppon vs and hath snared the wise of the world with the subtlety of their owne wittes Moreouer when Marten Luther had submitted himselfe in an epistle let his grace consider what aunswer he gaue agayne Where is the glory of y t great prayse become that his grace gaue the Cardinall for his goodly actes and benefites which all the common wealth of the whole realme should feele And More among his other blasphemies in his Dialogue sayth that none of vs dare abide by our fayth vnto the death but shortly thereafter God to proue More that he hath euer bene a false lyar gaue strength vnto his seruaunt Sir Thomas Hitton to confesse and that vnto the death the faith of his holy sonne Iesus which Thomas the Bisshops of Canterbury and Rochester after they had dieted and tormented him secreatly murthered at Maydstone most cruelly I besech the kings most noble grace therefore to consider all the wayes by which the Cardinall and our holy Bishops haue lead him since he was first king and to see wherunto al the pride pompe and vaine boast of the Cardinall is come and how God hath resisted him and our Prelates in all theyr wiles Wee hauing nothing to do at all haue medled yet in all matters and haue spent for our prelats causes more then all Christendome euen vnto the vtter beggering of our selues haue gotten nothing but rebuke and shame hate among all nations and a mocke and a scorne thereto of them whome we haue most holpen For the Frenchmen as the saying is of late dayes made a play or a disguising at Paris in which the Emperour daunsed with the Pope and the French king and weried them the K. of England sitting on a hye bentch and looking on And when it was asked why he daunsed not it was aunswered that he sate there but to pay the ministrels their wages onely As who should say we payd for all mens daunsing We monyed the Emperour openly and gaue the Frenche men double and treble secretly and to the Pope also Yea and though Fardinandus had money sent him openly to blinde the world withall yet the saying is throughout all Douchland that we sent money to the king of Pole and to the Turke also and that by help of our mony Fardinandus was driuen out of Hungarie Which thing though it were not true yet it will breed vs a â—cab at the last and gette vs with our medling more hate then we shall be able to beare if a chaunce come vnlesse that we waxe wiser betime And I besech his grace also to haue mercy of his own soule and not to suffer Christ and his holy Testament to be persecuted vnder his name any longer that the sword of the wrath of god may be put vp againe which for that cause no doubt is most chiefly drawne And I beseech his grace to haue coÌ„passion on his poore subiectes which haue euer bene vnto his grace both obediente louing and kinde that the realme vtterly perishe not wyth the wicked counsell of our pestilent prelates For if his grace which is but a man should dye the lordes and commons not knowing who hath most right to enioy the crowne the realme could not but stande in great daunger And I exhorte the lordes temporall of the realme that they come and fall before the kinges grace and humblye desire his maiestie to suffer it to be tryed who of right ought to succed and if he or she fayle who next yea and who third And let it be proclamed openly And let al the lords temporal be sworn therto and all the knightes squires and gentlemen and the commons aboue xviij yeares old that there be no strife for the succession For if they trye it by the sworde I promise them I see none other likelyhode but that as the Cardinall hath prophecied it will cost the realme of England And all that be sworne vnto the cardinall I warne them yet once againe to breake their othes as I did in the obedience And all my lord Cardinals priuy secretaries and spyes by whom he worketh yet I warne theÌ„ to beware betime My lord Cardinall though he haue the name of all yet he wrought not all of his owne brayne but of all wilye and exercised in mischiefe he called vnto him the most experte and of their counsell and practise gathered that most seemed to serue his wicked purpose
make aunswere to thus Supper of the Lorde bringyng â—o â—or them their vnwritteÌ„ wordes dedes dreames for we haue compelled More with shame to flitte froÌ„ the Scripture strewed with their vame straunge termes which Paul damneth and geueth Timothe warning of I shall by gods grace so set the almighty word of God against them that all Christen shall see falshead and deceite in this SacrameÌ„t and so disclose theyr deuilish doctrine and fleighty iugglyng that all that can read Englishe shall see the trouth of Gods word openly beare downe their vnwritten lyes For it is verely the thyng that I desire euen to be written agaynst in this matter for I haue the solutions of all theyr obiections ready And know right well that the more they styrre this Sacrament the broder shall theyr lyes be spread the more shal theyr falsehead appeare and the more gloriously shall the trouth triumph as it is to see this day by long contention in this same and other lyke Articles which the Papistes haue so long abused and how More hys lyes vtter the truth euery day more and more For had he not come beggyng for the Clergy from Purgatory with his supplication of soules and Rastel and Rochester had they not so wysely played theyr partes Purgatory peraduenture had serued them yet another yeare neither had it so soone haue bene quenched nor the poore soule and Proctour there bene with his bloudy Byshop ChristeÌ„â—atte so farre coniured into hys owne Vtopia with a sachell about hys necke to gather for the proude Priestes in Synagoga Papistica When Christ was ascended into heauen and had sent his Apostles the spirite of truth to leade them into all truth perteinyng vnto our saluation euen â—nto hym that sayd I am the truth of whiche truth hee instructed them after his resurrection Luke xxiiij and they had preached the same truth nowe at IerusaleÌ„ Actes ij at which preachyng there were that receiued their wordes and were Baptised about iij. M. hys Apostles remembryng how their maistâ—â— Christ at his last Supper did institute and leaue them this holy Sacrament of his body and bloud to be celeâ—â—ated and done in his remembraunce among such as had receiued his Gospell were Baptised had professed hys fayth and would perseuer in his Religion dyd now in this first congregation celebrate the Lordes Supper breakyng the bread and eatyng it as Christ dyd teach them which Supper Luke and Paule called afterward the breakyng of the bread As Actes ij saying That they which gladly had now received Peters acte were baptised were perseuering in the doctrine of the Apostles and in the communioÌ„ and in the breakyng of the bread and in prayer whiche Sacrament was now a token of the perseueraunce in theyr Christen Religion now professed Of this breakyng of bread Luke writyng of Paule commyng vnto Troades sayth also that their vpon a Sabboth day when the Disciples were come together vnto the breakyng of the bread Paule made a Germon duryng to mydnight c. And that this was no common nor prophane vse but an heauenly Sacrament and a reuerent rite and vsage the circumstaunces of the action declare both in Luke and Paule shewyngit to be the very institutioÌ„ that Christ ordeyned at his Supper Paule thus recitynge this breakyng of the breake saying The bread whiche we breade is it not the felowshyp of the body of Christ y t is to say doth it not signifie vs to be the body of Christ that is hys congregation and people as doth the wordes folowyng declare Paule addyng the cause saying For we beyng many are all together siguified by the one loafe to be one body for that we be partakers of the same bread Also before he calleth in the same Supper the cup of thankes geuyng the felowshyp of the bloud of Christ that is to say the congregation redemed with Christes bloud The holy Sacrament therefore would God it were restored vnto the pure vse as y e Apostles vsed in it their tyme. Would God the secular princes which should be the very pastours and head rulers of their congregations coÌ„mitted vnto their cure would first coÌ„maunde or suffer the true preachers of Gods woorde to preache the Gospell purely and playnly with discrete libertie and constitute ouer eche particulare Parish such Curates as caÌ„ and would preach the word and that once or twise in the Weeke appoyntyng vnto theyr flocke certeyne dayes after their discretion and zeale to Godward to come together to celebrate the Lordes Supper At the which assemble the Curate would propone and declare them first this texte of Paule i. Corinthians xj So oft as ye shall eate this bread and drinke of this cuppe see that ye be ioyous prayse and giue thankes preachyng the death of the Lord c. whiche declared and euery one exhorted to prayer he would preach them purely Christ to haue dyed and bene offered vpon the altare of the Crosse for theyr redemption whiche onely oblation to be sufficieÌ„t sacrifice to peace the fathers wrath and to purge all the sinnes of the world Then to excite them with humble diligence euery man vnto the knowledge of hym selfe hys sinnes and to beleue and trust to the forgyuenesse in Christes bloud and for this so incomparable benefite of our redemption whiche were sold bondemen to sinne to geue thankes vnto God the father for so mercyfull a deliueraunce through the death of Iesu Christ euery one some singyng and some saying deuoutly one or other Psalme or prayer of thankes gyuyng in the mother toung Then the bread and wyne set before them in the face of the Churche vpon the table of the Lord purely and honesty layed let hym declare to the people the significations of those sensible signes what the action and deede moueth teacheth and exhorteth them vnto and that the bread and wyne be no prophane common signes but holy Sacramentes reuerently to be considered and receiued with a depe fayth and remembraunce of Christes death and of the shedyng of his bloud for our sinnes those sensible thynges to represente vs the very body and bloude of Christ so that while euery man beholdeth with his corporall eye those sensible Sacraments the inward eye of his fayth may see beleue stedfastly Christ offred and dying vppon the Crosse for his sinnes how his body was broken and his bloud shed for vs and hath giuen hym selfe whole for vs hym selfe to be all ours and what soeuer he dyd to serue vs as to bee made for vs of hys father our righteousnes our wisedome holynesse redemption satisfaction c. Then let this preacher exhort them louyngly to draw neare vnto this table of the Lord and that not onely bodely but also their hartes purged by fayth garnished with loue and innoceney euery man to forgyue eche other vnfaynedly and to expresse or at least wise to endeuour them to folow that loue whiche Christ dyd set before our
the world and to preach the Gospell to euery creature The Pope and hys Byshops forbyd it in the payne of disobedieÌ„ce and excommunication saue onely such as they will assigne 16. Christ was naked beaten scourged and false witnesse brought agaynst hym The Pope and his adherentes are wel clothed with precious garments and haue chaunge for ech day false witnes they haue inough not against them but to testifie with them what soeuer they will haue agaynst the innocentes 17. Christ came to séeke the poore comfort them he was not chargefull vnto them but was milde and had pitie on them The Pope and Byshops somon cite them be they neuer so poore not regarding their aduersitie But curse if they come not So that they go away soryer and sicker in soule and in purse then they were before 18. Christ commaunded that we should not sweare at all neither by heaueÌ„ neither by the temple c. But that our wordes should be yea yea nay nay The Pope sayth if any man wyll receaue any office vnder vs he shal be sworne before yea and geue a great summe of money Ca. Signifi de elect 19. Christ had a crowne of thorne thrust vpon his head so that y e bloude ranne downe vpoÌ„ his amiable countenaunce and sharpe nayles thorow his precious handes The Pope must weare thrée crownes of golde set with riche precious stones he lacketh no Diademes hys handes and fingers with owches and ringes are royally dight he passeth poore Christ farre 20. Christ tooke the crosse of painfull affliction vpon himselfe and coÌ„mauÌ„ded his disciples to folow him saying he that taketh not his crosse and folow me is not méete for me The Pope and hys Byshops take the crosse of pryde and haue it borne before them well gilt and amelde to haue a worshippe of thys worlde as for other crosse know they none 21. Christ prayed his father to forgeue them that trespassed hym yea and for them that put him to death Our Byshoppes pray the kyng to be auenged on them that resiste their mindes with forgeuenes they haue no acquaintance 22. Christ bad his disciples to preach the Gospell The Pope and his Byshops wyll haue men to preach fables and therto graunt letter and seall and many dayes of pardon 23. Christ commaunded hys disciples to know his lawe and bad the Iewes to serche the Scriptures And Moses exhorted y e Israelites to teach the lawe of God to their younge children And that they shoulde haue it bounde as a signe in their handes that it myght euer be before theyr eyes And caused them to write it on the postes and doores of their houses The Pope and his Bishoppes say that it is not méete for vs to know it they make it heresie and treason to y e kyng to know Christ or his lawes they haue digged cisternes of theyr owne traditions and haue stopped vp the pure fountaynes of Israell Oh Lord in whom is all our trust come downe from the heauens why doost thou tary so long seyng thyne aduersary thus preuayling agaynst thée 24. Christ approued hys lawe and confirmed it with his owne death The Pope and Bâ—shoppes vs full busie how they may destroy it and magnifie more theyr owne lawe then Christes to maintayne theyr fatte bellyes 25. Christ would men visited prisoners to comfort and deliuer them The Pope with his adherentes discomfort the poore and the true and put them in prison for the truth 26. Christ whom they call their example did neuer prison nor persecute any The Pope and his champyons persecute punishe prison and put to death them that are disobedient to their voluptuous pleasures Ye sée how strayghte they followe Christes steppes 27. Christ coÌ„maunded his disciples that if any man trespassed agaynst them they shoulde go reproue hym priuely if he would not obey and be reconcyled then shoulde they take with them one witnes or twayne if he would not then heare them that they should tell it to the whole coÌ„gregation And if he would still continue in his stubbernes that they should auoyde his company The Pope and Byshoppes wyll cast straight into prison there to remaine in yrons to make them reuoke the truth and graunt to their willes and if he be stronge and will not forsake the truth they will condemne him without audience for feare of losing of their temporall winning And offering to their wombes and taking away of their temporaltyes wherewith the church is venomed 28. Christ charged Peter thrise to kéepe well and nourishe his shéepe The Pope chargeth much more to kéepe well his money As for the shéepe he shereth and punisheth wyth infinite exactions 29. Christ healing the sicke and doing many myracles did lightly euer commaunde that they shoulde tell no man who did heale them The Pope and Byshoppes geue great giftes to minstrelles and messengers to leude lyers and flatterers to crye their name about that they may haue worshyppe in this worlde 30. Christ had no secular courtes to pleade y e matters of his disciples for they would not resist euill The Pope and Bishoppes haue many with men of lawe to oppresse y e poore against mercy forgeue they will not but euer be auenged 31. Christ in cities and townes hunted the féendes out of men that they dwelled in with the wordes of hys mouth The Pope and Byshoppes hunt the wilde Deare the For and the Hare in their closed parkes wyth great cryes and hornes blowinge with Hâ—undes and ratches running 32. God was called the holy father of Iesu Christ his sonne The Pope is called most holy father of SathaÌ„s children taketh that name on him wyth Lucifers pride his disciples say y e he is god on earth and we are taught by Christes lawe to haue but one God 33. Christ sate in the middes of the Doctors asking and hearing them The Pope and Byshoppes sit in thrones wyth glorious myters iudgeing and condemning by theyr owne made lawes A litle matter long in pleating which myght be soone determined by the lawe of God if they would vse it but then were their winning the lesse and their lawe wythout profite 34 Christ taught that a man shoulde forsake his wife for no cause but for aduoutry The Pope and Byshoppes wyll make deuorces for money as often as they list and so they pille the poore and make themselues rich nothyng regardyng to breake the law of God 35. Christ sent the holy ghost in feruent loue to teach all the truth vnto them which were chosen of God The Pope and Byshoppes sende commaundements all about to curse and aske auengeaunce on them that resiste theyr tyranny And absoile theÌ„ agayne cleane for money all their doctrines haue golden tayles for money is euer the ende geue them money and you haue fulfilled all theyr lawes 36. Christ fulfilled and kept the olde lawe and the new and all
are infinite other thynges wherein hee contrarieth Christ in so much that if it be diligētly examined I thinke there is no word that Christ spake but the other hath taught or made a law agaynst it Howbeit for to auoyde tediousnes we shall leaue them vnto your owne iudgement for they are soone searched out espyed Iudge Christē reader all these things with a simple eye be not parcially addict to the one nor to the other But Iudge them by the Scripture And knowledge that to be the truth which Gods word doth alow auoydyng all other doctrine for it springeth of Sathan be not ashamed to confesse poore Christ and to take him for thy head before these rauenous Wolues for then shall he cōfesse thée agayn before his father the aungelles in heauen Then shalt thou bee inheritour with Iesu Christe And the faythfull sonne of thy father whiche is in heauen to whom be all glory eternally Amen ¶ Here endeth the Antithesis betwene Christe and the Pope A booke made by Iohn Frith prisoner in the Tower of London aunsweryng vnto M. Mores letter which he wrote against the first litle treatise that Iohn Frith made concernyng the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ vnto which booke are added in the ende the articles of hys examination before the Bishops of London Winchester and Lyncolne in Paules Churche at London for which Iohn Frith was condemned and after burned in Smithfield without Newgate the fourth day of Iuly Anno. 1533. ¶ The Preface of this booke GRace and increase of knowledge from God the father through our Lorde Iesus Christ be with the Christen reader and with all them that loue the Lord vnfaynedly Amen I chaunced beyng in these parties to be in company with a Christen brother which for his commēdable conuersation and sober behauiour might better be a Byshop then many that weare miters if the rule of S. Paule were regarded in their election This brother after much communication desired to know my mynde as touchyng the Sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ Which thing I opened vnto hym accordyng to the gift that God had geuen me First I proued vnto hym that it was no article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vnder payne of damnation Then I declared that Christ had a naturall body euen as myne is sauyng sinne and that it could no more bee in two places at once thē myne cā Thirdly I shewed him that it was not necessarie that the wordes should so be vnderstand as they sound But that it might be a phrase of Scripture as there are innumerable After that I shewed him certaine phrases and maner of speakynges And that it was well vsed in our English toung and finally I recited after what maner they might receiue it according to Christes institutiō not fearyng the froward alteration that the Priests vse contrary to the first forme and institution When I had sufficiently published my mynde hee desired me to entitle the sūme of my wordes and write them for hym because they seemed ouerlong to be well reteined in memorie And albeit I was loth to take the matter in hand yet to fulfill his instant intercession I tooke vpon me to touche this terrible tragedie and wrote a treatise whiche beside my paynfull imprisonmēt is like to purchase me most cruell death which I am ready and glad to receiue with the spirite and inward man although the fleshe be frayle when soeuer it shall please God to lay it vpon me Notwithstādyng to say the truth I wrote it not to the intēt that it should haue ben published For then I would haue touched the matter more earnestly and haue written as well of the spirituall eating drinking which is of necessitie as I dyd of the carnall which is not so necessarie For the treatise that I made was not expedient for all men albeit it were sufficient for them whom I tooke in hand to instruct For they knew the spirituall and necessarie eatyng and drinkyng of his body bloud which is not receiued with the teth and bellye but with the eares and faith and onely neded instructiō in the outward eating whiche thing I therfore onely declared But now it is cōmon abroad and in many mēs mouthes in so much that M. More whiche of late hath busied hym selfe to medle in all such matters of what zeale I will not define hath sore labored to confute it but some mē thinke that he is ashamed of his part and for that cause doth so diligently suppresse the woorke whiche he printed For I my selfe saw the worke in Print in my Lord of Winchesters house vpon S. Stephens day last past But neither I neither all the frēdes I could make might attaine any copie but onely one written copie whiche as it seemed was drawen out in great hast notwithstandyng I can not well iudge what the cause should bee that his boke is kept so secret But this I am right sure of that he neuer touched the foundation that my treatise was builded vpon And therefore sith my foundation standeth so sure and inuincible for els I thinke verely he would sore haue laboured to haue vndermined it I will thereupon builde a litle more and also declare that his ordinaūce is to slender to breake it downe although it were set vppon a woorse foundation ¶ The foundation of that litle treatise was that it is no article of our fayth necessary to be beleued vnder payne of damnation that the Sacrament should be the naturall body of Christ which thyng is proued on this maner FIrste we must all acknowledge that it is no article of our fayth which can saue vs nor which we are bound to beleue vnder the paine of eternal damnation For if I should beleue that hys very naturall body both flesh and bloud were naturally in the bread and wine that should not saue me seyng many beleue that and receiue it to their damnation for it is not his presence in the bread that can saue me but his presence in my hart through faith in his bloud which hath washed out my sinnes and pacified y t fathers wrath toward me And agayne if I doe not beleue his bodely presence in the bread and wyne that shall not damne me but the absence out of my hart thorough vnbelefe Now if they would here obiect that though it be truth that the absēce out of the bread could not damne vs yet are we bounde to beleue it because of gods word which who beleueth not as much as in him lyeth maketh God a lyer And therfore of an obstinate mynde not to beleue hys word may be an occasion of damnation To this we may answere that we beleue Gods worde and knowledge that it is true but in this we dissent whether it be true in the sence that we take it in or in the sence that ye take it in And we say agayne that though
signification and sought their health and righteousnes in the bodely worke and in the sacrifice it selfe then were they abhominable in the sight of God and then he cryed out of them both by the Prophet Dauid and Esay And likewise it is with our Sacramentes let vs therefore séeke vp the significations and go to the very thing which the sacrament is set to present vnto vs. And there shal we finde such fruitfull foode as shall neuer fayle vs but comfort our soules into life euerlastyng Now will I in order answer to M. Mores booke and as I finde occasion geuen me I shall indeuoure my selfe to supply that thyng which lacked in the first treatise and I trust I shall shewe such lyght that all men whose eyes the Prince of this worlde hath not blynded shall perceiue the truth of the scriptures and glory of Christ And where as in my first treatise the truth was set forth with all simplicitie and nothing armed against the assault of sophisters that haue I somewhat redressed in this booke haue brought bones filte for their téeth which if they be to busie may chaunce to choke them ¶ Thus beginneth the Preface of M. Mores booke IN my most harty wyse I recommende me vnto you and send you by this bringer the wryting againe which I receiued from you Whereof I haue bene offered a cople of copies mo in the mean while as late as ye wot well it was Deare brethren consider these wordes and prepare you to the crosse that Christ shall lay vppon you as ye haue oft bene counsaylled For euen as when the Wolfe howleth y e shéepe had nede to gather thēselues to their shepheard to be deliuered from the assault of the bloudy beast likewyse had you nede to slye vnto the shepheard of your soules Christ Iesus to sell your coates and buye his spirituall sworde which is the word of God to defende and deliuer you in this present necessitie for now is the tyme that Christ tolde vs of Math. x. that he was come by his worde to set variaunce betwene the sonne and his father betwene the daughter and her mother betwene the daughter in lawe and her mother in lawe that in a mans owne householde shall be his enemies But be not dismayde nor thinke it no wonder for Christe those twelue and one of them was y e Deuill and betrayed his master And we that are his disciples may loke for no better than he had himself for the scholer is not aboue his mayster Saint Paule protesteth y e he was in perill among false brethren surely I suppose that we are in no lesse ieopardye For if it be so that hys mastership receiued one copye and had a cople of copyes moe offered in the meane while then may ye be sure that there are many false brethren which pretend to haue knowledge in déede are but pykethankes prouiding for their bellye prepare ye therfore clokes for the weather waxeth cloudy and rayne is like to followe I meane not false excuses and forswearing of your selues but that ye loke substantially vpon Gods worde that you may be able to answere their subtle obiections And rather chuse manfully to dye for Christ and hys worde than cowardlye to deny hym for thys vayne and transitory lyfe cōsidering that they haue no further power but ouer this corruptible bodye which if they put it not to death must yet at y e length perish of it selfe But I trust the Lord shall not suffer you to be tēpted aboue that you may beare but according to y e sprite that he shall poure vppon you shall he also sende you the scourge and make hym that hath receiued more of the sprite to suffer more and him that receiueth lesse thereof to suffer according to his Talent I thought it necessary first to admonishe you of this matter and now I will recite more of M. Mores boke Whereby men may see how gredely these newe named brethren writeit out secretly spread it abroade The name is of great antiquitie although you liste to ieste For they were called brethrē ere our Bishops were called Lordes and had y e name geuen them by Christ saying Math. xxiij all ye are brethren And Luke y ◠xxij Confirme they brethren And the name was cōtinued by the Apostles and is a name that nourisheth loue amitie And very glad I am to heare of their gredy affection in writing out and spreading abroade the worde of God for by that I do perceiue the prophesie of Amos to haue place which sayth In the person of God I will send hunger and thyrste into the earth not hunger for meate nor thurst for drinke But for to here the word of God Now begynneth the kyngdome of heauen to suffer violence Now runne the poore Publicanes which knowledge them selues sinners to the word of God puttyng both goodes and body in ieoperdy for the soule health And though our Byshops do call it heresie and all them heretickes that hunges after it yet do we know that it is the Gospell of the lyuyng God for the health and saluation of all that beleue And as for the name doth nothing offēde vs though they call it heresie a thousand tymes For S. Paule testifieth that the Phariseis and Priestes which were counted the very Church in hys tyme dyd so call it and therefore it foreceth not though they ruling in their rowmes vse the same names Which young mā I here say hath lately made diuers other thynges that yet runne in hoker moker so close amōg the brethren that there commeth no copies abroad I aunswere that surely I can not spynne and I thinke no mā more hateth to be idle then I do Wherfore in such thynges as I am able to doe I shal be diligēt as long as God lendeth me my lyfe And if ye thinke I be to busie you may rid me the sooner for euen as the shéepe is in the butchers handes ready bound and looketh but euen for the grace of the butcher whē he shall shed his bloud Euen so am I bounde at the Byshops pleasures euer lookyng for the day of my death In so much that playne worde was sent me that the Chauncelour of Lōdon sayd it should cost me the best bloud in my body whiche I would gladly were shed to morow if so be it might open the kyngs graces eyen And verely I maruell that any thing can runne in hoker moker or be hyd from you For sith you mought haue such store of copyes concernyng the thyng whiche I most desired to haue ben kept secret how should you then lacke a copye of those thynges which I most would haue published And hereof ye may be sure I care not though you and all the Byshops with in England looke on all that euer I wrote but rather would be glad that ye so dyd
sayth but because the Scripture of God doth so conclude determine I take not Luther for such an author that I thinke hee can not erre but I thinke verely that he both may erre and doth erre in certayne poyntes although not in such as concerne saluation and damnation for in these blessed be God all these whom ye call heretickes do agrée right well And likewise I do not alow this thing because Wickleffe Oecolampadius Tyndall and Zwinglius so say but be cause I sée them in that place more purely expoūde the Scripture and that the processe of the text doth more fauour their sentence And where you say that I affyrme it to be bread still as Luther doth the same I say agayne not because Luther so sayth but because I cā proue my wordes true by scripture reason nature and doctors Paule calleth it bread saying the bread whiche we breake is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ For we though we be many are yet one body and one bread as many as are partakers of one bread And againe he sayth as often as ye eate of thys bread or drinke of thys cuppe you shall shewe the Lordes death vntill he come Also Luke calleth it bread in the Actes saying they continued in the fellowship of the Apostles and in breaking of bread and in prayer Also Christ called the cuppe the fruite of the vyne saying I shall not from hence forth drinke of the fruite of the vyne vntill I drink that new in the kingdome of my father Furthermore nature doth teach you that both y ◠bread and wine continue in their nature For the bread mouleth if it be kept long yea and wormes bréede in it And the poore mouse will runne away with it and desire no other meate to her dinner which are euident inough that there remayneth bread Also the wine if it were reserued would waxe sower as they confesse them selues and therefore they housell the laye people but with one kinde onely because the wine can not continue nor be reserued to haue ready at hand whē nede were And surely as if there remayned no bread it could not mould nor waxe full of wormes Euē so if there remained no wine it could not waxe sower and therefore it is but false doctrine that our prelates so long haue published Finally that there remayneth bread might be proued by the authoritie of many doctors which call it bread and wine as Christ and his Apostles did And though some sophisters would wrast their sayings and expound them after their phantasie yet shall I alleage them one doctor which was also Pope of Rome that maketh so plaine with vs that they shall be compelled with shame to hold their tongues For Pope Gelasius writeth on thys maner Certe sacramenta quae sumimus corporis sanguinis Christi diuine res sunt propterea per illa participes facti sumus diuinae naturae tamē nō desinit esse substantia vel panis vini sed permanent in suae proprietate naturae Et certe imago similitudo corporis sanguinis Christi in actione misteriorum celebrantur That is to say Surely the sacramentes of the body and bloud of Christ are a godly thing and therfore through them are we made partakers of the godly nature And yet doth it not cease to be the substance or nature of bread and wine but they continue in the propertie of their owne nature and surely the image and similitude of the body and bloud of Christ are celebrated in the acte of the mysteries Thys I am sure was the olde doctrine which they can not auoyde And therefore with the Scripture nature and fathers I will conclude that there remaineth the substaunce and nature of bread and wine And where ye say that we affyrme it to be nothing els I dare say that ye vntruely report on vs all And here after I will shewe you what it is more then bread And where ye say that it is méetely well knowen what maner of folke they be and that God hath in part with his open vengeance declared I aunswere that master Wickliffe was noted while he was liuing to be a man not onely of most famous doctrine but also of a very sincere life and conuersation Neuerthelesse to declare your malicious mindes and vengeable hartes as men say xv yeare after he was buryed you tooke hym vp and burnt hym which facte declared your furye although he felt no fire but blessed be God which hath geuen such tyrantes no further power but ouer thys corruptible body For the soule ye can not binde nor burne but God may blesse where you curse and curse where you blesse And as for Oecolampadius whō you also call Huskyn his most aduersaries haue euer commended his conuersation and godly life which when God had appoynted hys tyme gaue place vnto nature as euery mā must and dyed of a canker And Tyndall I trust liueth well content with such a poore Apostles life as God gaue hys sonne Christ and hys faythfull ministers in thys world which is not sure of so many mites as ye be yearely of poundes although I am sure that for hys learning and iudgement in Scripture he were more worthy to bee promoted then all the Bishops in England I receaued a letter from hym which was written since Christmas wherein among other matters he writeth thus I call God to recorde agaynst the day we shall appeare before our Lorde Iesus to geue a reckoning of our doings that I neuer altered one sillable of Gods worde agaynst my conscience nor would doe thys day if all that is in earth whether it be honour pleasure or riches might be geuen me Moreouer I take God to recorde to my conscience that I desire of God to my selfe in thys world no more then that without which I can not kéepe hys lawes c. Iudge Christē reader whether these words be not spoken of a faythfull clere innocent hart And as for hys behauiour is such that I am sure no man cā reproue hym of any sinne howbeit no mā is innocent before God which beholdeth the hart Finally Zwinglius was a man of such learning and grauitie beside eloquence that I thinke no man in Christendome might haue compared with hym notwithstanding he was slaine in battell in defending hys Citie and common wealth agaynst the assaulte of wicked enemies whiche cause was most righteous And if hys mastership meane that that was the vengeaunce of God and declared hym to be an euill person because he was slaine I may say nay and shew euident examples of the contrary for sometyme God geueth the victorye agaynst them that haue most righteous cause as it is euident in the booke of Iudges where all the children of Israell were gathered together to punishe y e shamefull sodomitrie of the Tribe of Beniamin which
bee and as you haue wel deserued that I should bée I could so set out this matter that all mē should spytte at you but I will vse my selfe charitable toward you and if the matter had not béene so haynously and so violently hādled of you I would not haue geuen you one ill woorde But now let no man require of me that I should vnto such an abhominable detestable deuill as hath brought in this wicked and shamefull learnyng and maners put of my cappe make low curtesie and geue fayre wordes and say God geue you good morow syr deuill how fare you I am glad of your welfare and prosperity your Lordship doth rule very graciously and all men prayseth you I doubte not but God shall prosper you I say let no man require this of me for I am and will bée so taken for his mortall enemy whersoeuer I doe finde hym whether hée bée Lord or Byshop sauing peraduenture if I spye hym dwelling in a Byshoppe I wyll not hādle him with so rough wordes for the weaknes of certayne men as I would if I founde him in an other place It were not vncharitable if I recited here by name the innocent bloud that you haue shed in my time for the speaking against your vnlawfull doctrine Alas what fault coulde ye sinde in good mayster Bylney whō ye haue cast away so violently I dare say there is not one among you that knew hym but must commende and prayse his vertuous lyuinge And though you had founde him with a litle faulte the which I thinke and hée were now aliue should be no faulte alas would you cast away so cruelly so good a man and so true a mā both to God and to his kyng But I will returne agayne to my purpose and shewe an other example how you haue learned and taught to set kings and kingdomes togither by y e eares for the maintenance of your dignities and doctrines Pope Vrban the vj. which was chosē in the yeare of our Lord 1378. by sedition violence of Romaines which would haue no Cardinall of Fraunce because they woulde the Pope shoulde bee resident in Rome This Vrban I say deuising how to mayntaine his secte and part agaynst his aduersary which was called Clement of whose side y e kyng of Fraūce helde sent to the kyng of England Ed. the 3. the which as than was not well content with the Frenche kyng certayne Bulles contaynyng cleane remission a poena a culpa for all them that would wage battayle against the kyng of Fraunce against them that were of Clementes side And because the kyng and his Lords shoulde bée the willinger to take battayle on them hée sent a commaundement to the Byshops to rayse of the spiritualtie a taxe for to pay the souldiours wyth Moreouer because the Duke of Lancaster had a tytle to the kyngdome of Castell the which helde of Clementes side therefore y e Pope graunted that part of this money should also bée deliuered to hym if hée would wage battayle agaynst y e kyng of Castell promysing hym also that hée would styrre the kyng of Portyngale which than had also varyaunce with the sayde kyng of Castelll to warre agaynst the sayd kyng and to the mayntaynyng of his warre hée would graūt y t kyng of Portyngale a demy of his spiritualty thorow all his Realme How much was gathered in Portyngale our stories maketh no mension but in London and in the diocese was gathered a tūne of golde and in the whole realme of England was gathered xxv C. M. frankes whiche makes in Englishe money CC. lxxvij M. vij C. lxxvij 〈◊〉 And because this money was gathered of y e spiritualitie and by their diligence therefore the Pope ordayned Henry Spenser the Byshop of Norwych to bée the chiefe captayne of this warre but or euer the Pope coulde brynge this matter to passe he sent to y e king to his Lordes and to his Byshoppes xxx Bulles So that at the last thys foresayd Byshop of Norwyche was sent foorth with a greate number of men in the wages of the Church And the Duke of Lankester likewise agaynst the kyng of Castell Theyr oth was geuen them to fight agaynst no man nor countrey that helde with Pope Vrban And our chronicle saith that Pope Vrban would haue made peace betwene the Frēch king and ours at the last How thinke you is not this a pretie practise to set men together by the eares and than to make them beleeue that he woulde make a peace Fyrst we must haue cleane remission to fight and thā wée shall bée curssed as blacke as a potte if wée will make no peace And why because the Pope hath hys purpose Is not this a goodly packyng of spirituall men Is not here goodly obedience taught toward Princes Bée not mens soules well fed wyth thys doctrine Bée not these good fathers that thus watcheth nyght and daye for y t cure and charge that they haue of mens soules Marke how charitable and liberall that the holy Fathers bée in distributing of Christes merites Euery man that fighteth in his cause shall haue cleane remission a pena a culpa and must néedes bée the childe of saluation Let Christ say and doe what hée can for the holye Church hath so determined And that no man shoulde doubt of it there bée xxx Bulles graunted and that vnder leade And the Church of Rome can not erre for the spirituall lawe sayth what the sea of Rome doth approue that must néedes bée allowed and that that she reproueth must bée of no strength Likewise in an other place So must the decrées of the sea of Rome bée accepted as though they were spoken by the godly voyce of Peter hymselfe Agaynst these thinges dare I not speake for I would fayne bee taken for a Christen man but yet I muste bee so bolde to speake one worde the truth is the deuill himselfe hath blowen out these presumptuous voyces And yet mē must set both life soule on these wordes For there bée xxx Bulles of leade to confirme the matter And that is a weightye thynge But when kyng Iohn our naturall prince shoulde haue had of the pyed Mōkes for the defēce of this realme but a small summe of money Than was there neuer a Bull to gette nor yet one Byshop in Englād to preach on his side But now CC. M. pound gathered in one Lent and a greate deale more for the maintainaūce of y e pope his holy flesh Was not this a marueilous subiectiō that we should suffer our selues so lightly to bée moued to geue not onely so greate a sūme of money but also to send forth in the defence of such a wicked person our naturall brethren kinsemen and countreymen I dare say of my conscience that in fiue hūdred yeares there was not such a summe of money so lightly graunted were the cause neuer so great vnto our right naturall and
lege Lord. Ye I doe beléeue that if the kynges grace at this same day should desire of y e spirituality but halfe of this summe I dare say they wold neuer graūt him with their good will nor there shoulde not bée found one Diuine in England of the holy Popes Churche that could and would proue by good Diuinitie that the kyng might take it and the spiritualitie were bounde to geue it Alas what shall I say beléeue me I doe want wordes to y e settyng out of this matter where is natural affectiō where is naturall loue where is fidelitie where is truth of hart that men ought to haue and to beare toward their naturall Prince toward their natiue countrey toward their fathers and mothers toward their wiues and childrē yea toward their liues God of his infinite goodnesse hath geuen vs a noble Prince to the maintaynyng and defence of all these thynges and toward hym we haue litle or none affection But vnto this idole of Rome are we ready to geue both body and goodes and the more we geue the better we are content Was not this a merueilous poueryshyng to this Realme to sende out so many thousandes and to receiue nothyng agayne but deceitfull Bulles and shéepes skynnes and a litle péece of leade yea and worst of all to make men beléeue that their saluation dyd hange on it I dare say boldly that if we poore men which bée now condēned for heretickes and also for traytours against our kyng had not béen the Realme of England had not stād in so good a condition as it is for men had béene bounde still in their conscience for to obey this wretched idole Who durst haue kept y e innumerable summe of money within the realme y e yearely was sucked out by this adder if our godly learnyng had not instructed their conscience Let all the Liberaries bée sought in Englād and there shall not be one booke writtē in iiij C. yeares and admitted by the Church of Rome and by our spiritualtie founde that doth teach this obedience and fidelitie toward Princes and deliuereth our Realme from the bondage of this wicked Sathan the pope or els that is able to satisfie and to quiete any mans conscience within this Realme and yet I dare say hée is not in Englād that cā reproue our learnyng by the doctrine of our master Christ or els of his holy Apostles Yea mē haue studyed and deuised how they might bryng our mighty Prince and his noble Realme vnder y e féete of this deuill There could bée nothyng handled so secretly within this Realme but if it were either pleasaunt or profitable to the Pope to know then were all the Byshops in England sworne to reuelate that matter to him This may bee wel proued by their shamefull trayterous oth that they contrary to Gods law mans law and order of nature haue made to this false man the Pope The wordes of their othe written in their owne law be these I Byshop N. frō this houre forth shal be faithfull to S. Peter to the holy Church of Rome and to my Lord the Pope to his successours lawfully entryng into the Popedome I shall not consent in counsell nor in déede that hée shoulde lose either lyfe or lymme or that hée should bée taken in any euill trap His councell that shall bée shewed vnto me either by hym selfe or els by his letters or by his Legates I shall open to no man to hys hurt or damage I shall helpe to defend mayntaine the Papacie of the Church of Rome the rules of the holy fathers sauyng myne order agaynst all men liuyng I shall come to the Councell when soeuer I bée called onles I bée lawfully let The Popes Legate I shall honorablye entreate both goyng and commyng in his necessities I shall helpe him I shall visite yearely either by myne owne proper person or els by some sure messenger the sea of Rome onles I bée dispensed with So helpe me God and this holy Euangelist There hath béene wonderous packing vsed and hath cost many a thousand mens liues ere that the spiritualitie brought it to passe that all they should bée sworne to the Pope owe none obedience to any man but to him onely This matter hath béene wonderous craftely conueyed for at the beginnyng the Bishops were not sworne so straitely vnto the Pope as now For I doe read in the tyme of Gregory the thyrd which was in the yeare of our Lord. vij C. lix how their othe was no more but to sweare for to kéepe the fayth of holy Church and to abide in the vnity of the same and not to consent for any mans pleasure to the contrary to promise also to séeke the profites of the Church of Rome And if any Byshops did lyue agaynst the olde statutes of holy fathers with him they should haue no conuersation but rather forbidde it if they coulde or els trewly to shewe the Pope of it This othe cōtinued a great many of yeares tyll that a mortall hatred sprang betwene the Emperour and the Pope for confirming of Byshops than as many Byshops as were confirmed of the Pope did sweare the othe that I haue first written For this othe that Gregory maketh mention of was not sufficient because that by it the Byshops were not bounde to betray their Princes nor to reuelate their counselles to the Pope The which thing y e pope must néedes know or els hee coulde not bring to passe his purpose that is to say he coulde not bée Lord ouer the worlde and cause Emperours and kynges to fetch their confirmation of him and to knéele downe and kisse his féete The which when hée had broght to passe hée procéeded farther adding more thinges in the Byshops othe to the maintayning of his worldly honour and dignitie as it shall afterward appeare But first wée wyll examine this othe how it standeth with Gods worde and with the true obedience to our prince I pray you tell me out of what Scripture or els out of what example of our mayster Christ his holy Apostles you haue takē this doctrine to learne to swere to Saint Peter or els to the Church of Rome or els to the Pope What néede you to sweare to Saint Peter ye cā neither doe hym good by your fidelitie nor yet hurt by your falshode Othes be taken that hée that the othe is made vnto might bée sure of the true helpe and succour of hym that sweareth agaynst all men that could hurte hym Now Saint Peter hath none enymies and though hée had yet is not hée afearde of them neyther can you helpe hym nor deliuer hym if hée had néede But the verytie is that good S. Peter must here stand in the fore frunt to make men afrayde with and to make men beléeue that you are his frendes but God knoweth that you neyther fauour his person lrarnyng nor lyuyng For if S. Peters person
were here with his nette on his necke I thinke you would bid hym walke beggar if you called him not heretik Why doe you not sweare to folowe hys lyuing and to preach and teach his doctrine but that maketh nothing for your purpose Therefore you swerre all onely to S. Peters name But wherein wyll you bée faythfull to S. Peter to mayntane his worldly honours dignities or riches you know well hée sayth that hée hath forsaken all these thinges for Christes sake And for these thinges I thinke hée will require none othe of you Wherfore if you will néedes bée faythfull sworne vnto S. Peter it muste bée in mayntayning and in defending spirituall thynges as preaching of Christes Gospell purely and sincerely mynystring truelye after the institution of our master Christ y e blessed sacramentes of holy church and in vertuous lyuyng geuing example to the holy church of Christe But now if this bée your othe truely you are periured worthy to weare papers for you doe reken your selues to hye and to honorable to goe aboute such simple thinges as these bée And therfore you haue applyed your selues to other greater matters as to christening of belles to halowing of churches to blessing of candels to consecrating of holy oyle to halowing of chalesies vestementes and aulters and to geuing 40. dayes of pardon to them that receiueth your blessings in the streate and to some that visyte holy saintes such like greate matters which partayneth nothing to your othe wherefore I doe recken y e after the true forme of your othe we haue but few byshops but y e bée periured or abiured call it as you will both against God agaynst S. Peter and against their prince It foloweth And to the holy church of Rome what néedeth this what good can you doe to y e holy church of Rome Or what profyte is it to her that you sweare where is any request of her in holy scripture that you shoulde sweare Thinke you that she will compell you by your othe to bée true to her then must shee néedes sue you of periurie if you breake your othe But marke how y e church of Rome is set in your othe as the better person before the Pope wherefore it must néedes followe that y e Pope is vnder y e church and lesse then the church and no hed of the church except you will make hym a third person that neither pertayneth to S. Peter nor yet to holy Churche but is a thyng of him selfe and as your law sayth neither God nor man but middle betwéene them both that is as much to say after my learnyng as the deuill hym selfe But what meaneth it that you sweare onely to the holy Churche of Rome will you bée traytours to the holy Church of Constātinople or els to the holy Churche of England Or doe you thinke other Churches not holy tell vs what you meane for it séemeth a marueilous thyng and also a speciall thyng that you make such an othe all onely to the holy Church of Rome naming none other church Why are you not rather sworne to kéepe and to féede to norish and to bée true to your owne Church of the which you haue taken cure charge As S. Peter commaundeth you Sée that you féede Christes flocke which is among you For of these you haue taken your name lyuyng and dignitie You are called Byshop of Winchester of London and of Lyncolne And of these you are fed but these bée forgotten in your othe and these you litle regarde but to mayntayne the holy Churche of Rome that geueth you neuer a peny but robbeth all other Churches you must bée straitly sworne And why Antichrist must haue a cloke for his treason For now if hée bée a traytour hée is to bée excused why for hée is sworne to it But shall I tell you what I doe take out of it The truth is that you sweare to betray to kil and slay all members of all other Churches sauyng those that liueth after the whoredome and mischief that is vsed in Rome For if you should bee bounde to séeke out in Rome Christened men and those that doth liue after the liuyng of holy church I thinke you should finde but few Yea and vnto those you would thinke scorne to bée sworne Ergo it must folow that you are sworne to the worst sort of Rome and that your holy Churche of Rome is taken for such a sorte as liueth agaynst God agaynst his blessed worde agaynst the liuyng of holy Aposties agaynst the cōditiōs of our holy mother y e church I could say in all whoredome in all oppression in all Sodomytrie in all murther in all pōpe pride summa summarum in all maner of mischief what toung cā tell or hart can thinke But I will not say so for men would reken me vncharitable and to vehement Neuerthelesse all the worlde knoweth that you doe recken your selfe by the vertue of your oth boūde to no men but vnto such as in very déede liueth after this vngracious maner and yet will you bée faithfull and true vnto them agaynst all men Yea I dare say if that their conscience had not cōdemned them of such mischief they would neuer haue desired this assistence of you or els haue thought it necessary to haue required an othe of you But the veritie is they bée naught and haue néede of mayntainers in their mischief And also suspect you not to bée true except you made an othe to them yea and scarsly then onles that you in very déede at tyme and place conuenient doe betray your Princes for that is y e cause of your othe and other profite hath not the kyng by it I will bée reported by all practise that euer came out of your othe It foloweth And to my Lord the Pope I would gladly learne where the Pope hath got the dignitie of a Lord. This thyng is litle regarded of my Lordes the Byshops to bryng in such a worldly dignitie yea they will say it is but a trifle and mocke men for speaking agaynst it But the truth is if they durst as much now as in times past they would burne for this litle trifle the best Lord in England For I dare say it hath cost many a mans lyfe or euer they brought the Pope to Lordshyp Blessed S. Peter whose successour the Pope boasteth him selfe to bée knew nothing of this Lordshyp for bée sayth vnto hys felowes they shall not exercise no Lordshyp ouer the congregation And likewise S. Paule durst not take vppon him to commaunde as a Lord collections to bée made for poore men but mekely desires thē without any Lordshyp Also in an other place Let no man iudge vs but as the Ministers of Christ Blessed S. Paule rekeneth him selfe but a minister a seruaunt And yet y e day hath béene that he was so good as my Lord the Pope Our master Christ that
came to teach both Peter and Paule learned his Disciples not to vse thē selues as Lordes but as seruauntes And marke the occasion that hée had There bée two newe Disciples brought vnto him and the old beyng not yet perfite thought scorne that these two should sit aboue all other y e one of the right hand and the other of the left hād But our master Christ reproueth this proude stomacke of theirs very straitely saying How y e Princes rulers of the infidels hath power ouer their subiectes but so shal not ye For hée that will bée greatest amōg you shal bée least Here our master Christ learneth none hypocrisie that they shold bée called lest in name and bée greatest in very déede but hée will that this doctrine shalbée expressed in their déedes My Lord the pope calleth him selfe in woordes the seruaunt of all seruauntes but in very déede hée wil bée Lord ouer all Lords Yea and my Lordes Byshops will bée sworne to hym as vnto a Lord they wil reken them selues periured if they burne not all them that will take the Pope but for a seruaunt Is not this a marueilous hypocrisie to bée called seruaunt of all seruauntes and yet desire for to bée taken as Lord and Kyng ouer all Kynges Yea and vnto this bée our Byshops sworne because they wil bée obedient to their Princes But and their consciences were rypped you should finde no mā sit there as a Kyng but my losell the Pope And we poore men must bée cōdemned for reprouyng of this And why Verely because my Lords haue sworne to hym agaynst their Prince and all his true subiectes But howe standeth it with your othe toward your Prince for to bée sworne to the Pope which is not all onely an other Lorde but also contrary yea and as the worlde now is the greatest mortall ennemy that our Prince hath For I dare say that if this wretched Clemēt could drowne our noble Prince with one worde it shoulde not bée longe vndone sine Clementia The common sayinge went in Hamburgh that this caytyfe hath not al onely excōmunicated our noble prince but also geuen away the kingdome to an other And this facte must you defende for you are sworne to y e Pope Yea I dare say if you had conuenient occasion you would declare your fidelitie I doe Iudge after your factes that you haue done to kinges in tymes past whensoeuer that you had power might to bring to passe y e which you haue conceiued agaynst your Prince If you thinke I iudge a mysse or els doe you wrong let me bée put to my proofe and you shall sée what an heape of holy factes y e I will bring you out of your own chronicles and bookes for the which you will bée lauded and praysed hyely that you haue so faythfully stucke vnto this dānable Idole of Rome Yea I dare say it had béene heresie within this two yeares to haue written or sayd thus much agaynst the lymme of the deuyll on our princes side This all y e worlde can testefye wherefore I thinke you will put me to no tryall But to your othe Howe doth it stand with your allegyance toward your prince to bee sworne to the Pope your owne lawe sayth that a lege man can make none othe of fydelytye to none other man but to his owne kinge Moreouer you doe remēber your othe made vnto your prince wherein you doe renounce all clauses wordes and sentences made vnto the Pope which may bée hurtfull or preiudiciall to his highnes How agréeth these ij othes you may set them togither as well as you cā but I know no waies to auoyde your periury For the very truth is that the kinges grace and his councell considering your othe made to the Pope to bée periudiciall to his regall power causeth you in your othe afterwarde made vnto him to reuoke those thinges that you haue afore sworne to y e Pope to declare that his grace his counsell did reckon your othe made to y e pope to bée against him therfore he maketh you to reuoke it by name naming the same othe also the same Pope So that you may clearely perceiue how that our prince doth suspect you for your othe making And in very déede the popes meaning yours was none other but for to betray y e king and his realme And therfore as soone as there was any variance betwéene y e king y t pope thē were you first of all assoyled of your allegyance dew vnto our king and that absolucion was blasen and blowen preached and taught throughout all the world all dores and postes must bée decked with papers and bulles for your discharge But for to helpe your Prince you could neuer bée discharged of your hereticall trayterous othe made vnto the Pope agaynst your Prince Here neither Peter nor Paule can helpe nor there is no key y e can open that locke O Lord God how haue we beene blynded thus trayterously to handle our naturall Prince But how this Caterpiller is come to bée a Lorde and hath brought kinges vnder hys féete I will speake God willyng after this in a peculiar treatyse It foloweth and to his successours lawfully and regularly entryng in After what lawe I reade in your owne bookes of law after which me thinketh there bée very few byshops made wherein I finde among all other good thinges that hée shoulde bée chaste of lyuyng méeke gentle to speake to mercyful wel learned in y t new olde testamēt and y e we shoulde not forbyd maryage nor should blame the eating of fleshe and should also beléeue that all maner of synnes as well actuall as original bée clerely forgeuē in baptysme How many of these things the Popes holines is indewed with all and how many hée aloweth his owne bookes and déedes wil testelie Wherfore I recken that your othe doth not meane this laws nor yet y e lawe that blessed S. Paule writeth of For then I recken that by the vertue of your othe you haue not béene bound to one Pope this 400. yeares so that it must folowe that you haue other lawes then blessed S. Paule speaketh of or the councell of Charthaginence to chose your Pope by the which as farre as men can recken by common experience and practice bée these In primis Hee that shall bée able to bée Pope must bée a vēgeable tyraūt neuer kéepeing peace but all wayes warryng for the defence as yée call it of S. Peters patrimonye To suffer no Prince to dwell in rest by hym but to snatch his possessions to the vnholy Church of Rome To set princes together by the eares tyll they bée both weary and then to take y e matter in his hande and neuer to make an ende tyll both partyes hath geuen some possessiōs to his holy fatherhed to assoyle the soules that hath bene slayne through his packyng And hée
declare this intollerable or subtile treason thus long shamefully vsed against my prince which is necessary to bée knowne And I am compelled by violēce to declare both my confession and learning in this cause For mē hath not béene ashamed to report that I would which am but a wretch and poore simple worme and not hable to kill a Catte though I woulde doe my vttermost to make insurrection against my noble and mighty prince whom as God knoweth I doe both honour worship loue and fauour to the vttermost power of my hart and am not satisfied because it is no more This I speake afore God Let him bée mercifull vnto mée as it is true And if I were not so true in mine hart it were not possible for mée so earnestly to write agaynst thē whome I doe recken to handle vnfaythfully and vntruely wyth theyr prince yea against both Gods lawe and mans lawe The very truth is I can suffer through Gods grace all maner of wronges iniuries and sclaunders but to bée called an hereticke agaynst God or a traytour against my prince he liueth not but I will say hée lieth And wil bée able so to proue him if I may bée reported by my workes or déedes by my conuer sation or liuing or by any thinge that euer I did But vnto my purpose the Byshoppes doth sweare one othe to the pope and an other contrary to their prince And yet they will bée takē for good and faithfull children And I poore man must bee condemned and all my woorkes for heresy and no mā to reade them vnder the payne of treason And why because I write against their periurie towarde their prince But how commeth S. Peter by these regalles that you are sworne to defende seing that he was neuer no kyng but a fisher All the worlde knoweth that regalia belongeth to kinges and to like power of kynges Why are you not rather sworne to defend Peters net and his fisherie the which thinges hee both hadand vsed neuer regalles But these thinges will not maintayne the holy Church of Rome and therefore ye sweare not to maintayne them But what meane you by that sentence Sauing mine order why say you not sauing my kinges pleasure Your glose sayth you may not defend these thinges with weapons But oh Lord God what vnshamefulnesse is this thus to delude with wordes all the whole worlde Men knoweth that when the Pope hath néede of your helpe there is no men sooner in armes then you are if you call armes harneys bylles glaues swordes and gunnes and such other thyngs Doe you not remember how soone the Byshop of Norwiche Henry Spenser was in armes to defende pope Vrbane It were but foly to recite examples In the yeare of our Lord. 1164. was there a controuersie betwéen the kynges grace the Byshops of England for certaine prerogatiues belōgyng to the kyng Wherfore the king required an othe and a confirmation of the Byshops as concernyng those Articles and prerogatiues But aunswere was made of the Bishops that those prerogatiues cum omnibus prauitatibus in regio scripto contentis were of none effect nor strength bicause they did forbyd to appele to the Court of Rome onles the king gaue licence And bicause that no Byshop might goe at the Popes callyng out of the Realme without the kynges assent And bicause that Clerkes should bée conuented in criminall causes afore a temporall iudge And bicause the kyng would heare matters as cōcernyng tythes other spirituall causes And bicause that it was agaynst the sea of Rome and the dignitie of the same that a Byshop should bée conuēted afore y e kyng Briefly they would not bée vnder the kyng but this addition should bée set vnto it Saluo honore Dei Ecclesie Romane ordine nostro that is we will bée vnder your grace sauyng the honour of God of the Churche of Rome and of our order The cause why they dyd except these thynges was this as they them selues graunt For kynges receiued their authorities and power of the church but the Church receiueth her authoritie of Christ onely wherefore they conclude that the kyng can not commaunde ouer the Byshops nor absolue any of them nor to iudge of tythes nor of Churches neither yet to forbyd Byshoppes the handlyng of any spirituall cause Is not here a marueilous blyndnesse and obstinacie agaynste theyr Prince They will make it agaynst Gods honour to obey their king and are not ashamed to say in the kynges face that his power is of them But I pray you whether was kynges before Byshops or Byshops before kynges You shal finde that God had long admitted kynges or any Bishop as you take hym was thought of Doth not the holy ghost commaūde that we should honour kynges Also in an other place Let all men bée vnder the high powers for the power is of God and hée that resisteth the power resisteth Gods ordinaunce Here blessed S. Paule sayth that kynges power is of God not of Byshops Furthermore what reason is it to defende the Popes prerogatiue agaynst your Princes Is not your Prince nearer and more naturall vnto you then this wretch the Pope But here is a thyng y e maketh me to marueile When you sweare to the Pope Sauyng your order Is as much to say as you shall not vse no weapons but els you shall bée ready and obedient in all thynges But when you shall sweare to your kyng then Sauyng your order is as much to say as you haue authoritie to confirme kynges and to bée their felowes and neither to bée obedient vnto them nor yet to aunswere to any Iustice before them but clearely to bée exempted and they not to medle with you excepte they will geue you some worldly promotion If I would vse my selfe as vnchatariblye agaynst you as you haue handled me doubtles I could make some thyng of this that shold diplease you How would you cry and how would you handle me poore wretch if you had halfe so much agaynst me as this is But I will let you passe God hath preserued mée hitherto of his infinite mercy agaynst your insaciable malice and no doubt but hée shall doe the same still I will returne to your othe It foloweth I shall come to the Synode when I am called vnles I shall bée lawfully let But why doe you not sweare to compell the Pope to call a Councell seyng that it hath béene so often and so instantly required of him by many and noble Princes of Christendome yea seyng that all Christendome doth require with great sightes an order to bée taken set in the highest articles of our faith But vnto this you are not sworne And why bicause it is agaynst your holy popet of Rome For if there were a generall Councell both hée you do know that there must néedes folow both ouer him you a streight reformation Therfore
agaynst hym and when hée might saye and doe what he would And as your lawe commaundeth no man so hardye to aske hym why hée doth so Then began decrées ordinances depocytions disposycyons reseruations prouysions with like shamefulnes sor to spring and there is no remedy but they must contynue And why Because you are sworne to kéepe them your selfe and to compel other men also to kéepe them And out of the kéepinge of this part of your othe springeth out an other sentence that foloweth which is this All heretykes sysmatikes and rebelles towardes our sayd Lorde y e Pope to my power I shall persecute and withstand This is the cause that hath made vs poore men so great heretykes For it can neuer bée proued that euer we spake agaynst God or our king and yet bée we heretikes And why Forsooth because the Byshops are sworne to the Popes decrées the which condemneth all them for heretikes that speaketh against his holynes though hée bée as holy as my horse For hée sayth hym selfe in his lawe that hée nedeth not to bée holy hym selfe but it is sufficient that hée sytteth in an holy seat These be his wordes who doubteth but hée is holy y e which is exalted to so great a dignitie In whō though good workes of his owne merites be wantinge yet are those good workes sufficyent the which were done by his predecessours Vpon the which texte their glose sayth that if it bée openly knowen that the Pope bée an aduoulterer or a murderer yet ought hée not to bée accused c. Now we poore men can not suffre such myscheuous vyces wherefore we must bée heretikes But why because my lords y e byshops are sworne to persecute vs. But neuertheles I trust to Gods grace and the Kinges that my Lordes the Byshops wyll not bée so hard in this poynt of their othe as they haue béene And why Because mē may nowe come to their aunswere Surely there bée many clauses in his last othe added that bée cleare iniury vnto princes against Gods lawe and mans lawe And yet our Byshops will swere them yea that which is worst of all they will accuse other men of treason rebelliō And there is no mā sworne to treason nor rebellion but they onely ¶ Wherfore most gracious prince with all mekenes and lowlynes that is due to soe noble a prince and also that doth béecome a true subiecte to doe I lowly and méekely require and desire your grace to Iudge betwéene the Byshops and me whiche of vs is trewest and faythfullest to God and to your grace I speake all onelye of those that hath and also would nowe if they durste defende the Pope and his lawes Agaynst them I make this supplication and agaynst them haue I declared the learning and doctrine that I haue both taught and wrytten And as for my factes déedes what I haue done agaynst God and your grace I require them to say their vttermost that they can proue or elles by your gracious fauour I am bere presente and offer my selfe to proue thē lyars And that vnder any maner of payne that your grace shal assigne And agaynst them I haue declared the learnyng and doctrine of theyr Churche and also brought examples of their factes and déedes with the whiche they haue put theyr doctrine in exercise Nowe if they bée gréeued or thinke thē selues wrongfully handled of mée then I require no more of your grace but indifferētly and graciously to here both them and me the which thing no doubt as your grace doth knowe our heauēly father doth require of you who preserue your highnes in all honor dignite Amen The cause of my condemnation MOste gracious Prince y e your grace shoulde knowe what cause of heresye the Byshops had agaynst me for y e which they so vncharitablye and so cruelly hath cast me away Therefore haue I set out y e articles y e were layde agaynst me And as they were layd agaynst me as I will bée reported by their owne actes and bookes The which articles doubtles were vncharitably falsly gathered agaynst me in a sermon y e I made in Cābridge in S. Edwardes Churrh Wherfore I will beséech your grace with all méekenes lowlynes to bée my gracious Lord Prince And not to suffer me thus shamefully cruelly agaynst all law conscience vtterly to bée vndone cast away But of your most highe goodnes to suffer me to come to mine aunswere and then if I can not iustifie my cause I will be at your gracious commaundement to bée punished after right and conscience IF thou beléeue that thou art more boūd to serue God to morow which is Christmas day or of easter day or of whitsonday for an holynes that is in one day more then in an other then art thou no faythfull christean man but supersticious And S. Paule is against thée saying You doe obserue dayes yeares monthes and tydes For vnto a faythfull christean man euery day ought to bée Christmas day Easter day and whitsonday The which thinge the fathers considering that thou diddest not obserue yea that thou wouldest neuer obserue if it were lefte to thy iudgmēt because thou art geuen so much to worldly businesses For that cause they haue assigned thee certaine dayes to come to the certayn dayes to come to y e church to pray togither to heare the worde of God togither and to receaue the blessed sacramēt togither what faulte fynde you in this article because I say that one daye is not holyer then an other I pray you what is y e cause or what nature is in one day that is not in an other wherby that it should bée holyer then the other Because you will say that we halowe the remembraunce of Christes birthe and of Christes resurrection in one day and not in an other This thing I say must you doe euery daye for Christe is euery day borne euery day rysen euery day ascended vp And this must you beléeue euery day stedfastly This must you sanctifie in your hartes dayly and not one day ¶ Now vary we but in this thing You say that we are bound to sanctifie but one Christmas day in the yeare and that is supersticiousnes heresy say I not that I condemne your one day but that you set it to one daye all onely that we are bound to do euery daye Briefely my Lord of Rochester alowed this article saying he would not condemne it for heresy for an C. li. this was a great sūme of money but it was folishely sayde quod hée to preach this afore the butchers of Cambryge As who say they were all butchers that were at the sermon And not y e most parte of y e vniuersity But the byshop of Bathe asked me whether we mighte labour on the holy dayes or not séeing it is written Thou shalt obserue thy holy day I aunswered
that Christen men were not bounde to abstayne from bodely labour by that commaundement for it was so geuen to the Iewes And if we were bound to abstayne from bodely labour by that commaundement then was the kinges grace and all his councell my Lorde Cardinall and all his counsell in the waye of damnation For they cause men to carye their stuffe on the holy day what daye so euer it bée whan they will remoue At this reason all my Lordes were astonied and wist not what to say they were loth to cōdemne my Lord Cardinals grace seing he was so holy a prelate of Christes church and that facte they coulde not deneye Wherfore at y e last my Lorde of Rochester remembred hym selfe and obiected in this maner A goodly reason I will make you a like reason The byshop of Winchester suffered y e stues Ergo the stues bée lawfull At this reason I ineruayled much For I perceyued that it was as lawfull for our noble Prince to carye stuffe on the holy day which is not agaynst y e word of god as it is for an harlot of y e stnes to liue in open whordome which is against the worde of God And yet my Lords the byshops of their greate charitie and of their innumerable spirituall treasure suffereth agaynst their conscience both to bée done Briefely it were to longe to recite all the vncharitable maner that they dyd vse with me And yet earnestly I must bée condemned poore man for an heretyke But I will recyte the saying of doctours for me y e men may sée how shamefully I haue erred Saynt Hierome sayth Therfore bée certine dayes assigned that we should come togither not that that daye in the whiche we come togither is holyer then an other but all dayes bée like and equall And Christ is not alonely crucified in Parasceden and risen onlye on the sonday but the day of resurrection is alwayes and alwayes may we eate of our Lordes fleshe c. Here S. Hierome sayth y e selfe words y e I spake And of these wordes was I moued to speake as God doth knowe Also S. Augustine sayth we must obserue the sabboth day not y e we should recken our selfe not to labour but that all thinge that we doe worke well muste haue an intention to the euerlasting rest Wherfore we must obserue the holy day not by corporall idlenes and vnto the letter but spiritually must we rest from vyces and concupisences wherfore among all the ten commaundementes that of the sabboth daye is alonely commaunded to bée figuratiuely obserued c. Also Tertullyan The Carnall circumcision is put away and extincted at his time So likewise the obseruation of the sabboth day is declared to bée for a tyme for we must kéepe y e sabboth day not alonely the seuenth day but at all tymes as Esay sayth c. But here my Lorde of Rochester sayde fyrste that I vnderstode not Tertulian secōdarily that hée was an heretike But I passe ouer myne aūswere for this is but a Lordly worde and hée could none otherwise saue his honour but yet stādeth my scripture fast And S. Hierome and S. Augustine also their owne law whose wordes be these It is come vnto me that certaine men which bée of an euill spirite haue sowen certaine euill thinges among you and contrary to the holy faith so that they doe forbid that men should worke on the Sabboth day The whiche men what other thyng shall we call them but the preachers of Antichrist the which Antichrist shall make the Sabboth day and the Sonday bée kept from all maner of worke c. This law clearely declareth you to bée Antichristes this is more then I sayd I haue great marueile that the Byshop of Bathe beyng so mighty a Lord in condemning of heretickes was not learned in this law seyng it is his owne facultie NOw dare no mā preach y e truth and the very Gospell of God in especiall they that bée féeble and fearefull But I trust yea and I pray to God that it may shortly come that false and manifest errours may bée plainely shewed There bée certaine men like conditioned to dogges if there bee any man that is not theyr countryman or that they loue not or know not say any thing agaynst them then cry they an hereticke an hereticke ad ignem ad ignem These bée the dogges that feare true preachers What heresie finde you in this article I doe thinke that you doe féele my prayer to bée heards For doubtles there bée many shamefull errours now manifestly opened that at those dayes had béene heresie to haue touched them WEe make nowe a dayes many Martyrs I trust wée shall haue many moe shortly For the viritie coulde neuer bée preached playnely but persecution did follow Here did my Lord of Bathe inquire of mée if I reckoned them for martyrs that were burnte at Bruselles I answered that I knewe not their cause wherefore they died but I reckoned as many men to bée martyrs as were persecuted and dyed for the worde of God but hée saide hée woulde make mée to frye for this How thinke you by this holy prelate was not this a charitable argument to refell myne aunswere with But this was the strongest argument that euer they vsed And paraduenture I may sée the day that this argument may bée made against them THese lawes these lawyers these Iusticiares that say that a man may lawfully aske his owne good afore a Iudge and contende in iudgement haue destroyed all patience deuotion and faith in Christen people On this article hangeth also y e nexte THis pleading in iudgement is manifestly against the Gospell Luk. 12. Homo quis constituit iudicē And contrary to S. Paule Iam omnino delictum est c. Myne aduersaries most vncharitably layde these two articles against mée as though I had condempned the lawemaker lawe and execution thereof whan I onely spake agaynst the vnchariblenes of some mē which rather séeke vengeaunce of their brethren than any right or helpe of the lawe Nor I speake not against all lawyers or against any for pleading iustly after the forme of the lawe but onely against those which taught men that they were bounde to prosicute the vttermost of the lawe vnder the paine of deadly sinne were the man neuer so poore and vnlike to pay the debte Against these two persons spake I and against none other For it is not nor neuer was mine intent to forbid suing at the lawe for I doe know very well that maiestratus is of God Ergo it must néedes followe that all lawes hauing probable reasons of nature made to conserue a common wealth must also bée allowed of God for lawes bée a parte of the power that is instituted of God Moreouer S. Paule doth appeale to the Emperour which is also pars litis And that hée coulde not doe if suing were
these Illud euangelij si quis abstulerit c. non est precipientis sed exhortantis Now let euery Christen man iudge whether that these wordes of theyr lawe bée of sufficient auctoritie to refell the holy wordes of Scripture or no But than came doctour Wolmā and hée brought this texte If thy brother doe offende thée than tell the Church What is that sayd hée tell the Church to whom I aunswered that this place made not for his purpose aleaging Saint Augustine for mée For it speaketh of the crymes that should bée reprooued by the congregation and not of the correction of the temporall sworde It also foloweth If hée heare not y e church coūte hym as an heathē and as a publican This is the vttermost payne that our M. Christ assigneth there y e which is no payne of the temporall lawe But at this aunswere was hée sore moued and sayd if I did abide by it I should be burnt This was a sharp sentence of so greate a man as hée is Apppelles was a ioly wyse felowe that sayd once to a shomaker Ne sutor vltra crepidam But neuertheles let hym and them burne as many as they can yet it is playne that I haue spoken neuer a worde but the holy scripture and holy doctours say the same both in sentence and in wordes Wherefore I can not sée how they can condemne this article for heresye yea and I dare saye for them that they recken it none heresy nor they did not condēne mée for this article I Wyll neuer beléeue nor yet I can neuer beléeue that one man may be by the lawe of God a byshop of 2. or 3. cyties yea of an whole coūtrey for it is contrarye to S. Paule which sayth I haue left thée behynde to set in euery citye a byshop And if you finde in one place of scripture y e they bée called Episcopi you shal finde in diuers other places that they bée called Persoiteri ¶ I was brought afore my Lorde Cardinall into his galary and there hée reade all myne articles tyll hée came to this and there hée stopped sayde that this touched hym and therefore hée asked me if I thought it wronge that one byshop shoulde haue so many cityes vnderneath hym vnto whom I answered that I could no farther goe then to S. Paules texte which set in euery cytye a byshop Then asked hée mée if I thought it now vnright séeing the ordinaunce of the church that one byshop should haue so many cities I aunswered y e I knew none ordinaunce of y e church as concerning this thinge but S. Paules sayinge onelye Neuertheles I did sée a contrary custome and practise in the world but I know not the originall thereof Then sayde hée y e in the Apostles tyme there were dyuers cities some 7. myle some vj. myle long and ouer them was there set but one byshop of their subbards also So likewise now a byshop hath but one citye to his cathedrall churche and the country about is as subbards vnto it Me thought this was farre fetched but I durst not denye it because it was so greate auctorite and of so holy a father and of so greate a deuine But this dare I say that his holynes could neuer proue it by scripture nor yet by any auctorite of doctours nor yet by any practise of the Apostles and yet it must bée true because a piller of the church hath spoken it But let vs sée what y e doctours say to myne article Athanasius doth declare this text of the Apostle I haue left thée behinde c. Hée woulde not commit vnto one bythop a whole ylde but hée did inioyne that euery cytye shoulde haue his proper pastor supposing y e by this meanes they shoulde more diligently ouer sée the people and also that y e labour should bée more easye to beare c. Also Chrisostome on that same texte Hée would not y e a whole countrey shoulde bée permitted vnto one man but hée enioyned vnto euery mā his cure by y e meanes hée knew that the labour shoulde bée more eaysye and the subiectes should bée with more diligēce gouerned if the teachers were not distract with y e gouerning of many churches but had cure and charge of one church onely c. Mée thinketh these bée plaine wordes and able to moue a man to speak asmuche as I did But graunte that you may haue all these cities yet can you make it none heresy For my lord Cardinall graunted that it was but agaynst hym and against you which bée no Gods But I poore man must bée an heretike there is no remedy you will haue it so And who is able to say nay Not all scripture nor yet God hymselfe IT can not bée proued by scripture that a man of the churche shoulde haue so greate temporall possessions But they will say if they had not so great possessions they could not kepe so many seruantes so many dogges so many horses as 40. or 50. maintayne so great pompe and pride and liue so deliciously what heresye fynde you in this Is it heresye to speake against your horses and your houndes and your abhominable lyuing And doubtles I did not say but that you myght haue possessions all onely I spake against the superfluousnes and the abuse of them for the which all y e world wondereth on you What mischiefe is there in the worlde vsed y e is more clerely and openly knowen then that you doe abuse the goodes of the Church And yet must I bée cōdemned for an heretyke for speaking against it Alas doe you thinke that God will suffer this violence that you doe vse agaynst poore men I will stād in y e daunger proue how his Godly maiesty shall iudge this matter béetwéene you and mée I dare trust hym with it SUre I am that they can not by the law of God haue any iurisdiction seculer and yet they chalēge both powers which if they haue why doe they not put them both in vse For they must say as the Iewes sayde we may kill no man This is the article that dyd byte you for you can not bée content with the office of a byshop but you will bée also kynges Howe that standeth with Gods lawe and with your othe I haue declared it to our noble prince I doubt not but hée will put you to the tryall of it Haue not you this many yeres condemned many a poore man then deliuered hym to the temporall power to be put to death which knew nothing of his cause And if hée would y e yée shoulde put hym to death your selfe then answered yée how you might kyll no man So y t they were alwayes your hangmen THey say they bée the successours of Christ and of his Apostles but I can sée them folow none but Iudas For they beare the purse and haue all the money
shepheardes staffe you helpe no man with it you comfort no man you lift vp no man with it but you haue striken downe kynges and kyngdomes with it and knocked in the head Dukes Earles with it Call you this a shepheardes staffe There is a space in the shepheardes staffe for the foote to come out agayne but your staffe turneth and wyndeth alwayes inward and neuer outward signifying that what soeuer hée bée that coÌ„meth within your dauÌ„ger that hée shall neuer come out agayne This exposition your déedes doe declare let theÌ„ bée examined that you haue had to doe with And let vs sée how they haue escaped your shepheardes hooke But these bée the articles for the whiche I must néedes bée an hereticke Neuertheles all the world may sée how shamefully that I haue erred agaynst your holynesses in saying the truth My Lord Cardinal reasoned with me in this article all the other hée passed ouer sauyng this and the sixte article Here did hée aske if I thought it good and reasonable that hée should lay downe his pyllers and pollaxes coyne them Here is the heresie that is so abhominable I made him aunswere that I thought it well done Then sayd hée how thinke you were it better for me being in the honour and dignitie that I am to coyne my pyllers and pollaxes and to geue the money to v. or vj. beggers then for to mayntaine the common wealth by them as I doe Doe you not recken quoth hée the common wealth better then fiue or sixe beggers To this I did aunswere that I reckened it more to the honour of God and to the salnation of his soule and also to the comfort of his poore brethren that they were coyned and giueÌ„ in almes And as for the common wealth dyd not hange of them for as his grace knew the common wealth was afore his grace and must bée wheÌ„ his grace is gone and the pyllers and pollaxes came with him and should also goe away with him Notwithstandyng if the common wealth were in such a condition that it had néede of them then might his grace so loÌ„g vse them or any other thyng in their stede so longe as the common wealth néeded them Notwithstandyng I sayd thus much did I not say in my Sermon agaynst them but all onely I damned in my Sermon the gorgious pompe and pride of all exteriour ornaments Then he sayd well you say very well But as well as it was sayd I am sure that these wordes made me an hereticke for if these wordes had not béene therein myne aduersaryes durst neuer haue shewed their faces against me But now they knew wel that I could neuer bée indifferently heard For if I had got the victory theÌ„ must all the Byshops and my Lord Cardinall haue layd downe all their gorgious ornamentes For the which they had rather burne xx such heretickes as I am as all y e world knoweth But God is mighty and of me hath hée shewed his power for I dare say they neuer intented thing more in their liues theÌ„ they did to destroy me and yet God of his mercy hath saued me agaynst all their violence vnto his godly wisedome is the cause all onely knowen The Byshop of London that was then called Tunstall after my departyng out of prison sayd vnto a substaÌ„ciall man that I was not dead for I dare say his conscience did not recken me such an hereticke that I would haue killed my selfe as the voice weÌ„t but yet would hée haue done it gladly of his charitie but I was sayd hée in Amsterdame where I had neuer béene in my life as God knoweth nor yet in the countrey this x. yeares certaine men did there speake with me sayd hée and hée fained certaine wordes that they should say to me I to them and added thereunto that my Lorde Cardinall would haue me agayne or it should cost him a great summe of money howe much I doe not clearely remember I haue marueile that my Lorde is not ashamed thus shamefully and thus Lordly to lye all though hée might doe it by authoritie And where my Lord Cardinall hée would spende so much money to haue mée againe I haue great maruaile of it What can they make of mée I am a simple poore wreatch and worth no mans money in the worlde sauing theirs not the tenth peny that they will geue for mée And to burne mée or to destroy mée can not so greatly profite them For wheÌ„ I am dead the Sunne the Moone the starres and the element water and fire yea and also stones shall defende this cause agaynst them rather than the veritie should perishe But if they bée so charitable to doe good workes and to spende their money so well they haue prisoners poore men inough in the land let them bestowe their money of them And as for mée I doe promise them here by this present writing and by the faith that I owe to Christ Iesus and by that fidelitie that I owe to my prince that if they will bée bounde to our noble Prince after the maner of hys lawe and after good conscience and right that they shall doe mée no violence nor wronge but discâ—…sse and dispute these articles and all other that I haue written after the holy worde of God and by Christes holy scripture with mée Then will I as soone as I may know it present my self vnto our most noble prince there offring my selfe to his grace that I will either proue these thinges by Gods worde against you all or els I will suffer at his graces pleasure Whom the father of heaueÌ„ preserue in honour Amen And if you refuse this condition then say that you are neyther good nor charitable For I dare say you can desire no more of a Christen man PRiestes doe mumble and rore out their Dyriges and Masses in the Church and churchyardes for theyr founders curious to speake theyr wordes distinctly But I ensure them that their prayers shall doe them no good but onely acceptatio diuina As for this article the Byshops did not make much of for they perceiued that it was gathered without any seÌ„tence For my saying was that men should make their prayers in such a fayth and with such a deuotion that God might accept them and not so idlely and without all deuotion bable and say their dyriges alonely of vondage and of custome and not of deuotion I brought the laying of the Apostle for mée which sayth Let your peticions and prayers appeare before God And also hée that asketh let him aske in faith nothing doubting THere is no prayer acceptable to God except it bée fetched from the fyre of the aulter This article was also gathered without any sentence for my aduersaries did not greatly care what they made of such articles as pertayned to learning and edifiing And therefore they neuer erred so much as they did in them For in those
articles that were agaynst the Byshops they did great diligence in a part of them gathered they my very true sentences and myne owne wordes though in those thinges they left out vncharitably those wordes that made for my declaration and also for the probation of my saying the which I haue also here lefte out all onely adding the articles as thye laid them against mée that all men may sée y t worst that they had against mée For all men may thinke that they wil neither lay the best nor yet the truth agaynst mée But this article dyd I thus preach that men should not in their peticiō and prayers put to their good workes nor their good déedes and their merites As O Lord I doe faste I doe pray I am no theife I am in charitie with all the world and for them defire God to bée mercifull vnto them But they shoulde desire the father of heauen to bée mercifull vnto them alonely for Christes merites For they were y e things wherby both wée and our prayers are accepted in the sight of the father And to prooue this I brought certayne Scriptures As this whatsoeuer yée shall aske the father in my name hée shall geue it you And also the figure of y e old law where there was no sacrifice done but with y e fire that was taken from the aulter Now did I say that Christ is our aulter But thys myne aduersaries vnderstoode not But I maruayle what this article doth amonge the other hereticall articles I thinke they doe not recken it heresie HEe did not praye for the thrée estates of holy Churche neyther made hée his prayers in y e beginning of his sermon according to the olde custome but at the last ende and for the true knowledge of all Christen men making no prayer to our Lady nor for the soules in gurgatory nor for grace expedient If the Byshops had had any indifferency in them or any charitie they woulde haue béene ashamed that such articles shoulde haue béene brought afore thē What is this to the purpose of heresie that I did not pray for the thrée estates of holy Church And yet they graunt that I prayde for all true Christē mē and that men might come to the true knowledge Is not all the church contayned in this But they bée vncharitable men without all cōsideration they bée so blinded in their worldly honour That I did not pray to our Ladye nor for the soules in purgatory what is that to heresy for then were the Apostles heretykes for they did not pray in their sermons to our Lady nor yet to y e soules in purgatorye And as for praying for grace expedient that is not the preacher bound to doe openly But mée thinketh by these articles that God gaue mée a greate grace that I durst so boldelye reproue their abhominable liuing not fearing the daunger that should come thereof but this I leue to other mens iudgement And I dare boldelye say y e if I had spoken tentymes asmuch against y e auctorite of our noble prince and agaynst all his noble dukes and Lordes had taken all power both spirituall and temporall from them and geuen it to our idle byshops then had I béene a faythfull christen man for I had defended y e liberties of holy church But god send them his grace and space for to conuert Amen The whole disputation betweene the Byshops and Doctour Barnes NOw most honorable gracious Prince here haue I shewed your grace the articles that myne aduersaries vncharitablie hath layd agaynst me In the whiche though a greate many of my wordes and sayinges were Yet neuerthelesse there was left out all those things that did make for my declaration and for probations of my wordes and also for mollifying and temperatyng of those thinges that séemed to bée somewhat hardly spokē agaynst the Byshops The whiche thinges were to longe to recite vnto your noble grace But as God is my iudge and also my conscience and all my wordes and déedes and all maner of my liuyng and conuersation I did neuer intende to speake agaynst the Byshops or els any other man further then their liuing and conuersation were agaynst the blessed word of God and the holy doctrine of Christes Churche For the truth is there was no great clerke in the Church of God this CCCC yeares that wrote any thyng but hée complained vehemently agaynst the liuing of the spiritualtie Let their bookes bée brought foorth to proue whether my saying be truth or not Alas is it not a pituous case yea and also agaynst all law and conscience that I poore man shalbée thus violently cast away for speaking agaynst these vices that béene damned by almightie God and by all hys holy creatures yea and the Byshops them selues and all the worlde must graunt that they doe liue as euill yea and rather worse then I did speake Oh Lord God where is loue to vertue where is the shamefastnes that Christen men ought to haue where is Iustice That I shalbée thus shamefully cast awaye for speakyng of that thynge that euery Christen man is bounde to speake They doe so lyue and I beyng a preacher of the verity must bée condemned for speakyng agaynst it But most gracious and mightie Prince God hath set your grace in the same honour and dignitie that you by Gods ordinaunce ought to defende those men that are oppressed wrongfully Wherefore humbly and méekely and with all lowlynes reuerence I beséech your grace to minister vnto me gracious iustice let me bée heard indifferently whether that I can iustifie my cause with learnyng or not If I can not iustifie it your grace is a minister of iustice I will refuse no maner of payne that shal bée due for my trāsgressiō Wherfore ones agayne with all méekenes and lowlynes in the way of charitie and in Christes name and for his swéete bloud sake that hée hath shed for your grace yea and also by y e vertue of your auctoritie that the heauēly God hath deliuered you I doe require and desire of your grace audience and iustice I and all my parētes bée your naturall subiectes borne and a great many of vs hath dyed in your graces quarell and yet is there none of vs but are ready to doe your grace that seruice with our bodyes bloud that shall become trewe subiectes to doe to their noble prince Wherfore thyrdely in my name and in all our names for al they are rebuked in me with all méekenes reuerence I béeseche your grace of gracious audience and of fauorable iustice This thing I trust your grace will not denye me Nor yet take any displeasure with me your poore subiect for thus requiring For I haue none other prince nor Lorde to séeke vnto here on earth but vnto your grace onelye Nor can I come to any charitable ende with myne aduersaries Wherefore I am compelled by extreme violence thus to complayne
vnto your grace for my name and fame and estemacion all thinges that belong to an honest poore man in this world is takē wrōgfully from mée hereby and haue bene by y e space of 9. or 10. yeres which is no smale tyme compelled to liue in misery and obloquy Wherfore most gracious prince lamentably I cry call vnto your grace for gracious audience indifferent iustice It were to long a processe to troble your grace with to tell all the vncharitable hand lyng that the Cardynall and the byshops apoynted by hym dyd vse with mée But I wil make vnto your grace a short somme of it as neare as I can call now to remembraunce In the yeare of our Lorde 1525. yt. 24. day of December dyd I make a sermon at the request of the parish in S. Edwardes church in Cambrige out of the which sermon dyd myne aduersaries gather these articles which when I knew I offered my selfe to preach agayne the sonday folowing And to declare my selfe and my meanyng clearely But Doctour Rydley and Doctour Preston chaplens and kynsmen to y t byshop of London foūd the meanes y t the Vicechaūcelour did inhibet me to preach But I could neuer know any reasonable cause why but that alonely hée sayde it shoulde bée for my profyt to holde my peace And with this I was so content Tyll at the last that these foresayd doctours with one master Tyrell gathered in in writyng certayne articles and presented them to the vicechauncelour which sent for mée and asked mée what I sayd to those articles I aunswered that they were none of myne But certayne wordes and sentences there were in them that I had spokē but that was left out y t should make for my declaratiō Wherefore I sayd they were none of myne And that I would bée reported by the audience To this hée sayde that I should take hede what I denied for if they brouht wytnes agaynst me thē must I nedes dye I aunswered that the witnes shoulde bée false for I neuer spake them Then sayde hée I could not proue a negatiue I aunswered that I woulde proue y t witnes false what so euer hée were Hée sayd whether they were true or false I must suffer for it if witnes come in agaynst mée for that was the lawe I sayd how y t was a piteous case And by that lawe they might condemne our M. Christ Hée sayd how y t I shoulde remember mée what I did for the matter was so daungerous and so haynous in the lawe that I might haue no counsell Then I aunswered sayd well let god helpe which knoweth all things This was in the vniuersite scholes the doores shut fast no man being w t in on my parte but I alone But of my aduersaries parte was there doctour Rydly doctour watson doctour Preston and a doctour of law whose name I haue forgotten their was also one master Fooke mayster Tyrel which was appoynted amonge them to bée the presenter of these articles Nowe the Vicechauncelour when hée coulde haue no more of mée in cōmunication béetwéene vs bée asked mée what I would doe I answered hée should goe his way and set hym downe and heare their complaint And I would make such an aunswere as God should put in my mynde Hée required mée instantly not to cast my selfe away So hée went and set hym downe and I was called before him As soone as I came then stoode forth M. Tyrell presented a roule in the which were certayne articles as hée sayd gathered out of my sermon of y t which some of them sayde hée were contentious some were sedicious some were sklaunderous and some were hereticall When hée had thus spoken Then sayd I to hym Good M. Tyrell wyll you present any of these articles as heresye At this word spake y t vicechauncelour to mée good mayster doctour let that passe Wyll you bée content to submyt your selfe Then sayd I where so euer I haue spoken against Gods word or against the exposition of holy doctours I will bée content to bée reformed and to submyt my selfe But with this was not doctour Rydlye nor doctour watson content except I should adde vnto it If I had offended the lawes of the church But at that I stopped and sayde it was to large for I knewe not what they ment by the lawes of the church nor I was no doctour of lawe Wherefore I iudged it sufficient for mée to bée reported by Gods worde by the exposicion of holy doctours For that was my facultie Thē the Vicechauncellour rekened that it was sufficiēt for mée But we could not agree in a great space in this thing Wherefore I sayd I woulde agrée to all maner of lawes y t were not gaynst Gods worde nor S. Agustine nor S. Hierome nor yet against none of the foure doctours So did it rest y t day at this poynt and no more was handeled For in this tyme was the whole body of y t vniuersitie gathered togither and knocked at the schoole doores and said they would heare the examination séeing the matter was manifest And these few persōs should not take auctorite on them onely to here and to determine such causes Than the Vicechauncelour sent the bedell to the doore requiring them to bée content but they were the more moued and knocked sorer So rose the Vicechauncelour and went hym selfe to the dore gaue them as good and as faire words as hée coulde But the conclusion was they woulde not departe except they might heare this matter iudged and as they sayd it apertained to learning And they were the body of the vniuersitie So ytVicechauncelour came backe agayne vnto vs all and sayde wée must geue ouer this matter for the vniuersitie is in a rumour so departed wée a sunder Thē within two or thrée dayes after was I cauled into Clare hall to ytVicechauncelours chamber where were also the foresayde doctours gathered agaynst mée There did they entreate mée with good wordes for to bée cōtent to bee ordered after master Vicechauncelours councell I did require that master Vicechauncelour woulde indifferently heare mee and myne aduersaries togither And then if I had sayde any thing agaynst learning I woulde bée ordered at master Vicechaūcelours cōmaūdement Thē sayd they that it was done for my profyt that mayster Vicechaūcelour did not sit in iudgmēt For as they sayd they were all my frends and woulde bée lothe that my matter shoulde bée heard in iudgemēt For if there came any witnes against mée as they were sure there would thē were I but lost I aunswered what witnes soeuer should come to proue those articles as they were layde against mée I would proue them false For I had preached openly and many learned men were at my sermon and I doubted not but they would testify the truth for both partyes But then aunswere was made mée that if thre witnesses came agaynst mée then would thrée and
Lord Cardinall were myne ordinarye iudge or not wyth other lyke captious interogations at the last they came to my first article and inquyred of mée if all dayes were alyke I sayde after the mynde of S. Hierome that all dayes were equall Then asked they mée if wée shoulde kéepe any holy dayes I sayde yes And in this matter wée had a great disputation till at the last my Lord of Rochester came And hée asked mée if this commaundement Sabatum sanctifices were a ceremoniall or a morall precepte I answered that it was a ceremoniall alleaging for mée S. Augustine ThaÌ„ sayd hee that I was not learned But alwayes when they had asked of mée a question and I had assoyled it so that they neyther woulde nor coulde abiecte any thyng agaynst mée than was I commauÌ„ded alwayes to stand a parte And they layde their heades togither till they had inuented an other captious question Than was I called agayne and myne answere geuen I was coÌ„maunded backe agayn Thus they continued with me thrée dayes in the which space their Notary wrote a reuocation of all my articles before the tyme that myne aunswere was heard And on the thyrde day after noone about iij. of y e clocke was there a greate long rolle offered vnto me for to read word by word as it there stode and commaundement was geuen me by y e Byshop of Bath â–ª that I should not speake one word afore the people more or lesse theÌ„ was written in the rolle for if I did hée would handle me well inough So I required first to sée what was writteÌ„ in the rolle or I would grauÌ„t vnto it Aunswere was made that if I would read it as it was written well good if not I should stand to the ieoperdy So I desired them to know if they had condemned any of my articles for heresie They sayd yea I asked theÌ„ which it was They sayd they would not tell me more then was writteÌ„ I aunswered Alas my Lordes y e truth is that to my iudgement I haue spoken nothyng but that standeth with S. Augustine with S. Hierome and with other Doctours of holye Churche Wherfore if it shall chaunce me thus to bée coÌ„deÌ„ned and not to bée taught wherein I can not tell what I should preach in tyme to come The Byshop of Bathe aunswered that I shoulde take no care for that for as for preachyng hée would prouide for me But I should alonly aunswere if I would read this rolle or not I desired that they would first pointe with their finger if they wold not speake it which article they had condemned for heresie and I would bée bounde to proue it true by S. Augustine or els by S. Hierome or I would bée takeÌ„ for an hereticke To this said the Byshop of Bathe that if S. Augustine and S. Hierome were here they should staÌ„d to the determination of the Church Vnto whom I sayd that the Church had so determined of S. Augustine S. Hierome that if any other church determined agaynst them I would suspect it Well sayth hée If you will stand vnto them doe We are conteÌ„t alonely tell vs whether you will read this rolle or not Then sayd I. My Lordes I beséech you in the way of charitie and for Christes sake deale charitablye with me doe me no wrong For S. Paule sayeth that you haue power geuen to edifiyng and not to destruction Very well sayd the Byshop of Bath ye néede not to feare Here bée to many witnesses that we should oppresse you wrongfully But sayd hée tell vs whether you will read this rolle or not This is the thyrd tyme the last Then sayd I. I will not grauÌ„t to it except I may first sée it Doe as it shall please you At this they sat all still wone looking on the other Then the Bishop of Bath commaunded me to departe aside So tooke they their counsell togithers And at the last I was called agayne and this was sayd to me Syr ye shall haue a man that shall read it vnto you afore Well said I. I am content And so one of their Notaries a lay maÌ„ was assigned vnto me and we departed a litle aside there hée began to read The yeare of our Lord such a day of the moneth was one Doct. Barnes conuented before the byshops in Westminster for certeine articles which were gathered out of a Sermonde that hée preached in Cambridge of the whiche some of them bée sclaunderous some bée erronious some bée contentious some bée seditious some bée foolishe and some bée hereticall When that hée came to this worde hereticall I asked hym which of them were hereticall Hée answered mée agayne yée haue heard what my Lordes sayth I can make you no answere Alas sayd I shall I bée thus condeÌ„ned for an hereticke and can not tell what is myne heresie Then sayd hée it belongeth not to me speake vnto them Well said I. Read no more So went I agayne before the Byshops And â—ell downe on my knées and desired them for the better passion of Christ that they would shewe vnto me whiche article they condemned for heresie and then if I would not bée taught they should handle me after the forme of law But to this the Byshop of Bath auÌ„swered sayd I should chose whether I would read y e rolle or els bée burned y e one of both I should doe TheÌ„ sayd I Iesus haue mercy on me I wil surely not read it And so I deliuered it to them againe Then the other Doctours cryed vppon me the one here the other there that I shoulde remember my selfe and not to cast my selfe awaye after this manner For to read the rolle said they was but a small thing and I was neuer the worse maÌ„ And I should sée that my Lord Cardinall should bée good gracious vnto me and they would all speake for me so that I supposed in very déede that they would haue required no more of me but for to haue read the rolle afore y e face of the world that I should not séeme to haue the victory agaynst them all which thing I did not greatly regarde But in very déede and if I had knowen that there had beene so mischieuous poyson tyranny and cruelnes in them as I founde afterward I would neuer haue read it to haue dyed for it But God bryngeth all thinges to passe at his pleasure Now vpon this opinion that I had in them and by the reason of theyr good wordes and pituous that they spake vnto mée I graunted to reade the roolle But than when I woulde haue read it the Byshoppe of Bathe sayd it was to late so was there a great disputation betwéene them vppon the matter Till that Doctour Quarton sayd my Lorde it is not to late for it is all in one session and in the tyme of one iudgement But the Byshop of Bathe our Lord forgéeue him sought all y e meanes y e hée
could vsed all maner of cruelnes to haue destroyed mée Neuertheles at y e last hée deliuered mée y â— roole for to reade TheÌ„ was all y e people y â— stoode there called to heare me For in y e other iij. dayes was there no man suffered to heare one worde that I spake So after their commaundement that was geuen mée I red it adding nothing to it nor saying one word that might make for myne excuse supposing that I should haue founde the Byshoppes the better After this I was commaunded to subscribe to it to make a crosse on it Then was I commaunded to goe knéele downe before the Byshop of Bathe and to require absolution of hym but hée woulde not assoyle mée except I woulde first sweare that I woulde fulfill the penaunce that hée shoulde enioyne to mée So did I sweare not yet suspectinge but theâ—e men had had some cromme of charitie within them But when I had sworne then enioyned hée mée that I should returne that nyght agayne to pryson And the nexte day which was Fastingam Sonday I should doe open penaunce at Paules And that the worlde shoulde thynke that I was a marueylous haynous heretyke the Cardinall came the next day with all y e pompe and pride that hée could make to Paules church and all to bring mée poore soule out of consayte And moreouer were there commaunded to come all y e byshops that were at London and all the abbots dwelling in London that dyd weare miters in so much that the prior of S. Mary spittell and an other moncke which I thinke was of Tower hill were there also in their myters And to set the matter more forth that the world should perfectly know perceiue that the spirituall fathers had determined my matter substancially The byshop of Rochester must preach there the same day and all his sermon was agaynst Lutherians as though they had coÌ„uicted me for one The which of truth and afore God was as farre from those thinges as any man could bée sauing that I was no tyraÌ„t nor no persecutour of Gods worde And all this gorgyous fasing with myters and crostaues abbotts and priors were done but to blinde the people and to outface mée God amend all thinges that is amysse I had béene well content to haue suffered all these thinges so I might haue come to a charitable end But I must returne agayne after this to prison there remayne tyll my Lord Cardinals farther pleasure The which pleasure I did abide fyrst and last â–ª 2. yeares and thrée quarters yet could neuer bée at any poynt with theÌ„ For I sent vnto y â— byshop of London that was then certayne worshipfull men of the Cyty of LoÌ„don whose names bée these Mayster Lambert which hath béene Maior M. Raynold which hath béene shreue M. Palmer M. Petyt M. Iones and M. Pernell And desyred these men in the way of charitie to goe to the Byshop of London and to desire him to bée good and gracious vnto mée And if I had offended I would bée glad to make amends asmuch as hée should reasonably require of mée Desiring hym to shew theÌ„ what hée would of his charitie require me to doe they for to bée bound vnto hym y e I would kéepe it This they dyd But what aunswer y e they had of hym they bée men aliue for the most part they can tell And amongst all other maister Petit sayd vnto the byshop Alas my Lorde it is a petuous case If a man come in the daunger of your lawe there is no remedy to helpe hym out Yes saydâ— the byshop What is that sayd maister Petyt This is a yong man hath good frendes which would bée right lothe to haue him cast away wherefore if there bée any remedy deuise you it and we wil bée bound for him At this the byshop was astonyed and sayde at the last that hée would speake to my Lorde Cardinal for mée Then these meÌ„ offered him to goe with him and to bée bounde for mée Hée sayde it should not néede But neuertheles hée spake so vnto them or they departed that wheÌ„ they came home there was not one of them that durst geue mée so much bread meat as hée durst geue his dog nor yet speake one word to mée Immediatelye after this the byshop founde y e meanes that I was sent to northaÌ„pton there to remayne as in a perpetuall prison Thus most gracious prince haue they handled me your poore Oratour I beseche your highnes to bée good and gracious vnto mée iudge if this bée charitable dealyng thus to coÌ„demne mée for an heretyke not to shew mee the poynt wherefore But euen with a violent tyrannye to compeil mée to doe confesse what they will or els to bée put to death And if there bée any of them yet y e will come forth and proue any of these articles heresye I will not refuse to suffer any payne that your grace shall iudge me worthy Thus our Lord Iesus Christe preserue your noble grace euermore Amen Onely fayth iustifieth before God NOw if your grace doe not take vppon you to heare the disputation the probation of this article out of the grouÌ„d of the holy Scripture my Lordes the Bishops will condeÌ„ne it afore they read it as their maner is to doe with all thynges that pleaseth them not and which they vnderstand not and then crye they heresy heresie an hereticke an hereticke hée ought not to bée heard for his matters bée condemned by the Church by his holy fathers and by all long customes and by all maner of lawes Vnto whom with your graces fauour I make this auÌ„swere I would know of them if all these things that they haue reckened can ouercome Christ and his holy worde or set the holy ghost to schole And if they can not why should not I then bée heards that doe require it in the name of Christ and also bryng for me his holy worde the holy fathers which haue vnderstand Gods worde as I doe Therfore though they will not heare me yet must they néedes heare them In holy Scripture Christ is nothing els but a Sauiour a redéemer a iustifier a perfect peace maker betwene God and man This testimony dyd y e aungell geue of him in these wordes Hée shall saue his people from theyr sinnes And also S. Paule Christ is made our righteousnes our satisfaction and our redemption Moreouer the Prophet witnesseth the same saying For the wretchednes of my people haue I striken him So that here haue we Christ with his properties Now if we wil truly coÌ„fesse Christ then must we grauÌ„t with our hartes that Christ is all our iustice all our redemption all our wisedome all our holynes all alonely the purchaser of grace alonly y e peace maker betwéene God and man Briefely all goodnes that we haue y e it is of hym by him and for his
expounde this texte Now doth hée plainly shewe that sayth alonely hath the vertue in him to iustifie and bringeth Abacuk saying Of faith and not of the law shal a righteous maÌ„ lyue Hée addeth well afore God for afore man peraduenture they shal be reckened righteous that sticke to the lawe but not afore God c. Here haue you Sola onely And also that this holy iustification is afore God and after his iudgemeÌ„t not after mens iudgementes Wherfore glory as much as you caÌ„ of your good workes They can not alonely iustifie you but also they bée of no valure but damnable and very sinne if there bée no fayth So farre are they from helping to iustification Thys doth S. Augustine witnesse in these wordes Those same workes that bée done afore fayth though they séeme vnto men laudable yet are they but vayne and I doe iudge them as great strength and as swift running out of the way Wherfore let no man couÌ„t his good workes before fayth where as faith is not there is no good work the intention maketh a good worke but fayth doth guide thee inteÌ„tion c. Here S. Augustine condemneth all your good workes afore fayth sayth that they bée nothing worth but vain and thinges out of the way How can such thynges helpe to iustification Marke also how that your good intention wherupon you boast that you doe so many good workes by can not helpe you for hée is blynde and knoweth not what to doe though he stand well in his owne conceite with out fayth which is his guide So that all thinges afore fayth are but very blindnes But as soone as fayth commeth hée doth both iustifie and also maketh the works good which were afore sinne But let vs sée what Saint Barnarde sayth of good workes I doe abhorre sayth hée whatsoeuer thyng is of mée Except paradueÌ„ture that that be myne which God hath made me hys By grace hath hée iustified mée fréely and by that hath hée deliuered mée from the bondage of sinne Thou hast not choseÌ„ me sayth Christ but I haue chosen thée nor I found any merites in thée that might moue me to chose thée but I preuented all thy merites Wherefore thus by faith haue I maryed thée vnto me and not by the woorkes of the law I haue maryed the also in iustice but not in the iustice of the lawe but in the iustice which is of fayth Now this remayneth that thou doest iudge a ryght iudgment betwéene thée and mée Geue thou iudgment wherein that I haue maried thée where it is open that thy merites dyd not come betwéene but my pleasure and will c. S. Barnarde doth despise all hys good workes and taketh hym onely to grace but you stycke partly to your good workes and not onelye to grace Had S. Barnarde no good workes to stycke to Marke that S. Barnarde is Gods child fréely by grace which can not bée if workes doe helpe lesse or more Was hée not a christened man Had hée no workes of the new law as you call them I thinke yes And yet hée sayth y e there was no merites nor any goodnes but that we were fréely chosen Wherfore hée prouoked you all such as you be to iudge righteously betwéene God and you the which hath preueÌ„ted all your goodnes and that of his owne will and of hys owne pleasure How can hée finde any goodnes that preuenteth all goodnes So that here haue you clearely that good workes of y e law or morall good woorkes as you fayne doe nothing helpe to iustificatioÌ„ afore God for they bée preueÌ„ted of iustification This is also well proued by Saint Augustines sayinge Wherfore these thinges considered and declared after the strength that it hath pleased God to geue vs we doe gather that a man can not bée iustified by the preceptes of good liuing that is not by the lawe of workes but by y e law of fayth not by the letter but by the spirite not by merites of workes but by frée grace c. Here you this not by merites of workes but by frée grace what call you frée grace but without al things sauyng graâ—e what call you not of workes but y â— workes helpe nothing For if workes did helpe then would hée not say not of workes but not of workes onelye but part of workes part of faith but hée excludeth workes fully onely Agayne the same thing that purchaseth vs remission of our sinnes doth also purchase iustificatioÌ„ For iustificatioÌ„ is nothing but remission of sins Now fayth purchaseth vs remissioÌ„ Ergo by faith we ar iustified Nowe that fayth doth purchase remission of sinnes it is well proued by this article of our fayth Credo remissionem peccatorum I beléeue remission of sinnes Now if I haue not this remission for fayth then fayth deceiueth mée for I doe beléeue onely because I woulde haue remission of sinnes What néedeth me to beléeue remission of sinnes if I may deserue it by workes Also our mayster Christ declareth openly y e no manner of works what so euer they bée can iustifye afore God These bée his wordes wheÌ„ you haue done all thinges that bée commaunded you yet saye that wee are vnprofitable seruauntes If you bée vnprofitable then bée you not iustified And if you can not bée iustified when you haue done all thinges how will you bée iustified When you doe in a maner nothing and specially of those thinges that bée commaunded you wherefore this is playne y e our workes can not helpe vs to iustification For wheÌ„ we haue done all things yet we are vnprofitable But let vs proue this by an open example I put this case my Lordes vnto you I speake that our noble prince would call you all before him and say My Lordes so it is that it hath pleased vs to cal you vnto the spiritual dignitie of Byshops to make you of our counsell and Lordes of our Realme and also of our parlameÌ„t Now wold we know of you which of you all hath deserued it or reckeneth hym selfe worthy by his deseruing les or more of this dignity What will you say to this What will you aunswere to the Kynges grace Is there one amonge you all that dare be so bolde as to say to the kinges grace that he hath not geuen it vnto hym fréely but that hée hath done the king so faythfull seruice that he was bouÌ„d to geue it vnto him Yea and that of his deseruinge If there were one that were so proude as to say this thinke you that y e kings grace woulde not laye to his charge how that hée had not done halfe his duetie but were rather bound to doe ten tymes as much more and yet the Kinges grace were not bouÌ„d to geue hym a bysshopricke for hée had done but his duetye and not all that Now if your good workes and all your faythfull seruice bée not able to deserue a
then are we the seruauntes of iustice So that if we truely haue that same fayth that iustifieth vs we shall desire to doe none other workes but those that belong to iustification not that the workes doe iustifie but that we must néedes do these workes as the very true frutes of iustificatioÌ„ and not as the cause of iustification And therfore those men that will doe no good workes because they be iustified onely by fayth bée not the childreÌ„ of God nor the children of iustificafition For the liuyng spirite of God is none authour of ilnes nor of sinne but hée crieth in our hartes Abbapater And of that is this a sure and an euident token for if they were the very true children of God they would bée the gladder to doe good workes because that they are iustified fréely Therfore should they also bée moued fréely to workes if it were for no other purpose nor profite but alonely to doe y e wil of their mercyfull God y e hath so fréely iustified theÌ„ and also to profite their neighbour whoÌ„ they are bound to serue of very true charitie Take an example here is a théefe that is condemned by right the law to bée hanged whom the kings grace of his mercy doth fréely deliuer from the gallowes and geueth him his pardon Now this théefe thus deliuered will not kéepe hym selfe a true man nor doe those workes that belong to a true man to doe but falleth agayne to stelyng because the kyng pardoned hym so fréely and reckeneth that the kyng is so mercyfull that hée will haÌ„g no théeues but deliuer them all of his mercy without their deseruing Now how thinke you wil y e king bée mercifull vnto this théefe when hée coÌ„meth againe to y e gallowes Nay truely for hée was not deliuered for that cause but for to kéepe hym selfe a true man Then commeth my Lord of Rochester and hée sayth that fayth doth begyn a iustification in vs but workes doe performe it and make it perfite I will recite his owne wordes Per fidem initiari dicitur iusticia solum non autem consummari nam consummata in sticia non aliter quam ex operibus natis in lucem editis acquirâ— potest opera consummatè iustificant Fides primum in choat c. What Christened man would thinke that a Byshop would thus trifle and play with Gods holy word Gods worde is so playne that no man can auoyde it how that fayth iustifieth alonely and now commeth my Lord of Rochester with a litle a â—ayne distinction inuented of his owne brayne without authoritie of Scripture and will clearely auoyde all Scriptures and all the whole disputation of S. Paule But my Lord say to me of your conscience how doe you recken to auoyde the vengeauÌ„ce of God sith you thus trifle despise Gods holy word Thinke you that this vayne distinctioÌ„ will bée alowed afore Iesus Christ for whose glorye wée doe coÌ„teÌ„de striue afore whom we doe handle this matter I doe thinke verely that your owne conscience doth sore accuse you for thus blasphemyng the holy worde of God Wherefore my Lord for Christes sake remember that you bée aged and shall not long tary here and these vayne distinctioÌ„s that you haue inuented to the pleasure of men and to the great peruertyng of Gods holy word shall bée to your euerlastyng damnation And at the lest wayes if you feare not y e terrible vengeauÌ„ce of God remeÌ„ber the shame of y e world thinke not that all men bée so mad and so vnlearned as for to bée deceiued by this triflyng distinction seyng that the worde of God is so playne agaynst it Doth not S. Paule say that our iustification is alonely of fayth not of workes How can you auoyde this same Non ex operibus Not of workes if that workes doe make iustification perfite then are not Saint Paules wordes true Also S. Paule sayth that we bée the childreÌ„ of God by fayth And if we bée the childreÌ„ we are also the heyres Now what imperfection finde you in childreÌ„ and in heyres ChristeÌ„ meÌ„ desire no more but this and all this haue they by fayth onely And will you say that fayth doth but begyn a iustification Beside that you know well that S. Paule doth proue in all the whole Epistles to the Romanes and also to the Galathians that fayth doth iustifie yea and that by contention agaynst workes Now how can you bryng in workes to make iustification perfect And S. Paule hath excluded them Moreouer why did not the Iewes against whose works S. Paule disputeth bryng in this distinction for theÌ„ Briefely what will you say to all the Doctours that I haue here recited which say that Sola fides onely fayth doth iustifie But doubtles if it were not to satisfie other men this distinction were not worthy an aunswere An other damnable reason is made that is an open a playne lye which is this Thou sayst that workes doe not iustifie nor yet helpe to iustification but fayth onely Ergo thou destroyest all good workes and wilt that no man shall worke well but alonely beléeue I auÌ„swere if there were any shame in men they might well bée ashamed of these open lyes Tell me one that is learned that euer did say or teach that men should doe no good workes Many there bée that say workes do not iustifie as S. Paule and all his scholers but no maÌ„ denyeth good workes But I marueile not at them for they doe but the workes of their father whiche was a lyer a murtherer from the begynnyng I pray you what coÌ„sequent is this after your owne Logike works doe not iustifie Ergo wee néede not to doe them but despise them for they bée of no valure Take a like consequent You say that the kinges grace doth not iustifie Ergo you despise him Ergo hée is no longer kyng Also the Sunne and Moone doe not iustifie Ergo you destroy them But such a damnable lye must S Paul néedes suffer wheÌ„ hée had proued that fayth onely did iustifie Then came your ouerthwarte fathers and sayd Ergo thou destroyest the law for thou teachest that it iustifieth not God forbid sayth S. Paule for we doe learne the very waye to fulfill the law that is faith whereby the law alonely is fulfilled and without the whiche all the workes of the law bée but sinne So doe we likewise teach the very true way wherby all good workes must be done As first a man by faith to bée iustified then a iust man must néedes doe good workes whiche afore were but sinne now bée all good yea his eatyng drinkyng sléeping are good But beside all these haue they certayne scriptures First of S. Iames whose wordes bee these Wilt thou vnderstand O thou vayne man that fayth without déedes is dead Was not Abraham our father iustified of his dedes When hée offered his soÌ„ne Isaac on the aulter
and harder And the more y t word of God is preached the more obstinate are they and the more mischief intende they Then all their study then all their wisedome then all their labour then all their might then all their power then all their craft and subtiltie then all their frendes that they can make in heauen and in earth is nothyng els but to oppresse the word of God yea and they thinke all to litle for y t more it is preached the more they grudge and the woodder bée they After this maner was the hart of Pharao indurated whē that the word of God was declared vnto hym by Moyses hée had no grace to receiue it then the more that Moyses laboured in the worde the more sturdyer was hée in withstandyng of it and alwayes harder and harder This is also euidently séene in the corrupt nature of man for the more a thyng is forbydden hym the more desireth hée to doe it But what néede me to goe into Egypt to fetch an exāple to prooue this Looke of mine own countreymen if they bée not openly indurated and so blynded that no mā is able to defend them by any reason or law and therefore they take them selues to violence and oppression as Pharao dyd whiche bée the right signes and tokens of induration For the more y t word of God is preached and the veritie is declared vnto them the more sturdyer and obstinate bée they agaynst it And all theyr study all theyr wyttes all theyr counsels all their craft and mischief with all glosinges and lyinges and with blasphemyng of God hys preachers is nothyng els but to kéepe y t word of God vnder and to withstand that veritie which they know in their conscience must néedes goe foorth though all the world say nay And therfore will they heare no man nor reason with any man but euen say as Pharao dyd I will not let the people go◠But if they were not indurated the verye enemyes vnto the veritie they woulde at the lest wayes heare their poore brethrē of charitie know what they coulde say if they coulde prooue their saying to bée true then if they had y t loue of y e veritie as they haue but y e shadow they would geue inmortall thākes to god with great méekenes and with a low spirite receiue the heauenly verity and thanke their brethren hartely that they warned them of such a damnable way now in good tyme season But there is no loue to the veritie nor yet feare of God nor regarde to the daunger of their soules And why For they be children of induration and of blasphe my And therfore the more it is preached the more are they obstinate This is the verye induration that God worketh in mens hartes wherby they bée the children of darkenes Therefore let vs pray instantly to God to mollifie our hard harts for Christes deare bloud sake Amen That it is lawfull for all maner of men to read the holy Scripture HOw can Antichrist bée better knowen then by thys token that hée condemneth Scriptures and maketh it heresie and high treason against the kynges grace for lay men to reade holy scripture As though it were alonely a possession and an heritage of certayne men that bée marked alonely with exteriour signes and the truth to say wyth the token of the beaste as with shauē crownes long gownes and baners about their neckes They that haue these tokens bée the heyres of holy Scriptures and may reade it at their pleasure though they vnderstand as much as a Popingaye But holy Scripture that is sent vs from heauen yea and that by the sonne of God to destroy all heresies this holy scripture shall ingender in lay men heresie If this bée not the doctrine of Antichrist I know not hys doctrine Tell mée what can bée more contrary to Christ then by violence to oppresse the scriptures and to cōdemne them as vnlawfull yea and as heresie for certaine men to reade and to say that there bée certayne secrettes in them that belonge not for lay mē to know And that this thing shall not bée denyde for I know they bée slipper that I haue to doe wyth and there is no holde of them therefore wyll I recite an open acte that all the worlde doth remember My Lord of Londō opēly at Pauls crosse was not ashamed with intollerable blasphemes to condemne the holy testament of Christ Iesus hauing for hym but a damnable collour and and a deadly reason of the deuill that was how there were in the translation so many heresyes that all y t world knoweth that it was abhominable and a deadly lye though it were a lordly lye But such probations doth God all wayes let them haue that bée agaynst his holy veretye But let vs graunt that that translation was so false Why dyd not you there take vpon you openly for to amend it and to set forth truely the holy testament of Christ You must néedes graunt that there is an holy testament of his in earth except you will denye Christ as I doubt not but that you will in effect Wheare is it Why haue we it not If that weare not it Why doe not you set y t very true testament out You were ready to condemne an other mans faythfull labour and dilygence but you had no charytie to amende it You thinke alwayes to disceaue the world with your holy hypocrisy Men bée not so blinde but that they can well indge If you had condemned that testament all onely béecause of errours yet at y t least wayes you should both of charitie and also of dutye haue set forth the trew text and then would men haue thought y t you condemned the other by the reason of errours But men may now euydently sée y t you dyd not condemne it for errours sakes For how sholde they iudge errours that bée so vnlearned but all onely béecause that the veritie was there in y t which you could not abyde that men should knowe that dyd the processe of your sermon and also your tyranny that doth folow wil proue But my Lord I say to you and to all yours if you doe not amend it shall bée to your eueralsting damnacyon for God will not take this rebuke at your hand Remember that hée hath sworne by the mouth of hys Prophet by hys right hand and by the myght of his strength that hée wil defende this cause Bée not these lordly wordes of the eternall God think you to make hym forsworne Remember how the holy ghost threatyneth you in an other place saying if a man dyd dispise the lawe of Moses hée must without any mercy dye Howe much more are they worthy of punishment that doe treade the sonne of God vederneath their féete and despise the bloud of his testament How thinke you is not this openly agaynst you that condemne not all onely Christ
this is if men would bée content and satisfied with reason ¶ Ex damaso Papa ad Hieronimum ex Platina Nauclero BVt let vs goe farther and sée how many Popes haue béene priestes children that this matter may bée opened by them and that Popes them selues may be witnes of this doctrine Fyrst is there Siluerius pope the which had a byshop to his father called Ormisda This Siluerius lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 524. Pope Felix the third of that name was y t sonne of Felix priest of Rome This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 474. Pope Deus dedit was the sonne of Stephane the subdeacon which lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 623. Pope Theodorus was the sonne of Theodore byshop of Hierusalem This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 634. Hadrian y t secoÌ„d was the sonne of Thalare the byshop This man lyued about the yeare of our Lord. 873. Pope Iohn the xv of that name was y t sonne of priest Leo This man lyued aboute the yeare of our Lorde 984. Pope Agapitus the fyrst of that name had a priest to his father called Gordianus hée lyued about the year of our Lord. 534. Pope Siluerius had a father called Siluerius a byshop of Rome This man liued about the yeare of our lord 544. Pope Boniface the fyrst of y t name was sonne to Iucundus priest Pope Osius was y t sonne of Stephan the subdeacon Pope Gelasius the fyrst had a byshop to his father called Valenus anno Domini 484. Iohn the. x. pope of y t name was sonne to pope Surgius about the yere of our Lord. 924. All these a great many more as the Popes lawe testifieth were the children of subdeacons deacons and Priestes and haue borne rule in the Church of Rome Wherefore I meruayle very fore that men doe recken it so new learning that priests should haue wiues séeing that it standeth with Gods holy word with the saying of the olde doctours with the determination of counsels with y t Emperours lawe and also with y t Popes olde decrées Moreouer Christes holy Apostels and many other holy men since their dayes haue liued in the holy estate of matrymony Finally there hath been many holy men and also holy women borne in the wedlocke of Priestes By what reasoÌ„ now can or wil meÌ„ damne all these thynges that bée of so great auctoritie If men wyll heare neyther God nor maÌ„ nor yet no good reason what néede men then so much to speake of learning séeing that they wyll heare nothyng but that they alonely iudge good Truely this is a great high minde of meÌ„ thus wrongfully to condemne other men for heretikes hauyng so good learnyng for them and yet they themselues are grounded onely of their owne sensuall mynde hauyng no learnyng nor reason for them But I wyll put this matter to Gods iudgement And let not men doubt if they béeléeue there is a God but that God wyll bée a reuenger of such wrongfull violence as men doe vse in thys case both agaynst hym and agaynst all his blessed company of Saintes But yet for to doe men pleasure and that they myght bée perswaded if it were possible I will declare vnto them how y t wée doe finde old monuments testifiyng clearely that priests were in peaceable possessioÌ„ of matrimony their childreÌ„ gotteÌ„ in that same matrimony were admitted to spiritual benefices In the tyme of Pope Alexander y t thirde there was a controuersie for the patronage of a benefice betwéene the pryor of PlimptoÌ„ in Deuenshyre and one Iohn de Valletorda Now were there deputed iudges Rychard Archbyshop of Caunterbury Roger Byshop of Wynchester béefore whome the pryor of Plympton prooued his patronage by the reason that hée was in possession and had géeuen it vnto diuers persons Fyrst hée sayth there was a Priest of PlymptoÌ„ called Alpheghe which had by y t gyft of the pryor of Plympton the benefice of Sutton which is now called Plymmouth This Alpheghe had a sonne cauled Sadda which had also the benefice after hys father And after Sadda was there an other priest cauled Alnodus which had the benefice likewyse This Alnodus had a sonne called Robert Dunprust which after the discease of his father Alnode had also the same benefice And after thys Robert Dunpruâ—t William Bacon hys sonne enioyed the benefice lykewyse Here men may see that it is neyther so new learnyng nor yet so long agoe since priestes had lawful wyues Moreouer I reade in our owne Chronicles that in the tyme of kyng Henry the iij. which raygned y t yeare of our Lord 1101. priestes myght lawfully marry wiues in so much y t Anseline than Archbyshop of Caunterbury in a Seane that hée helde at London did make a decrée y t priestes should forsake their wiues the which was both agaynst Gods lawe and mans For the texte of our Mayster Christ is cleare Quos deus coniunxit Homo non seperet Marke these two wordes Deus and Homo And howe much the one passeth the other Farthermore the Pope hymselfe hath not greatly regarded Priestes chastitie if hée myght get any money for dispensations in the which thyng hée coulde not haue dispeÌ„sed if it had béene of Gods lawe And if it bée but but mans lawe what charitie is in the Pope to compell men so sore to kéepe it séeyng that it is so great dauÌ„ger vnto priestes and that so many soules béene lost thorough it Yea what tyranny is in hym thus cruelly to kill men for breakyng alonely of hys commaundement the which is not in their power to kéepe To our purpose the Pope hath often tymes dispensed both wyth Priestes and religious men for their vowe hath géeuen them licence to marry It is not vnknowen to many men that there was an Abbot of Reading whom men for his perfecte lyuinge called Abbot Sancte This man béeyng in daunger of a certayne disease by the reason hée had no wyfe sente vnto the pope desiring hym to dispense wyth hym for hys vowe and y t pope dispensed wyth hym and gaue hym licence to marry a wyfe but vnder a condition that it shoulde bée secretly done and not In facie ecclesie By this men may sée that the Pope himself holdeth not so much of priests chastitie for then hée woulde not regarde more money then it And if the pope may dispence wyth thys Abbot for auoyding of a disease corporall how much more ought hée now to dispense with priestes séeing there bée so many soules in daunger Yea and also the order of priesthoode is sore defamed and sclaundered by the reasoÌ„ that priestes hath no wyues Moreouer wée doe reade that pope Celestine the third did dispense with a Nunne whose name was cauled Constatia Kyng Rogers daughter of Cecyll and gaue her licence to marry with Henry y t Emperour the sixt of that
name This was about y t yeare of our Lorde 1186. So that meÌ„ may perceaue how the pope doth not greatly regarde the vowe of hys spiritualtie if any thing may bée gotten to pay for a dispensation And it wil not helpe to say that the pope did dispense with this woman for a common wealth For the stories maketh mention that the pope dispeÌ„sed with him vnder a coÌ„dition that hée should paye hym a yearely pencion for the kyngdome of Cecyll and should recouer it of his owne charges out of the handes of Tancredus which was then in possession of it And béecause that hée myght haue the better title to the kyngdome hée gaue hym the onely daughter of Cecill So that y t pope did it not for a common wealth but for his owne lucre But now graunt that it were for â–ª a common wealth therefore first it was not Gods commaundemeÌ„t that priestes should liue sole For gods word géeueth no place to no common wealth And if y â— pope did then dispence for a coÌ„moÌ„ wealth why doth hée not now dispence for auoyding of fornication in so many innumerable priestes Doth not meÌ„ recken it for a common wealth to expell fornication all occasions therevnto But now there is no commoÌ„ wealth to bée regarded béecause there is no shyning golde offered But at y t least wayes mée thinketh that priestes which marry bée very farre from heresie for it is neyther agaynst Gods lawe nor yet agaynst the common wealth Here were many examples to bée brought in how the pope hath dispensed both with Monkes Friers and Nunnes the which I will passe ouer and will she we as neare as I can out out of Chronicles how loÌ„g â–ª it is that the pope hath gone about to bryng in the vow of chastitie Doctour Eckius doth say that Calixtus primus dyd firste make the statute that priestes should vow chastitie bâ—t that is false For all Chronicles beareth witnesse that priestes had wyues in the Councell of Nicene the which was almost an hundreth yeares after Calixtus dayes Wherfore it can not bée supposed that y t statute was made béefore the Councell of Nicene But authenticall hystories doth make mention that Nicholas the first whiche was Byshop of Rome the yeare of our Lord 860. did goe about this thyng but hée could not bryng it to passe by the reason of an holy man S. Huldericke Episcopus Augustensis the which wrote a very sharpe Epistle agaynst hym reproouyng hym sore bycause hée would compell priestes to vow chastitie Hys woords bée these Thou hast not swarued a litle from discretion y t where as thou oughtest to haue counsayled priestes to chastitie thou hast with a Lordly violence compelled them to it Is not this after the iudgement of all wise men a great violence wheÌ„ that thou agaynst the institution of the Gospell and agaynst y e decrée of the holy ghost wilt compell men to obserue thy priuate decrée c. Hée reciteth also agaynst y e Byshop of Rome all those same scriptures that I haue brought herein my booke of this matter and alâ—o certain of the counsels to that purpose that I haue brought them So that men ought not to thinke that I am the first that thus hath vnderstande the Scriptures nor yet the first that hath spoken agaynst priestes vowes Note also how this holy maÌ„ sayth that priests ought to bée admonyshed counselled to chastitie but not compelled For that sayth hée is a great violence and agaynst Christes holy Gospell and y t blessed spirite of God These bée as vehement wordes as I haue spokeÌ„ For out of these woordes men may gather that it is not farre from heresie to compell priestes to vow chastitie This holy man procéedeth farther with y t Bishop of Rome and telleth a fact of S. Gregory the which went about to compell priestes to vow chastitie Vpon a day S. Gregory sent vnto hys pondes for fish and in the nettes that they fished withall were brought vp aboue sixe thousand young childrens heades the which thyng when S. Gregory saw stroke hym sore to the hart hée was very heauy of that sight and perceyued anone that hys decrée that hée made for priester chastitie was the occasion of this great murther In that that priestes could not lyue sole nor yet they durst not auow theyr children for feare of the decrée And so for sauegarde of theyr honesty they fell into a fearefull and abhominable sinne to kyll theyr own children And for this cause S. Gregory sayth this holy Byshop dyd reuoke hys decrée agayn and did greattly alow the saying of the Apostle Iis better to marry then to burne Addyng vnto it of hys owne It is better to marry then to geue occasion to murther Here note good reader what a terrible and a fearefully example this is Is not this a piteous case that so many thousandes innoceÌ„tes bée thus slayne When shall the chastitie keepyng of all the priestes in the worlde bée an occasion of so great goodnes as the law of chastitie hath béene hereof mischief Alas is there no pyty in â—…eÌ„s hartes that are nothyng moued wheÌ„ they read such horrible factes in holy mens writyngs Or doe men thinke that there is no mischief now in our dayes done by the reason that priests are compelled to chastitie If men thinke that there come any mischiefe by the reason of it how can men recken to auoyde Gods vengeauÌ„ce that will so stifly and strongly mayntayne the same I haue béene informed of credible persons the whiche if néede were I could yet bryng foorth that in a place of Religion within this fewe yeares there was a religious man that dyd get a woman with child the whiche woman was brought a bed in the brothers chamber of a fayre sonne This child was Christened in the same chaÌ„ber and as soone as it was christened hée brake the necke of it and buryed it in the night in the Churcheyarde This is the trueth I caÌ„ prooue it Is not this a terrible thyng dooth not nature abhorre this And yet men had rather here this abhominablenes theÌ„ for to release a litle of theyr own will But oh Lorde God howe streightly shalt thou punish this It is not yet out of y t minde of maÌ„ sinnes y t an honest man lost his daughter by the reason that a priest defiled her the which bycause hée would not bée dishonested kylled the mayde priuely and afterwarde cast her into a well If men will not bée moued at this and such lyke other factes I can not tell what will moue them I could recite a great many of abhominable and detestable factes if I were not more ashamed to tell them then priestes hath béene to doe them Neither will I recite how shamefully that mens daughters mens wyues mens seruauntes hath béene and are dayly cast awaye by the â–ª reason that priestes are so hoate of courage and can not
kéepe theyr chastitie Would it not abhorre a Christen maÌ„ to heare tell of the innumerable baudes that are made by y t reason y t priests caÌ„ not lyue chaste What a petious case is it to sée so many young men cast away thâ—… whiche doth sée dayly their maisters vncleane liuyng Here were many thynges to bée recited but honesty compelleth me to passe theÌ„ ouer But I thinke there is no good man but hée will thinke as much in hym selfe as I either would say or can say I could tell if If I would the occasion why y t those Cardinals of Rome which kéepeth whores bée noted of the common people to bée of the best sort of Cardinals But I will passe it ouer Neuertheles it gréeueth mée a lyttell that I may not somewhat opeÌ„ my hart But this I promyse them if any of these proiectours of this fylthy chastitie doth take in hand to defende it agaynst mée I will not bée ashamed to writeâ— that they haue not béene ashamed to doe Nor I will not kéepe secrete how certayne byshops of England and also of other countries doth let whores to ferme vnto priests And all béecause they will not suffer them to marry Yet heare will I tell you one prety tale There is a byshop lyuyng at this same day in Germanye which had néede of a great some of money I could tell his name if I would this byshop called vnto hym a gentilman a great frend of his which smelled a littell of the new learning so called Vnto this maÌ„ hée made his complaint how that hee must néedes make shifte shortly for a great somme of money desyring hym both to helpe hym and also of his counsell This man sayde vnto hym if hée would folow his couÌ„sell hée would shortly helpe him The byshop was very glad and grauÌ„ted to folowe his counsell Then sayde the gentylman My Lord your Lordship shall geue a strayte commaundement that all your Priestes within your diocese shall put away their whores within this two monethes vnder the payne of heresye at the least After this your Lordship shall send ij of your couÌ„sellers that bée knowen to bée greately in your fauour to handle with the priestes in their owne names for to take vp thys matter betwéene your Lordeship and them But vnder this condition that the priests shall grauÌ„t vnto them a certayne some of money and they shall promise the priestes y t they will bring it to passe that your Lordship notwithstaÌ„ding your strait commaundement shall bée contented to suffer them to liue as they haue done in tymes past and after the olde custome of the Church The byshop was contented with this counsell incontinent gaue out y t commaundement and afterward sent out two of his best frendes priuelye to treate with the Priestes in their names but not in his For hée woulde not bée knowen of it because hée had vowed chastitie But what thinke you that these two meÌ„ did gather in this one byshoppricke within y t space of ij moneths Verely â—xx M. guyldens the which money the byshop receiued very deuoutly and thought it not against the vowe of chastitie What shall men say to these mens conscience that will not sticke to burne a poore priest that maryeth a wife but yet they will receyue xx M. guyldens to mayntayne open whoredome O lord God thou knowest this yet doubtles thou sufferest it And all béecause they should haue space and respite to amende vnto which God geue them grace Amen But agayne to our purpose men may perceaue that this holy byshop Hulderyke was agaynst the pope dyd also alowe my doctrine and declare that S. Gregorie did repeÌ„t him of y t statute y t hée had made for priests â—…astitie Wherefore I conclude here yet agayne that Gods holy worde olde doctours holy counselles the Emperours lawe olde decrées of the Church the practice of the holy Apostels the lyuing of holy men Gods lawe and mans lawe nature reason doth alowe this article of myne Wherefore I trust no good nor reasonable man will withstand mée in this case There runneth a greate voyce of mée that I haue maried a wife and for that cause men doth recken that I will something proue my witte and also stretch my learning to mayntain that priestes myght haue wyues But the very trueth is béefore God maÌ„ that I haue no wife â—or neuer went about to marry I thanke God of his grace And of this I haue as noble princes as bée in Germany to beare mée witnesse and also many other worshipfull and honest men y t doth knowe mée and my conuersation I haue also the ryght worshipfull man Doctour Lée which was the kinges Embassadour with vs and all his seruauntes to testifye for mée which bée honest men and sufficient in a greater cause then this is Finally here is also the byshop of our citie with whom I doe dwell am most conuersant with Heare is also the Embassadours of Lubycke which doth also know mée and my conuersation And I doubt not but all they will testifye for mée as farre as any lawe shall require Yea I dare boldly say y t myne aduersaries haue not so good testemony that they kéepe theyr vowe of chastitie as I haue that I am not maryed But all is done to bringe mée in defamation Let God prouide Neuertheles what if I had a wyfe is y so great a crime What can men make of it Hath not many noble Princes and good men wyues Will meÌ„ make more articles of saluation for mée then for princes or for other Christen men what haue I deserued thus to bée taken Men will haue to doe with mée but I promise them they shall get no good by it if I may come to my aunswere I wil bée able alwayes to defend a wyfe if I weare disposed to marry agaynst all those that kéepe whores Let them begin when they will Notwithstandyng I doe not abstayne from a wife béecause that is euell and vncleane to marry but I haue other lawfull considerations Let no man doubt but this is of trueth if I had a wyfe I would not haue medled with this article because that men myght haue suspected mée that then I would haue defended this article for the maintenaunce of my facte But now on the other syde that men should not think how I despised mariage or thought it vnlawfull for a Priest to marry in as much as I my selfe doe not marry Therfore haue I takeÌ„ this labour on mée to wryte my meaning so much the more boldely béecause that men haue no cause to suspect mée that I speake to defende myne owne cause but all onely to set out the veretye so God helpe mée Amen But now will I goe to the Popes lawe and sée what tyme that thys thyng begunne to take strength It had beene often times attempted but it was alwayes repelled by one good man or
and a carnall stocke full of passions and of affections Vnto a mortall Prince you make mediatours béecause hee knew not your hart and béecause hée is more affectionat to one man theÌ„ to an other and beecause hee iudgeth after the sight of hys eye and after y e percialnes and affection of his hart But so doth not God but alonely of mere mercy and grace But to your similitude you can not haue no Dukes to speake for you excepte you géeue them rewardes excepte they haue carnall affection to you therfore by your similitude you must likewyse doe to Saintes But S. Ambrose answereth clearly to this damnable reason of yours saying Men are wonte to vse thys miserable excusation that by these thinges may wee come to God as we may come to the kyng by Erles I aunswere wee doe come vnto the kyng by the meanes of Dukes and Erles because that the kyng is a man and knoweth not to whom hee may committe the common wealth but vnto God from whom nothing can bee hidde hee knoweth all mens merites wee neede no spokesman nor no mediatour but alonely a deuoute mynde c. Here are you clearely aunswered of S. Ambrose to youre carnall reason Item an other reason out of your lawe that Images bee vnto vnlearned men that same thyng that letters and writinges bée vnto them that bee learned that they may thereby learne what they ought to folow If your Images bee no more to vnlearned men then writinges be to learned men therefore they may no more doe to them then learned men doe to their letters woulde you suffer learned men to come and kneele and offer to my booke and sette vp candels before it and to make vowes to come yearely thereunto and to desire petitioÌ„s béefore my booke of those Saintes y t bée written therein Sée how your owne example maketh agaynst you and all thing that I can bringe Wherefore if there bée any grace in you or if there bée any shame in you of the worlde for Christes sake leaue of this false â–ª learnyng and colouring of Idolatrie For you doe not onely deceaue your simple brethren but you doe also blaspheme the immortall God of heauen which doubtles will auenge shortly this rebuke on you if you doe not amende whose violeÌ„ce and might you are not able to withstand Wherefore I exhorte you in y e blessed name of Christ Iesus that you repent in tyme and take vpon you to learne the veritie which is how God is onely to bée honoured and onely to bée sacrificed vnto hée is onely to bée prayed vnto of hym onely must our petitions bee asked it is hée onely y t géeueth wealth prosperitie hée only must deliuer and comforte vs in all aduersities hée onely must helpe vs out of all distresse vnto whom as Saint Paule sayth be alonely glory and honour for euer Amen Now most excellent and noble Prince I haue here after the poore gifte that God hath géeuen mee set out vnto your grace certain articles which though they séeme at the firste sight to bee newe yet haue I prooued them openly with the euerlastynge worde of God and that not wroonge nor wrested after my lyghte brayne but after the exposition of clarkely doctours yea and that of the oldest of the best Wherfore most excellent Prince most humbly most méekely I beséeche your grace that I may finde so great indifferencie at your graces hand as that the Byshoppes shall not condemne this booke after the maner of their olde tyranny excepte they can with open Scriptures and with holy Doctours refell it as I haue prooued it But I would it should please your grace to call them beefore you and to commaunde as many as will condemne this booke euery one of them seuerally without others counsell to write their cause why they will condemne it and the scriptures whereby they will condemne it and to bryng them all to your grace and your grace may iudge betwéene both parties I doe not doute but they wil bring your grace maruailous probations and such as were neuer hearde And if thrée of them agrée in one tale if they bée deuided let mée dye for it and that your grace shall well sée The father of heauen and hys most mercifull sonne Iesus Christ kéepe your grace in honour to his pleasure and glory Amen Of the originall of the Masse and of euery part therof translated into English out of his booke De Doctorum Sententijs ¶ De consecratione Dist. 1. Cap. Iacobus ex 6. Synodo IAmes the brother of the Lorde as cconernyng the fleshe vnto whom was firste coÌ„mitted the Church of Ierusalem Basilius the Byshop of Caesaria gaue vnto vs the celebration of the Masse Sayth the glose that is to say the manner how to celebrate y t Masse For the woordes by the which the body is made were deliuered froÌ„ the Lord him selfe But afterward others also added some one péece some an other for comlynes and solemnitie And thus much sayth hée God Christian reader what can these men wholy addicted to lyes otherwise doe but beguile deceaue For this is their onely endeuour whiche although it may bée manifest vnto thée by many of their déedes not withstanding by this one â–ª of y t which they so greatly boast it is so manifest that none caÌ„ dony it To attribute the originall of the Masse vnto Iames the Apostle and to Basilius y e bishop is an errour not to bée suffered for asmuch as it is most false as by that which foloweth shall appeare Let them declare if they can what Iames made thereof and what Bastill added thereto Let them bryng foorth one of the Apostles that euer sayd Masse they shal haue y t victory Ieames died about the yeare of our Lord 62. And of Masse as they vnderstand it there was no mention made in the Churche by the space of 200. yeares Moreouer then this Basill tyed about the yeare after Christ 380. How then could hée agrée with Iames aboute the Masse But what Masse had the Church from after the death of Iames vnto Basiles tyme by what authoritie did Basill deliuer to vs y e masse Moreouer these meÌ„ doe adde their auctoritie out of the vj. Synode that their lye might bée the more notorious Bring foorth the vj. Synode in the whiche these thinges bée written I pray you what was handled in the vj. Synode The maner of celebrating Masse Or agaynst whom was y e vj. Synode gathered togither agaynst those y t would not say Masse Nothyng lesse but agaynst such as wickedly taught that there was one operation in Christ Read the actes of the Synode and you shall finde it to bée so But let vs grauÌ„t in the meane â—eason that this was handled in y t Synode what doth it prooue We do not contende what matters were intreated of in the Synode but whether Ieames and Basill deliuered vnto vs
persecutour 250 Church truely declared 253. 254. 256 Counsailes haue erred and may erre 255 Councell of Constance forbad the Sacrament in both hyndes 302 Coūcell of Nice thought it meete for a Byshop to haue a wife 320 D. DAyes are no one better nor higher then an other 206 Doctours of the law geue euill counsayle 208 E. ENemy to a true mā is a theef 189 Extreme law is extreme miustice 208 F. FAyth onely iustifieth 226. 235 Fayth without workes iustifieth 228 Fayth is accompted for righteousnes 231 Fayth in Christ attayneth saluation 231 Fayth bryngeth forth good workes 236 Fayth that bryngeth forth frute is the fayth that iustifieth 238 Fayth iustifieth before God good workes declare our iustification to the world 239 Faythes are of two sortes 241 Fayth that iustifieth is geuen vs frely of God 241 Faythfull beleeuers in Christes merites are the right holy Churche of God 244 Faythfull congregation cannot erre 247 Fayth is the mere gift of God 277 Fisher Bishop of Rochester sworne to the Pope 197 Flocke of Christ is litle 247 Fleshly reason refoned frowardly 270 Fridericke the Emper our deposed 191 Freewill of man without Gods grace can doe no good 266. 267. 268 Freewill without grace is sinne 269. 270 Freewill wherein it consisteth 276 Frutes of fayth 235 G. GErmayne a Popes Sainte a straunge hystory 190 George Stafford a learned man 221 God onely is omnipotent and almightie 351 God is to bee obeyed before men 295 God doth wōderfully worke to saue his flocke ibidem Gods commaundements are impossible to our nature to bee kept 272 Gods mercy is the onely cause of our saluation 179 Good counsaile geuē to the Bishops 215 Good workes what goodnes is in them 229 Good workes cannot deserue remission of sinnes 235 Good workes are to be done though they iustifie not 237 Good workes are the frutes of good fayth 249 God disposeth his mercy to whom it pleaseth him 278 Gospell preachyng is no cause of insurrection 184 Gospell profitable to England 194 Grace without deseruyng 224 Grace findeth our hartes stony 273 H. HErode kept his brothers wise 188 Hipocrisie abhominable 189 Holy dayes why they were ordeyned 205 Holy Church truely defined 243 Holy church that is the true church of God is to the worlde inuisible 244 Holy Church is the grounde and piller of trueth 245 Holy Church is built vpon the Apostles and Prophetes 250 I. IAcob is elected and Esau reiected 178 Idols and Images described 344 Idols Images are all one ibidem Ignoraunce made vs worshyppe stockes and stones 341 Images are neither to bee honored nor worshypped 340 Image of God is thy poore Christian brother 345 Images or Idols are not the workers of any miracles 345 Insurrections whereof they came 192 Indifferent thynges are to bee obeyed 298 Iohn kyng of Englād cruelly handled by the Clergy of England 189 Iustification is not by the lawe of of workes but by the law of fayth 234 Iustification how it commeth 236 Iustified personnes cannot abstayne from doyng of good workes 240 K. Kynges ought not to bee deposed though they bee wicked 187 Kyng Iohn was cruelly handled of the Clergy of England 189 Kyng Iohn poysoned 189 Kynges brought by violence vnder the Popes foote 195 Kynges of the kyngdome of heauen what they are 257. 258 Keyes of Christ abused by the Byshops 262. 263 L. LAw why it was geuen 275 Liberties of holy Churche may not bee impugned 217 Losing and byndyng what it is 259 M. MAn is Lord ouer all creatures 274 Mans dominion restreyned 275 Man is the lyuely and true Image of God 346 Mariage of Priestes is allowed of God 317 Mariage hath a greater crosse then virginitie 313 Mariage of Priestes is neither agaynst Gods law nor mans law 328 Mariage is all one beefore Priesthode and after Priesthode 336 Masse made of many patches 357 Masse welbeloued of the Papistes for gaynes sake ibidem Ministers of the Churche ought to bee no Lordes 262 Money is the popes best marchaūt 265 Monkes of the Charterhouse and their superstition 299 Mores holy Church are the Pope Cardinals and Byshops 252 Moses chayre what it is 297 N. NAturall reason is a blynde iudge of the Scriptures 307 Naturally all men desire Mariage 323 O. OBedience to the higher powers taught by Christ and his Apoles 185 Obedience to the Prince wee owe with our bodyes and to God with our soules 300 Officers are Byshops hangmē 211 Offendours of the common weale may not breake prison but paciently suffer that the law doth determine 293 Orders in the Clergy hath two significations 202 Othe the Byshoppes made to the Pope 195 Othe to the Pope last made by the Byshops 200 P. PApistes and Schoolemen peruert the Scriptures 180 ▪ Papistes charge the Preachers of Gods word with heresie 185 Papistes teach disobedience to Princes 185. 186 Papistes shamelesse doynges 186 Papistes and Protestantes wherin they differre 191 Papiste is an vnnaturall subiect agaynst hys soueraigne Lord and Lady 202 Papistes are arrogant and proude 209 Papistes are craftie iugglers 223 Papistes crueltie 225 Papistes are trappers of innocents 223 Papistes are tyrantes 224 Papistes are blasphemers of Gods holy word 286 Papistes preach lyes 287 Papistes and S. Paule are contrary 285 Papistes are the norishers of ignoraunce and darknes 290 Papistes finde faulte with gnattes and swalow Camelles 308 Papistes make blynd reasons 308. 309 Papistes carnall reasons 351 Papistes worshyppers of stockes and stones 352 Papistes blynd and malicious 353 Papistes foolish arguments soluted 354 Paule dispenseth with vnlawfull vowes 314 Peter the Apostle had a wife 325 Petition of Doct. Barnes to kyng Henry the viij 205 Philip the Euangelist was maryed 325 Popes depose kynges 186 Popes shamelesse arrogancy and tyranny ibidem Popes dispense with othes that subiectes make of obedience to theyr Princes 188 Popes procurers of warre and destruction of people 193 Pope agaynst Pope one cursing an other ibidem Popes alter the Byshops othes as semeth best for their purpose 195 Popes and their lewdenes truely described 197 Pope how hee cōmeth by the name of Lord. ibidem Pope Clement excōmunicated kyng Henry the viij 198 Popes what maner of men they are that are chosē to that dignitie 199 Pope Clement the sonne of a Curtisan ibidem Pope a monstruous hypocrite 198 Pope and hys lawes agree not 199 Popes are not chosen after Sainte Paules rule ibidem Power of kynges is immediatly of God 202 Popes Saintes worke straūge miracles 190 Pope absolueth all rebellion agaynst Princes but pardoneth none that hath beene agaynst hym selfe 201 Popes regalles ibidem Pope calleth Councelles as it pleaseth hym 202 Pope hath libertie to say do◠what hee list 204 Popes pardōs haue beene good marchaundise in England 212 Pope may not bee controlled of any man 213 Popish law is tyrannous 218. 219. 220 Pope and the true holy church how farre they differre 242 Pope and his maners agreeth nothyng with the holy Church ibidē Pope
shamefully abuseth the holy Church 243 Popes Church glory in trash 251 Popes Clergy is condemned by S. Augustine as heretickes 264 Pope and Christ are contrary 284 Pope and his Clergye are the very Antechristes 288 Pope a persecutour of holy church 242 Pope selleth God and all hys ordidinaunces 265 Popes condeÌ„ned for heretickes 247 Popes own lawes both agaynst him selfe and his Clergy 305 Pope defameth Priesthode 324 Pope and his Clergye feare not to breake Christes institution 306 Pope forbyddeth mariage 315 Pope accompteth whoredome matrimony to bee all one 321 Popes doctrine condeÌ„ned by a CouÌ„cell 322 Popes lawes agaynste mariage of Priestes 316 Pope alloweth y t kepyng of whores 317 Pope wil not suffer any persoÌ„s maryed to bee Byshops 320 Pope is a renter and tearer of the Scriptures 334 Pope maketh a hotchpot of mariage ibidem Pope accompteth whoredome better then Matrimony 335 Pope a blasphemer of God ibidem Practise of Prelates 203 Practises of Papistes to cause Images to worke miracles 343 Preachers of true doctrine teach obedience 185 Preachers of true doctrine are sufferers 184 Preachers of false doctrine are persecuters 184 Preachers agaynst the Pope are accompted heretickes 205 Prelates caÌ„not vse obedience to their Prince 202 Prelates are blynd guides ibidem Prelates will obey the pope but not the Prince 203 Priestes rore and mumble out their Diriges and Masses 216 Priestes may marry wyues by the law of God lawfully 309 Priestes must marry for auoydyng of fornication 310 Prophetes neuer styrred the people agaynst the Prince 184 ProtestaÌ„tes and Papistes how they differre 191 Power temporall described 292 R. REason deuotion that is agaynst the will of God is mere blyndnes 307 Righteous man lyueth by fayth 233 Rochester agaynst Winchester 206 Rochesters great iudgement ibidem Rochesters vayne distinction 237 Rochesters rule to know the difference betweene the Pope and the Councell 247 Rochesters wordes vppon Christes wordes 303 S. SAcrament forbydden to bee receaued in both kyndes 301 Sacrament vnder both kyndes 305 Saintes can obteine nothyng for vs. 347 Saintes how they ought to bee honored 349 Saintes are boly but they are no Gods 351. Scriptures are to be read of all men 182 Scriptures in the common tounge teach all obedience 184 Scriptures iudge the true Church 250 Scroupe Richard Archbyshoppe of yorke a rebell 188 Scriptures are the iudges of Councels 248 Scriptures not suffered by the Popes Clergye to bee in the mother toung 283 Scriptures teache the commaundementes of God 288 Scripture is profitable to bee read 289 Scriptures is to bee made knowen to all men 291 Solutions and argumentes to the Scriptures 236 Spiritualtie ready to helpe the pope 194 Spirituall power 297 Stafford George a learned maÌ„ 22â— Stokesly Byshop of London a foolish and malicious Papist 291 Stockes and stones the Papistes honor as Goddes 342 Subiectes must obey and in what maner 294. 295 Supplication made by D. Barnes to kyng Henry the viij 183 Supersâ—â—tion of the Monkes of the Charterhouse 299 T. TRaditions agaynst God are to be rooted vp by the rootes 298 Tunstall Byshop of London 215 V. VIrginitie is a state indiffereÌ„t 313 Vncharitable sutes are to bee reproued 209 Vniuersall Church is not a generall Councell 248 Vowes that haue vnlawfull conditions are not to bee obserued 319 Vrbane Pope agaynste Clement Pope 193 W. WOrkes which bee of greatest value and are accompted for the best 228 Workes are good and helpe to iustification 231 Workes without fayth are but sinne 233 Workes of the new law 234 Whoredome is lawfull in no case 311 ¶ FINIS AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye and are to bee sold at hys shop vnder Aldersgate An. 1572. ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis A liuely picture describyng the authoritie and substaunce of Gods most blessed word weyghing agaynst Popish traditions ☞ Iudgement indifferent How light is chaffe of Popish toyes if thou desire to trye Loe Iustice holdes true beame without respect of partiall eye One ballance holdes Gods holy word and on the other parte Is layde the dregs of Antichrist deuisde by Popish arte Let Friers and Nunnes and baldpate Priestes with triple crowne of Pope The Cardinals hatt and deuill him selfe by force plucke downe the rope Bryng bell booke candle crosse beades and mitred Basan bull Bryng buls of leade and Popes Decrees the ballance downe to pull Yet shall these tares and filthy dregs inuented by mans brayne Through force of Gods most mighty word be fouÌ„d both light and vayne Magna est veritas preualet Great is the trueth and preuayleth 3. Esdra 4. Tyndall a vertuous and godly man Wilfull malice agaynst opeÌ„ trueth The authors that Popishe Pristes doe studie Vniust dcaling of the Papistes Notorious blasphemy of a Papist Tyndall remoueth from M. Welshe Tyndall sueth to be with Tonstall Byshop of London but coulde not obtayne The Scripture in the vulgare tongue a speciall manifesting of the trueth IgnorauÌ„ce of Scripture cause all mischife erroures in religion The reprobate are alwayes offended at y e trueth Henry Phillippes a wicked and dissembling Iudas Tyndals simplicitie pitied of the officers Tyndals godly zeale to his Prince A testimony of Tyndals godly life euen by his aduersarye The fayth of Tyndall shewed by a manifest myracle The reason that the papistes make agaynst the translation of the scripture into English A subtile shift of the popes clergy to couer their euill How the Papistes were vexed with Tindals translation of the new testament The Papistes shamed not to wrest the scriptures The Papistes haue wrought wonderfully to haue suppressed y â— scripture As owles abide not the brightnes of the day so cannot the papists abide the lyght of the gospell What first moued W. Tyndale to translate y â— Scripture into englssh This bishop of LoÌ„don was then Tunstall which afterward was bishop of Durham The popes chaplens pulpet is the alâ—house Christes apoitles dyd mekely admonish but the Popes sectaryes dyd braule and skold Parcialitie sometyme in men of great learnyng How Tindale was deceaued Roome enough in my Lordes house for belly chere but none to translate the new testament Tindale could get no place in the bishop of LondoÌ„s house Tyndals submission is to all such as submit themselues to God Not the toung but the life proueth a true Gospeller The truest touchestone or Religion is Christes Gospell The scripture of god is y â— sworde of the Spirite TribulatioÌ„ is the gifte of God What we ought to seeke in the Scriptures A goodly comfort agaynst desperation EnsaÌ„ples of their euils not to bolden vs but to feare vs froÌ„ sinne and desperation Howe we ought to prepare our selues to the reading of the scriptures Fayth our surest shield in all assaultes We may not trust in our workâ— but in the word and promise of God God burdened with hys promise The holy ghost breateth where and when it pleaseth hym Conscience of euill doynges fyndeth out 〈◊〉 ‑ 〈◊〉 men Of