so it is / that vpon sonday / the .xiiii. day of Nouember last past / I Alex­ander Seyton a Scottysshe man borne hauynge ben here to fore greatly suspected / noted and infamed of heresy / and erronious opinions / and for the same / conuentyd before di­uerse Ecclesiasticall iudges of this Re­alme / made within the parysshe churche of saynt Anthonynes (within the cytye and diocese of London) a sermon in the mornynge of the sayd sondaye / before a great multitude / without any lycence of my Lorde byshop of London / or any his offycers and contrary to theyr myndes & cōmaundement / takyng for the ground of my sermon the epystle of that day / ex­tracted out of the fyrst chapiter wrytten to the Philippians I nothing spekyng in that mornynge sermon / eyther of Fre wyll / or choyse of man with his reconci­liacyon / or iustificacyon / nether yet els of good workes or meryt / or value there of / Albeit I had good and iust occasyon so to do / by reason of the sayde Epystle. And moreouer that sermon done / I came immediatly hyther to the sermon made in this place / by a well lerned man and [Page]doctour of diuinite / in the vniuersyte of Oxforth) and herd all the same / well notyng & markyng his proces made vpon the seyd epistle / especially touching Fre wyll or choyce of man / with his reconsylyaciō or iustification / & also the prayse of good workes / & the meryttes & value therof / than & there openly declared / & I was in dede in my mynde not right well contented with the seyd sermon & gretly offended with the same. For as much as touchyng Fre wyll or Choyse & iustify­cation / or reconsylyation of man to god me thought as than the seyd precher gane to moch vnto man / & dyd withdraw to moch from gods grace and touchyng good workes & the meryt & value therof As than me thought he dyd ouer moche value & esteme the same / & beyng so offended / I the same day at after none within the sayd church of saynt Antonyues be fore a gret multytude then & there assembled (without any lycens of my seid lord of London or any his offycers / & contrary to their myndes & cōmaundementes / yea & without any shewing of any other lycens at all / of a set purpose & to the intent the people ther assembled shuld not agree to the mynde & declaracyon of the seyd precher / but vtterly dissent / vary / & [Page]clerely dysagree from all the same) dyd make an other sermon directed contrary in poyntes and artycles afore sayd / vnto the sermon of the seyd precher / the peple takyng occasion there by to be in discord varyete & diuersite of opiniōs amongest them selues / and there by not vnlyke to fall into further in conuenyens and busynes. Wherfore now I am right heuy / sory / and greatly repentaunt / trustynge in the mercy of God / to vse here after a more modesty discretion and temperans in my prechyng / and to auoyd such rash and hasty passyons and sodayne affecti­ons and iudgemēt / and only to cleue vn­to the trouth and Catholyke determynacyons of our holy mother the Church.

☞ And more ouer ye shall vnderstand good people / that as I was denounced detected and presented / so also I cōfesse it is euidently proued agaynst me by suffycient wytnesse brought in there vpon / that in my sayd second sermon than and there made at after none / I dyd contrary to good doctryne & lernyng / vtter / prech / and declare amongest diuerse other thynges .ii. thynges chefely / that were very erronyouse / that is to wyt / that a man hath no lybertye or Frewyll at all to do my thynge that is vertuous and good [Page]and also that good workes dyd nothing at all helpe or were merytorious towardes our saluacyon or iustificacion. And all be it my lord byshop of Londō / iustly might for the same myne offences so cō ­mitted within his iurisdiction / haue cō ­pelled me / accordyng to the Ecclesiasti­cal lawes of this Realme to abiure & al­so might haue extremly punyshed me for the same offēces / as in such cases here to fore hath ben a customed / yet such is his charyte / gentylnes / & goodnes towardes me / desyryng only my reformacyon and amendemēt with your satisfaccion / that he for certayne causes and honest consi­deracions hym mouynge / haue ben and is contented with this onely pen aunce / (that is to say) That I make here this open declaracyon vnto you of my sayde offences / & that I do not here after prech or teach any such thyng agayne / or any other thynge that shalbe agaynst the ca­tholyke fayth of our holy mother the church / but as moch as can lye in my power / to mayntayne / defend and auaunce the sayde fayth and vtterly to detest and forsake all and all maner of heresyes / errours & noughty opynions with the fa­uourers / mayntayners / defenders / or abbeters of them / or any of them / du­rynge [Page]my lyfe / which now I so promyse and declare also vnto you / that I wyll do effectually. And for both your better vnderstandyng / and also for myne owne declaracyon here in / and to the entent ye may knowe / that myne opinion is euen as the opiniō is of the catholyke church and no otherwyse. He shall vnderstand that I do verely beleue and playnly confesse / that a Christen man not destytute of gods grace hath lyberte / Frewyl and choyse to do good / and also of hym selfe without Gods grace / hath lybertye to consent to euyll / & to do it in dede. Item that all thynges good and bad / are not to be ascribed vnto a fynall destynye / predestinacyon / or foreknowledge of God / as the very cause thereof / ne yet to an absolute or prestyse necessyte or cōpulcyon that can not be auoyded / which in tymes past hath ben a lewd opynion / & a dam­nable heresy holden of many. Item that thynges which be euyll / are to be ascri­bed to our selfes / who wyllyngly & wyt­tynglye do consent and agre vnto them. where assysted with gods grace / beynge euer redy at hand we myght sufficiently haue auoyded and made resystence vnto them / yf we had wolde. Item that such good workes as we do with the helpe of [Page]gods grace are by scripture truely called our good workes / as wrought by vs by the strength of Gods grace and concur­rence of our frewyll. And al be it we not only of humylyte / but also for confessiō of the trouth / do ascrybe them to god as by ryches of whose mercy we haue both grace & frewyll / wherewith to worke yet neuerthelesse god to set forth the trouth of excellence of the lyberty of our frewyl wroughte by hym in Christ / by whō we are deliuered calleth in his scripture. al­so truly those good works done by good men / theyr workes as truely done by them made able and strengthned by god so to do & therfore such fantasys as hath ben spred abrode / & entred into rude mēs eares as though god shuld worke in mā and the workes to be only Goddes / and man only an instrument to worke by / or a vessell to worke in / is pernycyous detestable & to be abhorred / for suche places of scripture as speke of gods workynge in vs are to be vnderstanded as they may agre with the rest of scrypture / wherein be innumerable places to declare / that god maketh his seruauntes in Christ so rych as they may by the plenty & strēgth there of / be good trees and brynge forth frute & worke. And as Christ sayd / Qui [Page]credit in me / opera que ego facio / faciet et maiora horum faciet. which saynt Austyn wrytynge on the same place very fi­eth to be spoken of a synner in his iustificacyon. And moreouer I do lykewyse beleue and confesse / that the good workes of a Chrysten man be by gods wyll / or­derynge them to be done / and his accep­tyon merytorious / & a meane or helping towards remission of our synnes & vnto our saluacynu. yea further I say and beleue that all though our sauyour and redemer Iesus Christ sent by God the fa­ther to fulfyll his wyll / hath accordyng vnto the same by his lyfe and passyon in erth appesed the wroth of god towardes man sufficientlye and purchased for man great fauor and fredom / wherby he may be able to please God obtayne re­myssion of synnes / and do such workes as God of his goodnesse wyll rewarde with eternal lyfe▪ yet we must know and vnderstande that accordynge to the tea­chynge of Christ declaryng the word of God vnto vs / all those shal by the mene of Christ only be deliuered from goddes anger that come to Christ and in fayth both professe his trouthe / receyuynge the Sacrament of Baptyme / and also worketh suche good workes to fulfyll [Page]gods wyll as tyme & occasyon doth per­myt thē to worke / for in these only / god is pleased / for Christ as scripture sayth / & to these only is promysed euerlastyng lyfe / and therfore such vayne opynions as hath entred percase into the hedes of some ignorant people in the estymacion of mēs good workes that the same may be accompted no maner of helpe to saluacyon / or remyssion of synnes / lest therby we shuld make .ii. menes or .ii. sauyours where as in dede scriptur speketh but of one meane and sauyour. This fonde feare I saye is to be remoued and taken away by knowledge of trouth / which te­stifieth / that by workes of penaunce we come to Christ / when we beyng preuented by god and called are by the fyre of charyte which god kyndleth in vs / such as come at his callynge / & beleue in him ioyned in Christes mystycall body / and made one with hym / and so by hys mene he beynge the only hed / we begyn here a heuenly lyfe / and shall fynally enioye it in him our only sauyour Iesu Christ / in whom we here worke the wyll of god / & therfore our workes be not another me­ne / or another sanyour / but wrought in Christ by the grace purchased of god by Christ and by him requyred of vs / not as [Page]any other straunge thyng or seed to supply any imperfection in him which were blasphemye and madnes to be thoughte or sayd / but because it is the wyll of god who hath for our profyte ordeyned the regeneraciō of man / in this wyse / which can not be but the best without discussiō and because it is / his wyll is the best & so to be folowed and obserued of all that haue hope in their calling / to enioye goddes promysses made only to those that fulfyll his wyll / which my saynges and opinyons in these poyntes especyall I do proteste euen from the botom of my hert / that I do beleue they are true. Euē as now I haue declared them vnto you and that also in all my sermons and teachynges here after I wyll and entend after the same sort to declare & vtter them vnto the people and none otherwyse.

so it is / that I Wyl­lyam Tolwyn / maister of Arte / and person of saint Anthonynes within this Tyte and Dyocese of London / haue ben laufully denounced / detected & presented to my Lorde bysshop of London / that I haue ben and am a man vehemently sus­pected / noted and enfamed of heresy and erronyous / heretycall & sedicyouse opy­nyons agaynst the Catholyke fayth of our holy mother the churche / and also a gret fauourer / defender / maynteynour & receptour of heretykes / accustomed also to haue in my custody / bokes of heresy / & other vnlauful workes forbydden by the kynges maiesties proclamations & ordinaunces / and also contrary to the decree and inhthytion of myne Ordynary. And moreouer that I haue not a customed to obserue & kepe the laudable ceremonyes / rytes & customes of this catholyke chur­che of Englande / comenly obserued and kepte by other. that is to say / neither in goyng of Processyon vpon saturdays at Euynsonge / nor in the vsage and maner of makyng of holy water and holy bred / nor in makyng my confessyon or sayeng of Masse / Matens or Euynsonge / as I shuld and ought to haue done.: Whiche denunciation / detectyon & presentation [Page]hath ben partly by my nowne confession and partly by sufficient wytnes & record in that behalfe suffyciently proued.

And albeit for myne offence in so doyng I knowledge to haue deserued no small punyshment. yet I haue found such charytable goodnes and mercy in my Lorde bysshop of London / vpon my submissiō and sute vnto him / that vpon only this declaration here made of my offeus vnto you / with promyse that I wyll endeuer my selfe to the best of my power to lyue as a Catholyke man ought and shuld do hereafter: And that I doo not hereafter preach or teach any Heresyes / Errours or noughtye opinyons / contrary and a­gaynst the Catholyke fayth of our holy mother the Church / but as moch as can lye in my power to mayntayne / defende and auaunce the sayde Catholyke fayth and vtterly to detest / abhorre and auoyd all and all maner of Heresyes / Errours and noughty opinyons / with the fauou­rers / mayntaynours / defendours or ab­beters of them or any of thē durynge my lyfe / his lorshyp is content to respyt the rest of my penaunce / and vpon my good deseruynge and doyng accordyng to my seyd promyse to forgyue all togyther / besechyng therfore you that be my fryndes [Page]to gyue hym most herty thankes for the same / & to take example by me to auoyd the lyke daunger.