MarginaliaAnno 1556. Aprill.al the world may see how vntruly you haue spokē. And as for my fault which you make so greuous, whatsoeuer you iudge of me. I am wel assured that I hold none other religiō, thē Christ preached, the Apostles witnessed, the primatiue church receiued, & now of late the Apostolicall and Euangelical preachers of this realm haue faithfully taught: for the which you haue cruelly burned them, and now you seeke our bloud also. Proceed on hardly by what rule you will: I force not, I do not refuse you for my Ordinary.

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Then sayd the Bishoppe, MarginaliaB. Boners wordes.I perceyue thou wilt not be coūted their ringleader. How sayst thou, wilt thou submit thy selfe to the catholicke Church as an obedient childe: in so doing thou shalt be receiued and do wel enough, otherwise thou shalt haue iudgement as an hereticke.

Then one of the prisoners (whose name is not certainly knowne) sayd: MarginaliaOne of the prisoners aunswereth to B. Boner.my Lord, you are no vpright Iudge, for you iudge after your owne lust. But if you will iudge vs according to the holy Testament of Christe, whiche is the word of truth, we will accord to your iudgement: for vnto that word we wholy submit our selues. But as for your iudgement without that truth, God shall condemne. And this prisoner was very earnestly in hand with the bishop, that they might be iudged by the word of God.

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With this the Bishop was offended, calling him busye knaue, and commaunded him to holde his toung, or els he should be had away to a place of smaller ease.

Then Tyms aunswered and sayd: MarginaliaW. Tyms agayne aunswereth.My Lord, I doubt not but I am of the Catholicke Church, whatsoeuer you iudge of me. But as for your Church, you haue before this day renounced it, and by corporall oth promised neuer to consēt to the same. Contrary to the which you haue receyued into this realme the Popes authority, MarginaliaB. Boner charged with periury, and inconstancye.& therefore you are falsly periured & forsworne all the sort of you. Besides this, you haue both spoken and written very earnestly agaynst that vsurped power, & now you do burne men that will not acknowledge the Pope to be supreme head.

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Haue I, quoth the bishop? Where haue I written any thing agaynst the church of Rome?

My Lord, quoth Tyms, the Bishoppe of Winchester wrote a very learned Oration intituled De vera obedientia, which conteineth worthy matter agaynst the Romish authority. MarginaliaBoners preface to Winchesters booke De obedientia.Vnto the which booke you made a Preface, inueying largely agaynst the Bishop of Rome, reprouing hys tyranny and falshood, calling his power false and pretēced. The booke is extant, and you cannot deny it.

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MarginaliaB. Boner excuseth himselfe by feare.Then was the Bishoppe somewhat abashed, and looking vpō such as were presēt, spake very gētly saying: Lo, here is a goodly matter in deed. My Lord of Winchester being a great learned man, did write a booke agaynst the supremacy of the Popes holynes, and I also did write a preface before the same booke, tending to the same effect. And thus did we because of the perilous world that then was. For then was it made treason by the Lawes of this realme to mainteine the Popes authority, and great daunger it was to be suspected a fauourer of the See of Rome, and therefore feare compelled vs to beare with the time for otherwise there had bene no way but one. You know when any uttered his conscience in mainteining the Popes authority, he suffered death for it.

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And then turning his tale vnto Tyms, he sayd: But since that time, euen sithence the cōming in of the queenes maiesty, when we might be bold to speake our conscience, we haue acknowledged our faults, and my Lord of Winchester himselfe shamed not to recant the same at Paules Crosse. And also thou thy selfe seest that I stande not in it, but willingly haue submitted my selfe. Do thou also as we haue done.

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MarginaliaTyms agayne replyeth to the Bishop.My Lord, quoth Tyms, that which you haue written agaynst the supremacy of þ^e pope, may be wel approued by the scriptures. But that which you now do, is against the word of God, as I can well proue.

Then another, I suppose it was Doctor Cooke, sayd: Tyms, I pray thee let me talke with thee a little, for I thinke we two are learned alike. Thou speakest much of the scripture, and yet vnderstandest it not. I will tell thee to whom thou mayest be compared. MarginaliaAn hunters parable against W. Tyms wisely applyed.Thou art like to one which intending to goe on hunting, riseth earely in the morning, taketh his houndes, and forth he goeth vp to the hils, and downe into the vallyes: he passeth ouer þ^e fieldes ouer hedge and ditch, he searcheth the woods and thickets: thus laboureth he all the whole day without finding any game. At night home he cōmeth weery of his trauell, not hauing caught any thing at all: and thus fareth it by thee. Thou labourest in reading of the Scriptures, thou takest the letter, but the meaning thou knowest not, and thus thy reading as as vnprofitable vnto thee, as hūting was vnto the man I spake of euen now.

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Syr quoth Tyms, you haue not well applyed your si-

militude: MarginaliaThe aunswere of Tyms to the Hunters similitude.for I prayse God, I haue not read the scriptures vnprofitably: but God, I thanke hym hath reuealed vnto me so much as I doubt not is sufficient for my saluation.

MarginaliaB. Boners reason.Then said the Bishop: You brag much of knowledge, & yet you know nothing: you speake much of scripture, & you know not what scripture is. I pray thee tel me: How knowest thou that thing to be the worde of God, whiche thou callest Scripture.

MarginaliaRobert Drakes answereth.To this aunswered Rob. Drakes, that he did know it to be the word of God, for that it doth shew vnto thē theyr saluation in Christ, and doth reuoke & call backe all mē frō wicked life, vnto a pure and vndefiled conuersation.

MarginaliaBoner replyeth.The bishop replied, that þ^e heathē writers haue taught precepts of good liuing, as wel as the scripture, & yet theyr writings are not estemed to be Gods word.

MarginaliaTyms aunswereth to Boner. To this answered Tyms, saying: the olde Testament beareth witnes of those things which are writtē in þ^e new, for (quoth he) there is nothing taught in the new Testament, but it was foreshewed in the law and Prophets.

I will denye all, quoth the Bishop, MarginaliaBoner denying the principles of diuinitye.I wyll denye all: what sayest thou then? Then Robert Drakes alledged a sentence in Latin out of the Prophet MarginaliaEsay. 59.Esay in the 59. chap. of his prohecy: Spiritus meus qui est in te &c.  

My spirit whiche is in thee, and my words which I haue put in thy mouth, shall not departe out of the mouth of thy seede, nor out of the mouth of the seede of thy seede, from hence forth euen for euer: meaning therby to proue, that he which had the spirit of God, could thereby discerne and iudge truely which was Gods word: but before he could explicate his minde, he was interrupted by the bishop, who spake vnto Doctor Pendleton, saying:

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MarginaliaB. Boner calleth for more helpe.Mayster Doctor, I pray you say somewhat vnto these folkes that may do them some good. MarginaliaD. Pendleton studieth for talke.Then D. Pendleton, as hee leaned nere vnto the Bishop, couered his face with both his handes, to the end he might the more quietly deuise what to say, but other talke was presently ministred, so that for that time he sayd nothing.

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And thus much William Alesbury  

witnesse hereof being present thereat, so farre as he heard, hath faythfully recorded and reported. What more was spokē and there said (for they made not yet an end a good while after) because he departed then out of the house, he doth not know, nor dyd not heare.

Then the bishop after this and such like communicatiō thus passed betwene them, proceding at length in forme of law, caused both his articles and aunsweres to the same, there and then to be openly read: the summe of which hys confession recorded and left by his owne hand writing, tēded to this effect as foloweth.

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MarginaliaArticles aunswered by William Tyms.FIrst I did truely confesse and beleeue, that I was baptised in the true Catholicke Church of Christ: for when I was baptised, there was the Element and the word of God, according to Christes institution. MarginaliaHis baptisme by his godfathers.And my Godfathers and Godmother did promise for me, that I shoulde forsake the Deuill and all his workes, and that I shoulde keepe Gods commaundements, and beleue al the articles of the Christian fayth: the which I doe beleue at this day, and with Gods help I trust to do, while I liue: for it was not the wickednes of the Minister that made the Sacrament of none effect. &c.

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MarginaliaOnely 2. Sacraments.Item,. I confessed two Sacramentes, and but two in Christes true Churche: that is, the Sacrament of Baptisme, and the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ, and that Christ is present with his sacraments, as it pleaseth him.

MarginaliaThe true visible Church.Item, I confessed that Christe hath a visible Churche, wherin the word of God is truely preached, and the sacramentes truely ministred.

MarginaliaWinchesters booke De obedientia.Item, I confessed the See of Rome to be as the late bishop of Winchester hath written in his bookes De vera obediencia, to the which I sayde vnto the Bishop of London, that he had made a godly Preface: & also Iohn Bale hath plainly declared in his booke called the Image of both churches, euen so much as I beleue therof.

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MarginaliaThe Masse blasphemous.Item, I confessed the Masse to be blasphemye to Christes death and passion.

MarginaliaSacrament of the Altar an Idoll.Item, I confessed that in the Sacrament of the aultar Christ is not present neither spiritually nor corporally, but as they vse it, it is an abhominable Idoll.

Last of all, I confessed the bishop of Londō to be mine Ordinary.