THe cōmun sort of foxes knowyng that they cānot chuse but be perse­wed for theyr murder / that they dayly do & intend to commit / haue holes ether in the ground or in great rokkes where as they thynk they may bein sefegard / & wherto they may flye for sukker when they that haue the harme dō vnto them & theyres do per­sew after them. But thys fox that i folow after / & hunt / at thys tyme / as he is of an other kinde of foxes thē the comon sort be / that is to wit a romish fox & a man kyller / for feare that he shuld be digged out of the grond if he hyd hym self in the commū fox holes / now when certayn scol a­res of Camhrygd and of Oxford euen streyght way after that he had kylled certayn of theyr fe­lowes / folowed hym to haue catched hym / ran [Page] with all the spede that he myght / in to the chir­che / and when the scolares wold haue folo­wed hym in to the chirche the bisshoppes and prestes bet them out agayn / and so cam the scolares bak agayn with blody pates / and durst no more seke the fox in the chirche. For the bisshop­pes & the clergi set vp streght way on the chir­che dore a letter wher in it was contened that from thence furth no man shuld seke the fox any more theyr & that no mā shuld call that romish fox, a fox but the kynges beste. And yit the bisshoppes had the aduantage of the beste / as a cer­tayn scoler had of a fox in Cambryge. The scola­re had a raine fox in hys Chambre where as he made him a hole be hynd a holow bēche / the fox went out on the nyhgt & broght to the scolares chambre hennes / dukkes & capones / wher with he & hys felowes made oft tymes good chere. And so do the bisshoppes & prestes make myrre with it that thys fox bryngeth in to the chirche But in as mych as the kyng is a boue all the bi­sshoppes & i haue axed hym leue to hunt the fox wher so euer i thynk that i can fynd hym / i will with the kynges leue hūt thys fox in the chirche for i gather bi certayn cōiectures that he is theyr For as it is a good cōiectur if a mā be in a wod & se a great hole in the grōde to thynk that theyr hāuteth or hath hāuted a fox / and if theyr be / by thys hole many peces of lābes skynnes / many lambes bones and geswynges and chekynges fethers, that at that praesent tyme ther is a fox [Page] hauntyng that hole / so i thynk that if i cōiecture that theyr is a romishe fox in the chirche / i shal not cōiecture amis / for i saw when i was in En­glonde in a certayne chirche a great hole in the hie aultare which i could not tell for what pur­pos the gentle men of the chirche haue ordened it except it be to hyde theyr father the fox in / when he is persewed after / and by thys hole i saw a great sort of lambes bones about the al­tare. I saw certen prestes that wer almost ladē with lamb skinnes / & with tales and peces of other bestes skin̄es also / I saw also myche gold & syluer about the fox hole. whiche thyng ma­de me meruel the les when i heared afterward that the prestes so mantfully māteyned the fox Therfore i thynk uerely that the fox is in that hole / & i dout not but that i shall ether find hym in the bisshoppes miters or ellis in thys hole or perchance in bothe. After that i haue found out thys rauenyng and mākillynge fox i trust (most victorios prince) that ye will folow kyng Salo­mō in ponysshynh of hym / kyng Salomon took Ioab a murderer the capitane of of hys fathers warres / from the altare & put hym to dethe & suffered not the sāctuari to saue hym. So i trust that if thys fox be foūd euē on the hye altare vn­der the chalice in as myche as he is a murderer that ye will not suffer hym to haue any sāctuari or place of refuge and sukker theyr. But now let us begin thys forsayde huntynge.

Hoo ye lordly byschoppes & ye Clean fyng­red gentle men of the clergi is not the fox of ro­me other wys called Papa among yow? if ye say that theyr is non suche among yow / wher is the fox the pope whiche had wont to be a­mong yow / ye cānot deny but that he was on­ce among yow / tell me where is he now? If ye say that he is dryuē out of Englōd / i will not be leue yow for i saw blode lately of hys sheddyng in London stretes / I saw lately many peces of skinnes about the hie altare & in the quere / I here dayly both men and wymen cōplanyng that by thys bestis meanes theyr children and frendes ar put to dethe wherfore i reken for all your saynge / that he is not dryuen out of the realm / but that ye haue Deceyued the Kyng whych cōmanded yow to driue / hym out of the realm / and that ye haue changed and scraped out hys name & so kepe hym still. If ye thynk that thys be not true / tell me what was that foxes name in English that ye banisshed / was it the Pope? ye cannot deni but he that ye shuld haue bannisshed was called the pope. If i fyn­de not that same pope still among yow / that the Kynge commanded yow to bannishe out of Englond i shall gyue yow leue to call me the falsest man that euer spak with tong. Frist to begyn with all what was the pop that the kyng cōmanded vow to dryue out of England? whe­ther was it the Popes person / or the Popes [Page] purse that had wout to receyue our mony in england / or it was the Popis doctrine whyche besyde all other deuelishe decrees holdeth the fal­sely vsurped pour ouer all Kynges & kygndo­mes? If ye say that the pope whyche the Kyn­ge commanded yow to dryue out of England was the popes person / hys flesh blode and bo­nes / depositis mitris mi lordes ye lie. For what neded the Kyng to set men to dryue that man­nes person out of hys realm that neuer Cam in it? If ye say that the Pope that the Kyng commanded yow to dryue out of England was the Popes purse alon / I thynk that ye haue so bannisshed the pope as certayn vndersheriues and baliues. take theues & cast thē in prison. Whyche if they catche a sely pore thefe that ha­the but stollen an old nag not worthe xix. pence cast hym in pryson & lade hym withe yrones & make hym be hanged. But if they take a lusty thief & lykly to bryng them mo prayes / with a budget or ij & with a good purse / they take hys purse away from hym and hys budgettes and send hym furth to stele agayn & do hym nomo­re harm but that they take hys purs frō hym / And if any men say to theym where is the tall felow that ye tok yisterday / they auswerwe took hym but of suspicion / he is suche a lordes seruāt & ther fore we durst hold hym no louger / Ha­ue ye not after thys manere dryuen away the pope? tell me i pray yow. If ye say that the po­pes [Page] purse was the pope that the kyng comman­ded vow to dryue out of Englond / or hys name alone / ye sklandre the Kyng and make hym be euel spokē of in all other realmes / And if ye say thes wordes / the pope that the kyng cōmanded us to preache against & to dryue out of Englōd is nothyng ellis but hys name alone & hys bot­tumles beggyng bagges / all they that haue red the kynges actes will say tyat ye be false liers. Then the pope that the kyng cōmanded yow to dryue out of Englōd / was not the popis person whiche neuer cam in to Englōd / nether hys name a lone / nether hys purse alon / and the kyng cōmanded the pope to be dryuē out of Englōd / whether was it the popes doctrine & learnyng or no / that the kyng cōmanded yow to dryue out of Englond? If it be not hys learnyng what other thyng can it be? If ye say that it was not the popes learnyng and ordinances ye run in daūger of treason / for in sayng so / ye say that the kyng wold not haue the popes falsly usur­ped pour bannisshede out of the realm / whiche a mong all other deulysh doctrine & ordināces of the pope / is on pestilent popishe ordinance. Ye be uery loth to graūt that the popes doctri­ne and traditiones was the pope that the kyng cōmanded yow to dryue out of Englond How­beit ye must ether grant that / or elles say that the kyng commanded not at all the pope to be dryuen out of Englond. For what other thyng [Page] is theyr left to be the pop that the kyng com­mauded yow to dryue out of Englond / sauyng hys doctrine? seing it was not hys person / ne­ther hys name alone / nether hys purs alon. Then muste nedes the Pope / that the Kyng commanded yow to dryue out of Englonde be the Popes doctrine and traditiones. Ye ne­de not to be ashamed to call the popes doctrine the pope. For it is a receyued maner of spekyng in thes dayes among scolares and hathe bene receyued of long tyme bothe of hethen and holy writers / to call a mannes doctrin or book by the name of hyme that made it. If ye ax a sco­lare of Cambrydge what is red in the Philoso­phi scholes he will answer / Aristotel. If ye ax what is red in the humanite scoles he will answer and say Terence / meanyng by Aristotel and Terence the doctrin and bokes whiche A­ristotel and Terenc made. The prophane wri­ters haue a prouerbe he hath not torn Aesop. wherby they mean not Aesopes body but hys doctrine / and hys fables whiche he made / Abraham in the xvj. of luk sayeth vnto the riche glotten concernyng hys brethern / they haue Moses and the Prophetes / and in the i [...] of the actes luke sayeth that the gelded man / red Esai the prophete / In whiche places Moses and the Prophetes signifi the doctrin that Moses and the Prophetes taught. So then as Terences boke is lau fulli called Terence [Page] as Aristoteles doctrine is called Aristotel / and Moses doctrine is called Moses / & the prophetes doctrine is laufully called the Prophetes / so ar the popes traditiones et doctrine laufully called the Pope euen that Pop that the Kyng cōmanded yow to dryu out of hys realm. Then haue we gotē of yow at leynght that the Pope that the King commanded yow to dryue out of hys realm is the Popes traditiones et doctrine / Thys once granted i reson thus. Whoso euer holdet still & manteneth the Popes doctrine & traditiones / holdeth still et mantenethe the Pope / but ye bysshoppes hold still & mantene the popes traditiōes and doctrine therfore ye hold still and mantene the Pope / If ye deny that ye hold still the popes doctrine and traditiones / i will proue it after thys maner her after folo­wyng.

1. Ye hold still the crepyng of the cross / the worshippyng of the image of Christ called the crucifex. And the worschippyng of images is pope Gregories doctrine / as fasciculus temporum sayeth in thes wordes. Concilium generale fit in urbe anno primo Gregorij tertij contra hereticos / in quo imaginum sanctorum ueneratio approbatur & contradictores excōmunicantur. Theyr was a consell in Rome the first yere of Gregori the third wher in the worshippyng of sayntes imagines was allowed / & the gayn sayers was excomunicated and cast out of the chirche.

[Page]2. Yehold still coniuryng of water and salt to driue deuelles away to hele all syknesses / and to be helht of both body and soul to all thē that receyne them. And thys ordened Alexander the frist of that name.

3. Ye hold still hallowyng of chirches et of vestmētes and that a prest may not say mes but in a hallowed Place with out a superaltare / & thys ordened felix the first Pope of that mane.

4. Ye hold still that a preste may receyne the sacrament of Christes body et blood for a layman and that the lay mānes sinnes may be taken away by the prestes receynyng for hym and that the prestes receynyng may help the soules departed and purches them forgyuenes also of synnes / and that ordened pellagius.

5 Ye hold still the receynyng of the sacra­ment for kye that haue the longsoght / for horse that haue the farci / for syk calues / for scabed schepe for meseld swyne & for mad dogges / for ye hold in youre helli misal vnput out and vn­preacrhd agaynst. Missam pro mortalitate animalium. A mes for deathe of bestes and cattell / Then if the mess be the receynyng of Christes body & bloud / then for dogges that ar syke for syk calnes and rotten shepe / ye hold still the re­ceynyng of christes body and blode that thes bestes schuld not die / If to receyne the sacrament in the rnmembrance of scabbed schepe or mes­selled swyne that Christ ordened to be receyued [Page] in the remembrance of hys holy passion / be not Antichristes doctrine and ther fore the popes say ye whose doctrines is it & who put it in to your messal and why haue ye not scraped that out as well as the popes name.

6. Ye hold still that the mes or the receynyng of the sacrament is profitable for a kybed or a mould hele / for the frenche pox / for the gout in the to / & also for a winchester goose. for it is still in the missal vnput out & vnpreched aga­ynst / Missa Raphaelis Archangeli pro omni­bus infirmitatibus / A mes of Raphael the ar­changel / for all diseases / & siknesses then seynge that thys is not put out of your bokes ye hold it still / for the diseases a boue rehersed. If thys be not amisusynge of the sacramēt and the doctri­ne of the pope say ye whos doctrine is thys? for it is non of Christes nether hys a postelles.

7. Ye hold still that by the mess or recey­uyng of the sacrament that ye can delyuer damned soules out of hel and rais men from dethe to lyfe. If ye thynk that i lie / rede wahe is writen in Gregories trentale / in your mes bo­ke whyche ye say is better correct and hath fe­wer fautes then the Bible / in thes wordes / Li­bera animam famuli tui de manibus daemo­num. Delyuer thy seruātes soul from the han­des of the deuelles / Iustorum anime in manu [Page] dei sunt. The soules of ryhhtous men ar in the handes of god / and so ye go about to syng out of the deuelles handes damned soules for non af­ter thys lyfte ar in the deuelles handes but damned soules. It is also writen in your dirgimes that ye manteyn so ernestly with fyre and fagot / & it is song in euery dirge mes aftyr the gospel / Somine Iesu Christe &c. Faccas do­mine transire de morte ad vitam / Lord Iesu Christe make the soules to pasouer from dethe to lyfe / Thes ar de wordes of the mes / Now must lyfe and dethe betoken ether / saluation and damnation / or ellis Deth must signifi the tempolal deth of the body and lyfe the lyf of the body. If that deth and lyfe be taken as they stand wyth out a figure Then ye mean that ye can rais men from deth to lyfe / (o connyng coniurers) If ye vnderstande the wordes fi­guratly / then / ye mean that by the mesye can delyuer soules from theyr dethe whiche is da­mnation / to lyfe that is to theyr saluatiō. Thys syng ye in euery dirgi mess / and ether ye bele­ue thys that ye syng or ye beleue it not / If ye beleue it not / ye do euel to make men be slayn for spekyg agayn it that ye beleue not your selues / If ye beleue it / when ye make me anausuere / tel me whether is it the deth of the body or of the soule that ye desyre God to delyuer the saules from / and how [Page] many soules haue ye delyuered from the han­des of the deuel / and how many haue ye raysed from deth to lyfe. If thys doctrine be not Gre­gori the popes doctrine say ye whos is it?

8. Ye hold still that the mixture and myng­yng together of bothe the partes of the sacra­mēt may deserue forgiuenes of sinnes and pur­ches helth of body and soule / For ye say in your mes dayly thes wordes / Hec sacrosancta com­mixtio corporis et sanguinis / domini nostri Ie su Christi / mihi omnibus que sumentibus sit sa­lus mentis et corporis ad promerendā uitam aeternā / That if to say / thys holy minglyng to­gether of the body & blode of our lord Iesu Christe / be vnto me & to all them that receyue it / hel the of body & soule to deserue euerlastyng lyfe. If thys were not impossible / then neded no preste nor bysshop go to the deuel / thoghe they wer neuer so great murderers and hormōgers. For anon after that they had don the mischefe they myght streyht way mix to gither bothe the partes of the sacrament & deserue theyr­by forgyuenes of yisternyghtes aduoutri and of thys days murder. But for all thyr myxyng and menglyng if they break the commandment of god / they must as well go to the deuel as other / For god regardeth not on man more then an other / as the Pope dothe / whiche sayeth that all men that eat of that forsayd mixtur shall deserue forgyuenes of sinnes and yit lik a partial [Page] felow sufferethe thys mixture whiche is of bo­the the kyndes of the sacrament only to begy­uen vnto / prestes / for he wil let laymen haue but the on halfe of it / He caret he (belyk) not uery myche for laymē that will not suffer them to cum by thys mean vnto helth of body & soul and to forgyuenes of synne / Thys is the doctri­ne of Antichrist and if the pope be Antiwriste it is the popes doctrine.

9. Ye hold still the collates of the mes whiche pop Gelasius made.

01. Ye hold still the matines and houres & euen song of the virgin Mari and that the psal­mes whyche wer made only in the honor of the creator / shuld be song and sayd in the honor of a creature that is the uirgin Mary and thys or­denede pope Vrbane the second.

11. Ye hold still that from septuagesm to Ester that Aman may not prayse god in he­brue but in latin in the chirche / for ye forbyd that alleluya shuld be song that tyme / but laus tibi domine and thys ordened pope Alexander the seconde.

12. Ye hold still the secretes of the mess whyche ar open treson ahaynst god / and thys ordenede pope Gregori.

13. Ye hold still the canon of the mess / why­che ordened pope Gregori.

14. Ye mix water and wyn to gether still and that ordened pope Alexander.

[Page]15. Ye hold still thys custom in poules that lay men may not cum in to the quere at mes ty­me for fere belike / that when the gluttens say / accipite & comedite take ye & eat ye / they shuld take it that is offered them / & thys ordened pope Leo ths iiij. of that name. Now seinge that the­yr ar so namy ordinances & traditiones of the pope in the mess / i report me vnto yow / that he indifferent men / and beno bisshoppes sonnes / or no bisshoppes bondmen / by fyndyng of your chylder / wether i haue iust occasion to seke the fox in the altare or no.

16. Ye hold still the mes in latin and syng al seruice & Christen and assoyle in the old popes mother tonge & that ordened Ioān. Portuēsis.

17. Ye take the on halfe of the sacrament from all them that ar no prestes and that orde­ned the Pope and hys garde / at constance.

18. Ye hold still the hallowyng of the font whyche is all full of abominable blasphemes cōtrari to the word of god & that ordened anthichrste

19. Ye hold still that a preste thogh he haue the frenche pox or the cācre in hys mouthe must spit in to a yong childes monthe or ellis that he cannot be baptized / or christened / the same.

20. Ye hold still the embryng daves whiche Vrbanus made assum writers hold / and other write that it was Pop Calixtus.

21. Ye hold still lent & that made Telesphorus and Montanus the heretik whiche first [Page] taught tha Mariage shuld be vndon.

22. Ye hold still the fastyng of the saterday & that made Innocentius the first pope of that name.

23. Ie hold still that a prest cannot make an vnlawfull vow / and that no other man can make an vnaduisede vow after xxi. yer of hys age and that no vow made after xxi. may be broken saue the vow of obedience and of wilful pouerti / thys made ye / & ye & the pope ar all on.

24. Ye hold still stewes that the deuel may be worshipped theyr in & condēne mariage of prestes withe deth / this also is the popes worke

25. Ye forbid still all lay men to mary the hole halfe of the hole yeare saue ij wekes / and hold all the ministers of the chirche from mariage al theyr lyfe tyme / for ye wyll suffer no man to be a subdecon or a decon or a preste except he for­sweare mariage first / and so ye compell men to [...] be votaries in as miche as theyr must nedes be ministers / and ye receyue non except ye ma­ke then forswear mariage / Thys was orde­ned by Gregori the seuent and by the counsel holden at mence in germany.

26. Ye hold stil that it is a greater offence for a preste or auotari to Mary then if the pre­ster shuld haue defyled all the mennes wyues in hys parishe / or the notari shuld haue deflou­red all the uirgines in the citi where he dwelle­the. For that offence that ye thynk greater / ye ponyshe wythe a greater ponishe ment / But ye [Page] ponyshe the mariage of thes for sayd persones with death at the frist / and hordom & aduoutre of the same but with lof of on parte of theyr goo des / at the first tyme & wyth an other parte ar the seconde tyme & the thyrd tyme wyth the los of the remnant of the goodes and with perpe­tuall prysonment. Ther for ye reken that it is lessyn for a prest to ly thre tymes withe hys negh bores wyfe or for a votari to ly thryse wyth hys brothers doghter then to once Mary / Wher as it was first inacted that the hordome aduoutri & mariage of prestes and votaries shuld be ponisshed all clike wyth dethe ye obteynet a moderatiō for the pronisshmēt of the hordō of prestes decones & votaries / that they shuld not be sla­yn if they were taken in hordom or aduoutri / But ye let mariage of prestes stand still to be ponisshed withe dethe / and made no labor at all to obteyn any relese or mitigation of the po­nishment / for the mariage of votaries prestes & decones. But that was not gretly to be meruelede at / seyng that ye neuer in tended to mari as all they do that ar louers of hores cannot a­byd that wyues shuld be gyuen vnto them. But if that ye had intended nomore to be aduoute­rers and hore hunters / then ye purposed to be maried prestes / ye wolde nomore haue soght a relese for the ponyshment of wyueles horehun­tyng prestes then ye souht a remedi and a rele­se for the ponishment of chast & mariede pre­stes But ye labored for no relese at all for chaste [Page] mariede prestes / ther fore ye neuer intended to be suche / But wanton wyueles and wande­ryng bores / bukkes & bulles / or ellis it foloweth tha ye in tended more to be aduouterers then to be maried men / To make the mater mo­re clere i will put yow an example. Theyr is in southfolk a gentleman that hathe ij warrēnes / on of conies / & an other of hares / & it is made feloni as wele to steale hares as conies / ther is a yong man whyche cummethe vnto the auner of bothe the warrens and sayeth vnto hym i know tha it is feloni to stele a cony on the nyght / i pray yow that if i be taken in stelyng of a cony that ye will not take me as a felon but be con­tent withe the thyrd parte of all my goodes for the harm that i haue don / The secōd tyme that i am taken / let an other parte of my goodes satis­fice for the faut / If i be the third tyme takē / take all the rest of my goodes for a mendes and put me in perpetual pryson. Thys yong man kno­weth that if he be taken in stelyng of an hare in the nyght out of thys gentle mannes warren that he shal behanged / and yit he desyreth no forgyuenes if he be taken in stelyng of an hare / Now let in different men iudge whether thys man in tendethe more to stele hares or conies. It is very lykly that he intendeth to stele conies & not hares. For if he had as myche intended to stele hares as conies he wold as well haue axed a reles for the ponishmēt dew for stelyng [Page] of hares as he axed a reles for the ponishment of stelyng of conies. And so ye my lordes god send ye grace / ether intended to be aduouteres or ellis knew that ye could not chuse but fall in to aduoutre / or ellis what neded yow to seke a remedy a fore hande for a syknes thas was to cum after warde that ye could auoide / if ye had not intended of a set purpos to be siklye say that ye haue all the gift of chastite ther fore ye nede not to be aduouterers except ye will. Thē seyng that all ye that ar shauen in the crownes haue the gyft of chastite / and nede not to be aduoute­rers except ye list / & not with standyng purches a relese a forhāde for aduoutre / if foloweth that ether ye will or intend to be aduouterers / except ye say that ye haue not the gyft of chastite / or that ye cannot chuse but fall in to aduoutre / If ye haue not the gyft of castite & cānot chuse but be aduouterers with out matrimony / what abominable tycānes & deuelles ar ye that cōppel­on an other to promis god it that ye know ye cannot performe? The sum of it that is sayd is thys. No wyse mane sekethe a forehande a remedy for hym self for a dethe bryngyng diseas except he thynke that he can no auoyd or eschew the difease or intēd to aduēture to be sik in that deseas for the obteyninge of sum thyng that he louethe / Ye gentle men of the clergi / ye ar wyse men / Therfore ye seke no remedy a forhand for a dethe bryngyng diseas except ether ye know that ye cānot auoyd it / or intend to aduētur to [Page] be sik in it for the obteynyng of sum thyng that ye loue. Aduoutre iiij. year ago if that ye shuld haue fallen in to it shuld haue bene unto yow a death bryngyng disease / Ande ye praeparede a remedy a for hāde for it (scilicet togyue the third part of your goodes if ye had ben taken with it) therfore ye ether knew that ye could not auoyd the siknes of aduoutre / or intended to aduentu­ture to be sik in the syknes of aduoutre for the obteynyng of your fleshly pleasure whyche ye loue better thē honest matrimonial chastite. Answer to thys reson when ye haue leysure. To be short ye haue brought the mater so to pas that it is death at the first foramā to say that a prest may mary & no dethe for a prest to cōmit & do aduoutre seuē thow sand tymes / If thys be not the popes doctrine say ye whos it is / i kow that it is non of Christes nether hys apostelles.

27. Ye holld still that theyr ar mo sauioures & bringers to heuē then Christe alon for besyde our oun werkes ye say that the merites of the virgin Mari & of saynt petronil / & of all sayn­tes may seue us and bryng us to heuen on saynt maries day ye syng sancte Marie merita perducāt nos ad regna celestia / The merites of saynt mary bring us to the euerlastyng kynggō / And on saynt Petronilles day ye say in your mes / Per merita beatae Petronillae / praesetis uitae subsidium / et futurae felicitatem concede / Grant us by the merites or deseruynges of saynt Pe­tronil the help af thys praesent lyfe and the [Page] felicite or happines of the lyfe for to cū / ye syng on all hallowes day. Sanctorum meritis mere­amur gaudia lucis / we pray god that we may win or deserue the ioyes of lypht by the deser­uyng of all sayntes / Thys doctrine is of Anti­christes makyng for it is contrari to the doctri­ne of Christ which sayeth i am the dore / and no­man cum meth vnto the father but by me / Thē if it be true that the pope is Antechrist thys is the popish doctrine.

18. Ye hold still messes in the remembran­ce of sayntes / And that made Gregori & felix.

Ye hold still uestmentes and copes / incens / & altares / organes and discant in the chirche whiche pop Steuen / pop Leo / and pope Vitilianus made / ye hold infinit other ordinances mo of the popes makyng which it wer to long here to reherce / But if ye say that the popes haue not made thes ceremonies & constitutiones / i will proue yow liers by the autorite of all thes. wri­ters whos names folow her after. Albertus magnus Blondus Beda / Baptista Platina / Marcus Antonius Sabellicus / Raphael Vo­lateranus / & Polydorus Vergilius / All thes say that popes haue ordened thes ordinannes and ceremonies / Now i thynk ye can not deny but that ye hold ordinances / constitutioces and ceremonies whiche the pope hath taght and made.

29. Ye hold still the canon law whiche is [Page] called in latin ius pontificium / that is to say the Popes law / Ye hold still the Clementines the popes decres / and hys decretal epistelles / & by thys canon law by thes popishe decretalles & decres / all maters euen vnto thys hour ar determined and iudged in your spiritual courtes / by thes lawes men ar iudged to be heretikes and votaries whiche ar non by the word of god / That thes decrees and lawes ar of the popes makynge / let the most vnshamefaced of yow deny it if he dare and let the best lerned of yow proue the contrari if he can Then will i go for­ward with mi argument / They that hold still the popes doctrine hold still the pope / ye hold still the pope doctrine whils ye hold still hys or­dinances and hys law / Therfor ye hold still the pope / euen that pope that the kyng commāded yow to preache agaynst and to dryue out of Englond. Now i repart me vnto yow that ar lor­des of the tempalti and to yow burgesses of the parlament / whether i haue found out the fox in the chirche or no. If he be found out it is your deuti & all theyr deutes / that loue god and the kyng to folow after hym to catche hym and to dryue hym out of thys realm. But lest ye shuld go by hym & know hym not from a tame beste he is couered with thes ij tame bestes skinnes sum tyme with the law of the chirche / and other whyles with the kynges ceremonies (for so call the bisshoppes of Englōd / the popes canō law, [Page] & the ceremonies whiche the pope hathe made I besech yow noble mē that haue bene brought vp in huntyng and ar nō of the foxes fautores help at thys tyme to catch thys fox / & i shall once let yow haue a syght of hym & shall let yow se how that they that wear the same mark in theyr crownes that he wereth / do defend hym and hold hym still in the chirche.

What say ye gentle men of the clargi / to thys for sayd argument / Whosoeuer holdeth still the popes doctrine holdeth stil the pope. but ye hold still the popes doctrine whils ye hold still the popes canō law the popes decretalles & decre­es and the ordinances aboue rehersed that the pope made / Therfore ye hold still the Pope. What answer ye to thys Whosoeuer holdeth still the popes doctrine holdeth still the pope? If ye graūt thys / what say ye to thys / But ye hold still the popes doctrine whils / ye hold still hys canon law / and hys ordinances / If ye an­swer & say we hold not stil the popes canō law / for we say that the law thatt ye call rhe popes canon law / is the law of the chirche / and so we take it and use it / if ye say then that the canon law is the law of the chirche (so did doctor glin call it in Cambridge) euery man may wel se how that ye couer the fox with a tame bestes skin. Then when ye say that the cannon law is the law of the chirche / answer of what chirch [Page] is the cannon law / the law of? Is it the law of the chirche of Englond? If ye say that it is the law of the chirche of Englond / then thys foloweth of your saynge. The popes chirche of Rome is gouerned with the ordinances aboue rehersed / & the canon law is the law of the Popes chirche / euen at thys houre then if the canō law be the law of the chirche of Englōd / the popis chirch and the English chirch ar all on con­cernyng theyr ceremonies and law / and then in what thyng do they differ? Then if the chirch of Rome be a popishe / chirche because it is rueled bithe popes canon / law and by hys ordinances / then must the chirch of Englond also be a popishe chirche when as it is gouer­ned by the sam selflawe and ordinances whi­che make the chirch of Rome a popish chir­che / But the Pope is the hede of euery po­pishe chirche / and by your sayng the chirch of Englond is a popish chirche / therfor the Po­pe by your saying is the hede of the chirche of Englond.

Now seing that thes in conueniences folo­we of sayng that the canon law is the law of the chirch of Englond / say no more that the ca­nō law is the law of the chirche of Englōd / but of / the chirch of rome / for the law of Cristes chirche, of whiche englōd is on part is the new testamēt & the old / that is to wit the doctrine that [Page] the Prophetes / the Apostelles & Christ taught and not the canon lauw with the decrees and decretalles & the ordinances whiche popes of Rome haue made. But if doctor glin commissari of Cimbridge with hys other canonisticall canaanites will for all the inconueniences aboue rehersed hold still stifly that the canon law with the decrees & decretalles ar the law of the chir­che of Englond / let them answer to a question or ij that i will propound / whether was the chirch beforthe law of the chirche / or the law of the chirche / before the chirche / if ye say that the chirch was befor the law of the chirche was / then was theyr a tyme when the chirche was lawles / But that is an vncōuenient / therfore ye cānot say so / ye must theyr fore fo say that ether the law of the chirche was made be fore the chirche / or at the first tyme that the chirche was. It folowethe then that when and wher­soeuer the most perfite chirche was / that theyr was the most perfit law of the chirche. But in Christes tyme and the Apostelles tyme and in the tymes of the holy martyres was the most perfit chirch / therfore then was the perfitest law of the chirche / then the law of Christes chir­che / was in the Apostelles tyme all redy made & so perfit that no man could make any thyng more perfite / But the canon law was not yit made in the apoststelles tyme / theyr for the ca­non law was not the law of Christes chirche in the tyme of the apostelles / The word of god [Page] which is the law of the chirch lasteth for euer & is not changed / so that the chirche of Crist at all tymes hathe no other law but Christes word. ye say that the canon law is the law of the chirche of Englond therfore ye say that the chirch of Englond is non of Christes chirche / in as myche as ye say that the law of the chirch of englond is an other law then was the law of the chirche of Christ & the apostelles tyme whiche was the true Christen chirche. But if ye masters cōmunemissaries / will nedes call still the canon law the law of the chirche / what mean ye by the chirche? whether mean ye the congregation of all them that archosen to be saued or no? if ye mean so ye lie / for many that ar in heuen neuer knew the canon law / if ye mean by the chirche the Prophetes the Apostelles / and the Euan­gelistes / ye lye for the canon law was neuer of theyr makyng / if ye mean by the chirche the pop and them that ar sworn vnto hyme / it is true that the canō law is the law of the chirche. Will ye now comunemissaries that the law of the chirche that is of the pope & hys shauelynges shall beholden still in Englond? if ye will so thē i nede to reson nomore to proue that ye hold still the pope in Englond. If the chirche signifi a nother sort of men then i haue made mention of / tell me in your answere to thes my questio­nes and tell me who made the canon law if the popes of Rome haue not made it. Then thys solution will not serue / that the canon law / is the [Page] law of the chirche / seing that it cannot be the law of any chirche but of a popish chirch for it is of the popes makyng. But if it wer granted that the canon law wer the law of the chirche / yit ye can not deny but the traditiones ordinances and ceremōies before rehersed ar of the po­pes makyng. Then thys argument standeth vn solutede / whosoeuer holdeth still the popes do­ctine holdeth still the pope / But ye hold still the popes doctrine / ergo ye hold still the pope / If ye answer we tak them not as the popes cere­monies & ordināces all thoghe we know that the pope hathe taught them and made them but as the kynges ceremonies & ordinances / for the kyng hath cōmanded in a certayn proclamatiō that no man schuld from the tyme of that proclamation be so hardy as to call the ceremonies & ordinances that wer in the chirche of Englond at that tyme / the popes ordinances and cere­monies but the kynges ceremonies and ordini­nances all thogh it wer out of all dout that the pope had mad them & taught them / But now ye gentle men of the clergi which was the caus of thys proclamatiō / answer me if it pleas yow to a question or ij. If Francis the kyng of Fran­ce shuld make a proclamation that all the no­ble actes and dedes of kyng Alexander the conquerour / & all the actes of Sardanapali shuld be no more called and taken for Alexanders and Sardanapali actes and dedes but for hys de­des shuld all the actes and dedes of Alexan­der and Sardanapali be therfore the kyng of [Page] Frances dedes and actes? i thynk no. For if by proclamation men myght make other mennes dedes and actes theyr oun actes / then myght Sardanopalus haue robbed Alexander of hys noble actes and made them hys / and so a uery cowhert myght haue as many noble actes as the best warrier in al the world. If the kyng of Portugale shuld command in a proclamation that Aristotel & Platoes workes shuld no mor be called Aristoteles workes and Platoes but hys workes / shuld Aristotel & Platoes workes by thes meanes be cum hys workes? I thynk nay / for if the kynge of Portugagal myght take Aristotoles workes frō Aristotel then myght Menius becū Maro and the most vnlerned in a cūtre might haue as noble workes as the best leaned man in the world / If the kyng of denmark shuld set out a proclamation that all the ceremonies of Moses law as offering up of calues and frankincens shuld nomore be called & taken for Moses ceremonies but for hys shuld not Moses ceremonies cōtinue Moses ceremonies still for all the proclamatiō? I think so. Thē is theyr no proclamatiō that can disposses the the pope of hys ceremonies and constitutiones but the ceremonies & ordināces whiche was hys xij yere ago shall be hys ceremonies and ordinances still thoge a thousand proclamatio­nes shuld command the cōtrari / Ye must fyndde out an other hole to hyde your father the fox in for here he can lurk no lenger.

Neuertheless lyke faythfull foxy childer ye haue don the best that lay in yow to couer hym. For about seuen yere ago when men preched ernestly agaynst the pope / and he with all hys ordinances was lyke to bedryuen out of Englōd / a certain mā to set hym forward gathered together out of platina and such other writers / what popes had made all the ceremōies that ar now in the chirche / and to euery ceremoni he assyg­ned on pope or other / whiche thyng made the ceremonies begin to be less regarded then they wer before / Then ye feryng that they shuld be dryuē out of the realm with theyr father if they were taken for the popes ordinances / by your frendes ye procured & broght to pass / that the ceremonies whiche the pope made shuld no more be called the popes ceremonies / but the kynges ceremonies. And thys was sett vp and proclāed in euery marketh town. In doyng of whiche thyng as myche as lay in yow ye made the kyng pope / for if the popes actes and the kynges be all on / then is the kyng the pope or ellis partner with the pope / Whether say ye maketh the name of the pope / the pope / or the popes actes and dedes. If ye say that the name of the pope maketh a pope then haue ye ma­ny popes in Englond for theyr ar many that ar called popes in Englond which neuer the less hate the pope more then ye do / The name of the Pope maketh not thē the pop / but the actes [Page] and dedes / of the pope / As not euery man that is accused of theft and called a thefe / is a thief / but he alon is a thief that dothe the actes & de­des of a thief / so it is not the name of the pope that maketh the pope but the popes actes & de­des. Then it folowethe well / lykewys as he that layeth & assygneth to a tru man the dedes and actes of a thief maketh a tru man as myche as lyeth in hym / a thiefe / so ye gyuyng & layng to the kyng the actes & dedes of the pope / as myche as lay in yow made the kyng the pope / Call ye theyr for no more the popes canon law / the law of the chirch of Englōd / call no more from henceforward the popes ordināces the kynges ordinances for fere of it that foloweth. It is playn then that ye hold still the popes canō law and thoghe ye haue banisshed hys name for a face / that ye hold still hys bookes and hys cere­monies. Then answer me to a questiō / Ar theyr not many thinges in Iohan frithes bokes / that ar both good and godly and agreyng withe the word of god? And then tell me why haue ye cō ­demned all hys bokes for heresi and the reders of them and hauers of them for heretykes for not mo then ij or thre hereses euen after your iudgment / seing theyr ar so many other godly thynges that ar no heresi / If ye say thoghe ther be many good thynges in hys bokes what ne­de Christen men to sek our good thynges out of an heretikes book / seing theyr ar bokes i now be [Page] syde and therfor / we burn the heretikes bokes wih the heretikes / lest the heresi that the heretikes taught shuld sprede by the meanes of the bokes / for as the voice of an heretike hearde ma­keth heretikes so the bokes of an heretik red ma­ke heretikes / & therfor we burn the on with the other / answer me to thys / the pope is both an heretik and a traytore as theyr is non of yow all that will deny / then how happeneth it that whē ye bānisshed thys heretik / that ye burn not hys bokes as well as other heretikes bokes / I know no other caus but that ye fauored them for your fathers sake / Well then as the bokes of a zuin­glian heretike had and red make a zuinglian heretik / so the bokes of a popishe heretik / had and red / make a popishe heretik / But allye bisshop­pes of englōd that ar canonistes & all ye byss­hoppes cōmissaries haue andrede the bokes of a popishe heretik that is to wit the canon law that the heretik pope made / ergo my lordes ye and your cōmissaries ar all heretikes / As ye iudge other mē so shall ye be iudged / Morouer as he­retikes bookes ar the sede that heretikes cum of / so popish bokes ar the sede that papistes cū of / Then he that will not burn heretikes bokes but will mātein thē will that theyr shall be many heretikes / euen so they that will not burn the popes bokes but wil mainteine thē will that theyr shall be many papistes / ye do so / therfore ye wold that theyr shuld be many papistes / as it is the [Page] moste proper ād peculiare werk of a perfit beste to engēdre a nother lyke in kynd vnto hym self.

What do ye gentle men of the clergi ye haue not yit soluted thys argument / ye hold still the popes doctrine ergo ye hold still the pope / euen hym that the kyng wold haue dryuen out of en­glond. If ye answer.

The popes doctrine that is contrari to the word of god is the pope that the kyng wold ha­ue driuen out of englond / but the ordinances aboue rehersed ar not contrari to the word of god therfor we hold not still the pope that the kyng wold haue driuen out of englond. To thys an­swer / i say that the kynges hyghnes goyng ab­out to delyuer hys subiectes from the bondage of the pope and inten dynge to driue out of hys realm / abbottes priores nonnes monkes and freris which occupied the most part of hys re­alm and proposed to set ryght Christen men in theyr places / as por mennes sonnes / to be after­ward preachers of the word of god / blynd la­me / and other pore Christen folk / intended suche a thynge as all myghty god dyd when he dely­uered the chyldere of Israel from the bondage of pharao / and droue out the chanaanites of theyr lande that the true Israelites myght haue that land and succede them.

But allmyghty god gaue thys commandment vnto moses the guyd & delyuerer of the Israelites out of egypt / & all the childer of Israel thus / [Page] After the coustom of the land of Egypt where as ye haue duelt shall ye not do. And after the maner of the land of chanaan in to the whiche i shall bryng yow / shall ye not do / and in theyr most lawful wayes shall ye not walk / ye shall do my iudgementes / and my command mentes shall ye kepe iā the lorde your god / Do not thos thynges that they haue don whiche was be fore yow / seke in the xviij. of Leuitici and thes wor­des shal ye fynde. So learned men whom the kyng apoynted to delyuer hys subiectes from the bondage of the Romish Pharao the pope / ought to haue sweped the chirch & dryuen quite out of it all that euer any pope had made / and if that Christes chirche could not haue ben rueled and ordered Christenly inoghe by the doctrine of Christe wher with the primatiue chirch was only gouerned then myght yow haue gon abeg­gyng to your father the pope otherwys called Antichriste desyryng hym to let yow haue sum of hys ceremonies to gouern Chistes chirche with all / which with out them were not able to stād. The law of the gospell is a mor perfit law for the Christen then the law of Moses was for the iewes. But the iewes neded no other law nor ceremonies then the law of Moses / then the Christen men nede no other law (as tou­chyng theyr soules) but the law of the gospel. Therfor if the canon law and the ceremonies a­boue rehersed were all at the deuel from when­ce [Page] they cam the chirch of Christ myght be a great dele better gouerned then it is now gouerned / or ellis was the chirche in the apostelles tymes but euel gouerned / which knew not on of thes ceremonies that ye haue in the chirch at thys day.

Now haue we shewed yow by the example of the scripture / that thoge the ordināces of the pope had ben lawful / that ye ought not to haue holden them. Howbeit i shall proue the popes ordinances whiche ye hold still / ar as myche cō trari to the scripture as is light to darknes and Christ to Beliall / let us therfor examin the chefe and most laudable ceremonies as ye take them / with ye touch stone of the word of god. / Is the crepyng of the cros agreyng with the word of god? whatsoeuer ye say / i say nay / & thus will i proue it. In crepyng of the cross ye worship the cros but the worshypping of the cross is cōtrari to the vord of god ther for the crepyng yf the cros is cōtrari to the word of god. If ye say that in crepyng of the cros that ye worship not the cros / i shall proue yow fals lyers not only by the autorite of the scripture / but also by your oun wordes that i haue writen & by your oun confessi­on. To worship / as i will proue it by the autorite of the word of god / is to bow to any thyng. to fall doun before any thyng / to kuele / or with re­uerent behauiour to kys any thyng / for so betokeneth the latin word adoro / & the grek worde [...] whiche word signifieth to kiss / Here [Page] Regum 3. cap. 19. Derelinquam mihi septem milia virorum in Israel quorum genua nō sunt incuruata ante Baal & omne os quod non ado­rauerit eum osculans manum. I will leue vnto me seuen thousand men in Israel whose knees haue not ben bowed befor baal / and euery mouth which hath not worshipped hym kissyng hys hand. ye may se that to knele or to bow be fore an image or ā idole is to worship it / and that lykewis that to kys ā image or an idole is to worship it for here the scripture sheweth the maner of worshippyng / wherby we may know who worshippeth and who worshippeth not / If ye require more scripture / to proue that to fall do­un and to bow before a thyng / is to worship it / here what is wryten in the x. chapter of the actes of the appostelles / when saynt Peter cam vnto Corneliū Cornelius as soun as he saw hym Procidens ad pedes adorauit eum / fallyng do­un at hys fete worshipped hym. It is al­so write in the 22. chapter of the reuelation of Iohan. how that the angel wold not suffer Io­han worship hym / in thes wordes / And after that i had heard and sene / i fell doun before the fete of the angel to worship hym whiche she­wed me thes thynges / And he said unto me / se that thow do not so / for i am thy felow ser­uant &c. worship god. Now may ye euident­ly perceyue that bythes places of scripture that to kys an image reuerently / to bow to an image [Page] or before an image or to knele to it or to any suche thyng is to worship it. But ye knel to the cros and before the cross / ye bow to the cros and kis the cross / therfore ye worship the cros in crepyng the cros as ye call it / But sum of yow per­aduenture / possessed with the spirit of the de­uel / whiche fyndeth out euer excuses and defence for hys seruice idolatri / will answer to me / as the hethen answered the old Christen men / whē they blamed them for worshippyng of gold and syluer / that ye worship not the image of the crucifix but Christe hym self that the image repre­sentithe / To thys excuse i make thys resone. To kis the cros it self is to worship the cros it self but ye kyss the cross it self / ergo ye worship the cross it self. But if thys reson be not strong inoghe / i shall proue with an other place of the scripture besyde the iij. aboue rehersed that / to worship before anythyng is to worship the same.

It is writen luk the iiij. that the deuel sayd vnto Christe.

All thes thynges shall be thyne / if thow fal­lyng doun will worship before me / And Mat­thew tellyng the same history say eth i will gy­ue the all thes thynges if thow will worship me / Then if luke and Matthew write all on sence and differ not in rehersyng of the histori then is it all on thyng to worship befor a thyng and to worship a thyng. The grek word [Page] that is turned in to englishe before is more playn then the ēglish is for [...] besyde before / betokeneth in a mannes syght or before ones face / well ye worship before the cros / ergo ye worship the cross. Moreouer if that worship­pyng before an image / be not the worshippyng of an image / whi haue ye commanded that no­man shall set any candel before any image sa­ue only before the crucifix / when as the peple myght answer to thē that accused thē for wors­hippyng of images / whē they set cādelles befo­re images & kneled before images / we wors­hip not the images we set candelles in the honor of the sayntes that the images do reprae­sent & not in the honor of the images / If thys excuse be not allowable / then is not your excuse alowable when ye say we worship be fore the cross but not the cross. Ye hold still that the sayntes in heuē ar to be worshipped / but ye hold that no images may be worshipped sauyng the image of christe crucified / whiche comunly is ether of gold or elles of syluer & gilded with gold / What a dryuyng away of idolatri is thys to forbid the worshippyng of images of tre & stone & to cōpell men in payn of dethe to worship ima­ges of syluer & of gold? As thogh the scriptu­re alowed golden images & syluer images to be worshipped / Nay the scripture reproueth e­uen the goldē images in thes wordes The images of the hethen ar gold & syluer the workes of [Page] mēnes handes all they that make thē / be lyk thē & all they that trust in thē. I haue proued now by sufficient witnesses of the scripture / that to worship before an image is to worship it. ye worship before the image of the crucifix ergo ye worship the image of the crucifix / If ye deny still that ye worship the cros or the image of the crucifix / i will proue yow liers by your oune wordes whiche ye haue bothe sayd / & intend to say agayn / Tell me what do ye syng and say on good friday when ye crepe the cross and the pe­ple crepyth after yow? Synge ye not / Crucem tuam adoramus domine lord we worship thy cross. And that all fals excuses shuld be holden out / that ye say not / that by the cross ye mean the passion of Christe / it is writen in your ordi­nari rubrike / Deportetur crux per medium cho­ri a duobus sacerdotibus vbi a populo adoretur. Let the cross be born thorow the quere by ij prestes / that theyr it may be worshipped of the peple / Can ij prestes cari the passion of Christ in theyr handes / i trow nay. Seke thensum other shift for thys will not serue. Bethys tyme ye cā not deni but that ye bothe worship images and compell other mē to worship them also whiche thyng i shall euidently proue that it is as con­trari to the scripture as antichrist is to Christ. And thus will i proue it. If it be not lawful to make an image and to haue an image / it is not lawful to worship an image bad an made. But [Page] the scriptur forbyddeth to make images and to haue images then miche more it forbyddeth to worship them / Here the places of the scriptu­re whiche forbid the makyng & hauyng of ima­ges Exod. xx. Thow shall make the no grauen image &c. Leuinci xxvj. I am your lord god. ye shall not make yow a similitude of a god / or a grauen image / Deuteronomij iiij. ye haue sene no likenes in that day that the lord spak vnto yow in oreb from the middes of the fyre / lest ye perchanse deceyued shuld make vnto yow a grauen liknes / or the image of a man or a woman or the lyknes of bestes of the erth &c. Deutero­nomii xxvij. Cursed be the man that maketh a grauen or a casten image / the abomination of the lorde / The wis man in the xiij. chapter curseth both the image and the image maker / If thys be the scripture and the word of god that i haue rehersed / then must ye nedes grant that it is not lawful to make an image / or at lest that it is vnlauful to make an image / and after that at is made to worship it / If that ye grant ether of thes ij as ye must nedes do / that it is forbyd­den by goddes holy worde either to make ima­ges or to worship images that ar made / ye cā ­not de ni but that ye be damnable doctores / & ernest seruantes to the deuel / whiche bothe worship images your selues as ye testifi in your ser­uice / & compell the pore peple against theyr consciences to worship images & commit idolatri [Page] for your pleasure. / If ye say the scriptures before rehersed forbid to make the images of fals goddes as of Iuppiter & of Mercuri & suche o­ther / & to worship them / but they forbid not to make the image of Christ & to worship it. Thys sayng is as fals as god is treu for god sayet deu. v. in the second commandment / Thow shall mak the no grauen image nether the lykenes of anythynges whiche ar in heuen aboue & whiche ar in the erthe benethe / & which ar in the wa­ters vnder the erth thow shalt nether bow to them nor worship them / Now tell me whether Christe is in heuen or no / if he be in heuen / as ye cānot deny but he is thē it is forbyddē by the scripture to mak any lykenes of hym ād to worship it & to bow to it for the word of god sayetht thow shal make the no liknes of anythyng that is in heuen aboue nether shall thow worship it nor bow to it. But ye make the image of Christ which is in heuen / & bow to it & worship it therfor ye do opēly contrari to the opē word of god / Therfor ether cōdemn & scrape out the second cōmandmend / or ellis leue of the crepyng of the cros & the worshippyng of the crucifix in bow into it & in knelyng to it. For the crepyng of the cross & the secōd cōmandmēt of god can no lon­ger agre to gether.

But i wil cōclude this mater with an argumēt not easi to assoyle / If it be vnlaw ful to fall doun to worship the better and worthier thyng / it [Page] is myche more vnlawful to bow to fall doun to worship the wors thyng and the vnworthyer / thyng. Saynt Peter saynt Paule the āgel that shewed Iohan hys reuelation ar better & mor worthy thē the image of the crucifix that ye call the cross But if they wee here all to gither it wer not lawful to worship them Actorum x. & xiiij. Apocalyp. xxij. ergo mych mor is it vnlawfull to bowe to fall doun to worship the image of the crucifix / And yit ye say that ye hold no po­pish ordinances contrari to the word of god.

Is the coniuryng of salt & water to dryue deuelles a way / & to hele all syknesses / & to take a­way synnes agreyng with the word of god? ye will answer me in ēglish that ye make not your hally watter for any suche intent but only to be a remembrance of Christes bloud / but on son­day ye will answer me in latin that ye make it to dryue away deuellis / to hele all syknesses and to purches forgyuenes of synnes. Your answer is prynted & it is sayd euery sonday in euery parishe chirche of englond / in thes wordes / Im­mensam tuam clementiam omnipotens aeterne deus humiliter imploramus &c. All myghty e­uerlastyng god / we hūbely besech the that thow wold witsafe with thy holinis / to bliss and ma­ke holy / thys thy creature of salt / whiche thow hast gyuen to the vse and profit of man kynd / that it may be to all them that receyue / it helth of bothe body and soule / And the cherm that ye [Page] say ouer the water euery sunday is thys O cre­atur of water i coniure the in the name of all­myghty god the father and in the name of Iesu Christ hys son / that thow may be coniured wa­ter to cast out deuelles & to put away syknesses. &c. If ye say not thes wordes as oft as ye make hally water / let me be hanged drawen and quateredras a traytor to all myghty god & to my e­uē christen. How happeneth thys ye gentle mē of the clergi that ye say on thyng in latin and an other in enhlishe? If any man speak agaynst thys yowr witched water / ye defend it in the pulpit and say that ye make it to be a remembrance only of christes blode / and not to dryue deuelles away and to be helth of both body and soul / and on the sonday next folowyng ye say in latin that the peple shuld not perceyue your cloked lying that ye make it to dryue deuelles a way & to be helth of both the body and the soul / Ye crafety canonistes / ye play with hally water / pope Alexanders doughter / as a certayn canonist agētle man of the chirche did with an hore of hys. He occupied hys hore very long and sum began to spy hyr / He them willyng to hold hys hore still / cut hyr hare and made hyr a scolares short gōw and so he went up and doun in the toun withe hyr and noman suspect hyr / neuer the lesshe was a very hore and hyr patron lay with hyr euery nyght. So dyd ye long abuse thys for­sayd popes doughter / but as soun as your fornication [Page] was spokē agaynst in the pulpit / ye changed hyr apparel & put on hyr the signification of christes bloud / on the day / that is to wit when learned mē was by yow & hyr / & spake agaynst yow / & on the nyght when lerned men were a­way / in the praesence of a few blynd old wyues ye abused hyr as ye had wont to do. O duble aduouterous generation / both in the body & in the soul / Now let us examin. your gentle woman & play the proctores of cambrydge. till we haue serched hyr out what she is. No man axeth any thyng of god but it that he beleueth possible & may well be / ye ax of god that salt may be unto yow & to all them that receyue it saluation of body & soul / ergo ye beleue that it is possible and may wel be / that salt may be saluation to all thē that receyue it / But salt is an other thyng besyd christe and ye beleue that men may be saued bi it / ergo ye beleue that theyr is or may be an o­ther sauiour or saluation besyde christe / I will not suffer yow lyghtly to slip a way frome with out an answer ye say to god allmyghty / grant us that thys salt may be saluation or helth of body and soul to all them that receyue it.

Beleue ye that it that ye ar is possible or impossible / If it be impossible / ye be wise prayers / If ye beleue that it is possible that ye ax / then beleue ye that it is possible that salt may be sal­uation of both body and soul / But seing that [Page] theyr ar no mo partes of a man but hys bodys and hys soul / & christe can do no more to aman but to hele bothe body and soul / and ye say that it is possible that salt may hele bothe body and so l. then it foloweth that ye beleue that your coniured salt may do as miche as christe.

And if thys be not an heresy / to say that it is possible that salt may do as myche as our rede­mer and sauiour IESVS CHRIST both god and man can do / what is heresi? Now at lenghe thankes be vn to god we haue found out the right heretikes. let them that haue au­torite to ponishe heretikes / loke vpō them that hold thys damnable opinion.

Tel me ye bald shauen shepe / whiche haue the popes mark in your crounes / how happe­neth it that ye be wery of christes saluation that ye pray the father of heuen to make yow ano­ther sauior of salt / Hathe christ at any tyme disapoynted any of yow or any other man that tru­sted in hym / that ye desyre the father to make an other sauior of salt?

If he be a sufficiēt sauiure alon & disapoynted at no tyme thē that trust in hym / what nedeye desyre the father that salt may be helth of boly & soule? let them that vnder stand latin cum the next sonday to the chirche whē the prest maketh hally water & they shall besur to heare the prest desyrnge the heuenly father that salt may be saluation [Page] and helth of both body and soul to all thē that / receyue it / But lest ye shuld escape i will proue yow open idolaters by thys your prayer To whom soeuer ye gyue the properti of god / the same ye make god / as the chylder of Israel made a godd of the golden calfe when they sayd that it brought them out of egypt / for non but god could. delyuer them thorow the rede se from Pharao and the aegyptianes / and so they gaue to the calf that was dew to god. But ye gyue the property of god vnto salt ergo ye make a god of salt / I proue thus that ye gyue the pro­perty of god unto salt / The peculiar and alonly property of god is to be helth of bothe body and soul / and that gyue ye vnto salt / ergo ye make a god of salt / then ar ye damnable idolaters. If ye excuse your coniuryng of the deuel out of salt / water / fyre / and wylow boues / and say we ar the successors of the apostelles / nay theyr apes / the apostelles kest out deuelles why may we not also cast out deuelles as the apostelles dyd? I answer with thys questiō / The apostelles anoyn­ted syk mē & prayed ouer thē & they restored thē vnto theyr helth agayn. How happenethe that among a thowsand that ye anoynte / that ye re­store not on to hys heltht agayne? It is to be thoght that / the deuel setteth as mych by your coniuryng of hym away / as he set by the coniu­ryng of the seuen sonnes of the hye preste sceua / whiche was coniures / rede what luke writeth [Page] of them Act. 19. chapter But certayn of the run negate iewes that were coniures / tok in hand to call vpon the name of the lord IESV ouer them that had euel spretes sayng. We coniure yow by IESVS that Paule preacheth. for they that did that wer seuen sones of sceua the hye preste. But the euel spret answered / and sayd i know Iesus & Paul also / but who be yow? And the man that had the euel spret russhed vpon them / and ouercam them and had the hy­er hand ouer them / so that thei fled away out of the hows naked & wounded / Belyke the deuel setteth as myche by your coniuryng whiche ar the seuen sonnes of the hye preste of thys tyme the pope / that is to wit cardinalles archebisshoppes / bisshoppes / prestes / monkes freris and chanones / as he set by the coniuryng of the seuen sones of sceua the hye preste of the iewes for i neuer heard tell that thes thousand yeres that ye keste on deuel out of any thyng that ye coniu­red yit / It is lyke also that the deuel hauyng the hyer hand ouer yow / pulleth the heare of your crouues as many as ar coniures and ar the hy prest the popes sonnes / as he rent the clothes of the other hye prestes childer & wounded them well by thys mark may we be suer to know a coniurer and on of the popes sones that hathe vnlukely foughten with the deuel. To mak an end of thys mater ye say to salt sis salus mentis & corporis be thow helth of body and soul & the scri­pture [Page] sayeth of Christ / necest in alio quoquā sa­lus theyr is helth in no other / Now can ye nor say but that ye hold mo popish traditiones con­trari to the word of god then on.

Is the takyng away of the on half of christes supper frō the lay men agreing with the word of god? i thynk it is not. For theft & sacrilege is contrari to the word of god / And the takynge a­way of the on half of the supper from the lay pe­ple is theft and sacrilege / therfore the takyng a way of the on halfe of Christes supper from the lay peple is contrari to the word of god. Thus proue i that the takyng away of the halfe of christes supper is theft & sacrilege / Theft is the ta­kyng away of it that belongethe to an other / a­gaynst the auners will / Sacrilege is the takyng a way of an holy thyng frō them that it is dew to / agaynst theyr willes. But ye take from the lay peple agaynst theyr willes / the half of the sacrament which is dew vnto them / Therfore ye commit theft and sacriledge. If ye deny that the half of the supper that ye tak from them is dew vnto thē / by what autorite claym ye the hole supper that is bothe the partes of the sacramēt If ye say by the autorite of the scripture whiche sayeth / take & eat thys is my body / & drynk yow all of thys / was thys spoken & cōmanded to yow and the apostelles a lone / or it was spoken and commanded vnto all christen men If ye say that it was sayd and cōmanded to yow alon / and to the apostelles thē do ye the lay mē great wrong [Page] whych compel the lay men in payn of deth to receyue the half of the sacrament / which wer not commanded of christe to receyue it / If that thes wordes take and eat / and drynk ye all of a thys cup / were as well sayd vnto lay men as to prestes then tayk ye away from the lay men a­gaynst theyr willes / it that is dew vnto them /

But to do so is to play the theues and chirch robbers / theyr for to take away from the lay pe­ple the on half of Christes supper is theft and chirch robberi. But theft and chirch robry is contrari to the worde of god therfore it is con­trari to the word of god to take the on half of the sacrament from the lay peple / If thys reson be not strong inoghe here an other / Whoso euer putteth any thyng to the ordinance and cōmandment of god or taketh anythyng from it / syn­neth dedly / Deuteronomi iiij. Ye shall put no­thyng to the word that i speak vnto yow / nether shall ye take any thyng from it. If it be dedly syn to reproue & disanul a mannes testament that is once approued / or to take any thyng frō it / myche mor is it dedly syn to take any thyng away from the testamēt of Iesus christe which the father of heuen hath alowed. Galat. iij. But ye takyng away from the lay peple bibite ex ho comnes drynk ye all of thys / that is the sacrament of christes blode / take sum thyng from the word of god / & māgle & minishe the last will of our sauiour Iesu christe / & scrape out apart of chirstes wil whiche was that al mē shuld drynk of hys [Page] blyssed cup / therfor in takyng of the sacrament of christes blode from the lay peple ye syn dedly. If a man had ij sonnes a preste and a layman / the preste is with hys father at the makyng of hys testament / and the layman is away / the father departeth and commandeth both the lay man and the priest / to do on thyng & to re­ceyue on thyng / the testament is allowed / now whether doth the prest the lay man wrōg or no if he will not let hym receyue the hole thyng that hys father willed hym to receyue or no? Ye se by thys similitude that seing that ye prestes ar our brethern / and not masters aboue us and ar all elyk bound to kepe christes hole will / that ye haue no autorite to defraude us & tayk from us that our sauiour christe hath commanded us to receyue / and wold that we shuld take. Is it agreing with the word of god that a prest may say mes and receyue the sacrament for a lay mā and to teache that the prestes receyuyng of the sacrament deserueth forgyuenes of synes or at lest is profitable for lay men and for the soules departed? I thynk nay. Haue ye any text in all the hole scripture wherby ye cā proue that a lay man may not as well receyue the sacrament for a prest as the preste may receyue it for a laymā / If ye haue any lay it out / If on lay man can not receve the sacramēt for an other lay man & the yr by. win hym forgyuenes of sinnes / a preste cā not receyue the sacrament for a lay man & the­yrby [Page] deserue hym forgyuenes of synnes.

For as on christē man cannot be christened for an other / on cannot be confirmed for another / on cannot be confessed for an other on can not re­pent for an other / on can not take orders for an other / on cannot be anoynted for an other / on cā not be maried for an other / so cannot a christen man receyue the sacrament of christes body and bloud for another / then if the preste be a christen man he cannot receyue the sacrament for a lay man. If alay man labored sore from xij of the clok to six / and at six of the clok hys supper wer redy / iax if the lay mā wer sore hungre and thursty / if the parish prest shuld eat the laymannes supper from hym ād drink vp all hys drynk from hym wheter shuld thys prestes eatyng & dryn­kyng quenche the lay mannes hungre and thurst or no / proue that list / i thynk nay. So if the lay man haue a great hungre and a thurst to be conforted and streyntghened in hys faythe by the receyuyng of the sacrament / shal the prestes re­ceyuyng of the sacrament comfort the layman­nes soul and certifi hys conscience that hys syn­nes ar forgyuen by the bloud of chryste / I trow nay / or ellis but a litle / If that the prestes recey­uyng of the sacrament comfort mennes consci­ences more then if the laymen shuld receyue it theyr selues / what nede sik mē that ar lyke to dye to haue the sacrament brough vnto them when as the prestes receyuyng of the sacramēt / in the [Page] chirche comforteth as well the lay mannes soul after your opinion / & calleth to hys remembrance the passion of christ / so well as thoghe the lay man had receyued it in hys hous hys oun self? Ye hold that the receyuyng of the sacrament of prest helpeth more the laymen both dede & quik then theyr oun receyuyng let us [...]ri thy which examples / reason / & scripture. As all myghty god ordened the pasouer of the iewes & the eatyng of theyr caster lambe / for a remembrance of the yr deliuerance from the scourgyng angel / and from the bondage of Pharao / so chryst the son of god bothe god & man ordened hys supper to be receyued of all christen men that they shuld call to remēbrāce the passion of christe & the sheddyng of hys most precius blode whych hathe delyuered our soules out of the bondage of the spirituall pharao the deuel. As the prestes and the lay men of moses law were all elyk bound to kepe the f [...]ste of theyr pasouer / and to thank god for theyr delyuerance from the scourgyng angel and from the bondage of Egypt / and the prestes could not by the law of godgyue but the half of the lambe to the lay peple / so among christen men the lay menar as well bound to kepe theyr easter & to call to remēbrance the deth of christe / & to gyue thankes for theyr delyuerance frō the deuel / as the elders of the new testament ar / seyng that they haue receyued lyke profit of christes dethe and passion / And so the elders cā not by the word of god tayk the on halfe of the [Page] supper frō the lay peple. As god wold not al we it that in the old testamēt / a prest shuld eat the ester lambe for a lay iew / so will not god alow it in the new testamēt that an elder that ye call a preste shall take the sacramēt for alay mā / As an C. ye are after that the chylder of Israel was delyuered from the scourgynge angel & frō the bōdage of Egypt / a preste of the iewes could not deserue the delyuerance of the laymē by earyng the ester lāb whice was delyuered an C. year be fore / so the elders of the new testamēt / cānot deserue the delyuerance of the laymen of the new testamēt that is fore gyuenes of synnes by theyr receyuyng of the sacramēt of christes body and bloud / seing aboue xv. hūderd yere ago all the lay mē that be leue in christ was delyuered frō dethe the deuel and dānaciō / as paull to the Heb. in the x. chapter doth playnly testifi in thes wor­des / with on ablation and nomo he made perfit for euer all thē that ar sanctified & ordened to be saued Thē cannot the preste by the receyuyng of the supper of christe deserue our forgyuenes of synnes and our delyuerance seinge that our de­lyuerance is so lōg ago past and christ ordened not hys supper to deserue our delyuerance from the deuel / but to be a remēbrance of our deliue­rance frō the deuel and to gyue god thankes for our redemption and delyuerance.

If that ye hold stifly still that the prestes re­ceyuyng of the sacrament deserueth for the lay mē both alyue & departed forgyuenes of synnes [Page] or any maner of help for them / bryng out on tit­le of the scripture to proue it with all / If ye can bryng no scripture / ansuer to thys question / Whether is it a cōmandment of god to all chri­sten to receyue the sacrament or no. Ether it is a commandment or no commandment / yf it be no commandmēt then ar not laymen once in the year bound to receyue the sacrament / nether ar prestes bound to say me [...] / If that it be a commādmēt / How cā a prest deserue in doyng that for a layman that he is boūd to do for hym self? If it be a comun commandment to all men / to receyue the hole sacrament / god will not alow it that on man shall kep the commādment for an other but will require the kepyng of the cōman­mēdt / of euery on of our selues. For if god wold alow the kepyng of the commandment / of on man / for an other man / then neded no ryche men / were they neuer so deuelish go to the de­uel for not kepyng the commandmēt of god / for then yf prestes myght kep the cōmandmentes for laymē / & deserue thē forgymenes of synnes / they myght hyre prestes to kep the command­mentes for them that they myght lyue lyk deuelles and dye lyke sayntes and haue euerlastyng lyfe / But now let us se what the scripture say­eth concernyng thys / that on man may receyue the sacrament and kepe the commandment of god for an other / What soeuer a man soweth (sa­yeth the scripture) that shall he repe / The self [Page] scripture sayeth he that sowethe skarsely shal [...] repe skarsly / of the whych places i gather / that he that soweth nothyng shall rep [...] nothyng Then i reson thus / when the prest sayeth mes & receyueth the sacrament / the lay men that ar a­lyue and the soules departed sow nothyng / for the preste / sowethe alone / then shall nether the ded lay men / nor the quik / repe any thyng / that is, shall receyue no reward of god for the pre­stes sayng of mes and receyuyng of the sacra­ment for them / for if the ded and quik shuld haue profit by the prestes receyuyng of the sacra­ment / when they receyued it not theyr selues / then shuld they that sowed nothyng / contrari to the scripture / repe sum thyng and haue a re­ward for doyng nothynge More ouer as the fyue folyshe virgines could get no part of the fy­ue wise virgines oyle. whē the brydegrom cam so they that do no god workes theyr selues / shal haue no parte of other mennes good workes / Then if the mes and the receyuyng of the sacra­ment be a good work they that say not mes theyr selues or receyue not the sacrament theyr sel­ues / shall haue no part nor profit by the sayng of mes or receyuyng of the sacrament of other that say mes and receyue the sacrament / How say ye also to thys reson It that a preste cannot do for hym self that cannot he do for an other.

But by receyuyng of the sacrament he cannot deserue hym self forgyuenes of synnes / then can [Page] he not deserue forgyuenes of synnes by recey­uyng of the sacramēt for other / as for laymē & for the soules departed. That he cānot deserue forgyuenes of synnes for hym self in receyuyng the sacramēt / thus i proue it, the prest that is redy to receyue the sacramēt before he take it / is ether a good mā & the seruāt of god & hathe hys synnes all forgyuen / or he is an euel mā & the seruant of the deuel / & hath not hys synnes forgyuē If he be a good mā before he receyue the sacramēt & be the seruāt of god ād haue hys synnes forgyuē / then hys receyuyng of the sacramēt / deserueth not hym the forgyuenes of hys synnes / for hys synnes was forgyuē before or he recey­ued the sacramēt. If the prest a litle while befo­re he receyue the sacramēt be an euel man and the seruāt of the deuel and haue not hys synnes forgynē / and so receyue the sacramēt he deserueth by vnworthy receyuyng of the sacramēt / the iudgmēt & wrathe of god & no forgynenes of synnes but more ponyshmēt for hys new syn.

Then what is here to spare for the lay peple & for the soules departed? If it be true that whē a lay mā gyueth a preste ij pence or a grote to say mes for hym / & to receyue the sacramēt for hym al that the preste deserueth for receyuyng of the sacramēt is the laymānes deseruyng / when the preste is a hor monger & a dedly synner / as many on be / then the prestes deseruyng of the wrath of god for vnworthely receyuyng of the sa­crament [Page] for the layman / must nedes be the lay mānes deseruyng / and so byeth he with hys mony the wrath of god / Allmyghty god saue me & all christen men from such merchandise. Will ye yir say still that ye hold no traditiones of the pope contrari to the word of god? Say ye that it is agreyng with the word of god / or not cōtrari to the word of god / that all the Psalmes that ar song in the chirche / that all the Messes that ar sayd in the chirche / shuld be song and sayd in the old popes mother tonge whiche the peple of englōd doth not vnderstād / i will proue it cō trari to the word of god thowgh al they that hold on the popes syde wold defēd it to be god ād lawful. It is a wōderful thyng to se how that ye blynd bysshoppesr petēd to hate the pope / & yit loue so well hys workes and hys dedes that in all thynges ye folowe hym. as nere as is possible on mā to folow an other. The pope shaueth hys hede broder thē the comū sort of prestes do and hath a distinct kynde of aparel frō all other christen men also / and will be rekened hyer thē hys other brethern that ar ministers of the wo­rd of god as well as he is / and that cōtrari to the word of god whiche maketh al the aposteles of lyke autorite and not on aboue an other and so do ye [...] / The pope forbyddeth to eat flesshe many tymes in the year as in lent and on the frydayes and yit selleth licens for mony to eat all tymes / and so do ye.

The pope will that the canon law and the cere­monies be had in great reputation & not to be put furthe of the chirche thoghe they hynder the prechyng of goddes word and the prayng with hart and spret / whiche ar the true and ryght seruice of god / and so do ye and lest the pope shuld haue any peculiar & seuerall vngodly properti to differ by from the apostelles of Christ that ye shuld not haue / the pop willeth & commandeth in all places where he hath dominacion that all Psalmes and all messes shall be sayd and song in hys old mother latin tong thoge the peple vnderstand neuer on word of the latin tong / yit thys doth he in a token that the peple hearyng the romish tong whiche is latin shuld knowled­ge them selues to be vnder the se of Rome / ye Christen in the popes tong and bery in the po­pes mother tong and syng all the Psalmes that [...]r song / in the popes mother tong / and com­mand straytly that all the thynges aboue rehersed shall be sayd song and don in no other tong but in the popes mother tong which is the la­tin tong / in a token that ye swarue not away from the pope of rome. The iewes whiche wold neuer knowledge the pope to be theyr hede syng theyr seruice and Psalmes in hebru / The gre­kes which haue of long tyme departed from the pope syng theyr seruice in theyr oun mother greke tong / the bemers which fell lōg ago from the pope haue forsaken the popes mother tong [Page] and syng all the seruice in theyr oun tong / The germanes which of late left the pope left also the popes tong / and now syng all seruice and Psalmes in theyr oun duche tong and so all cuntres whiche forsake the pope in very dede and ernestly / forsake the popes ordinances and the popes romish tong / as touchyng syngyng Psalmes and seruice therin. But ye bysshoppes of englond ye alon among all other nationes that forsake the pope / hold still the popes ordi­nances and the seruice in the latin tong. Ye thynk belyk that ye ar wiser then all other nati­ones / How beit i shall proue that ye do clene contrari to the word of god in syngyng the ser­uice in a tong that the peple doth not vnderstōd Saynt Paule in xiiij chapter of the former epi­stel to the corinthianes doth amost no orher thyng then disalow your syngyng and sayng in a strange tong in the chirche that the peple doth not vnderstand. But if ye require sum testimo­nies out of that chapter / here what Paul sayeth

He that speaketh in a tong (that is in a langage that the comun peple vnderstandeth not (speaketh not vnto men but vnto god for noman heareth hym (that is vnderstandeth hym) but he speaketh secret priuites in the spret But he that prophecieth (that is declareth and openeth the scripture) in atong that the peple vnderstandeth he spekethe vnto men profit for theyr soules ex­hortation and comforth / He that speketh in [Page] a tong profiteth hym self but he that propheti­eth byldeth the congregacion / And a lytle far­ther in the same chapter. As oft as ye mere to gether / euery on of yow hat thys song hys doctrine hys tong hys reuelation / hys interpretatiō / and let all thynges be don to the profit of the congregation / So far Paul / What profit hath the vn­learned man in hearyng the gospel red in the latin tong that he vnderstādeth not be it neuer so trymly red or chanted? Euen as myche profit as a syk man hathe of a phisitianes bill when the potecary redeth it ouer the syk mannes hede in latin and ministreth nothyng to the syk mā that is cōteyned theyr in Paul sayeth more ouer whether any man speak in atong (that is in a speche that the comum sort vnderstandeth not) let it be don by ij together at the vttermost iij ād that by cours and let on expoūd or tell what it meaneth But if theyr be nō that will interpret or expoūd let hym hold hys peace and say nothyng in the chirche / but let hym speak to hym self and to god Thes ar the wordes and cōmandement of god taught us by hys holy apostel saynt Paul / wher­by your latin messes and latin euē souges ar vt­terly condemned seing they ar sayd and songin a tong that the chirche vnderstandeth not / and ye do not interpret and declare it that is sayd in a tong that the peple doth vnd (er)stand / Ar theyr no more but thre at the vtter most in poules spekyngin in tōges / at once? If theyr be mo thē thre whe thee is the cōmandmēt of god gyuen by sa­ynt [Page] Paule brokē or no? I pray yow what meane ye to say in latin to the lay peple that ye kno­we well vnd (er)stādeth no latin at all / dn̄s vobiscū / orate pro me fratres / & [...] missa est Ether ye saythes wordes to god or to all the peple / if ye say thē to god thē ye bid god / be with god / & that is wisely dō / wit ye wel / or if ye say thē to the lay peple ether ye speak to thē that they shuld know what ye mean / if ye wold that they shuld know what ye me an / why do yow speak latin to thē that ye know can vnd (er)stand non / if ye speak la­tin to thē becaws they shuld not vnd (er)stand yow / hold your tōges & speak nothyng at al & thē haue ye gotē your purpose / for thē they shall not wit what ye meane / & if ye hold oyur tonges ye shal not spēd in vayn so myche lib [...] labor as ye do. Ansuer me to thys before ye call me heretik. & whē ye haue ōce made a resōable answer & cō futed ād ouercūned my resones / if i stād styfly in my opiniones if & gyue not ouer to yow thē spare not but call me heretik as oft as ye will but if ye cānot ouercū thes resones / which if they wer not of god myght be easely ouercūmed ād ther­fore wil not answer grant by holdyng of your peace / that ye ar ouercūmed / ād gyue ouer your hold ād say peccauimus cū patribus nostris / we haue don amis with our fathers Mor of thus shal ye hear here after / How happeneth thys that nether ye wil rede the scripture in the englyshe tōg yor selues / to the lay peple nether will suffer thē that cā rede the scripture to rede for it theyr [Page] soules helt / and great comforthe of other that heare it red? It is with our all strife and owt of all dout / that ye loue not Christe and wold that all the lay men were blynd and had no know­ledg of scripture nomore then they had xx yeare ago that ye myght play your old practises / and haue no man to loke on / to correct yow / Euen as a hore monger when he seeth a fayr woman & wold haue hys plesure of hyr wold that it wer nygh and that all other men were blynd tyl he had hys pleasure / When the new testamentes cam in first it was counted heresi to haue a new testament and many haue ben cruelly handled for sellyng of new testaments in english / whiche thyng syger of cambrydg can testifi if he wil as not only a seing but also a felyng witnes.

On noble canonist bought vp half a prynt of new testamentes / and for the loue that he had to the maker of the testament / offered them vp in a burnt sacrifice to pleas vulcanus & the pope with all who at thos dayes sat deply in hys conscience / Thys man left of burnyng of testamen­tes and other began to burn men / & as yit ha­ue not made an end. But after that the kyng of hys goodnes that god gaue hym had once granted that the new testament myght be openly boght & sold and that euery man myght haue the new testament and rede it / ye bysshoppes for a great whil durst say nothyng theyr to. Ye sayd as litle to the hauyng of the hole bible in en­glish [Page] / wiche the kyng an the spite of your teche brōg in to the chirche / that all mē myght know theyr dewties / redyng of it / till that ye had con­firmed the popes doctrine withe acte of parlament / & had slayn and murdered the chefe mā teners of the bible next vnto the kyng. Then ye being lothe that your actes shuld be tried and examined with the bible / went about & do so still to dryue the bible out of the chirche agayn / Ye haue giuen commandment that no man shall rede the bible that any man may heare hym re­de / afterwardes ye commanded that no man shuld rede the bible in seruice tyme / And becaus men shuld learn to kepe your commandment that is / whill ye red in the quere the popes seruice and the deuelles seruice / that no man shuld rede the word of god / ye of late mundered on porter in pryson / for no other caus but for re­dyng of the bible / that other men shuld not be to bold to rede it / Ye neuer put any man to deth yit for aduoutre / or hordom / therfor ye reken it a greater offence to rede the gospel I of saynt Io­han in the seruice tyme & the wordes that Christe spake / then to ly with an hore / And to rede the wordes Omelie Gregorij Pape / in the po­pes tong that all the chirch may here them / is rekened to be goddes seruice and to rede the gos­pel of Iesu Christ in the englis he tonge that seuen or eight may heare / is rekened of yow the deuelles seruice / for ye forbid nothyng but it [Page] that / ye reken is the deuelles seruice / It folo­weth then that ye reken the pope god and Chri­ste the deuel / for hym reken ye god whos wor­des to rede and kepe ye reken is goddes seruice.

And hym reken ye the deuel or at leste the son of the deuel / whos wordes to rede and to kepe ye reken the deuelles seruice and ponish men for the redyng of hys wordes. Thes folow of your dedes / and bycause euery man cannot gather after thys maner / as oft as i se iust occasi­on i shall let you and all englond know of your hereses and damnable opiniones & deuelysh dedes that ye do and intend to do / whiche thyng i wold not do if i knew yow not for obstinat wrastlers agaynst godes holy word. If ye say we wold not vtterly haue the bible suppressed but we wold haue it better trāslated / what tyme wold ye haue to correct it / perchance so ma­ny yeares as the kinges hyghnes shall lyue / & then after hys deth ye haue a good hope with the help of them whose childer ye fynde / to hold it doun tyl that the prince cum to perfit age and then to if ye can. For the bible is the breathe of goddes mouth wiche ye haue red shall kyll your father antichrist and yow. If ye say we wold not haue the bible out of the chirche agayn but only we desyre that goddes seruice shall not be hyndered by the laymēnes redyng / well thē what call ye goddes seruice / ye will say iāsuer that all that is song & sayd in the quere is goddis seruice [Page] / as thoge it that were red sayd or sōg in the bodi of the chirche were non of goddes seruice / Thys ansuer will i thus improue / the more part of it that is red in the chirche is no scripture / as ar lying legēdes whiche ar bigger thē the bible / sequēces / secretes / colates cōiurynges / of water salt fyr & bowes / litani respōdes & suche other / whos redyng sayng & syngyng cānot be goddes soruice / for Christe sayeth / Matt. xv. they wors­hip me in vayn that teach the cōmandmētes of men / & the learnyng of mē / then seing that the legēdes & the colates ar made by mē / & the clerkes in the quere in redyng thē teach them it foloweth that they worship god in vayn / thē is the­yr seruice vayn / goddes seruice is not vayn ser­uice thē the greater half of that whiche is red in the quere is nō of goddes seruice / that is to wit the legēdes colates cōiurynges / secretes sequē ­ces & such other / Now the other parte of it that is rede in the quere is pure scripture / of whos heryng laymē haue as myche profit as alay & vn­lerned mā hath of the heryng of a latin play or comedi / Howbeit i will proue that euē the most part of that scripture seynge that it is sayd and song contrari to goddes mynde is non of god­des seruice / in all them & in all other that say the scriptur with theyr lippes & not with theyr hertes / that is vndstand not what they syng & say & lyft not theyr myndes vp to god / as do all they that sing latin seruice & vnd (er)stand no latin / as the most parte of queresters syngyng men [Page] and soul prestes & many body prestes also / commōly do / god commanded that the scriptur shuld not be song or sayd in a strange tong except it were strayght way exponded / that is not don / then is the scripture sayd & soug not after god­des mynd theyr for it is not goddes seruice so song and sayd / And that they that vnder­stand not latin worship not god nor serue god with syngyng of the scripture in latin thus i prouit. Iohan 4. God is a sprete and they that worship hym must worship hym in sprete and truthe / that is vnfaynedly with hert and myn­de / so do not they that syng they wot not what Christ also Mathew 15. reproueth suche seruers and worshippers whyche nether vnderstand nor marck what they say in thes wordes / thys peple draweth ner hand me with theyr mouth and worshippeth me with theyr lippes but the­yr hart is far from me / Now haue i proued that your seruice in the quere is not goddes seruice / but vayn lip labor except it be song and sayde with hert and mynd as they do not whiche vn­derstand not what they syng / except also it be scripture and song & sayd after the ordinance of god / If it be goddes seruice to syng in the quere the Omelies of Popes / Legendes of sa­yntes / & such verses Sancte Maries merites bryng us to heuen and all in the latin tong / then must it mych more be goddes seruice to rede in the body of the chirche / the text of the scripture [Page] whych is better then the popes gloses / the ac­tes of the Apostelles / and suche other textes of the scripture / No man cummeth to the father but thorow me / i am tha way the truthe & the lyfe / Then why forbyd ye the better for the wors / whi for byd ye lay men to rede the bible in your seruice tyme seing the lay men may ha­ue miche more profit of hearyng of fyue wor­des red in english that they vnderstand / then of v thousand wordes that they do not vndstand / be they neuer so fyuely chopped champed or chā ted? Paul sayeth let all thyng be don to the edi­fication and profit of the chirche / but your seruice song and sayde in the latin tong / is not for the profit of the chirche / therfor it is contrari to the word of god that ye shuld syng the seruice or say it in the latin tong / If ye require the sum of all to gither in an argumēt take it vnto yow No man is edified by hearyng it that he doth not vnderstand / and therfore hathe the kyng cō manded that all laymē shall learn theyr Pater nostet in englishe / but the laymen vnderstand not the seruice fayd and song in the latin tong / therfore they ar not edified or made any better by hearyng it in the latin tong.

Is it agreyng with goddes worde that ye forbyd all men bothe learned and lay the hole halfe yeare saue 12. dayes / to mary / & will suf­fer no man to be a precher of goddes word / or a minister of Christes chirche except he for swe­re [Page] mariage first / is it agreyng with goddes wo­rd to say that apreste may not haue a wyfe by the word of god? I say that thys your doctri­ne is the doctrine of the deuel / for Christ alo­weth mariage in all men and in all tymes / Honorable is mariage among all mē sayeth Paul / and the same sayethe if they cannot for beare and haue not the gift of chastite let them mary / thys commandeth god by Paul to be don / at al tynes ye euen in your holy lent tyme if a man haue not the gyft of chastite. Ye haue boldly and wikkedly gyuen sentence in your conuoca­tion hous that a preste may not haue a wife by the law of god and vit can ye not shew on let­ter in all the hole bible that forbyddeth prestes to haue wyues / ye say that they may haue no wyues by the word of god and yit they may haue as i haue proued by the bible / therfore ye reken theyr is sum thyng the word of god besyde the bible i thynk that ye take the canō law for the word of god / or at lest regarde it as myche as the word of god / ye make men beleue that ye haue scripture to proue your purpose with all / and yit the chefe setter out of thys article / the noble waterer of the popes gardin / whiche of hys dedes hath hys name / when he was required of Martin Bucer what scripture he had to proue that prestes myght not mary / lyk a perfit canonist for lak of scripture made thys reson / The same autorite hathe the kyng ouer all the [Page] prestes of hys reame and hys other subiectes that a father hath ouer hys chylder / But a fa­ther may forbid the prestes of hys realm to mary. Then if they mary when he forbiddeth them to mary they break the commandment of god / whiche sayeth childer obey your fathers & mothers. Now let us se what foloweth of thys gardners argument / First it foloweth that the kyng hath autorite to forbyd all men in hys re­alm both that haue the gifft of chastite and ha it not to mary as long as they lyue and so vt­terly may by gardners iudgment destroy matrimoni / It foloweth of thys argument / that on­ce in tyme past that it was not vnlawful for prestes to mary that is to wit before the kyng for­bad prestes to mary / If foloweth of gardners reson that the kyng forbad prestes mariages before god forbad them and that the kyng made the mariage of prestes sin before god / and that it wer no sin for a preste to mary if that the kyng wold not forbyd prestes to mary.

Mark thys well ye temporall lordes and ye burgesses of the parlament how thys ly­ing lim of the the deuel / when he is in ger­many can fynd out no scripture to disproue prestes mariages with all / but only that the kyngis for byddyng of prestes Mariages maketh prestes Mariages vnlawful and [Page] no other thyng / and when the kynges hyghnes and ye put thys mater to the elergy to be tried with the scripture whither prestes myght ma­ry or no thys with hys felowes gaue a playn answer that by the word of god prestes myght not mary / can ye abyde ye noble lordes that thes lying limmes of antichriste shall mok yow thus and lye of the kyng our master and say of hym that he maketh sin that god neuer made syn?

I trust ye will suffer them no longer for it is hy tyme to lok vpon them. Then when as ye master gardner with your other felowes can bryng further neuer on text of the scripture that thys for sayd forbyddyng of mariage of prestes / and of the mariage of laymen for the on half of the ye are / that it is the doctrine of god i will proue yow by a playn place of the scripture that i [...] is the playn doctrine of the deuel / Paul in the former epistel to Timothe / in the forth chap­ter sayeth pleynly that forbiddyng of Mariage is the doctrine of the deuell / therfor seing that the pope and ye teache the same doctrine ye haue gou to scool withe the deuel / then when ye wāt scripture to proue your doctrin with all say that an old aucient doctor holdethe the same o­pinion that ye do / and vnderstand doctor the deuel / for other autorite haue non / Doctor deuel the Bisshoppes scoolmaster allwayes from mannis creation hys dedely enemi / sekyng all the meanes that he could to pul man from god [Page] perceyuyng that man had an vnsteable desyre gyuen hym of god to in creas and multipli hys kynde / and an vnauoydable appetite (few ex­cept) ther for to haue naturall company with hys apoynted companion / labored all that hee could / vtterly to destroy mariage / whiche thyng if if he had brought to pas seing that / childer must nedes be goten / as many childer as shuld haue ben borne so many basterds / shuld theyr haue ben born. At the gittyng of euery child if shuld haue gon to the deuell / that is both the father and the mother / for they shuld haue ben hormonger and hore / the deuelles onn peculi­ar cattel and the child when it cam to age and gat a chilh it shuld haue be cummed also the seruant of the deuel / and so shuld all hole mankynde haue becummed the deuelles dew possession. But be caus if the deuel shuld haue gon abou destruction of mariage in hys oun person / be­caus he is haytful / he shuld haue sped the wo­rs / he cam to a pope holy heretike called montanus / and hym he styrred vp to writte agaynst matrimoni / and so he did / and taught that mari­age shuld be broken / as eusebius writeth in the v. bok nf the Ecclesiastical stori & in the 15. chapter. But Appolonius a good Christen man ouercam [...]hys heretik and hys doctrin so that he lost all hys credence and theyr with loft the deuel a great nonbre of hys tru seruantes / Sa­tan seing that he could not sped by the meanes [Page] of an [...] heretik he cam to acertayne doc­tor and moued hym to write agaynst mariage and that did he in a book whiche he wrote agaynst vigilantium in thes wordes foloyng Bo­num est mulierem non tangere / ergo / malum est tangere / Nihil enim contrariatur bono nisi malum / Quam diu impleo mariti officium / non impleo Christiani / Iubet Apostolus / Vt semper oremus / Si semper orandum est nun­quam coniugio seruiendum est / The englisch / of thys doctoris wordes is thys / It is good not to touche a woman / then it is euel to touch hyr / for theyr is nothyng contrari to good but euel / So long as as i ful fil the office of [...] maried man / i ful fil not the office of a Christen man / The Apostel byddeth us that we shal always pray / if that we must allwayes pray we must not gyue our selues to mariage / or to serue mariage / So far hathe the doctor spoken / Thys doctoris name was Ieronimus / whiche in thys poynt erred sore / & gaue many other occasion to er affter bym whiche beleued men with our scripture / Howbeit Augustin writyng de bono coniugij / and other doctores dyd sufficienty / o­uerthrow thys error of jerom / and so was the deuel twise disypoynted [...] he wold not gyue ouer hys mater so / but euer sought new shiftes / and then he cam to hys vicare in erth the bisshops from / and hym he styrred & moued to destroy matrimoni & to alow comon stewes / that they [Page] that lift myght cum thyther to worslip hym / promysyng hym for hys labor to be the richest mā in the world & of greatest estimatiō / The pope / hearyng thes promises streyght way went about to destroy matrimoni / and first he com̄anded all that wer hys ghostly childer & had hys marck in theyr crownes shuld forswear maria­ge / and he made a law that no man shuld be a­lowed to be a precher in christes chirche except he forsweare mariage first / and fayn wold he haue forbydden all laymen to haue maried to / But when they wold not forswear mariag for hym yet he lokked vp mariage even from all laymen / for the space / of the on halfe of the yeare saue xij dayes / Wherby the de­uel and the world myght well parceyue hys good will that he had utterli to destroy mariage at the lest to moue all men to thynk that mari­age was sin / and that the state of mariage was a sinful state / And by the help of thys hys breare / the deuel gat many a pray / [...] the germanes seyng that thys forswearyng of mariage was the hye way to the deuel wrote ernestly agaynst thys forbyddyg of mariage and agaynst the folysh and vngodly vowes / and agaynst the pope hym selfe and hys autorire and riches whyche the deuel gaue hym / and at the leynght vtterly forsaked the pope and all hys vowes and forswearings of mariage wihtall other lyk traditiones.

After the germanes / the king our master commanded yow ernestly to dryue out the pope out of all places of hys dominion also and to pre­ach ernestly agaynst hym / then the deuel perceyuyng that the kyng was a bout to dryue out the pope of hys ream / was a ferde that the kyng shuld dryue out with the pope for swearyng of mariage / vnlawful vowes / the stewes and all other ordinances that the pope made as the ger­manes did when they bannysshed away the pope / And theyr fore he cam to yow whom the kyng had apoynted to dryue out the pope / and desyred yow that ye wold / manteyn the stewes and that ye wold not dryue out of englond the forswearyng of mariage / but that all thynge cō cernyng mariage of prestes shuld continue as it had continued sence the tyme of Gregori the se­uent / and he promised yow so long as ye wold do so that he wold help yow to hold still your temporall landes / your great honor / riches / and dignite / And so my lordes for the upholdyng of your pompos state ye will not dryue out of en­dlond the forbiddyng and forswearyng of ma­riage / for of that mater ye feare that your ho­nor and estimation doth hang. When ye shall make me an answer to thys boke / tell me what autorite haue ye besyde the autorite of doctor deuel to forbyd mariage or to compell any man to for swear mariage / seyng saynt Paul saycht in the j. Epist. to the Corint. in [Page] the vij. chapter. I haue no commandment of virgines / that is i haue no autorite of god to by­nd any man or woman to lyue single with out mariage / If that saynt poul haue no autorite to compell any man or woman to lyue with out mariage / the kyng hathe no autorite to for byd any man to mari / for saynt poul had as myche autorite as the kyng in spiritu all maters / pro­ue the contrari if ye can / If the kyng whom ye grant to be hede ef the chirche haue not that au­torite / of whom haue ye that autorite / if ye say ye haue any suche autorite then ye make your selues aboue the kyng. In your answer tell me how it happeneth that thys place of Paul vnto Timothe maketh not for prestes mariages.

A Bisshop must be the husband of on wyfe / I say that ye must ether let thys place serue for prestes mariages / or ellis ye must lese all your temporal landes / and haue nothyng wher with all ye may kepe hospitalite / which Paul requi­reth in a Bisshop / For thus reson ye wyth thys text for your temporall landes / A bisspop must be herberos / but with out temporal lan­ [...]es that can he not be therfor must a Bisspop haue temporal landes. Thys text of Paul is as fre for me as for yow / A bisshop must be the husband of on wyfe but with out a wyfe he can­not be the husband of on wyfe ergo he must ha­ue on wyfe. If ye expoud thys place of Poul / Oportet Episcopum esse vnius vxoris maritū / [Page] hoc est fuisse vnius vxoris maritum / a Bisshop must be the husband of on wyfe / that is a Byshop must haue ben the husbande of on wyfe / Ia [...] of yow / whether all thes thynges that paul speaket of here / ar requieed in a man that is to be chosen a Bisshop / or ar they required all / in hym on ly / that is chosen all redy / or theyar required both in one that is to be chosen and in hym that is all redy chosen / If ye say that thes properties ar required all / in hym alon that is chosen all redy / then is he eligible and may be chosen to be a Bysshop / whych is a dronkerd / a murderer & hath ij wyues so that affter that he is chosen / he benon of thys sort. If ye say that thes proerties / to be fautles / to bethe hussband of on wyfe / watchyng sobre / louly / herberus / &c. be required in hym on ly that is not yit chosen a Bysshop but standeth in the election to be chosen / and not in hym that is chosen all redy / then may a Bisshop after that he is chosen once and made Bisshop be / full of fautes the husband of many wyues a sleper a dronkerd / hye mynded / and vnherberos whiche thyng / to grant is an vnconuenient / Ther­for ye must grant that thes properties ar both required in hym that standeth to be chosen / and in hym that is chosen all redi. Therfore bothe the man that standerh to be chosen and he that is now chosen all redy a Bisshop must be faurles / the husband of on wife modest herberous [Page] watchyng sobre &c. Thorfore ether grant that paul requiret in a Bisshop that is chosen that he haue nomo wiues but on / & that he may haue on / or grant that Paule requireth not in a Bysshop that is made all redy to be herberous For thos thynges that Paul sheaket of in on mode / on tence / in on text / all tegether / he dothe elike require at on tyme / or ellis reproue in on tyme / then seyng that he sayeth in on mode tence & text together a Bisshop must be the hushā de of on wyfe / sobre and herberous / then doth he clyke require that a Bysshop shuld hauē a wyfe or nomo wyues but on as he requireth that he shuld be herberous & sobre / Then if hauyng of a wyfe be long not to a bysthop then sobbrenes & kepyng of hospitalite be lōgeth not to hym If he be not bound to kep hospitalite / he must haue no landes to kep hospitalite / If ye say that oportet esse must signifi oportet fuisse that is / must be / must be taken on ly for must haue ben thē it is not required by your glose in a mā that is a Bisshop to be fautles / to haue but on wyfe / to be watchyng / sobre / modest / herberous / fit to teache / no wyn drinker / no smiter / not gyuē to fylthy lucre / but it is sufficiēt if he haue bene all thes / He is sufficiēt Bisshop by your expositiō if he haue ben fautles / thogh he be as ful of open crimes / as a leopard is ful of spottes / It forceth not / if he haue iij wyues & xxx hores so that he hathe had no mo wyues but on / It maket no mater if he be a slepyng and adom dog so that [Page] he hath ben watchyng and diligēt / he nede not to be sobre when he is once made Bisshop / but he may occupi all maner of exces so that he hath be sobre before he was Bysshope / It skilleth not whether he be modest or no / it is inoghe if he haue bē / It is not required in hym to be harberous / fit to teache / no wyn dryncker no smiter after that he is made a Bisshope so that when he was a scolar in cambridg or orford he hathe ben herberous fit to teache no smiter & no dronkerd lye may be then after that ye be once made Bisshopes / by your turnyng of esse in to futsse / full of all sinnes / the husbandes of an C. wyues slepyng dogges / dronckerdes / and murderers / And if a man say vnto yow Bysshopes / Paul sayet ye may not be murderers ye may not / be dronkerdes ye may haue no mo wyues then on ye may by iuglyng of esse in to fuisse that is by iuglyng of be in to haue bene / say yis. & that thys is not the meanyng of Paul / for Paul requireth not now when we ar once made Bysshoppes that we shuld be sobre and haue but on wife / but that before we wer Bisshopes we shuld haue ben sobre and the husbandes / of on wife / et cet. And so now we may be what we list / wherfor i meruel the les that so many Bysshoppes which haue ben in canbrydge and exford befor they wer Bisshopes / watchyng and fit to tea­che / ar be cummed slepyng dogges that dar not bark / and more fit to flatter then to teache god­des [Page] word puerly with out the leuin of the docto­res seing that they ar discharged frō all thyng that Paul requireth of aryght bysshop by thys glos a bysshop must be / that is a bisshop must haue ben. But acordyng to theyr glos / the honest comon peple speaketh of them / after thys wyse / how continuethe doctor Ericeus in pre­aching goddes word and in promotyng the go­spel / an other answereth by and by / qui fuit. But ye care as myche for the cōmune reporte as an hore careth to be called a hore / ye be so far past al shame. But to conclude thys mater.

That doctrine that forbiddeth it that Christ or­dened is contrari to Christ / but your doctrine forbiddeth it that Christ ordened ergo your doctri­ne is contrari to the doctrine of Christe.

Is it agreyng withe the word of god that stewes shall be allowed and manteyned in a Christen kyngdom? I reken no. The stewes is a place where as the deuel may be openly serued with out any pomishment / but in a christē kyng don the deuelles seruice oght not to be suffered openly to be don with out pomishment / therfor the stewes ough not to be suffered in a Christen kyngdom Where as the lyfe is alowed the learnyng that teacheth the lyuyng is also alowed.

Then if ye alow the cause ye must nedes alowe the effect / ye alow the stewes therfore ye alow hordom / if ye alow hordom ye approue the doc­trin that teachech hordom. But that is heresi [Page] therfor to alow stewes is to alow heresi / If th [...] at ye wold suffer prestes to mari in any place of engōld mē myght gather that ye alowed the bokes that teache that prestes may be laufully ma­ried but when ye ponishe prestes that mari with death / men may gather that ye alow not the bokes that teacheth that prestes may mary / So when ye pomish / not hordom but appoynt certayn places for it / if folowethe that ye alow it and the bokes / that teach that hordom is no sin.

And thys foloweth of your alowyng of the stewes / As he that gyueth lodgyng to a ryght prophet / as Christ sayeth shall haue the reward of a right Prophet / So as Iohan / in hys Epistle sayeth he that lodgeth a false Prophet is partaker of all hys euell dedes / Euen so he that wit­tyngly gyueth lodgyng to hormongers & hores shal be partaker of all the hordom that they commit / but ye grantyng hores and hore mongers a place wher as they may lye together & serue the deuel / grant them logyng therfore ye ar partakers of all the hordom that is don in the ste­wes. But steuen master stewerd of the stewes / priapus & keper of the popes gardin peraduen­tur will defend hys tenantes & say we vp hold the stewes for the auoydyng of a farther incōuenience. If theyr were no stewes in lōdon seing theyr ar so many wyueles & wanton curtiers / theyr / theyr wold great violence be offered vn­to mēnes wiues / & mych more aduoutre shuld [Page] reygne then reyneth now. But thys polytik an­swer will not serue for s. Paul sayethe rom. 3 chapter / euel is not to be don that good may insew theyr vpon. If it be once granted to all men to mary / & yit they that ar maried will cōmit ad­uoutre / & they that haue liberti to mary will not mary but will be hore honters and wedlok breakers still / it shall be as lauful by the law of god to hang suche as to hang theues ye ād more lau­ful / For that offence that is greater is worthe greater pomishment. Salamon in the sixt chapter of the prouerbes sayeth that aduoutre is the greater offence then is theft / therfore if theft be wortly hangyng / aduouteri is worthi it and a greater ponishmēt besyde. s. Paul saeth in the fift chapter of the epistel to the ephesianes / let not hordom be so myche as once named am­ong Christen men / it that is forbidden to be named is forbidden to be don / but hordom is for bydden to be named then myche more is it for bydden to be don and alowed / Paul calleth hordome leuen / and will / that such as be aduou­ters and hor mongers shuld be excomunicated and not suffered to cum among other christē pe­ple till they were ashamed of theyr sinnes / and in tended to commit that offence nomore / i. Co­rint. in the v. chap. Allmyghty god Deuterono­mij xxiij. forbyddeth that any hores & hore mongers shall be suffered among hys folk in thes wordes / Of the doghters of Israel non shall be hores / and of the sonnes of Israel non shall be [Page] horemongers / If english peple be spirltual Is­raelites thys cōmandment also perteyneth vn­to thē / then is it not lawfull to suffer in englond any hores or hormongers. Then doun must the stewes for theyr bodely fornicatiō / as the abbayes was put down both for theyr fornicatiō both bodely & ghostly / Now hauei tried the chefe of your popish ordināces and traditiones and i haue found them contrari to the word of god / Now is there nothyng to let me but that i may cōclude my for sayd argumēt with out any cōtradictiō or gayn sayng / who soeuer holdeth still the popis doctrine whiche is contrari to the word of god holdeth still the pope that the kyng wold haue dryuen out of englond / but i haue proued sufficiently that ye hold still the popis doctrine whiche is contrari to the word of god / Therfor i haue proued that ye hold still the pope that the kyng wold haue driuen out of englond / Bethys tyme i trow that the fox is found out / and they ar knowen that manteyn hym & hold hym still in thys realm after that the kyng hath commanded hym to be vtterly bannyshed out of all pla­ces of hys dominiō / If such a pore mā as i shuld hold still in englond the kynges enemi that he commanded me to dryue out hys realm i shuld be taken as a traytor / but ye hold stil the kynges enemi that he commanded yow to dryue out of hys realm / then whether may a man call yow tratoures or no? If ye be no traytores proue [Page] in your answer that ye will send me that ye hold no doctrine of the pope contrari to the word of god / If ye be traytores and heretikes and vnlearned asses and haue no knowledg but in the canon law and in old gloses & fantases of men / answere nothyng to my argumētes but forbyd my book to be red / and in holdyng your peace cō sent that all that is sayd of yow in thys book is true. If ye be learned men and haue knowledge in the scripture & loue learnyng answer me lyke learned men and be not lyke priuy murde­rers which will not tell a man that they murder wherfor they kyll hym but / sodenly with out any axyng of any question sley hym sodenly / Tel me by the scriptur wher i haue sayde amyss and if i recant not call me heretike and do to me as ye shuld do to am hethen man / But if ye comdemn my book and cannot ouercum it by the word of god i shall set a play of your mischeuous tyranny in latin that all the learned men that ar now alyue & the age for to cū shall know yow what ye be / and what ye haue bene. Allmyghty god gyue yow grace to amend. Amen.