The. xxxvii. chapyter

BUt nowe to come to some spyrytuall mens causes, agaynst whome there are layde lyke lyes / one Symondes a long well knowen heretyke walkynge about the realme, way taken not longe […]go, by y• offycers o[…] the right reuerende father my lord bysshoppe of winchester / & beyng put in a chamber to kepe, and brekynge oute at a wyndow, hath tolde many of his bretherne syns, that he was meruaylousely tormented by the byshoppes offycers in pryson, and sholde haue ben murthered therin to, and that elles he wolde neuer haue runne his way. But he wold neuer syns complayne of his harmes to the kynge or hys counsayle / but wyll rather of perfeccyon suffer them al pacyently, then […] pur[…]ew & proue them wyth his forthe commynge agayn.

wolde god this pacyfyer myght haue thexamynacyon of that mater. It wolde peraduēture do hym great good hereafter, to fynde oute the trewth of suche a false heretyques tale.

And nowe not wythstandynge that the brethern boste myche of his happy scape: yet yf he happed to dye or be hanged somewhere there as no man wyste where but they, they wolde not let for a nede to say that he scaped not at al, but was priuyly kylled in pryson, and pryuyly caste away. For so sayde some of them by George Cōstantine, not onely vppon his fyrst flyght out of my keping, but also euen now of late, not wythstādyng that they well knowe that many marchauntes of our own had sene hym syns laugh & make mery at Intwarpe.

Suche luste haue these blessed bretherne y• euer talke of faith and sprete and trouth and veryte, continually to deuyse and imagyne lyes of malyce and hatered, agaynste all those that labour to make thē good.

And suche a pleasure hath eyther Fryth hym selfe or els some other false […]olysshe bretherne of his secte. For he told one or twayn, and caused the bretherne to blowe it ferther aboute, that worde was sente hym into the towre, that the chaūcellour of London sayde it sholde coste hym the beste bloude in hys body.

Now whyther Fryth lyed or hys felowes, let them draw cut bytwene them. For surely where they tell it vnder suche maner, as though mayster chauncellour shoide reloyce & haue a cruell desyre of the mannes deth: I knowe hym so well that I dare well saye they falsely by l[…]e hym ther[…]n.

How be it some treuth they myghte happe to here wheruppon they myghte buylde theyr lye. For so was it that on a tyme one came & shewed me that Fryth labored so sore that he swette agayne, in studyeng and wrytyng agaynst the blessed sacrament. And I was of trouth very heuy to heare that the yonge folysshe felowe sholde bystowe suche labour about such a deuelysh wurke / and wys[…]hynge that the man had some good chrysten frende to whome he wold geue eare, that myghte wyth drawe hym from geuynge & enclynynge all hys harte to y• folowynge of that frantyke heresye, wherwyth he were in perell to perysshe bothe body and soule, sayed in the cōmunycaciō these wordes or other of lyke effect: For yf y• Fryth quod I swete in laboryng to quenche y• fayth, that all trew chrysten people haue in Chrystes blessed body and bloude, whyche all chrysten folke veryly, and all good folke frutefully receyue in the forme of brede: he shall labour more t[…]an in vayne. For I am sure that Fryth & all his felowes, wyth all the frendes that are of theyr affinite, shall neyther be able to quenche and putte out that fayth. And ouer […]hat yf Fryth laboure aboute the quenchynge therof tyll he swete / I wolde some good frend of hys shold shew hym, that I fere me sore that Cryst wyll kyndle a fyre of fagottes for hym, & make hym therin swete the bloude out of hys body here, and strayte frome thense send hys soule for euer into the fyre of hell.

Now in these wordes I neyther ment nor meane / that I wold it were so. For so he[…]p […]e god and none otherwyse but as I wolde be gladde to take more laboure losse and bodyly payne also, thenne peraduenture many a man wolde wene, to wynne th[…]t yonge man to Cryste and his trewe fayth agayne, & therby to preserue and kepe hym frō the losse and perell of soule & body bothe.

Now myghte it peraduenture be, that I tolde mayster chauncellour this tale, and so I wene I dyd / and he myght theruppon happen to reporte it agayne, or saye some suche lyke wordes of lyke purpose to some other man / and that there vppon these bretherne buyelde vppe theyr tower of lyes. Or ellys whyche were not impossyble, Fryth yf he herde the tale tolde by me, myghte wythdrawynge the beste, and makynge it seme suche as hym selfe lyste, tell it out by mayster chauncellour, to brynge hym amonge the people in opynion of malyce and crueltye. But hys mylde mynde and very tender dealynge in suche maters, is amonge all the peple by good experyence so playnly proued and so clerely knowen, that it wyll be harde to brynge any such synyster opinyon of h[…]m in any good honest mann[…]shed, for the wordes of a great me[…]nye suche maner folke as Fryth is / whyche not onely speketh lyes agaynst honeste men, but also wryteth false l[…]es and heresyes agaynste the blessed sacrament of the aulter.

Some man wyll yet peraduenture saye, that thys is a thynge farre, vnlykely, that eyth[…]r Fryth or any man els wold wyt[…]yngly take a bourden from one man and laye it in a nother mannys neck[…] / & namely to laye it to the chaū cellour for me, syth that all […] folke reken in them self, that they haue more cause of gr[…]efe agaynst me then hym.

Surely yf they were wyse and entēded to be good / they sholde neyther thynke them self[…] to haue cause of gryefe or grudge agaynste me nor hym neyther. For of my selfe […] wore well, and of hym I b[…]leue the same, that we no […]ynge entende vnto theym […] own welthe / which […] theyr amendemente of […] of theyr heresyes […] the […]rewe fayth agayne, is impossyble to be goten.

But for the poynt that I spake of, y• it were not so farre vnlykely as it wolde happely s[…]me, that Fryth wolde turne y• tale fro me to mayster chaū cellour / ye shall perceyue partely by his own dede, & partely by the dealyng of some other such ī such lyke maner of mater. For ye shall vnderstand, t[…]at after that Fryth had wryten a false folysshe treatyce agaynste the blessed sacrament of y• aulter / I hauyng a copy therof […]ent vnto me, made […]ortely and answere therto.

[…]nd for bycause y• hys boke was not put abrode in prent / I wolde not therefore lette myne runne abrode in mennes handes. For as I haue o[…]ten sayde, I wolde w[…]sshe that the comon people sholde of suche heresyes neuer here so myche as the name. But for as myche as that thynge is impossyble to prouyde but that heretikes wyll be doing / therfore are other folke sometyme dreuyn of necessyte to speke of those maters also, & to make answere vnto them.

And therfore whan heretykes abiure and do theyr penaūce / the prechour is fayne to reherse theyr opynyons in the pulpet, and there answere those deuelyshe argumentes opēly, with whych those heretykes fyrst deceyue men & wom[…]n in corners secretely, and after sprede thē abrode in audiēce by defence of those heresyes ī theyr examinaciō opēly.

And also yf theyr bokes be […]nys putte abrode in prente / it is a thynge very harde to gete theym well in agayne. But as for me, I vsed therin thys prouysyone for the remedy on bothe partes, that though I wold not put myne answere abrode into euery mannes hādes at aduenture, bycause Frythes booke was not put out abrode in prente: yet I caused myne answere to be prēted vnder myne own name, to thentent I myghte as in dede I haue, gyue oute some to suche as I perceyued had sene hys boke before.

Now happed it that vpon […] tyme, the ryghte reuerende father my lorde bysshoppe of wynchester, sent for Fryth vnto his owne place, of very fatherly fauour towarde the yo[…]ge mannys amendem[…] / whyche he fore desyred, bo[…]e for other causes, and among other causes partely also for thys, bycause he was not many yeres ago a yong […]oye waytynge vppon hym and […] scoler of hys. In that commu[…] nicaciō what wordes were bytwene them were now to long to reherse. But […]uch they were as I wolde wysshe that a[…]l suche as be wyse, and wene y• Fryth were wyse (whyche be peraduenture some that here the bretherne speke of hym, & waye not them selfe hys wordes) hadde there standen by and herde. For they sholde I am sure haue taken Fryth euer after, for suche as he playnely before good recorde proued hym selfe than / which was not an heretyke onely, but bysydes that a proude vnlerned fole.

But as I was aboute to tell you, in that comunycacyon my sayde lorde of wynchester among other thynges cōmuned with Fryth agaynst his afore remembred heresye y• he so sweteth in, to impugne the trew chrysten fayth concernynge the sacramēt of the aulter. And whē Frith there stode in his heresy, as styffely as he defended yt folyshely secretely betwene them twayn / my lord longyng that the felowes foly myght appere, called good & worshippefull witnesses vnto thē. And then bycause his lord shyppe perceyued Fryth, loth to haue it knowen abrode out of the bretherhed, as yet at that ty[…]e that he went about to poysene the realme wyth y• pestilent heresy agaynst the sacrament: my lorde I say sayd vnto hym, that yt was nowe to late for hym to thynke that he cou[…]e kepe close / reuoke it Fryt[…] (q[…]od his lordshyppe) ye may and repent yt, and so were yt well done ye dyd / but kepe it fro knowledge you can not, ye be gone nowe so farre. For your bokes of this mater haue ben sene abrode in many mennes handes / and that so longe, that lo here is an answere all redy made vnto yt, and shewed hym my boke in prent / but of trouth he delyuered yt not vnto hym. How be yt sone after he gate myne answere I can not tell of whom / and syns haue I herd of late, that he sweteth aboute y• mater a freshe, and hathe I here saye, the deuylyshe bokes of wyclefe, Swynglius, & frere Huyskyn secretly cōueyed vnto hym into the toure, & hath begonne and gone on a great way in a newe boke agaynste the sacrament.

But the thynge that I tell you this tale for is this. I am well enformed y• he knoweth very wel that I made that answere / and yt is not very lykely but that by one or other he hath the boke in prent / and of lykelyhed he neuer had yt otherwyse. For that was as easy a waye ye wote well, as one to wryte it out that hadde it in prent all redy / and before yt was prented I know very wel he could neuer get it. And at the lest wise I know it well that he knoweth wel ynough that the answere was made by me / and yet he dyssymuleth that, and faynynge hym selfe not to know who made it, but to thynke yt rather that my sayd lord of wynchester made yt then any mā elles, maketh his newe boke as I am very certaynly enfourmed, not agaynste me by name, but all agaynste my sayde lorde, of a solempne pryde that he wolde haue his boke seme a dysputacyon betwene the boy and the byshoppe.

But there shall not greatly nede suche a byshoppe so lerned as my sayde lorde is, to dyspute wyth any suche as Fryth is, for fyue suche bokes as that is, yf yt be no wyser then was his other, or thē this his new is eyther, yf it be no wyser then one telleth me, that both can good skyll and hath herd a great part redde / nor how so euer he haue handeled it, wyse wyll it neuer be while y• mater therof is so false And therfore whē y• boke shal hereafter be finyshed and happeth to come to myne handes, I trust to make almost euery boy able to perceyue the false foly thereof, though he couer hys roten frute as close and as comely as euer any costerdmonger couered hys basket.

But this as I sayde ye may good reders se, that as Fryth taketh myne answere fro me, whyche hym selfe and euery man elles knoweth well for myne, and imputeth yt to the byshop of wynchester: it were not myche vnlykely, that he wolde when he had herde of a thyng that I had sayd, & whē hym selfe had made yt worse, then chaunge yt fro me and impute it vnto maister chauncellour of London.