MarginaliaAn. 1555. October.where the woord of God is truely preached, there is persecution, aswell of the hearers as of the teachers:MarginaliaPersecution a sure marke of true preaching. and where as is quietnes and rest in worldly pleasure, there is not the truth. For the world loueth all that are of the worlde, and hateth all thinges that is contrary to it. And to be short, S. Paule calleth the Gospell MarginaliaThe word of the crosse.the word of the crosse, the word of punishmēt. And the holy Scripture doth promyse nothing to the fauourers and followers of it in this world, but trouble, vexation, and persecution, which these worldly mē cannot suffer, nor away withall.

Therefore, pleaseth it your good Grace, to returne to this golden rule of our Master and Sauiour IESVS CHRIST, which is this: by their fruites you shall know them. For where you see persecution, there is the Gospell, and there is the truth: and they that do persecute, bee voyde and without all truth, not caring for the cleare lyght, which (as our Sauiour IESVS CHRIST saith in the thyrd Chapter of S. Iohns Gospell) MarginaliaIohn. 3.is come into the world, and which shall vtter and shew foorth euery mans woorkes. And they, whose workes bee nought, dare not come to thys lyght, MarginaliaCrafty pretences of the prelates to stoppe the reading of holy scripture.but go about to stop it & hynder it, lettyng as much as they may, that the holy Scripture should not bee red in our mother toung, saying that it would cause heresy and insurrection, and so they perswade, at the least way they would fayne perswade your Grace to kepe it backe. But here marke their shameles boldnes, which bee not ashamed, contrary to CHRISTES doctrine, to gather figges of thornes, and grapes of bushes, and to call lyght darknes, and darkenes light, sweete sower, & sower sweete, good euill, & euill good, and to say that that, which teacheth al obediēce, should cause dissension and stryfe, but such is their MarginaliaBelly wisedome.belly wisdome: therewith they iudge and measure euery thyng, to hold and kepe stil this wicked Mammon, the goodes of this world, which is their God, and hath so blynded the eyes of their hartes, that they cannot see the cleare lyght of the sacred Scripture, though they babble neuer so much of it.

But as cōcerning this matter, other mē haue shewed your grace their myndes, how necessary it is to haue the Scripture in English. The which thing also your grace hath promised by your last Proclamatiō: the which promise I pray God þ^t your gracious highnes may shortly performe, euen to day before to morrow. MarginaliaPersuasion to let the scripture to be red in English.Nor let not the wickednes of these worldly wise mē deceiue you frō your Godly purpose & promise. Remēber the subtyle worldly wyse Councellours of Hammon the sonne of Naas, king of the Ammonites, which, when Dauid had sent his seruauntes to comfort the young king for the death of hys father, by crafty imaginations coūselled Hammon, not alonely not to receiue them gently, but to entreate them most shamefully and cruelly, saying: MarginaliaSinister counsell about princes.that they came not to comfort hym, but to espy and search his lande, so that afterwarde they bringing Dauid word how euery thing stoode, Dauid myght come and conquer it: And so they caused the young kyng to shere their heades, and cut their coates by the poyntes, and sent them away lyke fooles: whom he ought rather to haue made much of, and to haue entreated them gently, and haue geuen them great thankes and rewardes. O wretched Counsellers. But see what followed of thys carnall and worldly wisdome. MarginaliaWicked policie turned to hys owne destruction.Truely nothing but destruction of all the whole Realme, and also of all them which tooke their partes.

Therfore good kyng, seyng that the right Dauid, that is to say, our Sauiour CHRIST hath sent his seruaunts, that is to say, true preachers, and his owne word also to comfort our weake and sicke soules, let not these worldly men make your Grace beleue that MarginaliaVnder the pretence of insurrections and heresies, the prelates stoppe the libertie of Christes Gospell.they will cause insurrection and heresies, and such mischiefes as they imagine of their own mad braines, lest that hee be auenged vpon you & your realme, as was Dauid vpō the Ammonites, & as he hath euer ben auēged vpō thē which haue obstinatly withstand and gainsayd his word. But peraduenture they will lay this agaynst me, and say that experiēce doth shew, how that MarginaliaObiection preuented and answered.such men as call them selues folowers of the Gospel, regardeth not your Graces cōmaundement, neither set by your Proclamation, and that was well proued by these persons which of late were punished in London for keepyng of such bookes as your grace had prohibited by proclamatiō: and so like as they regarded not this, so they will not regarde nor esteeme other your Graces lawes, statutes, and ordinaūces. But this is but a craftie persuasion. For your grace knoweth that there is no man liuyng, specially that loueth worldly promotion, that is so foolish to set forth, promote, or enhaunce

his enemy, wherby he should be let of his worldly pleasures and fleshly desires: but rather he will seeke all the wayes possible that he can, vtterly to confound, destroy, and put him out of the way. And so as concernyng your last proclamation prohibityng such bokes, MarginaliaThe cause and causers of the Kings proclamation against the reading of scripture bookes in English.the very true cause of it, and chief Counsellours (as men say, & of likelihode it should be) were they whose euill liuing and cloked hipocrisie these bookes vttered and disclosed. And howbeit that there were iij. or iiij. that would haue had the Scripture to go forth in English,MarginaliaHe meaneth of Cranmer, Cromwell, & one or 2. mo. against whō the Bishop of Winchester and his faction did preuayle. yet it happened there, as it is euermore seene, that the most part ouercōmeth the better, and so it might be that these men did not take this proclamation as yours, but as theirs set forth in your name, as they haue done many times moe,MarginaliaA practise of prelates, to conuey their owne proclamations vnder the Kings name and authoritie. which hath put this your Realme in great hinderance and trouble, and brought it to great penury, and more would haue done if God had not mercyfully prouided to bryng your grace to knowledge of the falshode and priuy treason, which their head and captaine was about:MarginaliaHe meaneth of the Pope, which went about to driue King Henry out of his kingdome, and that not without some adherentes, nere about the king. and bee you sure not without adherentes, if the matter be dewly searched. For what maruaile is it, that they beyng so nighe of your Counsell, and so familiar with your Lordes, should prouoke both your Grace and thē to prohibite these bookes, which before by their own authoritie haue forbiddē þ^e new Testament, vnder payne of euerlastyng damnation: for such is their maner, to send a thousand men to hell, ere they send one to God, and yet the new Testament (and so I thinke by the other) was mekely offered to euery man that would and could, to amend it, if there were any fault.

Moreouer, I will aske them the causes of all insurrections, which hath bene in this Realme heretofore. And whence is it that there bee so many extortioners, bribers, murtherers, and theeues which dayly do not breake onely your Graces lawes, ordinaunces, and statutes, but also the lawes and commaundementes of almighty God? MarginaliaThe cause of insurrectiōs is falsely layd vpon Englishe bookes: that rather is to be layd vpon the Popes pardons.I thinke they will not say these bookes, but rather their pardons which causeth many a man to sinne in trust of thē. For as for those malefactours which I now rehearsed, MarginaliaExtortioners, bribers, theues be the greatest enemies to the gospel to be in English.you shal not find one amongest a hundreth, but that he will crie out both of these bookes, and also of them that haue them, yea and wilbe glad to spend the good which he hath wrōgfully gotten, vpon Fagots to burne both the bookes and them that haue them.

And as touchyng these men that were lately punished for these bookes, there is no mā (I heare say) that can lay any word or deede agaynst them that should soūd to the breakyng of any of your Graces lawes (this onely except) if it be yours, & not rather theirs. And be it so that there be some that haue these bookes, that be euill, vnruly, and selfe willed persons, not regardyng Gods lawes nor mans, yet these bookes be not the cause thereof, no more then was the bodily presence of CHRIST and his wordes the cause that Iudas fell, MarginaliaThe froward life of the Gospellers, is not to be layd to the Gospell.but their owne froward mind and carnall wit, which should be amended by the vertuous example of liuyng of their Curates, and by the true exposition of the Scripture. If the lay people had such Curates that wold thus do their office, these bokes nor the Deuill him selfe could not hurt them, nor make thē to go out of frame, so that MarginaliaLacke of good Curates, is the cause of all mischiefe in the realme.the lacke of good Curates is the destruction and cause of all mischief. Neither do I write these thinges because that I will either excuse these men lately punished, or to affirme all to be true written in these bookes, which I haue not all read, but to shewe that there can not such inconuenience folow of them, and specially of the Scripture, as they would make men beleue should folow.

And though it bee so that your Grace may by other bookes, and namely by the Scripture it selfe know and perceiue the hipocrite Wolues clad in Sheepes clothing, yet I thinke my selfe bound in conscience to vtter vnto your grace such thinges as God put in minde to write. And this I do (God so iudge me) not for hate of any person or persons liuyng, MarginaliaThe Gospell will not goe forth with out persecution though the King would permitte the reading therof to be free.nor for that that I thinke the worde of God should go foorth without persecution, if your grace had commaunnded that euery man within your Realme should haue it it in his mothers toung. For the Gospell must needes haue persecution vnto the time that it be preached throughout all the world, which is the last signe that CHRIST shewed to the Disciples that should come before the day of Iudgement: MarginaliaThe last signe before the iudgement day, is that the gospell should be preached through the world.so that if your Grace had once commaunded that the Scripture should be put forth, the Deuill would set forth some wyle or other to persecute the truth. But my purpose is, for the loue that I haue to God principally, and the glory of his name, which is onely knowen by his worde, and for the