The.xviii. chapiter

ANd some alledge dyuerse ca[…] ses why yt shold be so noysed.

A very fewe folke may sone begynne a noyse of euyll wyll and malyce. And a noyse maye sone be borne abrod what so euer y• mater be, with some of symplicite, some of light geuynge credence, & some of a luste vnto talkyng.

Fyrste they saye, that neyther pref[…]es nor religyouse ke[…]e the perfeccyō of theyr order to the honour of god & good example of the people, as they shuld[…] do.

Ueryly they that so saye, peraduenture saye not myche vntrewe. For I thynke that euery mannys dewty toward god is so great, that very few folke serue hym as they shold do. And therfore who so prye vpon euery mannys dede so narowly, as to spy that faute and fall at variaūce of greate zele with euery man that doth not to the very poynt and perfeccyō, euyn all that he shold do / shall waxe within a whyle at varyaūce wyth euery man & euery man wyth hym. But I suppose they kepe it now at thys day, mych what after suche a good metely meane maner, as they dyd many of those yeres before in which thys dyuysyon was neuer dremed on. And therfore they that saye thys is the cause / haue nede to go seke some other.

But that some of theym procure theyre owne honour, and call yt the honour of god, and rather coueyt to haue rule ouer the people then to profyte the people.

were there neuer none of these tyll nowe so late as about the begynnynge of thys dyuysyon / or be they all such now? Amonge Crystes own apostoles was some desyre of prelacye, and that wyth some contencyon to. There are of oure prelates some suche at thys day now, as I pray god that when there shal any new come, they maye proue no wurse. For of these whā they dye yf they waxe not wurse byfore / who so shal lyue after thē, may in my mynde be bold to say, that englande had not theyr better any day thys.xl. yere, and I durste go a good waye aboue to. But thys is more by twenty yere and ten sette therto, then this diuysiō hath any thyng be spoken of.

And that some couet theyr bodyly ease and worldly welth, in meate and drynke, and suche other, more then commenly any temporall man doth.

This is a very colde cause of thys new dyuysyon, to say that there be not now comēly so badde men in the temporaltye as there be some in the spirytualtye. For whan was it otherwyse? not euyn in Crystes owne dayes. For Iudas that was one of hys owne apostles, was not onely wurse then the comon sorte of all those that loued theyr belyes and theyr ease amonge Crystes dyscyples were they men or women / but wurse also thā the very wurste in all y• world bysyde. But what cause were thys that the tēporaltye shold (nor though thys man saye thus, I thynke theym not so vnreasonable that they wold) be at debate & dyuisyon wyth the hole body of the clergye, bycause that some of thē were wurse then those are that are in a meane comon sorte of noughtynesse amonge them selfe.

And that some se[…]ue god for a wordely lande and to be magni[…]yed therfore, more they for th[…] pure […] of god.

That same some that so do, be some of the most folysh apys that the deuyll hath to tūble afore hym and to make hym lawghe, when he seeth them take so mych laboure & payne for the rewarde of the blast of a fewe mennes mowthes.

How be it there maye be some suche for all that, & yet nothynge to the purpose of thys mater. For as for the speche of folys is not to be compted for a profe of dyuysyon. And amonge wyse men the gesse and contecture that in the clergy there be secretly some very noughte before god, whom yet in the syghte of the worlde men take for very good, can by no reason be the cause of any grudge toward the spyrytualty, wherin maye be bysyde them that are such and so there are in dede, many very vertuouse holy men in dede / whose holynesse and prayour hath bene I veryly thynke one great special cause, that god hath so longe holden his hande frō geuyng of some sorer stroke vpon the neckes of them y• are nought & care not in the spyrytualty and the temporaltye bothe.

And yet thys fawte that thys pacyfyer assygneth of seruynge god for lawde, is I suppose somewhat amended of late / & wyll within a whyle if some gere go forward, were a way quyte, by the helpe and meanys of an other fawte.

For yf these heresyes that rayle vppon relygyons, and call all theyr prayour parerynge, and all theyr fastynge foly, & all theyr holy vowys of chastyte worse then frere Lutherslechery: yf these heresyes I saye may grow and go forward, as they begynne to grow now and prosper ful pretily in some places / & then yf those that be of the same secte, and of polycy dyssymule it for a season, maye in the meane tyme sprede abrode an opynyon in the myndes of menne that of them self mene none harme, that the relygyouse people do faste and pray but for lawde: they shall wel perceyue wythin a whyle, y• they shall haue so lytell lawd therof, that yf there wolde remayne none other cause of thys dyuysyon but bycause they serue god for lawde, ye shall haue it soone chaunged of lykelyh[…]d / and then shall we shortely agre togyther very well.

But now good reders consyder I beseche you, that yf these causes whyche thys pacyfyer alledgeth vnder the coloure of Some say, be causes that myghte moue the temporaltye to be in dyuysyon and grudge agaynst the clergye / that is to wytte bycause they serue not god as they sholde do, but some of them loue authoryte and some loue theyr case, and some serue god of vayne glory for lawde and prayse of men: thanne sholde thys dyuysyō not haue so late bygon, but muste haue ben[…] euer before / and can neuer be remedyed hereafter, but as longe as the worlde lasteth muste thys dyuysyon euer cō tynue styll.

For how coulde thys pacyfyer fynde the meanes, that in the whole clergy so many as are therin, none sholde be nought[…] / when of Chrystes apostles there was yet one nought in the smale nomber of twelue. And veryly in thys declynacyon of the worlde, & by this great fall of faith, the olde feruour of cheryte so begynnynge to cole: it is to be […]ered at length, that yf it thus go forth and contynue, bothe the spyrytualtye from thapostles, and the temporaltye frō the other dysciples, maye fall so farre downe downe down downe, that as there was thā one nought amonge twelue, so may there in tyme comyng yf these heresyes go forward, amonge twelue spyrytuall or peraduenture twenty temporall eyther, be founden at last in some whole cuntre scante any one good. But y• worlde is not I thanke god in Englande yet, nor neuer shall I truste come.

How be it y• all may be made good that wyll be harde for thys pacyfyer to deuyse the meanes. So that if the being of some noughte maye be a good cause of dyuysyon / dyuysyon maye be by sometyme fewer noughte, made sometyme somwhat lesse / but ende can it neuer haue whyle the worlde standeth.

But yf this pacifyer to cease and quenche this dyuysyon, coulde fynde the meanes to make al y• whole clergy good: yet for all that, syth he layeth for causes of this dyuysyon, that some men say this by the clergy, and some men saye by them that / were all the clergy neuer so good in dede, and serued god neuer so well, thys diuysyon by hys owne tale, yet coulde not for all that cease / excepte he coulde prouyde farther, y• no pytuouse pacifyer sholde in lamentyng▪ o[…] […]uysion, put forth a […]ke and say, that some lay men say y• some of the clergye be nought, and loue theyr ease & theyr welth / and that some saye that those that seme beste and take most labour and payne, be but ypocrytes for all that, & serue god but for vayne glorye to gete theym selfe laude and prayse amonge the people.