The.xxxvi. chapyter

BUt I suppose in good faith that this pacifyer ha[…]h of some facylyte of hys own good nature, ben easy to beleue some such as haue told hym lyes / and hath ben ther b[…] persuaded to thynke▪ that many other folke sayde and knewe the thynge that some few […]old hym for very treuth. And surely they that are of this new bretherhed be so bold & so shamelesse in lyenge, that who so shall here them speke and knoweth not what secte they be of shall be very sore abused by them.

My selfe haue good experyence of them. For y• lyes are neyther few nor small, y• many of y• blessed brethern haue made, & dayly yet make by me

Dyuers of them haue sayd that of suche as were in my howse whyle I was chauncellour, I vsed to examyne them wyth turmentes, causynge them to be bo[…]den to a tre in my gardyn, & there pituous[…]y beten.

And thys tale had some of those good bretherne so caused to be blowen about, that a ryghte wurshypfull frende of myne dyd of late wythin lesse than thys fourtenyghte, tell vnto another nere frende of myne that he hadde of late herde mych spekynge therof.

what can not these brethern saye, that can be so shamelesse to saye thus? For of very trouth, al be it that for a great robbery, or an heyghnouse murder, or sacryledge in a chyrche, wyth caryenge away the py[…]e wyth the blessed sacrament, or […] castynge it out, I caused some tyme such thynges to be done by some offycers of the marshalsy or of some other prysōs wyth whyche orderynge of them by theyr well des[…]rued payne, & wythout any greate hurte that afterwarde sholde stycke by them, I founde out and repressed many suche desperate wreches, as […]llys had not fayled to haue gone ferther abrode, & to haue done to many good folke a gret deale mych more harme: yet though I so dyd ī theues, murderers, and robbers of chyrches / and notwythstandynge also that heretykes be yet mych worse then al they, yet sauyng onely theyr sure kepynge, I neuer dyd els cause any such thyng to be done to any of them all in all my lyfe, excepte onely twayne / of whyche the tone was a chylde and a serua[…]nt of myne in myne own house, whome hys father hadde ere euer he came with me, nowseled vp in suche maters, and had se[…]te hym to attende vpō George Iaye or Ge[…] otherwyse called Clerke, whych is a preste, and is now for all y• wedded in Antwarpe / into whose howse there, the two nonnys were brought, which Iohn[…] […]yrt otherwyse called A[…]ryan stale out of theyr cloyster to make them harlo[…]tes. Thys George Iay dyd teche thys chylde hys vngracyouse heresye agaynst the blessed sacrament of the aulter / whych heresye thys chyld afterward beynge in seruyce wyth me, began to teche another chyld in my howse, whyche vttered hys counsayle. And vppon y• poynt perceyued & knowē / I caused a seruaunt of myne to strype hym lyke a chyld before myne houshold, for amē dement of hym selfe and ensample of suche other.

Another was one, whyche after that he had fallen in to y• fran[…]ike heresyes, fell soone after in to playne open frāsye bysyde. And all be it that he had therfore ben put vppe in bedelem, and afterwarde by betynge and correccyon gathered hys remembraunce to hym, and beganne to come agayne to hym selfe / beynge theruppon set at lyberty and walkynge about abrode, hys olde fansyes beganne to fall agayn in his hed. And I was fro dyuers good holy places a[…]er[…]ised, that he vsed ī his wanderynge aboute, to come into the chyrche, & there make many madde toyes & tryfles, to the trouble of good people in the dyuyne seruyce / and specially wold he be most besy in the […]yme of moste sylence, whyle the preste was at the secretes of the masse aboute y• le[…]acyō. And yf he spy[…]d any woman knelynge at a forme / yf her h[…]d hynge any thynge lowe in her medytacyons, thā wolde he stele behynde her, & yf he were not le[…]ed wolde l[…] boure to lyfte vp all her clothes & caste them quyte oue[…] her hed. wheruppon I beyng aduertysed of these pageaūtꝭ, and beynge sent vnto and requyred by […]ery deuout relygyouse folke, to take some other order wyth hym / caused him as he came wāderyng by my dore, to be taken by the cō stables and bounden to a tre in the strete byfore the whole towne, and there they stryped hym with roddys therfore tyl he waxed wer[…] and somwhat lenger. And it appered well that hys remembraunce was good inough, saue y• it wente about in grasynge tyll it was beten home. For he could thā very well reherse hys fawtes hym selfe▪ and speke and trete very well, and promyse to do afterwarde as well. And veryly god be thanked I here none harme of hym now.

And of all that euer came in my hande for heresy, as helpe me god, sauynge as I sayd the sure keping of them / and yet not so sure neyther but that George constan[…]yne coulde stele awaye: el[…]ys had neuer any of them any strype or stroke gyuē them, so mych as a […]ylyppe on the forhed.

And some haue sayde that whan Cōstantyne was goten away, I was fallen for anger in a wonderfull rage. But surely though I wolde not haue suffred him go if it wold haue pleased hym to haue taryed stylle in the stockes / yet whan he was neyther so feble for lacke of meate but that he was stronge inough to breke the stockes, nor waxē so lame of hys leggys wyth […]yenge but y• he was ly[…]hte inough to lepe the wallys / nor by a[…]y myssehandelyng of his h[…]d so dulled or dased in hys brayn, but that he had wytte inough whā he was onys out, wysely to walke hys waye: neyther was I than so heuy for the losse, but that I hadde youth inough left me […]o were it out / nor so angry wtih any man of myne y• I spake thē any euyll word for the mater, more then to my porter that he sholde se the stockes mēded and locked faste, that the prysoner stale not in agayne. And as for Cō stantyne hym selfe / I coulde in good fayth good thanke. For neuer wyll I for my part be so vnreasonable, as to be angry wyth any man that ryseth if he can, whā he fyndeth h[…]m selfe that he sytteth not at hys ease.

But now tell the brethern many meruaylouse lyes, of myche cruell tormentynge th[…]t heretykes hadde in my house so farforth that one Segar a boke seller of Cābrydge whyche was in myne house about foure or fyue days, and neuer hadde eyther bodely harme done hym, or fowle worde spoken hym whyle he was in myne house, hath reported syns as I heare say to dyuerse, that he was […]oūde[…] […]o a tree in my gardeyn, and thereto to pyt[…]ousely beten / and yet besyde that bounden about the hed wyth a corde & wrongen, that he fell downe dede in a swowne.

And this tale of his betyng, dyd Tyndale tell to an old acquaytaunce of his owne, and to a good louer of myne / with one pyece farther yet, y• whyle the man was in betynge, I spyed a lytle purse of his hangynge at his doublette, wherin the pore man hadde (as he sayde) fyue marke▪ and that caught I quyckely to me and pulled yt from his doublette, and put yt in my bosome, and that Segar neuer sawe yt after / and therin I trow he sayd trew, for no more dyd I neyther nor byfore neyther, nor I trowe no more dyd Segar hym selfe neyther in good fayth.

But now when I can come to goodes by suche goodly wa[…]s / it is no great meruayle though I be so sodaynly growē to so great substaūce of rychesse, as Tyndale tolde hys acquayntaūce and my frend / to […]hom he sayd that he wyst wel […]hat I was no lesse worth in money and plate and other mouables, then twenty thousande markes. And as myche as that haue dyuerse of the good bretherne affermed here ne[…]er home.

And surely this wyll I cō fesse, that yf I haue heped vp so myche good to gether / then haue I not gotē the tone half by ryghte. And yet by all the theuys, murderers, and heretyques, that euer came in my handes, am I not I thanke god the rycher of one grote, & yet haue they spent my twayn Howe be yt yf eyther any of them, or of any kynde of people ellys, that any cause haue had byfore me, or other wyse any medelyng wyth me, fynd hym selfe so sore greued wyth any thyng that I haue taken of his / he hadde some tyme to speke therof. And now syth no man cometh forth to aske any restytucyō yet, but hold theyr peace and slacke theyr time so longe: I geue them all playn peremptory warn[…]nge now, that they dreue y[…] of no lenger. For yf they tarye tyll yesterday, & then come & aske so great somes among them, as shall amount to twenty thousande marke / I purpose to purchace suche a proteccyon for them, that I wyll leue my sel[…]e lesse then the fourth parte, euyn of shrewden[…]s, rather then euer I wyll pay thē.

And now dare I say, that yf this pacyfyer hadde by experyence knowen the trouthe of y• kynde of people / he wold not haue geuen so myche credence to th[…]yre lamentable cō playnynges, as yt semeth […] by some of his Some sayes he doth.

How by yt what fayth my wordes wyll haue wyth hym in these myne owne causes, I can not very surely saye, nor yet very gre[…]tly ca[…]e. And yet stande I not in so myche dout of m[…] selfe, but that I truste well that among many good & honeste men, among whych sorte of folke I truste I may […]eken hym / myne own worde wold alone euen in myne own cause be somwhat better byleued then wold y• othes of some twayn of this new bretherhed in a mater of a nother man.