MarginaliaAn. 1550.
Talke betwen the lord Chaūcellour and Winchester in the Tower.ye not commaunded to preach of the Kynges authoritie in his yong age, and yet did not? I told him I was not commaunded. Is not (quoth he) that Article in the papers ye had deliuered you? I assured him no.

And after communication of the Kynges Maiesties authoritie wherin was no disagrement, then my Lord Chauncelour sayd I had disobeyed my Lordes graces letter. I told him I thought not, and if the matter came to iudgemēt, it should appeare. And then I sayd to him, my Lord how many open Iniunctions vnder Seale and in open Court haue bene broken in this Realme? the punishement wherof hath not bene handled after this sorte, and yet I would stand in defence that I had not broken his letter, waying the wordes of the letter, wherin I reasoned with M. Peter Secretary what a cōtrouersie was, and some part what I could say further. But what soeuer I can say (quoth I) you must iudge it, and for the passion of God do it, and then let me sue for mercy, when the nature of the offence is knowen, if I will haue it. MarginaliaWinchester will acknowledge no offence.But when I am (quoth I) declared an offender, I will with humilitie of sufferyng make amendes to the Kynges Maiestie, so farre as I am able: for I shoulde neuer offend him, and much lesse in his young age.

My Lord Chauncelor then shewed me the begynnyng of the Acte for common prayer, how daungerous it was to breake the order of it. I told hym that it was true, and therfore if I came abroad, I would be well ware of it. But it is (quoth I) after in the acte how no man should be troubled for this act, vnles he were first endited, and therfore (quoth I) I may not be kept in prison for this acte. Ah (quoth hee) I perceiue ye know the law well enough. I told him my Chaplein had brought it vnto me the after noone before. Then they required me to looke on the booke and say my minde in it. MarginaliaWinchester will not go to schole in prison.I aunswered that I thought not meete to yelde me selfe a scholler to go to schole in prison, and then sclaunder my selfe as though I redemed my faultes with my conscience. As touchyng þ^e law which I know not, I will honour it like a subiect, and if I keepe it not, I will willyngly suffer the payne of it. And what more conformitie I should shewe, I can not tell, for myne offences be past if there be any. If I haue not suffred enough I will suffer, more if vpon examination I be found faultie. And as for this new law, if I keepe it not, punishe me lykewise.

Then my Lord Chauncellour asked me whether I would not desire the Kynges Maiestie to bee my good Lorde. At which worde I sayd: alas my Lord (quoth I) do ye thinke that I haue so forgotten me self? MarginaliaWinchester desireth the kyng to be hys good Lord.My duety (quoth I) requireth so, and I will on my knees desire him to be my good Lord, and my Lord Protectour also, quoth I. That is well sayd, quoth my Lord Chauncellour. And what wil ye say further, quoth my lord Chaūcellour? In good fayth, quoth I, this, that I thought whē I had preached, that I had not offēded at all, and thinke so still, and had it not bene for the Article of the supremacie, I would haue rather fayned me selfe sicke, then be occasion of this that hath folowed: but goyng to the pulpit, I must needes say as I said. Wel, quoth my lord Chauncellor, let vs go to our purpose agayne. Ye will quoth hee, desire the Kynges Maiestie to be your good Lorde, and my Lorde Protectour also, and ye say ye thought not to haue offended. MarginaliaWinchester yet will not cōfesse hym self to bee an offender.All this I will say, quoth I. And ye will (quoth my Lorde Chauncellour) submitte your selfe to bee ordred by my Lorde Protectour. MarginaliaWinchester will not submitte him selfe to the Lord Protectour, but to the law.Nay (quoth I) by the lawe, for my Lorde Protectour, quoth I, hath scourged me ouer sore this yeare, to put my matter in his handes now. And in the latter poynt I varied with my Lord Chauncellor, whē I could not referre my order to my Lord Protectour but to the lawe, and staying at this point they were cōtent to graunt me of their gentlenes to make their sute to procure me to be heard, and to obtain me libertie to goe in the gallery, and that I should heare of one of thēwithin ij. daies folowyng. I desired thē to remēber that I refused not the booke by way of contempt, nor in no euill maner, but that I was loth to yeld my selfe a scholler in the Tower, & to bee seene to redeme my faultes, if I had any, with my cōscience. My body I sayd, should serue my conscience, but not contrarywise. And this is the truth vpon my conscience and oth that was done and sayd at their cōmyng. There was more sayd to the purposes aforesayd. And I binde not my selfe to the precise forme of wordes, but to the substaunce of the matter and fashion of the intreatyng. So neare as I can remember, I haue truly discharged my oth: but I heard no more of my matter in one whole yeare after almost within xiiij. dayes, notwithstandyng two letters written by me to the Counsayle of most humble request to be heard accordyng to Iustice. And then at the end of ij. yeares almost, came vnto me the Duke of Somerset with other of the Counsaile, which matter because it is lefte out here, I shall not touch but prepare it in a matter apart, for declaratiō of my behauiour at all tymes.

Marginalia12. Article.Item, that after that & c. the ix. day of Iuly in the iiij. yeare of his Maiesties reigne, his highnes sent vnto you his graces letters with a certaine submission and Articles, wherunto his grace willed and commaunded you to subscribe. To which submission, you contemptuously refused to subscribe.

MarginaliaAunswer to the 12. Article.To the xij. Article for aunswere therunto, be graunted that about the tyme mencioned in this Article, the Lord Treasurer, the Earle of Warwicke Lord great Maister, Syr William Harbert, and maister Secretary Peter, came to the Tower: and called me before thē, MarginaliaThe king letters deliuered to Winchest. in the Tower.and deliuered vnto me the Kynges Maiesties letters, which I haue to shewe, & receiued them at the handes of the Lord Treasurer vpon my knees, kyssed them as my duetie was, and still vppon my knees read them, where as they right gently required me to take more ease, and to goe apart with them and consider them, which after that I had throughly read, I much lamented that I should be commaūded to say of my selfe as was there written, and to saye otherwise of my selfe then my conscience will suffer me: and where I trust my deedes will not condemne me, there to condemne my selfe with my tongue, I should sooner (quoth I to them) by commaundement, thinke if ye would byd me, to tumble my selfe desperatly into the Themes.

MarginaliaOther Articles put to Winchest.My Lord of Warwicke seyng me in that agony, sayd: What say ye my Lord, quoth he, to the other Articles? I aunswered that I was loth to disobey, where I might obey and not wrast my consciēce, destroiyng the comfort of it, as to say vntruly of my selfe. Well, quoth my Lord of Warwicke, will ye subscribe to the other Articles? I told him I would. But then, quoth I, þ^e Article that toucheth me, must be put out. MarginaliaThe Article which touched him was the first article, prescribing him to subscribe, whiche Article he wisheth here to put out.I was aunswered that nedeth not, for I might write on the side what I would say vnto it: and then my Lord of Warwyke entertayned me very gently, and would nedes whyles I should write, haue me sit down by him, and when he saw me make somewhat straūge so to do, he pulled me nearer him and sayd we had ere this sit together, and trusted we should do so agayne. And thē hauyng penne and inke geuē me, I wrote as I remēber, on the Article that touched me, these wordes: I cā not with my cōsciēce say this of my self, or such like wordes. And there folowed an Article of the Kynges Maiesties primacie, and I began to write on the side of that and had made an I, onwarde as may appeare by the Articles, & they would not haue me do so, MarginaliaWinchest. subscribeth to the kinges Articles.but write onely my name after their Articles: which I did. Whereat because they shewed them selues pleased and content: I was bold to tell them merely that by this meane, I had placed my subscription aboue them all, and there vpon it pleased them to enterteine me much to my comfort.