MarginaliaAn. 1557. September.am I ashamed thereof, because my confession therein is agreeable to Gods word. And where as you doe lay vnto my charge that I should deny the wordes of our Sauiour Iesus Christ: oh good Lord, from whence commeth this rash, hasty, and vntrue iudgement? Forsooth not from the spirite of truth: for he leadeth men into all truth, and is not the father of lyers. Whereupon should your Lordship gather or say of me so diffamously? wherefore I besech you, if I deny the scriptures canonicall, or any part thereof, then let me dye.MarginaliaSyr Tho. Tye lately turned to hys vomet, thyrsteth for bloud.Tye the Priest. My Lord, he is a very sedicious fellow, and perswadeth other men to doo as he him selfe doth, contrary to the order appoynted by the Queenes highnes and the Clergye of this Realme. For a great sort of the parish wil be gathered one day to one place, and an other day to an other place to heare him, so that very few commeth to the church to heare diuine seruice: and this was not onely before that he was taken and brought vnto the Counsell, but also since hys returne home agayne, he hath done much harme. For where both men and women were honestly disposed before, by saint Anne, now are they as ill as he almost. And furthermore, he was not ashamed to withstand me before all the parish, saying that we were of þ^e malignant church of Antichrist, and not of the true church of Christ, alleadging a great many of scriptures to serue for his purpose, saying: good people, take heede, and beware of these bloudthirsty dogges. &c. And then I commaunded the Constable to apprehend him, and so hee did. Neuertheles after his apprehension, the Constable lette him go about his busines all the nexte day, so that without putting in of sureties he let him go into Suffolke and other places, for no goodnes, I warrant you my Lord: it were almes to teach such officers theyr duetie, how they should let such rebels go at theyr owne liberty, after that they be apprehended and taken, but to kepe them fast in the stockes vntill they bring them before a Iustice.

Rafe. As I sayd before, so say I now agayne: thou art not of the church of Christ, and that will I proue, if I may be suffered. And where you sayd, that you commaunded the Constable to apprehend me, you did so in deede, MarginaliaAllerton apprehended contrary to the lawes of the realme.contrary to the Lawes of this Realme, hauing neither to lay vnto my charge, treason, fellony, nor murther: no neyther had you precept, proces, nor warrant to serue on me, and therefore I say, without a law I was apprehended. And whereas you seeke to trouble the constable because he kept me not in the stockes. iij. dayes and iij. nightes, it doth shew a parte what you are. And my going into Suffolke was not for any euill, but onely to bye halfe a bushell of corne for bread for my poore wife and children, knowing that I had no longer tyme to tarye with them. But if I had runne away, then you would surely haue layd somewhat to his charge.

Boner. Go to, thou art a Marchaunt in deede. Ah syrrha, before God thou shalt be burnt with fire. Thou knowest Richard Roth doest thou not? Is he of the same mynde that thou art of or no? canst thou tell?

Rafe. He is of age to aunswere: let him speake for himselfe: for I heare say that he is in your house.

Boner. Lo what a knaue here is. Go Cluny, fetch me Roth hither. By my trouth he is a false knaue: but yet thou art woorse then he. Ah syrrha, did not you set your hand to a writing, the tenure wherof was, that if thou should at any time say or doo heretically, MarginaliaAllerton charged with relaps.then it should be lawfull for me to take thee as a Relaps, and to procede in sentence agaynst thee?

Rafe. Yea, that is so. But here is to be asked whether it be sufficient, that my hand or name writing be able to geue authoritie to you or to any other to kil me. For if I, by writing my name can doo so much, then must my authoritie bee greater then yours. Neuertheles, I haue neither sayd nor doone heretically, but like a true christen man haue I behaued my selfe. And so I was

commited into prison agayne, and the. xxiiij. day of the same moneth, I was brought before the bishop, the Lord North, D. Story, and others, and after a longe talke in latine amongest them selues (vnto the which I gaue no aunswere, because they spake not to me, although they spake of me) at the last the bishop sayd:

Boner. How say you syrrha? tel me briefly at one worde, wilt thou be contented to go to Fulham wyth with me, and there to kneele thee down at Masse, shewing thy selfe outwardly as though thou didst it with a good wyll? Go to, speake.

Rafe. I wyll not say so.

Boner. Away wyth hym, away wyth hym.

MarginaliaAllerton brought again before Boner and certain Lordes.The second day of May I was brought before the Byshop, and three noble men of the Counsell, whose names I do not remember.

Boner. Lo my Lordes, thys same is the fellow that was sent vnto me from the Counsell and did submit himselfe, so that I had halfe a hope of hym: but by S. Anne I was alwayes in doubt of him. Neuertheles he was wyth me, and fared well, and when I deliuered hym, I gaue hym money in hys purse. How sayest thou? was it not so, as I tell my Lordes here?

Rafe. In deede my Lord, I had meate and drinke enough: but I neuer came in bed all the while. And at my departure you gaue me xij. d. howbeit I neuer asked none, nor would haue done.

A Lord. Be good to hym my Lord. He wyll be an honest man.

Boner. Before God, how should I trust hym? he hath once deceaued me already. But ye shall heare what he will say to the blessed sacrament of the aultar. How say you syrrha? after the wordes of consecration be spoken by the priest, there remayneth no bread, but the very body of our sauiour Iesus Christ, God and mā, and none other substance, vnder þ^e forme of bread.

Rafe. Where finde you that, my Lord, written?

Boner. Lo syr. Why? doth not Christ say: this is my body? How sayest thou? Wilt thou deny these wordes of our sauiour Christ? Or els, was he a dissembler, speaking one thing, and meaning an other? Go to, now I haue taken you.

Rafe. Yea my Lord, ye haue taken me in deede and wyll keepe me vntill you kill me. MarginaliaTransubstantiatiō.Howbeit my Lord, I maruaile why you leaue out the beginning of the institution of the Supper of our Lord? For Christ sayd: take ye, and eate ye, this is my body. And if it wyll please you to ioyne the former wordes to the latter, then shall I make you an aunswere. For sure I am that Christ was no dissembler, neyther dyd he say one thing, and meane an other.

Boner. Why? then must thou needes say that it is hys body: for he sayth it hymselfe, and thou confessest that he wyll not lye.

Rafe. No my Lord: he is true, and all men are liers. Notwithstāding I vtterly refuse to take the words of our sauiour so fantastically as you teach vs to take thē: for then should we conspire with certayne heretickes called the Nestorians: for they deny that Christ had a true naturall body, and so me thinke you do, my Lord. If you will affirme hys body to be there as you say he is, then must you nedes also affirme, that it is a fantasticall body and not a true naturall body, and therefore looke to it for Gods sake, and let these wordes goe before: take ye, and eate ye: without which wordes the rest are not sufficient: but when the worthy receauers do take and eate, euen then is fulfilled the wordes of our sauiour, vnto hym, or euery of them, that so receaueth.

Boner. Ah, I see well thou canst not vnderstād these wordes: I will shew thee a parable. MarginaliaB. Boners parable.If I should set a peece of beefe before thee and say, eate: is it not beefe? and then take part of it away, and send it to my cooke and he shall chaunge the fashion thereof, and make it looke like bread. What wouldest thou say that it were?