The.xii. chapyter

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[…] goodnesse wherof hys nowghtyn[…] can not appayre / that be he neuer so vycyouse and therwyth so impenytent and so farre frome all purpose of amendement / that hys prayers were afore the face of god reiected and abhorred / yet that sacred sacryfyce and swete oblacyon of Crystys holy bodye offred vppe by hys offyce / can take none empayrynge by the fylthe of hys synne / but hyghly helpeth to the vpholdynge of thys wretched worlde frome the vengeaunce of the wrathe of god / and ys to god as accep[…]able and to vs as auaylable for the thynge yt selfe / as though yt were offred by a better mā / thoughe pe[…]case hys prayers ioyned therwyth neyther mych profytt other / nor the oblacyon hym selfe / as wyth whom god ys the more gretely greued / in that beynge soo badde he durste presume to towche yt. Mary quod your frende yf thys be thus I meruayle than why yt sayde ryghte now that yt were good to make fewer prestys / that they myght be taken onely of the better / and the worse refused. For yf theyr mas[…]s be so good for vs be theym selfe neuer so nawght[…]/than semeth yt better for vs to m[…]ke yet mo thoughe they were yet worse / y• we myght haue mo mas[…]ys. Th[…]t reason quod I wyll not holde. For though god of hys goodnesse how bad so euer the preste be / well accepteth ye oblacyō of Crystys holy body for other folke / yet ys he wyth that prestys presumpcyon hyghly dyscontented. And we neuer ought to seke our own cōmody[…]e with our neyghbours harme. And also we shold of our dute to god / rather forbere ye profyte yt our selfe myght attayne by a masse / thā to se his maieste dysreuerēced / by ye bold presūpcyon o[…] of such an odyouse mynyster as he hath forboden to come about hym. Lyke as yf ye sent a psent vnto a prynce whych were very pleasaūt vnto hym / though y• messenger mych myslyked hym so far yt he had bē forboden ye court / yet yf ye were not ware therof / your gyft could not lese his thāk / but his malepert boldenes myght ꝑaduenture be punysshed and well were worthy to be. But on ye tother syde yf ye knewe the messenger for suche as the prynce wolde not haue come at hym / ye wold rather kepe your present at home and forbere the thāke / than wyttyngly to sende yt by suche […] menssenger / or ellys though your present were very grete / your thāke wold be very lytell. And surely in lyke maner wyse who so surely knoweth a preste to be nawght / vycyouse / and in dedely dyspleasure of god / sholde gete I thynke lytel thanke yf he mad[…] hym saye masse. And therfore well shall the prelatys do / as myche as they maye to prouyde / that god shall rather be more seldome presented wyth the pleasaunte present of the masse / than more often offended wyth a dyspleasaunte messenger. And veryly were all the bysshoppes of my mynde (as I knowe some that be) ye sholde not of prestys haue the plentye that y[…] haue. The tyme hathe ben whan there were very fewe in a grete cytye / and in a monastery of fyue hundred in one howse / scantely wolde there foure monkys be bolde to be prestys. Than was all holy orders in hyghe honoure. Than fynde we that the degre of a de[…]en was a grete thyng and of such dygnyte / that whan one of thē wente sometyme in pylgrymage / he wolde not be aknowen of hys order / bycause he wolde not that folke sholde do hym worshyppe in the waye. But as for now a dayes yf he be de[…] and preste to / he shall nede to fere no suche pryde / but rather rebuke and vylany. which though yt haue happened by the lacke of vertue amonge theym / and decay of deuocyon amonge vs / yet hath myche of all thys gere growen by the meane of so grete a nomber of prestys & so famylyer among vs. whych thyng nedys must mynysshe on our parte reuerence and estymacyon toward theym / whych we neuer haue but in thyngys rare & scarse. Golde wold we not set by yf yt were as comē as chalke or clay. And wherof is there now such plentie as of prestys? In fayth q he there is more plētie of prestys thā of good mē / & ther be to many but yf they were better chosen. Doutlesse q I there wold be more dylygēce vsed in ye choyce / not of theyr lernyng onely / but mych more specyally of theyr lyuynge. For wyth out vertue the better they be lerned ye worse they be / sauyng that lernyng is good store agaynst god sende thē grace to mende. Whych ellys yt wold be thā happely to late to loke for / specyally yf ye prouerbe were true that ye spake of / that yf a preste be good than he is olde. But thys ys a very suretye that yt ys not well possyble to be wythout many very naught of that company / wherof there is suche a maygne multytude. The tyme was as I say / whan fewe men durst presume to take vppon them the hyghe offyce of a preste / not euen whā they were chosen and called ther vnto. Now ronneth euery rascall and boldely offreth hym self for able. And where the dygnyte passeth al pryncys / and they that lewd be / desyreth yt for worldely wynnynge / yet cometh that sorte therto wyth such a made mynde / that they […]eken almoost god mych boū den to theym that they vouchesaufe to take yt. But were I pope. By my soule quod he I wold ye were / and my lady your wyfe popesse to. Well q I than shold she deuyse for nonnes. And as for me towchynge the choyce of prestys / I wolde not well deuyse better prouysyons than are by the lawes of the chyrche prouyded all redy / yf they were as well kept as they be well made. But for the nomber / I wold surely se suche a way therein / that we sholde not haue suche a rabell / yt euery meane man must haue a preste in hys house to wayte vppon hys wyfe / whych no mā all most lacketh now / to the contempt of prestehed in as vyle offyce as hys horse keper. That is quod he trouth in dede and in worse to / for they kepe haukꝭ and doggys. And yet me semeth surely a more honeste seruyce to wayte on an horse than on a dogge. And yet I suppose yf the lawes of the chyrche whyche Luther and Tyndall wolde haue all broken were all well obserued and kept / thys gere sholde not be thus / but the nombre of prestys wolde be myche mynyss[…]ed and the remanaūt mych the better. For yt is by the lawes of the chyrche prouyded to the entent no preste sholde vnto the sclaunder of prestehedde be dreuen to lyue in suche lewde maner or worse / there sholde none be admytted vnto prestehed / vntyll he haue a tytell of a suffycyent yerely lyuynge / eyther of hys owne patrymony or other wyse. Nor at thys daye they be none otherwyse accepted. Why quod he wherfore go there thā so many of theym a beggyng? Mary quod I for they delude the law and thē selfe also. For they neuer haue gr[…]unt of a lyuyge that maye serue theym in syght for ye purpose / but they secretely dyscharge yt ere they haue yt / or ellys they cowlde not gete yt. And thus the bysshop is blynded by the syght of the wrytyng / & the preste goth a beggyng for all hys graunt of a good lyuynge / and the law is deluded / and the order is rebuked by the prestys beggynge and lewde lyuynge / whyche eyther is fayne to walke at rouers and lyue vppon trentalles or worse / or ellys to serue in a seculer mānys house / whych shold not nede yf thys gappe were stopped. For ye sholde haue prestys fewe ynough yf ye law were truely obserued that none were made / but he that were wythout colusyon sure of a lyuyng all redy. Than myght yt h[…]p quod he yt ye myght haue to fewe to serue the romys and lyuyngys yt be prouyded for theym except / the prelatys wolde prouyde that orders were not so comenly gyuen / but alway receyue in to orders as romys & lyuyngꝭ fall v[…]yde to bystowe theym in and no faster. […] rely quod I for aught I se sodaynly / that wold not be myche amys[…]e. For so shold they nede no such tytles at al nor shold nede neytheyr ron at rouers / nor lyue in lay mennys howses / by reason wherof there groweth among no lytle corrupcyon in the prestys maners / by the conuersacyon of lay people & cōpany of women in theyr howses. Nay by oure lady quod he I wyll not agree wyth you therin. For I thynke they cā not lyghtly mete wyth mych worse company than theym selfe / and that they rather corrupt vs than we them.