The.xvii. chapiter

The messenger laythe forth obieccyons agaynst myracles dōe at pylgrymagys / of whych he confessyth many to be trew. but he layth causes and reasōs wherby he seyth yt many men be moued to beleue and thynk that those myracles yt be don there be dōe by ye deuyll to sett our hartꝭ vppon ydolatry by ye worshyppyng of ymagys in stede of god.

BUt nowe albe yt as I sayed yt I myght allege you thys myracle and proue yt you in such wyse that I wot well ye wold be as far owte of all dowte therof as ye wold be depe in the maruayle of the myracle / And peraduēture dyuerse other could I shewe you done of late at dyuerse pylgrymagys / and proue them well to / yet wold I fayn fyrst here of you / what dystynccyon and dyfferēce ys yt that ye make / and wherfore ye make it bitwene ye myracles don of olde tyme / and these that be now adayes don at these pylgrymagys. Syr quod he sum what a lytle I towched yt in the begynnyng & made in maner a glaunce therat. But loth wer I to hyt yt wyth a full shot and a sharpe as I haue sene sum wyth suche reasons cleeue the pryk in twayne / yt they semyd to bere ouer the but And all[…]whych reasons I wolde be loth in so sore maner to allege / lest I myght happely gyue you sū occasyō to thynk that eyther I set to sumwhat of myne owne / or elles at the leste wyse lyked well that syde and wer a fauorer of ye factyō / Nay nay quod I fere not that hardely / for neyther ā I so suspecyouse to mystrust that one thynkyth euyll because he defēdeth the worse parte well by way of argumente and reasonyng / And also I truste that all theyr shottꝭ shalbe so far to feble to bere ouer yt but that few of them shall towche ye mark / many to faynt to perce the paper / And sum to hygh / and sum to shorte / And some walk to wyde of yt but by a bow. And therfore I requyre you spare not to bryng forth all yt euer ye haue harde […]or that ye thynke may be sayde in the mater. Syr quod he syth ye can here yt so indyfferently / I shall not spare to speke it. And suerly to begynne wtall yt I thynk trew I wyll not fayle to confesse. For albe yt that I haue long stycked wyth you to wythstand any credence to be geuē to myracles dō now adayes / in whych I haue moch ye lēget stykked bycause of sum whom I haue knowē ere thys so farre from ye byleue of any myracles at all / yt in good feyth they put me half ī dowte whether they beleue that there wer god at all / if they du[…]st for drede & shame haue sayd all yt they semed to thynk / yet to saye the truth I neuer hard any thyng sayd so sore therin yt euer moued me to thynk yt any reason wold bere the importune mystrust of them / that amōg so many ā open myracle as ys dayly in dyuers placys doon / wolde wene that none at all wer trew. But veryly as I begōne a lytell to touche in the begynnynge whether these myracles be made by god & for good sayntys or by ye deuyll for oure deceyt and delusyon / albeyt I beleue & euer wyll as the chyrch doth / yet sum men among sum such thyngꝭ say therin that I am dryuē to doo as I do in other articlys of the fayth / lene fast vnto belefe for any reason that I fynde to make them āswere wyth. For fyrst they take for a groūde yt the deuill may do myracles / Or yf we lyst / not to suffer thē callyd by yt name / the mater shalbe therby nothyng amēded. for yf we wyll haue only called by the name of myracles thyngys by god dō aboue nature / yet wyll we not deny but that god sufferethe ye deuyll to worke wonders whych the people cā not dyscerne from myracles. And therfore whē they se them / myracles shall they call them / and for myracles shall they take them. Now syth yt so is that the deuyll may do suche thyngys / whereby shall we be […]ure that god doth them? And syth the dyuyll may do theym / & we be not sure that god doth them / why may not we aswell beleue that ye dyuyll doth them Mary sayd I ye told me that ye sett noght by Logyk / but now ye play the Logycyen out ryghte. Howe be yt that argument men may torne ō the tother syde & saye / that syth god may do them mych beter than the dyuyll / and we be not sure that the dyuyll doth thē / why shulde we not rather beleeue that god doth them / whych may do them beter. And myche more reason yt ys where a wonderfull work ys wrought there / to ascrybe yt to god the master of all mastryes / rathere than the dyuyll that can do nothyng but by su[…]fraunce / excepte we se some cause that cānot suffer that work to be rekenyd goddys. well q he / than is yt reason that we shew you sum such cause. It ys quod he cause ynoughe in that we se that god hath yn scrypture forboden suche ymagry / and that vnder great maledyccyon / As yn the law. Non facies tib[…] sculptile. And ī the psalme. In exitu israel de egipto / where he furst by the mouth of the Prophete / dyscrybyth the folye of suche as worshyppyth those imagys / that hath crys and cannot here / handis and can not feele / fete and cannot go / mouth & cannot speke. All whych absurdytees & vnresonable folyes apperyth aswell in the worshyp of our imagꝭ as in the panyms idollys. And after he shewith the maledyccion yt shall fall theruppō / Seynge lyke mote they be to them all such as make them / & all suche as puttyth theyr trust in thē. And forthwyth he declareth in whom good men haue theyr trust / and the profyte that procedyth theruppon saynge. Domus israel sperauit in domino adiutor eorū et ꝓtector eorumest / The house of Israell hath put theyre truste in our lorde the helper and defender of thē ys he. Now when the wordys of god be clere / open and playne vppon thys syde / what reason ys yt to beleue the cōmentys and glosys of menne wherewyth ye wold wynde owt agaynst she trew textys of god? what shulde we gyue credens to thēnsample of mēnys doyngꝭ ageynst the playne commaūdement of goddys wrytyngys. And whē that ōly chryste ys our sauyour and our medyatour to bryng our nature agayne to god / and our oonly proctour and aduocat afore hys father and may helpe vs best and will helpe vs most / what shall we make eyther our lady or ēny other creature our aduocat or praye to thē whych of lykelyhod here vs not / For there can none of them be present at so many placys at onys as they be callede vppon. and if they were / yet arte they no nere vs then god hī selfe / nor so fayne wold that we dyd well as he yt dyed for vs. and therfore whā we not only doo thē reuerence (whyche I were contēt wer done them for goddes sake as ye sayd before) but also praye to them / we doo chryste and god great Iniury. For yf we pray to thē as medytours & aduocatꝭ for vs / we take fro Cryste hys office & gyue yt them. yf we aske helpe & helth of them / then make we thē playne god dys and betake to them the power of ye godhed. For only god ys yt yt geuethe all good as wytnessyth saynt Iames. Euery good and very perfyte gyfte cō meth from aboue descendyng from the father of lyghtys. And suerly yf we cō syder how we behaue vs to thē though ye saye that all the honoure geuen to sayntes redoundeth vnto god / syth yt ys doon as ye saye not for theyr owne sakys but for hys / yet wold not I wene that god be well cōtent that we shuld for hys sake do to any creature lyke honour as to hym selfe. For scrypture sayeth that he wyll not gyue hys glory frō hym nor to any other creature lyke honoure as to hym selfe / And therfore ye scolys as I here saye deuyse a treble dyfference in worshyppyng / callyng ye one dulya the reuerence or worshyp yt man dothe to man / as the bonde man to the lorde. The second yꝑdulya that a man doth to a more excellent creature as to angellys or sayntys. The thyrde latria the veneracyon honoure and adoracyon that cretures doth ōly to god. In whych of these partyes ye put the worshypping of imagys / I am neyther so well sene therin to tell / nor so curyouse gretly to care. But thys I se well yf any of all these.iii. kyndes of worshyp be better thē other / thymagꝭ hath yt. For they haue all that euer we cā doo. For what do wee to god when we doo worshyp hym in that fassyon yt they call latria / but we doo the same to sayntys and ymagys bothe? yf yt stande in knelyng / we knele to saintys and theyre ymagys. yf in prayeng / we praye as bytterly to them as to god. yf in sensyng and settyng vp of cādyllys we cense them also and sett some saynt vii. candelles agaynst god one. So yt what so euer fassyon of worshyppyng latria be / the same ys as largely don to sayntys and ymagꝭ as to god / And thys not vnto ymagys only (whyche though they haue no lyfe haue yet som shappe and fassyon after man) but as menne wene vnto pyggys bonys also sumtyme. For what reuerent honour ys there dayly don vnder ye name and oppynyon of a sayntys relyke / to sum old rotton bone that was happely sumtyme as Chaucer sayth a bone of some holy Iewes shepe. Se we not yt someone sayntys hed ys shewid ī.iii. placys And some one hoole sayntys body lyeth in dyuers contres / yf we beleue the lyes of ye people. And in bothe the placys ys yt one body worshypped where the one or the other ys false / and one body mystakyn for a nother / an euyll man happely for a good. And yet wyll the prestes of both placys take offryngꝭ and toll men theder wyth myracles to. In whych case eyther must ye saye that the myracles of the one place bee false and feynid / or elles that myracles make not your matter good nor proue your pilgrimagꝭ trew. & yet myght all this gere be mich ye beter born if it wer trew ye ye defend the thyngꝭ wtall / whē ye saye that in worshyppyng of sayntꝭ and ymagis men worshyp neyther the tone nor ye tother as goddys / but thyngys for the sayntys and the sayntis for god. But now as yt semeth the matter ys ī dede far otherwyse / For the peple pray to the sayntys for theyre necessytys / puttynge thereto truste for theyre petycyons in the sayntys them selfe as though god gaue yt not but they. And in the ymagys putte the people theyre truste in stede of the sayntys self / For albe yt that yt myght stande wyth reasō as ye haue āswered me that presupposed the myracles in these pylgrymagys to be doon by god / ye peple myght then wyth reason goo seke and vysyte such placys as god by miracle declared that he wolde haue hym selfe or hys holy sayntys sought and honored in / yet now thys answere to wcheth the poynt but in parte & matcheth not the hoole matter / For the people doo not onlye vysyte these placys and ther do all the worshyp to the sayntys y• they can possyble doo to god (wyth hope of theyre helpe from the sayntys self / whych they shuld well wyt ōly to be geuin by god / and thus by thys demenour make the sayntys goddys fellawes / yt […]s to saye the seruantys matches wt theyr master and the creaturs matys to the maker) but also vse them selfe in as relygyous fassyon / and as feruent affeccyō to the ymagꝭ of stone or tre / as eyther to sait or god. And playnly take these ymagꝭ for the sayntys selfe and for god hym selfe. And put in these ymagꝭ of theyr pylgrymagys theyre full hope & hoole trust yt they shuld put in god. whych besydes that I haue sayd byfore apperyth well in thys / that they wyll make comparysōs betwene our lady of Ipswych and our lady of walsyngam / As weenyng ye one ymage more of power thē the tother / whych they wold neuer doo / but if ī stede of our lady they put theyre truste in the Image selfe. And the people in spekyng of our lady / Of all our ladyes sayeth one / I loue beste our lady of walsingham / And I sayth the other oure lady of Ipeswyche. In whyche wordys what menyth she but her loue and her affeccyon to the sto[…] that standyth in ye chapell at walsyngham or Ipswych.

what say you whā the peple speke of thys fassyon in theyr paynys & parellis Helpe holye crosse of Bradinan. Helpe our dere lady of walsyngham. Doth yt not playnly appere yt eyther they trust in the imagys in Crystys stede & oure ladys / lettyng Cryst and our lady go / or take at the leste wyse those ymagys so / that they wene they were verely the tone Cryst the tother our lady her self[…] And so euery way the fayth and deuocion wythdrawen frō god that shulde haue yt & our hartys by these ymagys blynded and set vppō the dede stockꝭ and stonys. Now se the good frute also yt foloweth theruppon. I lett passe ouer the faytery and falsehede that ys therein vsed amonge / sumtyme by the prestes / sūtyme by beggers in faynīg of false myracles. Loke what deuocyon men come thyther wyth. wyth the moste com they that moste abuse them selfe / such I mene as moste trust haue and blynde fayth in these blynde ymagys. But the most part yt cōmeth / commyth for no deuocyon at all / but only for good cōpany to bable thyderward and drynke dronk there / and daunce & rele homward. And yet here is not all For I tell you nothyng now of many a noughty pak / many a flekke and hys make that maketh theyre metyngꝭ at these holsum hallows. And many that semeth an honeste huswyfe at home / hath helpe of a bawde to bryng her to myschefe as she walketh abrode about her pylgrymagys. I harde onys when I was a chylde the good scottysh freer father d[…]ld whom I reken suerly for a saynt yf there be eny ī heuyn / I hard hym prech at powlys crosse that our lady was a vyrgyn and yet at the pilgrymagꝭ be made many a foule metyng. And loude he cryed out. ye mē of lōdō gang on your selfe wyth your wyffys to wyllesoon in the deuylles name or ellys kepe thē at heme wyth you wyth sorow. And surely so many good men wene yt were best / cōsyderyng yt those vyagys bene but wanderyng abowte vanyte or supersticyous deuocyō / and the nexte dore to Idoletry when men haue theyre af[…]eccyons in stede of god bounden to blokkys and stonys / And now syth that thys gere ys such / what marueyle ys yt though (as I sayd before) the deuyll be gladde to geue attē daunce theron / and doo for hys parte what he maye to helpe hys owne deuycys forward? Or what marueyle ys yt though god in thys cursyd world whē we fall from hym to other / and from yt honoure of hym selfe to hys sayntys / when we doo as the Paynyms dyd in stede of god worshyp māmottys / and all thys by fallynge to folowe mennys glosys before hys one textꝭ / what wō der ys yt though god agayn serue vs as he seruyd thē / and suffer the deuyll delude vs as he dyd them / and make vs lene to fals miracles as we fall wylfully to fals goddys? Thus say they q he that speke on yt syde / And yet moch more then I cā call to mynd. But suerly syth ye willyd me to forbere nothīg / I haue as I coud rather set to sūwhat not of myn owne opynyō / but of myn owne inuencyon / then any thyng left owt that I coulde remember whyche I had euer hard any man ley / to ꝓue the myracles done at pylgrymagys to be vncertayn by whō they be wroght / or rather to proue that they shulde not be goddes myracles but the deuyllys wonders.