time and nowe he speaketh them by hys preacher whome ye oughte to beleue and so it is al one But vpon what occasion dyd he speake it there wer ii brethren at stryfe together for landes welthy men as it appeareth and the ritch felow wold not tary till Christe had ended his sermon but interrupted it and wold nedes haue his matter dispatched by and by He was at Christes Sermon but yet he would not differ his worldlycause tyl Christ had made an end of his godly exhortacion Thys was a thornie brother he was a gospeller he was a carnall gospeller as manye be nowe adaies for a piece of an abbey or for a porcyon or chaūtry lands to get somwhat by it and to serue hys comodytye He was a gospeller one of y e new brethrē somewhat worsse then a rancke papiste How be it a rancke papyst now a dayes shall soner haue promocyon then a true Gospeller shall haue the more pity But this was a thorni gospeller he heard Christes preachynge and followed hym for company and heard his words But he was neuer the better for it but the care of the world so choked the worde of God in hym that he could not heare the sermon to y e end but interrupted the sermō for hys worldly matter yer it wer al done And what was Christe then doinge forsoo the he was sowing of good seede but it fell vppon stonye ground so that it could not take any rote in thys fellowe to bringe forthe good fruit in him And let me tel you of the sede that Christ was then sowing Beare with me a whyle and seinge that I come nowe to take myne Vltimū uale of this place heare me pacientlye and gyue me leaue a lytell whyle and let me take my leaue honestly At the time when this fellowe interrupted Christes sermō he was preachynge a longe Sermon to hys Dyscyples and to the people beynge gathered together in a wounderfull great multitude as appeareth in the xii Chapter of Saynte Lukes Gospel and ther he first of al taught hys disciples a good lesson saying Cauete uobis a farmento Phariseorum Beware in any wise sayth he from the leuen of the Pharises What is thys leuen of the Pharises Leauē is somtimes taken for corrupt lyuyng whyche infectethe others by the euyll example therof and agaynst such corrupte lyuing Gods preachers must cry oute earnestlye and neuer cease tyll it be rooted vp In the Cytye of Corinthe one had maryed his stepmother hys fathers wyfe And he was a iolye fellow a great riche man an alderman of the Cyty and therfore they wyncked at it they wold not medle in the matter they had nothyng to do with it and he was one of the head mē of such rule authority that they durste not manye of them But. S. Paule hearing of y t matter writ vnto them and in Gods behalfe charged them to do away suche abhomynacyon frō among them Saint Paule woulde not leaue them till he had excommunicated the wycked doer of suche abhominacion If we should nowe excōmunicate all suche wycked doers ther wold be much a do in England Ye that are Magestrates she we fauour for affeccion to such wyll not suffer they may be rooted oute or put to shame Oh he is such a mans seruāt we may not do hym anie shame Oh he is a gentlemā c. And so the thing is not now any thynge looked vnto Lecherye is vsed thoroweoute England and such lecherye as is vsed in none other place of the world And yet it is made a matter of sport a matter of nothynge a lawghyng matter and a tryste not to be passed on nor not to be refourmed But beware ye that are magestrates theyr synne dothe leauen you all Therefore for gods loue beware of thys leuē Wel I trust it wil be one daye amēded I loke not to liue lōg yet I trust as old as I am to liue so lōg as to se lechery punyshed I wold wysh y t Moyses law were restored for punyshment of lechery that the offēders therin myghte be punyshed according to y ◠prescripcion of Moyses lawe And here I will make a sute to your hyghenesse to restore vnto the churche y ◠discipline of Christ. In excommunicatinge such as be notable offenders nor neuer deuyse anye other waye For no man is able to deuyse a better waye then God hathe done which is excommunicacyon to put them from the congregacyon tyl they be confounded Therefore restore Christes discyplyne for excommunicaciō And that shall be a mean both to pacifi gods wrath and indygnacion against vs and also that les habominacion shall be vsed then in tymes paste hath bene and is at thys daye I speake thys of a conscyence and I meane and moue it of a good wyl to your grace and youre realme Bring into the churche of Englande open discipline of excommunicacion that open synners maye be strycken wyth Somtime leauen is taken for corrupt doctryne and so it is here taken in this place when he sayeth Be ware of the leauen of the Pharise is For Christ intended to make his discyples teachers of all the world and therefore to beware of corrupte doctryne And that that he saied to them he sayeth also to vs. Receyue no corrupte doctryne no myngle mangle yet there be leaueners yet styll and mingle manglers that haue sowred Christes doctryne wyth the leauen of the Pharysyes Yea and where there is anye peace of leauen they will maintaine that one piece more then all the doctrine of Christ and about that purpose they occupy and bestowe all their wittes This was the firste seede The seconde seede was Nihil occultum quod non reuelabitur There is nothynge pryuye or hydden that shall not be reuealed and opened It parteyne the all to one purpose for there he taughte his disciples too beware of the leauen whyche was hypocrysye declarynge vnto them that hypocrisye woulde not be all wayes hydden but such as wer not syncere shoulde be knowen at the laste daye and all that was taughte shoulde at length be knowen It hathe also an other meanynge for it is Gods prouerbe There is nothynge so pryuye but it shall be opened at leaste wyse in the greate daye of reconnynge In the dreadefull daye of the generall accompte in the daye of reuelacion Then shall it be openlye know en what so euer is doone be it neuer so pryuelye doone Theese fellowes that haue their fetches and theyr far compasses too brynge thynges too their purposes worcke they neuer so preuely neuer so couertlye yet at the laste daye their doynges shall be openlye reuealed Vsque ad sacietatem uisionis saythe the Prophet Esay that is tyll all the worlde shall see it to their shame and confusyon that are the doers of it As the Prophete Jeremy sayth Sicut confunditur fur qui deprehenditur c. Euen as a theife that is taken with the manner when he stealethe So shall
¶ A MOSTE faithfull SermoÌ„ preached before the Kynges most excelleÌ„te Maiestye and hys most honorable Councel in his Court at Westminster by the reuerende Father Master Hughe Latymer Anno. Domi. M. D. L. ¶ A Sermon preached before the Kynge VIdete cauete ab auaricia Take heede and beware of couetousnes take heede and beware of couetousnes take heede and beware of couetousnes take heede beware of couetousnes And what and if I shuld say nothyng els these thre or iiii houres for I know it wil be so long in case I be not commauÌ„ded to the contrary but these words Take hede and beware of couetousnes it would be thought a straunge Sermon before a Kynge to saye noteynge elsse but Cauete ab auaricia Beware of Couetousnesse And yet as straunge as it is it would be lyke the Sermon of Jonas that he preached to the Niniuites as touchynge the shortnes and as touchynge the paucity or fewnes of the words For his Sermon was Ad huc quadraginta dies et Niniue subuertetur There is yet fourtye dayes to come and Nynyue shall be destroyed Thus he walcked from streete to strete from place to place round about the Citye and sayd nothynge els but there is yet xl dayes quod he and Niniue shalbe destroied There is no greate ods nor difference at the lest wyse in the number of woordes no nor yet in the sence or meanyng betwene these two Sermons There is yet forty dayes and Niniue shalbe destroyed and these wordes that I haue taken to speake of this day Take heede and beware of Couetousnes For Niniue should be destroyed for synne and of theyr sinnes Couetousnesse was one and one of the greateste so that it is all one infeffect And as they be like coÌ„cernyng the shortnes the paucity of words the breuitye of wordes also the meaning purpose So I wold they myght be lyke in frute and profit for what came of Jonas sermon what was the fruit of it Ad predicacionem Ionae crediderunt Deo At the preachyng of Jonas they beleued God Here was a great fruite a greate effect wrought what is that same they beleued god They beleued Goddes Preacher Gods Offycer Gods Minister Jonas wer conuerted from theyr syn They beleued that as the preachersayd if they dyd not repent amende theyr life the Cyty should be destroyed wythin fourtye dayes This was a great fruite for Jonas was but one man he preached but one Sermon and it was but a short Sermon neyther as touchynge the number of words and yet he turned al the whole City great smal ritche and poore kyng and al. We be mani preachers here in Englande and we preach many long SermoÌ„s and yet the people wil not repeÌ„t nor conuert This was the frut the effect and the good that hys Sermon dyd that all the whole City at his preaching conuerted and amended theyr euyll lyuynge dyd pennaunce in sakcloth And yet here in this Sermon of Jonas is no great curiousnes no great clerklines no greate affertacyon of wordes nor of painted eloquence it was none other but Ad huc qua di aginta dies Niniue subuertitur yet fortye dayes Niniue subuertitur and Niniue shall be destroied it was no more This was no great curious Sermon but thys was a nyppynge Sermon apynchynge Sermon a biting Sermon it had a ful byte it was a nyppynge sermon a rough Sermon and a sharp bitynge Sermon Do you not heare maruayle that these Niniuites caste not Jonas in pryson that they did not reuyle hym and rebuke hym They did not reuile him nor rebuke hym but God gaue theym grace to heare him and to conuert and ameÌ„d at his preachynge A straunge matter so noble a Citye to gyue place to one mans Sermon Now England cannot abyde thys geare they caÌ„not be content to heare Gods Minister and hys threatnyng for theyr synne Thoughe the Sermon be neuer so good thoughe it be neuer so true It is a naughty fellowe a sedicious fellowe hee maketh trouble and rebellyon in the Realme hee lacketh dyscression but the Niniuites rebuked not Jonas y e he lacketh dyscression or that he spake out of tyme that hys Sermon was oute of season made But in England if Gods Preacher Gods Minister be any thyng quike or do speake sharply then he is a foolysh fellow he is rash he lacketh dyscression Nowadayes yf they cannot reproue the doctryne y â— is preached then they wyll reproue the Preacher that he lacketh dew consideracion of the tymes and y â— he is of lernyng sufficiente but he wanteth discressyon what a tyme is thys pycked oute to preache such thyngs he should haue a respect and a regarde to the tyme and to the state of thyngs and of the CommoÌ„ wâ—â—l It reioiseth me somtimes when myfrend commeth and telleth me that they fynd faute with 〈…〉 y dyscressyon for by lykelyehoode thynke I the doctryne is true for if they could finde faut wyth y e doctrin they would not charge me wyth the lacke of discression but they woulde charge me wyth my doctryne not with the lacke of discressyon or with the inconueniency of the time I wil now aske you a question I pray you when shoulde Jonas haue preached agaynste the Couetousnes of Niniue if the couetous men should haue appoynted him his tyme I knowe y â— preachers ought to haue a dyscressyon in theyr preachyng and that they ought to haue a consideracioÌ„ and respect to the place and to y e tyme that he preacheth in as I my self wyl say here that I would not say in y e country for no good But whan then syn must be rebuked sin must be plainly spoken agaynste And when shoulde Jonas haue preached agaynst Niniue yf he should haue forborne for the respectes of the tymes or the place or the state of things ther For what was Niniue a noble a rytche and a welthy City What is LoÌ„don to Niniue like a village as Islington or such another in comparison of London Suche a Cytye was Niniue it was thre daies iourny to go through euery strete of it and to go but from streete to streete There was noble men rychmen welthy meÌ„ ther was viciouse men and couetous meÌ„ and men that gaue them selues to al voluptuouse lyuynge and to worldelynes of geting riches was this a time wel chosen and discritely takeÌ„ of Jonas to come reproue them of theyr sin to declare vnto them the threatnynges of God and to tell theym of theyr Couetousnes and to say playnly vnto them that except they repented and ameÌ„ded their euyll lyuynge they and theyr City shuld be destroyed of Gods hande wythin xl dayes And yet they hearde Jonas gaue place to his preaching They hearde the threatninges of God and feared hys stroke and vengeaunce and beleued God y e is they beleued Goddes Preacher Minister they beleued that God would be true of hys word that he spake bi
woulde learne to speake as the holye ghoste speketh and cal it by such a name as Sainte Paule doothe I wolde they wold as they haue much pryckynge when they put on their cap I wolde thei wold haue this meditaciō I am nowe puttyng on my power vpō my head If they hadde this thoughte in their mindes they wold not make so much pricking vp of them selfes as they do now a daies But now heare is a vengaunce deuil we must haue our power from Turkey of Ueluet and gay it muste be Farre fet deare bought and when it commeth it is a false signe I had rather haue a true Englysh signe then a false signe frō Turki It is a false signe when it couereth not their heades as it shoulde do For if they woulde keepe it vnder the power as they ought to do there shoulde not any such Tussockes nor tuftes be sene as there be nor suche laying oute of y ◠heere nor breydynge to haue it open I wolde merueile of it how it shulde come to be so abused and so farre out of order sauing that I know by experience that mani wil not bee ruled by theyr husbandes as they oughte to be I haue bene desyred to exhort some and wyth some I could do litle in that mater But ther be nowe manye Adams that wil not displease their wiues but wil in thys behalfe let them haue all theyr owne mindes and do as them listeth And some others agayne ther be nowe a daies y ◠wyll defend it say it mai be suffred well inough because it is not expresse in Scripture nor spoken of by name Thoughe we haue not expressed mencion in scripture against such laying out of the heare in Tussockes and Tufftes yet we haue in scripture expresse mencyon Detortis erinibus Of writhen heare that is for the nonce forced to courle But of these tussocks that are layd out now a dayes there is no mencyon made in scriptures because they were not vsed in scripture time Thei wer not yet come to be so far out of order as to lay out such tussocks and tufftes but I wyl tell the if thou wylt nedes laye it oute or if thou wylte neades shew thy heare and haue it seene go and powle thy head or roūd it as mē do for to what purpose is it to pul it out so and to laye it oute some do it say they of a simplicity Some do it of a pryde And some of other causes But they do it because they wyll be quarter masters with their husbāds quarter masters Nay half maisters yea some of them wil be hole masters and rule the roast as they liste theym selues But these defenders of it wil not haue it euyl because it is not spoken of in scripture But ther be other thinges as euyll as thys whyche are not spoken of in scripture expressely but they are employed in scrypture as well as though they were ther expressely spoken of For the Prophete Esay sayth Vequi consurgitis mane ad comessandum ad Ebrietatem sectandam et potan do usque aduesperam ut uino estuetis Woo vnto you that aryse early in the morninge and goo to drynckynge vntyll nyght that ye may swimme in wine This is the scripture agaynste banquetting and dronkennes But now they banquet al nyght and lye a bed in the day tyme tyl none the scrypture speaketh nothinge of that But whan then the deuyll hath hys purpose thys waye as well as the other he hath his purpose as well by reuellynge and kepynge ill rule al nyghte as by rysynge earely in the morning and banquetinge alday So the deuil hath his purpose both wayes Ye noble men ye great men I wote not what rule ye kepe For Goddes sake here the complayntes and suytes of the poore Many complain agaynste you y ◠ye liea bed till viii or ix or x. of the clocke I cannot tell what reuell ye haue ouer night whether in banquetyng or dycynge or cardynge or how it is But in the mornyng when poore Suters come to your houses ye cannot be spoken wythall They are kept sometymes withoute youre gates or if they be lette into the hall or some vtter chamber out commeth one or other Sirre ye cānot speake wyth my Lord yet my lord is a sleepe or he hath had busines of y ◠kyngs al nyghte c. And thus poore Suters are dryuen of from daye to daye that they cānot speke w t you in iii. or iiii dayes ye a hole month what shal I say more ye a hole yeare somtymes erre they can come to youre spech to be harde of you For gods loue looke better to it speake wyth pore menne when they come to your houses and dyspatche poore suiters as in deede some noble men do and wold Christ that al noble men woulde so do But some do I went one day my selfe be tyme in the mornyng to a great mās house to speake wyth him in busynes that I had of min own And me thought I was vp betimes but whē I came thyther the great man was gon forth about such affayres as behoued hym or I came Welle yet thought I thys is well I lyke thys wel Thys man dothe somewhat regard and consider his office and dutye I came to late for myne owne matter and loste my iourny and my earely risinge to and yet I was glad y ◠I had bene so begyled For Gods loue folowe thys example ye greate men and aryse in the mornynges be redi for men to speake with them and to dyspatche Sewters that resort vnto you But al these I brynge to dysproue them that defende euyll thynges because they be not expresly spoken agaynste in the scripture But what forceth that when the dyuyll hath hys purpose and is serued as well one waye as an other waye thoughe it be not expressye spoken agaynst in scripture yet I rekē plainely inough emploied in the scripture But nowe to come to my matter agayne Videte et cauete ab auaricia See and beware of Couetousnes and I shall desyre you to consyder iiii thinges Quis dicat quid dicat cui dicat et quare dicat who speakethe it what he speaketh to whom he speaketh wherefore he speaketh it As here Christe speaketh to a rych man against auarice And whi against auarise what shal be the ende of all couetouse persons eternall damnacyon For the couetouse persons saith Paule shal not possesse ne enter into the kyngedome of God heare therefore I shall desyre you to pray c. VIdete cauete ab auaricia See and beware of couetousenes First who spake these wordes Forsothe Christe speake them if I had spoken them of my self it had bene litle worthe But Christ spake and vppon a good occasion The story is Duo litigaban 〈…〉 inter se. ther were two at strife betwene thē selues Luc. xii and by thys it appeareth that Christ spake thē wel Christ spake these wordes at that
qui adiuuatur a fratre quasi ciuitas firma et turris fortis The brother that is holpē of hys brother is as a sure and wel fenced city and a strong Tower he is so strōg Oh it is a great matter whē brethren loue and hold wel together But if the one go about to pulle downe the other then are they weke bothe of them and when one pulleth downe his fellow they must needes doune both of thē there is no staie to hold thē vp Mark in the Chronicles of Englād Two brethrē haue raygned iointly together the one on thissid Hūber the other beyond Hūber in Scotlād al that way And what hath come of it So lōg as thei haue agreed wel together so lōg thei haue prospered And whē thei haue ierred thei haue both gon to wrak Brethrē that haue so raigned here in Englād haue quarelled one with a nother the yonger hathe ben cōtented wyth his porcion as in dede the yōger brether cōmonly ierreth first but by the cōtencion both hath feared y ◠wors So when there is any contenciō betwen brother brother for lād comōly they are both vndō by it And that crafti marchāt what euer he be that wil set brother against brother meaueth to destroy thē both but of these ii brethrē whether this mā here wer y ◠elder or the yōger I cānot sai scripture telleth me not whither of these ii was y ◠yōger But a lykelihod this was yonger for once it was a plaine law that primogenitus y ◠is to say y e elder brother had duplicia therfore of likelyhode it shuld be the yōgest brother y ◠found him self agreued was not content but Christ said vnto hym y u man who hath made me a iudge or a deuider betwē you Christ answered him bi a question and mark this question of Christ thou man Quis me cōstituit iudecem aut diuisorem superuos It is no smal mater saith Austē of what inteneiō one asketh a questiō as Christ in an other place of y ◠gospell asketh who was neighbour to the pylgrime that was woūded Ther was saieth Christe a man that wente from Jerusalem to Hierico and fell amonge theues and they woūded hym left hym for dead And a priest came by y t was his own contriman let him lie a Leuit came by and would shew no cōpassion vpō him at last a Samaritan came by set him on his horse conueighed him to the city and prouided surgery for hi. c. Now who was neighbour to this woūded mā sayth Christ Qui fecit illi misericordiam quod y ◠lawyer He that shewed merci vnto him He that did y ◠office of a neighboure he was neighbour As ye may perceyue by a more famylyer exāple of the Bishop of Exceter at Sutton in Staffordshire Who is Bishop of Exceter forsoth maister Couerdale What do not al mē know who is bishop of Exceter what he hath ben by shop many yeres Wel say I master Couerdale is Bishop of Exceter maister Couerdale putteth in execucyō y ◠Bishops office he that doth the office of the Bishop he is the Bishop in deede Therfore sai I master Couerdale is Bishop of Exceter Alack ther is a thinge that maketh my hart sory J he are that Mayster Couerdale is poysoned Alacke a good man a godlic preacher an honest fatherly man and if it be true it is a great pyty and a lamentable case that he fedeth thē with gods word and ther feede him a gayne wyth poison Alacke shal poysonning come now hither into Englande oute of Italie But to the purpose of Christes questyon who made me a iudge betwene you here an Anabaptist wil sai Ah Christ refused y ◠offyce of a iudge ergo there ought to be no iudges nor magistrats among Christian men If it had ben a thyng lawful Christe wolde not haue refused to do the offyce of a iudge and to haue determyded the varyaunce betwene these ii brethren But Christe did therby signyfy y ◠he was not sent for that offyce But if thou wylt haue a trial and a sētēce of that matter according to the lawes thou must go to y ◠tēporal iudge y ◠is deputed therfore but christes meaninges was that he was come for an other purpose he had another office deputed vnto him thē to be a iudge in tēporall matters Fgo ueni uocare peccatores ad peniteci◠I am com sayth he to cal synners to repētāce He was come to preach the gospell the remission of syn the kingdom of god mēt not therby to disalow the offyce of temporal maiestrates Nai if Christ had ment that ther should be no magestrates he would haue byd hym take al but Christ mēt nothing so But the matter is y ◠this couetouse man this brother toke his marke amis for he came to a wrong mā to seke redres of his matter nor Christ did not forbid him to seke hys remedie at the magestrats hand but Christ refused to take vpō hi y ◠offyce y ◠was not hys calling For Christ had an other vocacion then to be a iudge betwene such as cōtēded about matters of lād If our rebels had had this in their mynds thei would not haue ben theyr own iudges but they wold haue sought y ◠redres of their grief at y ◠hāds of the king his maiestrates vnder hym appoynted But no maruel of their blindnes ignorance for the Bishops ar out of their dyoces y ◠shuld teach thē this geare But thys man perchance had hearde and dyd thinke y ◠Christ was Messias whose reygne in words soundeth a corporal and a temporal raigne which shulde do iustyce and se a redresse in al matters of worldly controuersy Which is a necessarye offyce in a Christyan realme and must needes be putte in execucyon for mynystryng of iustyce And therfore I require you as a suter rather then a preacher looke to your offyce yourselfe and lay not all on your officers backes Receiue the billes of supplicacion youreself I do notse you doe so nowe a daies as ye were wonte to do the laste yeare For Gods sake loke vnto it and se to the ministrig of iustice your own self and let poore Suters haue answer There is a king in Christēdom and it is the kinge of Denmark that sytteth opēly in iustice thryse in y e weeke hath dores kept opē for the nones I haue hard it reported of one y t hath bene ther and sene the profe of it manye a tyme and ofte And the last iustyce that euer he saw done ther was of a priests cause that had hadde hys glebe land taken frō hym and nowe here in Englād som go about to take awaye al but this priest had had hys glebeland taken from him by a great mā Wel first wēt out letters for this mā to appeare at a day processe went out for hym