"

must be purged with the true purgatory of the cross of
Christ: that is, thou must hate it with all thine heart, and
desire God to take it from thee. And then whatsoever
cross God putteth on thy back, bear it patiently, whether
it be poverty, sickness, or persecution, or whatsoever it be,
and take it for the right purgatory, and think that God
hath nailed thee fast to it, to purge thee thereby. For he
that loveth not the law and hateth his sin, and hath not
professed in his heart to fight against it, and mourneth not
to God to take it away and to purge him of it, the same
hath no part with Christ. If thou love the law and find-
est that thou hast yet sin hanging on thee, whereof thou
sorrowest to be delivered and purged: as for an ensample,
thou hast a covetous mind, and mistrustest God, and
therefore art moved to beguile thy neighbour, and art unto
him merciless, not caring whether he sink or swim, so thou
mayest win by him or get from him that he hath: then get
thee to the observant which is so purged from that sin,
that he will not once handle a penny, and with that wile
doth the subtle fox make the goose come flying into his
hole, ready prepared for his mouth without his labour or
sweat; and buy of his merits, which he hath in store, and
give thy money not into his holy hands, but to offer him
that he hath hired either with part of his prayers or part
of his prey, to take the sin upon him and to handle his
money for him. In like manner, if any person that is un-
der obedience unto God's ordinance (whether it be son, or
daughter, servant, wife or subject) consent unto the ordi-
nance, and yet find contrary motions: let him go also to
them that have professed an obedience of their own making,
and buy part of their merits. If thy wife give thee nine
words for three, go to the charterhouse and buy of their
silence and so if the abstaining of the observant from
handling money, heal thine heart from desiring money,
and the obedience of them that will obey nothing but their
own ordinance, heal thy disobedience to God's ordinance,
and the silence of the charterhouse monk tame thy wife's

tongue, then believe that their prayers shall deliver thy soul from the pains of that terrible and fearful purgatory which they have feigned to purge thy purse withal.

The spiritualty increaseth daily. More prelates, more priests, more monks, friars, canons, nuns, and more heretics; I would say heremites, with like draff. Set before thee the increase of St. Francis's disciples in so few years. Reckon how many thousands, yea, how many twenty thousands, not disciples only; but whose cloisters are sprung out of hell of them in so little space. Pattering of prayers encreaseth daily. Their service, as they call it, waxeth longer and longer, and the labour of their lips greater; new saints, new service, new feasts, and new holidays. What take all these away? Sin? Nay. For we see the contrary by experience, and that sin groweth as they grow. But spiritualty they take away first God's word with faith, hope, peace, unity, love and concord; then house and land, rent and fee, tower and town, goods and cattle, and the very meat out of men's mouths. All these live by purgatory. When other weep for their friends, they sing merrily; when other loose their friends, they get friends. The pope with Priests, monks,

What the

taketh away with their prayers.

When other

weep, they sing, and when other lose, they win.

All is of purgatory.

all his pardons is grounded on purgatory. canons, friars, with all other swarms of hypocrites, do but empty purgatory, and fill hell. Every mass, say they, delivereth one soul out of purgatory. If that were true, These phy- yea, if ten masses were enough for one soul, yet were the sicians give none other parish priests and curates of every parish sufficient to medicines scour purgatory. All the other costly work of men might tions only. be well spared.

save purga

THE FOUR SENSES OF THE SCRIPTURE.

THEY divide the Scripture into four senses, the literal,
tropological, allegorical, and anagogical. The literal
sense is become nothing at all. For the pope hath taken
it clean away, and hath made it his possession. He hath
partly locked it up with the false and counterfeited keys
of his traditions, ceremonies, and feigned lies. And partly
driveth men from it with violence of sword. For no man
dare abide by the literal sense of the text, but under a
protestation, if it shall please the pope. The chopolo-
gical sense pertaineth to good manners (say they) and
teacheth what we ought to do. The allegory is appro-
priate to faith; and the anagogical to hope and things
above. Tropological and anagogical are terms of their
own feigning, and altogether unnecessary.
For they are
but allegories both two of them, and this word allegory
comprehendeth them both, and is enough. For tropolo-
gical is but an allegory of manners, and anagogical, an
allegory of hope. And allegory is as much to say as
strange speaking, or borrowed speech. As when we say
of a wanton child, this sheep hath magots in his tail, he
must be anointed with birchen salve; which speech I
borrow of the shepherds.

Thou shalt understand, therefore, that the Scripture hath but one sense, which is the literal sense. And that literal sense is the root and ground of all, and the anchor that never faileth, whereunto if thou cleave thou canst never err, or go out of the way. And if thou leave the literal sense, thou canst not but go out of the way. Neverthelater, the Scripture useth proverbs, similitudes, riddles, or allegories, as all other speeches do; but that which the proverb, similitude, riddle, or allegory signifieth is ever the literal sense which thou must seek out diligently. As in

Allegory, what it signifieth.

The Scrip

ture hath

but one

sense.

Borrowed speech.

the English, we borrow words and sentences of one thing,
and apply them unto another, and give them new signifi-
cations. We say, Let the sea rise as high as he will, yet
hath God appointed how far he shall go: meaning that
the tyrants shall not do what they would, but that only
which God hath appointed them to do. Look ere thou leap:
whose literal sense is, Do nothing suddenly, or without
avisement. Cut not the bough that thou standest upon :
whose literal sense is, Oppress not the commons; and is
borrowed of hewers. When a thing speedeth not well, we
borrow speech, and say, The bishop hath blessed it, because
that nothing speedeth well that they meddle with withal.
If the porridge be burned too, or the meat over roasted,
we say, the bishop hath put his foot in the pot, or the
bishop hath played the cook, because the bishops burn
whom they lust, and whomsoever displeaseth them. He is a
pontifical fellow, that is, proud and stately. He is popish,
that is, superstitious and faithless. It is a pastime for a
prelate. It is a pleasure for a pope. He would be free,
and yet will not have head shaven.
man should smite him, and yet hath not the pope's mark.
And of him is betrayed, and wotteth not how, we say, he
hath been at shrift. She is master parson's sister's daughter;
he is the bishop's sister's son; he hath a cardinal to his
uncle; she is a spiritual whore; it is the gentlewoman of
the parsonage; he gave me a Kyrie eleyson. And of her
that answereth her husband six words for one, we say,
She is a sister of the charter-house: as who should say,
She thinketh that she is not bound to keep silence, their
silence shall be a satisfaction for her. And of him that
will not be saved by Christ's merits, but by the works of
his own imagination, we say it is a holy workman. Thus
borrow we, and feign new speech in every tongue. All
fables, prophecies, and riddles, are allegories; as Esop's
fables, and Merlin's prophecies, and the interpretation of
them are the literal sense.

He would that no

So in like manner the Scripture borroweth words and

sentences of all manner [of] things, and maketh proverbs and similitudes or allegories. As Christ saith, (Luke iv.) Physician, heal thyself: whose interpretation is, do that at home, which thou dost in strange places; and that is the literal sense. So when I say, Christ is a lamb; I mean not a lamb that beareth wool, but a meek and a patient Lamb which is beaten for other men's faults. Christ is a vine, not that beareth grapes; but out of whose root the branches that believe suck the Spirit of life, and mercy, and grace, and power to be the sons of God, and to do bis will. The similitudes of the gospel are allegories borrowed of worldly matters to express spiritual things. The Apocalypse or Revelations of John are allegories whose literal sense is hard to find in many places.

The right use of allegories.

Allegories

sense of

Beyond all this, when we have found out the literal sense of the Scripture, by the process of the text, or by a like text of another place, then go we, and as the Scripture borroweth similitudes of worldly things, even so we again borrow similitudes or allegories of the Scripture, and apply them to our purposes; which allegories are no sense of the Scripture, but free things besides the Scripture, and are no altogether in the liberty of the Spirit. Which allegories Scripture. 1 may not make at all the wild adventures; but must keep me within the compass of the faith, and ever apply mine allegory to Christ, and unto the faith. Take an ensample: thou hast the story of Peter, how he smote off Malchus's ear, and how Christ healed it again. There hast thou in the plain text great learning, great fruit, and great edifying, which I pass over because of tediousness. Then come I, when I preach of the law and the gospel, and borrow this ensample, to express the nature of the law, and of the gospel, and to paint it unto thee before thine eyes. And of Peter and his sword make I the law, and of Christ the gospel; saying, As Peter's sword cutteth off the ear, so doth the law. The law damneth, the law killeth, and mangleth the conscience.

There is no ear so righteous that can abide the hearing