66 66 VIII. 1543. charged the Con unfolding his roll (which was about an ell long), he said, "Behold, Henry here be your captains, both Hobby and Haynes, with all the whole pack of thy sect about Windsor, and yet wilt thou utter none of them." A.D. Alas, my lord," quoth he, "how should I accuse them, of whom I know nothing?" Well," quoth the bishop, "if thou wilt needs Marbeck cast away thyself, who can let thee? What helpers hadst thou in for set"Forsooth, my lord," quoth he, "none." ,, ting forth setting forth thy book?" "None!" quoth the bishop; "how can that be? It is not possible cordance. that thou shouldst do it without help." "Truly, my lord," quoth he, "I cannot tell in what part your lordship doth take it, but, howsoever it be, I will not deny but I did it without the help of any man, save God alone." Nay," quoth the bishop, "I do not discommend thy diligence, but why shouldst thou meddle with that thing which pertained not to thee ?" 66 And in speaking of these words, one of his chaplains, called Master Meadow, came up, and stayed himself at a window, to whom the bishop said, "Here is a marvellous thing; this fellow hath taken upon him to set out the Concordance in English, which book, when it was set out in Latin, was not done without the help and diligence of a dozen learned men at least, and yet will he bear me in hand, that he hath done it alone. But say what thou wilt," quoth the bishop, "except God himself would come down from heaven and tell me so, I will not believe it." And so, going forth to a window where two great Bibles lay upon a cushion, the one in Latin, and the other in English, he called Marbeck unto him, and pointing his finger to a place in the Latin Bible, said, "Canst thou English this sentence ?" "Nay, my lord," quoth he, "I trow I be not so cunning to give it a perfect English, but I can fetch out the English thereof in the English Bible." "Let's see," quoth the bishop. Then Marbeck, turning the English Bible, found out the place by and by, and read it to the bishop. So he tried him three or four times, till one of his men came up, and told him the priest was ready to go to mass. Clawback cometh Marbeck. again fellows. And as the bishop was going, said the gentleman who had ex- Master amined Marbeck in the Marshalsea the day before, "Shall this fellow write nothing while your lordship is at mass, for he passeth not for again to it ?" "It maketh no matter," quoth the bishop, "for he will tell nothing" and so went down to hear mass, leaving Marbeck alone in the gallery. The bishop was no sooner down, but the gentleman came up again with ink and paper. "Come, sirra!" quoth he, " my lord Marbeck will have you occupied till mass be done :" persuading him with fair in to words, that he should be soon dispatched out of trouble, if he would utter his use truth and plainness. "Alas, sir!" quoth he, "what will my lord have me to do? for more than I wrote to his lordship yesterday, I cannot." Well, well; go too," quoth the gentleman, "and make speed:" and so went his way. There was no remedy but Marbeck must now write something; wherefore he, calling to God again in his mind, wrote a few words, as nigh as he could frame them, to those he had written the day before. When the bishop was come from mass, and had looked on the writing, he pushed it from him, saying, "What shall this do? It hath neither head nor foot." "There is a marvellous sect of them," quoth the bishop to his men, 66 Henry VIII. "for the devil cannot make one of them to bewray another." Then was there nothing among the bishop's gentlemen, as they were making A. D. him ready to go to the court, but " crucifige" upon the poor man. 1543. And when the bishop's white rochet was on him, and all, “Well, Marbeck again chester's the Mar Marbeck," quoth he, "I am now going to the court, and was purposed, if I had found thee tractable, to have spoken to the king's majesty for thee, and to have given thee thy meat, drink, and lodging here in mine house; but, seeing thou art so wilful and so stubborn, thou shalt go to the devil for me." Then was he carried down by the bishop's men, with many railing brought words. And, coming through the great chamber, there stood Dr. from Win- London, with two more of his fellows, waiting the bishop's coming, house to and passing by them into the hall, he was there received by his shalsea keeper, and carried to prison again. It was not half an hour after, ere that the bihsop sent one of his gentlemen to the under-keeper, called Stokes, commanding him to put irons upon Marbeck, and to keep him fast shut in a chamber alone; and when he should bring him down to dinner or supper, to see that he spake to no man, and no man to him. And furthermore, that he should suffer no manner of person (not his own wife) to come and see him, or minister any thing unto him. When the porter (who was the cruellest man that the Mar- might be to all such as were laid in for any matter of religion, and yet, as God would, favourable to this poor man) had received this commandment from the bishop, he clapped irons upon him, and shut Marbeck. him up, giving warning to all the house, that no man should speak or talk to Marbeck, whensoever he was brought down: and so he continued the space of three weeks and more, till his wife was suffered to come unto him. A cruel porter of shalsea, but yet good to THE SUIT OF MARBECK'S WIFE TO THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, Marbeck's wife, at the time of her husband's apprehension, had a young child of a quarter old sucking upon her breast; and when her husband was taken from her, and had away to the council, not knowing what should become of him, she left the child and all, and gat her up to London; and hearing her husband to be in the Marshalsea, goeth thither. But when she came there, she could in no wise be suffered to see him, which greatly augmented her sorrow. Then, by counsel of friends, she gat her to the bishop of Winchester (for other help was there none to be had at that time), making great suit to have his license to go and see her husband, and to help him with such things as he lacked. "Nay," quoth the bishop," thy husband is acquainted with all the heretics that be in the realm, both on this side the sea and beyond; and yet will he utter none of them." "Alas, my lord!" quoth she, " my husband was never beyond the seas, nor any great traveller in the realm, to be so Marbeck's acquainted; therefore, my good lord, let me go see him." But all her ed a great earnest suit from day to day would not help, but still he put her off, while to harping always upon this string, " Thy husband will utter nothing." husband. At last, she, finding him in the court at St. James, going towards his chamber, was so bold as to take him by the rochet, and say, "Oh, wife deni go to her VIII. 1543. Carrike the part bour. ment: read Ergo, he lord, these eighteen days I have troubled your lordship. Now, Henry for the love of God, and as ever ye came of a woman, put me off no longer, but let me go to my husband." And as she was standing A. D. with the bishop and his men, in a blind corner going to his chamber, one of the king's servants, called Henry Carrike, and her next neigh- Henry bour, chanced to be by; and, hearing the talk between the bishop playeth and her, desired his lordship to be good lord unto the poor woman, of a good who had her own mother lying bedrid upon her hands, beside five or neighsix children. "I promise you," quoth the bishop, "her husband is Winchesa great heretic, and hath read more Scripture than any man in the ter's argurealm hath done." "I cannot tell, my lord," quoth Carrike, "what He hath he is inwardly, but outwardly, he is as honest a quiet neighbour as much ever I dwelt by." "He will tell nothing," quoth the bishop: "he Scripture: knoweth a great sort of false harlots, and will not utter them." is a here"Yes, my lord," quoth Carrike," he will tell, I dare say, for he is an honest man." "Well," quoth the bishop (speaking to the wife), Marbeck's "thou seemest to be an honest woman, and if thou love thy husband well, go to him, and give him good counsel, to utter such naughty fellows as he knoweth, and I promise thee he shall have what I can husband. do for him; for I do fancy him well for his art, wherein he hath pleased me as well as any man :" and so, stepping into his chamber, he said she should have his letter to the keeper. But his mind being changed, he sent out his ring by a gentleman, which gentleman delivered the ring to his man, charging him with the bishop's message. And so his man went with the woman to the water side, and took boat, who never rested railing on her husband all the way, till they came to the prison; which was no small cross unto the poor woman. what And when they were come to the Marshalsea, the messenger showed the bishop's ring to the porter, saying, "Master Stokes! my lord willeth you by this token, that ye suffer this woman to have recourse to her husband; but, he straitly chargeth you, that ye search her both coming and going, lest she bring or carry any letters to or fro, and that she bring nobody unto him, nor any word from any man." "God's blood!" quoth the porter (who was a foul swearer), will my lord have me to do? can I let her to bring word from any man? Either let her go to her husband, or let her not go; for I see nothing by him but an honest man." The poor woman, fearing to be repulsed, spake the porter fair, saying, “Good master, be content, for I have found my lord very good lord unto me. This young man is but the gentleman's servant who brought the ring from my lord, and I think doth his message a great deal more straiter than my lord commanded the gentleman, or than the gentleman his master commanded him: but, nevertheless, good master," quoth she, "I shall be contented to strip myself before you both coming and going, so far as any honest woman may do with honesty; for I intend no such thing, but only to comfort and help my husband." Then the messenger said no more, but went his way, leaving the woman there, who, from that time forth, was suffered to come and go at her pleasure. tic. wife permitted at last to go to her A. D. 1543. the com ers for the six THE FOURTH EXAMINATION OF MARBECK, BEFORE THE COMMIS- "For none About three weeks before Whitsunday was Marbeck sent for to Name of the bishop of London's house, where sat in commission Dr. Capon mission- bishop of Salisbury, Dr. Skip bishop of Hereford, Dr. Goodrick bishop of Ely, Dr. Oking, Dr. May, and the bishop of London's articles. scribe, having before them all Marbeck's books. Then said the bishop of Salisbury, "Marbeck! we are here in commission, sent from the king's majesty, to examine thee of certain things whereof thou must be sworn to answer us faithfully and truly." "I am content, my lord," quoth he, " to tell you the truth so far as I can :" and so took his oath. Then the bishop of Salisbury laid forth before him his three books of notes, demanding whose hand they were. He answered they were his own hand, and notes which he had gathered out of other men's works six years ago. "For what cause," quoth the bishop of Salisbury, "didst thou gather them?" other cause, my lord, but to come by knowledge: for I, being unlearned, and desirous to understand some part of Scripture, thought, by reading of learned men's works, to come the sooner thereby. And where I found any place of Scripture opened and expounded by them, that I noted as ye see, with a letter of his name in the margin. that had set out the work." "So me think," quoth the bishop of Ely (who had one of the books of notes in his hand all the time of their sitting), "thou hast read of all sorts of books, both good and bad, as seemeth by the notes." "So I have, my lord," quoth he. " "And to what purpose?" quoth the bishop of Salisbury. "By my truth," quoth he, "for no other purpose but to see every man's mind." Then the bishop of Salisbury drew out a quire of the Concordance, and laid it before the bishop of Hereford, who, looking upon it awhile, lifted up his eyes to Dr. Oking, standing next him, and said, "This man hath been better occupied than a great sort of our priests" to the which Oking made no answer. The occawhy the Con lish. Then said the bishop of Salisbury, "Whose help hadst thou in sony setting forth this book ?" "Truly, my lord," quoth he, "no help at began all." "How couldst thou," quoth the bishop, "invent such a book, cordance or know what a Concordance meant, without an instructor?" "I will in Eng- tell your lordship," quoth he, "what instructor I had to begin it. When Thomas Matthewe's Bible came first out in print, I was much desirous to have one of them; and being a poor man, not able to buy one of them, I determined with myself to borrow one amongst my friends, and to write it forth. And when I had written out the five books of Moses in fair great paper, and was entered into the book of Joshua, my friend Master Turner' chanced to steal upon me unawares, and seeing me writing out the Bible, asked me what I meant thereby. And when I had told him the cause, Tush,' quoth he, thou goest about a vain and tedious labour. But this were a 6 'A profitable work for thee, to set out a Concordance in English.' Concordance,' said I, 'what is that?" Then he told me it was a book to find out any word in the whole Bible by the letter, and that there (1) Master Richard Turner, of Magdalen college, in Oxford, and after of Windsor, a godly learned man and a good preacher; who in queen Mary's time fled into Germany, and there died. VIII. A. D. 1543. was such a one in Latin already. Then I told him, I had no learn- Henry ing to go about such a thing. Enough,' quoth he, 'for that matter, for it requireth not so much learning as diligence. And seeing thou art so painful a man, and one that cannot be unoccupied, it were a goodly exercise for thee.' And this, my lord, is all the instruction. that ever I had before or after, of any man.' "What is that Turner ?" quoth the bishop of Salisbury. Marry," quoth Dr. May, "an honest learned man, and a bachelor of divinity, and some time a fellow in Magdalen college in Oxford." "How couldst thou," quoth the bishop of Salisbury," with this instruction, bring it to this order and form, as it is?" "I borrowed a Latin Concordance," quoth he, "and began to practise my wit; and, at last, with great labour and diligence, brought it into this order, as your lordship doth see." "A good wit with diligence," quoth the bishop of Hereford, "may bring hard things to pass." "It is great pity," quoth the bishop of Ely, "he had not the Latin tongue." "So it is," quoth Dr. May. Yet cannot I believe," quoth the bishop of Salisbury, "that he hath done any more in this work, than write it out after some other that is learned." beck's bishops. "My lords," quoth Marbeck, "I shall beseech you all to pardon Marme what I shall say, and to grant my request if it shall seem good words unto you." "Say what thou wilt," quoth the bishops. 'I do mar- to the vel greatly wherefore I should be so much examined for this book, and whether I have committed any offence in doing of it or no? If I have, then were I loth any other to be molested or punished for my fault. Therefore, to clear all men in this matter, this is my request, that ye will try me in the rest of the book that is undone; ye see that I am yet but in the letter L; begin now at M, and take out what word ye will of that letter, and so in every letter following, and give me the words on a piece of paper, and set me in a place alone where it shall please you, with ink and paper, the English Bible, and the Latin Concordance: and if I bring you not these words written in the same order and form that the rest before is, then was it not I that did it, but some other." "By my troth, Marbeck," quoth the bishop of Ely, "that is honestly spoken, and then shalt thou bring many out of suspicion." "That he shall," quoth they all. Then they bade Dr. Oking draw out such words as he thought best, in a piece of paper, and so rose up; and in the mean time fell into other familiar talk with Marbeck, (for the bishops of Ely and Hereford were both acquainted with him afore, and his friends, so far as they durst), who, perceiving the bishops so pleasantly disposed, besought them to tell him in what danger he stood. "Shall I tell thee, Marbeck?" quoth the bishop The of Sarum. "Thou art in better case than any of thy fellows, of whom bishop there be some would give forty pounds to be in no worse case than and Herethou art:" whose sayings the other affirmed. Then came Dr. Oking well the with the words he had written, and while the bishops were perusing Marbeck. them over, Dr. Oking said to Marbeck, very friendly, on this wise: "Good Master Marbeck, make haste, for the sooner ye have done, the sooner ye shall be delivered." And as the bishops were going away, the bishop of Hereford took Marbeck a little aside, and informed him of a word which Dr. Oking had written false, and also to com Salisbury ford like case of |