and serve them and suffer them, and when they will not come, they speak fair, and flatter, and give some gay thing, and promise fair, and so draw them and smite them not; but if they may in no wise be holp, refer the punishment to the father and mother, and so forth. And by these judgeth he all other laws of God, and understandeth the true use and meaning of them. And by these understandeth he in the laws of man, which are right, and which tyranny.

Man is lord creatures of

over all the

the earth.

If God should command him to drink no wine, as he commanded in the Old Testament that the priests should not, when they ministered in the temple; and forbad divers meats; the spiritual (because he knoweth that man is lord over all other creatures, and they his servants, made to be at his pleasure, and that it is not commanded for the wine or meat itself, that man should be in bondage unto his own servant the inferior creature) ceaseth not to search the cause. And when he findeth it, that it is to tame the flesh and that he be alway sober, he obeyeth gladly; and yet not so superstitiously, that the time of his disease he would not drink wine in the way of a medicine to recover his health; as David ate of the hallowed bread; and as Moses for neces- 1 Reg. xxi. sity left the children of Israel uncircumcised forty years, whereof likelihood some died uncircumcised, and were yet thought to be in no worse case than they that were circumcised, as the children that died within the viiith day were counted in as good case as they that were

Circumfrequented

cision not

in forty years.

Holy-days are ordain

ed for man, man for the holy-days.

and not

circumcised: which ensamples might teach us many things, if there were spirit in us.

And likewise of the holy-day: he knoweth that the day is servant to man, and therefore, when he findeth that it is done because he should not be let from hearing the word of God, he obeyeth gladly; and yet not so superstitiously that he would not help his neighbour on the holy day, and let the sermon alone for one day; or that he would not work on the holy-day, need requiring it, at such time as men be not wont to be at church; and so throughout all laws. And even likewise in all ceremonies and sacraments, he searcheth the significations, and will not serve the visible things. It is as good to him, that not to serve the priest say mass in his gown as in his other apparel, if they teach him not somewhat, and that his soul be edified thereby. And as soon will he gape while thou puttest sand as holy salt in his mouth, if thou shew him no reason thereof. He had as lief be smeared with unhallowed trine, are to butter as anointed with charmed oil, if his soul

The signification of things are to be

sought, and

the visible

signs.

Ceremo

nies without some

good doc

be re

jected.

be not taught to understand somewhat thereby ; and so forth.

But the world captivateth his wit, and about the law of God maketh him wonderful imaginations, unto which he so fast cleaveth that ten John Baptists were not able to dispute them out of his head. He believeth that he loveth God, because he is ready to kill a Turk for his sake that believeth better in God than he; whom God also commandeth us to love, and to leave nothing

unsought to win him unto the knowledge of the truth, though with the loss of our lives. He supposeth that he loveth his neighbour as much he is bound, if he be not actually angry with him; whom yet he will not help freely with an halfpenny but for avantage, or vain-glory, or for a worldly purpose. If any man have displeased him, he keepeth his malice in, and will not chafe himself about it, till he see an occasion to avenge it craftily, and thinketh that well enough. And the rulers of the world he obeyeth, thinketh he, when he flattereth them, and blindeth them with gifts, and corrupteth the officers with rewards, and beguileth the law with cautels and subtilties.

We do nothing well, except we love from a pure heart.

do it of

Superstitious ob

are rather

And because the love of God and of his neighbour, which is the spirit and the life of all laws, and wherefore all laws are made, is not written in his heart, therefore in all inferior laws, and in all worldly ordinances is he beetle blind. If he be commanded to abstain from wine, that will he observe unto the death too, as the charterhouse monks had lever die than eat flesh and as for the soberness and servations chastising of the members will he not look for, but will pour in ale and beer of the strongest without measure, and heat them with spices, and so forth. And the holy-day will he keep so straight, that if he meet a flea in his bed, he dare not kill her, and not once regard wherefore the holy-day' was ordained to seek for God's word: and so forth in all laws. And in ceremonies and sacraments, there he captivateth his wit and

the break

law than

the keep

ing of the

same.

understanding to obey holy church, without asking what they mean, or desiring to know; but only careth for the keeping, and looketh ever with a pair of narrow eyes, and with all his spectacles upon them, lest ought be left out. For if the priest should say mass, baptize, or hear confession without a stole about his neck, he would think all were marred, and doubt whether he had power to consecrate, and think that the virtue of the mass were lost, and the child not well baptized, or not baptized at all, and that his absolution were not worth a mite. He had lever that the bishop should wag two fingers over him, than that another man should say, God save him; and soforth. Wherefore, beloved The world reader, inasmuch as the Holy Ghost rebuketh the world for lack of judgment; and inasmuch Judgment. also as their ignorance is without excuse before

is to be rebuked for lack of

Judge by these things whether

whose faces enough is set to judge by, if they would open their eyes to see, and not captivate their understanding to believe lies and inasmuch as the spiritual judgeth all thing, even the very bottom of God's secrets; that is to say, the causes of the things which God commandeth; how much more ought we to judge our holy father's secrets, and not to be as an ox, or an ass, without understanding.

Judge, therefore, reader, whether the pope with his be the church; whether their authority be above the Scripture; whether all they teach have erred without Scripture be equal with the Scripture ; whether they have erred, and not only whether

the pope

or not.

they can. And against the mist of their sophistry take the ensamples that are past in the Old Testament, and authentic stories, and the present practice which thou seest before thine eyes. Judge whether it be possible that any good should come out of their dumb ceremonies and sacraments into thy soul. Judge their penance, pilgrimages, pardons, purgatory, praying to posts, dumb blessings, dumb absolutions, their dumb pattering and howling, their dumb strange holy gestures, with all their dumb disguisings, their satisfactions and justifyings. And because thou findest them false in so many things, trust them in nothing, but judge them in all things. Mark at the last the practice of our fleshly spiritualty, and their ways by which they have walked above eight hundred years, how they stablish their lies; first, with falsifying the Scripture; then through corrupting with their riches, whereof they have infinite treasure in store; and last of all, with the sword. Have they not compelled the emperors of the earth, and the great lords and high officers to be obedient unto them, to dispute for them, and to be their tormentors, and the Samsumims themselves do but imagine mischief, and inspire them.

Mark whether it were ever truer than now, the scribes, pharisees, Pilate, Herod, Caiphas and Anna, are gathered together against God and Christ. But yet I trust in vain, and he that brake the counsel of Achitophel, shall scatter theirs. Mark whether it be not true in the