agaynst the Christe our great hygh vniuersall Byshop, lest thou excommunicate and stryke hym, lest thou shewe thy wrath and iudgement agaynst hym and vtterly extincte his pride and ambitious pretensed authoritie. For thou wilt be knowen, thou wilt be knowen to bee God. And thou arte & wilt be our great vniuersall and supreme Byshop, what so euer the Byshop of Rome shall attempte to the contrary: MarginaliaThe stroke of God is slow, but sore. and thou wylt punishe, hys worldely arrogancy, and strike when thou seest thy tyme. And thoughe it be long ere thou strike, yet let hym beware, for strike thou wilt if thou bee vtterly prouoked. And when thou doest strike, thy stroke is great, thy strooke is dreadfull and soore. It vanquisheth the body, it slayeth the soule, it dampneth both. Beware therfore thou Byshop of Rome, and be content with thyne own dioces, with thyne owne charge, as other Byshops are w^t theirs: MarginaliaThe popes power stretcheth no farther thē his owne dioces. For further then thyne owne dioces, thy iurisdictiō do not stretch.

A meruelous blyndnes in the therfore, to take vpon thee to aunswere for al the worlde, and arte not able to aunswer our great Bishop Christ, for thy selfe at that dreadfull daye of Iugement, when he shal aske but these fewe questions of the, MarginaliaQuestions to be asked of the Pope in the last iudgement. Quomodo intrasti? Quomodo rexisti? Quomodo vixisti? Quomodo pauisti? Quæ & qualia exempla dedisti? Quid ad meam gloriam fecisti? & huiusmodi. How diddest thou enter into thy Bishoprike? by mee or by the worlde? vnlawfully, or laufully? by Symonie, or freely? by labour, by paction, or called of God? How diddest thou rule thy cure thy dioces? Diddest thou pray for thy people? diddest thou preach me to thy diocesans? diddest thou giue them ghostly and bodely foode? MarginaliaNay rather ghostly doctrine you should say. diddest thou minister spirituall and ghostly salues (the Sacraments I meane (to heale the soores of their soules? How dyddest thou lyue? Diddest thou cast awaye the care, the glory and pompe of the worlde? Dyddest thou folow me in humilitie, in charitie, in compassion, in pouertie, in cleanes, and in chaste lyuyng?

How diddest thou gouerne thy diocesans? MarginaliaThe Pope maketh all thinges a money matter. Diddest not þ^u make of all thynges that thou diddest medle with a money matter, in sellyng that whiche was not in thee to sell nor giue, whiche thou calledst thy pardons, thy commissions, thy breeues, thy delegacies, reseruations, exemptions, appellations, bulles, and dispensations? Dyddest not thou vnder these pretenses and lyke other doyngs, deceiue þ^t world What aunswere shalt thou make to this at that daye, to our and thy great Byshop Christ, when hee shall visite the and all thy dioces, me and all my dioces, yea when hee shall visite all the worlde? What aunswere shalt thou then make? I thinke verely thou shalte then haue enoughe to doe, yea & more then þ^u canst wynde thy selfe out of, to make aunswere for thy selfe, for thyne own dioces, & for thine own diocesās, though thou vsurpe not vpō other mēs as thou doest. The Apostle writeth of Christ humbly, & calleth hym, Magnum pontificem, the great byshop. And he of Rome is not with this worde contented, MarginaliaPontif. Maximus. but will haue a hygher worde for him selfe, in the superlatiue degree, Maximum: Pontificem maximum. The greatest Byshop. Oh, where is the humblenes and mekenes that should be in hym? Alas, hee that taketh on hym to teach all the worlde, how can hee for shame suffer suche blasphemous wordes to passe in hys name, to his great shame and rebuke: to the great daunger of hys soule: and to the perilous ensample vnto other? MarginaliaThe popes pride will haue a fall. Oh: fye vpō pryde. It is a common Prouerbe, pride will haue a fal.

MarginaliaHumilis. Our Byshop Christ was Humilis, meke, lowely, and humble in harte. He rode not vpon any palfray nor couragious horse, but vpon an Asse and that but once. He neuer was borne pompously abroad in chayre, vpon mens shoulders. He neuer profered his foote to any body to kysse. MarginaliaIohn. 13. Wee read that he washed the feete of hys Disciples and wyped them. We read that Mary Magdalene profered to haue kyssed his feete, but hee dyd pohibite her, saying: Noli me tangere: MarginaliaMath. 20. Touch me not. He woulde not suffer the woman then to touche hym. He neuer had garde to defend hym. He neuer folowed the pompe of the worlde. MarginaliaThe humilitie of Christ. Hee disdayned not to goe vppon the ground with hys bare feete. What shall I say? He gaue ensamples enough to the Byshop of Rome, to me and to all Byshops, to be meeke and humble: hee to knowe him selfe, and we our selues, as if he and we diligētly looke in scripture, wee shall finde. And herein, in meekenes we are bound to followe hym.

MarginaliaCompatiens. Compatiens infirmitatibus. Thys Bishop Christ, hadde compasiō of our infirmities, of our frailties. It is impossible for a man to knowe the afflictions of the miserable person, that neuer suffered hym selfe affliction, that neuer had experience of paynes, that neuer felte what payne mente. But this byshop Christ, had experience of our nature: how weake, how feble þ^e nature of mā is: how weak of hymselfe to do any good worke without þ^e helpe of God: how feble to resiste temptations. He suffered and felte the infirmities & paynes of his naturall body. MarginaliaChrist ful of compassion. Hee hath therfore compassion vpon man, whē he doth see him fall. He soroweth his ruine teachyng Byshops in especiall afore all other, to haue compassion and pitie vpon the sinner, to helpe hym spiritually, to comfort him ghostly, to helpe hym to arise frō sinne, to allure him to penaunce, to draw him to vertue, to make him know God, to feare his iustice, to loue his lawes, and thus to seeke all the wayes he and we can, to saue the sinners soule for whome he shall make aunswere to God for his owne diocesans: soule for soule, bloud for bloud, payne for payne hell for hell, damnation for damnation. For which soule, our great bishop Christ (as the Apostle doth witnes) MarginaliaHeb. 5. did offer giftes and sacrificed himselfe, hauyng compassion of them that by ignorance and by errour, did sinne and offend God. Eueu when he was in his greatest agony vpon the crosse, he cryed to his father: forgiue them father, forgiue thē, they know not what they do, MarginaliaLuke. 23. they are ignorāt people, they know not what is what, nor what daunger they run into by this entreatyng me. They know not their offences: forgeue them father, forgeue them. In this compassion we ought also to follow our great bishop Christ.

MarginaliaPontifex appellatus. It followeth in the former letter: Est Pontifex appellatus à Deo. He is a Bishop, and so named of God. He is the very Byshop. He offred vp the very sacrifice, the sacrifice of hys owne most blessed body and blood, wherby the sinne of the world was put away. Euery Bishop of the worlde is not named a Bishop by God: For some commeth into that office, not by the holy goost, not elect of God, (as Iohn sayeth) not entring in ouile ouium per ostium, sed ascendens allundè. MarginaliaIohn. 10.
All bishops be not called of God Some there are that entreth into the folde of the sheepe of God, not by the dore. Some there bee that entreth in, hauynge charge and cure of soule, not by God: but by worldly meanes, by worldly labour, by importune sutes and intercession of frendes, or by theyr owne vnlawfull labour, by simonie, and such other wayes. Suche are not named Byshops by God. Such entreth not by the dore, not by hym that sayth: Ego sum ostimum. Ego sum via, veritas, & vita. MarginaliaIohn. 14. I am the dore, I am the way, I am the lyfe, I am truth, I am Pastor bonus, the very true and good bishop that entred by God. And all that entreth otherwyse then by God, Christ calleth them fures & latrones, theues, spoylers, raueners, deuourers, and deceyuers of the sheepe. MarginaliaIohn. 10. Their liuyng shall declare the same. For such as so wilfully do enter, do study their owne profites & commodities. Such receyueth the fruites and do nothyng for them. Such suffereth theyr shepe to perish for lacke of bodily and ghostly foode and sustenance for lacke of preachyng, for lacke of geuyng good counsayle, for lacke of good liuyng, for lack of good ensample. And such, for the most part, lyueth noughtily, carnally, fleshly, viciously, pompously, worldly, and not bishoply nor priestly. For they came not in by God, nor by grace. Christ sayth: Qui intrat per me, saluabitur, et ingredietur, & egredietur, et pascua inueniet. MarginaliaIohn. 10. He that entreth by me, shalbe saued. Et ingredietur et egredietur. And he shall go in, and he shall go out. What is that to say: he shall go in, & he shall go out? I thinke he meaneth by goyng in, that he shal haue grace to enter studiously into the holy Scripture daily and nightly to meditate, to study, and to profite in the lawes of God. Et egredietur. And he shall explane and truely interpretate and publish it vnto the people. Et pascua inueniet And he shall finde there plenty of spirituall foode for hymselfe and for his people, to edifie theyr soules, to enstruct and cal them to the knowledge of God to feed them plentifully, that they shall not lacke necessaries to theyr soules. Let vs therfore so lyue, þ^t we may be called Pontifices appellari à Deo.

This our great Byshop Christ is also: Pontifex, sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus à peccatoribus, excelsior cœlis, sedens á dextris Dei, emundans conscientias nostras à peccatis, intrans sancta sanctorum per proprium sanguinem. MarginaliaHebr. 7.
Sanctus. He is Sanctus. A holy byshop, and wylleth vs to be holy in our conuersation, applying our selues vnto godlines to the seruice of God, to lyue lyke Bishops, like priests, pure, cleane, chast, deuout, studious, faythfully laboring in hys word, praying, doyng sacrifice, and euer to be godly and vertuously occupied.

MarginaliaInnocens. He is Innocens, an innocent. He neuer sinned, he neuer offended in word, thought, nor dede. Innocens, noying no creature, profiting all folkes, mekely suffring aduersities, opprobries, reiags, rebukes, & reproches, without grudge or cōtradiction. MarginaliaSimplex. Innocens & simplex: simplex sine plica. An innocent, w^tout plaite or wrincle, w^tout errour or doublenes, w^tout hypocrisie or dissimulation, without flatteryng, or glosing, without fraude or deceyte: not seruing the body nor the world, but God. In this we ought also to follow our heauenly Byshop.

MarginaliaImpollutus. Impollutus. He was vndefiled. He lyued cleane wythout spot or blot, without wemme or stayne. No immundicie in hym, no vncleannes, nor filthynesse: but all pure and cleane, all chaste and immaculate, all bright and shyning