as be gods priests: which know faithfully how to obserue his precepts and commaundments, & which would willingly teach the people, the right way to heauē. For which abuse, all Christen men and spicially all Englishmē, ought to exclayme agaynst such wicked lawes.

Marginalia The order of Priesthood. As touching the Sacrament of order he sayth: That al good christians are predestinate and be ordeined of God, & made true Priestes to offer Christ in themselues, and to Christ, themselues: as also to teach and preach the Gospell to their neighbors, as well in word as in exāple of liuing. Marginalia He meaneth of priuate preaching to theyr neighbours. But the worldly shauelings do more magnify the naked & bare signes of priesthood (inuented by sinfull men) then the true & perfect priesthood of God, grounded by a true & liuely fayth, annexed with good works. Also, if it were needfull to haue such shauelinges, God knoweth how, & can make when it pleaseth him, priestes (without mans working & sinfull signes, that is to say, without either sacramentes or characters) to be known & discerned of the people, by their vertuous life and example, and by their true preaching of þ^e law of God Marginalia True ministers may be made without shauing. For so made he the first made priestes & elders before the law of Moyses: and so made he Moyses a priest before Aaron, & before the ceremonies of the law, without mans operation at all: And euen so hath God made al such as are predestinate, to be his priestes. Marginalia Priests here haue a priuate, not a publique vnderstanding. But such as be true Christians, receiue none such as Priestes, but vnlesse they follow Christ and his apostles, neither do they beleue that they make the sacrament of the aultar (whiche they affirme to be Gods body) when it pleaseth thē: least happely God be not with them, forasmuch as that they do this thing for couetousnes sake, or els to brag of their owne power And therfore such as be simple men, will worship that Sacrament in this doubtfulnes, with a silent conditiō, that is, if it be made by Gods authority, and to haue their deuotiō to the body of Christ in heauen. Also, that as such be elders, if they be Gods priestes, be Bishops, Prelates, and Curats of their Christian brethren, whom they may lead to heauē by the example of their holy conuersatiō, and by preaching of the gospell although they make no sacrifice to that Antichrist of Rome for their confirmation: neither be they dedicated to the world by secular diuine thinges, and by consuming the liuinges of the poore: as be those secular bishops, prelates & curates. Marginalia What if there were no Pope knowen, yet the Church chould stand. Also, that although there were no pope, according as the custome of the church is: yet Christ which is the hed of his church, doth ordeyne such a Pope as pleaseth him: and that is, whomsoeuer is most humble & lowly, and best doth the office of a true Priest, although he be vnknown to þ^e world. And although ther were no such proud bishop aboue all the rest, as the church doth vse: yet all the priestes might well gouern the church by common assent, as once they did, before such worldly pride crept in amōgst the Bishops. &c. And admit that no such Priestes were according to the accustomed vse now of receiuing of order & tonsure, by such a mytred Byshoppe and his Marginalia Tonsure maketh not a Priest. tonsure: yet: Christ knoweth both how to make and chuse such as shall well please him, both in conuersation of life, & sincere preaching of the Gospell, in ministring to his people all necessary sacraments. And euery holy man which is a minister of Christ, although he be not shauen, is a true Priest ordeined of God, although no mitred Bishoppe euer lay his character vpon him: So, that the Pope and Prelates, doe make more estimation of their Characters (as tonsures & crownes by them inuented) then of the true and pefect priesthood ordeined of God: whereas, all those that are predestinate, are true Priestes made of him.

Marginalia The Popes cēsures, like the blast of Lucifer. As touching the authoritye of the keyes and censures, no Christian man ought to esteeme Sathan (whom men call the pope) and his vniust cēsures: more then the hissing of a serpēt, or the blast of Lucifer. Also, that no man ought to trust or put confidence in the false indulgences of couetous Priestes, which indulgences do draw away the hope which men ought to repose in God, to a sort of sinful men, and do robbe the poore of such almes as is geuen to them: Such Priestes be manifest betrayers of Christ and of the whole Church, and be Sathans own stuardes to beguyle christen soules by theyr hipocrisy and fayned pardons. Also, forasmuch as those prelates and clergy men liue so execrable a life, contrary to the gospel of Christ, and examples of his Apostles; & teach not truly the gospell, but only lies and the traditions of sinfull wicked men: Marginalia Popishe priests haue not the keies of heauen, but rather of hell. It appereth most manifestly that they haue not the keyes of the kingdome of heauen, but rather they keyes of hell. And they may be right well assured, that God neuer gaue vnto them authority to make & establish so many ceremonies & traditions, which be contrary to the liberty of the Gospell, and are blocks in christen mens wayes; that they can neither know nor obserue the same his Gospel, in liberty of cōscience, and so attayne a ready way to heauen.

Also, that al maner of religious men, notwithstanding the chapter Religiosi, touching the priuiledges in the Clementines: may lawfully minister all sacramēts to thē that are worthy the same. Forasmuch as the same is a worke of charity, which onely the will and ordinance of the pope and his fautors in this case is to hinder and let. Marginalia The popes curse hurteth not, but profiteth. Item, if the Pope shall interdict this our realme: that connot hurt vs, but much profite vs: Because that therby he should seperate vs from all his wicked lawes, and frō the charges of sustaining of so many thousand shauelings, which with smal deuotiō or none at all, patter and chatter a new foūd song secundum vsum Sarum. So that not whatsoeuer þ^e pope in his generall counsell bindeth in earth, is bound of God in heauen: either for that he bindeth vnreasonably, and cōtradictorily doth agaynst himself, or els for that he hath forsaken the iudgement of God.

As touching the preaching of the Gospell: Whosoeuer receiueth or taken vpō him þ^e office of a priest or of a bishop and dischargeth not the same by the example of his good cōuersation and faythfull preaching of the Gospel: is a theef, excommunicate of God, and of holy church. And further if the curates preach not the word of God, they shalbe damned, and if they know not how to preach, they ought to resigne their benefices: So that those prelates which preach not the Gospel of Christ (although they could excuse themselues from the doing of any other euill) are dead in themselues, are Antichristes, and Sathans trāsfigured into angels of light, night theues, manquellers by day light, & betrayers of Christ his people.

Marginalia Gossopry not sufficient cause to restraine matrimony. Concerning the sacrament of Matrimony: Notwithstanding any spirituall kinred or gossopry, a man and woman may lawfully mary together by the law of god, with out any dispensatiō papistical. And in þ^e same place he sayth, that if our realm do admit one not borne in matrimony or illegitimate to the imperiall crowne, so that he doth well discharge the office of a king: God maketh him a king, and by cōsequence doth reiect an other king or heyre of þ^e kingdome, being borne in matrimony and legitimate: So, for such spirituall kindred there ought no diuorse to be made. Also notwithstanding the Cap. Si inter de sponsalibus: If any man shall make any contract with any woman by þ^e wordes of the future tence, by an oth taken: & afterwards shall with an other woman make the like contract by the wordes of the present tence: that then the second contract standeth. Also, if a man make any cōtract with a womā by the wordes of the future tence, vpō his oth taken: & maketh afterwardes the like contract with another not altering the words and hath carnal copulation vpon the same: the first contract maketh the matrimony good, Marginalia The first mariage lawfully before witnes made, standeth. and not the second. Also, if a man before witnes assure himselfe to a woman by a contract made in the present tence, & hath children by the same woman: & afterward the same man marieth another woman, with the like wordes in the present tence, before witnesse: Although the first witnesses be deade, or els by bribes corrupt, and þ^e second bring his witnesses before the iudge to proue the second contract: the first cōtract yet standeth in force, although the Pope (allowing the secōd contract) doth compell them to liue in adultery agaynst þ^e conmaundement of God. Also, he condemneth the decretall of the restitution of things stollen Cap. Literas tuas: Which willeth, that a man and woman hauing carnall copulation in the degree of consanguinity forbiddē, and hath no witnes hereof: If the woman will depart from the man she shall be compelled by the censures, to remayne with him, and to yelde her debt. Also, in case where a man hath made cōtract with two women, with one secretly hauing no witnesse, and wich the other openly hauing witnesse: Then were it better to acknowledge the insufficiency of the law, and to suffer men to be ruled by their owne consciences, then by the censures to compell them, to committe and lyue in adultery.

Marginalia Keeping & making vowes. As touching the keping and making of vowes: That vow or othe is beastly, and is without al discretion made: which to performe and keep, a man hath no power but by grace geuen him of God. Because that some such there be, whom god doth not accept to perseuere in the state of chastity and perpetuall virginity: and such a one cannot keep his vow, although he make the same. Also that euery one making a vow of continencye or chastitye, when making the same he shall not be accepted of God: doth very vndiscretly, and as one without al reason maketh the same, whē he is not able of himself without þ^e gift of God to fulfil his promise: according to that saying of the wise mā. cap. 8. No man hath the gift of cōtinency, vnles that God geue it vnto him. For otherwise, if god help not such a one to perform the vow or othe which he hath made and takē: No prelate can compell him, vnles he do cōtrary to Gods ordinance: