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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
or THB
John Elliott Fund

The arms of Bishop Watson, here impaled with those of Lincoln, seem
to contain an allusion to our Lord's words: Be ye wise as serpents,
and simple as doves (Matt. x. i6).

SERMONS

THE SACRAMENTS.

BY THOMAS WATSON,
MASTER OF ST JOHNS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
DEAN OF DURHAM, AND THE LAST CATHOLIC BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

iFivst ^rinttS in 1558, anil nnSu l^eprtnteli in ilWnHevn Spelling.

WITH A PREFACE AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
OF THE AUTHOR

BY THE REV. T. E. BRIDGETT,
OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER,

PER MISS U SUPERIORUM.

3LonlJ0n:
BURNS AND GATES,
PORTMAN STREET and PATERNOSTER ROW
1876.

FEINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.

HA

W335 HTf 1^76

[^Original Title Page.]
WHOLESOME AND CATHOLIC
DOCTRINE

CONCERNING THE

SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH,
Expedient to le Known of all Men,

SET FORTH IN MANNER OF

Sfjort ,Serm0n3 to it matie ta tfje People.
BY
The Reverend Father in God,
THOMAS BISHOP OF LINCOLN.
Anno i-j-Jc?, Mense Februarii.
[COLOPHON.]

Imprinted at London, by Robert Caly, within the
precinct of Christ's Hospital, The X of
February 1558.

PREFACE.

HERE is a volume of sermons, printed more than three
centuries ago in black letter type and uncouth
spelling, and the existence of which is only known to a few
antiquarians. Why, it will be asked, have I reprinted it in
modern guise and sought to rescue it from oblivion ? I have
done so for its own sake, and for the sake of its author. It
is a book that deserves not to perish, and which would not
have been forgotten, as it is, but for the misfortune of the
time at which it appeared. It was printed in the last year
of Queen Mary, and the change of religion under Elizabeth
made it almost impossible to be procured, and perilous to
be preserved,-* The number of English Catholic books is
not so great that we can afford to lose one so excellent as
this. But even had it less intrinsic value, it is the memorial of
* Mr Arber, in his Transcript of the Registers of the Stationers'
Company (1875), has printed from MS. in the British Museum a letter
of Bishop Grindal to Sir W. Cecil, relating a search that he had had
made in the house of John Stow, the chronicler, for unlawful books. He
is accused of being " a great fautor of Papistry " because, inter alia, this
and another volume of Watson's Sermons were found in his possession.
—Vol. i. p. 394,

Vlil PREFACE.
a great man, little known indeed, because through the
iniquity of the times he lacked a biographer. I am confident
that any one who will read the following memoir, imperfect
as it is, will acknowledge that I have not been indulging an
antiquarian fancy, but merely paying, as far as I could, a
debt of justice long due, in trying to revive the memory of
the last Catholic Bishop of Lincoln.
I have mentioned in the " Life of Dr Watson " the occasion
of his composing this volume of sermons, but I will here
enter on some further explanations.
Printed sermons are of two sorts. They are either intended
to preserve the memory of a discourse which the author has
already made, or they are written that they may be preached
by others. The sermons on the sacraments now republished
belong to this latter class. Their place in Catholic literature
will be better understood if I draw up a list of the sermons
that had been previously published in England, after the
invention of printing. It will not be very long.
The sermons by John Myrc, called the " Liber Festivalis,"
were printed by Caxton in 1 483, and were frequently reprinted
by Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and others.
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, before Henry began his
schism, had preached against the heresies of Luther, and
funeral sermons at the death of Henry VIL, and of the Lady
Margaret, Countess of Richmond and mother of Henry VII.
These sermons were printed by Wynkyn de Worde, and the
first also by Berthelet.
Cuthbert Tunstal published the sermon which he preached
in 15 18, in praise of marriage, at the espousals of Mary,

PREFACE, IX

daughter of Henry VIII. with Francis I. (Pynson) ; and
another when he was Bishop of Durham in 1539 (published
by Berthelet).
John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, published in 1531
three sermons preached at Westminster : one against Luther,
one when the Legates a Latere began their visitation, and a
third at the foundation of Westminster College. These were
printed by Pynson. Petit in 1538 printed a fourth sermon
preached by the same prelate at Greenwich.
Latimer's first printed sermon seems to have appeared in
1537, and in due time several others. The first book of
Protestant Homilies was printed in 1547 by Grafton.
Other Protestant sermons by Hooper, Leaver, and Ponet,
were printed in the reign of Edward VI, The only other
Catholic sermons with which I am acquainted are : —
Three godly and notable sermons of the most. honorable
and blessed sacrament of the altar, by William Peryn,
(printed in 1546 both by Hill and by Herforde).
Five Homihes by Leonard Pollard, Prebendary of
Worcester, printed by Jugge in 1556. These were corrected
and edited by Bonner. Bonner's Homihes, printed by
Cawood in 1555. Sermons preached at S. Paul's Cross, by
Brookes in 1554, by Hugh Glasier in 1555, by John
Harpsfield in 1556. (Printed by Robert Caley.)
A Sermon by Feckenham, Abbot of Westminster, on the
death of Joan, Queen of Spain, in 1555, and two Homihes
by the same preacher on the first, second, and third Articles
of the Creed (Caley).
Sermons by Roger Edgeworth, Canon of Sahsbury,

X PREFACE.
printed in 1557. These are on the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost, on the articles of Christian faith, on ceremonies, and
of man's law, and an exposition of the first Epistle of S.
Peter (printed by Caley).
Lastly, Two Sermons on the Real Presence, by Dr
Watson, preached before Queen Mary in 1554.
It will be seen from this list how very scanty was the
help afforded to a priest, at the beginning of Mary's
reign, anxious to announce the Word of God to his
people. He had neither discourses prepared for his
use, nor models to direct him in composing. Most of
the sermons of the above list were too ambitious for his
flights, they were preached by great dignitaries of the
Church on solemn occasions. Old John Myrc's "Liber
Festivalis " was out of date. Not only was its EngUsh
antiquated, but it was unsuited to a people whose minds
were agitated by theological discussions, and prejudiced
by the sarcasms and invectives of the Reformers.
On the other hand, the Catholic clergy were not yet
well prepared for instructing and exhorting the people
by their own efforts and from their own stock of learn
ing. More than twenty years had passed since the
schism. Theological studies had been . thrown into utter
confusion in the universities. The controversies that
raged, while they tended to produce a few great cham
pions of the Faith, such as Watson, only perplexed ordi
nary minds, or disgusted them, and turned them from
the study of truth. Many priests simply floated with
the stream, and were carried round in its eddies at the

PREFACE. XI

bidding of men in power. When Cardinal Pole, therefore,
assembled a Council to remedy all these evils, its atten
tion was at once directed to the subject of preaching,
and the instruction of the people. Among other mea
sures taken, one was that homilies should be prepared,
to be used by rectors or vicars unable to compose instruc
tions themselves,* The " Institution of a Christian Man,"
which had been composed in the time of Henry VIH.,
was brought up for examination. It was divided into three
parts, and some of the Lower House of Convocation were
chosen to make homilies from it. This was in December
1555, They also ordered a translation of the New Testa
ment to be prepared, and a treatise on the seven sacraments.
The Council was prorogued from time to time, and
never reassembled. But in the Convocation of January-
March, 1558, the subject was again treated,t It was
ordered that four books of sermons should be made : —
ISt. On the eucharist, on penance, confession, and the
other sacraments ; on freewill, justification and good works 5
on the Church, and its authority, unity, and ministers,
2d, On the articles of the faith, the Lord's Prayer,
angelic salutation, decalogue and sacraments.
3d. Sermons for the Sundays of the year and for saints'
days. * Ubi defuerint concionandi periti rectores aut vicarii, homilias ex
hujus synodi mandate conscriptas, dominicis et aliis festis diebus legere
tenebuntur, — "-Wilkins' Concilia," vol, iv, p, 123.
The decrees ofthe Synod are also given in English in Phillips' Life
of Cardinal Pole, vol, ii. p, 126-128.
f -Wilkins, vol. iv. p, 156.

xii PREFACE.

4th. On ceremonies ; on virtues and vices, and on the
last judgment
The death of Mary prevented the full carrying out of
these measures. Yet something was done. Bonner's
Book of Homilies was published. But as no one was
more capable of supplying the want, so no one more
zealously undertook to do so than Dr Watson, Hence
the present manual of Catholic Doctrine on the Sacra
ments. Being intended for general preaching, or rather, pubhc
reading, these sermons are, of course, unimpassioned and
colourless. We cannot judge from them of Bishop
Watson's own style of preaching. We cannot gather
from them, as from the sermons of Latimer and Leaver,
pictures of the manners and passions of the times. They
scarcely even reflect Watson's personal character, except
by the very absence of invective, and the simple dignity
which distinguishes them. As specimens of old English
before the great Elizabethan era they will be interesting
to students of our language, especially as being the
work of one of the best classical scholars of the day.
With regard to their doctrine it must be remembered
that they were published before the conclusion of the
Council of Trent. The 7th Session of that Council,
¦held in 1547, had passed decrees on the Sacraments in
general, on Baptism, and on Confirmation. Decrees on
the Holy Eucharist had been made in the 13th Session in
155 1, but those on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass were
not drawn up until after these sermons had been published.

PREFACE. Xlil

viz,, in 1562, in the 22d Session. In the 14th Session,
held in 1551, the Catholic doctrine on Penance and
Extreme Unction was defined ; but the labours of the
Council had been suspended in 1552, and were not renewed
until 1562, when Watson was in the Tower, Although the
Bull of Confirmation was not published until the conclusion
of the Council, yet the decrees of each session had received
the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff through his legates,
and were promulgated at once to the world,* and became
the guide of Provincial Synods, as well as of theologians.
In all his sermons, therefore, except those on the Mass, on
Order, and on Marriage, Watson had before him the
luminous teaching of this great Council. He, however,
only once quotes or alludes to it, doubtless because it was
. not then terminated, nor its decrees solemnly confirmed.
His sermons are eminently patristic. I have counted
more than four hundred marginal references to the Fathers
and ecclesiastical writers ; and I may say that they are in
great measure woven out of Scripture and the Fathers. I
have not reprinted these references, because those who
would wish to study the Fathers can use the indications
given in the Roman Catechism, or in the popular manuals
of theology.
* Though I do not find this stated explicitly, it is quite certain from
many things mentioned by Pallavicino. See, e.g. Istoria del Concilio
di Trento, Lib. vi. cap, 7 n, 6 ; Lib. viii. cap. 16 n. 4, and n, 13 ;
Lib. ix, cap, 12 n, 5, Above all, Lib. x, cap. g, n. 2, where the legate
declares that the decrees already made have been received in all
countries and are'irrevocable, though in another place (Lib. xi. cap. I,
n, 3) he desires for them the confirmation of the Pope, Provincial
Councils conformed their language to these decrees. Lib, xL cap. 4, n. 5.

xiv PREFACE.
I have exactly reproduced the original, with the exception
of the spelling. No educated reader will find much diffi
culty in the old idiom. The sentences, indeed, are rather
long, like those of a legal document, yet they are simple in
construction, and when read aloud, they can be broken up
by a skilful reader without the addition of a word.
I have compared the scriptural quotations with the
versions of Tindal and others, and find no resemblance
whatever. Watson has made his own translation.
I have added a few short theological notes only, for the
doctrine throughout these sermons is both clearly stated
and perfectly Catholic, As they certainly embody the
traditional teaching of the Enghsh Church before the
Council of Trent, they are an additional proof that
Catholics of the present day are faithful to the inheritance
of their forefathers.
The volurae of' which the present is a reprint is a small
quarto, printed in Gothic or black letter. There are two
or three editions according to Herbert.* One is dated the
7th June 1558, another the loth of February 1558. As
this represents February 1559, according to the new style,
it is a later edition than the other ; and this I have used,
though there is no variation between the editions, except
in an error of pagination, and the placing of the table of
contents ; and the " compartment " or architectural frame
work surrounding the title.
The printer was Robert Caley, " the chief Roman Catholic
• See " Typographical Antiquities," edited by Dibdin after Ames and
Herbert. Herbert's note, vol. iv, pp. 463, 464.

PREFACE. XV

theological printer in Queen Mary's reign," according to
Mr Arber. The colophon of the book tells us that it was
" imprinted within the precinct of Christ's Hospital." Robert
and Henry Caley had a patent for printing this book for
seven years, dated 30th April the 4th-5th of PhiUp and
Mary. It seems to have been eagerly bought up, as two
or three editions were exhausted in the few months during
which it could be sold. Five months after its publication
Mary died, and before it had been published a year its
author had been cast into prison and deprived of his
bishopric j and the establishment of Protestantism not only
prevented its further sale, but caused the destruction of
most of the copies already sold. It has, therefore, become
very scarce. Let me express a hope that if this attempt to
revive an almost forgotten book should not be unsuccessful,
some one may reproduce the homihes of Bonner or of
Edgeworth, or some of the numerous Catholic sermons
printed during the reign of James II.
T, E, BRIDGETT.
Bishop Eton, Liverpool,

CONTENTS.

SERMON PAGE
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE  xix
I. OF THE NUMBER OF THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRIST'S
CHURCH, AND THE EFFECTS OF THE SAME . , I
II. OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM . , . . I4
HI. OF THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM, AND THE MINISTERS
OF THE SAME  23
IV. OF THE ANCIENT AND GODLY CEREMONIES PERTAINING
TO BAPTISM, AND WHAT IS MEANT AND TAUGHT BY
THEM  32
V. OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION ... 43
VI. OF THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST GIVEN IN
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION ... 52
VII, OF THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST'S BODY IN THE
SACRIFICE OF THE ALTAR  6$
VIII. OF THE CHANGE OF THE BREAD AND WINE, THAT IS TO
SAY, OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION . , , . 77
IX. OF THE EFFECTS OF CHRIST'S BODY AND BLOOD IN THE
WORTHY RECEIVER  87
X. AN EXHORTATION FOR THE WORTHY RECEIVING OF
THE HOLY SACRAMENT  99
XI. HOW A MAN MAY COME WORTHILY TO RECEIVE THE
BLESSED SACRAMENT  IIO
XIL OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WHICH
IS CALLED THE MASS  1 24
XIII. OF THE GODLY PRAYERS AND CEREMONIES USED IN
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS  I37
b

:XV111 CONTENTS,

1 SERMON l-AGE
XIV. OF THE NECESSITY AND COMMODITY OF PENANCE IN
GENERAL  IS3
XV, A SERMON AGAINST DESPERATION , . . . 163
XVL AGAINST PRESUMPTION OF MERCY .... I78
XVIL OF CONTRITION  igi
XVIII. OF INWARD CONFESSION TO ALMIGHTY GOD . . 203
XIX, OF CONFESSION TO A PRIEST  2I4
XX, WHAT A SINNER OUGHT TO DO IN MAKING HIS CON
FESSION  223
XXI, CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS WHEREBY A MAN MAY CON
SIDER His LIFE, AND MAKE HIS CONFESSION THE
BETTER  . 236
XXII, OF CONFESSION TO A MAN's NEIGHBOUR WHOM HE
HATH OFFENDED  247
XXIII. OF SATISFACTION . ,  260
XXIV, HOW A MAN SHOULD AFTER PENANCE AVOID SIN AND
LIVE WELL  274
XXV, OF THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER  285
XXVI. IN WHAT ESTIMATION THE PRELATES AND OTHER
MINISTERS IN CHRIST'S CHURCH OUGHT TO BE HAD
OF THE PEOPLE  297
XXVII, OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY, AND WHAT GRACE
IS GIVEN IN IT  310
XXVIII, OF THE MANNER HOW TO MINISTER AND CONTRACT
MATRIMONY  320
XXIX. FOR WHAT INTENT AND WITH WHAT AFFECTION MEN
AND WOMEN OUGHT TO MARRY .... 333
XXX, OF THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION . , 345

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE

THOMAS WATSON, BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

Chapter I. — In the Reign of Henry VIII.
IT was the misfortune of Thomas Watson, the subject of this
biographical notice, tb have lived in the reigns of Henry
VIII,, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, It was his happiness
to have learnt wisdom by experience, and to have expiated by
his long sufferings for the Catholic faith, the schism, if not
heresy, of his early years.
There exists of him no contemporary biography,* and we can
only glean the facts of his life from incidental notices in the
documents of the time, and can do little more than conjecture
his character from the part he played in its varied drama. Yet
his heroic constancy during a quarter of a century of imprison
ments, and his having been the last of the old Catholic hier
archy who died in England, entitle him to our love and rever
ence, and make us regret the scantiness of our information.
The precise date of his birth is not known. In the records
of the trial of Gardiner, which took place in June 1550, and in
¦* Dodd has only a few lines, Pitts has a page or two of little value.
Godwin, Burnet, Strype, and the rest have scanty notices, and those
often incorrect. Baker has given the principal facts of his life in his
" History of the College of St John the Evangelist, Cambridge," Part
I. pp. 137-40 (ed. Mayor, 1869), and Cooper has added a few more
details, and given a copious list of references, in his " Athense Cantabri-
gienses." These I have consulted, as well as other contemporary
works. A patient search made among the State papers by a friend
has enabled me to add other particular.^, and to correct some unimpor
tant errors into which Cooper had fallen.

XX BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
which Watson appeared as a witness, he is stated in one place
to be then " of the age of 33 or thereabouts," and in another to
be " 34 or 35 years old."* We may therefore conclude that he
was born about the year 15 16. He was of the diocese of
Durham, and is said to belong to the family of the Barons of
Rockingham. Nothing is known of his early life ; but as he
took his degree of B.A. at Cambridge in the year 1533-34, at
the age of 17, he must have been sent at an early age to that
university. The College of St John the Evangelist, in which he studied,
and of which he was elected a fellow immediately after taking
his degree, though but recently founded, then and for some
years after was famous for the group of scholars it contained,
and for the lead it took in the revival of letters.
Its foundress was the famous Lady Margaret, Countess of
Richmond and Derby,! and mother of Henry VII. ; but as
she died before her pious intentions were realised, the college
really owes its existence to the zeal and labours of her con
fessor, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, afterwards Cardinal
and martyr.
The college had been opened in 1516, and in a decree of
Archbishop Warham for its further endowment in 1 5 1 9 it is
said that he gladly co-operates in the work, " considering what
great advantages, both private and pubhc, both spiritual and
temporal, daily accrue to the Christian faith from the study of
letters. For by means of them the salvation of souls is pro
moted, rising controversies are settled, peace^and tranquillity
procured," &c.
At that very moment, however, a controversy was arising in
Germany, from the teaching of Luther, which was to frustrate
the pious hopes of Warham, of Fisher, and the Lady Margaret,
by unsettling the minds of those whom their liberality was
educating. Before half a century had passed from its founda
tion the College of St John's was so entirely transformed, that
the doctrine of the Supremacy of the Holy See, for which Fisher
laid down his life, was forbidden to be taught within its walls
' ¦* Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. vi. pp, 151, 205 (ed. Catley).
t See Cooper's Memoir of Lady Margaret, edited by Mr Mayor
(1874). Both as a Catholic and as an alumnus of St John's CoUeee I
would express my gratitude to the author and the editor for the noble
monument which their patient research has erected to this holy lady

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. XXl
and the Holy Sacrifice, which Lady Margaret loved more than
life, was banished from its desecrated chapel, and impiously
repudiated by all its members. The life of Watson will show
that in his case, at least, the labours of the founders were not
in vain.
When Watson entered St John's, and for the first three years
of his residence as a fellow, the coUege was governed by Dr
Nicholas Metcalf, who had been chaplain to Fisher, and was
master from 1518 to 1537.
His character has been thus sketched by Roger Ascham, the
tutor of the Princess Ehzabeth, and a contemporary of Wat
son's : —
" Dr Nicholas Metcalf, that honourable father," he writes,
"was Master of St John's College when I came thither — a father
to every one in the coUege. There was none so poor, if he had
either will to goodness, or wit to learning, that could lack,
being there, or should depart from thence for any need. I
am certain myself that money many times was brought into
young men's rooms by strangers that they knew not. In which
doing this worthy Nicholas foUowed the steps of good old St
Nicholas, that learned Bishop. He was a Papist, indeed ; but "
would to God, among aU us Protestants, I might once see but
one that would win like praise, in doing like good, for the ad
vancement of learning and virtue. And yet, though he were
a Papist, if any young man, given to new learning (as they
termed it) went beyond his fellows in wit, labour, and toward-
ness, even the same neither lacked open praise to encourage
him, nor private exhibition to maintain him, as worthy Sir J.
Cheke, if he were alive, would bear good witness, and so can
many more." *
Watson was one of those who profited most by the care of
this worthy man. He had good talents and a great love of
study, so that with the helps he found in his college he became
eminent as a classical scholar.
The reader need scarcely be reminded of the struggle that
was then going on in England between the old scholastic form
of learning and the zeal for polite literature, which we caU the
Renaissance, Fisher was both a good scholar and an ardent
promoter of classical studies, and his influence had drawn
many young men of talent to the new foundation.
¦* Ascham's Works, p, 315.

xxii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Sir John Cheke, the famous Greek lecturer, was elected fel
low of St John's in 1529, about the time Watson came into
residence, and the youth had the advantage of his pubUc lec
tures and private instructions. Among his contemporaries and
fellow-collegians I may mention the names of Roger Ascham,
George Day, afterwards Bishop of Chichester ; . John Christo-
pherson, afterwards Master of Trinity and Bishop of Chiches
ter ; WiUiam Bill, who died in 1 5 60 holding the threefold
dignities of Master of Trinity, Provost of Eton, and Dean of
Westminster ; William Cecil, afterwards the famous Lord
Burghley ; James Pilkinton, afterwards Bishop of Durham ;
Robert Home, afterwards Bishop of Winchester ; John Seton,
the logician ; Walter Haddon, and Dr Redman, two great
revivers of classical learning,
Roger Ascham writes —
" At Cambridge, in St John's College, in my time, I do
know that, not so much the good statutes, as two gentlemen of
worthy memory. Sir John Cheke and Dr Redman, by their only
example of excellency in learning, of godliness in living, of
diligence in studying, of counsel in exhorting, by good order in
all things, did breed up so many learned men in that one Col
lege of St John's, at one time, as I believe the whole University
of Louvain in many years was never able to afford."
In another place he makes honourable mention of Watson —
" Cambridge," he says, " at my first coming thither, but not at
my going away, committed this fault, in reading the precepts
of Aristotle without the example of other authors. But herein,
in my time, these men of worthy memory, Mr Redman, Mr
Cheke, Mr Smith, Mr Haddon, Mr Watson, put so to their
helping hands, as that university, and all students there, as
long as learning shall last, shall be bound unto them, if that
trade in study be truly followed which those men left behind
them there," *
When Ascham wrote this, in the time of Queen Elizabeth,
Watson was in prison for his faith, and it does the author of
" The Schoolmaster" no little credit that he was not afraid to
declare his esteem and friendship for one now in disgrace, and
who differed from him in religion. This is not the only passao-e
in which he is mentioned ; and as we have too little knowledge
* Ascham's Works, p. 314,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Xxiii
of the private and personal hfe of Watson, I am glad to tran
scribe the few traits recorded by his fellow-student. Ascham
and Watson were about the same age; both took their degrees
in arts, and were elected fellows of their college at the same
time, and remained together in residence for several years. A
great friendship seems to have sprung up between the young
men, from similarity in literary tastes,-* though they were
already taking different courses in matters of religion.
" When Mr Watson," says Ascham, " in St John's CoUege
wrote his excellent tragedy of ' Absolon ' Mr Cheke, he, and I
had many pleasant talks together in comparing the precepts of
Aristotle and Horace with the examples of Euripides, Sopho
cles, and Seneca, Few men in writing of tragedies in our
days have shot at this mark here in England ; more in France,
Germany, and Italy also have written tragedies in our time, of
which not one, I am sure, is able to abide the true touch of
Aristotle's precepts and Euripides' example, save only two,
that ever I saw, Mr Watson's ' Absolon ' and Georgius Buch
anan's ' Jephte.' " t
Ascham also tells us that Watson was so great a purist in
Latin that he would never allow this tragedy to be published,
because he himself considered that there was in one or two
lines some licence in the metre which the best models did not
sanction. From another passage it appears that the young classics
would have set themselves to mould English verse after the
pattern of Greek and Roman metres, " avoiding barbarous
rhyming," and attending to " quantity " in the syllables. He
gives as a specimen two English hexameter verses of Watson's. J
But if Watson's university career was happy and brilliant in
a literary point of view, it was far otherwise as regards religion.
While he was still an undergraduate those momentous changes
began which have severed England from Catholic Christendom.
¦* Ascham writes — " One of the best scholars that ever St John's
College bred, Mr -Watson, mine old friend, sometime Bishop of Lincoln,"
t Ibid, p. 320.
J Mr Cole, in his MS, Notes to Baker (in the British Museum),
wonders at Ascham's praise of such "doggrel," He evidently did not
notice that the lines were hexameters, though even as "such they are
only interesting as very early (the earliest?) attempts in that metre.
Among -Watson's writings Mr Cooper mentions a translation into
English verse of part of the first book of Homer's Odyssey, now lost.

xxiv BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.

The minds of several of his fellow-students were infected with
the new heresies. The university was agitated by disputes
about the divorce between Henry and Katharine, and the
marriage with Anne Boleyn. Cranmer had become Archbishop
of Canterbury (consecrated 30th March 1533), and men were
awaiting an open rupture with the Holy See. In 1534 the
schism was consummated, the authority of the Sovereign Pon
tiff abohshed by Act of Parhament, and the royal supremacy
substituted. In June 1535, Cardinal Fisher, the venerable
founder of St John's,* whom Watson had probably often seen,
and whose blessing he may have often received, laid down his
life rather than acknowledge that supremacy, and after a few
days his example was foUowed by Sir Thomas More. Surely
a thrill of horror must have gone through the hearts of the
feUows and students of his coUege when they heard that the body
of the saintly bishop, stripped naked, had been left to lie aU day
in the gaze ofthe people on Tower Hill. Yet when the oath of
supremacy was exacted from them, terror prevailed and none
refused. To the shame of the university it must be said that in May
1534, a pubhc document had been obtained by the court,
signed by the Vice-ChanceUor and a great number ofthe doctors
and masters, in which they deny that the Roman Pontiff has
by Scripture any greater power or authority in England than
any other foreign bishop.t What made this more shameful
was the fact that their Chancellor, Fisher, was at that very time
in the Tower for his rejection of this heresy. They knew well
that their decision was utterly false, and extorted from them by
fear. Even if they had forgotten the teaching of all Catholic
doctors, they were not ignorant that, only a few years before,
the king, in his book against Luther, had proved that (to use
his own words) " since the conversion of the world all Churches
have been obedient to the See of Rome," and that, " by the
unanimous consent of all nations, it is forbidden to change or
move the things that have been for a long time immovable ; "
and that he had declared that Luther was " void of aU charity,
not only by perishing himself through fury, but much more by
endeavouring to draw all others with him into destruction, by
* Though he would never allow this title, there is no doubt that it
rightfully belongs to him after the Lady Margaret.
t Cooper, Aimals of Cambridge, voL i. p. 367.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. XXV
striving to dissuade them from their true obedience to the
chief bishop."
On the 3d June this same year, 1534, all the scholars of
the university took the oath of succession,* which for the
clergy included that of the king's supremacy, in St Mary's
Church. Cromwell succeeded as ChanceUor of the University
in the place of Fisher, and in October 1535, made a visi
tation. Among his injunctions were the following : —
I. By a writing sealed by the university they were to swear
" to obey, all statutes made, or to be made, for the extirpation
of Papal usurpation."
2, No more lectures were to be read upon any doctors who
had commented the " Master of the Sentences," nor after the
manner of Scotus.
3, No more lectures were to be given in canon law, nor de
grees in canon law to be conferred, t
Contemporary histories tell us how, after this visitation, the
scholastics were cast aside, and Scotus especially condemned
to the most ignominious uses, %
Watson would not thank me were I to try to excuse him for
the part he must have taken in these and other schismatical
acts. Still it may be remembered that he was but a boy at
this period, and that his studies in theology had not begun,
and that by these very injunctions he was cut off from the
streams of Catholic tradition in his future studies.
Stapleton, a most learned theologian, has made an apology
even for men who were older and more learned in ecclesiastical
matters than Watson then was. Writing in 1567, he said —
" This matter of the Pope's supremacy and of the Prince's
was at the first, even to very learned men, a strange matter,
but is now to meanly learned a well-known and beaten matter.
Sir Thomas More — whose incomparable virtue and learning all
the Christian world hath in high estimation, and who for this
quarrel suffered death, for the preservation of the unity of
Christ's Church, which was never, nor shall be, preserved but
¦* Cooper, Annals of Cambridge, vol. i. p. 368.
t Ibid. p. 375.
+ The word dunce is derived from Duns Scotus, but whether it was
given to stupid boys out of contempt for the Subtle Doctor, or ironically,
I cannot say.

xxvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,

under this one head— as good a man, and as great a clerk, and
as blessed a martyr as he was, albeit he ever weU thought of
this primacy, and that it was at the leastwise instituted by the
corps of Christendom for great urgent causes for avoiding of
schisms ; yet that this primacy was immediately institute of
God (which thing ah CathoUcs now do believe) he did not
many years believe. It is the less marvel, therefore, if at the
first, for lack of mature and deep consideration, many good
and well-learned men otherwise were carried away with the
volume of this storm and tempest." *
Whatever may be the value of this apology for bishops and
priests, it seems certainly apphcable to young men like Wat
son, who foUowed the example of priests and bishops.
In the Parliament which assembled 8th June 1 5 36, an Act
was passed " for extinguishing the authority of the Bishop of
Rome." It required every person, promoted to any degree of
learning in any university, to make oath that he from hence
forth shaU utterly renounce, refuse, relinquish, or forsake the
Bishop of Rome, . . . and shaU accept, report, and take the
King's Majesty to be the only supreme head on earth ofthe
Church of England; . . . and in case any oath hath been made
by him to any person in maintenance, defence, or favour of the
Bishop of Rome, he reports the same as vain and annihilate.
So help him God, all saints, and the holy Evangehsts."
This oath must have been taken by Watson when he re
ceived his Master's degree, even if he had not taken it before.
If, however, he lived in a state of schism for nearly twenty
years {i.e., from 1 533 to 1553), he expiated his error by more
than twenty years' imprisonment in behalf of the supremacy of
the Pope and the unity ofthe Church, But I am anticipating,
and must go back to his earUer years.
In due time he must have taken holy orders. He com
menced M,A. in 1537, and was for several years Dean of the
College and one of its preachers, Dr Metcalf had resigned his
mastership in July 1537, and was succeeded by Dr George Day,
who governed the college for a year. Both these were staunch
Catholics in the rest of their doctrine, however they may have
yielded with regard to the supremacy. When Day was elected
Provost of King's College in June 1538, he was replaced in
* Stapleton's Counterblast to Mr Horn's Blast, pp. 37, 38.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, XXvii

St John's by Dr John Taylor. The career of this man was
very singular, and characteristic of the times. Soon after his
election to the mastership he had preached a sermon in London
in defence of ^Transubstantiation. This sermon aroused the
zeal of a priest and schoolmaster named Lambert, a disciple of
Tyndal's, and he presented Taylor with a paper of reasons
against his doctrine. For this paper Lambert was tried for
heresy, first by Cranmer, and then on appeal by Henry in per
son, and condemned to the stake, Taylor, who by making
known the paper, was one of the causes of Lambert's death, was
so touched by his fate or moved by his arguments, that he be
came a convert to the opinions against which he had preached,
and was imprisoned for a short time on suspicion of heresy in
1 540. But he seems to have retracted, for he was soon re
stored to his college. He was, however, involved in continual
disputes with the fellows, so that the Bishop of Ely had to in
terfere in 1543, and the disputes still continuing, he resigned
in 1546. In Edward's reign he openly professed heresy, and
defended the marriage of the clergy, and was one of the com
pilers of the Common Prayer-Book, He was rewarded in 1552
with the Bishopric of Lincoln, of which he was deprived in
March 1554, and died in the following December.
Watson was one of the appellants to the Bishop of Ely against
Taylor's government, but it is not necessary to investigate the
nature or the merits of these quarrels, which seem to have re
garded the government of the college rather than serious ques
tions of religion.
It was complained in the reign of Edward ¦*¦ that the univer
sity had greatly fallen off in numbers and in learning ; and it
is admitted that the continual changes iri religion both alienated
men from theological studies, and deterred many from an eccle-
-siastical career. On the band of talented young men at St
John's the effect seems to have been to make them give them
selves almost exclusively to classical studies. In these they
met on a neutral ground, and by this means kept up a literary
friendship. But it was impossible at that time to avoid taking
a side, or engaging in theological disputes, and these seem at
last to have made Watson glad to leave the university.
Dr Lingard has truly described the miserable state of things
* Latimer's Sermon, April 6, 1549, Leaver's Sermon, December 1550,

xxviii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
from the time of the schism to the end of the reign of
Henry —
" The creed of the Church of England depended on the
theological caprice of its supreme head. The clergy were
divided into two opposite factions, denominated the men of
the old and the new learning. The chief of the former was
Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, . . . The latter acknowledged
for their leaders Cranmer, Shaxton,*Latimer, and Fox. . . . But
none of the prelates on either side aspired to the palm of
martyrdom. ... If, on the one hand, Gardiner and his asso
ciates, to avoid the royal displeasure, consented to renounce
the Papal supremacy, and to subscribe to every successive
innovation in the estabhshed creed ; Cranmer and his friends,
on the other, submitted with equal weakness to teach doctrines
whieh they disapproved, to practise a worship which they
deemed idolatrous or superstitious, and to consign men to the
stake for the open profession of tenets which, there is reason
to suspect, they themselves inwardly believed. Henry's infal
libUity continually oscillated between the two parties." *
The fellows of St John's College were divided in sentiment
like the prelates. That Watson openly defended the " old
learning,'' that is the Catholic faith, especiaUy on the sacra
ments, is certain ; for at the accession of Edward he was
looked to as one of the champions of that faith against the'
novelties of Calvin and Zuinglius. But the greater number
seem to have taken the other side.
Cheke was disposed to heresy, and by his fame and posi
tion as lecturer had much influence on the younger members
of the college. Ascham relates how he himself nearly got into
trouble by his audacity, and might have lost his fellowship but
for the support of Dr Metcalf. Cecil was there from 1535 to
1541, and, while diligently studying Greek and Latin under
Sir John Cheke and Sir Thomas Smith, imbibed that spirit of
heresy and hypocrisy which made him in later years so great
a persecutor of Catholics, and especially of Watson. John
Taylor, William Bill, John Redman, Walter Haddon, James
Pilkinton, Robert Home, Thomas Leaver, who were fellows of
St John's during Watson's residence, were all infected with
heresy, as their subsequent career proves. On the other hand
¦* History of England, vol. v. ch, ii. p. 100 (ed, 1849).

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, XXIX
George Day, who was master in 1537, and became Bishop of
Chichester, courageously resisted the innovations under Ed
ward, and suffered deprivation of his bishopric and imprison
ment, John Seton, who was some years older than Watson,
seems to have been closely united to him in friendship while
they resided as'fellows, and, subsequently, when they were both
chaplains to Bishop Gardiner ; and Seton suffered exile rather
than acknowledge the supremacy of Ehzabeth,
Another of Watson's friends was Alban Langdale, well
known both as a scholar and a theologian, who in Mary's
time became Archdeacon of Chichester, and for refusing the
oath of supremacy was imprisoned under Elizabeth, and died
in exile.
Another fellow of St John's, of about Watson's standing,
was John Young, who took the Catholic part in several discus
sions in Edward's reign, and in that of Mary became Master
of Pembroke, Vice- Chancellor of the University, and Regius
Professor of Divinity. With Watson he suffered twenty-four
years' imprisonment under Ehzabeth, and died in Wisbech
Castle in 1 5 80 or 1 5 8 1 , probably assisted by Watson in his last
moments. In the year 1540, after the execution of CromweU, Stephen
Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, was made Chancellor of the
University of Cambridge, and became acquainted with the
talents of Watson, and in 1545 appointed him his domestic
chaplain, at the same time conferring on him the rectory of
Wyke Regis, in Dorsetshire, By the erection of the see of
Bristol in 1542, Dorsetshire had been taken from the diocese
of Salisbury and transferred to the new see, so that Watson
was under the jurisdiction of Paul Bush, its first bishop.
"The church of Wyke Regis," wrote Mr Hutchins* in 1779,
" is a large structure, very ancient, and one of the best in
these parts. It is the mother-church of Weymouth," Indeed,
Weymouth at that time had only a small chapel-of-ease, dedi
cated to St Nicholas. The patron was the Bishop of Win
chester ; and Watson succeeded to WiUiam Meadow, who was
also domestic chaplain to Gardiner. Watson certainly held a
second benefice in 1550, as appears from the records of Gar
diner's trial,t but what it was is not mentioned. He is said
* History of Dorsetshire, vol, i. p, 602, + Ibid, p, 408,

xxx BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
to have been presented to the vicarage of Buckminster, in
Leicestershire, in the diocese of Lincoln, in 1547. He does
not seem to have resided in either of these places, at least not
before 1550 ; and I have not been able to discover any parti
cular which will help to make him known to us as a parish priest.
From several circumstances it is clear that Gardiner had a
great esteem for the learning and judgment of his chaplain.
He employed him to negotiate with the Lords of the Council
about the famous sermon which he was required by thera
to preach in the beginning of Edward's reign ; he took his
advice as to the matter of the sermon itself, and Watson is
said to have greatly assisted Gardiner in the composition of
his answer to Cranmer, called " Confutatio CaviUationum," A
few words about Gardiner and his troubles wiU be necessary
in order to understand the movements of Watson in Edward's
reign, though a full account would belong more properly to a
biography of Gardiner than of Watson.

Chapter II, — In the Reign of Edward VI,
The Protestant party who gathered round the deathbed of
Henry both hated and feared Gardiner, and at once began a
series of vexations and persecutions which ended in his im
prisonment in the Tower for more than five years. The first
pretext found against him was that he had written some warm
letters to the Lord Protector Somerset, and to the Archbishop
Cranmer, against the introduction of changes during Edward's
minority. In consequence, he was summoned before the
Council, and required to promise obedience to the royal in
junctions which had just been issued. He replied that should
he commit any legal offence he would submit to punishment,
But as the object of Cranmer and his party was to keep him
out of parhament during the ensuing session, he was com-
mitted to the Fleet prison without crime or trial.
Watson had accompanied the Bishop to London, to thc
Council Chamber, and to the Fleet, He was himself com
mitted there soon after.*
.i,*^w'"''°Viy'-J-'^'- /'^'w^ *•' deponent was committed to!
the Fleet." The deponent was Watson. !

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. XXXI
The cause of Watson's imprisonment seems to have been
* the complaints laid against him by two preachers named
Tonge and Ayre. They had been sent to Winchester to
preach by order of the Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector,
and to he instituted canons in that church. The Bishop
himself deposes that he received them very kindly and hospit
ably, and in no way disgraced them.* But they, on the other
hand, declared that the Bishop said to the people — " I under
stand there be new preachers sent down ; but- 1 suppose there
is none of my flock so mad as to believe them that they never
saw before, neither that doctrine that they never heard before."
The same Sunday afternoon Tonge preached, and Ayre on the
Tuesday. " And the Sunday after that," so says Ayre,
" Watson, the Bishop's chaplain, did preach in the said church,
and inveighed against the said Dr Tonge and this deponent,
as this deponent heard say ; " for which cause this deponent
and the said Dr Tonge did complain to my Lord of Somerset's
grace ; and this deponent gathered certain articles touching
the misordering of the said Dr Tonge and this deponent by
the Bishop and his said chaplain, which articles the said
deponent delivered, within these three days, to Master Secre
tary Cecil, t
No record seems to exist of Watson's committal, and I can
only conjecture that he was made a victim to the indignation
of the Protector or the Archbishop for the cause I have just
mentioned. While in prison, Gardiner indignantly protested
against this abuse of power. In a letter to Somerset, he
writes — " Men be mortal and deeds revive, and methinketh
my Lord of Canterbury doth (not) well to entangle thus your
grace with the matter of religion, and to borrow of your
authority the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and the King's Bench,
with imprisonment in his house, wherewith to cause men
to agree to that (which) it pleaseth him to call truth in
religion, not stablished by any law of the realm, but contrary
to a law. At the least, a law is not yet ; and before a law is
made, I have not seen such a kind of imprisonment as I
sustain." |
/ Watson was kept in separate confinement, for Gardiner
(Complains — " Here I remain , . . without comfort of any of
i ¦* See the Bishop's deposition, Foxe, vol, vi, p. 129,
+ Ibid, p. 154. J Ibid- P- 48.

xxxu BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
my friends or servants, ... no chaplain to accompany me
in prayer ; " and in another letter, written towards the end of
November 1547 — "I have remained here seven weeks without
speaking to any man saving my physician." *
Mr Cooper says that Watson remained in the Fleet for two
or three years, and was still there when he was brought as a
witness in Gardiner's trial in 1550. This is a mistake. A
general pardon was granted by the king on 6th January 1548,
and Watson was liberated as well as Gardiner. The Bishop,
however, was ordered to remain in his own house in South
wark on another frivolous charge, and was not allowed to
return to Winchester till Lent, Watson was his constant
attendant. From his own evidence we learn that he always
kept the Bishop's company at table, and waited on him when
he went out.f It was, however, another chaplain, WiUiam
Meadow, a man sixty years old, formerly rector of Wyke
Regis, and then master of Holy Cross Hospital, who acted
as the Bishop's confessor, f He also had been confined in
the Fleet at the same time as Watson and the Bishop.§
On their return to Farnham, the parish priest of the place
told Watson, who was staying at his house, that the people
were much exasperated at the changes that had been intro
duced in the manner of worship by the visitors sent into the
diocese by the Government during the Bishop's absence in
London, and he requested Watson to preach to them, and to
appease their minds, Watson, however, communicated the
matter to the Bishop, and the latter undertook the unwelcome
duty himself.
The changes indeed had been great. All images had been
removed from the churches, the procession at Candlemas had
been forbidden, with a number of other acts and ceremonies,
all of which had been solemnly approved by the Archbishop
a few years before as " most godly, and to be retained." But
these innovations were trifling compared with those that soon
followed — first the Mass sung in English, then the abolition
of aU the guUds || and chauntries, the Communion in both kindSj
* Foxe, vol, vi. p. 53, -|- Ibid. p. 207, »
X Deposition of Coppinger, Ibid. p. 192, § Ibid. p. 202, '
II I find a Guild of St George in the chapel of St Nicholas, WeymouthjL
in Watson's parish of Wyke. Probably there were others in the parisbS

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. XXxiii
the Book of Common Prayer instead of the Missal and other
service-books, the leave of marriage to the clergy, and still
more, the repeal of the Statute of the Six Articles, and the
consequent leave to preach Lutheran and Calvinistic doctrines.
And while preaching was prohibited to all (even to the bishops)
who had not a special licence from the king or his visitors ;
this licence was only given to fanatics of the new opinions.
" A set of noisy declaimers," says Mr Froude,* " first to cry
reform while reform was in the ascendant, first to fly or apostatise
in time of danger, made the circuit of the towns and parishes."
I have not been able to discover how far Watson yielded to
any of these measures, or by what means he evaded com
phance, A few facts only have come down to us of his con
duct in this reign, and these I proceed to give,
Gardiner was not long left in peace. He was again sum
moned to London in June 1548, by the Council, and com
manded to preach before the young king at Westminster, and
to -write out his sermon and submit it to the Protector's
revision before preaching. This he absolutely refused. He
was then commanded to preach on certain topics and to avoid
others, and to this he partly yielded. Watson was present at
the Bishop's house in the Clink when WiUiam Cecil was sent,
on the part of the Protector, to convey his instructions about
the sermon, and next day was the Bishop's messenger to
Somerset to complain of Cecil's behaviour — a circumstance
which CecU probably did not forget when he had power to
revenge himself in the days of Ehzabeth. The sermon was
preached on St Peter's day. Watson accompanied the Bishop
to Westminster, and during the sermon was present among the
throng, t The sermon was certainly neither seditious nor
dangerous from a Protestant point of view. It inveighed
against the supremacy of the Pope ; but as it also defended
the Real Presence, a point on which Gardiner had been for
bidden by Somerset to touch, the Bishop was considered con
tumacious, and the next day was committed to the Tower.
For two years and a half Gardiner remained in prison
without trial, and during the whole of that time his chaplains
were forbidden any access to him, except that once when he
church as well as chauntries. See Hutchin's History of Dorsetshire,
vol i. pp, 408, 409. * History, vol. v. p. 97.
1 1 Watson's Evidence. Foxe, vol. vi. p, 1 51-53-

XXXIV BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
was supposed to be dying, and at Easter, his confessor, Wil
liam Meadow, spent a few hours vrith him,* Watson seems
to have returned to Farnham to await events ; for in June
1550, when there was a rumour that the Bishop was about to
be released, Watson, with the rest of. the household at Farn
ham, took horse at ten o'clock at night, and riding aU night,
reached London at seven in the morning in hopes to welcome
their master.t They were, however, disappointed. In De
cember 1550 the Bishop was brought to trial, and Watson was
summoned to give evidence both for the prosecution and the
defence. Foxe has preserved the records of this trial. The
Bishop ably defended himself against the various charges ; but
by a flagrant abuse of power he was condemned (February
1 5 5 1 ), deprived of his bishopric, and sent back to the Tower,
from which he was only released on the accession of Mary, to
be restored to his see and become Chancellor of the kingdom.
Meanwhile the lands and revenues of the diocese of Win
chester were divided into eight portions, of which one was
given to the Crown, and the other seven to the friends of the
Government, The infamous Poynet of Rochester J succeeded
Gardiner in the see of Winchester, and received various rectories
and other lands for his support. With this man's accession
Watson's connection with the diocese terminated. The next
time we meet with him is in a theological conference held in
December 1551. It is thus related by Strype § —
" About this time Cheke, with some others, was engaged in
two disputations, or rather friendly conferences, privately with
Feckenham (who was afterwards Dean of St Paul's and
Abbot of Westminster), and one or two more of his party, in
the great controversy of the Real Presence in the Sacrament,
The first was held at Secretary Xecil's house, and the latter at
Sir Richard Morison's, The auditors were but six — viz,, the
Lord Russel, Sir Thomas Wroth, of the Bedchamber ; Sir
Anthony Cooke, one of the king's instructors ; Throgmorton,
Chamberlain of the Exchequer ; Mr Knokes,and Mr Harring
ton, with whom were joined the Marquis of Northampton and
the Earl of Rutland in the second conference. The disputants
* Gardiner's Articles, Foxe, vol. vi, p. 72. + Ibid, p. 220,
X For an account of Poynet very different from that given by Burnd
and others, see an article in the " Saturday Review," July 18, 1868,
§ Strype's Life of Sir John Cheke, p, 69 (ed. 1821), " ji

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. XXXV
were Sir John Cheke, and with him Sir William Cecil, Secre
tary of State ; Home, Dean of Durham j Whitehead, and
Grindal, who were against the Real Presence ; Feckenham,
Young, and, at the second disputation, Watson, who were for
it. Some account of these disputations is still extant in
Latin in the MS, library of Bene't College in Cambridge, And
to preserve what remainders we can of Cheke's, and likewise
to satisfy any that are desirous to look into the Church his
tory of England in those days, I have translated them into
English, and exemplified them here ; only first premising that
I suppose this conference might be occasioned from an ap
pearance of the said Feckenham before Cheke by public order,
to be examined by him." Thus far Strype.
I do not think it necessary to transcribe this disputation.
It is imperfectly given by Strype as regards Watson's argu
ments, since he takes the liberty sometimes to abridge after
this fashion — " Watson here cavilled much of I know not
what spiritual eating, which yet was proper and without any
necessity of suffering ;" or again, " Watson eluded the argu
ment with I know not what logical distinction ;" or, " Watson
did endeavour to evade by certain distinctions ;" or, " In which
place Watson laboured after a wonderful manner ;" or, finally,
" Watson again gainsaid somewhat, I know not what, and the
most part rose up that here might be an end," This is what
Strype calls translating into Enghsh and exemplifying.
The Conference left the disputants convinced of their own
opinions as before. It is chiefly interesting as bringing to
gether, under new circumstances, men like Cheke, Cecil,
Young, and Watson, who had studied together, perhaps dis
puted together, at the same college, and were now finally
ranged on different sides in the great political and religious
struggle of the age.
Whether Watson, after the deprivation of Gardiner, resided
at Wyke Regis or at Buckminster, or what were his movements
or his acts during the remainder of this reign, I have not been
able to discover,* The only event mentioned is one without
time or place, but as it has been supposed to cast a slur on
the character of Watson, I cannot pass it over. It is thus
narrated by Foxe t —
* No registers exists at Wyke.
+ Acts and Monuments, vol, viii, p, '447-

xxxvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
" Moreover, as touching the said Master Rough, this is further
to be noted, that he, being in the north country in the days of
King Edward the Sixth, was the mean to save Dr Watson's
life (who in Queen Mary's time was Bishop of Lincoln) for a
sermon that he had made there. The said Watson after that,
in the said days of Queen Mary, being with Bonner at the
examination of the said Master Rough, to requite the good turn
in saving his life, detected him there to be a pernicious heretic,
who did more hurt in the north parts than a hundred besides
of his opinion. Unto whom Master Rough said again, ' Why,
sir, is this the reward I have for saving your life when you
preached erroneous doctrine in the days of King Edward the
Sixth ? ' "
It is not easy to know what to make of this story. No
documents are quoted, and we have to rely for its truth
first on the veracity of Foxe, and next on that of Rough, a
Scotch monk, who had taken a wife and the office of reformer
in England, What is to be understood by " erroneous doc
trine" ? And what doctrine could have endangered Watson's
life in that reign ? The only doctrine that was treasonable,
and the" preaching of which would have subjected its holder
to loss of life, was the denial of the king's supremacy. But
Watson can scarcely have preached against this, since, in his
evidence given in December 1550, he had admitted the first
article proposed in Gardiner's trial, which ran as foUows —
" That the King's Majesty justly and rightfully is, and by the
laws of God ought to be, supreme head in earth of the Church
of England, and also of Ireland ; and so is by the clergy of
this realm in their convocation, and by Act of Parliament,
justly, and according to the laws of God, recognised," * More
over, it is not easy to conceive how Rough could have saved
Watson's life had he been publicly guilty of treason, or how no
record of danger or escape should exist except in this ambiguous
boast of Rough. That Watson may have preached in defence of
the Real Presence, or spoken against the recent innovations, is
likely enough ; but to have done this might have exposed him to
fine or imprisonment, not to the penalty of death. We mustj
therefore, leave this matter in its obscurity. But it would be
unfair to accuse Watson of cruelty on such uncertain grounds,
* Foxe, vol, vi. p, 151.

BIOGRAPHICAL ffOTICE. XXXvii

Chapter III. — In the Reign of Mary.
We must now pass on to the reign of Mary. Edward
i expired on 6th July 1553. Watson was about 37 years
old. He had now learnt by experience what j^was meant by
royal supremacy, and what were the consequences of casting
off that of the successor of St Peter, He had always firmly
held the Catholic faith except in this particular. He had been
conspicuous for his zeal in defending the Real Presence, There
is no proof that he ever subscribed to the forty-two articles
drawn up by Cranmer, for the king's command to aU clergy
men to do so was only issued shortly before his death. On
the other hand, not only had he seen the communion service
substituted for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but the altars re
moved from the churches, and the churches themselves robbed
of their ornaments by Act of Parhament, in virtue of the royal
supremacy. His eyes were opened to the divine constitution
of the Church, and in future we shall find him, not only defend
ing with Fisher the sacraments against Luther, but ready also
like Fisher to lay down his life rather than again renounce his
allegiance to the Vicar of Christ,
Mary entered London 31st July, and Watson was so well
known for his attachment to the old faith, that three weeks
afterwards he was ordered to preach in her presence.
The matter is thus related by Stow * —
"The twentieth of August, Doctor Watson,t chaplain to the
Bishop of Winchester, preached at Paul's Cross, by the Queen's
appointment ; and for fear of the like tumult as had been the
Sunday last past, certain Lords of the Council repaired to the
sermon, as the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, the Earl
of Bedford, the Earl of Pembroke, the Lord Wentworth, the
Lord Rich, and Sir Henry Gernigam, Captain of the Guard,
with two hundred of the guard, which stood about the preacher
with halberts. Also the Mayor had warned the companies of
the city to be present in their liveries, which was well accepted
of the Queen's CouncU, and the sermon was quietly ended,"
* Stow's Annals of England, p, 614 (ed. 1615).
+ He did not take his Doctor's degree untU some months after this,
but he was doubtless already thus named by courtesy or popular fame.

XXXVIU BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Mr Nichols, in his notes to " Machyn's Diary," has given
us the matter of this" .sermon from a letter, written in London
August 2 2, by WiUiam Dalby —
" On Sunday last was a sermon at Paul's Cross, made by
one Doctor Watson, There was at his sermon the Marquis of
Winchester, the Earl of Bedford, the Earl of Pembroke, the
Lord Wentworth, the Lord Rich, They did sit where my
Lord Mayor and the Aldermen were wont to sit, my Lord
Mayor [Marquis ?] sitting uppermost. There was also in the
window over the Mayor (.r/c) the old Bishop of London [Bon
ner, the late Bishop], and divers others. There was 120 of
the guard, that stood round about the Cross with their hal
berts, to guard the preacher, and to apprehend them that
would stir. His sermon was no- more eloquent than edifying
— I mean it was neither eloquent or edifying, in my opinion,
for he meddled not with the gospel, nor epistle, nor no part of
Scripture, After he had read his theme, he entered into a
by-matter, and so spent his time. Four or five of the chief
points of his sermon, that I can remember, I will, as briefly as
I can, report unto you, viz., he required the people not to
believe the preachers, but that their faith should be firm and
sure, because there is such vanities amongst them ; and if any
man doubt of his faith, let him go to the Scriptures, and also
to the interpreters of the doctors, and interpret it not after
their own brain. He wished the people to have no new faith,
nor to buUd no new temple, but to keep the old faith, and
edify the old temple again. He blamed the people, in a man
ner, for that heretofore they would have nothing that was man's
tradition, and now they be contented to have man's tradition,
showing that in the first year of the reign of our Sovereign
Lord King Edward VI, there was a law established that in
the sacrament there was the body and blood of Christ, not
reaUy but spiritually ; and the next year after they established
another law, that there was the body of Christ neither spiritu
ally or really. These two in themselves are contraries, there
fore they cannot be both true. He showed that we should
ground our faith upon God's Word, which is Scripture, and
Scripture is the Bible, which we have in Hebrew, Greek, and,
Latin, and now translated into English ; but he doubteth the
translation was not true. Also, he said there hath been in hi^
time that he hath seen twenty catechisms, and every one

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, XXxix
varying from other in some points ; and weU, he said, they
niight be all false, but they could not be all true ; and thus
persuading the people that they had followed men's tradition,
and had gone astray, wishing them to come home again, and
re-edify the old temple. Thus, with many other persuasions,
he spent the time till eleven of the clock, and ended." *
No doubt Watson had hastened to London to welcome
Gardiner on his release from his long captivity, which hap
pened on August the 3d ; and it was probably by Gardiner's
suggestion that he had been chosen to preach this sermon.
It was also by Gardiner's authority, as Chancellor of Cam
bridge, about a month afterwards, on September 25 th, he was
deputed to proceed to Cambridge to act on his' behalf in restor
ing the old religion, and to make a report on the state of the
colleges. At the same time he was elected Master of St John's College,
and admitted, in the person of Christopher Brown, his proxy,
by John Young, Vice-ChanceUor, then fellow of Trinity College,
at his chamber there, Roger Ascham being present as President
of St John's, with several other fellows of that society. The
instrument of his admission is dated September 28th, I553,t
To understand his position we must glance back upon the
state of his college since he had left it.
The Protestant party had succeeded in getting a new code
of statutes in 1 545 by the authority of Henry VIIL, with whom
Cheke was in great favour. | Taylor had resigned his master
ship at the beginning of the reign of Edward, and had been-
succeeded by William Bill, recommended for election by the
Protector. The fellows, who were enamoured of the new
opinions, having now no fear of the terrible penalty which, while
Henry lived, attached to all who denied the Real Presence', be
gan openly to profess their heresy. They even went so far as
to hold open controversies against the most Holy Sacrament in
the chapel. " After they had overthrown the Mass in their dispu
tations," writes Baker, " because the Host was not removed,
the pix that hung over the altar was cut down by a private
hand, which cost them some apology with the Archbishop
* From the Hail, MS, 353, f, 141, quoted in note to " Machyn's
Diary," p. 332,
t Baker's History of St John's, vol. i, p. 137.
i Ibid, pp. 1 18-21.

xl BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
I (Cranmer), to whom Mr Leaver (one of the leaders in these
doings) was sent up to excuse the thing." * They had, however,
only anticipated by a few weeks the action of the Government,
The college chapel, which the martyred Fisher had solemnly
consecrated in 1 5 1 6, and in which he had hoped that the Holy
Sacrifice would be daily offered by the fellows of the college, for
whose education and maintenance he toiled so much, was now
after thirty years to be devoted to the sacrilegious rites against
which Fisher had so warmly written. " It is a strange thing,"
he wrote in 1523,! " that Luther should have the impudence to
lay down new laws for the sacraments, as if he thought that men
at the present day were so utterly stupid as to be wiUing to
depart from the ancient rites observed by the Church at the
bidding of an insignificant friar." But the age in its pride of
learning was more spiritually stupid than Fisher beheved.
Luther's laws, or those of Calvin or of Cranmer, were preferred
to those of the saints and doctors, and the Holy Sacrifice was
abolished, the vestments sold for profane uses, the liturgical
books given to the flames, the altar-stones broken or thrown
aside, and the college statutes again reformed " by taking out
the venom of Popery and superstition," to use the words of the
Protestant historian of the college, J
At the end of 1 5 5 1 Bill had been replaced in the mastership
by the famous Protestant preacher Thomas Leaver, who con
tinued until the accession of Queen Mary, when he fled into
Switzerland to Calvin. It is enough to quote the words of
Baker, " that the Reformation nowhere gained more ground, or
was more zealously maintained, than it did here under this
man's example and the influence of his government," §
It was into such an abode of spiritual desolation that Wat
son now entered. Twenty-four of the fellows had resigned or
been deprived, || and as it was of course impossible to supply
their places at once with men equally skilled in ancient litera
ture, Ascham, who despised and hated theology, canon law,
and scholastic philosophy, complained grievously of the ignor-
* Baker's History of St John's, p. 125,
•^ Assertionis LutheranEe Confutatio, fol. Ixxv, (ed, 1523),
+ Baker's History of St John's, vol. i. p. 127. § Ibid, p, 133^
II I am not sure that they were all deprived during Watson's master-,
I ship. According to Strype the vacancies were not all made until Octo-*
! ber 1554. Baker speaks hesitatingly (vol, i, p, 141). |

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xli

ance of the new feUows and the decline of the hterary reputa
tion of the college. Had Watson remained master, he would
no doubt have still more effectually promoted his favourite
studies than he had done when one of the junior fellows.
When he first quitted the coUege, a copy of Fisher's " Statutes"
had been left whh him in trust. These he brought back and
enforced, and in other ways sought to carry out the intentions
of the founder.-* But at the end of seven months from his
election he resigned his office, probably because he found its
duties incompatible with his other appointment as Dean of
Durham. A few words will be necessary to explain this dignity. In
1540 Hugh Whitehead, the last Prior of Durham, surrendered
to Henry; and on the 12th May 1541, the king appointed a
dean and twelve prebendaries in the place of the monastic
society, Whitehead himself being the first dean. He had been
succeeded by Robert Home, one of Watson's contemporaries at
St John's. Under him Protestantism had triumphed, especially
as the bishop, Cuthbert Tunstall, was imprisoned. The Duke
of Northumberland had got bUls through Parhament to sup
press the bishopric, and divide it into two new ones (viz., Dur
ham and Newcastle), in the hopes, under the new arrangements,
to get into his own hands the great possessions of the see,
when his plans were defeated by the death of Edward, The
Parliament ofthe ist of May repealed these Acts.t Although
the country was not yet reconciled with the Holy See, the
canon law had been restored, and by its provisions married
priests were at once removed from their benefices. Among
these was the Dean of Durham. The appointment, being in
the gift of the Crown, was, probably by Gardiner's recommen
dation, conferred on Watson, who was of that diocese. His
nomination was on the i8th November 1553. In October
he had been one of the proctors of the Convocation, and had
strenuously maintained the Cathohc faith against John Philpot,
James Haddon, Richard Cheyney, and other learned Protest
ants, X His position as Master of St John's exempted him
¦* See Baker, vol. i. 138, 139.
t Fbr the detail of all these changes, see Hutchinson's History of
Durham, vol, i. p. 430, and vol. ii. p. 102.
X There is an ex parte account of the proceedings in this Convoca
tion published by Foxe. It is also pubhshed in Philpot's Examinations,
&c, (Parker Society).

xiii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
from residence in any of his benefices,-* yet he resigned his
rectory of Wyke on his appointment to the deanery.f An Act
passed by the first Parhament of Mary enabled her to make
statutes.for the cathedrals, ahd by her appointment Heath of
York, Bonner of London, Tunstall of Durham, Thirlby of Ely,
and William Armistead drew up those of Durham, By the
1 1 th chapter of these statutes the dean was bound to residence,
without some reasonable excuse, such as attendance on the
king or queen as chaplain, business of the Crown or Church,
attendance on Parhament or Convocation, &c. He might be
absent a hundred days in the year on private affairs.J I am
unable to state the proportions of Watson's residence, or to
give detaUs of his government of the cathedral, § As his zeal
for the Blessed Sacrament was so great, it would be very
interesting if any records could be discovered of the manner in
which he re-estabhshed the Catholic worship, and endeavoured
to bring back something of its ancient splendour to the grand
old abbey, or cathedral as we may now call it. In December
1554, the decrees of the Cardinal Legate ratified the erection
of dioceses, chapters, and colleges, which had 'been made by
Henry VIII,
On the third and fifth Fridays of Lent 1554, Watson again
preached before the queen two sermons which he afterwards
published, one on the Real Presence, the other on the sacri
ficial character of the Mass, || We have a singular testimony
to the reputation of Watson as a preacher in an answer that
was published in the time of Elizabeth to these two sermons
by Robert Crowley, minister of Cripplegate, He says in his
Introduction —
" Having occasion oftentimes to be in place where such as
are not yet persuaded that the Pope's Church can err, have
* Act of Parliament of 1536.
+ Thomas Haywood succeeded in 1553 (Hutchin's Dorsetshire),
X The dean's stipend was;^40, and 12s, 5d. each day he was pre
sent in choir or lawfully absent,
§ Surtees unfortunately did not live to write the history of the abbey
and cathedral.
II Two notable sermons made the 3d and 5th Fridays in Lent last
past before the Queen's Highness, concerning the Real Presence of
Christ's Body and Blood in the B. Sacrament, also the Mass which
is the sacrifice of the New Testament. London, 4to and i2mo 1554)
Printed by J. Cawood.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xliii

been bold to utter their minds freely, affirming that the
doctrine which the Protestants teach is erroneous and false,
especially concerning the presence of Christ in the Sacrament
of His Body and Blood, and the Sacrifice of the Mass : I
have perceived that the same have been chiefly persuaded
and stayed by these two sermons made by Doctor Watson in
the first year of Queen Mary's reign. I have therefore wished
that some man of like learning would have published in print
an answer to those sermons ; that thereby such as have been
deceived by the subtlety thereof, might, by the plain and simple
answer, be brought to the knowledge of the truth."
And again, in his address to Dr Watson, he says —
" The estimation that you have in the Pope's Church is
such, that whatsoever is known to be of your doing is of that
sort thought to be so learnedly done that none can be found
amongst us able to answer any part thereof."*
As Watson was in prison when Crowley's book was written,
the latter was left to enjoy in peace his imaginary triumph. In
AprU 1554, being still Master of St John's and Dean of Durham,
Watson was one of the divines deputed by the University of
Cambridge to proceed to Oxford to dispute with Cranmer,
Ridley, and Latimer, on which occasion he was incorporated
Doctor of Divinity in that university, having already taken
his Doctor's degree at Cambridge at the beginning of the year.
From the account of these disputes given by Foxe, Watson
took no part in the contests with Cranmer or Latimer, and
only a slight one in those with Ridley, They all turned on
the Real Presence, He was no doubt in London when the
Legate, Cardinal Pole, arrived towards the end of November of
this year, 1554, and present in Convocation when the clergy
were solemnly absolved from all censures and irregularities at
the beginning of December.
This seems the place to say something of the volume of
sermons to which this biographical notice is an introduction ;
for though they were not pubhshed until 1558, the causes of
his composing them belong to this period.
¦* A setting open of the subtyle sophistrie of Thomas Watson, etc,
written by Robert Crowley, Clearke, Printed by Henry Denham,
1569, Ridley also made annotations on Watson's sermons, which he
isent to Bradford, In his letter he calls Watson "a man of acute
; parts," See Bradford's Writings, vol, ii, p, 207 (Parker Society),

xliv BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Cardinal Pole had summoned a National Synod of both
Provinces for the restoration of rehgion. Dr Watson was pre
sent ; and it is a clear proof of the estimation in which he was
held for his character, learning, and eloquence, that when the
Council assembled on the 21st January 1555-56, in the Arch
bishop's Chapel in Lambeth, to hear the promulgation of the
legatine constitutions, Dr Watson was the orator selected to
deliver the sermon in Latin, in presence of the Cardinal legate,
the bishops and clergy, "and a great multitude of people."*
In this synod much attention was given to the subject of
preaching, and it was determined that homilies should be pre
pared that the less learned priests might read to their people.-f-
I have no doubt that it was in consequence of this synod that
Dr Watson set about the preparation of his book of " Sermons
on the Sacraments."
We may suppose that the greater part of the years 1555 and
1556 was spent by Watson in Durham. On December the
7th^ 1556, the Queen issued a licence for fiUing up the see of
Lincoln, and Watson was elected to that bishopric. On the
24th of the same month he had a grant of the temporalities,
with all the profits accruing since the vacancy. His bull of
confirmation by the Pope is dated 24th March 1557, but he
was not consecrated till August.
Lincoln had formerly been one of the richest, as it was the
largest, diocese in England, But during the episcopate of
John Longland (1521-47) Henry VIII. had carried off aU the
treasures of the cathedral, 2621 ounces of gold, 4285 ounces
of silver, and an immense number of pearls, diamonds, and other
precious stones, f Longland's successor, Henry Holbeach,
surrendered in one day to the Crown all the episcopal estates,§
and reduced the see to utter poverty. He also abandoned the
episcopal palace in London. During his time the church was
again plundered of the few ornaments that reinained,
Holbeach died in 155 1, and was followed by John Taylor,
whose acquaintance we have already made as Master of St
John's, Taylor was deprived on the accession of Mary, and
John White elected on AprU i, 1554, It was the translation
* Wilkins, Concilia, vol, iv, p, 132,
t I have treated of this subject more at length in the Preface.
X A complete list is given by Dugdale, vol viu, pp, 1279-86,
§ Rymer, vol. xv, p. 66,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xlv
 of White to the see of Winchester which caused the vacancy
which was filled by the election of Dr Watson. Owing to the
poverty ofthe see. Cardinal Pole (29th May 1557) empowered
him to hold the deanery of Durham pro tempore in comme?i-
dam with his bishopric. He did so till his consecration. He
succeeded in recovering many rich vestments, articles of plate,
and other furniture, of which his Church had been despoiled ;
and on 9th November 1557 obtained, by letters-patent, a re-
grant of certain of the estates which had been alienated by
Holbeach, and also the patronage of certain benefices in his
diocese which had belonged to the dissolved religious houses.
But his Protestant successors did not much profit by his zeal,
since Nicholas Bulhngham, who usurped his place in January
1559, "surrendered all that his predecessor had obtained,"
says the historian of Lincoln ; ¦* " and when he had stripped the
see of its recent wealth, he procured himself to be translated to
a richer one, Worcester, leaving to his successor the pious
opportunity of conforming himself more strictly to the apos
tolical example of contentment with little."
I have not been able to discover any documents throw
ing light on Dr Watson's spiritual government of his diocese,
and must be content to give, in chronological order, the few
scattered notices of him which occur in the last two years of
his freedom.
Shortly after his election to Lincoln he was named by Car
dinal Pole as one of his delegates to visit the University of
Cambridge, of which the Cardinal had been elected ChanceUor
after the death of Gardiner,
The incidents of this visitation have been recorded day by
day, and almost hour by hour, by an eye-witness, John Mere,
the Esquire Bedell, and, with more than usually blasphemous
commentary, by Foxcf
The account of the inspection of the various colleges has no
general interest. The event that has made this visitation
memorable was the burning of the bodies of Bucer and Fagius.
* History of County of Lincoln, by AUen, vol. i. p, 151.
Willis, in his Survey of Cathedrals, enumerates the benefices (about
150 in number), all in the diocese of Lincoln (vol, iii, p. 65).
•^ Mere's Diary was published in 1838 by Dr Lamb, in his CoUection
of Letters, &c., iUustrative of the History of the University of Cam
bridge, A very full account, taken from Lamb and Foxe, is also given
by Cooper in his Annals of Cambridge.

xlvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, two foreign heretics, had been
invited to Cambridge in i549, and appointed Professors of
Divinity and of Hebrew. Their stay was not very long, for
Fagius had died the November after his- arrival, and Bucer in
February 155 1. They had both had pubhc funerals given to
them by the University, and Fagius was buried in St Michael's,
Bucer in St Mary's Church, Cardinal Pole considered that
the university ought to make a solemn act of reparation for
this apostasy from the Church, and had given instructions for
the reversal of all the honours paid to the foreign reformers.
They were consequently accused and tried as heretics, then
exhumed, and their coffins and bones burnt in the market
place with heretical books. This act will probably seem bar
barous ; but at least it was more humane than the burning
of living heretics ; and it would seem to have been the wish of
Pole, as well as of the visitors, to spare the living, while vin
dicating the faith. It is,'however, probable that the effect was
misjudged, and that the burning of these dead bodies caused
greater disgust and indignation than the burning of one or two
obstinate disputants would have done. The latter course
would have been defended as necessary severity ; the former
was generally condemned as a needless outrage.
Watson, however, was not the principal visitor. He was
accompanied by Scot, Bishop of Chester, and Christopherson,
Bishop of Chichester, and by Nicolas Ormanet, an Itahan pre
late who had accompanied the Cardinal into England, and who
is commonly called in the records by his title of Datary. He
seems to have guided the English theologians in their pro
ceedings. I need merely add that Foxe gives a summary of a sermon
preached on Candlemas Day 1557 during the -visitation, by
Dr Watson, which any one who has read his published sermons
will at once see to be utterly untrustworthy, Dr Watson also
jpreached in St Mary's Church while the bodies of the reformers
were being burned in the market place, " setting forth Bucer's
wickedness and heretical doctrine," says Mere, Foxe has also
given an abridgment of this sermon, but as he himself was
then on the Continent, and only knew what some sympathising
friend of Bucer's chose to report, it would be useless to repro
duce it here. The day after, the Church of St Mary's, which
had been interdicted as regards the mass, was reconcUed ; the

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xlvii
Blessed Sacrament was brought to it in solemn procession and
mass was celebrated, the Bishop of Chester preaching. On
the 17th February the Bishop -(elect) of Lincoln returned to
London. Of his stay in the capital we have the following notices in
the diary of the worthy citizen Machyn : —
"The 17th March, preached afore the Queen, the new
Bishop of Lincoln, Dr Watson." ¦*
" The 3d day of April, did preach Dr Watson Bishop of
Lincoln, at AU Hallows the More, at afternoon, where was great
audience of people," f
"The 22d of April, did preach at St Mark's, Spital, Dr
Watson, new chosen Bishop of Lincoln, a godly sermon." J
He was consecrated on the Feast of the Assumption (August
15th, 1557), at Chiswick, by Nicolas Heath, Archbishop of
York, acting under a commission from Cardinal Pole, assisted
by Thomas Thirlby, Bishop of Ely, and WiUiam Glynn, Bishop
of Bangor, §
His duties in Parliament and in Convocation would often
require his presence in London, and it was probably on such
an occasion that he preached another sermon thus noticed in
Machyn's diary : — ||
"The 20th day of February (1558), did preach at Paul's
Cross, Doctor Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, and made a godly
sermon, for there were present ten bishops, beside my Lord
Mayor, ahd the aldermen and judges, and men of the law, and
great audience there was,"
But we have now to turn to very different scenes.

Chapter IV. — In the Reign of Elizabeth.
On the 17th November 1558, Queen Mary died, and a few
days later Cardinal Pole. Though Elizabeth's plans were
already formed for the establishment of Protestantism, yet she
acted cautiously at first, hoping to gain over the Bishops, The
Protestant exiles at Strasburg, Frankfort, and Zurich, as soon
¦* Machyn's Diary (Camden Society), p. 128,
¦h Ibid, p. 131, X Ibid, p, 132.
§ Stubbs — Registrum Sacrum AngUcanum, p, .82.
II Machyn's Diary, p, 166,

xlviii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
as they heard of Mary's death, came back into England ; and
Ehzabeth, with the advice of her Council, appointed a solemn
conference to be held between them and the bishops, pro
fessedly to prepare the minds of the nobility and legislators for
the questions which would come before them in the approach
ing parliament regarding public worship. The conference
having been resolved on, the disputants on the Catholic side
were the Bishops of Winchester (White), Lichfield (Bayne),
Chester (Scot), and Lincoln (Watson) ; and theologians, Drs
Cole, Harpsfield, Langdale, and Chedsey. On the Protestant
side were Scory, Coxe, Whitehead, Grindal, Home, Guest,
Elmer, and Jewel.
The place was Westminster Abbey, where a table was set
for the Bishops and Catholics on one side of the choir, and for
their opponents on the other, the Lords of the Council being
seated at a cross table. The nobility and members of Parlia
ment were to be present.
The points to be urged against the Bishops were these : —
I. That it is against the Word of God and the customs of
the ancient church to use a tongue unknown to the people in
common prayer, and in the administration of the sacraments,
2, That every church hath authority to appoint, take away,
and change ceremonies and rites, so the same be to edification.
3. That it cannot be proved by the Word of God that there
is in the mass offered up, a sacrifice propitiatory for the li-ring
and the dead, *
Of what happened in these conferences we have only a one
sided statement, all to the disadvantage of the bishops. The
third article never came into discussion, and there was no
orderly disputation regarding the others. It had of course
been intended that the Bishops should be worsted or declared
so, Hayward concludes his account by these words : — " Then
the Assembly was dissolved, the expectations frustrated, the
purpose defeated," The contrary would be the truth. " It is very
probable," continues Hayward, "that the Bishops could either
not be provided in so short a time, their minds being somewhat
clogged with former pleasures and present cares ; or else, that
they discovered such an inchnation against them that all their
* Letter of Jewel to Peter Martyr (March 20, 1559), Zurich Letters
il. Also Hayward's Annals of Queen Elizabeth (Camden Societv),
p, 20. ¦"'

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, xlix
hopes did plainly vanish. And being men no more able to
endure adversity than they had been to moderate prosperity,
they weakly yielded, and abandoning both their credit and
their cause, gave full way to their own ruin," So far the annalist.
Whether Watson's mind was clogged by pleasure the reader
knows, and whether he was not able to endure adversity the
rest of his life will declare, " Afterwards," says Hayward,
" the Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln, who behaved them
selves, especially Lincoln, more indiscreetly than others, were
for this contempt committed to the Tower,"
Camden has given another, and in some respects, fairer
account of these proceedings.-* He says the bishops com
plained that Bacon, the Lord Keeper, was appointed judge in
such matters, of which, he knew nothing, and that no good ever
came of such disputations which do always bend that way that
the sceptre inclines.
But Camden adds, that the Bishops of Winchester and Lin
coln threatened the Queen with excommunication, and this
statement has been since copied by a multitude of writers. It
is intrinsically improbable, for the excommunication of the
Queen would not belong to a simple bishop ; nor is it in har
mony with anything we know of Watson's character, to suppose
him thus hastily uttering such a threat. Besides this, Camden's
statement rests on no previous and contemporary authority,
nor is it borne out by other historians who lived nearer to the
events, Hayward has nothing of it, nor has Hohnshed,!
who, however, copied his account from a statement published
soon after the conference by authority of the Queen. The
original memorandum, signed by Bacon, the ChanceUor, the
Earls of Bedford, 'Shrewsbury, Pembroke, by Cecil and
others, is still in existence, J and has not a word about excom
munication. This paper says : — " Afterwards for the contempt
so notoriously made, the Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln
having most obstinately both disobeyed common authority and
varied manifestly from their own order, and specially Lincoln,
who showed more folly than the other, were condignly com
mitted to the Tower of London,"
If it be said that the Council would not make public so great
* History of Elizabeth, Book i,
+ HoUnshed, vol. iii. p. 1183 (ed, 1 586).
X P, R. O., Dom, Eliz,, vol, iii, n, 52,

1 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
an outrage on the Queen as a threat of excommunication, I
reply that most certainly the eyewitnesses of the conference,
who wrote an account of it in private letters at the very time,
could not have passed over such a matter. Now Coxe and
Jewel, two of the -disputants, each wrote independent accounts
of what took place within a few days of the events, and yet
neither of them, while dilating on the contempt and contumacy
of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, mentions any threats
against the Queen. Yet Jewel gloats over their punishment.
" White and Watson," he writes to Peter Martyr, " were com
mitted to the Tower, There they are now employed in castra-
metation,"* For some months the Bishop of Lincoln had been suffering
from a severe attack of ague. The report of his death had
reached Strasburg in January.f This wUl explain why his
name does not occur in the journals of the House of Lords, in
the debates in which the other bishops nobly defended the
Cathohc Faith. He had not yet entirely recovered, as appears
by the letter of the Council to the Lieutenant of the Tower for
his committal : —
" He is willed to keep in sure and several ward the two
bishops, suffering them nevertheless to have each of them one
of their own men to attend upon them and their own stuff for
their bedding and other necessary furniture, and to appoint
them to some convenient lodgings meet for persons of their
sort using them also otherwise well, specially the Bishop of
Lincoln, for that he is sick, for which respect also and because
this is his sick night, the said lieutenant is willed to have the
rather regard unto him, and to spare him some of his own
lodging and stuff for this night, and also to suffer his surgeon
and such other as shall be needful for his health to have access
unto him from time to time,
" My Lords of the CouncU did this day appoint Sir Ambrose
Cave and Sir Richard SackviUe to repair to the houSes of the
said Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln here in London, and
both to peruse their studies and writings, and also to take
* Letter, April.6, 1559, in Zurich Letters, i, p, 13. Coxe's letter to
Weidner is dated May 20, 1559, Ki. i, p. 28,
¦I- Letter of Jewel, written from Strasburg, January 26, 1559, Zurich
Letters, i, 5.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, li
order with their officers for the surety and stay of their
goods."-* Another letter written on the 27th of April gives instruction
to the heutenant " to suffer the Bishop of Lincoln to come, at
such times as he by his discretion shall think meet, to his table
for the better relief of his quartan ague ; and also to have that
liberty of the house, as prisoners heretofore having the liberty
of the Tower hath used, the ordering whereof is referred to his
discretion," f
On the 26th June the Queen deprived the two bishops of
their sees. For this purpose they were brought, says Machyn,
" to Master Hawse, the King's {i.e., Queen's) Sheriff, in Minc
ing Lane, and the Bishop of Winchester to the Tower again,
and the Bishop of Lincoln delivered away," J If this means
that he was set at liberty, whither he then repaired I can only
conjecture. It was probably to his brother's house in London,
This brother is mentioned in 1556 in Mere's Diary as having
come to Cambridge during the visitation, § His name was
John. It was probably to him that a lease was granted, when
Dr Watson was master of St John's, of a tenement belonging to
the college, mentioned in the college registers, {| He is then
called " John Watson, of London, gentleman," and he has per
mission to alienate the lease to William Roper, of Lincoln's
Innj probably the son-in-law of Sir Thomas More.
In the State papers of 1578 there is a list given by an in
former of the names and addresses of certain Papists in Lon
don, with particulars of those who keep chaplains, attend mass,
&c. Among these is mentioned Watson, of Great St Helen's,
attorney of Guildhall. H This is all the information I can glean
about this brother, unless he is the same John Watson who is
mentioned in 1579 as laying complaints before the Privy
Council against the Protestant Bishop of Lincoln, and who is said
to be non compos mentis, ** But to return to the year 1559.
-* Council Register, vol, i., A, 1558-1559, Mary. Elizabeth, p. 263,
Machyn notes in his diary that the two bishops were sent to the Tower
by the guard by water, to the Old Swan, and to Billingsgate after.
(Diary, p. 192,) t Ibid. p. 278.
X Ibid, p, 201. § Lamb's Collection, p, 207,
II See Cooper's Notes to Baker's History of St John's, vol, i. p, 374,
n. 163, 165, and p. 377, n. 182,
IT P, R, O., Dom, Eliz,, Addenda, vol xxv, n. 118,
** Privy CouncU Register, l6th October 1579, p, 641,

:iii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Ehzabeth was disappointed in her hopes that the bishops
¦ would accept her supremacy. The only one who yielded was
Kitchin of Llandaff, Jewel writes to his friend, Peter Martyr,
on August ist : — " The bishops, rather than abandon the Pope,
whom they have so often abjured before, are wiUing to submit
to anything. Not, however, that they do so for the sake of
religion, of which they have none, but for the sake of con
sistency,, which the miserable knaves now choose to call their
conscience." " Now that religion is everywhere changed,"
continues this amiable gentleman, " the mass priests absent
themselves altogether from public worship, as if it were the
greatest impiety to have anything in common with the people
of God." *
Dr Lingard has summed up in a few words the history of
the Catholic hierarchy : — f
" It should be observed," he says, " that deprivation was
not the only punishment inflicted on the Cathohc bishops
for their nonconformity. They were objects of persecution,
with, perhaps, one exception, as long as they lived. Those who
had attended in Parliament were deprived immediately, the
others were sent for from the country, and shared the fate of
their brethren. All were placed under custody ; and during
the winter the sentence of excommunication was published
against Heath (of York), and Thirlby (of Ely), and in the
summer against Bonner (of London), By that time TunstaU
of Durham, Morgan of St David's, Ogilthorpe of Carhsle,
White of Winchester, and Baines of Coventry, had died of the
contagious malady which prevailed. Scot of Chester, Gold-
well of St Asaph, and Pate of Worcester, found the means of
retiring to the Continent, Of the remaining seven, Heath,
after two or three months' imprisonment in the Tower, \ was
-* Zurich Letters, vol. i. p. 39. — This testimony is noteworthy, since
it is generally thought that most of the priests conformed. This is re
futed statistically by Mr Simpson in his " Life of Campion." Jewel
also writes (November 2, 1559) after visiting Reading, Abingdon,
Gloucester, Bristol, Bath, Wells, Exeter, Cornwall, Dorset, and Salis-
bui-y — " If inveterate obstinacy was found anywhere it was altogether
among the priests, those especially who had once been on our side.
Let them make what disturbance they please, we have in the meantime
disturbed them from their rank and ofSce," — Letters, i, 45,
+ History of England, vol, vi. note B, p. 668 (ed. 1849).
X 1 his seems erroneous. In June 1562, Heath was still in the Tower

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, liii
permitted to live on his own property at Cobham, in Surrey
where the Queen, by whom he was greatly respected, occasion
ally honoured him with a visit. Bonner, after a confinement
of ten years, died in the Marshalsea ; 'Watson of Lincoln re
mained a prisoner twenty-three years, and died in Wisbeach
Castle. Thirlby of Ely lived in the custody of Archbishop
Parker, and Bourne of Bath and Wells in that of Dr Carew,
Dean of Exeter. Turberville of Exeter, and Pool of Peter
borough, were suffered to remain at their own houses on their
recognisances not to leave them without licence. Feckenham,
Abbot of Westminster, passed from the Tower to the custody
of the Bishop of London, then to that of the Bishop of Win
chester, and was at last confined in Wisbeach Castle."
Watson survived all his brethren with the exception of
GoldweU of St Asaph, who died a few months later.-* Our
attention must be limited to Bishop Watson, and even as re
gards him I must now omit all the events which took place
around him, and merely trace him from prison to prison till
his death.
If in truth he was left in liberty, after his release from the
Tower on June 25th, 1559, which I do not think likely, he was
once more sent to the Tower on 20th May i56o.t Strype
tells us J that he was committed thither by the Archbishop of
Canterbury (Parker) and other ecclesiastical commissioners.
There were at the same time five other bishops, the Abbot of
Westminster, and Dr Boxall.
A letter from the Privy Council to the Archbishop allowed
them to come together for their meals, if he approved of it ;
the Archbishop of York (Heath), the Bishop of Worcester
(Pate), the Abbot of Westminster (Feckenham), and Dr
Boxall, at one table ; the Bishop of Ely (Thirlby), the
Bishop of Bath (Bourne), the Bishop of Exeter (TurberviUe),
and the Bishop of Lincoln, at another table, Strype adds,
that " after a whUe they were all committed to easier re
straints, and some restored to their perfect liberty." This is
incorrect, as we have seen. As to Dr Watson, he is re
turned by the Lieutenant of the Tower § a year afterwards,
* His Ufe has been written by the Rev. F. Knox, in the " Month."
+ Machyn's Diary, p. 235,
X Annals ofthe Reformation, vol, i, pt, i, p, 211.
§ P. R. O,, Domestic Eliz,, vol. xvii. n. 13.

liv

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,

' May 26, 1 56 1, as still under his charge; and so far from
the restraint becoming easier, in June 1562, the lieutenant
writes to " put their lordships of the Privy Council in re
membrance that the late bishops, with Mr Feckenham and
Mr Boxall, being all eight in number, be close and severally
kept, for the which they continually call upon him to make
in their names humble suit to have more hberty," and he
informs their lordships that " it is very troublesome to serve
so many persons so long together." * What result this appli
cation may have had as. regards the others I cannot say.
The Bishop of Lincoln was still in the Tower in September
S, 1562, t In March 1563, an Act was passed J enabling
the Protestant Bishops to require the oath of the Queen's
supremacy from any who had ever held office in the church
during the last three reigns, or who should say or hear a pri
vate mass, &c. The refusal to take this oath when tendered
the first time subjected the refuser to perpetual imprisonment ;
a second refusal subjected him to death, as in cases of high
treason. The Queen, however, secretly warned the bishops
not to proceed to tender the oath a second time without her
leave. Had this not been the case, Watson would be now
ranked among the martyrs instead of the confessors.
When this law passed, or shortly afterwards, Watson was
given into the custody of Edmund Grindal, Bishop of Lon
don, one whom he had known at Cambridge, and whom he
had met more than once in disputation since. § But if he
had been ready to discuss with him when they met on equal
terms, he wisely refused to renew the encounter with one who
was his jailor. This we learn from the following letter of
Grindal to CecU (October 15, 1563) : — "I thank you that
. , , ye remembered to ease me of one guest . . . My Lord of
Ely received him on Sunday last past, and -writeth that he is
welcome for their sakes that send him, otherwise not, I
signified to Dr Watson that, if he had tarried, I was willing
to have conferred with him in divers points, but he answereth
that he will not enter in conference with no man. The rea
son is, he will not incur penalties of laws, I said only one
* P, R, O,, Domestic Eliz., vol, xxiii., n. 40.
¦^ Ibid, vol. xxiv, 39 i. J See Lingard, vol, vi. p, 83,
§ e.g., at Sir Richard Morison's in 1551, at the Convocation of 1553,
1 and at the Westminster Conference in 1559.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,

law was penal,* that might be forborne ; but he persisted
in his opinion. I here said, ' Mr Feckenham is not so precise,
but could be contented to confer.' The Bishop of Winton,-f
when he was with me, said that if he should have any, he
could best deal with Feckenham, for in King Edward's days
he travailed with Feckenham in the Tower, and brought him
to subscribe to all things, saving the presence, and one or two
more articles. Ye might do very well (in my opinion) to ease
the poor Dean of Westminster,! and send the other also " {i.e.,
Feckenham), " to some other bishop, as Sarum or Chichester,
&c. It is more reason that we bishops should be troubled
with them than the poor dean," §
It appears from the above letter that Watson, after, being
some time, we do not know how long, in the custody of the
Bishop of London, had been transferred in October 1563 to
that of Coxe, Bishop of Ely. With him he remained rather
more than a year, for by a letter from the Privy Council,|| dated
9th January (apparently of the year 1564-5), the Bishop of
Ely is ordered to send him to the Tower again, while at the
same time the Lieutenant of the Tower is instructed " to keep
him in safe ward, without having conference with any."
This is an indication of what we shall see explicitly stated
by the Government on another occasion, that Watson both
had and exerted great influence in keeping Catholics faithful
to God and His Holy Church, in spite of persecution.
Five years after his recommittal, a return of the prisoners in
the Tower, made April 1570, shows him to have been still
confined in the state prison, 51 Baker says that, on the pub
lication of the bull of excommunication against the Queen by
St Pius V. in February 1570, Bishop Watson was interrogated
together with Feckenham, Cole, and Harpsfield, concerning
the bull, and that his answers (given under his hand) were
* Denying the Queen's supremacy by statute, i Eliz, c, i,
f Home,
X Goodman, iii whose custody Feckenham then was,
§ Grindal's Remains, p. 281 (Parker Society), Feckenham was sent
to Home, who was not so successful as he had hoped. For an account
of the controversy between Home and Feckenham see Stapleton's
Counterblast, II Privy Council Register, Eliz., vol. i. p. 143,
IT P, R, O,, Dom, Eliz,, vol. 67, n. 93,

Ivi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
very temperate, and with due regard to his allegiance to the
Queen,* Baker refers to Goldast, a German, who has preserved the
answers of Watson, which I do not find in the State Papers, I
give them as Goldast has translated them in Latin,
" Respondeo me eam rem non aliter quam ex auditu comper-
tam habere, Neque enim BuUam prsefatam aut legi unquam
aut vidi. Confiteor reginam nostram Elizabetham, non ob
stante Pontificis Romani bulli, aut declaratione quacunque,
veram nostram esse et legitimam Angliae et HibernisE Regi
nam, eique ut Reginse ab omnibus suis subditis obedientiam
debere prsestari, Confiteor me, non obstante bulla praefata,
vel quacunque alia jam facta aut deinceps facienda, Reginae
Elizabethae, ut subditum legitimae principi suas, obedientiam
et fidelitatem debere." f
It does not become me to discuss so delicate a matter, or to
criticise either a canonised pope or a bishop who was con
fessor of the faith. Dr Milner has treated the question of the
bull of excommunication in his Sixth Letter to a Prebendary,
and defended the loyalty of Bishop Watson both to the Queen
and to the Pope, He observes that " Pius V, did not require
the Enghsh Cathohcs to receive or observe his bull ; " that
" he never published or signified it to them," and that " Gre
gory XIIL, his successor, explicitly declared that the bull did
not regard the consciences of English Catholics." But to
return to the record of the bishop's imprisonments, I may here
insert a letter written about this time by Grindal, Bishop of
London, to Cecil, on February 3, 1569-70: —
" Sir, — I pray you most instantly to be a mean that I be
not troubled with the Bishop of Ross.J He is a man of such
quahty as I like nothing at all. If needs I must have a guest,
I had rather keep Mr Hare § still. If it please you to know
mine opinion in genere, surely I think it were good that such
as deserve to be committed should be sent ad custodias publi-
cas. Experience declareth that none of those are reformed
which are sent to me and others, and by securing of them the
punishment lighteth upon us." ||
* History of St John's, p. 140.
t Goldast, Monarch, tom, iii. p, 66, ed, Francof, 1613,
X John Leslie, § Michael Hare, Esq,, a Catholic gentleman,
II Grindal's Remains, p, 320,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Ivii
Whether in consequence of this remonstrance or for other
reasons, Watson, as I have said, was kept in the Tower, In
July 1574, we find him in the Marshalsea, I have not been
able to discover the time of his removal thither from the Tower.
At that date the Privy CouncU* sent "a letter to the Bishop
of Canterbury in the behalf of Dr Watson, prisoner in the
Marshalsea, that upon sufficient sureties and bonds taken to
the Queen's Majesty's use, that the said doctor shall not by
speech, writing, or other means, induce or entice any person
to any opinion or act to be done contrary to the laws estab
lished in the realm for causes of religion, to give order that he
may be delivered to his brother John Watson, to remain with
him at his house, and not to depart from thence at any time,
without the licence of the lords of the Council ; nor that any
person shall resort to the said Doctor Watson any time, other
than such as shall have occasion to resort to the said John
Watson," These various imprisonments have taken but a few pages
to relate, but they had extended over fifteen years. When the
bishop was sent to the Tower at the close of the Westminster
Conference, he was scarcely forty-three years old ; he is now
fifty-eight. We know that at his first committal he was suffer
ing from a severe attack of ague ; he can scarcely have escaped
relapses in such places as the Tower and the Marshalsea. In
a letter of Grindal's, written 15th August 1569, he says, " The
prison sickness reigns usually at this time of the year, Milerus
the Irishman in my custody is very sick of an ague." Yet it
is probable that the bishop's prisons were less unhealthy than
the Tower, Nothing can be more piteous than the description
which Richard Creagh, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, who
was confined there at the same time as the Bishop of Lincoln,
gives of his various infirmities brought on by bad air, bad
food, and confinement,t We have no details of the nature of
Watson's imprisonment, of the books allowed him, or persons
who could resort to him. In those days prisoners sometimes
purchased the connivance of their jailors and managed to say
or hear mass ; and priests found their way to them in disguise
and heard their confessions and gave them holy communion.
* Pri-vy Council Register, Eliz., vol. ii. p, 246.
\ Published by the Bishop of Ossoiy in his Spicilegium Ossoriense,
:from the State Papers,

Iviii' BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Whether and how far the Bishop of Lincoln gained any such
consolations can only be a matter of conjecture. We can,
however, easily imagine the joy of the venerable confessor
when, in the security of his brother's house, he might once
more offer the holy sacrifice, recite his breviary, study and
converse with Catholics, He could not indeed go out, and
visitors were forbidden under penalties to communicate with
him. Dodd -writes as if he " administered confirmation and
gave advice on matters regarding government and discipline "
to the afflicted Catholics now without a bishop to direct them,
and with only fugitive priests to instruct or feed them with the
sacraments. But perhaps Dodd is here writing from conjec
ture,* He says also in his short biographical notice : " While
Bishop Watson lived, he was consulted and regarded as the
chief Superior of the English Cathohc clergy, and, as far as
his confinement would permit, exercised the functions of his
character." f
This, at least, is fully borne out by the documents I am
about to produce. After the bishop had remained three years
with his brother, viz., in July IS77, the following letter was
sent by Walsingham to the Bishop of London : —
" After my very hearty commendations unto your lordship,
the inconvenience and mischief being daily found to increase,
not only to the danger of her Majesty's person, but to the
disturbance of the common quiet of this realm ; and the lenity
that hath been showed to such persons as obstinately refuse to
come to the church in the time of sermons and common
prayer : It is resolved, therefore, that for the redress thereof,
there shall be some consultation, and thereupon some general
order to be set down, which shall not be changed. And be
cause it is intended that your lordship shall be present at the
said consultation, I am for that purpose also appointed by my
lords to require you to be there upon Thursday, and to bring
with you Mr Doctor Hamon, your Chancellor, and such as
you shall think meet. And forasmuch as the special point of
the said consultation will stand upon the order that may be
taken generally with aU them that refuse to come to the
church, and in particular what is meetest to be done with
Watson, Feckenham, Harpsfield, and others of that kind
* Dodd's Church History, vol. iii. p, 45 (ed. Tiemey).
t Ibid. Part iii., book 2, art. 3. (orig. ed.)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, lix
that are thought to be the leaders and the pUlars of the con
sciences of great numbers of such as be carried with these
errors, whether it be not fit they be disputed with, aU in some
private sort, and after disputation had with them, and they
thereby not reduced to conformity, then whether it shall be
better to banish them the realm, or to keep them here together
in some strait sort, as they may be kept from all conference to
the further maintenance of this corruption  I have
thought meet to give you of the same these short remem
brances, that by thinking thereupon, and of some such other
things as may further this good intention, your lordship may
come the better prepared to the furtherance of so good a pur
pose. And so I bid your lordship most heartily farewell,"*
Enclosed with this letter were the following memorandaf: —
How such as are backward and corrupt in Religion may be
reduced to conformity, and others stayed from like cor
ruption.
" For the reducing to conformity of such as are corrupt in
religion, and refuse to yield obedience to the laws of the realm,
provided in that behalf, and the staying of others from falling
into like corruption, three things principally are to be put in
execution. " I, The first in taking order generally with such as are
recusants, as that they may be brought to obey the laws,
" 2. ' The second in providing, either by banishment or re
straint, that Watson, Feckenham, and the rest upon whose
advice and consciences the said recusants depend, may do no
harm. " Touching the second point for the restraining or banishing
of Watson and the rest: if banishment be not thought meet,
then it is to be considered how they may be restrained in such
sort as there may be no access had unto them, which may be
performed by putting these things following in execution : —
" First, in making choice of some apt place for the keeping
of them, " Secondarily, in appointing some man of trust to take
charge of them.
" Lastly, in taxing upon the bishops and clergy such as are
* P. R, O,, Dom, Eliz., vol, xlv, p. 21, t Ibid, p, 10.

Ix BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
non-residents, and have plurahties, some yearly contribution
for the finding of them, and a convenient stipend to be given
to their keeper,"
The result of all these deliberations was that the foUowing
letter was addressed by the Council to those into whose charge
the poor Cathohcs were committed,*
" After our right hearty commendations unto your lordship,
whereas her Majesty heretofore, after the restraining of Feck
enham, Watson, and others, very backward and obstinate in
religion, upon persuasion and some opinion conceived that hy
granting them liberty they might be drawn in time to yield
themselves conformable unto her Highness' laws, she was con
tented to have them enlarged, and bonds taken of them for
their good behaviours, as that they should refrain all manner
of conference, secret practices or persuasions, to seduce her
said subjects by withdrawing of them from the rehgion pre
sently received within this realm, and their dutiful obedience
towards her Highness and her laws : forasmuch as it is in
formed that Feckenham, Watson, and the rest, contrary to their
bonds, promise, and hope conceived of their amendment, have
and do daily and manifestly abuse the liberty granted unto
them, whereby many of her Highness' said subjects are by
their secret persuasions lately fallen and withdrawn from their
due obedience, refusing to come unto the church, and to per
form that part of their duties which heretofore they have been
dutifully contented to yield. Upon consideration whereof her
Majesty foreseeing of what consequence the effects of these lewd
persuasions and practices may be, if in time they shall not
conveniently be met withal, hath thought it convenient again
to restrain them of their liberties, and to make choice of some
of your caUing, unto whom they might be committed, and
carefully looked unto, and, namely, hath appointed the person
of A. B, unto your lordship's custody, to be straidy kept
and dealt withal, according to a form which we send your
lordship herewith in writing, requiring you in her Majesty's
name, at such time as the said A, B. shall be sent unto you to
receive him, and in all points to do your endeavour strictly to
foUow the said form for the usage of him during the time he
shall remain with you, unless upon some good report made by
* P, R, O,, Dom. Eliz., vol. cxiv, n, 69.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Ixi
you of hope of his conformity, it shall be by her Majesty or us
ordered, that he shall be more favourably dealt withal,
" Wherein not doubting but you will thoroughly perform the
expectation had of your care in this behalf, we bid your lord
ship right heartily."
A form to be observed by -my Lords the Bishops in the ordering
of such as were committed to their custody for Popery,
" I. That his lodging be in such a convenient part of your
house, as he may both be there in safe custody, and also have
no easy access of your household people unto him, other than
such as you shall appoint, and know to be settled in religion
and honesty, as that they may not be perverted in religion or
any otherwise corrupted by him.
" 2. That he be not admitted unto your own table except
upon some good occasion to have ministered to him there, in
the presence of some that shall happen to resort unto you, such
talk whereby the hearers may be confirmed in the truth ; but
to have his diet by himself alone in his chamber, and ths^t in
no superfluity, but after the spare manner of scholars' com
mons, "3. That you suffer none, unless some one to attend upon
him, to have access unto him ; but such as you shall know to
be persons well confirmed in true religion, and are [not] likely
to be weakened in the profession of the said rehgion by any
conference they shall have with him.
" 4, That you permit him not at any time and place while he
is with you to enter into any disputation of matters of religion,
or to reason thereof otherwise than upon such occasion as
shall be by you, or in your presence with your good liking by
some other, ministered unto him,
" 5, That he have ministered unto him such books of
learned men and sound writers in divinity, as you are able
to lend him and none other.
" 6, That he have no liberty to walk abroad to take the
air but when yourself is at best leisure to go with him, or
accompanied with such as you shah appoint.
" 7. That you do your endeavour by all good persuasions to
bring him to the hearing of sermons, and other exercise of
rehgion in your house and the chapel or church which you
most commonly frequent."

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.

I do not think that it is a rash conjecture that Watson's
old antagonist Grindal was at the bottom of these severe
measures. In 1570 he had been promoted from the see of
London to that of York, and in the beginning of 1576 to that
of Canterbury. We have seen him express his opinion that
the recusants should be confined in the pubhc prisons rather
than in the bishops' houses. When he was Archbishop of
York (in November 13, IS74), he did not disguise his vexa
tion, in a letter to Lord Burghley, at the news which had
reached him of the greater measure of freedom lately granted
to Dr Watson. I give a long extract from this letter, because
it contains some interesting detaUs regarding one of Watson's
old companions at Cambridge, Thomas Vavasor, a physician,
and one who had harboured Campion in 1572 : —
" My very good lord, — We of the ecclesiastical commission
have here sent a certificate to my Lords of the Council of our
proceedings this term. Only five persons have been com
mitted for their obstinacy or papistical religion. For the
number of that sect (thanks be to God !) daily diminisheth in
this diocese especially. None of note was committed, save
only your old acquaintance, Doctor Vavasor, who hath been
tolerated in his own house in York almost three-quarters of
a year. In his answer, made in open judgment, he showed
himself the same man which you have known him to be in
his younger years : which was sophistical, disdainful, and
eluding arguments with derision, when he was not able to solute
the same by learning. His great anchor-hold was in urging
the literal sense of hoc est corpus meum, thereby to prove
transubstantiation, which to deny, saith he, is as great an
heresy as to deny consubstantiation,* defined in the Nicene
Councih The diversity was sufficiently declared unto him by
testimonies of the fathers, Sed ipse sibi plaudit. My Lord
President and I, knowing his disposition to talk, thought it
not good to commit the said Dr Vavasor to the castle of 'York,
where some other like affected remain prisoners ; but rather to
a solitary prison in the Queen's Majesty's castle at Hull, where
he shall only talk to walls.
" The imprisoned for rehgion in these parts of late made
supplication to be enlarged, seeming, as it were, to requhe it
of right, by the example of enlarging Feckenham, Watson,
* The consubstantiality of the Son with the Father.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, IxIii
and other papists above {i.e., in London), We here are to
think that all things done above are done upon great causes,
though the same be to us unknown. But certainly my Lord
President and I join in opinion, that if such a general
jubilee should be put in use in these parts, a great relapse
would follow soon after." *
It is not rash to suppose that when Grindal became Arch
bishop of Canterbury, he should have looked with a jealous s
eye on the liberty enjoyed by Dr Watson, however restricted
it was, and should have used his influence to destroy it.
In July 1577 then Bishop Watson was given over tothe
custody of Dr Home, Bishop of Winchester, with the instruc
tions given above,+ At the same time. Young was sent to the
Dean of Canterbury, Harpsfield to the Protestant Bishop of
Lincoln, and Feckenham to the Bishop of Ely,
Robert Home, who was now Bishop of Winchester, has
been already mentioned as one of the Fellows of St John's,
contemporary with Watson, He had been one of the leaders
of the Protestant movement, and had been made Dean of Dur
ham during the reign of Edward. He had been deprived because
of his marriage and heresy, and had been succeeded by Watson.
He would naturally, therefore, not look very favourably on his
theological opponent and ecclesiastical rival. Mr Cooper thus
gives his character : " Bishop Home was no doubt a man of
considerable learning and ability, although he appears to have
had an imperfect control over a somewhat unhappy temper.
His memory is obnoxious for his furious zeal in defacing the
monuments of the piety of a former age." J Home had also
brought an action against the Bishop of Lincoln for some
goods and books which he said had been unjustly taken from
him when he was deprived of his deanery of Durham. This
was in February 1560, after Watson himself had been deposed
from his bishopric. § It seems then quite natural that he should
not have relished the company of Watson, any more than
Watson his guardianship.
In August the CouncU wrote to the Bishop of Winchester,
" that whereas Dr Watson hath been a suitor unto their lord-
* Grindal's Remains, p. 350,
¦^ Privy Council Register, Eliz,, vol, iv. p. i.
+ Cooper's Athenae Cantabrigienses.
§ See Letter of Home to Cecil, P. R. O., Dom. Eliz., vol, xi. n, 16,

Ixiv BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
ships to have a man of his own to attend upon him during his
being in the custody of the said bishop, whereof although their
lordships made difficulty, for that his man is of his religion,
they are notwithstanding upon consideration that it is less danger
to let one already corrupted than a sound person to attend upon
him, he is required to permit his said man to attend upon him
so he shall be contented to repair unto the church ; and withal
his lordship to take heed that in using the company of his men,
none of them do receive infection from him." *
Bishop Watson seems to have been sent to Bishops-Wal-
tham, Farnham, or Winchester, places where he had been
famiharly known and respected in a different character. Home
was not long before he seized on a pretext to get rid of his
unwelcome guest, as we find from the following letter, written
to the Bishop of Winchester by the Council (i6th January
1578-9) :_
" That whereas he desireth to be discharged of the custody
of Dr Watson, in respect that his lordship intendeth for reco
very of his health to repair to London, his lordship is required
to bring the said Watson thither with him, who for like infir
mity desireth to go thither ; and further orders shall be taken
for his custody, "t
Their lordships resolved to transfer him to the custody of
the Bishop of Rochester, John Young, who had been appointed
to that see in 1578. They accordingly wrote to him (on 19th
February 1578-9) : —
" That whereas Dr Watson, committed to the keeping of the
Bishop of Winton, is by occasion of sickness of the bishop to
be removed, and is ordered to remain with the said Bishop of
Rochester ; his lordship is required to take him into his charge,
to use all good means to bring him to conformity, and to have
regard that he have no such conference nor repair as he may
corrupt others.
" To Bishop of Winton to give him notice what is done,
and to require him to give order that the said Watson may be
safely delivered into the custody and charge of the Bishop of
Rochester." J
-* Council Register, Eliz., vol. iv, p, 10.
t Ibid, p. 376.
X Ibid, p, 403. Also Strype's Annals, vol. ii., part 2, app.
p. 660.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, IxV
The only incident on record connected with Dr Watson's
imprisonment under this official is, that a certain Portuguese,
named Antonio Fogaga, induced the Bishop of Lincoln and
the Archbishop of Armagh, then imprisoned in the Tower, to
sign two letters, one to the King of Portugal, the other to his
Majesty's Confessor, These were intercepted, Antonio, on
being interrogated, declared that he himself indited the two
letters in Spanish, and gave money to Dr Watson's servant to
obtain his master's hand to the letters.*
This was in April 1580. The Bishop's servant was also
interrogated, and as his answers contain some interesting par
ticulars I will transcribe them, I omit the questions for
brevity's sake, as the answers will speak for themselves.
The answer of William Whiting, unto such interrogatories as
were ministered unto him the I'jth of March 1579-80.
" To the first interrogatory he saith, that he knoweth Fogaga
if he see him, and hath only known him but since one month
before Christmas, and never saw him before that time, nor
ever since but once, meeting him by chance in the streets ;
and sith that at the first time of his acquaintance with the said
Fogaga he came unto him in the streets, but where about in
the streets he cannot remember, at which time the said Fogaga
demanded of him if he were not Dr Watson's servant, and this
examinate answering ' yea,' the said Fogaga desired him to
carry two letters from him to his master, and to procure him
to sign them ; which at the first he refused, .for that (as he
saith) his master had forbidden him to bring him any -letters,
but afterward (at the earnest instance of the said Fogaga, de
claring unto him that the contents of the letters were only to
signify what good deeds he had done here to good men, and
that the commendation thereof confirmed by Dr Watson would
do him much good), he was contented, and did thereupon
carry them unto his said master.
" To the second he saith, that he knoweth no Catholic pri
soner by name, but only some few in the Marshalsea — Wood,
Bilson, Pound, Bluet, Webster, with whom he came ac
quainted, being himself prisoner in the Marshalsea by the space
of one-half year, committed upon suspicion to be a priest.
And to these men he hath sundry times repaired since his en-
* P, R, O., Dom, Eliz., vol, cxxxvii, pp, 647, 649.

Ixvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
largement as of himself, but never carried or received anything
to or fro between his master and them,
" To the third he saith, he hath had recourse unto his mas
ter since the time of his commitment unto the Bishop of
Rochester, at the least every week once, but never carried any
letters or writing unto his master from any man ; neither -ever
brought any letters or writings from his master to any other
person. " To the fourth he saith, that he knoweth not any man from
whom his master hath ever received any exhibition or relief,
but only from John Watson, his brother ; but what he hath
had from him, this examinate knoweth not.
" To the fifth he saith, that he never delivered any other
letters, writings, or papers unto his master than the two
letters he received from Fogaga, unto whom he restored them
after his master had subscribed them, within one day, at his
house in Mark Lane, where (as he saith) he never was before,
but had notice of the place of Fogaga's dweUing at the time
when he received the letters of him ; of whom he had a crown
in money at the bringing of the letters unto him : and no
speeches he had with Fogaga, but was asked of him how his
master did, and he answered him that he was weU, and no
more. " To the sixth he saith as in the first, that the letters con
tained only matters of Fogaga, his commendation,
" To the seventh he saith, that he knoweth not by whom
the letters were penned, nor whose handwriting they were, and
were received by him and delivered as is above said,
" Signed by me,
Wm, Whiting,"*
When the Archbishop of Armagh was interrogated why he
signed these letters, he replied that " he was persuaded that
thereby there should grow some relief unto such as are in
prison for religion,"+ Hugh Kenrick, a Sheriffs Protonotary,
who had helped to convey the letters, being questioned, " con
fessed that one WUliam Whiting, servant to Dr Watson, did
bring unto him, a little before Christmas, a letter, written in a
Roman hand, directed unto the King of Portugal, . , , and
touching the reading of the said letters, he saith he never read
* P, R, O,, Dom. Eliz,, vol, cxxxvi. u, 62, f Ibid, n, 54,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Ixvii
them, for that he conceived that being subscribed by Watson,
they did contain no undutiful matter,"
There are other papers on this matter, which may be truly
described as " much ado about nothing." The incident is
interesting, as bringing together two great confessors of the
faith, and in proving the truth of the long imprisonment in the
Tower of the Archbishop of Armagh, which Mr Froude has
recklessly denied.
There exists, among the State Papers,* a memorandum, in
Lord Burghley's handwriting, apparently made in July 1580,
It runs as follows : —
" Things to be considered — That all the deposed ecclesias
tical Papists be collected together, and sent to divers castles,
as to Wisbech [or] Banbury, That all the papistical laymen,
being manifest recusants, remaining upon bonds, may be sent
for by the commissioners, and be bestowed into some con
venient places near London, under sure guard.
" That their armour be seized.
" That generally all such others as will not come to the
church, may be fined and imprisoned by virtue of the ecclesi
astical commission,"
The result of the Council's dehberations was the choice of
Wisbech Castle, in Cambridgeshire, as a fit receptacle for the
unfortunate priests, and thither in consequence Bishop Watson
was committed in August or September,
Strype says that " when certain Roman emissaries came
into the realm, and began to disturb the church, Watson (being
too conversant with them) was committed to Wisbech Castle
a close prisoner." t
These " Roman emissaries " were the seminary priests from
Douay, and the Jesuits. Into the history of this movement I
must not enter. It is being iUustrated by better hands than
: mine, I wUl merely say that the epoch of Cathohc martyr
doms had now begun. " Cuthbert Maine had led the way in
1577, the first of the glorious holocaust of Douay priests. In
1578 one priest had been martyred, John Nelson; and one
: layman, Thomas Sherwood, a Douay student. Four priests
* S. P., Dom, Eliz, Addenda,'Vol. xxvii. n, 21,
+ Annals of the Reformation, vol, i, part i. p. 214,

Ixviii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
suffered in 158 1, Campion's year; and in 1582 no less than
eleven." *
Baker says, " Upon the alarm given by the coming over of
Parsons and Campion, Jesuits; Watson and others were com
mitted to Wisbech, where they lived in a coUegiate and
friendly manner, no one assuming authority over- the rest tiU
after the Jesuits coming among them,''t
He also teUs us that Bishop Watson " greatly disliked the
violent proceedings of the Jesuits," This^is also repeated by
Mr Cooper. A few words must be said in explanation of these
statements, which are likely to be misunderstood. By " vio
lent proceedings " is meant the method of acting of the Jesuit
missionaries, adopted generally in England, By " assumption
of superiority," reference is made to an unhappy dispute which
arose among the prisoners at Wisbech, Though these two
matters are perfectly distinct, yet they were confounded and
worked up together in some passionate pamphlets published in
the years 1 601-3, and it will be necessary at least to disentangle
the truth regarding Dr Watson, though I have no intention of
reviving the memory of former quarrels. I begin then with
some extracts from a pamphlet, printed in 1601, called "Im
portant Considerations by the Secular Priests," which gives a
review of the policy of the government, and of the treatment
of Catholics, from the schism until the death of Bishop Watson,
" It cannot be denied," say these writers, "but that for the
first ten years of her Majesty's reign the state of Cathohcs in
England was tolerable, and after a sort in some good quietness.
Such as for their consciences were imprisoned in the beginning
of her coming to the Crown were very kindly and mercifully
used, the state of things then considered. Some of them
were appointed to remain with such of their friends as they
themselves made choice of. Others were placed, some with
bishops, some with deans, and had their diet at their tables,
with such convenient lodgings and walks for their recreation
as did well content them. They that were in the ordinary
prisons, had such liberty and other commodities, as the places
would afford, not inconvenient for men that were in their
cases, * The Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, by Father Morris (3
series 1875), p, 13,
t History of St John's, vol. i. p, 140.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Ixix
" The Catholics here continued in sort, as before you have
heard, till the said RebeUion brake forth in the North, 1569,
a little before Christmas ; and that it was known that the
Pope had excommunicated the Queen, and thereby freed her
subjects (as the bull importeth) from their subjection. And
then there followed a great restraint of the said prisoners,
"Their [the Jesuits] first repair hither was Anno 1580,
when the realm of Ireland was in great combustion, and then
they entered (viz., Mr Campion, the subject, and Mr Parsons,
the provincial) like a tempest, with sundry such great brags
and challenges, as divers of -the gravest clergy then living in
England (Dr Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, and others) did
greatly dislike them, and plainly foretold that (as things then
stood) their proceedings after that fashion would certainly
urge the state to make some sharper laws, which should not
only touch them, but likewise all others, both priests and
Catholics. " Besides, to the further honour of her Majesty, we may not
omit that the states of the whole realm assembled in Parlia
ment, Anno 1576, were pleased to pass us over, and made no
laws at that time against us. The ancient prisoners that had
been restrained more narrowly in the year 1570, were (not
withstanding the said enterprises in Ireland) again restored to
their former liberty, to continue with their friends as they had
done before.
" But when the Jesuits were come, and that the state had
notice of the said excommunication, there was then within a
while a great alteration, . . . thence was a greater restraint
of CathoUcs than at any time before. Many, both priests and
gentlemen, were sent into the Isle of Ely, and other places,
there to be more safely kept and looked unto, . . .
"The same month [January 1581] also a Parhament
ensued, wherein a law was made agreeable in effect to the
said proclamation, but with a more severe punishment annexed ;
for it was a penalty of death for any Jesuit or seminary priest
to repair into England, and for any to receive and entertain
them, which fell out according to Bishop Watson's former
speeches or prediction, what mischief the Jesuits would bring
upon us.
" Such of us as remained in prison at Wisbech (and were
conunitted thither 1580, and others not long after committed

Ixx BibGRAPHlCAL NOTICE.
also thither, to the number of about thirty-three or thirty-four),
continued stiU in the several times of all the said most wicked
designments, as we were before ; and were never brought into
any trouble for them, but lived there, college-like, without any
want, and in good reputation with our neighbours that were
Catholics about us."*
On these extracts I would observe that it is certainly true
that the persecution of Catholics in the latter part of Ehza-
beth's reign was more severe than in the first twenty years
and that the change was produced in part by the action of the
Sovereign Pontiff, of the seminary priests, and of the Jesuits,
But this is easily explained without blaming any for " violent
proceedings," At the beginning of Ehzabeth's reign, those
who remained faithful to the Church waited to see what would
happen. They had been accustomed to changes in the reigns
of Henry, Edward, and Mary. Ehzabeth might die and
another change occur in favour of the Catholics, But as
years rolled on, it became clear that the whole pohcy of the
Government was to bring about external conformity at least
to the state religion, and that no toleration would be granted
to nonconformity. The priests, therefore, who by the efforts
of Cardinal Allen and others were educated with a view to
this new state of things, came into England with the clear
purpose of resisting this absorption of the Catholics into the
national schism and heresy with all their power. In this work
the Jesuits zealously co-operated. Their policy was exactly
the same as that of the seminary priests, of Cardinal AUen
and of the Holy See, It would perhaps be rash to assert that
Dr Watson never let fall any expression of fear as to the
results of Father Campion's public challenge, which was after
wards distorted by the enemies of the Society into a dislike
for their general policy. But to say that he really blamed the
boldness, the zeal, and self-sacrifice with which the new race
of priests sought to arouse the faith and constancy of the
Catholics, as weU as to bring back heretics, would be absurd.
He had himself suffered in that cause for twenty years. He
is mentioned in state documents as one of the most active in
persuading Catholics to refuse any compromise, and in winning
back those who had yielded. In 1577 he was called by
* Important Considerations by the Secular Priests, A.D. 1601,
From a Reprint : London, 1688, Pp, 34-49,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Ixxi
Walsingham one of " the leaders and pUlars of the consciences
<of great numbers ; " while Strype tells us that the very reason
why he was committed to Wisbech was that he was too
conversant with the new " Roman emissaries,"
I conclude therefore that, in the heat of subsequent dis
putes, the little party of schismatical priests, who resisted the
archpriest, and complained of the rigour of the persecution,
vpilling to strengthen their cause by an appeal to great names,
exaggerated some casual expression of Dr Watson, or wrested
it from its meaning, just as they in the same way, after Car
dinal Allen's death, reported that he too had made use of
some expression in conversation derogatory to the illustrious
Society of which he has been always the warmest friend.
These appeals to the unwritten obiter dicta of great and holy
men after their decease, are very uncertain grounds on which
to base historical conclusions.
As it is evident that the writers of the pamphlet highly
over estimated the small amount of liberty or comfort, granted
to Bishop Watson and the others in their long imprisonments,
for the sake of contrasting with it the fierceness of the subse
quent persecution which they laid to the charge of the Jesuits ;
so would they exaggerate the quiet endurance of the holy bishop
into a condemnation of the aggressive activity of the younger
men who came into England at his death. The truth, however,
is, as we shall see directly, that fn many respects the im
prisonment which the bishop endured at Wishech was far
more severe than that of which these writers speak. Some
time after his death a good deal of freedom was granted to
the prisoners and even faciUties for public worship, but I find
no trace of this during his lifetime.
In 1 582 Father Parsons wrote an account of the persecution,
which he pubhshed. In this he describes the treatment that
the Bishop of Lincoln and his companions were then enduring
at Wisbech — that they were deprived of aU their books, and
not aUowed any intercourse one with the other, except at table.*
Whether even that degree of freedom was granted at first I
should doubt from the following letter t written October 1 6th
1580 by the keepers ofWisbech to the Privy CouncU : —
* De Persecutione''Anglicana LibeUus, p, 60 (ed, 1582),
+ P, R, O., Dom, Eliz,, vol, 143 n, 17; given by Father Morris in
his Life of Weston, p. 226.

Ixxii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
" All duty and obedience unto your honourable Lordships —
We crave pardon in that we have not so shortly observed your
honours' direction in advertising the state of the recusants in
Wisbech Castle as was set down. The greatest reason for
our excuse is to crave more time than the allowance of one
month for certifying the state of our proceedings therein ; for
else, by not searching into the particular conditions of the
parties, we might inform more for order than for matter, and
so in vain. Let it therefore please your honours to understand
that the recusants here now imprisoned are eight in number,
namely, Watson, Feckenham, Young, Windham, Oxenbridge,
Metham, Wood, and Bluet. And we, according to your
lordships' letters and articles to the same adjoined, have (as
duty have charged) performed carefully what was enjoined, as
well to the Bishop [of Ely], Gray the keeper, as the prisoners
themselves. Advertising further that the lord bishop hath
appointed a preacher unto the recusants, a man of holy life,
learned, and able to give account of his doctrine strongly.
The men restrained before us both, and others have been
called divers times, and as often required to hear the preacher,
and abide the prayer ; but they all with one voice generally,
and after that every man particularly answering for himself,
denied to allow either, saying that they are not of our
church, or, they will neither hear, pray, nor yet confer with
us of any matters concerning rehgion. Yet as touching con
ference we must confess that Oxenbridge, Metham, and Bluet
(being privately dealt with) were contented to abide some
conference with the learned ; but when the place and time
was appointed for disputation upon their own questions, the
first of them that spoke made his protestation that, for
obedience' sake and our pleasings, they were content to
dispute before us, upon divers causes between their church
and ours now in question. Nevertheless, with such minds,
as what and whatsoever could be said against them, they
meant not to be reformed. The disputation held by the space
of two hours, the Lord be thanked ! to the great profit of us
and such as stood by, though to them a hardening.
" We have also, according to the article, with the preacher
perused their books and writings, of which we restrained all,
saving the canonical Scriptures and the allowed writers,
• vvhich to forego (together with their Romish notes upon the

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Ixxiii
same) was a great grief unto their hearts, aUeging that the
Book of God simply carrieth not such force and comfort to
their consciences as when the same is unfolded by the
CouncUs and Church of Rome,
" It may further please your honours that divers of the re
cusants have their servants to attend upon them, and yet for
them to be aUowed is not warranted. We have suffered them
(as restrained only within the walls) to attend their masters
till we know your further pleasure, and in the meantime we
find that their repairing together and not so abridged as their
masters, is in manner all one as if their masters might as well
confer as eat together, which conferring, as it is restrained, so
we wish, their eating together were. For if they be such
offenders as in your honours' letters appear, ordinary meeting
at meals doth not only strengthen them in error, but also layeth
a persuasion before them that this late earnest restraint, with •
such favour added, will end with restoring of their former
liberty. But it were too much boldness for us to show any
further our opinions before your wisdoms, what we think meet
for such obstinates, without further understanding of your
honourable minds herein.
" Even thus, therefore, beseeching the Lord our God to
endue your honours with all knowledge, judgment, and obedi
ence, of and to His will in this behalf, and that even upon
these monsters somewhat may be wrought by your authority
that may yield to His glory and the godly peace of this part
of His Church, in the preservation of the life and continuance
of the prosperous government of her most excellent Majesty,
with increase of all grace, we most humbly take our leaves
from Wisbech Castle the i6th of October 1580. — Your
honours most humbly in the Lord at commandment,
" George Carleton.
" Humphrey Michell,"
The Castle of Wisbech was an old, dilapidated palace of
the Bishops of Ely, surrounded by a moat, and being situated
in the fens was a most unwholesome residence for an old man
(Dr Watson was now sixty-four years old) subject to ague.
It is no wonder that he did not survive more than four years.
But few events connected with these four years have been
recorded. Not long after the arrival of the prisoners at

Ixxiv BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
Wisbech, Dr Wilham Fulke, a busy and disputatious Puri
tan, was sent by order of the Privy Council, for the pur
pose of conferring with them, and persuading them to resort
to church. They had had enough of these unprofitable dis
cussions, and refused to gratify this man's vanity. Parsons,
in the book above referred to, charged him with thrusting
himself upon them without authority, in order to get the credit
with his party of disputing cum magnatibus, and of having
put out a foolish and false account of the occurrence. An
account indeed had been published, but if we may believe
Fulke, without his knowledge. The matter is of no im
portance.-* If we may give credit to a letter,+ written in 1 581, in Latin,
by a Catholic prisoner in the Tower, the venerable bishop had
to bear worse insults than the intrusion of Dr Fulke. " Not
many days since," says this letter, " an infamous woman, the
tool of some ruffians, was introduced into the chamber of the
Bishop of Lincoln (who remains still in prison at Wisbech),
and dared in the most shameless way to sohcit to sin that
holy manj worn out as he is with cruel treatment. When the
old man with all his might endeavoured to drive the impure
beast from his cell, her evil instigators, who awaited the result,
even threatened him with blows." This history seems almost
incredible, but unfortunately it is not without paraUel in the
records of those days.
One more paper existing in the public recordsj throws some
light on the character of the bishop's jaUors. It is anonymous,
but from internal evidence seems to have been written by the
Bishop of Ely, and to be addressed to Lord Burghley.
" My right honourable Lord, I am in some conscience
moved to write, but yet this world liketh me so ill, that I have
no hope of good success therein. The recusants of Wisbech
Castle are the men of whom all the rest do depend. They
are sworn against Christ, and His Church here. I see how it
fareth amongst our grave Reformers. I like them so weU that
I will not trust them in so good -a service. Therefore upon
your lordship and the rest of my lords, and upon the con
sciences of you all, do I lay this burden. The former letters
* Fulke's version is in Strype's Annals of the Reformation, ii. 3/12,
\ P, R. O,, Dom. Eliz., vol. 149 n. 61,
X P, R, O., Dom. Eliz., vol, clxviii, n i.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Ixxv
; from the lords to me directed, was to lay upon the recusants
a learned preacher, to offer them conference and disputation,
and withal to bring them to the service of our church. They
: refuse all, they obey nothing, they regard not what ye enjoin,
" If my boldness might not be disliked, I would make my
suit thus: The care shall be mine, much charge shall be mine,
and the danger shall be mine. Let the lords then make
Gray's number of the recusants to be twenty. They and their
lodgings shall be all enclosed within a brick wall : they shall
eat and speak together : they shall conspire, and do what
they list. . I and mine, my lands and goods, shall answer for
all. For I mean if walls, locks, and doors will separate them
from out practice, they shall not want a sufficient provision of
such. Now let it not be thought, and as some bishops have
reported, that I have, or ever mind to make, trade or gain by
overruling such wretches. Only Thomas Gray is faithful in
his calling ; to him, therefore, let that belong, I have obtained
of him a consent, if his number might be twenty, certain and
special, to give out of his commodity rising from them, unto
two preachers, fourscore pounds by year. For the considera
tions before, and my care therein, let me then have the favour
of naming the preachers, upon which point aU hope of doing
good and winning glory to God doth consist ; for your honour
must know that formality and goodly words of consent to all
traditions whatsoever screeneth not the reins [?] of an obstinate
mind. But it must come from them, that by holy life and
deep judgments are able to set down God's anger and wrath
to come,
" May it therefore please your lords to be a mean that of
these four here nam^ed two of them may be preferred to preach,
confer, and dispute within — viz., Lancelot Andrewes, of Pem
broke HaU; Lawrence Dewse, of St John's College; Bartholo
mew Dod, of Jesus' CoUege; and William Flood. The
assembly shall be in Wisbech Castle haU, The recusants
shall be conveyed thither by a secret way without seeing any ;
they shall have a secret place for themselves to be in, to hear
and not be seen.
" The lords must give me authority to see all this per
formed, and what else they shall think good and meet to be
done. This is the holy ordinance of God, He wiU bless His
own ways. Other courses have not prospered with them. If

Ixxvi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
it please God to move .your hearts to consider hereof, you shall
try the success. And as I have thus boldly presumed upon
your lordships, so have I done the like with Mr the right
honourable Secretary. Thus most humbly I take my leave,
this first of February 1583" [i.e., 1584].
Whether the suggestions contained in this letter were acted
on I cannot say. To force money out of poor Catholic pri
soners, in order to pay preachers to annoy them, was a device
worthy of the Reformers. But to say, " This is the holy
ordinance of God, He wUl bless His own ways," was a con
summation of impudence that must have startled even the
Privy Councillors of Elizabeth.
The other question touched on in the pamphlets already
alluded to, is the demeanour of Bishop Watson to his fellow-
prisoners. Happily I can extract what they have said of
him vvithout conceming myself with the purpose for which
they brought it forward,
A book published in 1 600 asserted that the fear of incurring
a premunire " made the late reverend Bishop of Lincoln to
refuse all external jurisdiction offered him over his feUow
prisoners." In answer to this, another book called " A Brief
Apology" accused the writer of misstatement. In 1603 a
reply was published to this Apology, and the statement is
reiterated on the authority (alleged) " of those who were priests
and fellow-prisoners with Bishop Watson, and who were
present at the offer and his refusal, and are ear-witnesses
thereof."* We are, however, left in the dark as to the nature of this
jurisdiction. If it were episcopal, he stUl had it by right in
his own diocese, but how could priests offer it to him in the
diocese of Ely .' If, as it seems more likely, they merely asked
him, being a bishop, to rule them as a community, it seems
far-fetched to connect his refusal with fears od premunire.
However this may be, I am glad to extract the foUowing
account of Dr Watson from the ugly controversy in which it
is related ; a controversy which began long after the bishop's
death, and in which he is in no way concerned : —
"In the year 1580," says an anonymous writer, " Doctor
Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, Doctor Feckenham, Abbot of West
minster, Doctor Young, Master Metham, Doctor Oxenbridge,
¦* A Reply to a Notorious Libel intituled, A Brief Apology, p, 127.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. h

and Master Bluet, were sent to remain as prisoners in the
Castle of Wisbech, where they lived in great unity and
brotherly kindness ; every man intermeddling only with his
own affairs and private meditations. They were all in
commons with the keeper, and for their recreation had a
garden there to walk in, and to solace themselves as they
thought good. Such money as was sent to any particular
man he had himself the disposition of it, as he thought it
convenient ; that which came for the common use was by all
their consents delivered still to Master Bluet, who divided the
same to every man alike. There was then no affectation of
superiority, but every man yielded of.his own accord that duty
and precedency which to every one was due, the keeper having
the commandment over them all. Afterwards within about
three years, eight or nine gentlemen were likewise sent to
remain there as prisoners, upon certain speeches that the Duke
of Guise had some intendment against England, whereby the
number of the prisoners increased, without any disturbance at
all to the foresaid unity. These gentlemen lived at their own
charges, and as most dutiful children demeaned themselves
towards their fellow-prisoners and spiritual fathers. If at any
time some little indiscretion happened in any, a word (especi
ally of his ghostly father) was more than sufficient to reform
it : or if upon such like an occasion Bishop Watson were
moved to reprove this or that, his answer was : ' What, are
we not fellow-prisoners ? Are we not at the commandment
of another .¦' Shall I add affliction to one that is afflicted ?
Are we men who profess ourselves to be examples to others
in suffering for our consciences, and shall we not be thought
then able, without controllers, to govern ourselves ? Be con
tent ; I will not take upon me to reprove my feUow-prisoners.'
And indeed this was the course that every man held, so as by
submitting themselves one to another, every man had a com
manding power one over another ; such was the most Christian
and brotherly affection amongst them. In this sort they lived
till all were either dead or gone, but Master Metham and
Master Bluet, which was for the space of about six or seven
years," *
We have now exhausted our information regarding Bishop
• A True Relation of the Faction begun at Wisbech, printed in 1601,
(p. 1-3).

Ixxviii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE,
Watson. We know nothing of the length or nature of the
disease of which he died. We do not know who assisted him,
though it is probable that one or other of the priests then in
Wisbech was not denied access to him in his last moments.
It is related of Bishop Gardiner that " when he was lying on
his death-bed, he caused the Passion of Christ to be read unto
him, and when he heard it read, that Peter after the denying of
his Master, went out and wept bitterly, he, causing the reader
to stay, wept himself full bitterly and said, Ego exivi sed non
dum flevi amare : I have gone out, but as yet I have not wept
bitterly." * Gardiner died in the possession of dignity and
wealth ; his chaplain Dr Watson was more happy. The
sincerity of his repentance for the schism of his early years,
of his love to the Church, and fidehty to the Holy See, had
been proved by twenty-five years of suffering. He died on
27th September 1584, at the age of sixty-eight. He was the
last survivor of the Catholic bishops in England, and with
the death of Thomas GoldweU, Bishop of St Asaph's, in
the year following, the ancient hierarchy of England ceased
to exist. He was buried in the parish church of Wis
bech. The register, still in existence, contains simply the
entry "1584, 27th September: Johnt Watson, Doctor,
sepultus." No memorial was ever erected,J owing to the
circumstances of the times ; but I wUl venture to express a
hope that before many years each diocese of our restored
hierarchy will commemorate by some fitting monument its
confessors and martyrs ; and that Hexham in which Watson
was born, and was dean, Nottingham which contains his see,
and Northampton which contains his university, a? well as his
prison and his grave, may each inscribe on its hst the name
of Thomas Watson, I have sought in vain for any portrait,
nor am I aware of any description of his personal appearance.
His character may be gathered from his hfe and writings,
Strype calls him " altogether a sour and morose man," § prob-
* Stapleton, Counterblast, p, 368.
•|- By mistake for Thomas, He may have died that day or the day
before. X Cole, the antiquarian, searched for one in vain in 1748, See
Cole's MS., vol. xviii. p. 90 (British Museum),
§ Annals of the Reformation, vol, i. p. 214, He has merely copied
Godwin in this, and Bumet and others repeat the same thing on the
sarae authority. Mr Cooper says that the reflection on -Watson's

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. Ixxix
ably for no other reason than his refusal to sully his priesthood
by a sacrilegious marriage, like some of his fellow collegians,
or to preserve the honours and revenues of his episcopate by
apostasy. On the other hand, Thomas Nash bears testimony,
not merely to his merit and scholarship, but to his wit and
good humour. There is a calmness and absence of invective
in his sermons very unusual in those days ; and in the various
disputations in which he was engaged you will seek in vain for
a word of bitterness against an opponent. Even Foxe, who
rails incessantly at all the Catholic champions, makes no
charge of unfairness or overbearing temper against Watson.
The only apparent exceptions that I have met with are his
treatment of Rough, which I have discussed already, and his
resistance in the Westminster Conference. But even then
he is not charged with pride towards the disputants, but with
contumacy towards those who had power to commit him to
prison, ahd " his folly and violence," as they are called, were
merely the bold vindication of the dignity of his office and the
rights of the Church. He was a man who by his learning, his
talents, and his energy would in all probability, had God
allowed him to govern the church of Lincoln longer, have left
a name in that see as famous as that of Robert Grosteste.
But in the prime of his age and beginning of his career, God
permitted him to be torn from his flock ; and as men might
say, to waste his mature years in inactivity. But though his
pen was wrested from his hand and his tongue was silenced,
he glorified God and edifled the Church by patient suffering
and invincible constancy as the opponent of heresy and schism,
and his name will ever be in benediction in the Catholic
Church in England, as the last and not degenerate successor
of St Hugh.
temper is not only entirely unwarranted by facts, but the very reverse
of the truth.

WHOLESOME AND CATHOLIC
DOCTRINE.
THE FIRST SERMON.
OF THE NUMBER OF THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRIST'S
CHURCH, AND THE EFFECT OF THE SAME,
THE Catholic Church of God (good people) doth
extend her doctrine concerning the matter
of our belief, not only to the Articles of our Creed,
and such points as by revelation from God it teaches
us to believe of God, and the works of our Saviour
Christ, which He did or suffered for the redemption
and salvation of man ; but also to the holy sacra
ments of God, by the worthy using whereof, He
poureth abundantly His manifold graces into our
souls, and by them maketh us people meet to receive
the fruits and benefits of His passion. And as ye
have been instructed partly concerning the Articles
of our faith, so it is expedient ye be likewise in
structed concerning the holy sacraments of His
Church, to the intent ye might not only know the
manner of God's working in curing of your souls, but
A

THE SACRAMENTS,

also prepare and dispose yourselves to the fruitful
receiving of His medicines which be ministered to
every man by His holy sacraments. And therefore,
at this time, by God's help, I intend to declare unto
you the number of the sacraments of Christ's Church,
and also the effect of them all in general, and at other
times every one of them in special.
It is to be believed, upon pain of damnation, that
there be seven sacraments of Christ's Holy Church,
institute and ordained of our Saviour Christ, in His
New Testament or Law, which be — Baptism, Confir
mation, the sacrament of the Altar, Penance,
Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony. The first
five be ordained for the making good and the perfec
tion of every man and woman, as by Baptism we are
justified and made members of Christ's mystical body;
by Confirmation, we are increased and strengthened
in grace ; by the sacraments of Christ's Body and
Blood we are nourished to everlasting hfe, and made
fat with God ; by Penance, we are restored to our
form«r righteousness'* and goodness, if in case we fall
after Baptism ; by Extreme Unction, we are made
whole spiritually, and also corporally, if it be thought
to God expedient to our souls. All these five
sacraments be ordained to begin or restore our
righteousness and to bring it to perfectness for our
salvation. The other two last be ordained for the
common state of the Holy Church, as Matrimony, to
increase and multiply the Church corporally by
* In the original throughout the book this word is written "right-
wisnesse " — i.e., right-wise-ness.

IN GENERAL,

generation ; and Order, to multiply the Holy Church
spiritually by regeneration, and also by the ministry
of God's word, sacraments and discipline, to rule and
govern it after the will of Almighty God.
And whereas the Scriptures in many places
compare man's life to a war (Job vii. i, i Tim i, i8,
2 Cor, X, 3, 4), we may well, by that same similitude,
understand the number and division of God's sacra
ments, and the true effect of the same. For Christ,
our Lord and King, 'Who hath for us overcome the
devil, the flesh, the world, hell, death, and all His
enemies and ours, laboureth to make all us for whom
He hath prepared triumph, and the inheritance in the
kingdom of heaven, to be His soldiers, and by His
power and help to fight against the said enemies,
and to overcome them in our own persons, and so to
attain the promised reward.
The first thing that a worldly prince doth, intend
ing to make war against his enemy, is to muster and
choose out his soldiers, and to take their names, and
to apparel them with his livery and badge, that they
may be known from the soldiers of his adversary.
Even so Christ, our chief Captain, by Baptism hath
called and chosen out of all the people of this
world which He hath wholly redeemed, certain to
be His soldiers to fight against His enemy the devil;
which soldiers, thus called, have given their names
to Christ their' King, and have renounced the service
of their old master the devil, who was a tyrant,
delighting only in their death, and have promised
to serve only Christ, like true soldiers, against the
devil; and by this sacrament of Baptism are par-

THR SACRAMENTS,

doned and washed from their old spots of original
sin, and have received the white livery of innocence,
and the badge of Christ by the impression of the
holy cross in divers parts of their bodies, and so
are known throughout the whole world to be the
soldiers of Christ their Lord and Captain.
The second thing that a worldly prince doth in
his war, is to provide that every soldier be able to
fight, and have harness and weapons meet for his
body, both to bear off the assaults of his enemies,
and also to invade them as cause shall require.
Even so Christ, our heavenly Prince, hath ordained
the sacrament of Confirmation, to make us strong and
able to fight with our ghostly enemies, and has armed
us with a sevenfold harness, that is to say, with the
seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, whereby we be suffi
ciently preserved, defended, and encouraged ourselves,
and also able to help and comfort our fellow soldiers,
which by chance shall come into any distress or
danger of their enemies.
The third thing a worldly prince doth in his war,
is to foresee and provide that his whole army be
well victualled and furnished with plenty of whole
some meat and drink, lest for hunger their strength
decay, and they in process famish and die. Even so
Christ, our spiritual Captain, hath provided victual for
us His soldiers, both good and plenty of it; not meat
that will perish and be consumed with once eating,
but meat that will remain and nourish to everlasting
life ; that is to say, His own natural flesh and blood,
which He giveth to His soldiers in a sacrament
under the forms of corporal bread and wine, con-

IN GENERAL, 5

descending therein to our infirmity, and by that
spiritual and most wholesome and precious food, He
repaireth all our decays in grace and spiritual strength.
He openeth our eyes to see the trains of our enemies,
'He swayeth the rage of our inward enemy the flesh,
and preserveth our bodies and souls from famine and
eternal death.
The fourth thing that a worldly prince doth in his
war, is to ordain over his whole army one chief lieu
tenant (if he be absent himself from the field), and
under him officers and captains, some of more, some
of fewer, such men as be expert in war, who can
mstruct the rest in all feats of war, how to fight and
overcome their enemies, and can set the whole army
in good array, and also can by the law-martial correct
and punish all traitors and offenders. Even so Christ,
our Lord and King, after He hath Himself overcome
all His enemies in His own person, and is now triumph
ing with God the Father in heaven, and yet hath His
Church in battle and conflict with their enemies on
earth, being absent by His visible Presence, and invi
sibly and spiritually present among us, hath ordained
the sacrament of Order, and by that sacrament hath
elected and chosen out certain expert and cunning
men, to whom by imposition of hands of priesthood,
He hath given authority and commandment to instruct
His soldiers in all feats of spiritual war against the
devil, and to admit others into the rooms of them that
die or depart, and to comfort and encourage them
that be in conflict, and by unity of faith, charity, and
obedience, to cause the whole army to keep good
array, and to punish by excommunication such as by

THE SACRAMENTS,

apostasy, heresy, or schism, break the peace and good
order, and by the discipline of this war of the Church,
to correct all other offenders, and to receive them
again that will amend. And of these men there be
certain degrees and orders, one chief lieutenant of the
whole army which was S, Peter, and now is his lawful
successor in the chair of Christ, governing the whole
army of Christ's Church here in earth; and under him
there be -in every province one Archbishop, and in
every city one Bishop, and in every parish one Priest
or Curate, to feed, order, encourage, and to govern the
whole army and every soldier of Christ's Church in
every place.
The fifth thing that a worldly prince doth in his
war, is when his army is assembled, well arraed, well
victualled, and well ordered and ruled by good cap
tains, then to march forward and to join in battle
with his enemies; in which conflict if any of his soldiers
chance to be hurt and wounded, then to cause a
surgeon to search his wounds, and to lay plasters and
medicines on to them, that he, being made wholci
might enter into his place again and fight afresh
against his enemies. Even so doth our Saviour
Christ with us, when all we be assembled into
one Church and spiritual army by Baptism, and
be well harnessed with God's graces and the gifts
of the Holy Ghost by Confirmation, and be well
victualled with the pretious foods of His own body
and blood in the sacrament of the Altar, and be
set in good array, and well instructed and encour-
' aged by the rulers and ministers of His Church,
having authority so to do by the sacrament of

IN GENERAL,

Order : then we be led by God's Spirit into the wil
derness of some good purpose or work, there to be
tempted and assaulted of the devil. For they that
have the Spirit of God be not idle but occupied in
some good work, which the devil withstandeth and
fighteth against, as much as he is able to do ; — in
which conflict, if any of us be overcome with evil,
which 'cannot be, except we will be overcome, and
voluntarily suffer the devil to prevail against us
(for no man sinneth actually against his will), yet our
merciful Lord will not see us utterly trodden under
foot and slain, but if we love to be healed and be
sorry for our voluntary hurt and wound. He hath
prepared a present medicine and plaster for us,
which the spiritual surgeon, when he hath searched
the wound by our own confession, layeth and bindeth
to our sore by the sacrament of Penance, and so,
restoring us to our perfect health, maketh us able to
enter the field again, and to fight afresh against our
enemies. The sixth thing that a worldly prince doth in his
war, is when any of his soldiers waxeth aged and
feeble, and can fight no more, then- specially to
comfort him, and to set a watch that his enemies
steal not privily upon him and kill him, when he is
not able to defend himself. And if the same soldier
hath lightly offended in any small matter, and hath
not at all times been so vigilant as the laws of war
required, yet then gently to forgive him, and to shew
him that honour at his death, that he shall be of all
the army accounted to have been a faithful soldier,
and to have died in his prince's favour. Even so

8 THE SACRAMENTS,
Christ our Lord doth with us His soldiers, when any
of us waxeth aged or feeble by sickness, and is in
danger of bodily death, which death is the escaping
of all dangers, the end of all labours, the entry to the
possession of eternal inheritance in heaven which
God promised to all His faithful soldiers. And know
ing that our enemy, the devil, is most busy and fierce
then craftily to assault His soldier in his last conflict,
when he is least able to resist (because the body that
corrupteth and dieth, doth make heavy the soul) :
then, I say, our Saviour Christ, by the sacrament of
Extreme Unction, doth inwardly anoint the sick
soldier, whereby He doth replenish him with grace,
comfort and strength of the Holy Ghost, against the
manifold and violent temptations of the devil, and
doth relieve his heart with spiritual joy against the
horror of death. And if he hath lightly offended in
any venial sin, He pardoneth him. And if he
thinks it so expedient to his soul's health. He doth
also sometimes relieve his corporal disease. And if
not, yet He sheweth him that honour, that He doth
and would the Holy Church should account him as a
faithful soldier ; and if he hath not refused the benefit
of His other sacraments, to have departed this transi
tory life in His most gracious favour, and to have
changed the short and light afflictions of this time
with the weighty and everlasting glory in the king
dom of heaven.
The seventh and last thing that a worldly prince
doth, is, if the time of his war be prolonged and
further continued, and many of his soldiers be slain
lor departed, then to provide that his army be fully

IN GENERAL,

restored again with some new and fresh soldiers, and
to use them as he did the other before. Even so
doth our Saviour Christ ; because all the time of this
world is the time of our battle and conflict of our
ghostly enemies, in which time a great number of
the soldiers of Christ depart out of this transitory
life, some in the favour of their Prince, and so to be
remembered, and some in His displeasure, such as
have fled traitorously to the devil their enemy, and
have turned their face against Christ their Prince :
therefore; He hath ordained the sacrament of Matri
mony, specially for this cause, to restore His army
again, that new men and women may be born by
generation in lawful conjunction and chaste matri
mony, of whom, by Baptism and spiritual regenera
tion. He might choose and appoint out new soldiers
to furnish His army again, and to fight in the place of
them that be departed, during the time of His war,
which is the time of this present world.
By this example and similitude of war, I have
declared unto you (good people) both the number of
the sacraments of Christ's Catholic Church which be
seven, and also generally the effects and virtues of
them all, and what fruit and benefit we take thereby.
Furthermore ye shall understand, that like as in a
man there be two things, a body and a soul, so in
every sacrament there be two things, one that is out
wardly seen, another that is inwardly perceived and
believed. The outward visible thing is the element
or matter of the sacrament ; the inward invisible and
spiritual thing is the grace and virtue of the sacra
ment. The inward grace is signified, contained, and

10 THE SACRAMENTS,
given by the outward part of the sacrament. The
graces of the sacraments be spiritual, and ordained
of God to heal the sins of the soul of man ; and be
cause man principally did sin by the consent of his
reason, and yet took occasion to sin of the sensuality
and desire of his flesh : therefore hath God tempered
the medicine of His sacraments according to man's
disease, that the chief part, which is the inward grace,
being spiritual, might be ministered to man in a sen
sible and visible sign of a sacrament, as it were a
secret medicine delivered to a sick man in a visible
glass or vessel, and such a vessel as doth teach the
receiver what is contained within it, and is also given
by it — as for example, the spiritual grace of regene
ration is given to a man by the use of Baptism,
whereby he understandeth by the property of the
water, which is to wash away the filth of the body,
the nature of the inward grace which is the washing
and purging of the soul from all spots of sin and
iniquity, so that now the body by the receiving of
the .sensible sacrament, is made an occasion for the
soul to rise from sin by receiving of the spiritual grace,
as in the beginning it was an occasion for the soul to
fall to sin. For which cause now the flesh is washed,
that the soul might be purged, the flesh is anointed,
that the soul might be consecrate and hallowed, the
flesh is marked and crossed, that the soul might be
armed and defended, the flesh is covered by imposi
tion of hands, that the soul might be lighted with
the Spirit of God, the flesh is fed with the body and
blood of Christ, that the soul might be nourished and
made fat with God ; and as these two be now joined

IN GENERAL,- II

in their works, so shall they be afterwards joined in
rewards.* And although these marvellous graces and spiri
tual medicines be given unto us by the sacraments,
yet God is only the Author and Giver of them. Who
healeth the soul of man now joined with the body,
with His spiritual grace ministered in corporal signs
and sacraments : and it is not the outward visible
things that give that which is given by them, but
God doth give grace by them, that commandeth us
to seek grace in them. And this is the very diff"er-
ence between the sacraments of the Old Testament
and of the New, that the old sacraments did signify
and promise Christ the Saviour, and the new sacra
ments do give the salvation ; and the sacraments of
the Old Testament did profit the fathers then, not
by any virtue that was in the sacraments, but only
by the virtue and efficacy of their faith in Christ to
come, which was signified and promised by those
sacraments. But the sacraments of the New Testa
ment do profit the receivers, not by the faith and
devotion either of the receivers or of the ministers —
although faith and repentance and conversion to God,
and the preparation of ' the heart, and the aptness
of the person be necessarily required in the receivers
(being of age and discretion) — but they profit by the
virtue which they have of the merits of Christ's
passion already suffered upon the cross. Who useth
them as instruments of His grace and mercy, and
hath decreed to work infallibly by them such effects
of grace as they signify. * TertuUian,

12 THE SACRAMENTS,
And it is not the goodness or naughtiness of the
minister that can further or hinder the virtue of the
sacraments in working of their effects, for neither he
that planteth, nor he that watereth is anything, but
God that giveth the increase (i Cor. iii. 7). Even as
it maketh no matter whether the physician be sick or
whole, or whether the box be of silver or of wood, so
the medicine be apt and good. For if the effect of
the sacrament did depend upon the goodness of the
minister, which to men is unknown, then could not a
man be sure of whom to receive, and should always
be in doubt of the virtue of that he receiveth, which
no man may be. And although the true sacraments
of Christ may be ministered and received out of the
Catholic Church among heretics and schismatics ; yet
they cannot be profitable to the receivers, until they
come again to the unity of Christ's Catholic Church.
Wherefore (good people) let every man and
woman that desireth to be made whole from his sin,
or to be preserved or sanctified by Christ, and to be
partaker of His blessed passion, prepare himself
with all reverence and humbleness of heart to
receive these most holy sacraments in such form,
and for such purpose and intent, as our Saviour
Christ and His blessed spouse, the Holy Catholic
Church, have appointed and ordained ; seeing that
otherwise to misorder and abuse them, or wilfully
to deny or refuse them, is to deny or refuse
Christ that made them, out of Whose bloody side
they came forth, and also to deny or refuse the
benefits of His death and passion, which by them
be apphed and be brought into our souls.. As the

IN GENERAL. 13

worthy and reverent using of them is the means to
grace and salvation, so the misusing or contempt of
them is heinous and detestable sacrilege, because
without them no rehgion can be perfect, which per
fectness every man is bounden to procure with all
his diligence during the time of this present life, that
in the end thereof he might enjoy life everlasting,
to the which He bring us all, Who has so dearly
bought it for us, to Whom be all honour, praise, and
glory, world without end. Amen.

( 14 )

THE SECOND SERMON.
OF BAPTISM,
BECAUSE the holy sacrament of Baptism is the
first gate or entry into the Church of Christ,
and the ground of all the other sacraments, which
cahnol 'Be given to any but to such, as be baptized
before : therefore (good people) I shall now begin
with Baptism, and declare unto you what ye ought
to think of it, and what fruit ye receive by it.
First, It is to be known that our Saviour Christ
did institute and , ordain this sacramenEpwhen, after
His resurrection, appearing to His disciples. He said
to them : " All power in heaven and in earth is given
tnrto~Me : Go^ye therefore and teach all nations .^nd
people, Baptizing them in the name of the Father,
'and'onhe Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching
them to keep and observe all things whi.ch.T. have
coiilmanded'you, and I amjwith. you always to the
-vP'orM-'-S' end "'(Matt, xxviii. 18-20). By which words
of our Saviour Christ we learn that power is given
unto Him only, to institute and ordain sacraments,
which the Church receiving of Him and of His Spirit,
doth faithfully deliver unto us, to be observed and
used. And also we learn that the form and manner
of baptizing, is to do as He commanded, and in so

BAPTISM, 15

doing, to say these words " I baptize thee in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." And we learn also that Christ doth by His
promise assist the doing of His minister, and worketh
the same effects by Baptism, when it is duly ministered
of a man, as if He did minister it Himself. And
last of all, we learn that Baptism is not an idle cere
mony, but that every person which is baptized, and
being of age and discretion, ought to be taught before
the faith of Christ, and to believe the same, and then
after Baptism ought diligently to observe and keep
all things which Christ hath commanded. And if
they that be baptized be infants or otherwise cannot
believe themselves, lacking the use of their reason,
seeing our Saviour Christ said that children pertain
to the kingdom of heaven (Matt. xix. 14), and the
door into the kingdom of heaven is Baptism, at
which door no person can enter in ordinarily, but
such as be born again of water and the Holy Ghost :
therefore such be offered to be baptized in the faith
of the Church, and in receiving Baptism, they are
made faithful by the sacrament of faith : but of this
thing I shall, God willing, speak more another time.
Secondarily, It is to be understanded that Baptism
ought to be rninistered in water, as Christ hath
o'rdained, and in no other liquor, and thaL.is because
Baptism is a sacrament of necessity, and water is a
common element throughout the whole world, and
therefore it is ordained to be ministered in water,
tiTat'no man might_excuse himself_for lack of jjiafifir-r-
ati'S'socome in danger of damnation for lack of
Baptism. — An3'~also"it is ordained to be in water

1 6 THE SACRAMENTS.
for significationofjthe effect ; that men might learn
in this Sacrament, as they do in all other, by the
"property of the element, what is the virtue and effect
ofthe' same — that like as water washeth away the
spots of the body;_sg Baptisjm -washeth^ awayj^e
sins of the soul- And also because the general flood
in the time of Noe, and the Red Sea (i Peter iii, 20,
21), throughwhi^h Moses and all the people of Israel
went, and thereby escaped the danger of Kiig?h-ar-ao
that persecuted them, were figures of_ Baptism (i
Cor, X, 1-4) : therefore it is ordained to-be in watefj
that the truth might agree with the. figure, and God's
people might be now saved frorn the devil and
drowning iri deadly sin (EpL v._26}j^ by the water-
of regeneration joined with the woxi-of life, as Noe
and his children were saved by the water of the flood
and his ship, and as Moses with God's people were
saved from the sword of Pharao by the water of
the Red Sea and the cloud. Yet the grace that is
ministered in the water, proceedeth not from the
nature of the water, which without the word of God
is but only water still, but it proceedeth' from the
presence of the Holy Ghost, that descendeth upon
the water, and doth consecrate the water, and by
it doth wash and purify the soul.
Thirdly, It is to be known, that a man by the
virtue and efficacy of Baptism truly nrinistered and
received, is washed from all kind of sin, endue.d with
God's Holy Spirit, apparelled with. Christ an4 -His"
ri|;hteousness, and is made with Christ an inheritor
of the kingdom of heaven.
First, Baptism washes away all sins, in thoughts,

BAPTISM, 17
in words^.anjd.,.m deeds, .both original sin, and actual
or petaonal^in, which be done either of ignorance or
kfiowledge ; both the sin itself, and the guiltiness
*^5I£2£_^2;i3i^^ ^^^ eternal pain in hell due for ¦
ths-satfie ; as the prophet sayeth, "In that day (of
Christ) there shall be a fountain set open to the house
of Jacob and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem for
the washing away of sins " (Zach. xiii. i). And S.
Paul sayeth to the Corinthians, that they were great
and heinous sinners, but now they be washed, they
be sanctified, they be justified in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God
(i Cor. vi, 2), and that there is no damnation now
remaining to them that be in Christ (Rom viii. i),
and walk not after the flesh. And although original
sin, both in infants and all others, be taken away and
fully remitted, so that, in them that be baptized duly
as they ought to be, no sin remaineth, nor no other
thing that doth offend and displease God, but that
the infection which every person taketh by carnal
generation from the first earthly man, Adam, is now
washed and clean purged by spiritual regeneration,
in the blood of the second heavenly man, Christ our
Saviour ; yet it is to be understanded that there
remaineth in every person after Baptism a certain
infirmity or inclination to sin, which is commonly
called concupiscence of the flesh, whereby a man is
made weak and less able to withstand sin, and his
appetite is much inclined to sin, which, though it be
sometimes called by the name of sin (as a man's
writing is called his hand, and his speech is called his
tongue), yet it is not sin and hateful to God, nor
B

1 8 THE SACRAMENTS.
imputed to us as sin, so long as our will doth not
CO nsent unto it, but by grace withstandeth it (Rom.
viii. 17-20) ; and God hath suff'ered it to remain in our
flesh, not that we should obey it and be ruled by it,
but that we should resist and fight against it ; which
is left in us for our exercise as an inward familiar
enemy, making continual civil war against us, which
if we, by the aid of God's grace and His Holy Spirit,
do finally overcome and subdue, shall be a matter and
occasion of our great glory and everlasting reward.'
And that we may so do, God, as He hath by this
sacrament of Baptism forgiven us all sin, so by the
same sacrament He doth give us special grace to over
come sin, and to suppress this bitter root of sin, that
it spring not and bring forth in us the wicked fruit
of sin, making us more able to withstand the carnal
lusts and desires of our flesh than is any other man
that was never baptized.
The next effect of Baptism after remission of sin
is our spiritual regeneration, in that _we ^are. born
again of water and the Holy Ghost, and made
new men in righteousness and holinesSj^ and by
adoption are made sons and children of Almighty -
"Goci ; as S. Paul sayeth, " God, according to His
mercy, hath saved us by the water of regeneration
(or new birth) and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which He hath poured upon us abundantly by Jesus
Christ our Saviour, that we, being justified by His
grace, might be heirs of eternal life " (Titus iii, 5-7) ;
or like as a foul vessel, if it be never so well
washed and scoured, yet it will still keep some mark
or taste of the evil humour which was in it before,

BAPTISM, 19

but if the vessel be put again into the furnace, and
be there with the flame renewed, it will have no scent
remaining of the old corrupt liquor; even so God
dQth_£ut us into the_fhimtain_ of -water as into a fur
nace:, and with_the grace of_His_ Holy Spirit, as It
were with_flame of a fire, doth renew us and inake^us
BiigEter than the sunbeams!^ AiT3''as'vre~were born
wKenTwe^caiiie forth of our mother's womb, even so
we are born again when -we come forth of the water
oFBaptism, whereby God hath delivered us from.,the
po'-wer of darkness, and hath translated us into .the
kingdom of his well-beloved Son (Col. i, 13), and
hath ofHis own will begotten us by the word of truth
(James i. 18), and of Him we have received the spirit,
not of bondage, to fear Him as a tyrant, but the spirit
of adoption ofthe children of God, by which, as being
now chosen to be His children (Rom. viii, 14), we
lovingly and with humble reverence call Him Father,
which spirit also beareth witness with our own spirit
that we be the children of God, if we suffer with Him,
that we might likewise be glorified with Him.
The third effect of Baptism ^fter remission and
regeneration is to be apparelled ^and clad..with Christ
and His righteousness. _ For like as when a child is
first born, then hath he a coat put on him to cover
his nakedness and to adorn him, so when we be
born again of the water and the Holy Ghost, we have
a spiritual coat put upon us, which is our Saviour
Christ : as S. Paul saith, "All you that be baptized in
CErist have put on Christ as a garment" (Gal. iii, 27),
wfucITgarmerit jcovereth the deformityLoiLour-corrugt
: nature, defendeth us from the storms of all tempta-

20 THE SACRAMENTS,
tions, and maketh nothing appear in us but the image
oT Christ in godly and virtuous conversation. For
like as a table, being made plain and smooth, and
having the picture of the King's image printed in it,
is esteemed of all men, not according to the value of
the matter, be it gold or silver, but according to the
cunning workmanship, in that it lively representeth
the very face of the King, and therefore causeth the
lookers-on to honour it and to be in love with it ; even
so a man that hath by Baptism put off his old man
with his acts and corrupt living, and hath put on the
new (Col. iii. 9, 10) man, which is made new in the
knowledge of God, and in righteousness and holiness
of truth in that part of his soul where the image of
God is printed (Eph. i. 24), by turning his love wholly
from temporal and carnal things to eternal and
spiritual things above, is now much esteemed of
Almighty God, and accepted of Him as a loving child,
because in all his conversation he is made Hke to
the image of Christ and foUoweth Christ's footsteps,
that did no sin, nor no deceit was found in His mouth,
(i Peter ii, 24), and so hath put on Christ, in that his
faith is imputed to him as righteousness.
TheJourth.effect-of.Bapti5.m after remission of sin
and the making of us the children of God by our new
bfrth and the apparelling of us with the righteous-
ness~~ot Christ, is to bejnade heirs of God and of
H is._Keav_enly" kmgdom, _and~JeIIo-w-heirs w"ifir~otrr
Saviour Christ.; as S. Paul saith, "We be the chil
dren of God (by Baptism), we be also the heirs of
God, and fellow-heirs with Christ" (Rom. vii. 16, 17),
which inheritance we have not yet in full possession,

BAPTISM, 21

but only by hope of eternal life. And as Christ
God's Son by nature, came to His inheritance by
suffering His passion, so our hope shall be sure, that
if we suffer with Christ, and patiently bear the afflic
tions of this world, and forbear and contemn the
vanities of the same, we shall, without fail, enjoy
God's inheritance with Christ as God's children
(Rom. viii. 17), for whom the same inheritance was
prepared before the beginning of the world.
Many more effects of Baptism I might rehearse
unto you, seeing all other graces take their beginning
here, and be builded upon it; bnt in these four which
I have rehearsed they may be considered ; as how in
Baptism we are made free from sin ; we are sanctified
by grace ; -we are made just men by righteousness ;. we
are made God's chili3ren,by^adoptio.i\; we are made
heirs of the kingdom of heaven ; we are made fellow-
tiefrs withXlhrist, God's Son; we are made members
of~Oinst's mystical body ; we are made the house and
temple of God ; we are made the instruments ofthe
Holy Ghost ; we are grafted in Christ to grow and
bring forth the fruit of sanctification, and to receive
the reward of our fruit, everlasting life. All these
graces Almighty God worketh by Baptism, as by a
peculiar instrument for that purpose, in the hearts of
all infants that, by the Church and in the faith of the
Church, be offered to God and baptized, where no
thing of the infant's part doth stop the grace of the
sacrament. But if he that is baptized be of age and
discretion, having the use of his reason, it is required
necessarily of him before Baptism to have faith and
repentance of his former naughty living ; as Christ

22 THE SACRAMENTS,

saith, " Hethai_tielieveth_.and Js^bapti^ed^ be
saved, but he that believeth^ not shall _ be con-
deiime3r^"(^''k ^^'- i6) ; ^"'^ ^s S. Peter saith, "Do
peTiaricePan3~15e' every one of you baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ in remission of your sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost " (Acts ii,
38) ; whereby we learn that the lack of true faith
and repentance do stop the grace of the sacrament,
that it can take no place in the heart of him that
hath the use of his reason when he is baptized. And
yet the Baptism is good, and may not be iterate and
given again, although it be unfruitful to the receiver
at that time, till afterward he receive by true faith
and penance and imposition of hands the gift of the
Holy Ghost,
Thus (good people) when we have considered what
we ought to think of Baptism, and what fruit we
receive by it, now our duty is to put the same in
practice all our lifetime, and to live so that this good
work be not in vain begun in us, and to show our
selves thankful for so great a treasure and so precious
a jewel given unto us, and to labour and pray dili
gently that God's Spirit, given unto us in Baptism, be
not driven away by our naughty living, but that His
grace in our hearts be daily continued and more
: increased, that, by the virtue thereof, the righteous-
: ness of the law might be fulfilled in us that walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit, till this mortal
nature of ours put on immortality in the day of our
: Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom, with the Father and the
: Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory. Amen.

(23 )

THE THIRD SERMON.
OF THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM, AND THE MINISTERS
OF THE SAME,
THE necessity of Baptism (good people) is known
by the plain words of our Saviour Christ, Who
saith to Nicodemus, that came to Him in the night,
"JExcept a „maaj2£L,bQrn..asaia_Q£j;h£-Hat£r and the
Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into_the kingdom of
God " (John iiiTs), whereby we learn that no man is
incorporate to Christ, and made one body with Him,
but he that is baptized, if he may be baptized. And
S. PhiHp also, declaring that Baptism is a sacrament
of necessity for salvation, when he had fully taught
the Eunuch the faith of Christ, whose heart was
replenished and fulfilled with the Holy Ghost, did
not cease there, but, to show the necessity of Baptism,
when they came to water, Philip went down from the
chariot with the Eunuch, and did baptize him and
let him go. And S. Peter likewise, preaching the
faith of Christ to Cornelius and his family and friends,
when he perceived that the Holy Ghost did inspire
their hearts with His grace before Baptism, was not
content only with that, but, to declare the necessity
of water, said, " Can any man forbid water that these

24 THE SACRAMENTS.
men should not be baptized that have received the
Holy Ghost as we have .' " (Acts x, 47),
Therefore be a man never so well instructed in the
knowledge of Christ's religion, yet he beareth the
burden of his iniquity, which shall not be forgiven
him, but when he shall come to Baptism if it may be
had, ,Aa]i_cMdi:£ii~wiu^3Jbfi~,torn^^
and therefore bejhe_children of God^sanger_gjid-dis-
pleasure, cannot be saved and delivered from their
sin but by :the^ water of regen.eratjon. And this is
true whether they be born of faithful parents or
unfaithful ; for whatsoever is born of the flesh is
flesh (John iii. 6), and like as by one man, Adam,
sin came into the world, and by sin death, and so
death came upon all men that sinned in Adam
(Rom, V. 12), even so by the righteousness of one
man, Jesus Christ, grace came into the world, and by
grace life, in whom many be made righteous, which
righteousness only they have that have put on Christ
by Baptism.
And yet (good people) it is to be understanded
that this general rule hath but two exceptions, which
be martyrdom and conversion of the heart by faith
when Baptism cannot be had. For martyrdom, which
is to suffer death for Christ's cause or in the quarrel
of Christ, doth supply the stead of Baptism, both in
those that be children and also in those that be of
age, when only necessity and not contempt excludeth
the sacrament ; as our Saviour Christ saith, " He
that confesseth me before men, I shall also confess
him before my Father which is in heaven ; and he
that loseth his life for me shall find it ; " so that who-

NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. 25
I soever cannot receive the sacrament of regeneration,
but dieth before for the confession of Christ, it is as
much available to the remission of his sins as if they
¦were washed away by the holy fountain of Baptism.
For who doubteth but that the Holy Innocents, whom
the wicked king Herod slew for Christ, are numbered
among the martyrs of God, who made a good con
fession of Christ, not by their mouths, but by the
shedding of their blood for Him } Likewise he that
hath his heart fully converted to God by true and
lively faith, and cannot be baptized in water, but is
prevented by death before, is in that case excused
for not having Baptism. For Christ saith, " He that
believeth in me shall not see death for evermore,"
And where faith is, where hope is, where charity is,
where the full and perfect virtue of Baptism is, there
salvation cannot lack, if the sacrament be had in
purpose and will, and cannot be had in deed.
So that we see that children have but one remedy
to supply the lack of Baptism, which is martyrdom,
and they that have the use of reason have two
remedies, both martyrdom and also the full conver
sion of the heart by lively faith, and that only in time
of need, when the sacrament, not of contempt, but of
necessity, cannot be had.
And because this sacrament is of such necessity,
therefore the ministration of it is not extended to
such a small number as it is in other, for of the other
i sacraments the minister ought at least to be a priest,
saving in matrimony, which the two parties may con
tract between themselves ; but in Baptism the minis
tration is not only reserved to priests and to deacons

26 THE SACRAMENTS.
in the absence of the priests, but is also permitted to
lay men and lay women, that be faithful themselves,
if extreme necessity so require. And if there be no
necessity nor danger of the death of the child, and
yet lay persons do take upon them to minister this
sacrament (which pertaineth not to them to do but
in time of need), although they themselves do sin in
that doing, for their presumption, where need com
pelled not, yet the child is truly baptized, and may
not in any wise be baptized again.
And because it often chanceth that children new
born be in danger of death, and so be baptized of the
midwives or of other women at home ; therefore I
will show unto you how they must do when they will
minister the said sacrament of Baptism,
First, when the child is born (for the child that is
not born, but yet in his mother's womb, cannot be
born again by baptism till he be once born *), if there
come a chance of danger, that verily they think it
will not live till it be brought to the solemnisation of
Baptism, then a lay man or lay woman in that need
going about to baptize the child, must unfeignedly
intend to do therein that which the Catholic Church
doth, and taking some honest name, as John or
Thomas, or some other, if it be a man-child, and if it
be a woman-child then taking Joan or Catharine or
such like, let the person that shall christen the child,
take water, as well-water, sea-water, or rain-water, or
other common water (for no other Hquor, as oil, blood,
* On this point see Benedict xiv. De Synodo, lib, vii. cap. S> ^.nd
S, Alphonsus in Theol, Mor.^yHo. v, n. 107. — Ed.

NECESSITY OF BAPTISM, 27
wine, rose-water, or other artificial water, can be the
matter of this sacrament *), and then let the christener
begin to cast or pour the water upon the child's head,
calling it by the name they give it, saying thus, "John,
I baptize thee in thename of the Father, and-ja£-the
¦'^""1 a"^ "^ ^'^^ fl!n1^jGWrr^ Amen,"f And if it
be a woman-child, then let the christener say thus,
calling it by the woman's name: "Joan, I baptize
thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost Amen,"
Now that man or woman that thus doth say, and
cast or pour water upon the child's naked head in the
time that he is saying the foresaid prescript words,
doth minister well this sacrament of Baptism in the
time of need. And let the christener take heed that
he leave out none of these prescript words, nor change
none of them, nor add no more to them, and also let
him remember to cast or to pour water upon the
child's naked head in the time before he make an end
of those foresaid words, " John, I baptize," &c., for if
the water be cast upon the child's head before the
christener beginneth to say those words, or else after
that he hath said the words, then the child is not
christened. J For the words without the water is no

* Theologians distinguish between such liquors as oil, blood, wine,
which are certainly invalid matter of the sacrament of Baptism ; and
others, such as rose-water, which are only doubtfully invalid. In case
of extreme necessity, the latter should be used conditionally, but not
the former. See S, Alphonsus, T/ieol. Mor., lib. v. n. 103, 104. — Ed.
+ " The word Amen is not given in any correct edition of the Ritual,"
says Kane ; " it is not permitted, therefore, to add it to the form."
Notes on the Roman Ritual, n, 168. — Ed.
+ This was the opinion of Cajetan, but it is| rejected by Suarez as

28 THE SACRAMENTS.
sacrament, nor can do no good, nor yet the water
without the words, and therefore they must be joined
and go together after the manner beforesaid.
Moreover, ye must note that there may not two
persons do these two foresaid things ; that is to say,
one may not speak these words, "John, I baptize thee,"
&c., and another pour the water upon the child in
the meantime, and whilst the words be in saying ; for
if they do, then is the child not christened, and there
fore it must be but one person that must both say
the words, without any long interruption or pause,
and pour on the water.
And whereas the water of Baptism hath been used,
ever since the time of the apostles, in Christ's Church
to be hallowed and sanctified by the priest's prayer
and invocation of God's Holy Spirit by the sign and
mystery of Christ's cross, and in the name of the
Holy Trinity, and by the infusion ofthe holy oil into
it, that. by the use of it the sins of him that is baptized
might be washed away and be made clean ; yet in
the time of need and of sudden danger, where such
hallowed water cannot be had, other clean and
common water will suffice.
Furthermore, like as the Holy Ghost came down
from heaven in the Baptism of Christ, when He was
baptized by John, and visibly rested upon Christ
(Mark. i. lo), declaring all grace to be in Him, and
unfounded, too severe, and giving rise to unnecessary scruples, De Bapt.
disp, ii, sect, 2, n, 6; as also by S. Alphonsus, Theol. Mor., lib. v. n.'
9. A moral union of matter and form is sufficient, A layman, however,
baptizing in case of necessity, should be careful to pronounce the words
while pouring the water, — Ed,

NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. 29
all grace to proceed from Him; even so we be taught,
that always when this sacrament is duly received and
ministered in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Holy
, Ghost descendeth from above, and doth invisibly rest
upon him that is baptized, and worketh special grace
in his heart to obey God and- His commandments.
And as the Father of heaven by His voice which He
sent from heaven testified that Christ was His well-
beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased, so our
heavenly Father in this sacrament testifieth to his
conscience that is baptized that he is His loving
child, and that nothing is in him that is displeasing
to God,
Therefore (good people) considering that this sac
rament of Baptism is- of such necessity that no child
(except the case of martyrdom) can be saved and
enter into the kingdom of God but by it, because
every one, being born in original sin, and so the child
of God's anger by his nativity, cannot be partaker of
the promise of salvation, and have the merits of Christ's
passion applied to him, but either by his proper faith,
or else by the sacrament of faith ; and seeing that
young infants have ndt the use of their reason and
will, whereby they may understand the doctrine of
our faith, and so believe themselves in their own
persons ; and therefore, if ye will have your children
come to Christ, as He commandeth they should be
brought to Him (Mark x. 14), and rebuked them that
forbade them to be brought, and promised the king
dom of God to the only followers of the innocence of
children, whom He embraced and laid His hands upon
them; ye must procure with all your dihgence to

30 THE SACRAMENTS,
have your children brought to Baptism, and to receive
the sacrament of faith, whereby they be set in the
state of salvation, and be made partakers of Christ's
merits. Let not your children for your negligence
accuse you in the last day for the loss of their salva
tion, which they might have had by Baptism, if ye
had showed your full endeavour.
And lest any man should excuse himself for lack
of matter, or of a minister, or of doctrine, God and
His Holy Church hath ordained Baptism to be
ministered in water, which is an element not far to
seek anywhere, and hath permitted that, in time of
need, any man may be minister of it, and for lack of
them any woman, yea, the very mother of the child if
the case so required ; and for doctrine, a little sufficeth,
for the form of the sacrament consisteth but in three
or four words which be soon learned. And Hke as
children were made guilty of original sin and damna
tion for another man's fault, so they may be recon
ciled again to God and have remission of sin in
Baptism by other men's faith. For which cause
every child that is baptized professeth Christ's faith
by the mouth of the Church, which is represented by
the godfathers and godmothers, and likewise maketh
his covenant with God to renounce the devil and all
his works and vain pomps. And therefore all you
that have been or shall be godfathers and god
mothers by offering of children to Christ by Baptism
in the name and faith of the Church, which you
represent, and, by answering for the children, have
made yourselves surety for the same, take heed to
your charge, that when the said children shall be

NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. 31
able to take knowledge, ye teach, or procure them be
taught, that faith and profession which they have
made by you, and to be exhorted diligently to live
a godly and virtuous life according to that profession
which they have made in their Baptism by you, and
to observe the commandments of God and all things
which they have promised and vowed by you, so that
both you and they might pass over the time of this
present life in the well-using of God's graces given in
Baptism, labouring daily to continue and to increase
the same in the fear and love of God and good
works, that at the end and term thereof ye may
attain the crown of righteousness, which God will
give, as He hath promised, to all them that love Him ;
to whom be all praise, honour, and glory for ever
more. Amen.

(32)

THE FOURTH SERMON.
OF THE ANCIENT AND GODLY CEREMONIES PER
TAINING TO BAPTISM, AND WHA T IS MEANT AND
TAUGHT BY THEM.
IN Baptism (good people), beside the very mini
stration of it, which consisteth in speaking of a
few formal words over the child baptized by the
minister of God, and in dipping the same child the
same time in the element of water, or, in time of
need, by pouring water upon him, which two things
be required of necessity to the true ministration of
this sacrament, there be also other ceremonies used
which be called sacramentals, and have been used
universally throughout the Holy Church of Christ from
the Apostles' time till this day, and were ordained to
be used, partly against the power of the devil, partly
for the devotion and instruction of us and them
that be baptized. For that cause I think it good to
declare unto you at this time which be those godly
and ancient ceremonies of Baptism, and what is meant
and taught by them.
The first ceremony, which is called exorcism, is
done without the church-door, because the child that
is brought to be baptized is as yet no part of Christ's
Catholic Church, but the child of God's wrath, by his

CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM,
 ^35.
nativity conceived in sin, and is under the power of
the devil till he be admitted into the Church of Christ
by Baptism, and be made a member of the same
Church by regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Spirit, For which cause the Holy Church universally
and after one manner useth first of all exorcism, which
is adjuration of the devil in the name and power of
the Holy Trinity to depart from that creature of God
which he possessed before ; whereby the child is de
livered from the power of the devil (that stoppeth him
all that he can from the sacrament and the grace of
the same), and is prepared to be translated and brought
into the kingdom of Christ. Here plainly appeareth
how the prince of this world is cast forth (John xii, 3 1,
Luke xi. 14), and how the strong prince is bound,
and his vessels be reft from him, and brought into the
possession of the stronger conqueror that hath taken
captive the captivity itself, and hath given gifts to men
(Eph. iv, 8).' Like as King Pharao in Egypt, oppres
sing the people with importable works and keeping
them in thraldom and slavery, and not suffering them
to depart from Egypt at the message of God by
Moses and Aaron, v/as sundry and divers ways
plagued by Almighty God, and yet still did obstinately
withstand God, till he and all his army was drowned
in the Red Sea : even so the devil, keeping in bondage
and thraldom the reasonable creatures of God, is con
tinually plagued and scourged by these exorcisms
and adjurations, in the power and name of God, and
yet he, being obstinate in his malicious tyranny, doth
not wholly dismiss and suffer the said creatures of
God to depart out of his dominion, till they come

THE SACRAMENTS,

to the water of Baptism (whereof the Red Sea
was a figure, i Cor. x. 2-1 1), and then is he over
thrown, and the child baptized set at liberty by the
mighty hand of God, to serve Him all the days of his
life. In this exorcism there be used divers things. First,
the party that is baptized giveth his name to Christ,
either by himself, if he be of age, or by his godfathers
and godmothers, as representing the Church; whereby
we be taught, that he renounceth utterly the devil
his former possessor, and now giveth his name ta
be taken as a soldier of Christ, and to be from
henceforth under His dominion and obedience. So
long as he remained in the possession of the devil,
he bare no name, but as soon as the name of God
is called upon over him, then he taketh a name, and
beginneth to be written in the book of life. Next
the giving of the name, the child baptized is marked
with the sign of the cross in'divers parts of his body ;
whereby we understand that now he is received into
the army of Christ, and taketh his soldier's coat and
his badge upon him, which is the cross of Christ,
under which he professeth to make war against the
devil during his life. Which cross the devil feareth
marvellously, because he was once beaten and over
come with that rod. And as God when He plagued
the Egyptians, would not suffer the Angel to kiU
any person, nor yet to enter the house, but to pass
by the house, where the blood of the Paschal lamb
was sprinkled upon both the posts of the door
(Exod. xii, 7-13), even so the devil, that is, the
destroying Angel, dare not come near to kill, but

CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM. 35
flieth from him that professeth to fight under the
cross, and so in very deed taketh his cross upon
him and foUoweth Christ.
The like is shewed in the prophet Ezekiel, how
that all they in the city of Jerusalem that were
marked with the letter thau — T — in their forehead
(Ezech. ix. 4) (which is the very sign and print of
the cross), were saved and delivered from the plague
and sword of God's Angel. And this sign of the
cross is marked upon the child's forehead as in the
place and seat of shamefastness, to the intent he
should never be ashamed to be a Christian, and to
follow the doctrine and word of the cross, which was
an offence to the Jews and thought foolishness to
the Gentiles, but to us and all them that be saved
it is the virtue, the power and the wisdom of God
(i Cor. i. 18,) The same sign also is marked upon the
child's eyes, whereby we be taught that he is elected
and prepared to see God in this world by true faith,
and in the next world to see Him face to face in the
fruition of His glory. His ears be also signed with the
cross, declaring that he is now dedicate to God, to hear
His word and to learn the truth of His Catholic doc
trine, and to obey the same in his living, and to stop
his ears from the hearing and believing of error and
the false doctrine of heresy. Likewise his nose is
signed with the cross, to the intent he should always
remember to live so, that his doings and works be
a sweet savour to Almighty God (2 Cor. ii. 14-16).
Moreover, his breast and mouth be signed with the
cross, that by the virtue thereof he should conceive
and believe in his heart the true faith of Christ to

36 THE SACRAMENTS,
his righteousness, and should with his mouth speak
and confess the same faith to his salvation (Rom.
X. 8-10), without fear of any danger or trouble that
might worldly come to him thereby. And last of
all, his shoulders be signed with the cross, to the
intent he sho.uld take upon him to bear the sweet
yoke and light burden of God's service, according
to the commandment of our Saviour Christ, saying,
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn to be meek
and humble in heart, and ye shall find quietness
and rest in your souls" (Matt, xi, 29),
After the sign of the cross foUoweth the ceremony
of putting salt in the child's mouth ; whereby is
signified that the child is prepared and made the
salt of our Lord, and a sweet vessel to receive into it
the salt of God's heavenly wisdom, of His spiritual
grace, by the presence of God's Holy Spirit, and that
all his words and deeds ought to be savoury and
well-seasoned with the said heavenly wisdom and
grace, not putrefied by the worms of sin, nor yet
smelling evil by the corruption and poison of
abominable iniquity.
After this, like as our Saviour Christ when He
healed the deaf and dumb man, He put His fingers
into his ears, and with His spittle touched his mouth
and said, " Be thou opened " (Mark vii, 34), even so
after that manner, the priest in the person of Christ
doth open the ears and touch the nose of the child
that is born spiritually deaf and dumb, that he should
now begin to hear. the voice and word of God, and
to obey His most holy commandments, having the
ears of his heart opened to understand and approve

CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM, 37
that which is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect
will of God (Rom. xii. 2) ; and also that he should
have discretion by the opening of his inward smelling,
to discern the good smell of life from the evil smell
of death, and to receive the sweet savour of God's
knowledge by the virtue of the incarnation of God's
Son (2 Cor. ii. 14-16), (which is signified by His
spittle), and to think continually upon such things
as be true, chaste, just, holy, and of good name and
fame (Phil, iv, 8), and that the power and illusions
of the wicked spirit, the devil, might be restrained,
and that the grace of God might be given to the
child, whereby the spiritual effects and all that is
taught by these godly ceremonies might be wrought
in the child's soul.
The priest, with them that represent the whole
Church, say the " Pater Noster " and make their
most humble prayer to Almighty God, and in spirit
and truth do call upon His name; and after all these
things done without the door ofthe "visible" church,
whereby is signified the true Church and mystical
body of Christ, out of which the child remaineth till
he be baptized, at last they enter the church, and
bring the child to the fountain of Baptism, and there
is made the solemn league and covenant between
God and man. First the league and vow of the
man's part with God, when he voluntarily by three
solemn professions, renounceth the devil and all his
works, and all his pomp and pride. The pomps of
the devil be the unlawful desires that defile the soul,
as the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes,
and the ambition of the world. He that will over-

38 THE SACRAMENTS.
come the world, must overcome these three things
which be in the world, and thereby shall he overcome
the devil, that by persuasion of these three deceived
the world. On the other side, the league of God's
part with man, is to remit his sins, to receive him as
His son, to endue him with His Holy Spirit and to
bring him to eternal salvation. This league and
covenant is never broken of God's part, but whoso
ever believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mark
xvi, 15) ; which promise of our Saviour Christ is ever
fulfilled, except the man break his vow and promise
before by serving the devil and doing his works, and
so finally lose by sin the grace which is given unto
him in Baptism.
After this league made, the child is anointed with
oil upon the breast, to the intent he should under
stand when he cometh of age, that the Holy Ghost
(which is signified by the oil) should always possess
his heart by faith, and always dwell in that heart by
charity as in a holy temple, ever, in all adversities,
comforting it with the oil of spiritual joy and glad
ness. And he is also anointed in the back, that he
should understand that the same faith which he hath
received into his heart, ought to be exercised with
good works to the glory of God and the edifying of
his neighbour. And so is he anointed as a champion
of Christ, as one that even then entereth into the
battle of this world, to fight with the devil and all his
wicked angels. And because Christ saith " He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved," therefore
the party that is brought to be baptized, is inquired
and asked what he believeth concerning the Holy

CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM, 39
Trinity and all other articles of our common creed.
And if he be of age and discretion, he professeth his
own faith in his own person, without the which pro
fession he may not be admitted to the holy sacra
ment of Baptism. And this form was always
observed in the beginning of the Church, when men
of perfect age were baptized. But after that the
multitude of the Gentiles were converted to the faith
of Christ, the holy Church providing for the salvation
of their children, which cannot be saved but by
regeneration of the water and the Holy Ghost hath
ever used to baptize them in the sacrament of faith,
that like as they were alienated from God by
another man's sin, so they might be reconciled
again to God by other men's faith. So that the holy
Church, our mother, answereth and professeth the true
faith for the children, and maketh the promise for
them, till they may understand that faith and keep
that vow which is made in their names by the Church
their mother. Then after the profession of this
faith, the party is asked whether he will be baptized
or no, because no man having the use of his will is
saved without the consent of his will, and when he
answereth, or it is answered for him, that he will,
then is he put into the water thrice, and baptized in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, in which thing consisteth the great
mystery or sacrament of Baptism, where the flesh
is washed and the soul made clean, where the
: inward man is made new, and Christ is formed in
the mind of man, where the devil, the old tyrant and
usurper, is driven away, and God, the right owner

40 THE SACRAMENTS,
and possessor, is brought in. Then are we (as S.
Paul saith) buried with Christ by Baptism into death,
that as He rose from death by the glory of the Father,
so we should likewise walk in a new life. Whereby
we understand that like as Christ died, and rose
again the third day, and liveth evermore, so every
man, when he renounceth the devil, he dieth to sin,
and killeth the works of the flesh in himself, and
when he is dipped and put under the water, then is
he buried to sin as Christ was put within the earth in
the Sepulchre, and when he is thrice put under the
water, he representeth the three days of Christ's
burial, and when he is taken forth of the water again,
then doth he rise a new man, as Christ rose out of
the Sepulchre, and ought to die no more by serving
of sin, but to live continually in righteousness and
holiness all the days of his life.
And although the old and ancient tradition of the
Church hath been from the beginning to dip the
child three times in the water, as Christ lay three
days in the grave, yet that is not of such necessity,
but that if he be but once dipped in the water, it is
sufficient, yea, and in time of great peril and neces
sity, if the water be but poured upon his head, it will
suffice.* Now when the Baptism is done, the child
* It would seem from this passage, that Baptism by immersion was
the usual practice in England in the sixteenth century ; though Baptism
by effusion, i.e. , by pouring water^on the head, had already become the
more common mode throughout the Latin Church, at least since the
thirteenth century. The mode indicated in the Roman Ritual is that
of effusion, although instructions are given for immersion, " where such
is the custom." See Kane, Notes on the Roraan Ritual, 175-178,
and 346. — Ed,

CEREMONIES OF BAPTISM, 4 1
is anointed on the crown of the head with the holy
chrism ; whereby we be taught that he is, by the
unction of the Holy Spirit, incorporated and grafted
into Christ who is the Head of His mystical body
the Church, and there is he anointed and made a
spiritual king to rule and overcome his own carnal
affections, and also is anointed and made a spiritual
priest to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God in a pure
heart ; and so he taketh of this holy chrism and of
Christ, the name of a Christian man, being, anointed
into everlasting life, which he is bounden to seek and
procure all the means he can, although it were with
the loss and spending of this temporal life here.
And by and by after he be anointed with the holy
chrism, he hath a white vesture or chrisom put upon
him, which declareth that the child hath now put off
the foul and filthy clouts of sin, and hath put on the
chaste garment of innocence and cleanness of a new
life, which he ought with all diligence to keep unde
filed and to present it before the judgment-seat of
Christ for the attaining of eternal life. And also a
wax candle burning is put in his hand, whereby is
signified the light and truth of Christ's doctrine, and
that his duty is to fulfil that in his life, which Christ
taught in His gospel, saying '' Let your light shine
so before men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven " (Matt
v, 16), and he that preserveth and keepeth this candle
unquenched till the day of our Lord, shall amongst
the five wise virgins enter in with the Spouse to the
heavenly marriage.
Thus I have declared unto you (good people) all

42 THE SACRAMENTS,
the ceremonies used from the beginning of Christ's
Church universally in the ministration of Baptism,
and also the duty of him that is baptized, which I
pray you and exhort you in God's name both to
remember yourselves, and also to teach your children
them as soon as they can understand, and amongst
all other, specially that solemn covenant, promise,
and vow, which they have made for the renouncing
of the devil, his works, and all his pomps and pride.
Teach them that this promise is made, not to an
earthly man but to God Almighty and all His holy
angels. Who hath power to destroy and cast into hell
both body and soul of him that keepeth not his
promise. And teach them to renounce and forsake
the devil, not in words only, but in their deeds, not
in the sound of their tongue, but in all their conver
sation. And teach them that they have to do in their
conflict with an old crafty and mighty enemy, against
whom if they prevail, as they cannot without their
own great diligence, and the special aid of God's
Holy Spirit (whereof they be always sure), then will
God keep His part of the league and promise, that
is to say. He will save them by grace in this world,
and by the fruition of His glory in the next world,
through the merits of Christ His Son, to whom with
the Holy Ghost be all glory and praise. Amen.

( 43 )

THE FIFTH SERMON.
OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION.
AFTER that a man by receiving the sacrament of
. Baptism is born again, and made a member
of Christ's mystical body, it is ordained by our
Saviour Christ and His Holy Spirit, that he should
also receive the sacrament of Confirmation, and there
by be confirmed and made strong in that grace which
he received before. For which cause I think it good
at this time (good people) to declare unto you what
ye ought to think of that sacrament of Confirmation,
and what spiritual grace and effect it worketh in his
soul that is confirmed, and what is every man's duty
to do that hath received it.
We ought to think that our Saviour Christ did
institute this sacrament concerning the grace and
effect of it, first when He did promise to send His
disciples the Holy Ghost and also when He did per
form the same promise by giving to them the Holy
Ghost (John xv. 26, Acts ii, 4). Many times did
He promise to send them the Holy Ghost, but
specially before His ascension, when He said " I shall
send unto you My Father's promise, but remain you
in the city till ye be indued with strength and power
from above " (Luke xxiv. 49). And again He said

44 THE SACRAMENTS,

" Ye shall receive the virtue of the Holy Ghost coming
upon you, and ye shall be witnesses of Me in Jeru
salem, and in all Jewry and Samaria, even to the
worid's end " (Acts i, 8).
This promise he performed upon Whitsunday, when
the Holy Ghost came down and rested upon the
Apostles in a visible sign as in fiery tongues ; where
by we may understand, that as the Apostles were
confirmed immediately by the Holy Ghost Himself
without the ministration of any minister, even so the
same grace and strength is given by the sacrament
of Confirmation to us all that be baptized before,
according to the measure of God's gift Which thing
is proved manifestly by the doings of the Apostles,
for when they heard tell that the Samaritans had
received the word of God, and were baptized by S,
Philip, they sent thither S, Peter and S. John, who
when they came they prayed for them, and laid
their hands upon them, and they received the Holy
Ghost in a visible sign (Acts viii. 17), And another
time S, Paul baptized certain men at Ephesus (Acts
viii, 6), and when he had laid his hands upon them
they received the Holy Ghost and they spake with
tongues and did ^prophesy. By this imposition or
laying of the Apostle's hands upon them, is meant
this sacrament of Confirmation, by which the Holy
Ghost is given, of whom they receive increase of their
former grace given in Baptism, and spiritual strength
against all temptations. And this grace in the
beginning was given in visible signs of fiery tongues,
and they spake also miraculously in divers tongues,
and they prophesied. But when this visible sign did

CONFIRMATION, 45

cease and appeared no more, and yet the same grace
was given that was given before : then the fathers of
the primitive Church and successors of the Apostles,
by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and by the
tradition of the very Apostles, did minister this sacra
ment with the holy chrism ; so that the imposition of
the bishop's hands, outwardly anointing the party
baptized with the holy chrism upon his forehead,
with the words thereunto belonging, is the sacra
ment of Confirmation signifying and working in the
soul of man the inward unction of the Holy Ghost,
with the greater and further gifts of His manifold
grace. The necessity of this sacrament of Confirmation is
not of such importance as it is of Baptism, For with
out Baptism (if it may be had by any means) it is
impossible to be saved. But if a man or child after
Baptism chance to die in his innocency without deadly
sin, his Baptism and regeneration only is sufficient to
his salvation, and his death is to him a Confirmation,
because after death a man can sin no more. But if
the child or man do live after Baptism, because he is
then led into the wilderness of the world, and there is
tempted of the devil his ghostly enemy (Matt. iv. 2-8),
who goeth about like a ramping lion seeking whom
he might devour (i Peter v. 8), and also tempted
by the wicked world — sometimes by the terror of
adversity, other times by the flattering and deceitful
face of prosperity — and hath also within himself lurk
ing a secret and busy enemy of his flesh always re
belling against his spirit (Gal, v. 17), therefore hath
he need of further aid of grace to be more able to

46 THE SACRAMENTS.
withstand his enemies, which aid of grace God giveth
him by this sacrament of Confirmation, where he
receiveth the same Holy Spirit that he received before
in Baptism, but to a diverse end and in diverse gifts.
For in Baptism he was born again spiritually to live ;
in Confirmation he is made bold to fight. There he
received remission of sin, here he receiveth increase of
grace ; there the Spirit of God did make him a new
man, here the same Spirit doth defend him in his
dangerous conflict ; there was he washed and made
clean, here is he comforted and made strong. In
Baptism he was chosen to be God's son, and to be
an inheritor of His heavenly kingdom ; in Confirma
tion God hath given His Holy Spirit to be his tutor,
to instruct him and preserve him, that he lose not by
his folly that inheritance which he is called unto.
In Baptism he was called and chosen to be one of
God's soldiers, and had his white coat of innocency
delivered unto him, and also his badge, which was the
red cross, the instrument of Christ's passion, set upon
his forehead, and other parts of his body ; in Con
firmation he is encouraged to fight and hath the
armour of God put upon him which be able to beat
off the fiery darts of the devil, and to defend him from
all harm, if he will use them in his battle and not put
himself in danger of his enemies by entering the field
without them.
By this we may understand the goodness and
effects of this sacrament and how necessary and
expedient it is for a man that would live well in
this world, and to be able to avoid sin. For what
doth it profit a man to arise when he is fallen, except

CONFIRMATION, 47

he be stayed from falling again ,' As in Baptism a
man lying in sin was set up upon his feet, and made
able to walk in the ways of God which be mercy and
truth, so in Confirmation he is stayed from falling
and made able to endure the pains of the journey,
and to pass through the straits and dangers that
may chance.
And also there is given in this sacrament by the
Holy Ghost great consolation in all troubles and
adversities, both to take comfort himself, and with
gladness to bear his cross with Christ, and also to
give comfort to all others that by any occasion shall
come in distress. Experience of this we may see in
the very Apostles themselves, and specially in S.
Peter that was the first and chief of all the others.
For when our Saviour Christ had declared that he
was clean (John xiii. 7), and had showed unto him so
much of His glory in the mountain as he could bear,
when he heard the voice of the Father testifying
Christ to be His Son (Matt, xvii. S), and saw with his
eyes His marvellous works, and did miracles in the
name of Christ (Luke ix. 6) himself, and walked upon
theseaat Christ's commandment(Mattxiv.29),andwas
so familiarly used of Christ, that he said he was ready
to go to prison with him (Luke xxii, 33), and though
he should suffer death with him he would never deny
him (Matt xxvi. 35), yet for all this, lacking as yet
the strength of God's Spirit he was afraid of one little
maid, and by-and-by denied Christ and sware twice
that he knew Him not. And besides this, after
Christ's resurrection, when he had received a message
from Christ, and had seen Himself, and was much

48 THE SACRAMENTS,
comforted by Him, yet he kept himself privily in a
house with the rest of the Apostles for fear of the
Jews. But after that he had received the Holy
Ghost, which .Christ promised to send, and was con
firmed and indued with spiritual strength from above,
then began he with the other Apostles to speak boldly
the word of God, and to bear witness of Christ's
resurrection, and was nothing afraid of the mighty
princes of the world, but contemned all their threaten
ings, and gloried in their tribulations, and rejoiced
that they were thought worthy to suffer either shame
or death for the name of Jesus, taking this for a rule
of their living, rather to obey God than man.
For this same intent and spiritual effect (good
people) receive we the Holy Ghost in our Confirmation,
that we should be established in the gifts and graces
before received in Baptism, that we lightly fall not
from them again, that we should be made hardier
and more bold to confess our faith, not regarding any
danger or peril that might come to us thereby ; and
that we should constantly withstand all the assaults
and temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh,
and neither shrink for fear, or give over for pain, nor
cease for shame, but with patience and continuance
keeping our promise, bearing our cross, and not
yielding to our enemy, should with sure hope look
for the crown of righteousness which God will give
to all them that love His coming (2 Tim. iv. l).
These godly effects be taught and signified unto us
by the matter of this sacrament, and by the other cere-
monieswhich be used in the ministration of it Themat-
ter of it is the holy chrism which is mingled and made

CON FIRM A TION, 49

of two things^ — olive oil and balm. By the olive oil is
signified the infusion of grace, and the fervent zeal
and charity towards the maintenance of Christ's faith,
wherewith he is indued that is confirmed. By the
balm is signified the sweetness of God's Holy Spirit,
wherewith Christ doth allure us, and draweth us to
His service, and also whereby we are made a good
and sweet savour to God, replenished with the fruit
of righteousness to the glory and praise of God (Phil.
i. 11), and to the good example and edification of our
neighbour. With this holy chrism the man or child is
anointed in his forehead, by the imposition of the
bishop's hands, with the sign of the cross. By the
imposition of hands, is signified [the strength of the
Holy Ghost, wherewith we be indued in our Confirma
tion, to the intent we might be able to stand in our
faith, to abound in hope, and to grow in charity in
good works. And the cross is signed in our forehead
that we should never be ashamed of our Lord Jesus
Christ, nor of our religion, but should steadfastly
resist the temptations of the devil, and overcome with
patience the troubles of this world, always glorying
in the cross of Christ, and labouring to come to the
fellowship of His passion, that so we might be par
takers of His glorious resurrection.
After Confirmation the party confirmed hath a blow
of the cheek given him by the bishop, to the intent he
: should know and remember, that his religion and con
fession is meekly and gladly to suffer the shame,
: rebuke, and tribulation of the world for the name of
Christ and for righteousness' sake, without grudging
i against God (Acts v. 41), or revenging of his own
D

so THE SACRAMENTS,
quarrel, and so in peace and patience to possess his
soul,- Therefore I beseech you, brethren, do not neglect this
wholesome and profitable sacrament, but diligently
consider what aid and what grace is given unto you
in it, and if by your negligence and fall ye have lost
that grace for a great part yet it may be recovered
again, not by a new Confirmation, which may not be
iterate, but by your inward conversion and faithful
penance, and after ye be risen and have recovered
your strength again, then take better heed, and do
not make heavy nor drive not away the Holy Ghost
from you, who flieth always from feigned hypocrisy,
and will not dwell in that body that is subject and
servant to sin. And likewise be you careful and
diligent to have your children confirmed in this grace,
and to be indued with these excellent gifts of the
Holy Ghost, by receiving this holy sacrament in the
Catholic Church, and specially those whose children
were baptized of heretics in the time of any schism
and out of the Catholic Church. For although they
did then receive the sacrament of baptism which may
not be ministered to them again, lest we should shew
ourselves to crucify Christ again ; yet they did not
then and there receive the grace of baptism being out
ofthe Church,* but may now receive the grace which

¦* It is of faith that baptism may be validly administered by heretics.
The Council of Trent has decreed : — "If any one saith that the bap
tism, which is even given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the
Church doth, is not true baptism ; let him be anathema." — Sess. vii.,
can. 4, But there can be true baptism without the grace of baptism,

CONFIRMATION, $1

they lacked before, and be reconciled to God, and be
made members of His Holy Catholic Church, arid so
in time be admitted to receive the blessed Body and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ — which things if you
procure for them, and both they and you stand
steadfastly in that same grace to your lives' end, ye
may perfectly trust to attain that glory which shall
be revealed and given to all God's elect people in the
last day by the merits of our Saviour Christ, to whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour
and praise, for evermore. Amen,
as in the case of adults baptized in heresy, or even in the Catholic
Church without the necessary dispositions. To assert, however, as
-yVatson seems to do, that the infant children of heretics and schismatics
receive in baptism no sanctifying grace, is very singular, and quite
contrary to the common teaching of theologians. The matter will be
¦treated in an appendix, — Ed.

( 52)

THE SIXTH SERMON.
OF THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLV GHOST GIVEN
IN THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION,
WHEREAS it is declared unto you (good people)
that in the sacrament of Confirmation, the
Holy Ghost is given to him that is confirmed,
not for the making of him a new man or the child
of God, and the inheritor of the kingdom of heaven,
for which purpose He was given before in baptism,
but to confirm him in that grace he hath received,
and to aid him in his spiritual battle with his
ghostly enemies, and-to defend him in his conflicts,
and to comfort him in his travail, and to be his tutor
in keeping him from falling, and to make him strong
and able to resist and overcome his enemies, all
which -things the Holy Ghost worketh in the heart
of the party confirmed by induing him with His
seven principal gifts : therefore I intend, God willing,
at this time to declare unto you, which be those seven
gifts, and how they be used to avoid the suggestions
and assaults of the devil.
The seven gifts be set forth by the prophet Isaias
(chap. xi. I, 2), where he saith of our Saviour Christ,
" that there shall a rod or branch spring forth of the
root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from that

GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST, 53
root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and
piety^ and the spirit of the fear of God shall replenish
him." Which seven gifts do not only rest upon Christ as
man, being the head of His mystical body the
Church, but also upon every one of us that be made
members of the same body, and the Holy Ghost
dwelleth in his soul that hath these gifts, and always
defendeth him from his enemies, and when he
loseth or quencheth them by yielding to his enemy,
then the Holy Ghost withdraweth His gracious pre
sence from him, till he by penance and prayer re
cover them again. And these gifts (after the manner
of Holy Scripture) be termed and called by the
name of spirits, not that they be the substance of
the Holy Spirit of God, but that they be wrought
in our souls by His motion, inspiration, and spiritual
unction, and do make that man a spiritual and
godly man that hath them and useth them.
Now, for what intent the Holy Ghost doth give
them to a man that is confirmed, you shall plainly per
ceive if ye will consider the manner and order of the
devil's temptation in us. There be seven capital vices
called deadly sins, from which, as from seven wells or
fountains, all other vices and corruptions of the soul
do spring and proceed. These be the net and snares
that the devil layeth to entrap and catch a man in.
And considering that he is so mighty, being the
prince of darkness, and so mahcious, never ceasing
to devour us, and so crafty, knowing in what point

54 THE SACRAMENTS,
we are most weak to withstand, and being practised
from the beginning of the world in such feats, he
will not fail to entangle us with these vices his snares,
except we have the assistance and aid of God's Holy
Spirit to help us, and be vigilant ourselves to take
heed to our feet, and with faith and prayer put away
his darts. And because we be weak of ourselves,
and not able to match and overcome this our mighty
and crafty enemy, therefore the Holy Spirit of God,
our tutor and defender, being of more strength than
the devil is, hath armed us with seven other gifts
contrary to the devil's seven snares or darts, and
hath also bound him that he shall not tempt us
further, than we being thus armed and aided be able
to withstand (i Cor. x. 13). And because these His
seven gifts be as it were the seeds of godly Hving
sown in the ground of our hearts. He causeth
out of them other seven virtues to grow, whereby
a man is made able not only to avoid the seven
snares of the devil, but also is inwardly beautified,
and enriched, and made a happy man : for which
cause these virtues be called beatitudes. And in
case a man lose these gifts and virtues, our Saviour
Christ hath taught us a mean to recover them again,
which is prayer, and for that every man is not of
that wisdom and learning, as he can particularly and
in proper terms ask that which he needeth, there
fore hath He taught us one form of prayer containing
seven petitions, whereof every one of them is directed
in order to the asking and attaining of one of the
foresaid seven gifts and virtues. Thus are we every
way on God's part provided for sufficiently, and may

GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST. 55
I easily overcome the devil our enemy, if we list to
take pains and fight as our duty to Almighty God
and regard to our soul's health do require.
And that ye may the better understand this that
I have spoken in general, I shall by God's help for
your edifying, declare shortly and particularly how
every vice is overcome with the contrary gift of the
Holy Ghost
And first to begin at pride, which is the root and
beginning of all sin (Eccles, x, 15), the mother of
death and misery (Isa. xiii, 8), and the very cause
why the devil was expelled out of heaven and man
out of Paradise, ye may consider that the devil by
pride laboureth to take God from us, whom we are
most bound to love and serve, and daily tempteth
us, either to think and esteem that good quality,
which we have, to come of ourself and not of God,
or else that it is not freely given but fully deserved
of our part, or else to boast ourselves to have that
we have not, or else to despise others and to labour
to appear singular, or else by one means or other
he provoketh us to contemn God, and not to regard
our state and condition. By this dart he laboureth
to wound our souls : against the which the Holy
Ghost hath armed us with His gift of the fear of
God, not only with the servile fear of the pains of
heh, which is the beginning of wisdom (Prov, ix, 10),
and goeth away at His coming by charity (i John
iv, 18), but also with the reverent and chaste fear of
God's majesty and goodness that remaineth for ever,
, .whereby a man forbeareth to offend God, and is
careful to please and serve God, as the wise man

56 THE SACRAMENTS,
counselleth, saying, " Son, when thou comest to
God's service stand in fear, and prepare thy soul to
temptation " (Eccles. ii. i). This fear of God is the
root and keeper of all religion, in which except a
man keep himself steadfast, the house of virtues
builded in his soul will soon decay and come to
ruin (Eccles. xxvii. 4). And it is given us by the
Holy Ghost as a present remedy against pride, as S.
Paul saith. Noli altum sapere, sed time — be not
proud and high-minded, but fear (Rom. xi, 20), For
by fear a man is awaked out of the sleep of negli
gence, his conscience is examined if any fault be
done, and he is made careful for this life present
and desirous of the life to come.
Out of this root of fear springeth the goodly flower
of humility, which is called poverty in spirit (Matt.
V. 3), whereby a man giveth God the glory of that
virtue he is endued withal, and is content with the
fruit of the same, and is esteemed but little in his
own sight, be he never so high in knowledge and
dignity, and putteth his trust and glory neither in
himself, his strength, his virtues, his works, or his
riches, nor yet in no other creature, but in his Lord
God alone, and is therefore made most happy, and put
in fair hope to attain Christ's promise of the king
dom of heaven. And if he shall perceive by his
negligence these two gifts of fear and humility to
be diminished or decayed in him, then let him
straight run to prayer, and ask them of God in the
first petition of his " Pater Noster," which is " HaHowed
be Thy name ; " wherein he asketh that he may, in
all things, glorify God's name in humility, and not

GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST, 57

his own name by pride, acknowledging all goodness
to proceed from God, and labouring to honour Him by
his good life.
The second dart of the devil is envy, for of pride
groweth envy, and as he by pride robbed man of the
love of God, so by envy he robbeth man of the love
of his neighbour, and always tempteth man to bear
gall in his heart and poison on his tongue, to rejoice
in the adversity of his neighbour and to be sorry at
his prosperity, to wish his neighbour evil and to speak
evil of him behind his back. Against this dart of the
devil the Holy Ghost hath armed us with the gift of
pity [or piety], whereby we be armed and instructed
to have compassion of our neighbour's adversity, to
bear the infirmities of others, to wish well to all men
for God's cause, to procure as much as we can their
commodity and pi'eferment, and with devout affection
to honour and to do our duties, next God, to our
parents, to our country, to our princes, to our masters,
to our children and family, to our neighbours all, be
they friends or enemies ; that is to say, to shew rever
ence to our superiors, to shew conformity to our
equals, and to shew relief in word and deed to our
inferiors. But of this root of pity springeth the godly virtue
of meekness ; for he that is well affected towards the
service and honour of God, and studious to do his duty
towards all degrees of men, shall shew himself to be
not heady, stiff-necked and envious, but meek, gentle
land tractable, not resisting evil, but with good over-
I coming evil, and therefore this meek man may well
be called happy, which by God's promise shall inherit

58 THE SACRAMENTS,
and possess the land of the living. And if this gift
of pity, or the virtue of meekness, chance to decay or
be lost by the envy of the devil, then let him pray
the effect of the second petition, which is " O Father,
let Thy kingdom come," either to us that we may be
as Thou art, and teacheth us to be humble and meek
in our own hearts, and so have Thee (Who art eternal
rest) dwelling in our souls, or else let Thy kingdom
come from heaven to earth in the clearness of the
glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when the
meek men shall hear Him call the blessed people of
His Father to His kingdom (Matt xxv. 34), and
therefore shall rejoice and be glad for evermore
(Ps. xxxiii, 3).
The third bolt that the devil shooteth against a man
is ire, for of envy groweth ire ; when he envieth his
equal or superior upon a small occasion either given
or taken, he is stirred to indignation, malice, swelHng
of mind and evil looks, or else to chiding and brawl
ing, and so in process to injury, vengeance, or murder ;
wherein appeareth his great folly, for naughty
anger resteth nowhere but in the bosom of a fool
(Eccles, vii, 10), because it is great folly to thrust a
sword through his own heart to the intent he might
hurt the coat of his enemy, which thing every angry
man doth that, usurping the office of God, seeketh to
revenge his own quarrel. And thus the devil, as he
by pride robbed him of his love to God, and by envy
of his love to his neighbour, so now by ire he robbeth
him of the love of himself.
Against this fiery dart of the devil, the Holy Ghost
hath armed us with the gift of knowledge, whereby

GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST, 59
we know how to walk uprightly and without offence
in the midst of this wicked generation, and also that
we should behave ourselves to them that have by
wrong done us injury, as we would to sick folks,
children or madmen, of whom their parents and other
friends and physicians often times will suffer diverse
injuries, till their youth or infirmity be gone away.
Out of this gift of knowledge springeth the virtue of
mourning ; for when we know in what miseries we be
wrapped, what a great heap of evils be round about us,
which we of ignorance desired as good things and pro
fitable for us, then we fall to mourning, and lament
the lack or prolonging [i.e., postponing] of the very
true and eternal goods and riches that be stored up
for us in heaven, and begin to set little by those vain
and transitory things which we esteemed as food in
earth : for which cause our Saviour Christ esteemeth
us happy that so do mourn, and hath promised us
the comfort of the Holy Ghost, that for contemning
these temporal things here we should enjoy eternal
gladness in heaven.
And for restitution of this gift and virtue when it
decayeth or is lost by us, we may pray the third
petition, " that God's will might be done in earth as it
is in heaven," that when our flesh as earth and the
desires of it do in all things without rebellion obey
our spirit — the lack of which obedience is the cause of
our mourning, as the having of it is the performance
of God's will on earth — then we might have this
promised comfort presently in our hearts as a pledge
of that gladness which is to come.
The fourth dart ofthe devil is idleness and slothful-

6o THE SACRAMENTS,
ness, when he tempteth a man to esteem the fulfilling
of God's commandments either impossible or very
hard and painful, and so to forbear the doing of his
duty, or to be weary in the beginning, and sad ever
after. Against this dart the Holy Ghost hath armed us
with the gift of fortitude and strength, and thereby
persuadeth us to think God's commandments not to
be heavy or grievous,, but to be a light burden and
sweet yoke, and encourageth us to set upon that
work which is excellent and worthy praise. And for
avoiding of faintness or weariness, He kindleth our
hearts with His love to continue steadfast and
immovable from the hope of the gospel, increasing in
good works and knowing that our labour is not in
vain in Christ (Col. i. 23, i Cor. xv. 58), Out of this
gift cometh the virtue which is called the hunger and
thirst of righteousness, which consisteth in true faith
and perfect obedience to God's law, the earnest and
vehement desire whereof causeth a man to be moved
neither with the flattery nor adversity of this world,
nor to be sad when he doeth well, but to hope as a
lion (Prov, xxviii. l), and not to give place to his
adversary. Therefore, seeing that fortitude is the
gift of the Holy Ghost whereby they be happy that
be hungry and thirsty, that is to say, greedy and
desirous of righteousness, because they shall be made
full with the meat of Christ, which is to do the will
of His Father, and also with that drink which
causeth a fountain of water to be in them, springing
up to everlasting life, if at any time we lack these
virtues, or be slack in using of them, then let us pray
that our daily bread may be given unto us this day,

GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST, 6 1
by virtue whereof we being sustained and made
strong, might come to that perfect fulness and
satiety which shall admit no hunger or thirst any
more ever after.
The fifth dart of the devil is covetousness ; for
when he perceiveth a man encouraged to do good
and serve God, by the gift of fortitude and strength,
he laboureth all he can to turn that his constancy
and strength to a wrong end, that is to say, from the
fulfilling of God's law and maintaining of His truth, to
the greedy and insatiable appetite of fulfilling the
desires of the world, and to the maintenance of
vice and error, and tempteth him further to be
obdurate and stony-hearted in unmercifulness, and so
in process, for hope of gain not to regard craft, deceit
violence, or treason.
Against this dart of covetousness the Holy
Ghost armeth us with the gift of counsel, that our
courage and strength may be stayed and directed to
the right end, that is to say, to the contempt and
despising of the vanity of this world, and not to trust
in the uncertainty of riches, but to trust in the living
God (i Tim. vi, 17), arid to do good to all we can,
and to be rich in good works, being ready to give part
of that God hath sent, and to store up a good treasure
in the next world, to the attaining of everlasting life.
And by this gift of counsel we be armed not to lean
to our own strength, nor to the power of any multi
tude, nor to the obstinacy of mind, but to the help of
God and for the glory of His name. So that this gift
iof fortitude worketh the virtue of mercifulness,
whereby a man useth the world, not as the devil

62 THE SACRAMENTS,
tempteth him, to fulfil his greedy appetite, which like
dropsy will never satiate, but to the relief of the
poor, the defence of the innocent the forgiving of
the offender, and the maintenance of the truth ; for
such a man is happy, and shall receive greater mercy
at God's hand.
And therefore when we lack this gift, or do not use
it let us first forgive them that have offended us,
and then pray that our debts may likewise be for
given unto us, and that is the very practice of this
gift of counsel and the direction of our spiritual
strength and fortitude.
The sixth dart of the devil is gluttony ; for when he
hath moved a man to take pleasure and joy in these
outward and worldly things, he tempteth him specially
to follow that pleasure that is most natural to his
flesh, and not to be content with that the necessity
of nature requireth, but to let pleasure have its will,
either iri exceeding measure, or in too much delicate-
ness and preparation for the same, whereupon fol-
loweth the decay of health and subversion of reason,
for commonly where there is a full belly there is-
also a dull wit. For that cause the Holy Ghost
hath armed us with the gift of understanding, out
of which proceedeth the virtue of cleanness of heart,
that our spiritual eyes may be simple, and refuse to
be made dull with the stuffing of our bellies, and our
hearts may be clean and pure from the corruption of
the flesh, not loaden with surfeiting and drunkenness,
to the intent we might escape the said vice of
gluttony, and be promoted to so great happiness as
to see God, which no man can do except the mist of

GIFTS OF tHE HOLY GHOST. 6^
ignorance, error and unclean living, be taken from
his eyes by faith and the gift of understanding.
And therefore, lest these temptations of the flesh
specially concerning the nourishing and pampering
of the same, do hinder us from true understanding,
and the sight of God which He hath promised to all
that be simple and clean of heart, let us dihgently
pray that He suffer us not to be led into temptation.
Finally, the last of the devil's darts is lechery,
which is the vilest kind of sin of all other, and the
soonest is a man tempted unto it, if the devil have
any entrance before, either by idleness, covetousness,
or drunkenness. For (as the prophet saith) the
cause of the iniquity of Sodom was pride, too much
eating, wealth, and idleness (Ezek, xvi. 49), And
his voice blindeth a man's soul, taketh away his
reason for a time and the consideration he should
have of death, and bringeth him into hatred of God,
and in mistrust or desperation of the life to come.
And for remedy against this most beastly vice, the
Holy Ghost hath armed us with His greatest gift,
which is wisdom ; whereby a man puUeth away his
mind and pleasure from the corruption of his flesh,
and refuseth to be subject to his unnatural sensuality,
and to defile his body, the temple of God, and
setteth his whole joy, felicity, and rest in his Lord
God, having his mind occupied in heavenly thoughts,
where nothing is that can displease. And this is
the wisdom of God that cometh from above, which
is chaste, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated,
agreeable to goodness, full of mercy and good fruit
(James iii. 17). Happy are they that have this

64 THE SACRAMENTS,
wisdom, out of which springeth the virtue of making
peace, because the fruit of righteousness is sown in
peace to them that be peacemakers, to whom God
hath promised that they shall be called His sons
and children ; for which cause when we lack this
gift of wisdom, or wax slack to use it let us pray to
Almighty God to deliver us from all evil, which
deliverance setteth us at liberty, and maketh us
freemen, that is to say, the children of God, indued
with the spirit of adoption, whereby we may boldly
call God our Father.
And thus I have declared unto you the seven
gifts of the Holy Ghost, given unto us in our Con
firmation, which for lack of our good and virtuous
bringing up when we were children, do not so much
appear and shew themselves in our deeds, as it were
expedient they should, but if we raise them up again
by our prayer and diligent exercise, as I have partly
told you, we shall be sure to overcome our spiritual
enemy, and in the day of our Lord receive the crown
of glory, through the merits of our Saviour Christ,
to Whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost_be
all honour and praise. Amen.

(65)

THE SEVENTH SERMON.
OF THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST'S BODY IN
THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR,
AS a man by his carnal generation is not only
jLi, born to temporal life, but also in process of
time waxeth strong, which life and strength cannot
be preserved without nourishment and wholesome
meat ; even so a man by his spiritual regeneration
is not only born again to a spiritual life in Christ by
Baptism, but also waxeth strong in Christ by re
ceiving the gifts of the Holy Ghost in Confirmation,
which spiritual life and strength cannot be preserved
and continued without spiritual nourishment and
wholesome meat. For which purpose our Saviour
Christ who loved us so vehemently, that, to bring us
to life, was content to die, and for the price and
ransom of the same life vouchsafed to give His own
Body to death, doth still vouchsafe to nourish us, so
redeemed and brought to life, with the sweet and
wholesome milk of His own Blood, and giveth us His
Flesh to eat and His Blood to drink, that we might
be fed and nourished, for the continuance of our
; spiritual life, with the same precious things that we
were redeemed withal before.
And because our souls be as yet joined with our
E

66 THE SACRAMENTS,
bodies, therefore for the time of this life our Saviour
Christ giveth unto us His invisible graces in sensible
sacraments. And as in Baptism by water (which
is a sensible thing), is given to us the invisible grace
of regeneration ; even so in the sacrament of the
Altar, under the visible forms of bread and wine, is
given to us the substance of all grace, which is Christ
Himself, that is to say. His Body and His Blood ;
which, though they be corporal things in their own
nature, yet now being glorified, they be spiritual, and
therefore not sensible, but where it pleaseth our
Saviour by miracle to have them appear.
This is then most certainly and constantly to be
believed of us all, upon pain of damnation, that in
this blessed sacrament of the Altar (whereof I
entreat at this time) is verily and really present the
true Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ which
suffered upon the cross for us, and is received there
corporally by the services of our mouths, not in the
same form of His Body as it was upon the cross,
but in the forms of our daily and special nutriments
of bread and wine, the substance of which bread and
wine, is converted and changed into the substance of
Christ's Body and Blood, by the omnipotent and
secret power of His word, assisting the due admini
stration of His minister.
This marvellous and heavenly doctrine is not
invented by man's wit, but revealed by God's Spirit
in His Holy Scripture, and taught us by the mouth
of our Saviour Christ who instituted this Holy Sacra
ment in His Last Supper, saying to His disciples,
" Take, eat ; this is my Body, which is given for you ;

REAL PRESENCE. 67

this is my Blood of the new testament, which is
ished for many, and for you, in remission of sins"
(Matt. xxvi. 26-28). Of these words, and the like
which be written in the Gospels of S. Mark (xxii.
22-24) and S, Luke (xx, 19, 20), and in the Epistle
of S. Paul to the Corinthians (i Cor. xxiv. 24,
25), the Holy Catholic Church hath ever from the
beginning understanded and believed that, after the
speaking of those words by Christ, or by His minister
in His person, sufficiently authorised so to do by His
commandment, is made present the natural Body
and Blood of our Saviour Christ, there to be received
of His faithful people, to the increase of all grace,
and immortality both of body and soul. For the
Church esteemeth these to be the working words
of God, making the thing to be as it was not before,
and not as the words of only man, which can only
declare the thing to be as it is before. For if Christ's
word be of such strength that it can make things to
be that were nothing before, how much more hath it
strength to make a thing that was before to be
changed into another thing that it was not.'' Like
as the heaven was not, the earth was not, and yet
He said the word, and they were made; even so
the sacrament before the consecration was not the
Body of Christ, but after . the consecration it is now
the Body of Christ, for He hath said the word and
the thing is made. And He that is the Author of
the gift is also the Witness of the truth of the same
gift, so that our faith in this thing is grounded not
in man's reason or sense, but in the almighty power
of God's word. For if Christ, the speaker of this

68 THE SACRAMENTS,
word, were not God's Son, and the Word of God,
by Whom all trees and herbs do bring forth fruit
it could not be certain to us that this blessed and
sanctified bread of the sacrament were Christ's
Body and the cup of His Blood. Therefore, seeing
that He hath said, "This is my Body, this is my
Blood," who can neither deceive nor be deceived,
let us without all doubt steadfastly believe it to be
so, and look upon it with the eyes of our understand
ing. For our faith in this matter is induced by His
only authority, and not by our wit whose words
require necessarily our faith, and in no wise do
admit our reason : they require a simple believer,
and reprove a wicked reasoner ; so that we must
believe simply that which we cannot search profit
ably. Wherefore, like as we may not curiously
search how it is done, so we may not Jewishly
doubt whether it be done, but reverently prepare
us to receive that by faith which we are siire is
done. And furthermore, the Holy Church esteemeth those
words of Christ " This is my Body, this is my Blood,"
to be the formal words of a sacrament of the New
Testament, working inwardly the same grace that is
signified outwardly, which is the property of every
sacrament of the New Testament, whereby they differ
from the other shadows of the Old Testament And
because the grace that is signified by these formal
words is the very Body and Blood of Christ Himself,
the Author and fountain of all grace, therefore we
must certainly know by faith that God, assisting the
due ministration of this sacrament, according to His

REAL PRESENCE, 69
promise, doth inwardly work in the holy sacrament
the real presence of His said Body and Blood. It is
not the power of the priest, being a man, that, in the
creatures which be set upon the altar to be consecrate,
causeth the Body and Blood of our Lord to be made
present but it is Christ Himself that was crucified for
us. The words be' pronounced by the mouth of the
priest as His minister, but the oblations be consecrate
by God's power and grace, who is now there present
and sanctifieth the creatures, and changeth them,
by the invisible working of the Holy Ghost ; which
miraculous change must be imputed to Christ who by
His word worketh this' His presence above the reach
of man's carnal understanding.
And we ought to think of this consecration far above
the consecration of other things. For other things in
the Church used about the holy sacraments be by
prayer sanctified and called holy, for that they be de
dicated to some holy use, and the soul of man is by
Igrace consecrate and sanctified, because it is a substance
wherein holiness and virtue remaineth ; and a good
man's body is also sanctified, being made a member of
Christ and the temple of the Holy Ghost; and the
other sacraments be sanctified and holy, for that they
be the instruments whereby God worketh holiness in
the soul of man ; but above all other things, this blessed
sacrament of the Altar is most holy, being (as S,
Chrysostom saith) not only a thing sanctified, but
also very sanctification and holiness itself For in
that it is the Body of Christ by sanctification, where
unto is annexed the Godhead by unity of person, it
muste needs be holiness itself, not in quality, but in

70 THE SACRAMENTS,
substance, out of which proceedeth all holiness, virtue,
and goodness. And the Holy Church also esteemeth
those formal words of our Saviour Christ to be the
performance of His promise which He made at Caper
naum to His disciples, when He said : " The Bread
that I shall give unto you is my Flesh, which I shall
give for the life of the world" (John vi. 52) ; which
promise He that is the very truth, and cannot lie, did
never at any time before perform but in His Last
Supper, when He gave His Body and His Blood to
His disciples to eat, and said that which He gave
them was His Body and His Blood.
And as He promised to give unto them His Flesh,
that should be given for the life of the world, and not
a figure of that Flesh, or a sign ; so He gave in very
deed the same Flesh, and not a figure or sign of it
and said precisely that it was the same Body that
should be given to death for their redemption; to
which word every true Christian man giveth credit
and he that believeth not that it is His very true
Body, as He said it was, he is fallen from all grace
and salvation. And no man ought to be in doubt of
the truth of this real presence of Christ's Body in the
sacrament, because he hath either read himself in
certain holy writers' books, or hath heard say of other,
that they say how in this sacrament is a sign or a
figure, or a similitude of Christ's Body, For those
same authors, either in the places where they use those
words, or else in some other places, declare most
manifestly their faith concerning the real presence
to be all one, agreeable with the common faith of the
universal Church of Christ And for your better in-

REAL PRESENCE. 7 1
istruction in this matter, ye shall understand that
there be two things which be parts of this sacrament —
the visible forms of bread and wine and the invisible
Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The outward form of that which is seen is a figure
and sign of that hidden truth which is there con
tained, believed, and not seen. Ye shall also under-
istand that in the sacrament there be two graces to be
considered : the one is the substantial grace of Christ's
Body there present and contained, the other is the
accidental grace only, signified and not contained,
which is wrought in the soul of the worthy receiver,
whereby . he is more inwardly joined to Christ's
mystical body, not only spiritually by faith and
charity, but also by natural and corporal participa
tion with Christ and His Church. This unity of
Christ's mystical body, the Church, is as well signified
by Christ's natural Body there present, as it is by
the visible element of bread, which, as it is made one
loaf of many grains, so the Church is made but one
body of Christ, consisting of many men and women.
And thus is Christ's natural Body in the sacrament
a figure of His mystical body in the Church and of
the unity of the same.
And further, whereas our Lord commanded His
disciples and all us to do the same that He did
(i Cor. xi, 25, 26), that is to say, to consecrate and
to receive His Body and Blood in the remembrance
of His death and passion till His last coming, ye
may therefore understand that the invisible, spiritual,
and intelligible Flesh and Blood of Christ in the
sacrament signifieth and representeth the same

72 THB SACRAMENTS,
visible, mortal, and palpable Body of Christ upon the
cross ; for which respect the sacrament of divers
doctors is called a figure or sign. Finally, because
all things that be in this present world, be they
never so true, yet they be called figures and images
in respect of the same things in heaven, which be
seen as they be, without all shadows or coverings;
therefore, like as the very oblation of Christ upon
the cross, which is a thing of most truth, is called an
image in respect of that oblation which He the same
time, and at all times, maketh in heaven before His
Father, where He appeareth as an Advocate for us,
even so the natural Body of Christ in the sacrament
which cannot here be seen but by faith, may well
be called a figure or image of the same Body in
heaven, which is there seen without cover, and
received by perfect fruition of all the blessed angels
and saints that be there in the kingdom of God.
For here the Church hath Christ her Spouse in a
sacrament and there she shall have Him without all
sacrament Both here and there, is the truth, but
here it is covered, and there manifest without cover :
in earth we eat the bread of angels in a sacrament ; in
heaven we shall eat the same bread evidently without
a sacrament where the presence of the Most High
Priest shall show itself openly to all men as it is.
For these respects which I have rehearsed, no man
ought to be in doubt of the truth of Christ's real
presence in the sacrament, because of these words
{figure or sign) found in certain authors, which words
(as I have declared) do in no wise deny the truth of
the presence, but either they declare the secret and

REAL PRESENCE, 73
covered manner of it in the sacrament, or they signify
the unity of Christ's mystical Body, or else they bring
into our remembrance the passion of Christ's Body
which is past, or the clear fruition of the same in
heaven, which to us is yet to come. And here ye
ought to mark diligently that which I have said con
cerning the two manners of being of Christ's Body —
the one in heaven at the right hand of His Father
manifestly without all cover or sacrament, the other
the same moment of time here in earth amongst us
in a sacrament, to be received of us for our spiritual
sustenance ; in which thing we may not consider the
nature of a man's body, but the infinite power of
God, that can do with His Body what He will, and
doth with it what He saith. And because He saith
evidently that He giveth to us His Body that suf
fered and His Blood that was sh. ' '^-^refore we
ought to believe His word, which cannou deceive us,
seeing that all things be possible to God, which
be impossible to man (Luke xviii, 27 and Mark
X, 27),
Christ's Body is but one, and although it be con
secrate and offered in many places, yet there is but
one Christ in every place, being both full Christ here
and full Christ there, one body. And whereas Christ,
God's only-begotten Son, goeth into every man
divisibly that receiveth Him, and by His Flesh
sanctifieth their souls and bodies, yet He in His Flesh
remaineth whole without division in every one, being
but one wheresoever He be, by no means divided.
And in this miracle our Saviour Christ excelled Ehas
and all the prophets, for Elias left his mantle unto

74 THE SACRAMENTS,
his disciple, but the Son of God ascending left to us
His Flesh. Elias ascended without his mantle him
self, but Christ hath left His Flesh unto us, and
ascended having it also with Him. And this is not
of our deserts, but of His exceeding mercy and good
will, that, being whole in His majesty and glory at
the right hand of God His Father, yet doth vouchsafe
the same time to be with us on earth invisibly, being
but one in divers places, not only comforting us that
be here travailing with the presence of His divinity
and Holy Spirit, but also feeding and nourishing us
with the heavenly food of His Body and Blood to
everlasting life. This feeding of us with Christ's .
Body and Blood we must understand that it is not
only spiritually by faith, when we remember and
think upon His passion and death, but also cor
porally with the service of our bodies and senses,
when we receive it in the sacrament. For as in the
old law the blood of the paschal lamb was commanded
to be sprinkled upon both the posts of the door ;
even so the Blood of Christ, our Paschal Lamb, is
sprinkled upon both the posts of our door, when it is
received not only with the mouth of the body for
redemption, but also with the mouth of the heart for
imitation. Which Blood is not now shed upon the
hands and coats of the soldiers that crucified Him,
but is poured into the mouths of the faithful that
receive Him, And this new doctrine was not known
to the world till our Saviour Christ taught it Himself
in His gospel. For the old law did forbid the eating
and drinking of blood with their mouths, and the
new law doth command it so to be drunken, for

REAL PRESENCE, 75
which cause we that pertain to the new law do use
often times to drink of this Blood, knowing that
except we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood we
shall not have life in us (John vi. 54). Wherein we
are called to more dignity than any of the prophets
of the Old Testament was. For David did never eat
of this Body, nor never drank of this Blood, although
he believed in Christ as well as we, or rather better ;
and so was only partaker of them spiritually by faith,
and not corporally by the sacrament as we be. See
with what great dignity Almighty God doth honour
our mouths, by which, as by certain gates and doors,
Christ entereth into us when we communicate and
receive His Body, and so having Christ within us
by His Flesh, and in Him corporally united by the
sacrament of perfect and natural unity, we shall
likewise be partakers of His property, which is life
everlasting. I will no more at this time (good people) occupy
you with any longer process concerning this most
true and evident matter, but shall speak of it at other
times, beseeching you, in our Lord's name, not to
waver in your faith like reeds blown aside with every
wind, but to stand steadfast in the certain belief of
this most Holy Sacrament, which is set forth to us by
the mouth of our Saviour Christ Himself and the
sacred books of all His holy Evangelists, and is
confirmed with the blood of His martyrs, with the
miracles of God and His saints showed for that pur
pose, with the testimony of all Catholic writers in
every age, and with the authority and consent of the
whole Church of Christ throughout the world, as well

^6 THE SACRAMENTS.

in General Councils assembled in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, as in every particular province and
realm ; which is the pillar of truth, and the surest staff"
to lean unto for a Christian man to hold himself stead
fast in truth, so that the most manifest word which
was spoken by Christ our Lord upon this Holy
Sacrament and the true meaning of the same word,
declared from time to time by His Holy Catholic
Church, dehvereth us from all ignorance as to what it
is, and assureth us that in His most holy sacrament is
present, by the omnipotent power of God, the real and
true Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ God and
man, under the sensible forms of bread and wine, and
is there received of the faithful people not only
spiritually by faith, but also corporally with their
mouths, for the attaining of immortality and ever
lasting life both of body and soul ; the which God
of His infinite goodness grant us through the merits
of His Son Jesus Christ, and the sanctification of His
Holy Spirit to whom be all praise, honour, and
glory, world without end. Amen.

{17)

THE EIGHTH SERMON.
OF THE CHANGE OF THE BREAD AND WINE, THAT
IS TO SAY, OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
WHAT is the substance of this blessed sacra
ment, we have learned (good people) of our
Saviour Christ's own words, who the night before He
suffered, at His Last Supper with His disciples took
bread, and brake it and gave it to His disciples,
and said, " Take and eat ; this is my Body ; " and
taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave it to
them, saying, " Drink all of you of this ; for this is
my Blood of the new testament, which shall be
shed for many, for remission of sins " (Matt
xxvi. 26-28). Upon these words of Christ all true
Christian men ground their faith concerning this
blessed sacrament, and believe verily that the inward
substance of this sacrament is the Flesh of our
Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins, and
that in the chalice consecrate is the same Blood that
did run forth of Christ's side when it was opened with
the spear.
And furthermore, upon the same words of Christ,
the Holy Church, and all true Christian men her
members, do ground their faith concerning the change

78 THE SACRAMENTS.
which the Holy Ghost by His unspeakable power
worketh in this sacrament where the inward sem
blance of bread and wine is changed into the sub
stance of the Body and Blood of Christ the outward
forms of the said bread and wine, with the quantity
and qualities of the same, still remaining unchanged.
Which manner of change, because it is singular, and
hath none like it, either in nature or otherwise, there
fore the Holy Church doth call it by the name of
Transubstantiation, the which word was invented by
the Holy Church in the greatest General Council that
ever was, which was called the Council of Lateran,
where there were present seventy Archbishops and
four hundred Bishops, and they spake of this change
by that name, to the intent that like as the Holy
Church of Christ in every age did agree and was of
one mind concerning this change of the bread and
wine, even so they should agree and be of one
tongue in the uttering and speaking of that change,
that the diversity of many words uttered diversely in
the books of learned men should not impair and
bring in doubt the old known truth revealed to the
Church by the Holy Ghost.
This old truth the Church learneth of Christ's own
words. For whereas it was but one thing of substance
which our Saviour Christ gave out of His hand to
His disciples to eat, which one thing He said plainly
was His Body which should be given for them, and
in saying so made it so to be by His almighty word !
for that cause the Holy Church believeth that it is
not bread, but His very Body indeed. And also,
whereas it appeareth to all a man's senses to be

TRANS UBS TANTI A TION. 79
very bread (which senses be not deceived so far as
they can skill of and reach unto, which is only to the
outward appearance and qualities or quality, and not
to the inward substance), therefore the Holy Church
beheveth that the change which is in the sacrament
is made in the inward substance of the bread, and
not in the outward form of the bread, which remaineth
as it was ; for which cause the Church calleth that
change Transubstantiation. For that bread which
our Lord reached to His disciples, being changed in
nature and not in form, by the omnipotency of His
word, was made flesh. And as in the person of
Christ His humanity was seen and His divinity was
secret unseen, even so in this sacrament the outward
form of bread appeareth to man's sight, and the
inward substance of Christ, God and man, appeareth
not to a man's corporal eye, but to the eye of his
soul, which is faith, which faith is stayed upon the
omnipotent power of God, For He that can create
all things of nought with His word, can also change
things that be created with His word : and if the
benediction of man can change the nature of things,
as appeared when Moses changed his rod into a
serpent (Exod. vii. lo), what shall we say of the
consecration of God, that worketh marvellously in
His holy sacrament ? If the word of Elias was able
to bring fire from heaven, shall not the word of
Christ be able to change the substance of bread .?
Therefore, upon this ground of God's almighty power,
we submit our reason to our faith, and above the
reach of reason we believe Christ's word, and that
there is not the substance of bread which nature

80 THE SACRAMENTS,
formed, but the substance of Christ which benedic
tion hath consecrate. And so we esteem this sacra
ment otherwise than an infidel doth. Like as an un
learned man when he looketh upon a book, he under
standeth not the meaning of the writing, but a learned
man will find much matter hid there, as the lives and
stories of men ; the unlearned man will think there
is nothing else but paper and ink, the learned man
will understand another's speaking, and speak to
one being absent and ask by his letters whatso
ever he would have; even so it is in these mys
teries. The infidels, although they hear what it
is, yet they seem not to hear. But the faithful
man, who hath experience of the Holy Ghost can
behold the virtue and power of God in the secret
mysteries, where the substance of bread is consumed
by the substance of Christ's Body and ceaseth to be
there any more, even as wax when it is put in the fire,
it melteth away, and the substance of it remaineth no
more. These similitudes (whereof the books of the
old writers be full) be not to satisfy the subtle wits
and curious questions of men that lack faith, whose
reasons brought out of natural experiments, may in
no wise be admitted of a Christian man to disprove
any part of our faith received, but they be brought in
to declare what is our faith in this point to which
faith God's pleasure is, that every man's reason should
be taken captive (i Cor, x. 5), and serve to the belief
of His wonderful works and sacraments, even as the
natural inclination of our will should serve to execute
the commandment of godly charity. For whatsoever
flesh and blood doth bring forth, or the subtleness of

TRANS UBS TAN TIA TION.

man's wit, not indued with the Spirit of God, can
invent, is to be rejected from the judgment and dis
cussion of this holy mystery, and only that is to be
admitted which the Father of heaven by the mouth
of His Son, and the inspiration of His Holy Spirit"
hath revealed to His Church. And therewith is every
good Christian man contented and satisfied, not like
the unfaithful Jews asking how it can be so, seeing
nothing is impossible to God, but giving full credit to
the Church of God in the presence of Christ in this
sacrament, as the blessed "Virgin Mary did to the
angel of God in the Incarnation of Christ in her
womb. And as she gave full consent to the angel's
word when he told her that the Holy Ghost should
come into her, and the power of the Most High God
should overshadow her : even so ought every faithful
soul "to give full credit to God's Church, when it
teacheth by the Word of God that the Holy Ghost
overshadoweth this mystery, and maketh present the
Body of Christ above the speech and reason of man,
and changeth the bread and wine into Christ's
Body and Blood, the outward forms remaining still,
so that now there be not two substances remain
ing, but one and the selfsame that was given for our
redemption, otherwise the manner of it is not
searchable. And it ought to believe also, that like
as the Church of God in the first General Council
at Nice did very well when it did invent the word
of Consubstantiality, to express the old truth that
Christ was no creature, but equal God and of one
and the same substance with the Father, to the
' confusion of the heretic Arius and all his adherents :
F

82 THE SACRAMENTS.
even so that the same Church of God did very well
in the General Council at Lateran, when it invented
the word of Transubstantiation, to express the old
truth, that there is but one substance of Christ in the
sacrament and that the former substances of bread
and wine be converted and changed into the Body
and Blood of Christ the qualities and figure of the
same remaining still unchanged, to the confusion of
the heretics Luther and Zwinglius, and all their
adherents. Furthermore, it is to be considered, that in this
change of the bread, God did show His great merci
ful goodness towards us, that for our reHef, bearing
with our infirmity. He hath suffered the outward
forms of bread and wine to remain unchanged. For
as- our nature abhorreth the killing of a man's
flesh, and the shedding of a man's blood, so
much more it abhorreth the eating of man's raw
flesh and the drinking of man's lively blood ; and
whereas our Saviour Christ declaring the necessity of
this sacrament to the attaining of everlasting Hfe,
said : That except we did eat His Flesh and drink His
Blood we should not have life in us (John vi. 54),
therefore hath He by His godly wisdom invented
this way to give us His Flesh to eat and His Blood to
drink, and yet our nature should not abhor the eating
and drinking of it but comfortably and obediently
receive it. For He giveth it in such instruments of
bread and wine as we be daily accustomed to be fed
withal ; and so condescending to our infirmity lest we
should abhor the sight of His Flesh and Blood in their
own likeness, He reserveth the outward forms of the

TRANSUBSTANTIATION, 83
bread and wine, but their substances He changeth into
His Flesh and Blood. Beside divers other commodi
ties that come to us thereby, as that our faith is more
exercised in believing that to be there present, which
we see not with our corporal eyes, and the property
of the sacrament is retained, which is to teach by the
composition and nature of the outward element, what
the Holy Ghost worketh inwardly in the soul of him
that worthily receiveth it, which is the unity and
perfect conjunction of Christ's mystical Body, And
also the holy sacrament itself is kept and conserved
in His due honour, which otherwise should be con
temned and despised of the pagans and infidels, if
they perceived how we Christian men did eat the
Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ our Lord God.
For these causes He hath ordained it to be mini
stered in the forms of bread and wine.
And although our Saviour Christ when He did first
institute this sacrament in His Supper, did minister it
to His Apostles whom He then made priests, under
both the kinds of bread and wine, to the intent His
death and passion might be declared and remembered
thereby, where His Blood was separate from His
Body, as the bread was separately consecrate from
the chalice, which manner is yet continually observed
in the sacrifice of the Church which is the mass : yet
for divers weighty considerations, as well concerning
the honour of the sacrament and the avoiding the -
effusion of Christ's Blood which might chance, as for
the more commodious administration of the sacra
ment to the people, the Holy Church hath used, even
from the time of Christ Himself and His Apostles, to

84 THE SACRAMENTS.
minister this sacrament under the form of bread only,
both to laymen and women and also to priests, saving
when they do consecrate and minister to themselves
with their own hands, in which doing it hath the
example of Christ, Who, the day of His resurrection,
ministered this sacrament to two of His disciples in
the castle of Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 30), under one kind
alone, and also the people be defrauded of no part of
Christ's Body and Blood, nor of no effect or grace
that cometh by the worthy receiving thereof; for it is
most certain that the whole Body and Blood of Christ
is as truly contained under the one kind of bread, as
under both the kinds of bread and wine, seeing that
Christ's living Body cannot be without His Blood,
nor His lively Blood without His Body.
And it is also most certainly true that if the outward
element of bread be divided into small parts, there
is the whole Body of Christ contained in every part
as it was in the whole element before it was divided,
even as the soul of man is but one and whole in the
whole body, and is likewise one and whole in every
part of the body ; and also as a glass when it is
broken into pieces, the whole image of a man's face
appeareth in every part severally, which before in the
whole glass appeared but one, even so the whole
Body and whole Blood of Christ is given under every
part of the outward forms ; equal portion is given
to every one ; it is whole delivered ; it is distributed
to many, and not dismembered ; it is incorporate
to the receivers, and suffereth no injury; it is
received and not included ; it dwelleth with weak
persons, and is not made weak ; and is much de-

TRANSUBSTANTIATION, 85
lighted with the pure faith and clean mind of hied
that receiveth.
For these most weighty and godly considerations;
when the sacrament is ministered to other than
to himself that consecrateth it, it is delivered under
the form of bread only ; and the chalice is not
consecrated,* nor yet delivered as any part of the
sacrament, but for the more commodious receiving
of the other part wherein was contained the Body
and Blood of our Saviour Christ. Therefore see
ing that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is (as I
have shewed) a truth necessarily deduced of Christ's
manifest words, saying, " This is My Body," declaring
the singular and only substance of that (which) He gave
to them to eat, to be His Body, and so not bread ;
seeing the universal Church of Christ hath determined
this to be God's truth, and for final ending of all
controversies, that all men might speak one thing, and
be of one tongue, hath ordered it to be spoken of and
uttered in this term of Transubstantiation ; and seeing
the testimonies of ancient doctors to be all agreeable
in this point, that the bread is changed into the Body
of Christ, whereby appeareth the consent of the
universal Church, which is the pillar and upholder of
all truth : for that cause let every man that loveth the
truth, and the salvation of his soul, steadfastly keep
himself in the belief of this truth, and so to be a member
of Christ's Catholic Church, without the which there is
no salvation ; and let him not join himself to any
* The Bishop here speaks of the cup of wine which was then distri
buted to all communicants, not of the chalice reserved to the consecrat
ing priest, — Ed,

86 THE SACRAMENTS,

faction of men out of the Catholic Church of Christ,
that for singularity or gain of the world trouble the
peace of the Church, and stir up the ashes of old
heresies, which by the greatest authority that ever
Christ left in His Church, that is to say, by the
judgment of the successors of S. Peter in the chair
of Christ, and of Bishops and pastors of Christ's
flock, called from all the parts of the world in a
General Council, have been discussed before this time
and fully determined. Let us not shew so much
dishonour to our most certain and heavenly religion,
as to think that it may be variable after the wilful
and furious appetite of a few men, which is one and '
uniform, and so hath been from Christ's time till this
day, being, by God's Holy Spirit the schoolmaster of
His Holy Church, inspired, revealed, multiplied,
ordered, continued, and so stablished that hell gates,
that is to say, tyranny, schisms, and heresy, shall
never prevail against it He that by unity of faith in
doctrine, and by the peace of charity in good living,
keepeth himself within the fold of God's Catholic
Church, as a lively member of the same^ may be
sure of the protection of God's Holy Spirit, in grace,
and be in good hope to attain the glory of God in
the kingdom of heaven by the merits of Christ, to
Whom, with the Father and the Holy- Ghost be
honour and praise, world without end. Amen,

( 87)

THE NINTH SERMON,
OF THE EFFECTS OF CHRISt's BODY AND BLOOD IN
THE WORTHY RECEIVER.
HOW much (good people) are we bound to love
our Lord Jesus Christ, that like a good shep
herd hath given His Soul for His sheep, and His Flesh
to be our meat, and His Blood to be our drink, and so
is He both our redeemer, and redemption, our feeder,
and our daily food. Greater love can no man shew
(John V. 13) than this which Christ our Lord hath
shewed to us. But if we would consider for what
cause and purpose He feedeth us with His Flesh and
Blood, and what wonderful graces and effects He
worketh in us both in body and soul by those
heavenly meats, our love towards Him should be a
great deal more increased,- and our desire should be
more inflamed to fill our hungry souls with so profit
able and precious meats. In which matter I intend,
God willing, to labour at this time, and to make but
a short recital of certain benefits which the worthy
receiving of this most blessed sacrament worketh,
first in our souls, and then in our bodies. For to
speak perfectly at length of it, and as the worthiness
and dignity of the matter requireth, would ask a

THE SACRAMENTS.

great process 'and a long time, which I verily hope
your good affection in perceiving the truth and in
following the same in your Hves will supply.
First of all this holy sacrament is ordained and
given to man to nourish him to eternal life. For
when our Saviour Christ was dead upon the cross,
and His side was pierced with a spear, there came
forth of it water and blood, whereupon He founded
and built His spouse the Church : for by the water
He giveth to us our being, because by it we are
brought to be Christian men, and by the blood He
giveth to us our life, because by it we are nourished
and fed and preserved to continue Christian men.
For by eating of Him, which is eternal life, we are
sure that He giveth to us the same thing that He is
Himself, which is life, which of ourselves we had not
before. It is not given to repair the ruin and decay
of this temporal life, which like a vapour continueth
but a while, but to repair the decay of our spiritual
life in Christ and to give unto -our souls eternal life,
and to bring us thither again from whence we take
our beginning. This decay of our spiritual life is
sustained by consenting to sin, and like as he that
hath a wound will seek for a medicine, even so when
we are in sin, we may have this heavenly and honour
able sacrament for a medicine. I mean not of him
that lieth dead in his soul by deadly sin, for as no
man giveth corporal meats to him that is dead in
body : so this spiritual meat of Christ's body and
blood may not be given to him that is spiritually
dead in his soul by deadly sin, for then he receiveth
it unworthily to his further judgment and condem-

EFFECTS OF COMMUNION. 89
nation, being guilty as Judas was of the Body and
Blood of Christ (i Cor. xi. 27).
Therefore, if the wound of sin be so great that
this sacrament cannot then be worthily received, let
him then go to penance, and by that medicine pro
cure himself to be restored to life again. For no
doubt of it he receiveth this blessed sacrament
unworthily, that receiveth it at that time when he
should do penance. But if his sins be but venial,
and such as this mortal and frail life cannot be passed
over without them, then let him not forbear the
wholesome medicine of this sacrament, which is pro
fitable to the Hfe and health of the whole man, being
both a medicine to heal infirmities, and a sacrifice to
purge iniquities. And because a man doth daily
offend, and so decayeth in his spiritual life : therefore
ought he often to receive this spiritual medicine,
which is called our daily bread, and thereby to
recover that health and strength he had lost before.
For as Adam and Eve, contrary to God's command
ment, by eating of the fruit of the tree which was
forbidden them, were made mortal and subject to
death, both of body and soul : even so every Christian
man and woman, according to Christ's command
ment, by the worthy eating of the Body and Blood
of Christ, Who is the true vine of the tree of life, is
made immortal, and hath a pledge of eternal hfe,
both of body and soul. And if God preserved the
temporal life of the peopfe of Israel forty years in the
wilderness without any bread of sown corn, but with
manna that came from above : how much more will
God preserve our spiritual life in this world with the

90 THE SACRAMENTS,
heavenly bread of His own Flesh which was made of
the blessed Virgin's pure substance. For this meat
is the strength of our soul, the sinews of our mind,
the knot of our trust, the foundation of our hope,
our health, our light our life. If we depart out of
this life armed with the strength of this meat, we
shall ascend to the heavenly palace of God with
great trust and boldness, and as it were apparelled
with a coat of gold.
The figure of this meat which was the blood of
the paschal lamb, by the virtue of this blood which
it figured, did purge the sin of the people and saved
them from the sword of the angel ; and if the figure
had such strength, and was so sovereign a remedy
against death, what shall we think of the truth,
which is the health of our souls, whereby our souls
be washed, they be adorned, they be kindled,
they are made clearer than the fire and brighter than
gold. For as a man buyeth his servant with gold
and also anourneth* him with gold likewise: so
Christ hath bought us with His precious Blood, and
doth anoiirn us and apparelleth us with the same
Blood, which is not now sprinkled upon us outwardly,
and washed away again as the blood of the sacrifices
of the Old Testament was, but it entereth into our
souls, and maketh them spiritually clean ^nd strong,
and worketh in them an unspeakable beauty. So
that this heavenly food is a protection and safeguard
for us in all the pilgrimage of this life, and a safe
* I.e., adorns.

EFFECTS OF COMMUNION, 9 1
conduct for our free passage out of this wicked
world, and a strong vital, making us able to endure
the painful journey to the kingdom of heaven.
And moreover, the worthy receiver is inwardly light
ened and sanctified, for as they that did crucify Him,
and put Him to death, were darkened and blinded
by Him, we that worthily receive Him be light
ened and our eyes be open to know Him. For the
Flesh of Christ to that effect hath marvellous and
unspeakable virtue, as appeareth in His two disciples
that knew Him in the breaking of the heavenly
bread, and this virtue hath Christ's Body, not in that
it is a creature of God, and the body of man, but in
that it is the Body of God united in the Godhead of
Christ in unity of Person, and being sanctified itself
by the virtue of Christ's divinity joined to it it is
able thereby to work sanctification in them that
worthily receive it, being made by the mystical
prayer a body, not only holy and sanctified in itself,
but also sanctifying them that receive it with a pure
mind. And as by drinking of common wine a man's mind
is refreshed, and his weariness driven away,: so by
the eating and drinking of Christ's Body and Blood
in the sacrament, the remembrance of the old man,
and the heaviness that for his worldly conversation
and sinful life grieved a nian's heart, is put away,
and his godly affection is made drunken with spiritual
wisdom and the knowledge of God, and is endued
with gladness for the remission of his sins, and is no
more cumbered with the cares of the world, nor the
fear of death.

92 THE SACRAMENTS.
Thus have I declared unto you certain godly
effects, which this heavenly meat of Christ's Body
and Blood worketh inwardly in the soul of the
worthy receiver, which effects and a great many
more be set forth at large in the books of the holy
fathers of the Catholic Church, and as I have
shortly touched those that pertain to the soul, so
shall I, God willing, with like shortness, touch those
that God worketh by the worthy receiving of this
sacrament in the body of man. For as the spiritual
disease and death of a man is in the soul, the
occasion whereof cometh by the corrupt affection
of the flesh : so this spiritual medicine of Christ's
Body and Blood in the sacrament worketh his
effects, not only in the soul of man, but also in the
body of man, by healing it, by defending, sanctifying,
strengthening, and reducing it, to immortality.
First seeing that we mortal and sinful men be
flesh and blood, we cannot be reformed in the cor
rupt and weak nature of our bodies and souls, nor
come again to the likeness and similitude of God
in purity and life, except a convenient plaister be
laid to our old disease, and, in the heahng of our
desperate infirmity, one contrary be removed by
another, and like things be applied and made agree
unto like, as Christ's lively and sanctified Body to
our mortal and sinful flesh. Which thing is done
in the receiving of this most blessed sacrament, when
the virtue of so great and wholesome a medicine
doth pierce all parts of body and soul, and doth
renew and make whole whatsoever sickness the
corruption of old naughty living had before caused

EFFECTS OF COMMUNION. 93
and engendered in the flesh or in the spirit For
the Body of Christ our Lord received into us by the
mystical benediction (which is the sacrament) and
remaining in us, driveth away not only death, but
also all sickness, and the poison that was brought
in by original sin, and it pacifieth and keepeth under
the raging law of our members, it strengtheneth de
votion, it quencheth the froward and sinful affections
of the mind, and those small sins we be in, it
regardeth not but healeth the sick, restoreth the
bruised, and from falling it lifteth us up.
In Baptism we were washed from all sin, and the
writing of our damnation was cancelled, and grace
was given unto us, that the concupiscence and carnal
desire of our flesh should not hurt us, if we abstain
from consenting to it and so the corrupt and putrified
matter of our old sore was removed and taken away.
But who is able to overcome the violent motions of
his flesh, and to quench the heat and itch of such a
sore .' Surely no man of his own strength. But we
may be bold, for grace helpeth us, wherewith we be
endued by receiving Christ's blessed Body and Blood
in this sacrament, which hath in us two effects, the
one to take away our small sins that we feel them
not, the other to take away or refrain our consent
from great and mortal sins that we do them not. So
that if any of you all do feel and perceive in himself,
not so great motions, or so violent provocations to
anger, to envy, to lechery, or to other vices, or not so
often times as he did before : let him give most
humble and high thanks to the Body and Blood of
our Lord, for the virtue of the sacrament doth work

94 THE SACRAMENTS.
in him, and he may be glad that the rotten sore and
old disease of his sensual concupiscence, is better
amended and well-nigh brought to health, and that
the commotion and rebellion of his sudden passions
and carnal affections be so well ceased and pacified.
Furthermore beside the heahng of our sinful flesh,
it sanctifieth and strengtheneth it in virtue and godly
living, for like as material bread doth comfort and
make strong a man's body : even so the bread of life
that came from heaven, which is Christ's Body one
Person with the Godhead, doth likewise make strong
our bodies in grace, and more than that, it sanctifieth
both body and soul. And like as wine maketh glad
a man's heart, even so the Blood of Christ doth fulfil
a man's heart with spiritual gladness, and beside that,
is made a great stay and a sure defence for it ; which
to a godly man, is as it were a shield against his
enemy. And therefore in all dangerous and perilous
times, in remembrance of Christ's passion, by which
all grace and strength was purchased for us, we
receive Christ's Body and Blood for the defence and
preparation of our bodies and souls, whereby the
power of the devil is resisted and his fiery darts of
temptations be driven away. So the Church of
Christ useth to do with her faithful, soldiers, in all
persecutions either of furious tyrants, or deceitful
heretics, for v/hen it provoketh and exhorteth them
to fight against their enemies, it doth not leave them
naked and unarmed, but doth harness and defend
them with the protection of Christ's Body and Blood.
For seeing this sacrament is ordained for this purpose
to be a defence to the receivers, therefore it armeth

EFFECTS OF COMMUNION, 95

all them with the harness and shield of our Lord's
meat, whom it would have to be safe from the. hurt
of their enemies. For after a man hath worthily
received the heavenly meat of our Lord's Body and
Blood, the devil forsaketh him and flieth away quicker
than the wind, and dare not approach near. When
the angel that destroyed the first-begotten in Egypt,
saw the door-posts sprinkled with the blood of the
paschal lamb, he passed by and durst not enter in to
kill (Exod, xii, 13). How much more will the wicked
angel, the devil, run away when he shall see, not the
blood of the figurative lamb sprinkled upon the posts,
but4:he Body and Blood of the true Lamb of God in
the mouth of a Christian man } If the angel gave
place to the shadow or figure, how much more will
the enemy be afraid when he seeth the truth 1 when
he shall see the house of the soul occupied with the
brightness of Christ's heavenly presence, and all
entrances for his temptations shut away "i
Thus are we made strong against our enemies, by
the virtue of this heavenly food, whereby also our
bodies, being purified and refreshed, be set at liberty,
and doth freely follow the soul and the motions of
our spirit, being delivered from the heavy burden and
weakness which our carnal nativity did cause, and
finally, they be made no more corruptible, having
this heavenly meat for their hope and pledge of their
resurrection to life everlasting, whereby they be pre
served and prepared to the attaining of the same life.
For how can our flesh come to corruption and perish
for evermore, and not receive eternal life, which is fed
with the Body and Blood of our Lord, as our Saviour

96 THE SACRAMENTS,
Himself taught us, saying : " He that eateth My
Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath life everlasting,
and I shall raise him up at the last day," that is to
say, My Body which is eaten, being the Body of life,
shall raise up his body to eternal life in the last day.
For the very cause of our life is, that we have Christ
by His Flesh remaining and abiding in our flesh. And
it were not possible for this corruptible nature of our
flesh, being subject to corruption and death, to be
brought to incorruption and immortality in the king
dom of heaven, except an immortal nature, such as
is the Body of Christ, being God and eternal Hfe itself,
were joined to it after the way of meat, by participa
tion whereof it might be delivered from the possession
of death and corruption, and be endued with the
property of Christ's Body, which is eternal Hfe. For
as Christ reduceth our souls to life eternal, by giving
to them His Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Baptism,
even so He reduceth our bodies to life eternal, by
giving to them His living and immortal Body to eat
in the sacrament of the Altar. And this is the
ordinary way of God's working in us, although He be
not always bounden to His sacraments, but that He
saveth men sometimes of His absolute power before
Baptism, and raiseth some to life eternal without
this sacrament, such as for lack of age cannot prove
themselves, or depart in the faith of Christ without
contempt or refusal of the said sacrament, when by
some violence or other impediment they were letted
to receive it in deed.
These be (good people) some of the effects Christ
worketh by this sacrament in man's body, which in

EFFECTS OF COMMUNION. 97
very deed be marvellous, but above all other this is
the greatest that He .maketh us all that worthily
receive Him to be one body with Him, endued with
His Holy Spirit, whereby the perfect influence of
His grace, being our Head, is derived and deduced
unto us that be members of His Body, flesh of His
Flesh, and bones of His bones. For, as S. Paul saith,
we that be many, are made one bread, one body,
because all we do receive and eat of one bread (i Cor. x.
17), which is the natural Body of Christ, the Bread of
Life that came from heaven, which He promised to give
to us all, as He gave it to death for us all (John vi. 52).
In nature we be all divers persons, and have sundry
and divers substances, but because we be all fed
with one singular substance of Christ's Flesh which
cannot be divided into parts, and also are sealed with
one Holy Spirit that likewise cannot be divided,
therefore these singular things indivisibly received
into our bodies and souls, draw us to their unity, and
make all us one body mystical , with Christ — which
unity is to be called true and natural unity, and not
only in will and affection by faith and charity — where
(according to Christ's prayer immediately after His
last supper) He is in the Father by the nature of His
divinity and we in Him by His corporal nativity,
arid He in us by the sacrament of His Flesh and
Blood, and so by Christ is made a perfect unity (John
xvii.) Like as when two waxes are melted at the
fire, one whole thing is made of them both ; even so
by the communion and receiving of Christ's Body
and Blood into ours, He is in us and we in Him, and
; so by receiving the virtue of this heavenly meat, we
G

98 THE SACRAMENTS,
are incorporate into His Flesh, that for our salvation
was made our flesh. Therefore (good people) con
sidering these glorious and wonderful graces and
effects which by this holy sacrament He worketh
both in our souls and bodies, let us not defraud
ourselves of them, neither by too long abstaining
from it nor yet by the unworthy receiving of it, but
as His exceeding love towards us moved Him to give
it to us, so let it and the benefits we receive by it
increase our love towards Him. And as He that
giveth His life for us, and His Flesh to us, will deny
us nothing that may do us good, so let us serve Him
with heart and will, and omit nothing that may please
Him; so shall we finally enjoy the special fruit of
this most blessed sacrament in the kingdom of God,
which is incorruption and immortality of body and
soul by His grace and free gift, to Whom, with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, glory, and
praise for evermore. Amen.

(99)

THE TENTH SERMON,
AN EXHORTATION FOR THB WORTHY RECEIVING
OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT.
BEING sufficiently and most manifestly taught
(good people) by the mouth of our Saviour
Christ, that in His most holy sacrament He giveth
His Body and His Blood, that was slain and shed
upon the cross for the life of the world, let us
faithfully believe God by His word, and not repugn
against Him, although it seem not so to our senses
and our carnal thoughts. For His mysteries exceed
our reason, wherein we ought to consider not what
our eyes sheweth us, but what His word teacheth us.
For our eyes may easily deceive us, but His word
cannot deceive us, who in sensible things giveth us
! heavenly and intelligible things, which our senses
cannot judge and discern, but giveth place to our
faith directed by God's word to the knowledging of
this infallible truth.
Therefore it is now our parts to prepare and make
( clean our bodies and souls from all filth of the flesh
or spirit, that we may receive His heavenly meat
worthily, considering the manifold graces that come
by it, and the eternal damnation that hangeth
iover their heads, that unworthily presume to re-

lOO THE SACRAMENTS.
ceive it Remember how every man is displeased
and angry with the traitor Judas and them that
crucified our Saviour Christ, and so beware that
you be not likewise guilty of the Body and Blood
of Christ, They most cruelly shed His Blood, but
he that unworthily receiveth Him with a foul and
sinful conscience, spitefully treadeth His precious
Blood under his feet. No filth or mire is so un
worthy His pure and heavenly body, as is the
body or soul of man defiled with mortal sin. And
as the thing we come unto is most honourable, so
the worthy receiving of it is most profitable. But if
a man come unto it with a guilty and naughty con
science, it increaseth his fault and damnation, for he
that eateth and drinketh the Body and Blood of our
Lord unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment and
damnation to himself (i Cor, xi, 29) ; for as they
that do defile the King's purple robe, are worthy
to be punished as well as they that cut or rend
it even so it is no marvel if they that receive
Christ's Body with an unclean conscience, do suffer
the same punishment that they do which did nail
Him to the cross. See how terrible a pain S.
Paul threateneth to the unworthy receiver, saying,
" A man that transgresseth the law of Moses, being
convict by two or three witnesses suffereth death"
(Heb, X. 28), how much more and greater punish
ment deserveth he to suffer, that treadeth under
foot God's Son, and with no reverence regardeth
the Blood of His testament, by which he was
sanctified, but taketh it as common meat and doth
injury to the spirit of grace, and in that he be-

AN EXHORTATION, lOI

trayeth and dehvereth Christ as Judas did, not now
to the sinful Jews, but to his own sinful members,
wherewith he presumeth to dishonour so inestimable
a sacrament. S, Peter and Judas at one table, in
one supper, did both eat of one consecrate bread
which was Christ's Body ; but Peter received by it
life, Judas death : to Peter it was an increase of
goodness, to Judas it was a testimony of his naughti
ness : Peter being good and clean, took it for his
salvation, Judas being a traitor and unclean, took it
to his damnation. The thing that was given was not
evil, but a good thing was naughtily received of an
evil man to his damnation. For after the receipt of
our Lord's Body, the devil entered into Judas. Not
that the devil did despise or contemn our Lord's Body,
but the impudent wickedness of Judas made entry
for the devil to dwell there. Whereby we be taught
that the devil lieth in wait and prevaileth over them
that use these secret mysteries with a corrupt mind.
So that Judas, as soon as he with his traitorous mind
touched the heavenly food, and the sanctified bread
entered into his cursed mouth, his mischievous mind,
not able to bear the strength of so great a sacrament,
was blown forth like chaff out of a barn, and so head-
lings * he ran to his treason and money, and so to
desperation and hanging. Mark the great mercy of
our Saviour Christ, and the madness of Judas ; for
Judas bargained for thirty pence to sell his Master,
and Christ did minister to him the same blood which
he sold, to the intent he should have had remission of

I.e., headlong.

I02 THE SACRAMENTS,
sins, if he would have forsaken his wickedness. O
cruel heart of this traitor ; with what eyes could he
look upon Him Whom he had in his mouth to eat
being both at once to Christ a murderer and a guest,
selhng his Master for a little money, and losing God
and himself for evermore. Even so, at this day,
there be in the Church of God good men as S, Peter
was, and naughty men as Judas was. The good
receive the blessed sacrament to their salvation, the
evil men, being like dogs and swine, to their damna
tion. They be dogs that unreverently come unto it,
and therefore they depart in God's high displeasure.
For they that live after the flesh, and be fettered in
the chains of sin and vice, they receive with Judas,
the traitor, poison, and run to the halter of spiritual
hanging in hell, being condemned both for their other
manifold sins, and also for the contempt of Christ's
most precious Body, which in very deed they receive,
but in substance only, and not in any profitable or
wholesome effect.
Osee, the priest in the Old Testament put to his
hand to the Ark of God to stay it when it was Hke
to fall off the cart, and God, being displeased for his
rash enterprise, did smite him by and by with sudden
death. Where we may evidently see and understand
how much he offendeth, that rashly with a guilty
conscience cometh to the body of our Lord, when the
devout priest was punished by death, that with less
reverence than he ought to have done did touch the
Ark, which was but the figure of our Lord's Body.
In the old law it is said, that if a man do eat of the
sanctified meat of the sacrifice by ignorance, his sin

AN EXHOR TA TION. 1 0 3
and iniquity shall be imputed unto him, for which
cause S, Paul doth warn us to come unto this most
holy sacrifice of the New Testament with much
caution and wariness, lest we take it to our damna
tion. For if ignorance in the old law be condemned,
how much is a guilty conscience in the gospel con
demned ,' Look how much Christ Himself passeth
and excelleth the material temple of God which
Solomon builded : even so much more grievous and
terrible is it to receive Christ's Body in deadly sin, than
to eat rashly of the sacrifices of the old law. There
fore, let no false and covetous man, as Judas, let no
man that useth simony or usury, as Simon Magus,
let no man bearing a malicious heart to his neighbour,
as King Herod, come to this board of our Saviour
Christ. This sacrifice is spiritual meat. For like as
common meat when it findeth a man's stomach full
of evil humours, it doth him no good, but great
hurt even so this heavenly and spiritual meat, if
it find a man's heart full of iniquity, it maketh
him worse not for any fault of the meat, but by
the fault of the receiver. If he be worthy punish
ment that kisseth the king's hand with a foul
mouth, what pain is he worthy that kisseth the
mouth of the King of Heaven with a stinking soul ?
And lest men should think that these were but
vain threatenings of S. Paul and other holy men,
and that God would not enter into judgment with
them that so villanously and contemptuously abuse
Christ's Body, S. Paul doth further shew, as it
were, an image of God's judgment to come against
such unworthy receivers, declaring how that for that

I04 THE SACRAMENTS.
same heinous fault, many now in this world are
punished with sickness, with infirmities, with mis
chances, with great adversity, and also with sudden
death of the body, to the intent that the multitude
should be afraid and learn by the example of a few,
knowing that God will not leave the contempt of His
Body unpunished. And although many escape free
here, yet they may be sure to be more extremely
handled there, both for abusing Christ's Body, and
also for contemning the example of others. And
these plagues of sickness and death chance to many,
because they will not judge themselves, nor will not
understand what it is to communicate with the Church,
and to come to so high and so heavenly sacraments,
and so they suffer that which men that be in a fever
be wont to suffer, when they kill themselves by
presuming to eat of whole men's meat And also
these plagues chance because they will not judge
Christ's Body, that is to say, they will not discern
and consider the greatness and majesty of this present
mystery, but negligently and contemptuously take
Christ's Body as other common meat. For if they
did but consider and esteem of what excellency and
majesty He were that is perfect there before
them, and given them to eat, they should need no
other persuasion to make clean their hearts, and to
receive Him with His most honour and reverence,
but He alone would cause them to take heed and to
purge themselves. For they would consider that
they receive and taste upon His Body and Blood,
that sitteth in heaven, that is honoured of angels,
that is of infinite power, that made both heaven and

AN EXHOR TA TION. 1 05
earth, that redeemed and governeth the whole world,
that shall judge both quick and dead. And on the
other side, they would consider that if God did give
unto us the heaven, the sea, the earth, and all the
riches and treasures that be in these, and if He did
send unto us His patriarchs. His prophets, His angels.
He should neither give nor send to us anything equal
with this, which is the head of all goodness. Who
spared not His only begotten Son to save us that
were His fugitive slaves. And Christ our Lord was.
not only content to be made man and to be whipped
and slain for us, but also hath brought us (as it were)
into one heap of leaven with Himself, and not only
by faith, but also in very deed, hath made us His
body : what thing then ought to be so clean as he
that should receive that sacrifice ,' Yea, the very.
beams of the sun be not so pure as his mouth ought
to be, that should receive this marvellous Body and
Blood of our Saviour Christ Remember, man, how
God honoureth thee, of what meat art thou partaker t
Thou art fed with the same thing that the holy angels
tremble at, and be not able to behold it, for the
brightness that cometh from it. What shepherd ever
fed his sheep with his own body .' Many mothers
do commit their infants to be nursed of other women,
but Christ doth not so. Who feedeth and nourisheth
us His sheep, or rather children, with His own Body,
and so doth join us to Him in one body. And as
young infants with great gladness do suck the breasts
of their mothers or nurses, even so with greater glad
ness ought we to come to the breast of our Saviour,
there to suck the grace of the Holy Ghost and to

I06 THE SACRAMENTS,
take it most heavily and with -most sorrow, if we be
for our deserts excommunicate and deprived of that
spiritual food.
Therefore let us pull down the wall that maketh
division between God and us, let us by penance
remove our sins, and wash our consciences, let us
amend that kind of beastly living which we be
ashamed should be laid to our charge, and let us
withdraw our minds from the unsatiable greediness of
this world. For what shall it profit a man to gain
the whole world and lose his soul ? The three wise
men came out of the east country of Persis to seek
Jesus the King of the Jews, but let us go forth from
our worldly cares and carnal desires to see Jesus. It
is no great journey. We need not to pass over the
sea, nor to climb over the mountains, but sitting at
home, if we be compunct in heart, and bent towards
godly devotion, we may pull down the wall of our
sins, and make short the long way of our journey and
see Christ. For God is a God nigh at hand, and
not afar off (Jer. xxiii. 24), and nigh unto all them
that call upon Him in truth. Yet now-a-days there
be many Christian men that be so full of sin, and do
so contemn godly religion, that they take no care for
their soul's health, not considering that the time to
receive this most holy sacrament is not this day or
that day, but when their consciences be pure and
purged from sin. For as he that is clean may come
every day, so he that is unclean, and is not penitent
for his sin, he may not come at those days which by
the Church be appointed. For to come once a year
doth not deliver us from our sins, if we come then

AN EXHORTATION, IU/
unworthily, but rather it increaseth our damnation.
For which cause I shall exhort you all in our Lord's
name that ye come not to these fearful and terrible
mysteries for a custom, as compelled by the appoint
ment of the Church, without diligent preparing of
yourselves ; but that ye purge and wash your souls
divers days before by penance, by prayer, by alms,
by spiritual exercise, and that ye do not turn after
ward to your old sins, as a dog turneth back to
eat again his casting. Is it not against all reason
to have so much care of worldly things, as when the
feast draweth near to prepare new and costly apparel,
to prepare great and sumptuous fare, and by all
means to trim up the body, and to have no respect
of the soul, but to suffer it to be ragged and torn and
to die for hunger .' And the body is decked for the
sight of the world, but the soul is always in the sight
of God, that most grievously punisheth the neglecting
of it. If any man have an enemy by whom he is hurt
or offended, let him dissolve his enmity, and refrain
his hot affection and swelling of mind, that his soul
be quiet without trouble or tumult For by this
blessed communion thou shalt receive the King into
thy soul, and when the King entereth, there ought to
be great quietness, silence, and peace. And although
thine hurt or injury shewed by thy enemy be very
great, yet thou must remit it Because thine enemy
hath hurt thee, wilt thou therefore hurt thyself
more.' Whatsoever he hath done, it cannot be so
great harm to thee, as thou doest to thyself, if thou
be not reconciled to him. Wilt thou shew spite and
villany to God because thy neighbour hath shewed

I08 THE SACRAMENTS,
the like to thee before .' For to retain displeasure
against him that offended thee, is not so much to
avenge thy quarrel against him, as it is a spiteful
contempt of God, the author of this law and com
mandment, that we should be reconciled to our
enemies before we come to His altar. Therefore
have no respect to thine enemy, nor to the greatness
of thine injuries sustained by him, but to God
Almighty, and printing His fear deeply in thy heart,
consider this, that the greater violence thou dost use
to thine own heart in compelling it to forgive thine
enemy and to be in friendship with him, the greater
reward thou shalt receive of God that commandeth
thee so to do, and as thou dost after that sort receive
God with much honour, so shall He make the reward
of thine obedience a thousandfold.
This is the duty of a Christian man, when he
cometh to God's board to procure himself to be
purged from all corruption of the flesh or spirit and
to have perfect hoHness in the fear of God and the
charity of Christ, and to have no spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, and to have a perpetual memory of
Him that was dead and rose again for us, and to
make clean his soul with faith, baptism, virtue, and
the doctrine of the gospel, that the corrupt manners
of such as be strangers and not God's people, and the
manner of living which was used in Egypt, in the
time of King Pharao, that is to say, the whole heap
of vice, be not now used, but banished away. And
so let him come to this heavenly bread, which was not
brought forth of the ground by tilling and sowing,
and labour of man, but which came from heaven, and

AN EXHOR TA TION, 1 09
is the true bread of life, and causeth the worthy
receiver never to be hungry again but to live always
in immortality. If no man dare lay his bread on a
foul cloth or put it into a foul vessel, how much
more may it not be received in a foul heart, which
filthiness above all things He most abhorreth, as
the greatest injury that can be done to His Body.
For as Joseph, the just man, wrapped Christ's body
in a clean cloth, and buried it in a new sepulchre, so
ought we to lay it in a clean heart and a chaste
body. Which thing if we diligently procure, as it
may be done in little time, and make ourselves not
unworthy receivers of so great a treasure, then shall
Christ, our Lord, with the Father and the Holy Ghost
come unto us, and dwell with us, and work in us all
the godly and wonderful effects of this blessed
sacrament both in our souls and bodies, and nourish
us into Christ's mystical body with His own natural
flesh, which as a pledge maketh us to be in sure hope
of life everlasting, to the which He brings us that
made us, to Whom be all honour and glory for
evermore. Amen,

IIO )

THE ELEVENTH SERMON,
HOW A MAN MAY COME WORTHILY TO RECEIVE
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT,
I PURPOSE, by the grace of God, in this sermon
to instruct you (good people) how to prepare
yourselves to come worthily to receive this holy
sacrament. Ye know the great and marvellous
benefits, which Christ our Lord worketh in their souls
and bodies that worthily come unto it and also ye
know the dangerous and damnable state of them that
come to it unworthily ; and that ye may the better
avoid the one and be partakers of the other : — First ye
ought certainly to know that it is required that ye do
come to it _ and receive it. For as the unworthy
coming is perilous, so not to be partakers of this
mystical supper at all is a great offence, and a very
destruction of a man's soul, as our Saviour Christ
taught us, saying, " Except ye eat the Flesh of the
Son of man, and drink His Blood, ye shall not have
life in you, and he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh
My Blood hath life everlasting" (John vi. 54, 55),
which is to be understanded of him that eateth
Christ's Flesh as it ought to be eaten. For many eat
it that do not dwell in God nor God in them, because

PREPARATION. HI

they eat it not with a clean heart, and after that
manner which Christ saw when He said so. Many
forbear to come to it because they perceive their
conscience grieved with deadly sin, and in that they
do well, if they can forbear justly, without offence of
other persons. But if they forbear because they have
a wrong and false opinion of this holy sacrament, or
because they will not be reconciled to their neigh
bours, or intend not to amend and forsake their
naughty Hving, then besides their heresy and other
damnable living, they offend deadly divers ways,
both in contemning Christ and His sacraments, which
He hath ordained to be instruments wherewith He
might give unto us grace and salvation ; and also in
contemning the Church of Christ, which hath ordained
that every man and woman being of years of
discretion, should faithfully confess alone to his own
curate, or by his permisson * to some other meet and
learned priest, all his sins, once in a year at least,
and should to his power fulfil that penance and
satisfaction which is enjoined him, receiving reverently,
at least at Easter, the blessed sacrament of the Altar,
expect perchance by the counsel of his own curate, f
for some reasonable cause, he think meet for a time
to forbear the receiving of it. And that he which
contemneth this ordinance, should be accursed and
kept from the entering into the Church amongst
Christian men, and when he is dead should be kept
from Christian men's burial. This is the discipline
* At the present day no explicit permission is required. — Ed.
+ The confessor can give this counsel or permission at the present
day. — Ed.

112 THE SACRAMENTS.
and ordinance of the Church at this day, which is not
a restraining of a man to come but once a year, but
correcting of him that cometh not once a year. The
oftener he cometh the better it is, and the more is he
nourished to everlasting life. And the better a man
is, the more desirous is he to be joined to God
corporally by this sacrament For as Christ, by
giving to us His Flesh and His Blood, declared most
of all His exceeding love towards us, even so
declareth he his love most of all towards God, that
the oftenest and with most reverence cometh to
receive this precious food of His Flesh and Blood. So
did the holy man, Job, say of his servants that loved
him most, repeating their words which were these —
" Who shall give us of his flesh to eat that we may
be full withal" (Job xxxi. 31), which no man ever
did but Christ our Lord, to the intent He might bind
us to Him with more charity.
Such was the fervent charity of the people in the
beginning of the Church, that came every day, or
in a manner every day, to this holy sacrament and
afterwards when devotion decreased, they came every
Sunday, and further, as the charity of the people
waxed cold, the fewer times they prepared themselves
to receive this sacrament insomuch that it was
decreed by certain Provincial Councils, that he that
came not thrice a year, that is to say, at Easter, at
Pentecost and at Christmas, should not be taken as
a Catholic man. But after that 'when devotion
decayed and charity was cold, and iniquity did
abound, so that men giving the bridle to the flesh,
were careless of their salvation, then the Church our

PREPARATION, II3

mother being careful for her children, and compelled
by love, partly to condescend to the infirmity of the
people, and partly by discipline to reduce the people
again to their duties, did in a General Council decree
that every person of discretion should fulfil God's
commandment in receiving this sacrament once a
year at least, as I have said before, under the pain of
excommunication, which is the spiritual sword of
Christ to compel men to do their duties, which need
not to be drawn but for the hardness of our hearts,
that love the world more than God, and to serve the
devil rather than Christ, the author of all grace, which
is given to us in this blessed sacrament,
Whereunto I shall most earnestly exhort every
man and woman as they love their own souls, and to
be preserved in grace and the favour of God, t-o
dispose themselves oftentimes effectually to receive
the Body of our Saviour Christ, which is every day
both offered to God the Father for the sins and infir
mities of the people, and also is prepared and offered
to all them that will with a pure heart receive it.
For they that wilfully abstain from it, they deprive
themselves of all the graces and godly effects which
be given by it, they lose their spiritual strength to
fight against the devil, and they waxe rotten and
dead members of Christ's Body, lacking their food
and spiritual nourishment, and so are meet for nothing
else but to be cast into the fire.
And they that be in conscience. of deadly sin, let
them by penance make clean their conscience, for
otherwise we that be ministers may not minister but
to the worthy receivers, so far as we know, for if we
H

114 THE SACRAMENTS,
know any man to come to it unworthily, we ought
rather to shed our blood, than to give Christ's Body
and Blood to dogs and beastly livers. And that every
man, when he is disposed to receive this most holy
sacrament, may do it worthily to his salvation, he
must observe three things before he come to it ; he
must prove and judge himself when he cometh to it,
he must judge and discern the Body of our Lord
after he hath received it he must imitate Christ and
communicate with Him in His passions.
First, he that intendeth to eat the Lamb of God,
he must have the innocency of a lamb, and may not
be a wolf having wolfish manners, because this is the
bread of the children of God, and not of filthy dogs
or ravenous wolves. And no person may be par
taker of it but he that believeth all things to be
true that be taught of the Catholic Church, and is
baptized in the water of regeneration, and frameth
his life after that manner which our Saviour Christ
did set forth in His life and gospel. For as in the
Old Testament three sorts of people were not admitted
to eat of the Paschal Lamb, as strangers born, such
as were not of the stock of Israel, and they that were
not circumcised, and such as by touching any dead
or unclean thing were made themselves unclean
(Exod. xii, 43, &c,) : even so there be three sorts of
men in the New Testament that may not be admitted
to eat of Christ's Body in the sacrament, which was
figured by the Paschal Lamb, first all infidels such as
be not true Israelites and of the house of Christ's
Church by receiving His law and faith ; secondly, they
that be not baptized and so circumcised in heart, not

PREPARATION, II5

ihaving the vain thoughts and works of the flesh cut
iaway by the Holy Ghost ; and thirdly, they that be
not .clean and pure in conscience but privy to their
own guiltiness, or in will to remain in sin still.
These three sorts of persons be not worthy to
receive the Lamb of God, our Saviour Christ, in the
blessed sacrament, but if they presume so to do, they
do it to their own damnation.
Therefore whosoever will come worthily to so great
a mystery, he must be a Christian man, and stedfastly
believe whatsoever truth God hath revealed to His
Holy Church, and specially concerning the truth of
this sacrament neither oppugning it by malicious
heresy, nor being ignorant of it by lack of know
ledge, but acknowledging that it is the Body and
Blood of Christ, God's Son, verily and in truth
as Christ's word spoken of it doth plainly testify.
Moreover he must prove himself as S! Paul teacheth
us, that is to say, he must search if he be guilty
of any deadly sin (i Cor. xi, 28), and if he find
his conscience to reprove him, then he must refrain
from the holy sacrament, till he have by true con
trition and the sacrament of Penance made clean
his conscience, receiving remission of all his sins, and
then being clean, let him eat of this most holy sacri
fice of Christ's Body and Blood. And if he find that
his conscience is privy to any venial sin, and yet not
having a will to sin after any more, then before he
receive let him satisfy for that sin with weeping and
prayer, and putting his whole confidence in the
mercy of God that useth to forgive sins to all that
devoutly confess them, he may boldly and fruitfully

Il6 THE SACRAMENTS,
come to the blessed sacrament. The more diligence
he taketh in examining, searching, and purging his
conscience after that sort as is declared in the sacra
ment of Penance, the more boldly and worthily shall
he receive. Not that any man should think himself
worthy to receive the most precious Body of Christ,
God and man, in respect whereof the highest angels
be unclean, but that if a man do that which lieth in
him to wash away the filthiness and spots of his soul
and body by contrition and the sacrament of Pen
ance, and prepareth his heart with humility and re
verence to receive the Body of his Lord God, then
doth God esteem and accept him as worthy, that is
to say, further from unworthiness than he is that
taketh no penance for his sin at all. This worthiness
may be considered and known by such observations
as were commanded to be used about the eating of
the Paschal Lamb (Exod, xii.) For as the lamb was
the figure of Christ in this sacrament, so the manner
of eating that is an instruction how we should
worthily eat this. They that should eat one Paschal
Lamb were commanded to eat it in one house, and
to carry no part of the flesh out of the doors. So
we be commanded to eat the Flesh of Christ our
Lamb nowhere else but in the house of God the
Catholic Church, and thereby all heretics and schis
matics which be out of the Church are forbidden to
presume to eat of Christ's Flesh, which cannot be
eaten but of them that be members of the Church.
They were commanded to have their reins girded :
so are we commanded to have our bodies and souls
girded, that is to say, restrained and kept from the

PREP ARA TION. 1 1 7

works and lusts of the flesh by abstinency and
chastity, and not only from the unlawful vices of
fornication, adultery, and such like : but also a man
should abstain from the act of Matrimony with his
lawful wife for a certain space before: howbeit he
that useth his wife not for the intent to fulfil his
carnal pleasure, but only for desire of an increase of
children, he ought to be left to his own judgment
concerning the receiving of this mystery, with this
exhortation, that he presume not to come, but with
a pure conscience, a chaste body, and a clean heart.
Also they were commanded to have their shoes upon
their feet, so we be commanded to have the feet of
our souls, which be our affections, mortified by the
fear of God, and preserved from the corruption of
worldly things, by the love of heavenly things, to be
in love and perfect charity with all men, without
malice, envy or double heart towards any man. For
when the King of Heaven entereth into us, there
must be great peace, silence, and quietness, without
trouble of worldly affection, all injuries, displeasures,
enmities, and trespasses must be freely and clearly
forgiven, as we would Christ should forgive us, for
this is the mystery of peace and the unity of Christ's
mystical Body, and he that receiveth the mystery of
unity, and keepeth not the bond of peace and unity,
he receiveth not the mystery for himself, but a testi
mony against himself Therefore of all things let us •
be sure of this, that we be in charity, and that no
anger fret us, no pride inflame us, no lechery defile
us, nor no envy torment our hearts, when we come
to our Lord's Table,

Il8 THE SACRAMENTS,
They also did eat the lamb with wild and sour
lettuce, even so must we take the Flesh of our Lamb
with sour contrition, we must afflict and punish
our hearts with sorrow and bitter tears for our sins,
that the bitterness of our penance might wipe away
the filthy humour of our corrupt life from our
souls. The Jews did eat their lamb standing, having their
staffs in their hands, and in great haste ready to fly
out of Egypt : even so ought we to stand in true faith
and good life, and not to sit or lie in corrupt doctrine
or living, but to have the staff of true hope of eternal
joys to come in our hands to stay us in the dangerous
journey of this world, that we neither faint for weari
ness, nor give over for cowardness, to our ghostly
enemies, knowing that their journey was from Egypt
to Jewry, and our journey is from the earth to heaven,
the strong and wholesome victual of which journey is
this heavenly food of Christ's Body and Blood, And
as they were in readiness to depart out of Egypt by
and by after the eating of the lamb, so ought we
coming to this blessed sacrament to have our lives
so upright and pure from all sin, as though we should
even then depart out of this transitory world. For
look in what state of clean life a man would adventure
his soul when he dieth, let him with all diligence pro
vide and procure that his soul be in the same state
when he cometh to communicate. By this comparison
ye may learn (good people) how to prove and judge
yourselves, and so to come worthily to this heavenly
food. The next thing is to learn how to judge and dis-

P REPARA TION, 1 1 9

cern the Body of our Lord when we come unto it,
that is to say, we may not undiscreetly and negligently
take it, but we ought to discern Christ's Body from
other common meats, and considering the great
dignity and worthiness of it, we ought to give honour
and reverence due to so great a thing as is the Flesh
and Blood of Christ, God and man, not the flesh of
man only, for then it could not give life, but the
proper Flesh of God's Son united to His Person in
Divinity, and is therefore able to give eternal life to
our mortal bodies. For which cause we ought with
fear, reverence, and a devout mind to come unto it,
which being the same in substance that suffered, is
also the best witness of Christ's painful Passion.
Wherefore when thou doest go up to the altar to be
fed with this spiritual and heavenly meat, behold
with faith the most holy Body and Blood of thy God,
honour it, marvel at it, touch it with thy mind, take
it with the hand of thy heart, and specially drink of it
with the draught of the inward man. No man eateth
worthily this Flesh, but he that first honoureth it with
godly honour in the holy sacrament, considering
that it is great sin not to honour it, seeing it is the
Body of Him that made thee, and with it redeemed
th-ee, and shall by it raise thee out of dust and ashes,
for the which thou hopest to receive heaven and the
joys that be therein, and to be associate to His holy
angels. But whereas in this sacrament there be two things
contained, the outward form of bread which is seen
with the eyes of the body, and the Body and Blood
of Christ which is seen only with the eyes of the soul,

120 THB SACRAMENTS.
which is faith : Therefore let every man or woman
when he seeth this sacrament in the priest's hands,
direct the eye of his faith and his intent, to honour
only that substance of Christ, God and man, which
he seeth not with his bodily eyes, but believeth it
most certainly to be there present and let him not
fix his thought upon the visible whiteness or round
ness of the bread, which be sensible creatures reserved
there for the use of this mystery, and may in no wise
be adored and worshipped with godly honour, but
let him intend to honour the Body and Blood of
Christ, and yet not those as only creatures, but as
they be united to the Godhead and made one Person
in Divinity, for only God is to be honoured with godly
honour, which we do when we honourChrist, God and
man present in the blessed sacrament. This honour
specially consisteth in our true and lively faith which
we have of Christ there present which honour we
declare outwardly by kneeling and other reverent
behaviour of our bodies, protesting thereby what is
our faith and judgment concerning the substance of
this most blessed sacrament and so we truly judge
and discern our Lord's Body, And for further honour
to be given to it, whensoever we receive it, we take
it fasting before all other meats, except extreme sick
ness, or the instant danger of death do require other
wise to take it when and as we may. For ever since
the Apostles' time, it pleased the Holy Ghost, that
for the honour of so great a sacrament the Body of
our Lord should first enter into the mouth of a
Christian raan, before all other external meats. For
this manner and custom is observed universally

PREPARATION, 121

throughout the whole world. And for that cause it
is decreed by the universal Church of Christ, that
this most honourable sacrament should be reserved
for the necessity of them that be sick or absent, lest
(where it cannot be duly consecrate at all times and
places, of a priest not fasting) the sick folks should
die without this heavenly food which is their strength,
and the stay of their passage to the next world.
Furthermore, at the time of the receiving of this
sacrament we ought to have our minds occupied in
remembering the Passion of Christ, For by this sacri
fice which Christ giveth to us, we know assuredly that
He bought us with no worldly treasure of gold and
silver, but with this same His most precious Body
and Blood, and by it we are provoked to remember
always His most high benefit, and therewithal to
render most humble thanks to Him in devout affection
and obedient service, accord to His good will and
pleasure. Thus .receiving the Body and Blood of our
Lord, we ought thankfully to remember and confess
that our Saviour Christ hath given His Body to death,
and shed His Bloodfor us.knowing thatwe ought again
rather to suffer our bodies to be slain, and our blood
to be shed for Him, and in defence of His truth, and
edifying of His people (if the case so required) than to
forsake or deny Him or the truth of His gospel revealed
by the Holy Ghost to the Catholic Church,*
By this (good people) ye know how to judge and
discern the Body of our Lord, and how to behave
yourselves when ye come to receive it. Now likewise
-* Let it not be forgotten that Bishop 'Watson suffered twenty-five
years' imprisonment in defence of his faith.

122 THE SACRAMENTS,
know what is youj; duty to do after ye have received
it : ye ought to keep and preserve yourselves clean
from sin, rather after than before, lest you commit any
thing that might displease the Presence of His majesty.
Whom ye have received, and thereby be an occasion of
His departing from you, and of withdrawing His grace
from your hearts, that have desire to have sin, which
is the mother of death, rather to reign in your mortal
bodies, than to have Christ and His Heavenly Father
with the Holy Ghost to make Their habitation there.
As it is more shame for a man to dislodge his honest
guest, and thrust him out of doors after he hath
received him into his house, than at the first time to
have said him nay, and to have denied him lodging :
even so it is greater damnation to defile this our flesh
with the filthiness of sin, when it hath received Christ's
Flesh and Blood, and so to tread underfoot God's Son :
than to have abstained and not to have received Him
before, making the last end worse than the first
Wherein we be like cursed Absolon that called his
brother Amnon to a feast, and caused his servants to
kill him there (II. Kings xiii. 28, 29). And also we be
Hke to the traitor Judas, that after with Christ in His
Supper he received Christ's Body at Christ's hand, gave
place to the devil's suggestion, and betrayed Christ
his Master to the wicked Jews. And we be also like
to the Jews that met Christ coming to the city with
boughs of palms and olive trees, and within five days
after cried, Crucifige Vi^pon Him, and pursued Him even
to the death.
But our duty is to give as much reverence to Christ
being present and dweHing with us, as we did when

PREPARATION, 1 23

He was coming to us, and not to take His precious
Body and Blood in vain, and without cause, but to
express in our lives that we imitate and follow His
footsteps, and so keep a perpetual commemoration of
Him That died for us, and rose again, in that we be
now mortified to sin and the world, and living to God
in Christ our Lord, For this sacrament of the Altar,
wherein we receive Christ's Body and Blood, doth
signify and teach us that we should communicate with
Christ in His passions, and follow that conversation
in our manners, which He showed in His Flesh, and
as His Body in form of bread is seen to enter into our
mouths : so we know that He also entereth into us
by that conversation which He used on earth, to dwell
in our hearts by faith.
Therefore he that so remembereth Christ's death,
that he according to Christ's example, doth mortify
his members whichj be upon earth, that is to say, forni
cation, uncleanness, naughty desires, covetousness,
and such like, he eateth worthily Christ's Body and
Blood, and hath everlasting life remaining in him, and
suffering with Christ, shall reign with Christ in the
glory of His Father, with the Holy Ghost world
without end. Amen.

( 124 )

THE TWELFTH SERMON.
OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WHICH
IS CALLED THE MASS,
AS Christ our Saviour hath given unto us His
most precious Body and Blood in the sacra
ment, to be our meat to feed and nourish us to
everlasting life : so hath He given (good people) unto
us the same His Body and Blood to be our daily
sacrifice for the attaining of remission of sins and
eternal salvation, and as He commanded us to take
and eat that His Body which He gave us, so hath He
commanded us to offer it to God the Father in
remembrance of His Passion. So that the sacrifice
of the Mass, which is the proper sacrifice of the New
Testament (whereupon by God's help I intreat at
this time), is the execution of Christ's commandment
in His last Supper, when He said to His disciples : —
" Do this in My remembrance ; " wherein the bread
and wine be consecrate and changed, and the Body
and Blood of Christ being made present there by the
almighty power of the Holy Ghost, be offered to God
the Father by the Church, for the Church, and
received of the faithful people, Christ our Lord God
Who loved us sinners so exceedingly, that for our

THE MASS. 125

redemption and salvation abased Himself to be made
man (Phil, ii, 7), and was made obedient in humbling
Himself to the most painful and vile death of the
cross, and for our justification rose again the third
day, and ascended to heaven, to the glory of His
Father, which be the wonderful works of God and
therefore marvellous in our sight : hath also instituted
and ordained a memory of these marvels, saying " So
often as ye shall do these things, ye shall do them in
My remembrance." And when said our merciful
Lord that word ,' verily even then when He gave
the meat of His Body to them that feared Him (Ps,
ex, 4), And then in His last Supper did He, being
our most High Priest, first of all offer a sacrifice to
God the Father and commanded the same to be
done of the priests of His Church that occupy His
office, in memory of Him, and so taught the new
oblation of the New Testament, which oblation the
Church receiving of the Apostles, doth offer to God
throughout the whole world.
And for plainer understanding of this matter (good
people) I pray you call to your remembrance, the
'sum and ground of all our faith, which is, that we
believe to be saved only by the merits of our Saviour
Christ, and that He bearing our sins in His Body on
the cross, and being the innocent Lamb of God
(John i. 15, 29, 36) without all sin Himself, shed His
most innocent Blood for our sins, and by the voluntary
sacrifice of His own Body and Blood, made satis
faction for all the sins of the whole world, and recon
ciled the wicked world to the favour of God ag-ain.
This bloody sacrifice made Christ our Saviour

126 THE SACRAMENTS,
upon the Altar of His cross but once (Heb, ix. x.),
and it is the propitiatory Sacrifice and a sufficient
price and ransom for the sins of all people, from the
beginning of the world to the last end. All our com
fort and joy is and ought to be in this sacrament and
Passion of our Saviour Christ by which only we have
and may have sure hope of salvation. All that were
saved from the creation of the world and the fall of
Adam, were saved by the virtue of this Sacrifice, and
by lively faith in Christ that was promised to Adam,
and Noah and Abraham, and the other patriarchs
and fathers of the Old Testament, and all the sacri
fices which they offered then, were but figures of this
Sacrifice of Christ, whereby they did protest their
faith in Christ to come. And likewise all we that
have been justified and saved since Christ's time, and
shall be to the world's end, obtain and receive that
redemption, remission of sin, and salvation by the
only virtue of the same bloody Sacrifice of Christ
upon the cross. Whensoever we be in sin, we resort
to that Passion to have remission ; whensoever our
works be unsufficient and unperfect we run to that
Passion to have that supplied that lacketh in us ;
whensoever we go about to render thanks to God for
all His benefits, we cannot do it worthily and suffi
ciently, till we join ourselves to that Passion, that
maketh our thanksgiving acceptable in the sight of
God. No tongue can particularly express the worthi
ness and commodities of this Sacrifice of Christ's
Passion, which hath purchased for us all pardon, all
grace, all righteousness, all holiness, every good gift,
and eternal salvation. The action and doing of this

THE MASS. 127

Sacrifice was not long, but accomplished and ended
upon Good Friday, which was the day when Christ
died, and He dieth no more but liveth ever : but the
operation and virtue of this Passion is a long thing,
extended to the salvation of man from the beginning
of the world to the last end, from the time when
Christ was first promised to be the Saviour of all men,
till the time when He shall come again in His Majesty
to be the Judge of all men. And although the suffer
ing of His Passion was but short, and is already
ceased ; yet the effect of it which is man's redemption
and satisfaction ceaseth not ; and because it is applied
to every man that is partaker of it by Hvely faith in
continual succession during all the time of the whole
world, therefore Christ our Saviour willeth that the
Sacrifice of this redemption should never cease, but
be always to all men present in grace, and always be
kept in perpetual memory.
For which cause He hath given and committed
unto His Church, the most clean and pure sacrifice
of His Body and Blood under the forms of bread and
wine, and hath commanded it to be offered to God,
and received of us in the remembrance of His Passion,
till His last coming. Which thing the Church most
faithfully and obediently observeth and useth, not by
presumption, taking upon itself to offer that sacrifice
of our Saviour which is far above the dignity of man,
but by commission and warrant of His most holy
Word authorised to offer Christ, God's Son, to God
the Father, that is to say, to represent to the Father,
the Body and Blood of Christ, which, by His omni
potent Word, hath there made present, and thereby

128 THE SACRAMENTS,
to renew His Passion, not by suffering of death again,
but after an unbloody manner, not for this end that
we should thereby deserve remission of sins, and
deliverance from the power of the devil, which is the
proper effect of Christ's Passion, but that we should,
by our faith, devotion, and this representation of His
Passion, obtain the remission and grace already de
served by His passion, to be now applied unto our
profit and salvation. Not that the Passion of Christ
is imperfect, or needeth any work of ours to be added
to supply the imperfection of it, but to comfort and
relieve our imperfection, that some drop of grace
may be drawn and brought unto us out of the foun
tain of all grace, and wellspring of His Passion. Not
that we can apply the merits of Christ's death as we
list and to whom we list, but that we, by this repre
senting of His Passion, most humbly make petition
and prayer to Almighty God to apply unto us that
remission and grace which was purchased and de
served by Christ's Passion before, after the measure
of His goodness, to all those whose faith and devo
tion be known unto Him. So that the Host, or the
thing that is offered, both in the Sacrifice of Christ
upon the cross, and in the sacrifice of the Church
upon the Altar, is all one in substance, being the
natural Body of Christ our High Priest, and the price
or ransom of our redemption, but the manner and the
effects of these two offerings be divers, the one is the
shedding of Christ's Blood, extending to the death of
Christ the Offerer, for the redemption of all man
kind : the other is without shedding His Blood, only
representing His death, whereby the faithful and

THE MASS, 129

devout people are made partakers of the merits of
Christ's Passion and Divinity.
Thus is Christ a Priest for evermore after the order
of Melchisedech (Ps. cix. 4), Who, in His last Supper,
offered His Body and Blood without shedding of His
blood, and so taught and delivered to His Apostles
and their successors, bishops and priests, the manner
how they should offer Him, being the Lamb of God,
in sacrifice for evermore to the world's end, after the
order, that is to say, after the rite and manner of
Melchisedech, under the form of bread and wine.
Who in old time, in figure of Christ offered bread
and wine, and did dedicate and prophesy before the
mystery or sacrament of us Christian men in the
Body and Blood of our Saviour. Whereof also spake
Malachi, the prophet saying (chap, i, 11), that in this
our time of the New Testament God would reject
and detest the Jews, and all their sacrifices of brute
and unreasonable beasts, and that His Name should
be magnified among the Gentiles, from the rising of
the sun to the setting, and that one singular and
pure sacrifice, without spot or imperfection, should
be of them offered to Him, not only in one place
among the Jews, but in every place among the Gen
tiles, which sacrifice should succeed all the other sac
rifices of the Old Testament, which were offered in
the shadow of this to come. For the Jews, in their
sacrifices of beasts, did, as it were by prophecy,
declare and signify before that saving sacrifice which
Christ offered upon the cross ; and the Christian men
now do celebrate the memory of the same sacrifice of
Christ that is past, even by the offering and receiving

130 THE SACRAMENTS.
of the same Body and Blood that suffered passion.
For as Christ upon the cross, being the head of all us
His mystical body the Church, offering there Him
self, did also offer all us that be of the Church to
God the Father, for the pacifying of His wrath and
indignation against our sin, so we, being His mys
tical body, do use to offer to God, the Father, Christ
our Head, and by His merits do beg pardon for our
offences, knowing that God, Who spared not His
only-begotten Son, but gave Him to us for our re
demption (Rom. viii. 32), will now deny us nothing
for His sake that we have need upon, W^ho is now
also at the right hand of God, and maketh interces
sion for us. So that Christ in heaven, and all we
His mystical body in earth, do both but one thing.
For Christ being a Priest for evermore (Heb. ix, 1 1),
after His Passion and Resurrection, entered into
heaven, and there appeareth now to the countenance
of God for us, offering Himself for us, to pacify the
anger of God with us, and representing His Passion,
and all that He suffered for us, that we might be
reconciled to God by Him. Even so the Church,
our mother, being careful for all us, her children, that
have offended our Father in heaven, useth continually
by her public minister to pray and to offer unto God
the Body and Blood of her husband Christ represent
ing and renewing His Passion and death before God,
that we thereby might be renewed in grace, and
receive life, perfection, and salvation. And after the
same sort the holy angels of God, in the time of this
our sacrifice, do assist the priest and stand about
the Host, thinking then the meetest time to show

THE MASS. 131

their charity towards us, and, therefore, holding forth
the Body of Christ, pray for mankind, as saying
thus: — Lord, we pray for them whom Thou hast so
loved, that for their salvation Thou hast suffered death,
and spent Thy life upon the cross ; we make suppli
cation for them, for whom Thou hast shed this Thy
Blood ; we pray for them, for whom Thou hast offered
this same Thy very Body.
O Lord, what earnest desire should we have to be
present, and to associate ourselves in the oblation of
this our sacrifice, which we know Christ Himself
always to do, and also His holy angels and arch
angels, and is so acceptable a thing to God the Father,
for all our sins and ignorances. For in that hour,
when Christ's death is renewed in mystery, and His
most fearful and acceptable sacrifice is represented
to the sight of God, then sitteth the King upon His
mercy-seat, inclined to give and forgive whatsoever is
demanded and asked of Him in humble manner.
In the presence of this Body and Blood of our Saviour
Christ, the tears of a meek and humble man never
beg pardon in vain, nor the sacrifice of a contrite
heart is never put back, but hath his lawful petition
granted and given.
By resorting to this sacrifice of the Mass we evi
dently declare and protest before God and the whole
world, that we put our singular and only trust of
grace and salvation in Christ our Lord, for the merits
of His death and Passion, and not for the worthiness
of any good work that we have done or can do,
and that we make His Passion our only refuge. For
when wisdom faileth, which only cometh by the

132 THE SACRAMENTS.
doctrine of Christ when righteousness lacketh, which
only is gotten by the mercy of Christ when virtue
ceaseth, which only is received of Him that is the
Lord of all virtue, then for supplying of these our
lacks and needs, our refuge is to Christ's Passion ;
then we run (as the prophet saith, Ps. cxv. 13) to the
cup of our Saviour, and call upon the name of our
Lord, that is to say, we take His Passion, and offer to
God the Father in mystery the work of our redemp
tion, that by this memory and commemoration of it,
it would please .His merciful goodness to innovate
His grace in us, and to replenish us with the fruit of
His Son's Passion and death. For that commemora
tion of which our Lord said, " Do this in remembrance
of Me," is the only commemoration that maketh God
merciful unto us. We are become debtors to Al
mighty God two ways, for our manifold sins and
iniquities done against Him, and for His manifold
benefits and graces given unto us. As for the debts
of our sins, many pay very evil that drive off" their
penance to their last age, and many pay nothing at
all that die without penance and charity, and they
that labour to pay all they can all their life, can never
fully pay their whole debt no, scant one farthing of
a thousand pound. What remedy, then, have we,
but to run to the rich man our neighbour that hath
enough to pay for us all .-• I mean Christ our Lord
that hath paid His heart-blood, for no debt of His
own, but for our debt ; and there whilst we celebrate
the memory of His Passion, we acknowledge and con
fess our sins, which be without number, and grant
that we be not able fully to satisfy for the least of

THE MASS. 133

them, and therefore beseech our merciful Father to
accept in full payment and satisfaction of our debts.
His Passion which (after this sort as He hath ordained
to be done in the sacrifice of the Mass) we renew and
represent before Him ; and where our sinful life hath
altogether displeased Him, we offer unto Him His
well-beloved Son Jesus in sacrifice, with Whom we
are sure He is well-pleased, most humbly making
supplication to accept Him for us, in Whom only we
put our trust, accounting Him all our righteousness,
and the author of our salvation. And as for His
manifold benefits and gifts of nature, of grace, and of
fortune, what have we to render to God again }
Sinners that have taken their soul in vain, and give
both their souls and bodies to serve the world and the
flesh, and abuse the goods of the world, as sticks and
matter to kindle the fire of their vain and carnal lusts,
they be most unthankful, and deserve most punish
ment. But other men that consider all they have to
be God's gifts, and given to them, not to do their
wills withal, but to give an account again of the well-
using of them, and therefore bestow their external
goods in the works of mercy and piety, and bring
their bodies in bondage to their spirit, and their
souls to be ruled by the Spirit of God, and so dedi
cate themselves wholly to God's service, these men
be good, and make of their goods, their wills, their
bodies and souls sweet sacrifices of praise and thanks
giving to Almighty God. But yet all these sacrifices,
in comparison of the great heap of benefits which
God hath given, doth give and shall give unto us,
be but as it were one drop in the whole sea, a little

134 THE SACRAMENTS.
wart to a great mountain, and because they be im
perfect and in many things spotted with sin and
unclean, therefore they be not worthy to be repre
sented before God as thanks, seeing all we have done
is but our duty and scarce that. For which cause
we resort to the Body of Christ, Whom God hath
given to us, and Him as being ours we offer to God
again, and so in Him we supply that we lack in our
selves. For it is He that by His propitiatory sacri
fice (which we celebrate in the Holy Mass) doth
reconcile us to God, and with the plenty of His gifts
maketh us thanksgivers, and in all things taketh upon
Him our person, and supplieth that which we ought
to do, and by the very nature of His sacrifice, which
as His Body, stirreth us to the continual giving of
thanks. So that our sacrifice being Christ's Body,
as it is the greatest gift that God gave man, so it is
worthy and a real giving of thanks for all His other
gifts. And therefore it is also called " Sacrificium
Eucharisticum," a sacrifice of thanksgiving, not only
for that we by it give thanks to God in words and
prayers, but also for that it is itself a sacrifice of
thanks for our redemption, for the hope of our health
and salvation. And whereas sacrifice is the greatest
and chiefest kind of adoration that can be, pertaining
to godly honour called "Latria," therefore we do
make sacrifice to no creature, neither to saint nor
angel, but only to the Holy Trinity, which is the
only and true God, and all our temples and altars be
builded, erected, and dedicated only to God, there to
do sacrifice to God, and to no saint although in our
sacrifice we name and have remembrance of the holy

THE MASS. 135

martyrs and saints, both to thank God for their
victories, and also to provoke ourselves to imitate
them in the overcoming of our ghostly enemies.
By this (good people) that I have declared unto
you, ye ought truly to understand and believe that
Christ's natural Body in the blessed sacrament, is the
proper sacrifice of Christ's Church, and that Christ
Himself, both by His own deed, and also by His ex
press word and commandment, did institute and ordain
that the Church, His spouse, should by her public
ministers being priests, offer to Almighty God the
Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, in sacrifice
the same His natural Body in remembrance of His
Passion. Which Passion the Church now daily to the
world's end doth renew in mystery, and doth repre
sent before God in the Holy Mass, for the attaining
of all the graces and benefits purchased by the same
Passion before, after the measure of His goodness,
and as our faith and devotion is known unto Him,
And in all her needs and troubles it resorteth to God,
trusting to have relief and mercy, only for the merits
of that Passion which it representeth to God as a full
satisfaction for all her offences, and as a full perfection
of thanks for all His former benefits and gifts. And
finally by this sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood in
the Mass, we certainly declare that nothing doth
exercise our faith in the knowledge of God and of
ourselves, more than this sacrifice of the Mass doth
and that nothing doth more increase our charity and
hope in the mercy of God ; and it declareth that we
believe that there is no Saviour but only Christ our
Lord, and that we have no refuge but to Him, ascrib-

136 THE SACRAMENTS,
ing altogether to the merits of His Passion, and so by
it we most of all set forth our humility and the glory
of Christ and His true honour.
Which sacrifice if we daily and devoutly exercise
and come unto, and behave ourselves as becometh
Christian men, and in such affection and intent as I
have declared now how the Churah doth, no doubt of
it but we shall perceive great comfort in our hearts,
great amendment in our lives, and great furtherance
to the attaining of everlasting life, to the which He
bring us, that by His Passion redeemed us, to Whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour,
glory, and praise for evermore, — Amen,

( 137 )

THE THIRTEENTH SERMON.
OF THE GODLY PRAYERS AND CEREMONIES USED IN
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS,
IF in that sacrifice which is Christ, no man is to be
followed but Christ, it is meet for us to be
obedient, and to do that thing which Christ did and
commanded to be done. And therefore (good people)
considering that this our sacrifice of the Mass is (ac
cording to Christ's commandment) the commeihora-
tion of Christ's Passion, the Holy Church of Christ,
ever since the tim-e of His Passion hath obediently used
to do as He did. He did consecrate the bread and
wine with His omnipotent blessing, and made there
present His very Body and Blood, and also He offered
that His Body and Blood after the order and manner
of Melchisedech to His Father, and thirdly received
it Himself, and gave it to His disciples. Even so the
Holy Church in Christ, and Christ by the Holy
Church, doth the same in all points at this day ; for
the special and substantial part of the Mass consisteth
in these three points, in consecrating the bread and
wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, in offering of
the same Body and Blood of Christ to God the Father,

138 THE SACRAMENTS,
and in receiving of the same by the devout and faith
ful people.
Christ also, after His Supper and before His Passion,
did say a hymn before He went forth to the Mount
OHvet (Matt, xxvi, 30), and He taught His disciples
many necessary things, and promised to send unto
them His Holy Spirit (John xv, 26), Which should
teach them all truth Which they could not bear (John
xvi, 1 2), and afterwards prayed long and fervently for
His faithful disciples, and for the whole Church that
should by their word beHeve in Him, arid specially for
their peace and unity in God and among themselves
(John xvii,)
In these things also the Holy Church doth follow
the example of Christ her Head, which in the
ministration of this sacrifice useth to join almost all
the other inward sacrifices of a Christian man — as
confession of sins, invocation of God's mercy, the
praise of God, petitions for things needful, the doc
trine of the people, the profession of our common
faith, the giving of thanks to God, prayers for all
states of God's Church, the honouring of Christ the
asking of God's peace, the exhorting to the same,
with divers other godly exercises, which I shall
(God willing) at this time shortly and particularly
shew unto you, to the intent you may know how
there is nothing contained in the Mass, but a heap
of all godliness and spiritual sacrifices, and thereby
to be the more provoked and disposed to the often
using and frequenting of the said Mass.
First of all, the holy vestments wherewith the
priest goeth to the altar, beside other mysteries which

CEREMONIES OF MASS, 1 39
they teach and signify, they renew the memory of
Christ's Passion in our hearts. For as the Jews did
first cover Christ's face, and did mock Him and
buffet Him (Luke xxii. 63, 64), so hath the priest in
memory of that an amice put upon his head, and
also the white alb put over all his body, doth bring
us in remembrance how Christ was condemned of
King Herod, who, in mocking Him, put upon Him
a white apparel, and sent Him back again to Pilate
(Luke xxiii. 11). And the maniple upon the priest's
arm, and his girdle about his white alb, and the stole
about his neck, do shew a man how Christ was
bounden fast to a pillar when He was whipped and
scourged (John xix, i). And as Christ was crowned
with thorns, and had His hands and feet nailed to
the cross, so in the amice and alb of the priest there
be tokens of these five wounds. And the upper
vestment of the priest putteth us in memory of the
purple robe that Pilate's soldiers put upon Christ
after they had scourged Him, And upon the back
of this vestment commonly there is made the sign of
the cross, teaching us how Christ was compelled to
bear His cross upon His back through the city ; so
that, whensoever we see the priest thus apparelled,
go up to the altar to celebrate the commemoration of
Christ's Passion, we may remember how cruelly
Christ was handled of the Jews, and after what sort
He went up to the Mount of Calvary to suffer His
Passion for the redemption of man.
The priest, coming to the altar, beginneth first of The Con-
all with the sacrifice of a contrite heart, without the fe^'°'i-
which no man can do the work of God worthily, and

140 THE SACRAMENTS,
there, beside the sacramental confession, which he
hath made before (if his conscience did reprove him
of any deadly sin), he maketh also a general confes
sion of all his sins, not excusing his fault or laying the
blame upon God or any other thing, but knocking
upon his breast, accuseth and judgeth himself And,
because our deadly offences be done against God
and His whole Church, therefore he maketh his con
fession to God and to the whole Church, both
triumphant in Heaven, and militant here in earth,
requiring of God pardon and remission, and requiring
of the Church aid to join with him in prayer. And
as they that do there assist him, do pray for him in
his hearing, so is he sure that the blessed angels and
saints in heaven are, of their abundant charity, glad
of his penance, and pray for his pardon and amend
ment.
'The Office, In the meantime, the choir and the priest also at
the altar, do begin the office of this ministration with
a hymn or psalm, or some part of a psalm, as the
Church doth in all other service. And with it he
^T}^ useth another inward sacrifice, which is the invocation
of God's help and mercy, which, for fervent desire to
have his petition granted of Almighty God by the
merits of Christ, he repeateth it divers times.
Gloria in And for such certain and sure confidence, which-he
hath of God's mercy for Christ's sake, he beginneth
by-and-by after that the sacrifice of praise, and useth
the same words that the angels praised God withal,
when they brought the glad tidings of Christ's
nativity to the world, which the priest and the choir

Excelsis.

CEREMONIES OF MASS. I4I
do prosecute and continue for joy that God hath
wrought mercifully among men.
And then the priest, saluting and wishing well to Dominus
the people, to stir their hearts to devotion, and to ° '^'^""'•
join with him in the common prayer, saith the Collect, The Col-
which is a sacrifice of prayer for all such things as ^*^ '
the people hath need upon, and is called a Collect,
for that the common petitions of the people be
collected and gathered together in one prayer, and
uttered only by the mouth of the priest in all their
names, whereunto the people answering "Amen,"
giveth their consent praying God to grant that
for all their salvation, which is required in all their
names. After these sacrifices of confession, invocation. Epistle.
praise, and petitions, the priest converteth his words
to the doctrine of the people, and first beginneth with
some part of the Law and Prophets, or of S. Paul's
Epistles, wherein is shewed the true meaning of the
Law and Prophets, preparing their hearts to the most
perfect and most wholesome doctrine of the Gospel Gospel.
of Christ the spiritual food of men's souls, to the
intent that such as be not partakers of Christ's Body
and Blood corporally in the Sacrament, may yet, by
the instruction of the Holy Word of God, be fed
spiritually in their souls by faith, that like as the
Holy Mass is the exercise and practice of good living,
so it might also be the teacher and school of true
faith. And between these two doctrines of the Law
and the Gospel, are said or sung certain Canticles,
or songs of God's praise, according to the condition q , ,
and nature of the time — as the Gradual and Tract for Tract.

142 THE SACRAMENTS,
the time of penance, when men lament their sins and
misery of this Hfe, and the prolonging of the hfe to
Alleluia, come ; or else the Alleluia, which is a song of God's
praise for the time of joy and gladness, when men
rejoice, considering the state of their eternal felicity
to come, using still the old strange word without
interpretation, declaring thereby that as yet they be
ignorant of such joys as God hath prepared for them
that love Him.
At the rehearsing of the Gospel the priest saluteth
the people, preparing their hearts to the hearing of
God's Word, wishing grace to be given to them of
God, to receive His Word with humility and meek
ness, which is able to save their souls. And the
people rising up, and standing reverently bareheaded,
declare themselves to be attent and ready to hear the
Gospel of Christ, and do glorify God that hath
vouchsafed to make them partakers of His Gospel,
which is the virtue of God for the salvation of all
them that believe (Rom. i, i6). And the priest,
making a cross upon the book and his forehead,
declareth that this doctrine is not invented by man,
but revealed by God, and pertaineth to the mystery
of Christ's cross and our redemption, and also pro-
testeth with the people, that their duty is not to be
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ's Cross, but to
believe in their heart and to confess it with their
mouth. And for proof of the same, that faith cometh
by hearing of the Word of God (Rom. x. 17) ; by-
and-by, after the reading and preaching of the
Gospel, the priest beginneth to profess and offer the
Ci-ede, sacrifice of faith, which the choir or people also pro-

CEREMONIES OF MASS. I43
fess with great gladness, in such form of words as the
ancient and holy fathers assembled in the First
General Council at Nice did utter their faith, to the
confusion of all heretics that were before them,
declaring that they have the foundation of their faith
nowhere else, but of Christ's mouth, and the preach
ing of His Holy Word,
Here endeth the Mass of them that be but only Missa Ca-
learners of our faith, and be not yet christened, orum,
which in old time were not admit to be present
among Christian men, in the time of the sacrifice of
Christ's Body and Blood, but after the prayers and
doctrine ended, were secluded from the Church. But
this manner is not used now in the Church, because
every one is christened being a child, and learneth
our faith afterward.
And the priest proceeding forward, exhorting all
the people to pray, doth offer to God the matter of
the consecration, which is bread of wheat, and wine Offertory
mixed with water, which be not yet consecrate, but °jQn_
prepared to be consecrate, and directing his eye and
intention to the Body and Blood of Christ that after
ward be made present by the consecration, as Christ
prayed before His Passion for all them for whom He
suffered, so the priest before the mystical oblation
saith that he offereth it to God, in the honour of God
and all His saints, for his sins and offences, for the
salvation of all that be living, and for the rest of all
them that be departed, and prayeth that God would
so accept it. For to this end every sacrifice that we
make, and every good deed that we do, is intended
and directed, which they be not able to bring to pass

144

THE SACRAMENTS,

-Washing of hands.

SecretCoUect,

but by the merits of Christ's bloody sacrifice upon the
cross. And here, beginning this most holy and Sacred
mystery, for reverence to the holy sacrament, the
priest washeth his hands, that no outward filthiness
should seclude him from the communion, and there
withal prayeth to be made clean from all uncleanness
of body and soul, that in clean life he might perform
the holy work of God, which is also a lesson to the
people, and to put away naughty thoughts out of
their hearts, lest God, offended with their sinful
thoughts, do turn His face away from their obla
tions and prayers.
And as the priest before exhorted the people
secretly to prayer, so doth he pray secretly himself,
with much devotion, that their common sacrifices
may be acceptable to God for them, and that it
would please Almighty God to grant that the influ
ence of His grace might descend and sanctify the
oblations, that when they be sanctified and received
the heavenly virtue and effects of the blessed sacri
fices may take place in the hearts of them for whom
they be offered. To which prayer, when the people
hath consented, saying " Amen," the priest saluteth
the people, and wisheth well to them, and they to
him again ; and he exhorteth them to lift up their
hearts to God, and so to prepare their hearts to the
sacrifice of thanks, which they by their whole consent
promise to do.
Therefore, I beseech all you (good people) to
take heed to your promise, and be ashamed to be
found Hars in the presence of God, specially in the

CEREMONIES OF MASS, 145
time of the terrible sacrifices. Put away all carnal
and worldly thoughts, and think upon nothing but
upon that ye pray. For the priest in this preface Preface.
of the Mass before the canonical prayer, doth exhort
the people to lift up their hearts to God (which they
answer they do), to admonish them that they ought to
think upon nothing but upon God. Shut the door of
your hearts against the devil, and let it be open only
to God, and let not God's enemy enter in the time of
prayer. For this is the subtle craft of the devil to call
our minds from God, and so to make void our prayers,
that we should have one thing in our mouth and an
other thing in our heart; whereas God ought to be
prayed unto, not with the only sound of the voice, but
with a pure intent and a vigilant mind, earnestly think
ing upon that he prayeth. For no man can worthily
give thanks to God that hath not his heart lifted up
to God. And because the true honour and worship
ping of God standeth in this most of all, that our
soul be not unthankful to Him, therefore, in the most
true and singular sacrifice, we are admonished to give
thanks to our Lord God, which is most seeming and
right we should do, seeing he cannot be called thankful
that ascribeth to himself that which is given to him of
God, And then the priest beginneth the Eucharisti
cal sacrifice of general thanks, as a public person iuEuchaiis-
the name of all the Church before the consecration, H'^ .'^anks,.
following the example of Christ Who in His last Sup
per gave thanks to God the Father, and then blessed
and distributed His Body and Blood to His disciples.
In this giving of thanks by Christ our Lord, for
whose merits they be only acceptable, he prayeth to
K

146 THE SACRAMENTS,

be joined and associated with the angels and arch
angels, and all the whole army of the blessed spirits
in heaven, who then do assist the priest and be
present there in the honour of Him that is offered,
praying, honouring, and' adoring the Majesty of
Almighty God, and with them singeth the hymn of
the angels and evangelists, giving honour, glory,
and benediction to the Lord God of Hosts (Apoc.
iv. 11), using also the same words of praise that
the children and the people of the Jews used in
praising Christ when He came riding to Jerusalem
as a King, and yet humbly upon an ass (Matt, xxi.
9), not to take upon Him the kingdom and pomp
of the world, but with His Passion and death to
redeem the world.
"Canon. The rest of the Mass that foUoweth is that part
which is called the Canon, which is spoken in silence,
to declare unto us the heaviness of Christ's Passion,
and that the priest may the better convert and set
his -whole mind and attention upon the work of God,
and the words of his prayer and consecration. And
he useth very few ceremonies, saving only certain
crosses upon the Host, partly to move the people
that stand by to consider the Passion, and partly to
declare that our redemption was wrought by the
voluntary will of God the Father, that gave His Son
for us, and also by the will of the Son, that having
such power of His own soul that no man could take
it from Him, yet offered Himself by the Holy Ghost
a clean sacrifice to God, to purify our hearts from
sin. In this Canon all invocations, all prayers and

CEREMONIES OF MASS. 1 47
petitions, be made and directed to God the Father,
for His Son Jesus Christ's sake our Lord, and be
made to no creature, neither in heaven nor earth,
but to Him ; and in it be expressly declared what we
offer to Him, for whom we offer, with whom we offer,
and to what end we offer. ¦
The thing that we offer to God is Christ Himself,
Nothing have we that is perfect and pure to offer to
God, but Christ that is given unto us for that purpose,
Whom we do not now offer in figure as the Jews did
in the.old law, but in very truth, and yet in a sacra
ment. For what is more meet to be offered for man
than the flesh of man ,¦' And what flesh is so accept
able as the flesh of our sacrifice, being the body of
our Priest .'' For Christ remaineth one God with
Him to Whom we offer, and hath made Himself
one with them for whom we offer, and He is one
with us that do offer, and He is the one and the self
same thing that is offered ; so that our external
sacrifice that pertains now to the New Testament, is
the innocent Lamb of God that taketh away the sins
of the world, which sacrifice lieth upon the altar,
and is offered now of the priests without shedding of
His Blood, and is the holy bread of eternal life, and
the cup of everlasting salvation.
Secondly, because Christ suffering His Passion,
offered His Body and Blood for the whole Church,
both those that were alive and those that were dead,
therefore the Church, renewing in mystery Christ's
Passion, off"ereth likewise the same Body and Blood
for the whole Church, both for the quick and the
dead, and that in special words. First generally

148 THE SACRAMENTS,
for the whole Catholic Church of Christ secluding
all those that be out of the Church (for no man
offereth the Body of Christ but for them which be
the members of Christ), and then particularly for the
governors of the Church and of commonwealths, as
for the Pope's Holiness, the successor of S. Peter, to
whom Christ did commit the cure and charge of His
universal Church throughout the world — for bishops,
for kings and princes, and in especial for such as the
minister any way is bound to pray, and for them that
be present and communicate with the priest in true
faith and devout affection. And also the Church
offereth Christ for the souls of them that be de
parted, " having at their departing the signs of
faith," which be the Holy Sacraments and good
works, "and sleeping in the sleep of peace," which
is the peace of conscience towards God, with sure
hope and trust of remission by Christ ; that is to
say, for such as in their lives obtained so much
grace of God, that our charity and sacrifices might
help and relieve them after their death. For seeing
the souls of such be not separate from the Church,
which is the kingdom of Christ among the members
of which kingdom there is a mutual communion of
all good deeds and godly works or sacrifices, there
fore the Church commendeth them to the mercy of
God, and the intercession of Christ's oblation, verily
believing that the precious Blood of Christ, as it is
profitable for the salvation of the living, so it is also
available for the absolution and perfection of them
that be dead, that they being for a time detained
in the temporal afflictions and purgations, might the

CEREMONIES OF MASS. 1 49
sooner, by the virtue of this blessed sacrifice, be de
livered and brought to the place of light and eternal
peace, where nothing entereth that is spotted and
imperfect. Thirdly, because the blessed Virgin Mary, the
Mother of God, and the holy martyrs and saints in
heaven, be also our brethren and members of Christ's
Church, for the which Christ suffered His Passion,
and being knit to us in one communion by the band
of perfect charity, and being careful for us, and they
be sure for themselves, cease not to communicate
with us in prayer, and to require of Christ the perfec
tion of His Body, which is the Church ; therefore in
our oblation of Christ's Body and Blood, we join with
them, and with honour and reverence we remember
them at our Lord's Table, not to pray for them, as
we do for others, that rest in peace, but rather that
they should pray for us, that we may follow their
footsteps, and in all our affairs be defended by God's
protection, and that by the merits of Christ, Whom
we pray not to weigh our merits but to pardon our
offences. And last of all, in the Canon is expressed for what
end we offer Christ that is to say, in remembrance of
His Passion, His Resurrection and glorious Ascension,
most humbly beseeching that God of His mercy
would accept Him for us and our salvation, and
whereas He is for Himself most acceptable in His
sight that likewise He would accept us, that be His
Body in earth, for Him, that by participation of His
most precious Body and Blood, we might be fulfilled
with all grace and heavenly benediction.

150 THE SACRAMENTS.
Thus doth the Church offer Christ her Head, to God
the Father, as a worthy sacrifice of praise and thanks
for her redemption, for the hope of health and sal
vation, and for all His other benefits; and also it
offereth Him as a sacrifice propitiatory, by the virtue
of His Passion, for all her sins and offences, that we
in this world might live in peace with God, and after
ward be delivered from eternal damnation, and with
His elects be rewarded in the kingdom of heaven.
And to conclude this canonical prayer, the priest
having Christ, God's Son, in his hands before him.
Who is the only Mediator between God and man,
trusting to obtain whatsoever he asketh in His name,
and being instructed by Him ever to pray to the
Father, saith boldly the " Pater Noster," in which
prayer is contained all that is good and needful for
the life of man, both temporal and eternal, and so
maketh an end of the Canon.
And because this is the mystery of unity and
peace, which cannot be had but by the mercy of
Christ, therefore the priest turning him to the Lamb
of God, Who only taketh away the sins of the world,
prayeth devoutly for the peace of conscience which
cometh by remission of sin, and for the peace of his
aff'ections which cometh by the mortification of the
flesh, and also for the peace of brotherly charity,
which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
and so taketh and giveth to the people the kiss of
peace, the token and testimony of unity and Chris
tian charity.
The other prayers that follow in the Mass pertain to
the devotion of him or them that receive the blessed

CEREMONIES OF MASS. 1 5 I
sacrament, that they may receive it worthily to the
profit and salvation both of body and soul, and that
it might be acceptable to God for all them for whom
it is offered.
Therefore (good people), seeing that I have now by
God's help declared unto you, as shortly as I could,
the whole sum of all that is said and done in the
Mass, which is all most godly and most comfortable,
pertaining all to this end, to set forth the benefit of
Christ and the virtue of His Passion, and containing
in it almost all the spiritual sacrifices of the new law,
and the exercises of true faith, as confession of sin,
invocation of God, prayer, doctrine, giving of thanks,
and such other as I have rehearsed, I shall most
heartily require you (as you are most bounden) to
have this work of God in such estimation as becometh
Christian men that be members of Christ's Church,
redeemed with His precious Blood, and that by using
of this sacrifice of the Church, which is a commemo
ration of Christ's Passion most acceptable in the
sight of God, and commanded by Christ to be done
of us, ye might thereby receive plenteous and abun
dant grace and mercy, both for you that be alive, and
also for them that be departed in the faith of Christ
and in all your necessities and distresses, relief and
succour. And when the consecration of the very
Body and Blood of our Saviour is made by the power
of His omnipotent Word, and the price of our redemp
tion is lifted up for you to see by faith, under the
several forms of bread and wine, to be adored and
worshipped with godly honour, then call to your
remembrance how that Christ for your salvation was

152 THE SACRAMENTS,
lifted up in the air upon the cross to be seen of all the
world, and how His precious Blood ran forth abun
dantly out of all the wounds of His Body, and then
pray that God the Father would look upon Him for
us, and accept Him for a full satisfaction of all our
sins, over and beside all that we can do and suffer,
and for a perfect supplying of all our negligences and
imperfectness, and for a worthy sacrifice of thanks
for all His benefits given unto us.
And to the intent ye might be more entirely joined
to Christ, and be more replenished with His gifts and
graces, I would wish and exhort you the oftener to
prepare yourselves to receive corporally the blessed
sacrament which is ever ready prepared for you to
receive, and when as of reverence you forbear to
receive Him, as the Centurion said that he was not
worthy that Christ should enter into his house
(Matt, viii, 8), yet at least resort to this sacrifice, and
with faith and devotion receive Christ spiritually, and
giving thanks for all His gifts, commit yourselves
wholly to the custody and tuition of Almighty God,
Who is always ready to shew us mercy for Christ's
sake, to Whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost
be all honour, praise, and glory, world without end.
Amen.

( IS3 )

THE FOURTEENTH SERMON.
OF THE NECESSITY AND COMMODITY OF PENANCE
IN GENERAL,
OUR Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Which came
into this world to call and save sinners ( Luke
V, 32, and I Tim, i, 15), deahng patiently with them
(2 Peter iii, 9), not willing any man to perish, but all
men to be converted and turned to Him by penance,
after that John Baptist, whom God sent before His
face to prepare His way by preaching penance, was
apprehended and cast into prison, then (I say) our
Saviour Christ began to preach the Gospel of His
grace and glory, after this form, saying, " Do penance,
for the kingdom of God draweth near " (Matt. iv. 1 7),
teaching us both by His Word and deed. And like
as John Baptist goeth before, whose ministry was to
preach penance, and Jesus cometh after, by Whose
death we have redemption and remission of sin, even
so in the heart of every sinner, the effect of John's
preaching, which is true and unfeigned penance, must
go before, that the effect of Christ's Passion, which is
grace, mercy, and remission of sins, may come after.
And as this doctrine of penance was first of all other

154 THE SACRAMENTS,
taught by our Saviour Himself, and by John His most
holy Prophet as a thing most necessary for the
instruction and salvation of all men, even so His
holy Apostles in the beginning of their preaching,
observed the same matter and form of doctrine, as
S, Peter in his first sermon made at Jerusalem in the
day of Pentecost, when he had opened the work of
the Holy Ghost in the gift of tongues, and thereby
took occasion to set forth the mystery of Jesus Christ ;
at the last end his doctrine to the people which were
smitten by compunction of heart by his words, was
this : " Do penance, and be every one of you baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost "
(Acts ii. 38). And in his next sermon, written in the
third chapter of the Acts (verse 19), he taught the
same doctrine in these words : " Do you therefore
penance, and be converted, that your sins may be
taken away." S. Paul also calleth the doctrine of
penance the foundation of all other doctrines in the
heart of a godly man (Heb. vi. i), out of which do
spring such other virtues as bring a man to the per
fection of a Christian life. Likewise S. John Evan
gelist began with the same doctrine of penance,
writing in his revelation to the seven churches that
were in Asia, saying thus to the Church of Ephesus
in the person of Christ : " Remember from whence
thou hast fallen, and do penance, and do the first
works, or else I shall come to thee soon, and shall
remove thy candlestick from its place, except thou
do penance " (Apoc, ii. 5), And this doctrine also
did all the Apostles first and principally set forth to

PENANCE, 155

all them that received the faith of Christ as most
necessary for their salvation, being taught and com
manded so to do by our Saviour Christ Himself, when
before His Ascension He opened to them their wits
and understandings to understand the Scriptures,
saying to them, that it was so written that Christ
so should suffer and rise from death the third day
(Luke xxiv, 46), and that penance should be preached
in His name and remission of sin, throughout all
people, beginning at Jerusalem. For which cause and
consideration I, as a minister of our Saviour Christ, to
whom He hath committed the word and ministry of
reconcihation (2 Cor. v. 18), using as it were His
embassage to exhort you to be reconciled to Him,
intending to teach you at this time what things to do
for the saving of your souls and the attaining of
everlasting life, have thought it most expedient for
satisfying of my duty in following the example and
commandment of our Master Christ and His Apostles,
and for your erudition to be taught the straight path
and high beaten way for our Christian religion, to
speak of penance, and first to declare the necessity
and commodity of the same, and then in order the
parts of it, and how to do it in such manner as it
may be acceptable to Almighty God, and a mean to
attain His mercy and remission of sin.
First of all consider you (good people) that penance
is a gift of God, as the Scripture saith, God hath
given and granted penance to the Gentiles for life
and salvation (Acts xi. 18), and it is God that standeth
at the door of our heart and knocketh (Apoc, iii. 20),
by Whose inspiration we have the beginning of our

156 THE SACRAMENTS,
conversion, without Whom we be not able and suffi
cient of ourselves as of ourselves to think any good
thought (2 Cor, iii, 5). This gift of penance is a
perfect and marvellous great gift being (as S.
Chrysostom saith) the mother of mercy, whereby
(as the wise man saith) God doth dissimulate the sins
of men for penance ; that is to say, God of His mere
mercy and fatherly affection, doth bear with the sins
of men, and deferreth to avenge and punish them
justly according to their defects, patiently looking for
their conversion and penance, by means whereof He
might remit their offences, deliver them from many
dangers, give unto them plenty of grace, and conduct
them to the fruition of His glory. For if God should
by-and-by punish all offenders, neither Zaccheus
should have had space to have done penance, nor yet
S. Matthew nor many others ; being taken away to
eternal death before the time of their penance. But
our most meek Father, calling every one to penance,
doth abide and tarry for us, which patience whosoever
abuseth and contemneth by remaining still in his
former sins, according to the hardness and obstinacy
of his own heart doth store up to himself God's indig
nation in the day of God's anger and just judgment
(Rom. ii, 5), when He shall render to every one accord
ing to his works. And as He saith Himself, except
in very deed we do penance we shall all perish and
be condemned (Luke xiii, 5), whereby we understand
how profitable and necessary a medicine penance is,
without the which sins be not remitted to them that
have the use of their understanding and reason. The
serpent in Paradise moved Eve to sin, penance loosed

PENANCE, 157

her again, and from thence came good and evil to
man. Our father Adam was expulsed out of Para
dise for sin, and we and all others that be his children
be called thither again by penance. For penance
openeth that which sin hath shut, and the merciful
goodness of God doth call us thither again, from
whence His anger hath cast us out. What a great
power and virtue hath this virtue of penance, which
by the mercy of God remitteth sin, openeth Paradise,
healeth the contrite man, maketh glad the heavy,
revoketh a man from destruction, restoreth him to his
former good state, reneweth his old honour, repaireth
all the decays of virtue, maketh him acceptable and
bold with God, and doth purchase of God more plenty
of grace than he had before.
This virtue is like a fruitful field, the fruit whereof
when an hungry sinner doth eat, he is well refreshed
in his soul, groweth in credit and trust with God, and
after remission of his sins, waxeth fat in good life, and
speaketh to God after this manner: — Lord, before
Thee is all my desire, and the mourning of my heart
is not hid from Thee ; the fear of sin vexeth me, the
weight of my conscience oppresseth me, in myself I
have no hope to live, nor boldness to die, at Thy
judgments I tremble, and fear the pains prepared for
the wicked spirits. Hear me, I beseech Thee, whilst
time is, and pardon that I fear before I go, and shall
be no more (Ps, xxxvii.) To such a penitent heart
is remission given and life granted.
And for better knowledge of penance, it is to be
considered that the doing of penance is three ways
spoken of in Holy Scripture : one is for all kind of

158 THE SACRAMENTS,
sin before baptism. For he that is judge and ruler
of his own will, when he cometh to baptism, he can
not begin a new life, except he take repentance for
his old, and he must have hope and love to be made
that he was not, and hate that he was. From this
kind of penance before baptism only young children
be free, which as yet cannot use their free will, and
for their consecration and remission of original sin,
the faith of the Church, which is professed by^the
godfathers and mothers as representing the Church,
doth profit and suffice, and so by the sacrament of
faith which is baptism, they are made faithful and
members of Christ's mystical Body. Of this penance
speaketh S. Peter, saying thus, "Do you penance,
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins "
(Acts ii. 38).
The second way of doing penance is, for venial sin
after baptism, and is daily done, or ought to be done,
throughout a man's whole life, so long as we be in
this weak, frail, mortal, and sinful flesh. For which
cause we knock upon our breasts, saying, " Forgive
us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass
against us." For we require not to have those sins
forgiven us, which we be sure were forgiven in baptism
before, but those which, through our frailty and sen
suality, by little and little, continually creep upon us
which being many, if they were aU gathered together
against us, and we contemned to avoid * them in
time they would so grieve and oppress us as one
mortal sin. For what difference is it to have a man's
¦* i.e. To cast them out.

PENANCE, 159

ship drowned at once with one great surge and wave
of the sea, or to suffer the water to enter into small
holes by little and little till the ship, by contemning to
draw the pump, be full, and so sink, and be drowned }
For the which cause we fast, do alms, and pray,
wherein when we say, " Forgive us as we forgive "
(Matt, vi, 12), we declare that we have something to
be forgiven ; by which words we humble our souls,
and cease not after a certain manner to do daily
penance. The third way of doing penance is, for such deadly
sins after baptism as be prohibited by God's ten
commandments, of which the Apostle saith, " All
they that do such shall not possess the kingdom of
heaven" (Gal. v. 21). And this penance ought to be
more grievous and painful, because the fault is great
causing a deadly wound in our souls, as adultery,
murder, or sacrilege. But although the wound be great,
grievous, and deadly, yet Almighty God, as agood Phy
sician, after the suggestion of sin by the devil, the delec
tation ofthe flesh, the consent of our mind and freewill,
and also the doing ofthe sin in deed, as though we had
lain in grave stinking four days, as Lazarus did, doth
.not so leave us, but crieth " Lazari veni foras," Come
forth, O Lazarus (John xi. 43), and by-and-by misery
gave place to mercy, death to life : Lazarus cometh
forth, and is bounden as men be in confession of their
sins, doing penance. Of this speaketh S. Paul to
the Corinthians (2 Cor. xii, 21), saying, I am afraid
lest when I shall come again, God do humble and
afflict me among you, and lest I lament and mourn
for many of them that have sinned before, and have

l6o THE SACRAMENTS.
not done penance for their fornication and unclean
life they have used.
This last kind of penance is that whereof we
specially treat upon at this^ time, and is called by the
holy father the second table or board after baptism ;
for all sinners being, as it were, drowned in the flood
of sin by reason of original sin, that from Adam over
floweth all the world, or else by their own actual sin,
which they have done in their own persons beside,
may be saved and escaped out of this flood if they
will take hold of the first board which is baptism.
But after the sacrament of baptism, if they fall into
the waters again by deadly sin, there is no remedy
to be saved from drowning and damnation ; but only
penance, which is the second board that God hath
ordained to save us by ; so that whosoever taketh
hold of it unfeignedly during the time of this natural
life, no doubt of it, it will, by God's merciful grace,
bring him to the haven of salvation, were his sins
never so great and heinous, whereby we may under
stand how necessary this is, as being the only remedy
now left us to restore us to the favour of God, which
by sin we had lost before.
Wherefore I do exhort every man and woman in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as they tender the
health and salvation of their souls, to be diligent and
careful to use this special remedy ordained of God
for remission of sin, neither contemning His justice,
nor despairing of His mercy, which two be the lets*
of true penance, and enemies to the grace of God in
remission of sin (Ps, vii). For God is a just, mighty,
ie,. Hindrances.

PENANCE, l6l

and patient Judge, for hearing and forgiving the
penitent sinner, judging and condemning the obstinate
sinner. As the consideration of His mercy should
speedily provoke us to amendment, so the fear of
His just judgment should utterly take away all
delays. We be in danger on both sides, both by
too much hoping and by despairing. He is deceived
by hoping that saith, God is good and merciful,
promising pardon whensoever we convert, therefore
I will do that which pleaseth me, I will give the
bridle to my lusts, and satisfy the desires of my
mind. On the contrary side, he is deceived by
desperation, that faileth into grievous sins, and,
thinking them not able or worthy to be forgiven,
saith to himself, I shall be damned, therefore I will
do that which pleaseth me. The one is in danger
by presuming of God's mercy, promising to himself
long life ; the other is in danger by indiscreet fear
of God's justice, and horror of his great and manifold
sins. But every Christian man and woman ought to
go circumspectly in the midst, and beware for falling
on either side, remembering that the Scripture saith
to him that is in danger by too much hope, " Be not
slack to turn and convert to God, nor do not defer
from day to day, for God's anger will come suddenly,
and in the day of vengeance He will destroy thee "
(Ecclus. V. 8, 9). And to him that is in danger by
despair, God saith, "In whatsoever day a sinner
shall be converted, I shall forget all his iniquities "
(Ezek. xviii, 21, 22), For him that despaireth God
hath set open the haven of forgiveness, to him that
L

1 62 THE SACRAMENTS.
vainly hopeth and delayeth his conversion. He hath
made the day of death uncertain.
Thus taking heed to ourselves, not abusing God's
mercy by delaying our amendment, nor mistrusting
His goodness, for fear of His judgment, but speedily,
while time is now offered unto us, embracing this
necessary and present remedy of fruitful and true
penance, we shall be reconciled to Almighty God,
and be partakers of His heavenly kingdom, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom with the Father and
the Holy Ghost be all glory for evermore. Amen.

( 163)

THE FIFTEENTH SERMON.
AGAINST DESPERATION,
EVERY sinner (good people) that intendeth to
obtain of God by the merits of Christ's Passion
remission of his sins, must expel and put out of his
mind all manner of despair, and all fear and doubt
that should or might move him to think that he shall
have no mercy and forgiveness at God's hand, what
sins soever he hath done, be they never so many.
Two things there be that bring a sinner in despair.
One is, if he think that his sins be so great that God
cannot forgive him ; and this is very false and against
God's omnipotence. Who hath power and is able to
do what He will. Another is, if he think that
Almighty God will not forgive his sins ; and this is
also false, and against the righteousness and goodness
of Almighty God, Who hath promised to forgive the
penitent sinner always his offences (Ezek. xviii, 21),
and if we confess our sins (Ezek, xxxiii. 14, 15), God
is faithful and just to remit unto us our sins, and to
make us clean from all kind of iniquity (i John i. 9).
And in witness of this our Saviour Christ hath
ordained the Holy Sacrament of Penance, that is to
say, the sacramental absolution (John xx. 23), which
the priest giveth unto the penitent person truly con-

164 THE SACRAMENTS,
fessing his sins, which absolution is allowed and con
firmed in heaven, and the penitent restored to the
state of salvation ; so that to mistrust or fear that
God'cannot or will not forgive the penitent sinner his
sins, is deadly sin in itself, blasphemy to Almighty
God, and damnation to the party with Cain and others
that did despair (Gen. iv. 13, &c.)
There is another kind of despair of mercy and
salvation, which they have that intend or do kill
themselves, which they take, not in remembrance of
the multitude or greatness of their sins, but for the
heaviness and thought of the world, as the wise man :
— " Multos occidit tristicia, et non est utilitas in ea,"
Sadness and thought hath kihed many, and there
is no profit in it (Ecclus, xxx. 25), and S. Paul
saith, "The sorrow of the world worketh death"
(2 Cor. vii. 10), These men come to this despair
thus •,-r—
First they take sorrow and thought for such things
as have chanced against their minds, and then they
do not put that thought away, but rather set it
wondrous deep and fast in their hearts, and let it.
continue there still, and so it groweth, till it be so
great and so painful unto them, that they be weary
of their lives and would fain be dead. And because
they cannot die by sickness so shortly as they would,
nor by course of nature, therefore they determine
to kill themselves, and so they despair to have
everlasting life in heaven, or else think not of it and
also do not believe that they shall have damnation in
hell, but think that if they were once dead, that then
they should have no more sorrow nor pain in their

DESPAIR, 165

mind. And so upon that ungracious and false belief,
they kill themselves one way or other, and then be
their souls damned in hell, there with Achitophel (2
Kings xvii, 23), and Judas (Matt xxvn. 5), and other
of that sort, in more vexation and pain in their minds
than all the wits in the world can devise.
The remedy against both these kinds of despair, is
to be well and thoroughly persuaded of hell, and the
infinite greatness of the pains that be there, and how
they never have end, but endure for evermore ; and
in the beginning to avoid and put out of mind all
thought and heaviness for loss of worldly goods, or
for any mischance, or for any rebuke or shame
deserved by them, or otherwise, which they may do
by opening the cause of their sorrow to some one
discreet person or more. For the longer the cause
is kept secret, the more grief and pain it worketh,
and shall be the harder to put away.
Therefore let every man and woman understand
this, that the devil doth move a man to despair of
obtaining, for this end, that he might cut off all hope
of goodness, which is the anchor of our health, the
foundation of our life, the guide of our journey,
whereby we return again to Almighty God. For
the Apostle saith, "By hope we are made safe, and
that hope which is seen, is no hope " (Rom. viii. 24).
It is hope, therefore, wherein our sal vation. consisteth,
which hope as a chain cast down from heaven,
draweth our souls that hold fast by it up to heaven,
and delivering them from earthly griefs, maketh them
to forget and contemn this present life. But if a man,
having his mind wholly set and fixed upon sin and

1 66 THE SACRAMENTS.
worldly cares, let sHp out of his hand the anchor of
hope, he must needs fall into the pit, and in the
bottom of all evils be drowned and slain, which, when
our enemy perceiveth, and seeth us abhor the multi
tude of our sins, and to be afraid with the biting of
our guilty conscience, straightway he cometh near,
and doth suggest the thoughts of despair, making us
heavier than any sand or lead, which thoughts, if we
receive and agree upon, by-and-by letting go the hold
of our salvation, we must needs by the very weight
of them be drowned in the bottom of all mischief,
contemning the commandments of a meek and good
Lord, obeying the will of a cruel and fierce tyrant
and enemy to our salvation.
For to conversion and penance desperation is utter
enemy; which if it once rest and dwell in a man's
mind, have he never so earnest an intent and fervent
desire to be saved, yet the same desperation shall let
his purpose and stop the ways and passages to the
salvation of his soul. If the way penance be once
stopped, then is the door that leadeth to salvation
shut also. And how can he that is out of the
way, and to whom the door is shut, do any good
work, when as he can find no entry, entry to
goodness being let by desperation ,¦' For this cause
the devil, by all means he can, goeth about to plant
such thoughts in our hearts. For when desperation
has carried us far from the way of truth, then hath
the devil no more contention against us. Against
whom should he fight when no man. withstandeth .'
But if the man can loose this band, by-and-by his
strength cometh again, and taketh delight to renew

DESPAIR. 16'/

his battle afreshr For he shall perceive how he
chaseth away the devil, whom he fled before, and
shall have a pleasure to pursue his old persecutor.
And if perchance his foot slip and he fall (as often
times the condition of war is), he may not by-and-by
despair for shame of a fall, but he must remember
that this is the law of fighting, not never to fall, but
never to yield, for men do not call him overcome
that oft faileth, but him that at last yieldeth. Like
wise he that is overcome by the thoughts of despera
tion, how can he recover his strength, or withstand
his enemy, seeing he runneth away and will not turn
back to fight again .-' I would not that ye should
think that I speak only of those that were a little
blotted with a few small spots of sin ; but I speak of
him that hath given place to all kind of sin, that for
the outrageousness of his wicked living hath excluded-
himself from the kingdom of heaven, and not of
infidels, but of Christian men, and such as have before
times pleased God highly, but afterwards have fallen
to adultery and other filthy living, such (as the
Apostle saith), is shame to speak of These men,
I say, ought not to despair of salvation, although they
had lain wallowing in such like filthiness even to their
extreme age. What the reason of this saying is, ye
shall hear.
If God's anger were a passible affection,* we
might well say that the flame of it could not be
quenched, which was kindled with so many and great
offences. But when the truth of God's Word doth
define the nature of God to be impassible, we must
¦' i.e,. Were of the nature of a human passion. — Ed.

1 68 THE SACRAMENTS.
understand that now, although God doth punish and
afflict us, yet He doth it not with passible anger, but
with most unspeakable clemency, with the affection
of him that healeth, and not of him that punisheth,
and for that cause He very gladly receiveth the peni
tent seeing that God doth not punish for Himself's
sake (as I said before), as it were avenging His own
quarrel and injury against the sinner (for God's nature
receiveth no such passion into itself), but He doth all
for our profit. For our profit and correction He doth
punish, not to revenge Himself, but to amend us.
He that abideth still in the hardness of his heart, is
like to a man that turneth his eyes from the light,
which doth no harm to the light but bringeth himself
into darkness. Even so he that through an impatient
heart thinketh to contemn the power of God, trusteth
in God nothing, but secludeth himself from all health
and salvation.
If a physician suffer a little injury of his patient
vexed with a frenzy, or distempered in his brain, yet
is he not grieved with the same, nor yet angry, but
doth all things that his art of physic requireth, al
though his patient seemeth to be grieved with his
medicines, which grief is not avenging of the physi
cian's injury, but a curing of the patient's malady.
And if the sick man begin a little to amend in his
health, ye shall see by-and-by the physician rejoice,
and with more gladness do the rest of his cure, not
remembering the injury he suffered before, but pro
curing the patient's health more and more. How
much more Almighty God, when we fall into extreme
madness of the soul, is not moved with the affection

DESPAIR, 169
I of vengeance for the offences we have done against
Him, but is desirous to heal the old rotten sores of sin
that are corrupted within us, for the which He saith
and doth all things, as only tendering our health, not
delighted with our pain. Such is the goodness of God
towards man. He never refuseth penance if it be
simply and purely offered unto Him. Although a
man were come to the height of sin, and yet from
thence would return again to the way of virtue. He
receiveth him, He most fatherly embraceth him to his
first state again, and also (which is greater and more
excellent than all this) although a man could not
fulfil all the order of satisfaction, yet He refuseth not
his penance how small, how short, soever it be done,
but accepteth the same, and suffereth him not to lose
the reward of his conversion, be it never so httle.
This seemeth Isaias to shew where he speaketh
such like of the people of the Jews : " For his sin I
have a little made him sad, and have smitten him,
and have turned my face from him, and he is sad and
walketh an heavy man, and I have healed him, and
have comforted him " (Isa, Ivii, 17, 18). But the
wicked King Achab giveth us a more evident testi
mony, which through his wife's wickedness obtained
the prey of his own covetousness, but afterward, being
troubled with the great enormity of his own sin, did
repent, and putting on hair and sackcloth wept for his
offence, and provoked so the mercy of God towards
him that He pardoned him of all his sins. For thus
said God : And God said to Elias, '' Hast thou not
seen the contrition of Achab before me .' and because
he hath wept in my sight, I will not bring in these

170 THE SACRAMENTS,
plagues in his days " (3 Kings xxi. 29). Manasses
also that passed all other tyrants in cruelty of wicked
ness, that filled God's temples with idols, that over
threw the service of God in true religion and the
observation of the law, this man, I say,' exceeding all
men in abomination of sin, yet, because he repented
he was afterward numbered among the friends of God
(2 Parali. xxxui. 13 and ante); And therefore, if
either this man, or the other we spake of before, con
sidering the greatness of their sins, had despaired to
come to God's favour again by conversion and penance,
they had lost all these benefits that chanced to them
by their amendment. But they, casting their eyes
upon God's unspeakable mercy, and the deepness of
His infinite goodness, loosed the devilish chains of
desperation from their neck.s, and lifting up themselves,
were converted to the way of virtue.
Thus much have we spoken of the examples of holy
men. Hear now how we are provoked of God to
conversion by the words of the prophets. Even this
day (saith David) if ye hear His voice, do not harden
your hearts as in the day of provocation in the
wilderness (Ps. xciii. 8, 9). In that he saith
this day, he meaneth all the time of our life till we
come (if it so chance) even to the extreme age ; for
penance is not weighed by length of time, but by
pureness of affection. Have we not read how the
Levites washed away their most grievous sin in the
wilderness, not in a great long continuance of time,
but in a little short hour of one day ? The thief also
that hung upon the cross, needed no long space to
enter into Paradise (Luke xxiii. 43), but so much

DESPAIR, 171
space sufficed as would, serve for the speaking of a
few words ; so that in a little moment of time, obtain
ing remission of the sins of his whole life, he did enter
into Paradise before any of Christ's Holy Apostles.
What shall we say of martyrs .-' Have we not seen
them oftentimes in one day, yea, sometimes within
the space of an hour receive the crowns of eternal
reward .'' We must therefore begin only, and set
upon it with a manly courage. And first let us be
moved and angry with that harlot, our own lust, that
deceived us, and then let us turn our whole affection
and love to the exercise of virtue. For that is it that
God willeth and requireth of us. He seeketh not
that length of time, but specially looketh to this if
our conversion be true and pure. For which cause we
often see that many which began last, are by their
faithful endeavours made foremost. It is not so evil
to take a fall, as it is to lie still after the fall and not
to rise again, and with a certain pleasure and
determination of mind to wallow* still in sin, and at
last to cloak and cover his naughty purpose of sin
ning still under the words of desperation. Against
whom the prophet crieth out with a certain indigna
tion, saying. Doth not he that faileth rise again ^ or.
Is not he that turneth backwards converted again ?
(Jer. viii. 4). If thou say, the state of our question
is, whether any faithful and Christian man, if he fall,
may be restored again ? to this question I answer,
In this same that we say he fell, we grant that once
he stood before he fell. No man saith that he is
fallen, that ever did lie and never stood. Yet let us
** Walter, in original. — Ed.

172 THE SACRAMENTS.

bring forth Holy Scripture concerning this matter, if
any thing be spoken either in parables or in plain
sentences. What other thing, think you, is meant by
the sheep which, going astray from the other ninety
and nine, was afterwards sought and brought home
upon the shoulders of the shepherd ,? (Luke xv, 4-6).
Doth it not plainly declare both the fall and the
restitution of a Christian man, for that sheep and
the other ninety and nine were all of one flock and
under one pastor 1
It fed upon the same pasture, drank the same
water, and was lodged within the same fold that the
other were, but it wandered a great way, it strayed
far through the hills and hard rocks and many
crooked ways of error, yet the Good Shepherd did
not leave it nor suffered it to perish, but seeketh it,
and bringeth it home again, not compelling it by
pricks and beating, but bearing it upon His own
shoulders. And not only this parable doth shew unto us the
commodity of returning, but also that other of the
prodigal and riotous son. And that was a son, and
not a stranger, and brother-german to him that never
went from his father. He was a son which is re
ported to have gone to the furthest borders of all sin,
for he went into a far country, far from God, that was
the rich man, and being a nobleman born was made
worse than a bondman or slave ; but yet returning
home and repenting him, was received into his former
state, and restored to his former glory (Luke xv,)
But if he had despaired, and considering those
miseries that chanced unto him, had been ashamed

DESPAIR, 173

to return to his father, and had bidden still in the
far strange country, he should never have attained
these things that he hath, but by penury and famine
should have suffered most miserable and unhappy
death. You see now how great hope there is of con
version by penance. The prodigal son received his
former state of glory by penance, which his elder
brother kept still by perseverance.
Therefore, dearly beloved, having these examples
of penance, let us not continue in evil nor despair to
be reconciled, but let us come again to our Father,
and draw near to Almighty God. Believe me, He
will never turn His face from him that turneth to
Him, if we do not make ourselves strangers to God.
For God Himself saith, " I am God that is near
hand, and not God afar off" (Jer. xxiii. 23), And
again, by another prophet, "Your sins," saith he,
"make distance between you and me" (Isa. lix. 2).
If we, therefore, take away this wall, that is to say,
our sins that separate us from God, there is nothing
that can let* us to be joined to God. Will you that
I show you these things not only spoken in parables
but fulfiUed in deeds.' There was a certain man
among the Corinthians, as it seemed of no small con
sideration. This man had committed such a sin, as
is not wont to be done among the heathen, and he
was one of the number of the faithful and familiars
with Christ. What then.? Did S. Paul cut him
from the number of them that be in hope of salva
tion .'' Nay, rather when he had suflSciently rebuked
the Corinthians for him, willing again to declare that
* i,e.. Hinder,

174 THE SACRAMENTS,
there is no wound, no disease, which giveth not place
and is not healed by the plaster of penance, he
commandeth him to be delivered to Satan to the
destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. v. 5),
Yet he commanded this before he knew anything
of his penance. But when he had done penance, he
saith, let this correction and rebuke suffice, which
was given to him of many. And he added more,
I beseech you conform your charity towards him,
lest Satan 'have him in full possession, for we
be not ignorant of his crafty subtleness (2 Cor.
ii. 7-11).
Also the whole Church of the Galatians, after that
it believed in Christ, and had received the Holy Ghost
so that in spirit it did many virtues and miracles, and
had suffered much persecution for the faith of Christ,
after all this (I say) it fell from the faith, and was
restored again by the good exhortations ofthe Apostle.
And that thou mayest know that by the Holy Ghost
they did miracles, hear how the Apostle saith : Who
then gave you the Spirit and wrought these miracles
among you I was it of the works of the law, or of the
hearing of faith > (Gal, iii, 2) ; and again, that they did
suffer much after that they had received the faith he
declareth in this, where he saith, " Have ye suffered
so great affliction in vain, if it be in vain ,? " After
they had walked and profited thus much in the faith,
they did commit such a sin that was able to alienate
them clean from Christ, whereof the Apostle spake,
" Behold I, Paul, say unto you, if you use circumcision,
Christ will profit you nothing " (Gal. v. 2), and again,

DESPAIR, 175
"You that be justified by the law be fallen from
grace " (Gal. v. 4). Yet after these decays of faith,
after so great falls, he , calleth them back again,
and with motherly affection doth cherish them,
saying, " My dear little children whom I labour
to bring forth again as a mother doth of her child
unborn, whilst that Christ be formed in you " (Gal.
iv. 19).
What other thing is taught by these, but that it is
possible that Christ may be formed and dwell in him
again by penance, that hath fallen from Christ by
extremity of sin before. Almighty God willeth not
the death of a sinner, but that he convert and live
(Ezek. xviii, 32), Let us therefore be converted, and
let us yield ourselves to the accomplishing of God's
will. For so long as we be in this life, how
great sins soever we commit, it is possible to wash
them all away by penance, but when we shall be
taken out of this world, there although we repent us,
for we shall repent very much, yet we shall have no
profit of our repentance. And although there be
gnashing of teeth, howling and weeping, although we
pray and cry out with innumerable obsecrations, no
man will hear us, no man will succour us, no, not so
much as with his finger's end pour a little water upon
our tongue that burneth in the flame, but we shall
hear that which the rich man heard of Abraham,
that a great vast distance is put between us and you,
so that none from thence may come hither, nor from
us to you (Luke xvi. 26). Let us, therefore, good
brethren, cast up our eyes to our Lord Jesu Christ
and let us like good and profitable servants seek Him,

176 THE SACRAMENTS,
and not despair so long as we enjoy this life, by
penance to obtain pardon for our sins ; only in hell,
as I said, the medicines of penance will profit nothing ;
but in this life, although it be in th^ last crooked age
and in the extremity of sin, yet, believe me, it will
cure us and bring us to perfect health. For this
cause the devil moveth and doth all that he can to
bring desperation into our minds. He knoweth full
well that if a man do penance but a little space, be it
never so short yet his conversion shall not be unfruit
ful. Only let us now begin to do better. Ever the
beginning seemeth hardest. At the first step the
way of virtue seemeth to be hard, and not able to be
come unto. For so is the nature of all things ; all
labour seemeth painful so long as it is weighed only
in the consideration of a man's mind. But when we
come to the experience of the thing, and begin to go
through a little of the labour, there is all the fear of
the grief driven clean away. The success of the
work bringeth sweetness, and the increase of
virtue new repaired bringeth gladness to our minds,
and by-and-by maketh us stronger, when the hope of
salvation beginneth to seem nigh at hand. For that
cause the devil took Judas out of this life, lest know
ing there was a way to turn to salvation, he might by
penance reform his fall. Therefore let us now enter
the journey of life, let us return to the heavenly city,
wherein we be elected and appointed as free citizens.
The gates of this city desperation doth shut but hope
shall open them, and sure confidence shall make the
entry large and broad. When the soul beginneth to
despair of salvation, it regardeth not thereafter what

DESPAIR, 177
sort, or into what vice it cast itself, it feareth to do or
to speak nothing that may be contrary to her salva
tion. And as we see often in them that be mad,
when they have once lost the stay of their right mind,
then they fear nothing, but are bold to speak and do
whatsoever they list ; though they should fall into the
fire, or into a deep pit they stick not nor pull not
back their foot ; eyen so they that be taken with des
peration, are made intolerable, and run through the
ways of iniquity, neither shame nor fear letting them,
neither present misery doth stop them, nor pain to
come doth affray them, only death, which they can
not avoid, endeth the execution of their malice.
Wherefore I most entirely beseech you (if there be
any here that despair or be in doubt to attain mercy
and forgiveness) to take again the sweet yoke of our
Saviour Jesus Christ and His Hght burden, and not
to suffer so great a treasure of God's former gifts and
graces utterly to perish. It will perish if we con
tinue in sin, provoking God more and more with our
naughty deeds. Let us arise, therefore, now without
delay, and believe me, our adversary will fly away ;
our boldness shall make him afraid ; the more fierce
we be, the more fearful * will he be ; and God will be
present, and both diminish the conscience of our sins
and undermine his might and strength. So shaU we
faithfully serve Him here, and reign with Him eter
nally in the next world through Christ our Lord, to
Whom be all glory for ever. Amen.
* i.e.. Timid,

M

( 178)

THE SIXTEENTH SERMON,
AGAINST PRESUMPTION OF MERCY,
II KE as penance is the mother of mercy, and a
_* virtue most agreeable to the will of God, even
so (good people) an impenitent heart is an enemy
of mercy, and most repugnant to the fountain of
all goodness, and such a vice as only can never
attain forgiveness at God's hand. Who daily through
His unspeakable mercy provoketh sinners to pen
ance, Whom obstinate sinners, delaying their conver
sion, do provoke to anger. Many there be that
purpose to continue still in their sins, upon hope of
remission and forgiveness at the last end, or in their
old age, abusing God's goodness, and contemning His
justice. These men go from evil to worse, and abuse
the precious treasure of time, by their continuance in
sin, which God granteth to man as a special remedy
against sin.
From this most detestable vice, the consideration
of God's inestimable and infinite benefits should
withdraw us, lest our unkindness do appear, which
stoppeth the ways of grace, and suffereth remission
to have no entry into our souls.
God the Father hath so loved us, that to redeem

PRESUMPTION. 179

US, His servants, He hath not spared His only-begot
ten Son (John iii, 16). God the Son hath so loved
US, that to make us His servants, He hath redeemed
us not with corruptible gold or silver, but with His
own precious blood, which He hath shed forth abun
dantly (i Peter i. 18, 19). They both have sent and
given unto us their Holy Spirit God the Holy Ghost
Who hath endued us with heavenly and marvellous
gifts, by Whom we have strength of good life, light
of true knowledge, and assurance that we shall inherit
the kingdom of heaven if we convert from sin and
continue in grace, which conversion God most pa
tiently abideth, and most fatherly provoketh by many
and sundry ways. Whose conception maketh clean
ours. Whose life instructeth ours. Whose death de-
stroyeth ours. Whose resurrection is cause and ex
ample of ours. Whose ascension prepareth ours.
Whose Spirit helpeth our infirmity. What obdurate
unkindness is this, not to recognise these so great
benefits, but the more He heapeth precious gifts upon
us, the more to displease Him, to disobey Him, and
to increase our own damnation .¦• The better He is to
us, the worse to be to ourselves, and so spitefully to
abuse His mercy, by making it (which of itself is the
cause of all our wealth and salvation) to be, by our
prolonging, the cause of our sin and the continuance
of the same .''
Knowing that the time of this frail and mortal life
is but short (Job xiv. 5), and as it were a vapour or
smoke appearing for a time (James iv, 15), and shortly
vanishing away, and that death tarrieth not (Ecclus.
xvi. 12), nor man knoweth not his end ; but as fishes

l80 THE SACRAMENTS,
be taken with the hook, and as birds be taken with
the net, even so men be taken in the evil time when
it cometh upon them (Ecclus, ix, 12); so that the
considering of the certainty of death which no man
can escape, and the uncertainty of the time of death,
which God hath made uncertain to man, lest he
should live worse under hope of forgiveness, should
be a great cause to move every man to make haste
to amend his sinful life. For like as in the firma
ment a star doth soon rise and suddenly setteth
again, and as a sparkle of fire is soon quenched and
put out, even so endeth a man's life when he liveth
in this world most pleasantly, and thinketh he shall
live many years, and disposeth things to be done by
long times, and suddenly is he caught by death, and
at unawares the soul taken from the body.
Therefore, I pray you consider every man with
himself, where those men be now that not long ago
were so wholly set upon the world, and given to
satisfy the pleasures of their flesh and private wills.
Nothing remaineth of them here but ashes and worms,
Mark diligently what they be, and what they- have
been. They were men as thou art, they did eat,
drink, laugh, and led their lives in pleasures, and
went to hell in a moment of time (Job xxi. 13) ; here
their flesh is committed to the worms, and their souls
to the fire, until they both be knit together again, so
to be joined in eternal pain. What profited them
their vainglory, their short mirth, their authority of
the world, their pleasure of the flesh, their false riches,
their great family, and their naughty desires.' Of
so great gladness what heaviness doth ensue ; out

PRES UMP TION, 1 8 1

of that great wealth and pleasures they fell into
great misery and torments. Whatsoever happened
to them, the same may happen to thee, being a man
as they were. For thou art made of earth, and dost
issue of earth, and shall return into earth when thy
last day shall come, which cometh suddenly, and
perchance shall be to-morrow. It is certain that
thou shalt die, but uncertain when, how, or where.
Wherefore, seeing death doth always look for thee,
if thou be a wise man, see that thou look always for
it The justice of God cannot judge otherwise but
as our works deserve. For he that loveth the world
more than God, gluttony more than abstinence,
lechery more than chastity, shall follow the devil,
and go with him into eternal fire and pain. Which
pains every wise man will fear and so avoid them,
lest by contemning of them he fall suddenly into them.
Therefore, remember the horrible throne of God's
judgment, which is compassed about with a burning
flood of fiery flame, where is weeping and gnashing
of teeth, where is outward darkness and the worm
of conscience that never dieth, and the fire that never
is quenched. For the fire here consumeth and wasteth
all things it receiveth ; the fire there, whatsoever it
receiveth once, it always tormenteth and reserveth it
in continual pain, and is therefore called a fire un
quenchable, not only for that it is never quenched
itself, but also that it never destroyeth and bringeth
to nought those it once receiveth. The Scripture
saith, that sinners put on and are clad with incor
ruption (i Cor. XV, 53), that is to say, not to the
honour of life, but to the eternity of pain. The

l82 THE SACRAMENTS.
violence of this pain and the power of this fire no
tongue can express ; for in corruptible things there
is nothing like that can be compared to things in
corruptible, whether it be good or evil. Yet let us
imagine at least some image of that fire and pain.
Remember, when a man is inflamed with the vehement
heat of a burning ague, what anguish, what torment
is both in the body and soul,* Now of this temporal
pain, measure how great the pains be which that
eternal fire doth cause, which the fiery flood that
runneth before the horrible judgment-seat of Christ
doth overflow with flaming waves. What shall we
do there .' What may we answer .' There shall
nothing be there but gnashing of teeth, but howHng
and weeping and late repentance, where help shall
cease, and pains increase on every side, nor there is
no comfort anywhere, no man [shall come to our
sight, but only the ministers of pains, and the ugly
faces of the tormentors. And that which is most
grievous of all, there shall be no comfort of the
air and light ; for round about the places of pains
shall be outward darkness, and that the flaming fire,
which as it hath the nature not to consume and
destroy, so it hath not to give light, but it is a dark
fire and a black flame to them that remain therein.
What horrible trembling, what resolution,f and as it
were a melting of his body and bowels, what rending
* Dr Watson had a severe attack of ague in the beginning of
1 559- Jewel wrote to Peter Martyr on January 26: — "It is reported
of Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, that he is dead " (Zurich Letters, i,
7).-Ed. + i.e., Breaking up, — Ed,

PRESUMPTION. 183

of his flesh and members, what and how great affliction
is in all senses, no speech can express. There be
divers and sundry fashions of pains, and in every man
and woman, according to the number and greatness of
sins, are multiplied the pains.
And if thou would say, how can a body suffice to
endure so great pains which knoweth no end of time,
consider what chanceth sometimes in this life, and
of a little, conjecture the great. How sometimes we
see some wasted with "a long disease, and yet can find
no end of their wretched and hateful life. But al
though the body is sometime dissolved by death,
yet the soul is not consurried. Whereupon it fol-
loweth, that when the body likewise shall receive
immortahty, neither then the soul nor the body can
with any pain be utterly destroyed. For in this pre
sent life it cannot chance that the pain of the body
should be both vehement and perpetual, but the one
giveth place to the other, because the frailty of the
body cannot sustain both. But when both are made
incorruptible, then may the pain rage at will and find
no end. Let us not think that the extremity of our
torment shall make an end of our sorrow, but as we
said, our sins shall kindle our pain, and incorruption
of body and soul shall without end continue the same.
And if it were so, that equal time and all one space
were appointed for the pleasure here and for the pain
there, should there be any man so foolish and so mad
that would choose for one day of pleasure to suffer one
day pf pain, when as the sorrow of one hour and
every torment of the body is wont to make us forget
all time'passed in pleasure before .'

184 THE SACRAMENTS,
But now, whereas it is possible in a short time, if
we convert to God, to escape all these torments of
pains, and to attain eternal joy, why do we linger ,'
Why do we tarry, and do not use the largeness and
free gift of God .' The unspeakable and infinite good
ness of God hath already provided, not to extend the
time of our labours and conflicts, nor to make it long
or eternal, but short, and, as I might say, a moment
of an hour.
This is even the life present, if it be compared to
the life eternal. The goodness of God hath therefore
provided that in this Httle short life -should be our
conflicts and labours, and in that which is eternal
should be the crown and reward of our merits, that
our labour should soon be ended, and the reward of
our merits should endure for ever. But this, like as
it rejoiceth them that, through patience of labour,
receive the crown, so it tormenteth and afflicteth
them in time to come that see themselves for a short
time of pleasure to have lost eternal glory, and to
have gotten perpetual misery. And lest we come
into this vexation of mind, let us now awake while
we have time. Lo 1 now is the time acceptable, now
is the day of repentance (2 Cor. vi. 2). But if we
neglect our life, there remaineth for us not only those
evils which we shall suffer in hell, but an evil more
grievous than all that. To be excluded from all
goodness, and to be deprived of such joys as be
ordained for saints, doth engender such a grief, such
a sorrow, that if no other did otherwise vex us,
that alone might suffice. The lack of the glory we
had in our power to enjoy passeth all the torments

PRESUMPTION, 185

that be in hell. For when the whole universal world
shall come to judgment to be judged of that Judge
that needeth no witness, that seeketh no proofs, that
admitteth no orators, but, all these set apart. He
Himself discovereth and sheweth abroad both deeds,
words, and thoughts, and everything, as it were
painted in certain tables, He layeth open before the
eyes of them that did them and of them that stand
by, how shall not every creature then shake and
stand in great fear .' And if then the flood of fire
did not overflow the world, nor the terrible angels
assist God, and if there were no face and horrible
sight of torments, but only this, that if men were
called forth before the King, and some should be ac
counted worthy praise and honour, and others with
shame, rebuke, and confusion abjected out of sight ;
if men should only suffer this kind of punishment,
would not it in a manner exceed all the pains of hell,
that other men receiving rewards of the King, they
had deserved shameful repulse with confusion .' How
great pain this is, although my words cannot fully
teach it now, yet when it shall come to experience of
the matter in deed, then we shall plainly know it be
cause we shall painfully feel it.
Add also to all these, the sorrows 6f the torments,
and not only the confusion and shameful reproach,
but also put before thine eyes the way that men be
drawn to the fire and pains ; think upon the cruel and
horrible ministers of the pains that throw down head
long sinners into all kinds of torments, and that (too)
the same time that other (which lived well) are borne
up by the most clear and pleasant angels, before the

1 86 THE SACRAMENTS.
high -seat of the eternal King, and are rewarded with
crowns of glory and immortal reward. It is no
marvel if the infidels, and they that believe not the
general judgment and the resurrection to come, care
not how they live, and have no compunction of heart
nor remorse of their sins ; but for us that see things
to come surer than things present, to live so wretch
edly and to take no remembrance of the judgment
to come, but to fall into utter contempt of it, it is
extreme madness, and one of the greatest sins of all,
when we that believe, frame our lives like unto them
that believe not.
To fall into sin is a point of man's infirmity, but to
remain in sin still is a point of the devil's obstinacy.
Thus let us put before our eyes the last day, and
make haste to amend our lives till* we have time.
For He that hath promised pardon unto us whenso
ever we convert, doth not promise unto us long life
and to livewhilef to-morrow. Watch therefore (saith
our Saviour Christ) because ye know not the day nor
the hour (Matt xxv. 1 3). Ever ought we to be afraid
of the last day which we cannot foresee. We ought
therefore to seek our Lord God whilst He may be
found, and not to lie sleeping in sin as the five foolish
virgins did, till the Spouse come and the door be
shut For then shall the door be shut to them that
too late and unfruitfully shall lament, which now
standeth open to all that truly and betimes will be
penitent. There shall be repentance then, but not
fruitful ; for then shall he find no pardon that now
wilfully loseth the time of pardon. If we then pray
* i,e.. While, + i.e., UntU.

PRES UMP TION, 1 87

with the fooHsh virgins. Lord, Lord, open the door to
us, we shall hear Him say again, I know you not.
For there is no man can obtain that which he asketh
which here would not fulfil that which God com
manded. He that will be out of all doubt and avoid
the danger of eternal death, let him do true penance
whilst he is in health, and hath space and occasion
of God offered to do it, and then may he be sure,
because he hath done penance in that time when he
might have sinned more. But if he will then take
repentance when he can sin no more, then sin doth
forsake him, and he not it, and then it is no marvel
though God condemn him in his death, that ever
before condemned God in his life.
It is easy for a sinner at the beginning to arise, but
if he delay his conversion, the longer he remaineth in
sin, the harder it will be for him to arise. The longer
the devil possesseth a man, with the more difficulty
will he let him go. David smote Goliath in the fore
head, and so killed him (i Kings xvii, 49). Whereby
we be taught that the devil is soon killed if we smite
him in the forehead, that is to say, at his first entry
into us by sin and in the beginning of our Hfe. If by
heaping one sin. upon another we accustom ourselves
.to the same naughty living, in process of time sin
will wax strong in us and prevail over us, and make
us as bondsmen and slaves unto it and to follow that
way whithersoever the devil shall lead or move us.
Then shall God's special grace go from us, God's
Spirit forsake us, -and we be left to ourselves, when
one sin shall be a punishment for another. A custom

1 88 THE SACRAMENTS.
in everything is marvellous violent, specially when it
hath bodily pleasure joined with it, first to entice, and
then to enforce the soul to sin.
First, a man that is not careful how to live and
please God, by neghgence and not regarding his
deeds, suffereth the fear of God to go away, and then
beginneth he curiously to search and love things
without himself, as worldly vanities and estimation,
whereby inward devotion in the heart decayeth.
After that curiosity, he findeth soon that pleaseth
his will, and doth practise that is evil and hurtful to
his soul. Thus proceeding f^•om vice to vice, he is
led by his own lust, not stopped by any shame,
leaving that which is lawful and following that which
liketh him. In this damnable lust is he bounden by
custom, which maketh those vices that he practiseth
to be as it were natural to him, and so from custom
faileth into contempt of sin, giving lust the bridle,
and running headlong whithersoever it carrieth him.
This contempt bringeth in extreme mahce, and
causeth him to be glad when he hath done evil, and
to rejoice in all iniquity. This is the pernicious and
deadly chain of sin that draweth a man even down
to the pit of hell, which cannot be broken when it is
once surely Hnked, except he stop at the beginning and
loose the links before they be knit one by one. This
chain made Lucifer, an angel of light to be a devil
in hell, which falhng from God by presumption, in
creaseth in malice by obstinacy. This way go all
they that be children of the devil, first by presump
tion, not caring to sin, and then by obstinacy, refus-

PRESUMPTION, 1 89

ing to rise. But let us consider with ourselves the
danger which we be in that have sinned and not
done penance.
Now is the axe put to the tree-foot ; if we fall by
death, having evil fruit and not good, we shall perish
for evermore (Matt iii. 10). Let us consider the
casualty of our frail life, the malice of the devil our
ghostly enemy, the nature of sin, wherein the longer
we tarry the harder it is to come out, the goodness
of God, that so patiently provoketh us to return, the
unspeakable joy that by God's grace lieth in our
power to attain, the horrible pains of hell, which by
our sin we justly deserve, and let us without any
deliberation or counsel, but in all haste, fly out of
Egypt, and run out of Sodom, that is to say, out of the
kingdom of darkness and sin, by the way of penance,
using God's patience to our amendment, not abusing
it to His anger and our confusion. For if we say
with the wicked servant, My Lord prolongeth His
coming, and begin (as he did) to beat the servants
and maids, our fellows, by any oppression or injury,
and also begin to eat, drink, and be drunken (Luke
xii, 45), the Lord of us and of that servant shall come
in the day when we look not for Him, and in the
hour when we know not, and shall give us our reward
amongst infidels and unbelievers. But if we by-and-
by, at the hearing of God's Word (as the Ninivites
did at the preaching of Jonas), do not harden our
hearts, but convert to Him unfeignedly by penance,
as they did (Jonas iii,), then may we be sure of His
mercy and remission, then shall be great gladness

I-gO THE SACRAMENTS,
in heaven among the blessed angels of God for our
conversion, and we, for well using of His grace, be
brought to the fruition of His glory, the which God
give us through Christ our Lord, to Whom with
the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour.
Amen,

( 191 )

THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON,
OF CONTRITION,
YE have learned (good people) by the words of
Holy Scripture, and by the public and uniform
preaching of Christ's universal Church, that penance
is the only medicine to heal the diseases of our sinful
souls, and the only means ordained of Christ to
reconcile us again to the favour of Almighty God,
Whom by our sin and the transgression of His law we
had grievously offended. And to the intent that every
man might use this wholesome medicine after the true
sort, and in such wise as it may be acceptable to God
and profitable to his health and salvation, I shall (by
God's grace) declare unto you at this time which be the
parts of penance, and principally rest in the declaring
of the first part.
Penance which is perfect and fruitful hath three
parts, Contrition in heart. Confession in mouth,
Humility or satisfaction in work. For seeing this
sacrament of Penance is like a judgment, where there
is both accusation, witness, and sentence, we may
understand that God is the Judge in this court of our
conscience, where our thought is our accuser, our
conscience witness against us, confirmed with the

192 THE SACRAMENTS,
confession of our own guiltiness, which presupposeth
the sorrow we take for our offences, and contrary to
the manner of all worldly courts, because we do not
stand in defence of our own deeds, but plead guilty
before God, Who hath promised to pardon all them
that convert and humble themselves before Him,
therefore sentence of absolution and free pardon is
granted to us by Him that willeth not the death of a
sinner, but rather his conversion . and life. Which
sentence is put in execution when the party guilty
submitteth himself voluntarily to the correction and
discipline of His merciful judge or of His minister in
His name. And by this we may perceive that of this
sacrament there be the three parts we spake of before.
Now concerning the first part it is to be known
that contrition is an inward sorrow and repentance
which a sinner willingly taketh for his sins for the love
of God, Whom he hath so unkindly offended, for the
which he fully purposeth to sin no more, but to keep
Christ's commandments truly, and to make restitution,
and to confess his offences, and to do satisfaction for
them, as he shall be enjoined. This is the contrition
and repentance that every sinner must take for his
sins, and (for better knowledge of the same) let every
man mark well every point and part of it.
First, that is an inward sorrow which is taken, not
for any natural inclination, as for that sin of itself is
dishonest or bringeth infamy and slander to the doer ;
for such sorrow is not true contrition, because it pro
ceedeth not from faith, which is the foundation of
penance, which no man can do except God with His
grace prevent him, and freely by His mercy convert

CONTRITION, 193

him ; nor yet only proceedeth from fear of punishment
either temporal or eternal ; for that declareth that the
sinner doth not nor would not forsake his sin, if he
knew that he might continue in the same still without
any pain or punishment ; but it proceedeth from the
love of God, Whose majesty we have offended,'* and
therefore are angry with ourselves, and hate that our
naughty sin wherewith we did offend, and had rather
suffer any pain, be it never so great, than to offend
Him again. This is the true sorrow of contrition which
is taken for our sins, principally for this respect, that
we have offended our most merciful Father, which
contrition He will never despise, but receive to mercy
all those that with so pure an heart do turn to Him.
Blessed S, Peter, in the repentance that he took for
his sin, left an example how we might have true con
trition, which is to do as he did ; for he was very
sorry, and wept bitterly for his offence alone by him
self (Matt xxvi. 75). And yet he did not so for any
bodily hurt that he had for denying of his Master,
our Saviour Christ, nor for any loss that he had of
worldly goods, nor for any rebuke that was given
him for his denial, nor yet for any fear that the Jews
would have put him to shame because he had denied
his Master, for he knew they would neither hurt him
nor blame him, but rather favour him for it. But these
¦* The Bishop does not reject the imperfect contrition which is aroused
by the fear of God's justice (though he rightly rejects the raere dread
of eternal pain). He alludes with approval to the motive of fear in
several places. There will be found nothing in these serraons on
penance, when they are read candidly, and one place weighed with
another, that is not in harraony with the teaching of the Council of
Trent,— Ed, N

194 THE SACRAMENTS,
things caused him to be sorry and to weep for his
sin. First, he did remember and consider the
great perfection, holiness, and goodness of his Mas
ter, and how He was the very Son of Almighty
God, and also he remembered how He had taken
him and made him His disciple, and how great
favour and singular kindness He had shewed him,
for the which he considered how fervently he
loved Christ, and how greatly he was bounden so
to do. And then he remembered the promise he
had made unto Him, and how unfaithful he was in
breaking that promise, and unkind in denying and
forsaking His Master. And thus the remembering
and considering of these things caused S. Peter to be
contrite and to weep for his sins, and to wish that he
had not denied Christ and further to will that he
would never offend again nor break his promise any
more, but ever keep and fulfil justly all that ever his
Master, our Saviour Christ, did command him to do.
And so S. Peter did. After this manner should we
consider our sins, and be sorry and contrite for them.
Surely, if we sinners did call diligently to our
remembrances the great goodness of our Saviour
Christ ever shewed unto us, as how He redeemed us
with His most precious blood and painful death, and
hath chosen us to His disciples, and made us in
heritors unto heaven, and how merciful and gracious
He is always to us, and how holy, just, reasonable,
laudable, and how easy a law He hath given us,
and then consider further, particularly, and more in
special. His goodness, and that He hath done and
doth daily for us, we should then see that we

CONTRITION. 195

ought to love, laud, and honour Him above all crea
tures, and fulfil His commandments, which we have
vowed and promised to do. And then, if we did con
sider the vileness and naughtiness of our sins, and
how much we did against natural reason and honesty
in doing of them, and how greatly we did offend God
in presuming to do so evil in His presence and sight
against His law, and in breaking our solemn promise
of keeping His commandments ; and then, if we did
consider that in doing of our sins we did not regard
His gracious goodness and favour, nor fear His power
and most dreadful punishment, — if we did well con
sider these things, and were fully persuaded of God's
mercy, which He is ready to shew to all that unfeign
edly will forsake their former naughty ways and turn
to Him, we should then take this contrition, and see
that we ought to be more sorry for our sins than S.
Peter ought to have been for his. For our Saviour
Christ had shewed us more kindness, and had done
more for us, than He had done for S, Peter at that
time. For He died afterward for our sakes, and
redeemed us, and delivered us out of the hands of
the devil. And again, our sins be more, and we have
oftener broken our promise than S. Peter did, for
he brake it but once, and that was for fear, and we
have sinned oftentimes without any fear or com
punction, but rather willingly, yea, and divers times
we have desired to sin, and studied how and where we
might fulfil our ungracious lusts and desires. And
thus ye may see that we ought to be more contrite
and sorry for our offences than S, Peter ought to have
been for his. By this example ye may know for

196 THR SACRAMENTS,

what cause and by what mean ye may have contri
tion. And surely the sinner that doth well weigh
and consider this that I have spoken, shall be sorry
that ever he sinned, and did against the will and com
mandment of our Saviour Christ Which is so good
and gracious, and he shall will that he had never
offended, and he shall hate sin, and purpose and at
tend to Hve well, and to make amends and restitution
of that he hath wrongfully taken or done, and shall
humble himself by acknowledging and confessing his
faults, and submit himself wholly to the correction
and discipline of God and His holy Church, not
doubting but that he shall be received to grace and
mercy and remission of all his sins.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that the sorrow
and repentance which a thief taketh for his theft
when he shall suffer death for it, and the repentance
that misliving man or wOman taketh for their misliv-
ing when they shall be brought to any open shame,
or shall get any painful disease thereby, is not that
true- contrition that we speak of, nor yet any other
like sorrow that men may have and take for their
offences in other like cases; because such like
sinners and offenders be not sorry, for that they did
against God's law and offend Him, but they be
sorry for the death, or shame, or other pain, which
they shall suffer for their naughty living.
Yet notwithstanding these other pains whereunto
they come by order of law, they may also be sorry
for their sins, specially and most principally because
they .did offend God in despising Him in doing their
sins, more than for any shame or pain they shall

CONTRITION. ig7

suffer here for them, and if they so do, having the
mind and will to sin no more, but to make restitution,
and to confess and make satisfaction for the same,
then they have true contrition, and may be sure of
mercy and be saved if they die in that mind.
And although a man is not truly contrite when
he is sorry only for the fear of pain, be it corporal
pain or everlasting pain, yet the fear of pain is an
introduction preparing the way for true contrition.
For charity, without the which no man liveth in soul
by grace, is builded upon fear of God's judgment,
when a man is glad to be loved of God Whom He
feareth, and dare be bold to love Him again, and is
afraid to displease Him Whom he loveth, although
he might do it without punishment. For no man
cometh to God that is not smitten with some fear. For
which cause S. John Baptist, preparing the way for
Christ and remission of sin (Matt, iii.), beat into
the people's heads the horror of their sins and the
fear of God's judgment. And S. Peter in his first
sermon, after that he had brought the Jews in fear of
God's anger, by declaring unto them how they had
crucified and killed Jesus Whom God had made
Christ their Lord, and so had smitten their hearts
with fear (Acts ii, 22-27), then he taught them to do
penance, and to take true contrition for their sins.
Thus, when a sinner looking upon God's law, either
written in the book, or written in his own heart,
whereby he seeth, as in a glass, what pleaseth or dis-
pleaseth Almighty God, and seeth also by faith that
God threateneth damnation and everlasting death to
all sinners, and then is accused secretly by his own

198 THE SACRAMENTS.
conscience, that he hath broken that eternal law of
God, not only in thought but also in deed, and per
ceiveth the vileness and greatness of his own sin, how
often he hath offended, and into what misery he hath
brought himself, and of what great graces and joys
he hath deprived himself thereby, being then separate
from the spiritual communion of Christ's Church, and
guilty of eternal damnation, then, if there be any
sparkle of grace left in that man, if he be not obdurate
and clean forsaken of God, he will begin to fear and
tremble, which fear will break the hardness of his
heart and prepare the way for wisdom and grace to
enter it Without the whichTear no man can receive
remission of sins and be made righteous (Ecclus. i.
27, 28). Which fear of hell is not in charity, but pre
pareth a place for charity, and as charity increaseth
in a man's heart, so it decreaseth till perfect charity
possess the whole (i John iv. 18). After this fear a
sinner beginneth to hate and abhor his sin, whereby
he was brought into so great danger and misery, and
so proceedeth to lament and be sorry for his offences.
And as in the doing of his sins there were two
things, the naughty deed and the carnal pleasure
that was joined with the same, so in the forsaking of
his sins there must be two things, ceasing from the
deed, and sorrow for the sin past. For so the pro
phet crieth, " Quiescite perverse agere " (" Cease to
do evil," Isa. i. 16). He that continueth still in his
naughty doing is far from all kind of true penance.
For how can he turn to God that is not turned from
his sin, nor he cannot be sorry that still is doing
the thing for the which he is sorry. And it is to be

CONTRITION, 199

understood that this sorrow of contrition is inward
in the heart, and not feigned, only pretended in the
outward behaviour. Which the very word contri
tion doth signify; for that is called contrite that is
bruised and beaten into small pieces or powder. Even
So when the hardness of a man's heart is mollified
with sorrow and tears for that he hath by sin dis
pleased God, then is his heart contrite. A hard
heart is that which is not cut with compunction, nor
made soft with pity, nor moved with prayers, nor
yieldeth to threatenings, but is unkind after benefits,
without shame of dishonesty, without fear of peril,
giving no place to any good motion, but withstand
ing by continuance in will to sin. Even so on the
other side a man's heart is contrite, when he is cut
with compunction, mollified with pity and devotion,
moved with prayers and exhortation, is afraid by
threatenings, allured by kindness, ashamed of dis
honesty, giving place to God's inspiration, putting
away the will and love to sin, abhorring his former
filthy living, displeasing himself and lamenting for
the same, and with sure trust of God's mercy sub
mitting himself wholly in all points to obey His will
and commandment.
An heart after this sort contrite and humbled, God
will never despise nor reject (Ps. 1, 19), but accept
it as a sweet sacrifice ; of the which the prophet saith,
" Be ye turned unto me in all your heart in fasting,
in weeping, and lamenting ; cut your hearts and not
your garments " (Joel ii, 12, 13); and our Saviour saith,
" Blessed be they that mourn, for they shall receive
comfort " (Matt. v. 5) ; which mourning is not from

200 THE SACRAMENTS,
the lips outward, to say or pretend themselves to be
sorry, but to declare it outwardly in deed as much
as they can by weeping and lamenting.
And this contrition is the cross of Christ, which
every Christian man and woman that foUoweth Christ
in this world beareth voluntarily upon his own back,
and so sheweth the virtue of Christ's cross in his
own flesh, ever carrying about the mortification of
Jesus Christ in his body (2 Cor. iv. 10), that the life
of Jesus may be shewed in his body. And because
we must turn to God with our whole heart, and the
quantity and greatness of this sorrow is to be measured
by the quantity of our crimes, so that he which
hath sinned much do lament much, that his penance
be found no less than his crime, and the more that
he doth humble himself by sorrow, the more shall
he be exalted to grace ; the more abject he is in his
own sight the more accept in the sight of God.
Therefore our Saviour Christ forgave S, Peter his sin
by-and-by, because he wept bitterly and did not
increase his fault by driving off his amendment For
a true penitent loseth not time. For the time past
he redeemeth again, whilst that he calls to remem
brance all his years past in the bitterness of his soul.
The present time he doth fully possess by sorrow
and exercise of that virtue which is contrary to that
he offended in. The time to come he loseth not, by
constantly endeavouring himself to perform that good
purpose of sinning no more which he hath godly
begun, remembering the sayings of the Apostle,
While we have time let us do good (Gal. vi, 10), and •
he that continueth to the last end shall be saved

CONTRITION, 20 1

(Matt X, 22). For except a sinner determine surely
with himself in his mind to leave and forsake all sin,
and intend never to do any again, but to keep God's
commandments justly from that time forward, he
shall not obtain forgiveness of his sins at God's hand,
nor his contrition is not perfect and profitable unto
him. Wherefore it is to be feared that many, yea,
and all those which shortly after confession turn to
their sins again, did not will and intend to forsake
all sin before they -were confessed ; for if they had so
intended, either they would have so continued, or if it
had chanced them sometime to have fallen, they would
have risen again by-and-by and forsaken their vice.
And this contrition, although it seem to a carnal
riian a painful thing, yet to him that is truly penitent
it is very sweet and pleasant, and is the very joy of
the Holy Ghost in his heart For, as the prophet
saith, "According to the multitude of sorrows in my
heart. Thy comfort hath made glad my soul" (Ps.
xciii. 19).
The more the sorrows be in a contrite heart for the
love of God, the more doth comfort abound, when he
knoweth and seeth that he shall have mercy and for
giveness for all his offences, according to God's most
loving and merciful promise. And also he that hath this
contrition, his good deeds which he shall do afterward
be acceptable to God, and profitable for his salvation, so
long as he hath it and is in that mind. And if it should
chance him to die before he can be shriven and make
satisfaction, yet then shall he have mercy and for-
igiveness and be saved, what sins soever he hath done,
for the contrition which he had, and for the good

202 THE SACRAMENTS.
mind and purpose that he died in, and as the prophet
saith, " The iniquity of the wicked man shall not hurt
him, in what day soever he shall be turned from his
iniquity" (Ezek. xxxui, 14, 15), For in this case God
accepteth a man's good mind instead of that he
should have done ; which our Saviour Christ shewed
in pardoning and saving the contrite and penitent
thief that suffered with Him (Luke xxiii, 43),
Therefore (good people) let us not neglect our
souls, which is that precious treasure God hath com
mitted to our care, seeing we may return easily and
repay it with small labour. Howsoever we esteem
this affliction of penance, yet in very deed it is but
light and short ; as S, Paul saith, " The light short
ness of our affliction in this present life worketh the
eternal weight of glory in time to come, in us that
look not to things which we see, but to things we see
not ; for things that we see be temporal, things that
be not seen be eternal" (2 Cor, iv. 17, 18). It is now
only required of us to leave that most shameful bon
dage of sin we were in, and to return to our former
virtue, considering the pain that foUoweth riot and
the glory that is reserved for virtue ; and as we have
been rash in falling to sin, so let us be circumspect in
the remedy, being well ware of our doings hereafter
by reason of our fall before. Thus shall we mitigate
the displeasure of Almighty God, Whom we have
offended, and after reconciliation shall proceed further
from grace to grace, till we come to the greatest grace
of all, which is the glory of God, to the which He
bring us that made us, to Whom be all glory and
honour. Amen.

( 203 )

THE EIGHTEENTH SERMON.
OF INWARD CONFESSION TO ALMIGHTY GOD.
IT is to be known (good people) that true con
trition, whereof ye have been something in
structed, is never without humble and meek con
fession of a man's sins to Almighty God, which
confession is truly done when we open our sins to
Almighty God secretly in our own hearts, con
demning ourselves and our deeds before God with
much sorrow and compunction taken for them,
always looking at God's mercy and free pardon for
the merits of His Son Jesus Christ. And as prayer
is always to be used, as S, Paul commandeth (i
Thess. v. 17), so this confession is at all times to be
used, which ought to be the chief part of our con
tinual prayer ; whereby we humble ourselves before
God, confessing our iniquity, blaming ourselves, and
praising Him, being severe judges over ourselves, to,
the intent He might be our merciful Saviour.
This confession is a part of true contrition, and a
distinct thing from the sacramental confession, which
is made to a priest for the attaining of absolution,
wherein consisteth the sacrament of Penance, which
hereafter in another sermon shall be by God's grace

204 THE SACRAMENTS,
declared unto you. For every man that seeth and
perceiveth his own shameful and beastly living, is
both by the law of nature written in his heart, and
otherwise by the law of God and inspiration of His
Holy Spirit, moved and provoked to be ashamed of
himself, and to accuse himself, his own thoughts ac
cusing or defending his deeds (Rom, ii, 15) ; which to
a man endued with a knowledge of the true living
God, and delivered from the superstitious darkness of
the unbelieving Gentiles, is a great furtherance to cease
from his sin and to amend his life. Seeing that the
confession of a fault is a profession to leave the same,
therefore we ought first to forsake our sin whereof we
have begun to make confession, and then to have good
hope of forgiveness. For it is not only sufficient * to
accuse ourselves, and to be seen to declare our sins,
but to do it with this affection, that we may have
hope thereby to have some justification given unto
us through our penance. For so we may let in shame
into our soul, confessing itself, that it fall no more
into the same crimes it confessed before. For to
condemn and call himself a sinner is a common
thing to all. Christian men and infidels.
Many of these beastly men, and specially unchaste
women call themselves sinners and mischievous per
sons, but they do it not for this intent that they de
sire to be amended ; and therefore this is not to be
called a confession, for it cometh not forth of a con
trite heart and in the bitterness of tears, nor yet with
that affection, as men that hate that which they blame,
and have a will never to do it any more, nor yet to
*The meaning is, it is not sufficient merely to accuse ourselves, &c, — Ed.

CONFESSION TO GOD. 205
hear of it ; but the thing is only in words, and in
words from the lips outward, not proceeding from the
inward sorrow of the heart ; so that sometimes they
require to be praised for that, as they were men that
would not lie, but although it were against them
selves, yet would they say truth. As who say, the
crime seemed not to men so grievous, when that is
spoken of him that did it, as when it is reproved of
another. But this do they that for much despera
tion lack also the feeling of sorrow, and then fear
not the reproach of men, but with impudent boldness
blaze abroad their own faults, as they were other men's.
But I would have us do none of all these ; neither
with desperation to confess our sinful life, but with
good hope of pardon, the root of desperation being
clean grubbed out. And like as a man, vexed
with a grievous sickness, hath need of many medicines,
and hath little to buy them withal, if a physician
come unto him that is sick and say, Thou hast need
of divers kinds of medicines, and knowing that thou
art not able to buy them all, yet buy me one or two
of the best of them and least worth,* and the rest I
shall find at my own cost freely ; even so Almighty
God saith to us. Give me thy confession and the
tears of penance, and the rest shall I find of my
gentleness and free gift
God giveth mercy and healthj,and the sinner giveth
the confession of his sins, which was given him before
to give. A small thing, yet that he is able to give,
as David said, " I knowledge and confess mine
iniquity " (Ps. 1. 5). '-*?>,, Least costly.

206 THE SACRAMENTS,
But on the other side, how many sinners be
there that live careless, that rob and steal, and will
not understand, that oppress the widows and father
less, that circumvent the simple, and live other ways
wretchedly, and yet will not recognise and see the
destruction and mischief that hangeth over their
heads, and in the meantime do that evil they like
with boldness, neither mourning nor weeping, nor
confessing their faults. How can these men be saved,
not acknowledging their sins, nor having the judgment
of God before their eyes 'i Yet blessed David made
plain confession, saying, " For I know my sin, and
it is always in my sight." He forgot it not although
it was forgiven, but had the adultery and murder
which he committed painted in his conscience as in
an image, and every day he saw the corruption of it,
and therefore said, " My sin is always in my sight."
Lord, I see it, do not Thou consider it ; I write it
in my conscience, Lord, put Thou it out. This is it
that Elias said. If thou remember it, God will forget
it ; if thou forget it, God will remember it ; for God
saith of Himself, I am He that blotteth out thine
iniquity (Isa. xliii, 25), but be thou always mindful
of it. Why would Gpd have a man always to re
member his sin .' That His mercy should be to the
sinner more thankful, and that he should perceive the
better what God hath forgiven him. He that always
remembereth the heap of his sins, shall also remember
the greatness of God's merciful benefits.
Such were the holy men in old time ; they did not
call to their remembrance their virtues but their sins,
and did not as men do now, forget their sins, being

CONFESSION TO GOD, 207
desirous to hide them and keep them close, and shew
forth to all men their good deeds if they have done
any, and boast themselves of them. But if thou hast
done any good, keep it secret that thy Lord may see
it and praise thee for it For if thou boast thyself
of any good deed, thou hast received glory of men.
If thou hast done evil, remember it that God might
forget it ; if thou shalt tell thy faults, thou hast made
them less ; but if God shall tell them and lay them
to thy charge. He shall increase them. If thou be
ashamed to tell thy sins to thy neighbour, then tell
them daily inwardly in thine heart I do not bid
thee tell them to thy neighbour and fellow-servant,
to the intent he should upbraid thee with them, and
utter them again to thy confusion, but tell them to
thy Lord God, that shall not upbraid thee with them,
but heal them and take them clean away. Not for
that God doth not know them, seeing He knoweth
all things, and was present when thou didst them,
and knew them before they were done, but for that
He would have thee to know them, and by confessing
of them, to recognise the greatness of God's mercy in
pardoning of them, and so afterward warily to avoid
them and humbly to thank Him, This medicine is
neither costly nor grievous, and yet restoreth a man
perfectly to his former health ; for he that would have
his disease healed and be brought into health, let him
put out of mind all worldly cares, and with repentance
go to God the Physician, and before Him pour forth
his warm tears, and with much diligence confess his
sins against himself, and bringing steadfast faith with
: him, let him trust and put his confidence in the art

208 THE SACRAMENTS,
and cunning of the Physician, What cost or grief
doth this merciful Physician require of us ,' He
requireth contrition of heart, compunction of mind
confession of our fall, careful and humble continuance,
and He doth not only heal our diseases, but maketh
us righteous men which were laden with sin before.
What great mercy and excellent goodness is this,
when he that offended confesseth his fault and
asketh forgiveness, is by-and-by pardoned and made
righteous ! And for plain declaration hereof, hear
the prophet's words, " Tell thou thine iniquity first
that thou mayest be justified " (Isa, xliii. 26), He
saith not only. Tell thine iniquities, but tell them
first ; that is to say, tarry not till they be laid to thy
charge and thou reproved for them, but prevent thou
thine accuser and have the first word, and so thine
accuser shall be dumb.
See the excellent mercy of this Judge. If a man
should do so in worldly judgments, and should confess
before he were accused, were the judge never so
merciful, yet he should have sentence of death ; but
such is the clemency of our merciful Judge and the
Physician of our souls, that if we prevent our adver
sary the devil, which at the last day shall stand before
our face, and in this present life before judgment fall
to confession, and preventing all other, be our own
accusers, we shall provoke our Judge to so great
m.ercy that He will grant us not only to be delivered
from our sins, but also to be accounted in the number
of just men.
For if Lamech, which had no law whereupon he
might learn, nor heard no prophet, nor had no other

CONFESSION TO GOD, 209
admonition, but even by the judgment which was
given to him in nature, being privy to his naughty
murder, confessed openly against himself that he
had done, and condemned himself (Gen. iv. 23), what
excuse can we have, that with all diligence will not
shew our sores to the intent we might have them
perfectly cured .' For there is no greater enemy to a
man's sin than a man's own proper condemnation and
confession of his sin joined with repentance and tears.
Whereof we may take an example of a thief that was
crucified with our Saviour Christ, which when he
was suffering for his own crimes, took no care of him-
- self, but opened his sins to Christ. For as his sins
did make him foul and vile, so the confession of them
opened Paradise to him. For no doubt of it, if he had
not confessed his sins here, he should have been com
pelled to have confessed them there where more pain
and more shame should have followed. And yet the
shame (if it be well and truly considered) ought rather
to be in the doing than in the confession of our sins,
for it is no shame to confess to God, but rather virtue
and righteousness, for if it were not virtue God would
never have promised a reward for it, saying (as I said
before), " Tell thou thy sins first that thou may be
justified," And who shall be ashamed to do that
deed whereby he is made righteous, seeing God
commandeth us to confess our sins, not to punish us
but to pardon us .' For which cause, lest a man should
fear to be punished after confessing of his fault David
saith, " Make confession to God because He is good,
and His mercy is for evermore " (Ps. cxvii.)
What profit should a man have if he should not
o

210 THE SACRAMENTS,
confess his sin ? Can he keep it from the knowledge
of God, Who knoweth the secrets of man's heart
and all things before they be done ,' No, no ; it is
worse not to confess the sin than to transgress the
law ; it is worse to refuse our conversion than to con
temn God's admonition. It is worse not to mitigate
God's displeasure by our satisfaction than to deserve
His displeasure by our transgression. The Ninivites
confessed their sins and lived, the Sodomites neglected
confession and perished (Gen. xix,) The Israelites
when they sinned, they were delivered to their
enemies ; when they confessed their sins, they were
delivered from their enemies; for like as no man
escaped God's plague when he sinned, so every man
had God's pardon when he confessed his sin. Through
hope of this holy David prayed to God that he might
be washed more and more, because he knew his
iniquity, and his sin was always in his sight (Ps.
1. 4, 5), not by delectation to frequent and continue it
but by hatred to avoid and abhor it. The publican
in the Gospel confessed his sin and went home justi
fied, the proud Pharisee boasting his good deeds, went
home in worse case (Luke xviii, 1 1-14). Confession
is the fruit of humility, which is also the mother of
grace, for the attaining whereof the Holy Ghost
teacheth us always to be occupied in this kind of
confession, saying by the prophet " That the righteous
man is ever first of all the accuser of himself in the
beginning of his words" (Prov. xviii, 17).
Wherefore (good people) let us be as diligent in
preserving and increasing our treasure in heaven,
as these worldly merchants be in preserving their

CONFESSION TO GOD, 211
treasure in earth. For it is a common trade of these
rich men, lest the charges of household do exceed
their gains, early in the morning as soon as they rise,
before they go about their business, to call their
servant, and to ask an account of their expenses, that
they might know what is evil spent, what well, and if
they see their stock decay, then to seek an occasion
how to restore it again. Even so let us do in our
business, let us call our servant, which is our con
science, to an account for our thoughts, words, and
deeds, and search what is spent for our profit what
for our destruction. What word is evil spent in
brawling, replying, jesting, and slander ; what
thoughts have provoked the eye to fornication, the
heart to malice, the hand to injury and mischief of
our neighbour. And when our servant hath told us
everything, then let us cease from wasting any more
of our heavenly treasure, and seek by gain to restore
that which by negligence was lost. For idle and
naughty words let us bring home and store up holy
prayers ; for injury done to our neighbour, mercy and
alms ; for intemperate living, fasting and abstinence.
For if we spend our good treasure still in waste, and
restore nothing that is good again, when we shall be
brought to extreme misery, and the time of our
merchandise is past and gone, then shall we seek and
find no help, no, not so much as one drop of water to
quench the heat of our tongue's end. The merchants
use to call their servants to account early in the
morning, but our best time is to call our conscience
to account in the evening. When thou goest to bed
and hast nobody to trouble thee, then bring forth thy

212 THE SACRAMENTS,
account book, and search diligently, if anything all
the day before be done amiss, either in word,
thought or deed ; for so the prophet giveth counsel,
saying, " Be angry, and sin no more ; those things ye
speak in your hearts, be sorry and contrite for them
in your beds" (Ps. iv. s). In the day-time a man
hath many lets, his labours, his offices, the care of his
household; children and family, and other affairs, both
private and public, which diversely do grieve or occupy
a man on the day-time. But when he goeth to bed,
and no man calleth upon him nor troubleth him, then
let him commune with his own soul, and sit as it were
upon judgment upon himself, examining what good
he hath done all the day before or what evil, and if
he find that he hath done good, let him humbly
give God thanks. Whose grace did move him to it,
assist him, and brought it to that good end.
But if he find that he hath done evil, let him cease
from the evil deed, blame and accuse himself, with
sorrow and compunction beat his own heart, wash his
bed with tears as David did, confess his sin to Al
mighty God against himself, and humbly pray Him of
pardon and remission, and then, using this nightly, let
him pierce and smite through his soul with the fear
of God, and be ashamed to come with one fault twice
before Him, Who by an impenitent heart is provoked
to vengeance, as by a contrite heart He is bowed to
mercy, and seeketh occasion by all means to shew
mercy to all men. This manner of daily confession,
watered with tears of a man's own eyes, is through the
merits of our Saviour Christ a sponge to wipe away
the filthiness of our sins, and a medicine preserving

CONFESSION TO GOD. 2 1 3
us from falling to sin again. Thus preventing His
face in confession we may be sure of forgiveness
(Ps. xciv,) For as Solomon saith, " He that
hideth his sins shall not prosper, but he that con
fesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy ''
(Prov, xxviu, 13). Fear of hell with hope of
mercy worketh the sorrow of penance, out of which
cometh forth unfeigned confession, which is a vehe
ment voice in the ears of God, and persuadeth much
to mercy and remission of sin, to increase in grace,
and by continuance in the same to eternal glory,
whereof God make us all partakers through the
merits of our Lord Jesus Christ to Whom with the
Father and the Holy Ghost be glory and honour now
and evermore. Amen.

( 214 )

THE NINETEENTH SERMON.
OF CONFESSION TO A PRIEST,
IN this sermon (good people) I intend by God's
grace to declare unto you, wherein the sacra
ment of Penance consisteth and what is the matter
of it It consisteth in the absolution which by a
Catholic priest is given to a penitent sinner in the
name of God, Who is the principal judge and remitter
of all sin, and the matter of it is that humble and true
confession which a penitent sinner maketh to God
before a priest, God's minister institute for that
purpose to remit or retain sin. This sacrament of
Penance for sins committed after baptism is neces
sary to salvation, which is full remission of the same
sins, and it is institute and ordained by our Saviour
Christ, when after His glorious resurrection, and before
He ascended He gave to His Apostles priests, and so
to others, power to absolve and forgive sinners their
sins, saying to His Apostles thus : " Receive the Holy
Ghost " (John xx. 22), the sins of those that you for
give, be forgiven, and the sins of those that you
retain, be retained (verse 23) ; that is to say, are not
forgiven. In which words our Saviour Christ gave

CONFESSION TO PRIEST, 2 15
power and authority to all priests both to remit sin,
and also to retain sin, and ordained them to be judges
in His kingdom, the Church, to hear and determine all
crimes and offences which shall be committed against
Him and His laws. This power our Saviour never
gave to angels, nor archangels, nor to no worldly prince,
but only to His Apostles and those that have in His
Church the order of priesthood, which power is very
great and excellent, as pertaining to the soul of man,
and reaching to heaven, where Almighty God rati-
fieth above whatsoever sentence priests shall give in
earth. This power no priest can exercise worthily, with
out the confession of the sinner himself, which is the
only way for the priest to know and understand what
he ought to forgive, and what to retain and not for
give, except he should blindly and rashly behave
himself in so great an office, forgiving that he knoweth
not what. For neither ought he to bind those that
be innocent, nor to loose those that be obstinate, but,
according to his office and commission, to exercise
the same in binding and loosing after that he hath
heard the variety of the sins confessed. For God
doth pardon them only that be truly penitent for
their offences, and begin and further purpose to
amend their living. And because the power of the
priests is two ways, to forgive the sins of some, and
to retain the sins of others, therefore our Saviour
Christ gave to them the Holy Ghost, that they might
effectually execute both the functions, and also the
better discern the one from the other. And also
considering that Christ in plain words affirmeth, that

2t6 the sacraments.

no sin is remitted before God in heaven, which is re
tained and not remitted by His ministers, the priests,
in earth ; therefore the Holy Catholic Church of
Christ even from the beginning thereof, understandeth
by the said words of Christ, that it is necessary, by
God's law, that every man and woman, when they
have sinned deadly, should confess their sins to a
priest, if they may have one, because they cannot
otherwise obtain pardon of their sins, but by a priest's
absolution sacramental, except it be impossible for
them to have the same, as when the sinner would
confess and cannot speak, or cannot get a ghostlj?-
father ; for in such cases God accepteth a man's good
will and unfeigned contrition instead of the sacramen
tal confession, where the sacrament is excluded by
urgent necessity and not by contempt of religion.
So that the execution of this heavenly authority
requireth judgment and discretion in the priest to
discern what is to be remitted, what not seeing every
sin in every man is not to be remitted ; whereunto is
necessary the knowledge of the fauft, which cannot
be had of a man that seeth not the secrets of an
other's heart, except the party being guilty declare
his own conscience, and reveal plainly his secret
offences. For which cause the Holy Church teacheth
that the same words that give authority to priests to
forgive or retain sin, the same also do enjoin and
bind all sinners to confess their sins to priests for the
attaining of the said remission. Therefore it is to be
believed of all men and women, that confession of
deadly sins is to be made to a priest by God's law, as
necessary to salvation, without the which the neces-

CONFESSION TO PRIEST. 217
sary sacrament of Penance cannot be ministered,
seeing that it is the matter of the same sacrament,
whereby the offender is both accuser of himself and
also witness against himself, and yet may not be his
own judge, pardoning himself, but ought to confess
his fault not only privily to God, to Whom nothing is
secret, but also, without shame or disdain, to him
whom for that purpose God hath vouchsafed to make
His vicar and delegate judge, and to undergo his
judgment and sentence, to the intent his conscience
may be quieted and he fully reconciled to Almighty
God. For men are bounden necessarily to open their sins
to them, to whom the dispensation of God's mysteries
is committed, for so we see that our fathers did in
their penance, seeing it is also written in the Gospel
that the Jews confessed their sins to S, John Baptist
(Matt iii, 6), and the people of Ephesus to the
Apostles, of whom they were baptized (Acts xix. 5).
Wherefore (good people) I exhort you, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that this necessary and
wholesome medicine of your souls be not lightly
regarded of you ; but whosoever hath his conscience
loaden with the heavy burden of sin, or wounded
with the dart of the devil's temptation, or infected
with the poisoned contagion of deadly sin, let him
run without delay to this present remedy which our
Saviour Christ hath ordained and offered to all men.
Let him go to the physician whom God hath appointed
for his soul, and hath fully authorised and instructed
what to do to the healing of the same, and let him
humble and submit himself not only under the mighty

2l8 THE SACRAMENTS.
hand of God, but also to a mortal man, being God's
vicar and steward of His mysteries, not regarding
the man for the worthiness of himself, but for the
dignity of his place and administration, never account
ing him to be vile whom God hath vouchsafed to
make His vicar. And to him, or rather to God be
fore him, let him open his wound, show his leper,*
and humbly confess his sin, wherewith he hath
offended Almighty God, and with an humble and
contrite heart require remission of his sin, giving full
confidence to the words of Christ, and believing that
to be remitted with God in heaven, whatsoever the
priest (of what state soever he be) by exercising of
God's commission remitteth to him in earth, knowing
that God is faithful, and neither can deceive, nor be
deceived, but always assisteth the due ministration
of His sacrament, working the same effect inwardly
in the soul of the true penitent that the words of the
priest do outwardly to his ear signify, which is remis
sion of all his sins.
Let not shame stop this humble confession, but
let every man rather be ashamed to sin than to con
fess his sin. For, as the wise man saith, " There be
two manner of shames, one that bringeth to sin,
another that bringeth to grace and glory " (Ecclus,
iv. 25). The good shame is when a man is ashamed
that he doth or hath sinned, and although no other
creature were privy to it, yet he with reverence feareth
the sight of God that always seeth him. This kind
of shame driveth away confusion and reproach and
worketh grace and glory, in that either he doth for-
¦* i.e.. Leprosy,

CONFESSION TO PRIEST, 219
bear to sin, or else by penance punisheth, and by
confession banisheth his sin committed, whereas his
glory is the witness of his own conscience.
The naughty shame is when a man is ashamed to
confess his sins. This kind of shame driveth away
grace and glory, and worketh eternal confusion, which,
like a lock or bar, stoppeth the door of his mouth,
and will not let the poison of the heart to be cast
out, till the soull)e dead and drowned in the bottom
of sin.
Wherefore this is certain and sure, he that for
shame contemneth and refuseth to confess his sins
here, when remedy may easily and presently be had,
he shall be compelled to confess them there when
greatest shame shall be in the presence of Christ,
His angels, and the whole world, and endless pain
shall ensue.
This is the subtle craft of our ghostly enemy the
devil, who useth this naughty shame as an instrument
of all mischief, in that he persuadeth a man to cast
away shame, and to be impudent and careless of his
living, and so to fear neither God nor man, but
boldly to sin, and impudently to boast and defend
the same. And on the other side, when the same
sinner is smitten with the fear of hell, and is com
punct in heart, and by God's grace moved to whole
some penance and confession, then the devil useth
the same instrument again, restoring that he took
away before, that is to say, shame, not to sin, but to
confess his sin, and so keepeth him still fast bounden
and locked in the chains of mortal sin, that the keys
of heaven, committed by Christ in S, Peter to the

220 THE SACRAMENTS.
Church of God, cannot open that lock and loose the
prisoner, because shame keepeth him from confes
sion, without the which the keys cannot be used to
the delivery of the prisoner.
By this we may understand that the confession
of sins is the witness of a conscience that feareth
God ; for he that feareth the judgment of God is not
ashamed to confess his sin, and he that is ashamed
feareth not For perfect fear looseth all shame : the
suffering and avoiding whereof is a certain pain and
punishment for the sin, because by this means the
pride of a sinner's heart which God resisteth is
broken and pulled down, and by humility is made
meet to receive the grace of God, And also that
pernicious security which a sinner regardeth not so
long as he hath glory in himself and pleasure in his
carnal living, is by kneeling down and submitting
himself to God's minister taken away, whilst that he,
laying his own life with all the abominations thereof
before his own eyes, learneth to know himself, and
how vile he hath made himself in the sight of God,
and is so affected as he would wish to be if he were
even then at point to depart out of this world, which
is a bridle and a great stay for him to refrain from
sin, and to avoid the same in time to come.
For which cause let every man confess his own sin^
whilst he is yet living and remaining in this world,
whilst his confession may be admitted, and satisfac
tion and remission which is given here by the priest,
is accepted before God. If any infection of deadly
sin or infidelity hath entered into his heart let him
not be ashamed to confess it to him that hath cure

CONFESSION TO PRIEST, 221
and charge of his soul, to the intent it might be
cured by the Word of God and wholesome counsel,
so that by perfect faith and good works, he might
escape the pains of eternal fire, and come to the
reward of eternal life. But if he that is stinged with
the serpent the devil, hold his peace, and will not do
penance, and confess his wound to his brother and
master that hath cure upon him, then can his master
that hath a tongue to heal him profit him nothing ;
for how can the surgeon minister an apt and whole
some medicine, if the sick man will not open and
shew his wound unto him .'
For the same way is observed in the confession of
sins, which is used in the wounds of a man's body.
Like as the sores of a man's body be not opened to
every one, but to such as can skill to heal them,
even so ought the confession of sins to be made to
them that can heal them, which after what sort it is
done ye have heard it declared from the mouth of
our Saviour Christ, Who promised to allow and
accept as forgiven whatsoever His minister in His
name shall forgive, and also denieth it to be remitted,
which by His minister is retained and not remitted.
Do what a man can, and search as much as he will,
and he shall find after baptism no other table or
board to save himself from the shipwreck of sin, and
drowning in damnation, and to be brought unto the
sure ground of grace and the state of salvation, but
only by this sacrament of Penance which is minis
tered by a priest to him that is truly penitent, and
faithfully confesseth his sin, and humbly requireth
absolution for the same. And, although the contri-

222 THE SACRAMENTS,
tion of an humble heart may be so great that the
sentence of God in heaven may go before the
sentence of God's minister in earth, yet that true
contrition always includeth a full purpose and
determination to obtain remission at the priest's
hand by confessing his sins as soon as he may
have opportunity. For else he cannot have true
contrition before God, that proudly contemneth God's
ordinance, and never intended to require the same
of God's minister.
Thus, when a sinner forsaketh his sin, and cometh
to confession unfeignedly as he ought to do, then
doth Almighty God mercifully blot out his sin, and
forgiveth all the punishment which he deserved to
suffer in hell for breaking of God's eternal law, and
setteth him again in the state of salvation, and then
the sinner feeleth his conscience discharged of the
heavy burden of sin, and may be glad and quiet in
his conscience, knowing surely by the most sure and
merciful promise of Almighty God, that He hath of
His goodness pardoned and forgiven him all his sins,
and doth bear him again His gracious favour, and
loveth him as much as He did before, and that He
hath given him also new grace and spiritual strength,
and made him able to receive His own Son our
Saviour, God and man in the blessed Sacrament of
the Altar, and helpeth him continually in this life to
pass through the dangers of the same toward the
kingdom of heaven, to the which God bring us that
made us, to Whom be all glory. Amen,

( 223 )

THE TWENTIETH SERMON.
WHAT A SINNER OUGHT TO DO IN MAKING HIS
CONFESSION.
AFTER that ye have learned (good people) the
necessity of confession, how every sinner is
bounden to confess his sins to a priest by God's law
for the attaining of absolution and remission of sin,
now foUoweth to be declared what a sinner ought to
do in making his confession. First a sinner ought,
before he come to confession, to make an account
with himself of his life, and to call to his remem
brance how many deadly sins he hath committed
since the time of his last confession, wherein such
diligence must be used, as the necessity and dignity
of the work of God which is absolution doth require,
being willing and ready to do all things that be neces
sary for the recovery of grace and health of his soul,
which a sick man would do for avoiding the death of
his body. And this the sinner ought to do for two
causes, the one that he might thereby take special
repentance for every offence that he did, forasmuch
as he did disobey and offend Almighty God, and
had some special pleasure in every one, and therefore
he ought to call his sins to his mind, and for remedy

2 24 THE SACRAMENTS.
of the same to take some displeasure and repentance
for every one of them. The other cause is, that he
might have his sins ready and the better in his mind
for to show them unto his ghostly father when he
cometh to confession. The which King David did
well perceive that sinners be bounden to do, and
therefore when he had sinned he said thus, " I will
study to remember my sin, because I will confess it "
(Ps. xxxvii. 19). And the example of the prodigal
son in the Gospel teacheth us also so to do, who
returning to his father considered how evil he had
lived, and he called then to his mind what he would
confess and say to his father when he should come to
him (Luke xv. 18), Th]us when a sinner hath dili
gently examined his own conscience, and called to
his remembrance how often and wherein he hath
offended his Lord God, taking special repentance and
contrition for every offence, then he ought to
come to his ghostly father with great desire and
humility, not as to a man to hear some worldly and
profitable counsel, but as to the messenger or vicar of
our Saviour Christ representing His person. Whose
embassage he useth for making peace and reconcilia
tion between the sinner and God (2 Cor. v. 20), to
the intent he might hear of him the word of God,
which is the word of absolution for his sins by past,
and also be instructed by the word of God how to
live well hereafter and avoid sin. And whereas
the effect of God's sacraments do not depe;id upon
the virtue or worthiness of the priest the minister,
but upon the commandment and ordinance of God,
who by His Spirit doth assist the due administration

MANNER OF CONFESSION, 22 5
lof the same ; therefore a penitent sinner ought rather
to regard the virtue and power of God that worketh by
His minister, than the state of the person, be he high
or low, a just or an unjust man, so long as he is a
member of God's universal Church, and by toleration
suffered to minister in the same ; and he ought to
give full credit to the words of absolution, that then his
sins be clearly remitted, if his heart be then disposed
and meet to receive the same remission, and if he
put no stop to God's grace as they do that lack faith
and true contrition.
And so the penitent sinner, coming to a priest
and humbly submitting himself to him as represent
ing the person of Christ, ought to rehearse wholly,
simply, and faithfully all the deadly sins which then,
after diligent searching of his life, do burden and vex
his conscience. For although the Holy Church doth
not burden a sinner to confess every venial sin, which
is impossible or very hard to do, for who doth know
all his faults .' (Ps, xviii, 1 3) ; and also seeing that
venial sins do not take away charity, nor do not exclude
a man from the kingdom of heaven, without the which
this frail and mortal life cannot be passed over, yet if
a man fall oftentimes into such small sins, they ought
not to be neglected but avoided* betimes, because
contempt in all things aggravateth the crime, and
specially in procuring the remedy, and also a man
shall give an account in the day of judgment for
every idle word that he shall speak (Matt, xii. 36).
But all mortal sins, such as be transgressions of God's
^commandments, and bring a man in state of dam-
" i.e.. Got rid of, P

226 THE SACRAMENTS,

nation, so many as come to his remembrance after
diligent search and inquisition, the sinner ought to
confess ; and not only such as he knoweth certainly
to be mortal sins, but also such as he doubteth of,
and knoweth not certainly whether they be mortal
sins or no, because whatsoever thing is not of faith, is
sin (Rom, xiv, 23), And he that doth or alloweth to
be done anything whereof his conscience reprehendeth
or condemneth him, doth therein against his con
science and sinneth deadly, and ought to confess it,
and learn of his ghostly father (to whom judgment is
given to discern between leper and not leper, sin and
not sin) how to know and avoid the same afterwards.
Furthermore, it is to be considered that God doth
not forgive one mortal sin and retaineth another un-
forgiven, but always when He forgiveth, He for
giveth altogether, the which He shewed in expelling
all the whole legion of devils out of the man of
Gerasen (Luke vni, 33), and He shewed the same
again when He pardoned Mary Magdalene (Luke
vii, 48), And the Scripture caHeth that man happy
whose sin God hath not imputed but covered (Ps,
xxxi, I, 2), and if there .were any sin remaining
imputed unto him and not forgiven, he should not be
counted as happy, but as an enemy to God, Now,
seeing the Father hath given all power to the Son,
and the Son hath given the same power to the priests
of His Church, whose judgment, both in binding and
loosing in earth, is confirmed and ratified by God in
heaven, therefore the remission which the priests give
to penitent sinners, ought to be Hke and agreeable
to the remission which is given by God (John xx, 23)

MANNER OF CONFESSION, 227
that is to say, a full remission, not forgiving one
mortal sin without another, but either forgiving all
at once, or none at all. And because (as ye were
taught before) the priest cannot worthily exercise
this authority of forgiving or retaining sin, except
the sinner open his conscience, and confess his sins
himself, both, because he cannot otherwise know what
is to be remitted, what is not, and also because he
may not rashly remit that he knoweth not and
is not confessed unto him, therefore the sinner
is bounden fully and plainly to confess all his sins,
and every particular sin which, by diligent searching
of his conscience, cometh then to his remembrance.
For the concealing or hiding of any one mortal sin
which he remembereth, is the cause why all the other
which he confesseth be not forgiven. For he, then,
in hiding of that mortal sin in confession, did sin
deadly, and there dissemble with Almighty God, to
Whose eyes all things be naked and open. A general
confession, whereby a man calleth himself a sinner, is
not sufficient, but a special confession and rehearsal
of every mortal sin that we remember is required,
that by knowing the number and quantity of our
offences, we may likewise know the greatness of God's
merciful goodness in remitting of them. He that is
not penitent will call himself a sinner, and every just
man will confess himself to be a sinner; for he that
saith he hath no sin is a liar, deceiving himself, and
also maketh God a liar, and hath no truth in him
(i John i. 8). But his general calling and confessing
himself a sinner is not the matter of this sacrament of
Penance, because it is not a faithful declaration of all

228 THE SACRAMENTS.
the crimes which he remembereth, but a certain crafty
colouring and cloaking of his crimes, which by a con
fuse and general confession he dissembleth both before
God and man, as though he were but as all other
men be. Which general confession, if it lack contri
tion, is a proud presumption and a glorying that he
hath done evil ; if it be joined with contrition, then,
although it be not sacramental, forgiving deadly sins
by virtue of the keys committed by Christ to His
Church, yet by virtue of the contrition, humility, and
prayer joined with it, it profiteth to the remission of
venial and daily sins, and prepareth the sinner's heart
to the attaining of further grace. Therefore, like as
contrition ought to be without hypocrisy before God,
not of one or two sins but of all, even so confession
sacramental before God's minister ought to be whole
and perfect, seeing the death of the soul by sin can
not be taken away by parts, but wholly altogether,
when grace and life is by absolution restored and
given. And after perfect knowledge of the whole
state and life of the sinner, the priest who hath cure
and charge of his soul, may the better in counselHng,
comforting, and absolving, discharge his duty towards
Almighty God again.
And furthermore, that which I have said concern
ing the confession of all a man's sins, is also to be
understood of the circumstances of the same sins,
such as do aggravate the crime and make it more
heinous, and increase the contempt of God in com
mitting them. As a sin oftentimes used and done is
more grievous than that is but once done, and the
sin of a prince or priest is more than the same kind

MANNER OF CONFESSION, 229
of sin in a subject or layman, and sacrilege, which
is robbing of churches or unlawfully taking away
of that belonging to the Church, is greater crime
than other robbery or theft, and he that by a
mahcious and naughty mind and with long study,
tempteth and provoketh himself or any other to
adultery or like sin against his neighbour, sinneth
more than he which doth the same crime by frailty,
suggestion or occasion of other: these and such
other circumstances ought a sinner to express in his
confession,* that his humility and shamefacedness
in confessing his fault, may agree and be like to his
pride and impudency in committing the same fault,
always taking heed that he confess but his own faults,
and do not therewith bewray the faults or persons of
other, and that also without too much curiosity and
scruple of conscience, and only for this intent that
his ,sin and the greatness thereof might appear and
the doubts of his conscience be taken away.
For to extenuate and make little in words that
crime which is very great in deed, is likewise to
diminish the glory of God that should pardon it,
which is the way not to get pardon at God's hand,
but to lose it ; Who doth not gladly give a benefit,
which is not thankfully accepted and esteemed
accordingly as it is. This is the most common and
subtle craft that the devil useth with all sinners. At
* It is safe in practice to follow the opinion that there is no strict
obligation to confess any circumstances but such as either change the
species, or increase the number, or involve a censure or a reservation,
or which the confessor requires to know in order to prescribe a remedy
or to impose restitution. — See S, Alph., Thiol. Mor., lib, vi, 468. -
Ed.

230 THE SACRAMENTS.
the beginning he doth cover and hide the sin he
moveth them unto, and maketh it seem nothing or
very little, to the intent the sinner may take boldness
to do it. This boldness bringeth in use and custom to
sin, which by continuance is turned into nature, so
that then any exhortation or admonition can little
prevail, but whithersoever the flesh and the devil
leadeth him, thither he runneth headlong, only look
ing at the pleasure present, nothing regarding the
pain to come. But at the last end when the fearful
hour of death draweth near, then the devil doth not
extenuate but amplify the sin, then doth he beat into
the sinner's head, and lay before his eyes, the great
ness of his sin and the long time he used it, and the
contempt of God in doing it, and all the other cir
cumstances that do aggravate and make it horrible,
only to lead him further into desperation. From the
which earthquake of desperation, the bottomless pit
of all evils, I beseech God save us all.
And as we fear and abhor the end, so I pray you
let us avoid and cut off the cause, which was when
we did diminish our sin and esteem it but little,
whereby we grew in boldness to do it, and fell into
further extremity. If we stop at the beginning and
know our sin, and confess it simply as it is, without
any cloaking or diminishing of it of our part, we shall
provoke God to cover it, to turn His face from it, and
to wash it clean away.
There be many men that do not in words diminish
their sin, but plainly excuse it, which doth not miti
gate God's anger, but provoke it further, because they
do not therein confess their faults, but defend them.

MANNER OF CONFESSION. 23 1
rather excusing than accusing themselves ; whereby
their sins be not taken away, but more increased, A
proud heart that pleaseth itself, would not appear
guilty, and disdaineth to be corrected and convinced
when it offendeth, not abiding to accuse itself by de
vout humility, but seeking to excuse itself by intoler
able pride, which must needs fall and come to ruin.
To restrain this pride, holy David humbly required
of Almighty God that it would please Him to put a
watch and a. door before his mouth, that he do not
decline his heart to words of malice (Ps. cxl. 3) ; that
is to say, to excuse his sins. For what is more mali
cious and wicked than those words be, whereby a
naughty man denieth himself to be evil, although his
own conscience doth convict him of the same evil,
which he is not able but by malice to gainsay, and so
doth arm his tongue to kill and destroy his own soul ,'
Such an one was the proud Pharisee in the Gospel,
who displeased God not so much for boasting him
self of his good deeds, as for excusing his naughty
deed, saying that he was not hke other men (Luke
xviii, 11). And cursed Cain also, after that he had
killed his brother Abel, being asked of God where
his brother was (Who asked him that question not
for ignorance, but mercifully to give him occasion to
confess his sin and obtain mgrcy), answered again
that he could not tell, and further cloaking and ex
cusing his sin, said, " Am I the keeper of my
brother .' " For the which excusing, which was an
other sin besides his murder, he was pronounced that
he should be accursed upon earth ; and from that sin
he fell further into desperation, saying that his sin was

232 THE SACRAMENTS,
greater than he might deserve and obtain forgiveness
(Gen, iv, 9-13). Wherefore I pray you, for God's
love, tb lay away all manner of excuses, when ye
come to confession, knowing that ye speak to God
Who seeth the secrets of every man's heart, to Whose
eyes all things be open and naked. If a man were
the judge who might be deceived, to purge the fault
with some craft, and to excuse it, might seem to be
profitable for a time ; but where God is the Judge
that cannot be deceived, a man may not falsely ex
cuse or defend his sin, but truly and plainly confess
his sin.
There be some men, also, that where they cannot
nor do not deny the fact, yet they will lay the fault
and blame upon some other thing or person from them
selves, as upon youth, ignorance, sorrow, or evil coun
sel, or the temptation of the devil, or the inordinate
desire of their bodies, or upon destiny, as though by
the moving and powers of the stars and heavens above,
they were compelled and forced to do evil. And
some pestilent and abominable heretics there be that
for excusing of themselves, do accuse Almighty God,
and impute their mischievous deeds to God's predes
tination, and would persuade that God, Who is the
fountain of all goodness, were the author of all mis
chief, not only suffering men to do evil by their own
wills, but also enforcing their wills to the same evil,
and working the same evil in them. Which words
(good people) be not the words of malice only, whereof
I spake before, but rather the words of blasphemy ;
and therefore I will not now spend this httle time in
confuting their pestilent and devilish sayings. For

MANNER OF CONFESSION, 233
it is better to abhor them than to confute them.
Only at this time know you (good people) that these
and all other such-like excuses and sayings be false.
For every Christian man and woman hath so great
strength in his soul, and hath his will so in his own
power, that neither the devil, nor the flesh, nor evil
counsel, nor any other thing can cause a man to do
any sin, except he will himself grant or consent unto
it. And it is always in the person's free choice that is
tempted by the devil, or by the flesh, or by evil counsel,
or any other thing, to consent unto the evil, or to re
fuse it and not to consent unto it. For if a man will
not consent to do sin, there can no creature cause
him or compel him to do any ; and therefore when a
man hath done any sin, he cannot in any wise justly
excuse himself for the doing of it for he himself was
the very causer and doer, and might have left it un
done if he had list And so you may see (good people)
that he which layeth any excuse for his sin in con
fession, doth wrongfully excuse himself, and accuseth
other falsely in saying that they were the causes
why he sinned, and in so doing, besides his former
offences, he committeth a new sin, and thereby stop
peth the influence of God's grace, and is void of all
remission. Furthermore ye shall understand, that there be
some persons that although they plainly and truly
confess their faults, yet they will otherwise excuse
the same, by justifying their naughty doings in com
parison of other that did worse, as he that oppresseth
ihis subjects or tenants, or will take more than his
iduty is for his labours or pains, and then in excusing

234 THE SACRAMENTS,
of himself, saith that other that were before him in
like authority or office were more extreme men, or
took more for their labours than he. And also sellers
of wares that deceived the simple buyers, will say that
they were deceived themselves, and must needs utter
the same again for as much as they can. Therefore
let every man take good heed that he do not excuse
his own fault, because he can tell of other that have
done worse, but rather let him accuse himself that
he hath not done so well as other that have done
better, setting the virtue of good men as an example
before his eyes to follow, and not the vice of evil
men. Last of all, a sinner ought to put away all indis
creet and false accusing of himself, that is to say, he
may not accuse himself of more sins than he hath
done, neither in special nor in general. In special,
as when a man hath read in books the division of sin,
how many parts and branches it hath, and then
according to such books will confess himself to be
an offender in the same, rehearsing every branch
particularly, in so doing he lieth upon himself by
confessing more sins than ever he did, and in that
sinneth against God, and therefore this manner of
confession is nought, and ought of every man to be
refused. Likewise a sinner ought not to accuse him
self wrongfully in general, as saying that he hath been
the most shamefullest liver and the greatest sinner
that ever was, or that can be, or any other like sayings,
for they be nought and false. What knoweth he
how great sinners hath been or may be .' And there
fore men must put away such indiscreet sayings, and

MANNER OF CONFESSION, 235
speak soberly, truly and faithfully to Almighty God
in their confessions, and then let them not doubt but
steadfastly trust of absolution and pardon for all
their sins. Judas that betrayed our Saviour Christ,
and Cain that killed his brother Abel, confessed their
sin openly, but did not trust surely of mercy, and
therefore their unfaithful confession did nothing profit
them ; but he that avoideth and observeth all these
things which, as I have now declared unto you, ought
to be avoided and observed in their sacramental con
fession, no doubt of it he shall be joyful and glad in
his heart, and perceive himself eased of a great heavy
burden. And the more he remembereth the merciful
goodness of Almighty God in pardoning him his
manifold offences, the more thanks he will give Him,
and the more will he study and labour to honour
Him, and to live justly from that time forward, still
increasing in grace and righteousness by the aid and
help of our Saviour Christ, to Whom with the Father
and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory.
Amen.

(236)

THE TWENTY-FIRST SERMON,
CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS WHEREBY A MAN ^ MAY
CONSIDER HIS LIFE AND MAKE HIS CONFESSION
THE BETTER.
AS I would wish that every person which cometh to
. confession, should dihgently search his whole
life, and examine his acts and deeds before he come,
that his confession might be made in order ; whereby
the minister should not be compelled to appose and
examine the penitent, which in some cases may
chance to do more harm than good, by putting that
in the penitent's head by his questions, which he
never thought of nor had experience of before, even
so (good people) I think it expedient at this time,
not to set forth a general form of confession how
every man should confess himself, which (standing
the variety of men's lives and offices) cannot agree to
every person, but I think it profitable to rehearse
unto you certain things wherein our Saviour Christ
hath and doth shew unto us His merciful goodness
and kindness, for the which we are always bounden
to thank Him, and also wherein we sinners have
shewed again to Him our great unkindness, for the
which we are bounden to do penance and "to make

THANKSGIVING. 237

amends ; the often and diligent remembering whereof
will be a great help for every man to know the
state of his life and to make his confession the
better. First, I would exhort every man and woman to
thank God highly for His merciful kindness shewed
unto him in his creation, in his redemption, and in
his regeneration. In his creation appeareth God's
kindness, in that He might have made him a mean
creature sensible or insensible, which He did not,
but rather of His goodness made him one of the most
excellent creatures of all other under heaven, to His
own image and siriiilitude, and to be inheritor of the
kingdom of heaven, and also made all other creatures
to help him and to serve him here in this present
life, to the intent he might the better serve God.
Also a man is bounden to thank God for the
benefits of his redemption, in that Christ by His
painful Passion redeemed him from the possession of
the devil, and made him meet by the merits of the
same Passion to be brought to the state of salvation
and the fruition of eternal life. And also for the
benefit of regeneration, that is to say, when he was
christened and received the holy sacrament of
Baptism. For although Christ had redeemed him
with His most precious blood, yet might he have
remained still an infidel, as many do, and so should
have been damned, if Christ had not called him and
caused him to be christened, by which baptism He
made him actually an inheritor unto everlasting Hfe.
And here also a man is bounden to thank God for
that He hath not only set him in the highway to

238 THE SACRAMENTS.
heaven, but also hath sent one of His blessed angels
to be with him here, and to keep him, to help him,
to admonish him, and to defend him against his
mighty and most vigilant enemy. On the other side,
a man ought to consider and confess his great
unkindness, how that afterwards, when he came to
the years of discretion, he did not obey God, nor
love, laud, nor honour Him according to his most
bounden duty and promise made at his baptism, but
brake His most holy commandments, and so
despised and dishonoured God, for the which he
ought to require His most merciful forgiveness.
And this a man may do particularly, perusing all
the ten commandments, considering in every one
and in every branch where and how he hath
offended. Secondly, a man ought to thank God highly for His
great kindness, in giving unto him the special gifts of
his soul, of his body, and of his worldly goods. The
gifts of his soul be free will, remembrance, and reason
lightened with faith, by which he may clearly per
ceive that God's commandments be very just and
good, and very easy to fulfil and keep, and that he
shall have God's gracious favour and be saved by
keeping of them. And also he may see, that to live
according to God's law is the most laudable, joyful,
and most pleasant life that any man can have in this
world, because God hath commanded nothing but
that is very laudable and good, and again He hath
forbidden nothing but that is evil and greatly against
reason, and yet to the intent a man should avoid and
forsake any such evil, God hath forbidden it under

THANKSGIVING. 239

pain of damnation. Likewise a man may consider
the special gifts of his body, as right shape, beauty,
good proportion, strength, and such other, and also
the external gifts of this world, as riches, lands or
patrimony, estimation, authority, and such other, and
yet over and besides all these it hath pleased Almighty
God to promise him a reward in heaven for occupying
and bestowing these gifts well. And here on the other
side, a man ought to acknowledge and confess his
great unkindness unto Almighty God, for that he hath
bestowed the rehearsed gifts naughtily unto God's dis
honour. Because he hath oftentimes with his reason
understanded, and with his memory remembered, what
God hath commanded and the goodness of it and yet
he hath refused and would not do His commandments
when he ought and might have done them. Likewise
he hath understanded and remembered what God
hath forbidden, and the evil and naughtiness of it,
and that he should lose God's gracious favour, and
come in danger of damnation if he did it and yet
hath done that evil deed willingly. Also let him
consider how he hath occupied his remembrance and
wit in study and casting where and how he might do
evil, and how he hath misspent divers times and ways
the gifts of his body and also the gifts of the world, by
greedy and unsatiable desires in procuring and getting
them by wrong, injury, oppression, usury, ambition,
and other unlawful means, and in unmerciful keeping
of them by mistrust of God's goodness, and not help
ing his needy neighbours, and also in riotous and un
thrifty spending of them for maintaining of his fleshly
lust, worldly vanity and pride of life; wherein he hath

240 THE SACRAMENTS,
shewed great unkindness, and ought to be inwardly
sorry and to beseech God of His merciful pardon and
forgiveness. Thirdly, a man ought to thank God highly for His
merciful kindness shewed unto him in his reconcilia
tion, that is to say, always when he came to shrift
and confessed his sins. For although it be so that a
man hath broken his promise made to Almighty God
at the font-stone, and hath misused and misspent
God's foresaid gifts, and so greatly offended Him
that he hath deserved justly to have been cast into
the pit of hell, yet Almighty God, as a good Lord, of
His abundant mercy is evermore content to pardon
and forgive him, when he confesseth with a contrite and
humble heart his offences unto his ghostly father,
God's delegate judge and commissioner. For then
is he there mercifully absolved and all his trespasses
be clearly forgiven. And this merciful kindness is
God content to shew, not once or twice, but at all
times, and as often as he cometh to confession, and
doth also bear him again His gracious favour, and
giveth him grace to live well, and to do good works
and meritorious deeds for his salvation. In this
appeareth the exceeding goodness of Almighty God
in ordaining this most wholesome and present remedy
of penance, whereby every sinner may be delivered
always from the pains of hell, and be set again in
God's favour and state of salvation, for the which
every man is most bounden to render thanks to the
uttermost of his power. And on the other side he is
likewise bounden to acknowledge, and with sorrow to
confess, his manifold unkindness in that behalf, foras-

THANKSGIVING, 24 1

much as he hath divers times after his shrift and
reconciliation turned from God, and grievously sinned
again, and so hath greatly offended by breaking his
promise which he made when he was shriven, for the
which he ought to be sorry, and to beseech Almighty
God of His merciful pardon and forgiveness.
Fourthly, a man ought to thank God for His great
kindness shewed unto him, in preserving him from
many sins which he might have done, and also in
letting him from doing of divers which he vs^as in
mind to have done, and would have done them. For
every man may consider and remember with himself
that he might oftentimes have sinned when he did not,
which I think he should have done, if he had not
been preserved and kept from doing of them by God's
special goodness. Also seldom it chanceth but that
> man may understand how he hath been in mind
and will to have sinned divers times, and yet he hath
been let* and could not fulfil his evil purpose and
desire ; as sometime he hath been let by shame,
sometime by fear, and sometime otherwise, which
lets t (no doubt of it) God did cause him to have ; for
He is so merciful that He will not suffer sinners
always to sin so greatly, nor to run so deeply into
the hands of the devil and damnation, as they should
do, if they might evermore without stop or let do so
m.ueh evil and sin in deed, as they be willing to do
in their hearts. And here a sinner may grant and
confess, that he hath not considered this great kind
ness of God shewed unto him in these two rehearsed
points, but hath shewed great unkindness again,
* i.e., Restrained, t i-e,. Hindrances. Q

242 THE SACRAMENTS,
because that when he hath remembered the oppor
tunity and the meet time and occasion that he had
to sin in time past, and might have done divers sins
without let or stop, yet he hath not given to God due
praise and thanks for his preservation from sin, but
rather he hath repented him and been sorry that he
hath not done such evil deeds as he might have done.
Likewise when he hath remembered how he hath
been let, and could not do such evil as he was in
mind and willing to do, he hath not given God thanks
because he was let but rather he hath been discontent
and sorry that- he was let; for the which things he
ought now to be sorry and humbly beseech God of His
forgiveness. Fifthly, a sinner ought to give God most high
thanks for His singular kindness, shewed unto him
many times when he hath been and lain in deadly
sin, for that Almighty God (notwithstanding this
manner of rebelHon and obstinacy of the sinner in
remaining in sin, and not repenting him) yet did of
His great goodness and mercy come unto the sinner's
soul, and there did stand and knock, that the sinner
should have let Him in ; that is to say, God gave
him remorse of conscience, the which did grudge
against the sin that he hath done and was in, and by
that grudge of conscience he perceived, or might have
perceived, that if he would not leave and forsake his
sin he should be damned. And if he did forsake
and turn to God, and intend to live well and justly,
and to keep His commandments, that then God
would pardon him, and enter into his soul, and there
continue, and take it at his departure hence into a

THANKSGIVING. 243

better life in heaven. This merciful offer God did
always make to the sinner, upon the foresaid condi
tion, if he would forsake his sins and keep His law.
And to the intent he should so do, God gave him
grudge in his conscience against his sin, that he
should leave it and hate it and take His most merci
ful offer. And if he did not or would not hear God
in His knocking, that is to say, if he did not forsake
his sin by the remorse of his conscience, yet God
would not actually depart and go His way, but stand
still and knock again ; that is to wit, God caused him
to have good counsel, sometime of learned men, and
sometime of his other neighbours and familiar friends,
and sometime in hearing of godly sermons, by the
which he was exhorted to forsake vice and sin, and
so to let God come into his soul. And if he did not
or would not hear Him at this second knocking, that
is, if he would not do after and follow such good
counsel as God caused him to have, yet He would
not leave him so, but did knock yet once again ; that
is to say, God did suffer him to fall in some worldly
trouble or adversity, or into some bodily disease, that
he should then remember Him and his offences, and
forsake them, and to call to God for mercy, and so to
open the door of his soul and let Him in. Thus God
in His coming and knocking hath shewed to man
^reat and merciful kindness, and yet man hath been
very unkind and greatly offended again. For often
times he would not hear God, nor let Him come in,
but rather with pleasure and desire which he had in
sin, he stopped his ears, and would not suffer his
conscience to grudge nor shew him his offences, nor

244 THE SACRAMENTS,
he would not do after good counsel and exhortations,
nor would not esteem the adversity that came unto
him as a messenger, and the knocking of God's hand ;
but rather fast barred the door of his soul with fro
ward and obstinate purpose to continue and tarry
still in sin, and so did keep God out. But when the
devil came and knocked, and did move him but out
wardly to let in pride, envy, and malice, he was then
contented to open the door of his soul, and to let
them and many more other vices come in. And
when the world came and knocked, and moved him
to get and gather goods, not regarding how, and to
keep them covetously, then he opened the door, which
is the consent of his free will, and consented to let
covetousness come in. Also when the sensual appe
tite and inordinate desire of his body came and
moved him to fulfil his pleasure, as to refuse labour,
and to give him ease and rest, and to nourish him in
sloth and idleness, and to feed him delicately, and to
put away chastity, and to follow lechery and all
uncleanness, to these he set the door wide open, and
at the first motion consented to fulfil their desires.
And finally a sinner hath done all this in God's sight
and presence, without regard of His goodness, with
out reverence of His majesty, without fear of His
justice, and hath refused His merciful offers, and
would not suffer Him to come in, but kept Him out
of his soul, for the which he ought now to be sorry
and to beseech God, being a most merciful Lord, of
pardon and forgiveness, and not only that, but also
to renounce and forsake in his heart, all manner of
vice and sin, and to be in will and mind to confess

THANKSGIVING, 245

these and all other his offences, and to serve God
faithfully from henceforward in keeping His com
mandments, and to beseech Him to give him grace
that he never forsake nor fall from this good purpose
that he is now in, but evermore during his life to
love, laud, and honour God, according to his profes
sion, promise, and ability.
Here (good people) I might have spoken more
largely in the rehearsing of God's merciful kindness
to us, and of our naughty unkindness again to Him,
but for this short time I judged this to be meetest
for the most part of men, seeing that after this sort
we have commonly all offended, some more, some
less, and that every man here remembering these
points that I have declared now unto you, as by the
examination of his conscience he shall find himself
culpable, so he may frame his confession, adding or
diminishing as he seeth cause. Not that I intend
hereby to prescribe a form of confession, but only to
give certain admonitions how a man might the better
make his confession, exhorting every man, beside
these admonitions, diligently to learn the command
ments of God, and to search to know everything that
is there commanded or forbidden, and that by com
paring his acts and deeds with God's law, which is
the rule of his life, as his conscience well examined
will bring his doings and sayings to his remembrance)
and so coming in knowledge of his offences, he may
make his confession perfectly, first inwardly to
Almighty God, and then sacramentally to God's
minister, and thereby receive pardon and absolution

246 THE SACRAMENTS.

of all his sins, and grace to abstain from the same
afterward, and that all we may do so, let us pray
diligently to Almighty God the Father, to Whom
with the Son and the Holy Ghost be all glory and
praise. Amen,

( 24; )

THE TWENTY-SECOND SERMON.
OF CONFESSION TO A MAN'S NEIGHBOUR WHOM HE
HATH OFFENDED,
WE have learned (good people) what remedy our
Saviour Christ hath ordained and left in His
Holy Church against the poison and infection of sin,
and how that the sacrament of Penance [is that only
remedy whereby remission is gotten ordinarily for
every deadly sin that is done of a Christian man after
baptism, which sacrament of Penance consisteth in
the absolution that is given by a Catholic priest to a
sinner, being truly and unfeignedly contrite in his
heart, and plainly and wholly confessing his sins with
his mouth, submitting himself to the judgment and
discipline of the Church by wholesome satisfaction,
which in another sermon shall be declared unto you
by God's help.
He that is thus affected, and useth this sacrament
after this manner, like as he ought — steadfastly with
out any doubting to believe the effect of every sacra
ment (which by the virtue of Christ's Passion, and the
operation of the Holy Ghost, doth evermore work in
the worthy receiver that grace it signifieth), so he
may be assured that he hath received remission of
all his sins (even as the words of absolution do pur
port), and that he is reconciled and restored again to

248 THE SACRAMENTS,
the favour of Almighty God, if there be no impedi
ment and stop remaining in his heart whereby the
grace of God can take no place there, so long as that
stop is not removed.
And whereas the lack of true contrition, and the
hiding or excusing of a man's sins, be the special
stops of this grace of remission, yet there be other
stops, which, although they be generally contained
within these, yet it shall be very profitable for your
edifying, that they be particularly opened and
declared, to the intent you may the better know
them, and the sooner avoid them.
And principally because God is charity (i John iv-
8), and the God of peace (2 Cor, xiii. 11), and not of
dissension, and doth not vouchsafe to pour His grace
into that heart where hatred, enmity, and breach of
peace remaineth, therefore no man can be reconciled
to God, Whom he hath by his sin offended, that is
not reconciled to his brother or neighbour, whom by
some injury, either in word or deed, he hath likewise
offended. And as a sinner is bounden to confess his
sin to God for absolution, so a sinner, if he Have
offended his neighbour, is likewise bounden to con
fess his fault to his neighbour, to the intent all dis
pleasure and variance might be taken away between
them, and they by brotherly love made apt vessels
to receive the grace of God and remission of
sin. And although this brotherly confession be not
sacramental, that is to say, the proper matter of this
sacrament of Penance, as the other confession which
is made to a priest is, yet it is expedient and very

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 249
necessary to the attaining of the effect of the other
confession, which is remission of sin, and doth pre
pare a man's heart and maketh it the more meet to
receive the same.
So long as we live in this frail body as in earthen
vessels, we cannot always be free, but sometime we
shall offend and be offended, and as the offender ought
humbly to ask forgiveness, so the other party that is
offended ought easily and gently to remit and forgive
the wrongs or injuries that be done unto him, that the
members of Christ be always in peace^ and most ready
to keep humility and charity, the one in asking for
giveness, the other in freely forgiving. Of the first
speaketh our Saviour Christ in the Gospel, saying : —
" If thou offer thy offering before the Altar, and there
shalt remember that thy brother hath something
against thee, leave thine offering there before the
Altar, and first go and be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thine offering " (Matt. v. 23,
24). In these words we may perceive the great mercy
and unspeakable love of Almighty God towards men.
Who letteth go His own honour, for the zeal He hath
to nourish charity between neighbour and neighbour.
What can be more lovingly spoken than to say, Let
My service be left undone, that thy charity be kept
and fulfilled ; the reconciliation of one brother to
another is a sweet sacrifice to Me.' And therefore. He
said not. After thou hast offered, but before thou dost
offer, not commanding him altogether to make no
sacrifice or offering, but to prefer the reconciling of
his brother before his offering, declaring by this that

250 THE SACRAMENTS.

He honoureth charity above all things, and accounteth
it to be the most acceptable sacrifice of all other in
ward sacrifices, without the which He accepteth no
other sacrifice, and also declaring the necessity of
this reconciliation, which in no wise may be omitted
and left undone, seeing no other sacrifice, neither
outward nor inward in the heart of man, can be perfect
so long as the enmity and displeasure between him
and his neighbour is not ended and dissolved.
And therefore our Saviour Christ in these words
speaketh marvellous precisely, both to affray a man
and also to comfort him again. For when He had
said " Leave thine offering," He rested not there, but
added " before the Altar," and to fear him more He
said " Go," and more than that. He said "Go first"
and then (to comfort him again) "Come and offer
thine offering ; " signifying by all these words, that
the Altar of God doth not receive them that be at
discord and variance with their neighbour. This
ought to be a necessary lesson to all priests, to take
heed they come not to God's Altar, and there to offer
for the ignorances and sins of the people, the price of
our redemption, the sacrifice of the New Testament,
which is the very Body and Blood of our Saviour
Christ, in the remembrance of His Passion, being at
debate and in variance with their neighbours.
It ought to be a lesson also in laymen which be no
priests, that they study to be reconciled to them
whom they have offended, when they intend to
offer to God their offerings, which be the sacrifice of
a contrite heart the sacrifices of prayer, of alms, and
of thanksgiving (Ps, 1, 19, cxl. 2, xlix. 14). For the

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 25 I
Scripture of God calleth these kind of works sacrifices
made to Almighty God (Heb, xiii. 15), For which
cause when a man is about to offer his prayer to God,
and shall remember the offence he hath done to his
brother, it were better to defer his prayer, and first to
go and reconcile his brother, and then, consequently,
to offer his prayer in peace and brotherly love. For
the which peace and love Christ did all things that
He did here in earth, to knit us all together in unity,
that before were divided by enmity.
And whereas our Saviour saith not. Reconcile thy
brother to thee, but be thou reconciled to thy brother.
He might seem rather to speak of him that is offended
and suffereth wrong, than of him that doeth the
wrong. And though it be sufficient for him that
suffered wrong to forgive him freely in his heart, even
as he would have God to forgive him, yet it should
declare the perfection of his charity, if he did go to
his adversary, and not only did forgive him that
wrong which he had done, but also with gentle speech
did mitigate his anger, and persuaded him ever after
to bear towards him a good affection. Now, if the
perfection of charity doth require that the sufferer
should go and reconcile him that did him the wrong,
how much more is it necessary for him that of a
malicious stomach doth the wrong, to go and humble
himself to his neighbour, whom he hath hurt in word
or deed, and to confess his fault unto him, submitting-
himself to make what amends shall be thought rea
sonable, and so to be fully reconciled and made
friends again .' For which cause S, James exhorteth
all Christian men and women, one to confess their

252 THE SACRAMENTS,

sins to another, and to pray each for other, that so
they might be saved (James v, i6).
How great a fault it is to do injury to his neigh
bour, every man may well perceive that understandeth
the law of God, which commandeth a man, upon pain
of damnation, to love his neighbour as himself, yea,
and to love his enemy also, if any such be, and to
overcome evil with goodness, setting us the doing
of our Saviour Christ for an example for us to follow
(Rom. V. 6), Who, by His death, reconciled us to God
the Father, when we were His enemies. Hereby a
man may perceive the greatness of his fault when
he doth injury, because then he hurteth him whom
he should love, he breaketh God's law, he contem
neth the example of our Saviour Christ, he sheweth
himself the follower of wicked Cain, Saul, and the
devil, he stoppeth the influence of God's grace into
his soul, he mortifieth and marreth all his other good
deeds, if he have done any, and, finally, killeth his
own soul, and setteth it in the dreadful state of eter
nal damnation.
The remedy to avoid all this heap of evils is hum
bly, without malice or excuse, to confess his fault to
his neighbour offended, and to pacify him to whom
he gave great cause to be angry, and to make recom
pence so far as he may. If he have offended him in
thought, let him reconcile him in thought, if he hath
offended him in words, let him make him amends
in words, if he hath done wrong in deeds, let him
make a recompence in deeds. Look as he hath com
mitted the fault the same may let him make the
amends, without which reconcihation, neither his

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 253
prayer, nor his alms, nor his fasting, nor any other
good work or sacrifice, is meritorious or acceptable in
the sight of God, as lacking the root of charity, which
in Christ giveth life to all other good works, as
branches proceeding out of it. If he whom thou hast
offended be far away absent, and thou canst not then
go to him with the feet of thy body, then go to him
with the feet of thy soul, with thine humble and loving
affection, and in the sight of God, to Whom thou art
about to make thine offering, require forgiveness, and
then revoke thine intention to thine offering again.
No worldly thoughts ought to let this brotherly con
fession, as to think that thou shalt thus be despised
of other worldly men, or that it is against thine honour
or worship to submit thyself to thine inferior, or that
it should be shame for thee so to do. These corrupt
affections of the world and the flesh be the chains of
the devil, to keep a man's soul still in bondage of sin,
and the lets of God's grace, which should set him at
liberty. We that in our baptism have promised and
vowed to renounce the devil and his works, and all his
pomps and pride, why should we be moved anything
therewith against God's commandment, and our own
soul's health, seeing we know that God despiseth a
proud heart and doth not despise an humble heart.
Let us therefore regard the just judgment of God, and
despise the corrupt judgment of the world.
It is not against a man's honour or worship to be
the servant of God, but all dishonour and shame is it
to be the servant and vile slave of sin. If God com
manding us to prefer the reconciling of our brother
before His oblation, did neglect His own true honour,

254 THE SACRAMENTS,

for the commodity of man, why should not we in
doing of God's commandment neglect the false and
transitory honour of the world, for the service of God
and the salvation of our own souls .' Look what God
doth more love, let us prefer that in our doings. He
loveth better the concord and agreement of His people
than their offerings, because their offerings cannot in
crease His riches, yet their charity can increase His
glory. For which cause we ought most of all to
regard that which God most loveth, and not to be
ashamed to do well to our brother, lest God's Son be
ashamed of us before His Father.
And this ought we to do without delay, as S,
Paul teacheth, saying, Let not the sun set upon your
anger, nor give not place to the devil (Eph, iv. 26,
27), who is most busy in the night time, taking oc
casion when a man is alone to kindle his anger more,
and to move the man to abuse that heady affection
which is void of all counsel, to further mischief, as to
false accusations, murder, and such other enormities
as proceed from anger.
Thus briefly ye see what he that any way hath
offended his neighbour is bounden to do, which is to
go to him, and to confess his fault, and to do that
lieth in him to reconcile his neighbour. No heart
is so hard and stiff but with humble submission it
will be mollified and made soft, as the wise man
saith " A soft speech breaketh bones, and an humble
answer dissolveth anger" (Prov. xv, i ; xxv, 15), so
that it lieth in our power to quench or to kindle the
anger of him that is offended. On the other side,
he that is offended and hath taken and suffered

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 255
injury at his neighbour's hand, ought not only
to forgive him heartily and freely that did the
wrong, but also to pray for him, as S. James saith,
" Confess yourselves one to another, and pray each
for other, that ye may be saved " (James v. i6). And
this is also another let and stop, that the grace which
is ordinarily given by the sacrament of Penance, can
take no place in the heart of him that will not be re
conciled and forgive his neighbour, as he would God
should forgive him.
Therefore (good people) if any of you have suffered
wrong at your neighbour's hand, think and consider
with himself how often he hath offended other men,
and God also the Lord of all men, and so shall he be
more ready and disposed to forgive again. Let him
labour to imitate our Saviour Christ, Whose servant
he professeth to be. Who taught all His disciples in
their prayers to forgive such as were debtors and
offenders unto them, if they would have God to for
give unto them their offences likewise (Matt, vi. 12).
For the man of whom our Saviour speaketh in the
parable that would not forgive his fellow-servant his
small debt of one hundred pence (Matt, xviii. 28),
did in that unmerciful behaviour much hurt him
self, and brought himself in debt and danger of ten
thousand talents, which his lord had forgiven him
before. Whereby we be taught that when we do
not forgive others, then we stand in our own light
and procure that God shall not forgive us. It lieth
in our power to prescribe as it were a law to God of
forgiving or not forgiving sin. If we revenge or for
give the wrongs that be done against us, even so will

256 THE SACRAMENTS,

God revenge or forgive that we have done against
Him. For as the wise man saith, " He that will revenge
himself, shall find vengeance at God's hand again,
and shall retain his own sins" (Ecclus. xxviii. i).
Forgive thy neighbour that hurteth thee, and then
thy sins at thy prayer shall be loosed. The man
that keepeth his anger against his neighbour, can he
ask a medicine of God ,' Therefore let every man
forgive one another, if he hath any quarrel against
him (Col, iii. 13), like as our Lord hath forgiven
us, and let no rancour, or malice, nor no footstep of
hatred remain. The greater injury that is done, the
greater merit and the more praise is to contemn it
It is more glorious for a Christian man to overcome
himself and his furious passion of anger, than to
overcome his enemy, and so to do himself more
harm than his enemy.
Against this wild beast of ire, we ought to use as
a sharp bridle the fear of God's judgment to come,
and when we be provoked thereto, to ask of ourselves,
whether it were better to be overcome of anger than
to overcome it and to consider that when we be
overcome of it, we blame ourselves, and be ashamed,
although no man accuse us, and be greatly sorry for
it. But when we have overcome it like a conqueror,
we are glad and much rejoice. For the greatest
victory against anger, is when we patiently bear our
injuries, and do not cruelly revenge them. If they
be worthy much blame that do injury to us, why
do we make ourselves as evil as they be in doing the
like to them again .' Rather let us study to be like
God, Who conimandeth us to love our enemies, and

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 2 $7
to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for
them that slander and persecute us, that we might be
the children of our Father that is in heaven, that
causeth the sun. His creature, to shine over good and
evil, and raineth both over the just men and unjust
(Matt v, 44, 45),
God our most merciful Father hath so wholly
pardoned us, and so liberally forgiven us all injuries
done against Him, that He neither condemneth us
nor putteth us to shame, nor imputeth them to us,
whom He hath once received to mercy. But con
trary, some men there be that forgive their injuries,
that although they will not revenge them, yet they
will upbraid them withal, and cast them in their
teeth. Other some there be, that although they speak
nothing of them, yet they keep rancour in their mind,
ready to break out when occasion shall be given
again. These men have not fully forgiven their
neighbour's offences, and in so doing, be not the
children of God like to their Father in heaven, Who
fully and freely forgiveth all injuries, and neither
upbraideth nor remembereth them any more again, so
that where sin in sinners did abound, there grace in
penitents doth more abound.
Therefore when we forgive, let us do it freely and
wholly and from the heart, without pretended
simulation, which we may know whether we have
done so or not, when we perceive ourselves to be
verily and heartily sorry, when our neighbour whom
we have forgiven faileth into any misfortune, or is
hurt or harmed by any occasion, and also when we
perceive ourselves to be heartily glad for his com-
R

258 THE SACRAMENTS,
modify and preferment, and to labour and procure
the same as much as lieth in us. This is that
mutual compassion that all Christian men, being
members of one body, ought to have one to the other,
in such things as be godly and proceed from charity,
always following peace and holiness pf life, without
the which no man shall see God (Heb. xii, 14). For
they shall be called the sons of God that be makers
of peace (Matt. v. 9).
Some men be peaceable that give and render good
for good, and study to hurt nobody, so much as
lieth in them. Other some be patient that do not
render evil for evil, and yet be able to bear with them
that do them wrong. Other some be peace-makers
that give and render good for evil, and be always
ready to profit such as hurt them.
The first kind of men keep peace, the second
maintain peace, and the third make peace and win
the souls of other, and therefore are counted happy
and worthy to be called the children of God, that do
the work of God's Son, that after they be reconciled
themselves, labour with all their power to reconcile
other to their heavenly Father. Many kinds of alms
there be and works of mercy, both corporal and also
spiritual. But among them all there is never one
greater, than freely, even from the heart, to remit that
another man hath offended against us.
It is nothing in a manner to love him that loveth
us and doth us no harm, for infidels and all other
men of nature will so do, but to love our enemies, and
to will to do good to them that wish and do evil
to us as much as they can, is the greatest perfection

CONFESSION TO NEIGHBOUR, 259
of a Christian man. And although the number of
men for the most part doth not come to that degree
of perfection to love and do good to their enemies,
whereunto every Christian man ought with prayer and
diligencfe to labour and wrestle with himself to come,
yet he cannot be a good man that will not freely and
heartily forgive his enemy, that ceaseth to be his
enemy and is sorry for that he hath done, and hum
bly asketh him forgiveness. For his sins be holden
still and not remitted of God, that will not forgive his
penitent neighbour that he hath done against him.
Therefore, seeing in many things we offend all, and
the angels of God be not yet come that shall take
away all offences out of the world, it is not possible
for peace to be kept everywhere in this world and
God to be pleased, except he that in anything doth
offend his neighbour lay away his pride and submit
himself, and he that is offended lay away his obstinacy
and be content to be entreated. For by these two
means, God's peace shall be kept, without the which
God's mercy cannot be gotten, and our offerings
cannot be accepted. But having and using them,
righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost shall
remain with us, and the kingdom of God shall be
within us, and we daily in grace and fear shall work
our own salvation through Christ our Lord, to Whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all glory for
evermore. Amen,

( 260 )

THE TWENTY-THIRD SERMON.
OF SATISFACTION.
HAVING declared unto you (good people) the
first two parts of penance, which be contrition
and confession, now order requireth that I should
declare at this time the third part, which is satisfac
tion. And first of all, it is to be known that when a
Christian man or woman hath by consent of mind, or
by word or deed, done anything that is deadly sin,
then hath he set himself in the state of damnation,
and is bounden to suffer everlasting pain in hell,
because the reward or hire of sin is eternal death
(Rom, vi. 23), under which pain God in the be
ginning and always did forbid sin. Likewise when a
sinner changeth his mind, forsaking his sin, and
taketh true repentance for the same, and cometh to
confession to a priest (if he may confess and have a
priest), after that sort and intent as is declared before,
then Almighty God doth mercifully forgive him all
the pains and punishment that he had deserved, and
should have had in hell, for his offences, and setteth
the sinner again in the state of salvation. And this
doth Almighty God evermore, after the penitent's

SATISFACTION. 26 1

confession ordinarily, although he take not so much
and so great repentance for his sin, as he had pleasure
in it, nor although he be not so long sorry, as he lay
and continued in sin before. For God hath not com
manded that sinners shall take as much repentance,
and be as long sorry for their sins, as they took plea
sure and continued in their sin. For if He had done
so, the penitent sinner could not have been sure that
he had mercy and forgiveness after his confession,
but should rather have been always in doubt and fear
of forgiveness, because he could not always certainly
know that he had taken so much and so long repent
ance, as he had pleasure and tarried in his sin ; which
fear and doubt of forgiveness, no sinner coming
unfeignedly to this sacrament may have at any time,
but whensoever a sinner doth forsake his sins and
taketh repentance for it, be it little or much, and so
cometh to confession, then he knoweth and is in
surety that he hath forgiveness, and is set again in
the state of salvation. And though it be true that
any quantity of contrition is sufficient to have for
giveness of the pains of hell due for sin, yet the more
he taketh the better he doth. And this forgiveness
of sin, and eternal pain due for sin, cometh by the
virtue of Christ's Passion, Who hath made satisfaction
upon the cross, and rid us from all iniquity (Titus ii.
14) by His death, and is the sacrifice propitiatory for
the sins of the whole world (i John ii. 2), and hath
borne our sins in His body upon the tree, by Whose
wounds we are made safe (i Peter ii, 24).
Therefore, this is to be surely believed, that only
our Saviour Christ by His painful Passion on the

262 THE SACRAMENTS,
cross is that satisfaction which deserveth remission of
our sins, and the abolishing of eternal death and dam
nation, which remission and delivery no man is able
to deserve by anything that he can do, but only the
goodness and humanity of God our Saviour in Christ
not by the works of righteousness which we have
done, but by His own mercy hath wrought and
brought to pass (Titus ii, 14 ; iii, 5),
God of His great mercy to all true penitents, for
giveth sin, and yet of His. justice and truth, He
leaveth not the sins of them whom He forgiveth
unpunished. But all sins of all men and women be
punished either eternally in hell, or temporally for a
time (Job xxiv,), that as in forgiving appeareth His
mercy, so in correcting or avenging might appear His
justice. For which cause, considering that God by
the merits of Christ forgiveth, to all that be truly
penitent and confessed, all their sins, and also the
pains of hell due for the same, and yet leaveth no
sin unpunished although it be remitted, we may
therefore certainly know that every sinner, although
he hath received absolution and remission, either hath
suffered, or remaineth yet still bounden to suffer, cer
tain temporal pain according to the nature and quantity
of his former fault, for that he presumed to do against
God's law, and brake his promise and profession in
baptism. And this temporal pain is our debt which
we are bounden to pay to God. For as we are
debtors to Almighty God for His manifold benefits
bestowed upon us, and so are bounden always to thank
Him, to honour Him, and to offer to Him the sacri
fice of praise, so are we debtors to Him also for our

SATISFACTION, , 263

manifold sins done against Him, and so are we bounden
to satisfy the justice of God by suffering pain for the
same. Both which debts when we could not and were
not able to pay ourselves, Christ our Lord, being the
Mediator between Gad and man, by His painful
death hath paid it for us, and hath cancelled the
obligation of our debt, and fully satisfied God for the
sin of the world, arid hath taken away eternal death
due for the same, and so hath made us now able by
Him, and in Him, both to offer that sacrifice of
praise, which for all His benefits we were bounden to
make, and also to satisfy the justice of God for that
temporal pain which remaineth for us to suffer, after
that the guiltiness of our sins and the pains of hell
be remitted through the satisfaction made upon the
cross, the benefit whereof is applied to us by true
faith and contrition. Not that we be able of ourselves
by our works or suffering to make worthy satisfaction
for the same, as Christ hath done, but that we are
made able by Christ, and in Him to do or suffer
that wherewith God is contented and_ satisfied and
accepteth as a satisfaction.
By this ye shall understand (good people) that the
satisfaction of penance which I have to declare unto
you at this time, is a punishment or affliction which a
sinner taketh upon him to suffer, by the assignment
of his ghostly father, after the remission of his sins,
to the intent he might thereby cut away the cause and
sequel of his sins which remain, and also either clearly
redeem, or at least mitigate the temporal pains due
for the same sins, by doing of such penal works as be
contrary to the sins committed.

264 ' THE SACRAMENTS,
This doctrine of satisfaction standeth upon these
two grounds. First, that when the sin is remitted,
and the sinner received into grace and favour with
God again, yet oftentimes there remaineth temporal
pain to be suffered for the same sin, either in this
world or in the next. And secondly, that this tem
poral pain may be mitigated, or redeemed and taken
away, by penitential satisfaction and the worthy
fruits of penance. To this doctrine beareth witness
the trade and process of the whole Scriptures, When
the people of Israel in the wilderness grudged against
Moses and Aaron, and would have gone back into
Egypt again (Num. xiv, 2-4), and so provoked
God to vengeance, Moses prayed for the people very
fervently, at whose prayer God did forgive the people
their sin, and yet notwithstanding that forgiveness,
He said that He would punish them after this sort
that never one of them that came out of Egypt and
had not obeyed Him in the wilderness, should see or
enter into the land which He promised them.
Whereby we learn that after the sin remitted, many
times there remaineth a punishment temporal to be
suffered for the same. Also King David when he
had taken contrition, and confessed the sin which he
did with Barsabee, and for the killing of her husband
Urias, the prophet Nathan shewed him that God had
forgiven him his sin, and that he should not die and
be damned for it, but yet he should have great and
long temporal punishment for those offences. And
so he had, both in the death of his children, and also
in the persecution of his son Absalom, and in divers
other things which the prophet told him. And yet

SATISFACTION, 265

when the prophet had said that his young son begot
ten by Barsabee should die, trusting that his humble
penance should change God's sentence in punishing
of him by the death of his son, he feU to fasting,
weeping, praying, watching, and lying upon the
ground, by the space of seven days, and although he
did not then obtain the release of that punishment
which was appointed by God's immutable decree
(2 Kings xii. 23), yet in another like offence he
obtained the mitigation of his temporal pain. For
when David for the sin of numbering the people, had
taken contrition, and humbled himself before God,
confessing his fault the prophet by the message of
God, for punishment of his sin after remission, gave
him choice whether he would have seven years'
hunger, or three months' war without victory, or three
days' pestilence, and when he did choose pestilence,
which might as soon fall upon him, the offender, as
upon the people, he did so punish and afflict himself,
that God, in respect of his penance, was satisfied and
content with the plague of one day, and did remit the
rest (2 Kings xxiv. i6). Even so David in his
Psalms (xcviii. 8), speaking of Moses and Aaron,
saith that God did hear them, and was merciful unto
them, and yet punished and revenged all their inven
tions and sin. And the Apostle S, Paul teacheth us
(i Cor, xi. 27), that for the sin of abusing the Blessed
Body and Blood of our Lord in the Sacrament of
the Altar, many were punished with weakness, sick
ness, and corporal death, and teheth us also there the
remedy how to avoid these pains, which is, if we
would judge, condemn and punish ourselves, we

266 THE SACRAMENTS,
should escape the punishment of God ; for when we
be judged and punished of God, we be but corrected.
Whose chastisement is rather to be called an admoni
tion than a condemnation, rather a fatherly medicine
than a final punishment and destruction. And,
therefore, every sinner ought to exercise more
severity against himself, that judging himself, he be
not judged of God, the contemning whereof is a
means to be eternally condemned with the wicked
world. It sufficeth not for a man to change his manners to
the better, and to begin a new life and forsake the
old, except also he make satisfaction to God for those
sins he hath done by the sorrow of penance, by the
mourning of an humble and contrite heart and by
alms. Whereby appeareth that the penance of a
Christian man sinning deadly after baptism, con
taineth satisfaction by fasting, alms, prayer, and
other godly exercises of spiritual life, not for the
eternal pain of hell, which with the sin is remitted in
the using of the Sacrament of Penance, or else (if
the sacrament cannot be had) in the desire of full
purpose to use it when it may be had, but for
temporal pain, which (as the Scriptures teach) is not
wholly always remitted to them that take the grace
of God in vain.
True contrition and sorrow for sin taken for the
love of God whom he hath offended, causeth a sinner
likewise to take this satisfaction and punishment
upon him, assigned by the minister of God, by the
virtue of the keys committed to the Church, or some
times voluntarily taken upon him of his- own good

SATISFACTION, 267

will, as S, Paul saith to the Corinthians (2 Cor. vii.
10), that the sorrow which is taken for God's sake,
worketh steadfast penance for salvation, arid on the
other side the sorrow of the world worketh death.
For even this sorrow which you have taken for God's
sake (saith S. Paul to the Corinthians) how much
carefulness hath it wrought in you that ye do not
offend again thereafter ? And also it hath wrought
such a confession of your fault as ye offer to make
satisfaction and amends for the same, and it hath
wrought in you anger and indignation against your
fault and fear of the terrible judgment of God for
your fault, and desire to be reconciled again to God
and the Church, and zeal to be diligent in doing good
hereafter, and punishment whereby ye do afflict and
punish yourselves for your offence by-past, to the
intent ye might escape the correction of God that
hangeth over your heads.
All these be the effects of true contrition, which
ceaseth not to wash the wounds of sin more and
more after forgiveness (as David did, Ps, 1. 2), and
as natural things be healed by their contraries, so
it laboureth to have the wounds of sin fully and
perfectly healed, by doing contrary good works to
the former sins, that by them the root of sin might
be clean grubbed out, and the nest that remaineth, be
clearly scoured, and the pride of man's heart pulled
down and humbled, and the pronity* and disposition
to sin bridled and restrained, which things be done
when we do as S, Paul counselleth us — " Like as ye
have given the parts and members of your body and
* i.e., Proneness,

268 THE SACRAMENTS.
soul to serve uncleanness and iniquity to further
iniquity, so give and apply the same parts and mem
bers of your body and soul to serve righteousness, for
your satisfaction " (Rom, vi. 19). That is to say,
take as much pains to wash away the dregs and
filthiness of your sins gathered by your naughty
living, as ye took pleasure before to defile and infect
your souls by your said naughty living. And as ye
be now just and sanctified by remission of your sins,
and the presence of God's grace and His Holy Spirit
in your souls ; so labour also to be yet just and
sanctified by purging the sequel, the scars, and the
deformity which remain in your souls after your sins
be remitted, the painful affliction of yourselves, and
by doing the worthy fruits of penance (Matt, iii, 8),
esteeming and pondering the measure of your cor
rection, according to the quantity of your fault
And whereas penance is two ways taken, the one
to be inward, standing in the contrition of the heart,
the other outward, standing in the affliction of the
flesh, when thou dost condemn and reprove thy sin,
then thou hast penance, and when thou dost by
satisfaction following, punish and correct thy sin,
then thou hast the fruit of penance, and when- thy
affliction and pain is no less in correcting of thy sin,
than thy pleasure was in doing of the same, then
thou hast done the worthy fruits of penance, as thus :
if thou hast stolen other men's goods, beside the
ceasing from the sin, and restitution of the same
goods, now begin to give thine own ; if thou hast done
injury to any man in word or deed, make amends
with humble and good words again, and them that

SA TISFA CTION, 2 69

hurt thee, labour to reconcile them with kindness
and benefits.
It is not sufficient for a man's health to pull only
the dart out of his wound, but also to lay some
plaister and medicine to the wound. Recompense
thy delicious fare and drunkenness with fasting and
drinking of water ; if thou hast seen a woman with
an unchaste eye, forbear to see a woman again, and
learn after a wound to take more heed.
Thus a sinner's life ought not only to be changed
into the better, but also God must be entreated and
made merciful, by alms and other painful works, for
his sins by-past.
The principal works of satisfaction be fasting,
prayer and alms, which be specially commended in
the Gospel of Christ (Matt vi. 1-18). Under fasting
be contained all bodily pains and labours, as watch
ing, lying upon the ground, wearing of hair or
sackcloth, and other such like. Under alms be
contained all the other works of mercy, as well
corporal as spiritual, whereof some other time, God
willing, ye shall be instructed. And under prayer
be contained the prayers of other, as of priests, poor
men, and poor scholars, such as by our alms and
liberality be procured to pray for us, as it is said in
the old law, that the priest shall pray for him and
for his sin and it shall be forgiven him (Lev. iv, 20).
So that fasting is a medicine to heal perfectly those
sins which we have done by concupiscence and desire
of the flesh against ourselves and our own bodies.
And alms is likewise a medicine to heal perfectly
those sins which we committed by concupiscence of

270 THE SACRAMENTS.
the eyes, which is covetousness, deceit, oppression,
and unjust dealing against our neighbours. And
last of all the pride of life, the contempt of godliness
and presumption of mind, which be sins immediately
against God, be healed perfectly by instant, humble,
and devout prayers.
And the Holy Scriptures do plainly shew how that
sinners may here in this life satisfy and content
Almighty God for temporal pain with these three
works, as the book of Daniel sheweth, where the
prophet Daniel exhorteth the King Nebuchadonosor
to redeem his sins with alms, that is to say, the
seven years of pain which he should suffer for his
sins. And old Tobias taught his son that alms
delivered from sin (Tobias iv. 11), in which two
places by the word (sin) is understood the tem
poral pain due for sin. For by the merits of our
Saviour Christ which He apphed to us in the
Sacraments of Baptism and Penance, the guiltiness of
our sin and the eternal pains of hell be taken away,
and our afflictions whereby we suffer with Christ
and are made like to the image of Christ taking
their virtue of Christ's Passion, and wrought in us
by His grace and Holy Spirit, not of their own
worthiness but by God's merciful acceptation, are
means ordained of God to satisfy Him, and to turn
away His anger and displeasure for our sins, and to
purchase His further grace. And that fasting and
prayer be of the same effect for this purpose that
alms is, is plain by the example of the Ninivites,
who after the preaching and threatening of Jonas the
prophet, being contrite and sorry for their offences.

SA TISFACTION. 27 1

did satisfy and redeem the pain and punishment
which they should have had, with fasting in ashes
and sackcloth and fervent prayer, and by that means
revoked the sentence of God which was spoken by
mouth of Jonas (Jonas iii. 7-10). But the Scripture
always for the most part joineth these three together,
because fasting without mercy to a man's neighbour,
and the lifting up of his mind to God, by prayer,
is unfruitful and little regarded of God (Isa, Iviii.
2-10). And alms joined with surfeiting and the
greedy cares of the world, and lacking the fellow
ship of fasting and prayer, is not meritorious. And
the prayer of him that will not bridle the desires of
his flesh by abstinence, and shutteth his mercy and
compassion from his neighbour that needeth, is not
heard of God. But these three joined in a faithful
man together, be of great virtue and reach to heaven,
and there do turn away the face of God from his sins,
and do purchase God's grace for such things as he
hath need of, as Tobias saith. Prayer with fasting and
alms is good, and better than to store up treasures of
gold in his coffers (Tobias xii. 8),
A man may also make satisfaction for his sins with
repentance and sorrow for his sin, so that God will
forgive him all the temporal pain which he deserved
to have had, as God forgave S, Peter the said pain
for his great repentance and bitter weeping (Luke
xxii. 62), and hkewise Mary Magdalene, whose great
sorrow is expressed in the Gospel. And because the
minister of God knoweth not how much repentance
and contrition the sinnej hath taken, nor how much
he ought to take for due satisfaction, therefore his

272 THE SACRAMENTS.
office is to enjoin the penitent certain works of pen
ance for to make satisfaction, such as the party may
easily and shortly do, for avoiding of grudge if it were
too hard, and also for avoiding of forgetfulness if it
were too long, and then to counsel and exhort the
penitent to do more penance and good deeds of his
own good will in further satisfaction for his sins
already done, and for stopping of the entry of the
devil's suggestions to sin to come, and for exercising
of himself in virtuous occupations contrary to his
sins before.
Wherefore (good people) I beseech you to care and
provide for your souls, which Christ hath preferred
before His own blood, in that He hath given the one
to redeem the other ; fear to fall into the hands of
God, and contemn not His judgments ; the certain
knowledge of the pains due for our sins, is only
reserved to God and to our Lord Jesus Christ,
to Whom the Father hath given all judgment ;
whereof we may not be curious in searching, but
diligent in avoiding by the worthy fruits of penance,
which be acceptable to God, for two causes, both for
that they be good works of their own nature com
mended and commanded of God, and also for that
they be enjoined us to do by the authority of the
keys of the kingdom of heaven given to the Church,
and are better accepted of God for our obedience to
Him and His Holy Church. Let not the straightness
of penance fear us,* nor the conscience of our sins
keep us back, for in many good men where sin hath
most abounded, there hath grace more abounded.
* i,e,. Let not the strictness of penance cause us fear.

SATISFACTION, 273

The sufferings and pains of this time be not equal
to that fault which is remitted, to that pain which we
have deserved, nor yet to that glory which is reserved
for us. As nothing is impossible to them that beHeve,
so nothing is hard or painful to them that love, where
devotion driveth them to begin, and grace helpeth
them to make an end, both in doing the fruits
of penance for their sins past, and also in doing
the fruits bf virtue for increase of righteousness
present, till God deliver us from all pains and dan
gers of sin, and give unto us the kingdom which
He hath prepared for us from the beginning of
the world, through Christ our Lord, to Whom with
the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and
iglory. Amen.

( 274 )

THE TWENTY-FOURTH SERMON.
HOW A MAN SHOULD AFTER PENANCE AVOID SIN
AND LIVE WELL,
IT is better (good people) to avoid sin than to
amend sin, as it is more wholesome and pleasant
for a man with good diet to preserve his health,
than after sickness with danger and grief to recover
his health. And it is a great deal worse to fall down
again after he be fully recovered, than it was to fall
first in the beginning. For which cause, after a man
be restored again to the health of his soul by the
medicine of penance, he ought to be a great deal
more careful and vigilant lest he fall again to his old
sickness, and by that means come the sooner in
danger of eternal death, and he ought evermore to
remember the lesson of our Saviour Jesus Christ
which He gave to the man sick of the palsy, whom
He made whole, which is this : Behold thou art made
whole, go thy ways and now sin no more, lest some
worse thing chance to thee (John v, 14). To this
end how a man should avoid sin and live well, the
most part of all the Scripture is written and the most
part of all sermons be made, and of no matter may
be more said ; but I intend, God willing, at this time
only to note unto you three or four general points,

AMENDMENT, 275

which if a man do remember and observe, he shall
the better and with more ease avoid sin, and keep
himself in grace and good life.
First, I would he should do, as a man doth that
hath been sick of a great surfeit and in peril of death,
who when he is restored to his health again, he will
diligently take heed and refuse those meats that
brought him into his sickness, and be forbidden him
to eat upon by his physician, and he will remember
to feed upon such meats only as the physician pre
scribeth him and will preserve his health. Even so
every man and woman must do and keep like order
and diet after their confession, for to keep their souls
still in health, they must remember that Christ, our
Physician, hath made them whole by the sovereign
medicine of penance, and hath forbidden them all
manner of sin whereon they surfeited, and therefore
they must utterly refuse and forsake, and in no wise
eat of that evil meat by willing and consenting to
any sin again. Now for the better avoiding of this,
a man must do three things : first, consider the
naughtiness of- sin, and then when any cometh to his
mind uncalled for, let him put it away by-and-by,
and thirdly, he must keep his five senses well, and fly
from the company of evil persons and occasions of
sin. First, let him consider that sin is so vile of itself
that every man doth hate and abhor the name of it ;
for a man loveth not nor would not be called proud,
mahcious, covetous, a thief, a lecher or slanderer, and
such like. And then, if men did consider the very
deeds of sins, they should see that they were much

276 THE SACRAMENTS,
worse, more shameful, more against reason, and so
men should hate the deeds of sins more than they do
their names. For this is the nature of sin, before it
be done it hath some pleasure, but after the deed the
pleasure ceaseth, and heaviness cometh in his place,
and for the time of the doing of sin, it maketh him
no man but a beast, whereby he loseth his honesty,
his good name, his riches, his beauty, his health, his
strength, his wit his reason, and is made a fool, a
madman, an instrument of the devil, and a very devil
for the time. His soul, like a dead carrion, lieth in
his body as in a grave, which, when the mouth is open,
sendeth forth an evil savour or smell, and infecteth
with poisoned words and example the air round about,
and all those that have conversation with him, and so
is he made odious to himself, in that he defileth his
own body, and is the cause of the sickness and cor
ruption of the same, and is also odious to his neigh
bours, whom he hurteth many ways, and' is also most
odious to God, Whom he dishonoureth by his naughty
living, and diminisheth His glory, and causeth His
name to be evil spoken of among the heathen. And
thus, when a man lieth impudently in sin, his enemies
laugh at him, his friends pity him, all other men abhor
him, beside that he loseth God's most gracious favour,
in Whose sight he always standeth, and cannot excuse
himself by secretness, neither in deed nor in thought.
And if he die in this damnable state of deadly sin, his
own conscience shall then accuse him before God,
and his remembrance shall bear witness against him,
and declare how, when, where, and how often he
sinned, and shall open his whole vile and beastly life

AMENDMENT, 277

:so plainly before God his Judge, that he shall not be
;able to speak for himself one word (Matt xxii. 12,
13), nor yet to ask mercy, if it were demanded of
!him why he did those sinful deeds, but he shall hold
!his peace, and see that he is worthy to be damned
and cast into the prison of hell, there to remain in
everlasting pains. If men or women did diligently
consider the naughtiness of these things which God
hath forbidden, and how greatly they be against rea
son, and then would surely believe that they should
thereby lose God's favour, and set themselves in state
of damnation, and be verily damned to infinite and
everlasting pain if they died so, which is most true,
then, doubtless, they would hate all the ways of ini
quity (Ps, cxviii,), and fly from it as from a serpent
and as the very cause of all these mischiefs that fol
low, and feed their minds no more with that dam
nable meat of sin, but refuse it, and forsake it, as a
poison infecting and killing them both in body and
soul. The second thing to avoid sin is this, when any
sin cometh into a man's mind and remembrance un
called for, by the suggestion of the devil, or the
motion of his flesh, let him evermore put it away by-
and-by with hatred. And let a man remember this
lesson well, for it is a singular mean and very neces
sary to defend and keep his soul and will from the
consent and desire to sin. For like as a flesh-fly, if
it be not beaten away as soon as it cometh, will leave
filthy blowings in the flesh, which will be worms, and
destroy it even so will sin, when it cometh into a
man's mind, cause and make evil thoughts and

278 THE SACRAMENTS,
desires in man's heart, if it be not put away by-and-
by at the first coming. For if a man will think upon
sin, and revolve it in his mind, except he do consider
it with hatred, then will it engender in his will some
pleasure, and it will move him to imagine and think
evil, and it will heat him, and set his heart on fire,
and blind his reason, and provoke him sore and
greatly to consent to do that sin, and at length it
will bring his will to agree and to desire and fully
determine to do it, and so then it destroyeth and
killeth his soul, that is to say, then hath he lost the
title which he had to everlasting life, and hath set
himself in the terrible and dreadful state of damna
tion, and hath deserved to have everlasting pains in
hell. The more and the longer a man suffereth his
mind to be occupied in thinking upon sin, the more
desirous shall he be to do it, and the more pain and
labour shall he have to put it out of his mind again
when he would. Happy is he (saith the prophet) that
will hold himself from vice, and will break the heads
of the little ones (Ps. cxxxvi. 9), I mean the first
motions of sin, upon the stone which is Christ by
withstanding them with faith and prayer. And surely
nothing is so evil, so hurtful, and so dangerous to a
man's soul, as to suffer his mind and remembrance to
be occupied and to think upon sin ; and, therefore,
when any sinful thoughts come into his mind, let him
make a sharp rod of hatred and abhorring of it and
beat it away by-and-by, and then let him occupy and
set his mind upon his other lawful business, or let him
do something upon the which he must needs stead
fastly think, or let him go to some honest company

AMENDMENT. 279

and commune upon some good matter. But best of
all it is to fall to prayer, and with that sword of the
Spirit to shift off and drive away the fiery darts of
the devil, calling for the aid of the said Holy Spirit
to help his infirmity. And thus may a man beat away
the flesh-fly of sin, that he shall not rest and leave
behind him any filthy blowings of evil thoughts and
motions, and so may be kept his soul clean from the
worms of deadly and damnable desires and con
sents. Moreover, to avoid sin a man must also eschew
the outward occasion of it. For if the cause remain,
commonly the effect will follow, as thus : — first, let
him keep well his five senses, and specially his sight,
his hearing, and his feeling from things unlawful and
forbidden ; that is to say, let him not behold and cast
!his eye with inward pleasure upon such things as may
lightly and commonly move a man to think upon sin,
nor apply and give ear with gladness to hear evil
tales, or filthy and dishonest communication ; but when
he seeth or heareth such evil, then let him by-and-by
take away his sight and hearing from it, with dis
pleasure, and hate the seeing and hearing of it. King
David did behold curiously the beauty of his soldier's
wife, and suddenly he was smitten in the heart with
the dart of adultery (2 Kings xi. 2-4). And if this
holy prophet David, that had so much grace of the
Holy Spirit, of whom God said He had found a man
even as He would wish, if he by the occasion of his
eye received poison into his heart, how much shall
another man come in danger by the like occasion,
that neither hath so much knowledge what he should

28o THE SACRAMENTS.
do, nor yet so much grace to do that he knoweth ?
And whereas the prophet saith, " Death hath entered
in by our windows" (Jer. ix, 21), we may under
stand by that, that sin entereth into the heart of man
by his eyes and ears and other senses, which be as it
were the windows of his soul. If the windows be not
shut or else a diligent watch set upon them, surely
sin and death will creep in, although the man hath
very great knowledge and grace. Like as if a candle
be put in the straw the straw will burn, even so our
weak and sinful nature is soon set on fire with the
burning darts of the devil's temptation, if they be
suffered to commence, and their waj's and entries be
not stopped. Also, besides the diligent keeping of
his five senses, a man must flee and forsake the com
pany of evil and lewd persons, and of those that shew
evil example or give occasion to vice. For he that
toucheth pitch shall soil his hands with the same
(Eccles, xiii, i), and he that keepeth company with a
proud man shall begin to be proud. As S. Paul
saith, " Do ye not know that a little sour leaven doth
make sour the whole batch of dough" (i Cor, v, 6),
even so the vice or evil example of one doth infect a
great many, and draweth others that be weak to
follow him in the like vice. Depart thou (saith the
wise man) from a wicked man, and keep no company
with him, and so shall vice and wickedness depart from
thee (Ecclus, vii. 2).
The fourth thing for a man to avoid sin is to
remember his last end in all his works and deeds, and
so he shall not sin for evermore (Ecclus, vii. 40). It is
good for a man to think upon the beginning of his

AMENDMEN T. 2 8 1

!life, to consider the middle, and to remember the
last end. The beginning bringeth shame, the middle
bringeth sorrow, the end bringeth fear. If a man
think from whence he came, he shall be ashamed ; if
he considers in what case he is, he shall lament; if
he remember whither he shall go, he shall be afraid,
Man, first of all, when he was in honour, made to the
image of God, and to be partaker with angels of the
kingdom of heaven, not regarding his dignity, con
temning the commandment of God his Maker, and
following his own sensualappetite, was compared to
unreasonable beasts, and changed the similitude of
God with the similitude of beasts, and the honour of
his first image being taken away by carnal desires
and beastly living, was made like a beast (Ps, xlviii.
13). If a man therefore remember his own nobility,
how he was made lord over the works of God, a
fellow of angels, a citizen of Paradise, and one of God's
household, and being by his own fault cast into
inward .darkness of error and ignorance, banished
from pleasant Paradise, made fellow with brute beasts
and a stranger or rather enemy to God, may not he,
considering this his beginning, and his great fall into
such vile beastliness, be worthily ashamed ,' After
this, if man consider where and in what state he is,
he shall perceive that being in this transitory world,
he is in the vale of misery, where nothing is under
the sun -but vanity, labour, -and affliction of spirits
(Ecclus. i, 14), where nothing is verily and constantly
pleasant, but only by change, by passing from one
thing to another, where the remedy of one labour is
the beginning of another, where the less evil seemeth

282 THE SACRAMENTS.
a great good, where the increase of knowledge is the
increase of grief, where man in banishment dwelleth
in wilderness, walketh in darkness, in danger of falling
down the hill, and eating his bread in the sweat of
his face, may not a man, considering whither he is
now brought, be right sorry, and lament that the
time of his travail and dwelling here, is prolonged,'
But the best remedy to avoid sin, is always to have
in remembrance his last end.
In the last end there be three things, the death of
the body, the judgment of God, and the torments of
hell. What is more horrible than death ,' What is
more terrible than the judgment of God .' And what
is more intolerable than the pains of hell ,' What
shall a man fear if he tremble not at the remembrance
of these three ,' Yet if he have lost shame for his vile
beginning, and if he feel no sorrow for his present
misery, at least let him take fear for the dreadful
things to come. For if he now spend his life in the
works of the flesh, in death he shall be divorced and
separated from his body and all the pleasures thereof ;
in the judgment he shall be presented before Him,
into Whose hands to fall is most horrible, and be exa
mined of Him to Whom nothing is unknown ; in hell,
if he be found guilty, he shall suffer torment without
hope of relief, without measure of quantity, and with
out end of time. -Hath not this man good cause to
live always in fear, and with fear and trembling to
labour about his own salvation ,' This fear which is
the beginning of wisdom, hath more strength to with
stand sin than either shame or sorrow. For shame
is taken away by the multitude of sinners, where the

AMENDMENT. 283

fellowship of so many evil livers putteth shame out
oi his heart. And sorrow taketh comfort of the vain
pleasures of this present world, and so is weakened and
made unable to withstand sin. But fear that pro
ceedeth from a sure and certain faith of things to come,
taketh no comfort of the world, seeing that in death
he shall carry no worldly good with him, and in judg-
menthe shall neither be able to deceive nor t-o withstand
Christ his Judge, and in hell he shall have no comfort
nor redemption but perpetual woe. The fruit of this
fear is, that it bringeth before the eyes of our souls
sometimes the sins that we have done, to the intent we
should be willing and ready to suffer the scourge (as
the prophet saith of himself), confessing our iniquity,
and thinking for our sin (Ps. xxxvii. 18) ; sometimes the
everlasting pains which we have deserved, to the intent
we should think all that we suffer here to be delights
and pleasures, in comparison of the torments which
we have escaped ; sometimes the heavenly rewards
for which we labour and hope, to the intent we should
esteem the afflictions of this present life not to be
equal and worthy the glory that shall be shewed to
us ; sometimes the Passions which Christ hath suffered
for us, that considering what His Majesty hath vouch
safed to suffer for us unprofitable servants, we should
be ashamed to draw back and suffer so little for our
selves and our own salvation. And to make an end
(as I have declared unto you), he that considereth the
naughtiness and vileness of his sin, and endeavoureth
himself to put out of mind the first motions of sin
which the devil suggesteth, and watcheth diligently
the windows of his five senses, and as much as he

284 THE SACRAMENTS.
may, fly the company of evil persons and the occasions
of sin, and hath the last end of his life always in his
remembrance with fear, being also careful to walk
warily and worthily in the sight of God, considering,
as occasion shall serve, the sins which he hath done,
the eternal pains which he hath deserved, the heavenly
rewards which he hopeth for, and the Passions which'
Christ hath suffered for him, with such intent as I
have before rehearsed, no doubt of it but that man
which thus doth, shall avoid sin, shall Hve weh, shall
increase in grace, shall continue in righteousness, and
by the merciful goodness of God shall attain ever
lasting life, through the merits of our Lord Jesus
Christ to Whom with the Father and the Holy
Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end.
— Amen.

(28s )

THE TWENTY-FIFTH SERMON.
OF THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER,
TWO things (good people) be necessary by the
salvation of man, both by grace of this world
and by glory of the next world — the inward gifts of
faith and hope and the outward sacraments of Bap
tism, penance, and the other like.
God that is our Saviour and the principal cause of
our salvation, by giving unto us these inward gifts,
doth dispose and prepare the heart of man, and
maketh it meet to receive grace and remission of sin ;
and also by the receiving of His holy sacraments. He
induceth and bringeth into the heart of man the said
grace and remission, as it were water through a con
duit, or corporal health by a good and profitable
medicine. By these two instruments Almighty God
doth form and make His Holy Church, and bringeth
us to the knowledge of God and His Son Christ, that
were before in darkness and the shadow of death,
making as of old men and the heirs of hell and dam
nation to be new men, and the heirs with Christ in
the kingdom of heaven. And thus, when we be by
these instruments incorporate and made members of
Christ's mystical body the Church, He doth also by

286 THE SACRAMENTS,
discipline, rule us His Church, and preserveth us in
unity, and multiplieth His manifold graces in us to
the attaining of everlasting life.
The inward gifts be wrought in us that be of age,
by the preaching of God's Holy Word, for faith cometh
by the hearing ofthe Word of God (Rom. x. 17), which
faith being tried by patience in tribulation, worketh
hope that never faileth (Rom. v. 3, 4), because the
charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us. And how shall men
preach God's Word except they be sent (Rom. x. 15),
For the office of preaching may not be of any man
usurped by presumption, but ought to be faithfully
used and practised by God's commission, of them
that be for that purpose sent by God and His
Church to convert or instruct His people.
For as in the body every part or member is not the
mouth, so in the Church every man may not be a
preacher. And to the intent that the Gospel of Christ
and His Holy Word might be purely set forth without
corruption, and that the ministers of the devil, trans
forming themselves into the Apostles of Christ as the
devil their father is wont oftentimes to do (2 Cor, xi,
13, 14), should not deceive God's people with every
wind of untrue doctrine, therefore hath Christ given
unto His Church, not every man, but certain men, to
be Apostles, prophets and preachers (Eph, iv, 11),
who using, as it were, an embassage from Christ,
should by His true Word edify His Church, and gather
His people in unity of faith.
Likewise the grace that healeth our souls and
preserveth them in righteousness, is not ordinarily

ORDER, 287

given but by the outward and sensible ministration
of the holy sacraments, which be not always effectual,
giving that grace they signify, but when they be in
due form ministered of such persons only as have
authority from God to do the same, for no man
taketh honour to himself, but he that is called of God
as Aaron was (Heb, v, 4).
What so excellent as to consecrate the sacraments
of God ,' And what is so pernicious as if he conse
crate them that hath received no degree of priest
hood, as appeareth by such plagues as lit on Dathan
and Core (Num. xvi. 31-33), and also to King Ozias
for usurping the office of the priests by their own
authority, uncalled of God thereto (2 Par. xxvi, 19).
For only their ministration doth God assist, as He
hath promised, to whom He hath given power to
minister the visible sacraments.
Wherefore as the sacraments be necessary to man's
salvation, so it is necessary for certain men to be
ordained and authorised of God to minister the same
sacraments faithfully and effectually to man's salva
tion. Likewise when Christ's Church by the
ministration of His Holy Word and sacraments, is
gathered and collected out of all the profane people
of the world into one body, to the intent that all
confusion and disorder should be banished out of the
Church of God, and that it might be by strait dis
cipline ruled and kept in order, and all disobedience
corrected to the edifying of the same Church, as it
were a great army set in good array of battle, by
order terrible to their enemies (Cant. vi. 3), so that
hell-gates shall not prevail against it, therefore

THR SACRAMENTS,

hath our Saviour Christ ordained in His Church,
certain men to be rulers and judges in all causes
which pertain to the salvation of man's soul, to whom
all other persons of what state soever they be, owe
obedience, subjection, reverence, and temporal relief,
as to their spiritual governors and fathers, who take
cure and charge of them, and shall make an account
to God of their souls.
By this little that I have now said, ye may learn
(good people) that the public ministration of the
Gospel of Christ standeth in three points : in the
preaching of God's Word, in the ministration of the
holy sacraments, and in exercising of disciphne and
jurisdiction ; which three shah (by God's promise and
the assistance of His Holy Spirit) continually be
observed in the Cathohc Church to the world's end,
for the edifying and building of the same Church in
grace and virtue, and for weeding out and banishing
of aU error and ungodly hving.
And also ye may learn, that where * no man may
usurp and take upon him of his own authority to
intermeddle or to minister that which pertaineth to
Christ without sufficient commission from Him,
therefore hath Christ ordained this sacrament of
Order, wherein grace or spiritual power is given to
certain Christian men, by the outward sign of imposi
tion of the Bishop's hands upon them, to exercise
effectually the public ministration of the Church,
whereby whatsoever they do in the Church, according
to the institution of Christ and the Church, is ratified,
accepted, and allowed of Almighty God.
* i.e.. Whereas,

ORDER, 289
Of this grace or power given in the sacrament of
Order, writeth S, Paul to Timothy, whom he had
ordered and consecrate a priest, saying thus, "Do
not neglect the grace which thou hast in thee, which
is given to thee through prophecy, or the inspiration
df God, by imposition of hands of the order of priest
hood" (i Tim. iv, 14). And also in another place he
exhorteth Timothy to stir up the grace of God, which
was given to him by the imposition of his hands (2
Tim, i, 6). And because this spiritual power and
authority which is given to certain men for the edi
fying of Christ's Church, is not wholly given to every
one of them, but to some more, to other some less by
degrees ; whereby one man, as his office and function
is greater, so is he exalted in dignity above another ;
which diversity in degrees causeth great comeliness
and beauty to be in Christ's Church, by reason of
such order as every inferior member keepeth to his
superior, doing his duty in his own place, and not
usurping to do above his calling, therefore this sacra
ment, whereby such degrees of authority and power
be. given to men, is called Order, which order of
ministers maketh the Church to be builded as a city
without confusion (Ps. cxxi. 3), and to be .terrible to
ler enemies as the fore front of an army set in good
array (Cant, vi, 3), and is the very knot of the known
Catholic Church, containing both good and evil in it,
whereby it is preserved without schism, so long as
that order is kept without breach, which was institute
by Christ, used by His Apostles, and from them
iDrought to us by continual succession.
This visible order, taking his beginning from the
T

290 THE SACRAMENTS,
authority given to one man, is extended throughout
the whole world in the Church, into a great number
and multitude of inferior ministrations, as it were
many branches proceeding from one tree, or many
rivers from one fountain, which altogether take in
wardly their increase from the fountain of all grace,
and the only supreme Head of our one Church, Jesus
Christ our Lord.
For if Christ had not only secretly by inspiration,
but also by His sensible commandment and sacra
ment, sent His Apostles into the world, saying, " As
My Father hath sent Me, so I send you" (John xx.
21), giving them authority likewise visibly to send
other, the Church of Christ should never have been
without schisms and divisions, made by them that,
running by their own authority unsent, would have
borne men in hand that they were invisibly sent and
anointed of God, which was nothing so, and so would
have drawn God's people into sects and false doctrine.
For which cause S, Paul and Barnabas, being in
visibly sent of the Holy Ghost, yet it was the will and
pleasure of the same Holy Ghost that they should, by
a visible sacrament of imposition of hands, be visibly
sent in the authority of Apostles to the ministration
of the Church (Acts xiii. 2, 3) ; and such as say them
selves they be sent invisibly of God, ought not to be
believed or received, except they be as S. Paul and
Barnabas were, visibly ordered and anointed by
Catholic bishops, such as have their succession from
the Apostles, Furthermore, in this Sacrament of
Order is given to them that be lawfully ordered the
ecclesiastical power of the Church, which is a power

ORDER. 291

given not by the laws of men or of nature, but only by
Christ above nature, and after a special sort, to His
Apostles and disciples and their lawful successors to the
world's end, for the edifying of the Church militant, ac
cording to the laws of the Gospel, for the attaining of
eternal life. And this power is called in Scripture by
the name of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. As a
key doth open the door to a man, and bringeth him into
the house, so this ecclesiastical power being used with
knowledge and discretion by a lawful minister, openeth
the door of man's heart to the knowledge of God, and
so in process openeth to him the kingdom of heaven.
For it containeth the ministration of all things
which be necessary for us sinners to be directed, fur
thered, and promoted to the attaining of the said
kingdom — as to bind and loose, to remit and retain
sin, and all other things that be requisite to the pre
servation of Christ's Church in unity of faith and
charity, to the intent it might be partaker of the
glory of God,
These keys our Saviour Christ did give to His
Church in S, Peter, or rather to S. Peter for the
Church, saying to him : — " To thee shall I give the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt bind upon earth .shall be also bounden
in the heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt loose
upon earth shall be also loosed in the heavens "
(Matt xvi. 19).
And to the other His Apostles and disciples as
sembled together. He said, " Whose sins you shall re
mit, be remitted unto them, and whos.e sins you re
tain, be retained " (John xx. 23).

292 THE SACRAMENTS,
And to declare that this power is not invented by
man, nor yet given by the authority of any prince or
commonalty,, our Saviour said, in the giving of it to ,
His disciples, "Take and receive you the Holy
Ghost." Whereby we understand that the power to
bind or loose, or to remit sin, or finally to govern
the Church, is the work only of the Holy Ghost
working by His ministers that which is for the salva
tion of His Church.
And whereas the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is
the highest and greatest sacrament of all other, because
whole Christ, both God and man, is contained in it,
therefore is priesthood the highest order, wherein
is given grace and power over Christ's natural Body
and Blood, to consecrate it by the virtue of God
assisting His Word, and to make it present in the
Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, by the change of the
substances of bread and wine, and also to offer it
being the very sacrifice of the New Testament to
God the Father, for the sins and ignorances of His
people, and to deliver and minister it to such as by
their faith and cleanness of life be worthy to re
ceive it.
So this power over Christ's natural Body our
Saviour Himself gave to His disciples in His last Sup
per, where, after that He had consecrate, offered, and
delivered His own Body to His disciples, He said to
them, "Do this in remembrance of Me " (i Cor, xi. 24),
by which word He made them priests, and gave them
authority and commandment to do as He did then,
not once, but continually till His latter coming.
And that the priest may worthily and after due

ORDER, 293

manner execute this his chief office and function, there
be other inferior orders ordained of God and His
Holy Church to assist the priest, as deacon and sub-
deacon, whose offices be to receive the oblations of
the people for the use of the sacrament, to bring them
to the Altar, to prepare all things necessary for the
consecration, to give consent to the sacrifice made by
the priest, besides other things which by Holy Scrip
ture and the universal tradition of the Church they
be authorised to do (Acts vi, 3). A priest also hath
power given unto him by this Sacrament of Order
over Christ's mystical Body the Church, for the in
struction, the purgation, and the perfection ofthe same
Church and every member thereof
And first, concerning the instruction of it, a priest
hath authority to preach God's Word, by God's special
and visible sending, where our Saviour Christ said to
His disciples, " As My Father hath sent Me, so like
wise I send you" (John xx, 21). And in another
place He said, " Go ye into the whole world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark xvi, 15)-
And also, " Go your ways, and teach all people, bap
tizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and I shall
be with you all days to the end of the world "
(Matt, xxviii, 19, 20),
And as concerning the purgation of God's people,
a priest hath authority to remit sin, as a minister in
the name and power of the Holy Trinity, both to
them that first enter into the Church, by ministering
to them the Sacrament of Baptism, and also to them

294 THE SACRAMENTS.
that after baptism have fallen into sin again, by
ministering to them the sacrament of Penance, the
commandments of God, whereby every priest is
authorised to baptize and to remit sins to the penitent
sinners, I have heretofore in this sermon sufficiently
declared. And as concerning the perfection of the Church of
Christ, and every memlier thereof, God hath given
to priests authority to pray over sick persons (James
V. 14), and to anoint them with oil in His name, to
the remission of their sins, and the salvation of the
sick, according to God's pleasure, and also to join
those persons in matrimony, that marry in Christ
• And bishops also, who in the order of priesthood,
as the successors of the Apostles, have higher dignity,
and distinct offices, and authority, above other inferior
priests, for the perfection of the people in Christ's
religion, have power to give the Holy Ghost for the
confirmation of them that be baptized (Acts viii. 15,
16, and ix, 17), and by imposition of their hands to
ordain priests and other ministers of God's Holy
Word and sacraments (Titus i, 5 ; Acts vi, 6, and xiv,
22). And further, for purging of Christ's mystical
Body, the Church, from all errors, schisms, disobedi
ences, and ungodly living, bishops have power to
use spiritual and ordinary jurisdiction, as to call
synods for reformation (Acts xv, 6), and good order
to be made in the Church, to visit their dioceses, that
neither by tyranny, nor by heresy, nor yet by the
subtle craft of the devil, the flock of Christ be dis
persed or destroyed, to correct by excommunication
and other disciphne the public crimes of such as be

ORDER, 295
manifestly accused, denounced, or found guilty and
obstinate by diligent inquisition, to examine and
determine the causes and enormities which arise or
may chance in the Church of Christ and finally to do
what shall be thought necessary and expedient for
the banishing of vice and error, and the stablishing of
virtue, true faith, and godly unity.
For that power which God hath given unto them,
is only to build, and not to destroy (2 Cor. x, 8 ;
xiii, 10) ; which power is honourable, and to be
esteemed and obeyed in all bishops and priests,
be they of good living or naughty living. For the
Hfe of an evil priest or bishop is no hindrance nor
prejudice to the effect and virtue of God's sacraments,
which they truly minister, no more than the evil life
of a physician hindereth the virtue and operation of
a good medicine. Therefore (good people), knowing
the necessity and commodity which cometh to us by
this sacrament of Order, for our instruction, sanctifi
cation, and final salvation, let us give most high
thanks to Almighty God, that hath given such power
to men, and by the execution of that power, and the
distinct degrees and general functions of this sacra
ment of Order, hath avoided all confusion out of His
Church, that it might appear beautiful and glorious
in His sight and let every person take heed that he
neither break nor contemn this ordinance of God, and
so be occasion of corrupting God's truth, and disturb
ing His peace and unity, which by this only order is
kept and preserved. But in aU our prayers let us
humbly make supplication, that God of His merciful
goodness would preserve His Church continually

296 THE SACRAMENTS,
in this good order without disturbance, and that
every minister in his degree might study and labour
in the law of God, to be and do as his office requireth,
seeking the building of Christ's Church, and not the
only increase of his worldly gain, as becometh the
servants of God, being bounden to give an account
of that is committed to their charge, to the laud and
praise of Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy
Ghost Hveth and reigneth in unity of Godhead for
evermore, world without end. Amen.

( 297 )

THE TWENTY-SIXTH SERMON.
IN WHAT ESTIMATION THE PRELATES AND OTHER
MINISTERS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH OUGHT TO BE
HAD OF THE PEOPLE,
FORASMUCH as the prelates and ministers of
Christ's Church (good people) be ordained of
God to be judges over His people, in such things as
appertain to the salvation of their souls, and also to
be their governors and rulers in all true religion, and
thirdly to be their ghostly and spiritual fathers, to
beget children to God by the Word of Christ and the
preaching of the Gospel, therefore, considering that
Almighty God doth so honour them, and doth so
allow and assist their ministration, in giving to them,
being frail and mortal men, such power as no other
creature hath at any time received, and all for the
building, perfection, and final salvation of His Church,
His elect and chosen people, therefore I say, it is
commanded to all men and women that be of the
flock of Christ, to love and to obey and to honour
those ministers of Christ in such sort as the nature
and worthiness of their office and ministration doth
require. For so S. Paul taught the Thessalonians,
: saying thus, "We beseech you, brethren, that you

298 THE SACRAMENTS.
would know them that labour among ye" (i Thess. v,
12) ; that is to say, in knowledging what benefits
we have of God by their labour and service, who also
be the rulers and governors over you in our Lord,
and do admonish you in all goodness, as it were
executing Christ's office amongst you, that ye would
have them in highest price and estimation by sincere
love and charity, more abundantly than other, and
that for their work and office' sake, having peace with
them, without using any disobedience, contention, or
disdain towards them.
By this exhortation of the blessed Apostle S, Paul,
may all men and women learn what love they ought
to bear towards the ministers of Almighty God,
which ought to be in the best sort not only for the
worthiness and virtues of the persons, which is a
cause making all men to be loved and favoured the
more, but specially for their office and labour sake,
and for such benefits as by their service and ministry
men receive at God's hand.
For they be not only our neighbours, whom for
that respect we ought to love as ourselves, but also
they be the causes of our spiritual life, by them we
are made Christian men, by them we have the true
knowledge of God, remission of our sins, participation
with Christ in the unity of His mystical Body the
Church, into which Body we are grafted and made
living members to bring forth the fruit of hoHness
and good works ; by them we have given unto us the
Holy Ghost, not only to our sanctification, but also
to our boldness and strength, whereby we be made
able to withstand our adversary the devil, and to

ESTEEM OF CLERGY. 299
overcome all the fiery darts of his crafty temptations ;
by them we be nourished and fed, not only with the
spiritual food of God's Word, but also with the
heavenly and immortal food of Christ's natural Body
and Blood, whereby we be sanctified both in body
and soul, and receive increase of all God's former gifts
and graces, whereby also we be united unto Christ
in perfect unity, that is to say, both spiritually in our
souls, and also corporally in our bodies, by the worthy
receiving of His heavenly and natural flesh into the
same, and by that pledge remaining effectually in us,
we be assured and rest in resurrection of our bodies
to everlasting life.
They be also appointed of Almighty God as
ambassadors to reconcile us again to God, when we
by trangression of His laws and commandments have
offended His Majesty.
By their mouths and ministry God receiveth the
vows, requests, and sacrifices of His people, whereby
His anger and wrath for the people's offences, is
mitigated and taken away. They be anointed of
Almighty God to be watchmen and shepherds over
the flock of Christ to give warning when the wolf
cometh to devour the sheep, and to reduce and bring
home again to the fold, when the flock is dispersed,
such as have wandered in* error and wicked living.
For these benefits and a great number more, which
may be easily rehearsed but for tediousness, which
all we receive of Almighty God by the labours and
service of the prelates and ministers in Christ's Church,
we ought to have them in reverence and to esteem
them, according to the admonition of S, Paul (i Cor.

300 THE SACRAMENTS,
iv. i), as the ministers of God and the stewards or
disposers of God's mysteries, knowing that whoso
heareth and obeyeth them, heareth and obeyeth God,
and whoso despiseth them, despiseth God (Luke x. i6);
for the love and reverence which is given to God's
minister, is given to God, and likewise the contempt
of him is the contempt of God, as Almighty God said
Himself to Samuel, whom the people of Israel refused
to rule over them, in these words, " They have not
contemned and rejected thee but Me" (i Kings viii, 7),
So that generally the honour or contempt which is
used towards God's ministers, tendeth and reboundeth
towards God Himself, as appeared by the punish
ment of such contempt as the Jews used against
Moses, which Almighty God reputed as done against
Himself (Num, xii. 8).
Furthermore beside love, the people owe to the
ministers of Christ's Church obedience, as to their
spiritual governors and rulers, to whom Christ our
Saviour hath committed the keys of His kingdom,
by which is understanded ecclesiastical power to
exercise discipline and jurisdiction over God's people,
for the edifying and building of them in grace and
virtue, and for the correcting and banishing of all
error and ungodly living.
This power in the ministers of the Church ought
every Christian man and woman to obey under pain
of deadly sin. For seeing that all power is of God,
he that withstandeth or disobeyeth that power (Rom.
xiii. I, 2), disobeyeth God's ordinance, and so offendeth
grievously Almighty God and his own conscience,
except it be in such cases where the ministers of

ESTEEM OF CLERGY. 30I
God's Church shall make ordinances, and give com
mandments contrary to the express commandment
lof Almighty God, for in such cases men ought rather
to obey God than man (Acts v. 29). But all their
constitutions, specially such as be universally received
throughoilt the Catholic Church, and be ordained for
the conservation and increase of ^ood life and true
religion, and for the beauty of good order in the
Church and serving of God, and for quietness and
discipline uniformly to be kept among the people, all
such ordinances and constitutions no man may con
temptuously break and disobey without deadly sin,
except urgent and evident necessity, or some other
greater and more weighty commodity do excuse him.
And yet in such necessary and urgent cases where he
may be excused for not observing the same, he must
beware and take heed that he neither despise nor
contemn the authority of the Church, nor yet therein
do offend his neighbour by giving him an occasion
likewise to disobey, or to judge evil of another.
This obedience to God's ministers S. Paul doth
exhort all men unto, writing to the Hebrews (chap.
xiii, 17) in this sort, " Be you obedient to your spiri
tual rulers, and be you subject under their govern
ment, because they labour and watch over you as
men that shall give an account for your souls,"
That thing which God regardeth most, that is to
say, the soul of man, for whose cause He took our
nature upon Him, and for it did shed His most pre
cious blood, in comparison also whereof He setteth
in a manner nothing by all other things within this
world, that same hath He committed to the charge

302 THE SACRAMENTS,
of these His ministers, and will of them require a
straight account at the last day. Whereby appeareth
how much He hath honoured them in committing so
precious a jewel to their charge, and also how much
all people ought to esteem, obey, and honour them,
that, beside the burden of their own proper acts and
deeds, will clog and charge their consciences with
the cure of other men's souls, which cure to discharge
is very hard and difficult unto them, both for that
men be masters and lords of their own wills, which
be free and subject to no foreign compulsion, and
also for that the perfect state of men's souls cannot
be known to their curates, except the parties them
selves do confess and open the same.
And therefore it is God's will that these. His mini
sters, shall be of all sorts of men obeyed in the exe
cuting of their office committed unto them, both
concerning faith and credit to be given to their preach
ings and exhortations, so long as they sit in the chair
of Christ, teaching wholesome and Catholic doctrine,
and the imitation of the life of our Saviour, and also
concerning the keeping and fulfilHng of the ancient
and godly constitutions, ordained by the prelates of
the universal Church of Christ for good order and
conformity of good living, to be kept throughout in
the same.
And specially they ought to be obeyed when they
shall, by discipline and the censures of the Church,
correct the pubhc crimes of any person which, of con
tumacy contemning the admonitions of his neigh
bours and the prelates of the Church, refuseth to
hear and obey the Church,

ESTEEM OF CLERGY, 3O3
For in such cases of contempt the ministers of
Christ may not wink and suffer the people to run
'headlong without bridle, from one crime to another,
to the destruction of themselves and others also, but
ought openly to reprove such men, and if that will
not serve, then to draw the spiritual sword of ex
communication, which is very terrible, and much to
be feared of all Christian men, and more than the
corporal sword of princes and kings, forsomuch as
the death of the soul is more to be feared than the
death of the body.
For if a man be justly excommunicate of his own
judge having ordinary or lawful jurisdiction over him,
he is a member cut away from the body of Christ's
Catholic Church, which, so long as he is in that state,
is dead, not able to bring forth good fruit, and worthy
nothing but to be cast into eternal fire and burnt as
being then a member of the Church malignant (John
XV, 6). He is accursed and separate from the com
pany and fellowship, not only of all faithful people in
this world, but also of Almighty God and His blessed
angels in the kingdom of heaven. He is deprived of
the influence of God's grace, and the special protec
tion of Almighty God, secluded from the spiritual
communion of Christ's Church, as not partaker of the
sacraments and of the prayers, good works, and
general suffrages of the same, and is to be taken and
esteemed of all good men as an Eihnick* and pub
lican (Matt, xvin. 17), and is also delivered to Satan
the devil. Whereby the devil hath power by permis
sion over him to afflift him with all vexation and
* i, e.. Heathen,

304 THE SACRAMENTS.
affliction ccJrporal, to the intent that, by that means,
he perceiving the enormity of his living may yield and
be reduced to penance, that his soul may be saved on
the day of our Lord (i Cor. v. 5),
What Christian heart can be so careless of his own
salvation, as either by his wilfulness or by his ob
stinacy to continue in so damnable and dangerous a
state of Hving, which many men wilfully and headlong
fall into, by disobeying God's ministers, and that
power which is given unto them by Almighty God
for the reformation of .His people ,' And although
sometimes men may flatter themselves when they be
excommunicate, that they need not to fear or regard
such excommunication, for that they persuade them
selves in their own opinions, either the cause to be
unjust or the process against them to be unlawful,
and therefore shall begin not to regard but to contemn
the said sentence of excommunication pronounced
against them, yet in the name of God I shall adver
tise you all (good people) to be ware of this point, and
not to be your own judges in these cases deceiving
yourselves, lest by your so contemning the keys and
authority of the Church, ye run in danger of just
excommunication otherwise, and shall thereby make
that cause to be just in the end, which perchance
would have appeared to have been not so weighty in
the beginning.
Thus (good people) understanding that the prelates
and ministers of Christ's Church be ordained of God
to be the physicians and surgeons of your souls, your
duty is to love and obey them, not only when they
do apply the sweet medicines of God's Word and

ESTEEM OF CLERGY, 305
His holy sacraments to the diseases of your souls,
but also, when as good surgeons they bind the
parties that refuse to be cured, and by the censures
of the Church and strait discipline do cut and search
their desperate and incurable wounds, executing the
office of Almighty God, that said by His prophet in
this manner, "I shall feed My sheep, and I shall seek
and search that is lost ; I shall bring home again
that is cast away, I shall bind that is broken, I shall
save and keep that is~ fat and strong, and I shall feed
them in judgment" (Ezech. xxxiv. 15, 16). And
like as I have told you of your duties towards them
in loving and obeying them, so ought you also to
honour them as the holy Apostle, S, Paul, teacheth,
saying, " Those priests that exercise their office, and
rule their people well, be worthy double honour,
specially those that labour in God's Word and doc
trine," For the Scripture sayeth, "Thou shalt not
bind up the mouth of the ox that treadeth forth the
corn, and he that laboureth is worthy his wages or
reward" (i Tim. v, 17, 18). By which words we
understand what is meant by this double honour, not
only to think well upon them, to have them in esti
mation, to love them, to reverence and honour God
in them for their work and office' sake, but also to
succour and reheve them in their corporal living, to
minister unto their necessary sustenance sufficiently
with a frank heart and a good will.
For who doth go a warfare upon his own charges ,'
who feedeth a flock and doth not eat of the milk of
the same flock (i Cor. ix. 7) .' They that minister
unto the people spiritual things, as the Word
U

306 THE SACRAMENTS,
of God, His holy sacraments and such other^
ought likewise to receive again of the people
carnal things (Rom. xv, 27), For the scholar which
is taught and instructed in the Word of God and
the religion of Christ, ought to communicate and
to make his master and instructor to be a partner
with him in all good things temporal which God hath
lent unto him (Gal, vi. 6), for Almighty God hath
willed and ordained, that they which serve Him in the
preaching and setting forth of His Gospel, should
have their living of the Gospel for the setting forth of
the same (l Cor. ix, 13),
By these reasons and sayings which I have here
rehearsed unto you (good people) out of the doctrine
of the blessed Apostle S, Paul, it appeareth plainly
that the payment of tithes, or the tenth part of all
manner of fruits, for so much as pertaineth to the
substance of them and the sustentation of God's
ministers, to the intent they might wholly apply
themselves to God's ministry undivided, or without
care of the world for their necessary living, is God's
ordinance, not only by the instinct of nature, it being
most agreeing to natural reason, but also by God's
moral law, Who being the Lord, Creator and Giver
of all good things, in token of His universal dominion,
as it were by a special title and prerogative, hath
reserved the tenth part of the fruits of the earth to
Himself, and will be honoured with our substance and
riches, by the free oblation of those tithes to Him,
v/hich He hath willed to be given and converted
to the use and sustentation of the ministers of
His Church (Prov. iii. 9), For so writeth the

ESTEEM OF CLERGY, 307
wise man, In all thy soul fear thy Lord God
and sanctify His priests, with all thy power love
Him that made thee, and forsake not His ministers,
honour God with all thy soul, and also honour His
priests, and purge thyself with the free oblation of that
thou hast gotten with the labour of thy hands, give
unto them as it is commanded unto thee, their portion
of thy chief fruits and tithes (Ecclus. vii. 30-35), Thus
(good people) as we are debtors to Almighty God for
His infinite and manifold benefits, so by just paying
of our tithes to Him we acknowledge our imperfection.
His Majesty and universal dominion, our need and
misery, His goodness and bountiful liberality, which
is according to our duties a giving of thanks for the
same, and accepted of Him as a payment of our
debts for His benefits, through the merits of His only
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
And this honour in ministering to the priests
of Christ's Church for their living, as I have said
before, is not only expressed in the writings of the
holy prophets and in the old law of Moses (Mai.
iii. 10, Exod. xxii. 29, Num. v. 9, Num, xviii, 11-13,
Deut. xiv. 22), which was the figure declaring what
might be done in the New Testament, where righteous
ness doth and ought more to abound than it did
in the scribes and Pharisees (Matt, v, 20) ; and yet in
this point, concerning the living of the ministers, it was
not a bare ceremony shadowing a truth to come, nor
yet only judicial, pertaining only to the government of
the civil state of that people of the Jews, which is now
dissolved, but did instruct men how they should be-
!have themselves in that behalf to God and their neigh-

308 THE SACRAMENTS,
bour, which ought to take place, and be observed as
well now amongst us in the New Testament as
amongst them in the Old ; but also is declared to be
due to be paid of Christian people now in the time of
the New Testament by the consent of Christ's uni
versal Church, as well by the testimony of the holy
fathers and the universal custom of the said Church,
ever since the time that any realm was wholly con
verted to the faith of Christ as by the determination
of general council ; the consent and judgment of
whom our Saviour Christ hath taught to be observed
in all doubts as a sure argument of the undoubted
truth, and a sure pillar for every Christian man to lean
unto. And as the withdrawing or not paying of this
Gv-7'of tithes from God, that hath reserved the same
in token of His universal dominion (Deut xiv, 22), to
the intent men should learn to fear Him at all times,
is very sacrilege and the contempt of God and His
true religion, so is the cause of dearth and famine,
and many other plagues which by God's just judg
ment fall upon the people therefore (Mai, iii. 10). Like
as the honouring of God and His ministers in this
point, and the true payment of the same, is the cause
that God doth bless His people in sending unto them
abundance and plenty in all corporal and spiritual
benediction. For which cause I shall most heartily require you
to consider what I have said concerning your duty
to God and the ministers of His Church, in loving,
obeying, and honouring them, which I speak not for
their glory or gain worldly, but for your profit, dis
charging myself in declaring unto you the will and

ESTEEM OF CLERGY, 309
commandment of God in this behalf, to the intent ye
might avoid His high displeasure for doing the con
trary, and on the other side obtain the abundance of
His grace and blessing like obedient servants and
thankful children, whom He shall at the last day re
ward with the fruition of His glory, through the merits
and mercy of His only Son Jesus Christ, to Whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour
and glory, world without end. Amen,

( 310 )

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH SERMON,
OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY AND WHAT
GRACE IS GIVEN IN IT,
A FTER that Almighty God our Lord (good people)
JTX. had created and made the first man Adam,
and had placed him in Paradise (Gen, ii,). He by-
and-by coupled and joined unto him in marriage a
woman created of his own flesh and bone ; whereby
appeareth that matrimony is the elder and more
ancient than all the other sacraments, and instituted
by God Himself before the fall of man for good and
necessary causes — as for the aid and comfort of man,
both in their common life together, and also for
multiplication of mankind, and the godly bringing up
of their children, it being prepared and ordained of
Almighty God to be a mean ¦ and instrument for
lawful generation between them and perpetual con
tinuance of mankind to the world's end.
For which purpose Almighty God, when He had
joined them in marriage together, He blessed them
with His holy word, saying to them, " Increase you
and be you multiplied and full-fill the earth" (Gen, i,
28, ix. 1-7),
Furthermore, Almighty God, to whom nothing is

MATRIMONY, 3 II

unknown, but all things, both past, present, and to
come, be perfectly before His eyes, foreseeing that
man would be deceived by the craft of the devil, and
fall from that righteousness which He had created
him in, and that as he would by his own free will
disobey God his superior, so his flesh and carnal
desires should by God's just judgment likewise dis
obey Him ; therefore He ordained matrimony, that
as it should be to man and woman before their fall
a mean of that generation and multiplying of God's
people, so it should be also after their fall a remedy
to excuse the unlawful desire of their sinful flesh.
Last of all. Almighty God, foreseeing the bondage
and damnation of mankind for his disobedience to
God, and of His infinite mercy purposing to redeem
mankind again from the said bondage and damnation,
by sending His only begotten Son to be made man,
and in our flesh to regenerate us, and to restore us
to be the loving children of God again ; therefore, to
teach us this His good will and purpose, that we
should by faith continually know His godly counsel
.concerning our redemption and regeneration. He
ordained and instituted this lawful conjunction of
man and woman in matrimony, to be a sign or sacra
ment of the marriage between His only Son, the
Lamb of God, our Saviour Christ, and His spouse the
Holy Church ; whereof S, Paul wrote to the Ephesians
(chapter v,, verse 31), saying thus, "For this cause a
man shall forsake his father and mother and cleave
unto his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.
For this sacrament is great, I say in Christ and in the
Church." And for the better understanding of this

312 THE SACRAMENTS.

thing, ye may consider that God in the beginning
made two marvellous conjunctions in man — one
between the soul of man and his flesh, and this
conjunction is natural, the other between man and
woman in marriage, and this conjunction is voluntary
and sacramental. Even so there be two marvellous
conjunctions between Christ and the nature of man,
the one like to conjunction between man's soul and
his flesh, which is when the Word was made flesh,
that is to say, when God's Son in His incarnation did
join our mortal nature to His godly nature in unity
of person. The other is like the conjunction between
man and wife, which is made by voluntary love
between Christ and His Church, that is to say, that
company or congregation of all Christian people,
redeemed, sanctified, and nourished by Christ's
precious blood, and of this conjunction matrimony
is an holy sacrament. For as by the use of
matrimony are born and brought forth into the
world natural children, so by the virtue of this
marriage between Christ and His spouse the Church,
are daily begotten to God spiritual children. And
as God made unto Adam, our forefather, a wife of a
rib taken out of his side when he was cast into a
sleep (Gen. ii. 21), even so by the blood and water
that ran forth of Christ's side when He slept by
death upon the cross, was the Church of Christ
married unto Him and made His spouse, to cleave
unto Him as one flesh with Him for evermore.
And as Adam spake in the spirit of prophecy, that
by matrimony a man should leave his father and
mother, and adhere and cleave unto his wife, and that

MATRIMONY. 313

they should be two in one flesh, so our Saviour Christ
did so leave His Father, that being in the form of God
thought it no robbery to be equal with God, but
abased Himself and was made man, and also left the
Synagogue, the mother of the Jews, which altogether
leaned carnally to the Old Testament, and did adhere
unto His wife the Holy Church, to the intent they
might be two in one flesh in the peace of the New
Testament. And as a man and his wife have conformity and do
agree in one nature of mankind, so Christ did conform
Himself to His Church by His humanity. And as at
the pubhc celebration of marriage, the friends of the
parties so married be called together, and a feast is
made among them to declare their common joy and
gratulation for the celebrating of this sacrament, even
so to the marriage between our Saviour Christ and
His spouse, the Holy Church, are called all nations
and people, and from every part of the world the
friends and servants of God by lively faith do resort
thither with unspeakable gladness and joy in the
Holy Ghost
And as there is no worldly love greater than the
love between man and wife, who be one heart and one
mind, even so the Holy Church loveth Christ, and
Christ loveth His spouse the Church, so that He hath
given Himself to the death for her, to redeem and
wash her from all her spots and wrinkles. And as
the wife by duty is subject and obedient to her hus
band as being her head, so is . the Church to Christ
her Head and Saviour.
And as the husband adorneth and decketh his wife,

314 THE SACRAMENTS,
and when case requireth doth also chastise her, to the
intent she might continue in her duty and obedience,
so Christ doth beautify and set forth His wife, the
Church, with spiritual gifts and ornaments, and some
times by tribulation and adversity doth chastise her,
as well for to exercise her in righteousness as for
correction of her disobedience. Thus ye may per
ceive (good people) by these comparisons, how matri
mony between man and wife is a great sacrament
resembling unto us and bearing to our remembrance
that heavenly conjunction which is between Christ
our Saviour, and His spouse the Holy Church, which
is the greatest grace and benefit that God hath given
to 'man, whereupon man's salvation doth wholly de
pend. And as this grace is but only signified by the sacra
ment of Matrimony, so God doth both signify and
also work effectually other special and singular graces
in them that lawfully in the faith of Christ receive
the same sacrament of Matrimony. Which thing
shall appear, if ye will consider the words of our
Saviour Christ wher o^ matrimony as. a sacrament
of the New Testament is established and sanctified,
where He saith in the Gospel of S. Matthew after this
sort, " Those persons whom God hath joined, man
may not loose." By which words is declared unto us,
that whosoever be joined in lawful marriage in the
name of God, to the intent to live godly, in the re
ligion of Christ in that state of life, they be joined
not vainly by contract of man only, but by God
Hiraself, Who is invisibly present at the making of
that marriage, and doth assist the parties, and is the

MATRIMONY, 315

i author and worker of the knot of matrimony between
them. And by the same words also is declared the
strength of the knot of matrimony to be such as
cannot be broken and dissolved afterward but by
the natural death of one of the parties so married.
For if God doth so couple and join man and wife
together, that no man hath power to ^parate them
asunder afterwards, then is it certain that He giveth
to the parties so married His special grace to live to
gether in godly and chaste love in this perpetual bond
and knot of matrimony without breach of the same,
and so to cherish and love one another as Christ
loveth His Church, and shall never be separate and
divorced from the same. So that this indissoluble
bond of matrimony between the two parties married,
which no man can loose and break during the lives of
both the parties so married, is that special grace and
effect which is wrought by Almighty God in this
sacrament, and is also signified by such mutual words
of consent as the two parties did contract matrimony
together. Which perpetual bond, although-it be made
specially for the intent to have children, yet when
that cause doth cease by age or barrenness, it may in
nowise be broken or dissolved. And also although for
fornication of the woman or of the man, there may be
made against the will of the party offending, a divorce
or separation from bed and board between them, till
they be reconciled together again by the penance and
submission of the party offending, yet the bond and
knot of matrimony which God hath once made, can
in nowise be dissolved (i Cor, vii. 1 1), and in case the

3l6 THE SACRAMENTS.

one party, the other being alive, do attempt to marry
again, it doth commit fornication.
And this cause or condition of matrimony between
husband and wife, is not among the heathen or un
christian people where matrimony is no sacrament of
Christ's religion, but only in the city of God which is
the Catholic ^hurch. Moreover, beside this inviol
able bond which God knitteth by His grace in this
sacrament and by mutual love which He poureth into
their hearts, and doth nourish and preserve the same,
there is also another singular grace and benefit of God
always joined thereunto, whereby (as S. Paul saith)
matrimony is made honourable, and in it the bed or
carnal copulation may be undefiled and without sin
(Heb, xiii, 4), For whereas by God's institution in
this sacrament of Matrimony, there is power given
to man to use his wife for procreation of children, we
must consequently understand that there is also grace
given whereby he may do that thing conveniently to
the contentation and pleasure of God. For they that
worthily in the faith of Christ and in the fear of God,
with a right intent, for the end to have fruit of their
bodies to serve God, contract matrimony together, to
such I say is given the help of God's grace against the
unlawful desire and concupiscence of the flesh, that it
proceed no further than the honesty of marriage doth
require, so that the carnal act and copulation which
otherwise were sinful and dishonest, is by the good
ness of matrimony lawfully contracted (as I have said
before), not only excused and defended from sin, as
S. Paul saith, " If thou hast taken a wife, thou hast
not sinned, and if a virgin do marry, she sinneth not "

MATRIMONY. 317

(i Cor. vii. 28), but also is made honest and meritori
ous and acceptable to Almighty God, Who also by
His special grace doth aid the parties so married, to
keep steadfastly that faith and promise which they
have made one to another, by which the man hath
granted the power and use of his body only to his
wife, and likewise the wife to her husband only, and
so to avoid adultery and fornication with any other
person during their lives natural. Which promise to
keep is very hard, or in a manner impossible, without
the aid of God's grace given to them in this sacrament
For where the corrupt nature of man's flesh, and his
inordinate concupiscence, moveth and inclineth him to
desire other women beside his own wife, yet by the
grace of matrimony his unlawful desire is restrained,
so that he may be content with his own wife alone
and avoid fornication. And whereas also man's
corrupt nature seeketh rather the satisfying of his
carnal lust, than the generation of children, yet in
this sacrament of Matrimony he receiveth grace to
know his wife, rather for the intent to have children
than to fulfil his fleshly desire, and also to com
municate with her all that chance to him, good or bad,
and to bring up together their children in the religion
and fear of God. And Hkewise, whereas a man by
his corrupt nature, after carnal copulation, is wont
and disposed to think loathsome, and partly to abhor
that woman which he hath known carnally, and so
refuseth her and seeketh another, yet in matrimony
is given grace and aid, not to disdain the company of
his wife, but to remain with her continually without
separation or divorce.

3l8 THE SACRAMENTS.
All these singular graces and aids. Almighty God
ceaseth not of His merciful goodness for His part to
give and grant to His faithful people in this sacrament
of Matrimony, if they themselves do not wilfully stop
at the beginning, or afterwards refuse the same by
their ungracious life and wicked intent. For as God
is author and giver of all grace and goodness, so He
forceth and compelleth no man to be or to continue
good against his will.
Therefore (good people) ye may evidently perceive
the infinite and unspeakable clemency of Almighty
God our Saviour, that by such a sacrament hath so
mercifuhy provided for our carnal concupiscence and
desires. He knoweth very well how frail man's flesh
is, and how full of corruption and wickedness, and
therefore mercifully hath ordained lawful matrimony
to restrain man's unlawful desire; for which cause
married persons may have boldness and quietness of
a good conscience, whereby although they have by
the use of matrimony tribulation of the flesh many
ways, yet they be certainly assured that their
matrimonial life, honestly begun and virtuously con
tinued, hath always the assistance of God's grace, and
is blessed of Him, and therefore profitable and
meritorious to the salvation of the parties. Where
unto S, Paul beareth witness, writing thus to Timothy
( I Tim, ii. 1 5), that the wife shall be saved by pro
creation and bringing forth of children, if the same do
continue in faith and love towards God, and in holi
ness and temperance in their deeds.
Finally, every man and woman ought most stead
fastly to believe that marriage is a good thing, and

MATRIMONY, 319

ordained and blessed of Almighty God, and also that
it is a better thing to Hve chastely without marriage,
to the intent a man or woman might more fully and
freely think upon such things as be godly, and how
to please God. And yet to them that have not vowed
chastity, either in virginity or widowhood, we ought
to believe that it is no sin to marry and to take an
husband or wife, and that not only the first marriage is
ordained of God, but also that the second and third
marriage is granted as lawful for the infirmity of such
as cannot otherwise live continently. But to them
that have vowed chastity and continent life to
Almighty God, we ought to think that (according to
the doctrine of S, Paul) it is damnable not only to
defile themselves with the deadly sin of fornication,
but also to have a will to marry a wife, or to take an
husband, because he or she that so doth hath broken
and made void his first faith and promise, which by
his vow he made to Almighty God.
Therefore, he that shall well consider with himself
the goodness of this sacrament as I have rehearsed,
and the singular and manifold graces which God
giveth to them that be honestly and for a good intent
married in our Saviour Christ, shall both edify his
own conscience towards himself, and increase his
chaste love towards his wife, and by that laudable
state of living highly please Almighty God toward the
attaining of his own salvation, which God of His great
mercy grant to us by the merits of His dear Son our
Saviour Christ, to Whom with the Father and the
Holy Ghost be all honour and glory for evermore.
Amen,

( 320 )

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SERMON.
OF THE MANNER HOW TO MINISTER AND CONTRACT
MA TRIMONY.
IT is to be considered (good people) that although
the solemnisation of matrimony, and the bene
diction of the parties married, is made and given in
the face of the Church by a priest — the public minis
ter of the Church, yet the contract of matrimony
may be, and is commonly made, by the layman and
woman which be married together.* And because for
lack of knowledge how such contracts ought to be
duly made, and for omitting of such things as be
necessary to the same, it chanceth oftentimes that the
parties change their minds, and will not keep that
promise of marriage which seemed to have passed
between them before, whereupon cometh and groweth
between such persons and their friends great grudge
and hatred, and great suit in the law, therefore I
intend at this time, by God's grace, to declare unto
you which be the very words whereby this sacrament
of Matrimony is contracted, and to open certain cases
thereupon depending, to the intent that such conten
tion as commonly is wont to arise upon the ignorance
or not observing the same, may the better be avoided,
* See note at end of this sermon.

HOW TO CONTRACT, 321
and the parties so contracting, may without scruple
or evil conscience for so much live together in godly
and chaste matrimony to the good-will and pleasure
of Almighty God,
First, whosoever intendeth to take upon himself
this sacrament of Matrimony, his duty is, not
headily or rashly and with blind affection, to enter
so weighty a matter, but ought, with discretion and
deliberation, to choose unto him or her such a make
and fellow, with whom he or she shall verily believe
and trust to live godly and virtuously, without breach
of the bond of matrimony in any case during their
natural lives, and to be ware that he enter not
marriage with any such person, as the law of God,
expressed by the instinct of nature in every man's
heart, and the book of Leviticus, and also the holy
and ancient Canons of the Church do prohibit and
forbid. Which prohibition now extendeth to the
fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity, and also
taketh place in spiritual kindred, which is between
the party that is baptized or confirmed and his god
fathers or godmothers, and their children and wife or
husband, before such baptism or confirmation, and
also between the godfather or godmother and the
parents of the child so baptized or confirmed.*
Furthermore, he ought to beware and foresee that
he or she be in no error of the person, nor of the con-
* A few years after the printing of this sermon, the Council of Trent,
in the 24th Session (De, Reform, cap, 2), restricted the impediment of
spiritual relationship. It now exists only between the person baptizing
and the person bajjtized, and the father and mother of the baptized ;
between the sponsor and the person baptized, and the father and
mother thereof; and similarly in Confirmation, X

322 THE SACRAMENTS,
dition and quality of the same person, with whom he
or she intendeth to marry. And if any scruple or
doubt shall appear unto him or her, concerning the
degrees or other impediments which may lawfully
stop the contracting of such marriage, then his duty
is to resort to know the judgment of his curate. And
in case his curate hath not so profound knowledge as
to resolve him in all such doubts, then ought he or
she further to resort to his ordinary or bishop to be
resolved, to whom only the custom of the Church of
old time, not without great cause, did specially reserve
the hearing and judgment in all causes matrimonial.
And further, ye shall understand (good people)
that the manner to administer this sacrament of
Matrimony is thus to be used. First, let the man
ask the woman if she be content to be his wife, and
if she agree thereunto, then let the woman ask the
man likewise if he be content to be her husband,
and if he say yea, .so that the mutual consent of them
both be known, without the which no marriage is law
fully made before God, then may the parties proceed to
the words which do express this their mutual and
voluntary consent, which be the formal words of the
sacrament after this manner : —
Let the raan, taking the woraan by the right hand,
and naming her by her name, as Mary, Jane, or as
her name is, say these words: "Jane, here I take
thee to my wife," and likewise let the woman take
the man by the right hand and name him by his
name, as Thomas, or as his name is, saying thus :
" Thomas, here I take thee to my husband." Now,
when the two parties which marry together have done

HOW TO CONTRACT, 323
' this and have said these words, then be they insured
i and justly married together, and be man and wife
before God, and they cannot break this marriage in
any wise afterward, as the man cannot marry anothef
woman, nor the woman another man, so long as they
be both alive. And if the two persons have sufficient
record and witness to testify what they have done
and said, then be they man and wife in the face of
the world, and so both before God and man.
This manner and form of words not only the
parties that intend' justly to marry together, but also
such other as shall be called to be present at the in
suring of other, as witnesses of the same, ought dili
gently to mark and observe, and to see that the
parties which shall be insured, say the fore-rehearsed
words, for they be the very words which join the man
and woman together, and make them husband and
wife. The neglecting or omitting of these formal words
or the like in effect and sentence, is oftentimes the
cause of great contention, and also may cause that
the external judgment of the Church shall vary
and disagree" from the inward judgment of God. For
example, if a man, obtaining in words the woman's
consent to marriage, and she his likewise, shall say
these words : " Jane, here I give to thee my faith and
truth, and I promise thee by it that I will marry thee
to my wife ; " and she promiseth and saith to the man
the very same, yea, although each party bindeth him
self by an oath of a book to perform that promise
within two months more or less ; yet for all this, these
two persons be not insured and made man and wife

324 THE SACRAMENTS.
by these words, although they have sufficient records
to testify the same, because these words be not the
formal words of the sacrament of Matrimony, nor
tnake man and woman husband and wife. Yet
these persons that make such promise be bounden to
marry according unto their promise, under pain of
setting theraselves in the state of damnation. And
yet, notwithstanding, if the man shall marry another
woman after this promise, he is then the second
woman's husband, and not the first, though the first
be still alive.
And the like case is, if the woraan marry another man
after her proraise made before, she is then the second
man's wife, and not the first, because the parties at
that present time, when the one promised faith and
troth to raarry the other, did not contract matrimony
by the formal words of the present time, by which they
be kept together in marriage, but said other words
signifying promise and time to come, and so after
ward change their minds contrary to their promise,
whereupon foUoweth many times grudge, hatred, and
suit between the parties and their friends, and some
times also it foUoweth that the parties so promising
marriage one to another, do live in fornication and
deadly sin with the other persons which they married
afterwards. And for the further opening of this
matter ye shall understand (good people) that if a
man and woman do consent in their hearts to be man
and wife, and do will and intend so to make them
selves by the words which they shall express and
say one to another, and then upon this consent and
agreement, the man saith unto the woman thus:

HOW TO CONTRACT, 325
" Jane, I promise thee by my faith that I will take
thee to my wife," and the woman saith likewise to
the man, or else some other such words of promise to
marry in time to come, thinking and believing that
by those words they be justly insured and raade man
and wife ; now in this case these two persons be man
and wife before God, because they willed and intended
so to be in their hearts, and also intended so to make
themselves in deed by their words.
And yet they be not man and wife before man
and by the judgment ofthe Church, though they have
sufficient record of what they did and said, because
they did not say the formal words of the present
time, whereby matrimony is contracted ; without
saying of which words (if they can speak) they be not
insured and made husband and wife before man and
by the judgment of the Church, whatsoever they
intended in their hearts ; for the Church must take
the words justly, and judge what they signify after the
comraon speaking and understanding of them, and
that a man may know, and not after the minds and
intents that persons may speak, for that can no man
know but the speakers themselves.
And therefore in this case, when the words of these
two persons so insuring themselves, be brought before
a judge to be examined, it must be determined that
these two persons be not husband and wife ; and yet i
either of them do marry, as the man another woman,
or the woman another man, then do they coramit
adultery, and live in deadly sin, so long as they be with
those whom they have married. And that is because
they made themselves man and wife before in the

326 THE SACRAMENTS.
sight of God, Who saw their wills and hearts, and what
they intended and did then before Him, and therefore
that marriage which they made then they may never
break after. And in case the man shall forsake that
marriage which he made before God, and shall openly
join himself in marriage with another woman after
ward, then shall he sin deadly, and continue in the
same so long as he is with that woraan whom he last
openly married, because they be not raarried before
God, Yet doth not the latter woman sin to use the
carnal company of that man, because she believeth
he is her lawful husband ; nor she is not bound to be
lieve the contrary though he tell her the contrary :
and so she may always use him as her husband
if he use her as his wife. And the like case is if the
woman break frora the first insuring and marry an
other man, then doth not he sin to know her as his
wife, but she sinneth, because she knoweth that he is
not her husband.
But now what remedy for a man which hath insured
and married himself to a woman before God, with a
full mind and consent in his heart, and yet forsaketh
her afterward, and will not soleranise that marriage,
but marrieth another openly, how raay he save him
self from deadly sin and damnation, seeing his pre
late, by the judgment of the Church, wiU compel him
to continue with the second woraan whora he raarried
openly, and will not suffer him to forsake her .' Surely
the reraedy is very painful and dangerous worldly,
howbeit it is better to fall into the hands of man
than into the hands of God, And forsomuch as I
can learn, the remedy which that man may have is

HOW TO CONTRACT, 327
this : he must leave and forsake the second woman,
and go if he can, and so think it good, where he may
escape the pains of the law. And if he be excommu
nicate, because he will not be with her, and for going
from her, then he must suffer it,* and so he must
suffer any other punishment that he shall chance to
have therefore, rather than to use carnal company
with that woman again, so long as the other woman
is alive, for he knoweth she is not his wife before God,
and therefore he should do against God's law, if
he should keep her company as her husband, and
rather than to do so and offend Alraighty God, he
must suffer any manner of pain that the law of man
may cause him to have. And so must a woman do
if she fall into the like case, for this is the remedy,
and there is none other that I know.
And forsomuch as I have spoken some part of
the prelate's doing hereto, ye shall further know, that
if a prelate do, by the judgment and censure of the
Church, excommunicate or curse a man or woman
for leaving or forsaking the second marriage, he doth
it justly and lawfully, because the Church ought to
suppose the best and the riiost likeliest, that is to say,
that he which marrieth openly, being a Christian
man, would not so have done, if he had married him-

* Such an excommunication, though just, ex parle jiidieis, i.e., in the
prelate (as the author imraediately explains), and binding in foro
externa, does not really bind before God. Quia excommunicatio
-minime incurritur, nisi ob inobedientiara lethalem ; quas prorsus abest
in hoc casu ; et rigidissimum esset asserere eum vere excommunicatum
esse, qui Dei timore ductus, Ecclesiae falsa prsesumptione innitenti non
obedit. — Sanchez, De Mat, Lii. disp, 39, n, 9, — Ed.

328 THE SACRAMENTS,
self to another woman before God, nor have done so
greatly against his own conscience and God's law.
And also the Church ought to suppose this second
marriage good, because it cannot have a due proof of
the first marriage, which the man saith he made
before God, but ought to judge and determine the
second marriage to be lawful, and may justly ex
communicate him that doth forsake it And more
over, the Church may not believe the man which
saith that he was married before, and that this second
woman is not his wife. For beside, that he granteth
that he hath broken the promise and marriage which
he made before Almighty God, he also confesseth
openly before the Church that he is untrue in his deeds
and words, and not worthy to be trusted and believed,
and, therefore, the Church ought not to allow his say
ing, nor to believe it as true, concerning the first
marriage, but rather to judge it to be false, and that
he saith so now, because he loveth not this woman,
but hateth her, or else so he saith, for some other evil
purpose. Wherefore I shall exhort in the narae of our
Saviour Christ every man or woman diligently to
look upon themselves and their own consciences,
and discreetly to consider what they will and intend
in their hearts when they make any contract and
promise of marriage openly or secretly. For by
their own consciences and intents they shall be
judged before God, and be condemned if they do
the contrary, although they may with words and
excuses do against it and defend their so doing
here in the face of the world before man. The

HOW TO CONTRACT, 329
surest way that every man and woman may take in
making of these contracts, is to marry always in
deed here before man, as they did wiU to do in
their hearts, at the time of their insuring, what
words so ever they said then, for so may they
always discharge their conscience and put away all
doubts, and live justly together husband and wife
in the service of Almighty God.
Moreover, the like doubts or ambiguity may
chance upon the other side, that is, if a man and
woman corae together to insure themselves, and do
say the very formal words of the sacrament before
sufficient record, and yet the man doth not consent
in his heart to take that woraan to his wife, but saith
the words for fear of displeasing his parents or
friends, or else for some other naughty purpose, and
likewise of the woman. Now these two persons be
husband and wife by the judgment of the Church
and before man, and if any of them would forsake
the other and be married again, they may not so
do, though they both grant that they did never
consent to be man and wife when they were insured,
no, nor though they do both agree to forsake other,
and yet they be not husband and wife nor married
before God, and that is because they did not will
and consent in their hearts so to be when they
I said the words of matrimony. And therefore, if
these two persons do use carnal company together,
then the party which did not consent, doth commit
fornication and sinneth deadly in so doing the duty
of marriage, as long as he continueth in the same
will and mind that he had when he was insured,

330 THE SACRAMENTS,
be it the man or the woman. Therefore, let every
man and woman take good heed, when they be
insured and speak the words of this sacrament, that
they think and will then in their hearts the same
thing which they do express in their words, or else
let them never speak those words neither for father
nor friend, or for any other cause. Now, the remedy
in this case is easier than in the other before, which
is this, that the man must change his mind and
consent in his heart to take that woman to his wife
as he said before that he did, and the woman like
wise. And this done, then they be man and wife
before God, and their matrimonial knowledge to
gether is no longer sin but lawful and good after
ward. This is the reraedy in this case and there is
none other.
Many more cases and difficulties in this sacrament
of Matriraony I might rehearse, which the Church of
God hath fully debated and resolved, but I think
these few to be sufficient to the layman for under
standing how marriage ought to be ministered and
contracted. And notwithstanding that the raan and
woraan consenting to be raan and wife, and saying
the words of the sacrament be perfectly married
together, yet the marriage of them in the face of
the Church afterward, by the ministration of the
priest is not -superfluous, but much expedient for
sundry causes. First to the intent that this sacra
ment should have that solemnity and reverence
which is due to so holy a thing instituted by our
Saviour Christ Himself, for that conjunction which
the priest as God's minister doth us to understand,

HOW TO CONTRACT, 33 I
that matrimony is made by the assistance and
working of Almighty God,
Secondly, that the persons which be married may
receive and have the fruit of the prayers and suf
frages which be said for them in the sacrifice of
the Church, and also may be partakers of the
blessing of God which is made over them by the
priest, whereby we know that the state of living in
marriage is blessed of Alraighty God.
And thirdly, it is soleranised in the Church that it
might have the more record and be more allowed
and fortified by the soleranisation, and that all doubts
which might be imagined against it, should be put
away. Further, I shall not need to allege unto you
at this time, but only shall exhort you to have
always God and His true religion before your eyes,
in entering to this state of life by matrimony, which
cannot be dissolved or avoided at the will and
affection of man, but must be kept and observed
till death depart the same. For as we see by
experience how upon naughty and affectionate*
beginnings there coraeth seldom good success, so if
the beginning of these contracts in marriage be used
with discretion and godly intent, in such form as I
have declared unto you, where the heart and word
do join together, and the deed performeth that was
promised and said before, then shall these manifold
contentions and breach of charity cease, and the
parties love one another in chaste love, as Christ
loved His Church, and shall labour to bring up their
children in the fear of God and knowledge of true
* i.e.. Passionate,

THE SACRAMENTS.

religion, which shall be a gjreat help and furtherance
to their salvation by the mercy and merits of our
Saviour Christ to Whom with the Father and "the
Holy Ghost be all honour and praise for evermore.
Amen.* * This sermon shows very clearly the reasons why the Council of
Trent established the impediment of dandestinity. It seems to have
been quite usual to contract marriage apart from the religious cere
mony. The bishop does not even seem to blame those who so acted,
provided they afterwards received the nuptial blessing, and renewed
their contract before the Church, But the abuses and perplexities
which thus arose were innumerable. The records of the spiritual
courts in those days are full of them, A specimen may be seen in the
Acts of the Chapter of the Collegiate Church of Ripon, published by
the Surtees Society in 1875, The Rev. Mr Fowler, the editor, seems
to think that these were cases of breach of promise (preface, p. vii.)
This is a mistake. The question at issue was whether the marriage
contract had been really, though clandestinely, made. When the
decree of the Council of Trent was made, England had again fallen
into schism, and it was not then, nor has it since been, published in
England or Scotland, as it has in Ireland ; and by the will of the
Council itself it is not in force where it has not been published.

( 333 )

THE TWENTY-NINTH SERMON,
FOR WHAT INTENT AND WITH WHAT AFFECTION
MEN AND WOMEN -SHOULD MARRY.
AS in the contracting of marriage (good people), if
,xjL the right form and laudable manner therein
prescribed by the Holy Church be not observed, there
chanceth oftentimes much contention and hatred
afterward upon the same, as ye have been taught ;
even so if the intents of marriage, and the causes that
move and provoke men and v/omen to be married, be
not godly and honest, the success of those marriages
commonly foUow thereafter. For which cause I
intend, God wiUing, to declare unto you at this time,
which causes be naught and reprovable, and which
be honest and godly. For if the intent and cause
why men and women do marry be not good and
godly, then shall not their life be acceptable to
Almighty God, nor yet long pleasant unto them
selves, as experience doth many times evidently
shew. A great number of folks do marry for one of these
two causes and intents or for both, either to have the
lust and uncleanly desire of the flesh fulfilled, or else
to get worldly goods and riches thereby. Both these

334 THE SACRAMENTS.

causes, if they be chiefly and principally intended by
the parties which marry, be Very evil and ungodly.
Many young raen and women do use to say in
rebuke of other, that they will not marry for riches
and goods, but for good love, and yet that good love
is most principally for to have their sensual appetite
and carnal desire fulfilled, which manner of love doth
never long endure between them that so raarry, but
it decayeth and goeth shortly away. And then such
persons begin to mislike one another's conditions, and
to wax weary one of another, and after continuance
and increase of that weariness, it groweth to be so
painful and grievous that the parties wish themselves
unraarried again, yea, and many times they wish
themselves buried, and no marvel. For an evil tree,
such as is carnal concupiscence and fleshly love,
can bring forth no good fruit, but such as I have
rehearsed. I need not to shew and judge for what intent
goodly young women marry poor and miserable
persons when they have done amiss, for they be but
a sraall nuraber. And yet they use more vice under
the cloak and cover of marriage, than they durst do
before when they were single. Now, against these
persons which after such sort and with such intent
do enterprise to marry, that they do exclude God
from themselves and from their minds (Tobias vi. 17),
and do apply and give theraselves to satisfy their
lusts and pleasure, as horses and mules do, which
have no reason or understanding, against all such
persons (as the angel Raphael taught the good young
Tobias) the devil hath power to prevail.

ENDS OF MARRIAGE, 335
And although Almighty God of His great mercy,
doth not now suffer the devil to use his malice against
the bodies of such offenders, as he used in the time
of Tobias against the seven wicked husbands of Sarah,
the daughter of Raguel (Tobias vi, 14), yet no doubt
of it their naughty eye doth make dark their whole
body, that is to say, their wicked and lecherous intent
doth corrupt their souls, whereby they come to the
snare of the devil, who spiritually prevaileth against
them. Moreover, the greater part of the other people doth
marry for the other cause, that is, for goods and
riches. And for this purpose men and women do not
only marry themselves, but they do also study and
labour to marry their children and kinsfolks to glean
and get riches. So that now commonly there is no
other virtuous living, honesty, good conditions, wis
dom, stock, lineage, personage, beauty, youth, nor
anything else so greatly regarded and considered as
is worldly goods and possessions. For if the man be
void of virtue and discretion, and let him have defor
mity, and be without personage and so forth, yet if
he have great land and goods, there shall be no fault
nor lack found in him, but shall have suitors unto
him for their daughters and kinswomen. And on
the other side, if a woman have great substance and
goods and many good lordships and manors, although
she have never one or few good conditions or virtues,
she shall be sure to have suitors to marry with her,
both of great men and other, be she fair or foul,
young or old, beautiful or deformed. But the miser
able life and sorrowful pain that such persons many

336 THE SACRAMENTS.
times have of their marriage, they themselves can
tell, and yet they be not able to express with their
tongues all that they feel and suffer in their hearts.
And then they curse their goods and the day in
which they were married. Yea, and moreover, we
see daily that great men do sell their children as
though they were bonds and slaves, and do nothing
study or labour to raarry their sons to good wives,
nor their daughters to good husbands, but their
principal care is to sell thera where they have most
money. Likewise the buyers do not care for the
good conditions of those they buy, but look more
upon the lands and rents which those shall have and
enjoy, and therefore oftentiraes doth the buyers and
sellers of such wards and other, raarry their children
to great misery and endless pain. And thus, for
goods and riches they be unkind, unnatural, and cruel
fathers unto their children, and cruel friends unto
their kinsfolks, in giving and procuring to them so
painful and sorrowful a life. And many times they
destroy their own families and ancient houses thereby,
for that their sons naughtily brought up, or else their
sons-in-law evil chosen, for lack of grace, and the
rather also for such disagreement as chanceth between
them and their wives, married principally for posses
sions' sake, do waste and consume in small time all
that their parents and ancestors, with all their wits,
long service, and painful industry and labour, have
gotten together in many years before.
And here ye shall understand (good people) that I
do not prohibit and forbid men to look for no man
ner of goods when they will marry. For reason doth

ENDS OF MARRIAGE. 337
grant that both men and women should, before they
marry, well consider what craft, occupation, ability,
and what goods they have themselves to live withal if
they marry. And reason doth admit that they should
likewise look what ability and substance they be of
with whom they will marry, and weigh and cast
how such charges as may grow unto them by chil
dren and otherwise, when they be married, may be
borne and sustained.
These things men and women which will marry
ought well to remeraber and consider, and therefore
I speak not against such considerations and looking
for goods. But I say Alraighty God and reason
doth reprove and conderan all them which do marry
most principally for goods and riches. For that
intent and purpose is naught and contrary to God's
ordinance in that behalf And it is also evident that
goods and money, lordships, rich apparel, delicate
fare, and so forth, can do no pleasure or profit unto
the hearts of raarried persons, except they have to
gether faithful love, kindness, and joy, one of another,
and godly and comfortable agreement.
Now that I have shewed unto you such causes of
marriage as be ungodly, it is likewise requisite to
declare the other causes which God Almighty and
His Holy Word doth allow, which be the very same
wherefore God did institute and ordain this Sacra
ment of Matrimony, that is to say, the love and
desire of children and posterity, by whom God should
be more honoured, and the hatred of fornication and
unclean life.
The first cause is set forth in the book of Genesis,
Y

338 THE SACRAMENTS.
where God blessed our first parents, and bade them
increase and multiply and ful-fiU the earth (Gen, i, 28),
Tobias, the younger, shewed that he married only for
this first cause, saying unto Almighty God thus,
O Lord, Thou knowest that I take this woraan to
my wife, not for cause of lechery, or to satisfy and
fulfil my carnal lust and desire, but I take her only
to have posterity and children, to the intent that
Thou mayest be always here blessed, lauded, and
honoured (Tobias viii. 9) ; and for this intent Chris
tian men should most principally marry, and bring
up their children in virtuous living, that they may
justly live, laud, and honour Alraighty God, and
when God sendeth thera children, to teach them to
do the same. The unchristened and heathen men
do marry to have children and to increase their
people, but not to have Almighty God lauded and
honoured. Whose honour and glory good men should
specially seek to set forth and increase both in
themselves and in their children.
The other cause is that men and women might by
this sacrament have a just and good remedy against
the sensual appetite of the flesh, and to avoid the sin
of fornication, when they feared that they could not
live otherwise chastely ; whereof St. Paul wrote to
the Corinthians thus : It is good for a man not to
touch his wife, yet for avoiding of fornication, let
every man have or use his own wife, and let every
wife have or use her own husband, and let the man pay
his debt to his wife, and likewise the wife to her hus
band. For the wife hath not now power of her own
body but her husband, and likewise the husband

ENDS OF MARRIAGE, 339
hath not power of his body but the wife. Do not
defraud one another, except it be for a time by mutual
consent, to the intent ye might give and apply your
selves more freely to prayer, and so forth (i Cor. vii.
1-5). So that these two intents, that is to say, the
love to have children, and the hatred or avoiding of
fornication, as they be the principal causes why this
sacrament of Matrimony was ordained of God, so
they ought to be the principal causes why men and
women should marry together. For so shall they
receive the graces which God giveth in marriage, and
shall beautify His Church, and have great help and
furtherance towards their salvation.
And contrary, they that with covetous and leche
rous affections do join themselves in marriage, they
lose the grace of the sacrament which they might
have had, they dishonour this holy sacrament in
making it a cloak and a defence for their naughty
and vicious intents, and they bring themselves under
the power of the devil, who then is permitted to pre
vail against thera.
Moreover, good people, it is expedient when a man
will marry for the causes before rehearsed, that he
diligently remember and consider the law of matri
raony, that is tb say, how he shall bind himself to
love his wife as his own body, and better than any
other man, woman or child, in such sort as Christ
loveth His Church, and did give Himself to the death
for it, to make it holy and without spot (Eph. v. 25,
26). And also the man ought not to be bitter and
fell against his wife (Col. iii, 19), in using brawlings,
chiding or fighting with her. And that he must keep

340 THE SACRAMENTS,
justly matrimonial chastity, and that he must forsake
to dwell with his father and raother and all other per
sons, for to be and dwell with his wife, and that he
ought also to cherish, help and comfort her, as he
would do his own person. For when he marrieth,
he and his wife be made one body. And this love
and kindness the man must shew his wife, not only
the first day or the first year, or while she is young
and hath health, but he must thus love her, and so
much do for her always so long as he and she live
together, whatsoever sickness or chance cometh to
her, or what conditions soever she have. For though
a man may for certain causes be from the company
and dwelling with his wife against her will, as if he can
prove that his wife hath given the use of her body
unto another raan, and have not kept her raatrimonial
chastity, and so forth in some other cases ; yet he can
in no wise break his marriage, nor the bond of it, and
marry another (Matt xix, 9), nor he cannot be dis
charged of the obligation and promise which he made
to love his wife, and to do for her as much as for his
own body and person, always when his wife shall
have need. These considerations and remembrances
ought every Christian man to have when he intendeth
to marry, for what cause soever he marry. And like
wise also when a woraan will raarry, she must dili
gently consider after what manner she raust live with
her husband, how she shall vow and bind herself
under the pain of damnation, to love her husband
above all men, and to worship him, and raeekly and
gladly to obey hira, and fulfil that he coraraandeth
and desireth her to do in all things which pertain to

ENDS OF MARRIAGE, 34I
God's law and the duty of marriage. And she must
always have her matrimonial chastity, and help and
succour her husband in his need as she would her own
person, and she must do all things which she did vow
and promise when she was married. For the law of
matriraony bindeth the woman to everything touching
the duty of a wife, as it doth the man concerning the
duty of an husband.
These things well considered on both the parties,
shall be a great help and provocation, that they shall
study and labour most principally to join and couple
theraselves unto persons which have abundance of
virtues and good conditions, more than for any other
sinister affection, seeing nothing can cause or make
this matrimonial love and agreement to be kept and
continued amongst married persons, so much as
honest, equal, and like conditions shall do.
And whereas the Scripture saith that a man may
have an house and riches of his parents, but a good
and prudent wife is the gift of God (Prov. xix. 14),
he ought before he shall marry, most humbly to beg
this good gift of Almighty God with long, devout,
and continual prayers, as one special thing whereupon
resteth his joy in this world, and by well using of that
hope of joy in the next world. And because marriage
is an honourable thing, as S, Paul saith (Heb. xiii. 4),
let them have no evil affection nor do nothing that
might dishonour it But before they celebrate the
same marriage, let thera prepare their hearts with
fasting and other godly and spiritual exercises, to
corae worthily to such an honourable sacrament and
to do as becometh the children of holy people, and

342 THE SACRAMENTS,
not like Gentiles and heathen people which know not
God (Tobias viii. 5), nor have no godliness before
their eyes.
Last of all, I shall exhort and admonish you that
be married, to use your marriage in such sort here
in this world, as it be no hindrance for you to come
to the next world, so to endeavour yourself one to
please another, that ye do in nowise displease God
your Creator, so to seek and do those things that be
temporal, that ye omit not to seek and labour for
those things which be eternal, so to be glad of your
present prosperity, that ye be not careless without
fear of eternal damnation, and so to be sorry for such
adversity as chanceth here, that ye be not void of
sure and perfect hope of eternal felicity.
Let not the cares of this world so break and cast
down your hearts, but that the hope of heavenly and
eternal joys may corafort and stay them again. And
also let not the flattering face of worldly wealth so
inveigle and deceive you, but that the fear of God's
eternal judgraent may bridle you and keep you in
awe. For the minds of godly married persons,
although they be not able to forsake the cares of
this world, and utterly to contemn worldly things,
yet ought they by their desires and godly affections
to join themselves to things eternal. These good les
sons S. Paul knitteth up in a few words, saying thus,
" The tirae is short and it remaineth that they which
have wives be as having no wives " (i Cor. vii, 29).
As though he should say in longer process, that the
end of the world and the last judgment of God
draweth near, and so much the more ought every

ENDS OF MARRIAGE, 343
man to be careful how he shall appear and be found
at that judgment. And the case of matrimony is not
Hke now to us that be' in the end of the world, as it
was to the old fathers in the beginning, for amongst
them he was accounted and taken as accursed by the
sentence of the law, that did not raise up seed in
Israel, that died without issue and children ; for that
was the time to increase and multiply God's people,
by which people it was prophesied that the Prince
and Saviour of the world should be born, and for
that cause the people of God did as much as they
could apply themselves to marriage, whereunto they
were kindled and moved not by concupiscence, but
by obedience, not for satisfying of their carnal lust,
but for religion to obey the law and to have fruit of
their bodies. But now since that the fulness of time
is come, and the world draweth towards an end, the
case is altered. For now, saith our .Saviour Christ,
in way of exhortation, he that can take the gift of
chastity and sole life let him take it (Matt. xix. 12),
from which time many that have that gift use it
in deed, and he that will not use it may not excusS
himself that he hath it not, and in case he be married
let him live and be as unmarried, having the same
affection to continent life, and the abstinence from
the act of matrimony, as Abraham and the old fathers
had, who then served not the lusts and desires of
their flesh but served the law, the time of increase,
and the ordinance of God, being slow and forbearing
to require, but sometimes content to pay, their matri
monial debt, and let him so take carnal comfort of
his wife that in nowise her love withdraw him from

344 THE SACRAMENTS.
serving of God, seeing he ought to love her in God and
for God, And therefore married persons be bounden,
if any displeasant thing chance amongst thera, with
patience to bear one another's burden (Gal. vi, 2), and
so to fulfil the law of Christ, which is charity, seeking
to araend that is done araiss between them, rather by
discreet and loving admonition, than by furious and
unkind correction, which shall be a cause, that either
party shall take heed and beware to do anything that
might displease the other for very love and for fear
of losing the other's favour.
Thus have ye heard (good people) for what cause
men and women ought to enter marriage and partly
how to live in the same, to the pleasure of Almighty
God, according to the example of all holy men and
the doctrine of our Saviour Christ, to Whom with the
Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory,
world without end. Amen.

( 345 )

THE THIRTIETH SERMON.
OF THB SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION,
CONSIDERING (good people) that the hfe of man
is but short, and passeth away like a shadow,
and that death, as it is certain to corae to every man,
so it is uncertain what tirae or what hour it shall
corae, and also considering that the devil our ghostly
eneray, as he ceaseth not all our lifetime, with his crafty
temptations, to lay in wait for us to supplant us and
to bring us to deadly sin, and so to lose the favours
of God our most merciful Father ; so in the time of
our infirmity when death approacheth, then I say, is
he most busy and fierce to subvert us, and we also at
that time least able to withstand him, our mind being
then much alienated with the pain of our disease, and
the heaviness of our body, which then draweth
towards corruption. Therefore our Saviour Christ,
our most special helper and comforter in all distresses,
hath provided for us a singular and special good
medicine, which is the Sacraraent of Extreme Unction
the virtue whereof is, at that time of our infirmity, to
corafort our souls which be wont to wax heavy for the
dissolution of our bodies, and also to strengthen us
with the grace of the Holy Ghost, against the violent

346 THE SACRAMENTS,
assaults and temptations of the devil, and also to
replenish our heart with gladness against the terror of
death, and finally to forgive us our daily trespasses,
wherewith we have displeased Flis Majesty, such I
mean as this our transitory life, considering our
frailty and weakness, cannot be passed over without
and all this also is done with the assistance of such
godly and faithful prayers as the priests of Christ's
Catholic Church do make to Alraighty God for the
sick man, at the ministration of this sacrament of
Extrerae Unction.
Of which sacrament S, Mark speaketh in his sixth
chapter, where it is written that our Saviour Christ
did send forth His disciples to preach, prescribing
unto them what manner and forra they should ob
serve in their progress (Mark vi, 7, &c.), and then it
foUoweth that the disciples going abroad, preached
to the people to do penance, and they did cast forth
many devils, and they anointed with oil many sick
persons, and they were raade whole, which thing they
did not in their own narae and power by presumption
but in the power and narae of Christ as He had
prescribed and coraraanded them before to do. And
because, in the words of the Evangelist, is set forth
plainly the visible sign of oil, and also the invisible
effect of grace annexed and following thereupon,
therefore the Holy and Universal Church of Christ
as the practice of the same and the consent of the
ancient writers do witness, understand and believe
this sacrament to be then instituted * of our Saviour
-* The theologians who prepared the canons of the 14th Session
of the Council of Trent, had indicated that the sacrament of Extreme

EXTREME UNCTION. 347
Christ, Which thing the holy Apostle S. James,
also delivering that to the people which he before had
received of Christ, setteth forth more at large, writing
thus : — " If any person be sick amongst you, let him
call the priests of the Church to be brought in, and
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of our Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save
the sick person, and our Lord shall relieve him, and
lift him up, and if he be in sins, they shall be for
given him " (James v. 14, 15), By which words we be
assured that God doth assist the ministration of this
sacrament, and also we learn how it ought to be used
in all points.
First he telleth to whom it ought to be ministered,
that is to say, to Christian men or women such as
have received the sacrament of Baptism before, and
not to every one of them, but to such as be then
visited by the hand of God, with some great sickness
of the body, and be in some peril of death by reason
of the said sickness, and not by any other outward
violence of war or execution ; and not to young infants
that have no need of it, nor to such as, either for
young age or from frenzy, lack the use of their
reason, but to such as have knowledge and have
dominion over their own wills, and being in venial
sin, do require the same either then or before, as it
may be presumed by their former will. So that it is
every Christian man's duty to require this sacrament
Unction was instituted by our Lord, on the occasion mentioned by S,
Mark ; but the fathers of the Council omitted the word instituted, and
instead of it use the word insinuated. The first canon, however,
defines that it was instituted by our Lord, without fixing the time, — Ed.

34^ THE SACRAMENTS.
with humble request, and with perfect hope to attain
the grace and effect which is given by the same.
Secondly, S, James expresseth to whom it apper
taineth by office and duty to be minister of this sacra
ment in that he wiUeth the sick man to call for priests
of the Church ; for only priests be appointed to be the
ministersthereof, — not as in their own name and autho
rity, but in the narae and authority of our Lord Jesus
Christ so that the priest in that doing doth bear and
represent the person of Christ and His Holy Church,
who beside his prayers doth minister the outward
Sacraraent of Aneling, and Christ inwardly worketh
the invisible grace of the same in the soul of the party
aneled, like as He useth to do in all other sacraments.
Thirdly, S. James expresseth both the matter or
outward element of this sacrament and also the
manner how to use it. The raatter wherein it is
ministered is oil, which is a thing most convenient to
declare the effects and graces given by the same.
The manner how to use it, is by prayer over the sick
person, and by anointing hira in such places of his
body as were occasions, or as if were windows, where
by sin is chiefly coraraitted, as the places of our five
wits or senses. For by the eyes concupiscence, covet
ousness, and many other vices enter into the soul ;
by the ears detraction, false reports, and thereupon
following anger and envy, and such like infect the
soul ; by the nose dehcious life and much other
occasion of sin is ministered ; by the raouth, both in
tasting and also in speaking, that is against God and
his neighbour, a man oftentimes doth offend ; by the
reins and other parts thereunto adjoining, carnal de
sires and the concupiscence of the flesh is accustomed

EXTREME UNCTION, 349
' to corrupt the soul ; and finally, by the hands and
feet is practised much vice, the particulars whereof I
need not to rehearse. For these causes the sick per
son is anointed in the said places, at which time the
priest and they that do there assist him, with sure
faith and confidence in Almighty God, putting away
all mistrust and doubt, make their most humble
prayer to His Majesty, that it would please the same,
through that unction as a spiritual medicine, and His
most merciful goodness, to pardon and remit what
soever the sick person hath offended by his sight or
hearing, or any other part of his body above-men
tioned, with many other godly and wholesome
prayers thereunto annexed, and used to be said and
frequented in the Church of Christ. And thus to
pray over the sick person, and to anele hira, is not the
invention of man, devised by man's wit, but, accord
ing to God's ordinance, is done in the name and
authority of our Lord, Who is the author of this
sacrament, as He is likewise of all the other, by
Whose assistance and secret operation this sacrament
worketh His spiritual and inward effect ; which
effect S. James last of all declareth, saying, " The
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall re
lieve and lift him up, and if he be in sin, they shall
be forgiven unto him."
Which effect is double or two ways, the one chief
and principal is in purging and making clean the soul
from daily and venial sin, which never faileth, if the
sick party do not stop the influence of God's grace,
which he may do by remaining then in deadly sin,
neglecting to procure that to be forgiven unto him

350 THE SACRAMENTS,
before, by the sacraraent of Penance, or by mistrust
ing to receive that grace of God which is signified
and promised by that holy unction. Therefore
ought every man and woman being sick, first to con
fess hiraself and receive the sacraraent of Absolution,
then to receive the blessed food of immortality in the
sacraraent of the Altar, for the perfection of God's
influence, and the increase of all his former graces,
and then afterward with sure faith and confidence in
God, require to be aneled of the priests of Christ's
Church. And in so doing, beside the perfect purg
ing of his soul, he shall (no doubt of it) feel inwardly
great easement against the pains and horror of
death, great strength and corafort of the spirit
whereby, like a good warrior and stout charapion of
Christ he is then made more able to withstand the
violent temptations of the devil, and finally great joy
and gladness in himself, great stay and increase of
faith and hope towards God, and great desire to be
delivered from the miseries of this transitory world,
and to be called to the eternal city of God in the
kingdom of heaven.
The other effect is the healing of the body from
corporal diseases, or at least the mitigation of the
same. Which effect is not principal, and doth not
always follow : partly for the smaUness of faith in the
sick person (for great and vehement faith is required
to have God's power to work such corporal health in
man), partly for that God our most merciful Father,
according to His heavenly wisdom, thinketh it best
for us otherwise to dispose of us, as He knoweth to be
most expedient for the salvation of our souls, or the

EXTREME UNCTION. 35 I
coraraodity of His elect people, whose benefit of
corporal health, if it had been then bestowed upon
us, perchance the malice of our will would have abused
it to the offence of God, and the danger of damnation
to our souls.
Therefore, in all such indifferent things, as the
sickness or health of body, every Christian man
ought to commit and refer it to the good will and
pleasure of Almighty God, and to think and esteem
that to be best, whatsoever God shall work by us,
although it seems to be hurtful to us, or to be con
trary to our desires and petitions, which in all things
(as He taught Himself) ought to be directed and
submitted to His will and pleasure. Who always of
His godly providence disposeth all things sweetly
and mercifully. But, howsoever God shall work con
cerning our corporal health, we ought surely to trust
that God for His part (if there be no stop in us)
faileth not to work inwardly in our souls the spiritual
effects which I have rehearsed before. And because
there be two things which let the soul freely to have
recourse to God, and to delight altogether in Him :
the one is that weakness and feebleness which is left
in the soul of man after the wound of deadly sin,
although the guilt of the same be remedied by true
penance, the other is, the daily heaping up of raany
venial sins, into which a man faUeth by frailness of
nature, by sudden motions, by imperfection or cold
ness of charity, by vehement agonies of sickness, or
by neghgence in not taking heed to himself, his acts,
and profession. For that cause to remove these two
evils, God hath ordained this sacrament of Extreme

352 THE SACRAMENTS,
Unction to be ministered, whereby the weakness of
the soul is strengthened, and all venial sin remitted,
if it be well and devoutly received.
And seeing a man must needs once depart hence,
and end the journey of this troublesome Hfe, for so-
much as the soul is by the flesh loaden, drawn back,
infected, disquieted, and weakened, therefore it hath
need of a new strength and spiritual medicine,
specially at the passage hence by death, that it
neither fall, give over, or despair, but that it be
relieved, disburdened, pacified, comforted, and made
able by the strength of the Holy Ghost to abide with
God, and by His aid to pass through the raiseries
and travails of this life, and to exchange the short
and light affections of this tirae, with the eternal and
weighty joys in the kingdom of heaven. All which
graces, as I said before, the soul of the sick person
receiveth and is endued withal, by the worthy and
devout receipt of this holy sacrament ordained of
Almighty God for the same purpose.
Thus have ye heard, good people, the meaning and
effect of the doctrine of S, James concerning this
sacraraent how it ought to be used, what grace and
virtue is given to us thereby, which to neglect and to
defraud or deprive ourselves of the benefits thereof
wilfully, were great folly. For although it be not
absolutely necessary to salvation, as is baptism, with
out the which no man ordinarily can be saved, yet if
it be despised and of conterapt not regarded, when it
may be had, it is a let and stop to salvation. Where
fore I shall exhort you all in the narae of God, that
when God by sickness shall visit any of you, ye fol-

EXTREME UNCTION. 353
low the counsel of the Holy Ghost, uttered and
expressed by the writing of this holy Apostle S.
James, that ye call for the priests of the Church, I
mean the great universal Church of Christ, which is
known throughout the world, in the coraraunion
whereof, as members of the same Church (to whom
only salvation is promised and prepared), see that ye
require the said priests or priest (if there be but one)
to pray over you, and to anele you in the name of
the Blessed Trinity.* And do not defer this till the
vehemence of your sickness decay your speech and
memory, as it is done amongst many which perversely
use the priests of the Church as they use their
corporal physicians, never sending for them but in
their extremes, when they can do them least good.
But seeing S. James willeth the sick person to call
or send for the priest, let him do that before his will,
his senses, his memory, and understanding do fail
him, when he is able to join with the priest in prayer,
and to protest the faith and trust he hath in attaining
the grace and effect of this sacrament, to the intent
he being inwardly armed and strengthened with the
same (in token whereof he is then anointed outwardly
with the sacrament of oil), might the better with
stand the force of the devil and all his deceitful temp
tations, who is then more busy, as it were, in the
extreme conflict to overthrow the soldier of Christ,
And then, no doubt of it, Almighty God, Who is true
* When Bishop Watson printed this sermon, Queen Mary was
sickly and childless. The preacher seems to have foreseen or dreaded
the coming schism under Elizabeth, and that many of his hearers would
have to choose between a National Church in schism, perhaps in
heresy, and "the great universal Church of Christ." — Ed. Z

354 THE SACRAMENTS,
and faithful of His promise, will work the effects of
grace, whereof S, James here speaketh, in that sick
person, as His godly wisdom shall see most expedient
for the soul health of that person, specially if he then
with humility, meekness, and gladness of heart with
a full hope and confidence in God's mercy, do give
and yield up his body and soul, with all the powers
of the sarae, unto his Lord God, his Creator and
Redeemer, to be healed and ordered according to
His good will by the mean of His holy sacraments,
which He hath ordained to be to us as spiritual
medicines, whereby the merits of His most blessed
death and Passion be ordinarily apphed to our
commodity. And he that shall do thus, raay cheerfuUy and with
gladness of mind depart this wretched world, with
assurance and full trust to attain first the promises of
grace, annexed to the worthy and fruitful receiving
of His holy sacraments, and in the end to attain the
crown of glory and life everlasting, which Christ our
Lord hath promised to all them that shall love and
long for His coming, which He grant to us all, to
Whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost three
persons and one God, be all glory and honour, worid
without end. Amen.

APPENDIX,

ON THE CHILDREN OF HERETICS,
In his fifth sermon Bishop "VVatson writes : —
"Be you careful and diligent to have your children
confirmed in this grace, and to be indued with these ex
cellent gifts of the Holy' Ghost, by receiving this Holy
Sacrament" (he is speaking of Confirmation) "in the
Catholic Church, and specially they whose children were
baptized of heretics in the time of any schism, and out of
the Catholic Church, For although they did then receive
the sacrament of Baptism, which may not be ministered to
them again (lest we should show ourselves to crucify Christ
again) ; yet they did not then and there receive the grace
of baptism, being out of the Church, but may now receive
the grace which they lacked before, and be reconciled to
God, and be made members of His holy Catholic Church,
and so in time be admitted to receive the blessed Body
and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
It is clear that the Bishop is speaking of infants, since
no parents then delayed the baptism of their children. As
the schism had only been formally ended three years
before he wrote, there were many children who had been
baptized during the schism too young as yet for confession.

356 APPENDIX.

He wished to have these confirmed at once, that through
confirmation they might " be reconciled to God."
These opinions are altogether singular ; and lest they
should derive any weight from the authority of so learned
and holy a man as Bishop AVatson, it may be well to inquire
the source- of his error,
Watson refers in the margin to S, Augustin (De-Eccl,
Dogmat, cap, lii,). In his day this work was commonly
attributed to S, Augustin, though it is now given to Gen
nadius. The author, speaking of the reconcihation of
heretics, says : "Si vero parvuli sunt . , . respon deant pro
ilhs qui eos ofiferunt juxta morem baptizandi, et sic manus
impositione et chrismate communiti, Eucharistise mysteriis
admittantur," Gennadius, however, does not say that the
children had previously been deprived of grace.
On this subject Suarez says (De Sacram, disp, xiii, sect.
iv, n, 1 1) : " Minister, quantumvis iniquus vel hsereticus, sicut
confert verum sacramentura, ita etiam dabit sacramenti^
effectum, si suscipiens non ponat obicem. Quod omnes
scholastici decent, , . . Et quamvis hoc (de efifectu) non
sit sub his terminis tam expresse definitum, tamen omnino
certum est et necessario sequitur ex principus fidei. . . .
" Exemplum evidens est in parvulo baptizato ab hseretico ;
nam si statim moriatur, sine dubio salvabitur; ahoqui vel
rebaptizandus esset a CathoUco priusquam moreretur ne
periret, vel maneret omni remedio destitutus ; utrumque
autem absurdissimum et haereticum est."
The third course of reconcihng the infant by confirmation
does not seem even to have occurred to Suarez, Drouvin is
as explicit as Suarez: "Quantum ad gratiam spectat, si
sacramenta conferuntur infantibus, citra dubium est, gratiam
simul cum charactere infundi j quia in qualibet hseresi aut
factione schismatis infans baptizetur, cum nullum obicem
mate voluntatis opponat neque erroris fiat particeps,
sacramenti effectu defraudari non potest" (De Re Sacra-
mentaria, tom. i, lib. i, 94, 7).

APPENDIX, 357

So also Constant : " Si de infantibus sermo est certum
est eos ubicunque et a quocunque baptizati fuerint statim
consequi gratiam Christi,"
Suarez says that this is the teaching of all the Scholastics,
It win be. enough to quote S, Thomas : " Dicendum quod
ille qui ab hseretico baptizatur propter peccatum hseretici
non privatur gratia baptismatis, sed quandoque propter
peccatum proprium. Unde si sit puer in quem culpa
actualis non cadit, si baptizatur in forma Ecclesiae recipit
sacramentum et rem sacramenti " (Dist, vi, qu, i. art 3,
questiunc, 3, solut. 3).
So also Scotus (in Lib. iv. Dist. 4, qu. 2, Schol,), who
shows that the child is not injured by want of faith in the
minister or the sponsors.
It is, however, not difficult to see how Dr 'Watson fell
into his error, for such it surely is, S, Augustin, with
whose writings he was more familiar than -with the Scho
lastics, seems to deny over and over again, in the most
emphatic way, that grace can be conferred by the baptism
of heretics. To quote only a few passages out of many : —
" Si baptismi gratiam hoc esse dicis quod est baptismus,
est apud hsereticos. Si autem baptismus sacramentum est
gratis, ipsa vero gratia abolitio peccatorum est non est
apud hsereticos baptismi gratia" (De Bapt, c, Donat.)
Again: "Prseter Ecclesise societatem aqua baptismi, quam
vis eadem sit, non solum non valet ad salutem, sed valet
potius ad perniciem" (C. Faust l,xii, cap, 17),
But that S. Augustin did not intend to include infants in
these propositions seems clear from the reasons he else
where gives for the uselessness of heretical baptism.
" Sacramenta haereticis insunt sed non prosunt quia cum
iha recta sunt ipsi perversi sunt" (C. Donat Ep. cap. 22),
which cannot be said of infants. And again : " Nee nos
abnuimus eum, qui apud hasreticos vel in ahquo schismate
extra coramunionem Ecclesiae baptizatur, non ei prodesse.

358 APPENDIX.

in quantum haereticorum et schismaticorum perversitati
consentit " (C, Donat, lib. in. cap, lo).
Hence he makes an exception for a Catechumen holding
the Catholic faith, and in no way consenting to schism or
heresy, who in danger of death would receive baptism from
the hands of a heretic, when no Catholic could be found
(C, Donat. lib, vi, cap. 5, l,vu. cap, 52).
I doubt not that he would have made the same exception
for infants, for the same reason, though I do not find a
passage where he has said this exphcitly. Nor have I found
the question of infants who are baptized by heretics any
where discussed by other fathers, Latin or Greek. S.
Asterius Amassenus indeed says : " On account of the
heterodox father the child is baptized yet not baptized,
but rather drowned in heresy. It has scarcely begun the
voyage of hfe, and already it has made shipwreck " (Hom.
20 in Psal. 6). But when the context is examined his
meaning becomes clear. The danger was that the child
would be educated in the sect in which it had been
baptized, and was therefore entangled by its baptism in its
parents' heresy.

Editor.

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*A very charming story, and may be read by both young and old.'—
Brownson's Review. , * -i 1 1
* Presents us with some deeply-touching incidents of family love and
¦devotion.'— Cff^/i(7//c Times.

BOOKS LA TEL Y PUBLISHED

Dame Dolores, or the Wise Nun of Easton-
mere ; and other Stories. By the Author of 'Tybome,'
&c. us.
Contents : i. The Wise Nun of Eastonmere. ii.
Known Too Late. Ill, True to the End. iv, Olive's
Rescue,
' We have read the volume with considerable pleasure, and we trust no
small profit. The tales are decidedly clever, well worked out, and written
with a flowing and cheerful pen,' — Catliolic Times.
^ ' The Author of Tybonie is too well known to need any fresh recommend
ation to the readers of Catholic fiction. "We need only say that her present
will be as welcome to her many friends as any of her former works. ' — Month.
' An attractive volume ; and we know of few tales that we can more safely
or more thoroughly recommend to our young readers,' — Weekly Register.
Maggie's Rosary, and other Tales. By the
Author of ' Marian Howard.' Cloth extra, y. ; cheap edi
tion, zs,
' We strongly recommend these stories. They are especially suited to
little g\r\s:—Talilet.
' The very thing for a gift-book for a child ; but at the same time so in
teresting and full of incident that it will not be contemned by children of a
larger growth.' — Weekly Register.
We have seldom seen tales better adapted for children's reading.' —
Catholic Times.
*The writer possesses in an eminent degree the art of making stories for
children.' — Catholic Opinion,
'A. charmins: little book, which we can heartily recommend.' — Rosarian.
Scenes and Incidents at Sea. A new Selec
tion. IS. ^.
Contents : i. Adventure on a Rock. II. A Heroic
Act of Rescue, iii. Inaccessible Islands. IV. The Ship
wreck of the Czar Alexander, v. Captain James's Adven
tures in the North Seas. vi. Destruction of Admiral Graves's
Fleet, VII. The Wreck of the Forfarshire, and Grace Darl
ing. VIII. The Loss of the Royal George, IX, The Irish
Sailqr Boy, x. Gallant Conduct of a French Privateer,
XI. The Harpooner, xil. The Cruise of the Agamemnon.
XIII. A Nova Scotia Fog. xiv. The Mate's Story, xv.
The Shipwreck of the .(Eneas Transport. xvi. A Scene
in the Shrouds, xvil. A Skirmish oif Bermuda, xvill.
Charles Wager, xix. A Man Overboard, xx. A Loss
and a Rescue, xxi. A Melancholy Adventure on the
American Seas. xxil. Dolphins and Flying Fish.

BY BURNS AND OATES.

13

History of England, for Family Use and the
Upper Classes of Schools, By the Author of 'Christian
Schoolsxand Scholars.' Second edition. With Preface by
the Very Rev, Dr. Northcote. ds.
Tales from the Diary of a Sister of Mercy,
By C. M. Brame. New edition. Cloth extra, 4J.
Contents : The Double Marriage. The Cross and the
Crown, The Novice. The Fatal Accident, The Priest's
Death, The Gambler's Wife, The Apostate, The Be
setting Sin.
'Written in a chaste, simple, and touching style.' — Tablet.
' This book is a casket, and those who open it will find the gem within.' —
Resets ter.
'They are well and cleverly told, and the volume is neatly got up.'—
Month. 'Very well told : all full of religious allusions and expressions.' — Star.
- ' Very well written, and life-like ; many very pathetic' — Catholic Opinion
By the same.
Angels' Visits: a Series of Tales. With
Frontispiece and Vignette, y. dd.
* The tone of the book is excellent, and it will certainly make itself a
.great favourite with the young.' — Month.
* Beautiful collection of Angel Stories.' — Weekly Register.
' One ofthe prettiest books for children we have seen.' — Tablet.
* A book which excites more than ordinary praise.' — Northern Press.
'Touchingly written, and evidently the emanation of a refined and pious
anind.' — Church Times.
'A charming little book, full of beautiful stories ofthe family of angels.'
— Church Opinion.
ST. JOSEPH'S THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.
Edited by Fathers ofthe Society of Jesus.
Vol. I.
On some Popular Errors concerning Poli
tics and Religion. By the Right Honourable Lord Robert
Montagu, M.P. ds.
Contents : Introduction. I. The Basis of Political
Science. II. Religion. III. The Church, iv. Religious
Orders, v. Christian Law. VI. The Mass. vil. The Prin
ciples of 1789. VIII. Liberty, ix. Fraternity, x. Equality.
XI. Nationality, Non-intervention, and the Accomplished
Fact. XII. Capital Punishment, xiii. Liberal Catholies.

14 BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED
XIV. Civil Marriage, XV. Secularisation of Education.
XVI. Conclusion. Additional Notes,
This book has been taken from the ' Risposte popolari
alle obiezioni piu diffiise contro la Religione ; opera del P,
Secondo Franco. Torino, 1868.' It is not a translation of
that exceUent Italian work, for much has been omitted,
and even the forms of expression have not been retained ;
nor yet is it an abstract, for other matter has been added
throughout. The aim of the editor has been merely to fol
low out the intention of P. Franco, and adapt his thoughts
to the circumstances and mind of England,
Considerations for a Three Days' Prepara
tion for Communion. Taken chiefiy from the French of
Saint Jure, S.J. By Cecilie Mary Caddell. Zd.
* In every respect a most excellent manual.' — Catholic Times.
' A simple and easy method for a devout preparation for that solemn
duty,' — Weekly Register.
'A beautiful compilation carefully prepared.' — Universe.
The Spiritual Conflict and Conquest, By
Dom J. Castaniza, O.S.B. Edited, with Preface and Notes,
by Canon Vaughan, English Monk of the Order of St. Bene
dict. Second edition. Reprinted from the old Enghsh
Translation of 1652, With fine Original Frontispiece re
produced in Autotype, %s, dd.
The Letter- Books of Sir Amias Poulet,
Keeper of Mary Queen of Scots. Edited by John Morris,
Priest ofthe Society of Jesus. Demy 8vo, los. dd.
Sir Amias Poulet had charge of the Queen of Scots from
April 1585 to the time of her death, February 8, 1587.
His correspondence with Lord-Treasurer Burghley and Sir
Francis Walsingham enters into the details of her life in
captivity at Tutbury, Chartley, and Fotheringay. Many of
the letters now published are entirely unknown, being printed
from a recently-discovered manuscript. The others have
been taken from the originals at the Public Record Ofiice
and the British Museum. The letters are strung together by
a running commentary, in the course of which several of
Mr. Froude's statements are examined, and the question of
Mary's complicity in the plot against Elizabeth's life is
discussed.

BY BURNS AND OATES. j^

Smttr Ettgenie: the Life and Letters of a
Sister of Charity. By the Author of 'A Sketch of the Life
of St. Paula.' Second edition, enlarged. On toned paper,
cloth gilt, 4J. dd. ; plain paper, cloth plain, 3^-.
'It is impossible to read it without bearing away in one's heart some of
the odour of sweetness" which breathes forth from almost everv oaee ' 
Tablet. ^ v & •
* The most charming piece of religious biography that has appeared since
the Ricits d'une Sceur.' — Catholic Opinion.
' We have seldom read a more touching tale of youthful holiness.*— Weekly
Register. *The picture of a life of hidden piety and grace, and of active charity
which it presents is extremely beautiful.' — Natiofi. '
'We strongly recommend this devout and interesting life to the careful
perusal of all our readers.' — Westminster Gazette.
CoiCnt de Montalember£ s Letters to a School
fellow^ 1827-1830, Qualis ab incepto. Translated from
the French by C. F. AUDLEY. With Portrait. 5J*.
* Simple, easy, and unaffected in a degree, these letters form a really
charming volume. The observations are simply wonderful, considering that
when he wrote them he was only seventeen or eighteen years of age.' —
Weekly Register.
* A new treasure is now presented for the first time in an English casket —
the letters he wrote when a schoolboy. The loftiness ofthe aspirations they
breathe is supported by the intellectual power of which, they give evidence.'
— Cork Exami7ier.
* Reveal in the future ecclesiastical champion and historian a depth of
feeling and insight into forthcoming events hardly to be expected from a
mere schoolboy.' — Building News.
' Display vigour of thought and real intellectual power.' — ChurchHarald.
Ecclesiastical Antiqtiities of London audits
Suburbs. By Alexander Wood, M.A. Oxon., ofthe So
merset Archaeological Society. 5^.
' O, who the mine sees, whom wonder doth not fill
With our great fathers' pompe, devotion, and their skill?'
' Will prove a most useful manual to many of our readers. Stores of
Catholic memories still hang about the streets of this great metropolis. For
the ancient and religious associations of such places the Catholic reader can
want no better cicerone than Mr. Wood.' — Weekly Register.
* We have indeed to thank Mr. Wood for this excellent little book.' —
Catholic Opinioji.
' Very seldom have we read a book devoted entirely to the metropolis
with such pleasure.' — Liverpool Catholic Tiones.
' A very pleasing and readable book.' — Builder.
' Gives a plain, sensible, but learned and interesting account ofthe chief
church antiquities of London and its suburbs. It is written by a very able
: and competent author— one who thoroughly appreciates his subject, and
who treats it with, the discrimination of a critic dnd the sound common sense
I of a practised writer.' — Church Herald.

1 6 BOOKS LA TEL Y PUBLISHED

LIBRARY OF RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY.
Edited by Edward Healy Thompson.
Vol. I.
The Life of St. Aloysitis Gonzaga, S.f,
Second edition. 5J*.
* Contains numberless traces of a thoughtful and tender devotion to the
Saint. It shows a loving penetration into his spirit, and an appreciation of
the secret motives of his action, which can only be the result of a deeply
affectionate study of his life and character,' — Month.
Vol. II.
The Life of Marie Eustelle Harpain ; or
the Angel ofthe Eucharist. Second edition. 5J.
' Possesses a special value and interest apart from its extraordinay natural
and supernatural beauty, from the fact that to her example and to the effect
of her writings is attributed in great measure the wonderful revival of devo
tion to the Blessed Sacrament in France, and consequently throughout West-
em Christendom.' — Dublin Review.
A more complete instance of that life of purity and close union with God
in the world of which we have just been speaking is to be found in the
history of Marie Eustelle Harpain, the sempstress of Saint-Pallais. The
writer ofthe present volume has had the advantage of very copious materials
in the French works on which his own wdrk is founded ; and Mr. Thompson
has discharged his office as editor with his usual diligence and accuracy.' —
Month. Vol. in.
The Life of St. Stanislas Kostka. ^s.
'We strongly recommend this biography to our readers.* — Tablet.
'There has been no adequate biography of St. Stanislas. In rectifying
this want Mr. Thompson has earned a title to the gratitude of English-
speaking Catholics. The engaging Saint of Poland will now be better known
among us, and we need not fear that, better known, he will not he better
loved.' — Weekly Register, Vol. IV.
The Life of the Baron de Renty ; or Per
fection in the World exemplified. 6s.
' An excellent book. The style is throughout perfectly fresh and btioyant.'
— Ditblin Review.
' This beautiful work is a compilation, not of biographical incidents, but of
holy thoughts and spiritual aspirations, which we may feed on and make our
own.' — Tablet. > _ ^
'Gives full particulars of his marvellous virtue in an agreeable form. —
Catholic Times.
' A good book for our Catholic young men, teaching how they can sanctify
the secular state.' — Catholic Opinion.
' Edifying and instructive, a beacon and guide to those_ whose walks are
in the ways ofthe world, who toil and strive to win Christian perfection.' —
Ulster Examiner.

B Y BURNS AND OA TES. 1 7
Vol. V.
The Life of the Venerable Anna Maria
Taigi, the Roman Matron (1769-1837). Third edition.
With Portrait. 6j.
This Biography has been written after a careful collation
of previous Lives of the Servant of God with each other,
and with the Analecta Juris Fontificii^ which contain large
extracts from the Processes. Various prophecies attributed
to her and other holy persons have beerl collected in an
Appendix.
* Of all the series of deeply-interesting biographies which the untiring zeal
and piety of Mr. Healy Thomp.son has given of late years to English Ca
tholics, none, we think, is to be compared in interest with the one before us,
both from the absorbing nature ofthe life itself and the ¦ spiritual lessons it
conveys.' — Tablet.
*A complete biography of the Venerable Matron in the composition of
which the greatest care has been taken and the best authorities consulted.
We can safely recommend the volume for the discrimination with which it
has been written, and for the careful labour and completeness by which it
has been distinguished.' — Catliolic 0pi?uon.
' We recommend this excellent and carefully-compiled biography to all
our readers. The evident care exercised by the editor in collating the
various lives of Anna Maria gives great value to the volume, and we hope it
will meet with the support it so justly merits.' — Westminster Gazette.
' We thank Mr. Healy Thompson for this volume. The direct purpose of
his biographies is always spiritual edification.' — Dublin Review.
' Contains rauch that is capable of nourishing pious sentiments.' — Nation.
'Has evidently been a labour of love.' — Month.

The Hidden Life of Jesus: a Lesson and
Model to Christians, Translated frorn the French of Bou-
DON, by Edward Healy Thompson, M,A, Cloth, y,
'This profound and valuable work has been very carefully and ably trans
lated by Mr. Thompson.' — Register.
' The more vre have of such works as the Hidden Life qf Jesus the better."
— Westminster Gazette.
'A book of searching ^ovt a. '—Church Review.
'We have often regretted that this writer's works are not better known.'
— Universe. ' We earnestly recommend its study and practice to all readers.'— Tablet.
' We have to thank Mr. Thompson for this translation of a valuable work
which has long been popular in France.'— Z)«WjVi Review,
' A good translation.' — Month.

l8 BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED
Also, by the sam? Author and Translator,
Devotion to the Nine Choirs of Holy Angels y
and especially io the Angel Guardians. 3.?.
We congratulate Mr. Thompson on the way in which he has accom
plished his task, and we earnestly hope that an increased devotion to the
Holy Angels may be the reward of his labour of love.' — Tablet.
* A beautiful translation.' — Month.
*The translation is extremely well done.' — Weekly Register.
Hew Meditations for each Day in the Year,
on ihe Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. By a Father ofthe
Society of Jesus. With the imprimatur of the Cardinal
Archbishop of Westminster. New and improved edition.
Two vols. Cloth, 9J", ; also in calf, i6j. ; morocco, 17^.
'We can heartily recommend this book for its styl6 and substance ; it
bears with it several strong recommendations. ... It is solid and practical.'
— Westminster Gazette.
* A work of great practical utility, and we give it our earnest lecommend-
ation.' — Weekly Register.
The Day Sanctified ; being Meditations and
spiritual Readings for Daily Use. Selected from the Works-
of Saints and approved Writers of the Catholic Church.
Fcp. cloth, 3J. 6d. ; red edges, 4^.
'Ofthe many volumes of meditations on sacred subjects which have ap
peared in the last few year.s, none has seemed to us so well adapted to its
object as the one before us.' — Tablet.
Deserves to be specially mentioned.' — Month.
'Admirable in every sense.' — Church Times.
'Many of the meditations are of great beauty. . . . They form, in fact,.
excellent little sermons, and we have no doubt will be largely used as such.'
— Literary Churchman.
Reflections and Prayers for Holy Com-
munton. Translated from the French. With Preface by
the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. Fcp. 8vo,
cloth, 4J. 6d.\ bound, red edges, 5.?.; calf, 9J.; morocco, loj.
* The Archbishop has marked his approval ofthe work by writing a pre
face for it, and describes it as "a valuable addition to our books of devo
tion." ' — Register.
' A book rich with' the choicest and most profound Catholic devotions.' —
Church Review.

BY BURNS AND OATES. 19
Lallemant's Doctrine of the Spiritual Life.
Edited by the late Father Faber. New edition. Cloth,
'This excellent work has a twofold value, being both a biography and a
volume of meditations. It contains an elaborate analysis ofthe wants, dan
gers, trials, and aspirations ofthe inner man, and supplies to the thoughtful
and devout reader the most valuable instructions for the attainment of hea
venly wisdom, grace, and strength.' — Catholic Times,
'A treatise ofthe very highest value.* — Month.
* The treatise is preceded by a short account of the writer's life, and has
had the wonderful advantage of being edited by the late Father Faber.' —
Weekly Register.
The Rivers of Damascus and Jordan : a
Causerie. By a Tertiary of the Order of St. Dominic. 4^^
' Good solid reading.' — Month.
'Well done and in a truly charitable spirit.' — Catholic Opinion.
' It treats the subject in so novel and forcible a light that we are fascin
ated iji spite of ourselves, and irresistibly led on to follow its arguments and
rejoice at its conclusions.' — Tablet.
Legends of ozir Lady and the Saints ; or
our Childreji^s Book of Stories in Verse. Written for the
Recitations ofthe Pupils ofthe Schools ofthe Holy Child
Jesus, St. Leonard's-on-Sea. ^s. dd.
' It is a beautiful religious idea that is realised in the Legends of our
Lady dud the Saints. The book forms a charming present for pious chil
dren.'— Tablet.
' The " Legends" are so beautiful that they ought to be read by all lovers-
of poetry.' — Bookseller.
' Graceful poems.' — Month.
The New Testament Narrative, in the Words
ofthe Sacred WHters. With Notes, Chronological Tables,
and Maps. Cloth, ^.s.
' The compilers deserve great praise for the manner in which they have
performed their task. We commend this little volume as well and carefully
printed, and as furnishing its readers, moreover, with a great amount of use
ful information in the tables inserted at the end.' — Month.
' It is at once clear, complete, and beautiful.' — Catholic Opinion.

QUARTERLY SERIES.

VOLUMES PUBLISHED.
The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier.
By the Rev. PI. J. Coleridge. Sec. edit. Two vols. i%s.
' We cordially thank Father Coleridge for a most valuable biography. . . .
He has spared no pains to insure our having in good classical English a
translation of all the letters which are extant. ... A complete priest's manual
might be compiled from them, entering as they do into all the details of a
missioher's public and private life. . . , We trust we have stimulated our
readers to examine them for themselves, and we are satisfied that they will
return again and again to them as to a never-exhausted source of interest
and edification.' — Tablet.
'A noble addition to our literature. . . . We offer our warmest thanks to
Father Coleridge for this most valuable work. The letters, we need hardly
.say, will be found of great spiritual use, especially for missionaries and
priests.' — Dublin Review.
' One of the most fascinating books we have met with for a long time/ —
Catholic opinion.
, ' Would that we had many more lives of saints like this ! Father Cole
ridge has done great service to this branch of Catholic literature, not simply
by writing a charming book, but especially by setting others an example of
how a saint's life should be written.' — Westminster Gazette.
' This valuable book is destined, we feel assured, to take a high place
among what we may term our English Catholic classics. . . . I'he great
charm lies in the letters, for in them we have, in a far more forcible manner
than any biographer could give them, the feelings, experiences, and aspira
tions of St. Francis Xavier as pictured by his own pen.' — Catliolic Times.
' Father Coleridge does his own part admirably, and we shall not be sur
prised to find his book soon take its place as the standard Life of the saintly
and illustrious Francis.' — Nation.
' Not only an interesting but a scholarly sketch of a life remarkable alike
in itself and in its attendant circumstances. We hope the author will con
tinue to labour in a department of literature for which he has here shown his
aptitude. To find a saint's life which is at once moderate, historical, and
appreciative is not a common thing.' — Saturday Review.
' Should be studied by all missionaries, and is worthy of a place in every
Christian library.' — Church Herald,

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY BURNS &=> OATES. 2 1
The Life of St. fane Frances Fremyot de
Chantal. By Emily Bowles. With Preface by the Rev.
H. J. Coleridge. Second edition. 5J. Ul.
' We venture to promise great pleasure and profit to the reader of this
charming biography. It gives a complete and faithful portrait of one ofthe
most attractive saints of the generation which followed the completion of
the Council of Trent.* — Mojith.
' Sketched in a life-like manner, worthy of her well-earned reputation as.
a Catholic writer.* — Weekly Register.
* We have read it on and on with the fascination of a novel, andyet it is
the life of a saint, described with a rare delicacy of touch and feeling such
as is seldom met with.' — Tablet.
* A very readable and interesting compilation. . . . The author has done
her work faithfully and conscientiously.' — Athenteum.
* Full of incident, and told in a style so graceful and felicitous that it wins
upon the reader with every page.' — Nation.
'Miss Bowles has dene her work in a manner which we cannot better
commend than by expressing a desire that she may find many imitators.
She has endued her materials with life, and clothed them with a language
and a style of which we do not know what to admire most— the purity, the
grace, the refinement, or the elegance. If our readers wish to knoy the
value and the beauty of this book, they can do no better than get it and
read it.' — Westminister Gazette.
' One ofthe most charming and delightfu volumes which has issued from
the press for many years. Miss Bowles has accomplished her task faithfully
and happily, with simple grace and unpretentious language, and a winning
manner which, independently of her subject, irresistibly carries us along.'—
Ulster Examiner.

The Histoiy of the Sacred Passion. From
the Spanish of Father Luis DE la Palma, ofthe Society
of Jesus. The Translation revised and edited by the Rev.
H. J, Coleridge. Third edition, yj. dd.
' A work long held in great and just repute in Spain. It opens a mine of
wealth to one's soul. Though there are many works on the Passion m Eng-
lish, probably none will be found so generally useful both for .spiritual read
ing and meditation. We desire to see it widely circulated.'— 7a»&<.
'A sterling work ofthe utmost value, proceeding from the pen of a great
theologian, whose piety was as simple and tender as his le-arning and culture
were profound and exquisite. It is a rich storehouse for contemplation on
the great mystery of our Redemption, and one of those books which every
CathoUc ought to read for himself.'— Weekly Register.
• The most wonderful work upon the Passion that we have ever read. To
us the chann lies in this, that it is entirely theological. It is made use ot
largely by those who give the Exercises of St. Ignatius ; it is as it were,
the flesh upon the skeleton ofthe Exercises. Never has the Passion been,
meditated upon so before  If any one wishes to understand the Passion
of our Lord in its fulness, let him procure this book. —Dublin Revwiv.
' w. I,,,,, „nf r,;,H a more thouehtful work on our Blessed Lord's Passion.

BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED

It is a complete storehouse of matter for meditation, and for sermons on that
¦divine mystery.' — Catholic Opinion.
' The book is — speaking comparatively of human offerings — a magnificent
¦offering to the Crucified, and to those who wish to make a real study of the
Cross will be a most precious guide.' — Church Revieiv.
I erne of Armorica: a Tale of the Time of
Chlovis. By J. C. Bateman. 6j. 6c/.
'We know of few tales ofthe kind that can be ranked higher than the
beautiful story before us. The author has bit on thc golden mean between
an over-display of antiquarianism and an indolent transfer of modern modes
of action and thought to a distant time. The descriptions are masterly, the
characters distinct, the interest unflagging. We may add that the period is
¦one of those which may be said to be comparatively unworked.* — Month.
' A volume of very great interest and very great utility. As a story it is
•sure to give much delight, while, as a story founded on historical fact, it will
benefit all by its very able reproduction of very momentous scenes. . . . The
book is excellent. If we are to have a literature of fiction at all, we hope it
will include many like volumes.' — Dublin Rez'ievj.
' Although a work of fiction, it is historically correct, and the author
portrays with great skill the manners and customs of the times of which he
professes to give a description. In reading this charming tale we seem to
4)e taken by the hand by the writer, and made to assist at the scenes which
he describes.' — Tablet.
'The author of this most interf^sting tale has hit the happy medium be
tween a display of antiquarian knowledge and a mere reproduction in distant
ages of commonplace modern habits of thought. The descriptions are ex-
•cellent, the characters well drawn, and the subject itself is very attractive,
besides having the advantage of not having been written threadbare.' —
Westminster Gazette.
* The tale is excessively interesting, the language appropriate to the time
and rank ofthe characters, the style flowing and easy, and the narrative
leads one on and on until it becomes a very difficult matter to lay the book
down until it is finished. ... It is a valuable addition to Catholic fictional
literature.' — CatJwlic Times.
'A very pretty historico-ecclesiastical novel ofthe times ofChlovi.s. It
'is full of incident, and is very pleasant Tending.'— Literary Churchman.
The Life of Dona Luisa de Carvajal. By
Lady Georgiana Fullerton. 6^-. (Seep. 6.)
The Life of the Blessed fohn Berchmans.
By the Rev. Francis Goldie, S.J. 6j.
'A complete and life-like picture, and we are glad to be able to congratu-
Jlate Father Goldie on his success.' — Tablet,
* Drawn up with a vigour and freedom which show great power of bio
graphical writing.' — Dublin Review.
* One of the most interesting of all.* — Weekly Register.
* Unhesitatingly we say that it is the very best Life of Blessed John

BY BURNS AND OATES. 23
Berchmans, and as j;uch it will take rank with religious biographies ofthe
'highest merit.' — CatJwlic Times.
* Is of great literary merit, the style being marked by elegance and a
. -complete absence of redundancy.' — Cork Examiner.
' This delightful and edifying volume is of the deepest interest. The
perusal will afford both pleasure and profit.' — Church Herald.
The Life of the Blessed Peter Favre, of the
Society ofjestis. First Companion of St. Ignatius Loyola.
From the Italian of Father Giuseppe Boero, of the same
Society. With Preface by the Rev, H, J. Coleridge,
6.r. 6d. This Life has been written on the occasion of the beati
fication of the Ven. Peter Favre, and contains the Memoriale
or record of his private thoughts and meditations, written
by himself.
'At once a book of spiritual reading, and also an interesting historical
narrative. The Memoriale, or Spiritual Diary, is here translated at lull
length, and is the most precious portion of one ofthe most valuable biogra
phies we know.' — Tablet.
' A perfect picture drawn from the life, admirably and succinctly told.
The Memoriale will be found one ofthe most admirable epitomes of sound
devotional reading.' — Weekly Register.
' The MejHoriale is hardly excelled in interest by anything of the kind
now extant.' — Catholic Times.
' Full of interest, instruction, and example.' — Cork Examiner.
* One of the most interesting to the general' reader of the entire series up
to this time,' — Nation.
' This wonderful diary, the Memoriale, has never been published before,
and we are much mistaken if it does not become a cherished possession to
thoughtful Catholics.* — Month.
The Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great.
An old English version. Edited, with Preface, by the Rev.
H. J. Coleridge. 6j-
' The CathoHc world must feel grateful to Father Coleridge for this ex
cellent and compendious edition. The subjects treated of possess at this
moment a special interest. . . . The Preface by Father Coleridge is interest
ing and well written, and we cordially recommend the book to the perusal
QlziX:— Tablet.
* This is a most interesting book. . . . Father Coleridge gives a very
useful preface summarising the contents.' — Weekly Register.
'We have seldom taken up a book in which we have become at once so
deeply interested. It will suit any one ; it will teach all ; it will confirm any
who require that process ; and it will last and be read when other works are
quite forgotten.' — Catholic Times.
'Edited and published with the utmost care and the most perfect literary
taste, this volume adds one more gem to the treasury of English CathoUc
literature.' — New York Catholic World.

24 BOOKS PUBUSHED BY BURNS if OATES.
The Life of Sister Anne Catherine Emme
rich. Edited, with Preface, by the Rev. H. J. Coleridge.
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Selections from some of her Sayings, and the Decree of her
Beatification. By the Rev. Charles B. Garside, M.A.
IS.
A Comparison between the Histoiy of the
Church and the Prophecies of the Apocalypse. Translated
from the German by Edwin de Lisle, is.

CATHOLIC-TRUTH TRACTS.
New Issues.
Manchester Dialogues. First Series. By the
Rev. Fr. Harper, S.J.
No. I. The Pilgrimage.
II. Are Miracles going on still ?
III. Popish Miracles tested by the Bible.
IV. Popish Miracles.
V. Liquefaction ofthe Blood of St. Januarius.
VI. ' Bleeding Nuns' and ' Winking Madonnas. '
VII. Are Miracles physically possible ?
VIII. Are Miracles morally possible ?
Price of each y. per loo, 25 for is. ; also 25 ofthe above
assorted for is. Also the whole Series complete in neat Wrap
per, dd.
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