The.xix. chapyter

IN his.xix. chapite[…] he declareth what he meaneth by confederacyes of the spyrytualtye / and sayth he meneth cō federacyes wherby spyrytuall men pretende to mayntayne some suche lawes of the chyrche, and some such constytucyōs prouincyall, as are agaynste the kynges lawes and the olde customes of the realme / and putteth for a sample, the puttyng of […]restes to answere afore temporall iudges, & the statute made de Silua cedua, and the statute of Mortuaryes. As for cōuētyng of prestꝭ before seculare iudges, trouth it is ye one tyme thoccasyō of a sermō made the mater come in cōmunicatiō before the kyngꝭ hyghnes. But neyther any tymes synnys nor many yerys afore, I neuer herd yt there was any bysynes about it. And yet was ye mater ceaced long before any worde sprange of this great generall dyuision, that his boke maketh as though there were such, in a maner generall thorow the whole realme.

And diuerse statutes haue there sinnys ben made, cōcernynge ye same poynt. And many prestes conuented as they were wont to be byfore / and no by synes made by the spyrytualty therfore yt I here of, nor I trow him self neither. And in lyke wise men cutte downe theyr woodꝭ euery yere, in one place & other of the realme / & eyther is there not asked the tyt[…]e ag[…]ynst the statute / or yf some person wold with good wyll gete it, & therfore aske yt, he geteth yt not yet in dede. For where he sayeth that yf I wolde remember my self well, how often the cōstitucion prouincial, made agaynste the statute de Silua cedua, hath ben put in execucyon of late dayes, to the gryefe of many lay men: I wolde not haue sayde so generally that there is not any one constytucyon prouinciall that he speketh of, to any mannes gryefe or grudge put in execucyon in the tyme of any of the prelates that are now lyuyng / and affermeth that the same constytucyon hath of late in the tyme of dyuerse of the same prelates that nowe be, ben put in execucion, to the gryefe and grudge of many persons within this realm. Fyrst as towchyng myne owne rememberaunce: in good faith I can not remember one. And as to his owne remembraūce, vpon which he affermeth it to haue ben done so lately, to the grudge and gryefe of so many: he shall perdon me though I byleue hym not tyll he proue it, or at the leste wyse name them that haue had the wynnyng, & them also yt haue borne the losse / so that I may my self proue whyther it be trewe or not. For excepte he do the tone, ellys haue I good cause in ye meane whyle, in this poynte to gyue no greate credence to hym.

For fyrste I can scantely byleue that vppon the persons bare worde, for allegacion of the cōstytucyon prouyncyall, his paryshen wold let hym haue it. And yf there happed any man that wold: yet am I sure they were so few, that it were so dowble foly to lay that for any cause of diuisyon, which were done bothe but by a few, and also not without the parties wyll, and rather of his own pryuate deuociō, thā for any fere of cōpulsiō.

Now if the person wold take it of hys parishon byforce: I se the comen experyence therin suche: that I dare boldely saye the whole paryshe wold not suffre hym. And yet yf it were taken in dede: neyther sholde the person enioy ye profyte, nor the paryshen bere the losse / but sholde at the kyngꝭ comen lawe recouer a ryght large amendes. For well ye wote his dāmages sholde be tared hym, not by.xii. prestes, but by.xii. temporall men, & his costes by the kynges iudges that are no prestes neyther.

Now yf this man wyll saye, that many of the personys haue in ye tyme of the prelates that now be lyuynge, or that were lyuyng at the tyme that hym selfe wrote those wordes, recouered in any of the spyrituall courtꝭ, the tythe of such woodꝭ, agaynst the statute, by force of that prouinciall cō stytucyō: I wyll se this man proue it ere I byleue hym in it. For the dayngeour of that suit may be p[…]raduenture more, than I suppose the person wyll put in perell for his tythes. And also the paryshen maye soone stoppe the suit in the begynnyng by ye kyngꝭ prohybycyō / wherby ye kyngꝭ iudges shall se whyther the person sewe for suche tythes or not, & wyll not therin suffre hym to procede.

And therfore tyll thys good man make me better proues of this mater than hys owne bare sayenge: he geueth me no cause agaynste so many lettes to the cōtrary, therin to byleue his word. But I durst wel warraūt it, that if he come ones to the namyng of the partyes, so that the specialtyes of the maters may be sought out and made appere: you shall surely fynd it vntrewe.

Now than to mayntayne withall hys great word of confederacyes: he bryngeth forth that some prestes say styll, that those tythes & mortuary[…]s also, for al the statutes be theyr dewtyes styl, & that they which pay them not be accursed. I haue espyed thys good man is a man of sadnesse, & no great gamener. For yf he were he wolde neuer be angry for an angry worde, spoken by a man that is on the lesynge syde. Hit is an olde courtesye at the cardys perdye, to lette the leser haue hys wordes. And in good fayth in thys mater I here no suche talkyng at all. And veryly this deuyce of his to put thys for a cause of diuisyon, is in my mynde a very chyldyshe thynge.

But thanne goeth he ferther that prestes make partycular confederacyes, to mayntayne obytys, & prestes wages, and to haue more at byryalles than they haue bene wont to haue or ellys to shewe them selfe not content, that is to saye to aske more than they can gete / and bycause they can not gete it, shewe them selfe not content / that is to wytte lowre and loke angerly, and say they be not pleased. Be not these hygh maters and mete for that heyghnouse name of confederacyes

And yet goeth he ferther wyth an other heyghnouse confederacy, that yf a preste haue a besynesse to do in some countreys: other prestes wyll as it is sayde so confeder whyth hom at arbytr[…]nentes and other metynges / or ellys make theym suche frendes pryuyly, that the tother partye though he be of right good substaunce a haue also good ryghte / yet shall he sometyme haue mych a do to obtayne yf.

Is not here good readers a wonderfull heyghnouse worke, and well worthye ye name of confederacies of the spyrytualte / that but in some countreys, nor there neyther of any certayntye, but as some saye, some prestes in the besynesse of a nother preste, wyll, and yet but somtyme neyther at arbytrementes confedere wyth theyre good worde to helpe forthe theyr felowe, or ellys to make hym frendes? Ye and thenne what a myschyefe he sheweth that enseweth therupon? The tother party hath he sayth myche a do to obteyn his ryght and yet that but somtyme neyther. But as for lese his ryght by theyre meanes, he sayeth not that any man dothe. Be not these heyghnouse confederacyes, & thynges mete for thys man to make a boke of diuysyon for? And yet as though he had very well acquyte hm selfe: he knytteth yt vp wyth these wordes.

And these be some of the confederacyes of pres[…]es that I ment of / and not the gatherynge to gether of the clergye at the conuocacyons.

In good fayth I sawe not howe he sholde meane any other thynge, nor that neyther well. For the name of confederacyes taken to an euyll parte as thys man taketh yt, dothe sygnyfye a metynge and gatheryng to gether, and a determynacyō of certayne euyll folke, conspyrynge to gether aboute an euyll thynge to be done, wyth a couenaunt and promyse by eche of theym made vnto other, eche to stande wyth other therin. Nowe where as at conuocacyons good men come to gether to do good, and therfore he coulde not call theym confed[…]racyes as he nowe sayeth he ment not to do: yet I douted somewhat whyther he so ment or not, bycause the conuocacions be at the leste wise comen assēblies to gether, wher of he myght hap I thought to geue a good thyng an euyl name. But these maters yt he now speketh of, I could not ymagyne that euer he ment to cal them confederacyes, wherin he neyther seeth assemblies, nor can assygne and proue any conspyracy & mutuall ꝓmyse, in assystyng eche other about the procurement of any thynge at all good or bad. For where as he sayth yt these be some of the confederacy[…]s that he ment: I am sure no man douteth but that these be eyther all he cō federacyes that he fyndeth, or ellys at the leste wyse the greatest. And thenne are those that he calleth here partyculare confederacyes, so chyldyshe that in good faythe I myche meruayle, that his herte could serue hym for very shame to speke of thē. And thē the tother yt be taketh for generall cōfederacyes / he neither seeth nor assygneth so mych as any assēbly about theym, or promyse or abettement to procure and pursue theym. And therfore though some prestes wold here or there speke of them as theyr owne affeccyon sedeth theym: this is farre fro the nature and name of confederacye.

And yet when he hath al to gether done, whyle he proueth nothynge at the vttermoste (though all that he sayeth were as trew as yt is not) but that they wolde fayne haue the tythe of tymber styll, and that they wolde fayne haue the mortuaryes styll, and that some wolde fayne haue greater wages, and some wolde fayne haue more money at the beryalles, then for all theyre fayne wyllynge they can gete / when they wold onely fayn haue yt, and yet in dede gete nought of yt, nor other folke nothynge lese: to make now so great a mater of this and call yt an hyghnouse name of confederacyes, ys as me semeth somewhat lyke to hym, that wolde nedes haue an accyon agaynste his neyghbour bycause his neyghbours ho[…]se stode and loked ouer his hedge. For he sayde that he sawe by hys countenaunce that he wolde haue eaten hys grasse yf he coulde haue goten to yt. For as for that, that the hedge letted hym, was lytle thanke to hym / for hys wyll was neuer the lesse. And thus hys.xix. chapyter you se good readers howe lytle reason is in yt.