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matter. And the bishop, for standing so stiffly by the matter, and bearing up the order of our mother the holy church, was made a cardinal at Calais; and thither the bishop of Rome sent him a cardinal's hat. He should have had a Tyburn tippet, a half-penny halter, and all such proud prelates. These Romish hats never

brought good into England.

Upon this the bishop goeth me to the queen Katherine, the late king's wife, a proud woman, and a stout, and persuaded her, that if the duke were in such authority still, and lived, the people would honor him more than they did the king, and the king should not be set by; and so between them, I cannot tell how it came to pass, but at St. Edmundsbury, in a parliament, the good duke Humphrey was smothered.

But now to return to my text, and to make further rehearsal of the same, the matter beginneth thus: "Et postquam sederit rex," And when the king is set in the seat of his kingdom-" What shall he do? Shall he dance and dally, banquet, hawk, and hunt? No forsooth, sir. For as God set an order in the king's stable, as I told you in my last sermon, so will he appoint what pastime a king shall have. What must he do then? He must be a student, he must write God's book himself; not thinking because he is a king he hath li

cense to do what he will, as these worldly flatterers are wont to say; Yea, trouble not yourself, sir, ye may hawk and hunt, and take your pleasure. As for the guiding of your kingdom and people, let us alone with it.

These flattering clawbacks are original roots of all mischief, and yet a king may take his pastime in hawking or hunting, or such like pleasures. But he must use them for recreation, when he is weary of weighty affairs, that he may return to them the more lusty and this is called pastime with good company. He must write out a book himself. He speaketh of writing, because printing was not used at that time. And shall the king write it out himself? He meaneth, he shall see it written, and rather than he should be without it, write it himself. Jesus, mercy! Is God so chary with a king, to have him well brought up, and instructed? Yea, forsooth; for if the king be well ordered, the realm is well ordered.

Where shall we have a copy of this book? Of the Levites. And why? Because it shall be a true copy, not falsified.

Moses left the book in an old chest, and the Levites had it in keeping. (Deut. xviii.) And because there should be no error, no addition, nor taking away from it, he biddeth him fetch the copy of the Levites.

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And was not here a great miracle of God how this book was preserved ? It had lain hid many years, and the Jews knew not of it. Therefore at length, when they had found it, and knew it, they lamented for their ignorance that had so long been without it, and rent their clothes, repenting their unfaithfulness. And the Holy Bible, God's book, that we have among us, it hath been preserved hitherto by a wonderful miracle of God, though the keepers of it were never so malicious. First, ever since the bishop of Rome was first in authority, they have gone about to destroy it; but God worketh wonderfully, he hath preserved it, maugre their hearts, and yet are we unthankful that we cannot consider it. I will tell you what a bishop of this realm said once to me: he sent for me, and marvelled that I would not consent to such traditions as were then set out. And I answered that I would be ruled by God's book, and rather than I would dissent one jot from it, I would be torn with wild horses. And I chanced in our communication, to name the Lord's Supper? Tush! saith the bishop, what do ye call the Lord's Supper? What new term is that? There stood by him a dubber, one Doctor Dubber, he dubbed him by and by, and said that this term was seldom read in the Doctors. And I made answer, that I would rather follow Paul in

using his terms, than them, though they had all the Doctors on their side. 66 Why," said the bishop, "cannot we, without Scriptures, order the people? How did they before the Scripture was first written and copied out?" But God knoweth, full ill yet would they have ordered them; for seeing that having it, they have deceived us, in what case should we have been now without it? But thanks be to God, that by so wonderful a miracle he hath preserved the book still.

It followeth in the text, "Habebit secum,' He shall have it with him in his progress, he must have a man to carry it, that when he is hawking and hunting, or in any pastime, he may always commune with them of it. He shall read in it, not once a year, for a time, or for his recreation when he is weary of hawking and hunting, but "cunctis diebus vitæ suæ," all the days of his life. Where are those worldlings now? these bladder-puffed up, wily men? Wo worth them that ever they were about any king. But how shall we read this book, as the Homilies are read? Some call them homelies; and indeed so they may be well called, for they are homely handled. For though the priest read them never so well, yet if the parish like them not, there is such talking and babbling in the church that nothing can

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be heard; and if the parish be good, and the priest naught, he will so hack it and chop it, that it were as good for them to be without it, for any word that shall be understood. And yet, (the more pity,) this is suffered of your grace's bishops in their dioceses unpunished. But I will be a suitor to your grace, that ye will give your bishops charge ere they go home, upon their allegiance, to look better to their flock, and to see your majesty's injunctions better kept, and send your Visitors in their tails. And if they be found negligent or faulty in their duties, out with them. I require it in God's behalf, make them quondams, all the pack of them. But peradventure ye will say, Where shall we have any to put in their rooms? Indeed I were a presumptuous fellow, to move your grace to put them out, if there were not other to put in their places. But your majesty hath divers of your chaplains, well learned men, and of good knowledge; and yet ye have some that be bad enough, hangers-on of the court; I mean not those. But if your majesty's chaplains, and my lord protector's, be not able to furnish their places, there is in this realm, thanks be to God, a great sight of laymen, well learned in the Scriptures, and of virtuous and godly conversation, better learned than a great sight of us of the clergy.