A Mystery of Iniquity Disclosed and Confuted, Part 13
¶A mysterye
1 And here in this londe Certayne they fonde.
2 VvhichWhich by and bye Dyd them applye.
3 For to sett forth Thynges nothynge vvorth.
4 And preached openlye Both treason and heresye.
¶The openinge. 1.
MA…uele yt is to me / yf these men soughte oute vngracyouse teachers in Englande / that they founde not out Standysshe and Pantolabus / Bonner and Wynchestre. I thynke they coude not hauehave founde moche worse yf they had sought the worlde all ouer. No / though they had founde out the deuyll himselfe. For in their doctryne is y• true Christen fayth blasphemed / the sacred scripturs perue…ted moste wretchedlye / the seruauntes of God ma…y…ned / the peple of the worlde deluded / the pryce of oure redempcyon contempned / and all Eabylonishe beggerye for them persuaded. yea / Standyshe was not ashamed ones in his fylthye preachynge to make Christes blood no better than the blood of a swyne. There are yet in London a greate sort lyuynge that harde him yet is he a lewde preacher styll / and not condempned of the bysshoppes for an heretyque. There shall no soche come in the Gen…alogie of heresye. Pantolabꝰ hath here full honorably beshytt the scripturs / and full lyke a worshypfull gentylman of y• Popes churche. And so hath he putt them forth a brode vndre the kynges pryuylege. Ad imprimendum solum / both by Robert Wyer and also by Iohan Redman / which care not what they do for moneye. yet is he not founde out for an vngracyouse teacher. But yf he had ryghtlye taught the Gospell / he had bene founde out ere this tyme.
2 What labours ye hauehave taken and how busylye ye hauehave applyed yt to set vp the kyngedome of the deuyll by all madde mastryes of ydolatrye / the Chronycles declareth at large. And how ye sturre about ye now with olde rotten poles and sparres to holde vp youre holye mother for fallynge / we are not so blynde but we perseyue yt. Prouyde ye for necessaryes apace / & se that she droppe not awaye sodenlye in the feuer she hath now a dayes. Bynde vp her head for sweruynge / lappe vp her bodye warme for sursetynge / and prouyde her a cawdell of calues egges to recouer her agayne yf yt maye be. Luther hath febled her sore / so hath Oecolampadiꝰ and zwinglius. Barnes here in Englande was not all behynde with his part / nomore was Iohan Frith and Tyndale. But happye ye are that Thomas Crōwell lyued not / for he had by this tyme made her no verye beuityfull gentyll woman. Wele / now ye hauehave gotten the ouerhande of her enemyes / applye ye apace whyle ye hauehave layser / to set her vp agayne. Be now no sluggardes in youre holye water makynge / nor yet in youre sensynges and goynge processyon: ye shall fynde my lorde Gardyner of Wynchestre / & my lorde Bonner of London with other good prelates of the realme verye fauorable and assis…ent vntounto you / so that ye meddle not with the Gospell. Therfore applye ye apace / & se there be founde in ye no slackenesse.
3 The precyouse worthynesse of thynges … out by your Egypciall generacyon / is sone valued. I report me here to this worthye genealogye of yours. Forsoth yt is honorable ware and worthye to hauehave soche a Poete for y• author. It is no maruele though these newe bokes now a dayes be thynges nothynge worth. For they bring neyther tythes nor offerynges / deuocyōs nor trētals / purgatorye pens nor pyssages. Ther are more swete profyghtes to be pycked oute of one Sarum masse boke / than out of them all: yea / God saue Sermones discipuli / wt the portas / processyoner / & olde festiuall. For a moch better worlde was yt whan they were vsed / than yt is now a dayes. It was a good worlde wt prestes / whan they stodyed nothynge els but fryre Albert de secretis mulierū / & to fatche in their tythes & other profyghtes. Longe was …t ere Iohan Maior in Parys a great lerned manne / coude proue by naturall reason & by the scripturs that watchyng spretes myght begett wemen with chylde / as one of them ded the nōne of wales that was Marlynes mother: Was not this thynke you a good vertuouse stodye & sumwhat worth / when it was ones brought to lyght: They hauehave sett forth manye of these good workes / lyke good vertuouse fathers and profytable workemen / yet hath fewe or non founde sawte in them.
4 Sumwhat meaneth Pantolabꝰ here by this heresye and treason that was so openlye preached. But I trust he will discoue… nō of his owne affynite / though manye of them were hanged for them at y• rysynge vp in the Northe. Doctor Baylye in Sothfolke wroughte great myracles by syr Roger Wenforthes dowter to auaūce the great ladye of Ippes wyche. Doctor Bockynge lyke wyse ded wonderfull feates at Caunterberye in kent by Elyzabeth Berton to sett vp a newe pylgrimage at Court vp strete. Doctor Cronke…orne had certen reuelaciōs of a newe kyngedome that was cōmynge vponupon this clause of Te Deū / Aperuisti credētibus regna celorū. And preached thē in dyuerse townes of Easisexe as y• monasteryes were in suppressynge / by y• vertu of this text. Tempꝰ faci… di domine / dissipauerūt legem tu…. It is tyme lorde to sturre about y•. For yf thu tarrye moche longar / y• heretyques will marre all. Doctor Pyckerynge & other prelates ded lyttle other for .2. years space / but moue the prest…s of the North to prouoke y• peple in their lent confessyons to the pylgrimage of grace agaynst y• kynge & his counsell. Besydes y• propre feates that were done by doctor Macketell / y• vycar of Lowthe / Reynoldꝰ of Shene / y• charterouse monkes / y• obseruaūt fryers & dyuerse other that were hanged & quartered. But these will not Pantolabꝰ accuse for preachers of heresye & treason / because their doctryne doth please him well / & specyallye because y• pope hath newly canonysed thē for his sayntes.