The fyrste collection

FOr a more strengthynge of these collections / we shal ad­ioyne vnto this miracle a parable of our sauiour Christe / whi­ch [...] the same euangelist saynt Lu [...]e telleth in this maner.

The sower (he saith) wēt forth to sowe his sede / and in the sowyng some part of his sede fell nigh vnto the high way / and so was trodden vpō: and the byrdes of the ayer dyd eate vp this sede. An other parte fell vpon the stones / whiche was couered over with a litell erthe / and so the sede dyd sprowre: but whan it was sprow­ted / it myght take no roote for the hardnes and drynes of y ^e stones / but anone withered for lacke of moysture. A thyrde part fell amonge the thor­nes: and this sede rooted and rose vp a littel: but the thornes ouer grewe it / and so dyd suffocate it / that it myght brynge forthe no frute. The fourth parte fell vpon the good erthe / and sprowted / and toke roote / and shote vp / and brought forth great increase of frute / an hundred folde so moche.

Whā our sauiour had spoke this parable / he cried mightily / sayeng: Om havet autes audiendi / audiat: who that hath the inwarde eares of heryng / let hym here and marke this parable. Foure thi­ges noted in this pa­table.

In this parable we shall note. iiij. thynges: and of them / by the leaue of all myghty god / we shall gether as many collections.

[Page]Of these. iiij. thynges / the fyrst is the sower / y ^e secōde is y ^e sede / y ^e thyrde is y ^e good erthe / y ^e fourth is y ^e great ēcreace of frute. All these. iiij. thynges vnder other names be cōteyned in y ^e gospell of the miracle. There our sauiour is redy to take away y ^e blyndnes of our hartes. [...]here is he called a so­wer of his sede. The multitude there ēstructeth y ^e blynde mā where Jesus of Nazareth is / & enfur­meth hym in y ^e doctrine of faith. He / or y ^e same do­ctrine is called the sede of the worde of god. That multitude / which ther̄ hath Christ amōge them / here is called the good erthe. There y ^e multitude ꝓfiteth in merite / by walkyng & nigh approching vnto our sauiour Christe: here this merite is cal­led the plenteous encreace of good frute.

Fyrst thā as cōcernȳg y ^e sower / some ꝑson might Fyrste / the sower. here lightly thynke / y ^t our sauiour was nat fully circūspect in tellyng this parable. for here semeth to want som thyng y ^t is chiefly necessary for y ^e plē ­teous ēcreace of frute to be had. here is left out vn­spokē of y ^e fauorable dispositiō & influence of y ^e he­uens / whiche is prīcipally re (qui)red vnto y ^e purpose. For put that y ^e sede be neuer so good / and y ^e erthe neuer so well prepared & ordred / and that y ^e sower do his part neuer so moche / yet if the fauorable in­fluence of the heuens want / al that labour is but in vayne / there shal no frute arise of that sowyng. This is a very trouth / I can nat say the cōtrary / these. iiij. thȳges must nedes be cōcurrāt to worke eche with other / & ioyne to gether in one purpose. [Page] I say / the influence of the heuyns / the diligence of the sower / the goodnes of the sede / the due pre­paration and tyllyng of y ^e erthe. And albe it that here is no speciall mention made of the influence of the heuyns / it is neuer the lesse included. For whan we knowe who is the sower / we shall well perceyue he hath all the influence of the heuyns in his owne hande: and this shall well appere / if we ioyne the parable & his declaration to gether. Joyne I say the parable with the declaration of the same / and ye shall fynde that this sower / that is ment here / is very god. And by this reason: the parable sayth: Exiit / qui seminat / seminare semē suū: He that is the very sower hath issued for to sowe his owne sede. The declaration is / Semen est ver­bum dei. This sede is the worde of god. Nowe thā if the sede that this sower doth sowe / be the worde of god / & this sede whiche he soweth is his veray owne: It foloweth necessarily that this sower is very god: And so must he nedes haue in his han­des the holle influence of the heuyns. Whersore here nothyng lacketh in this parable. But as for the bodely heuyns lette them passe: all is spiritu­all that is ment here: the heuyns / the influence / the sower / the sede / the erth / the frute / all is spi­ritual: and we must conceyue all this spiritually. And therfore our sauiour sayd: Oui habet aures au­diendi / audiat: who that hath the inwarde eares of spirituall herynge / and spirituall conceyuyng he is mete to here and to conceyue this parable.

[Page]Fyrst this sower (as I haue sayde) is the sonne of god▪ our sauiour Christe Jesu: and he is y ^e very spirituall sonne of this worlde / Qui illuminat omne hominem venientem in hunc mundum / That spreadeth his comfortable beames vpon the soules of men. He issued out from the bosome of his father / and came ī to this worlde purposely to sowe ī y ^e hartes of men the sede of trouth. He it is that soweth his owne sede. The preachers of this word be nothȳg els / but as the cophyns and the hoppers / wherin this sede is couched. Thus saint Augustine sayth of hym selfe: Ego quid sum / nisi cophinus seminatoris▪ What am I sayth he? verily nothyng els but the cophyne / or the hopper of hym that soweth. The preacher may well reherse y ^e wordes of scripture: but they be nat his wordes / they be the wordes of Christe. And if our sauiour Christ speke nat with­in the preacher / the sede shalbe but caste in vayne. Therfore saint Paule sayth vnto the Corrinthies of hym selfe: In me loquitur Christus: Christe sayth 2. Cor. 13 he / speketh within me. Christe that spake in saint Paule was the veray sower: and as he spake in saynt Paule / so spake he ī y ^e other blessed fathers / whiche for their tyme dyd instructe and teache the people / and minister this sede vnto them. And nat only Christ dyd sowe this sede by their mouthes: but also y ^e spirite of god gaue his gratious influ­ence vnto this sede by theyr mouthes / in lyke ma­ner. wherfore of this spirite our sauiour saythe: Nō vos estis / qui loquimini / sed spiritus partis vestri / qui Mar. 10. [Page] loquitur in vobis? Ye be nat the speakers (he sayth) but y ^e spirite of your father speaketh within you. Farther more / bothe this sower & this influēte cō ­tinueth in y ^e churche vnto the worldes ende: For y ^e sower sayth of hym selfe: Ecce / ego vobiscū sum omni­bꝰ Matt. 18. diebus vs (que) ad cōsuminationē seculi: Trust assuredly that I am & shalbe with you vnto the ende of the worlde. And for y ^e spirite our sauiour also promest / that he shuld abyde with y ^e churche euerlastȳgly / Vt maneat vobiscū in eternū. This most holy spirite / whiche Jo. 14. is the bountious fontayne of influence of all graces / after the corporall ascention of our sa­uiour vnto the heuens / was sēte downe vpon the churche / accordyng to the promyse of our sauiour before made: to thentent that the sowyng of this sede shulde neuer want the heuenly influence of al graces.

Nowe than to my purpose / thus farre we be / ye nowe conceyue (I suppose) that this spiritu­all sower / all be it so [...] be corporally ascēded vnto his father / yet neu [...]thelesse he by his god­hed & by the assistence of his grace / hath ben euer sens veryly presente with his churche / to sowe therein the sede of his worde. And also the he­uenly influence / that is to saye / the influence of the holy gost / is fauorably spred vpō the toward & well wyllyng hartes / to thentent that this sede may brynge forthe a plentuous encrease of good frute / and in this gratious purpose they both / I say bothe the sower and this holy spirite / haue cō ­tinued [Page] / and wyll so cōtinue / vnto y ^e worldis ende. Who thā may dout / but in this lōge time / whiche is aboue fyftene hūdred yeres / the true sede of the worde of god / that is to say the scriptures of god haue bene truely taught vnto the people: and the people hath truely beleued and gyuen true faithe vnto the same doctryne of the scriptures?

Who is so deuyllysshe / that maye thynke that our sauiour Christe / the whiche so derely beloued his churche / that for the weale of hit / wolde suf­fre so bytter / so villaynous / so horrible a deth [...] ▪ and shede his mooste precious blode in the cross [...] ▪ to prepare the hartes of his people for the recey­uyng of this sede? I saye who may thynke / that euer he / that dyd so moche for vs / wolde breake his promyse vnto vs? And if he haue nat broke his promyse: than hath he ben with his churche all this longe tyme of fyftene hūdred yeres: and hath sowen the tre [...]e sede of his worde: and his moste holy spirite also hath bene al this tyme pre­sent in the churche: and hath gyuen vnto the to­warde hartes his gratious influence / both to re­ceyue this sede / and also to brynge forthe plentu­ous frute.

¶ Nowe than / if this sede were thus truely so­wen: than wolde I lerne / who were the myny­sters of this trewe sede? Who but the preachers of this worde: I say the holy doctours / whiche taughte the people: and to whome by the holy spirite was commysedde the gouernaunce of the [Page] flocke of Christe / as saynt Paule sayth in y ^e Actes of the Apostles: Attendite vobis / et vniuerso gregi / in Act. 10. quo vos spiritus sanctus posuit episcopos / ad regēdam eccle­siam dei / quam acquesiuit sanguine suo: Take hede vn­to your selfe / & to the holle flocke of Christe / where the spirite of god hath ordeyned you bisshoppes / to gouerne his churche: the whiche he so derely purchased by his owne moste precious bloode. Ye herde in the tellyng of the miracle / howe the fyrste meane for the blynde man to come vnto his sight was heryng. For as saynt Paule saythe: Fides e [...] Rom. 10. auditu: Faith cometh by heryng: by the preaching of the holy doctours the people herde the worde of god / & beleued it. For as saint Paule sayth: Quo­modo credent ei / de quo non audierunt? Howe shall the people beleue / if they here nat? Et quomodo audient sine predicante? And howe shall they here without it be preached vnto them? This is than the ordre and the holle cheane: the blyndenes of our hertes can nat be put away / but by true faith: true faith can nat be gotten / but by herynge of this worde. The heryng of this worde shal nat be had / but by the meanes of preachynge: prechynge can nat be ministred without the preacher: the preacher can nat profitte / onles Christe Jesu (whiche is the veray sower) speke within hym: and also the spirite of Christe gyue his influence vnto y ^e same.

It is manifest than / that these preachers were the true ministers of this sede. It is also nat to be douted / but the true christen people alwayes hi­therto [Page] hath gyuen faithe to the doctrine of the ca­tholicke preachers: and so dyd beleue y ^e scriptures as they dyd expounde them / that were in tymes paste. And it is farther more certeyne / that these catholicke doctours ministred this sede / in lyke maner as they haue lefte writen vnto vs in theyr bokes. Wherfore if the preachers dyd erre in tea­chynge the scriptures of god: the people dyd erre in beleuyng their doctryne. And if bothe the prea­chers and the people dyd erre: where was y ^e true sowynge of this sede? Where was the doctryne of the faithe? where was bicome the promyse of our sauiour Christ? O cursed Luther / O mischeuous Apostata / O moste execrable hereticke y ^t denyest and dispisest all the fathers that euer were before vs: For in so denyeng / thou must nedes affirme / y ^t neither the doctrine of true faith / nor any trewe sowyng of this sede was in the churche of Christe by so many yeres: and that our sauiour Christe Jesu nothyng regarded his promyse all this long tyme / either as concernyng his owne presence to be continually with his churche: or as concernȳg the presence of his holy spirite / for to gyue his in­fluence with the sowynge of this sede. It is ther­fore clere and euident (as I suppose) by this col­lection / that y ^e fathers / whiche vnder our sauiour Christe and this holy spirite haue hitherto gouer­ned the churche catholicke / haue also truely mini­stred this sede vnto y ^e people / & truely haue inter­pretate the scriptures of god vnto them: and y ^t our [Page] sauiour Christe Jesu by their mouthes dyd truly sowe this sede / and the holy spirite of god gaue his most gratious influence so plentiously / both vnto the fathers / and vnto the people that this moost gratious sede toke / effecte in bothe theyr hartes.

By this collection all the heresies of Luther at here the heresyed of Euther fasse. ones falle vnto the grounde. For if the doctryne of the fathers be true (as it must be / if our sauiour spake by their mouthes) Luthers doctryne / whi­che is contrary / muste nedis be false.

Now therfore my bretherne / ye that be abiured / here take hede.

Sith it is euidēt / that our sauiour by y ^e mouthes of the fathers hath sowen this sede of his worde / and declared the scriptures of god by y ^e same: the spirite of god hath also gyueu his influence vnto this same sede: By whom suppose ye / that the do­ctryne of Luther (whiche is playne contrary vn­to this doctryne / and vtterly cōdemned by the ho­ly fathers) by whom (I say) suppose ye / that this mischeuous sede was sowen? By whom els / but by the deuyl / and inspired by the wicked spirites. Therfore if ye loue your owne soules / nowe flee this doctryne hens forwarde: and ioyne you vnto the doctryne of the churche / and beleue as the churche beleueth: that I may saye vnto eche of you: Rispice / fides tua te saluum fecit: Open thyne eies / for this faithe / that nowe thou haste / bele­leuynge as the churche of Christe beleueth / hath sauedthe.

The seconde collection.

THe seconde thyng that I The sede. sayde was to be marked / is the sede of the worde of god: whiche here is nat called Semina / but Semē / nat many but one. This sede for. iii. considerations / is but one sede.

Fyrst for it is fortable and agreable / and lyke vn­to The sede of y ^e word of god is but one sede for. 3 consyde­rations. it selfe in euery parte. As whan we se an heape of wheate / that is clene and pure wheare / with­out any diuerse medlyng of cockel / or of any other noughty and euyll sede / though there be many diuerse cornis / yet for as moche as they be all of one kynde / we say it is al one sede: and in lyke ma­ner it is of the worde of god: though there be ma­ny wordes / and many trouthes in it / many speci­alties / many parables / many similitudes / many cōmaundemētes / many consailes / many thretes / many promises / many persuasions / yet for as moche as it hath no falsehod nor vntrouth / none errour / no wicked doctryne medled therwith / but is all (as ye wolde say) of one grayne / of one gro­weth / of one countre: for all cometh from aboue. Est saptentia desursunt descendens a patre luminum / as Jacobi. [...]. saint James saith. Therfore it is but one worde / one sede / one doctryne. Contrary wyse it is of the doctryne of Luther: For it is a medley made of many dyuerse colours / & of dyuerse patches / & hath a partye coote: Hit is nat one / but many [Page] doctrines adulterate / as saynt Paule saith: Adul­terantes verbum dei: These heretickes adulterate [...]. Col. [...]. the worde of god / and make a shewe and a face of their heresie outward / as though it were y ^e worde of god / and hit is nat. It is diuerse from the do­ctrine & sede of this worde. I say nat / but Luther vseth full often the wordes and scriptures of god / I shulde say rather / abuseth them: But he inter­medleth with them many great errours / many falsehodes / many peruerse expositions / contrary vnto the true teachyng / lefte vnto vs by the holy fathers in tymes paste: and contrary to the holle determinatiō of Christis churche. And for bycause that he thus hath intermedled moche euyll sede with the sede of god: and interlaced many great heresies: Therfore his doctryne is nat one but di­uerse / and of many kyndes.

The secōde cōsideration / why y ^e sede of the worde The secōd consyde­cation. of god is one / is for bicause ther is in it no discord / no repugnancy / no contradiction / of one parte of it with another. It is lyke of it & of a songe / where be many syngers / that diuersely descant vpon the playne songe: but for as moche as they all agre withouten any gerryng / withouten any mystu­nynge / they make al but one sōge / & one armony. In lyke maner it is of the scriptures of god / and of the doctryne of the churche: There be many singers / & some synge the playne songe / and some synge the descant / saynt Mathewe / saint Marke / saynt Luke / saynt Johane / saynt Peter / saint [Page] Paule / saint James / saint Jude syng the playne songe. Than be there a great nombre of the do­ctours / whiche descante vpon this playne songe: but for bicause ther is no discorde / no repugnancy / no contradiction amonge them / at the leest in any poynt concernyng the substance of our faithe: all their boyces make but one songe / & one armony. The doctryne of Luther can nat be so: For he nat onely disagreeth with the fathers / but also with hym selfe in places innumerable: as they / whiche haue writē ageynst hym / haue euidently proued who that redeth the kynges boke / the boke of maister More / the bokes of Catharinus / the bo­kes of Empser / of Corleus / of Eckius / and many other / he shal clerely se / that this is a trouth / whi­che I nowe saye. And nat only this / but also god therof highly be thanked / they nowe gerre and di­fagre The here­tihes [...]ise­gre amōge them selfe amonge them selfe. Thre principall capi­taynes of them defende. iij. playne contrary sen­têces / and that in that most high worde of Christ / concernyng the sacramēt of the auter. I dare nat reherse theyr contrary expositions. For as saynt Paule saith: Sermo eorum sicut cancer serpit: Theyr [...]. Tim. 2 hersies be perillous: For they spredde lyke a can­ker: and as a pestilence they do infecte the herers. Neuerthelesse this is a veray trouth / that I say vnto you / twayne of them / that is to say / Luther and Oecolāpadius fully disagre / & make playne contradictorie expositions of these same wordes. And the thyrde / whiche is called Carlstadius / [Page] holdeth clene contrary to them both. Here be wor­thy maisters for a good christen man to put his soule in their hādes / y ^t so repugnantly vary in ex­poūdyng y ^e scriptures. And yet all these. iij. be mē of great name / and of high reputacion in lernyng amonge the Lutherians. This is the syngular goodnes of god / to stricke them with this contra­diction & repugnancy amōge them selfe: so y ^t one of them shall nat here another. Euen as whā the towre of Babylon was enforsed to be buylded / all mighty god thus stroke y ^e builders of that towre / that one of them dyd nat vnderstād another: So nowe hath he striken these heretikes / whiche en­forsed them to buylde a towre agaynst the chur­che / that amonge them selfe they haue clene con­trary doctrynes: and one of them wyll nat here another.

The thyrde consideration / why the sede of the The thyrd consyde­ration. worde of god is but one / is this. Though there be many bokes of scripture / bothe in the olde testa­ment and in the newe also / yet all these bokes be so fully agreed by the expositiōs and interpretati­ons of the holy doctours / that they make but one boke / and one body of scripture: and haue in them all but one spirite of lyfe: that is to saye / the spi­rite of Christe Jesu. Euen as in the body of man there be many partes and many membres / yet for as moche as in euery of them is but one lyfe and one soule: therfore the body is but one. This thynge was figured in a vision / shewed vnto the [Page] prophet Ezechiell: he sawe one roundell and ma­ny roundels / and eche of them in the myddis of other: but in all these roundels was but one spi­rite of lyfe. So euery parte of scripture is lyke a roundel: For it hath no corners. Trouth is roūde and hath none angles. The psalter of Dauid is a roundell of trouthe / and eche of the gospels is a roundell of trouthe: The gospelles be in the psal­ter: and the psalter is in the gospelles: and the spirite of Christe maketh one roundell of them all. The newe testament is a roundell / and the olde testament is a roundell / and either of them is in the other: but there is but one spirite of lyfe in them bothe: and so in euery roundell of scripture: and this spirite maketh one roundell of all. And with these also the expositiōs of the fathers / whiche were inspired by the same spirite / make one roundell with the same.

The doctrine of Luther can nat be thus / nor yet partiner of this spirite of lyfe / bicause it is repu­gnant and deuyded frome the holle corps of the doctryne of the churche. Wherfore we maye ne­cessarily The do­ctrine of Luther is nat one with the doctrine of Christe. conclude / that the doctryne of Luther is nat one with the doctryne of Christe / nor hath in it the spirite of lyfe: For as moche as it is repu­gnant and contradyctorily dyuerse from the do­ctryne of the churche. Whiche thynge we maye proue by. iij. reasons. The fyrst is this. The do­ctrine of the churche / wherin all y ^e fathers agree / [Page] is spoken by Christe / and inspired by the holy spi­rite of Christe / as it doth appere of the fyrste col­lection. But Christe and his holy spirite can nat teache and inspire two doctrynes / the whiche be clene contrary. Wherfore the doctryne of Luther is nat the doctrine of Christe / and of his most holy spirite.

Seconde. Christe Jesu sayth of hym selfe / that he is the veray trouth: Ego sum veritas. But one trouth can nat be deuided at ones to two contradi­ctories. And why? If that one of them haue the trouth / that other muste nedes want it: For one trouth can nat be commune vnto them bothe.

Thyrde. the holy goste is the spirite of lyfe vnto the doctryne of the churche. But the sprite of lyfe can nat be deuided: but it must go holle: As we se that whā a mannes arme is cutte from his body / the lyfe is nat deuided / parte vnto the arme / and parte vnto the body: but the holle lyfe gothe with the body / and the arme hath no parte therof. So for bicause that Luther by his intricate expositi­ons maketh one parte of scripture to be repugnāt agaynst an other / as he confesseth hym selfe / that he can nat frame his other expositions with the Epistole of saynt James / and with the gospell of Luke. Therfore it is manifest▪ that his doctryne is deuided from the holle corps of scripture / and is nat one with the doctryne of the churche / nor hath nat in it the spirite of lyfe.

¶ But nowe by your sufferance / I wyll speke a [Page] fewe wordes vnto these ꝑsons / which be abiured.

My bretherne / ye may perceyue by this that I haue sayd / that the sede of y ^e worde of god / that is to say y ^e doctrine of Christis churche / for these. iij. considerations afore rehersed / is one: And that the doctryne of Luther is by the same. iij. conside­rations nat one. Wherfore ye may sufficiently cō ­clude / that the doctryne of Luther is nat the gra­tious sede of the worde of god / nor hath in it the spirite of lyfe: but is an euyll sede / a sede of corrup­tion / a sede of pestilent infection / a sede that bly [...] ­deth mēnes hertes / a sede that enueougleth their sight / a sede that extincteth in them y ^e true faith ▪ a sede that distroyeth their soules / finally the ve­ray sede of the deuyll / whiche is inspired by the wicked spirites. Therfore good bretherne / I wold aduise both you & euery other true christen mā / to eschew this sede. And if it be sowen ī your hartes / to plucke it out by the routis / & to receyue the gra­tious sede of the worde of god / and fully to assent to the doctrine of Christis churche / that the wor­des aboue rehersed may be sayde to eche of you: Respice / fides tua te safu [...]i fecit: Open thyn [...]ies / this is the faithe / that may make the safe.

The thyrde collection.

THe thyrde thynge to be marked is The good erthe. the good erthe: by the whiche our sauiour vnderstandeth in this parable one certayne ma­ner [Page] of people: For he so declareth it hym selfe / say­eng: Quod autem in terram bonam / hi sunt qui corde ho­nesto et bono: That is to say / this good erthe beto­keneth them / whiche be of one hart honest & good. I meane the people / of whom we spake in y ^e gos­pell of the miracle before: the multitude I saye / whiche had Christe amonge them. Soone after that our sauiour had begonne together this peo­ple to giders / whiche we calle the christen people / he sayd vn them that than were present: Amen di­ [...]o [...]obis / non preteribit generatio [...]ec / donec [...]ec omnia fu­cta Mat. 24. fuerint: I tell you for a certayne / this genera­tion shall nat passe / vnto than all these thynges that I nowe haue spoken of / shalbe perfourmed. He ment nat here any carnall generation. No. for that carnall generation / to whom he than spake / were deed many hūdred yeres ago. And also tho thynges that he than spake of / be nat yet perfur­med / but shalbe perfourmed about thende of the worlde. Wherfore doubtles he ment a spiritual generation: that is to say / the generation of christē people: whiche hitherto in dispite of all theyr en­nemies / haue contynued / and shall continue vnto the worldis ende. Great malice and persecution hath ben vsed agaynst this generation / bothe by the Jewes and by the gentiles / by the tyrantes / by the philosophers / and the heretickes: but all they myght nat preuaile agaynst this generatiō / accordyng as our sauiour Christe hath promised: Et porte inferi non preuasebunt aduersue [...]am: And al the Mat. 16. [Page] malice of helle shal nat preuayle agaynst this ge­neration / nor interrupt it.

¶ The wonderfull continuance of this generati­on was one thyng specially / that kepte saynt Au­gustyne (as he reportethe hym selfe) and helde hym in the catholicke faith. In the boke contra ij. thinges did establi­she saynt Augustyne ī the catholyke faith. Manichesi he remembreth. ij. thynges concernyng this matter. That one is this. Tenet me ab ipsa sede Petri apostoli / cui pascendas oues suas post resurrectio­nem dominus commendauit / vsque ad presentem episcopa­tū successio sacerdotum: It holdeth me fyrste to be one of the churche / the continuall succession / that I se of popes one after an other / fro the fyrst sittyng of Peter in the See apostolice / to whom our sa­uiour commysed his flocke to be fedde / vnto this present tyme. This holy doctour saint Augusty­ne cōsidred what name Christe gaue vnto Peter▪callynge hym Cephas / whiche is as moche to saye as Petra / or [...]apis. And he marked also well / what promyse our sauioure dyd make vnto hym / sayenge: Et super hanc petram edificabo ecclesiam m [...] ­am. And he obserued farther more / howe that amonge all the other apostles onely the successi­on of Peter doth continue / and to se the promyse of our sauiour thus truely put in effecte: This was some thynge y ^t made saynt Augustine to fo­lowe constantly the doctryne of the churche. An other is this. Tenet ipsum cotholice nomen / quod nō si­ne causa inter tam multas hereses ista ecclesia sola obtinu­it: That is to say / and this thyng also kepeth me [Page] fast in the doctrine of the churche / that this con­gregation / whiche is deriuied from the see of Pe­ter / hath amonge so many heresies / and agaynst so many heretickes / only and nat withoutē cause opteyned this name Catholica / that it is called the catholicke churche. These two thynges dyd con­ferme and establisshe saint Augustine in the catho like faith. And truely who that depely weyeth al these thynges shall thynke the same. I say / if he cōsydre depely with hym selfe: fyrst y ^t suche a ma­ner of name Pet receiued of our sauiour Christe: he was called Cephas / whiche is as moche to saye as a stone. This no man can denye.

Seconde. if he considre / howe that our sauiour sayde vnto Peter / that vpon that stone he wolde buylde his churche: agaynst the whiche the ga­tes of helle shulde nat preuayle.

Thyrde. if he remembre besyde this / howe vnto the same Peter he seriously cōmysed his flocke to be fedde and to be gouerned.

Fourth. if he considre / that the true christen peo­ple / whiche we haue at this day / was deriuied by a continuall succession from the see of Peter. For where is nowe the christen people of the region of Scithia / whiche came of the succession of saynt Andrewe: Be they nat nowe infidels? Where is nowe the people of Ephesus / and of all Asia / whi­che came of the succession of saynt John̄? Be they nat infidels? Where is nowe the people of bothe Aethiops / whiche came of the succession of saynt [Page] Mattheu & saynt Mathye? Be they nat infidels? And breuely to say / where is all the other people / whiche came of y ^e succession of the other apostles? either they nowe be infidels / or els schismatickes / or other wyse deuided from the churche of Christe.

Fynally / if he put vnto these / that onely the suc­cessiō of Peter in dispite of al their ēnemyes dothe yet continue / and yet beareth the name of the ve­ray catholicke churche / and so shall do vnto the worldis ende / he shall se euidently / that this mul­titude and this successiou is the veray churche of Christe: agaynst the whiche the gates of hell shal neuer preuaile.

Thus than ye se whiche is the good erthe: I say the multitude of christen people / whiche hitherto by a continuall succession was deriuied from the see of Peter.

But nowe let vs here what conditions our saui­our The conditiōs of the good erth. adioyneth vnto this good erthe / he sayth: hi sunt / (qui) in corde honesto et bono. Pardō me / though I reherse y ^e wordes aft y ^e greke boke: for they make better agaynst our ēnemies / he sayth: In corde ho­nesto / et vono. Here be. iij. conditions. Fyrst in corde / The fyrste cōdition. Act. 4. that is to saye of one harte and mynde / accordyng as it is writen / Mustitudinis credentium erat cor vnum / et anima vna: All that multitude that beleued in Christe / was of one harte and of one mynde / that is to say / they were nat deuided by contrary do­ctrynes. And therfore lykewise saynt Paule / wri­tyng vnto the Corinthies / sayth: Idem loquamini 1. Cor. 1. [Page] omnes / et non sint inter vos dissidia / sed s [...]itis integrum corpus / eadem mente / et eadē sententia: That is to say / speake ye all one way / and let there be no contrary opinions amonge you / but be ye as an holle body of one mynde and of one sentence. Syth that Lu­ther with his secte / is of an other mynde and sen­tence / and of a diuerse harte and opinion fro the churche / as I haue shewed before / it is manifest by this fyrst condition / that they be excluded fro this good erthe / and fro this succession of christen people / whiche we call the churche catholicke. As for vs it is certeyne / that we come derectly of this succession / and ioyne fully with the fathers in all their doctrynes. Contrariwyse Luther dispiseth them and their doctrynes / as I sayd before: and there he deuideth hym selfe frō the doctryne of the churche / and fro this good erthe. For what is the doctryne of the churche / but the doctryne of the fa­thers? Nat many yeres ago / as Luther cōfesseth hym selfe / he ioyned with the fathers / and with the churche / as we do: but nowe he hath cutte hym selfe fro the churche. We cam nat out of hym and of his secte / but all they cam out of vs / and so haue deuided them selfe from vs. We styl kepe and folowe the doctryne / whiche hath bene lefte vnto vs by the gratious fathers / men of singular ler­nynge and excellent holynes / whiche by the holy goost had the continuall gouernance of the chur­che vnto this day / as saint Paule doth witnesse in the Actis of y ^e apostles / as I sayd before. We than [Page] that folowe suche doctrynes / as haue bene lefte vnto vs / by these gouernours / which went before vs / be of one harte and mynde with them / and with the churche. And Luther with his adheren­tes / whiche wyll nat accepte and alowe these do­ctrynes / be of a dyuerse harte and mynde fro the fathers / and haue so deuided them selfe fro the churche. Wherfore it is manifest / that they wante this fyrst condition of the good erthe: they be nat of one harte and of one mynde with vs.

The seconde condition is honesto / that is honeste The sec [...] condition. and fayre: For the greke worde is indifferent to bothe. The lyght of true faith / whiche is a clere brightnes without any errours / moche doth ho­neste and make beautious the harte of a christen man: For withouten hit there is no honeste nor beautie in a soule. Sine fide impossibile est placere deo. This faith can nat be in the Lutherians / but re­mayneth only in y ^e succession of the churche / wher­of we come. But the Lutherās (as I sayd) be de­uided from the churche / and their faith is a clene contrarye doctryne from ours / and agaynst all them that were in the same succession before vs. It is also full of many great errours. One er­rour suffiseth to spill and to distroye any mannes faithe: but moche rather many great errours / and specially suche as here before haue bene con­dempned by many generall counsayles / had in the churche. At the whiche counsayles were pre­sent great noūbre of honorable fathers assembled [Page] to gether by the holy gost / men of singular lernȳg and excellent holynes / the whiche was confirmed by many great miracles. Wherfore the faithe of the Lutherans and the faith of the churche / can nat agree / but be clene repugnant one agaynst an other. And therfore if they bothe be true faithes / than shall there be two faithes: the whiche saynt Paule vtterly denyeth / sayng: Dnus dominus / vna Ephe. 4 fides. Wherfore also they want this seconde condi­ction / that is to say / honestie and beautie of faithe.

The thyrde condition is bono / that meaneth the The thyrd condition. towardnes of a good wyll to brynge forthe y ^e frute of good workes: For withouten that all fayth is nought / as sayth saint James: Fides sine operibus Jac. 2. mortua est. It suffiseth nat for a christen man to be­leue the doctryne of the churche / but he muste also worke & bringe forthe some encrease of good frute. This frute they bryng nat forth / as it more playn­ly shall appere here after. Wherfore they want al­so this condition of the good erthe. But what thā be they? Surely they be the trodde erthe in the high way / and the stones / and the thornes / wher­of the gospell here speketh. Saynt Peter in his seconde Epistole / where he prophiseth of suche he­retickes / hath [...]. Peir [...] [...] expressedly discribed y ^e Lutherans / and telleth. iij. conditions of them: Wherby they Howe the Lutherās maye be knowen. may be clerery knowen.

The fyrst is this. Qui carnem sequentes in cōcupiscen­tia polutionis ambulant. That is to say / they folowe the wayes of theyr flesshe / & walke in the vnclene [Page] disires of the same. Thus Luther doth withoutē doubt and they all / whiche be of his secte: for he sayth it is necessary for euery man and woman to haue the carnall vse of their body / as it is to eate or to drynke. But where this carnalite reigneth / there y ^e wicked spirites haue full dominatiō: and there they kepe their haūte / and make that soule and herte as cōmune a trodde as is y ^e high way. These be the byrdes of the ayre / whiche eate vp the sede of the worde of god: they leaue nothynge but the veray hulle of that sede / the vertue o [...] it they conuey away. The fayre speche / y ^e eloquece / the knowlege of languages / these be but the ve­ray hulle of the scriptures. This hulle these here­tickes haue: But the veray pithe and substance of the sede is piked out of theyr hartes by these euyll spirites / that kepe them in this carnalite.

The seconde condition is. Dominationem contenmūt audaces / prefracti. That is to say / they dispise al go­uernours / and them that be ī auctorite / & they be stiffe & heedy in their wayes: be nat y ^e Lutherans thus? who is more styffe / yea more furious than Luther is? For he dispiseth kynges / princes / po­pes / bisshoppes / and all auctorite both spirituall and temporall. And what is this / but a veray sto­nynes / indurate of pride and obstynacie?

The thyrde condition is this. Qui gloria precesien­tes non verentur cōuitus incessere. That is to say / they drede nat / nor be a shamed to skoffe / and checke / and to rebuke / yea to teare / scratche and rente the [Page] fames and lyues of noble men. And this the Lu­therans also do / and Luther hym selfe principal­ly: and thus they shewe them selfe to be very thor­nes and briers / whiche / as the gospell sayth / doth strangle the good sede.

Nowe thā to you my bretherne / whiche be abiu­red / I must direct my speche. For as moche as by this collectiō ye perceyue / y ^t the erthe ment in this parable is the true christen people / whiche haue Christe amonge them / accordyng as the gospel of the miracle telleth: and that this people hath con­tinued their succession hitherto / fro y ^e see of Peter: and that also they haue in them. iij. conditions / that is to say / they be of one harte / by true doctry­ne: they be of one honesty / by y ^e brightnes of faith: And thyrde / they be of one good wyll to brynge forthe ēcrease of good frute. The Lutherans wāt these. iij. conditions: they be nat of one harte and of one doctryne with this multitude: Nor they haue nat one faithe with them: And as for any frute they care nat: as shalbe clerely shewed in the fourthe collection. Wherfore they be nat this good erthe / but they rather haue the conditions of thornes and stones / and of the clonge erthe / as it manifestly appereth by the prophecy of saynt Peter / as ye haue herde. Wherfore it shalbe expe­dient that ye from hensforth fle their company / & adioyne you with y ^e good erthe / with the catholike people / and folowe the doctryne of Christis chur­che: that I may repete vnto euery of you the wor­dis [Page] aboue rehersed: Respice / fides tua te saluum fecit / Open thyn eies / this thy faith / nowe beleuynge as the churche beleueth / hath made the safe.

The fourth collection concer­nynge the encreace of good frute.

THe fourthe / and the laste thyng to be marked in this pa­rable / is the encreace of frute▪ the whiche in y ^e gospel of Mat­theu is tolde more expressely▪ Aliud quidē centuplam / aliud sex [...] ­ [...]agecuplum Mat. 1 [...]. / aliud trigecupsum: In some erthe this sede bryngeth forthe an hundred folde encreace / in some sixtyfolde / in some thyrty­folde. This diuersite of encreace betokeneth vn­to vs diuerse degrees of spiritualnes / whiche the sede of the worde of god workethe in our hartes / more or lesse / accordynge as our hartes better or worse be disposed. The hart that is more toward­ly disposed / is made more spiritual: and the hart that is lesse towarly / is lesse spirituall.

The same diuersite of frute was signified in the gospell of the myracle. For there all that multi­tude y ^t folowed Christe / was nat elyke nygh vnto Christe / euery one of them. Wherfore tho that were nexte vntyll hym / betoken the most perfect: [Page] tho that were farther of / lesse perfecte: and tho that were farthest of / the leaste perfecte. But we shall nowe speke of the diuerse degrees of encrea­se of frute.

Conceyue me what I meane. Ye se that though the grounde in the feeldes / by the dylygence of men / be neuer so well broken and seasoned / yet if there be no good seede sowen in it / it bryngeth no­thynge forthe of it selfe but weedes / and all his naturall moysture tourneth in to weedes: But whan some good sede is caste in to hit / than that sede by his naturall vertue / and by the influence of the heuens / so myghtily draweth that erthely moysture of the grounde / and chaungeth it / and assembleth it in to his owne substaunce: in so mo­che that in some well prepared erthe there spryn­geth nat one weede / but all the moysture of the grounde is tourned in to corne. In some other be fewer or mo weedes / accordyng to the goodnes of the erthe / or better / or lesse diligence in preparyng of the same. In lyke maner it is of the sede of the worde of god / and of the harte of man. An harte that is nat sowen with the worde of god / but lefte vntyll his owne nature / bryngeth nothyng forthe but the weedes of carnalitie / carnall thoughtes / carnall affections / and carnal workes. But whan the worde of god is sowen / and the spirite of god gyueth the influence of his grace: than that sede of the worde of god / by his supernaturall vertue / and by the gratious influence of the holy spirite [Page] of god / worketh in that harte / and chaungeth the carnalitie therof in to a spiritualnes / accordynge as the harte is better or worse disposed / by thre maners of degrees.

The lowest degree of this spiritualnes is in the state of matrimony: where though there be many weedes / yet there is moche ēcrease of frute / if this sacrament truely be kepte / there the encrease of frute is thyrtyfolde.

The myddell degree is in y ^e state of wydowheed / the whiche hath fewer weedes & more frute. Here the encrease of frute is thre skore folde.

The thyrd is ī the state of virginite / whiche hath The state of virgi­nite. veray fewe weedes / or none at all / but all is frute: and this encrease is an hundred folde so moche. Fyrst than let vs begynne to speake of this high state of virginite.

The worde of god with the influence of grace so worketh in the hartes of true virgins / that in ma­ner it leaueth no carnalitie there / but chaungeth all in to a spiritualnes / that it maketh them to di­spise all thoughtes / all affections / al workes / that be carnall / saue only these / whiche be necessarily requisite vnto y ^e bodely lyfe: that is to say / to kepe the soule and the body together. Of this virginite our sauiour gaue example hym selfe: the same fo­lowed his blyssed mother / and saynt Johan the Euangelist lykewyse: whiche for his clennes was singularly beloued of our sauiour: and for y ^e same he cōmysed the custody of his mother vntyll hym. [Page] And lykewyse to saint Paule he gaue example hȳ selfe of clennes / and continency of his body. And therfore he dothe wisshe / that other wolde do the same / and persuadeth ther vnto sayeng thus: Ve­lim omnes homines esse / sicut et ipse sū. And a litel after: 1. Cor. 7. Bonsi eis est / si manserint / vt et ego. Of suche also our sauiour speketh in the gospell / and preyseth them sayeng: Sunt enuchi / qui se castrauerunt propter regnum Mat. 19. cesorū: There be some / whiche haue splayde them selfe spiritually / that is to saye / haue cutte from theyr hartes the carnall affections of theyr bodi es / for y ^e loue of the kyngdome of heuen. A trouth it is / all wyll nat do thus / and so our sauiour sayth in the same place: Non omnes capiūt ver [...] hoc: This worde worketh nat in euery harte. Yet neuerthe­lesse he doth exhorte ther vnto / sayenge: Qui po­test capere / capiat: He that may take this worde and kepe his virginite / let hym take it. But thus dyd a great nombre of christen people in Alexandria / whiche by the preachynge of saint Marke / con­secrate their virginite vnto Christe both men and women / as Philo the Hebrewe telleth. Suche were also great nombre of women / the whiche in Hierusalem lykewyse vnto Christe dyd consecrate their virginite / as telleth Euseby ī his story. And these thus dyd by the prechynge of the apostles. Innumerable suche also both men and women were in the desartes of Eyry of Egypte & Ethiop. All these by watche / fastyng / prayer contempned theyr flesshe / chastised theyr bodies / and kepte [Page] them lowe / to thentēt that they myght kepe their soules clene vnto Christe. And it is nat to be dou­ted / but that there is in Christēdome / at this day / many thousandes of religious men and women / that full truely kepe their religion & their chastite vnto Christ. For whan Hely the prophet had sup­posed that so great a persecutiō was made agaȳst the true seruauntes of god / that he was lefte a­lone / it was answered vntyll hym by almyghty god / as saith saint Paule. Adhuc reli (qui) mihi septē milia / Ro. [...]. qui non curuauerunt genu ante Baal: I haue yet reser­ued vnto me seuen thousande / the whiche hath done none idolatry before Baall. And if almygh­ty god dyd reserue in that lytell porcion of Jury so great a multitude beyonde the estimation of this prophet Hely: what nombre suppose ye. doth yet remayne in all Christēdome of religious men and women / nat withstandynge this great persecuti­on of religious monasteries bothe of men and of women / done by these heretickes / by this moste execrable doctryne? It is nat to be doubted / but in all Christendome be lefte many thousandes / whiche at this houre lyue chaste / and truely kepe theyr virginite vnto Christe.

Nowe let vs se / whether y ^e sede of god worke this The frute of Luthers doctrine. high frute amōge the Lutherans or nat. No. no. nothȳg lesse. Halas it will make a true christē mās harte to blede blody teares within his breast / for to here their lyuȳg. The prestis of his sect / which shulde kepe theyr handes and hartes clene for to [Page] mynister the blessed sacrament / folowe the luste and carnalite of their flesshe. The religious men forsake their religion / and retourne vnto y ^e world / and take them queanes. The virgins that were consecrate vnto god / & had promysed to kepe them selfe selfe as true spouses vnto Christ / nowe gyue their bodies tyll all wretched pleasure / and suffre them selfe to be stuprate and abhomynably defyled and soused in all carnalite O Jesus / this is the frute that commeth of the wicked sede / whiche this vn­gratious hereticke hath sowē amōge them. Howe far is this from the example of Christe / and from y ^e other blessed fathers innumerable / whiche both lyued chaste them selfe / & procured likewyse that other shulde do the same? If the deuyll haue nat excecate our eies / we may se by this euidently / y ^t this doctryne commeth nat from aboue: For than it shulde nat be contrary vnto the counsayles of Christe / and of saint Paule / and of the other scrip­tures of god: but it cometh playnly from y ^e deuyll. And yet he is nat ashamed to write / that al his doctryne he hath of god. Thus moche for the fyrste frute.

By this fyrst ye may iudge what his mynde and The frute of widow [...]ed. sentence is / concernyng the seconde frute / that is to say / as touchȳg wydowes. He that calleth vir­gins to forsake their virginite / wyll but a lytell regard the state and frute of wydwohed. And herein also he teacheth contrary vnto y ^e counsaile of saint Paule / whiche coūsaileth wydowes to kepe them [Page] sole and specially to thentent that they may in a more liberte serue god. For (as he saith) Innupta 1. Cor. 7. curat ea / que sunt domini / vt sit sancta quum corpore tum spiritu. Contra. q̄ nupta est / curat ea / que sūt mūdi / quomodo placitura sit viro. That is to say / she that is nat ma­ried is myndful & studious / for tho thynges / whi­che perteyne to Christe: But contrary wyse / she that is maried / is carefull of the thynges / whiche belong vnto the worlde / & studieth / howe she may please her husbande. But the carnall doctryne of Luther no more regardeth this coūsaile / nor this maner of ēcreace / thā he doth y ^t other of virginite.

The thyrde and the lowest degree of encreace of The fruit of mari­age. frute is in y ^e state of mariage. The holy sacramēt of matrimony preserueth by his vertue the wor­kes and dedes of them that be maried / so that the workes / whiche without this sacramēt shulde be dedly / be made by vertue of this sacrament either to be no synne / or at the least but veniall synne / so lōge I say as they truly kepe this sacramēt / & vse it accordyngly. In token wherof our sauiour at a mariage changed water in to wyne: therby signi­fienge that moche of the waterynes of carnalitie betwene the maried persons / by vertue of this sa­cramēt / is changed into the wyne of merite. But this encreace also is lost by the wicked doctryne of Luther: For he hath nowe maried hym selfe vnto a noūne: A frere and a nounne together / can this be any good mariage? No doubtles: whiche thȳ ­ges shall appere by▪ iij. reasons. Fyrst for bycause [Page] that he maketh y ^e sacrament of matrimony to be no sacramēt. A very mad mā / he to mary / & yet to affirme y ^t this sacrament hath no vertue in it / & y ^t directly agaynst y ^e scriptures of god / & so maketh as moche as lyeth in hym / y ^t the vertue of this sa­cramēt nothyng profiteth / neither tyll hym selfe / neither to other y ^t be maried / if they so beleue as he techeth. But their mariages as they vse them (nat beleuyng y ^t the sacrament hath any vertue) hath nothȳg in them that is spirituall / but be full of carnalite without any spiritualnes / ful of wate­ryng without any verdours of meryte / full of stȳ ­kyng weedes / without any good frute at all. For as saint Paule sayth / Qui seminat ꝑ carnē suā / de car­ne metet corruptionē: Et qui seminat per spiritū / de spiritu Gal. 6 metet vitā eternā: Who y ^t soweth by his flesshe car­nally / shal reape of his flesshe corruptiō: And he y ^t soweth by the spirite / shal reape of his spirite y ^e re­ward of euerlastyng lyfe. But take away this ho­ly sacrament / & doubtles al the vse of the bodies of them that be maried is onely carnall / whiche by this sacrament is made in some maner spirituall / and taketh by y ^e vertue therof a spiritualnes. For as moche thā as Luther hath destroyed this ho­ly sacramēt / he can reape no good frute of his ma­riage / but only carnall corruption / and his mari­age is no mariage.

The seconde reasō is this. Howe can it be a good The secōd reason. mariage / where one mā abuseth an other mānes wyfe / specially whā he medleth with her / whiche [Page] was consecrate the spouse of Christe? Amonge the Jentils it was reputed abhominable / for to abuse the virgins / whiche had cōsecrate their virginite vnto y ^e Idols. Moche rather it shuld so be thought amonge the christen people / to abuse the spouse of Christe / consecrate vnto hym. Saynt Mattheu whan he was desired by a certeyne prince called Hirtacus / that he shulde moue a virgine named Ephegenia / whiche had before consecrate her vir­ginite to Christe / he made hym this answere: Si­regis spōsam regis seruus vsurpare voluerit / vinus tr [...]d [...]t incendiis: That is to say / if the seruaunte of a kyng wolde abuse the kynges spouse / he were worthy to be throwen quicke in to the fyre. He ment that if Hirtacus / whiche than was christened / and shuld haue bene the seruaunt of Christe / wolde couet to mary that virgin / which was cōsecrate to Christ / as his spouse / he were worthy to be brent. What suppose ye that this blessed apostel wold say / if he nowe were present here agayne / & herde this ab­hominable dede / this carnally disposed mā / thus to abuse a religious virgin / whiche was cōsecrate the spouse of Christ? O Jesus. Howe moche wold he aborre this matter? And what dredfull sentēce wolde he pronounce of suche sodayne [...]uisement a­gaynst this hereticke? The thyrd reason is this. The thyrd reason. If we cōsidre what promise this mā had made be fore / & y ^e great strength of y ^t ꝓmise / we shall well ꝑ­ceyue / y ^t this secōd ꝓmise can haue no place. And why? For y ^t promise / whiche he made before was [Page] to kepe his chastitie: this is clene contrary. That was a former promyse: this promyse is a later promyse / & that by many yeres latter. Thyrde. that promyse was for the weale of his soule: this pro­myse is made for the carnall pleasure of his body. Fourthe. that promise was made solemly & with a great deliberation: this promyse was made in a corner and of some shorte aduisemēt: For with in vi. wekes after the mariage / his woman had a childe. This was spedy worke / a woman to haue a chylde within. vi. wekes of her mariage. This must either be a great miracle / orels they had met to gether before. That promyse was made accor­dyng to the rules of holy religion / whiche was de­uised by the holy fathers / and inspired by the spi­rite of god: this promise is made agaynst all good rulis / & by the carnall misordre of y ^e wretchednes of the flesshe. That promyse was made accordȳg to y ^e coūsailes of our sauiour Christ / saint Paule / and of the other apostles: this promise was made by the counsaile of Satanas / & of all y ^e deuylles of hell. Finally. that promise was made vnto god / & he wyll nat be mocked / as saith saint Paule: Deus non irridetur: God is nat to be mocked. But it is a Sal. 6. playne mockery / so solemly to promyse vnto god / and neuer the lasse to breake y ^e promyse made. An honest mā wyll loke to kepe his promise made vn­to his neighbour / but moche rather / if his pro­mise be made vnto almighty god / he so shuld kepe the same. Whan than that former promyse was [Page] made to god / and for the weale of his soule / and solemly by great deliberation / accordynge to the holy rulis of religion / and accordyng to the coun­sayles of the holy scripture / who seeth nat cuidēt­ly / that this later promyse made vnto a woman / with all contrary cōditiōs to these aboue rehersed / can haue no place? For the former promyse is so stronge that it disanulleth & debarreth quite this other promyse / whiche was later made. But here one wyll say: Sir / Luther sawe that it was im­possible for hym to conteyne hym selfe. But I s [...]y agayne / that Luther shulde haue loked at that poynt / before that he made this promyse to god & before he entred holy religion. And here I wolde be answered of all my maisters the Lutherans in this one poynt / what lyfe this hereticke hath ly­ued all these yeres before that he was maried. If Luther myght nat cōteyne hym selfe nowe in his later dayes / whan he is of more age and of elder yeres / what lyfe suppose ye that he lyued in y ^e fer­uour and heate of his youth [...] ▪ He speketh moche of hypocricy / but what hypocricy vsed he all this longe tyme that he was a frere / vnder his freers coote? If he dyd nat than conteyne: What abho­minations dyd he vse in the luste of his youthe / that nowe in his later dayes may nat lyue chaste? O Jesus who may thinke that any gratious and frutfull knowlege of holy scriptures dyd entre and abpde in this mannes breast / whan it is writen: In masiuosam animam non introihit saptentia / nec habita­bit Sap. 1. [Page] in corpore subdito peccatis. We rede of diuerse that for the foule vnclēnes of their bodies / lost y ^e singu­lar gyfte of the holy spirite / whiche they had got before. Wherfore if this man led this abhomina­ble lyfe before / and might nat conteyne hym selfe / it is certeyne he hath no frutfull knowlege of god / nor of his holy scriptures. And so this excuse shal­be rather his cōdempnation. But if they say that he before conteyned. Than I say that he shulde so nowe haue done / specially being nowe of elder ye­res / and a religious man / and a preacher of the worde of god. He shulde haue chastised his body as saint Paule dyd / sayeng: Ego castigo corpus mefi / [...]. Cor. 9. et in seruitutē redigo / ne quum aliis predicauero / ipse repro­bus inueniar: I chastise my body / & subdue it / leste that whan I shall preache to other / I be founde reprouable my selfe. Dyd nat saynt Paule suffre many temptations / and assaultes and brontes in his flesshe? yes doubtles / & so he sayth hym selfe: But by y ^e chastisemēt of his body / and by grace of god / he dyd ouercome them. And so this mā shuld haue done / he shulde haue chastised his body / by fastyng / by watche / by prayer / and so by the helpe of grace / haue mortified his carnall desires.

Thus thā ye perceyue (I suppose) clerely / that the doctrine of this most peruersed hereticke hath neither the encrease of the frute after the hiest de­gree of virginite: nor after y ^e meane degree of wy­dowhed: nor after the lowest of matrimony: but y ^t the couplyng of hym & of his mate to gyders is a [Page] veray brothelry / & a detestable sacrilege before the eies of god / of both these parties. So that I dare surely say / that all the stewes lesse offēdeth y ^e eies of god / with their abhominations / than doth Lu­ther and his mate / with theyr double sacrilege.

Put nowe vnto this / y ^e blasphemes & reproches The blas­phemes of Luther. agaynst almighty god / wherby he doth impute vnto god / that he shulde be the auctour of synne: And that his cōmandementes be impossible to be kepte. Agaynst our sauiour Christe / denyeng y ^t he by y ^e mouthes of the fathers hath sowen y ^e true [...] ­positiō of the holy scriptures. Nor that he so was assistent with his churche / accordynge to his pro­myse. Agaynst the holy goste / that he shulde [...] sufficiētly instructe by the same fathers y ^e christen people / in euery trouth perteynȳg vnto y ^e faith of Christe. Agaynst the blessed mother of Christe / y ^t ther shuld be no differēce betwene her & other wo­mē / but y ^t she was as synful as other be. Agaynst the holy crosse / that he wolde brēne as many pea­tes therof as he might gette. Agaȳst the blessed sayntes / y ^t their prayers helpe vs nat: and that they shuld nat be honored vpō vs. Agaȳst certeyn̄ bokes of scripture / namely y ^e gospel of Luke / and the Epistole of saint James. Agaynst y ^e other scriptures: who shall nombre the false cōstructiōs / y ^e wrōge intpretatiōs / y ^e mischeuous errours / wher by he hath corrupted y ^e holy scriptures of god? A­gaynst y ^e sacramētes of Christis churche / all saue twayne / that is y ^e sacramēt of y ^e altar / & baptyme. [Page] And agaynst the holy canon of y ^e masse. Agaynst the doctryne of the holy fathers / whose holynes was cōfirmed by many miracles / he clerely dispi­seth bothe them and theyr miracles. Agaynst re­ligion: who shall reken / howe many religious ꝑ­sones bothe men and women / whiche before were in y ^e high way of saluation / that nowe by his pe­stilent doctryne / be become apostatas / and haue forsaken theyr ordre / and be retourned vnto y ^e car­nall wayes of the worlde / to their perill and euer­lastyng damnation? Agaynst all them that be in souerayntie / as well tēporall as spiritual / cōtrary to the playne doctrine of holy scriptures. Agaynst hym selfe and his herers and folowers / intrikȳge & snarlyng bothe hym and them in so pestilent er­rours and heresies / to y ^e high displeasure of god / that he hath suffred them to tomble in mentem im­probam / that is to say / into a peruersed iudgemēt / approuyng this wretched carnalitie / wherin they nowe lyue. Agaynst his owne countrey / gyuyng occasion by his moste mischeuous doctryne to the subuersiō of that contrey (whiche was the floure of y ^e empire) by insurrections amonge them selfe: wherby many pyles / many castels / many great holdes / many stronge fortresses haue bene ouer­throwen and cast vnto the grounde / many tēples / many famous monasteries / many noble houses of religiō haue bene clerely destroyed / and suche a murdre of mē / as in our dayes hath nat ben herde of in so shorte a tyme: Doutles it is the hande and [Page] stroke of god vpon them / for the fauoryng & sub­portȳg of his most mischeuous doctrines: Suche a murdre of men / as credebly and faithfully is re­ported aboue an. C. thousande. This is y ^e frute / whiche is spronge of this moste wicked sede. The sede of god in the good hartes of true christen peo­ple worketh great encreace of gratious frute. Cō ­trary wyse / the sede of the deuyll in the hartes of the Lutherans / worketh all mischefe & corruptiō. I shall conclude (as I verily thynke) I beleue / y ^t onles Satanas were let lose out of hell / as in y ^e Apocalypsis it is promised / that he shulde beleued towarde y ^e ende of the worlde / so great a mischefe by one man / withouten his counsaile / cou [...] haue bene wrought.

¶ Nowe my bretherne / I wolde auise you so loke well vpon this matter / and nat so lightly to caste your soulis away by beleuȳg this doctrine of this most pernitious hereticke / whiche bryngeth forth none ēcrease of frute after any of these. u [...]. degrees aboue rehersed / but moche habundance of pest [...], and stynkyng weedes / of carnall corruptiō / of hor­rible blasphemes / of detestable murders. Folowe rather the doctrine of the churche / by the whiche / in the hartes of y ^e true christē people / springeth / & aryseth / and encreaseth all these. iii. degrees plē ­teously: so that by this doctryne ye may also be restored to the clerenes of your sight / as was y ^e blȳd man / vpon whom our sauiour shewed that great miracle afore tolde. And nowe hens forwarde (as [Page] that man dyd) folowe ye Christ in the right way. For it is sayd there of hym: Confestum vidit / et seque­batur eum: He forthe with had his sight / and folo­wed Christe. Do ye in like wyse / and beware that ye retourne nat in to your olde errours agayne / nor that ye loke nat backe vnto these heresies / nor stoppe in the way by any wauering of your faith: but go forthe right in meritorious workes / wher­in the churche walketh / whiche hath with them the continuall presence of Christe / and of his most holy spirite / that one to sowe this gratious doctri­ne / that other to gyue his influence with the same vnto the herers. And doubt nat / but this waye shall finally brynge you vnto the glorious contrey of heuen / where ye shal haue y ^e presence of almigh­ty god / with endlesse ioye and blisse: to the whiche he brynge vs all / Qui cum patre et spiritu sancto viu [...] et regnat deus.