WHen the peple of God called Is­rael Exo. i. & iij. / had ben aftir the dethe of Ioseph. c. xl. yeres in that yer­ney fornace and harde bondage of Egy­pte / our almighty merciful father / con­sidering their heuey labours in clay and bryke / & hearing their depe syghes and greuouse groninges crying dayly vn­der their intollerable burdens: & agene remembring his promyse made with their fathers / Abraham Isaac and Ia­cob: sent them Moses and Aaron with his worde & miracles to delyuer them oute of that miserable seruitute from vnder that heuey yok of hardnecked Pharao figureth the pope as did Ioseph figure Criste. Pharao / the figure of the pope / which knew not Ioseph the fygure of Crist. Many Moses and Aarons / as faithful and fre prechers hathe our almighty God dayly and oft sent with his euer­lasting worde of saluacion and delyue­rance / vnto the hardnecked popes & to their indurated bisshops thorow oute all cristendome to delyuer his sely care­full floke oute of the miserable anticri­sten bondage of their dampnable doctrines [Page] / erroneous & false religion / super­sticious rytes / deuillisshe tradicions / & synfull ceremonies / euen the intollera­ble burdēs of men layd vpō pore mens [...]at. xx [...]ij. backes which theirselues they wil not once to wche to ease men. And yet then / as Pharao with his charmers and en­chaūters resisted God / his messagers / his worde & miracles (not with stāding hymself with his Egypciōs were so gre uously plaged) euen so this daye yet ar Cristes messagers / his gospell and mi­racles to / not onely spightfully and cru­elly resisted / but destroyed / brente & ba­nisshed. Wherein yet Pharao / indura­ted haithen idollater / as he was / she­wed hymself more ientle and mercisull to Israel / then do the pope and our bis­shops declare themselues to their pore flockes. For Pharao at last seing his first begoten sonne and all the first bego­ten childern and bestis in Egypte dede leet Israel departe. But the pope & our bisshops wil first see not onely their first begoten sonnes / daughters / with their mothers and all their misbegoten chil­dern [Page] their bisshoprykes & themselues to clene gone / but also the first begoten faith that onely iustifieth with all the cristen religion taken from them & ge­uen to the Tnrkes and Iewes better worthey to haue it then they / ere they wil suffer the almighty message of god­dis holy worde to take place and to con sent ther vnto for the delyuerāce of Cri stes chirche oute of their dāpnable doc­trines popisshe errours and false religi­on / frely to folowe the trwe prechers of the worde of their saluacion in Cristes bloude.

What an intolerable burden is it to yonge persons perpetually burning in concupiscence and desyer of the to ther [...]en. [...]. Heb. xii [...] sexe / Whom God created to be thorow wedlok the lawfull remedye and helpe one for y ^e to ther by his almighty worde naturally ioyning & enclyning the man to loue the woman and the womā the man / as the grasse or tre in hyr tyme to growe & to bringeforth frute / and yet / for this dampnable prohibiciō of the po­pe / they may not enioye goddis honou­rable [Page] ordinance and lawfull remedye of wedlok instituted of God? When God Gen. iij. sawe mā alone / he sayd / It is not good for man sole to lyue. But our anticristē papistes / the very sead of y ^e serpent / wy­ser then God / for that yet at the temptacion of y ^e serpent their father / they day­lye eate of the tree of the knowledge of good & euill / seing man alone / affirme and decree agenst God / That it is bet­ter for man to lyue alone yea to haue an C. whores (as once sayd bisshop Sto­kesley of London in open iugement to a maryed preiste) then to be maryed to his owne wyfe. yea they had leuer (as experience techeth) kepe other mennis wyues abuse their daughters / violate their maydens and haunte euery daye a newe where prodigiously polluted in al maner fylthines not to be spokē / then to haue their owne lawfull wyues in chaste matrimonye according to God­dis holy institucion and ordinance. Be­sydes all this / yet miche more intollera­ble is it for the pore maryed men with their lawfull wyues and naturall dere [Page] childern / by their vngodly actes / so cru elly and so violently (as ye se it of late) to be thus drawne in sondre / as it were with wilde horses / one member from a nother so paynfully plucked / that the howsband may not come into / nor look towerde the same towne / where he left his owne wyfe & his childern payne of dethe / when y ^e almighty worde of God [...]en [...] ▪ [...]at. x [...] so int [...]erly cowpleth and ioyneth man & wyfe togither into one flesshe perpetu­ally to lyue as all one / y ^t greuouse threa­tes there ar threatened to them / what so euer the [...] be / which ar so blasphe mous ly bolde as to separate and slaye them whom god ioyneth. Euerlasting dāpna ij. thes. ij cion abydeth them that so arrogantly exalte themselues agēst the most hyghe god / that thei wil perniciously peruerte and dampnab [...]y destroye that naturall order & inclynacion of generacion & lo­ue / which God hymself by his first fer­me creaciō with his euerlasting almigh ty worde hath engrauen and ingra [...]ed into the nature of man & woman. For when they had thus separated the wy­fe [Page] from hir owne howsbōde / then were there no small maryed men of birthe (whom I coulde name) y ^t fell to woyng of some preistis wyues and wolde haue made them their whores if y ^e pore wo­men had not resisted their deuellisshe entysements. Thus ye se vnder what holy pretense the noble maryed men se­parated preistis from their trwe wy­ues to make them their whores / which is but a lawghig game & gaudye vnpu­nisshed vnto these grete men y ^e bisshops trewe captiued gostly childerne. But vnder what holy ypocritissh pretēce (I praye you) hath this spirituall serpen­tyne sead / transfiguring themselues in­to ij. cor. xi. aungels of light / thus peruerted and destroied this first gods holy ordinance of wedlok? verely euē vnder the fayned wyueles­se chasti­te the oc casion of al whore dome. glitering colour of wyuelesse chastite / y ^e fowntayne of all whoredome / forbid­ding to marey which is as the holy gost constātly affirmeth / y ^e playne doctryne i. Timo. iiij. of the deuill: Of y ^e which deuillisshe do­ctryne almost now pressed by Goddis worde / bolde arrogant Steuen Gar­dener [Page] / bisshop of Wynchester with his Steuen Garde­ner bis­shop of wynche­ster. dronkē blak monke Repse abbot quon­dam of. s. Benits & nowe bissh. of Nor­wiche with their pharisaicall faccion / ar the inbringers / authours a newe / and Repse of norwich mayntayners / liuely described & in the­ir own colours painted of the holygost Isaie. lix. sitting in their prophane con­ [...]uracion howse / their handes polluted The bis­shops cō uocaciō howse. with blode & fingers embrewed with syn / their lippes speking lyes / and their tongues paynting mischeif. For non of theis blodye byghtsheeps calleth in rightwysenes for their aduocate in the lawe non iugeth faithfully & trwly / but they leane all vnto vanite & lyes / they studye fantasyes / they conceyue labori­ouse busynes / and at last brought they for the mischeif. They did sit hatching y ^e cokatrices egges weauing the spyders webbes: and he that eateth of their eg­ges shal dye / but and if he tredeth them vnder his fote / the serpent shal yet bre­keforthe &c. as nowe in the yere of our Lorde. M. D. xxxix. there brokeforthe these venomouse virulēt vepers / Wyn­chester [Page] with his aduouterous genera­cion [...] [...]. xxiij. [...]lc. xxii [...] i. tim. iiij Ioā. viij / encrusted walles / & paynted sepul­cres to colour this their doctrine of the deuil their father / w ^t their viciouse vo­wes of men & wemē dedicated to God / as though their were no state put a parte to God but onely their prodigiou se shamelesse shoorn aduouterers. But Rom. vi. Gala. iij. Ephe. v. thou shalt knowe (cristen reder) That whosoeuer be baptyzed into the dethe of Crist Iesus / perpetually to mortifye their flesh / to be reuyued in spirit / as our baptisme with water techeth and monissheth all cristeans / the same a [...] by that comon baptisme & cristen professiō (& not by the popes prophane inordina­te orders and false religion) dedicated / that is to saye / seperated from these pa pistik pharisais & heithen idollaters / to Ioā. iiij. Iere. ij. serue God in spirit & trowth. And our preistis of Baal / euen the popis shaue­lingis not being content with the first and onely holy sacrament of the comon cristen profession / but haue by a newe & false sacramēt instituted of the pope en­tred into another false religion & ther­by [Page] dedicated themselues vnto the de­uill Deut. xviij. Moloch Leu [...]. xx. iiij. reg. xxiij. / childern offred vp vnto Moloch / perpetually to burne in all maner beast­ly filthenes and whoredome / as their owne lyues declare them. And the we­men ar dedicated vnto that abhomina­ble [...]riapꝰ. Iere. lix. Chamos [...]enus. [...]riapꝰ the god of the garden. idoll Priapus altogither dedicated to chamos & venus. For what Sodo­mites what Gomorreans / what mon sirouse aduouterers they be / they that haue herde their filthy daily ere confes­sions of theis preistes / & the visitours late of the suppressed religiouse places of men & wemē / cane tell it. Whose pro­digiouse filthenes lest it shuld poyson y ^e papir / & the breathe of the reder shulde corrupt the ayer and infecte honest ea­res / I suppresse it. And yet dothe pas­shur Of pas­shur tur ned into pauor the prowd vpcly­mer int▪ [...] a freful fall. Wynchester calle them holy spiri­tuall vowers or votories dedicated to God / as hymself is dedicated to the de­uill. Wo therfore be to you y ^t make vn­godly lawes and actes to harde to kepe to oppresse the afflict in iugement &c. Iere. [...]. Isa. x. Figh vpon these vnnaturall chil dern out of kynde which dare make ac­tes [Page] agenst my counsel and weaue a web agenst my mynde to heape syn vpō syn / saith the Lorde Isaie. xxx.

But these venomouse cokatrices eg­ges / & poysoned spiders webbes / wher Is [...]. lix. of (as Isaie saith) no clothe may be ma­de to kouer their owne naked mischeife & robberye &c. (God assisting me with his holy worde) I shal nowe stāpe them downe vnder my feet / & altobreke them that all men maye se their open present poysone & beware of it: creepe therforth neuer so virulent venomouse & subtyle a serpent as bolde as arrogant and as craftye as is pestiferouse passhur Wyn­chester hymself to defende their mani­fest impiete.

If their articles and actes / concerne Cristis religiō / shewe vs some one wor­de of Crist to confirme them / or if they be of Cristes religiō / so must thei be ma­de in Cristis & his apostels tyme / which taught and wrote vs an absolute / com­plete & perfit religion / nothing omitted necessarye for the cristen chirche and for their saluation: but of these their coka­trices [Page] egges & spyders webbes to per­tayne to the cristen religiō there is not one worde nether in gospell nor pistle nor in no parte of the byble / but y ^e playne contrary: wherfore they ar very veno­me / & the poysoned doctrine of the deuil concerning anticristis religion. If these their cokatrices egges so lately layed & latelyer hatched in their spyders web­bes / must pertayne to Cristes religion / howe happeneth it y ^t nether Crist nor his apostles in their dayes / nor yet the holygost all these. xv. c. yeres espyed not them? but nowe at last in this new blak parlement vnto Wynchester and to his dronken prowde crownes of Ephraim Isa [...]. xxviij. the bisshops they be reueled? It is not fully. CCCCC. yeres ago sence this re ligion creptyn. It is all to late now in the later ende of the worlde to receyue any new articles of owr faith. Nether is there any man of y ^e power as to make vs any one article of owr faithe / owr faith and religion is to olde / & to firme by God / to be nowe new turned chan­ged & altered by man. Crist at his de­parting [Page] promised his apostles that the Ios̄. xvi. holygost shuld teche them al trwthe con cerning the cristen religion / and yet he neuer taught them these abhominable blasphemies & lyes. Belyk Cristes chir­che of Englond hathe gretely erred vn to this last blak parlement. Crist com­manded Mat. xxviij. his apostles & their successours to teche nothing but y ^t at he had taught and commanded them to kepe. The ho Deu. iiij 2. xij. Prou. ii [...] Eccle. iij i. pet. iiij ly gost straightly commandeth in many places / that man adde not vnto his reli gion & worde / his owne ded dreames & deuillissh deuyces. In thinges concer­ning our faith & religion / there ought nomā to presume to decre / teche or ena­cte any thing without y ^e expresse worde of God / except he wilbe exalted aboue God / fownde a lyer / a mā making gods lawe incōplet and imperfit / and siche a presumptuouse papist that vsurpeth to illustre the bright sonne of verite with his owne blynde balde lying reasone. Repent repent Wyn. with thy dampna Isa. xvij ble faccion lest the hastye whirle wynd of goddis present heuy indignation ca­rye [Page] you shortely awaye.

When I had red in Deutero. xxviij. with what plages and curses / as with madnes / furye / & blyndenes / God smy­teth Rom. [...]. his reprobated vessels of wrathe casten vp thorow their owne herts lusts vnto almaner filthenes: I coude not so gretely meruell at Wynchesters / & his faccions indurated blyndenes / where as for the defense of their abhominable whoredome / & destruction of chaste ma trimony ordined of God / he so wyked­ly / so blasphemously / agenst the lawe of nature / all godly order / all reason / and wy [...]che­sters vo­wes. agenst all scripture / diffineth. That vo­we to be lawfull and aduysedly made / which is made aftir. xxi. yer olde. And miche lesse wo [...]der it is / to se siche blyn­de bisshops forsaken of God / to seperate & slaye the pore innocents whom God cowpleth. For as it is the doctryne of y ^e deuill which thei enacte and defende / so must the childern accomplesshe their fa­thers work is which was bothe lyer & Io. xiij. māsseyer from y ^e beginning. If Wynch. and his bisshops had not ben thus stry­ken [Page] with blyndenes of god (I speke not in this boke agenst the seculare sorte / in this parle▪ because that I se in this the­ir spirituall cause / as the bisshops ar the autours therof / so seduce thei dayly the ignorant simplicite of the layte as they lyste by their false serpentyne perswasi­ons) they might haue se [...]e their owne diffinicion of vowes to cōdempne them selues. For Wyn. hymself / aftir. xxi. ye­res olde created y ^e popes creature / do­ctour of the popis lawe / aftir warde popisshly preisted / & at last Romisshly bis­shopped made at euery his creaciō a so­lempne vowe to be obediēt to the pope now dedicated to his chirche and holy­nes / which vowes ether he hath brokē & so is worthey hanging (as it was first enacted) orels he kepeth stil his vowes / which is most to be beleued. He and his / made vowes to lyue without their owne wyues / but whether they kepe other mennis & whores / let the comon voyce and their open actes be iuges.

But let vs expende and waye this Unad [...]y sed [...]y per tayneth to dis [...]r [...] cion and no [...] to ve res of xx. worde vnaduisedly / and see whether it [Page] pertaineth to the age and yeres of. xxi. or to discrecion / iugemēt & knowledge: He is sayd to do a thing aduisedly that dothe it with good consyderacion / iuge ment / discrecion & knowledge of all the circumstāces that may pertayne to the facte / of what age so euer he be. For as it is not the. xxi. yeres of age that mesu reth wysedom discrecion & knowledge / so is not iugemēt discreciō & knowledge nor wisedome tyed to any age prescript of Wynchester. Many men be more blynde & folisshe aftir they ar promoued to be bisshops and haue once dronken of apo. xvij y ^e gloriouse whores golden cuppe of Ba bylon / then when they were but pore cy sars & scolers in Oxforth & cambringe. And some / the elder they wexe / y ^e more foles thei ar. I knew myself / yonge men of. xviij. and. xx. yeres / better lerned / of better iugemēt knowledge / wysedome and discretiō then the olde hore headed doctour / and many ar called of God vn to y ^e knowledge of his trwthe not afore xxx. or. xl. &c. Crist calleth not euery id­le man into his vyneyarde / all at one [Page] hower / as ye may see Mat. xx. nor ge­ueth men his giftis of the spirit at Wyn thesters apoynted yere / nor is not re­strayned by Wynchesters diffynicion / from the encrease of his giftis. He could sanctify Ion. bapt. & Iere. in their mo­thers wōbes & call his disciples to hym aftir or before. xxi. yere / & cōuert Paule when he lysted / but passhur Wyn. wyll apoynt the holygost to age & hower / & therfore hathe he vnaduisedly diffyned his vnaduysed vowes. Tel me Win. by thy faith / wast y ^u not once aduisedly maryed to y ^e hore of Babylon aftir. xxi. as y ^u saist in thy boke of thy trwe disobedi­ence & false faithe? and madest not thou then thy vowe? If y ^u beist now diuorsed why kepest thou stil thy whores lawes? why defendest y ^u so stefly hir wyked tradicions? why so cruelly fightest y ^u for hir ceremonies / rytes / & this hir deuillissh doctryne of forbidding preistes to ma­rye? If althīgis y ^t men do aftir. xxi. yere of age be aduisedly done / why do ye vn­do in the later coūsel y ^e same which was decreed in the former / and vnacte this [Page] yere that at ye enacted the formere ye­re? ye were no babes when ye made your first decrees / cownsels / actes and lawes. Aduysedly & vnaduysedly ther­fore must be referred to wit wysedome / knowledge / experience / discrecion and iugemēt (oh passhur Win) & not tyed to your age of. xxi. Wherfore ye playd but a folissh parte / so vnaduisedly to diffyne your vnaduysed vowes / And more vn­aduysedly enacted you siche vnaduysed vowers to be seperated & hanged. And if ye repēt ye not of your vnaduysed ac­tes / seperat [...]g them whō god cowpled / you & your felowes must aduysedly by goddis decreed worde Iere. xx. be shor­tely turned into pauor: y ^t is / your soden vpclyming shall haue a sodē fereful fall. An vnad uy [...]ed vo we.

That vowe therfore is made vnad uysedly (of what age so euer the perso­ne be) which is made without good ad­uysement knowledge or consyderacion of his owne power and strēgthe to per­forme it: and so for his owne weak­nes is compelled to breke it / of whiche kynde of vowes ar al the wyuelesse and [Page] howsbondlesse vowes of al preistes and nonnes / and of all siche as haue not the gift to lyue sole. Item all those vowes ar vnaduysedly made / when y ^e persone considereth not before whether they be lawful and consonant w ^t Godis worde or no. And if they be agēst Gods worde (as ar all the vowes of them which to [...]. [...]or. vi [...] auoyd fornicaciō ar commanded to ma­rye) so ar they not onely vnaduysedly made / but also vngodly. Also what vo­we so euer is by cōpulsion extorted / not fre / please not God / hathe nether God­dis worde for it / nor no example in holy scripture / that same is bothe vnaduised and vngodly / as ar the vowes of prei­stes and nonnes / as ye shal see here af­tir: wherefore they ought aduysedly to be broken.

Answere me / passhur Wynch. Whe­ther [...]erodis vo [...]. [...]. xiiij was Herodis vowe made to his daughter for hir dawnsinge before hym and his gestis to geue hir what so euer she shuld aske / lawful and aduysed? It was made aftir. xx. yere of his age: er­go it was lawfull. And so by Wynch. it [Page] was lawfull for hym to smyte of Iohn bapt. his head. Also the. xl. men in y ^e Ac­tes act. xxiij of thapostles: whiche vowed neuer to eat brede tyl thei had slayne Paule / aftir Wyn. ar lawful. And all y ^e vowes of our olde bissh. and abbotes made to be obedient to the pope and his lawes must nedis be lawful aftir Wyn. & ther fore he and thei kepe them stil / as euery man may se it. I [...] a vowe of wyuelesse or howsbondlesse chastite made immedi ately aftir. xxi. or. xxiii [...]. yeres of age be lawful and aduysed: why then did Pau le so diligently cōmande the bisshop Ti­mothe to reiecte all yonge vowesses / & non to be admitted before. lx. yeres of age / but siche yonge persons to be mary ed / gouerne their howses & to begette i. Tim. v. childerne? adding the consyderacion / y ^t sich yonge persons whether they be mē or wemē / when thei shal begyn to wexe wanton agenst Crist / they will marye / hauing a sclawnderouse infamy (for so­mich signifyeth the Grek worde trāsla­ted / in condempnationem) because they haue casted awaye their first vowe or [Page] promyse. I wyll therfore (saith Paul.) yonge persons to marye / to beget chil­dern / geuing non occasion to our aduer saryes to speke euyll of them. And be­cause many mē diuersely take this wor­de prima fides / Thou shalt know (good [...]irst faith or cheif pro myse what it is. reder) that siche vowers made two vo­wes one subordined to the tother / The first & principall vowe was / nomore to marye / the seconde was to perseuer in obsecrationibus et prec [...]bus noctu die (que) as it standeth in the text / that is to con tine we in feruēt prayers / & not in wan­ton nyse lyuig / as ye rede of Anna Pha Luk. ij. nuels daughter / which departed not oute of the temple seruinge God with wache / sorowful mynde or heuey expec­tacion / abydinge for the redempcion of Israel &c. this is the playn simple sense as to wching their first faithe nomore to marye as the circumstance of the texte and conference of the places declare. But here ye se playnely that Paule for­biddeth yonge persons to vowe before lx. yeres: and yet Wyn. will haue their vowes lawfull at. xxi. and. xx [...]iij.

[Page]Gregory the. vij. pope / otherwyse cal Grego­ry the vij. led hiltebrande / or rather the hell fyer­brande y ^e most vngodlyest wretche that euer was / fylling al Germanye & Fran­ce and Rome to / yea all cristendome ful of batail & stryfe stering vp siche trage­dyes & tumulte betwixt the Emprowr & his dukes as had not ben sene before / hymself at last deposed and another po­pe setvp / one of them bitterly cursing & poysoning another / decreed at last and compelled preistis to forsake their law­full wyues / which lyued. cccc. xx. yeres agoo. Sence this wyked anticristes days / ye se al the vowes of preistes to be violently extorted / & open whoredome licēcio [...]sly vsed & laughed at. And nowe at last when God of his graciouse mer­cye had sent his prechers w ^t his worde to delyuere his chosen out of this damp nable & fylthy lyuing / yet lyke an hard­necked pharao / dothe this Greasie gar. of win. Gregory y ^e. vij. his owne sone (saue y ^t Gregory was neuer so prowd a lu­cifere) resist God & his worde & wilnot suffer cristes peple to be deliuered out of [Page] the popis dampnable decrees and mise­rable bondage. Were not the holy ma­ryed preistes & bisshops of the olde testa ment as Melchizedek / Ietro / Moses / Aaron / Samuel / Helye / zacharye / and the prophetes / and the maryed preistes of the new testament as the Apostles & so forthe the bisshops a thousande yeres aftir / tyl Gregoryes dayes as good mē as these wyuelesse aduouterers these last. cccc. xx. yeres? Preisthod was ne­uer clogged nor restrayned vnto siche wyked vowes vntyll this Gregoryes dayes / wherfore Gregoryes preisthod cannot be y ^e iuste preisthod which Crist instituted to preche his gospel but a pro digiouse Sodomitical secte of vnshame faced shauelingis.

Euen the very autor of this prohibi­cion / preistes [...]. [...]im. iiij to not marye / declareth y ^e preisthod & the doctrine of their vowes: Paule affirming it to be the doctrine of the deuyle / the autor of the mordinate orders. Whoso lyst to rede the histories & holye scriptures shall se that certayn of the apostles as Peter / Paule & Phi­lip [Page] theuangelist or precher had wyues & the holy bisshops. M. yeres folowing For this writeth the holy martyr Ignatuis Ignatiꝰ that lyued in saynt Paulus tyme in a pistle vnto Philadelph / w ^t thought that wedloke shuld minissh the holynes of the maryed persons / saying / Iethro and Moses were the preistes of God / & also there were of the cheif of y ^e preistis of Criste / & yet had they wyues & chil­dern. Was not Aaron and his sonnes the ministers of holy thingis? did they not offerevp and pray for the people? & yet were they maryed. And had not al­so thapostles of our Lorde Iesu Criste wyues? I esteme them not / nor yet the other blessed men neuer the worse be­cause they were cowpled in wedloke: but I praye god (saith he) I may be wor they to sit at their feet in the kyngdome of God / withe these other maryed per­sons as Abraham Isaac Iacob Ioseph Isaye and as ar these holy maryed men Peter and Paule and other of thapost­les which were maryed not for no lust but to encrease their posterite. yea it is [Page] wryten Mat. viij. That Iesus entring y ^e howse of Peter / sawe his wyues mo­ther syk & healed hir. And Luke in the Actes saithe. And we wēt into y ^e howse of Philip which was one of the. vij. that preched y ^e gospel: he had. iiij. daughters which did hear the scriptures taught them. But and if our synful sodomyts saye that aftir Criste had called them to preche / to baptyze & to breke y ^e brede to admit prechers / for this was all the­ir administraciō commanded of Criste / they forsoke their wyues / My short so­luciō i. cor. vij. is: That they lye. proue it by scrip­tures if they can / for Paule thus wry­teth / Them that ar once maryed / not I / but the Lorde commandeth them y ^t the wyfe be not separated frō hir hows­bōde / which if she be separated / she must abyde vnmaryed orels be reconcyled to him / nor the mā may not forsake his wy fe. And therfore Paule answering siche i. cor. ix. false prophetis y ^t rekened him & other y ^e lesse holy for carying aboute their wy­ues sayd: haue we not powr & libertye to eat & drink & to carye w ^t vs our wy­ues [Page] as do the other apostles Peter and the brethern of the lorde? Also who god hath ioyned / se y ^t noman seperate them saith Crist Mat. xix. Saynt Clemens li. iij. ca. xxx. of the story Ecclesi­astic. as ye rede of Eusebye / writing agenst thē y ^t despysed wedlok / saith these wor­dis. wil ye reproue the apostles? For bo­the Peter & Philip had wyues & mary ed their daughters to their howsbon­des / yea and euē Paule hymself steketh Phi. iiij not in his pistle to make mēciō of his wyfe greting hir calling hir his very trwe faithful yokefelowe / whom he lefte at Philippia for a ceason that he might the spedelier passe thorow the countreys preching the gospell. In the east chir­ches many holy bisshops had their law­full sonnes by their wyues in tyme of their offyce / as ye may rede of So­crate li. ix. ca. xxxviij. Tripart hysto. Constantinopolytano in Epipha­nio. Also Iustinianus Themprowr wri tinge Epiphanius bis. maryed. Grego­ry Nazi­anzene bis. mar. vnto Epiphanian the bisshop of Constantinople / commendeth hym the more that he was a preistis sonne. Also Gregory Nazianzene was a bis­shop & a preistis sonne: For in the prima­tyue [Page] chirche all the tyme before Grego­rye the wyked / preistis had wyues / and in reding holy scriptures they succeded their fathers in the same offyce / as ye Policar pus bi [...] maryed. may reade of Policarpe pastore of Ephe sine whiche writinge in a pistle to saynt Uictore confesseth hymself to be y ^e aight bissh. lynially descēding from his grete grandfathers into the same office. And rede Euseby cesariense in his v. boke. ca. xxii. what is more manifest then y ^t at Paule writeth. 1. Timo. iii. & Tit. i. That siche flokfeders must be chaste maryed men content w ^t one wyfe / men that can well gouerne their owne howses in bringig vp their childern / supposing that siche men hauing these / with other there pre scribed qualites shuld be apte and able to teche well an hole parisshe. Who seeth not nowe therfore Wynchester for his owne prowde arrogante mynde & wy­kednes worthely smyten with blynde­nes and obstinate induraciō / with Pha rao to persecute / to diuorse & slaye the pore maryed preistes? whom the spirit of God commandeth for the auoyding of fornicaciō euery one of them non ex­cept [Page] to haue his owne wyfe: and euery woman / non excepte / for the same cause i. cor. v [...]. to haue hir owne howsbonde. And if thou canst not lyue chaste / Paule cōman deth the to marye. For beter it is (saith he) to marye then to suffer burniges in they flesshe. But vnto wyked Wynche­ster whiche once semed to fauour Gods worde before he was promoted to the cardinall Thomas Wolsayes seruyce / there is no place of repentance nor no wynche­ster syn­neth a­genst the holygost grace lefte to beleue Gods worde / becau se / not of ignorance / but wetingly & wil lingly of a set maliciouse purpose herd­neckedly he synneth agenste the trwthe which is the syn agenst the holyghost / which Wyn. when he sawe so manifest scriptures agenst hym / then he turned his ordināce agenst preistes vowes ma­king them lawfull and aduysed because they be made at. xxi. yeres olde / when their owne master of the sentences call the vowes of the seclare preistes vota tacita / dome or not expressed vowes. There is noman that euer gaue preiste orders y ^t can come forthe / ether to testi­fye [Page] that euer he herde the preist whom he made by expresse wordes to vowe in clere wordes simply virginal chastite / or to bringforth wryting of y ^e preiste his owne hande that euer he vowed simpli citer siche chastite as Wynche. byndeth them to. But vpon this condictō / quan­tum permiserit humana fragilitas / y ^t is to saye / I vowe chastite as farre as mans fraylte will suffer me / and no far­ther do I vowe. If Steuen gardener esteme the stil domme vowes / & the con dicionall promyses of preistes somiche / y ^t thei must dye for breking them / why loketh he & his bisshops no beter to the solem [...]ne opē vowes of euery laye man maryed vowing solem [...]ly to kepe hym­self to his owne wyfe? why suffereth he & his faccion somiche open & abhomina­ble aduoutry in their diocesses? bothe grete men / meane & lowe of euery sort many kepe whores besides there owne wyues cōtrarye to their owne open vo­wes and promyses / and yet for good di ners / festes / giftes and fauour / and for [Page] fere / they ar suffred vnpunisshed / Is it syn for a pore preiste to kepe hym only to his owne lawfull wyfe / and no syn at all to the laye maryed man besydes his wyfe to kepe whores O Wynchester with your fellows? but wo / wo / be vn­to you that laye these heuy burdens v­pon pore mens bakks whiche ye wilnot to wche to ease them with your leest fin gere / wo be to you that saye good to be Isa. v. euill / bitter to be sweet / derkenes to be the light and ecōtra. Wo be to you that kil the pure innocents / and mayntayne the abhominable aduouterers.

But Wynchesters vnaduysed vo­wes wherfo­re the po pissh preistes wil not marye. ar not the mater why he so fyer­ [...]ely fyghteth and incenseth the kynge and his nobles agenst maryed prei­stis / but he and his pharisaicall facci­on knoweth well. What a plesure it is to kepe other mens wyues / their childern to sitteby other mens fyers / and as themselues lyue by other mens labours so make they other men to ko­uer their whores and whelpes vnder [Page] the onely names of howsbonde and fa­ther. Wyn. and his shauen fele what ple sure it is to haue so miche chāge of who­res / that when they be weary of one / thei may turne hir vp & take another. They haue othermens wyues better thepe / then their owne / It is an heuye yoke to be cowpled with one (parchaun ce a shrewe) as longe as thei lyue / be she syke or hole pore or ryche &c. and then to sorowe for their childrē to be brought vp / and for their howsholde. For well knewe these idle softe shauen sectes / what kares / burdens charges & incom modites there folowe and chaunse to trewe chaste and honourable wedloke. But & if they were once iustlely yoked vnto one wyfe to sustayne y ^e moleste ka­res of matrimonye / ful sone shuld their prwde combes and crownes be cutte & their ioylye p [...]kocks tayles be plukt / their ryches minisshe / and their vayne glyterig glorye glyde awaye into dust. And yet is there another cause why the se prowd prelats wyll not haue their­owne wyues. For as they wylbe diuy­ded [Page] in habit / aparell / shauing / buzzing & singing / eating and drinking / & in their strange holy prophane iestures / pope ho ly sole state from the comon cristen reli­gion / so wolde they by siche ipocryse se­me to the simple peple / yea and loke for it to / the hyghlyer to be exalted / more reuerēced / estemed and endewed with the rycher and pleasaunter possessions. For at siche strange toyes and diuersite of disgoysinges in longe gownes sirpli­ces crownes copes hodes &c. the fonde peple stonde and wounder at them / as at an owyl oute of Athens or at an ape full of pratye pastymes out of Portin­gale. And to be short / therfore haue the­se longe typeted and longer tayled trey tours chosen them this strange singler separated secte that they might shewe themselfes the playner pharisays bothe in name and very dede. For a pharisay Phari­saye. in englishe is one separated and diuy­ded from the comon sorte / bothe in ha­bit / dyet / goyng / wordes / dedis / rytes / iestures / ceremonies / but yet I thinke the pharisayes in Cristis tyme were neuer [Page] so shoorne nor smered / nor so ryche and prowde / nor so ignorāt beastis / nor siche abhominable whoremōgers as ar owers for they had their owne lawfull wyues. But in longe prayinge in sight mat. xxiij of almē / in deuoweringe the pore / in te­ching and not doynge / in dilating their wyde and syde gownes / loking for cap­pe / kne / mastership / lordeship / grace fa­therhod / lokinge for the ouermost place in feastes / to be saluted in y ^e market place and to be called rabi / my lorde bisshop M. doctour / M. person &c. our later present phariseis agree well with the first pharisais & former ipocrytes. Also thei agree in the shuttingvp of the king dome of heuen from them that wolde enteryn / theirselues standing without neuer into enter. Thei agree also in im­portune labours to procure mo ypocry­tes dayly to be shauē into their synfull secte / mo pharisayes / lyke preistes / pre­chers / & lyke bisshops / strōger to make their anticristen kyngdome agenst the lorde and his anoynted / They agre in [...]sal. ij. [...]at. xv. lyke blyndenes / themselues blynde le­ders [Page] of their blynde captiues / thei agre ye they excede in couetuousnes ambici­on and pryde / and to be shorte / they ex­cede the olde pharisayes in ipocrysye & in the bloudshedinge of the innocents / which old pha. persecuted Criste & his apostles vnto dethe.

The dukes grace of Northfolke ma­de the duke of north. reason. this pollitike reason in the parlemēt howse before the kynge and his nobles (for scripture knoweth he non) That preistis shuld not marye. For then / said he / they wil perchaunce mary with our and other ientlemēs daughters and so haue their dowryes ioynters and lon­des with them / and at last ye shal se the bishops haue all our lōdis to: which rea son / lo / it was well allowed. Bu [...] I an­swere y ^e dukes grace / No / not so / Ther is remedye ynoughe for this sore. your grace shall make a prouiso that no preist nor bisshop shall marye with yours nor with no ientlemans daughter without hir parents consent according to God­dis lawes. Orels if this prouiso wilnot serue / Then restore the bisshops & prei­stes [Page] to their firste orders receyued of Criste to be content with onely meat & i. tim. vi. drynke and clothinge necessarye and suf ficient for them. And I dare warāt you for your daughters. Orels if this proui se will not holde / let no bisshop nor preist be admitted to cures & flokfedinge but siche as haue all the condicions and qua lites that Paule prescrybeth vnto Ti­mothe i. tim. iij. [...]. i. & Tito / and I dare be bownde that non of siche preistes wyll marye w ^t your daughters so lōge as your daugh ters be so vnlernedly prowdly so nycely and lascyuiously broughtvp. For s [...]che preistes ether be they maryed all redye orels seke they siche wyues as Paule there decketh and tyerethe. i. Timo. iij. and apoynteth to them / that is to we [...]t / L [...]i. xxi sober / lerned / modest / shamefaced / sim­ple / sadde / chaast / godly maydens ver­tuously broughtvp in reding and vnder stōding trwly y ^e holy scriptures / which wilnot disdayne to laye to their handes to wasshe / wrynge / spyne / carde / brewe baake / to swepe the howse / make rede hir howsbondis dyner / wasshe the dys­shes [Page] and to turne the speete / nourse hir­owne childerne with hirowne brestes / vyset the syke sore and pore be they ne­uer so lothely. Wherefore excepte your daughters wyll gladly do all these thin gis / be ye sewer there wyl no siche prei­stes & bisshops as Paule paynteth ma­rye with your daughters / and if your daughters be siche they will set lytle by your goodis and possessions.

Then belyke but for fere of marying with your daughters / It had ben law­full preistis to haue had wyues. They Iob. vi. that feare the hore froste (saith Iob) the deepe snowe shall fall vpon them. They that feare honest and lawfull mariage to chaunse to their daughters / nothing lykely to be cowpled w ^t these sayd prei­stes ordered of Paule / let them beware lest the prowd papistik bisshops & prei­stes consecrated by the pope comitte ad­uoutrye with their daughters and wy ues to: for siche [...]haūses haue happened. But yet not withstondinge the dukes pollityk hyghe reason / his grace might haue ben contented at the leestwyse to [Page] haue suffred the pore maryed preistes to haue kept still their owne lawful pore wyues which were nether dukes / lor­dis / nor no ientlemens daughters / and not so cruelly to haue rent them in son­dre payn of hanginge / whom God cow­pled togither.

At last / forbecause / Wynchester and his bisshops had nothing els to colour their actes of the diuorsement / and wy­uelesse chastite of preistes / but vowes / so vnaduisedly / so folisshly / & wikedly diffy ned. I shall diffyne & declare more aduy sedly & trwlier tel you what a lawful vowe is. A vowe is a free promyse / of that what is a vowe. thīg which is in our power to performe it / & which thing / we ar sewer also that God accepteth it. In this diffinicion / thre thingis in a lawful vowe. ther be. iij. thingis to be obserued / first that it be a fre promyse / as it is writen The first that it be a fre pro myse. Deutero. xxiij. not compelled / nor extorted for fere / nor for that it be so intrica­tely and vngodly wrapped in another thinge and ther to so wykedly annexed that whoso wil receyue the one / he shal­be stinged withe the tother agenst his [Page] wyll / as if a waspe be put in to the cuppe and geuen a blyndeman to drynke that thirsteth. For nonotherwyse haue they wrapped in the doctryne of the deuyll and cowpled it with their prophane or­ders / so that if y ^u wylt be admitted to be preiste to preche the gospel (for Criste knew nonother cheif office of preisthod) whiche thou art bownde in conscience to do if thou beist called therto of God / yet wil they bynde the to lyue sole agēst thy will / & bere y ^• in hāde that y ^u vowest their chastite whē y ^u nether sayist it nor thinkest it / & so clogge the with that to­ther thinge so couertly inwrapped that it is not in thy lyberte to performe it. And thus ye see all their vnlawfull vo­wes of their sacrificers and religiouse persons to be not fre / but extorted by compulsion / For when many desyer and vowe to lyue their easy lyfe in all wel­they idlenes / they vowe (sayeth Wyn.) wyuelesse chastite w ^t thei haue so vngodly annexed vnto their popissh preisthod / that their may noman be siche a preiste but he be compelled also / and be yoked [Page] with their vnlawful vowe for that it is not in mans lyberte to performe it. Nowe as is their preisthod vnlawfull / so is their vow [...] ioyned therto vngod­ly / for Criste neuer instituted sich anodi ouse ordir of shorelingis and smered so­domy [...]es but onely faithfull prechers / flokfeders / and ministers of his sacra­ments which shuld also prouyde for the pore: for as for their misse preistes ma­tyns mōgers idle euensong vpheapers and salue singers y ^e scripture knoweth non siche. Nowe ye se that as this po­pissh shauē preisthod with their vngod­ly wyuelesse vowes thervnto deuillis­shly ioyned / ar but newly inuented of the anticristen bisshops of Rome / con­trary to Cristis religion / euen so they that receyue siche a preisthod / they re­ceyue they watner what poyson / & vo­we that thing (if they vowe any thinge at all) which they be not able to perfor­me / snarling themselues and combring their consciences led captyued vnto per petual dampnaciō / if they persist in siche a pestelent preisthod. The soule therfore Le [...]t. v. [Page] (saith god) that hath by othe and vowe pronownced with his lyppes to do that thīg / which is ether good or euill (what so euer it be that the persone vnaduy­sedly swereth) and so aftirwarde vnder stande and perceyue his owne vnaduy­sement / he shalbe gyltye in one of these thingis. And if any vnlawful [...] vnclene le [...]. xxvii beast had ben vowed promys [...]d or dedi­cated to God / it must [...]en rede­med / and not offred. Wh [...]re miche more ought vngodly and vnlawfull vo­wes to be corrected and broken. For er­rours must be mended and hurtes re­stored. If a man make a folissh othe / as did Herode / he ought the wyselyer to change it. A folisshe and an vnaduysed Eccle. v. vowe / saithe Solo. displeaseth God. Now what is more vngodly then a mā to snarle and tangle hymself with their popissh preisthod haltred with siche an vngodly vowe whiche nether scripture knoweth / nor godly ensample therin te­cheth. In. S. Cyprians dayes: There in his. xi pistle. were diuerse yonge wemē that had vo­wed howsbondlesse chastite / and aftir­warde [Page] could not kepe it / whom he with diuerse other bisshops consydering / cau sed them to marye / saying that it were beter for them to marye then here to burne in concupiscence and aftir to bur­ne in hell to for their syn / sith. God had prouided a necessary remedye therfore. God is not honoured with mēs vowes and promises y ^t procede not of faith / but with dedis of his owne cōmandemēts.

Secondarily / a vowe must be made [...]he se­conde [...] in our power. of that thing which is in our power to performe it / now is it not in euery mās power to haue y ^e gift to liue chaste with out a wyfe when he willeth. There is S [...]p. viij no man chaste but it be geuē him of god: Crist confirming it / answering his disci Mat. xix ples / thinkinge the bonde of wedlok to be to harde and therfore not to be expe­dient to haue wyues but to lyue sole / Crist saying almē may not receyue this thinge / that is to lyue sole / but siche as to whom it is geuen. Now ar not god­dis giftis in our powr to haue & to kepe them / when / & as lōge as we lyste. The expowning of scriptures is the gifte of [Page] God / which is not geuen to euery man that wolde haue it / wherefore he were but a fole y ^t wolde make a vowe to ex­powne scriptures ere God had geuen hym the gifte and so sent him to preche. Nether ar y ^e giftis of God as faith / ho­pe / loue / to heale the syke or to do mira­cles comē for euery mā no more then is wyuelesse chastite comō for euery preist / as experiēce techeth vs. yisse (saye thei) The ob­iecciō of the papistis is soluted. if ye wolde aske it of God as we do / ye shuld haue it as we it haue / for do not Criste promyse (say thei) y ^t whatsoeuer ye aske the father in his name / he wil ge ue it you? I answere this aduouterou­se generacion / y ^t themselues / as thei ne­uer beleued this saying of Criste / so did thei neuer aske it in his name / For well I wote / & so do their owne cōsciences & deades tel thē / y ^t skant one emōge an. c. hath his gift of chastite for al their pray ing / I wold thei which yet kepe whores themselues / & bid vs praye y ^t wolde or haue wyues / wolde once singe this ka­roll to themselues / Aske & ye shall ha­ue it / and so put awaye their whores. [Page] But how can thei aske any thing in Cri stis name / when they blaspheme his ho­ly name and dispise his holy ordinances and holesome remedies tempting God so wikedly as thei do? The peticion to lyue sole / as it may not be asked of eue­ry man and woman / so is it not for the glorye of his name euery shauē that bur neth in luste to aske it / when god for his glorye created the remedy & helpe say­ing vpō siche that it is not good for man alone to lyue / let vs therfore make hym a felowe helper. He therfore tempteth God / which (y ^• remedye created of god despised) will praye to lyue alone / so far­of is this mā to glorifye him. Also if eue­ry man and woman that asketh it shuld haue it / so were it no speciall gift but as comon as the prayer. But be it in case that euery preist asketh it / yet shall not euery preist haue it / for Crist hymself saithe / Euery of them is not apte nor a­ble Mat. xix to receyue it / but thei vnto whom it is geuen. If their chastite might be ob­tayned That at is asked [...] obtay­ned by peticion is no vo­we / but a gifte. by prayer / so were it no vowe no more then faithe or the gift to vnder [Page] stande scriptures. For we praye for that thinge whiche is not in our liberty and power to haue or to do it. And here is it playne / by y ^e papistis owne reasening that thei destroye their owne vowe of chastite / making it no vowe at all but a gift of God / and not in our lybertye ne­ther to vowe it nor to haue it as we wolde. Wherfore as Wynch. hathe vn­aduysedly made vowes to let prei­stis mariage / so hathe he vnaduysedly diffyned them. Those thingis whiche we ar cōmanded of God to aske of him / ar playnly prescribed vnto vs in his scri ptures / which ar the declaracion of his wyl and of what thinge so euer maketh for his glorye / but it is nowhere redde of any precept or ensample for vs to ly­ue sole / but that euery man that cannot so liue is cōmanded to marye to auoyde fornicacion and not to praye so to lyue alone / wherfore the remedye so graci­ously prouyded of God / and set before our eyes / it is not els but a tempting of God and not a praying to hym for the gift. Nonotherwyse then when God [Page] createth meat set before the to eate it & thou forsakest it being hungrye / & pray­est God to lyue without meat. Where­fore when our shamelesse chamosts al­ledge vs theis scriptures to pray for their chastite / they alledge them nono­therwyse to vs then did the deuill vnto Criste brought vpō the pynnacle of the temple / sayinge / If thou be [...]st the sonne of God fal downe headling / & bid thy fa ther sende the his aungels to saue the harmlesse for they ar so commanded to do: wherfore euen as Criste answerde his aduersary and temptour the deuill with scriptures putting hym to flight / so answere we his ympes with y ^e same sayinge / auoyde ye deuils. It is wrytē / Deu. vi. thou shalt not tempte thy lorde God.

Thirdly / a vowe must be of y ^t thing / 3. [...] vowe must please God. which to vowe / it pleaseth God. Now howe shall we know / thus to vowe at Winchesters fool age of. xxi. that it plea seth god? It is writē that siche yong vowers i. tim. v. at y ^t age shuld be reiected / And in no place of scripture is there precept or ensample y ^t god accepted sich superstici­ouse [Page] and folissh coarcted impossible vo­wes: wherefore it foloweth y ^t Wyn. his vnaduysed vowes please not God / and Ro. xiiij that it is syn so to vowe / for whatsoeuer is not of faith / that same is sin: to vowe Wynchesters wyuelesse chastite hathe no worde of faith for it / ergo it muste ne dis be synne. Paule hymself constantly affirmeth that he hath no commande­ment of God that any persone shuld ly­ue sole / Albeit (saith he) my sentēce and i. cor. vi [...] mynde is this / that sithe there is nowe somiche persecuciō of the cristens / to be sole without wyues & children / is most ease / & lesse care & trowble / y ^e lighter is their crosse in their flight when persecu cion cometh vpon. Wherfore my mynde is / saith he / that sole to lyue is most quy et & cōmodiouse / but & if a sengle or any sole persone maryeth he synneth not / al beit / saith he / I wolde ye were with­oute care and sorowe and at most ease and quietenes / this I tell you for your moste ease but not to tangle nor to snar­le you w ^t any sole lyuinge: this is Pau­lis mynde.

[Page]Also / it cannot be syn that God forby deth not / but God neuer forbode his mi nisters as his prechers and preistes in generall to haue their owne wyues / er­go / if they marye they synne not / Belyk Wynch. wolde now make better prei­stis and more chaste shauelingis in this parlemēt then Criste euer made by his gospell / but as ye see / whylis they go a­boute to mende their popissh preisthod and to make it more pure / thei marre al & make it a very sodomiticall sentyne. Repent repent Wynch. in tyme / for the [...]at. iij. are is bent at thy tresodenly to be cut­downe and cast into the fyer.

Paule vnto the bissho. Timothe and Titus / prescribed to them in his pistles all thingis necessarye to be taught vnto the chirche / euē the full forme of y ^e Cri­sten religion as he did vnto other chir­ches writinge / and yet he neuer men­cioned Winchesters vnaduised vowes / but abhorred them. Paule sorowed so­miche [...]. tim. iii [...] for the congregacions lest they shuld be seduced by the false doctryne of siche that were gone from the faithe at­tending [Page] to sprytes of errour / doctrines wyn. and his facci on ar be­re payn­ted of Paule. of the deuill / speking lyes thorowe ipo­crysye / hauing their consciēces marked with an hotyerne / forbidding to marye and commanding to abstayne fro mea­tis created of God to be eaten w ^t than­kis of them that knowe the trwth &c. that he gaue Timothe playnly watnig of siche vnchaast ipocrytes as ar here paynted / and of their pestelēt doctryne forbidding to marye commanding him to warne men of them and of their doc­tryne if he wolde be sene a good mi­nister and trwe bishop / But when herde ye any of our bytshepes warning men of these thingis / or any papiste that euer wolde open this peese of that pistle i. Tim. iii [...]. to the peple? belyke this pee­se pertayneth not to the bishops purpo ses / it serued but only for Timothe and his tyme▪ yiss saith the holygost / These false techers shall come in posterioribus temporibus / in the later tymes. The worlde was. M. M. yeris vnder the lawe of nature not yet wrytē vnto Moses. It was M. M. yeris vnder y ^e lawe [Page] wryten tyll Criste came: & sence Criste / it hath bene almost. M. M. yeres vn­der the lawe of the gospel / wherefore ye se that this deuillisshe doctryne of forby dinge maryage and meatis / as it a­greeth with the persons and autours thereof / so correspondeth it iustely to the tyme: for it is not fully. ccccc. ye­res agoo sence these errours and false doctrynes begane to take place. And yet al this whyle haue not our prelates warned men of them / but thei haue ge­uen grete diligēce to se this their damp nable doctrine taught decreed / enacted and kept / payne of dethe. But oh men mortal & vayn shadewes / quous (que) spre­ta magnitudine dei diligetis vanitatē et queretis mendacium? how longe wil Psal. iii [...] ye despyse the almighty God / loue va­nite / and go seke lyes? Et nunc ergo re­ges Psal. ij. intelligite et erudimini / And now now ye kynges be wyse and beware of your false and sediciouse trayterouse bis shops / for sewerly if ye folowe their wy ked cownsell & false doctryne / ye heape the heuye wrathe & indignacion of god [Page] vpon you / with plages present bothe to you and your realmes to be vtterly de­stroyed. It is but a violent and false re­ligion shortely to fall y ^t muste be thrustin with violence of actes armed w ^t fyer & swerde / no scripture stablisshing them / It cannot stonde longe / y ^t at man by ty­rannye cōpelleth men to kepe / nether is that kyngdome longe durable y ^t is hol­den by feare / tyrannye / & violence / & not by loue & lawes grownden of Goddis worde. Crist thrusted not in / his gospel by violēce (& yet was it the trwth) and yet it spred. His apostles cōpelled no mā payne of dethe or fyer to receyue the cri sten religion / although thei were sewer it was the very faithe & worde of salua­cion & yet it roted fast. And shall cristen kyngis at the false perswasiōs of a fewe pharisays and popis porklingis which euer haue ben traytours to their prin­ces staye men or punisshe their trwe obe dient louing subtectes / for not receyuig the bisshop of Romes deuillisshe tradici ons / supersticious rytes / false doctrine / & synfull ceremonies / & for cleauinge to [Page] Cristes euerlasting worde of their salua cion? Oh ye princes of the worlde / clea­ue to goddis worde of peace & power / & fere ye no insurrecciō of your subiectes / preche them y ^e worde of peace / & in pea­ce shall ye raigne ouer them / but presse the worde of peace / persecute & slaye y ^e prechers therof / & what ye fered the sa­me shal comvpon you / make ye neuer so stronge castels and brason walles to de­fende you. Despyse not goddis monic [...] ­on in tyme / thruste not frō you his gra­ciouse worde graciously offred. nequan­do irascatur dominus et pereatis pro­pter studia vestra. Nam breui exarde­bit ira eius: et tunc / o felices qui sperant in eum / that is to saye / lest the lorde be­inge wrathe / ye be destroyed for your owne actes / for shortely shal his wrathe be kindled & seton fyer / but then / oh bles sed ar they y ^t trust into hym. Unto whō be glorye & imperye for euer / Amen.

God preserue & defende his kyngis frō the wyked cownsell of bisshops & of their captyued seclare men /

Amen.