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VIII.

A. D.

prayed, to show the valiancy, the virtue, and strength of prayer: to show our Henry necessities, our weakness and feebleness of nature. He prayed for his people (as Luke witnesseth) the space of one whole night. And what a marvellous devout prayer made he for his people in the mount, the night afore his passion, 1538. when the chalice of death was represented unto him; when he sweat water and blood; when he cried thrice, Let this chalice, let this passion and blood, let the virtue thereof, pass from me unto all mankind. Let every man have the virtue and merit thereof; let it work in all folks; let every faithful man and woman be partaker thereof; let it not be lost, but work to the world's end. This was a marvellous, devout, merciful prayer.

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And again, suffering and hanging on the cross, he offered up for his people The cry his prayers and supplications with a huge cry, with a piteous voice, with a lament- of Christ able and deadly shriek, and with weeping tears, to God his Father; he, hanging on the cross, even when the spirit should depart the body, not then forgetting his people, at the hour when all the people forget both the world and themselves. Which cry was so huge and great, so marvellous, and of that effect, that the heavens heavens trembled thereat, the angels mourned for pity, the sun lost his light, trembled, angels the vail in the temple rived in two, the earth quaked, the stones rent asunder mourned, and brake in gobbets, the graves opened, the dead bodies rose to life, and ap- the sun peared in the city. The centurion, and those that kept Christ, to see the execution done, cried, Vere, filius Dei erat iste!' 'This was the undoubted vail Son of God.' His prayer and weeping tears were so pleasant unto the Father rived, that he was heard; Exauditus est pro reverentia sua.' He was heard, and why? quaked, For it was so entire, so devout, so reverently done, in such a manner and stones fashion, with such a zeal grounded upon such a charity, suffering for our guilt, graves and not for his own. And for that he did the very office of a bishop, so entirely opened, to pray, and so reverently to offer up himself in sacrifice for his people, he was the dead heard; he was heard; his prayer was heard of God. And that is the third property of a good bishop, to offer sacrifice for his people. Every bishop, every office of a bishop, for his diocesans and for the whole universal church. In these three bishop. we ought, as much as we may, to follow Christ.

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Thus this Christ was and is 'Pontifex fidelis,' a faithful Bishop: faithful; faithful in his word, true in his promise, deceiving no man, but profiting all. In all that he did or spake, he sought nothing his own glory, but the glory of God; teaching thereby all bishops of the world, in all that they go about, to do it unto the praise and glory of God. And herein we ought also to follow him. 'Magnus Pontifex.' He is the great Bishop, the high bishop, the supreme Magnus. bishop, the universal bishop over all the world. No great bishop but he. None high, none supreme nor universal bishop, but he.

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And herein the bishop of Rome outrageously usurpeth upon God, as he doth The pope upon the world, to take the honour and names (only to God appropriate) to blasphehimself, and doth grievously blaspheme and offend God therein. Greater God. blasphemy cannot be, than to ascribe to God that which no ways belongeth What is unto him, or to take from God that which is unto him appropriate. It is meet blasphetherefore he do betimes, and in season, leave his unjust encroachments both my. against his Lord God, and also against the world, lest he do provoke God to pour out all his vials of wrath upon him: the væes, I mean the maledictions and vengeance that John speaketh of in the Apocalypse. I would advise him to cease the injuries which he hath done, and daily doth, against thee, Christ, our great, high, universal Bishop, lest thou excommunicate and strike him; lest thou show thy wrath and judgment against him, and utterly extinct his pride, The and ambitious pretensed authority. For thou wilt be known, thou wilt be stroke known to be God. And thou art and wilt be our great universal and supreme slow but Bishop, whatsoever the bishop of Rome shall attempt to the contrary; and thou sure. wilt punish his worldly arrogancy, and strike when thou seest thy time. And The though it be long ere thou strike, yet let him beware, for strike thou wilt, if thou pope's be utterly provoked; and when thou dost strike, thy stroke is great, thy stroke stretchis dreadful and sore. It vanquisheth the body, it slayeth the soul, it damneth eth no both. Beware, therefore, thou bishop of Rome! and be content with thine own than his diocese, with thine own charge, as other bishops are with theirs: for further diocese. than thine own diocese thy jurisdiction doth not stretch.

(1) Luke vi.

(2) Transeat a me calix iste.' Matt. xxvi. (3) Preces et supplicationes cum clamore valido et lachymis.' Heb. v.

(4) Apoc. ix.

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VIII.
A.D.

1538.

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A marvellous blindness in thee therefore, to take upon thee to answer for all the world, and art not able to answer our great bishop Christ for thyself at the dreadful day of judgment, when he shall ask but these few questions of thee? Quomodo intrasti? Quomodo rexisti? Quomodo vixisti? Quomodo pavisti? Quæ et qualia exempla dedisti? Quid ad meam gloriam fecisti? et hujusmodi. How didst thou enter into the bishopric? by me, or by the world? unlawfully or lawfully? by simony or freely? by labour, by paction, or called of God? How didst thou rule thy cure, thy diocese? Didst thou pray for thy people? Didst thou preach me to thy diocesans? Didst thou give them ghostly and bodily food? Didst thou minister spiritual and ghostly salves' (the sacraments I mean), to heal the sores of their souls? How didst thou live? Didst thou cast away the care, the glory and pomp of the world? Didst thou follow me in humility, in charity, in compassion, in poverty, in cleanness, and in chaste living?

How didst thou govern thy diocesans? Didst thou not make of all things that thou didst meddle with a money matter, in selling that which was not in thee a money to sell nor give, which thou calledst thy pardons, thy commissions, thy brieves, thy delegacies, reservations, exemptions, appellations, bulls, and dispensations? Didst not thou, under these pretences, and other like doings, deceive the world? What answer shalt thou make to this at that day, to our and thy great bishop Christ, when he shall visit thee and all thy diocese, me and all my diocese; yea, when he shall visit all the world? What answer shall you then make? I think verily thou shalt then have enough to do, yea, and more than thou canst wind thyself out of, to make answer for thyself, for thine own diocese, and for thine own diocesans, though thou usurp not upon other men's, as thou dost. The apostle writeth of Christ humbly, and calleth him 'Magnum Pontificem,' the great bishop. And he of Rome is not with this word contented, but will have a higher word for himself, in the superlative degree, Maximum Pontificem,' the greatest bishop. Oh! where is the humbleness and meekness that should be in him? Alas, he that taketh on him to teach all the world, how can he for shame suffer such blasphemous words to pass in his name, to his great shame and rebuke; to the great danger of his soul, and to the perilous ensample unto others! Oh, fie upon pride! It is a common proverb, Pride will have a fall.' Our bishop Christ was humilis;' meek, lowly, and humble in heart. He rode not upon any palfrey or courageous horse, but upon an ass; and that but once. He never was borne pompously abroad in a chair, upon men's shoulders. He never proffered his foot to any body to kiss. We read that he washed the feet of his disciples and wiped them. We read that Mary Magdalen proffered to have kissed his feet, but he did prohibit her, saying, 'Noli me tangere;' 'Touch me not.' He would not suffer the woman then to touch him. He never had guard to defend him. He never followed the pomp of the world. He disdained not to go upon the ground with his bare feet. What shall I say? He gave ensamples enough to the bishop of Rome, to me, and all bishops, to be humility meek and humble: he to know himself, and we ourselves, as, if he and we diligently look in Scripture, we shall find. And herein, in meekness, we are bound to follow him.

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Compatiens infirmitatibus.' This bishop Christ had compassion of our infirmities, of our frailties. It is impossible for a man to know the afflictions of a miserable person, that never suffered himself affliction; that never had excompas perience of pains; that never felt what pain meant. But this bishop, Christ, had experience of our nature, how weak, how feeble the nature of man is; how weak of himself to do any good work without the help of God, how feeble to resist temptations. He suffered and felt the infirmities and pains of this natural body. He hath, therefore, compassion upon man, when he doth see him fall. He sorroweth his ruin, teaching bishops in especial, afore all others, to have compassion and pity upon the sinner, to help him spiritually, to comfort him ghostly, to help him to arise from sin, to allure him to penance, to draw him to virtue, to make him know God, to fear his justice, to love his laws; and thus to seek, all the ways that he and we can, to save the sinner's soul, for whom he shall make answer to God for his own diocesans; soul for soul, blood for blood, pain for pain, hell for hell, damnation for damnation. For which soul, our great

(1) Nay, rather, ghostly doctrine you should say.

(2) John xiii.

(3) Matt xx.

VIII.

A. D.

1538.

bishop, Christ (as the apostle doth witness),' did offer gifts and sacrifice himself, Henry having compassion of them that by ignorance and by error did sin and offend God. Even when he was in his greatest agony upon the cross, he cried to his Father, 'Forgive them, Father, forgive them; they know not what they do:'2 they are ignorant people; they know not what is what, or what danger they run into by thus entreating me. They know not their offences; forgive them, Father, forgive them.' In this compassion we ought also to follow our great bishop, Christ.

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It followeth in the former letter, ‘Est Pontifex appellatus a Deo.' 'He is a Pontifex bishop, and so named of God:' he is the very bishop. He offered up the appellasacrifice, the sacrifice of his own most blessed body and blood, whereby the sin of the world was put away. Every bishop of the world is not named a bishop by God: for some come into that office, not by the Holy Ghost, nor elect of God (as John saith); not entering 'in ovile ovium per ostium, sed ascendens aliunde,'3 Some there are, that enter into the fold of the sheep of God not by All the door. Some there be that enter in, having charge and cure of soul, not by bishops God, but by worldly means, by worldly labour, by importune suits and inter- called of cessions of friends, or by their own unlawful labour, by simony, and such other God. ways. Such are not named bishops by God. Such enter not by the door, not by him that saith, I am the door, I am the way, I am the life, I am the truth;' I am pastor bonus,' the very true and good bishop, that entered by God. And all that enter otherwise than by God, Christ calleth them fures, et latrones;' thieves, spoilers, raveners, devourers, and deceivers of the sheep. Their living shall declare the same; for such as so wilfully do enter, do study their own profits and commodities. Such receive the fruits, and do nothing for them; such suffer their sheep to perish for lack of bodily and ghostly food and sustenance, for lack of preaching, for lack of giving good counsel, for lack of good living, for lack of good ensample. And such, for the most part, live naughtily, carnally, fleshly, viciously, pompously, worldly, and not bishoply nor priestly. For they came not in by God, nor by grace. Christ saith, Qui intrat per me salvabitur, et ingredietur, et egredietur, et pascua inveniet.' He that entereth by me shall be saved.' Et ingredietur, et egredietur;' And he shall go in, and he shall go out.' What is that to say, 'He shall go in, and he shall go out?' I think, he meaneth by going in, that he shall have grace to enter studiously into the holy Scripture, daily and nightly to meditate, to study, and to profit in the laws of God. "Et egredietur:' and he shall explain and truly interpret and publish it unto the people. Et pascua inveniet:' and he shall find there plenty of spiritual food for himself and for his people, to edify their souls, to instruct and call them to the knowledge of God, to feed them plentifully, that they shall not lack necessaries to their souls. Let us therefore so live, that we may be called 'Pontifices appellati a Deo.'

This our great bishop, Christ, is also 'Pontifex sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus a peccatoribus, excelsior cœlis, sedens a dextris Dei, emundans conscientias nostras a peccatis, intrans sancta sanctorum per proprium sanguinem.” He is 'sanctus,' a holy bishop, and willeth us to be holy in our conversation, Sanctus. applying ourselves unto godliness, to the service of God, to live like bishops, like priests, pure, clean, chaste, devout, studious; faithfully labouring in his word; praying, doing sacrifice, and ever to be godly and virtuously occupied.

He is 'Innocens: an innocent. He never sinned, he never offended in word, Innocens. thought, or deed. 'Innocens:' annoying no creature, profiting all folks, meekly suffering adversities, opprobries, rages, rebukes, and reproaches, without grudge or contradiction. Innocens et simplex; simplex, sine plica:''an innocent, with- Simplex. out plait or wrinkle,' without error or doubleness, without hypocrisy or dissimulation, without flattering or glosing, without fraud or deceit; not serving the body,

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or the world, but God. In this we ought also to follow our heavenly Bishop. Impollutus: He was undefiled. He lived clean without spot or blot, Impolluwithout wems or stain. No 'immunditia' in him, no uncleanness nor filthiness; tus. but all pure and clean, all chaste and immaculate, all bright and shining in grace and godliness; insomuch that he was 'segregatus a peccatoribus;' clean segre- tus a pecSegregagate from all kind of uncleanness, from all manner of sins, and from sinners, cat is.

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Henry Segregate from them, not from their company; for, as Matthew writeth, pubVIII. licans and sinners came and ate and drank with him and his disciples in the house of Levi; and he also came as a physician, to heal the sinner. And yet A. D. he was segregate from them, as touching their ill livings, not being participant 1538. with them in sin; but came only to heal them, and to rid them from sin and sores of the soul. He entered the heavens, not with the blood of kid or goat, but with his own proper blood. For which, and for his holiness and perfectness, 'Excelsior cœlis factus est;' he is extolled and exalted above all angels and beatitudes; above all the heavens, sitting on the right hand of the Father; whom all the heavenly creatures do worship, honour, and do reverence unto; where he prayeth for his people, and is Mediator in his manhood to his Father for us.

Excelsior.

This our bishop purgeth our conscience, as witnesseth the apostle; he cleanseth our souls; he maketh us inwardly beauteous and fair. The bishop of Rome lacketh many of these notable virtues. He hath few or none of these properties, few or none of these qualities. He is (as we all are sinners) a Magnus. sinner: to whom this word 'magnus,' great, is not convenient, nor can be in him any ways verified; for he cannot forgive sin as our Bishop doth, nor justify as he doth, neither enter 'in sancta sanctorum,' with his own blood, as he did. How can he then be called a great bishop, who is (as we be all sinners) a sinner, a breaker of the laws of God, and who daily doth, or may, fall and sin? And for that cause, the law commanded that every bishop and priest should first offer hosts and sacrifice for his own sins, and afterwards for the sins of the people. How can he therefore be called a great bishop or priest?

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Our Bishop, we speak of, is the very great bishop. No dole, no fraud, no guile, was ever found in his mouth. And when the prince of the world, the devil, came to him, he could find no point of sin in him. Wherefore Gabriel the archangel, showing his nativity unto Mary his mother, said, 'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of God.' And again it is written of him, A great prophet is risen among us.' Sin maketh a man small and little ; little in reputation before God and man. Virtue maketh man great, and of No sinner high reputation. Show me one place in Scripture, where you have read that called a sinner was called great: I trow it shall not be found. Will you hear who the Scrip- were called great in Scripture? It is written of Isaac, He profited greatly in virtue, and was made great;' great in reputation of the world. Moses was called 'magnus,' great for his virtue: Abraham and John Baptist likewise. Now Jesus our bishop is called Magnus Episcopus,' Magnus Sacerdos ;' and after him never bishop is called 'magnus,' in all Scripture, neither in the reputation of man; unless it be in comparison one of another (and so saints and holy livers are called great in respect of sinners, or other mean livers). But where Christ our bishop cometh, there he, not in comparison of others, but 'simpliciter,' by his own magnitude and greatness, and of himself, ever was and is great, of whom it is written, ' A summo cœlo egressio ejus; et accursus ejus usque ad summum ejus;' and as the apostle also proveth in many places, by express words. But now there is no bishop or priest in this world that may worthily of himself be called great, or who ought to take this name 'Magnus' upon him.

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This he is therefore of whom it is written, The great Bishop above all others.' And as he is called, and in very deed is, the Herdsman of herdsmen,'' the Bishop of bishops,' the Prophet of prophets,' the Holy of holiest,' 'the Lord of lords,' the King of kings; even so is he called, and verily is Episcopus magnus.' Therefore the prophet did add, Magnus Sacerdos ex fratribus suis: the great Bishop or Priest; great of himself; great in virtue and power; great of himself, and great in comparison afore all others. And therefore the apostle said, 'We have a great Bishop which did penetrate the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.' 10

(1) Quantum ad participationem cum eis in peccato.' Matt. ix.

(2) Hic erit magnus, et Filius Altissimi vocabitur.' Luke i.

(3) Propheta magnus surrexit inter nos.' Luke vii.

(4) Quod proficiebat valde, et factus est magnus valde.' Gen. xxvi.
(5) Exod. xi.

(6) Luke i.

(7) Psalm xviii.

(8) Magnus Sacerdos ex fratribus suis.' Levit. xxi.

(9) Pastor pastorum,' Pontifex pontificum,'Propheta prophetarum,' 'Sanctus sanctorum, Dominus dominantium,' Rex regum;'ita et Magnus magnorum est.'

(10) Habemus Pontificem magnum, qui penetravit cælos, Jesum Filium Dei.'

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Here may ye now see, how the bishop of Rome doth wrongfully encroach upon our great Bishop, Jesus Christ, to take from him not only this name Magnus; and is not with that name yet contented, but addeth more, viz. Maximus,' 'Summus,' 'Sanctissimus,' Beatissimus,' Universalis,' and such other; the greatest, the highest, the holiest, the blessedest and universal, in the superlative degree; and yet there is no great bishop but Christ only, no supreme bishop but he only; none holy, none blessed, none universal bishop but only he. The bishop of Rome, and all other bishops, are but underlings and unworthy suffragans, unto this bishop, Christ.

Henry

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1538.

eth upon

This our Christ (as witnesseth the apostle) is 'Pontifex nostræ confessionis ;' The pope the bishop whom we do confess to be our great bishop, our high bishop, our encroachsupreme bishop, our holy, blessed, and universal bishop; which names are Christ. reserved only unto Christ, and to no earthly bishop: not to the bishop of Rome, not to the bishop of Jerusalem, not to the bishop of Antioch, or of Constantinople, nor to any other bishop. No earthly bishop may presume to take upon him these high and holy names, only to God appropriate.

God! of thy goodness thou mayest, and I trust wilt, once make this vainglorious bishop of Rome first to know and acknowledge thy Son Christ to be the only supreme and universal bishop of the world: secondarily, to know himself, his weakness, his frailty, and his presumption; to know his office and bounden duty unto thee; to know his own diocese, and to usurp no further: thirdly, to have a low, humble, meek heart and stomach, to fear thee, God, and thy judgments; to acknowledge his own faults and usurpations; and to redress the same.

Now to return unto our matter, it followeth in the letter first taken; 'De quo edere non habent potestatem qui tabernaculo deserviunt,' &c.

And thus much out of John Longland's sermon against the pope.

You heard before, by the king's injunctions above expressed, and directed out A.D. 1538, how all such images and pictures as were abused with pilgrimage or offerings of any idolatry, were abolished; by virtue of which injunctions, divers idols, and especially the most notable stocks of idolatry, were taken down the same year, 1538, as the images of Walsingham, Ipswich, Worcester, the Lady of Wilsdon, Thomas Becket, with many more; having engines to make their Images eyes to open and roll about, and other parts of their body to stir, grimages and many other false jugglings, as the blood of Hayles,' and such like, destroywherewith the simple people a long time had been deceived: all which were espied out, and destroyed.

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Among divers other of these foul idols, there went also, in the The same reckoning, a certain old idolatrous image in Wales, named idol of Darvell Gatheren; which, in the month of May, in the year above Darvell mentioned, was brought up to London, and burned in Smithfield; with which idol also was burned at the same time, and hanged for treason, friar Forrest, of whom some mention was partly touched before, in the story of cardinal Wolsey.

Friar Forrest,2

EXECUTED FOR REBELLING AGAINST THE KING'S SUPREMACY. * Forasmuch as the number of years doth lead us thereunto, we will somewhat touch and speak of friar Forrest; although he be unworthy of a place, and not to be numbered, in this catalogue.*

This Forrest was an observant friar, and had secretly, in confessions, declared to many of the king's subjects, that the king was

(1) Hayles in Gloucestershire, where they pretended to show some of our Saviour's blood.—En. (2) See Grafton's Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 462, Edition 1809.-ED. (3) See Edition 1563, p. 571.—ED.

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