University of Virginia Library

III. [PART III.—AGAINST THE PREACHERS AND THEIR DEFENDERS (SIR THOMAS MORE, THE MAID OF KENT, ETC.)]

Of prechers nowe adayes
be many fariseyes,
That leue the lordes layes,
And preche ther owne wayes;
Wherof nowe of late
Hathe risen great debate;
for some champe and chaffe
As hogges do in draffe,
And some cry out a-pase
As houndes at a chase,
Whiche for lacke of grace
The playne truthe wold defase,
So busely they barke.
An other in the darke,
That is a busarde starke,
And cane not se the marke,
Wondereth at this warke,
And therfore taketh carke
By-cause he is no clarke.
Some be soft and still
As clappes in a mill;
And some cry and yell
As sprites do in hell;
Some be here and ther,
And some I wote not wher;
Some holde vpp yea and nay,
And some forsake ther lay;
Some be still and stey,
And hope to haue a daye;
Some wote not what to say,
But dout whether they may
Abide or rune away;
Ther wittes be so weake,
They say they dare not speake,
They be afrayd of heate.
Some be sycke and sadd,
for sorrowe almost madd;
I tell youe veryly,
Ther wittes be awry,
They peyne them selves greatly
To haue the trouth go by;
Some on bokes dayly prye,
And yett perceyve not reason whie;
Tho some affirme, some do deny,
With nowe a trouth and then a ly,
To say one thinge openly,
And an other prively:
“Here be but youe and I;
Say to me your mynd playnlye,
Is it not open heresy?”
Thus say they secretly,
Whisperinge with sorrowe
That they deny to morowe.
Ther tales be so dobble,
That many be in trobble,
And doubt which way to take,
Them selves sure to make.
A, lorde! it makes me shake,
for pyty that I quake!
They be so colde and horse,
That they haue no forse,
So they be prefarred,
Tho all the rest were marred.
Thus the people smatter,
That dayly talke and clatter,
oure preachers do but flatter,
To make them selves the fatter,
And care not thoughe the matter
Were clerely layde a watter.
Douse men chatt and chide it,
for they may not abid it;
The thomistes wold hide it,
for littera occidit.
Thus these sysmatickes,
And lowsy lunatickes,
With spurres and prickes
Call true men heretickes.
They finger ther fidles,
And cry in quinibles,
“Away these bibles,
for they be but ridles!
And give hem robyn whode,
To red howe he stode
In mery grene wode,
when he gathered good
Before noyes ffloode!”
for the Testamentes
To them, they sey, sente is,
To gather vpp ther rentes,
After ther intentes:
Wherby it by them ment is,
That lay men be but lowtes;
They may not knowe the Clowtes,
Nor dispute of the doubtes
That is in Christes lawe.
for why, they never sawe
The bagg nor the bottell
Of oure Arrestotle,
nor knowe not the toyes
Of Doctore averroyes;
It is no play for boyes,
Neyther for lay men;
But only for schole men,
for they be witty men,
As wise as any wrenne,
And holy as an henne.
for doctoure bullatus,
though parum literatus,
Will brable and prate thus;
howe Doctoure pomaunder,
As wise as a gander,
wotes not wher to wander,
whether to meander,
or vnto menander;
For of Alexander,
Irrefragable hales,
he cane tell many tales,
of many parke pales,
Of Butgettes and of males,
Of Candy and of Cales,
And of west wales.
But doctoure dorbellous
Doth openly tell vs
howe they by and sell vs:
And doctoure Sym Sotus
Cann goostely grope vs;
for he hathe rad Scotus,
And so the dawe dotus
Of doctour Subtyles;
Yea, three hundreth myles,
With sutch Crafty wyles
he many men begiles,
That never knewe an vnce
At full of master Dunce.
Then doctoure Bonbardus
Can skill of lombardus;
he wonnes at malepardus,
With father festino,
And Doctoure attamino,
Dudum de Camino,
With ther consobrino,
Capite equino
Et Corde asinino;
hij latent in limo
Et in profundo fimo,
Cubantes in Culino
Cum Thoma de aquino,
Tractantes in ima
De pelle Canina
Et lana Caprina.
Then doctoure chekmate
hath his pardoned pate,
A man yll educate;
his harte is indurate,
his heade eke edentate;
his wittes be obfuscate,
his braynes obumbrate,
Oure questions to debate;
for thoughe cam but late,
his cause is explicate
with termes intricate,
I note wherof conflate;
And therfore must he make
his bull and Antedate.
Then doctour tom-to-bold
Is neyther whote nor colde,
Till his Coles be solde;
his name may not be tolde
for syluer nor for golde;
But he is sutch a scolde,
That no play may hym holde
(for anger vnbepyst,)
Yf his name were wist;
Ye may Iudge as ye liste;
he is no acquiniste,
Nor non occanist,
But a mockaniste;
This man may not be myste,
he is a suer sophiste,
And an olde papist.
But nowe we haue a knighte
That is a man of mighte,
All armed for to fighte,
To put the trouthe to flighte
By bowbell pollecy,
With his poetry
And his sophestry;
To mocke and make a ly,
With quod he and quod I;
And his appologye
Made for the prelacy,
Ther hugy pompe and pride
To coloure and to hide;
he maketh no nobbes,
But with his diologges
To prove oure prelates goddes,
And lay men very lobbes,
Betinge they[m] with bobbes,
And with ther ow[n]e roddes;
Thus he taketh payne
To fable and to fayne,
Ther myscheff to mayntayne,
And to haue them rayne
Over hill and playne,
Yea, over heaven and hell,
And wher as sprites dwell,
In purgatorye holles,
with whote ffier and Coles,
To singe for sely soules,
With a supplication,
And a confutation,
Without replication,
havinge delectation
To make exclamation,
By way of Declamation,
In his debellation,
With a popishe fasshion
To subvert oure nation:
But this daucok doctoure
And purgatory proctoure
Waketh nowe for wages,
And, as a man that rages
Or over come with ages,
Disputith per ambages,
To helpe these parasites
And naughty ipocrites,
With legendes of lyes,
fayned fantasies,
And very vanyties,
Called veryties,
vnwritten and vnknowen,
But as they be blowne
from lyer to lyer,
Inventyd by a ffryer
In magna Copia,
Brought out of vtopia
vnto the mayde of kent,
nowe from the devill sent,
A virgyne ffayre and gent,
That hath our yees blent:
Alas, we be myswent!
for yf the false intent
were knowen of this witche,
It passeth dogg and bitche:
I pray god, do so mutche
To fret her on the itche,
And open her in tyme!
for this manly myne
Is a darke devyne,
With his poetry,
And her iugglery,
By conspiracy
To helpe our prelacy,
She by ypocresye,
And he by Tyranny,
That causeth cruelly
The simple men to dye
for fayned herisye:
he saythe that this nody
Shall brenne, soule and body,
Or singe his palanody
With feare till he pant,
To make hym recreante,
his sayinges to recante,
So as he shalbe skante
Able for to loke
In writinge or in booke,
That treatithe of the rote
Or of the base and fote
of ther abhomynation:
he vsethe sutche a fasshion,
To send a man in station
With an evill passion
To his egression,
Before the procession
Slylye for to stalke,
And solempeny to walke,
To here the preacher talke,
howe he hath made a balke;
And so the innocent,
for feare to be brent,
Must suffer checke and checke,
his faccott on his necke,
Not for his life to quecke,
But stande vpp, like a bosse,
In sighte at paules crosse,
To the vtter losse
Of his goode name and fame:
Thus with great payne and shame
he kepethe men in bandes,
Confiskinge goods and landes,
And then to hete ther handes
With faccottes and with brandes,
Or make them be abjure.
These thinges be in vre:
Youe leade vs with the lure
Of your persecution
And cruell execution,
That the fyry fume
Oure lyves shall consume
By three, by two, and one:
Men say ye will spare none
Of hye nor lowe degre,
That will be eneme
To your ipocrese,
Or to your god, the bele.
for who dare speake so felle
That clerkes should be simple,
Without spott or wrinkell?
Yett nathelesse alwey
I do protest and saye,
And shall do while I may,
I never will deny,
But confesse openly,
That punnysshement should be,
In every degre,
Done with equite.
when any doth offende,
Then oughte youe to attende
To cause hyme to amend,
A-waytinge tyme and place,
As god may give youe grace,
To haue hyme fase to fase,
his fautes to deface,
With hope to reconcyle hyme;
But not for to begile hym,
Or vtterly to revile hyme,
As thoughe ye wold excile hyme;
for then, the trouth to tell,
Men thinke ye do not well.
Ye call that poore man wretch,
As thoughe ye hadd no retche,
Or havinge no regarde
whiche ende should go forwarde:
ye be so sterne and harde,
ye rather drawe backwarde,
Your brother so to blinde,
To grope and sertche his mynde,
As thoughe youe were his frinde,
Some worde to pike and finde,
wherby ye may hyme blinde;
with your popishe lawe
To kepe vs vnder awe,
By captious storyes
Of Interrogatoryes:
Thus do ye full vnkindly,
To feyne your selves frindley,
And be nothinge but fyndly.
I tell youe, men be lothe
To se youe wode and wrothe,
And then for to be bothe
Th'Accuser and the Iudge!
Then farewell all refuge,
And welcom sanguisuge!
when ye be madd and angry,
And an expresse enemy,
it is ageynst all equitye
Ye shoulde be Iudge and partye!
Therfore the kinges grace
Your lawes muste deface;
for before his face
Youe should your playntes bringe,
As to your lorde and kinge
And Iudge in euery thinge,
That, by godes worde,
hathe power of the sworde,
As kinge and only lorde,
So scripture doth recorde;
for her[e] within his lande
should be no counterband;
But holy at his hande
we shoulde all be, and stande,
Both clerkes spirituall,
And lay men temporall.
But youe make lawe at will,
The poore to plucke and pill;
And some that do no yll,
Your appetites to ffill,
Ye do distroy and kill.
Lett godes worde try them,
And then ye shall not frye them;
yea, lett the worde of god
Be euery mannes rode!
And the kinges the lawe
To kepe them vnder awe,
To fray the rest with terroure,
They may revoke ther erroure!
And thus, I say agayne,
The people wolde be fayne
Ye prelates wolde take payne
To preache the gospell playne;
for otherwise certayne
Your laboure is in vayne;
for all your crueltye,
I knowe that you and we
Shall never well agree:
Ye may in no wise se
Sutch as disposed be
of ther charitye
To preach the verytye;
Ye stope them with decrees,
And with your veritees
vn-written, as ye saye;
Thus ye make them stay:
But god, that all do may,
I do desire and pray,
To open vs the day,
which is the very kaye
of knowledge of his way,
That ye haue stolen awaye!
And then, my lordes, perfay,
for all your popishe play,
not all your gold so gay,
nor all your riche araye,
shall serve youe to delaye
But some shall go astraye,
And lerne to swyme or sinke;
for truly I do thinke,
ye may well wake or wynke,
for any meat or drinke
ye geitt, without ye swynke.
But that wold make youe wrothe;
for, I trowe, ye be lothe
To do eyther of both,
That is, your-self to cloth
with laboure and with sweate
And faste till youe Eate
But that youe Erne and geate;
like verlettes and pages,
To leve your parsonages,
your denns and your cages,
And [live] by dayly wages:
God blesse vs, and Sainct blase!
This were a hevy case,
A chaunce of ambesase,
To se youe broughte so base,
To playe without a place.
now god send better grace!
And loke ye lerne a-pase
To tripe in trouthes trace,
And seke some better chaunce
your selves to avaunce,
With sise synke or synnes;
for he laughe[s] that wynnes,
As ye haue hetherto,
And may hereafter do.
yf ye the gospell preche,
As christ hym-self did teche,
And in non other wise
But after his devise,
ye may with good advyse
kepe your benefise
And all your dignite,
without malignite,
In christes name, for me;
I gladely shall agre
It ever may so be.
But this I say and shall,
what happ so euer fall,
I pray and call
The kinge celestiall,
Ones to give youe grace
To se his worde haue place;
And then within shorte space
we shall perceyve and se
howe euery degre
hath his Auctorite
By the lawe of christ,
The lay man and the prest,
The poore man and the lorde;
for of that monocorde
The scripture doth recorde;
And then with good accorde,
In love and in concorde
We shall together holde;
or elles ye may be bolde,
for heate or colde,
Say ye what ye will,
Yt were as good be still;
for thoughe ye glose and frase
Till your Eyes dase,
Men holde it but a mase
Till godes worde haue place,
That doth include more grace
Then all Erthly men
Could ever knowe or ken.