A Mystery of Iniquity Disclosed and Confuted, Part 31 – Part 32
A mysterye.
1 I feare me sore There vvyll come more.
2 VntoUnto that ende Except they amende.
3 Vix corriguntur impij. Eccle. 1.
¶The openinge. 1.
OVt of no small charite aryseth this feare of Pantolabus / least anye more shuld come to the ende of Barnes / or be brent in the fyre as he was. yea / so brotherlye he tendereth that matter / and with so moche Christen louelove / that he wolde not greatlye care to be the first that shuld accuse a true Christen beleuer yf he knewe his faythe throughlye. As moche py… hath he in those matters / as hath eyther the foxe vpō the chyckens or the wolfe vponupon the lambe. I wolde that Pantolabus shuld take care for his olde showes yf he hath them / and not for Christes dere members. For they must entre heauē by the strayght gote as he ded / & not by the brode waye which leadeth … to destrucciō. They must suffre hatred / wrō ge / spyght / vengeaunce / yll reportes / persecucions / exyle / curses / lyes / blasphemies / enprisonmētes / …hyrst / hongre / and deathe of their bodies / for ryghtousnesse sake / el… shall they not be lyke mēbers to their head For his spouse is a churche that suffreth / & not the pr…de gentyll womā that, mustreth with myters / canapees / copes / crysmatoryes / crosses / cruettes / and candelstyckes. A comp…nye of bretherne there are vnderneth the aulter (as Saint Iohā reporteth which daylye calleth to y• lorde to hauehave their blood reuenged of that gorgiouse apareled gentyl woman (which is dronken with the excesse therof and their nombre must be fulfylled with soche poor sowles. And tyll that be fynished / there must daylye folowe more / n… remedy.
2 Moche doubt hath Pantolabꝰ for this ende. But he had more nede to take care for himselfe / least an halter be bewixt him and his ende. For he hath so plentuouslye deserued it as hath anye other ranke Papist of that affinite / yf this Iest of his be but indifferentlye wayed. As for those good menne (whom he hee… moste cruellye blasphemeth without lerninge) though their deathes were not verye preciouse in his folyshe iudgemēt / bycause he is ledde of a contrarye sprete / yet were they right pleasaunt to their lorde God / in whose kyngedom nowe they rest with Abraham / Isaac / and Iacob. If they had dyed for fellonye / murther / whoredom / or treason / I wolde with Pantolabus hauehave iudged their deathes verye yll. Se that non of you suffre (sayth Saint Peter as an homicide / thefe / or yll doe…. If anye manne suffre as a cristiane / lete him not be ashamed therof / but glofy…e God in that behalfe. For wt standinge the false kingedom of Antichrist in the beiytees quarell dyed they / as it is euident to all ryght iudgementes / and therfor their deathes are gloriouse. The amendement which Pantolabus requireth here / concerneth the obedience of that malygnaunt mustre of those mitred mahoūdes / whō he wolde in no wyse to decaye. But lete him set his hart at rest / for the lorde is almost at a point with that wretched wytcherye.
3 Vnplesaūt euermore are the scripturs to Pantolabꝰ / and that apereth wele by his monstruouse handelynge of them. Here bringeth he in to cōferme his purpose / a ragged patche out of the first chapter of Ecclesiastes otherwyse called the preacher / but not as it is there spokē. For here it is / Vix corriguntur impi…. And there it is thus / peruers… diffici…e corriguntur. A verye harde thinge is it (sayth he) to make the croked strayght / or the frowarde wele disposed. Parauenture he hath made this alteracion here to shewe himselfe copiouse in the latyne speche. For most commonlye the papistes are full of …ayne glorye. But it is alwayes yll spede / whan pryde goeth afore and shame cometh after. But I thynke verelye this text folowynge was in his waye whan he made that change Ecce magnꝰ effectus sum / & precess…omnes sapientia &c. Loke vponupon me wele / for I am a great wyse prelate. I hauehave gote more wysdome than they which went afore me. For soles manye tymes hauehave soche ymaginaciōs of theemselues. More mete were it both for Pantolabus and soche other to consydre by that chapter of Salomon / that all which is vndre the sunne / is but vanyte / the worde of the lorde excepted. And in so doynge / he shuld wele perseyue that all which he and his generacion here maynteyneth / is but fylthynesse / dyrt / and poyson / nothynge furderynge the sowle of manne / but destroyenge yt rather.
A mysterye.
1 For vvithout doubte There is a rovvte.
2 Of these same slepers And corner crepers.
3 That vere a fayre face In euerye place.
4 Multos enim supplantauit nequitia illorum. Sap. 19.
The openinge. 1.
in preson also after the death of Iames / were glad to absent themselues for a tyme / & in diuerse howses to playe the corner crepers. This therfore is non of youre seuen deadlye synnes.
3 Nothynge agreeth this that foloweth here / with that which went afore. For he that is a sleper beareth no fayre face a brode so longe as he is a sleper. Neyther is he seane in euerye place / which is a corner crepet. Wherfore these rhetorycall poesyes of Pantolabus semeth verye folyshe and wytlesse. He shuld apere a moche better Poete / wolde he ones leaue the companye of dame ignoraunce. Trulye she is manye tymes to nygh his elbowe whan he setteth his penne to the boke. Lyke as she is also with Doctor yncke pott otherwyse called Iohan Standyshe. A fayre face hath youre holye mother y• churche of Antichrist borne outwardlye in eueryevery place / with copes / crosses / ceremonyes / and sensynges. yet doth the scripturs call her a verye whore and the Synagoge of sathan. And that fayre face of hers was first represented as a preuyall signe / in him which was the first head of the Rome churche by the permissyon of Phocas the false emprour For his name at that tyme was Bonifaciꝰ / which is as moche to saye as bona facies / a good face or a glosynge pretence of counterfett holynesse. The dowter of a mourthere… is that holye mother of yours / therfore must she be geuen to murther of verye nature. For Phocas trayterouslye slewe his master Mauricius which was the Emprour afore him / & so entered into his rowme. In token that she shuld destroye the Empyre / & mayntayne her estate by murther.
4 I thynke verelye that Pantolabꝰ will neuer be at other poynt / but styll peruert the scripturs / and sende vsus to Hierico to seke them. Soche a mockynge wretche harde I neuer of / dayes of my lyfe yet / neyther amonge Christianes nor Paganes / infydels nor deuyls. Here he taketh a spoyled text / Multos enim supplantauit nequitia illorum. And he appoynteth vsus to seke yt in the .xix. chapter of Sapience / where as yt is but the iii. chapter of Ecclesiasticus or of Iesus Syrach. And there yt standeth thus. Multos enim s…pplanta…it suspicio illorum / & in vanitate detinuit sensus illorum / and are spoken vntounto them which are to curyouse in the serche of Gods hydden secretes. The medlynge with soche mysteryes (sayth he) hath begyled manye a manne / and tangled their wyttes in vanyte. If his syght had serued him wele / he myght hauehave founde after in that chapter for a farder vnderstandynge of that text / this clause also. Synagoge superborum non erit sanitas / &c. To the Synagoge of the proude pampred vp porkelynges shall be left no helthe. For the synne that is planted in them / shall be roted out / and yet shall yt not be perceyued of them. But the hart of him which hath vnderstandynge / shall perceyue thynges verye hygh. The dilygent …are will harken to wysdome / and the hart that is wyse shall hauehave persyght intellygence. The godlye prudent will absteyne from vyces / and increase in the workes of ryghtuousnesse.