OWr Lorde / being the au­tour of peace and vnite & not of stryfe & dissencion / anon from the begininge and from the fyrst calling of his people the Iewes / he most straightly bound them to gither reteyned into the felowship of one bodie bothe with lawes ecclesiastik and politike.Isa. lvij i. Cor. xiiij. For he com­māded them to cleaue onely to the one god / him onely to call vpon / him onelye to loue & worship / yea and that with no nother rites nor by nonother wais then himself had pre­scribed and taught them he prescribed them not aftir their own deuyce / not in euery place thei listed / but in one place / at one altare / and that aftir his own prescript lawes to sacrifice / and not any where els to runforthe to strange gods for helpe / lest thei shuld di­uyd their hertis vnto manye with helpinge gods or saintes as thei be nowe called: but as thei were the membres of one body / so to haue respecte onelye to one god / his lawes onely to obserue and fermelye to perseuer & abyde in vnite and concorde of religiō. And althoughe this peple then beinge vnder the [Page] Iuges did oftē tymes erre & transgresse yet abode thei in that vnite / namely vnder Sa­muel and Kinge Dauid and in the fyrst ye­res of king Solomon his raigne. But that firste most vngodly and ambicious herety a Hieroboam dissolued and broke this aunci­ent intire vnite of that chirch / for he did fyr­ste set vp the Calues to be worshiped in Dā and Bersaba / inuenting a newe religion & a newe worship for god / that is / euen a strā ­ge worship agenst gods lawe wherby him­self with his peple were alienated frō God and his trwe worship / he so diuidīg the hertis of the peple that thei coude nether depē ­de onely nor wait vpon the onely one God and his lawes / nor yet agree amonge them selues in any ciuile societe.Hiero­boā the fyrst heretyke. The .iij of the kinges ca. xi. & xij. For let our faith ☞and religion be once corrupt diuided & mixt with mens dreamed rites / supersticious ce­remonies / troublous tradiciōs with armed Actis and articles / and anon there must ne­dis folowe ciuyle sedicions bataill and stry­fes as ye may see it this daye begun. And here by the waye / thow shalt knowe that an heretyk is he that by false doctryne or by defendinge the same / diuideth any chirch whi­che was / or is lykelye to be / wel instituted.who be herety­kes. But in these troublous contencions and sedicious [Page ij] strifes the pore miserable peple we­re then greuouslye tormoiled and tormēted vntil the Lorde with the swerde of the Assi­rions did kutof and made an ende (for that tyme) of their abhominable heresies and scismes / as euē now aftir the thrustinge away of the Gospell graciouslye offced vs / there must nedis folow blody bataill and mutaci­ons of kinges and realmes as the stories & wordes of the Byble playnly declare. For when Princes feare that the worde of pea­ce and obedience frely and purely preached wold make mutacion tumulte and sedicions and so for this cause represse the free course therof ether by puttinge the prechers to si­lence / by banisshing them or burning them / then (be thei sewer) Quod verebantur / hoc accidet illis.Iob. iij. That at thei feared shall come vpon them / the Lord so threatening and adsewering them saing. For as asmich as this people abhorred the swete waters of Silo that flow so still (Silo is the swete gospel of peace sent vs) & hath rather pleasure in this king Rezin & in the sone of Romilus / that is in their wont wiked Romisshe rites and tradiciōs:Isa. viij behold / behold saith the Lord / I shall cause the mighty flowdes to swel vp and to breake in vpon them / euen the kinge of the [Page] Assirions / whose parte (aftir the way be made for him by the ciuyle batails of the christians emonge them selues) the greate Turke shall play it. Oh Immanuel.

Let this therfore be a warninge in tyme to all realmes christen / wherin because the ve­ry Hieroboams euē the counsails of the Bisshops with their captiued seculare armes haue most heretically & scismatykly with their borowed seclar swerd kut in sondre the most holy vnite and concorde of Christes chirche mangled and hacked into so many decent rites & laudable (as thei saye) ceremonies &c̄ / by burning and banisshing the fre trwe pre­chers / holdinge yet fast in their honowr the Popes thorney tradicions and false religiō diuiding the peples hertis from god into a thousande wais / workes / worshipings / merites / saintes to pray with / or for vs (I can not tell whether) some sent to the Bisshops boke for their saluaciō / some to the Actes of the perlement to seke oute their articles of the Popes faith fathered by these sedicious Hieroboams counsail vpon the Kinge & his Nobles / but none do thei sende to the holye Byble / albeit vnder a colowr it be layd in e­uery parissh Chirch and the curate which e­ther with an euill wille or els can skant spel [Page iij] it / commanded to reade it. Because (I saye) these faccious bocherely Hieroboams haue made lyke diuision in our chirches / therfore a lyke swerde (if thei repent not in tyme) a­bideth them to diuide thir heads from their bodies and their soules from god. But I returne to where I left of. Thē was there yet left in Iudea two trybs whiche worshiped the Lorde at Hierusalem / which peple for al this godly monicion and blody ensample at Israel their neyghbours captyuite / yet dyd theis twe [...] trybs haunt still their newe gods and a newe wais in worshiping their verye God aftir their owne deuices mixt togither with gods prescripte lawes. Wherfore euē those same two trybs also / it behoued into the vengeance taking of their heresy and diuision (Heresy (I saye) is a scabbe which diuideth christen chirches) to be kut away withe the swerde of the Caldeis.Heresie For so sayd the Lorde oft before by his ꝓphetis. Thus thou seest (good reader) how that stryf and batail☞ folowe the diuision of the vnite of chirches and the corrupcion of religiō: which vngod­lines / heresyes / and scismes / the swerde of the Turke at laste must kutte clene awaye / when our vnientle Hieroboams wil not suffer the sweet swerde of gods worde peacea­bly [Page] preched to diuide vs from owr wiked lyuinge into the vnite of one faithe onely therby to be iustified / and into one and the same christen religion to be baptized.

From the returne out of the Babilonik captiuite / for a lytle space the Iewes were somwhat more religious / perseuering in the v­nite of the trwe doctrine. And thē were the­re Bysshops vnto whose cure the doctryne of the trwthe and vnite of the chirch was cō mitted: but aftir that the bisshops neglected the doctryne and began to studie scolde and stryue who shulde bere most rule making altercacion for crownes / myters / diademes / robes / rochettes / bisshopryks and I can tell for what wother popissh paludaments or rather very nugaments / euē the very badges of their lordly bysshopryks:The heresies & scismes aftir the Babilonyk captiuitie / when bishops ruled. then at laste be­gane the trwe religion to be shaken in son­drye and scatred / and euil men were spron­gen vp / which yet for their shyning hipocrysye semed somwhat pope holy / whiche openly stered vp heresyes / that is to saye / sectes and diuisions from the holy tradicion of the lawe / and in conclusion brought the people into varye and diuerse contrarye faccions & scismes Omnia enim plena fiunt impij [...] vanitas exaltatur inter filios hominū. And [Page iiij] so by their own tradicions and institucions thei derkened and oppressed the holy sacred religion of god / yea by their hipocrysy and supersticion thei vtterly so deformed it / that thei made it abhominable heresye (as thei haue now done) and new lerning to be lothed & detested of all men / In somiche that Iohn Bapt. and Christe himself now comen / the trwe religion / pure gospell / and the playne doctrine of the trwthe were skant knowne / for that thei were so vtterly deformed & cor­rupted (as thei be now I saye) with mennis vayn tradicions. This corrupte deformite and abhominable corrupcion began aboute the tyme of the Machabeis and so forth en­creased the yeres folowinge. For Iosephus verely writing of the Iestes of Ionathas / in the .xiij. boke of his Antiquites / the .viij. chap. saith that in the same tyme there were iij. sectes or heresies emōge the Iewis / whi­che sectary or hereticall men beleued contrary and [...]ersly of owr iustificacion / of mās state and condicion:iij. sects before christes coming of whiche one was the Pharisaikal secte / the tother / the secte of the Saduceis / and the thirde the Essenes. For these sectes preceded the coming of Christe into flesshe not litle lesse then an .c.xlviij. yeres / but in their owne opinions / in their ha­bits [Page] / and almoste in all thinges / thei were firste of all amonge themselues / and sone aftir from the wother comē sorte / most diuers and most contrary. And thei drewe aftir thē to folowe the same their owne folisshe faci­ons very many / in somich that at laste euen the priests and full many of the greatest ler­ned descēded into their orders and instituts For we haue herdeoute of the testimony of Iohn theuangelist / the Leuites and priestes to haue bene pharisais / yea ond the Apostle Paul said himself to haue had ben the moste straightest folower of the pharisayes secte / so that what soeuer was sene to these mē to be ordined enacted and decreed (as ye see it nowe) in thinges concerninge the faith and religion of god / it was decreed enacted and made so fast of them that noman might saye agenst it / and it was setforthe and geuen of the priests to all the peple for gods law and for his decrees / and were called the decente rites of their fathers and laudable tradiciōs of their elders / of which tradiciōs Paul in­cidently maketh menciō in the .i. chap. to the Galathiās / and Mat. in the .xv. chap.Ioan. i. Gala. i. Philip. iij. The tradicions of the pharises fathers. The­se pharisais wolde be exalted and excell the more in autorite & glory for that their own tradicionsmat. xv Phari­seis. rytes and ceremonies aftir their [Page v] own pleasure inuēted semed aftir their own corrupt iugemente to them selues and to o­ther lyke / lesse then other mens instituciōs to varye from the holy scriptures. Their cō ­uersacion and outward lyuing semed sober abiect / and as though thei wolde be litle set by / geuinge themselues to no excesse nor to no dilicate superfluite nor superfluous daintyes. Thei beleued althingis to be caried of fortune / chaunce / and destiney (as thei call it) but yet in the meā ceason free liberty thei toke not fro man. These aknowleged the iugement of god / the paynes of the euil and rewardes of the good / thei confessed the immortalite of soules and the resurreccion of the bodies. Some saye thei had their name of phares which signifieth to seꝑate or diui­de for thei shewed thēselues in their hole habit and lyuing to be holier then the comō peple / and so for their pure holynes to be diuided from them (as nowe of late were / & yet be / owr pharisais) some then into cloisters / and some yet into collegis / wearing distinct aparel and shauen crownes from the layite. Some thinke thei had their names of a no­ther hebrew worde whiche signifieth to ex­plane and interprete scripturs / for thei we­re the cheif and moste busyest prechers & te­chers [Page] of the peple / which thing I beleue the more / because the story of the gospell decla­reth our Lorde often tyme to haue had refu­ted their false gloses vnwriten verites and vntrwe exposicions / playn examples there ar setforth in Mat. v. and .xv. chapt Forthermore / the Saduceis wold apere to kepe no nother obseruacions besyds the law of Mo­ses / these gaue nothing to fortune and destinye / but to the free lybertye thei attributed althinges.Sadu­ceis. For thei threw althings subiecte vnder owr own power / aknowleginge owr owne selues to be the autors of good wor­kes. Thei denyed to be any spirits and aun­gels and the resurreccion of the dead / which thing Luke in the actis of the apostles sheweth / and therfore were thei estiewed of the pharisais as men most vile and vnpure / and thus was there perpetuall stryfe betwixte them both.xxiij. ca Wherof euen the sory miserable vnlerned peple was so wrapped and intri­cated in their stryffes and diuersite of their inuented dreamis that not onely thei might not vnwrap and lose themselues out of the­se perplex tryfles / but thei were made ignorāt of the very right and trwe way of their iustificacion and of the trwe waye of their saluacion / which rightwyse making onelye [Page vi] by faith and trwe wais of saluacion thorow Christe onely / when Iohn Bapt. and chryst and his apostles wold repare declare & shew them playnly and openly / then thei reputed and toke them for siche haynous heretiques preching agenst them / that there was neuer no kynde of doctryne so bitterly refused / unpugned / thrust from them / and dampned of the pharisais and saduces as was christis holy & trwe prechinge / in this mischeif thei cō sented / although thei neuer agreed emonge them selues in their doctryn. For neuer had Christe owr Lorde and christis verite more ꝑnicious enymies (as ye yet see it this day) then the Pharisais and Saduceis. And as for the Essenes / who so lyste to see them in their owne lyuely colours paynted / let him loke but on a Monke of the charture house / or a fryer obseruāt / whom Plinye paynteth very lyuely in his fyrste boke of the natural storyes ca. xvij. and Iosephus in his .xviii. boke of thātiquites ca. ij. and in his .ij. boke of the Iewes batail cap. vij.Esse­nes. Nowe compare the state of their tyme to owr tyme and to owr pharisais.Of the vnite & Scisme of chri­stē chir­ches. But yet (christē reader) that thou mightest the clearlyer by comparinge togither / vnderstand this hole cause and mater of the sectis of the Iewes / thowe muste [Page] know those heresyes to be very lyke the sectis and heresyes whiche in these laste dayes haue ben / and yet ar sprongenvp in the chirche of christe. Christe with his apostles deliuered to vs the doctryne of vnite / that is to weit / onely helthe & saluacion to be setforth in him onely / which alone is owr iustificaci­on / holymaker / satisfaccion / euen that hoost once alone for all offerd vp for owr synnes / owr mediator / intercessor / and to be shorte / he alone is vnto his faithful chirch althings and in althingis. He cōmanded his apostles to glewe togither his chirche by this perfit doctrine of vnite into one bodye / and by his Baptisme and Brede brekīge to gather thē togither nowe conseigned and sealed vp togither / so to seke allthings in thonely sone of God / that thei emonge themselues tho­row loue might consent and godly agree being all one thinge in christe / and that there be no dissencions nor sectis in his chirch / vnto no creatures being addict vnto none but to christe hir spouse dedicatinge hirself / whē nether Paul nor Peter was crucified for hir nor she hirselfe baptized into the names of any men. This doctrine of vnite / those same goodmen which in times past professed and taught it / and by the same doctryne conser­ued [Page vij] the vnite / the christē chirches held them for catholyk and faithfull / but the aduersa­ries and fyghters agenst this doctryne and vnite thei toke them for heretiques.The ca­tholike and he­retyk [...]. And so for certayne .C. yeres the chirch was conserued in the euangelik vnite by the godlynes erudicion / and diligent watche of the faith­full flockfeders of christe / whom thei called bisshops. But aftirward whē these bisshops (this doctryne of the vnite neglected) begā to scolde and brawle aboute (I can not tell what) tryfles questions of naughte / and to bende and applye their ambicious myndes to be lordes and occupy kingdom [...] / thorow their satanicall altercacions and most pesti­ferous prophane ambicion / the doctryne of vnite was smiten oute of wynt. For then satisfaccions / wilworks / good deadis / money and mennes merites bought and solde begā to be bosted and preched for men to come to heuē by them / wherby the merite of christis passiō was blotted out of mēnis brestis and mēnis hertis were diuided in sondre. Then was it disputed (as ye haue sene it of late in owr parleaments and conuocacions) of the intercession and prayinge to saints / and of their worshiping (god saue it) and of the veneracion of images and reliques / of purga­tory [Page] / vnwriten verites / of Kinges autorite and power ouer gods holy euerlasting worde / of gay significacions for decent ceremo­nies and laudable rytes / of preistis vowes / Sacraments / and I can not tell what: and whether thei might be sewerlyer stablisshed by mortall menis transitory new vayne ac­tes / then by the olde euerlastinge worde of the euer lyuinge god. Here of lo / ar the her­tes of the faithfull thus abstracte from the doctryne of vnite / that thei seke not althin­gis at / and in christe: yea and in those lyke dayes of disceptacion paste / there enfolow­ed the diuisiō of the weste empery from the easte / and that euen for the worshipinge of images. Thē the Monkes with all the false religious rablemēt thrusted in them selues whiche with their dirtye doctryne cōfirmed faste this forsaid defecciō and [...]affall / encreasinge the same with newe addicions and to­puttings / and odious ordināces out of their nwne sike heads deuillisshly dreamed. The­se mōstrese mōks and flatering fryers (with their Poped and Cardinaled holy bisshops and shauelings assisting them) inuēted and caryed into the chirche newe fathers / newe rules / newe vowes / newe felowships and false fraternities / newe wiked worships / [Page viij] newe names / newe Sacraments / newe ceremonies rytes tradiciōs / yea and a newe god to / and to be breif / all newe and all agēst the olde holye scriptures / so that if thou wolust seke for the olde institucions of God thow shalt nowhere in their new doctrine of diui­sion fynde their propper names / and yet (by your leaue) these Monks with their shauen sorte / as thei differ and discorde in habite / a­parell and in their lyuing / so did thei yet neuer agree amonge themselues in their doc­tryne. For thei fyght one agenste another / thei haat / thei curse and bāne eche other / but agēst chryst thei be all one. The peple folow their faccions / doctrynes and actis made as thei lyfte / and is kut and diuided into more then a thousand peeses. These fryerly flyes monkisshe monsters / and busye blynde bys­shops (their counsell gathered) decree what thei lyste / and defende it with the seculare swerde / then thei cause it to be often in the yere red and preched to all the world and receyued payne of death / and with these their owne dead dreames ar the miserable mortal men implexed and masshed / yea and so mad­ded / that as thei can not vnderstande their newe strange termed scolastik doctryne and vntrwe theologie / so can thei not know the [Page] holsome playn doctryn and trwe diuinite of Christe and his apostles. For whyls thei be set of these blynde goydes into a thousande wais / by misses / by vowes / by intercessiō of saintes / by pardons / satisfaccions / by & tho­row purgatory / yeretids / mōthids / by their owne works and other mens merits and all for money / the pore wretches not knowing christe the very waye / nor ones so hardye to open their lippis / to reason agenst them / but secretly lamenting their miserable ignorāce ar thruste headlōgs into hel with these their beastly blynd leders. In the mean tyme if a­ny man come sente from God and desire the doctryn of vnite to be brought in agene preching the olde and onelye waye by Christe / yea if he in any wyse dissent from their opi­nions lately receiued of blynde fools (for a­genst the trwe doctryn as sayth the prophet thei haue coniured and sworen) vpon him a­none thei laye busy waite / & for because thei chalenge to themselues the lordly censure & cruell correccion of the doctrine in the chirch anon thei send owt enquirours to fetche thē in to be prisoned and brent. By these edders spirituall spume the way of the trwthe and vnite is blasphemed: nether ar ther this day lyuing more pernicious pestilent enymyes [Page ix] to the vnite of the chirche and to the christen doctryne then this serpentyne sead oute of whose mouthes continuallye the spightfull lothely names of heretiks and heresyes and new lerning ar forth vomited and out spewed into euery disshe vpon their tables. Tho­row these dronken crownis of Ephraim / by their own pleasante opinions / by their own consaighted doctrine and sworne tradicions the trowth of the gospel and of the apostles is obscured and oppressed daily. Now (good reader) thow seest (I thinke) how properlye the tymes before christes incarnacion / and now this laste time before his coming to iu­gement agree to gither and be correspondēt for in ether of them / heretyks & sectesowers did runne and preek before him / miserablye kutting into peeses and pituously pollutīg the chirche of God. But bothe of them / the Lorde at his cominge reueleth openeth and destroyeth / and his own chirche he reduceth into the righte waye defendeth and delyue­reth it mightely. Now therfore nedis muste the Turke (the waye firste prepared for him by yowr owne blody persecucion of the iust and by intestyn batail) come in and make an ende of these your heresies and scismes. For there is nether Emperowr no [...] Kinge that [Page] will yet suffer them / when good occasyon & oportunite was offerd them / to be reformed in their chirches and vnite and christen reli­gion to be restored in their tyme. Here thou seest (good reader) who in the chirche be had for faithfull / and who for heretikis. Who be faithful & who be heretyks. Euery trwe faithfull / is he that professeth trwlye the doctrine of vnite / and in the onely holye chirch grounded vpō chryst he onely aknowlegeth christe the verye flokfeder & sauiour / althings reposing into christe / althinges of christe askinge / and besydes christe he knoweth no parte of saluacion nor helpe or hope of lyfe to be loked for / onely of the voice of his shepherde depending / chosinge nothing oute of himself nor out of any mans inuen­cion to folow it as a mean to his saluacion. But whoso folowth the cōtrary / he is an heretike & a scismatyk / namely if he be incura­ble and pertinate stiffe in his owne false opiniō and will not fall from creatures to chri­ste onely / from lyes and vayne fryuole tra­dicions with their vnsauerye significacions fained of men / vnto the trowth and gospell of Iesu Christe / but entyse and wrap other men withe himself into the same errours. Wherfor [...] [...]oh ye popisshe peace [...]eakers & iewisshe I [...]oboams with your [...]lare aak­warde [Page x] armes euen very Baalis britle buk­lers) sith hitherto ye haue ben mē most mer­cyles and very blody bochers conceiued (as Isaye paynteth you) betwixt the hoorehun­ter and harelot euen that same deceitful peruers and aduouterous generacion / whiche so manye yeres haue mustred (mynistred I shuld saye) in the chirche so pestelently:Isa. lvij and yet nether for the feare of god nor for dread of your dampnaciō nor for shame of mē will not repente and amende / I cannot meruell enough at your blynde securite / nothing remembring nor fearing the wrath of god hā ­ging ouer your heades / nothinge entendīg to auoid it. Oh heretyks / whiche thorowe your hypocrisye fayne in your selues siche holynes / be sewer God loketh openly vpon your mischeif and vngodly lyfe.An ex­hortaci­on vnto our bis­shops. Repent / repente you / aknowlege openlye your mani­fest crymes / for though ye beleue it not / yet all the world se them / be ye turned vnto god which for your faith in his sone Iesu wil frely forgeue you / be ye cōuerted to him in the holy amendement of your hole lyues at the squyer of gods lawe. Shewe forthe (I saye) your trwe penance in your wordis and workes / tell it vs once in all your conuersacion / and not with lying lyppes / and thē we shal [Page] take you nomore for dissembling hypocryts thus to write agenst you that all the worlde present and to come may see you and bewar of you. Do penaūce for the feare of our lord oute of a syncere herte. Remembre the excellent oraciō & sermone that Iohn Bapt. had to your p̄decessors / saying. Who shall shew you (oh edders whelpes) to auoid the wrath of god coming vpon / do therfore the frutes seminge and as it becometh trwe penitente hertes. Lo / Iohn was not affrayd to tell euē the hyghe bysshops in estimacion of all men most holiest / the trwe precher of christe dirst tell king Herode his open crime to his own face / where be now owr flaterers of kinges into the destruccion of their bodies and sou­les & into the ꝑdiciō of their realmes? Iohn called them edders whelpes / Christe called Herode that foxe / we must saye my Lorde & it please your grace / your highe maiesty &c̄. And Christe inueying agenste them / cryed wo / wo be to you lerned in the lawe ye scri­bes and pharisais hypocryts whiche buylde the sepulcres of the prophets and so forthe.Math. xiij. And Iohn bapt. told them that the axe was vent to smytdown the tree to be straitewais caste into the fyer. And here incidently shall ye [...]ieꝑs. know the nature of viepers / whose whelpes [Page xi] Iohn Bapt. and Christe call these owr pharisaical Hieroboās.Math. iij. & xij. The male of the vie­per putteth his head into his mates mouth / which for the swetnes she feleth therin / by­teth it of / which head is turned into egges / and the third day oute of these eggis ar hat­ched hir whelpes yet abidinge in her belye / then eftsone she putteth forth euery day one whelpe till thei come to the nombre of .xx.Plinye in his .x Boke cap. lxij And at last the impaciēt fierce residew whi­che cannot tarye there anye lenger / gnawe themselues oute of the bellye of their owne damme or mother / whom by their birth thei kill. Right worthely / saith Chrisostom / dyd Ioan call the pharisais viepers whelps / for these kynde of serpentes so swiftlye do thei haast themselues to slaye their own mother that the bely in whō thei be borne eatē owt / thei will comeforth into lyght by the dethe of their owne damme. Which euen the same do owr pharisais / for their handis dropinge the blode of their parēts / yet ēbrewed with innocēt blode / thei slaye thē which ar sent of god to lead thē into the lighte of the verite. Wherfore well may we laye agenste them their own blody crueltye / rebellion / impie­te chorlissh ingratitude / the hatered of gods worde and the murtheringe of the faithfull [Page] prechers: as who shulde saye of them: ye be borne out of rebel / ingrate and blodye parē ­tis whose wiked steapes lyke naturall chil­derne ye iustly folow. And when Ioan and Christe called them edders whelps / thei lo­ked bake to the serpente and his sead bring­ing Adam and Eue vnto euerlasting dampnacion which shuld euermore fyght agenste the blessed sead and his membres.Gen̄. iij Wherfo­re the Lord himself / cryed / wo / wo be to you scribes and pharisais hypocrites that ye be / whiche buylde the sepulcres of the prophe­tes &c̄.Math. xxiij. And as for foxes / into whose meate thei shall be kutte / as their selues haue diui­ded the vnite of Christes Chirches / their owne slye fraudelent theuisshe subtyle shif­tes to fede their insaciable mawis and to reateine still their idle bellye lustes / pryde and ambicion / declare themseluis to be euē those wyly foxes whiche haue their deuillissh dennes with somanye stertinge holes to escape buylded so prowdlye with other mens swet to fead and solace in all securite & sinne their own idle heuye dunge sackes / whose appa­rent grete long puft vp tayls / that is to say their fayned lying long blown vp autorite / ar knit togither of their sathanicall Samp­sonPsalm. lxij. Foxes. Isaye xxviij. In the boke of Iuges cap. xv. with fyer brādes to burne the good corn [Page xij] of the Philistens euen the chosen innocents of god. Foxes / taile tyed / loke cōtrary wais with their faces. Owr bisshops howe enui­ously soeuer one loketh vpon or turne their faces from wother / yet are their tayles tyed togither with fyer brandes aduersus dn̄m & christum eius quia conuenerunt in vnū.Psal. ij Be thei neuer so diuided emonge thēselues / yet agenst the Lord and his anointed thei agree and runne togither as all one crying Com­bure combure / crucifige crucifige / burn him burne him / &c̄.

Here may ye see by christis & Ioans ensam­ples to be lawfull for prechers sharply to rebuke grete mens open crymes:Greate mennis crymes must be opēly rebuked. but to flater and dissemble with them it is not lawefull. Awaye therfore with these flateringe ypo­crites which cry oute saing. The crymes and synnes of great men & noble prelates muste be kouered with Noes cloke Gene [...]. ix. For in the scriptures it is inueyed of gods owne spirit more vehemenly and sharplier agenst the euil prelates and worse heades ouer the peple thē agenst the sely subiectes. For the­se simpilons erre not vtterlye of their owne faute / but by the euill ensamples and synful techinge of their prelates & naughty liuing of their rulers & magistrates whiche seduce [Page] the laye people of the Lorde. Wherfore the more sinne steketh in thē the more greuous­ly to be tormēted / as ye may see it in the .vi. chapter of the boke of Wysedome / whiche wold god the Magistratis wold with feare laye before their eyes. Ye see now in this tyme verely how that by the beastlye idlenes / malice and vngodlines of the bisshops prei­stes and seclare monkes with the negligēce of their captiued seclare sorte / the chirche of Christe erreth and strayethe farre from the waye of the trwthe greuously labouring in heuye paynes oppressed of tyranous perse­cutors: and thorowe the faute of these men cheifly / Peters pore lytle fysshinge bote is almoste ouerwhelmed with the terrible tempestuous soden sourges. Right well therfor do thei which plucking the visar from their faces / shew their abhominacion to the peple sharplye rebukinge their vngodlines / that these ypocrits once known / mē may be war of them and their doctryne.Howe the pre­lates & Magi­strates shulde be rebuked. Rebuke thē therfore for the zele thou hast to the trwth to the glory of god and to thy brothers saluacion. And let thy libertye in speking be the liber­tye of the free benigne spirit / & rebuke not of malice aftir the fleshly licēce of thy nown affected mynde. Lette the wordis and wry­tingis [Page xiii] of the ministers of the trwthe be prudent rather then bolde / graue and not lyght ardent not in yre and wrath but in the vehe­mence of the spirit of god / let them be sham­faste modeste in a iust seuerite tempred with holy deuocion and deuoute holines so longe as thou seest them not in a desperat state ob­stinatly and openly stifnecked agenste gods worde fyghting / wetingly to synne agenst the holy goste. But yet be thou (as Christe ordined the) the salte of the erthe / that is / let thy wordes be quik liuely and sharpe in thy sermons and ernest in thy rebukis / be salte sauory and no waterisshe beet.Mat. v For constan­cy and liberty in speking conciliateth & ioy­neth autorite to the minister / be feruente as Isaye and Paul bid the / although some cold softlings and menpleasars earetulers syni­strely interprete thy zelous constant feruency to be folissh rasshnes.Isaye. lviij. ij. timo iiij. Tell them that god is no slowe auenger of euill / he is no insen­sible stock but as full of eyes as Argos and as clere eyed as the lysarde or slowe worme presentlye and thorowlye beholding them. Pharisais Hypocrits and Epicures promes thēseues securite and long lyf / but tell thou them with Ioan bapt. that the axe is nowe laid to the tree root. Which presente wrathe [Page] the Lorde in Luke expresseth sainge. Wo be to womē with childe and to the soukgeuers with their nieples in these dayes / for there shalbe great afflicciō vpon the erthe & wrath vpon this peple. For thei shalbe smitēdown with the edge of the swerde / and shall be led captiue into among all the strange nacions. And Ierusalem / that is thei that ar now na­med christians shalbe trodēdown of the hei­then Turkes. Let vs nowe therfore in tyme (christen bretherne) fere the lord and walke in his precepts / not promising ourselues a­ny securite or longe life in this our corrup­cion and synnes / for God owr iuste iuge is awake. This therfore is my cownsell / euen to do penance / that is turne quiklye and er­nestly vnto owr Lord God / and to confesse our synnes to him / amend owr liues and to serue him in holines & rightwisnes / for the­se ar the frutes of a repentant herte / whiche herte thorow faith hathe now trwly cōsecrated and geuen herself ouer wholl to god.The way in­stituted of God to mo­ue vs to repen­tance.

But firste let vs take away the impedimēts of trwe repentāce / as ar securite of lōge life the opinion of owr owne ryghtwysnes by good workis / faith and truste in vayne lies &c̄. And then teche nothing els to be in owr selues but poison synne and corrupciō / and [Page xiiij] that in god onely we haue lyfe and saluaciō which is not apeaced with externe worship­ings and workes dreamed oute of owr own headis. Then thonderforthe the feare of the terrible iugemente of god at hande and his present wrath and indignacion redye to be powred down from heuen vpon all vnright wysnes. If these things be taught and receiued and the wother impediments remoued / we be sone conuerted to god onely / workīg the very godly repentāce in the fere of god / or els is the axe layid to the root of the tree / that is to saye / destruccion and dethe daunse p̄sent before thy dore / so that now ther is no hope to the of any lenger life. For aslonge as there is anye hope of frute in trees / thei dunge the roots / rubof the mosse / kutof the sere branches / but it is the token of the laste desperacion of any frute whē the axe is laid to the root / to the root he saithe & not to the body or branches / signifying a soden reme­diles downfall. For the root kutt in sondre / the tree is dead. Repent ye therfore and re­ceiue the gospell / or els stretcheforthe your neckis vnto the axe bent ouer your heades. For this is sewer that the wrath of the lord which shall smite you down by the rootis hā geth ouer your shauen crownes. For euery [Page] tree that bringethe not forthe good frute is kut downe. He saith not / shalbe kutdowne / for his iugement and dampnaciō to present. We be trees planted of the Lorde into this ende / euē to beare and bringforth good fru­te / that is good workis / yea and that by the heuenly iewce & moister of owr Lord Chri­ste. These ar the frutes of the spirit / as faith and trwth &c̄ / of the whiche aftir Isaye had writē / Paul often times repete the same namely to the Galathens to the Ephe. &c̄.Isay. v. Gala. v. Ephe. iiij. Vnto this place laye the .xiij. of Luke and .xv. of Ioan and thou haste a playn exposicion therof. Of all these wordis may we lerne the very trwe good workis to be requyred of eue­ry of vs / and not figge leaues of our owne patching togither to kouer our shamful na­kednes as did Adam and Eue / not the glit­tering shewe of godlines / but euē godlines innocency and christen religiō in ded. Agen we lerne herof the heuye vengeance of god to be redy prepared for all sinfull vngodlye men / yea and that the most certayn vēgeāce and wrath / left any man dirst promise him­self to escape vnpunisshed for the contempt of the most highe God. Longsuffering douteles is the lord / but yet in the mean ceason he is rightwyse and an aduenger not ouerflowe [Page xv] nor to slak. And nowe to warne the in tyme / here haste thou which is trwe repē tance and which is false: and how we may a­uoid the imminente plages to be caste vpon vs by the incursions of the Turks with wo­ther plages imminent / that is if from the botome of our hertie we be conuerted vnto the Lorde amending owr corrupte maners / no­thing douting of the mercy of our god. For this is once full of counforte / that christe ca­me to call sinners to repentance and not thē that semed iuste in their own eyes. The pharisais / scrybes / and saduceis as ar now owr antichristē spiritualte with their captiued seculare / were the most desperate vngodly as Christe and Ioan bapt. well knew them / & yet thei both / exhorted them to repentance / Christe called them to him promising them forgeuenes if their penance were trwe. Let vs not therfore despeire of forgeuenes / nor castawaye and condempne a man neuer so synfull and cryminous except his synne be vnto death.i Ioā in the last chapt. For God our father is Ientle & of an infinite mercye constante and trwe of his promises as ye see in Iere. and Ezechie. xviij. chap. At laste that thou maiste knowe what is trwe repētance and to stere the ther vnto / let this be the diffinicion therof. Re­pentance [Page] or penance is a turning or conuersion vnto the Lorde god / wherby we / of the syncere feare of god humbled / aknowelege our synnes / and all our whole life we make newe.Penāce what it is. This diffiniciō hath certain cheif principals / oute of the which / the hole nature of penāce shalbe fullier expressed and known. Fyrst thou hearest it called a turninge / and because it is not a turninge to what soeuer dead satisfacciō or creature thou lyftest / therfore is it added vnto the lorde god / for so re­dest thou it in Ieremye. Israel / if thou wilte be returned / be returned vnto me / saithe the Lorde.The turning to God. Here is excluded all turnings to saintis and to any wother creature / agene / here is included the turning away from lyes frō the deuill & the turning to the trwth. Whe­re it is playne that here it behoueth to haue the doctryne of trwth which must shewe vs who is god to whom we must be conuerted / what is good & trwe / to the which we must be turned / and what is euill and false from whiche we oughte to be auerted / and to be breif what must be amended and howe. For this cause the prophetis and apostles exhor­tinge men to penance / longe and miche do cleaue / tarye / and labour in the descripciō of the nature of god / in his goodnes rightwysnes [Page xvi] verite & mercy / in describinge the lawes to liue wel and in the offices of men / and al­so in the sinnes of men to be accused opened and exaggered or throne vpō heaps as thus to be shewed many and greuous / then thei throwto threateninge & menacings laid be­fore their eyes with the terrible and horri­ble syght of the iugement of god to be at hā ­de: in whiche all / the syncere fear of god (the spirit of god workinge togither in owr her­tes) is stered vp / so that nowe with reuerēce we fear god iustly being āgry with vs / whi­che ar verely alto corrupted / yea we be not els then the stinking canell and sinfull sinke of all synne and mischeif.the fear of god. But this feare of god wherof we here speake is called syncere into the difference of that fear which casteth downe into desperacion. For syncere feare / out of herself bringeth forth euen the verye trew offices and dedis of repentance / name­ly the confession and aknowleginge of syn­nes. Nether is it enoughe to haue herde thy self to be a synner and god to be angry with the / onlesse thow confessest thyself to be euē siche one and offcest vp thy self standing be­fore god in iugement / that is to saye onlesse thyself now humbled before god in his pre­ [...]nce diffidest & distrustest thy nown right­wysnesThe cō ­fessiō of synnes & humi­liacion. [Page] whiche thou seest to be the most corrupt / and aknowlegest thyself to be euē the very most bonde man of sinne & dethe. This confessiō of synnes and humbling of thyself Ieremy requiring / in his .viij. chap. saithe. There was not one that repēted him of his euill doing saing. What haue I done? But this aknowleging of thy synnes hathe a so­rowe and heuines annexed / for the trwe re­penters sorow and lament that euer thei haue offended so benigne and ientle a father / and that thei haue cōmitted so greuous synnes which could not be forgeuen but by the bloudsheding of his [...] sone so innocente a lombe.Heuy­nes. Nowe may thy herte bl [...]d for thy synnes beholden in the deathe and bloudye woundis of christe. Here here dothe this so­rowfull heuines / this aknowleging / & humbled herte / expresse the fre [...] confessiō of thy synnes and the humble askinge forgeu [...]nes of thy trespassis. And now forber [...]se Repē tance is the conuersiō vnto god and not the turning away from him / therfore hath this humiliacion and confession now a great mā ly faith & a large hope.The cō ­fessiō of sin with faithe & hope. For this sinner thu [...] confessing casteth and geueth himselfe ouer into the mercy of god / and downe vpon his knees he asketh mekely forgeuenes of him [Page xvii] whom he now accouraged and ēstruct with the promises of god / dowteth not to be mercyfull to all siche confessours. On this ma­ner euery where in the Psalmes the penitē ­tes so praye that euery man might see bothe to confesse and expresse their faith & to trust also in the trowth and rightwysmakinge of god thorow christe. For penance with owte faith firste beholdinge christes passion is of none effecte / but pernicious and deadlye / as it apereth in the penance of Iudas / wherof Paul speaketh thus.False penāce The heuines whiche is godly aftir gods will / that bringeth forthe holsom repentance neuer to be repēted:ij. Cor. vij. but cōtrary / the worldly heuines bringeth deth: and thus therfore we conclude. Penance to be the conuersion vnto god / wherby we out of the syncere feare of god humkled / a knowlege and confesse owr synnes neuer to be cō mitted agen. Now there folowth the tother cheif principall belongīg to penance / which is the innouacion of thy wholl lyfe.The in­nouaciō of thy life. Thei verely which feare god and haue felt his iuge­ments and mercye / maye not make a lyghte thing nor litle regard their synnes vnto the which thei haue hitherto maried themselues but thei know that thei must vtterly abhor­re and deteste them / occupyinge themselues [Page] moste holely in godly thoughtis words and works / before althings fighting all their li­ues kinge agenst the world the deuil & their fles [...]he For penāce is not the worke of a few dayes / but the perpetuall custody of the life and the euerlasting study to liue innocētly. Also the works done of the penitēt & of the new lyuers ar called the frutes of penance / and works worthei penance / of which / cheifly ar the mortyfying of the flesshe & the stu­dy to lyue vertuouslye / the batail with syn­nes / watche / fasting / prayer / alms / paciēce / abstinēce with like frutes of the spirit.The frutes of penāce. Paul nowmbrīg like work [...] of trew penāce saith.ij. Cor. vij. This worke euē to be heuey & sorowfull as god asketh it how great care hath it brought forth? yea what a satisfacciō? indignaciō & displeasure? what zele? what feare? desier? & vengeāce? Firste lo penāce or the heuines cōcei­ued of the holy goste begetteth in you (saithe he) care / that is the study & most careful cure and diligēt hede taking lest ye be polluted agen with those filthinesses frō which by the grace of god ye be pourged / thē he addeth / that this godly heuines begetteth Satisfac­ciō / that is the excusaciō or clēsing from syn:Godly heuy­nes what frute it brīgeth forthe. for so mich signifieth the greke worde Apo­logia / which Paul there vseth / adding ther­to. [Page xviij] Euery where ye haue goten yourselues praise because ye be pure in this behalf. Thē there folowth Indignaciō / that is the verye vehemēt wrath & displeasure to yourselues for your cryme cōmitted and for your moste shamelesse filthines / for with repētāce / owr own shame begineth: vnto the which / feare is ioined / euē the cōtinual feare of god. For the neglecting and litle regarding of god is the cause of miche abhominaciō. Also there folowth desier / which cōteineth louing pro­misessis to do good / & an erneste feruour to godward / wherof Dauid speking saith. As the hunted hert desyereth the fresshe waters so desyereth my soul my liuing god. There is added / zele / that is an ardēt study & imita­cion to attayn and set hold vpō the most ho­nest wais of liuing. At last the [...]e stādeth vē ­geāce / for he that thus is displesed with himself & punissheth his body mortifying it for his sinnes / that mā verely scourgeth his body being auēged therof for so boldly & prowdely resisting the spirit of god fyghtinge a­genst his flesshe. Thismiche hast thou of the nature of Repentāce / which thou maist well diuyde into opē and priuate penance / . Opē penance is opēly receiued for opē sinnes / as to be smitē opēly with manifest famin / pestelence [Page] or batail / of which thou hast an elegāt exāple Ionas .iij. & Ioele .ij. and in diuers o­ther places of the holy scripturs. Priuate penance is that at euerye man receiueth of his own mynde the holy gost so / to do / excitinge him wherby the worde of trweth herde / the herte is pricked with remorse for his secrete and open synnes to / which he lamenting cō uertethe vnto God: of this penance / manye right fayer and holye ensamples ye haue in the olde and newe Testamente / but cheiflye of Dauid .ij. Reg. xij. of Achab. iij. of Kingis xxi. of Manasses .ij. para. xxxiij. of Mathew Mat. ix. of the synfull woman Luke .vij. of Zachey Luke .xix. of Peter Mat. xxvi. and Ioan .xxi. and of the Iewes Act. ij.

Of the penance / confession / and fonde fassi­ons of satisf [...]ccions / which aftir the tyme of the Apostles / aboute the tyme of Cypriane and Councel of Nece and so folowing some fathers did thruste into their chirchis / I wil not here greatly reason ne wryte / because I am full assewered / the doctryne of the apos­tles / to be perfecte enoughe / so that whoso will walk aftir their lanterne he shall walk in the sufficient lyght and not in derkenes. Nowe at laste / as ye see Baptisme to go be­fore the Lordes Souper / so see ye synne to [Page xix] precede Penance and bothe the sacraments / Paul exhorting eueryman to proue and ex­amyn himselfe ere he eate of this breade and drinke of this cuppe / whiche texte how wic­ [...]edly the Bisshops haue translated in their boke in the .xxxix lefe all men may see it.i. cor. xi Al­so synne precedeth Baptisme / for we be conceiued and borne in synne / and who wold be wasshen except he were fowle? Who repent but siche as see their synnes and their wholl nature and life to be all corrupte bringinge forthe out [...] [...]f their own breste the moste corrupte frutes? euen manifolde mischeif / infi­nite crymes and poyson / for the which God is not with oute cause angrye and may ma­ke vs bonde men vnto deathe and eternall dampnacion / vnles we open owr eyes and beholde owr synnes wasshen away in Chri­stes bloude / buried in the holes of his deape woundes / therwith also beholding the mer­cyfull clemencye of owre father whiche for his infinite mercye wil not suffer sorye syn­ners to be loste / but rather to be conuerted from euyll to good / himselfe beinge nowe apeaced with vs onelye for Christes sake (if we so beleue it) neuer to impute nor twite vs by owr sinnes / but he forgeueth vs quie­te settinge them as farre from vs as is the