✚ The Testament of master Wylliam Tracie esquier / expounded both by William Tindall and Ihō Frith. Wherin thou shalt perceyue with what charitie y e chaunceler of worcetter Burned whan he toke vp the deed carkas and made asshes of hit after hit was buried.
M.D.xxxv.
✚ To the reader.
THou shalt vnderstande most deare Reader that after Wylliam Tyndall was so [...] Iudaslie betrayed by an English man / a scole [...] of Louaine / whose name is Philippes / there were certaine thinges of his doynge founde: which he had e [...] tended to haue put forthe to the furtheraunce of goddes woorde amongest which was this Testament of master Tracie expounded by hym sealffe / where vnto was annexed / the exposicion of the same of Iho [...] Frithes doynge and awne hand wrytinge / which I haue caused to be put in Printe / to the intente that al the worlde shulde see howe ernis [...]lye the Cannonistes and spiritual lawyers (which be the chefe rul [...]rs vnder bysshopes in euerye dioces in so moche that in euery chatedrall church the deane chaunceler and archdeken ar cōmenly doctoures or bachelers of lawe) do endeuer them sealues iustlie to iuge and spirituallye to geue sentence accordinge to charitye [...]pon all the actes and dedes done of their diocessanes / after the ensaumple of the chaunceler of worcetter / which after master Tracie was buried (of pure zeale and loue [Page] hardelye) toke vp the deede carkas and burnt hit / wherfore he did hit / it shall euidentlye apere to y • reader in this littell treatyse / reade hit therfore / I beseche the and iuge the spirites of oure spiritualitie / and praye that the spirite of him that reased vpp Christe / maye ones inhabite them / & mollyfye their hertes / and so illumine them / that they maye bothe se and shewe true light / and no longer to resiste God ner his trueth / Amen.
The Testament hit sealfe.
I Willyam Tracie of Todyngton in y • cowntie of gloceter esquier / make my Testament and last wyll / as here after folowith.
¶First / and before all other thinge I commyt me vnto God / and to his mercye / trustinge with owt any dowte or mystrust / that by his grace and the merytes of Iesus Christ / and by the vertue of his passion / and of his resurrection / I haue and shall haue remission of my synnes / and resurrection of bodye and soule / accordinge as hit is written Iob. xix. I beleue that my redeamer lyueth / and that in the last daye I shall ryse owte of the erth / and in my flesh shall se my sauiour / this my hope is layde vp in my bosome.
And as towching the wealth of my sowle / y • faith that I haue taken and rehersed / is sufficient (as I suppose) w t out any other mannis worke / or workis / My grounde & my belefe is / that ther is but one god & one mediatour betwene god & man / which is Iesus christ [Page] [...] that I do except none in heauen nor in erth to be my media [...]oure betwene me and god / but onely Iesus Christ / al other be but peticioners in receyuīge of grace / but none able to geue influence of grace. And therfore wil I bestowe no part of my goodes for that intent that any man shulde saye / or do / to healp my soule for therin I trust onely to the promyse of god / he that beleueth and is baptyzed shalbe saued / and he that beleueth not shalbe damned / marcke the last chapter
And towchynge the buryynge of my bodye / it auayleth me not what be done therto / where in sainct Austine de cura agenda pro mortuis saith / that they are rather the solace of them that lyue than / wealthe or cowmforth of them that are departed / and therfore I remit hit onely to the discretion of myne execu [...]ours.
And towchinge the distribution of my temporall goodes / my purpose is by the grace of god / to bestowe them to be accepted as frutes of faith / So that I do not suppose that my merite be / by good bestowi [...]e of them / but my merite is the faith of Iesus Christ onely / by which faith such workes are good accordinge to the wordes of out lorde Math. xxv. I was hongrye / and thou gauest me to eate / and it folowith / that ye haue done to the least of my bretherne ye haue done to me &c. and euer we shulde consyder the trwe sentence / that a good worke maketh not a good man / but a good man maketh a good woorke / for faith makethe the man booth good and rightwyse / for a rightwyse man lyueth by faith. Rom. i▪ and what so euer springeth not owte of faith / is synne. Rom. xiiij
And all my temporall goodes that I haue not geuyn [Page] / or delyuered / or not geuen by wrytinge of myne awne hande beringe the date of this present wryting I do leaue and geue To Margarete my wife / and to Richard my sonne which I make myne executours / witnes this myne awne hande / the x. daye of October / in the .xxij. yere of the raygne of kynge Henry the viij.
Tyndall.
Now leat vs examen the partes of this Testamēt sentence by sentence. First to commyt oure selues to God aboue all / is the first of all preceptis / and the first stone in the foundacion of our faith / that is / that we beleue and put owre trust in one god / one all true / one almyghty / all good / and all mercyfull / cleauinge faste to his trueth / myght / mercye / and goodnes / suerly certyfied and full persuaded / that he is oure God / ye oures / and to vs all true / withoute all falsheed and gyle and cannot fayle in his promyses / And to vs almyghtye / that his will cannot be lea [...] to fulfill all the trueth that he hath promysed vs / And to vs all good / ād all mercyfull / what so euer we haue done / and howe so euer greuously we haue trespassed / so that we cum to hym the waye that he hath appointed / which waye is Iesus Christ onlye / as we shall see folowingly this first clause than / is the first commawndement / or at at the least / the first sentence in the first commawndement / and the first article of our crede.
And that this trust and confidence in the mercy of God is thorow Iesus Christ / is the second article of oure crede confirmed and testified thorow out all scripture / That Christ bringeth vs in to this grace / Paule [Page] proueth. Rom. v. sayinge. Iustified by fayth we ar [...]t peace with God / thorowe Iesus Christ oure Lorde / By whom we haue an entrynge in vnto this grace in which we stand / and Ephe. iij. By whome saith Paule we haue a boold entringe in / thorowe y e faith that is in him▪ and in the second of the sayde Epistle / By hym we haue an entrynge in vnto the father / and a lytle before in the same chapter / he is oure peace. And Ihon in the fyrst chapter. Beholde the Lambe of God whiche takethe awaye the synne of the worlde / whiche synne was the busshe that stopped the entrynge in / and keapt vs owt / and the swerde wherwith was kepte the entrynge vnto the tre of ly [...] frome Adam and all his ofsprynge.
And in the second of the first of Peter / whiche bare oure synnes in his Bodye / and by whose stripes we are made hole. By whom we haue redempciō thorowe his bloude euen the forgeuenes of oure synnes Colloss. i. and Ephes. i. And Rom. iiij. He was delyuered for oure synnes and rose agayne for oure iustifyenge.
And concerninge the resurrection / it is an article of our faith / and proued there sufficientlye / and that hit shalbe by the power of Christ / is also the open scripture.
Ihon. vi. This is the wyll of my father wich sent me / that I lose nothinge of all that he hath geuen me / but that I rayse hit vp againe in the last daye / and againe I am the resurrec [...]ion Ihon. xi.
[Page]That thys liue faith is sufficient to iustification with owte addynge to of any more helpe / is this wyse proued the promyser is God of whome Paule faith. Roma. viij. Yf God be on oure syde what matter maketh hit who be ageynst vs / he is therto all good / all mercyfull / all true / and all myghtye / wherfore sufficient to be beleued by his othe / more ouer Christ in whom the promes is made hath receaued all power in heuen and in erth. Mat. the last.
He hath also a perpetuall presthode / and therfore able perpetually to saue. Heb. vij
And that ther is but one mediator Christ is Paule i. ad Timoth. ij. And by that woorde vnderstonde an attonemaker / a peace maker and brynger in to grace and fauoure / hauynge full power so to do. And that Christ is so / is proued at the full. Hit is wryten Ihon iij. The Father loueth the sonne / and hath geuen all in to his hande.
And he that beleueth the sonne hath euerlastinge lyfe and he that beleueth not the sonne shall not see lyfe / but the wrath of God bydeth apon hym. All thinges ar geuen me of my father. Luke. x. And all who so euer call on the name of the Lorde shalbe saued. Actes. ij. Of his fulnes haue we all receaued Ihon. j. Ther is no nother man geuen to man in whiche we must be saued. Actes. iiij. And againe / vnto his name beare all the prophetes record / that by his name shall all that beleue in him receaue remission. Actes. x. In him dwelleth all the fulnes of god bodely. Colloss. ij. [Page] All what soeuer my father hath are myne. Ihon. xvj. Whatsoeuer ye axe in my name that wil I do for you Ihon. xiiij. One Lorde / one faith / one baptyme / one God and father of all / which is aboue all / thorow all and in yow all Ephes. iiij. Ther is but one whose seruant I am / to do his wyll. But one that shall paye me my wages / ther is but one to whom I am bounde / ergo but one that hath power ouer me to damne or saue me / I will adde to this Paules Argument Galat. iij. God sware vnto Abraham .cccc. yere before the lawe was geuen / that we shulde be saued by Christ. Ergo the law geuen .cccc. yeres after can not dysanull that couenaunt / So dispute I Christ whan he had soffered hys passion / and was rysen againe and entred in to his glorye / w [...]s sufficient for his apostles / withoute any other meane or helpe / ergo the holynes of no sainct sence hath dimynisshed owght of that his power But that he is as full sufficient now / for the promes is as deaply made to vs as them / Moreouer the treasure of his mercye was layde vp in Christ for all that shulde beleue / yer the worlde was made / ergo nothinge that hath happened sence hath chawnged the purpose of the in vnuariable god.
Moreouer to exclude the blynde imagination falslye called faith / of them that geue them sealues to vice with owt resistence / affirminge / that they haue no power to do otherwyse / but that God hath so made them / and therfore must saue them / they not entendinge or purposynge to mende their lyuynge / but synnynge with hole consent and full lust / he declareth what faith he meaneth .ij. maner of wayse / First by that he saith / who so euer beleueth and is baptized / shalbe saued [Page] / By which wordis he declareth euydently / that he meanith that faith / that is in the promes made apō the apoyntment betwene god and vs / that we shulde keape his lawe to the vttermost of our power / that is he that beleueth in Christ for the remission of synne / and is baptized to do the wyll of Christ / and to kepe his lawe / of loue / and to mortifie the fleshe / that man shalbe saued / and so is the imaginacion of thise swyne that wylnot leaue wallowynge thez sealues in euery myre and podell / cleane excluded / for God neuer made promes but apon an appoyntment or couenaūt vnder which who so euer wyll not come can be no partaker of the promes / True faith in Christ / geueth power to loue the lawe of god: for it is written Ihō the first / he gaue them power to be the sonnes of god in that thei beleue in his name / Now to be y • sonne of God / is to loue rightwisnes / and hate vnrightwisnes and so to be lyke thy father. Hast thou than no power to loue the lawe so hast thou no faith in Christis bloude. And Rom. iij. we set vp or maynteyne the lawe thorowe faith / why so▪ for the preachynge of faith ministreth the spirite. Galat. iij. & .ij. Corinth. iij. and the spirite loweseth the bandes of Sathan / and geuethe power to loue the lawe / and also to do hit.
For saith Paule Rom. viij. yf the spirite of hī that reased vp Iesus dwell in yow / then will he that reased vp Iesus quycken your mortall bodies by the meanes of his spirite dwellinge in yow.
A well wilt thou saye: yf I must professe the lawe and woorke / ergo faith alone saueth me not. Be not deceaued with sophistrie: but withdrawe thyne eares from wordes and cōsyder the thinge in thyne hert. [Page] Faith iustifieth the: that is bryngeth remission of all synnes / and seattethe the in the state of grace before all workes / and getteth the power to worke yer thou coudest woorke / but yf thow wilt not go backe agayne / but continewe in grace / and come to that saluacion and gloriouse resurrection of Christ / thow muste woorke and ioyne woorkis to thy faith in wyll / and dede to / if thou haue tyme and leasure / and as oft as thow fallest set the on thy faith agayne withowt he [...]lpe of woorkes. And all thowghe when thou art reconcyled and restored to grace woorkes be required yet is not that reconsilynge and grace the benefite of the workes that folow: but cleane contrarye that forgeuenes of thy synnes and restoringe to fauour deserue the workes that folow. Thowgh when the kyng (after that sentence of deeth is geuen apon a murtherar) hath pardoned hym / at the request of some of his frendes / woorkes be required of him that he henceforth kepe the kynges lawes / yf he wyll continewe in his graces fauour / in which he now standeth / yet y • benefyte of his lyfe procedeth not of the deseruinge of the woorkes that folowe / but of the kynges goodnes / and fauoure of his frendes / ye and that benyfyte and gyft of his lyfe deserue the woorkes that folow Thowghe the father chastice the chylde / yet is y • chylde no lesse bownd to obeye / and to do the wyll of the father. Yf when the father pardoneth hyt / the woorkes that folowe deserue that fauoure / than muste the woorkes that folowed the correction haue deserued fauoure also. And than was the father vnrightwyse to chastice hyt. All whatsoeuer thow art able to do / to please God with all / is thy dutye to do / thowghe [Page] thou haddest neuer synned / if hit be thy dutye how [...] it than be the deseruinge of y e mercy & grace that wēt before? Now that mercy / was the benefite of god thy father thorow the deseruinge of the lorde Christ / which hath bowght the w t y • price of his bloude.
And agayne whan he saith that he purposeth to bestow his good / to be accepted as frutes of faith / hit is euidēt that he meanith that lyuinge faith w c professeth y • lawe of god / & is y • mother of all good woorkis / ye [...] nursse therto.
A nother cauillation wich they myght make in the second part / where he admitteth no nother mediatour but Crist onely / nor will geue of his goodes / to bynd any man to any fayned obseruance for y e healp of his soule / when he were hole in the kyngdome of Christ cleane delyuered both bodye and soule from the dominion of Sathan (as the scripture testifieth all that die in Christ to be) is this / they will saye / that he helde that none shulde praye for him saue Christ / and that we be not bound to praye one for another / ner ought to desyre the prayers of another man▪ that he excludeth / in that he saith all other be but peticioners. By w c woordes he playnly cōfesseth that other may & ought for to praye / and that we maye and ought to desyre other to praye for vs: but meanith that we maye not put our trust & confidence in their prayer / as thoughe y • gaue of them selues that which they desire for vs in their peticions / & so geue them the thankes / and ascribe to their merites that w c is geuen vs in the name of our master Christ / at the deseruinges of his bloude [Page] Christ is my lorde / and hath deserued and also obt [...]yned power / to geue me all that can be desyred for me. And all that other desyre for me: that is desyred in Christes name and geuen at the merytes of his bloude. All the honoure than / trust / confidence / and thanckis / perteyne to hym also. Some wyll haplye saye / howe shulde I desire another to praye for me / & not trust to his prayer. Verely euen as I desyre my neghbur to helpe me at my nede / and yet trust not to hym. Christ hath commaunded vs to loue eche other. Now whan I go to desire healp / I put my trust in god / and complayne to god first / and saye / Loo father / I go to my brother / to axe helpe in thy name / prepare the hert of him agenst I come: that he maye pytye me and helpe me for thy sake &c. Now if my brother remembre his dutie & helpe me / I receaued hit of god / and geue god the thankes which moued the hert of my brother and gaue my brother a corage to helpe me and wherwith to do hit / and so hath holpe me by my brother. And I loue my brother agayne and saye: Loo father I went to my brother in thy name / and he hath holpe me for thy sake: wherfore O father be thow as mercifull to him at his nede / as he hath bene to me for thi sake / at my nede. Loe now as my brother did his dutye whan he holpe me / so do I my dutye whan I praye for him againe: and as I myght not haue put my trust and confidence in my brothers helpe / so may he not in my prayers. I am sure that god will healp me by his promes / but am not suer that my brother wyll helpe me / thowghe hit be his dutye / so am I sure that god wyll heare me whatsoeuer I axe in Christes name by his promes / but am not suer that my brothere [Page] wyll praye for me / or that he hath a good hert to god
No / But the saynctes in heuen can not but praye & be herde / no more can the sainctes in erth / but praye and be hearde nether. Moses / Samuell / Dauid / Noye / Elias / Elizeus / Esaias / Daniel / and all the Prophetes prayed and were hearde: yet was none of those wycked that wolde not put ther trust in God / accordinge to theyr doctryne and preachynge partaker of theyr prayers in the ende. And as damnable as hit is for the pore to trust in the ryches of the rychest apon erth / so damnable is yt alto to leaue y • couenaunt made yn Chrystes bloude / and to trust yn the saynct of heuen. They that be yn heauen knowe the elect that trust in chrystis blowde and professe the lawe of god and for them onely praye: & these wicked Idolatrers which haue no trust in the couenaunt of god / ner serue god in the spirite ner in the gospell of christes bloude / but after their blynde Imaginacion / chosynge thē euery man a sondrie saincte to be their mediatour / to trust to and to be saued by their merites / do the saynctes abhore and defye. And their prayers and offeringes / ar to the saynctes as acceptable and pleasunt / as was the prayer and y e offeringe of Simon Magus to Peter. Act. viij.
More ouer the sainctes in their most combraunce ar most conforted and most able to confort other / as Paule testifieth .i. corinth. i. In so moche that Saint Steuen and Saint Iames prayed for them that slue them / Saint Martine preached and counforted hys desperaet bretherne euen vnto the last breath / and lykewyse (as stories make mention) did innumerable [Page] moe. Ye and I haue knowen of simple vnlerned persons and that of some that were greate synners w c at the houre of deeth haue fallen flat of the bloude of Christ / and geuen no rowme to other mens ether prayers or preachinges: but haue as stronglye trusted in in Christes bloude / as euer did Peter or Paule / and haue therto preached hit to other / and exhorted other so myghtelye that an angell of heuen coude not mende them. Who then shuld resist God that he myght not geue the same grace to master Tracie / whiche was a lerned man / and better sene in the workes of Sainct Austine. xx. yere before he dyed / than euer I knew doctoure in Englande / but that he must than faynt and shryncke / when most neade is to be stronge / and feare the popes purgatorye and trust to the prayer of Pristes derely payd for▪ I dar saye that he prayed for y e pristes when he dyed / that god wold conuert a great meny of them / and if he had knowen of any good man amonge them that had neded / he wolde haue geuen / ād if he had knowen of any lacke of Pristes / he wolde haue geuen to mayntene moo: But nowe sence there be moe then I nowe / and haue more then euery man a sufficient lyuynge / how shulde he haue geuen them but to hyre theyr prayers of pure mystrust in Christes bloude? yf robbinge of wydowes howses vnder preten [...]e of longe prayers be damnable. Matthe. xxiij. Then is it damnable also for wydows to suffer them selues to be robbed by the longe patterynge of hypocrites / thorow mystrust in Christes bloude: ye & is it not damnable to mayntene soch abhominacion? Now whan this damnation is spred ouer al / how cā we geue them that haue ynoughe alredye / or how can [Page] [...]ey th [...] [...] ynowghe alredye to [...]e mo [...]e vnder [...] name of prayenge / and not harden the people moare in this damnable damnacion?
And concerning the burienge of his bodye he allegeth sainct Austen / nether is there any man (thynke I) so mad to affirme that the outwarde pompe of the bodye shuld healp the soule. More ouer what greatter sygne of infidelytie is there / then to care at the tyme of deth / with what pompe the carkas shalbe caried to the graue. He denyeth not but that a Christen man shuld be honorably buryed namely for the honoure and hope of the resurrection / and therfore cōmmytted that care to his deare executours his sonne [...] his wyfe / whiche he wyst woolde in that parte do sufficient / and leue nothinge of the vse of the contre [...]ndone / but the abuse
And that bestowenge of a greate parte of his goddes (whyle he yet lyued apon the pore / to be thanckfull for the mercye receued / without byynge and sellynge with God / that is / without byndinge those p [...] [...]e vnto any other appoynted prayers than god hath bownde vs alredy / one to praye for a nother / one to help a nother / as he hath helped vs / but pacientlye [...]bydinge for the blessynges that God hath appointed vnto all manner good workes / trustinge faithfully to his promes / thankinge (as ye may se by his woordes) the bloude of Christ for the rewarde promysed to his woorkis and not the goodnes of the woorkis as thowhh he had done mo [...]re then his dutye / or all that: And assygned by wrytinge vnto whom a nother [Page] part shulde be distributed / and geuinge the rest to his executours / that no stryfe shulde be / which executours were by right the heyres of all that was lefte to them: Thise thinges I saye are signes euident not onely of a good Christen man / but alsoo of a perfect Christen man / & of suche a one as neded not to be [...] gast and desperaet for feare of the paynfull paynes of purgatorye / which who so fearith as they fayne hit cannot but vtterlye abhorre deeth: seynge that Crist is there no longer thy Lorde / after he hath browght the thither / but art excluded from his satisfaction / ād must satisfye for thy selfe alone / and that with sufferinge payne onely / or ellys taryenge the satisfienge of them that shall neuer satisfie ynought for them selues / or gapinge for the Popes pardons / which haue so greate dowtes and dangers / what in the mynde [...] entent of the graunter / ād what in the purchesar / yet they can be treuly ob [...]eyned with all due circumstances / and much le [...] certitude that they haue any authoritie at all. Paule thristed to be dissolued and to [...]e with Christ: Steuen desyred Christ to take his spirite / the prophetes also desyred god to take their soules from them / and all the saynctes went with a lustye courage to deeth / nether fearynge or teachinge vs to feare any suche crudelitie. Where hath the churche then gotten authoritie to bynde vs from beynge so perfite / frome hauynge any suche faith in the goodnes of God oure Father / and Lorde Christ / and to make suche per [...]yt [...]es and faith of all heresies the greatest▪
Salomon saith in the .xxx. of his Prouer [...]es / iij. [...] [Page] insatiable and the fourth s [...]th neuer / It is ynough. But there is a fyft called d [...]e auarice / with as greadye a [...] / as meltynge a mawe / as wyde a throte / as gapynge a mouth / and with as [...]ening teeth as the best / which the moare she eateth the hōgryer she is. An vnquiet euyll neuer at rest / a blynde monstre and a surmysynge beest / fearynge at the fall of euery leafe. Quid non mortalia p [...]ciora cogis / auri sacra fames? What doth not that holy honger compell them that loue this worlde inordinatly / to committe? myght that deuyls belye be once full / trueth shuld haue audience / and woordes he construed a right / and taken in the same sence as they be ment.
Thowgh hit seme not impossible haplye that there myght be a place / where the soules myght be kept for a space / to be taught and instruct: yet that ther shuld be such a Iayle as they Iangle / and soch facyons as they fayne / is playne impossible and repugnaunt to the scripture: for when a man is translated vtterly out of the kyngdome of Sathan / and so confyrmed in grace that he can not synne / so burnynge in loue that his lust cannot be plucked from goddes will / and beynge partaker withe vs of all the promyses of God and vnder the commaundementes: what coude be deuyed hym in that depe innocencie of his moost kynde father / that hath leaft no mercye vnpromysed / & a [...]inge hit therto in the name of his sonne Iesus / the childe of his hertys lust / which is oure lorde ād hath left no mercye vndeserued for vs▪ namely whan god hath sworne that he wyll put of rightwisnes / and be to vs a father / and that of all mercye / and hath slayne [Page] [...]hys most deere sonne Iesus / to confyr [...] [...] othe.
Fynally seynge that Christes loue takethe all to the best / and nothynge i [...] here that maye not be well vnderstanded / (the circumstances declaringe in what sence all was ment) they ought to haue interpreted hir charitably / if ought had bene founde dowtefull or semynge to sounde a mysse. Moreouer yf any thinge had bene therin that coude not haue be taken well / yet their partye had bene to haue interprete i [...] as spoken of ydelnes of th [...] heede / by the reason off syckenesse / for as muche as the man was vertuous [...] wise / and well lernyd / and of good fame / and reporte / and founde in the faith whyle he was a lyue. but yf they saye he was suspect whan he was a lyue / then is their doynge so moche the woorsse / & to be thowght that they feared his doctrine whan he was a a lyue / and mystrusted their awne parte / theyr consciences testifyenge to them [...] that he held no nother doctryne then that was true / seynge they then neither spake nerwrote against him / ner brought him to any examinac [...]on. Besyde that some mery felowes will thinke / that they owght first to haue sent to him to wytt whether he wold haue reuoked / yer they had so dispytefully burnt the deed bodye / that coude not answere for it sealffe / nor interprete [...]his woordys / how he ment them / namely the man beynge of so worshipfull and auncient a bloude. But here will I make an ende desyringe the [...]eader to loke on this thī ge w t indifferent eyys / and iuge whether I haue expounded y e woordes of this Testamēt as they shuld [Page] seame to sygnyfye / or not / Iuge also whether the maker therof seame not by his woorke both vertuou [...] and godly▪ w c if it so be / thinke not that he was y • worsse bycause the deede bodye was burnt to asshes / but rather lerne to knowe the greate desyre that hypocryses haue to fynde one craft or other to d [...]e [...] trueth w t / and cause hit to be counted for heresye of the symple and vnlerned people which are so ignoraunt that they cannot spye their sotteltye / hit must neades be heresie that towcheth any thing their ra [...] [...]en byle they will haue hit so who so euer saye naye onely the eternall god must be prayed to night and daye to amende them in whose power it onelye lyeth. Who also graunt them ones ernestlye to thriste his true doctrine conteyned in the swete and pure fountaynes of his scriptures ād in his pathes to direct their wayys, Amen
✚ Ihon Frith
THer is nothing in this worlde tha [...] is so ferme / stable or Godly / but [...]hat it maye be vndermynede / and f [...]owardlye wrested of men / & spe [...]yally yf they be voyde of cherite As it is euydent by Wyllyam Tracyes Testament and last wyll that he lefte / ageynste the which manye men / and that of longe Contynewaunce haue blasphemously barked. whetther of a godlye zele / or of a dasynge brayne / let other men iudge. But this I dare boldly professe / that his godly sayinges are vngodly handled / which thinge I cannot so iustlye ascribe vnto ignoraunce / as vnto rancor / vnto y • furyes I had amost [...] sayd / for yf they had conferred all thinges vnto the ru [...]e of charite / which enuyeth not / which is not puffed vp / which is not stur [...]ed to vengeaunce / which thinketh none euyll: but sufferith all thinges / beleueth all thinges / trustith all thinges / and bearith all thinges / they wolde not so hedelye haue condempned those thinges / which myght haue bene full deuoutly expounded / how be it t [...]ey haue not only atteptyd that thinge / but haue procedyd vnto suche madnes / that they haue taken vpon the to stryue w t deade folkes / for it is a most comen iest in euery mānes mouth that after the maker of this Testament was departyd / and buryed / they toke vp his bodye & burnt [Page] it whiche thinge declared their furye althoughe he felte no fyer / Therfore we humblye requere ow [...]e most redowted prince / with all his noble [...] / and present assemblie / that euen as al other thinges do of righte depende of theyr iudgement / that euyn so they wolde by their discrete aduise / cure this disease / p [...] deringe all thynges with a more equall ballaunce / Soo shall this enormous facte be loked vppon with worthye correction / and the condicion of the comen welth shalbe more [...]yet / marke yow therfore what thinges they are / which they soo cruellye condempne.
✚ Master Tracie.
I Willyam Tracie of Todyngton in y e cowntie of gloceter esquier / make my Testament and last wyll / as here after folowith.
¶First / and before al other thinges I commyt me vnto God / and to his mercye / trustinge with owt any dowte or mystrust / that by his grace and the merytes of Iesus Christ / and by the vertue of his passion / and of his resurrection / I haue and shal haue remission of my synnes / and resurrection of bodye and soule / accordinge as hit is written Iob. xix. I beleue that my redeamer lyueth / and that [...]n the last daye I shall ryse owte of the erth / and in my flesh shall se my sauiour / this my hope is layde vp in my bosome.
Master Tracie
And as towching the wealth of my sowle / y e faith that I haue taken and rehersed / is sufficient (as I suppose) w t out any other mannis worke / or workis /
Frith
Here he onlye cleauith to god / and his mercye / beynge suerly persuaded that accordinge to the testimonye of Peter / who so euer beleuyth in hym / thorowe his name shall receyue remission of synnes. Act. xv. Paule also affirmeth / that who so euer trusteth in hī shall not be confounded. Roma. x. And who can denye but this is most true / when it is vnderstonde off that faith wich is formed with hope and charite / w t the Apostle calleth faith / that worketh by cherite. Galatas .v. Now sythe these thynges maye be expounded so puerlye / forsoothe he vttereth his owne enuye which wolde otherwyse wreste the mynde of y e maker of this Testament
And as towching the addition of this particle w t out any other mannes worke / or workes: yt semith that he had respecte vnto the sayenge of Peter / w c declareth that ther is no nother name vnder heauē geuen vnto men / in w c we shuld be sauyd. Act. iiij. Besydes that S. Paule committeth y e power of sanctifieng to Christ onlye. Hebr. ij. wher he sayth / both he that sanctifieth (that is to saye Christe) & they that ar sanctified (that is to saye the faithfull) are all of one (that is God) and suerlye yf we labored to precell eche other in loue and Cherite / we shulde nott condempne thys Innocente / But we shulde rather mesure his woordes by the rule off Cherite / [Page] in so moche that yf a thinge at the firste syghte dyd apeare wickyd / yet shulde we take it in the best sence / not Iudginge wickedly of our brother / but referringe that secret iudgment vnto Christe which cannot be disceyued / and thoughe they be disceyued by the pretence of Cherite / yet therin they maye reioyse / and therfore they wolde be lothe to condempne y e innocent / but let vs passe these thinges / and se what folowith.
Master Tracie
My grounde & my belefe is / that there is but one god & one mediatour betwene god & man / wich is Iesus christ so that I accepte none in heauyn nor in erthe to be mediatour betwene god and me / but onlye Iesus Christe / all other to be petycioners in receyuī ge grace but none able to geue influence of grace / ād therfore I will bestowe no parte of my goodes for that intent that anye man shulde saye or do to helpe my soule / for therin I truste onlye to the promyse of Christe / he that beleueth and is baptysed shalbe saued / and he that beleueth not shalbe damned.
Frith.
[Page]Why loke yow so sowerlye good brotherne [...] why do yow not rather gyue hym greate thanckes? sythe he hath openned vnto yow suche a proper distinctiō by the whiche yow maye escape the scolasticalle shares and mases / he onlye deserueth the name of a middeler / which beynge God became man to make men gods / And who can by right be called a middeler betwene God and man but he that is both god & man / therfore sythe we haue suche a myddeler / whiche in all poyntes hath prouyd owre infirmytye (sayuinge onlye in synne) which is exalted aboue the heuyns / and syttethe on the righte hande of God / and hathe in all thinges obtayned the nexte poure vnto hym / of whose imperye all thinges depende / lett vs come with suer confidence vnto the trone of grace. Hebr. iiij. All other he callyth peticioners which receyue grace / but are not able to empresse ād power therof into anye other man / for that doth onlye God distribute with hys fynger (that is to saye / the spirite of god) thorowe christe / I meruell that yow are angrye with hym that hathe done yow suche a greate pleasure / how be it I do Ascribe this condemnaciō rather vnto the canonystes then vnto deuynes / For the godlye deuynes wolde neuer dote so fare as to cō dempne so proper sayinges / but paraduenture thys myghte moue theyr pacyence / that he wyll distribute no porcyon of his goodes / for that intent that any man shulde saye or do for the weale of his sowle / ar yow so sore afrayed of yower market? Be not afrayde / ye haue salues ynowghe to souple that sore / ye knowe that he is not bownde vnder payne of dampnation to distribute his goodis on that facion / for thē [Page] those holye fathers were in shrewde case which contynewinge in longe penurye / skant lefte at their departinge a halfe penye. Thou wilte paraduenture saye / that they shall suffre the greuous paynes off purgatorye / be it so / yet maye they be quenshid both with lesse coste and laboure / the popes pardone is redy at hande / where bothe the cryme and the payne are remytted attonce / and verely ther is suche plentye of them in all places / that I can scantly beleue that there lyueth any man that is worth an halfe peny but that he is suer of some pardons in store / And as for this man he had innumerable. Notwithstandinge this distribucion is not of necessite (for vnto him that is dampned it profettyth nothinge / And he that is not dampned is suer of saluacion) why are ye so hote agaynste this man / are not his goodes in his owne power / he shall gyue a reckeninge of them vnto god / and not vnto you / here yow maye se / of how lyghte iudgement you haue condempnyd these thinges / now let vs ponder the residwe.
✚ Master Tracie.
And towchinge the buryenge off my bodye / hit auaylethe me not what be done therto / wherin. S. Austyne in the boke de cura agenda pro mortuis / enformynge [Page] vs sayth / that they are rather the solace of thē that liue / thā wealth or coumforth of thē that ar departed and therfore I remyt it only to the discretion of myne executoures.
Frith.
What hath he here offendyd which rehersyth nothinge but the wordes of S. Austyne / yf yow improue these thinges than reproue yow S. Austyne him selfe / Now yf yow can fynde the meanes to alowe. S. Austyne and cheritablye to expownde his wordes / why do yowe not admitte the same fa [...]ure vnto yower brother / specyallye seynge cherite / requerithe it: besydes that / no man can denye / but that these thinges are true / althoughe S. Austynes auctorit [...] were of no reputacyon with yow / for yf these thinges were of so greate value before God / then Christ had euyll prouyded for his martyres whose bodyes are comonly cast owte to be consumed with fyer / ād wylde beastes / notwithstondinge I wolde be afrayed to saye that they were anye thinge the worse for the burnynge of theyr bodyes or t [...]ynge of it in peces / Be therfore charitable towardes yower brother and ponder hys wordes (which are rather saynt [...] Austynnes) some what more iustlye
Master Tracie
As towchinge the distribution of my temporall goodes / my purpose is by the grace of god to bestowe them / to be accepted as frutes of faith. So that I do not suppose that my merite shalbe by the good bestowinge of them / but my merite is the faith of Iesu Christe onlye wherbye suche woorkes be good. Matth. xxv. I was hongrye ād thou gauest me to eate / and it foloweth / that ye haue done to the leest of my bretherne ye haue done to me &c̄. And euer we shuld consyder the true sentence / a good worke maketh not a good mā / but a good man makethe a good woorke / for faith maketh the man Both good & right wyse / for a rightwyse man lyueth by faith. Rom. i. And whatsoeuer springeth not owt of faith is synne. Rom. xiiij
And all my temporall goodes that I haue not geuen and delyuered / or not geuen by wrytinge of my awne hande / berynge the date of this present wrytynge / I do leaue / and gyue to Margarete my wyfe and to Richard my sonne / which I make myne executours: wytnes this myne awne hande / the .x. daye of October / in the .xxij. yere of the raygne of kynge Henry the .viij.
Frith.
THere is no man doutyth but that fayth is the roote of the tree / and the quyckenynge power owt of which all good frutes sprynge therfore it is necessarye that this faith be present or els we shulde loke for good woorkes in vayne: for withoute faith it is impossible to please god. Heb. xj. in so moche that S. Austyn called those workes that are done before faith / swiffte runnynge owt of the waye. Morouer that owr merite cannot properlye be asscrybed vnto owr workes doth the Euangeliste teche vs saynge / when ye haue done all thinges that ar commaunded yow / saye we are vnprofitable seruauntis / we haue done but owr deutye. Luke .xvij. By the which sayynge he doth in a maner feare vs frome puttyng any confydence in our owne workes: And so is owr glorious pryde / and hye mynde excluded. Then where is owr merite [...]harke what S. Austyne sayth: The death of the Lorde is my merite: I am not with out merite as longe as that mercyfull Lorde faylith me not &c̄. This deathe of the lorde cannot proffite me / excepte I receyue it thorowe faith / and therfore he reckenyth right well that the faith in Christe is all his meryt / I meane the faith which worketh thorowe cherite / that is to saye fayth / formed with hope & cherite / & not that dead historicall faith which the deuyls haue and tremble. Iaco. ii. Furthermore what [Page] what S. Austyne iudgeth of our merite he expressith in these wordes: marke the Psalme / how the prowde heade will not receyue the croune / when he saith he that redemed thy lyffe frome corruption: whiche crounythe the (sayth the Psalme) here vppon wolde a man saye / which crouneth the / my merites graunte that / my vertue hath done it / I haue deseruyd it / ye is not frelye geuen / but geue kare rather to the pleasure / for that is but thyne owne sayinge / and euery mĀ is a lyer / but heare what God sayth / which crounyth the in compassion and mercye / of mercye he crounith the / of compassion he crounyth the / for thou wast not worthye that he shulde call the / ād whom he shulde iustyfye when he called the / And whom he shulde glorifye when he iustifieth the: For the remanauntes are sauyd by the election which is by grace [...] fauoure. Rom. xi. Now yf hit be by grace then is hit not of workes / for then grace were no grace. Rom. iiij. For vnto hym that workethe is the rewarde imputed not of grace but of deutye. Rom. iiij. the Apostle sayth / not of grace but of deutye / but he crounyth the in compassion and mercye / and yf thy merites haue proceded / god sayth vnto the / boulte out thy good merites and thou shalt fynde that they are my gyftes / this is the rightuousnes of God / not meanyng [...] the rightuousnes wherbye he hym selfe is rightwise but the rightuousnes wherwith he iustifyethe them whom he makithe rightwyse wher before they w [...] re wicked / these are Austynes wordes.
Fynallye lett nott that moue yowe where he addyth / that a good worke maketh not a good man / but [Page] rather a good man makethe the worke good / for ther is no man but he is eyther good or euyll / If he be euyll then can he not do good but euyll / for accordinge to Christes testimonye / a rootten tree bearithe no good frute. Matth. vij. And agayne he saith / how cā you saye well seynge you youre selues are euyll. Mat. xij. But yf he be good / he shal also bringe forth good frute at his ceasone / how be it that frute makethe not the man good / for except the man be firste good he can not bringe forth good frute / but the tree is knowen by the frute / And therfore faith as a quyckenynge roote must euer go before / which of wicked maketh vs rightwyse and good / whiche thinge oure workes coulde neuer bringe to passe / out of this foū tayne sprynge those good workes which iustifye vs before men / that is to saye / declare vs to be verye rightwyse / for before God we are verely iustifyed by that roote of faith / for he serchithe the harte & therfore this iuste iudge doth inwardely iustyfye or condempne / gyuinge sentence accordinge to faith / but men must loke for the workes / for their sighte cā not enter into the harte / and therfore they first gyue iudgement of workes / and are many tymes deceyued vnder the cloke of hipocrisie
You maye se that here is nothing / but that a good mā maye expoūde it well al be it y e childerne of this worlde (w c w t their wiles deceyue thē selues enteringe so presumptuously into Godes iudgmēt) do seke a doute where none is / Go ye therfore and let charite be yower guyde / for god is cherite / and thowgh our laweyers harte wold breake / yet must you nedes iudge hī a christē mā / w c saith nothīg but that scripture [Page] confyrmythe / And verely the iudgement of this cause came owte of ceasons and euen vngracyouslye vnto our Canonistes / for they are clene ignoraunt off scripture and therfore condempne all thinges that they reade not in their lawe / wherfore we renounce their sentence and appeale vnto the deuynes / which wyll sone knowe the voyce of their sheepherde ād gladlye admitte those thinges which are allowed by the scripture wherunto they are accustomed.
Frith
[Page] IT is meruell but here be sumwhat that they improue / for their mynde is so intoxicate that there is nothinge but thei will note it with a blacke cole / & yet all maye be establysshed by the testymonye of scripture / for faith is the suer persuasion of our mynde of god and his goodnes towardes vs / And wher as is a suer persuasion of the mynde / there can be no doutinge or mystruste / for he that douteth is lyke the floude of the see which is tossed with wyndes & karried with violence / and let not that man thinke that he shall obteyne any thinge of God Ia. i. And therfore / saynte Austyne sayeth / yf I doute I shalbe no holye seede / furthermore wher as he loketh thorow the grace and merytes of Christe to optayne remission of his synnes / suerly it is a faithfull saynge / and worthye to be commendyd / for it is euyn y e same that Peter professed Act. xv. where he sayth / vnto hym do all the prophetes bere witnesse / that thorow his name as many as beleue in him shall receyue remission of their synnes / morouer in that he trustith thorowe Christ to haue resurrection of body and soule they haue no cause to blame him / for thus doyth paule argue / yf Christe be rysen / then shall we also ryse and yf Christe be not rysen / then shall not we ryse / but Christe is rysen / for his sowle was not lefte in hell / therfore shall we also ryse (whom Christe shall bringe with him) and be immortalle / both bodye and sowle i. Cor. xv. And therfore he doth both rightwislye and godlye deduce his resurrectiō by christes / by whom the Father hath geuen vs all thinges / or els we shulde not be / But there are some / that [Page] gather of his wordes / that he shulde recounte the sowle to be mortall which thinge after my iudgement is more suttellye gathered then eyther truely or charitablye / for seynge ther was neuer Christen man that euer so thoughte (no not the verye pagaynes / what godlye zele / or brotherlye loue was there whiche caused them so to surmyse / for a good man wolde not once dreame suche a thinge: but I praye yow why shulde we not saye that the sowle doth verelye ryse which thorowe Christe risinge from y e fylthe of synne / doth enter with the bodye into a newe conuersacion of lyfe / whiche they shall leade to gether with oute possibilite of synninge / we saye also of god (by a certayne phrase of scripture) that he arisethe / whē he openythe vnto vs his power / and presence: And why maye we not saye the same thinge of the sowle which in the meane ceasone semeth to lye secret / and then shal expresse vnto vs (thorowe Christe) her power and presence / in takynge agayne her naturall bodye / why shulde ye then condempne these thinges / Ther is no man that can receyue venome by those wordes / excepte he haue suche a spiderowse nature that he can turne an honye combe into perelous poyson. Therfore let vs loke on the resydewe.