A Pleasant New Nosegay

YOure first flour is plucked out of the first Epistle of S. Peter, & it is this, Have Humility and loulynes of mind engraffed in you. For God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.

This is a godly sweet flour, & garnysshethe the life of a christen man very much.

The holy Apostle S. Peter ī this place exorteth all christen mē unto humility & lowlynes of mind. And this is your flour that I call, Vnfayned humility., even that lowelynes which proceedeth from a pure mind without ony Hypocrisye or doublenes. And ī gyuīg us exhortation to enbrase humylyte, he also absterreth & frayethe us from all arrogancy, pride, & elaciō of mind, which is y ^• hed spring of all evil, & he showeth the cause why we ought to enhalse Humility, and reject pride. For God, saith he, resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace. I shall make this more euidente anon by examples and Histories of the holy Scriptures.

But I pray you before ye proceed in this matter declare unto us, what Humility is.

Humility, after the mind of S. Bernard, is a virtue, whereby everyone brought into the k ••• eledge of himself, waxeth vile and loathsome to himself.

He that on this wise is humble, cannot norysh ony pride in his heart.

Ye say truth.

I marvel than how it cōmethe to pass, y ^• so much pride reigneth now a days among us.

Verily because the people are not brought into y ^e true knowledge of thē selves. If they were, they would not stōd so much ī their own cōceate as they do, but rather be humble, lowly, gentle, & meek toward all men, even the most simple & inferior. But in asmch as this knowledge wanteth, therefore are they inflated & puffed up withe pride like unto Lucifer, which so exalted himself, that he would have been like unto the most high God: The mā of honor is proud of his promocion, the rytch man of his riches, the strong man of his strength, y ^e learned man of his learning, the beautiful of their beauty. &c. This cometh to pass, because they know not, what they are of them selves, & that all that they have is the gift of God, as S. Paul & James testify.

I pray you declare to us, by what means we may obtain this celestial gift of humllite.

That ye may have the more courage to desire this most precious virtue, & to practice it in your living, I will first declare to you the excellency of it, and show what great profit ensuethe of it, & afterward declare to you, by what means ye may come by it.

Let it be so▪

The scripture showeth y ^e whan Adam & Eve had transgressed the commandment of God in Paradyse thorough the subtle persuasion of Satan, & perceived thē selves naked, they ran away frō the face of God & hyd themselves, that they might not be seen.

We remember this well.

Behold now the Humility of God, conjoined with immeasurable mercy. He being God & such a LORDE, as at y ^• presence of whom all things both in heaven, earth & hell tremble, shake & do reverence, humbly & lowly came & sought thē up, saying, where art thou Adā? And not only this, but whan they were ashamed of their nakedness, he made them garments of skynnes, & put them on them to cover their filthiness. Must not Humility now be a virtue of wonderful excellency, seeing that God himself did first of all practice it? Who dare boast him self to be the son of this celestial father ▪ & yet not endewedde withe Humility? GOD might have suffered them to have perysshedde, or elles taken vengeance on them straightways according to their deserts but he would not, but rather gentylly and lowly sought them up, appareled them, & by this means preserved them. O example worthy to be followed of all the faithful.

Moreover what Humility and lowlynes was there also ī his dearly beloved sonne our lord & savior Jesus Christ? Who is able to express his humility, lowlynes & mekenes? It is not without a cause said of him, learn of me, for I am meek & lowly in heart. For what doth his whole life show but humility? Was he not borne of a poor maid, even that blessed virgyne Mary? Dyd he not suffer his most precious body to be wrapped ī vile and simple cloths? Dydde he disdain to be borne in a stable, & to lie in a maūger among brute bestes? Was not he subject & obedient to Joseph & Mary his mother? Was not he circūcysed and baptized for our sake? Was not he so poor, that he had not where to rest his head? Dyd not he keep company with Publicans, sinners and harlottes, that he might bring them to grace? whom other so greatly did abhor? Dyd not he touche the Lepers, whom other would scasely vouchsafe once to look vpō? Dyd not he frequent and use the company of all diseased, that he might heal thē? Dyd not he go, whither so ever he was desired? Dyd not he grant y ^e petitions of the faithful? Dyd not he come rydynge mekely into Jerusalem upon an Ass without onye pomp or pride? Dyd not he wash his Disciples feet? Dyd not he being in the shape of God and equal with God make him self of no reputacion, & toke upon him y ^e shape of a servant, became like another man, & was found in his apparel as a man? Dyd not he so humble himself, that he became obediente unto the death, even the death of the Cross? Dyd not he suffer his most spytefull enemies to renne & tear his most blessed body so cruelly, so vnmercyfully, so without all pytie, that they also did shed the most precious blood of his heart? O unspeakable humility. O lowlynes rather to be wondered at, than able of ony man to be followed. Neither wanteth this humility in him at this present. Is he not evē now also content, although glorified, & received into y ^e most blessed throne of his celestial father, to becomme our intercessoure, mediator & advocate? At the day of judgment also is not he content to come and featche unto glory both the bodies & souls of so many as ī this world have unfeignedly believed in him, & studiously wrought his divine will?

Al these things are true that ye have spokē.

Were it not thā a thing of much absurdite & very vnsyttynge for us, which profess this our LORDE Christ to be most alienated & estranged from that virtue, which he in his quotidiane conversation most principally exercised?

Yies verily. For S. John̄ saith, he that saith, that he abideth in Christ, ought to walk, evē as he hath walked.

Truth it is, and Christ himself saith, I have givē you an example, that as I have done to you, so ye likewise should do.

Ryght well neighbors. Look ye do now therefore according to your knowledge.

Furthermore what Humility was this in y ^• holy Ghoste, to come down so manifestly upon the Apostles of Christ at the feast of Pentechoste? to replenyshe them with all gifts of grace & to enspire into thē the knowledge of so many tongues? was not this a wonderful token of Humility? Doth not that most holy spirit, even at this day vouchsafe also to dwell in the hearts of y ^e faithful, as S. Paul witnesseth Do not ye know, saith he, that ye are the Tēple of God, & the spirit of God dwelleth in you? Agayne do ye not know that youre members are the Temple of the holy Ghoste, which is in you, whom ye have of god, and ye are not of yourselves? Seynge than that this virtue Humility was first used & practiced of God, & so still remaineth, howe can it otherwise thā be a thing of great excellency?

it is truth. GOD grant us to remember these things, that we may not only profess God by mouthe, but also lively express him in our acts & daily conversation.

Well as concerning the virtue & strength of this youre flour, called, Vnfayned humility, it shall appear evidently unto you by declaring what great profit ensueth thereof.

This thing is very necessary to be known. Let us therefore hear it, I pray you.

Humility maketh us to be humble and lowly both ī heart & body. It expellethe the fowl vice of pride, & causeth that Philantia, that is to say, the love of our selves or the stōding in our own conceate, reigneth not in us. It maketh us to abstain frō dissolute laughing. It causeth that we speak nothing unadvisedly. It provoketh us to grant that we are more vile than ony other, & unworthy or unprofitable unto ony good thing. It maketh us lytyll to esteem our selves, & all our enterprises, & highly to auaunce & set forth other. It maketh us not to have ony delectacion to fulfill our own will. It gyuethe us an occasion to fear God, and to endeavor our selves to do that, which he requirethe of us. It causeth us to be obedient to our superiors, & to give them all reverence & honor. It maketh us patiently to sustain all injuries & wrongs, that are done unto us. It engraffeth in us all kind of virtues. So that it may right well be named, the mother & nurse of all goodness & honest. Moreover Humility bringethe the grace & favor of God to us, as ye heard before of S. Peter, which saith, God resistethe the proud, but to the humble he gyuethe grace. It causethe y ^e God hath a respect unto us, as he saith by the Prophet, unto whom shall I look, but to the humble & broken in spirit, & unto him that feareth my words? It maketh that GOD heareth our prayers, as the Psalmograph saith, God doth behold the supplicacions of the humble, and he hath not despised their prayers. Also the wise mā, the prayer of him that humbleth himself, shall pearse the clouds. It causeth us to be exalted, as the most blessed virgin syngeth, He hath put down the mighty frō their seat, & exalted the humble. And Christ saith: everyone that exalteth himself, shall be made low. And he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted S▪ Peter also saith, humble youre selves before God, that he may exalte you. To be short, it bryngethe us unto the kingdom of heaven. For Christ saith: Excepte ye turn & become as little chyldrē ye shall not enter into the kyngedom of heavē, Who so ever therefore shall humble himself, as this lytyl child, he is greatest in the kingdom of heavē.

This undoubtedly is an excellent virtue, and a flour of much strength, & bryngethe to them that have it, many goodly pleasures & godly commodities.

Agen mark I pray you, what made the oblation of Abel to be so acceptable in the sight of God, but Humility? Agen, what was the cause, that y ^e Sacrifice of Caim was abhorred of God, but his arrogante & proud heart, stuffed full of rancor & malice toward his brother? What was the occasiō that Nohe with few other were saved from drowenynge, but that they were humble in heart and feared god? Agayne, what was the cause, that all the whole world besides thē were drowned, but their pride & volupteous manner of living? what provoked God so often to walk with Abrahā, but his Humility & lowlynes of mind? What moved God to save Lothe and certain other for his sake from that most grievous & terrible plage, that fell on Sodom & Gomorre, but y ^e Humility of him, conjoined with a reverent fear toward god? Agen, what caused God to take vengeance on the Sodomites and to consume them with fire & brimstone frō heaven, but only their pride coupled with all kind of volupteous, beast like, yea unnatural pleasure? What preserved Abraham fromme sleaynge his Son Isaac, but his humble & obedient heart, ready to accomplysh the will of God in all things? What made Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, with all the holy Patriarchs to be so gētylly dealt w ^t all & favored both of god & mā, but their Humility? What was y ^e cause that David was made of a Sheppard a king▪ but Humility. Agen, what abiected Saul frō his kingdom, empire & dominiō, but his arrogant & proud heart, cōjoined w ^t disobedience toward the commandment of God? What caused king Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah to work that which was good in the sight of God, but their humility, because they preferred y ^e will of God before their own carnal judgments? Agayne, what was the cause y ^t many kings, as Roboam, Jeroboam, Abia, Nadab, Ahab Ochozias Ahaz, Manasseh, Amō, Ioiachim, Sedechias, Nebuchadnezzar. &c. did y ^t which was evil before God, but their puffed up hearts & proud minds, casting away all fear of God from their eyes? What exalted the most glorious virgin Mary so high, that she became the mother of Christ, & was alone found worthy to bear the son of God, but her humility, as she herself witnesseth: My soul magnifiethe the LORDE, saith she. And my spirit, hath rejoiced in GOD my Savior. For he hath looked upon y ^e Humility of his hand maid, behold, because of this all generations shall call me blessed. Agayne, what did caste down Lucifer from Heaven into hell, from joy into pain, but pride? What provoked Christ to chose poor fyssher mē & the vile people of this world to set forth the glory of his father, but their humility? How came it to pass, that those simple men, yea & even the fools of the world were replete with godly knowledge, & the proud Pharisees the galant Bysshops, the huffe nosed priests, the lusty lawyers, y ^e sawsy Scribes, with all the glisteryng sort of Hypocrites, which lived at that time, could not attain unto this science of the divine mysteries, whan not withestandynge they chalēged to them selves alone the knowledge of God's law, and y ^e true understanding of the same? Was not their pride & arrogancy the cause of this their blyndenes? What is the cause in these our days, that the proud papistical Romanists cannot perceive y ^e verite of God's word, & here in England & such other like places even y ^e very poor & base sort of people are godly learned & espy the truth of God's will? Is not pride cause of y ^e one, & Humility occasiō of y ^e other? As I may return unto the holy Scriptures & make an ende, what was the cause, that the Publican went home more justified than the Pharisee, but that the one was humble, & the other proud? Ifwe mark diligently, we shall easily perceive y ^t all good things have ever come to pass thorough Humility, & that pride hath always ben y ^e original beginning of all wickedness & mischief.

Uerelye this is easy to perceive.

The excellency and virtue of this flour is so great, that it causethe S. Agustine to cry out on this manner, O holy and worshipful Humility, thou madest the son of God to come down into the womb of holy Mary the virgins. Thou madest him to be inuolued & wrapped in vile cloths, that he might clothe us with the ornaments of virtues. Thou dyddest circumcyse him in the flesh, that he should circūcyse us in the mind. Thou dydest scourge him corporally, that he might deliver us from the scourge of sin. Thou dyddest crown him with thorns, that he should crown us with his eternal Roses. Thou madest hī to be sick which was the Phisicion of all mē, healyng all things with his word alone, that he might heal thē that are sick. Humility, saith Saynte Bernard, is the steadfast foundaciō of virtues, which if it be omitted & let pass, the cōgregacion & gatherynge together of virtues, is none other thing, than a very ruin or decay of them. For it debelleth and valeauntly overcometh the enemy of all grace, I mean pride, which is the beginning of all sin. S. Gregory saith also, that Humility is the beginning of virtues in us, & that they which know not Humility, that is the mother of virtues, loose y ^e use & profit of their labor Agayne he saith, he that gathereth together virtues without Humility, may well be compared to him, that bringeth dust into the wind. Thus have I declared unto you y ^• excellency & great virtue of youre first flour, & what commodities ensue of it.

If these things hers taught were known unto all men, it would undoubtedly encourage them to reject P • ide & enbrase Humility.

Alas dere neighbors, wherefor or whereof should we be proud? Of our wisdom or riches? Who among mortal men was ever able to compare with Salomō either in wisdom or riches Yet for all that unto what point came he? Dyd not he fall unto all kind of dissolute & volupteous living? Dyd he not forsake y ^• God of Israel, & fell unto Idolatry? It is not without a cause said, Let not the rich mā glory in his riches, nor the wise man in his wisdom. For what are riches & wisdom, if they be not godly & iustely used, but only instruments of tyranny & unrighteousness? The wise man is endued with wit for this purpose, that with his wisdom he should help the simple & plain people, which want the perfect experience of things, or elles that have no capacite to attain unto the knowledge of such trauayeles, as are expediente for them, and not to deceive them, to craft with them, to poll & pyll them, & to make hauoke of them. The ritche man also hath riches givē unto him unto to this ende, that he should y ^e more franckely noryshe the pouerte, and distribute them to the indigēt, and not that he should hourd them up in corners, glory in them, boast and crake of them, and think himself better thā any other, because he excelleth in thaboundance of worldly goods. Bothe riches & wisdom increase damnation to the possessors of them, if they be not used, as God hath commanded, that is, unto the profit of our neighbor▪ What cause have we than for to be proud of them? If we use thē well, we do but our duty, if we do other wise, the greater is our damnaciō. Agen, may we be proud of our holiness and virtuous living? Who was more holy thē David? yet for all his holiness committed he both manslaughter & whoredom. Christ wyllethe us to recount our selves unprofitable servants, whan we have done all that ever we can. Shoulde we rejoice of worldly honor, & be proud of that? Who may be compared to Kynge Nebuchadnezzar, whose glory & renown retched up even unto Heaven for the fame of it? was not he dejected and caste down so low, that he being expulsed from his empyre, became a brute beast, & did eat grass w ^t the beasts of the field? Rede the history. Maye we be proud of martial affairs, as of strong Castelles sure holds, mighty Bulwarks, great Gunnes, sharp Speares, swyfte arrows, two edged sweardes, innumerable thousādes of valeaūte Soldiers? Howe vnapte these things are to have ony perfect affiaunce or trust reposed in them, who so readeth the Histories of the holy Scripture, shall easily perceive. Let this one History of y ^e proud Tyraunt Holofernes suffice for this present, which conqueryng all the world, was at the last moo • t miserably slain of a woman, & all his men put to flyght. A king shall not be saved, saith David, by his own great hoost, neither shall a gyaunt be holpen in the abundance of his own strength. A horse is but a deceauable thing to save a man, it is not y ^• power of his strength, that can deliver him. Behold, the eyes of the LORDE are vpō them y ^t fear him, & put their trust in his mercy Verily except the LORDE byld the house, he labourethe in vain that bildeth it. Excepte the LORDE keep the city he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. What shall we say of the favor of great men? May we glory, boast, & be proud of that? Rede y ^e History of Amon, which was so hye in his kings favor, y ^t he might do, what he liest, kill, save, exalte, depress, lift up, pluck down, and as we say commonly, bind bears, & yet was not he shortly after caste out of favor on such sort that he was immediately hanged on y ^e same gallows, which he had newly prepared for another? Maye sūptuous mansions and delicate fare cause us to be proud? Na verily. For what other thing is costly byldynge, than a great heap of stones gathered together, pleasant for y ^e time, but shortly returning agen unto dust? As for the most delicious meats that can be gotten, after they be once chawed & digested, what is more vile, more stynkyng, more unsavory, less pleasant to y ^e eyes, and more odious to the nose? shall I speak of gorgeous apparel and goodly beuty? whereof so many now a days very vaynely and no less folyshly bost and glory? Is ony thing in them, wherefor we may lyft up our brystles, & auaunce our selves before other, even the most vile & deformed? I pray you what other thing is gaye and gorgeous raiment than a very instrument of pride, as a certain learned mā saith. They were given us of God to cover our filthy nakedness, and we abuse them unto pleasure & volupteousnes. O preposterous judgment. O extreme blindness. Glory not in thine apparel at ony time, saith the wise mā. As for the vanite and beautye, what need I make many words? It is more britle thā glass more transitorye than the flour, more inconstante than the wind, more vain then the smoke, & more flyttynge away then the time, to conclude, it is as the Poetes cal it, Fragile bonum, that is, a frail good thing, so that it is not without a cause said of Solomon, favor is deceytful, & beauty is a vain thing Howe doth one lytyll fever, make y ^e woman of the world, the foulest & most unpleasant in aspecte? And to say the truth, is beauty any other thing, than as Lodouicus Viues saith, as lytyll thynne skynne well coloured. If the inward partes saith he, could be seen, howe great fylthynes would there appear, evē in the most beautyful person. Neither is the fayreste body in y ^e world any other thing, than a donge hill covered with a clothe of white and purple color. For this cause the wise men of y ^e Greeks were wont to call a fair & beautiful woman Hyperiphainon cacon, that is, a plesaūt or glysterynge evil. What shall I say unto the Nobilite and gentle blood, as they call it? Maye this be an occasion of exaltynge our selves? Kyng David saith: what profit is there in my blood, seeing I go down unto corrupcion? And the wise man saith, why art y ^u proud O thou earth & asshes? we are all earth & asshes. We shall return unto corrupcion, & be so consumed, as concerning our bodies as though we had never ben. The Prophet also saith, all flesh is grass, & all his glory is like a flour of the field. O LORDE GOD, what cause have we now to be proud of ony thing in this world, seeing that all things are so vain & transitory, nothing durable & perpetual? Certes if we cōsyder well the gifts, wherewith God hath endued us, whatsoever they be, pertaynynge either to the body or to the soul, we shall easily find that we have no cause to be proud of them, but rather y ^e more humble, taking ever thought, howe we may spend well the talent committed unto us, unless we be caste with that unprofitable servant of the Gospel into utter darkness, where wepynge and gnasshynge oftethe shall be. The more that we do excel other in gifts, the more dangerous is our state, and the more diligence ought we to give for the right bestowyng of thē. To whom much is givē, much shall be required of him.

O y ^e vanite of this world. O y ^e blīd iugemētes of y ^e people, which so much glory ī vain frail & trāsitory things.

It is not w ^t out a cause said of s. John̄, love not the world, nor those things y ^• are in the world. If ony mā loveth theworlde, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, as the concupiscense of the flessh, and the lust of the eyes, & the the pride of the life, is not of the father, but it is of the world. And y ^e world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof. But he y ^t doth the will of God, abideth for evermore.

Now according to your promise, let us hear I pray you, how we may come by this virtue Humility, that we may enjoy the commodities thereof eniuing, & exchew the inconveniences that rise of the contrary.

I will do it, and that in few words.

Fyrst that ye may unfeignedly have Humility engraffed in youre breasts, it is expedient that we cōsyder, what ye are of yourselves. As touching your body, ye are mē. Now what other thing is man concerning his body, but only, as S. Bernard saith, a stynkyng sperme or seed, a sack of dung, & the meat of worms. Consider this depely w ^t youre selves, and it shall cause you to delight but lytyll in your body, be it never so strōge, valeaūt, fair, goodly, pleasant in aspecte, procere & tau • l. It is, saith S. Bernard, nothing but a stynckynge sperme or seed, a sack of donge, & the meat of worms. What mean we than to be sumptuous in the adourning & garnysshyng of the body? God to cover our nakedness at the beginning gave us cotes of Lether. S. John̄ Baptist also according to the first appoyntmēt of God, went clad in a Camels skin with a gyrdle of lether about his loins, But lether & cloth both cā not suffice us at this time, be it never so fine & costious, except we add thereto all kinds of sylkes & veluettes. But what do I speak of these things? Golde, Syluer, Pearl, precious stones, Ouches & what not is now and days worn even of inferior persons, whan the poor members of Christ have neither wherwythe they may cloth themselves, nor yet comfort their hungry and thyrsty bodies. O lamentable case. And what shall I say of the manifold & strange fasshions of the garments, that are used now a days? I think Satan studieth not so much to invent new fasshyons to bring christen men into his snare, as the Taylours now a days are compelled to excogitate, inuēt & ymagyne diversities of fasshyōs for apparel, that they may satisfy the foolishly desire of certain light brains & wild Otes, which are all together given to new fanglenes. O most vain vanite. Some time we follow the fasshyō of the French mē. Another time we will have a trick of the Spanyyardes. Shortely after that beginneth to wax naught, we must therefore now have y ^e Italyon fasshyon. Within few days after we are werye of all the fasshyons that are used in Christendom, we will therefore now & God will, practice the manner of going among the Turks & Saracennes, would God that with the Turks apparel, we ware not also right Turks & Infidels ī our life, cōuersaciō & manners. O y ^e Englōd would once learn to be ashamed of this vanite, & remember this saying of the Apostle, having meat & drink, and wherewith we may be covered let us be contented. But surely this Hethenysh & vain garnysshyng of our body engraffeth high Pryde in us, whereby it cōmethe to pass, that Humility is clean exiled & put to-flyght. That ye may not be accombred with this Pestilence, remember the vtilite of your body, mark what fruits it bringeth forth, cōsyder y ^e state of it, ponder frō whence it came, whither it shall, and what shall become of it. If ye do this, it shall move you not to glory, nor to be proud of ony external thing, but gladly to embrase Humility & lowlynes of mind.

Secondly cōsyder also what ye are of yourselves concerning your inward man, I mean your soul. Hathe not that thorough Adam, be • fore it is regenerate by Christ, lost the favor of God? Is it not a fire brande of hell, bond to eternal dānation, the child of wrath, all carnal, breathynge wickedness, ymaginyng mischefe, bent unto evil, and not able once for to think a good thought?

Thyrdly after we be renewed by the most blessed Sacrament of Baptism & the holy Ghost, remember howe sone ye loose again that benefits thorough your own sin & wickedness, which before ye freely obtained by Christ. This shall also move you to cast away all pride & to be humble, lowely & meek, in the sight of God, ever lamētynge your misery, & flyenge continually unto God with youre fervent prayers for grace, mercy, favor & remission of your sins, unless ye be dampened for your iniquity according to your deserts. It shall also not a lytyl profit, to remember the pains of hell, which are prepared for them that are proud & disobedient to the will of God. Fourthly if at ony time y ^e desire of vain glory shall crepe in to your bosom for the excellencye of virtues and qualities wherew ^t ye are endewedde, call straight unto youre remembrance this saying of the Apostle, what hast thou that thou haste not taken? If thou haste taken it, why dost y ^u rejoice, as though thou haddest not taken it? & this shall pluck down youre comb, as they use to say. For who is so mad, except he be like unto the Crow of Esope, to bost himself of other men's feathers? The gifts that we have, be they never so excellent, are not ours but God's. He may take them away again whā it pleseth him. Thefore ought we not to be proud of them, but use them unto that ende, for the which they were givē us, ever remembering that if we use them well, there is a reward laid up for us in heaven if we do not, we shall receive y ^e greter damnation. So that we have no cause to be proud of them, but rather the more humble, and lowly in heart.

Finally in all your works, seme they never so good and perfect, yet think you, y ^t they are now done w ^t so much purite & clennes of hert as they ought, & therefore ye must humbly grant your imperfecciō, & desire god to fulfil that which lackethe in you for his Son Jesus Christ's sake.

If on this wise ye behave yourselves neighbors in all your works, ye must needs despise pride & enbrase humility Yea if on this manner ye judge of youre selves, as I have here taught you, ye shall without doubt be made unfeignedly humble, meek and lowly. But without this knoledge of yourselves, know that ye can do none otherwise, but stond in your own cōceate, brag of your qualities, glory in your acts, be proud of your gifts, & ever vnthanckefull in the sight of God. S. Bernard saith, I know that no man is saved without the knowledge of him self, whereof doubtless Humility the mother of health springeth, and the fear of the LORDE. For as the one is the beginning of wisdom▪ so is the other of health.

I pray God we may so know our selves, that we may deserve to have this most excellent vertu engraffed in our breasts.

Neyghbours one word with you, & than an ende of this your first flour. Remember that your flour is called, Vnfayned humility, because ye may not outwardely pretend humility, and inwardely be inflated with Pharasaicall arrogancy, & puffed up after the manner of the proud Hypocrites, and supercibious Pharisees, whom Christ & his Apostles rebuke so oft in y ^e holy scriptures for their feigned holiness. Be no painted sepulchers, outwardely fair, and inwardly full of rotten bones, and all fylthynes. For many, as saint Jerome saith, follow the shadow of Humility, but few the truth. Let all glosyng words be taken away, let all faynynge gestures cease. Pacience showeth a mā to be truly humble. Let your humility therefore not only be expressed with gesture and voice, but also let it proceed from y ^e pure affecte of the heart. So may ye be sure to have God gracious & favorable unto you, & ever to prosper in all your honest trauayles & godly affairs. Hytherto have I spoken sufficientely of youre first flour called, Vnfayned humility, and I have been the longer about it, because I would be glad to expel the poisonof Pryde out of your hearts which raygneth almoost universally beyond all measure at this day, and to engraffe in you this goodly herb, which is so sweet and wholesome, that without it no medicine can ryghtly be ministered. This being digested, all other are y ^• more easy to receive.

Neyghboure Philemon, think not, but y ^e your words are reposed even in y ^e lowest parte of our hearts, & we trust that ye have not sown this seed of God's word in ony stony ground, but in such good earth, as shall bring forth, some an hūdrethe fold, some syxty fold, and some thirty fold.

It doth me good to hear this, & to know your ready will unto all goodness & vertu. For in deed neighbors we had never more need to work well, and to do good deeds, than at this time. The christen religion beginneth utterly to decay. Alas we speak much of Christ, but many live no part of Christ. Uice still reigneth, vertu hath no place. Well, I will give you your second flour.

I pray you let us have it.

BEhold here is the second flour of your Nosegay. I am the almighty GOD. Walk before me and be perfect. And I will make my couenaunte between me and the, and will multiplye the beyond all measure.

Was not this the saying of God the father unto Abrahā?

Yies verily, & pertaynethe now unto us no less than it did at y ^t time to him. For what so ever things are written, are written for our learning. Ye shall receive moche pleasure of this your flour, if ye mark the virtue of it well. Fyrst ye shall note that God calleth himself the almyghty God, whereby we may easily discern him frō those gods, yea rather Idolles and dyuels, whom the Hethen did worship & call vpō. For our God is omnipotent, that is to say, almyghty, plenteous in power, abundant, o • sufficient, full of all good, needy of nothing. The God's of the Gentiles are of no power, puissaūce & strength full of all imbecillite, weakness & misery. Our God made all things of nothing by y ^e power of his word. The God's of the Hethē make not, but they are made of other and are none other thing than wood, stonnes, silver, gold, or wicked spirits. Oure God is able to help so many as call on him in spirit & truth. The God's of the Gentiles are not able for to help thenselves, neither do they hear ony man, that cal on them, as we may perceive by the priests of Baal. Oure God lastethe forever & ever even worlds worlds without ende. The God's of y ^e Hethen perish and are more vain than the smoke. Thus se ye, what a God we have. None either in heaven, earth or hell is able to compare w ^t this our God. He alone is good, merciful. gentle, patient, long suffering, almyghty, righteous, omnisufficient, plenteous of power, & full of all good. In him all things abunde, nothing wanteth. He is y ^e omnisufficient protector & valeāt defender for all them, that repose their affiaunce and trust in him. Who therefore will not have a pleasure to serve this God? Who is so mad to forsake this God, & to follow ony other? Who being godly minded will not seek the glory of this God? even frō the very heart? Who having but a carnell of Christian salt in his breast, will not hāge wholly on this God, as alone altogether sufficient for the faithful abundantly in all things whereof they have need, either pertaynyng to the soul or to the body? Cursed be that mā, that putteth his trust in man, & that takethe flesh for his arm, & he, whose heart depart the from the LORDE. For he shall be like the Heath, that groweth in the wilderness. As for the good thing that is for to come, he shall not se it, but dwell in a dry place of the wilderness, even in a salt & vnoccupyed londe. O but blessed is the mā that putteth his trust in the LORDE, & whose hope the LORDE is himself. For he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters side, which spreadeth out the root unto moystnes whom the heat cannot hurt whē it cometh, but his leaves are grene & in the time of drowte shall he not be careful, neither shall he cease at ony time to bring forth his • ruite.

Secondely ye shall note, that after God hath described him self to be almighty, that is, passynge all other in power, it is so great, infinite, & immeasurable, he expresseth the duty of so many as will serve him, as they ought. WalKe before me, saith he, and be perfect. Loo here is your flour Pure Innocency. He that observeth this precept of god, can not displease, err or offend, butte work pure innnocency before god. WalKe before me, saith he, & be perfect.

What meanethe God by that I pray you?

To walk before God is to serve him according to his word, so purely and innocētly, as though GOD himself were ever present before our eyes.

This is a hard thing.

The yoke of Christ is sweet, y ^e burdē is light, neither are his precepts heavy. For where the spirit of the LORDE is, there is liberty. And if the son hath made you free, than are ye truly free. And if ye be endued with strength frō above, than is nothing hard, but all things easy thorough the spirit, that worketh in you.

I pray you declare unto us, howe we may walk purely & innocētly before God.

To walk before God is on such sort to institute our life, as he hath appointed ī his holy scripture, & not as carnal reasō imaginethe, or good zeal w ^t out knowledge deviseth contrary to y ^e prescripte of God's word, as we have seen here to fore in our mōstruous Mōckes, which laborīg to establish their own righteousness, were not made obedient to y ^e justice of God. That ye may walk before god, certain things are to be observed, first y ^t ye have a sure, cōstāt, steadfast, true & lyuysh faith, to believe y ^t , which y ^e holy scriptures tech of god, & of his works. Ye herd y ^e God is oīpotēt, almighty, plenteous in power, abūdāt, o • sufficient, full of all good: needy of nothing. This must ye believe undoubtedly, if ye will walk before God. Ye herd also, y ^t as God is able, so will he help so many as call on him in spirit & truth. Thisalso must ye believe w ^t out ony hesitaciō or doutyng. For w ^t out this faith no man can please god, nor come unto him aryght. For this faith is y ^e foūdacion and ground of the christen religion. This faith maketh a christen man. Thys faith maketh us the sons of light. This faith provoketh and callethe unto God. This Faythe trustethe not in her own righteousness and good works, but on the promises of God. Thys faith maketh us to be borne of God. This faith mitigatethe y ^• wrath of God. Thys faith obtayneth all good things of God, as it is wryttē, he that believeth on him hath everlasting life. Beleue in y ^• Lord, saith the scripture, & ye shall be safe, & w ^t out ony danger. Agē, Everyone y ^t calleth on y ^e name of y ^e lord, shall be safe For there is but one, LORDE of all, sufficiently rich for so many as call on him. This faith maketh us the sons of God, as y ^e Apostle saith, all ye are the sons of God, because ye have believed in Christ Jesus. Agayne So many as receive him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, in as much as they believed in his name. This faith maryeth us to God, as he him self testifyethe, I will marry the unto me in faith, and thou shalt know that I am the LORDE, Thys faith purifieth our hearts. This faith overcometh Satan. This faith vanquissheth y ^e world. This faith maketh us the Temples of the living God. This faith will not suffer us to be confounded. This faith bringeth to us the mercy of God in all our aduersite. This faith is the fulfilling of God's cōmaūdemētes. This faith maketh us the enheritours of the earth, & possessors of God's holy mountain This faith maketh us to vnderstonde the truth. This faith causeth that hell gates cannot prevail against us. This faith iustifyeth us. This Faith bringeth all good things unto us. This faith as S. Agustine saith, is the beginning of man's health, without this no man can reach or come unto the number of the sons of God with out this all the labor of man is frustrate & void. This Faythe, as S. Ambrose saith, is the root of all virtues, and that thou byldeste on this foundation, that alone profyteth unto y ^e reward, of thy work fruit & virtue. This faith, saith he, is rytcher thā all treasures, stronger thē all corporal power, & more healthful than all Phisicions. This faith, as Chrysostom saith, is a lamp. For a lamp lyghteneth the house, so doth faith the soul. This faith of the Catholyke religion, is the light of y ^e soul, the door of life the foundaciō of everlasting health. Thus se ye, what an excellent treasure this christen faith is, without the which by no means ye can walk worthily before the LORDE our God.

Moreover this your faith must be conjoined with a reverent fear toward God. For the fear of the LORDE, saith the wise man, is the beginning of wisdom, and expelleth sin. Withoute this fear no man can purely walk before God. For he that feareth God truly, feareth also to displease him, yea he sekethe all means possible to accomplysh the will of god, as the Psalmo graph saith, blessed is that man, y ^t feareth y ^e LORDE, for all his delight & pleasure shall be in his commandments. Unto this fear of GOD doth David exhort us, saying, fear ye the LORDE all ye that are his servants. For they shall never want y ^e fear him. The son honoreth the father, & the seruaūte his Lord, if I be your father, where is my honor? And if I be youre LORDE, where is my fear, saith y ^e LORDE of Hoostes? But this fear ought not to be a servile and bond fear, procedynge from an vnwyllynge heart, but a reverent & gentle fear flowynge out of love. Therefore with this your faith & fear, must ye also have a sincere & pure love toward God cōbyned, so that ye shall both truly believe in God, reverently fear him, & unfeignedly love hī. And this is it, that Moses wryghteth, and now O Israel, saith he, what doth the LORDE thy god require of the, but that y ^u shouldest fear the LORDE thy God, and walk in his ways, & love him, & serve the LORDE thy God in all thy heart & in all thy soul. Now have ye herd partly what it is to walk before God.

I pray you, what remaineth there behind?

After that ye have conceived in your hearts this faith, fear & love toward God thorough the operacion of the holy Ghoste, so that ye have entered the pathe way of our LORDE god, now doth convenient time require, that ye walk not only secretly but also openly before God, tha • is, that ye do not only inwardly in your hearts believe in God, fear& love god, but also that ye outwardly show forth this your faith, fear & love buried within you by external works, that men seeing your godly conversation, may then glorify your father, which is in heavē For this is to walk before god, evē to believe ī god, to fear god, to love God, and to lede an innocent life according to his holy word. Without this innocency & purite of life, I se not what all faith, fear or love profit. Followe your LORDE God, saith Moses, fear him & keep his cōmaūdementes, & hear his voice, ye shall serve him and cleave unto hī. The Prophet Miche also saith, I will show the, O man, what is good, & what the LORDE requireth, of the, even to do judgment and to love mercy, & studiously to walk w ^t thy God. Here se you, y ^t if ye will walk before God, ye must do good deeds, lead a pure & innocent life, study to accomplyshe God's will, & in all points labor to fasshyon your manners after the rule of gods word. Farewell they that bost so much of faith, & yet are wicked in all their works. They profess to know god, as the Apostle saith but with their deeds they deny him, seeing they are abhominable, disobedient and vnapte to all good works. Such bosters of faith do not only slander the true & christē faith, which worketh by Charite, but also they deceive them selves, seeing they hope freely & only to be justified by thatfayth, which is barren, vnfruytfull & void of all good works. Let them crake so much as they lyste of their faith & love toward God, yet are they wicked gosp • llers. For y ^e love of god, saith saint Gregory, is never idle. For it worketh great things, if it be the love of god in deed, but if it ceaseth to work, than it is no love. Chrysostom also saith. The sons of GOD are not content to sit idle, but the spirit prouokethe them to take some great and commendable work in hand. Verily as impossible as it is for a good tree tobe w ^t out a good fruit, whā the time of the year cometh, so impossible is it for true faith to be without good and christen works. And as the spirit of God can none otherwise but do those things, that are pleasant before God, so in like manner a faithful mā, which is the son of god, cannot cease frō working y ^e will of god. Let these rude raylynge readers of the Gospel therefore be once ashamed of their faith & spirit, whereof so greatly they crake, seeing they are altogether vnfruytfull and w ^t out all good works. If ony man be in Christ, he is a new creature. He that abideth in me, & I in him saith Christ, bringeth forth moche fruit. And he that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, floods of lyuysh water shall flow out of his bely. Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. He y ^t hath not a lust & fervent desire to work the will of God, and to fasshon his life in all parties according to the holy law of God, undoubtedly he hath not y ^• christen faith, neither pertaineth he unto Christ, though he bablethe never so much of faith, of God, of Christ, & of all the divine mysteries. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Not everyone that saith unto me, LORDE, LORDE saith Christ, shall enter into y ^e kingdom of heaven, but he that doth y ^• will of my father, which is in heaven. Many shall say unto me, at y ^• day, LORDE, LORDE, have not we prophesied in thy name, & cast out dyuels by thy name, and wrought miracles by thy name? But than shall I say unto them I know you not. Departe from me ye workers of iniquity. He that hath my commandments & kepethe them, he it is y ^t loveth me. If ony mā loveth me, he will keep my word, & my father will love him, & we will come unto him, & dwell with him. But he that loveth me not, kepethe not my words. God hath not shown to us his manifold kindness, that we should live dissolutely and without all good order (for so were we unworthy ony kyndenes at all) but that we should earnestly & with all diligence ēploy our selves to work his will, to satisfy so much as lieth in our power his godly mind, and to walk in all our conversation & living, as his dearly beloved son w alked. If he did not spare his only begotten Son, but gave him for us all even unto the death, how unkind creatures might we righteously be recounted, if we should not study with hearty minds to accomplysshe his holy precepts? Are they worthy to be called children, which neglect their fathers will, & so greatly dissent from their Fathers manners? Oure celestial father is holy, & shall we his children be profane and unholy? Our celestial father is good, godly, merciful, patient, & all spirit, & shall we his children be evil, wicked, rygorous, impacient, & all flesh? Be ye holy, saith he, for I am holy. Certes god hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctificacion. Nether hath he delivered us from Satan & his army, that we should live wyckedly, but practice pure innocency & true godliness in all our life, as Zacharias the Preste father to S. John̄ Baptist saith: He hath performed the oath, which he sware to our father Abraham, for to give that we delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve hī without fear all the days of our life in such holiness & righteousness as are acceptable before him.

Thus se ye that if we will walk before God, we may not only believe in God, fear & love God, but also lead a pure & innocent life, be plēteous in good works, & altogether studious of true godliness.

But I pray you, why doth y ^e scripture use this term, WalKe, rather than ony other?

It is not without a cause: Ye know, he that stondeth still, moveth nothing forward nor hasteth not unto the end of his journey. But he that walketh is ever going, & draweth alway nearer and nearer unto his journeys ende. In consideracion whereof, the holy Scripture vsethe this word, WalKe, to put us in remembrance, that if we have begun well, in our professiō, we should not there cease & stonde still, but go forth frō virtue to virtue, from faith to faith, until at the last we attain unto y ^e perfecciō of pure innocency. For he y ^t continueth unto ende, saith christ, shall be saved. Agē, be faithful unto the death, and I shall give the the crown of life. This word we read in diverse places of the holy Scriptures, Christ saith, walk while ye have light, that the darkness doth not overwhelm you. For he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goethe. S. Paul also saith, walk as the childrē of light, prouyng what is acceptable to the LORDE. Agayne, loke that ye walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise, redemynge the time, for y ^• days are evil. Hytherto pertaineth y ^e saying of S. John, he that saith leth in Christ, ought to walk even as he hath walked. These places w ^t all other such like declare to us y ^t we ought so to walk in our profession by encreasynge daily in virtues, that at the last we may be perfect, & as S. Paul saith, make every man perfect in Christ Jesus. And this is it, that followeth ī the latter ende of the sentence. And be perfect. For we ought so to walk, that is, increase in all godliness, vertu & honest, that we might be perfect, as Christ saith, be ye perfect, as youre heavenly father is perfect. Also Saynte Paul, Reioyse and be perfect. It is one degree of vertu to love my neighbor, but it is an higher degree to love mine enemy, but the most excellent degree above all, is so to love our very enemies, that we can be contented not only to do them good, but also evē to give our lives to wynne them unto Christ. It is a point of mercy • to help my poor neighbor with my superfluous goods, but it is a point of perfeccion to sel all that ever I have, & to give it to y ^e poor as Christ said to the rich man, If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell all that thou haste, and give it to the poor, & thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, and come on thy way & follow me. It is a point of godliness to bear an honest heart toward the word of God, yet it is much more, openly to confess it boldly before men, but the very perfect point of godliness is, not only to love & confess it, but also manly to abide by it, evē unto y ^e very death, if need so requireth. Now therefore evē unto y ^e most & greatest perfeccion in all things ought we to contend & labor, that we may walk before God, and be perfect.

I think there be but few, that attain & come unto this perfeccion.

This youre flour is in deed to the carnal man of a bitter and unpleasant savor, but to the spiritual & truly regenerate, it smelleth sweter thā ony rose.

God grant, that we may once be ancient in Christ.

Labor & God will help. Enter in at the straight gate. For wyde is the gate, & broad is the way, that leadethe unto destrucion, and many there be, which go in thereat. But streyghte is the gate, & narowe is the way, which leadethe unto life, & few there be, that find it. If ye will live and reign in glory with christ, ye must suffer with Christ, ye must take y ^• Cross of Christ & follow him. Ye must cast away all the vain pleasures and pomps of the world, the concupiscences & lusts of the flesh ye must mortify, Satan & all his subtle suggestiōs ye must manfully resist. Ye must die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. For christ did not enter into glory, before he had suffered, & think ye the gates of heaven to be openned for you, if ye live in this world in joy, pleasure & after y ^e flesh? Na verily ye may be sure. For y ^e Apostle saith if ye live after the flesh, ye shall dy. But if ye mortify the deeds of y ^e body in y ^e spirit ye shall live. And this is it, that remaineth of your flour. And I will make my couenaunte between me and the, and will multiplye the beyond all measure. God commaundynge Abraham to walk before him, and to be perfect addeth this promise aforefayde, & hath undoubtedly accōplyshed it. Let us also work before God & be perfect, and y ^e promise also shall be fulfilled in us. God will multiply us beyond all measure both in this world, and in y ^e world to come, as Christ saith, there is no man y ^• hath forsaken house, or father & mother, or brothers, or wife, or children for the kingdom of heavē, but y ^• shall receive moche more in this time, and in y ^e world to come everlasting life.

GOD grant us so to walk, that we may be found worthy this eternal life.

well neighbors, seeing that God is almyghty, plenteous in power, abundant, omnisufficient, full of all good, needy of nothing, liberal, gentle, merciful, ready to help at every hour, & wholly bente to beatifye and make welthye so many as call on him in spirit and verite, whom would it not delight to do seruyse unto such a LORDE, & to walk before him and to be perfect, seeing that for our seruyse doing he will increase and multiplye us, that is to say, give us in this world abundance of all things necessary for this our life, & in the world to come everlasting glory?

This is a sweet flour, that ye have now given us.

I beseech God, that we may smell well of it.

Yea and that the savor may longe continue in us.

To that I say Amē. For if this come to pass, ye may be sure to have the favor both of God and man, which of all treasures is the greatest. And of this shall ye not fail, if ye labor to walk before God and be perfect, which I cal, Pure Innocēcy, He that is pure from sin, and innocent or harmless in his conuersaciō, he must needs find grace and favor in the eyes both of god and of all men. Therefore dere brothers cleave stedfastlye to this one very God almyghty by true faith, as y ^e only Author of all good things, fear him reverently as a beneficial LORDE, love him tenderlye as a gentle Father, and so walk according to his most divine pleasure in clennes of life and pure innocency without ony faynynge, dissimulacion or Hypocrisye, that ye may in this world be governed of him in all your Acts thorough his most holy spirit, & in the world to come enjoy the glory eternal.

Amē good LORDE.

Your duties learned toward youre selves & god, I will now declare how ye ought to be have yourselves toward our most Christian & excelente Kynge, and all other rulers that are sent of him. And this shall be the third flour of your Nosegay.

Never in better time. It cometh well in place. Let us se it, I pray you.

YE remember, I am sure, y ^• name of your third flour.

Ye named it, Faythfull Obedience.

Well remembered. Hold here it is. Let every soul be obedient to the pouers that bear rule For there is no power but of God. The powers that be, are ordened of GOD. Therefore who so ever resistethe the power, resistethe the ordinance of God. And they that resist, shall get to them selves damnation. &c. Howe doth the aspecte of this flour please your eyes?

It is not only pleasant to the eye, but it also giveth a goodly odoriferous & comfortable savor to so many as smell on it with purged noses. For it showeth howe we ought to behave our selves both toward our most redoubted Kynge, & all other rulers, which are sent of him unto y ^e praise of them that do well, but unto the punishment of them that do evil. They therefore y ^t are faithful subjects must needs rejoice ī this flour unfeignedly.

Well said. Althogh neighbors I do not doubt, but that in your conscience, ye are assuredly persuaded, that the christen magistrates and high powers do reign, rule, & have dominion, everyone in their kingdom, not of their own tyranny, cruel violence and extorte power, butte of the authority of God's word, & the just appointment of the high celestial king for the great consolacion and comfort of his people, and for the innumerable commodities of the Christian public weal, which of their no less virtuous than righteous regiment & governance do ensue, yet for as much as in these our days there have risen up wicked & ungodly spirits which deny the office of the magistrates & high powers to be the ordinance of God, and affirm y ^t it can by no means stonde with the Gospel of Christ. I will first declare unto you & prove by y ^e holy scriptures, that the high powers are ordined of GOD, and that their office agre and in all points consent with the most holy word of God, yea and that it is so necessary that without this regiment and governance of the high powers, no public weal can remain in safe estate, no frendshyppe can be maintained, no faith can be regarded, no order cā be kept, no propriete of goods can be saved, no vertu can reign, no tranquilite cā consist, nor ony goodness continue, but all must needs grow out of order, and, as they say, go to havoc, unto the great disquietness and utter destruction of so many as dwell in such wyld, rustical, brutall & beast like realm, where no ciuilite of public order in mundayne things is observed. This once done, I will declare, what your duty is toward our most sovereign LORDE the king, and all the other rulers that govern under his dominion, that ye may live in this most florysshynge Realm like true and faithful subjects with obedient hearts and that not only for fear but for conscience sake, that by this means ye may both acquyre & get to yourselves quietness & rest, leadynge an honest and peasable life without ony disturbance, and also be an example to other, that they w ^t like obedience may be subject & serve our most christen Prince according to the will of God.

To show that the authority of y ^e magistrates & common officers is the ordinance of God, whereof may I rather take a beginning, than of the public weal of the Israelites? Whan God by his extent puissaunce & stretched out power had delivered the people of Israel out of their miserable servitude, wherewith they were grievously oppressed of the cruel and lyonlyke Tyraunt Pharaoh, did he not appoint Moses to be their ruler, gyde, captain & governor, that he having the preeminence & rule over thē, should safe cōduite thē, rule & govern thē after the will of God? Woulde he have done this, if it had been a thing unjust, unmeet & unlawful? Would he not rather have suffered his people to run astraye as masterless hoūdes and as sheep destitute of a sheppard or herdman without ony order? Dyd not Ietro also, a mā of great vertu, and replete with y ^e holy Ghoste, whan he saw Moses alone take all the pains in hearing the causes of the Israelites from morning until even, say to him these words? Look out among all thy people such as be wise men, & that fear GOD, and such as are true, and hate covetousness. Make these rulars over thē, some over thousands, some over hūdredes, over fyftye, and over ten, that they may always judge the people. Moses so did, & God approved his act. Here se we other magistrates & rulers appointed also to serve in the public weal besides y ^e head officer, which they also being lawfully chosen and set in office, are approved before God. After Moses were not Joshua, Othoniel, Aioth, Samgar, Delbora, Gideon, Abimelech, Thola, Iayr, Iepte, Samson, & at the last Samuel, Judges and rulers over the Israelites? Ware not all these approved to be y ^e just and lawful ministers of God. Dyd not Moses also before his death show to the people of Israel, that afterward God should give them a king of the number of their brothers, which should be their rulers as all nations have thorough out all the world? Do we not here learn that all Nacions at that time had kings, & that kings are appointed & chosen by the eleccion of god? This is sufficient for ony faithful heart to prove, establysh, & corroborate the authority of Kynges and other civil magistrates. But let us hearken more to the Scripture.

Whan Samuel waxed old and could no more judge the people for his age, he commonded that office to his sons Joel and Abia, which answered nothing to y ^e godly disposicions of their father, nether ordered the public weal aryght, but lived dissolutely, volupteously and wickedly, receauynge gifts, & peruertinge judgment, which caused the Elders & ancient of the people to assemble, & come unto Samuel, that he might appoint thē a king to rule over thē as all naciōs had. And did not Samuel shortly after at the appointment of God an noynte Saul king over▪ Israel? And frō that time in a manner until the coming of Christ were there not Kynges among the Israelites of their own nation according to the prophecy of Jacob? & at Christ's cōminge ded not king Herod although a stranger, reign among y ^e Jews? Do not all thes histories manifestly prove & approve y ^e office of kings & other magistrates to be y ^e ordinance of God?

Thos things are clerer than y ^e light.

I will now rehearse unto you certain manifest sētences & open texts of the holy Scripture, which shall evidently establysshe y ^e authority of y ^e high powers, that Satan himself shall not be able to prevail against it, much less his imps, which now of late are sprōg out of his diabolical side.

I pray you let us hear them.

Solomon speaking in the person of God, saith on this manner, thorough me Kynges reign, thorough me Princes make just laws. Thorowe me Lord's bear rule, and all Judges of the earth execute judgment. Agayne the wise man saith, hear O ye Kynges & vnderstond, give ear ye that rule the multitudes. For the power is given you of the LORDE, & the strength from the most high god. Are not these words plain enough, to show that the power, which the civil magistrates & head Officers have, is of God? as that noble king Jehoshaphat said to thē, whom he appointed judges of the londe in all the cities of Judah. Take hede, saith he, what ye do. For ye execute not the judgment of man, but of the Lord, and he is with you in judgment. Therefore let the fear of the LORDE be w ^t you, and do all thing diligently For with the Lord our God there is no vnryghteousnes, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts. god hī self also saith by the mouth of David, ye are God's, ye are all the sons ot the most highest. Dothe not god here plainly say, that the magistrates are gods, that is, such as bear the offices of GOD, as to maintain peace, justice and good order, to punysh sin & to defend the innocents. If they be the officers of God, & exercise his office, so that he approveth & alloweth their state and manner of living, howe can any man righteously condemn & reject their autho • ite & power Cursed be they, that knowledge not frō the very heart the high powers to be ordened of God, and that there fore they ought to be obeyed & had in perpetual reverence & honor.

They grant that in the old law it was y ^e ordinance of God to have civil magistrates, as Judges, Kynges, and other rulers, but now, say they, in the new Testament it is not lawful to have ony preeminēce or superiorite For christ saith, be not ye called master. For ye have but one master evē Christ. All ye are brothers. Agayne, y ^e kings of the Hethen have dominiō on thē, and they that bear rule over them, are called gracious Lord's. But ye shall not be so. But the greatest among you, shall be as the youngest, and the cheffest as a servant, Lo, say they, here is all dominion and temporal power forbyddenne among Christian people, and equality of power proponed & set forth to all men.

And that we should doubt no thing hereof, we have, say they a manifest example of Christ the teacher of all verite, which, whan the people would have made him king. fled away from them, & by no means would enjoy y ^e office, although being the very Messias and true annointed king of y ^e Lord Moreover he said to Pylate, my kingdom is not of this world.

O blind ignorancye, and ignorant blindness, with what eyes do those Owls loke on y ^e holy scripture? w ^t what spirit doth that generation of vipers search and judge y ^e most sacred word of God? With how filthy & vnwasshed feet do those swynysh and beastlike parsonnes enter into the sweet and pleasant fountaynes of y ^• most pure scriptures? O Lord GOD, what dareth not blind Bayard attempt & take in hand? Christ came not into this world to reign, but to serve, not to be a temporal, but spiritual king, not to rule with the sword, but w ^t the breath of his mouth, not to execute judgment on other, but to be judged hī self, not to live as an erthly Prince, but as a ghostly minister of God's word, not to • lea, but to be slain. Therefore was it convenient, that he should fulfill his Fathers will, for the which he came down, & that once done to ascend & go up again unto the glory of his father. Which all these things he did: living all the time y ^t he was in this world humbly and mekely, shewynge ever obedience, reverence & honor to the magistrates although Hethen, even unto y ^e very death. And as he came to serve and not to be served, to obey & not to be obeyed, so taught he his disciples whan they began to contend of superiorite, to be humble, lowly, meek, gentle, obediente, and not to go about ony temporal primacye, which only pertaineth to the civil magistrates, but to be content w ^t their office, which was to preach God's word, to open the mysteries of Christ's kingdom, to reprove the world of sin and unfaithfulness, to fight with the swerd of gods word, to use not carnal but spiritual armors, to bring a gain such as were gone astraye. To be short, wholly to be bent to enlarge the kingdom of God, and the glory of Christ's Gospel. This destroyeth not, but rather magnifieth the authority of y ^e high powers, seeing Christ willed them not to take vpō them the office of temporal regiment contrary to equite, but only to be as servants & dispensatours of the mysteries of GOD. And come of a good felawshyp, did Christ at ony time show him self disobediente to the public magistrates & head officers? Dyd not he confess that y ^e power, which Pylate y ^e Judge had over him, was given him from above. Note that well, I pray you, and bear it away. Dyd not he also pay tribute to Caesar, & willed other to do so likewise? Dyd not y ^e Apostles also show themselves obedient to the high powers in all points, yea and taught other mē so to do? Ther is no power, saith S. Paul but of god. The pours that be, are ordenned of God. Therefore who so resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist, get to thē selves dānaciō. s. Peter also commandeth us to honor the king & to be subject to him as supreme head, & to the other rulers that are sent of him. For this is the will of y ^e Lord, saith he. Are not all these authorities alleged out of the new Testament? Have we not here both manifest texts & also evident examples to approve the office and state of the high powers, so that it is now of no less authority, than ever it was before, but rather greater and stronger, seeing it is now also confirmed and establysshed by Christ & his Apostles? Let y ^e adversaries of this ordinance of GOD learn to be ashamed, confess their disobedience, become subject and give reverence & honor to all head officers as to the ministers of god, even from the greatest to the least. For so is the will of God, saith the scripture.

It will be objected of these order destroyers: we wulde gladly hear by the scripture, if ony christē man, that had received the faith of Christ, did ever bear rule & exercise temporal dominion over his Brothers.

What is this? What do I hear? May not a christen man execute that office, whereby virtue is maintained & vice exiled? Is he not more fit to be a ruler that beleuethe in the true God, feareth him, seeketh his glory, embraseth virtue, hateth vice, loveth his neighbor, tendereth the common wealth, & seeketh in all points to be a father among his subjects, thā such one as believeth in Idolles, feareth them, seeketh th • yr glory, despyseth the alone true God, hate the virtue, embraceth vice, oppressethe his neighbor, tearethe the common wealth ī peses, & showeth himselfe ī all things a cruel Tyraunt among his subjects? What furious Erinnys hath invaded and troubled y ^e brains of these vnresonable creatures to resist the public Magistrates and to condemn their authority, which they have received of God? But let these honest men, & GOD will, tell me, was not Abraham, Iosephe, Judas, Moses, Joshua, Gedeō Samuel, David, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, Josiah, w ^t many other Christian & faithful men? Yet did they execute the office of Magistrates & were high powers, in deed allowed before God, working that, which was good in his sight?

They were faithful, • aye they we g • aūt, but not christen.

O monstures as though it were one thing to be faithful, and another to be christē. Difference is there none between them & us, but this only, that they believed in Christ to come, and we believe that Christ is come, & hath fulfilled the prophecies of the holy mē ghostly enspired. All, saith S. Paul (he speaketh of the fathers of the old Testament) did eat all one spiritual meat, that is to say w ^t us, & all did drink the very same drink of the spiritual rock, which accompanied them, & Christ was y ^• rock. It is a good consequence therefore, that it is all one church both of them that believed than in Christ & of them, which are now, which church is gathered together ī one & the very same spirit, so y ^t they be a like faithful & christē, having one faith, one professiō, one religiō, one God, one Lord, one savior, & one hope. But I will come to y ^e new Testament. Was not Nicodemus, Joseph, & y ^e noble mā which was Chāberlayne & of great authority w ^t Cādace y ^t queen of y ^e lōde of y ^e Moriās, which was baptized of Philip, & received into Christ's flock, christē & faithful mē? Yet were they magistrates. Was not Cornelius which called Peter unto him, & was baptized of him, a christē mā? Yet did he use public offices. Was not Sergius Paulus, Erastus, w ^t divers other christē mē? And yet officers in y ^e commonwelth?

All these things are true.

Well thā let us conclude if it were lawful at y ^e time for a Christianmāto bear rule ī y ^e cōmō well hou is it now become unlawful, Is ony mā more fit to reign & rule among christē mē, thā he which is of y ^e same profession, faith & religiō? Is it convenient for the wicked & unfaithful to have dominiō over y ^e righteous & christē, rather thā they, which desire nothing more thā the glory of god, & the health of their Christ̄ brothers? O extreme blindness. If that should come to pass, who wuld not wish rather to be an unfaithful painim thā a faithful christiā? Behold to what point these wicked order breakers bring the Christian religion, while they will seme to fight most chefelye for the glorious furtherance of it? O foxysh Hypocrites. Who perceyueth not their subtylite? Who smellethe not theyre craft? Who espyeth not their false hode? Whyle they go about to syn without punishment, to have all things in common, to live of the sweat of other mennes brows, to live freely in all kind of beastlike pleasure, to defile other mennes wives, maidens, daughters & servants. &c. behold to what point these gross • Gospellers, these shameless Schismatykes, these brutall bely God's, bring the public wea • e of Christendom. God moughte once root • such Pestilences out of the earth, that we may according to our duty withe all submission of mind, & faithful obedience, honor and magnify y ^• pyblique Magistrates.

Thus have I neighbors, grossly but faithfully, rudely but truly proved to you by the infallible verite of God's word, that the high powers are ordained of God, and y ^t their office pleaseth God, & is agreeable in all points w ^t the holy scriptures both of the old & new Testastament.

Now according to my promise will I in three words, as they say, declare howe necessary the office o • the public magistrates is for the right institution & prosperous preservation of the common weal.

I pray you let us hear.

The office of the high powers evidently declareth, what innumerable commodities & pleasures y ^• christē public weal receueth by thē. Moses, whan he appointed certain rulers over the Israelites, commanded thē that they should judge righteouslye, & that they should not be parciall in their judgments, but hear all indifferently, not estemyng nor preferrynge the man of power and nobilite before the poor & base per • on, nor yet fear the personne of ony man, for it is the judgment o • GOD, saith he. Agayne, that they should receive no gifts (for gifts do blind the eyes of the wise, & deprave the causes of the righteous) but alway pursewe & follow that, which is according to justice, hau • ever with them the boke of y ^e law of the LORDE, read it all the days of their life, that they may learn to fear the LORDE their God, and to keep all the words of his law, & ordinances thereof, that they may do them. The Prophet Jeremiah also commaūdeath kings & other rulers to minister righteousness, to deliver the oppressed from violent power, to keep equite not to grieve nor oppress the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, nor yet to shed innocent blood. Here may ye se in few words, how necessary the office of the public magistrates is for the right institution & prosperous preservation of the common weal. Howe expedient is it, think you, in matters of cōtrauersy, that all things be judged & reconciled according to equite & justice? How necessary is it, that y ^e poor oppressed be delivered frō y ^• violent blood soupers? How convenient is it, that the stranger, widow & fatherless be holpen & provided for? How profitable is it, that unite, concord, love benevolence, frendshyppe, amite be maintained? and debate, discord, strife, maleuolence, ire, wrath, contencion, hatred, emnite be exiled? How necessary is it, y ^e virtue reigneth, & vice be banished? How semely is it, that an order be kept, & confusion driven out of the public weal▪ By the godly office & authority of y ^• high powers all these good things are brought to pass, and without that, what can there remain in ony public weal ī safe estate & comely order? As Salomō saith, where there is no governor, there the people must needs decay. But where as are many that can give council, there is wealth, as Chrysostom saith, If thou takeste away the iudicial seats & the offices of the law, so hast thou utterly destroyed all the order of our life. And as if thou seperatest & pluckest away from the shyppe the master & stereman of it, thou hast drowned the shyp, & as if thou leadest away the captain from the army, thou haste made the Soldiers to be overcome of their enemies. So like wise if thou takest away y ^e rulers out of the Cyties, we shall lead a life more unreasonable thā the very brute bestes, ever snatchyng on • at another, bytynge & deuourynge one another, so that the man of the greater power shall subdue the poorer, & the bolder shall overcome the meker spirited. They therefore that go about to take away the public magistrates, may iustely seme to be y ^e most exstreme pestilēces of y ^e cōmō weal, & to destroy y ^t , which is no less profitable for our preservation, safeguard and health, than the son, fire, or water is, or what so ever can be rekened most necessary for this our needy life. For by them is public innocence, honest behavior, godly learning, virtuous knowledge, syncer erudicion, necessary arts, fruytfull occupacions, maintained. By thē we live in tranquilite & peace. By them we enjoy our own possessions w ^t out ony disturbance. By them we are preserved from all injuries & cruel oppressions. By them our Realms are defended frō the inuasion of cruel Tyrauntes. By them the glory of God floryssheth. By thē the Gospel of Christ triumpheth, & all sects & heresies are extyrped & plucked up by the roots. To conclude, by them God worketh his most divine pleasure in his elect & faithful people, & all good things chaūse unto us. For their iudgynge place is the throne of God. Theyr mouth & sentence is the organ and instrument of God's truth. They are the vicars of God. They are the lyuish Image of God. They are the ministers of God for our wealth. They represent the parson of God. They exercise the judgment ofy ^e LORDE. They are the fathers of the contre. They are the pastors of the people. They are the maynteners of peace. They are the rulers of justice, and patrons of all true innocency. They therefore, which will not approve, commend and allow the imperye, rule and dominion of the public magistrates & head officers, may worthily be judged twice frātyke, & to much estranged frō all kind of humanity. Thus have ye heard in few words, howe necessary the high powers are for the right institution & godly administracion of y ^e public weal.

We se now right well, that without they regiment & governance, nothing y ^t is godly & virtuous can stond, but all wicked things must needs sprīg up & arise in those Realms, where the public Magistrates want.

Truth it is, that ye say, well, now for the just & perfect accomplysshement of my promise heretofore made, I will declare consequently unto you, what your duty is • owarde the high powers, I mean, our most sovereign Lord y ^e king & all the other rulers, that govern under his most noble empyre and dominion.

I pray you hertely let it so be.

Ye remember well, I am sure, that your flour, which I I gave you last, is this. Lette every soul be obediente to the powers, that bear rule. &c.

We remember it well.

Here is Faythfull obedience required of you toward the high powers and rulers of the common weal. For as it is their office to rule, so is it our duty to obey, & that not faynedly but with sincerite of conscience & pureness of mind without ony dissimulacion or Hypocrysy. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordined of God. Therefore Who so ever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist, shall get tothē selves damnation. Butte I pray you mark, what your flour saith, Let every soul be obedience to the powers that bear rule. Note that it is said, Let every soul be obedient. Here se you, that no parson, be he spiritual or temporal, as they use to call them, is excepted from obedience toward the high powers. All are under subieccion. All owe obedience, fear, honor & tribute to the rulers of the commō weal. None is free from this subieccion. For every soul is here takē after the Hebrew phrase for all mē, & for so many as are reasonable creatures, borne & appointed to live under a law. So that the scripture here commandeth all men both spiritual & temporal, both godly and ungodly, both wicked & righteous, both perfect & imperfecte, to obey the magistrates & all such ordinances & laws, as are made of thē for the glory of God, & the commodite of the public weal, or else they accumulate & heap up to thē selves great dānaciō, as S. Agustine saith, who soever will not obey the laws of the temporal governors, which are made for the establyshemen • of God's truth, he getteth great damnation.

Are the spiritual persons bound to be obedient also to the high powers by the word of God?

Yea verily, there is not one Bishop nor priest within this Realm of Englonde, which oweth not so much obedience to the kings graces majesty, as the most inferior subject and vile temporal man doth. Neither doth this name spiritual, Archbishop, Patriarch, Cardinal, Bishop, Archedeacon, Suffragane, Preste, Decon, &c. deliver them from subiecciō & obedience, no more than this word, Tayloure, Shoemaker, Draper, Marchaunt, Innekeper, water tākerde bearer, Dawber, Cobbler▪ &c. doth Let every soul, saith the Scripture • be obediente to the poWers that bear rule, Here is none excepted, no not that Romish Porke, which challengeth so great authority over all parsons in the world, that he is not ashamed to suffer kings & Emperors to kiss and lycke his pockye feet. O shameless Antechriste. Theophilacte upon the aforesaid place of Paul wrytethe on this manner: Here he teacheth all men, saith he, that whither he be Preste or monk, or Apostle, they should be obedient to the Prynces and high powers: Where is onye excepcion now, I pray you? where are the pryuyledges, immunities, fredoms, & liberties now become, which the Butcher of Rome was wont to give so bounteouslye to his dere spiritual children, that they might sin w ^t out punyshment, be free from payenge tribute, exempte from all temporal iurisdiccion, • e Lord's & kings within them selves, hange and draw at their own pleasure, and do what so ever their beastlyke lusts coveted? Howe well followed they this doctrine of y ^e holy Ghost? Of what spirit, were they named spiritual, which so manifestly fight with the spirit of god? With what forheade durst they be bold to cal thē selves the successors of y ^e Apostles, seeing that contrary to y ^e teaching & practice of all true Apostles, they were disobediente to the high powers, robbed them of their authority, led them captive & made thē to serve their voluptuous and beastlyke pleasures.

Undoubtedly there hath ben great abusion in the Clergy concerning the temporal rulars.

It cannot be denied but thanks be to our LORDE God, which hath in these our days brought it to pass by the reuelacion of his divine verite, that our most christen Kynge, with certain other Prynces, hath very tryumphātely gotten again & recovered their authority givē them of God, whereof so many years they have unjustly be deprived by the furious tyranny of that most cruel Romish Bishop and his bloody whelps.

The holy scripture, I am sure taught them no such disobedience.

No verily. It rather teachethe them obedience, as ye heard before. For it is written, the king beareth rule over all, & he hath dominion over them, so that what so ever he saith to thē, they do it. Was not Aaron the high Preste obedient to Moses, whom God appointed rulare over his people, & did whatsoever he commanded him. Wasnot the high Preste Achimelech and all the other Prestes obedient to king Saul, & called them selves his servants, and him their Lord, not once resistyng the fury of the king, but rather chosyng to suffer death patiently under so great a tyraūt, than once to resist him disobediētly? What need I speak of David, Salamō, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, Josiah, Alexander, Demetrius, Antiochus. &c. which euerhad the Bishops, Prestes, Levites, & other spiritual ministers in subiecion w ^t out ony resistence? Howe can our spiritualte than be free from obedience & subiecciō?

Ye say truth But all these histories hitherto alleged, you have borrowed of y ^e old Testament. We would be glad to hear this thing proved by the authority of the new Testament. For there have been, neither yet want, which think it a matter of absurdite and a thing very vnsittyng, that temporal rulars should reign over the spiritualte.

O disobedient hearts. Dyd not Mary y ^e mother of Christ & Joseph obey the commandment of Augustus the Emperor, when y ^e whole world should be taxed and went into their Cyte Bethleē? Dyd not Christ himself teache obedience toward the high powers? Dyd not he pay tribute? Was not he content to die under y ^e temporal rulers, & confess y ^t their power was given them frō above? Dyd not the Apostles so in like manner both teache and do? Dydde not Paul willingly ever obey y ^e public magistrates Flestus & Felix. &c? Dyd not all the Bysshops and ministers of God's word so likewise do & teach ī y ^e primative Chirch, until y ^t wicked man y ^e son of perdiciō came, which exalted him self above all that is called God, in so much y ^t he syttethe in the Temple of God, bostynge him self to be God? But the LORDE shall slay him with the breath of his mouth, & shall put him to flyght with the clerenes of his coming. Let it come to pass, O LORDE, yea and that shortly.

Furthermore was not this the Commaūdement of Christ: Paye y ^t to the Emperor that is due to the Emperor, what is due to the Emperor, that is, to the temporal gouernoure, but obedience, fear, honor, tribute. &c. Howe than cann • any man be excepted from the obedience of the temporal power, be he called spiritual or otherwise? Let every soul, saith S. Paul, as ye heard before, be obedient to the powers y ^e bear rule. Agayne he saith warn them that they submyt thē selves unto Prynces & to the higher authority, to obey the Officers, S. Peter also saith, submyt youre selves to all manner of ordinance of mē for the LORDES sake, whither it be unto the king as unto y ^e chief head, or unto rulers, as unto them that are sent of him for the punyshment of evil doers, but for y ^e praise of thē that do well. For so is the will of God. Are not all these authorities selected out of the new Testament sufficient to declare what obedience all kind of people owe to the higher powers?

Yies in good faith, & that no man frō this true & faithful obedience is excepted.

Uery well said. So here do ye now learn▪ what is one point of your duty toward our most redoubted king, & other head officers

This is truly & faithfully w ^t all humility & submission of mind to be obedient unto them, & gladly to execute, perform & do, y ^e which they commaūde and require of us.

Than do ye perceive right well that as it is the office of the public magistrates for to rule, so is it your duty to obey.

We perceive that righte well, and that we may by no means resist the high powers, in as much as they are ordened of GOD. For who so ever resistethe the power, resistethe the ordinance of GOD. And they that resist, shall get to thē selves damnation.

It is well said. But I will now go forth to declare unto you, what your duty is more toward the high powers.

I pray you let it so be.

It is not only required of us by y ^e word of God, that we should be obedient to the head rulers, but also that we fear them. For Sayncte Paul among all other things, which we of very duty owe to the higher powers, rehearseth fear. So that it is our duty also to fear, unless we attēpte ony thing, that should derogate their pryncelyke authority, or in ony point displease them. For the rulers are not fear, saith he, to them that do well, but to thē that do evil. Wilte thou not fear the power? Do that is good, & thou shalt receive praise of it. For he is the minister of god unto thy wealth. But if thou dost that which is evil than fear. For he bearet he not the sword in vain. He is y ^e minister of God, a taker of vengeance to punysh him that doth evil. Wherfor • ye must needs obey, not only for punyshmēt but also for conscience sake. And this is it that Solomon saith the Kynge ought to be feared as y ^• roryng of a Lyō. Whoso provoketh him unto anger, offendeth agenste his own soul. Agen he saith, my son fear thou the LORDE & the king. Behold how he joineth the fear of God & of the King together because we should walk ever with a reverent fear toward him, always being afearde either to think, breath, speak or do, that should be contrary to the Kings graces pleasure. Howe grievously they have be punished that walked as seditious parsons without ony godly fear toward the public magistrates, the Histories of Dathan & Abyron, of Zambry & Baasa show manifestly. Neither have we wanted experience of this thing now a days. For what, I pray you, hath ever ben muttered or secretly conspired against the kings graces majesty at ony time either among men of nobilite, or yet of the baser sort, y ^t hath not come to light, & wrought destruction to the Authors thereof? This is undoubtedly the provision of God. GOD defendeth his ministers, as a good master doth his servants. God waytethe upon the Kynges graces health. He defendeth him from his enemies. He kepethe all his bones, as the Psalmograhe saith, that not one of them shall be broken. He hath nonebred the hears of his head, so that not one of them shall perish without the good will of our heavenly father. He hath w ^t out doubt hitherto, & shall continually preserve his most gracious majesty from all the crafty conspiraciōs & subtle assaults of all his enemies, so that they shall never prevail against him, but his grace shall ever be preserved in safe estate, & have perpetually the tryūphant victory over all his enemies unto y ^• great glory of God, the fruytefull promocion of Christ's Gospel, and the prosperous tranquilite & wealth of all us his most loving subjects. For as it is impossible to hynder or let the course of y ^e Son or moon so is it impossible for thē to escape, which imagyne or work ony violence or treason against his grace. Certes there is no evasion nor way to escape, as the wise man saith. For God alway preserveth his ministers, and will not suffer them to escape vnpunysshed, that cōtēne disobey, or labor to destroy his ordinance, Woulde God therefore that all men would remember this saying of the preacher: Wysshe the king no evil in thy thought, and speak no hurt of the rytch in thy priuye chamber. For a byrde of the air shall betray thy voice, and w ^t her feathers shall she bewray thy words. There is nothing hyd, y ^• shall not come to light, neither is there ony secret, that shall not come to reuelacion.

If they would set before the eyes of theyre mind this most godly & wise sentence, than should they never offend, but ever fear once to think ony thing that should be prejudicial to y ^e kings graces honor.

Ye say truth. Prouyde therefore that ye yourselves remember it well, & ever set before your eyes this fear, and that not constraynte, seruyle, bond or churlysh, but reverent, gentle, obsequious, willing, yea & even such a loving fear, as a dear Son hath toward his most hertely beloved father, so that ye would fear to offend though there were no law nor punyshment at all, even for the love that ye hear toward virtue, true innocencye & purite of life. If ye have this fear, ye shall easily have the true obedience & all other things, which most of all become faithful & loving subjects. And without this fear know that ye can none otherwise but precipitate & throw headlonge yourselves into all kind of mischefe, parell, danger & destruction.

God mought en grasfe in our hearts this reverent fear toward our most excellent Prince, that we by no means may offend hī neither in thought, word nor deed.

Amen, good LORD I beseech the.

Moreover besides this obedience and fear, we owe also to the high powers, honor, as S. Paul wytnessethe in the aforsayd text. And S. Peter saith, honor all men, love the brotherhead, fear God, honor the king. Here are we also commanded to honor the king.

What meaneth the scripture by that, I pray you?

To honor the king, is not only to pretend & show an outward humility & humble obeysaunce toward him, as by putting of our cap to him, reverently to speak to him, to knele unto him, to grant him freely & willingly what so ever he requireth of us, but also with heart & mind to wish well unto him, to desire all good & prosperous things unto him, to pray for him, to desire longe life unto him, to pray that God may rule & govern all his councils, enterprises & affairs, to watch diligently y ^t no harm, disturbance or incommodite chaūse unto him, and in all our acts either public or private, open or secret, to seek the honor of him, as of our most sovereign LORDE. This honor shown David to king Saul, which knowing Saul to be his utter enemy, & one that sought his life, would notwithstondynge so much as once hurt him, nor yet suffer ony other to do it, although he had sufficient oportunite & occasiō divers times to have slain hī, if he had been so minded. The Lord forbid me, saith he, y ^• I should lay mynhand on him. Agen, kyl hī not. For who saith he, shall lay hands on the LORDES annointed, and be not gyltye? The LORDE lyuethe, he dieth not, except the LORDE smite him, or that his day be come to die, or else go to battle, & there perish He also afterward commanded y ^e young man to be slain, which came & told him, that he had killed king Saul, thynckynge by this menes to have picked a great thanke or obtained some beneficial reward at David's hand. Here was true honor. For it is not lawful for any mā being a subject to arise agēst his Prince, & to avenge his own quarrel, be he never so much a Tyraunt, or sustayneth he at his hand never so great injuries & wrongs, but patiently to suffer all things, yea rather death, thā he should once resist, leaving the vengeance unto him, which saith, vengeance is mine, & I will reward. For he that resisteth the ordinance of God, getteth to him self damnation. And they that dishonor the high powers, shall fall into ignobilite, & prove a miserable end.

They therefore dishonor greatly the magistrates, which e • cite & store up sedicions, make cōmotions, & trouble the trāquilite of the common weal, wysshing that there were no temporal governor over thē, but that they might licēciously do what so thē lusteth.

Such sekers of carnal & best like liberty hitherto have, & still shall receive a reward worthy their labor. But learn you (most dear brothers) utterly to reny & forsake the pestiferous & wicked manners of such seditious Scismatykes & disobedient Rebellions, and study unfeignedly to give that true obedience fear & honor to our most christē & boūteous Prince, y ^t the scripture requireth of us, as I have taught you before, and to so many also as are appointed of him to rule under his graces dominion. So shall ye both please God, and also lead a good and quiet life in this world.

God forbid that the contrary should be found in us.

Now remaineth the fourth thing to be declared unto you, which all we subjects from the highest to the lowest owe to our most excellent king.

What is that I pray you?

Verily, trybute. For this causealso, saith S. Paul, must ye pay tribute. For they are God's ministers which maintain the same defense. Gyue therefore to every man his duty, trybute to whom tribute belongeth, custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear belongeth, honor to whom honor pertaineth.

I pray you, what mean ye by this word, tribute?

By tribute I understand all paymentes that are due to the civil magistrates, as tenths, fyftenes, rētes, tasks, subsidies, customs. &c. All these are we bound by God's commandment to pay without ony tumulte or grudgynge, & that not without a cause. For seeing that y ^• high powers take so great pains for to defēde us & to keep all that we have in safeguard against the violence of our enemies, agen to mayntayn vertu & to expulse vice, which thing cannot be brought to pass without prudent, wise & learned governors, it is expedient that we, which receive these commodities of them, do minister again unto thē freely, abundantly, and liberally, whatsoever they require of us for y ^• preservation of y ^• public weal and maintenance of their dignity. Neither can we deny thē this except we will transgress God's precept and fall into the danger of damnation, and show that we be most extreme enemies to our selves. For Christ willing to give us an example of this thing, paid tribute him self, and commanded other so to do, saying: Paye that which is due to Caesar unto Caesar, understanding by the name of Caesar every magistrate and temporal power generally.

And that the kings grace may lawfully without onye scruple or grudge of conscience take such charges of us as I rehearsed before, and that we ought not once to mutter against his graces pleasure & will ī this behalf, it is manifest by these words, which god spake unto Samuel: This shall be y ^e law or right of y ^• king, saith he, that shall reign over you. Your sons shall he take for his charettes & for horsemen to run before his Charettes, and to be rulers & Captains, to be plow men to till his londe, & to be repers in his harvest, & to make his harness, & such things as belong to his Charettes As for your daughters, he shall take them to be Apoticaries Cooks & Bakers. Your best londe & vyneyardes, and oylegardēs shall he take, & give unto his servants. Of youre seeds also & vineyardes shall he take the tithes, & give unto his Chamberlaynes & servants. And your servants & your maids & your best young men, & youre Asses shall he take, & do his business w ^t all. Of your flocks shall he take the tithes, & ye shall be his servants. Are not these words manifest and plain enough to declare what right, title, & power by the word of God, our most excellent Prince hath to challenge and require of us such costs & charges, as he sustaynethe for the common weal, & that all that ever we have, is at his commandment, & that we ought by no means to resist or say him nay.

They are more clear than the Son, & more open thē the light.

Yet have I heard some say, that we are made free by Christ, & ought to serve no man, nor to be charged with paymētes to ony parson, but all things ought to be common among christen men.

To answer unto every parte of this your sentence, requireth many words, & asketh much time. But to be short, know that who so ever mayntayneth that kind of doctrine, dissenteth much from the christen religion, corrupteth the word of God, soweth false teaching, huntethe a carnal liberty, and desireth to live in all kind of sin without punishment. Truth it is, y ^• we are made free by Christ, but this our liberty is spiritual and not temporal. By Christ we are delivered from y ^e dānation of the law, but not from the obseruaūce ofit. By Christ we are made free from the power of Satā sin, death, desperacion and hell, but not from the power of y ^• civil magistrates. By Christ have we received our manumission & freedom • from the condemnacion of all those things, into the which we were cast by the sīne of our first father Adā. So that by Christ we are spiritually made free, if we abide in his words, as we rede ī y ^e Gospel of John̄ & ī diverse other places of y ^• holy scripture. But this spiritual liberty maketh us not free from our obedience & duty toward the temporal power, to whom we owe both our selves and all that ever we have, as ye • eard before. For this were a thing of to much absurdite & contrary to all good order, & the teaching both of Christ & of his Apostles. Yea so should God be the Author of confusion & not of order, of dissension and not of concord. S. Agustine saith, if ony man thyncketh, that because he is a christen mā, he ought to pay no custom or tribute, nor show ony honor to the high powers, he falleth into a great error, & is very much deceived. S, Ambrose also saith, if the temporal gouernoure asketh tribute, we deny it not, let the londes of the Chyrche pay tribute. If the rulare desireth the londes, he hath power to challenge thē, let him therefore take thē, if he will, I give them not to the Emperor but nether do I deny them. Again he saith, it is a great & special document or point of teaching, whereby christen men are taught to be subject to the higher powers, because that no man should think that y ^• constituciō or ordinance of an erthly king ought to be losoned or broken. For if the son of God paid Tribute, of what great authority art thou, which thīkest that thou oughtest not to pay? Theophilacte also saith, that we corporally obey him, that hath power on our bodies, whither he be king or Tyraūt, it hyndrethe us no thing, that we should spirituallye well please the God of spirits. For Christ saith, pay unto the Emperor, y ^e which is the Emperors, & pay unto god that, which is God's. Mark that he saith not, give, but pay. It is, saith he, dette. Paye therefore thy dette. Thy Prince kepethe the frō thine enemies, & he causethe that y ^u lyueste in quiet. Thou therefore for these things owest tribute to him.

Thus se you proved both by the holy Scripture & the ancient Doctors, y ^t they, which profess Christ, are not so made free, but that they are bound to be subject & obedient to the high powers in all godly and decent matters. Agen, that all things ought not to be commō among them, or that they be excepted from such corporal charges, as y ^e rulers require of thē, but that they ought to pay tribute, custom, task, subsidye, or ony thing else, that is required of them by the temporal governors, seeing chefely it make • he so greatly unto their own auaūcement, profit & cōmodite. They therefore, y ^t deny these things or grudge to pay them, whan time requireth & occasion is given, verily they are far from true Christian men, and shall for their disobedience receive damnaciō, except they repent and amende.

God forbid, but that every man should pay with a willing heart, what so ever is required of him for the mayntaynaūce and conseruacion of the public weal.

Certes we were unworthy to live under the dominion of so puissaunte a Gouernoure, if we should not in all points satisfy even unto the vttermoost his godly and reasonable requests, seeing we have & still daily do receive innumerable commodities & pleasures at his graces hand.

The charges which the Kynges graces majesty sustayneth daily for the wealth of all us his subjects, are infinite, & far exceade y ^e vnexperte capacite of the rude simple people, as we may se before our eyes, & learn by the constant fame & common report of all men (as I may leave of to spea • e of y ^• byldyng of many Castels, Block houses, strong holds, Bulwarks, fortresses. &c. & of men appointed unto the defense of the same, with all things pertaynyng thereunto, again of the common Schools & the techers of thē, of sending forth Preachers into every parte of his Realm, of procurynge learned magistrates, of giving exhibicion to many virtuous & learned men, & of a thousand things mo, which his most gracious majesty doth for y ^e wealth of us, & for the conseruaciō of this his most florysshynge Realm) therefore ought we to suppeditate and minister again unto him abundantly what so ever his grace requireth of us at ony time, or else we grievously offend God, & walk not according to the order of Charite, but are manifest trāsgressours of God's most holy will, which commandeth us & all that we have to be subject to y ^e Kings graces pleasure.

This is truth, & nothing more true

I believe verily, that whatsoever the subjects have, are the goods of such a righteous and godly Prince, as we have now reynynge among us. Yea if the high powers were very Tyrauntes, and altogether unmerciful, yet might we deny them no thing at all of our goods if they required them of us, but deliver them up into their hands freely, to be used as it shall please them, being persuaded that it is for our sins, that God suffereth such Tyrauntes to reign over us & therefore ought they to be obeyed in all things, that fight not with the word of God, nor obscure the divine glory, though they seme to be never so full of tyranny & unmercifulness. But seeing we have such a prīce as loveth his faithful subjects nolesse, than a gentle father doth his natural son, cherisheth thē no less, than a nourse doth her child, preserveth them without danger no less than a trusty shepparde seakethe to keep his sheep from the rauenynge teth of the wolf, & utterly giveth him self altogether unto us & unto our commodite & profit, what should be the cause, that we might deny any thing to this our Emperor so merciful, so gentle, so boūteous, so prudent, so wise, and so circumspecte in all things, that pertain unto our commodite & wealth. To much beastlyke are they, y ^t consider not the bounte of so excellent a Prince. Blyssed is that londe, saith the wise man, whose king is a man of nobilite, & whose Princes eat in due seasō for strength & not for lust. But woe be unto that Realm, whose Kyng is but a child and whose Prynces are earelye at their Banckettes.

Thus neighbors have I declared unto you according to my promise your duty toward our most excellent king, & such as he appointeth to be governors under him. Loke therefore that ye be obediente unto them, fear them, honor thē, & pay what so ever is required of you. For unto all these things ye are bound by the holy Scripture, which if ye do, the blessing of God is upon you: If ye do not, the curse & vēgeaūce of God will fall on you, so that your ende shall be miserable both before God & man.

What soever ye have hitherto taught us, we will labor to the vttermoost of our power to fulfyl it in our quotidiane & daily conversation, that we may walk blameless bothbefore God and our Prince.

Now doth convenient order require, that I bring forth your fourth flour to you, seeing that hitherto ye have learned your duty both toward • yourself, GOD, and our Kynge.

I pray you let us se it.

BEholde here it is. Let every man look not for his oWne profit, but for the profit of other. Howe doth y ^e savor of this flour please you?

How so ever it pleaseth me, I think verily, the air & breath of this flour is so strong, y ^e few at this present time can abide the savor of it.

Why so? It is the saȳge of Saint Paul to the Philippians.

I know that well, but ye should rather have rehearsed this saying in y ^e same Epistle. All seek their own auaūtage, & not that, which is Jesus Christ's. For this flour do men now a days bear chefely in their bosom, as we may se by daily experience. Theyr noses are stopped, and they have lost one of their five wits, whan ony such flour is offered them for to smell upon, as ye have now given us. They have rooted other herbs in their hearts, upon whom they smell daily, even such as theyse are. Pecuniae obediunt omnia. Bonus est odor lucri ex re qualibet. Semper tibi proximus esto. Tantū fidei, quātum pecuniae. Nummi uirum faciunt. Virtus post nummos. Miser est, qui nūmos non habet. Quisquis habet nummos, secura nauiget aura Fortunam{que} suo temperet arbitrio. That is to say, all things are obedient to money. The savor of lucre is good, how so ever a man come by it. Be ever nearest & most friend to thyself. A man shall evē be so much trusted, as he hath money. Money maketh the man. Fyrst money, and afterward virtue. He is a wretch y ^t hath no money. Who soever hath money, may go where he lyste, & do what so ever he will at his own pleasure.

The savor of these flowers, hath so infected the senses of many now a days, that they cā by no means smell on this flour, which ye have now given us.

It is the more pytye. Not withstondynge neighbors, be not ye infected withe like pestiferous contagion. Remember your profession, and follow not the common fasshion, unless ye fall into damnation, and lose the favor of GOD.

Smel well on this your flour, Redy assistance. Let every man look not for his own profit, but for the profit of other. For seeing ye have hitherto learned your duty both toward yourself▪ God, & our king, ye must now learn also your office & duty toward youre neyghboure. For God hath also given us a commaūdemēt to love our neighbor. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, saith the scripture. That thou wilt not a nother should do to the, do thou not the same to him. And this commandment have we of God, that he, which loveth God, should also love his neighbor. For he y ^e loveth not his brother, whom he seethe, God, whom he hath not seen, howe can he love?

That ye might natiuely & unfeignedly on this sort love your • neighbor, I have selected this sentence of s. Paul to put you in remembrance of your duty. Let every man loke not for his own profit, but for the profit of other.

It is a very hard saying, & followed but of few iniquity doth so abound, & the love of many abateth and waxeth cold.

Me think, S: Paul would here have no man provide for him self, but for other. And this is contrary to his own saying, where he saith, If ony mā doth not provide for thē that do pertain unto him he hath forsaken the faith, andis, worse than an Infidel.

God forbid that ony contrariete should be found in the words of so noble & worthy Apostle. In your flour he doth not forbydde you, but that ye may with good conscience provide for yourself & for yours But to admonysh mē of this so streyghtly as of the other, it was not nedeful nor expedient. For we are naturally beent to seek our own profit, yea & that many times to the great hinderaūce & utter decay of our neighbor, neither need we a spurr to prycke us forward in this behalf. Which thing, S. Paul replete with gods spirit considering, exorteth men rather to seek for their neighbors profit, than for their own, meaning that they should not be so bent to seek their own auauntage, that they should utterly neglect the profit of their christen brother. For y ^e very same mind ought to be in us that was in Christ Jesus which being in the shape of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made him self of no reputaciō, & toke vpō him y ^• shape of a servant, became like a nother man, & was found in his apparel, as a man. He humbled him self, & became obedient unto the death, evē the death of y ^• Cross. Here is youre flour, Redy asistence. Here is an example that ye should be ready to assist & help your neighbor at all times. Howe did our most blessed Savior Christ utterly neglect & caste away, as I may so speak, his own glory, honor and worship, to seek our health, comfort & salvation? This ready assistance & help ought also to be in us, if we pertain unto Christ. For we ought to have y ^• care for our neighbor, that Christ had for us, or elles we walk not according to Charite. This ready assistance also se we in that Samaritan of the Gospel, which seeing a certain man spoiled, robbed, greuouslye wounded and half dead, had pytye on him, came unto him, bound up his wounds, poured in oil & wyne, & layenge him on his beast brought him unto an Inn, & made provision for him. Here is a nother godly example of ready assistance. Here is a mirror for all men to look in. Here is a pair of spectacles for to show every man, what his duty is toward his neighbor.

As how I pray you for an example.

Certes as this Samaritan did. To be bent at all times to help so many as hath need of our help, & to procure no less the health & furtherance of other, than of our selves. As for an example. Art y ^u a Judge, a Justice of peace, a Constable, a Baliffe, or ony other cōmō officer: So hast y ^u y ^e law in thy hand. Matters of contrauersye are brought before the. Look therefore, that thou iudgeste all things according to equite. Be not parciall. Fauoure not one parte more than another. Show indifferency. Do as right require. Gyue no wrong sentence, neither for fear nor love of ony parsonne. Practice none iniquity: Condemne not the innocent for lucres sake. Be not corrupt with gifts. Eate not the poor mā, neither devour thou his substance, but help to sustain him in his right against the violence of the wicked Tyrantes and cruel oppressors according to thy office, if thou dost this, than haste thou this flour, Redy assistance. about the, & dost to thy neyghboure, as y ^u art bound by the commandment of God. If thou dost this, that is, judge contrary to equite, suffer the poor to be oppressed for favor or lucres sake, or else because thou bearest a cruel heart and spytefull stomach against the parte, so gettest thou the great displeasure of God, & hepest up to thyself everlasting damnation.

Art thou a Bishop, pressed or spiritual minister of God's word? look than well to thy office. Remēber that it is thy duty reverently to minister y ^e most blessed Sacraments of Christ's Chyrche, and to preach the word of God to y ^• flock upon whom the holy Ghoste hath made the ouerseare, to govern the congregaciō of God, whom he purchased with his blood. Remember that it is said unto the, Pasce, Pasce, Pasce, feed, feed, feed. Fede there fore thy Paryshe with good example of virtuous living. Fede them w ^t the pure Evēgelion & true Gospel of Christ. Fede thē also w ^t corporal food thorough the mayntenaūce of hospitalite. Teache them to forsake all Idolatry & superstition, & only to cleave to the true & living God, the alone and omnisufficient savior. Teache them to honor & call on the name of their LORDE God in all their adversities and troubles. Teach them faithful obedience toward their superiors. Teache thē to love their wives as their own flesh, & to bring up their children & family in the fear & nourtoure of the Lord. Teach thē to labor for their living, & not to takeaway ony man's goods unjustly. Teache thē to testify the truth, & to bear no false witness. Teache them to be no man • lears, but to love all men with a pure heart. Teache them to live of their own, & not to couyt that which pertain to other mē. Teach them to walk straight in the path ways of the LORDE all the days of their life, unless the fierce plages & cruel vēgeaunce of God fall both upon the & them. Crye, cease not. Show to the people their sins, offenses, & wickednesses. Cōmaund the wicked to forsake his iniquity. Exhorte the rich man unto the glad & ready distribucion of his goods to y ^e poor people. Fede y ^e flock of Christ, so much as lyethe in thy power. Be an example of the faith full in word, in cōuersacion, in love in spirit, in faith, in purite & clennes of life. Gyue attendaunce to thyself & to doctrine, continue in these. Reproue them that sin openlie before all men, that y ^• other may be afeard. Kepe thyself pure, clean & honest. Suffer afflicciō & trouble as a goodsouldiour ofIesus Christ Study to show thyself acceptable to God, a workemā that needeth not to be ashamed, deuydynge justly the word of truth. Flye the lusts of yongthe, follow righteousness, faith charity peace with them that cal on the LORDE with a pure heart. Reproue the enemies of truth fearsely, that they may be whole in faith. Speak y ^u those things, that become wholesome doctrine, but above all things be an example to other of good works. Be not absent from thy benefice. Live not dissolutely at the vniuersite or else where. Be not that Spheppard and Idol, that forsaketh his flock, but give them meat in due time. Suffer not y ^e wolf to devour Christ's sheep, whom he bought with no less price, than with his own most precious blood. Defēd the glory of GOD, and not thine own dignity. Strive for the health of thy flock, & not for thy rytchers & possessions. The sinful of thy flock, exhort unto faithful repentance. The desperate provoke thou unto y ^• trust of God's mercy. The weak make y ^u strong. The diseased look thou heal. The bloody wounded look thou cure. The broken look thou make whole. The imperfecte, loke thou make perfect. The strong in Christ, loke thou make aūciente. To conclude, if thou be a true Bishop, a faithful ouerseare, a diligent Curate, a trusty shepparde, rather give thy life, & spend all the blood in thy body, than that one of y ^e least of Christ's flock should perish thorough thy faute. So mayst thou be sure, whan that Prince of sheppardes shall appear to receive the immarcessible crown of glory, if y ^u dost not these things, which hitherto I have rehearsed, than look thou for none other, but with that unprofitable servant to be cast into utter darkness, where wepynge & gnasshynge of teth shall be.

Art thou a rich man? So hath God set the in a perilous state, except thou be ware. To avoid there fore all danger, loke that with thy possessions & riches, thou helpeste thē that have need. For unto this ende hath God endued the with y ^• goods of this world. Be not proud for thy riches sake, nor put not thy trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. Be rich ī good works. Be ready to minister unto the necessity of other, y ^t want For God loveth a cherfull gyuer. Break thy bread to the hongrye, & lead in the needy & poor wayfaring into thy house, whā thou seest a naked man, cover him, & thou shalt not despise thy flesh. Geue to everyone that askethe, & from him, that will borowe, turn not away thy face, but lend him thy money, yea & that without ony vsurye. Join not house to house, nor lond to lond Couytte not to reign alone in a town. Suffer other mē to live by the, yea & that of their own. Help them to make provision for their family, y ^t they may keep the better hospitalite & be the more able to help the confortles. Let not out thy lōdes & houses on such price, that the fermers shall never be able to pay the, or else to do no good upon them So let them hyer thy fermes, that they may not be empoueryshed, as they are now a days for the most parte, but rather enryched, y ^t they may be the more able vertuouslye to bring up their children in good arts & godly sciēces, to help their poor neighbors, to keep hospitalite, & to bear the charges of the common weal for their portion, whan time requireth. For this shall make a florysshynge & wealthy Realm, abundāt in all things. Thus shalt thou also greatly please God, & he again for this thy boūteous liberalite shown toward thy neyghboures, will open his hand, blysse the & all that pertain unto the, favor the, & make the to be plenteous in all things. So that what so ever thou goest about, shall prosper & come unto a fortunate & good ende. Neither shalt thou need to doubt of theyse things. For God hath so promised, which cannot lie, but is faithful in all his words. If thou dost contrary hereunto, & abusest the riches, which god hath put into thy hand, & of whom he hath only made the his steward, so that thou art vnmercyful & hydest up thy treasure, & knoweste not for whom, & wilt by no means bestow them, as God hath appointed the, than be thou certain & sure, that like an unmerciful thief and cruel bloody Bocher, thou shalt be hanged in hell. The fire, wherw ^t thou shalt be tormented, shall never be quenched. The worm, that shall gnawe thy conscience, shall never die. The pains shall be infinite, nether shalt thou at ony time be releued of thē, but with that unmerciful rich gloton in the Gospel of Luke, lyghe cryenge & waylyng in perpetual torments worlds without end. Therefore beware betymes & say not but y ^t thou art warned.

To be short, consider withe thyself in what state & condition God hath set the, & use that ever unto y ^e glory of God and the profit of thy neyghboure. For know that what so ever God hath givē the, he hath given it the for the profytte of thy neighbor also. Hathe God given the strength? than must thou help the weakness of thy brother. Art thou wise, & eloquent? So must thou make good, that which wanteth of them in thy neighbor Art thou rich? So must thou comfort the needy. Art thou learned? So must thou instruct and teache the ignorant. Art thou a rulare? So must thou be favorable to thē of the inferioure sort. Art thou a mā of nobilite? So must thou not despise thē of ignobilite. Hast thou creditors and detters? So must thou not draw thē cruelly straight ways into the law, but favor them, entreat them gentylly, and give thē respyte, until they may • pay the conueniētly without danger or loss of their substance. Haste thou received ony talente or gift at all of God? Use that same to the profit of thy neighbor, & so shalt thou well please God. To make an ende, be the very same to thy neighbor, that God is to the. Consyder what kindness God showeth to the, & show thou the very same again to thy Christ̄ brother. And wilt y ^u hear me? Be even another Christ to thy neyghboure.

Thus much dere brothers, have I spoken concerning this youre flour, Redy assistance. of the which ye may easily learn to know youre duty toward your neighbor, and howe ye ought to behave youre selves in all points toward him according to the will of God.

Undoubtedly neighbor Philemō ye have given us many godly lessons. I beseech God, we may so walk in our conversation & in all our acts toward our neyghboure, that we may in all things follow and practice this your most godly doctrine, & be ready at all times both in thought, word & deed redely to assist & help our neyghboures, no less thā we desire that god should assist, help & socoure us, whā we have need.

It is very godly spokē. God gyueyou grace no less to do & work Now remaineth your last flour to be given to you.

I would very gladdely se it.

The very same also do I desire.

AT hand it is even here ready▪ Take it I pray you. Let Vs not love in word nor tongue, but in woke and truth.

This flour may be called Christian Charite in deed aright

It is not without a cause, that I have given you this flour. For the savor of all your aforsayd flowers profyteth without this but little. This flour is the very same to your Nosegay that a precious stone a costious pearl, a goodly owch, is to a ring or ony other Jewel. With out this flour all y ^e other will sone wyther away, & come to nought. But so longe as the beauty of this your flour lasteth, so longe cannot your Nosegaye decay & perish. Cā ony thing be good & godly, where love & Charite wantethe? And because ye should know, y ^t I mean none unfeigned love, I have named your flour, Christian Charite. For our Charite & love ought not to be carnal, fleshly, beastlyke, worldly, feigned, unclean & flyttynge, but spiritual, ghostly, christē, heavenly, true, pure, & abydyng for evermore. And this is that Christ̄ Charite, whereof your flour speaketh, Let us not love in word nor tongue, but in Work & truth. Withoute this Charite S. Paul affirmethe in his Epistle to the Corinthians, that no work, seme it never so good & godly, profyteth onye thing at all. Rede y ^• Chapter whā ye come home. Certes this Charite & christen love must needs be an excellent thing, seeing it is the ende of the Cōmaundement, & the fulfilling of all the law, seeing also that Christ in his last sermon, which he made to his Disciples a little before his passhon exorteth us with so many words unto it. S. John̄ fereth not so greatly to auaūce and commend Charite, y ^t he affirmeth God to be Charite, saying, God is Charite, & he that abydethe in Charite, abideth in God, & God in him. Unto this true and Christian Charite. S. Peter also mouethe us on this manner: Before all things, saith he, have fervent charity among you. For Charite covereth y ^• multitude of sins. And S. Paul saith, above all things have Charite, which is the bond of perfeccion. For he y ^• hath this christē Charite can none otherwise but love God with all his heart, mind, strength, power & soul. He can none otherwise but forsake the world, the devil & the flesh, & cleue to God alone as a true and faithful wife doth to her husbond. He will by no menes swear by y ^• name of his lord god, but reverence honor, worship & praise it. He will not break the Sabbothe day, but sanctify it according to the word of God. Agayne, he that loveth his neighbor sincerely, will by no means hurt him, nor work any evil against him. He will not disobeye his superiors. He will commyt no manslaughter, whoredom, theft, nor bear ony false witness nor yet couyt that, which should be hynderaūce to his neighbor, but he will gladly & with a free spirit do unto the vttermooste of his power, what so ever the Scripture requireth of him, as Christ saith, if ony man loveth me, he will keep my word, and my father shall love him, & we will come to him & dwell with him. He that loveth not me, keepeth not my words. He that hath my Commaūdementes & keepeth thē, he it is that loveth me, & he that loveth me, shall be loved of my father, & I will love him & show myself unto hī. How doth this youre flour please you?

I never smelled a sweter and more pleasant odoure in my life.

I pray you rehearse it once again.

Let Vs not love in word no • tongue, but in work and truth.

Is not this the saying of S. John in his Epistle?

Yies verily.

Me thinketh that he giveth here a cōmaundemente that we should not love in word nor tongue but in work & truth.

Ye say truth.

It is not lawful than for us to e • press the love that we bear in our hearts towards our neyghboure by manifest, open & evident words? as to speak gentylly, to common frendely, & to wish well with loving words to all men?

S. John in this place forbyddethe no more gentle speech & loving communicacion, thā S. Paul in your other flour did forbid to make provision for you and yours. But his mind is this, they which will crake & boast by outward words, y ^t they love God & their neighbor, & yet show it not in works and truth, they are liars, & have not in thē the christen Charite, which the Scripture commendeth so greatly in every place. Such are like thē, of whom S. Paul speaketh on this manner, they say they know God, but w ^t their deeds they deny it plainly, seeing they are obhominable, disobedient and minded unto no good works. He that hath the substance of the world, saith S. John, & seeth his brother have need, & is moved with no compassion towards him, howe doth the love of God abide in him? As though he should say, albeit a mā craketh never so much y ^t he loveth God, yet if he fulfylleth not that, which God commandeth him, howe dare such one boast that he louethe God? A man loveth so much as he worketh. If he worketh no thing, nother doth he love anything. For as S. Gregory saith in a certain homely, the love of GOD is never idle. For he worketh great things, if it be love, but if it seaseth to work, than is it no love in deed. Love, saith S. Paul is patient & curtious. Love enuiethe not, love doth not frowardely. Love is not puffed up, dealeth not dishonestly, seaketh not her own. Love is not provoked to anger, thinketh not evil, reioysethe not of iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, suffereth all things, beleuethe all things, hopethe all things, abydethe all things. What a point is this of love, to say that I love God, & yet run a whorehuntynge after strange God's?

Agayne what a point of love is this to say, that I honor y ^e name of God, and yet blaspheme it withe most shameful & abhominable oaths? What love is this toward my neighbor to say that I love him and yet will do no thing for him, whan I se him in necessity? Is this love? Peryshe moughte such love. Agaynste these wicked Hypocrites & open dissemblers doth S. John in this place thonder, whā he saith let us not love in word nor tongue, but in work & truth. There were in the time of the Apostles many false Christians, which by words pretended much love both towards God and their neighbor, and yet did they express & show none at all by their outward deeds. Such have we now a days also among us, which styffely affirm that they love God & his word, yet do their works prove the contrary. The scripture rejecteth that love which is feigned, and is not in spirit and truth, that is to say, first engraffed in the heart, & afterward declared by manifest & evident works, worthy such a love. Therefore neighbors, if ye will smell aryght and to your comfort of this your flour Christian Charite, provide that youre love benot feigned. Let it not only be in word and tongue, but also in work and truth. Fyrst as concerning youre love toward God, it shall appear in nothing more manifestly, than if you labor with all main in all your works to seek the glory of God, the honor of his most blessed name & the promociō of his holy word. Agayne as towchynge your neighbor your love shallnot be feigned towards him, if ye help him in all such things as he hath need of, as for an example. If ye perceive him ignorant in the law of God, teach him God's word, bring him unto Christ, teache him where, of whom and by what means he shall obtain health & salvation? Declare to him what y ^• true & christē faith is? & of what great strength, virtue, efficacy and power it is. Exhorte him unto the true good works, which god approveth by his word, & leueth not unrewarded. Charge him to fly unto y ^• name of God as unto a strong Bulwark in all his aduersite and trouble. Furthermore if ye {per}ceyue that he is given altogether to wickedness and will not gladly hear any wholesome admonition, yette cease not to pray for him, as Abraham did for the filthy Sodomites and Moses for the disobedient Jews. Yea though he be your extreme enemy and seaketh youre life, yet wish well unto him, pray for him, and desire God to forgive him, as Christ and Stephen did. Agayne if ye perceive that he is poor & hath need of your help, fail not to succoure his misery and to help him in his need even to the vttermoost of youre power, to make an ende, if ye perceive that youre neyghboure hath need of any thing that ye are able to do for him, I charge you in God's behalf, that ye with all expedicion, help and comfort hī. If ye do this, thā do ye smell aright on this your flour, Christ̄ Charite, & shall receive rewards abūdāt for your good deeds, but if ye do it not know y ^t though ye bost never so much in word and tongue of your love towards god & your neighbor, yet shall ye go to the dyuel headlong like abhominable Hypocrites and wicked dissemblers, & shall receive greater damnation than they which never knew truly no parte of God, seeing your love is only in word and tongue, but not in spirit and truth.

As concerning our love toward God, we will employe all our industrye and labor to have that love toward him, which Peter had whan he said unto Christ, LORDE thou knoweste that I love the, & as towchynge our neighbor we will labor no less heartily to love him, than Ionathas did David, which as the Scripture saith, loved him as his own life.

Theyse are goodly examples undoubtedly neighbors. Loke therefore that ye follow them. If ye bring out of your love such deeds, as Peter did, thā may ye be bold to say, that ye love God unfeignedly. Agayne, if ye show by youre outward works such love toward your neighbor, as Ionathas did to David thā need ye not fear to say, y ^t ye love youre neighbor in work & truth, & so are ye perfect and true christen men, and may be certain after the departure out of this transitorye life, if ye so continue unto the ende, for to receive the crown of life, which the LORDE hath promised to them that love him, as S. James saith.

Here is now your Nosegay perfect. For I have givē you all your five flowers, as I promised you at your first coming.

We thanke you right hertely for this Nosegay

I think such a Nosegay was never given before of onye man to his friend, as you have now givē us.

I beseech GOD give us grace so to smell on this Nosegaye, that the sauoure of it may ever abide in us, & never depart nor go away from our hearts. So may we be sure neither at onye time to offend our selves, God, our Kyng, nor our neighbor, but lead such a life, as wherewith both God and man shall be well pleased.

All this that ye have hitherto spoken is true. For I have taught you no thing of mine own brain & fantasye, but only the pure word of God, & the sentences & minds of y ^e holy and catholic Doctors. Therefore I pray you hertely good neighbors be as diligent to observe and keep these flowers as I have ben studious to gather them together for you, so shall I both think my labor well bestowed & ye also of all pleasures shall do me the greatest. Well I will now rehearse to you in few words, what youre whole Nosegaye containeth in many.

Your first flour is called Vnfayned Humility. Hereof have ye learned y ^e true knowledge of youre selves, & that ye ought not to be proud of ony thing, but enbrasynge Humility & lowliness of mind always confess that what so ever ye have, be it never so good & precious, it is the gift of GOD coming down frō the father of lyghtes, and that therefore ye ought studiously to labor above all things that it be bestowed according to the will of God, that is, unto the glory of God the profit of youre neyghboure & the salvation of your own souls.

Your seconde flour called, Pure Innocency. Of this ye have learned your duty toward God, & howe ye ought to walk before him according to his word and be perfect.

Of your third flour, which is, Faythfull Obedience. Ye have learned your duty toward our most puissaunt & excellent king, & all those civil magistrates & head officers, which are appointed to rule & govern the matters of the public weal under his graces majesty. Ye learned also, that by the word of GOD ye owe to them obedience, fear, honor and tribute.

Your fourth flour, called, Redy assistance ▪ taught you your duty toward youre neighbor, & howe ye ought to serve him according to the rule of the Gospel, seakynge no less his profit than your own.

Your fyfte & last flour, called, Christian Charite, declared to you that without this true, christen & pure love, all youre other flowers profit but little, neither can any work being done of a malicious heart and out of Charite please God. Agayne ye heard, that your love both toward God & your neighbor was declared to be unfeigned, if ye did express it outwardly in such works as are prescribed of God in the holy Scriptures, this is the whole sum of your Nosegaye.

Now dear brothers, I beseech you by the great mercies of God, y ^t ye will by no means suffer y ^e smell, odoure & savor of these herbs to fall out of your breasts, but that you alway bear this youre Nosegay about w ^t you, & smell on it at all times w ^t out ceasyng. For these are those flowers, which shall preserve you from all pestiferous and contagious airs, from all perelles and dangers, from all mischaūces and evil fortunes. They also shall enspire and breath into you such comfortable odoures & sweet savors, that ye shall by no means be so infected, that ye may either offend yourselves, God, the king, or your Neygheboure, but what so ever ye work, shall be accceptable both to God and man. What will ye have more? Thus much have I done now for you neighbors, and am ready at all times to do, whatsoever lyethe in my power, whan occasion shall be given, desiring you favorably to accept this my good will toward you, as of one, which wyssheth no less well to you thā to him self, tendereth your health no less than his own, seakethe youre true knowledge in Christ Jesus even as his own, to conclude, which is ready at all times both to give him self and all that he hath, so that ye may be in the most glorious bowels of our Sauioure Christ, and therein continue until the day o • his triumphant apperyng. Which thing (most dear brothers) that it may come to pass, I will not cease neither night nor day to pour out my prayers to our LORDE god, that he may be present always with you by the assistance of the holy Ghost in all your godly enterprises, which thing also I most hertelye desire you, that ye will likewise do for me.

To give you condygne and worthy thank, for your manifold gentletes toward us, we are not able. But this dare I promise you in y ^e name of us all, that what so ever shall lygh in our powers to do for you at any time, we will be glad w ^t all our hearts to do it. And to the vttermoost of our strengths we will labor to practice & fulfyl y ^t in works, which ye have taught us in words.

So doing neighbors, my good will shall not only continue still, as it is toward you, but also encrese daily more & more. Well, now before your departure, I will desire you to take • y ^• pains • o drink with me after this our long talk & large cōmunicaciō, y ^t ye may go home again frō me being fed both spiritually & corporally.

We thank you neighbor Philimō

Praised be god for this our goodly and pleasant Nosegay.

AMEN. For he alone is worthy all the honor & praise.