A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession, made by the most excellent and famous clerke, M. Eras. of Roterdame — Exomologesis. English

A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession, made by the most excellent and famous clerke, M. Eras. of Roterdame — Exomologesis. English

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Title page

¶To the reuerent father Fraū ••••ke Moline, the byshop of Condome, newly elected, Erasmus of Roterdame sendeth gretynge.

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¶A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession / made by the most excellent and famous clerke, M. Eras. of Roterdame.

¶Cum priuilegio Regali.

Iohn̄ Byddell.

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¶To the reuerent father Fraū [...]ke Moline, the byshop of Condome, newly elected, Erasmus of Roterdame sendeth gretynge.

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OUR frende Hillary bryngynge vnto me your letters, moste honorable prelate / full of a certayn rare and singular fauour and beneuolence towarde me: dyd doubtles brynge vnto me very moche hilarite and gladnes. For asmoche therfore as it hath pleased you to let me haue knowlege and vnderstādyng, what thyng you do there in those parties, where you are abydyng: me thought it was my parte againe to prouide that you shulde not be ignoraunt, nor [Page] vnknowyng wherabout I [...] occupied at yt tyme, wha [...] yo [...] lettre was delyuered vnto m [...] Horace at what tyme his m [...] was occupied about suche thy [...]ges as do apperteyne to lyuyng well, and vertuously, wryteth in this wyse:Li. j. epist. j. Condo et compono que mox depromere possim.

I do (saythe he) gather and lay vp in my mynde holsome preceptes / whiche I may shortely hereafter vtter & expresse in my conuersation and lyuyng. But this sayde verse may I more ryghtfully & truely vse & apply to my selfe / whiche was at yt tyme occupied aboute suche thinges as do helpe vnto dyeng well, & makȳg of a good ende. For this is the chiefe and principall parte / and also the most ernest parte of philosophie, and wysedome.

[Page]This thynge albeit it ȳ [...] it oughte to be the principall studie and busynes of a [...]l men, all the tyme of theyr lyfe: yet are we the mooste ꝑte of vs, I wote not after what facyon, moche of the propertie that the people of Phrigia were of / and we are not lightly amended nor made better / but by strokes & punyshemēt. The payne and grefe of the raynes of the backe, hath in dede very ofte at other tymes payned me: but specially of al other tymes / it dyd so vexe & turment me in the moneth of Iuly laste passed / that there was none other remedy / but ernestely to thynke of departynge out of the worlde: but the same disease dyd so come vpon me agayne at Christenmas / that not onely I was in dispayre of lyfe / but also I dyd desyre and wyshe [Page] to die: The stoone is a warpe & a churly [...]e warner and teacher [...] euyn more cruell also than dethe it selfe: but yet for all that herof I may thanke it / or rathe [...] our lorde Iesu by it / that I do nowe diligently and hertely gyue hede and prouide, that dethe may not come vpon me, and take me vnprepared, and vnredy / although he do come so sodeynly, yt he shall not graunt me laysure and space to make cōfession at my last ende. A lytle treatise, wherupon I do at this tyme sende vnto you as ānexed to my letters wryten vnto you: with the whiche, yf you [...]hal iudge your epistle to be well recompensed / I shall haue cause wherfore greatly to be glad and reioyce, for your good and fauorable mynde borne toward me / I knowe right well that I shall

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[Page]deyned of Christe hym selfe / so that it in no wyse maye be put downe, or taken away by men: or els beinge broughte in of our fore fathers, and elders / it hath by lytle and lytle gathered suche strength, that the auctorite of it is as great / as yf it had ben instituted of Christe / namely in as moche as y• auctorite of ye byshop of Rome, and the consent also of the christen people hath confirmed the same. Furthermore, yf a man doth graunte that it hath ben instituted and ordeyned first of men / than whether it shulde be more expediēt and profitable, that it be lefte & do remayn styll / bicause of innumerable vtilities and profites / whiche we do se to come of it: or els it shulde be better that it were taken awaye / for bicause of innumerable inconuenientes [Page] and harmes / whiche we do fynde by experience to ryse by the occasion of it / thrugh the defaute of them that do make confession / and of them that here cō fession. But thou shalte loke for none of these thiges in this boke good reder / eyther bicause these thynges haue ben longe syns diligently handled and treated of / by most connyng men: or els bycause I lyst not nowe in this vnquiete worlde,Prouerbe. & troublous state of tymes, to styrre suche botches or soores: neyther is it my purpose and en [...]ente nowe to moue and styrre suche thynges / Prouerbe.as are not to be moued or styrred / but rather accordyng to the counsell of Plato, to ordre that well that is presente. For with howe so euer many and great argumētes the one ꝑte doth labour & stryue [Page] to proue this confession, not to haue ben instituted of our lorde Iesu him selfe / and that so great a burthen can not by any person beinge but a pure man, be layde vpon mens shulders: yet doubtles this thynge can not be denyed, that he is sure, and safe from ieopardie, whiche hath made his confession well vnto an able and mete preeste. These men also, whiche do defende & mayntayne the opinions of Luther, do confesse and graūte that this confession is holsome and profitable / & not to be dispised. But I lykewyse as I can not by stronge effectuall testimonies of the scriptures, & inuincible argumentes / force and constrayne them yt lyste to be styffe, and frowarde / for to graunt this confession (this confession I meane, suche as it is, [Page] now vsed) to haue ben instituted of Christ, or els of the apostles: euyn so do I iudge it religiously for to be obserued and kepte of all good men / as a thynge at the least wyse broughte in of ye hedd and prelates of the churche / not without the inspiration of the holy ghoste / euyn vnto this presente condition and state: howe well other men do prouyde for them selues / whiche do teache that this confession is not of necessite, aduise them: but I for my parte, yf any deadely synne do combre and pricke my cōscience / durst not be bolde neyther to go to gods borde / neyther to loke after and abyde my dyenge day / onles I be reconsiled to god by a preest, accordȳg to ye most cōmen vsuall custome of the churche. Therfore in asmoche as this is [Page] certeyne & vndoubted,Howe the author [...]oth esteme confessiō / herof thou maye iudge good reder. that this confession is many wayes, and for many causes very profitable and holsome / yf bothe parties do theyr duetie: yt is to witte, both he, whiche by confession sechethe phisicke, & the helpe of his soule / and he also of whom counsell is asked / as of a ghostly leache or surgean: I haue thought it best somwhat in fewe word to shew and declare, by what meanes it may be broughte to passe / yt very moche frute may be taken of confession / and very lytle hurtes or yuels admitted or receiued: whiche yuels or inconuenientes, we do se to aryse not so moche of the thynge it selfe, as of the defaute of men: Lyke wyse as there is nothynge welnere in the worlde so holy / nor so godly / nor (yf I may so say) so heuenly / that the [Page] corrupte maners of men do not turne to theyr owne harme and hurte. And verely those certeyn persones do greatly myslyke me, whiche go aboute to take away the thing that is good of it selfe / bicause of the defautes of men that mysuse it: where as a medecine and remedye were rather to be ministred and gyuen to the men so misusynge it.

As many as yet hytherto haue treated and wryten of this matter of confession, I se that theyr most principall labour, and studie hath ben to shewe the commen kyndes of synnes, both speciall, and general / and they haue only instructed and taughte the persone that maketh confession / and not also the hearer of confession: albeit that this thynge [Page] was moste specially and principally to be done / namely these dayes / in whiche we do se, and sorowe religious men, and preestes, for the mooste parte, to be fallen and cōmen to that poynt / that bothe in ignoraunce and in corrupte maners, they do well nere passe ye cōmen vnlerned lay people: I haue therfore in this worke studied and endeuoured my selfe to admonyshe both parties / to thende, that whyles he that hereth / and he that maketh confession do both of them theyr parte and duetie. There may of this thynge, beinge of it selfe very good / greatte and plentuous vtilite come vnto them bothe. Nowe moreouer, bicause there are some men / whiche do beleue,Diuers op [...] nions concernynge confession. that this confession was instituted and ordeyned of Christe? [Page] and some agayn there be / which do doubte therof: and some also ther be / which although it were instituted of men / yet do obserue it no lesse religiously & deuoutly / than yf Christe had instituted it with his owne mouthe: & some other agayn there be / whiche do suppose it to be in dede a thynge arbitrable (that is to say, not of necessite / but standynge in mans wyll and pleasure to do it, or leue it vndone) but yet they counsell (as I sayde) that it is not to be dispised / for asmoche as it is holsome and ꝓfitable. To all these persones haue I ordeyned this boke. From those men, whiche do say, and teache that it is arbitrable / I do playnly and vtterly disagree. And as for those, whiche do affirme, that it was instituted of mere and pure men / in [Page] this boke, I do neyther consente and agree vnto them / neyther I do repugne and stryue agaynste them: howe be it yet I am more enclinynge & leanyng towardes that parte / whiche beleueth it to haue ben instituted of Christe: and this sentence and opinion I shall also gladly maynteyne and defende / whan I shall be ons instructed and appoynted therfore with sufficient and due armour of scriptures and argumentes / lest I myght els chaūce to make the cause the worse, and hynder the matter / yf it shulde fortune me not to haue good spede / nor the thynge to come well to passe with me / whyles I went about to proue it. For it is no great busynes or maystrye for a man to say or affirme a thynge: but it is a poynt apꝑteynyng to a catholique [Page] doctour, to proue ye thynge whiche he saythe / and to confute his aduersaries, by euidēt and open testimonies of ye scriptures. I remembre & folowe this sayinge of Horace: he sat styll and wolde not medle / whiche feared lest the busynes shulde not frame well with hym / & that he shulde labour in vayne. For it is better to leaue the matter hole and vntouched, to other men: than by yuell handelynge of it, to brynge it in to more ieopardie. we therfore leauyng that thyng to other men / whiche requireth an excellent warriour: haue taken vnto our selfe the ꝑte of a rascall souldiour, purposynge to shewe certeyne thynges / by whiche it shall be broughte to passe / that more frute & profite may come of confession. And to thende that this [Page] thynge may be ye more manyfest and clere / we shall fyrst shewe in fewe wordes,The diuision of this worke. howe great cōmodities and ꝑfites are in this confession. Secōdaryly, how great a pestilēce or destruction of very vertue and godlynes doth aryse herof, by occasion amonge men. Thyrdly, by what meanes and wayes we may attayne the commodities / and by what meanes the discōmodities & harmes may be auoyded & eschewed. Fourthly, we shall pursue and speake of other thynges / whiche do apperteyne to the office of hym that heareth confession / and of hym that maketh confession. whiche labour of myn, for asmoche as it dothe helpe no lesse to the profite of the hearers of confession, than of them yt do make cōfession: As I suppose, it is mete & accordȳg [Page] that both ꝑties do take it in good worthe / although the nature of the argumēt or mater shall cause certayne thynges to be broughte in / lytle lykynge or pleasaunt to mans iudgement. For it belongeth to phisicions, not so moche to speake pleasaunt & delectable thinges, as it doth to speake holsome and profitable thynges.

The fyrste vtilite commynge of confession.THe fyrst than & the chiefe vtilite yt cōmeth of shryft and confession of synnes (as I suppose) is this / that by none other meanes the pryde of mānes mynde is eyther better or more effectually and strongely abated and pulled down / and stubburnnesse or sturdynes agaynst god / (whiche, onles it be with great study and diligēce depressed and thruste downe / it doth in conclusion auaunce and raise vp it selfe [Page] agaynst all thynge that is worshypped or called god.2. Thessa. 2. For this hath ben and is the founteyne of all impiete and wyckednes / that we do thynke our selfe to be som what / whan in very dede we are nothyng. This pryde and presumption dyd cast downe Lucifer with his vnhappy company,Esai. 14. for yt he ascribed vnto hym selfe, that thynge / whiche he had frely receyued of gods goodnes: and being lyfte vp in mynde agaynst the maiestie of his creatour and maker / he was cast downe heedlonge in to the lowest place / whyles he goth aboute to wynne vnto hym selfe the hyghest: and he began to be moste abiecte & vyle of all creatures / after yt he ons had to moche lykȳg in hym selfe, & stode ouer moche in his owne cōceipte. And by his instigation [Page] and also ensample / the fyrste authors and parētes of mankynd / whyles by tastynge the frute of the forboden tree,Genesis .3. they dyd couet to be made equall wt god / were dryuen out of Paradise. Lucifer was a certayne mynde / noble / immortal / bodyles / endued with gyftes / scantely able to be estemed of vs: but yet for all this, bicause he dyd not submyt & humble him selfe vnto him / of whom he had receyued what soeuer felicite he had / and in comparyson vnto whom, he was nothynge: he fell, neuer after to be repayred or restored. Howe moche lesse than is it cōuenient or accordȳg, that man, beinge so farre in condition and estate lower than angels / shuld be proude / presumptuous / and stubburne agaynste god / of whom he was created [Page] and made / and without whom, nought he hath / nor noughte he may do? And yet this not wtstā dynge, this myscheuous vice is rooted in the myndes of men / & that wyly serpēt doth not ceasse, by this pestilent synne to drawe men vnto that place / wherunto he hym selfe is fallen downe. Lyke wyse as vnto wyckednes the fyrst degree, & the fyrst steppe was an hyghe proude mynde / & trustyng moche on it owne selfe: euyn so the fyrst degree or steppe vnto godlynes, shall be a mynde vtterly myslykynge it selfe / and submyttynge it selfe vnto god. Now can there not be any more submission, or humblyng & mekenynge of a man / than yt one man wyllyngly do caste downe hym selfe at the feete of another man / and do shewe & diclose vnto hym [Page] not onely his owne dedes / but also ye preuie & secrete thoughtes of his mynde / namely seing that certeyn of them are suche maner ones / that they may not be tolde and rehersed wtout great shamefastnes / and certeyne also of that kynd / that they are not without very great daunger & ieopardie of a mans lyfe, discouered & vttered vnto hym / whiche eyther thrugh folyshenes / or dronkennes / or malyce / or syckenes / may at any tyme disclose that / which he hath herde. Besydes this, cōsydre this thyng also / of howe arrogant & proude myndes, certeyne ꝑsones be euyn by nature. Agayne, howe greatte pryde of mynde welthe & prosperite, doth cause and engēdre in some other men / as for exāple / in riche men / in beautiful and fayre persones / [Page] in prynces, or gouernours / in learned men / in hypocrytes / or those, whiche other wyse are excellent in dignitie amonge men. These persones no doubte of it must nedes do great violence to theyr owne mynd / whan for the feare of god / and for the loue of theyr owne soules helthe / they do lay away all pryde and hygh stomake / & do fall downe lowly and mekely at ye feete of a preest / being often tymes but a vile and an abiecte persone / and of no reputation in the syght and iudgement of the worlde / & vnto hym as vnto a diuine and godly phisicion, do vncouer and disclose al the corruption of theyr myndes / and all the boyles and soores of theyr conscience. But whyles a man doth in suche wyse humble and meken hym selfe afore man [Page] [...]. Petri. 5 [...]God doth resist and withstande proude persones / but he neuer despised a contrite & a meke humble herte.Psal. 50. That herte that is contrite,A contrite herte. and broken with sorowe / is not lyfted vp / it doth not swel wt pryde. But yf thou do mengle with it the moystnes & liquore of teares / it wyll lyke moyst claye / or softe paast / that foloweth the hande of the workeman / in to what soeuer facyon or shape he lyste. And yf thou shalte haue humbled and mekened thy herte to god / it shall be no payne or grefe to the, for to submit & humble thy selfe to a preeste. In the cōmyttyng and doing of synne / thou wast proude, and disobedient agaynste god / and submittedest thy selfe to the yoocke of the deuyll: and dothe it nowe greue the to submyt & humble thy selfe [Page] to the minister and vicar of god [...] whan thou, beinge allured and begyled with the bayte of vices / dydest holde forthe thy necke vnto the halters and snares of the deuyll / than it was conuenient and semely for yt to haue remembred pryde and hyghe stomake: and not here / where thou doste for a season humble & cast downe thy selfe / that thou mayste from helle be exalted and lyfted vp in to heuen. Yf any parte of thy body haue a boyle, or a botche / thou submittest thy selfe vnto the surgean, beinge a man / thou vncouerest and makest bare vnto him euyn the moste secrete and priuie partes of thy body: And whan thy mynde is wounded with so many and sondry woūdes / doth it greue the for so lytle a whyle to submit thy selfe vnto the phisician [Page] of ye soule?Similitudꝭ For likewise as he yt dothe minister vnto a poore man / dothe not thynke in this wyse: howe vile and lowe a persone is this, to whom I do seruice: but he dothe rather thynke thus with hym selfe / howe high and honorable is he, for whose sake I do this seruice & benefite: euyn so, he that gothe vnto the preeste / let hym not consydre the condition and state of hym / as touchyng ye worlde / but let hym consydre how great and excellēt he is / whose steade the preest bereth / and howe great auctorite and power is gyuen to hym / far hygher than eyther the auctorite of kynge or emperour.

Yf any begger can ease the of the feuer / woldest thou not, be thou neuer so ryche, and honorable / gladly kneele on thy knees vnto [Page] hym / to haue hym restore the vnto helthe? Yf thou were taken prysoner of rouers on the See: who is there of so lowe degree and estate / to whom thou woldest not gladly fal downe on thy knees / yf thou kneweste that it lay in his power to delyuer the / and to restore the home agayne to thyne owne.

Yf themperour, being greuously offēded and displeased with the / had assigned or appoynted any one of his cookes, eyther to punyshe the / or elles to restore the in to the princes fauour agayn: woldeste thou not gladdely falle downe at the cookes knees / and do what soeuer thīge euyn those that are mooste humble suppliauntes are wonte to do / not so moche reputynge, and consyde [...]yng what maner persone he is / [Page] but howe moche he may do for the: and woldest yu not in that ꝑsone of lowe estate, honour and worshyp the maiestie of themperour? Thou woldest falle wyllyngly, and gladly submytte thy selfe vnto the rodde or wande of the officer / whiche myght turne or chaunge thyne estate / & make the of a mans bonde seruaunt / a mans free seruaunt: And doste thou here refuse and flee from the preestes hāde / which may make the of the deuyls bonde seruaūt / the sonne of god? To loose & destroy thy soule, it dyd not greue the / to gyue thy selfe to be trodē vnder the foote of Satan: and to receyue helth agayne / disdaynest thou to cōmit & betake thy selfe vnto a preeste? what a folyshe maner of pryde is this, cōtrary to all reason and ryght ordre? [Page] and what a peruerse and leude kynd of hūblenes or mekenes is this? whyles thou dost auaunce and lyfte vp thy selfe / thou arte ouerthrowen and caste downe. Yf thou wylte be exalted and enhaunsed / there is no remedy, but thou must nedes cast downe thy selfe, and brynge thy selfe lowe. There is nothynge more hyghe than is god / but yet thou goest away from hym,Psal. 137. whan thou lyftest vp thy selfe / and arte hyghe by pryde: and thā thou drawest nere to hym / whan with ye lowly publicane thou doest wtdrawe & cast down thy selfe by mekenes.Luc. 18. Upon the hylles & mountaynes that be higher than the cloudes / god throweth lyghtnīge. Upon the lowe dales, he sendeth forthe the showres, & ryuers / that they may be freshe and grene wt moch [Page] grasse / & may be plētuous with moche frute. For this doubtles is it / wherfore ye scripture sayth,1. Petri. 5. to the humble & lowly persones he gyueth grace.Iacobi. 4. There are the cursed mountaynes of Gelboe / vpon whiche, neyther dewe nor rayne dothe lyghte. There are also moūtaynes / wherwith the lorde is delyted.Gene. 22. There was the mounte / vpon whiche Abraham made redy and wente aboute to offre vp his onely sonne in sacrifice.Exodi .19. et. 20. In a mounte also was the lawe gyuen. The moūte Syon is famous & greatly cōmended / whiche trusteth and putteth confidēce in the lorde.Psal. 124. And there are mountaynes also / vnto whiche the godly men do lyfte vp theyr iyes / & fromwhens they do loke and wayte after helpe.Psal. 120. In the mountaynes also our lorde dyd [Page] often tymes make his prayers.Math. 17. On a moūteyn also he was trāsfigured.Actuum. x. On the moūte he went or styed vp to heuen. Therfore that yu mayste be made a mount [...] or hylle pleasaūt vnto the lorde / cast downe the heyghte or toppe of thy herte / and be thou made a lowe valley or dale, that yu mayst receyue yt benediction & blessyng of ye lorde:Hebre. 9. and that all thystels and thornes / whiche the cursed grounde bryngeth forth, beinge clensed and ryd out / thou mayst plentuously brynge forth moche frute of vertues. Beleue me, whose soeuer mynde dothe vehemētly & greatly refuse & grudge to submit and meken him selfe to a preeste / he hath not yet sufficiently humbled and caste downe his herte before god / nor he doth not yet hertely repent. Considre [Page] who he is, that thou hast offended. Consydre also, howe soore and greuous punyshement thou hast deserued. Consydre agayn, to what vnworthynes & shame thou haste caste downe thy selfe / thrugh cōmittyng of synne / and howe vnhonorable & foule thou hast made thy selfe in the syghte of god / of all sayntes & aungels / whyles thou, thy garmente and rynge cast away from the,Luc. 15. being shaken out from the felyship and company of the chyldrē & sonnes of god / arte made the seruaunt of the deuyll / the heyre of helle fyre / and doest thynke and reken that yu oughtest to be ashamed of any thynge / what soeuer it be / that may from so great vnworthynes and vilenes, restore the agayne in to so great felicite. Art thou ashamed to seme a synner? [Page] why arte thou not than by that reason aswell ashamed to seme a man? And yf thou haue respecte and regarde vnto shamefastnes, or honestie: it is more shame and dishonestie, not to be wyllyng to chaunge ye bondage, than it was to haue fallen in to it. Finally, let one shamefastenes dryue out another / lykewyse as one nayle is dryuen out with another.A [...]rouerbe. Considre and bethynke the, whether of ye two is more tolerable / I meane ons to be ashamed here before one man: orels afterward to be ashamed in ye syght of god / and his aungelles / and of all the holy sayntes / whiche haue ben from the begynnȳg of ye worlde / & whiche shall be vntyll ye worldes ende. Consydre and thynke with thy selfe, what a theatre & multitude of lokers shalbe there / [Page] with what face darest thou ther beholde thy maker / thy redemer / and deliuerer: whom thou haste despised / notwithstandyng that he [...]yd ꝓuoke the with so many benefites / dyd make the so great and royall promyses / & also dyd tolerate & suffre ye with so great pacience and gentilnes? howe shalte thou lyfte vp [...]hyn [...]yes, to loke vpon that most blessed felyshyp and company of the heuēly citezins: from whiche thou hast wy [...]lyngly of thyne owne mȳde, withdrawen thy selfe / and caste thy selfe in to a miserable & wretched company? Yf yu dost thinke well vpon this dishonour / this rebuke / this ignominie / and this shame: thou woldest sone despise and make lyghte of this temporall & transitorie shame / whiche putteth away euerlastȳg rebuke and shame. Blessed are they, [Page] whose synnes ar couered or hyd,Psal. 31. for confession couereth & hydeth synnes: so yt nowe, neyther god doth remembre him, neyther the deuyll dothe knowe hym. And for asmoche as the hole man in seruynge synne / hath lyfted vp hym selfe by proude disobedience agaynst god: it is cōuenient and mete that he do humble & meken hym selfe euin in body also. And lykewyse as ye body often tymes doth gyue the occasion of doing synne: euen so oftē tymes eyther it dothe engendre & cause / or els dothe helpe and further the vertue of the mynde. For this cause the gouernours & rulers of holy churche in olde tyme / not onely in the administration of the sacramentes, and in the deuine seruice: but also in ye castyng forth of them that were relapsed in to any haynous and odious crime / [Page] and in the receyuynge in agayne of them / whiche were purged & clensed by penaunce / dyd vse certayne visible rites & ceremonies, to thentent that both the people shulde be feared awaye from doinge synne / and also that they / whiche yet were not soorye for their synnes / shulde be prouoked vnto repentaunce and amendemēt / and that they, whose repentaunce was weyke, shulde be the more prouoked to horrour & hatred of synnes. For ye imbecilite and weykenes of mānes mynde, nedeth many styrrynges and ꝓuocations to this, that it do conceyue and gather in it selfe ye fyre of diuine charite / and that it do kepe it / and that beinge possessed of it, waxyng strōge / it be transfigured & trāsformed of ye same. In the olde tyme, th [...]y were repreued [Page] & rebuked of the byshop / The sharpe penaūce enioyned to synners in olde tyme. they were seperated & departed from the company and felyshyp of the christen flocke / and bare heeded & clothed in course sackeclothe / and besprincled wt ashes / they stode before y• churche porche / humbly besechyng and desiryng of them that passed by / and that came in to ye churche, the suffrages & helpe of their prayers / there was enioyned vnto them fastynges / often drynkynge of water / slepyng on ye bare groūd / and other thīges mo, very harde and paynfull in dede to the affections of man / but holsome and profitable both to them, whiche had regarde and mynde to the sauynge of innocency / and also to them, which did suffre suche thinges / to the purgyng & washynge awaye of theyr synnes. And of [Page] this sayde custome, there remayneth styll euyn yet at this day certayn tokens / namely in ye church of Rome.The maner at Rome. For certeyne mennes shoulders are made bare, and naked, & without the churche they are beaten with a rodde, other whyles euyn vntyll the bloude do folowe / and that a very great nombre and multitute of people lokyng on: but yet onely the penitentiarie dothe knowe, what offence, or cryme ye penitent hath cōmytted / sauyng onely, that all men do iudge & deme some haynous offence to haue bene cōmitted. But what tyme the charite waxed colde, & wyckednes came in a floote: the heedes & prelates of the churche, hauynge respecte vnto mans imbecilite & weykenes, dyd release the greattest ꝑte of the shame, & of the payne: lest [Page] they myghte alienate and turne many men away from the fayth of ye church, yf they dyd vse their auctorite toward [...] all men. But it is our part to recompence and make vp that, whiche is abated and taken awaye of bodely ceremonies, with humblenes & lowlynes of mynde, & with cōtrition & sorow of the herte. The more remysse & slacke that ye correction and chastisement of the churche, that was in olde tyme, is made toward [...] vs: so moche the lesse we ought to be fauourable toward [...] our owne selues. It is graūted vnto vs, that we may (only a certeyne fewe kyndes excepted) be purged & clensed by secrete cōfession, wtout any losse or empayrīg of our honestie & good fame, frō all maner offences & crymes, be they neuer so hainous & greuoꝰ. [Page] But we muste take hede and beware, that this myldenes & gentilnes of the churche, do not teache vs to hate oure synnes but sclenderly and smally / for those synnes may not seeme smalle or sleyghte to euery one / of whiche is due the eternall payne of the fyre of helle. Therfore this vnprofitable, yea pernicious shame fastnes, is to be caste away / and this folyshe and wycked pride, is to be shaken of. For what maner a thynge is it to drede the cō science or knowlege of one man / and not to drede and feare ye iyes of god / whiche seeth & beholdeth all thynges? it is doubtles a peuyshe and a madde pryde.

The secōde vtilite commyng of cō fession.THe seconde vtilite or profite yt cōmeth of cōfession, is that ther are very many men / whiche eyther by reason of age / [Page] or els for lacke of knowlege, do not perceyue the quātite of theyr offences: but thrugh errour and mystakyng, do iudge that thyng to be none offence at all, whiche is a deadely synne / and contrary wyse agayne, do suppose & wene that to be a greuous synne, whiche is not so. Or yf they do perceyue ye quātite of theyr offence: yet are they so combred & entangled / that they wote not howe to rydde out them selues / whiche thynge happeneth and chaūseth in many cases of matrimony / of vowes / of restitution / and suche other lyke / in whiche cases some tyme euyn well lerned diuines, & lawyers also are in perplexite & doubt. Here in this poynt there is not onely nede of absolution / but also ye mater requireth a man that is vertuous and well conscienced / & [Page] besides y•, wel instructed & skylled in ye knowlege of holy scriptures / & also in ye knowlege of both laws. Furthermore, like wise as in ye bodies of men there are certeine feuers, yt are not perceyued / but by so moche they are the more ꝑilous: euen so are ther often tymes in ye myndes of men also certeyne secrete vices, eyther not espied & ꝑceyued / or elles deceyuyng men wt the visour & face of godlynes. Here in this thīge the preest doth helpe / as it were a cōnyng phisicion: & by tokens and coniectures, gatheryng the vnknowen disease & syckenes of the mynde, dothe reuoke the ꝑtie from errour. Agayne, he conforteth & encourageth hym, that is afraide in vayne, wher ther was no ieoꝑdie. Moreouer, those that are wrapped & entangled in perplexe & doubtfull euyls, he doth [Page] with wise lerned & faythful coū sels vnwrap them, & set theyr cō sciēce at rest: shewīg vnto them ye way, by which they may shake of the vice, whiche either cle [...]eth toughly, & is lothe to go away / by the reason of natural inclinaon: or els often tymes amonge hath recourse, by the reason of longe custome & familiarite. For in no maner diseases are ye phisicions put to more busynes, & labours, for to fynde ye remedy by their cōning: than in those, whiche thrughe longe ꝓcesse & continuance of tyme, are becōmen familier: in so moche yt they are vtterly in dispaire / & do rather promyse mitigation & aswagement of the disease than ye heling of it: as for exāple in the fallyng syckenes, being ons rooted & of longe continuaunce, in the gowte / or in the stoone, yf it be in aged men. [Page] But in the diseases & syckenesses of the mynde / that is to wete, in vices / no mā ought at any tyme to despayre of helthe,An spirituall diseases, let no man dispayre to be healed, be they neuer so great seinge that Christ dyd clense and make hole both the lepers / Luc. 17. and the woman that had so many yeres ben combred and diseased with fluxe and issue of bloude / and also dyd set vpright vpon his feete,Luc. 8. the man beinge diseased with the palsay / whiche had lyen bedreden so many yeres.Marc. 2. Finally, dyd cal agayn and restore to lyfe lazare / which had lyen deed foure dayes in his graue.Iohn̄. 11. Furthermore, this thīge also dothe a connynge & a trusty phisicion cause, that he may by certayne tokens and signes, perceyue and knowe afore the sickenes and disease of the body, that is towardes hym / and with no great busynes auoyde and kepe [Page] it of in the cōmyng / where as yf it had ons entred in him and had gotten ye victory, he shulde scacely be able to dryue it away with excedynge great labour. Euyn the same dothe a wyse & a trustie phisicion and leche of the soule / whan he perceyueth euident ieopardie of any vice and spirituall disease cōmyng towarde: he gyueth monition & warnyng therof / & sheweth by what meanes it may be auoyded & eschewed. And this thyng is neuer done in better or more cōuenient season, than in sacramentall confession.

THis vtilite,The thyrde vtilite [...] which I wyl nowe speake of / it shal be at euery mans free choyse / whether he wyll make it ye thyrde vtilite / or elles ioyne it to the nexte ordre / and it is this / that ye preest in confession doth remedy & cure [Page] two of the moste greattest vices that can be / of whiche, the one is pestilent securite or rechelesnes / or els (whiche is yet more pestilente than this) reioysynge and bostynge of synnes: the other is moche more perilous than they bothe / despaire of the mercy of god / wherof the fyrst author and begynner was Cain / and ye counterfeter was Iudas,

Genesis. 2.

Math. 27.

yt betrayed our lorde. There are certeyn synnes / whiche haue a secrete pryde and reioysyng in them: as for example, the defylyng of fayre and beautifull damosels / or the ouer cōmyng of noble & riche wyues / or the lesynge of a great somme of money at ye diese / or ye shrewde and euyl handlyng of a mannes enemy & foo / or the outragious expense done in makȳg of a feast or banket. These thīges certeyn [Page] men do so confesse, and in suche wi [...]e shryue them selues of them, that not onely they are not ashamed of ye offences that they haue done: but also do rather booste them, as noble & glorious actes. The preeste, whan he shall perceyue this in his ghostly chylde / shal labour and go aboute by all maner meanes, to caste out this folyshe pryde, & reioysynge from the mynde of hym, that maketh his confession / and by shewynge vnto hym the shamefulnes and foulenes of the synne / in stede of that pestilent pride & reioysyng / to bryng in to his mynd holsome shame & sorowe. Contrary wyse agayne there are certeyn synnes of that kynde and sorte / that the very iudgement of nature dothe abhorre them / & that he whiche hath cōmitted them, dothe condempne [Page] and hate his owne selfe: as for exāple / kyllynge of father or mother / babeslaughter / wonderous & abhomynable kyndes of lechery / suche as are not to be named / cōmen theftes & robberies / whiche are done without any maner sleyght or crafte / poysonynge / collusion with wicked spirites / blasphemy agaīst god / and suche other lyke to these.

The greuous enormitie of these sayde offences and crymes, doth otherwhyles brynge a man in to desperation / whiche is the most greuous and sorest offēce yt may be, of all other.Desperatiō is the most greuous offence of all other. For that man semeth lesse to offende god / whiche is made negligent and careles, thrugh ouermoche boldnes and trust vpō his goodnes: than he, whiche despayrynge of forgyuenes of his synnes, dothe denye [Page] god to be good and mercyfull / whan he is euyn very mercy it selfe / and dothe denye hym also to be true of his promesse / whan he hath promysed without any exception, to forgyue the synner, that is penitent and sory / which promesse doubtles he wyll ful [...]yl and performe, yf he be true, And finally denyeth hym to be omnipotent & almyghty / as thoughe there were some offence or synne of man / whiche he were not able to remedy and heale. Here therfore in this case, the preeste shall leaue nothyng vnspoken, wherby he may conforte and reyre vp the ꝑsone beinge thus out of conforte, and despayrynge of hym selfe, vnto hope of forgyuenes / & also wherby he may, after that he hath brought him to yt poynt / so confirme and establyshe hym / [Page] that he do not fall downe agayn in to the same.

The fourth v [...]ilite.ANd ther are some ꝑsones also, whose myndes ar so weyke, and feble / that they dare not hope, nor, ꝓmyse vnto them selues forgyuenes / no, not euyn of small and lyghte offences / nor can haue their cōscience at quiete & rest: excepte by the preest suche solempne & cōmen accustomed ceremonies be enioyned them / to the whiche absolucion is gyuen. Nowe do I suppose and wene it to be a poynt of christen humanite, to beare, & apply our selues vnto ye infirmite and weykenes euyn of suche maner persones, vntyll they growe vp vnto the firmite of more stronge mynde: wherunto it shall be mete & conuenient often tymes amonge to styrre and exhort them.

[Page]I haue knowen certeyn ꝑsons / whiche coulde not ꝑswade vnto them selues, that they were assoyled from theyr synnes, except the preeste dyd witnesse and recorde the same by his owne hāde wrytynge. Besydes this, very many men do scrupulously & carefully cōfesse them selues euyn of those thynges, whiche amonge venial synnes are of least weyghte / yea and somtyme euyn of those thynges, whiche are very tryfles: as of pollutions in the nyght tyme, whiche chaunce to come thrugh no vicious occasion / but onely of naturall disposition of the body / neither hath any cōsent folowed or delectation in the same. Of which thing Iohn̄ Gerson hath wryten so diligently, yea and so specially, that he hath caused many mens consciences, by reason [Page] therof, to be very scrupulous.

Scrupulosite in sayinge of seruice, and prayers.In lykewise there are some men, which in saying of theyr orisons and prayers / do neuer satisfie theyr owne myndes / & they are greatly troubled euin with very small tryfles. And often tymes it happeneth / that to this weykenes is ioyned also peruersite, & a froward wyll and mynde. They are onely carefull, and do take thought, whether they do playnly and distinctly pronounce and sounde out the letters and syllables: but whether they do vnderstāde what they rede / or whether they do worshyp, and be styrred with the wordes of god, whiche they do sounde wt theyr mouthe, they are excedyngly careles / and hereof do take no kepe at all.

Semblablye, they do so shryue them selues of sodeyn and fleing [Page] thoughtes / whiche do but as it were only touche lightly, & skym ouer the ouermost or vttermoste part and skyn of the mynde, and not synke or tary in it. I say they do so cōfesse these thoughtes, as yf they had certeynly or stedfastly ben determined and purposed vpon that thynge, whiche came in to their mynde, or had also fulfylled it in very dede: whā other whyles suche thoughtes are of thinges euyn abhominable to be spoken of / as whan there happeneth to come in to a mans mynde a certeyne doubtfulnes of the verite and truthe of the scriptures, of the articles of the faythe / or els a thought of incest / or of monstruous formes or facyōs of fulfyllynge of fleshely luste or pleasure. To confesse these thynges rehersed, scrupulously and ꝑticularly, [Page] it dothe bothe charge and ouerlade the hearer with thīges superfluous and nothynge ne [...]efull: and also dothe trouble the mynde of hym, that is confessed wt feare & dreade vnprofitably. They say it is a signe and token of a good mynde, there to feare synne, where no synne is. Admit that it be a signe of a good mȳde: yet certeynely it is no token of a a ꝑfecte mynde. And albeit suche a thyng in yonge boyes, or wenches, do betokē a nature or disposition mete to the lerning of vertue and good lyfe: yet the same thynge in men is vnmete and vnprofitable, yea pernicious also & hurtful / for that y• supersticious and superfluous fleinge & eschewynge of one vice [...] dothe brynge a man in to another more greuous & more weyghtie / whiche [Page] thyng we do se brought to passe in many men / by the subtilte and crafte of the deuyll. This peruersite and lerned mynde is to be rebuked: and simple and vnlerned in [...]irmite is to be instructed and taughte. It is a poynte of christian vertue and godlynes, to be sory for suche maner infirmities and fraylte of mannes nature: and to withstāde them asmoche as a man maye / and to laboure towardes more perfecte thīges. A man that is verely vertuous and godly / wyssheth & desyreth the perfecte integrite and clēnes of his bodye / whiche he hopeth to haue in the generall resurrection / and therfore he is sory, that his vessel is polluted and de [...]iled with vnclene dreames: but it foloweth not,Not euery thyng y• greueth a good & vertuous man is syn. bicause it greueth hym, and he is sory for it / that it [Page] is therfore strayghtways synne. For so a good vertuous man is greued also, and sory, that with hūgre / with thurst / wt slepinges / with faintnes or werynes of the body / he is fayne to breke vp the continuall feruour of prayer / he is sory for the rebellious motiōs of the membres agaȳst ye mynd / he soroweth, that the fleshe doth lust agaynst ye spirite. But these thynges are so farof from being synnes / yt they be rather mater & occasion of vertue / yf a man do stryue agaynst them to the vtter most of his power. whiche selfe same thyng, I do iudge for to be done to wardes them / whiche of lyke infirmite do often tymes repete & reherse agayn the cōfession of one, & the same offences / both puttynge theyr owne selues to paynes, and disease / & also spendynge [Page] in wast the preeftes tyme. In dede a man other whyles to folowe the myndes of suche persones, it is a poynte of christen charite / but yet so, and in suche wyse, that by admonicion & counsayle they be ꝓmoted & brought forwarde vnto more ꝑfecte thynges / and do lerne to loue, and to feare lesse.

THe fyfthe vtilite is,The fyfthe vtilite. that for asmoche as ther is no remission or forgyuenes of synnes / excepte there be a due & mete detestation and hatered, of the offences cōmitted / procedyng of the loue of god, & also an earnest, sure, and stedfast purpose to forbeare and refrayne in tyme after to come, from all thynges, wher with god is offended and displeased: to the attaynynge of these thynges, the meditation and recordyng [Page] of confession to be made vnto man, helpeth not a lytle. For lykewise as he, whiche shall speake of any matter, and tell his tale before a iudge, doth more diligently bethynke hym selfe / and more attentiuely considre & wey all the circūstances of the mater, than yf he dyd consydre it without any suche care of speakynge it afore any man: euyn so he that studieth & bethynketh hym selfe, what he shal say vnto the preest / doth more depely considre ye grauite & foulnes of his synnes / callynge to remēbraunce howe ofte he hath fallen agayne in them / and howe longe season he hath continued in his darkenes & fylthynes of synne / and of howe great cōmodites and welthe he hath in ye meane whyle depriued and berefte his owne selfe, being [Page] out of the fauour of god / and departed and seuered from the communion and felyshyp of the hole misticall body of Christ / & bonde vnto the eternall punyshement of helle fyre. Of the attente and diligente consideration of these thinges, sprynge or ryse horrour and hatered of synnes, whiche somtyme is engendred, & taketh his originall begynnynge of the feare and drede of punyshement, and causeth desperation, onles it do go forwardes vnto hope of forgyuenes / thrugh the consideration of the mercy of god / and thrughe confidence and truste in our lorde Iesu Christe / whiche hath ons suffred and made satisfaction for the synnes of al men: vntyl that after seruile feare and drede do succede and folowe loue semely for a sonne / whiche is displeased [Page] and discōtented with his synnes, not for that y• they nowe do brynge a man to the fyre of helle: but for that that they do offende & myslyke the most good father, whiche hath done so moche for vs. For yf the son, which vnfaynedly, and from the herte dothe loue his father & mother / wolde not, although there were no feare of punyshement at all / wittingly do that thyng, which myghte displease theyr myndes: howe moche more dothe he that loueth god, which is to be loued aboue all thīges / bothe hate his sinnes cōmitted in times passed / by which he hath displesed god / and also take hede and beware, that he do not cōmitte any suche lyke offence in tyme hereafter to come? This cōmodite & profyte therfore shuld moue and styrre a [Page] man to be shryuen vnto a preest, although confession were not necessary: howe moche more than is it to be embrased, if necessite do drawe vs vnto this vtilite?

THe sixte vtilite is,The syxte vtilite. yt lyke wyse as the greatnes of sorowe engēdred and conceyued of the cōsideration & ponderyng of a mans offences and synnes / dothe purchace and obteyne the mercy of god, to the releasyng of the crymes and offences / & dothe make the purpose of absteynyng from synnes, in tyme commyng, the more firme and stable: euyn so doth shamefastnes to vncouer and disclose that is in his breeste vnto a man, take awaye a great parte of the payne / and holdeth a man backe, yt he shall not lyghtly fall agayne in to ye same offences. Lyke wyse as chyldrē with [Page] beatynge, and shame, are taught to beware, that they do not falle twyes in to one defalte. Nowe the most parte of men are weyke and feble / and prone and redy to cōmitte synne. And this shamefastnes is so greuous and paynfull vnto men of gentle and hygh stomake / yt there are many men, whiche had rather dye, than ons to be shamed / were it not so, that either they dyd loue god / or elles dyd feare the fyre of helle.

The seuēth vtilite.THe seuenth vtilite is, that for bicause (accordyng to the olde prouerbe) the principall parte, and the chefeste poynte of wysedome is, yt a man do knowe hym selfe: there is nothyng that dothe more cause this thynge / than dothe cōfession / whiche setteth the whole man often tymes forthe before his owne iyes / leauynge [Page] none of all the secrete corners of his mynde vnshaken and vnsearched, whyles he dothe inwardly cōsidre to what thynges the cōmaundementes of god do call hym / and to what thynges he hym selfe is enclined / and by what occasions he doth fall in to synne.Psal. 1. what ye very meditation in the lawe of the lorde is. For this is the very meditation and studye in the lawe of the lorde, that a mā do ordre and dispose him selfe vnto that estate of lyfe / in whiche he wold desyre to be, yf the laste day of his lyfe were nere at hande.

THe eyghte vtilite,The eyght vtilite. is that he, which maketh his cō fession to a preeste / not onely is holpen by his counsayle, confort, and exhortation: but also by his prayer. For he prayeth and wyssheth to hym that is cōfessed, the grace of the holy ghost / & ghostly [Page] strength to resiste and withstāde the deuyll. And yf it be so, that the prayer of eche good man, who soeuer he be, is auaylable to the obteynyng of the grace & fauour of almyghty god: howe moche more than is the prayer of the preeste profitable and helpefull to the same? For doubtlesse this is it / whiche s. Iamis teacheth / that euen in this thynge also, the feruent prayer of a iuste persone is very moche worthe,Iacobi . [...]. & of great strength. Here I entende not in the meane season to speake any thynge of the power and auctorite of the keyes, wherof diuines haue so copiously & largely wryten and taughte / that it nedeth not me to reherse it agayne. For as for what thynge attrition is,Attrition. & whether therof by the meanes of confession may be made cōtrition / [Page] and whether cōfession doth cause and brynge to passe, yt the synne is forthewith forgyuen in the fyrst instaūte: I do leaue all this geare to be disputed & reasoned of the subtile scotistes.

THe nynthe vtilite is,The nynth vtilite. that lykewyse as by baptisme we are deliuered from the tyranny of Satan, and beinge made the sonnes of god, are graffed in to the body of Christe, whiche is the churche / and are chosen in to so blessed a company or felyshyp of aungels / and of all those that are predestinate vnto the heuēly inheritaūce, in what soeuer part of the worlde they do lyfe / haue lyued / or shal lyue: euyn so by penaunce are we duely restored agayne in to the same societe and felyshyp. And albeit yt he, which hath of god receyued hatered of [Page] his sinnes / is deliuered from his gylte & offence: and thoughe we do graunt, yt the cōfession, which is made vnto a man / is not vtterly necessary (whiche thīg certeyn men both in olde tyme dyd teche, & also some men nowe a days do teche, from whom yet I do gladly & wyllyngly dissent & disagre) yet yt notwithstādyng,Despisynge of the vsual custome & tradition of the church: both displeseth god / & also causeth bretche of charite, and concorde. the despisynge of the publyke custome / whiche hath so many yeres cōtinually ben vsed / & the cōtuma [...]y and disobediēce agaynst the tradition of ye churche / dothe bothe offende and displease god / & also dothe hurte the tranquilite and quietnes of the christen cōmen weale. This offence at the least wyse doth he auoyde & eschewe / whiche dothe confesse hym selfe vnto a preeste. Besydes this, although he were before free from [Page] his synnes: yet neuertheles by cōfessiō in due forme made vnto a prest, is encreased moche light / & moche grace. which lucre and wynnīg, no mā yt is in very dede vertuous & godly, wyll dispise, & make lyght of. Moreouer, there be some men, whiche in the tyme of theyr helthe, haue, or rather in theyr owne iudgemēt do seme to haue, a careles & a quiet cōsciēce: but whan they are in extremes & lykely to die, they are otherwyse mynded / eyther bicause thā ye ieoperdy draweth more nere, either els bicause ye crafty tēpter the deuyll doth thā vse all his craftes, and subtylties agaynst them. Agaynst this trouble & vnquietnes of c [...]ience / the most sure vndoubted remedy, is in cōuenient and due tyme faythfully & truely to be confessed vnto a preeste. [Page] Last of all, the church wyll more gladly knowlege for her chylde, hym that dothe make confession to a preeste, than hym that dothe not: Lyke wyse as ye iewes dyd more gladly knowlege for one of them, hym whiche was circuncised, than hym that was vncircū cised.

Math. 3.

Roma. 14.

And this also is a parte of godlynes, a man to fulfylle all ryghtewysenes, and to eschewe offendynge of his brother / and (accordyng to s. Paules saying) to please all men in all poyntes. [...]. Cor. 10. I wolde not speake these thīges for myn own cause, but for cause of them, which haue not yet surely, and vndoubtedly persuaded vnto them selues, that this confession, as beinge instituted by men / is vtterly necessarye vnto soule helth.1. Cor. 2. A spirituall mā doth discerne and iudge all thynges / [Page] & hym selfe is iudged of no man / but (as ye cōmen sorte of men is, ꝓne & enclynȳg to shake of theyr neckes, the yocke of the lorde) I se and perceyue, that the cōtempt and settynge at noughte of confession, is a speciall & a principall steppe or stayre vnto paynymry and hethen maner of lyuynge / wherunto we do se many men nowe a dayes to fall agayne / vnder the false title & name of euangelical libertie. Hitherto I haue rehersed & shewed the chiefe and principall vtilities and profites that do come of cōfession: which elles I do knowe to be innumerable. Nowe ye very place doth monyshe & put me in remēbrāce to say somwhat in fewe wordes, of the yuels or harmes, whiche ar sene to chaūce, by the occasion of confession / but thrugh the defaulte [Page] faulte of the men, rather than of the thynge selfe.

The fyrste [...]iscōmodite or harmeANd fyrst to begyn with all, this communication and shewyng of synnes amonge men, one of them to another / dothe seme somwhat to corrupte and infecte that naturall simplicite and innocēcy, suche as we do se to be in yonge boyes, & yonge wenches, that are not yet infected with ye corruptions and fylthes of this lyfe, a great parte of this innocēcy is not to knowe synne at all, and not so moche as ons to suspecte, or deme yt there be any men, whiche do cōmytte suche or suche offenses & synnes / whiche thȳg euyn those preestes are wonte to knowlege & graūt, whiche are wel lerned / & whiche by redynge of bookes, myghte knowe very many thynges: sayinge, [Page] that they wold neuer haue suspected or demed suche abhominable sinnes to be cōmitted amōge men / as they do here tolde to them other whyles in cōfessiō. But those synnes of al other are moste contagious, and do moste infecte, whiche do apperteyne vnto lechery, or to curious artes. For there are certeyne kyndes of lecherye / whiche no wyse man wolde to be rehersed or tolde before his sons, or his doughters / bicause that nature, euer whan occasion is gyuen / is redye & enclined to the experiēce and profe of yuell and vngratious thīges. wherfore the surer way is, to be ignoraunt of suche thynges, as nyghe as a man can. There are agayne vnlaufull craftes & sciences / as witchcrafte / neogramantie / & suche other / whiche do entyse [Page] and prouoke those persones that be curious, and ouermoche desirous of knowlege, vnto thexperience and prouynge of them. And there is gyuen cōmenly by nature to the most parte of men, a vicious and lewde curiosite / tyclynge the mynde with lust & desyre of knowlege. And preestes are men often tymes yonge / and some tymes also leude & noughtie: or at ye least wyse weyke and frayle. The mynde of suche men is corrupted by hearyng ye wonderfull offences of other men: & are often tymes moued & styrred to do the same thynges / whiche they haue lerned to haue ben cō mitted and done of other men. And this canker or pestilēce spredeth it selfe yet more abrode: as often tymes as ye preestes (whiche thynge hapneth amonge) do [Page] reherse & report afore other men that thynge, whiche they haue herde in confession / in dede not namynge the persones / yea, and other whyles, not ons sparynge to tel euyn ye names of them also. But though they do neuer so moche forbeare to name the persone: yet ye thyng it selfe that is tolde / often tymes dothe infecte & poyson the hearer. Howe be it yet, those men do more greuoꝰ offēce, whiche do reporte thīges, suche as ar at no tyme to be spoken, in open sermones or preachynges. Therfore the temporall officers and rulers / suche as are wyse / & do couet yt the citie be vncorrupted / whan they do execution of dethe vpon a malefactour / they do alwayes pronounce & declare all the offences and crymes committed by ye sayd malefactours / [Page] bicause it is not expedient for euery maner man to knowe, yt there are some men, whiche do cōmitte suche offences or crymes.

Many yeres ago, whā I beinge than a very yonge boye, was abydynge in Dauentrie / I herde certeyne harlots / wherof great plentie was there at that tyme / reioysynge and shewynge them selues glad eche to other, yt they gaue theyr mȳdes to their owne louers: bicause the curate hadde sayd in his sermon / that certeyn pastors had cōfessed them selues, that they had vsed them selues not very chastly towardes theyr flocke / of whiche they had cure & charge. And it was than Iubilee. what more folyshe curate coulde there be than this / which neyther constrayned by any necessite / no nor yet prouoked thervnto [Page] by any vtilite / dyd bable forthe this thynge amonge the people / by reason wherof hooremongers and adulterers shulde flatter them selues / and haue the more lyking in theyr owne vices & synnes. Of late dayes also, a certeyn gray frere sayd openly in his sermon / in a worshypfull [...]owne / that yf ye olde lawe were yet styll remaynyng / by whiche, women, which had cōmitted adultery, shulde be stoned to dethe: an hole moūtaigne made of stones heaped together, wolde not suffise to ye stonīg of those, yt were worthy to be stoned to dethe.

THe secōde yuell or harme is cosyn to this afore rehersed,The secōde yuell. yt many men by ye reason hereof, do flatter theyr owne vices, that is to witte, by the comparison or worse vices: as for [Page] example / whan he whiche is all together defiled with horedoms & adulteries, semeth to hym selfe pure & fautles / whan he lerneth by hearyng of confession, ye foule kindes of lechery, cōmitted with fendes, or with brute beastes: or els whan he dothe get knowlege and perceyuyng, that suche men are laden wt great sinnes, whom he dyd suppose & beleue to haue ben connynge men / sad / and vertuous. For suche is the nature, and disposicion of men: yt euery man dothe gladly exaggerate, & make [...]ery heynous other mens defaultes / and dothe extenuate and make very lyghte maters of his owne offences.

I herde ones a certeyne diuine, whiche loued well the company of vnchast women, reporte, yt he herde ons a certeyn man / which [Page] had the rule & gouernaunce ouer certeyne nunnes / saye to hym in confession / that hym selfe had defyled .CC. virgins. By ye reason herof, he that reported this tale, dyd so flatter hym selfe / & thynke his owne offences lyghte / and in a maner to be none offence at all: that as it appered by hym / he wolde neuer purpose or go about to exercise and vse chastite.

THe thyrde discōmodite & harme is,The thyrde yuell. that this confession causeth many preestes to be more proude & hygh mynded / whom god wolde to be fathers, and not lordes. Now he is lorde ouer another man / whiche knoweth his secrete counsels & priuities. Neyther can that man but feare / whiche hath disclosed his owne secretes to another man: and cōmēly he doth despise / whiche [Page] knoweth any suche secretes of another mannes. It semeth therfore, that by confession is taken awaye libertie and fredome from christē men: amōge whom Christe wolde not yt there shulde be any dominion / and also that charite and loue is quēched: for who soeuer feareth, hateth: and scarcely can yt man loue, whiche knoweth any foule & shamefull thynge by another man. At the least wyse, doubtles he doth lesse regarde hym, for asmoche as he hath a weapon, wherwt he may vndo / destroy / and make afrayde the persone that hath confessed suche thinges vnto hym. And in case that the preeste be more vertuous, than that he wyll abuse the knowlege of suche secretes: yet for all that there do happen many thynges often tymes by [Page] chaunce, whiche are taken in to suspicion. So by the reason ther of it cōmeth to passe, that ther is no sincere or faythfull [...]rendshyp betwene hym that maketh confession / and hym yt heareth it.

THe fourthe yuell or hurte is,The fou [...]th yuell. that the partie, which maketh confession / often tymes doth happen vpō yuell & lewdly disposed preestes / whiche vnder the pretence and cloke of confession, do cōmitte synnes, not to be spoken or rehersed: and in steade of leaches or phisiciōs / are made eyther felowes and parteners / or els maysters and teachers / or els disciples and learners of fylthynes and vice. wolde god I myght seme to haue wryten this in vayne and without cause / and that we dyd not euery where se & here so many examples herof / [Page] whiche neyther I do remembre without sorowe / neyther can reherse without shamfastnes.

The fyfthe yuell.THe .v. discommoditie and harme is, that this confession bryngeth many men in to ieopardie of theyr good fame, & of theyr lyfe / by the meanes of certen preestes / very laueshe & liberall of tonge / & whiche do not kepe closse / but bable out what soeuer they do here in confession. And what mēbre of man is there more slypper than is the tonge? whom shal a man fynde / whiche wyll not by occasion, vtter any thynge to his frende in counsell / to whom he dare shewe asmoche as hath ben shewed to him selfe? bicause I wyll not speake of many persones / whiche are endued with suche naturall disposition / that they shuld brast / onles they [Page] dyd blabbe out that, which hath ben shewed vnto them of truste. wolde god this defaute were only restyng in women. Here I do not doubte / but vnto euery man ouer many examples do come to mynde and remem [...]raūce / from the rehersal of whiche, I do wyllyngly and gladly forbeare.

Besyd this, though we do graūt the preest to be sobre and closse of tonge: yet for all yt, often tymes hatred & debate sodeinly rysyng, breaketh the barres or rayles of silence: somtime dronkēnes also dothe the same / whiche causeth the thynge that was secrete and hydde in the hette, to swymme & flete aboue in the tonge. Finally syckenes or frenesy sodeynly rysen, breaketh this silence / whiche thyng, I my selfe, whan I was yonge, dyd knowe to haue chaū sed [Page] in a certeyne curate: whiche whā he was waxen hoote in his sermon / dyd by name vtter and disclose the synnes of many women. And thexamples are not selde or gesome of them / whom it hath cost theyr lyues / the wordes that they haue spoken to the preeste in counsell, or confession. Nowe are there also certeyne cases excepted / in whiche it is laufull to vtter & bewray hym, that made his confession. But vnto these cases certeyn mē do impute and blame what soeuer thynge doth moue or styrre them to blab out ye secretes shewed vnto them. Some other men do thīke, that they do not offende / so that they forbeare ye names: though they do s [...]launder and defame an hole house / or an hole college, or company. And yet who coulde be cō tent, [Page] or take paciētly, to here his citie, or his countrey besprent or spotted with infamie? But how many men haue I herde reporte at feastes and bankettes, afore al maner men that were present, what they haue lerned by ye confession of certeyn ꝑsones, beinge than deceassed: thynkynge that they myghte do that thynge laufully / albeit that no man beinge alyue wolde be cōtented that his owne memorie shuld be infamed & sclaūdered amonge them that shulde come after hym? Laste of all, princes do otherwhyles require of preestes / and compell them by othe to vtter & bewraye the doer of the cryme. But I, as I wolde greately cōmende and alowe it, yf ye preest, not bewrayinge the man, coulde prouide for the saluegard of ye cōmen weale: [Page] so wolde I not take or accompt hym for periured,Nota. thoughe he so do swere that he is ignoraunte / whan he is demaunded of suche thynges / wherof he oughte not to be demaunded. Nowe it semeth a cruell thynge, and agaȳst all humanite, to expose and set forth any mā vnto this so great ieopardie: namely seing yt there are so many examples of them, that be in ieopardie by the reason hereof. Moreouer, this burden of confession dothe seme not only to charge and greue sore hym that maketh confession: but also the preest that heareth cōfession. For though I do passe ouer, and speake no worde, howe greuous and howe paynfull a thyng it is to a good and well lerned preest, to spende so moche tyme in hearynge the fylthes and synnes of [Page] mans lyfe / otherwhyles (as I haue sayd) euyn with the ieopardie of his own integrite, chastite or clennes / and to suffre & abyde the stynkyng & vnholsome breathes of them that sauour & smell of garlycke / or which be infected with syckenes and disease / namely, seinge that many are diseased and combred with lepry / whiche are not yet kepte aparte, or with the frenche pockes / whiche is a spice or kynde of lepry / considerynge there is no way more sure and vndoubted to take infection by / than by takyng in the brethe of the persone diseased: so that besydes the payn and grefe, ther is not a lytle ieoꝑdie also ioyned therunto. I say, though I passe ouer this, yet howe harde & how sore a thīg is it, yt a curate, being a man yonge of age / and in his [Page] flowers / and profitable to the cōmen weale, for his lernynge & vertuous maners, is compelled and dryuen vnto this necessite / that yf he be called, he muste at mydnyght entre in to the chambre, where he that is sycke of the pestilēce hath empted his belye / hath ꝑbraked / or elles where he dothe sweate / is bathed / is annoynted / is seared / which is diseased with the frenche pockes / & muste be fayne to remayne and continue styll this ieopardie, vntyll the persone so diseased, haue fynyshed & made an ende of his cōfession. Neither is it sufficient that he hath gone ones: but he is sente for / and called agayne & agayne / as often tymes as the persone lyinge at the poynte of dethe / and nowe past his wittes dothe saye, that he dyd forget, I [Page] wote not what. For these causes diuines do deduce and make an argument, that this cōfession was institute of men, and not of Christe.Actuum. 15. For seinge that Peter, the chief of ye apostles dyd iudge and thynke it not reasonable nor mete to lay vpon the gētyles the yocke of the lawe of Moyses / whiche neyther them selues, nor their fathers were able to beare: it myght seme a very cruel thȳg / yf men shuld haue layde this burden of confession vpon mennes neckes / whiche alone is a more heuy and paynfull burden, than was all the whole lawe of Moyses / with the ceremonies wherof saynt Peter dyd iudge & thynkeActuum. 15. that the gentiles were not to be charged & laden / yea & dyd exone rate / discharge / & vnlade / euyn the iewes also of ye same / whan [Page] brotherly charite dothe seme rather to moue and exhorte vs here vnto / that asmoche as we maye, one of vs shulde lyghten or ease the burdens of an other.Math. 19. Christ dyd not cōpell or bynde any man to kepe hym selfe single / and to lyue soole without a wyfe: and shulde one man bynde another man to so paynfull a thynge / as is this confession.1. Cor. 7. Paule appliinge hym selfe to the infirmite & weykenes of men, dothe remitte and release somwhat of the precepte of ye lorde: and howe than (say they) shuld they be so bolde / whiche are not to be lykened or compared vnto Paule / to lay on suche a burdē vpō mens neckes / ouer and beyonde the precept of the lorde? namely confession, beinge as it is nowe a dayes, so intricate & made comberous with [Page] doubtes and scruples inuented by men: that scarcely any man doth departe from ye preest with a quiete and restfull conscience.

THe syxte discōmoditie is,The syxthe yuell. that this vncoueryng or disclosyng of the secrete offences committed / yea and euyn of the thoughtes also / semeth to teache boldnes & vnchamfastnes. For after yt men haue ons or twyse so ouercome shamefastnes / that they dare confesse suche thynges vnto a preest: they are by so moche made ye more bolde to do and cōmitte what soeuer they lyste.At this po [...] be the prestꝭ Now is shamefastnes the chiefe keper of innocēcy. And there are certeyne vices of that kynde and sorte: that the rehersall of them dothe welnere infecte / than doth the doinge or actuall cōmittyng of them.

[Page] The seuēth yuell.THe seuenth discōmoditie is, that this rehersall of secrete crymes and offences doth brynge many weyke and feble ꝑsones into desperation / and certeyn persones also in to frenesy: where as principally we shulde studie and go aboute / that the synner myghte take truste and courage of Christes promyses / and that he myght loue, rather than feare. For who soeuer shall not haue cōceyued this affection and mynde towarde god / yt man dothe make his confession all in vayne? But the ouermoche carefull and scrupulous rehersal and rekenyng vp of the generall and speciall kyndes of synnes / and of the circūstaunces aggreuyng the offence / and drawyng it in to another kynde / dothe call away the mynde from loue towardes [Page] god / and engendreth hatred and desperation: namely seinge that certeyne men haue entāgled and enwrapped this busynes of confession with so many snares and grynnes, yt a man can not lyghtly fynde one that dothe departe and go awaye from the preeste with his conscience vtterly quiete and at reste.

This discōmoditie or yuel chaū seth moste specially in chyldren / women / and aged folke / & suche as be by nature of a timorous & a fearefull mȳde: of which sorte I do knowe many one. And thā is there more ieopardye also / whan suche persones do happen vpon a sharpe and a chydynge ghostly father.

[Page] The eyght yuell.THe eyghte discōmodite is this, Ther ar other some ouer bolde, and yt trust to moche / which whan they haue thought and ben purposed eyther nothīg at all / or els very sleyghtly, of the chaūgyng of theyr lyfe / neyther haue they cōceiued in their mynd a serious and ernest detestation & hatred of theyr lyfe afore led: do yet reken and thynke this to be sufficient for them selues / yf they reherse vnto ye preeste what they haue done. And yf he do ꝓnoūce the absolution. But there is nothynge more pestilent and perylous, than this confidence and trust. And there wante not preestes / whiche do flatter suche maner ꝑsones / or at ye least wyse do wynke at thē / & let as though they sawe them not / and all bycause they loue better, & set more [Page] by the lucre / which cōfession and the rehersal of synnes doth brȳg vnto them: than they do loue or set by the helth of soules, whiche is brought or caused thrugh loue towardes god / whiche loue dryueth awaye all supersticion and feare. And herof it cōmeth, that we do here so many men, after that they are comen from ye pest / bourde and ieste in this wyse: I am free & quite delyuered from this burthen / I haue caste it all together in the fryers hoode. Suche maner persones are to be reuoked & called backe from such maner confidence and truste.

THe nynthe yuel or harme is,The nynth yuell. that the exaction and byn [...]ynge of men to make this confession / semeth to gyue vnto many men an occasion of hypocrysye. For albeit yt it is a very [Page] onles he be in lernynge / in ryghtnes of mynde / and wysedome / but most specially aboue al other thinges,The preeste oughte not to come to here confessions: but beinge very able therfore / & also wi [...]h great reuerence & due prepa [...]ation. in vertue / able and mete therfore. And though he had in other thinges / & at other tymes / any carnall & worldly affectiōs: yet at suche tyme as he is aboute to here confession / he oughte to take vnto hym selfe, the persone of a preest / and not to haue any thyng afore his iyes / but god alone: whose steade he doth after a certeyne maner, there represent or beare. For yf they, whose lyfe is fylthy and vnclene / yet whan they come to receyue ye sacramēt of the blessed body and bloude of Christe / do preapre them selues, that they may not come vnworthy to it: euyn lykewyse oughte he, yt is about to here confession / to prepare his mynde vnto this, [Page] so earnest, and so holy a thynge / lest playinge the yuell phisicion / he do both encreace the spiritual disease & syckenes of his neyghbour / and also do prouoke the wrathe and indignation of god agaynst hym selfe / and eyther of them departe from other, worse than they were whan they came together. But nowe a dayes for the most parte / fylthy / & couetous preestes / vnlerned / lyghte / blabbes / and some also madde brayned / & some tyme also dronken / for a lytle v [...]gracious lucre, do offre & preasse in them selues vnto this so great a busynes. And a great part of the defaulte & blame hereof, is in ye byshops: whose parte and office it was, diligētly to take hede & prouide / that vnworthy and vnable persones were not so cōmenly receyued [Page] to the ordre of preesthode. For it is better to haue a fewe preestes,Better few prestes and good: than many eyther vnprofitable, or els noisom. beinge mete and able / than a flocke of suche as are vnprofitable / bycause I wyll not saye, noysome or hurtefull. But farre moste diligently of all, they ought to haue prouided, that no cure or charge of any flocke, were cōmitted to one, yt were not mete therfore. The same admonition is gyuen vnto the prouincialles & chiefe fathers of ye gray freers / and of the blacke fryers / whiche specially of all other, are wonte to take in hande this office and busynes: yea otherwhyles also do prease in them selues / whiche that they haue gotten place / it was longe of the excedynge and notable ouersyght rechelesnes of the ꝑsones, and other pastours. For this office is not to be deputed [Page] and assigned to euery mane [...] man. Nowe a dayes we do se none more gredye and desyrous to here confessions / than yonge prestes / or suche as be vnlerned / or els be lewde of theyr conuersation and lyuyng. For suche as are wyse and vertuous,Good preestes, & suche as are wise [...] are lothe to here confessyons / but whan they must nedes. as often as they be drawen vnto this busynes: they do declare well ynoughe, that they wolde not do it, except either charite dyd moue them / or els the auctorite of their superiour / or the necessite of the office & charge taken vpon them, dyd constrayne and dryue them therunto. Consydre & loke well about, what maner ꝑsones those are / whiche make so excedynge moche a do / & do so greatly rage, yf any man speake any thyng of the auoydyng and eschewyng of the supersticiousnes of makynge [Page] confession: & thou shalte se, that they are hungrye felowes / couetous / gyuen all to the bellye / yea some of them also fylthy / and abhominable: whose ryotousnes / couetousnes / & voluptuousnes / yf confession dyd not maynteyn and vpholde: they coulde neuer cry out in suche wyse as they do. A wel ordred cōmon welth, doth not admitte or receiue euery maner leche or phisicion to cure the bodies of men: and to cure the soules of men / is it ynoughe to haue a hode / or a shauen crown? Temporall iudgementes of vile thīges, are not done, but of them that are sobre / and fastyng: and vnto this busynes do they come from feastes / dronken / and redy to slepe. It was therfore the ꝑte and duetie of the byshops / or els also of the heed officers & rulers / [Page] to chose out suche persones / as are mete to take this office vpon them / bothe in age / in lyuyng / in lernynge / in trustynes / in wysedome / in myldnes: and on the other syde, to kepe from it suche as are vnprofitable, and vnmete therfore / or yf they haue made a defalte, sharply to punishe them. And he, whiche purposeth and is aboute to be confessed, oughte also to prouide for hym selfe in this matier / that he do chose an able ghostly father / and that he do not lyghtely chaunge hym / whom he hath founde & proued to be good. In the syckenes or disease of the body / we do loke aboute to get an able & a connyng phisicion or leche: And do we in the sickenes of ye soule take what maner one soeuer he be? Namely seing that it hath ben knowen [Page] certeyn tymes by experiēce / that curious laye men haue disguysed them selues lyke preestes / and so herde the confession of suche as they desyred? And suche as haue not yet any iudgemente in this matier / eyther by the reason of youth / or for lacke of knowlege: they oughte to be holpen by the wysedome of theyr parētes, and of theyr teachers / & to be shewed vnto whom it shall be most expedient for them to make theyr confession. But now a man may se many men / whiche purposely do chose vnto them selues ye worste ghostly father yt they can fynde: to thentente that they may with lytle a do, be rydde and deliuered of this hatefull busynes. Suche maner of confession is no confession: And not moche more frute or profite do they take of confession [Page] /whiche lyghtely, and as of custome do go vnto the preeste. He that purposeth, and is about warde to be confessed / let hym remembre and thinke that he goth aboute a great thynge / and most serious & ernestfull of all other: and let hym so studie to confesse hym selfe / as yf he wolde neuer make confession agayne.Cōfesse the ones: as yf thou woldest neuer cō fesse againe For penaūce is as it were another baptisme. Nowe, no man dothe receyue baptisme, but wt this purpose and promyse / that he wyll neuer do or cōmitte that thyng / wherfore he shuld agayn be baptised. So lykewyse, though bycause of the weykenes & fraylte of mannes nature / those ꝑsones be not reiected & refused / whiche often tymes fallyng agayne / do retourne vnto the medicine and remedy of penaunce: yet for all [Page] that, he that receyueth & taketh open penaunce,what minde & purpose yt penitente oughte to haue. oughte to be of this mynde and purpose / that he had leuer ten tymes suffre dethe, thā ons to cōmit the same offences agayne / for whiche he dothe nowe wayle and sorowe.

In old tyme, in very many churches / those persones were not receyued to open penaunce / which after they had ons done penaūce were relapsed and fallen agayn. So desirous is the churche, that there shulde be no recidination & retournȳg agayn vnto synne / yf it myght be. And herin lykewise as in very many other thynges / the care of mē is all out of ordre.The preposterous and disordered care of mē / as concernynge makyng of confession. They do very carefully trouble and busye them selues, that they may faythfully and truely reken and nombre vp theyr offences & synnes vnto the preest / and that [Page] they do not leaue out any special kynde, nor ouerhyp any circumstaunce: (and in dede these thynges they oughte not to leaue vndone) but whyles theyr myndes are all together occupied in these thȳges / that thyng is neglected and not regarded / whiche is the principall poynte of all the hole busynes. Fyrste of all therfore they ought to confesse theyr synnes vnto god.Fyrste and principally confesse the to god. But it is a very harde thyng to cōfesse vnto god / whiche heareth not but ye voyce of the herte. whiche thynge yf it be ons done,It is no small nor easy thing [...] to confesse the to god. than it is an easy thynge to make confession vnto the preeste. That former parte therfore of this busynes is to be handled with so great study and diligence, as it alone were sufficient. The principall poynte of this parte is / that a man do inwardly, [Page] and from ye herte roote / conceyue a lothe and hatred of synnes / not of one or two, but of all thynges that do offende and displease god: and that not for feare of vengeaūce and punyshement to be done either by god or by man / but of free loue toward [...] god.Nota. For that man, which doth so farre forthe hate his synnes / that he wold fall to them again / yf he myghte be vnpunyshed for them: that man, I say, shall not escape the fyer of helle. And he, whiche doth so abhorre and hate dronkēnes / that yet neuertheles he gyueth his mynde to vnlawfull loues:He that hateth synnes for ye loue of god, hateth all synnes. doubtles he doth not hate synne, for the loue of god: for elles he wolde lykewyse also haue hated, what soeuer thynge doth offende and displease hym. Besydes this, yt purpose of chaū gynge [Page] and amendynge the lyfe, is neyther stable / neyther f [...]utefull: onles it do sprynge & come forthe of the loue of god. Nowe it lyethe not in a synners power to gyue vnto hym selfe this affection & mynde / it is the free gyfte of god: but yet it is to be desired of hym wt teares / with prayers / with almes dedes / & with other vertuous and godly workes. It is expedient other whyles to beseche and desyre the intercession of good and vertuous men vnto god for hym. And in case that it be not forthwith graunted, that is desyred: yet must he not therfore ceasse & leaue from his good begynnynges and purposes.

God often tymes dothe differre and put of his gyftes,God otherwhyles differreth his gyftes to ye more aduā tage of the receyuer. to thētent that he may gyue them more habundantly: he is beninge and liberall / [Page] and he gyueth his graces & benefites freely: but he gyueth them not to ydle & recheles folke. Therfore that man, whiche of the consideration of his lyfe synfully, and fylthyly afore ledde / & of the feare and drede of the fyer of helle / doth conceyue & gather in his mynde some detestation & hatered of his synnes: let hym not forthwith runne to ye preest / but let hym continue in wepyng and sorowynge / and by prayers Luc. 11.let him seke / let him aske / let him knocke / vntyll he shall perceyue and fele another kynde of feare ioyned with a sure stedfaste purpose of chaungyng his lyfe / and with loue wel hopyng / whan he shall feele this spirite / whiche Paule calleth the spirite of the sonnes: let hym beware / that he do not ascribe any parte hereof [Page] vnto him selfe / but let him knowlege it to be the free gyfte of god: and castȳg hym selfe at his feete, let hym gyue thākes to his bountie and goodnes / prayinge and besechynge hym, that he wyll accordynge to his goodnes, graūt that thynge, whiche he hath frely gyuen to cōtinue and always to encreace & waxe more & more. And let hym not so truste to his own purpose, yt he do thīke hym selfe able of his owne strengthe to absteyne and refrayne from synnes / but with great drede let hym desyre & call for the heuenly helpe / that the same wyll vouchsafe to establyshe and helpe forwarde the purpose / which gaue it. But this purpose dothe not onely contayne the eschewynge of synnes: but also of all thynges, by whiche he was wonte to [Page] be tempted & prouoked to synne. whan a man is ons comen vnto this poynte / than is he restored agayn to the churche / than is he made of the deuylles slaue, the son of god / than is he free from synne / and (as it is to be hoped) free from payne also / yf his sorowe for his synnes / & his loue to wardes god shal haue ben very great. Howe lytle a thynge than is this, that remayneth behynde / yf thou do compare it to that is gone before? He that is verely ashamed of him selfe afore god / he shalbe the lesse ashamed afore man: but one shamfas [...]nes shall dryue out another shamefastnes / & one sorowe shal dryue out another sorowe / likewyse as one nayle dry [...]eth out another.Prouerbe. Neyther shall be greued faythefully and truely to discouer vnto [Page] the preest these thynges / whiche he shall not tell but ons / namely yf he do remembre & thynke that he dothe speake vnto god by the preeste.Merues [...]oꝰ good and wyse counsayle. And it shall be a wyse poynte / that euery man do euery day examine his owne cōscience / and confesse hym hertely and vnfaynedly to god, renewynge his purpose: or yf he may not haue laysure to do this for busynes / at the leaste wyse, let hym do it ons in a weke / with a purpose to go to the preest / assone as tyme and occasion shall offre it selfe / onles the weykenes of his cōscience be so great, that he can not be quiet, onles he shryue hym selfe forthewith vnto a preeste. I wyll not here serche & discusse, how moche men ought to regarde and set by those snares / wherwith certeyne men haue entangled this confession: [Page] I meane of the power of the preest / to whom cōfession is made / of the cases reserued of the cēsures. But yet I wold wysshe for the trāquilite and rest of consciences / that byshops / & popes / to whom soeuer they dyd gyue auctorite to here confession / that vnto the same they wolde gyue auctoritie to assoyle from all synnes / of what soeuer kynde / or what soeuer greatnes they shall be of / and also power to release all maner censures / onely in the courte of conscience. Finally, to dispense in al suche cases / in whihe the perplexite ryseth of the cōstitutions of men / as for exāple / in matrimonie, whiche is made betwene kynnesfolke in those degrees / whiche are not excluded by the deuine scripture from libertie and power to cōtracte matrimonie [Page] the one with the other / or betwene those that are ioyned together by spirituall cognation or kyndred. Also to dispēce with vowes / namely yf ye offence that is cōmitted, be cōmitted thrughe errour or mystakynge / and not thrughe malyce. And in other thinges also, auctorite to release the cōmen lawe, for greatte and weyghty causes. For who shall better perceyue / whether it be expediēt, that this thyng be done / than he, to whom all the whole lyfe of the mā hath ben disclosed and made open? But this thyng myghte be done by a more redye and shorter waye / yf the popes wolde now for necessary causes, abrogate & adnulle certeyne constitutions / whiche in olde tyme they brought in for good and deuoute causes: and also yf they [Page] wolde declare, with whiche constitutions they wyll men to be boūde vnto synne / and wt which not, (yf it be so, that a man may bynd vnto any synne.) For whosoeuer haue power and auctorite vtterly to abrogate and adnulle the constitution: the same also haue power to cause, that it shall not bynde to synne / onles there be ioyned also therunto a stubburne and disobedient malyce. But as longe as thinges stande in this state, that they be in / I wolde counsell and aduise euery man to chose a preest / whiche besyde lernynge and vertue, hath also laufull auctoritie / that no scrupule or grudge do remayne in his mynde / wherfore he shuld nede afterward to make his confession agayne. But that auxite and precise diligence in rehersing [Page] and declaryng all maner circumstaūces,Ouermoch precise and scrupulous rehersall of synnes, is not to be alowed. I do not greatly alowe: for asmoche as that, whiche is rehersed concernyng this matier in the mayster of the sentence / is welnere euery whyt taken out of the worke / whiche is entitled, De vera et falsa penitētia:The worke De uera et falsa penitentia, is falsely ascribed to saint Augustine. whiche worke, it is euidētly knowen to be falsely and wrongfully fathered vpon saynt Augustine. Lykewise I do not alowe the ouermoche feare of them, whiche, as thoughe vnder euery stone a venemous scorpion dyd slepe / as it is sayd in the ꝓuerbe:Prouerbe. do make euery offēce a deed syn. Of whiche sorte I also knewe a certeyn persone many yeres ago / whiche fastyng ye day before / had about supper tyme eatē some lytle thīg that had suger in it. And whan he stode at the aulter, prepayred [Page] and made redy to synge masse before the people / & the chiefe lorde of that place, whiche than was present / and by washynge of his mouth, had perceyued some tast of a crumme of suger / which (as I gesse) had stycked fast in a hollowe tothe: he came in all y• hast vnto me, being very carefull and ha [...]fe deade for feare / and asked me counsell / whether he oughte to do masse: I laughed at ye weykenes of the man / & bad hym be not afrayde / but go to do masse boldely. And suche maner scrupules and doubtes, do cōmenly ryse and sprynge of constitutiōs made by men. For it is constituted & ordeyned by men, (and yet not but well,) yt the preest shalbe fastynge, whan he dothe masse. By the reason herof certeyn men are wonderously troubled and amased [Page] in theyr myndes / yf whyles they wasshe theyr mouthes / it fortune a litle droppe of water to go downe in to their throtes / and eyther they do absteyn from doinge of masse / or elles they do masse, with a fearefull and vnrestfull cōscience. But this was not the mynde & entent of them / whiche made that constitution / that yf any man ꝑhappes ministryng vnto a sycke man / had tasted his mete afore hym / & whyles he doth spytte it out agayne / somwhat happened to go down in to his stomake: that he shulde therfore absteyne from doinge masse / as thoughe he had broken his faste. Here some men wyll say it is a poynt of godly mīdes / euyn ther also to feare syn / wher no syn is. I here it, and I holde wel with it / but yet a man al his [Page] lyfe tyme to do none other but feare: it may seme no lesse monstruous, than yf a man shulde always continue stylle a chylde or an infante. I had leuer yt a man were supersticiously deuoute and holy / than boldely & licenciously wycked & synfull. But we se it happen most cōmenly, that those persones / which in suche maner thynges as this is, are moste superstitious & feareful: in weightier thȳges are merueylously negligent & recheles. Howe many men haue I my selfe knowen / whiche durst not haue ben bolde to do masse / yf they had thrughe vnwares, tasted any lytle quantite of gynger, to put awaye the wambelynge of the stomacke? and yet the same persones were neuer a whyt affrayde to go to ye aulter for to do masse / hauȳge in [Page] theyr brest great hatred toward [...] theyr neighbour / and purpose to be reuēged vpon hym? But true charite, whiche dilateth and enlargeth the mynde / & sure & stedfast hope & trust cōceyued towardes Christ: dothe asely and sone put awaye all suche maner scrupules & grudges. In lyke maner certen men do vexe & trouble them selues aboute ye maner and study or labour of ye pparation, whiche those men do say, ought to be most diligent & ꝑfecte / that desyre & wyll to glory, not in the fleshe onely / but also in the cōsciences of mē. Therfore moderate & mesurable pparation of men / accordīg to their power, I wyll with a good wyll alowe, & holde well withall, so that they haue perfecte hatred of theyr synnes / and a sure and stedfaste purpose to chaūge theyr lyfe in to better. [Page] But yet for all this, ye man shall be lesse troubled aboute the preparation / whiche shall haue accustomed hym selfe (accordynge to my counsell) euery daye, or at the least, ons euery weke, by serchynge his owne lyfe, to cōfesse hym selfe vnto god.Confession ought to be as compendious and shorte as is possible. And this thynge he oughte to studie and mynde / yt maketh his cōfession: that he do make it as compendious and short, as he can possible / that he do not lade the eares of the preest with thīges superfluous, and more than nedeth.

This thynge shalbe broughte to passe / yf he do reherse only suche thynges, whiche not wtout good cause, do charge and gyue the cō science: of whiche sorte are suche synnes / as be either wtout doubt deadely / or elles are vehemently suspected, to be deadely synnes. [Page] And yet are not veniall synnes to be made lyghte of / specially in thexamynyng and amendyng of our lyfe.Ueniall synnes are not to be made lyghte of. For they, yf they be neglected and not taken hede of / do bryng men vnto greatter and more wayghty offences: & they (yf we do gyue credence to saynt Augustine) beinge receyued and tet in by lytle & lytle, of one syde and other / do incōclusion drēche the shyppe of the conscience / no lesse than dothe an horrible great wawe / whiche sodēly ouerwhelmeth the shyppe. There are certeyne persones / whiche of confession do make a cōmunication or talkyng / bablynge in ye meane season of euery maner thynges: and this defaulte haue peuyshe women specially, whiche haue a delyte and pleasure, at the leaste this waye, to cōmune and talke [Page] with men / and to poure it out in to theyr bosomes / yf they be any thyng myscontented and angry towardes theyr husbandes / or theyr neyghbours. I haue knowen certen persones / that do confesse them by a confessionall / and that a very lōge one / which they had lerned without boke ꝑfectly by hert. Out of it they do reherse and reken vp, not what offences they haue done: but all the offences that possible might haue ben done. Than whiche thyng, there is none more peuyshe, after myn opinion and iugement: neyther doth it become the preeste / either to demaunde any thynge / or to mengle & brynge in any thynge there / but onely that, whiche belongethe to penaunce: neyther dothe it become the partie that maketh confession, to speake any [Page] thynge elles, but of that onely. Nowe what tales are tolde secretely / and what cōmunication is hadde vnder the name of confession amonge many persones: it is more cōmēly knowen, than is expedient. Certeyne do excedyngly cōmende & praise it,Often makynge of generall confession. often tymes amōge to make cōfession / and that generall: and they do counsell men to iterate cōfession / be it for neuer so slayght a cause: from whom I do greatly dissent and disagre. I do reken & iudge it a great thyng / yf a man do ons faythfully and truely open and disclose his crymes and offences vnto the preest / and doth wasshe them awaye with the showre of teares: thoughe he do not waxe olde in perpetuall and continual sorow & mournyng / but takyng courage & good truste / do merely [Page] and cherefully buckle & prepare hym selfe vnto thexercise of a better lyfe. And yf it chaūce hym to fall agayne vnto synne / let hym onely reherse those thinges vnto the preeste / whiche he hath committed and done / sythe the tyme that he was laste confessed. For els confession is made a thyng of custome, rather than of remedy: and the thyng begynneth also to lyke and please some men / which of it selfe is vnplesaūt, I meane, to trouble and styrre ofte in the dyrte and myre of synnes: and in ye meane season shamefastnes, whiche (as I haue sayde) is the moste surest keper of innocencye is forgetten / and by lytle & lytle layde a parte.Some men if they haue affection to a thīg / they haue neuer inough of it Suche is the nature and condition of some men / that in that thynge / whiche they haue begonne to lyke and caste a [Page] mynd vnto / they are neuer satisfied, nor haue ynoughe. Lyke wyse as in olde tyme it semed a deuoute thynge and well done / that euery day some cōmemoration were made of the blessed virgine and mother / whiche can neuer be praysed ynoughe. There was sayde in the honour of her,Anthem of our lady. an antheme euery euenynge / but a very short one. The same now a days in some places is longer / and done bothe wt more pompe / and also with more company, & resorte of people / than is ye euensonge / whiche is taught and gyuen vnto vs of the olde auncient fathers. Neyther coulde all this yet satisfie, or content them: but they haue put to besyd this, the knollynge of a belle in the mornynge / and yt for reason & skyll / bicause they say,Knollynge to Aues. it is vncerteyne [Page] and doubtfull / whether Gabriel dyd grete our blessed lady earlye in the breake of the day / or els in the euētyte. This was thought a substāciall & a weyghtie cause. Afterward was added also matens / prime / and houres / propre to the blessed virgin:Lady matens / prime and hours. as though it were but lytle prayse to her / that her sonne is dayly praysed. And these are saide in many places, before the seruice of the day: lest the sonne myghte elles seme not to gyue place & preeminence to his mother. And yet is not al this neither ynough.Antheme & collet of our lady in the latter grace The grace, that is sayde after dyner or souper / dothe not contente and lyke them: onles many speciall prayers therin be gyuen to the blessed virgine. who wolde not saye, that these thīges were sufficiēt? Yet haue they added lady masse [Page] in the mornynge / whiche is songen in prycked songe / namely in Englande / & not without playinge vpon the organes:Ladies masse in pricked songe. bicause I wyll not speake in the meane season of chapelles in the churches / that are proprely and specially dedicated vnto her / nor of the pompe of ymages,Chapelles and ymagꝭ of our lady. made in the honour of her. Some men wyl here say paraduenture vnto me / for what entente & purpose speakest yu these thȳges? Uerely to shewe, that many thynges / whiche sprange of good begynninges: are thrugh the affectiōs of men, caryed forthe & growen paste measure. The same thyng semeth to haue happened, and to haue come to passe in confession.

¶Fyrste,Confession ons in the lyfe. it semed a thynge commendable & well done / to make confession ons in the lyfe. After [Page] that, it was commaunded to be made euery yere ons.Confession ons in the lyfe. All this semed mesurable ynough. Than began it to be exacted and required of men twyes in the lente / besydes the cōmaundement of the churche.Confession twyes in the lente. And ther are some men also / whiche do dispute / that a man ought to make confession agayne, as often tymes as he falleth agayne in to synne. Some agayne are there / whiche do require, that a man shulde reken agayne a freshe, al the synnes that they haue done al their lyfe tyme before / yf it haue fortuned hym, thrugh forgetfulnes / to ouerhyp and leaue out any synne vntold / oneles he do come agayne to the same preeste, vnto whom he had made his cōfession before. There are inuented and deuysed dyuers and sundry causes of repetynge [Page] confession / neyther is there any ende of makynge confession. The preest, whan he is aboute to do masse: he maketh his confession ones or twyes to a preeste. Agayne, when he cōmeth down from the alter: he maketh cōfession, the, ꝓheme and fyrst begynnyng of the masse. This semeth to be done bicause of the people. Agayne, after that the gospell is redde,The mane [...] in Italie. the maner is in Italie / & paraduenture in some other natiōs also / that the paryshe preest doth tourne hym selfe to the people / and in steade of declaryng of the gospell / ꝓnoūseth the cōmen fourme of confession, and of absolution. And accordyng to the olde maner and custome / whan men are aboute to entre in to the churche / they are sprincled with holy water. The same thyng is [Page] done agayn to them, whan they do departe from the churche. And this is also a certeyne maner of confession. Besydes this, the sacramente of the bodye and bloude of Christe, is not gyuen to lay people / except they be shryuen before. Agayne, whan they klene nowe downe before the alter / confession is required & called for of them: at whiche tyme it were better,Nota. that the preest dyd say some thynge vnto them, that myght kendle ye mȳdes of them, that are houseled / in to the loue of hym / whose body and bloude they do receyue. Finally, whan a man is in ieopardie and lyke to dye: howe often tymes is confession offered to hym? And whā the very ghoste and breathe is euyn nowe passynge forthe at his lyppes: there is present eyther a [Page] preeste, or a fryer / whiche dothe aske, whether he hath forgotten any thyng: and whā he is nowe deade / than is the absolution pronounsed to hym. Let no man thynke, that these thynges are spoken to the despite and hatred of confession:Nota. but at that tyme another songe were more mete to be songen / of the loue of Iesu Christe towardes mankynde / of hope and trust towardes his goodnes / of the promyses of the gospell / of ye miseries and wretchednesses of this lyfe / & of the ioyes of the heuenly lyfe.

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The forme and maner of cōfession.BUt thou ꝑauenture, good reder, dost loke, that I shulde teache the some forme or maner of makyng cōfession / whiche yu myghtest folowe / to reherse all thy synnes, so as yu oughtest to do, vnto the preeste. For this vse very many mē haue made lytle bookes / and certeyne haue also put forthe bokes in the vulgare & cōmen langage / rekenynge vp what soeuer syn either is cōmitted / or may possibly be cōmitted amonge men. As I do not denye it to be well done, that suche bokes be redde of men that are stronge, by reason of age / & experience of the worlde: so in my iudgement it is ieopardously done, yt they are sparpled abrode amonge the cōmune people. And moche lyke defaulte do the [Page] preestes cōmitte / whiche do of al maner men demaūde questions, concernyng all maner vices: hauynge no regarde or respecte vnto the sexe / vnto the age / or vnto the disposition of the persone / whom they haue in handlynge. And saynt Thomas hath wryten moste copiously and largely of the genealogies of vertues, & of vices. But we do now wryte these thynges principally & most specially for lay men. And therfore a more symple, and a more playne waye and maner is to be soughte. The knowlege of the crede or belefe, and of the cōmaū dementes of god, is necessary to lyuynge well: althoughe there were no necessite at all of makȳg confession to any man. These thynges the ꝑsones and curates oughte ons a yere, breuely and [Page] plainly do teache vnto y• people: and also by lytle bokes made out in to the vulgare tonge, to prynt them fast in the myndes of them. Howe be it often tymes to here sermones & preachynges,Hearynge of sermons. dothe greatly prepare a man to make a good cōfession / eyther to god / or to man. To the same also doth helpe greatly the redyng of holy bookes.Redyng of holy bokes Nowe the heed of all the cōmaundementes is faythe / which worketh by loue. Of loue there is two sortes: the loue of god / and the loue of thy neyghbour. Th [...]se thynges knowen / euery man shall easely and sone perceyue / where he hath declined and swarued from those thīges / whiche belonge vnto fayth, and charite. And faythe oughte not to be lyghte,Faythe. or fletynge onely in the lyppes: but inwardly & depely [Page] rooted faste in the herte / that there may with the mouthe confession & knowlegynge be made,Roma .10. to helth & saluation. This fayth consisteth & standeth principally in this / that we do beleue, what so euer thyng the diuine scriptures / receyued by the consent o [...] al christē people / do eyther tell and reherse to haue ben done in times passed / or elles do promyse for to be done in tyme herafter to come / or elles do cōmaunde to be done: and that all the whole hope and truste of this present lyfe / and of the lyfe to come / be set in god. But how many thousandes are there of them / that haue professed the name of Christe / whiche do eyther mystrust / or els doubt of the rysyng agayne of the bodies: and some a [...]so of the immortalite of soules?

[Page]And we do se the moste parte of men / namely of those yt are preeminent and excellent in honours and dignities / to lyue after suche maner & facyon / that either they do seme not to beleue ye holy scripture / or elles not to thynke of it. whiche persones, yf they dyd often tymes amonge ernestly examyne them selues: they shulde fynde & ꝑceyue them selues to be far away from the office & duetie of a christen made. But this is the foūtayne of all synnes. And to haue ben negligent & recheles in this behalfe: is euyn it selfe a great & weyghty offēce or crime. Of whiche thynge, the cōmen sorte of christen men toutchethe nothynge at all / supposyng it to be sufficiēt, yf they do reherse and reken vp theyr dronkēnes / theyr adulteries / theyr theftes / or robberies. [Page] we oughte to pray moche more busily and continually,we oughte moch more effectually to desire the encrease of our faythe / than any temporall cōmodities that god wyll encrease faythe in vs: than that he wyll gyue vs helthe of bodye / or that he wyll graunte vs plentie of corne and vitayles. And y• sparke of fayth is oftē tymes amōge to be quikened with other exercises & passetymes / as with the study of holy scripture / with ye cōmunication of good & vertuous men / with holy & deuoute meditations and thoughtes. Certeyne men do confesse, that they do not beleue the crede & symbole of the fayth. Suche cōfession is no sacramentall confession / onles it be made for this purpose, that either they may be taught of the preest, and be conuerted to the fayth: or els that they maye by some maner meanes make satisfaction to the [Page] churche. To haue doubted of ye faythe / or to beleue but coldely and fayntly / is a matter of confession: not to be without beleue. These two therfore are the two principall squiers or rules / by whiche we muste trie & examyne all the maner and facyon of our lyuynge:Faythe and charite are the two rules / by whiche all our actes are to be tried and examined. I meane, faythe / and charite. And the same two are also the fountaynes / out of which issueth or sprīgeth euery worke, that is pleasaunt and acceptable to god: whiche two foūtaynes / yf either they be corrupted / or els be vtterly wantyng: euyn those thynges / whiche seme to be vertuous, ar vices:what soeuer spryngeth of pure faythe and true charite can be no synne neither can that thyng be syn / what so euer spryngeth and cōmeth forthe of pure faythe, & true charite: although it haue the semblaunce and apparaūce of synne. Contrary wyse, [Page] these persones, are vtterly voyde of faythe, and charite: all theyr lyfe is none other thynge / than one continuall synne (yf I maye so say.) But the cōmen sorte, and moste parte of men, beinge occupied & busyed aboute ye bowes, and the leues / taketh no hede of the rootes: where as bothe the fyrste / and also the most diligent searche and examination, ought to be made aboute the rootes. There are some mē / which haue set vp a marke vnto them selues, eyther ryches / or worldly glory / or dignite amonge men: & euery man for thētent to hyt his owne marke / do many thynges in apparaunce vertuous and godly: they do gyue ames: they buylde monasteries: they do fyghte for theyr countrey. But whether wt suche maner good dedes, they do [Page] displease god, let other men l [...]ke: without doubte, they wynne no fauour or thanke of god.

Nota.Contrary wyse, those persones, whiche beinge illuminated and lyghtned by faythe / & brennyng in charite / do directe all the operatiōs & workes of theyr lyfe to these markes / I meane, faythe / and charite: euyn also, whā they do refreshe and conforte theyr bodies with meate & drynke / whan they do refreshe theyr myndes wt sporte and playe / finally, whan they do slepe: they do wynne or get the fauour of Christe vnto them selues. And there be also founde certeine men / whiche are naturally of suche disposition / that they do helpe no man hertely / but they do measure all thynges by theyr owne profites and aduauntages: and yet they do [Page] seme free and voyde from great and haynous offences / that is to say / they are no dronkardes / nor whoremongers. They do pray, and are very diligente & deuoute in gods seruice. what nede many wordes? bothe they thynke them selues holy / & so also they are reputed of other men.

There is none other disease of ye mynde more incurable, than is this: and therfore by so moche the more a wyse & discrete gostly father oughte to gyue a diligent mynde to the healynge of suche maner persones: and they do all in vayne flatter them selues / and stande in theyr owne conceypte / as thoughe they loued god for hym selfe / whan eyther they do not loue theyr neyghbour at all / or yf they do loue hym / they do not loue hym for gods sake / but [Page] for theyr owne profites sake. Of these two fountaynes,Princes & prelates. specially princes and prelates are to be enfourmed and taught / whiche do nothīg well, onles they do beare theyr office, and vse theyr auctorite to ye honour of god, and the profyte of the cōmen weale.

Faythe therfore driueth awaye, and putteth by all those lewde excusations, whiche the malicious crafte & subtilte of men is wonte to inuente and deuyse. Yf I do gyue any thyng to poore folkes / I shall wante and lacke my selfe. Yf I shall exercise and vse byeng and sellyng, and myne occupatiō or craft, without fraude or gyle / in the stede of gaynes / I shal susteyne and beare damage & losse. Suche maner men do playnely mystruste these promyses of almyghty god.Couetous mē mistrust gods promyses. Caste thy care and [Page] thought vpon the lorde / and he shall nouryshe the.Psal. 54. I haue not sene a ryght wyse man forsaken.Psal. 36. And fyrst of all seche you ye kyngdome of god:Math. 6. & all these thinges shall be added & gyuen vnto you. Do they suppose yt god is a lyar / that he wyll not performe those thynges / whiche he hath promysed? Or elles do they wene, that he is impotent, and vnable / that he may not performe his, pmyse? Or els do they trowe / that he is recheles / that he doth not mynde the care of his seruauntes?

This same faythe shall conforte vertuous men / yf the kyndnes of men do not recompence theyr benefites / nor shewe kyndenes agayne / accordyng to theyr deseruynges. God is faythfull / & true of his promesse: to whom they haue lente theyr benefites / [Page] he shall rendre and restore them theyr owne stocke, whiche they haue layde forthe, with inestimable encreace and aduātage. But it is cōmenly sene / that those persones / whiche allege suche excuses / do lese and caste away very many thīges, in reuell and ryot / in fleshely luste / and in dysynge & cardynge: to whom euyn that lucre & gaynes also is loste, whiche they myghte haue gotten / yf they dyd not loue ydlenes / better than they do lucre & aduantage. Suche maner of men doubtles are shameles: yf they do say, onles I dyd vse fraude and guyle / I coulde not lyue.Charite. Nowe charite or loue stretcheth it selfe (as it was sayde before) vnto two thynges / that is to wit / to god / & to thy neyghbour. Here offre them selues vnto vs, thre ꝑsons / [Page] the father / the sonne / and ye holy ghoste / beinge all thre one god / whiche is to be loued aboue all thynges / bothe visible and inuisible. But he loueth not god / who soeuer mystrusteth his promyses / who soeuer setteth noughte by his cōmaundementes / who soeuer maketh any thynge egall vnto hym / or pferreth any thing before hym / that is to say / who soeuer loueth his life better than hym / and who soeuer doth feare lesse to offende & displease hym / than he dothe to dye euyn a thousande tymes. The ꝑsone of oure neyghboure stretchethe farre and broode. Here it is to be consydered / whether we haue done our duetie, yt we are boūde to do / to our wyues / to our parentes / to our chyldren / to our teachers / to our scholemaisters / [Page] to our pastors or curates / to the prince / to ye heede officers / to our kynsfolkes / to our frendes / and to those that haue done vs good / breuely, to all christen men. Moreouer / eche man is neyghboure to his owne selfe / and no man is more greuously, & more sore hurted / than of hym selfe. Thou haste hurte and appayred thy neyghbours good name: Confesse y• of it. But thou haste blabbed out thyne owne rebuke and shame / eyther thrugh dronkennes / or els thrughe lyghtnes of tonge: wepe, & be sory for it. Thou haste two maner wayes hurte thy neyghbour / that is to wit / thou haste hurte thy selfe / and thou hast also hurte hym / to whom yu haste blabbed it forthe. He that wyll diligently bethinke hym selfe of all these thynges: [Page] he shall soone call it to remembraunce / yf he haue doone any thynge worthy repentaunce. And this thynge shall helpe his remembraunce well / yf he reken with hym selfe,A maner & way to helpe remembraunce. in what places he hath ben conuersaunte & abydyng in ye meane season / in what businesses or maters he hath ben occupied / and amonge whom he hath lyued and companed. For so by that meane, one thing shall euer brynge another to mynde. There are some men / whiche euyn of theyr owne selues do fetche places (as they call them) of makynge confession. For euery synne, either it is cōmitted by the mynde / or elles by some of the fyue senses, or wittes. Unto the mynd do apꝑtein / fayth / & loue / toward god, & our neyghbour: and the vices contrarye to these / [Page] namely those spiritual vices / enuie hatered / wrathe / and desyre of vengeaunce / pryde / hypocrysye / yuel wyll / and malyce. And albeit yt euery synne yssueth and cōmeth forthe from the foūteyne and spring of the herte: yet that notwithstandyng those synnes / whiche apperteyne to glotenye / and riotousnes / to lechery / to violence / and to doinge iniury, are referred to the senses, and to the membres of the body. The iyes do cōmitte many offences & synnes / and many also do the eares cōmit / many the bellye / and the throte / many the handes / but of all other mēbres / the tonge doth cōmitte moste. For what soeuer synnes are done of all the membres, in diuers & sundry maners and facyons / and all those offences dothe the tonge alone cōmit. [Page] The tonge casteth forth blasphemiesThe offences cōmitted with the tonge. against god / ye tonge backe byteth and speaketh yuell of the neyghbour / the tonge departeth and breaketh in sundre amiable peace, and cōcorde / and styrreth vp cruell and deadely bataylles or warres. The tonge ioyneth and bryngeth together foule and synfull louers / and plucketh in sundre holy and vertuous loues and frendeshyppes. The tonge with flaterynge / with backebytynge / and sclaunderynge / with fylthy and rybauldous cōmunication / dothe infecte and poyson pure & clene myndes. The tonge without eyther swerde, or poyson / kylleth and sleeth bothe brother and frēde. what nedeth me to make many wordes? This tonge teacheth heresies / and of of christen men maketh antichristes [Page] and aduersaries to Christe. These thȳges I suppose are sufficient for lay men to thexamination of theyr consciēce: so yt they do knowe the cōmen crede / & the sūme or effecte of the doctrine of the gospel. Now, yt I may adde somwhat (rather for cause to put men in remēbraūce, thā to teache them) vnto those thynges / whihaue ben very copiously & largely taughte of diuines / cōcerning the circūstaunces of synnes / concernynge omission, & restitution. They do syn, who soeuer, to thē tent yt they wolde knowe the ꝑreners & felowes of him yt maketh his cōfessiō / do enq̄re & demaūde of those circūstaūces,No man ought to discrie another mannes offences in cō fession, if he may otherwyse do. wherby the ꝑsons also may be knowē. And no man ought to vtter & disclose the synnes of other men to the preest: yf it may by any meanes [Page] be eschewed & auoided. For other whiles it can not be auoided / but thou must nedes vtter & bewray the ꝑsone / as for exāple: Yf any woman haue lyen with her own father: Or yf any man haue prouoked his prince to vniuste and wrongfull batayle. Here in this case, they do coūsell to seke suche a preest / whiche doth knowe neyther of both ꝑsones / or at y• least wyse, not the ꝑtie / whiche thou woldest not to be discouered. Agayne, in those synnes / whiche are cōmitted thrugh fleshely lust, & lechery / certeyn men of a lecherous curiosite & desyre of knowlege / do enquere, & demaūde such thīges, as ar not mete, nor ought to be demaūded. For likewise as he, which hath had carnalli to do wt a woman / doth very well and ryghte / to adde & shewe further / [Page] whether he hath cōmitted adultery with another mānes wyfe / or els incest wt a nunne / or whordome with a cōmon harlotte / or fornication wt a syngle woman / or elles rape with a virgin: euyn so it is nothynge nedefull to reherce and shewe al the formes or maners and facyons of doinge the fleshely acte / whiche doth not chaunge the kynde of the synne. But here oftētymes they do leue out the circunstaunces / whiche are more apperteinyng to ye purpose / than are these cōmen circū staūces. They make a distinctiō and seꝑation betwene adultery, and sengle fornicatiō:Single fornication in some cases / by reason of the circū staunces, is more greuous offēce than adultery. but oftentymes by reasō of their circūstaū ces / fornicatiō is moch more deadely offence / than adultery. For that man dothe lyghter offence / whiche by chaunce, thrugh occasion [Page] falleth in adultery / thā doth he, whiche lyinge a longe season aboute an honeste and a symple virgin, comen of honest parētes / and purposed and appoynted to an honest mariage / and by longe cōtinuaūce wt malicious craftes and meanes / prouokyng & temptyng her to folye / at the last doth defile her: & whan he hath done, afterward makyng his vaunte & boste of his synfull dede / bryngeth her in infamy, and an yuell name / and also maketh her common to other men. whiche thȳg to certeyne courtiers, semeth also a propre and a mery passetyme. Also that man doth lesse offence / whiche fyndynge a thynge by chaunce in a halowed place / taketh it awaye secretely, whan he is in nede & necessite: than dothe he / whiche without any necessite [Page] or pouerte cōstraynyng hym / entreth in, in the nyghte tyme with weapon in to another mannes house / and robbeth the coffers of a lay man: or elles, whiche doth robbe a poore man / whiche had moche a do wt his bodely labour, to fynde his wyfe, and a greatte many children. Neyther is only consideration and respecte to be had of the tyme / of the persone / & of the place: but also a regard is to be had vnto ye malyce of the mynde / vnto the greatnes of the temptation. Furthermore, vnto howe many the hurte of one syn doth come / & how many do take harme therby / as for example. Yf one doth kyll a man / of whose coūsayles ye whole cōmon weale dyd hange: he dothe with this one synne hurte many men. Or yf one doth counsell and moue a [Page] prince vnto tyranny and cruelte.

NOwe as touchynge ye syn of omission / and also trāsgression / a greatte parte of men dothe esteme and iudge them by the constitutions of men / as for example.Omission & trāsgression Yf a man dyd not here masse on the sonday: or els dyd eate fleshe on the frydaye. But those omissiōs are more greuous and weyghtie / whiche are contrary to the cōmaundementes of god: as yf a man, whan he hath gotten and founde occasion to helpe, & succurre his neyghbour / haue nothynge regarded it / but lefte it vndone. Also he dothe more greuously offende & synne / whiche enuieth his neyghbour: than dothe he / whiche dothe not refrayne from eatynge of fleshe on the frydaye. And the omission is the more greuous / [Page] yf it be so, that the leanynge of the good dede vndone, be ioyned with ye great hurte of his neighbour. For that man kylleth his neighbour / who soeuer seeth him in ieoꝑdie of his lyfe: & whan he myght saue his lyfe, wyll not do it. Agayn, the omissiō is ye more greuous offence / whan malyce or wyckednes succedeth in to the place of the good worke / whiche he ought of duetie to haue done. As for an example.why ye sonday was instituted. The sonday was īstituted & ordened for this entent / that a man shulde by laysure, hauīg rest from other bodely occupations / examine & serche his owne conscience / & reconsile hym selfe to god: and that by deuoute contēplatiōs / by prayers / by heryng sermons / by holy and godly cōmunicatiōs / or by holy redīges / he shulde styrre vp charite [Page] and loue towardes god, and towardes his neyghbour. Here they do twyes offende / and do cōmitte double synne / whiche do spende and passe forthe ye whole daye / with folyshe playes / with whordome / with dronkennes / with rybauldous cōmunication, and fylthye tales / or els wt brallynge also and fyghtynge. And with this synne do they specially and principally offende / whiche are highe aboue in auctorite or dignite / as princes / byshops / ꝑsons / curates / abbottes / cōmen officers / and householders. For these persones rehersed / as they do not synne / but to the hurte of many men: euyn so they can not ceasse, & be slacke in doinge theyr office / but to the hurte of many men. For it is not sufficient and ynoughe for the Pope / Pope. yf he do [Page] not hym selfe styrre and rayse vp warres and bataylles betwene prynces: but also it shall be rekened in steade of a great synne to hym / excepte he haue studied and laboured to the vttermoste of his power, to allaye & ceasse the warres alredy rysen vp or begonne.Prynces. So lykewyse it shall be layde to a princes charge / not only yf he do spoyle or oppresse the cōmon welthe: but also, yf he do not exclude vniuste officers, that ministre not iustice egally and in differētly / or suche as otherwyse are oppressours of the cōmen libertie / whā it lyeth in his power to do it. But than it shall be double synne: yf beinge corrupted either wt money / or wt some other affection / he shall bothe wittyng and ware therof / cōmit an heed office to a leude & a noughty persone. [Page] So lykewyse the byshop doth double offence & syn / Byshop.yf not onely hym selfe be not diligent & busye to make his flocke better / but also by his yuell doctrine / or els by his leude and noughty lyuyng, doth make his flocke more corrupte: or els being corrupted with some croked affection / he doth wittingly cōmit the charge and ouersyghte of his flocke to an vnable and vnworthy ꝑsone. In asmoche as these thȳges are thus / he that is a prince, or a bysshop, ought not to be ydle or negligent & recheles: but at euerye occasion to be diligent and busy to profite & do good. Howe be it euery man also, priuately and seuerally, oughte to do theyr endeuoire to the same / that yf they be able / they maye, whan occasion is offered / do good to their neighbour / [Page] the riche man wt his good / the lerned lerned man with his auctorite / the eloquēt man with his eloquence, & good & goodly vtteraunce / the olde man with his reuerence / the gracious and welbeloued man wt his fauour / the yonge mā with his industrie and witty diligēce. Yonge men do shryue them of the frayes and braule / or of the whordome that they haue cōmitted: but they do speake neuer a worde, how that they haue suffered so moche of theyr youthe to passe awaye vnprofitablye, and without frute / whan they had occasion to lerne those thynges / whiche myghte stāde them in steade all their lyfe tyme. In these thynges therfore a man may fynde often tymes folyshe iudgementes, and quite out of ordre / bothe of theyr ꝑte that [Page] maketh confession / and also of theyrs, whiche do here cōfession. Yf a prince do confesse, yt he hath kylled a man wt his owne hāde: in dede he doth cōfesse a greuous cryme. For it becōmeth the lyfe of a prince to be in euery poynte inculpable, & blameles. But the same paraduenture doth not cō fesse and shryue him selfe / that by the reason of the bataylle / which he hath begon thrugh ambitiousnes, or wrathe / so many innocentes are slayne / so many men vndeseruynge it, were spoyled of theyr good. Finally, yt so many abhominable synnes, not to be named, are cōmitted and done. He cōfesseth it, yf haply he haue, contrary to ryghte, vsurped any mānes goodes: but he doth not confesse, that wittyngly he doth selle the office of Escheter / to a [Page] man, openly knowen for a raue [...]nour, & extorsioner / and vnright wyse / by whom he knowethe well, yt innumerable people shall be spoyled, & robbed. Here it is to be considered / what is euery mānes propre office and duetie: and therof is ye synne of omission to be estemed. The peculier and propre office be [...]ongynge to a byshoppe is,The offyce & duetie properly belongynge to a byshop. to feede his flocke with holy doctrine. But paraduenture he dothe neyther feede them hym selfe / neyther dothe gyue diligence to prouide yt they may haue able & mete pastours: but eyther for lucre, or els for fauour / cōmitteth ye cure & charge of the soules, to vnworthy persones. He passeth not vpon it to make confession herof: but cōfesseth hym selfe parauēture of his harlot / or of leauynge his euensonge [Page] vnsayde. Lykewyse the propre office & duetie of a prince is,The propr [...] offyce of a prynce. to prouide that no wronge be done to any man / to maynteyne and vpholde the cōmen libertie and trāquilite. But here he, speakynge no worde of so many and so haynous iniuries & wrōges / whiche are done by his cōmaundement / or at ye least wyse by his negligence and ouersyghte / confesseth, that he hath some day not herde masse / or els, that he hath lefte his matens / or euensonge / or some of the houres vnsayde. But these were not the peculier and propre defaltes and synnes of princes. For this maner is cropen in nowe a dayes in to the courtes of certeyne princes / that they do euery daye saye ouer the whole seruice of the day / as the preestes do: & in the meane tyme [Page] are sure, yt no man shall trouble them, nor breake them of theyr prayers. For who dare be so bold to trouble a prince / or speke to hym / whan he is occupied in his prayers? I do not discōmēd nor disalowe deuotion and holynes in a prince (yf it be so, that deuotion and holynes doth stande in these thynges:) but I do disprayse it / yf they trustȳg to these thynges / do neglecte and leaue vndone those thynges / whiche specially & proprely were apperteynynge to theyr office. There are so many wydowes / and so many fatherles children / whiche are oppressed wrongefully / and agaynst all lawe & ryghte: there are so many poore men / whiche do suffre many piteous and cruel wrōges. God is not angry nor myscontented with a prince / yf [Page] for suche causes he shal suffre his prayers to be troubled & broken of / yea euyn the hearynge of his masses also: For always, and in all thynges, mānes constitution oughte to gyue place to a more perfecte worke or dede of charite.Mānes cō stitution oughte to gyue place to a more perfecte worke of charite. Therfore the principall & chefest studie & care of the preest oughte to be / yt he may knowe in what state of lyfe he is, that makethe the confession. And for asmoche as he that is cōfessed, doth speake to god by the preest (as certeyne men haue sayde, and not amysse) there oughte to be ryghte iudgementes, as beinge before god / whiche iudgeth all thinges after the affections of the myndes. But nowe the most parte of men do greatly esteme & make moche of these thynges / whiche are belongynge to the fleshe, and to the [Page] ceremonies: and very lytle or no thynge do regarde these thīges / whiche are belongynge to y• spirite. Agayne, those thīges whiche are instituted and ordeyned by men / they do greately set by: but those thynges / whiche are cōmaūded of god / they neglecte, and make lyghte of them. For who dothe not execrate and abhorre it / yf a preeste go with his crowne vnshauen? But no man abhorreth it / yf he do fynde a preeste dronken, and fyghtynge in the stewes [...] who dothe not haue a monke or fryer in abhominatiō / yf he do weare a lay mannes garmente? But howe it is accompted and taken but for a play and passetyme / yf a monke / or a fryer / abyding in his habite / be a whoremayster / be dronken / doth subuerte other mēnes houses / [Page] doth exercise and occupy neocromancy / and suche other artes magycke. It is taken and accompted for an horrible o [...]fence and synne / yf a preeste shul [...]e go to masse / or saye his matens / beinge not fastynge: But it is accompted for a sleyghte mat [...]er, and for a very tryfle / yf a preeste do go to the aulter to do masse / his brother not beinge reconsiled / whom he hath offended and hurte. Though a cause coulde be shewed, whye and wherfore men do punyshe more greuously those thynges / whiche are more sleyghte, and of lesse weyghte: yet doubtles in confession there ought to be strayghte and ryght iudgementes.

[Page] RestitutionNOwe ye very course of our speche hath brought vs to the mention of restitution / concernyng whiche, I do not ꝓfesse or promyse / that I wyll teache any newe thynge: for asmoche as this matier hath ben treated and tossed of diuines in many & huge volumes. Only I wyll admonyshe and gyue warnyng / in what point very many vnlerned men do amysse / & are ouerseen. Concernyng making restitution of money, or of a garment / they are wondersly carefull and troubled in theyr conscience. But he, whiche with pestilent and poysoned communication hath corrupted and venomed ye myndes of symple persones / he whiche with his venomous tonge hath takē away from his neighbour, quietnes and reste of mynde / he [Page] whiche with backebytynge and sclaunderous wordes, hath appayred & hurte his neyghbours fame & good name. They whiche with leude and vngratious counsayles / haue prouoked and styrred vp princes / or the people vnto warres: these persones (I say) do thynke but lyghtely and sleyghtly of makyng restitution and satisfaction for ye hurte and damage, that they haue done: & yet for all that, many men do set more by theyr good name, than by theyr lyfe: neyther is there any thȳg, wherin restitution hath more conuenient place, & ought more to be made than here. But in these thynges (they saye) it is scarcelye possible at any tyme to make restitution. Uery trouthe it is / & therfore by so moche the more they oughte to labour and [Page] [...]o aboute to make restitutiō as farre forthe as they may: & they ought alwayes to be sorye, that they can not make restitutiō perfectly, and to ye full. Nowe there are certeyne vnthrifty and leude courtiers,Courtiers. whiche thynke, yt they haue made a fayre and a goodly amendes to the mayden whom they haue defyled, yea and often tymes also after that they haue defyled her thē selues, haue made her cōmen to other: they thynke (I say) that they haue gayly recompensed the losse of her virginite, and honesty / if they do at the last bestow her vpon some felow in maryage, and gyue some lytle somme of money wt her: yea and in a maner they do thynke, that them selues ar worthy rewarde, for that the yonge damosell hath goten an husbande, what maner [Page] one soeuer he be. In dede she is maryed / but to a simple, and god wote what maner a ꝑsone: whiche beinge a clene mayde / and of good name / shulde haue ben maryed to an honest & a worshypful ꝑsone. Neyther dothe maryage wipe away the blotte of her yuel name. O goodly & propre satisfaction & amendes: and yet some men trusting & being bolde herevpō, do cōtinue & holde on to corrupte & defyle mo, one after another. Howe be it euyn in those thīges also / which do only make vs poorer. Certeyn thynges are done so cōmenly, & euerywhere / yt by ye reasō of custome / they do not seme to be any thefte at all. And of this defaute cōmēly ar dispraysed al artificers and craftes men welnere / which haue ye hādeling and ordrīg of other mens stuffe: [Page] but specially and chiefly myllers,Myllers. and tayllers:Tayllers. in so moche that it is a prouerbe also cōmenly sayd / that euery man is a thefe in his owne occupation and crafte. But amonge those yt are of this sorte, they do mooste greuouslye syn / whiche do corrupte meates and drynkes / and the vitaylles ordeyned for the sustētation and nouryshement of mannes body / as for example.Uinteners. They whiche do corrupte and marre wyne / either by powryng water in to it / or els by puttȳg in alume / lyme / brymstone / salte / and suche other vnholsome thynges: for these persones do not only steale a mānes goodes / but also they do mynyshe and hurte the helth of the body / and they are not farre away from poysonynge of men. For how many sicknesses & diseases / [Page] howe many dethes do we se by experience to ryse and sprynge amōge men of wynes corrupted? And yet for all that, this is accompted but a playe and a iape. Neither do they begyle any man more gladly / than suche as were in no wyse to haue ben disceyued. For brotherly charite dothe require this / that ye equite & good conscience of the seller shulde succour & helpe suche byers / whiche for lacke of skyl & knowlege, can not certeynly iudge of the ware. But nowe a dayes, howe many shall a man fynde / whiche dothe not at euery occasion go aboute to get lucre, with fraude & gyle? And so though we do all lyue wt tearinge eche other in peces: yet do we for all yt thynke our selues christen men. And these thȳges, bicause they be tourned in to a [Page] cōmen custome, we do not so moche as ones confesse at all: or yf we do confesse them, we reken it su [...]ficient and ynoughe, to haue tolde to the preeste what we do. Besyd this, who are more boūde to restitutions / than great ryche men, and mē of power? And yet to those men restitutiō semeth to apperteyne nothynge at all.

They ronne to compositions.Cōpositiōs I do not condēpne nor disalowe what soeuer maner of remedye: But I feare me lest god wyl not ratifie and allowe many of the compositions, that are made amōge men. They say, that they shulde not haue wherof to fynde theyr wyues and theyr children / yf they dyd restore all suche thinges, as they haue wrōgfully taken away from other men. But by rauynes and extorsions, they [Page] were made great estates / & haue aduaunced and promoted theyr kynnesfolkes and frendes / they lyue gorgiously in pompe and superfluite. If they be in very dede repentaunte and sorye for theyr offences and mysdedes: let them forsake and gyue ouer harmefull and damagefull dysynge and cardynge / and suche other ryotous gamynge: and in steade of ryot / excesse / and waste / let them exercise frugalite, and temperaunce / let them exercise husbandrye / or some other honeste worke. By this meane it shall be brought to passe / that they shall haue, wherof they may make restitution. Let them teache and brynge vp theyr chyldren to the same thynges. whan they haue done all these thynges diligently, to the very vttermoste of theyr power: [Page] than that that shalbe wantynge vnto theyr goodes / the composition ꝑaduēture shall supply and make vp. Certeyn men do thus excuse them selues / sayinge, that the parties are deed, whom they haue deceyued and beguyled of theyr goodes: yea but yet ye heyres of them are lyuynge. Other some agayne do say, that they do not knowe the ꝑties whom they haue robbed / but in ye meane season they do labour and go about to know them / and they suppose and beleue them selues to be safe and quite out of ieopardie / yf wt a lytle money they do purchace and bye iustifieng of their good.Iustifienge of yuel [...] goten goodes. Those persones that do iustifie yuel goten goodes / why do they not by the same reason aswell iustify adultery and māslaughter? For a lytle money euyn those persones [Page] also do compoūde & make theyr ende / whiche haue robbed churches or monasteries.

Can than these persones also be ignoraunt / to whom they shuld make restitution? But they are affrayde to brynge them selues in to an yuell name. They ought than to haue feared this thyng / whan they wente aboute to do that myscheuous dede. Howe be it euyn here in this thyng also is some remedy: Let them make restitution by some suborned persone / whom they knowe ryghte well to be faythfull and trustie. To conclude, yf we do receyue and allowe suche maner excusations: I do thynke and iudge it to be ye surer way / yt suche money be gyuen to poore folkes / rather than to cōmissaries. Moreouer, there are certeyne kyndes of rauynes [Page] and theftes / whiche fewe men do confesse / so farre of is it,Certeyne kyndꝭ of rauynes and thef [...]es whiche are nothynge regarded. that they do not thynke of makynge restitution. Suche thynges as I do meane / are specially and chiefely cōmitted in pactes / couenauntes / and bargaynes. I was presente at dyner / where a certeyne persone, one of ye company, dyd bost & make his vaūte, that he had solde an horse for .vj. aungell nobles / whiche he confessed not to be worthe .vj. pence. Do not vinteners & tauerners euery where,Uynteners & tauerners nowe a dayes / to those yt can not skylle of wynes / selle one wyne for another: as wyne of altissiodore, or spanyshe wyne / for gascoigne wyne / or wyne of Louaine, in steade of Renyshe wyne / and small wyne vnmeasurably allayed with water / for a full and pure wyne of it [Page] selfe? who amōge all these that thus done / hath any purpose or mynde of makynge restitution: albeit that it is very rauyne, and robbery that they do? Is it not accompted & taken now a days, for a play & a good sporte / to sell a dogges skynne,Skynners or furriers. for a skyn of some fyne and costly furre: or to sell clothe dyed wtout purple and vngrayned, for scarlet in grayn? who is he, yt of an vnskylled byer or chapman / wyll not get foure tymes ye price & value of ye thyng that he selleth, yf he can? I know what men of lawe do say / yt the seller is not bounde alwayes to make warrātyse, & to make good the defaulte of the thyng / which he hath solde? But yet suche ꝑsons are not assoiled & quite by ye lawe of ye gospell / whiche sayth:Thob. 4. Math. 7. do not y• thyng to another man / [Page] whiche thou woldeste not to be done to thy selfe.Men of lawe. what aduocate or man of lawe dyd euer cōfesse / that thrugh his either negligēce, or els crafte / the sueter hath loste his possession?Souldiers and men of warre. what shall I say nowe of souldiours / whiche do excuse all maner of synne & myschiefe, by the lawe of batayle or armes? But it is the lawe of the deuyll / and not of bataylle.The law of warre is ye lawe of the deuyll.

Lykewise carters and shypmen / whiche haue taken vpō them the cariage of wynes from one place to another / Carters & Maryners. do as it were by a certeyn libertie and lawe of their owne / drawe out and drynke as moche as they lyste / and that of the best: and in steade of excellēt good wyne, do poure in noughty water: whā otherwhyles that / whiche is delyuered them, is caryed to a sicke & diseased persone. [Page] whiche of them doth cōfesse this as thefte? whiche of them thynketh of makynge restitution? Bycause this sorte of men are harde necked / stubburne / & sturdie / ye preest ought in confession, not only to admonyshe and gyue them counsell: but also sharpely to rebuke them / and vtterly to plucke out of theyr herte / which they are wont to allege for them selues. They saye, that it is the lawe or libertie of carters, & maryners, in vitaylles / and yt they do so all. But this lawe is wryten in the tables of ye deuyll / and not amonge the lawes of Christ. And taylours haue also foūde a colour,Taylours. to excuse them selues. The stuffe (say they) is put forth to vs, that we shuld therof make an honest garment. Nowe, that wyll a good workeman, better [Page] make of foure yardes: than an vnconnynger workeman of mo yardes. The ouerplus therfore, that is spared and lefte, is the rewarde of his connyng & crafte: and ye owner, yt putteth forth the garment to the makyng, is satisfied / contented / & pleased. After this facyon, no man shal hange a thefe / neither, if he, yt is pe [...]hed & ēdited, myght be his own iudge / & gyue ye sentence his owne se [...]fe. Let hym yt put forthe ye stuffe, be asked the questiō / whether he do thīke & iudge him selfe satisfied? I passe ouer goldesmythes / and certeyne sellers of precious stones / whiche do corrupte ye stuffe that is betake them / wt mengling of other worse stuffe / & whiche dymynyshe of that, whiche they haue receyued / & whiche do selle coūterfait stones / in steade of very natural pretious stones. And [Page] it is maruaile, yt here in this thīg euyn ye ciuile also do slepe: which do cōdēpne a poore thefe to ye galowes / which hath pyked out .v. grotes of a mās purse, retchelesly kept, & lyinge at large. In these thȳges, wherof more hurte & damage cōmeth to ye cōmen welth: it were conuenient otherwhyles, to gyue some exāple, by the soore punyshement of one / wherby other may be feared awaye from doinge of the lyke. As for suche thinges as do happen in the corrupting & the valuing of coines / bicause they do apꝑteyne to princes and rulers, I wyll saye nothing at this tyme. In our boke of a christen prince, we haue touched somwhat concernynge this matter. I come nowe to them / whiche do let forth theyr worke or labour,Laborers y• worke by y• daye, or by the weke. according to the quantite and measure of the tyme. [Page] These persones do not thynke, that they do cōmit thefte / yf they do fynyshe the worke that they haue taken in hande foure dayes space / whiche they myghte haue made an ende of in one day: and in the meane while, they be fedde with another mānes meate / and take theyr whole wages for euery daye / accordynge to promyse and couenaūt. Neyther do they thynke that they make any lye / whan they do promyse that they wyll do that thyng / whiche they do not perfourme. And how do they (trowe you) excuse their leasyng? This is a poynt (say they) of our occupatiō & crafte. Naye, it belōgeth to theyr occupation, truely and faythfully to do that thynge / whiche theyr crafte promyseth to be done / and not to lye or steale. But yet poticaries and [Page] phisions do more greuously offende / thanPoticaries & phisiciōs. do these ꝑsones now rehersed / which haue a prouerbe amonge them, quid pro quo, one thynge for another. They do otherwhyles sell this thynge, for that thȳg / they do minister stuffe that is rotten, and without any vertue or strengthe / yea & nowe hurtfull / in steade of remedy and helpefull medecine. The byer asketh for rebarbarum / and they do gyue hym rebarbarum aboue fortye yeres olde. There is no spice / no gumme / not onely there is no roote / none herbe / of so durable and vertue and strengthe / but in longe processe of tyme, the vertue of it wyll be quite gone & lost. But they do say / yf we dyd not mengle olde stuffe and newe together / & so vtter the one with the other / we shulde els be starke [Page] beggers / & myghte famyshe, for all our occupatiō. I say, it were euyn better also to die / than vnto thy sicke brother (whom yu oughtest euyn freely without money to succour) for to ministre that thyng, whiche shall augmēt and encrease his disease / yea or parauēture also be cause of his dethe. The defaulte & offence of the poticaries, redoūdeth also to ye phisicions. And here in this thynge it were ryghte & accordyng, that the cōmen officers & gouernours of ye cities, or cōmen weales, dyd theyr diligent cure and busynes. Charite byddeth, yt in the tyme of necessite & nede, we shulde succour & releue our poore and nedy brother. And yet certeyn men do thynke them selues to be good christians: whiche do enhaūce & augment ye price of theyr wares / [Page] accordyng to ye greatnes of their brothers necessite. Some man hath a pome granate / whiche ꝑauēture stode not him in an halfe peny / his neyghbour lieth sycke, and is in ieoꝑdie of his lyfe / and there wyll none be gotten any where els: here yt pome granate is holden at .xl.d. & for lesse it shal not be solde. So likewise certeyn men do lay vp corne / to thentēt, yt if ther fortune a penury & scarcite of corne to come / they maye sell for foure tymes or ten tymes the value: and they do not perceyue, that this is very rauyne. I haue set forth these fewe thynges for cause of example: other thȳges the wyse reder shall gesse and gather of hym selfe.

I wyl make an ende, had I fyrst spoken two or thre wordes concernynge satisfaction.Satisfactiō cōmenly called penaūce

[Page]There be two maners of satisfaction / that is to witte, open satisfaction / and priuate or secrete satisfaction. In open satisfaction, I wold that this auctorite shulde be cōmitted vnto the preestes / to whom soeuer auctorite is cōmitted to here mens confessions / that they myghte accordynge to the circumstaūces moderate and measure the sayde satisfaction or penaunce / or also yf nede so require / euyn to turne it in to priuate & secrete satisfactiō. For yf the fathers / whiche dyd institute and ordeyne open satisfactions / do graunte this auctorite to ye ordinarye byshops / that they may accordynge to the qualite of the ꝑsone / either augment or diminishe ye payne enioyned: why shulde not the same power & auctorite be cōmitted to them / [Page] whiche in the thyng farre moste paynfull of all other / do beare & fulfyll ye byshops rownes? And yf they be not able nor mete for the office & charge cōmitted vnto them / than the defaulte & blame therof redoundeth to ye byshops. And in ye satisfactiōs or paynes,The preeste enioynyng secrete penaunce ought to haue the propretie of a connyng phisition. which are secretely enioyned / the preeste ought to coūtrefayte and folowe connyng phisicions, whiche do not prescribe and appoynt euery maner medecine to euery maner man / but yt onely, whiche they do knowe to be most profitable & helpful / accordyng to the nature of the disease / & accordȳg to the qualite of the ꝑsone: in so moche yt euen in one & ye same disease / they do prescribe one medecine to hym yt is strōge / and another medecine to hym yt is weyke & feble / another maner medecine [Page] to hym that is broughte vp after this facion / than to hym that is brought vppe other wyse. Yea moreouer, somtyme euyn in the same kynde of sickenes and disease / and to the same persone / they do minister one medecine in his youthe / & another sondry medecine in his age. But nowe a dayes a great ꝑte of preestes do prescribe & enioyne nothyng els / but certeyne prayers & orisons. Rede (say they) the psalme, Miserere mei deus / with the collecte, Deus cui ꝓpriū est misereri. &c. Besydes yt, the Antheme, Salue regina / with the collecte, Cōcede nos famulos tuos. &c. Also the psalme, De ꝓfundis, for al christen soules / wt the collecte, Fidelium deus omnium cōditor. And I do not yet disprayse & disalow these thinges, I do knowe that [Page] the merite of obedience is great: but yet they do moche / which do prescribe, & enioyn suche prayers as haue speciall remedye & helpe agaynst that vice & yuel / thrugh whiche they perceyue the maker of the confession to stande moste in ieoꝑdie. Of whiche kynde & sorte, there haue ben certeyn psalmes shewed of our forefathers: as specially mete to obteyne this thyng, or yt thynge. And it shall not be vnprofitable, in the steade of prayers, to prescribe & appoint vnto some persones, the redyng of suche a worke / whiche may engendre hatred of the syn / wherwith he yt maketh cōfession is encōbred & enfected: as for exāple. Yf any man be enfected with the [...]uꝑstition of ye hethen paynyms / or els be leanynge & affectionate towarde the ceremonies of the [Page] Iewes / and hath no good opinion of ye christen faythe / eyther for lacke of knowlege / or els beinge corrupted with the redynge of poetes, or philosophers: let hym be bydden to bestowe euery day one houre or two in redynge of Lactance / and in redynge of those bookes / whiche Origene / Tertullian / Cipriane / Chrisostome / or suche other, haue lefte writen agaīst hethen paynyms / agaynst ye iewes / or agaȳst heretikes. For it is vnneth possible / but that he, whiche hath ons attētly redde ye bokes of Origene / writen agaȳst Celsus / shall haue better opinion of Christes most holy doctrine. There are diuerse bokes of holy fathers / writen of the prayse of chastite / of the disprayse of backebytyng & sclaundre / of the information & instru [...]tion [Page] of religious men, & clerkes / of kepyng of wydowhed / of the office & duetie of byshops / of the office & duetie of a prince & gouernour / of ye holynes of matrimonie / of vnite and concorde / and of other inumerable / either vertues or vices: of whiche workes, yt redyng is to be ēioyned vnto euery man / whiche may moste remedy & heale the vice, wherwt he that is cōfessed, is encombred & holden. But he is in the meane season to be admonyshed & coūsailed / that he do rede it attētly / with a pure and perfecte purpose & desyre to amende his lyfe. But generally to yonge men / whiche for ye most parte, are in ieopardie to be loste thrugh ydlenes: it shall be expedient to enioyne certeyn labours of study. And I do not greatly cōmende those ghostly fathers / [Page] whiche vnto ꝑsones, being yet of tender age / which hath a certeyn wantōnes belonging vnto it, do ꝑscribe fastȳges, or watchinges,It is not very commendable to enioyne moche fastynge or suche lyke paynes to very yonge folkes. or other labours / whiche do betake and deliuer a weyke & sykly body vnto greater age. Youthe or the fyrst age, is moche better amended by reuerence of theyr elders, and by honest occupacions. To those that are ryche, it is wel done to cōmannde & enioyne liberalite toward poore folkes: but I thȳke yt they ought to be admonyshed & coūsailed, yt they do not bestowe liberalite amysse. It is not to be discōmēded, if any man do bielde or founde a chapell / an altare / a monasterye / a schole / a college / or any other suche lyke thing: but yet ye most holy dedes of almesse of all,The beste and moste holy kynd of almes. are these / which do succurre & releue ye ꝑsent nede [Page] of the neighbours: & whiche do as it were vanyshe out of syght betwene the fyngers of ye gyuer, and of the receyuer / & the glorie and prayse wherof is lost amōge mē: but is so moche ye more sa [...]e before god. And they, whose age and the qualite and state of their body shall seme to require this, that fastīges shulde be enioyned vnto thē: are to be warned hereof also / that (yf they be of habilite) that thynge, whiche they do spare & saue by absteynyng from meate / they do gyue it forthe to those, that are poore and nedye. There are some, whiche do enioyn pilgrimages in to coūtres / as for exāple: that some man hauīg on his body a cote of maylle, and beggyng his lyuyng all the way, shall go to Rome / or visite saynt Peters churche / or go to [Page] Hierusalē / or to saynt Iames in Compostella. whiche kynde of penaunce, I wyll not verely disalowe. But it is not well done, to enioyne suche thynges as these,It is not wel done to enioyne far pilgrimagꝭ to them, which may yuell be forborne at home. vnto them, whiche haue at home wyfe & chyldren / to whom ye absence of them shuld be either painfull, or ponderous & daūgerfull. And ther is daunger & ieopardie also, in cōmaūdyng suche thīges to yōge men / or to women being of yt age / that for the kepynge of their chastite & honestie / it shulde be more expedient for them to abyde & tary styl at home. Suche maner pains or penaūce as this, is more cōuenient & settyng to be enioyned of the temporall & laye officers. For it is very lyke vnto those punyshemētes / whan they do beate a man wt roddes / whan they cut of a mans hande / or els [Page] do cut of a pece of his eare / or do put out his yies / or do bore a hole thrugh his tōge / or marke hym in ye forhed, or in ye hāde / wt a brē nīg whote iyerne. Neither were those solēpne paynes moche vnlyke to these / whiche the churche was wonte in ye olde tyme opēly to enioyn & cōmaūde: wherwith they dyd not so moche make satisfactiō to god, as they dyd to mē: Albeit yt they made satisfaction euyn to god also. Howe be it yet euyn ye tēporall officer also in my iudgemēt, shuld do moche better and wisely / if he dyd chastice and punyshe certeyn kyndes of theft,A polytyke way to punishe certen malefactours / by temporall punishemēt wt the iniunction & cōmaundyng of worke & labours, to ye behofe and profite of the cōmen weale: and so lykewyse of other offēces, beinge in dede greuous & weyghtie: but yet not so weyghty, that [Page] they ought to be punyshed with dethe / namely amonge christen men. Me thīke (I say) this were a moche better way / thā to bren them with an whote iyern / or els to mayheme thē. As we do rede, that in ye old tyme,The maner vsed in olde tyme. the dettours / whiche were not able to pay / being in bondes / dyd labour to the vse & behofe of theyr creditours: and other agayn beinge boūden, dyd dygge & delue in the feldes / or dyd hewe tymbre. And there be some also of them / which can some syttyng occupation: suche it were mete to kepe at worke in prisone. This maner & kynde of punyshement, is profitable two maner of ways. For both it doth amēde, but not destroy the malefactours: and also it is ꝓfitable and aduaūtagefull to the cōmen weale / or els to hym, which was [Page] hurte & damaged by theyr offēce and trespas. To certeyn ꝑsones the preest shal cōmaunde and enioyn, yt they shall hertely forgyue hym / of whō they haue ben hurt or offended / and yt they shall go about to ouercome yuelnes with goodnes / ꝓuokyng hym to loue and frendshyp, wt curtesy & gētle word / & wt benefites & kyndnes. If the preest can not obteyn this thyng of them, at the least wyse let them graūt to cast out of their brest all desyre & lust to be reuenged / and that they wyll no more remēbre the iniurie & displeasure done to them. This maner and kynde of satisfaction, hath our lorde Iesus hym selfe shewed vnto vs: Likewise as ye holy scripture of god hath cōmaunded vnto vs almes dedes. The preeste therfor shal haue always respect [Page] herunto / yt yf he do enioyne an [...] payn or labour: that the labour or trauaile be ioyned wt a worke or dede of charite: and that it be suche maner of labour / whiche shall not excedyngly hurte & hyndre the helth of the body: so that by reason of it, the body myghte be the lesse able & apte to execute and do the misteries & seruices of the mynde / but only whiche may kepe vnder & subdue ye wantonnes of the fleshe. Here I lyst no [...] to stryue wt them / whiche do say [...] that satisfaction doth not apperteyne or belonge to penaūce or repentaunce. Only god (say they) doth forgyue sȳnes / & to whom soeuer he hath forgyuen ye gylte or offence / to ye same he hath forgyuen also the payne or punyshement. For by charite & by ye holy ghost, is losed yt gylte or bond of [Page] synne: whiche ons losed, there resteth no more behynde / but only yt he go forward, and encreace more & more in charite. For this (say they) is the only satisfaction afore god. And of these thinges they do gather & conclude / yt not the popes ꝑdons can release any paynes / but onely those, whiche man hath enioyned / or whiche man myght enioyn: & yet not so moche as those neyther / onles it be for great & weyghtie causes. I, as I wyl not vtterly cōdēpne the popes dispensations or relaxations:It is a surer way to hope full [...]emission of synnes, of charite and the mercye of god: thā of any pardons gyuen by man. so I do thynke it ye more surer way, to hope full remission & forgyuenes of synnes / of charite, & of ye mercy of Christ / than of any bulles, or wrytīges made by any mā. Yf charite be away, what doth the bulle profite or auayle? Yf a mā haue charite sufficiēt / [Page] than is ye bulle suꝑfluous / & more than nedeth. Yf charite be diminute & vnꝑfect in any ꝑte (they say) that it can not be ꝑdoned of the pope / which belōgeth only to god.Thee is nothyng foūde in the holy scriptures concernyng pardones / nor yet in the olde doctours [...] As cōcernyng pardons, holy scripture doth teache nothyng at all / no nor yet in the old aunciēt doctors of ye churche. The diuines of later tyme, haue always cōcernyng this matier / bothe varied in their opinions & sentences: & also haue spoken very doubtfully. But what these mē do affirme auise them selues: but this is vndoubted / that we haue the bulle of gospell,Luc. 7. Many synnes are forgyuen her / bicause she hath loued moche. Nowe yf any man do thynke, yt these thynges also are not to be neglected and despised: I wyll not stryue with hym / so that he do not vpō [Page] boldnes & trust in them, neglecte and lytle regarde those thynges, whiche vndoubtedly are chiefe & principall. Of these thynges, which we haue disputed & sayd / I thynke it is euident and open ynough / by what meanes suche yuels or harmes may be auoided and eschewed / whiche by the occasion of confession are wont to happen / partely thrughe the default of them that here cōfession / and partly of them that do make theyr cōfession: howe be it yet for theyr cause / which are more symple / I shall not stycke nor be greued, after a more playne and familiar maner, to applie vnto euery one of the sayde yuelles theyr owne ꝓpre remedies. Suche is the worlde, that there is nothīg, whiche is not some maner waye viciated and corrupted.

[Page] Remedy agaynste the fyrste yuell.The fyrst yuel therfor or harme that cōmeth of confession, shall lesse hurte / yf the diligent solicitude and care of ye byshops / and of other / to whom that charge belongeth / dyd prouide & se here in this thyng / that ye power and auctorite to here cōfessiōs, shulde not rashely, and vndiscretely be cōmitted to euery maner preest:what maner ꝑsones they ought to be, whiche shulde here confessions. but onely to men well stryken in age / and whose vertue & good lyuyng is well knowen: besides this, beinge sobre / well aduised / and close of tōge. And those preestes are to be rebuked / whiche on theyr ale bēche do clatter & bable for theyr pleasure / what soeuer thynge they haue herde in secrete confessions. Yf any thynge shall require counsell / there ought cō munication to be made secretely / with wyse / sad / and well lerned [Page] men. In lyke maner those also are to be reproued / whiche in open sermones do bable forthe of the misteries and priuities of cō fessions / suche thynges as were better to be kepte in, & not to be spoken at al. And the preest yt hereth cōfessions / shall be more safe from ieoꝑdie of takyng harme: yf he do come to his office & busynes [...] beinge sobre & well aduised, and armed before wt prayer / and also with feare and drede. Also yf he do demaūde and aske questions no further, thā is nedefull to ye knowelege of the cryme and offence. Nowe as touchyng to hym that maketh confession / al be it that there is peryll and ieopardie otherwhyles to hym, by reason of the rehersal & vtteryng of his offēce: yet doubtles there is more greatte and more often [Page] ieoꝑdie to hym, of the ignorance and lacke of knowelege of his synnes. And therfore a wise and faythefull minister and seruaunt of god, shall so ordre and tempre all thynges: that neyther he shal enfecte ye myndes of symple and weyke persones / neyther suffre any thyng to be vnknowē / whiche beinge not knowen, coulde not be eschewed, or healed.

And in shewynge the remedye agaynst the fyrste yuell / we haue also shewed the remedye agaynst the seconde yuell / that is to wit / the silēce and vertuousnes of the preeste.Remedy agaynst the secōde yuell. For a godly and a very pastor, is not by the reason herof prouoked to flatter his owne vices: but rather to the drede and loue of god / and to praye more feruently, & to watche diligently for the flocke of ye lorde: whyles [Page] he doth se & perceyue in to what mōstruous vices & synnes those men do fall / that eyther thrughe ignoraūce / or els thrugh malice / haue ons shaken of the yocke of the lorde: whiche thynge they shuld not haue done / yf ye pastor, hauyng cure and charge of theyr soules / had done his diligence / by teachynge / counsaylynge / rebukyng / and besechyng of them. For els neyther ought ye crymes & offēces of them to be bublished and openly pronounsed and declared: whiche for vnlauful mixtures, or curyous artes / or for other abhominable offences / are punyshed accordyng to ye lawes.

The thyrde yuell or harme,Remedy agaynst the thyrde yuel. for asmoche as it dothe chaunce or come but thrugh ye defalte of the preestes: it is to be remedyed by settyng suche preestes to here cō fessions / [Page] which wyl rather wepe and sorowe at the yuels or vices of men / than take any pryde or hyghe mynde by reason therof: Lykewyse as blessed Paule doth wytnes and recorde,2. Corin. 12. that hym selfe was ꝓuoked to mourninge and sorowe / for that there were certeyne ꝑsons amonge the Corinthians, whiche dyd deserue sharpe and sore correction and rebukynge. And otherwhyles the sinnes and vngratiousnes of the people do reboūde backe vnto the prestes heedes: bicause they dyd not wt suche diligence as became them, teache and shewe vnto the people ye ryght & straight wayes and pathes of the lorde. Suche maner pastours, whan they do remembre in theyr myndes, that the lorde shall requyre his sheepe of the sheperdes hāde: it is more [Page] conuenient and accordynge, that they be styrred and prouoked to repentaūce, than to pryde. what soeuer offence and sinne hath any tyme ben cōmitted amōge all the hole multitude of men / the same may be cōmitted & done of euery one of vs, who soeuer he be: and yf we haue any of vs not cōmitted this synne, or that synne / we haue cause to thāke the goodnes of god therfore, & not to ascribe it to our owne strēgth and power. Therfore the cōmen nature and condition of man ought to bowe them downewardes vnto compassion or pyte: and not to lyfte them vp to pryde & high mynde. He is no mete preest,A preeste shulde haue fatherly affection towardes his [...] flocke. which doth not beare fatherly affection towardes his flocke. Now what father is there, which is made by so moche the prowder towardes [Page] his sonne / bicause his sonne is taken and holden with some greuous and sore disease: and dothe not rather, beinge very sad and sorowful in his herte / make hast to get hym remedy? And yf men haue so greatte desyre and delyte towardes libertie: let them also haue lyke desyre & delite toward innocencye. That man, whiche kepeth & mainteineth his heith: vpon hym the phisicion or leche hath no power and auctoritie at all. And yf thrughe thyne owne defaulte thou arte fallen in to spirituall syckenes & disease: thou muste fyrste of all labour & gyue diligēce / that thou mayst be free afore god. Finally, lykewyse as in the disease and syckenes of the body, thou doiste chose the phisicion or surgeon / whiche shall not vpbrayde the with thy disease / [Page] but whiche shall remedye & heale it: do euyn the same lykewy [...]e in chosynge of the preeste / whiche shall be thy ghostly leache.

The whiche do alledge the .iiij. discōmodie or yuell / what thyng do they elles / but onely shewe,Remedye agaynst the fourthe di [...] cōmodite. that there are certeyne yuell and noughtye preestes? wolde god we myghte denie that to be true. But phisicke or leache crafte is not therfore taken away / bicause there are foūde certeyn yuel and noughtye phisiciōs & surgeons: But so moche the more diligēt ꝓuision is to be made, yt there may be good phisicions & surgeons. So moche ye more circunspecte yu oughtest to be in chosyng hym, to whom yu wylte betake thy sele for [...]o be cured & holpen. Finally, it is the office and duetie of the bysshops, so to hādle suche preestes / [Page] whiche do abuse the sacramētes vnto fylthynes and synne: that all other shulde take example to beware by them.

Remedye for the .v. discōmoditie.As touchyng the fyfthe discommoditie / what other thynge shal I say: than that seldome chaunces are nowe to be taken in to an example / wherupon to gyue general sentence? For howe many men haue we knowen / whiche by the reason of a feuer, or of a franesy, hath vttered and disclosed secrete priuities? And who agayne is so madde / as to gyue credence to a frantyke persone? Besydes that, euyn here also, it shal be a good helpe and remedy, the chosynge out of an able and mete ghostely father / wherof I haue so often tymes spoken heretofore. Last of all, yf the cryme be suche / that the discoueryng of [Page] it myghte put the in ieopardie of thy [...]yte / and yf thou doste also mystrust thyn owne curate, and the pestes nere home: thou mayst go somwhere from home / wher thou mayste make thy confession to hym that knoweth the not / nor thou hym / eyther chaūgyng thy clothes / or elles in the darke [...] Finally, thou oughtest more to loue and set by the helth and saue garde of thy soule / than of thy body. To haue thy body cured and made whole / thou dost other whyles shewe vnto the bodelye leache thy disease / whiche came of some haynous offence, & myscheuous dede, worthye deathe: and art thou affrayd here, where thy soule is to be cured? Let this be an answere to hym that maketh confession. Nowe as concernyng the preestes that do here [Page] confession / I do graunt and confesse it to be a greatte and a [...]oore thynge / with euident ieopardie of their lyues, to visite them that are sycke of the pestilence / or of suche like disease: but yu oughtest to remēbre, that they haue taken an hygh office / and a sore charge vpon them selues. And yf they wyll be good pastours or herdesmen:Iohn̄ .10. they oughte for the hel [...]he and saluation of theyr flocke / to put euyn theyr lyues also in ieopardie / namely, whan the soules of theyr flocke are in peryll and ieopardie. It is a very excellent & great worke that they do: but they do it for an excellent & high rewarde. And they maye also in the meane season, arme and fence them selues before with remedies, agaynst the contagiousnes or infection. For they are not constrayned [Page] and compelled to tempt god.Deutero. 6. And yf it be so, yt the preest is necessarye and nedefull to the people / and dothe cōmitte or betake hym selfe with full truste to god: he shall not dye before his day / but god shal fulfyll this his owne ꝓmyse.Marc. 16. And yf they shall haue dronke any deadely thyng, it shall not hurte them.

Uery many of them dare go vnto hym that lyeth sycke of the pestilence / for a thyng yt is bequest to them: and be they affrayde to come nere hym / whan his soule is in ieopardie and peryll? And this thynge shall be a poynte of ciuilite and good maner also in the people / to make the place, in to whiche the preest shalbe receyued, very cleane / and with fyre and fumigations, to make it as lytle ieopardous & contagious, [Page] as may be. [...]yse coun [...]ayle. There is also another kynde of remedye / yf at all suche tymes as the pestilēce doth reigne soore / euery man whyles he is in helthe / do ones in a weke confesse hym selfe, & be houseled:In the olde tyme, they were house led wekely. (whiche thyng in the olde tyme, the moste parte of men dyd euyn in holsome tyme / whan no cōtagious sickenes dyd reigne at all) and after cōfession made, do with greatte study and diligence take hede and beware, that they do not fall agayne in to deadly synnes: whiche is no verye harde thing to do, with the helpe of the grace of Christ. By this meanes shal it come to passe, that neither the preeste shalbe put in ieopardye of his lyfe: and yet the other partie shall be safe, and out of daūger / yf eyther sodeyn deathe / or elles any suche dissease / [Page] whiche for the contagiousnes of it, is to be auoyded and shonned, shall fortune to take hym.

Agayne, euyn this thynge also shall be very profitable herunto:Chefe hope of saluatiō, is to be put in charite, & in the mercy of god. yf we do put the chiefe and principall truste of helthe and saluation / in charite, and in the mercy of god / rather than in the rehersynge or reckenynge vppe of our synnes / namely, whan deathe is nere at hande.

Nowe to say somwhat concernyng the syxte yuell / who soeuer by the rehersyng of their synnes,Remedy agaynste the syxte yuell. do lerne to be bolde, and to forget shamefastnes: those persons are not yet verely & truely penitente and sorye for theyr offences and synnes. To suche the preeste oughte to declare and lay before them / what he is, whome they haue offended / and how great is [Page] the filthynes & ouglynes of syn: that ye oftener they do fall again in to syn / so moche more & more they maye be ashamed of them selues. And they ar also to be admonished and tolde / that confession without contrition of herte auayleth nothyng: whiche contrition, yf it haue ones possessed the mynde, it shall bothe brynge shamfastnes, and also put away shamfastnes: it shal bryng shamfastnes / causyng hym to be ashamed of ye filthynes of his synnes in the syght of God: & it shal put away shamfastnes, yt he shal not through shamefastnes hyde and kepe in yt thing, which is cured & healed by openyng & disclosyng.

Remedy agaynst the seuēth yuel.Unto the seuenth, thus it is to be answered, yt many moo are in ieopardy of confidence and ouer moche trust / by reason of neglectyng [Page] and not regardynge theyr synnes: than are in ieopardie of desperation, by the reason of examination and serchyng of theyr sinnes: and the preest hath more busynes & labour to brynge men away from confidence and presumption, vnto the feare & drede of god / than he hath to call them backe from desperation. There is a meane therfore betwene bothe / that there be due & sufficient examination of the synnes and offēces / but not ouermoche carefull & scrupulous: And yf there be any anxietie and scrupulosite / there foloweth after it / that doth also recompence it: high and perfecte trāquilitie & quietnes of cō sciēce / after ye charite & loue haue begonne to dryue out feare. For feare without charite & hope, engendre and cause desperation.

[Page] Against the viij. yuell.The remedye of the eyghte discōmodite, I haue all redy sufficiently shewed.

Remedy agaynste the ix. yuell.Nowe as touchyng the nynthe discommoditie and harme, I do graunt, that of the two yuelles / the lesse & lyghter is, to absteyne from receyuynge the sacrament of the altare. Yf the mynde be in certeyn and stedfaste desyre and purpose to synne deadely / so that a man do wrestle and stryue to the vttermoste of his power / agaynste suche affection and desyre or purpose / and can not yet caste it forthe of his mynde. For elles vtterly and all together to absteyne and forbeare from the sacramentes and misteries: is a degree and steppe toward paynymry, and ye maner of lyuynge of hethen people. As touchynge confession / there is not the same [Page] reason & skylle: that is, as touchyng to the sacrament of the altare. Neyther dothe that man seme vtterly vnpenitent / whiche gothe vnto the preeste with this mynde & purpose / not to deceyue or mocke: but partely to obeye the churche / and partely to thentent that he may by this way cō ceiue and gather more ꝑfecte hatred of his synnes / which he can not yet of him selfe so hate, as he ought to do. For euyn this also is a certeyne spice and kynde of repentaūce: a man to be displeased and myscontente with hym selfe therfore / bicause he is not repentaunt and sorowfull for his synnes. And it happeneth often tymes / that he, which cōmeth to the preest / beinge but coldly and sclenderly repentaunt and sory: yet whiles he maketh his confession / [Page] doth conceyue iust and laufull hatered of his offences and synnes. This cōmemoration therfore and rehersall of the discōmodities and harmes, yt come by the occasion of confession / is not made of vs, to thentent that we shulde abhorre & withdrawe our mynde from makyng confession: but to thende that we may make confess [...]on with more frute and profyte commynge therof vnto vs.

THese are the thȳges, most good and honourable father / whiche me thought beste to be admonished and taughte concernynge confession / besydes the traditiōs of olde diuines / to thentent that cōfession might be very frutefull and profitable: whiche cōfession shal seme vnto any man to be ioyned with peryll and ieopardie: [Page] Let hym cōsider and be [...]thȳke hym wel, how moche more ieopardous thynge it is to beare aboute an vnclene conscience. Yf it shall seme paynefull and greuous: let hym remembre and cō sidre howe great tranquilite and quietnes of mynde dothe ensue and folowe of this bitter medicine. And let hym so moche the more diligently take hede and beware, that he do not agayne so ordre hym felfe, that he shall nede to receyue and deuoure suche a bytter pylle very ofte. But let hym so make his confession ons, that he nede neuer after to make confession agayne / & that it may be sufficient to be ashamed ones for euer, afore man. That man shall not lyghtly fall agayn in to deedly synne / whiche shall haue ones inwardly and hertely conceyued [Page] in his mynde, hatered of all his synnes. This holy and godly purpose, god shall helpe and brynge forwarde / yf so be, that we wyll knowlege it to be his benefite, what soeuer hath alredy chaunsed to vs: and yf trustynge to his ayde, rather than to our owne myghte & strength / we do enforce our selues, and endeuer dayly more and more to amende our lyuyng / and to waxe better and better / vntyll that we may growe vp in to a ꝑfecte mā / in to the measure of the fulnes of Iesu Christe.Ephe. 4.

Finis.

§

§

[Page]

Thus endeth this lytle treatise of the forme & maner of confession / made by the moste excellent and famous clerke, M. Erasmus of Roterdame.

Imprinted at London in Fletestrete by Iohn̄ Byddell / at the signe of our lady of Pitie, nexte to Flete brydge / for wyllyam Marshall.

§

§

[Page]

Gratia virtus beatos efficit Charitas Gratia sumus seruati. Johan Byddell, printer. Charitas oīa suffert. I B

[Page]

Information about this book

Title statement

A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession, made by the most excellent and famous clerke, M. Eras. of RoterdameExomologesis. English

Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536.

Edition statement

1535

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A00381

ID [STC]

STC 10498

ID [STC]

ESTC S109931

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

99845562

ID [PROQUEST]

99845562

ID [VID]

10469

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Early English books online.

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A00381)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 10469)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 39:08)

Source

— A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession, made by the most excellent and famous clerke, M. Eras. of Roterdame, Exomologesis. English, Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536..

Extent

[232] p.

In Flete strete by Ioh[a]n Byddell, at the signe of our lady of Pitie, nexte to Flete bridge, for wyllyam Marshall],. [Imprinted at London :: [1535?]. (Imprint from colophon; publication date suggested by STC.) (Title page has border (McKerrow and Ferguson 29) with Byddell's name in type in the sill.) (At foot of title page: Cum priuilegio regali.) (Printer's device (McKerrow 82) on P3 verso.) (Signatures: A-O P⁴ (P4 blank).) (Imperfect; lacks leaf A4.) (Reproduction of the original in the British Library.)

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