The.x. chapyter

HIs.x. chapyter begynneth in the xxxiii. lefe, wherin he towcheth certayne wordꝭ of myne, wryten in the.xxvii. chapyter of myne apologye, that begynneth fo. 162. wherin he varyeth not mych with me, sauynge in that I say that yf the prelates of ye chyrch wold wythdrawe from theyr worldely cō tenaunce, as is kepynge of honestley men in theyr seruyce, and kepynge of a good wurshypfull table, and wold bestow theyr plate & the moste parte of all theyr mouables at ones vppon poore folke, and yerely after the moste of theyr yerely reuenus to (of whiche mynde I sayd I durste warraunt well that some prelates be, yf that wolde as I saye there, amende all these grudges) that I durste be bolde to warraunt as well also, that yf the prelates so dyd, the selfe same folke that now grudge and call them proude for theyr countenaunce, wold than fynde as great a grudge, & call them ypochrytes for theyr almoyse, and wolde saye that they spende vppon noughty beggers the good that was wont to kepe good yomen, and that therby they both enfeble and also dyshonour the realme.

Vppon these wordes of myn this good man maketh me forsothe a full goodly sermō, in the.xxxv. lefe of his booke / where he begynneth it with these wordes, I can not se. And veryly yf he had there left & gone no ferther: it had ben well inough. For as for the thyng that he speketh of, it appereth by hys wordes he can not se very well in dede.

Bycause chryst commaundeth in the gospell, yt we shall not iudge / and that saynt Poule sayth also, who art thou that iudgest another mānes seruaunt / and agayne byddeth vs that we iudge not before the tyme / al whiche places are vnderstand of iugyng certayne and determinate persons to do euyll, in the thynges that we se them do, where the thynges be but indyfferent of them selfe, and maye be done not euyl onely but well also: this good man therfore layeth these textys to touche me, for iudgyng that some folke whom I neyther assigne by name, nor as yet knowe not who they be, wyll do euyll hereafter, by mysse iudgynge other men.

I wene verely that saynt Poule hym selfe, at the tyme whan he forbode vs to […]iudge before the tyme, did euyn than iudge, that some wolde after that misse iudge and, iudge before the tyme to.

And albe it that our sauyour saith that who so call hys brother fole: is gylty to the fyre […] yet he ment not of him yt wold say, that there were some folys abrode in the worlde. For yf he so ment: than wolde there not tenne fyrys be payne inough for hym that wrote these wordes in the scrypture: There are of folys an infynyte nomber.

And bycause this good man vseth somtyme thys fygure of examynacyon, I wolde wytte of mayster More thi[…] & that, I wolde nowe wytte thys one thynge of thys good man. Suche sawtes as he fyndeth wyth the spyrytualty wryten in hys boke of dyuysyon: whyther dyd he than iudge yt some of the spyrytualtye wolde fall in them any more after or not? If he iudged that all theyr fantasyes towarde those fawtes were all redy passed before, and that none of them wolde neuer do more so: than hadde he lytel cause to write all that wurke vppon theym.

And vn the tother syde yf he iudged that some of them wolde afterwarde do some such thynges agayne, eyther but yf he gaue theym warnynge, or ellys though he dyd, as I dare saye, what so euer hym selfe saye, in some of those thynges he dyd: than syth ye tyme in which he iudged in his mynd, & made hym selfe therof sure, yt some of theym wolde do some suche euyll thynges afterwarde, as were at the tyme of the same iudgement of hys mynde not comen, hym selfe fell as you se by hys owne argument, in the daynger of that prohybycyon yt hym selfe bryngeth in, by whyche saynte Poule forbedeth and sayth: Nolite ante tempus iudicare. Iudge you not before the tyme.

Now yf he say that I tell whom I mene, though not by name: yet by a sygne and a token, in that I saye euyn the same wyll than call theym ypocrytes for theyr almoyse, that nowe call theym proude for theyr worldely countenaunce: he muste consyder, that I neyther tell nor can tell who be they / nor though I saye the same, I saye not yet all the same. And therfore no more mysse iudge any man determynately and in certayne, than he that wolde saye thus, as many men saye in dede: Euyn they that go now full fresshe, in theyr garded hosyn, and theyr gaye golden reuen shyrtes, and in theyr sylken sleuys, that nought haue to bere it out but gamynge, wyll ones I warraūt you fall fro gamynge to stelynge, & start strayt out of sylke into hempe. Thus sayeth and thus iudgeth ye wote well many a man / and yet meneth not that it shall so mysse happe them all, but that some shall amende and do better / and that yet hys worde wyll be veryfyed in many, & so doth it proue in dede / and he that so sayth before, is farre inough fro the dayngeour of all those textes whych this good man precheth to me.

But than he sayth ferther, that he trusteth that those prelates whom I saye I durste warraunt to be of such mynde, wyll not dyfferre theyr good purpose for no suche suspycyon that happely wyll neuer come, ne yet for no such vncherytable wordꝭ, though they were spoken in dede. And thervppon he descendeth to the makyng of actys of perleament.

If those prelates that I mene of rekened them self very sure, yt all the wytte and the lernynge that is in the worlde, or within this realme eyther, were eyther in theyr owne hedys, or in this good mānes and myne / which peraduenture for myne owne mynde colde agre well with this good man in this poynt, and aduise those prelates that I speke of, to folowe theyr owne mynde therin, and out of hande euyn so to do: thā haue I lytell dowt but that they wold euyn so do in dede But some of them haue ofter ben as I suppose than onys, where they haue herde both wyse and good folke to, and peraduenture yet sholde here agayne yf it were as thys man wold haue it, spoken of in the playne open perleament, that wolde not fayle to dyssuade it, and laye no lytell causes why.

But I wyl not at this tyme with this good man entre in this mater, in to seryouse ernest argumentes. But I shall shew hym a good mery cause wherfore, that though I be of hys mynde therin, yet I dare not aduise them there to. The cause is, that I se them haue so greate desyre & feruent concupyscence towarde it, that I am aferde to counsayle theym folowe it, bycause of the scrypture that sayth, Post concupiscentias tuas ne eas. After thy concupyscences goo thou not.

I wyll make no lenger tale vpon this mater. For if you rede my.xxvii. chapyter, in whyche my wordes are that we now dyspute vppon: I truste you shall not thynke theym so very farre out of the way, but yt they maye be wryten, without offence of Chrystes gospell well inough.

And also concernynge this word, proude worldely countenaūce, wherof we speke here: vouchesaufe good readers to rede my.xxx. chapyter of myne apologye, whych begynneth in the lefe.174.