The furst chapyter

The letter of credence sent from hys frende by a trusty secret messenger[…] wyth the letter of ye authore answeryng ye same. The declara[…]yō of of ye credence by the mouth of ye messenger whereuppon the mater of all the hole worke dependeth.

The letter of credence

MAster chauncelour as hartely as I possible cā I recomend me to you. Not wythoute a thousand thankys for your good cumpany whan we were last to gether. In whyche for as myche as yt liked you to spend sum of your tyme wyth me in famylyer cōmunycacion / wherof sum ꝑte I truste so to remēber as my selfe shall be the better and some other neuer the worse / which shall haue cause and haue all redy to gyue you greate thank therfore / I am bolde at thys tyme to send you my specyall secrete frende thys berer to breke wyth you sūwhat ferther / partely of ye same matters partely of sū other such as are happed there synnys / wherof greate spech and rumour runneth here / wherby ye shall haue occasyō more at lēgth if your leysour wyll serue to touche certayn dowtes moued synnes of the maters treated betwene vs byfore. wherī were it not for your other busynes I wold be hold on your goodnes to desyre you to take good time […] hym. And yet neuere the lesse do require you hartely as your leysour will serue you to satysfy him at the the full. For he shall how longe so euer he tarye therfore / gyue attendaunce vnto you dayes & howers as ye may spare hym tyme. whych can not in these thingꝭ be but well bestowed / consyderynge that the matters be such and so to wchynge to god / as they were well worthy to set worldly busynes asyde specyally ī such nede. For I assure you sō folk here tal[…] very straungely of the thyngys that he shall moue you / Not onely for suche wordis as they tell yt come frō thense / but also most especially thorough tho[…] casyon of some letters lewdely wryttē hyther owte of londō by a prest or t[…] whom they take here for honeste. But what so euer eny man tell or wryte / I shall for ye confydence & truste yt I haue in you surely take and tell forth for the very truth what so euer ye shal afferme vnto my frende / whō I sende vnto you not so myche bycause I may not come my selfe (how beyt therfore to) as for bycause I longe to haue hym talke wt you. To whom what so euer ye say reken yt sayde to my selfe / Not only for hys trouth and secretnes / but also for hys memory. wyth whom to cōmune I trust shall not mislyke you. For eyther myne affeccyō blyndeth me / or ye shall fynd hym wyse / and as other saye that can better iuge yt thē I / more thē meā ly lernyd / wythe one thynge addede wherewyth ye be wonte well to be content / a very mery wyt. He is of naturre nothynge tonge tayed. And I haue in these maters beden hym be bolde wyth out any straynynge of curtesye / wherof the cerymonyes in dysputacyō marryth mych of ye mater / whyle one studyeth more how he may behaue him than what he shall saye. I haue I say therefore boden hym more to mynd hys mater thē hys curtesy / […] frely to lay forthe not ōly what he thīketh / but also what hym lyst / geuyng no fote in dysputing vnto your authorytye but if he be born bak wyth reasō. Thus may ye se I am bold ō your goodnes to put you to labour and busynes / and send one to face you in your owne howse. But so mych am y• I bolder / for that in such chalēgꝭ I know you for a redy and sure defender. And of such labour your wysdom wel[…] seeth that god is ye rewarder / who long preserue you & all yours.

The lettre of the author sent wyth the boke

Ryght worshypfull syr after moste harty recōmendacyon / albe yt yt of late I sent you my pore mynde by ye mouth of your trusty frend / to whō ye desyred me by your letters to gyue no lesse credence than to your selfe / concernynge all such thyngys as he brake of & cōmuned wt me in your bihalfe / & yt for ye cōfydence yt ye haue ī hym / ye wyt & lernyng yt I founde in hym / & honestye yt I so moch ye more thynk hym to be of / in yt I perceyue you beyng of such wysedom & vertu / to haue hym in so speryall trust / I nether do nor cā beleue ye cōtrary but yt he hath of all our cōmunycacyō made you faythfully / playne / & full reporte / yet sythe I suppose in my selfe yt yf we had mought cōuenyētly cum to gether ye wold rather haue chosī to haue hard my mynde of myn owne mouth thā by ye mean of a nother / I haue sīnis ī these fewe days in whych I haue bē at home put ye mater in wrytyng / to thende ye may not only here hyt by the mouth of your frende / but also whych better ys than sodenlye ones to here hit of mine owne mouthe / rede yt yf ye lyste more often at your beste leysure advysydly from myne owne penne. whych thynge I veryly thought my selfe so mych the more bounde to do / for that yt lyked you of your specyall fauour & affeccyō towarde me so greatly to regarde and esteme my myn[…] & answere ī those maters / yt no rumour there rūnīg or talys in your countre tolde or leters thyther wrytten nor reasons or argumētꝭ there made to the cōtrary / shuld lett or wyth […]ande but that ye wolde as ye wrote take that thyng for vndowted trouth yt I shulde by your frended acertayn you. And surely syr ī thus poīt ye may make your selfe sure yt I shall neuer wyllingly deceue your trust. And lest I might happe to do yt of ouer syght vnware / albe yt I nothynge sayde vnto your frende by mouth but that I was ryght well enformyd of the trouth / yet for as mich as I perceyued by hym ye sū […]olke dowted le[…]te many thyngys were layd to the charge / not onely of that man ye wrote of / but also of Luther hym selfe / otherwyse than coud be proued / I dyd so mych therin that I was suffred to se & shewe hym as well ye bokys of ye tone as the very a[…]tys of ye court cōcernyng yt tother / yt we myght both by so myche the more surely wartaūt you ye trouth. wherin yf ye fynde eny man y• yet dowteth whether he tolde you and I wryte you the trouth or not / I shall yf he vnderstand the laryne tong fynde ye mean at your pleasure that he shall so see the bokys hym selfe / yt were he neuer so full of mystrustynge he shall not fayle to be fully cōtent & satysfyed. And thys warrātyse wyll I make you as farforth as con[…]erneth eny acte done here. But as for thyngys reasoned and dysputed bytwene vs / ye cōclusyons selfe be so sure truthes / yt the[…] be not dysputable. But whither the reasons by me made in thē bēeffectuall or insufficyēt / albe it your frend eyther for ȳ […] of trouth he thought so / or for that of curtesye he sayd so / accepted them for good / yet wthout preiudyce of ye prīcipall maters ye may your self be iuge. And thus I pray you take in good worthe ye lytle laboure & great good wyll of hym whom in eny thyng yt may do you pleasure / ye maye to the vttermost of hys lytell power well and boldely commaūd. And thus our lorde send you wt my good lady your bedfelow & all yours as hartely well to fare as ye wolde all wysh.

yOur frende fyrst after your letter redde / whan I demaū ded hym hys credence / shewed me that ye had sent hym to me / not for eny dowte that your self had in many of those thingis that he shuld moue vnto me / but for the dowte that ye perceyued in many other / and ī sum folke playne parsuasyō to ȳe cōtrary / whom ye wolde be glad to answere wyth the trouthe / albe yt some thyngys he sayd were also there so talked / that ye wyst not well your self which part ye myght bileue. For it was there not only spokē but also thether wryten by dyuers honest pre[…]ys owte of londō / yt the mā ye wryte of was of many thyngys bor[…]e wrong in hand / and therin so sore handelyd / that he was forced to forswere & ab[…]ure certayn herysyes / and opēly put to penaunce therfore / where he neuere held eny such. And all thys don for malyce and enuye / partely of some freres agaynste whose abusyons he preched / partly for yt he preched boldly agaynste the pompe and pryde and other inordynate lyuynge that mo men speke of th[…] ̄ preche of vsed in the clargye. And they take for a gret tokyn that he shuld not meane euyll / the prose and experyence whych men haue had of him yt he lyued well and was a good honest vertuouse man farre from ambycyon and desyre of wordly worship / chaste / humble & charytable / free & lyberall in almose dede / and a very goodly prechour / in whose deuowte sermons ye peple were greatly edyfyed. And therfore ye peple say yt all thys gere ys done but onely to stoppe mēnys mouthys / & to put euery mā to sylence yt wold eny thynge speke of the […]autys of the clargy. And they thynk yt for none other cause was also burned at Poulys crosse the new testamēt late traunslated in ēglyshe by Master wyllyam huchen otherwyse called Master Tīdall / who was as mē say well knowen ere he went ouer the see for a mā of ryght good lyuynge / studyouse & well lerned in scrypture / and in dyuerse pl[…] cys in Englonde was very well lyked & dyd great good wyth prechyng. And men mutter amonge thē selfe that the boke was not onely fawtlesse / but also very well traunslatyd / & was deuyse[…] to be burned bycause mē shuld not be able to proue yt such fawtys as were at Poules crosse declared to haue bē foū den in it were neuer foūdē ther ī dede / but vntruly surmised. And yet such as they were sum men say were no fautis at all / if they had be so trāslated ī dede / but blame layed & […]awte foūd wt thingꝭ nothyng […] worthy / onely to […]face ye holy worke / to thende yt they myght seme to haue some iuste cause to burne yt. And yt for none other cause but for to kepe owt of ye peples hād is all knowlege of Cristꝭ gospell & of goddis law / excepte so mych onely as ye clargye thē self lyste now & thā to tell vs. And that lytle as it is & seldom shewed / yet as it ys fered not well & truly tolde / but watered wt false gloses / & altered from the trouthe of ye very wordis & sentence of scriptur ōly for ye mayntenaūs of theyr authoryte. And ȳ […] fere lest thys thyng shulde euydentely appere to the people yf they were suffered to rede ye scripture thē self in theyr own tong / was as yt is thoght ye very cause not ōly for whych ye new testamēt trāslated by Tīdale was burned / but also yt ye clargye of thys realme hath bifore thys time by a cōstitucion prouyncyall prohybyted eny boke of scrypture to be traunslated in to the englysh tonge / ferynge men wyth fyer as herytyques whose so shulde presume to kepe thē / As though yt were heresie for a chrystē mā to rede crystꝭ gospell. And surely syr quod he sum folke yt thynk thys dealyng of the clargye to be thus / and good men to be myshandlyd for declaryng the trouth / And the scripture selfe to be pulled owte of ye peples handys leste they shulde perceyue the trouthe / be ledde in theyre myndys to dowte whither Luther hī self of whose opinions or at the leste of whose workys all these bysynesse bygan / wrote in dede so euyll as he ys borne in hande. And many men therbe that thynke he neuer mente such thingis. But that bycause he wrote agaynste thabusyons of pardons / and spake sūwhat lyberally agaynste the courte of Rome / and generally agaynste the vycys of the clargy / therfore he was brought ī hatered / and fyrst cyted to Rome. And wh[…]n yt forfere of bodely harme wyth wrong / whereof yt wolde haue bene to late or loke for remedy after / if he had ones be burnede vp byfore / he durste not come thether / than was he accursed / and hys bokes dampned / & vnder great paynis forbodden to be redd. And that thyng done / bycause it shulde not be knowen what wronge he had / and yt he neyther meaneth nor sayeth such odyouse and abomynable heresyes as the people be borne in hand to enduce them to hatered of hī / as yt wolde ꝑauēture appere y[…] hys b[…]kis were suffered to be redde. And they sey that yt were no mastry to make yt seme that a man shulde be ā herytyque / yf he may be borne in hand that he sayeth the thynge whych he neuer sayd / or ꝑaduēture one lyne taken out amonge meny and myscōstrewed / not suffering the remnante to be sene / wherby yt myghte more clerely appere what he meanyth. By whych maner of delynge a man they say might lay heresye to saynte poule / and fynde a faute ī saynt Iohns gospell. And yet they say the worst of all is this / that the clargye c[…]ace not hereby nor holde theym selfe content wt the cōdempnyng of Luther & forbyddyng of hys bokes / but ferther abuse ye hatered of hys name agaynste euery man that ys in prechynge of the word of god eny thīg such as he shulde be / that ys to wyit playne and bolde wythout glose or flateryng. where yf they fynde a man fauty / lett theym lay hys fawte to hys charge. what nedythe to call him a Lutherane? Though Luther were a deuyll yet myght a man ꝑcase say as he sayeth in sum thyng and say trew Inough. For neuer was ther herytyqu[…] that sayd all false. Nor the deuyll hym selfe lyed not whē he called Chryste goddys sonne. And therefore men thynke that this name […] Lutherane seruethe the clargye for a cōmen cloke of a false crune / yt where they lack specyall mater to charge one wyth by iugemente / they laboure to bryng hym fyrste in the infamy of that name that cōprysyth as they make it seme / a cōfuted hepe of heresyes no mā cā tell what. And yet in such deling they wounde theyre owne mater a nother way. For whyle they de[…]ame for Lutherany[…]/m[…] that be of knowen vertu & cūnīg / what do they therby but ōe of ye twayn eyther cause the peple yt haue for good lyuynge and lernyng those mē in gret reputacyon to thynke yt the clargye for malice and enuy doth vntruly defame them / or els that Luthers doctryne is good / whyle so cūnyng men and good men lene therto. And therfore yt were wysedome not to call theym Lutheranys / but rather when they teche & holde eny such opynions as the people know for Luthers / let yt eyther be dy[…] symuled / or they secretly by fayr ways enduced to the contrary / if the poyntꝭ that they teche of hys be nought. Leste by callynge good and cunning mē Lutherane / they may peraduēture bryng them selfe in suspycyone of malice and […]nuye / And Luther amonge the peple into good opynyō / Thynkyng as they bygynne to doo all redy / that eythere Luther sayd not so euyll as ys surmysed vppon hym / or els that those thyngꝭ yt he sayth as odious as they seme / be good inough in dede. He sayd also yt yt seemed vnto many men a sore thyng and farr vnresonable / that pore symple and vnlerned men all though they fell in to errours and were ledde oute of the ryghte way by yt they lened to thauthoryte of such mē as they byleued to be vertuouse & […]ūnyng / shuld in stede of teching be betē cruelly wyth abiuracyons and opyn shame / wyth ꝑell of burnyng also / yf a few false wytnesse shall after such abiuracyō depose yt they haue harde hym fall in relapse. Fynally he sayde yt many good and well lernyd men thought playnly that ye clargye semyth farre owt of all good order of cheryte / and that they do contrary to the myldnesse and mercyfull mynde of theyre ma[…]er / and agaynste thēsample of all the olde holy fathers / in yt they cause for eny errour or wrōg opynion in the faythe / eny man one or other to be put to deth.

For they say that ye olde holy fathers vsed only to dyspute wyth heritiques / techyng them and conuyctynge them by scrypture / and not by fagottꝭ. And that by that way the fayth wente well forwarde / and one heritique so turnyd dyd torne many othere / where as now mē abhorre thys crueltie in the church. And they that seme turned / think styll the thyngꝭ that they dare not say. And of thasshes of one herytyke spryng vp many. And that now we make the fassyon of crystendom to seme all turned quyte vpp so down. For wher as Crist made infydelis the persequutours and hys crystē peple the su[…]rers / we make the chrysten men the persecutours and the infydelys the sufferers. wherby mē thynke that secretly Christys order yet standeth styll though yt be not so t[…]kin and so perceyued. For the peple take yt that styll those that ꝑsequute be ye myscrea[…] ̄tys / and those pore peple yt suffer yt / be vnder the false name of heretyques the trew byleuyng men and very chrysten martyrs.

Cryst also they sey wold neuer haue eny man cōpelled by force and vyolēce to byleue vppon hys fayth / nor wolde that men shulde fyght for hym or hys maters. In so farforthe yt he wolde not suffer […]aynt peter to fyght for hys own selfe / but repreuyd hym for strykynge Malchus. Nor wold not defēd hī self / but helyng the ere agayn of Malchus his persecutour whych Peter had smitten of / and geuyng all his holy body to the pacyent sufferaūce of all paynefull turmentys that hys cruell enmyes wolde put to it / shewed vs as well by hys effectuall ensaumple of hys dethe / as by hys godly counceyle in hys lyfe / and after that confyrmed by the contynuall pa[…]syō and marterdums of hys holy martyrs / that hys wyll & pleasure is that we shulde not so myche as defende our selfe agaynst herytyquys & infidelys / were they paganys turkys or sarasinys. And mich lesse thā shuld we fyght agaynst theym and kyll thē / but that we shulde perseuer in setting forth hys fayth agaynst myscreauntis and infidellys / by suche wayes as him selfe began it / keepe it / and encreace it as it was gottē / And that was by pacyence and su[…]raunce by whyche the fayth was dyuulgate and sprede allmost thorow the world in litle while. Not by warre & fyghting / whych way hath as thay say well nere all redy lost all that the tother way wanne.

when your frend had thus declared his credēs / he desyred me both ō your byhalfe and on hys owne in such thingys as were parcas not well sayde to take thē as they were ī dede the mind of other / whome ye wold fayne answere and satysfye wyth resone / which ye trustyd to be the better able to do by myne āswer / and neyther the mind nor opynyon of you nor hym / whych dyd and wold in all thyng stand and abyde by the fayth & byleue of Crystꝭ catholyk chyrche. But as for suche ꝑtys of thys mater as concernyd not eny parte of our beleue but the dealīg of thys worlde / as the iustyce or vniustyce of sum spyrytuall personys in the pursuyng and condempnyng mē for heretyquys or theyr werkys for heresyes / he thought he sayd as of hym selfe that mē myght wtoute eny parell of heresy for theyr owne parte notwt standyng eny mannes iudgemēt geuin yet well and resonably dowt ther in / For though he thought it heresy to thynke thopynyons of eny man to be good and catholyque whych bē herisyes in dede / yet might a mā he thought wythout eny parell of heresy dowte whether he were ā herytyke or no that were by mannys iudgment cōdempned for one / syth it myght well happē that he neuer held those opinions that were put vppon hym / but that he was eyther by fals deposycyons of wrong full wytnes / or by the error or malyce of vniust iudges condempnyd. And that sometyme percase the ignoraūce of som iudges wold cōdemne for heresye such artycles as wyser and better lernyd wold in poynt of iudgment alow for good and catholyque / and of the tother iudgment decerne & iudge the contrary.

How be yt he sayd that ye had ī me and my lernyng so specyall trust & cō fydens / that in any of all these thīgys what so euer ye had herd or shuld here ellis where / ye were fully determynyd to gyue full credēce to me & take for ye trouth such answere as he shuld brīg you from me / whereī ye ryght hartely desired me to take some paine that ye myght in these maters by hys mouth know my mynde at large /

After thys or I made eny āswere to hys wordys / I demaunded him what maner acquayntaunce was bytwene hym and you. And theruppon perceyuyng hym to haue your sōnes at scole enqueryng farther of hym to what faculte he had most geuyn his study / vnderstode hym to haue geuyn dylygēce to the latyn tonge / As for other facultyes he rought not of. For he tolde me merily that Logyk he rekenyd but babelyng / Musyke to serue for syngers / Arythmetryk mete for merchaūtꝭ / Geometry for masons / Astronomy good for no man / And as for Phylosophy ye most vanyte of all / And that yt & Logyk had lost all good deuynyte wyth ye subteltyes of theyre questyons / and babelyng of theyre dyspycyons / Byldyng all vppon reason / whych rather geuith blyndnes thā any light. For mā he sayd hath no lyght but of holy scripture. And therfore he sayde that biside the latyne tonge he had ben / whych I mych cōmende / studiouse in holy scripture / whych was he sayed lernyng I nough for a Crystyn man / wyth which thapposteles held thē self cōtent. And therin he saide he labored not onely to can many textys therof by hart / but also to enserche the sentence and vnderstandyng therof as ferre as he myght perceyue by hym selfe. For as for interpretours he tolde me that neyther hys tyme wolde well serue hym to rede / & also he founde so great swetnes in the texte selfe / that he coulde not fynde in his harte to lese eny tyme in the glosi[…]. And as towchyng eny defycultye he said that he founde by experience that the beste and surest interpretaciō was to ley and conferre one texte wyth an other / whych […]ayle not amonge theym well & sufficiently to declare theim self. And thys waye he sayde that he vsyde whych he founde sufficient and surest. For so shulde it most surely tary / when yt were founden owte and lernyd by a mānes owne laboure. And that he said was euery mā able Inough to do wyth helpe of god whych neuer faylith theym that faythfully truste in hys ꝓmyse. And he hath promysid that if we seke we shall fynde / And if we knocke we shall haue it openyde to vs. And what shalbe openid? but y• booke which as seynt Ioh̄n saith ī thapocalips is so shytt wyth.vii. clapses that it can not be openyd but by the lambe that whan he shetteth then cā no mā open it / and whan he openyth it than can no man shytt it. Uppō these wordys & other lyke whan I consyderyde that youre frend was studiouse of scrypture / and all though I now haue a very goode opynyon of hym / nor at that tyme hade not all the contrary / yet to be playne wt you and him both / by reason that he set the mater so well and lustely forward / he put me somwhat in dowte whether he were as yong scolers be sūtime ꝓne to new fantesyes / fallen in to luthers secte. And that ye peraduēture sūwhat feryng the same / dyd of good mynde the rather sende hym to me wyth such a message / for that ye trustyd he shuld be sumwhat āswered and satysfied by me. I therfore thought it not metely ī so many maters and wegh[…]y to make hym an vnaduysed answere / but wyth good wordys welcomyng him for the time ptēdyng lake of leysour for other psent bisines / requyred him to retorne on the morow / Against whych tyme I wold so order myne other affares that we wold haue conference to gether of all hys erande at length. And he in this wyse beyng departyde I beganne to gather in mynde the hole effecte as my rememberaunce wolde serue me of all that he had purposyd. And bycause I wolde haue yt the more redy at myne eye / so that I myght the more fully & effectually answere it leuyng no parte vntouchyd in suche order as he hade purposyd yt that is to wytt after the maner that I haue aboue rehersyd / I bryefely commyttyd yt to wrytynge