of sensuall pleasure, then of equitie, whiche in men of your order, were a great shame and much vncomely.

MarginaliaAnswer to the third. article.Vnto your thyrd demaund, where you do aske whether I was constitute Priest, and in what dioces, and of what Byshop: MarginaliaLambert made priest in Norwich.I say that I was made Priest in Norwhich, & of the Bishops Suffragan of the same dioces.

MarginaliaAūswer to the fourth article.
Mariage of priestes whether it be lawfull and expedient.Vnto the fourth, wherin you do demaund, whether it be lawfull for a Priest to mary a wife, and whether a Priest in some case be bound by the law of God to mary a wife: I say that it is lawfull, yea, and necessary for all men that haue not giuen to them of God, the gift of chastitie, to mary a wyfe, and that sheweth both Christ & S. Paul. In the xix. of Mathew Christ speaking vnto the Phariseis that came for to tempt him, in the conclusiō, sayth in this wise: Whosoeuer, shall forsake his wife except it be for fornication, and marieth an other, committeth adultrie, and whosoeuer marieth her so forsaken, committeth adultrie.MarginaliaMath. 19.

With that, speaketh his Disciples: If thus the case stand betwixt a man and his wife: it shalbe hurtfull and not expedient to contract Matrimonie. He made aunswere: Euery man can not away with that saying, but they vnto whō it is geuē of God: MarginaliaMath. 29.Meaning that euery mā could not abide single or vnmaryed, but such vnto whō was geuē of God, a speciall grace so to cōtinue. And if with your better aduise, I might be somwhat herein bold, I would suppose that, where as he doth say: Non omnes sunt capaces huius dicti (Euery mā can not away with that saying) MarginaliaNon omnes, taken vniuersally in scripture.this worde, Non omnes, ought to be here taken lyke as it is in many other places of Scripture, as where in the Psalme it is sayd: Non iustificabitur in cōspectu tuo omnis viuens. It is ment that no person lyuyng shalbe iustified afore God. And in þ^e Epistle to þ^e Galathians, & to þ^e Romaines, where it sayd: Ex operibus legis nō iustificabitur omnis caro. MarginaliaGal. 2.
Rom. 9.(By the workes of the lawe no fleshe shalbe iustified in his sight) it is ment thereby nulla caro: so that non omnis, after the rule of equipollēce, should be taken for as much as nullus, & then þ^e sense should be thus: Nulli sunt capaces huius dicti, nisi hi quibus datum sit. MarginaliaChastitie is a gifte only of God.No man can be capax of this saying, or can so passe their lyfe without mariage, except those whiche haue it geuen them by a singular grace of God to lyue chast.

Then hee procedeth further saying: MarginaliaMath. 19.
Gelded men three wayes to be taken in scripture.There be gelded men, that so were borne from theyr mothers wombe: and there bee some gelded men, that haue bene so made by men: and there bee gelded men that haue so made them selues for loue of the kingdom of heauen. In conclusion he saith: who that receyueth this saying, thinking that it should be vnexpedient for him to marye, and that he may lyue chaste thorow the gift geuen him of God: let him take it, and so liue. MarginaliaSinglenes ought not to be compelled.So he leaueth singlenes of life to al mens election, without any compellyng them there to.

Hereunto assenteth S. Paule, when that by manye reasons he had perswaded the Corinthians to single life. Finally, he concludeth thus: This (quoth he) say I vnto you, willing that which should be for your profite: but not to bringe you in bondage. Marginalia1. Cor. 7.And a litle afore: I woulde (quoth he) that all men were euen as I my selfe am. But euery one hath a seuerall gifte of God, one, one wyse, an other otherwise, shewyng thereby, that vnto some it is geuen of God to liue cōtinent, and to other for to engender & procreate children, and therfore hys will can not come to effect. Which thing you may easely perceiue in this: that after he had shewed forth his good wish and desire, sayng: Velim omnes homines. &c. Marginalia1. Cor. 7.I woulde that all men were euen as I am: he putteth a coniunction aduersatiue, that declareth an obstacle or stop, saying: Sed vnusquisque proprium donum habet. &c. But euerye man hath his proper gifte of God.

Vpon this he procedeth further, whereby you maye apertly see, that he would haue all men, none except, to mary, wanting the gift of continencie. This (quod he) saye I to the vnmaried and widowes: expedient it were for them to remayne as I do: but if they can not liue continent, let them contracte mariage, for better it is to marie then to burne. MarginaliaMariage necessary for all men, whosoeuer lacke contynency of hart.This proueth well that all Priestes wantinge continencye of hart, had neede to marye for to auoide burning luste, vnlesse they bee inobedient to the minde of Christ, that spake in Paule, in obseruing the traditions of men.

In the beginning also of the same Chapter, he sayth: It is good that a man shoulde not deale with a woman. Notwithstanding for auoyding fornication (quod he) let euery man haue his wife, and euerye woman haue her husband. MarginaliaQuisque, Quæque, not quidē quædam.He sayth here: Quisque & quæque, euerye man and euery womā: and not quidam nec quædam, some man nor some woman. He excepteth neither Priest ne Nunne, but euery both mā and woman is bound for auoiding of burning & fornicatiō, to mary, not hauing the gift geuen of chastitie.

The same also confirmeth your own law Dist. xxix. Where it is writtē thus: Si quis discernit præsbyterū coniugatum, tanquam occasione nuptiarum, quòd offerre non debeat, anathema sit. MarginaliaDist. xxix.If any mā do holde that a Priest beyng maryed, in that respecte that he is maryed, ought not to minister in his function: be he maryed, ought not to minister in his function: be he accursed. And in the. xxxi. Distinction. Si quis vituperat nuptias, & dormientem cum viro suo fidelem ac religiosam detestatur, aut culpabilem æstimat, velut quæ regnum Dei introire non possit, anathema sit. MarginaliaDist. xxxi.
Mariage left free by the popes law.If any man shall finde fault with matrimonye, and deteste a faithfull and deuoute woman lying with her husband, and thinke her culpable, as one that could not therfore enter in to the kyngdom of God: be he accursed. And euery where elles, such like are to be seene.

MarginaliaPaphnutius.Moreouer, in historia tripartita it is written, that a noble Martyr of Christ called Paphnutius, in Nicene Councell, when all other Bishoppes were purposed to haue enacted there that priestes should liue vnmaried, this holye man resisted them so mightely both with reasons, and also with authoritye of scripture, MarginaliaMariage permitted free by the Councell of Nice.that then their purpose altered, and their firste deuyse coulde not passe. And one authoritie I remember was this, which he borowed of Paule in the second Epistle to Timoth. Youre deuise (quod he) may haue a semblance of holines: but in dede it shall be the destructiō and vndoing of the same.

MarginaliaLes illustrations de gaullet.Moreouer, in one of þ^e principal historyes of France called, Les illustrations de gaulles. Who soeuer please, may there read it as it stādeth, within vj. leaues afore þ^e ende of þ^e same: how the Author w^t deepe sorow lamenteth the ordinaunce that decreed firste, priestes to lyue vnmaryed, shewing, and that amply, the miseryes, that haue ensued in France thereby, imputyng it vnto Calix the Pope: of whome he maketh a dolefull mention in meter, where of the firste I yet remember, and it is thus: O sancte Calixte, totus mūdus odit te. &c. O holy Calixte, al þ^e world hateth thee. Which foloweth in writing to all that lust to beholde therin. MarginaliaRead afore pag. 254.But what nead I to make longer treatise hereof, for somuche as you do daily both heare and see, what foule abominatiō ariseth in euery corner, MarginaliaMen will be wiser then God.of thys pitious law made of mē that would presume to be wiser then God, thinking (as we euer do) that either he would not, or els for lacke of wisdome he could not shew vs a sufficient law or way, to direct our lyfe and conuersation, to come to the ioye and resting place of hym promysed, and so of vs longed and loked for. Wherby we both be farre vnreasonable in so deeming of hym after our vnwyse wit, and hee much dishonoured. The whiche I besech hym to helpe. Amen.

MarginaliaAnswer to the v. article.Vnto the. v. where ye do aske, whether I beleue that what soeuer is done of mā, whether it be good or ill, cōmeth of necessitye: that is (as you construe) to wit, whether man hath free will, so that he may deserue ioye or paine? I say (as I sayd at the beginnyng) that vnto the