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things began in a great measure to be remedied. They be- learned, gan to be brought up in learning and godliness, to the great joy and comfort of England : so Latymer, in place above- mentioned, observed. " So that there was now good hopes, *' he said, that we shall another day have a flourishing com- *' monweal, considering their godly education. Yea, that " there were already nobles enough, though not so many " as he would wish, fit to be put into places of trust." But to return to the clergy again. Among the rest of The habit whose faults must be added, their affectation of going too cier costly in their apparel. Some of them ware velvet shoes
and velvet slippers. " Such fellows," saith our old Cato, " were more fit to dance the morris-dance, than to be ad-
" mitted to preach." We may conclude the rest of their ha- bit was agreeable to that piece of it.
VOL. TI. PART II. 146 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL II.
CHAP. XXIV.
^„„f, 1553 Oi,?ert;a#iow* concerning patrons; the universities; the 448 citi/ and court. Taxes in this reign.
clergy in these times, let us proceed to make our observa- tions of patrons, of the universities, the city, the court,
and so make an end of this book. them, or other consideration : sometimes they would fee- farm them: insomuch that when any afterward should
have the benefice, there was neither house to dwell in, nor glebe-land to keep hospitality. But the curate was fain to
take up his chamber in an alehouse, and there sit, and play at tables all day.
was a mighty decay. Latymer conjectured, that there were ten thousand students less than there was within twenty
years before. The reason whereof was, because the re- venues of the Church were gone away to laymen, and so
little encouragement for the students in divinity. He prayed the King therefore, that he would take order that preach-
ing might not decay ; for that if it did. Ignorance and brutishness would enter again. Those that were in Cam-
bridge, very few of them studied divinity : no more but just that number that of necessity must furnish the colleges
according to the statutes. And the livings there were so small, and victuals so dear, that they tarried not there, but
went otherwhere to seek livings. And only great men''s sons remained in the colleges, whose fathers intended them not
for preachers. So that the said father feared it would come to pass, that they should have nothing but a little English
dlv'mity, and that the realm would be brought into very barbarousness, and utter decay of learning. And then he
added, *' It is not that, I wiss, that will keep out the su- " premacy of the Bishop of Rome."''' Upon this he made a
suit to his auditors, " that they would bestow so much to OF KING EDWARD VI. 147 " poor men, to exercise the office of salvation, [he means '_ " preaching God's word,] as they were wont to bestow in Anno 1553. " pilgrimage matters, in trentals, in masses, in pardons, and
*' purgatory matters." where, and look upon the great metropolis of England, the city of London ; which was much degenerated, especially
at the beginning of this King's reign. In times past, the citizens were full of pity and compassion ; and when
churchmen died, they were wont to appoint some share of their estate in exhibition, for the maintenance of poor
scholars in the universities, and for the relief of the poor. But now the poor died in the streets for cold, and laid sick
at their doors, and perished for hunger. don was, the destruction of tillage in the country, and the Postered demolishing cottages there: whereby it -came to pass, that gars,
the poor had neither work nor harbour. And so having no subsistence in the countries, they were fain to come up to
get bread, or beg for it in the city. Which made Thomas Lever, a very grave preacher, in a sermon before a solemn
auditory, cry out, " O merciful Lord! what a number of " poor, feeble, halt, blind, lame, sickly, yea, with idle va-
" gabonds, and dissembling caitiffs mixed among them, lie " and creep begging in the miry streets of London and
" Westminster! It is a common custom with covetous " landlords, to let their housing so decay, that the farmer
" shall be fain, for a small regard, or none at all, to give up " his lease ; that they taking the grounds into their own
" hands, may turn all to pastures. So now old fathers, poor " widows, and young children, lie begging in the miry
*' streets." what helps for poor students were now distributed and sent ^^^" to the universities, he could hear of little or none ; nor of
such gifts of charity bequeathed by the richer sort at their deaths as was wont before to be, London also had enjoyed
148 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL any other place in the nation, and there sprang up a great Anno 1553. harvest of gospellers here. But the city shewed itself little addicted to religion, and too much addicted to superstition,
to pride, to malice, to cruelty, and uncharitableness. The latter end of the reign of King Henry, when the Papists
swayed all, had a mighty influence upon the city. So that there was a kind of apostasy among the Londoners. Which
made old Latymer, so often quoted before, in a sermon preached at the shrouds in St. PauPs before the citizens,
cry out, O London, London, repent, repent. And such was the vanity, and fickleness, and pride of the inhabitants, that
another preacher styled them butterjiies rather than bur- gesses.
The citizens But tliis made them clamour much against the preachers to ijutter- for disparaging them. Latymer came up not long after,
rties. ^,-,(^1 vindicated that preacher ; speaking thus : " What ado *' said but too justly. And would God they were no worse " than butterflies. Butterflies do but their nature. The
" butterfly is not covetous, is not greedy of other men's " goods, is not full of envy and hatred, is not malicious, is
*' not cruel. [Meaning to charge all this upon the citizens.] " Tlie butterfly glorieth not in her own works, nor pre-
" ferreth the traditions of men before God's ; committeth " not idolatry, nor worshippeth false gods. But London
" cannot abide to be rebuked : such is the nature of man, " if they be pricked, they will kick ; if they be rubbed on
" the gall, they will wince. London was never so evil as it " is now." And to the scandal of the Reformation, there
were more loose houses in London now in King Edward's days, than ever were before. The Bank, in [Southwark,]
when it stood, was never so common for whoredom as the city now. And it went unpunished. And so shameful and
wicked were many grown, that some thought a wonder, that London did not sink, and the earth gape and swallow
it up.
OF KING EDWARD VI. 149 with impunity ; that is, where the lord mayor had nothing ^^'^'^• to do, and the sheriffs could not meddle, and the quest did Anno 1553. not make inquiry. There men brought their whores, yea, ^)|[|^^g ;„
and other men"'s wives. Here sometimes was blood shed in London. quarrels about women. A Spaniard killed an Englishman,
by running him through with his sword, about a whore ; but the Spaniard escaped hanging. Here also were dicing-
houses, where idle people used to play, and spend their pa- trimony : and here many other follies were committed. So
that the manly exercises, that used to be among English- men without doors and abroad, began to be laid aside, and
turned into glosing, gulling, and whoring within doors. And particularly that exercise of shooting, for which this Siiooting in
nation had been so famous. This shooting was in time *'"^ ^^^''' past much esteemed in this realm. " It is a gift of God," said
Latymer, " that he hath given us to excel all other nations " withal. It hath been God's instrument, whereby he hath
" given us many victories against our enemies. And every " man in former times used to teach his children the prac-
'' tice of it, or to make them practise it ; as the law also *' enjoined this shooting in the bow. He spake of his fa-
" ther, that he was as diligent to teach him to shoot, as to " learn him any other thing. He taught him how to draw,
" how to lay his body in his bow, and not to draw with " strength of arms, as other nations do, but with strength
" of the body. And he had his bows brought him accord- " ing to his age and strength ; and as he increased in them,
" so his bows were made bigger and bigger : for men could " never shoot well, except they were brought up to it. It
" is a goodly art," said he, " a wholesome kind of exercise, " and much commended in physic. And he urged the ma-
" gistrates, even from the pulpit, and that in the reverence " of God, that a proclamation might go forth, charging
" the justices of peace, that they saw such acts and statutes " kept as were made for this purpose."
was an excellent King, but he was a minor ; and so was too 150 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL rich under him, while he grew poor: insomuch that he ran Anno 1553. into debt, and could not pay what he ought. Poor artificers to make to the King for monies received for the King''s use, used to defalcate a part, and put it into their own pockets ;
and those that took their accounts were gratified, and so they passed their accounts without any further examination.
These things the King's preacher (so often mentioned be- fore) knowing well enough, by his converse with the best of
the Court, plainly acquainted the King with in his last ser- mon before him, which w^as in the year 1550 : where in his
own person he glanceth at some about the King. " I will " become the King's officer for a while. I have to lay out
" for the King 2000/. or a great sum, whatsoever it be. " Well, when I have laid it out, and do bring in my ac-
*' count, I must give 300 mark to [have] my bills war- _*' ranted. If I have done truly and uprightly, what should
451 *' need me to give a penny to my bills warranted? Smell " you nothing in this ? What needeth a bribe-giving, ex-
" cept the bills be false ? Well, such practice hatli been in " England ; but beware ; it will out one day. Beware of
" God's proverb. There is nothing- hidden that shall not " be opened. And here now I speak to you, my master
" minters, augmentationcrs, receivers, surveyors, auditors ; " I make a petition to you, I beseech you all, be good to
" the King. He hath been good to you ; therefore be ye " good to him. Yea, be good to your own souls. Ye are
" known well enough, what ye were afore ye came to your " offices, and what lands ye had then, and what ye have
*' purchased since, and what buildings ye make daily. " Well, I pray ye, so build, that the King's workmen may
" be paid. They make their moans, that they can get no ** money. The poor labourers, gun-makers, powder-makers,
" bow-makers, arrow-makers, smiths, carpenters, soldiers, OF KING EDWARD VI. 151 " some of them three or four months ; yea, some of them " half a year; yea, and some of them put up bills this time Anno i553. " twelvemonth for their money, and cannot be paid yet. It
*' seems ill-favouredly, that ye should have enough where- ' " with to build superfluously, and the King lack to pay his
" poor labourers." him were so touched in conscience, that they, privately rJsHtution. some, and some openly, made restitution to him. And that,
chiefly, upon occasion of a sermon preached by Latymer at the Court. About the year 1548, in Lent, he preached
upon making restitution ; and that they who had wronged the King must make restitution, or else they would go to
the Devil, to use his plain English. Some indeed, and I suppose the most part, were angry with him for his ser-
mon. " Let him preach contrition," said they, " and let " restitution alone. We can never make restitution." But
some were better touched in conscience. So that one came privately to him, and acknowledged he had deceived the
King, and sent Latymer that Lent, in part of his restitution, 20/. to be restored to the King's use ; and promised SO/,
more that Lent : but it came not ; but the Lent after, he sent the 20Z. and 300Z. more with it. And Latymer paid it
into the Kings's Council. And the third Lent, the same sent in 180/. 10*. more : which Latymer paid also into the
King's Council. And so, according to his judgment, he made a godly restitution. The Council asked him, who
this was ; but he concealed him. And Latymer conjec- tured, that if every one would make such restitution, it
would amount to 20,000/. Nay, said another, an whole 100,000/. Another, named Sharington, came and made
open restitution. Whom therefore Latymer called, an ho- nest gentleman, and one that God loved. He openly con-
fessed, that he had deceived the King, and he made open restitution. This was Sir William Sharington ; of whom
before.
L 4
152 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL
^^- same. Herein again was a great cheat put upon the sub- Anno 1553. ject by the minters : which made old Latymer, in the pul-
pit, (who would take that opportunity to speak his mind to the King,) give a nip at this new coined money. " We have
" now a pretty little shilling ; in very deed a pretty one. I " have but one, I think, in my purse, and the last day I
452 *' had put it away almost for an old groat, [that being as " big as this new shilling,] and so, I trust, some vnW take
" them. The fineness of the silver I cannot see, [which was *' the pretence, that the shilling was less in quantity,] but
" therein is printed a fine sentence, [which was to make " amends for the smallness of it,] Timor Domini Jons vitcc
" vel sapiential' Which was the motto of this coin. The King And when, to help the King's necessities, certain taxes
hiTsubsi-" ^^^^ ^^'^ "P^" *'^^ subjects, they found out shifts to cheat dies. the King, and to save their oAvn purses : so that his taxes fell
year 1549, or 1550, there was a tax, that every man should pay the fifteenth part of his goods to the King. But when
the commissioners were sent abroad to take the value of every man's estate, each did exceedingly undervalue what
he was truly worth, and gave a false estimate. And he that was worth in cattle, corn, sheep, and other goods, 100
marks, or lOOZ. would give himself in to be worth 10/. An- other, that was worth 200Z. besides money and plate, and
married his daughter, and gave with her 400 or 500 marks, yet at the valuation was set but at 207. Which, it seems,
was an old trick. For in the Cardinal's time, for the pre- venting of it, men were put to their oaths, to swear what
Latymer's they Were worth. " O Lord,"" saith Latymer, " what per- s7" f" d* " J'^^y ^^^ ^^ England by that swearing ! For, doubtless,
" many one wittingly and willingly forsware themselves at " that time. Which course that father therefore called a
" sore thing, and would not wish to be followed.'" He knew it would tend more to the King's advantage, and to the
safety of his subjects, to make them honest and true, than to administer to them an oath.
OF KING EDWARD VI. 153 fices, and civil offices and places. Many indeed would seem ^'^^^• to refuse any gifts, when brought to them; but some that Anno 1553. were dependents would receive them readily enough, for ^"'^'^'¦y-
their masters' use and service. Judges' wives would some- times take bribes. They had servants a munerlhus, as La-
tymer styled them. Such a servant would say, If you come to my master, and offer him a yoke of oxen, you shall
speed never the worse ; but, I think, my master will take none. When the party had offered something to the mas-
ter, and he denied to take it, then came another servant, and saith, If you will bring it to the clerk of the kitchen,
you shall be remembered the better. Which was like the friars Observant, that would be seen to receive no bribes
themselves, but had others to receive them for them. they oppressed the poor, by raising their rents, taking usury even to forty per cent. Landlords turned graziers,
and bought up the grain to sell dear against a hard time. In the city they bought up wood and coals. Some bur-
gesses became regrators also, and some farmers regrated and bought up all the corn in the markets, and laid it up in
store, to sell it again at a higher price, when they saw their time. There was a merchant that had travelled all the days
of his life in the trade of merchandise, and had got 8000/. or 4000/. by buying and selling : but in case he might have
been licensed to practice regrating, he would undertake to get lOOOZ. a year, only by buying and selling grain here 453
within the realm. And in London there were some alder- men that became colliers and woodmongers. So that there
could not a poor body buy a sack of coals, but it must come through tlieir hands. Which made our preacher sue
to King Edward, that there might be 'promoters, such as were in King Henry's days, to 'promote [that is, inform
against] the King's own officers, when they did amiss ; and to promote all other offenders : such as rent-raisers, oppres-
sors of the poor, extortioners, bribers, visurers. But he 154
MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL
BOOK
Waut of
the cause of these
disorders. These times and the
former com- pared.
would have them to be of godly discretion, wisdoin, and conscience.
gross impieties, that reigned now in the nation, was, the neglect of ecclesiastical discipline : which the churchmen
either could not or would not execute against immoralities. The manners of men were very bad. And upon oc-casion
of the sins of uncleanness, (for which the nation was very infamous, and especially London, and such lechery as was
used in none other places of the Avorld, and yet made but a matter of sport,) hereupon good men wished that the law of
Moses might be brought into force, for the punishment of this sin. And Latymer applied himself to the King, to re-
store discipline unto the Church: "That sucli as were notable " offenders might be excommunicated, and put from the
" congregation, till they be confounded. Which would be " a means, said he, to pacify God's wrath and indignation
" against us, and also that less abominations be practised *' than in times past have been, and are at this day. Bring
" into the Church of England that open discipline of ex- " communication, saith he, that open sinners may be stricken
" withal.'' times were. Not that these days of King Edward were worse than the former ; but that now, upon the light of the
gospel, these Avickednesses, that were not so much regarded before, were now more observed. So tlie writer of the
epistle dedicatory to Erasmus's Paraphrase in English : " Because it is in so great a manner amended, look where
" such corruption still remaineth, there doth it better and " more notably appear ; as strange things are commonly
" more wondered at. For all good and godly folks do now *' wonder, that God's word being spread abroad, and being
" now almost in every body's hand and mouth so common, *' there should be any creature in whom any of the enormi-
** ties aforementioned should reisn." For tlioueh these times were bad, yet they were better than the times before.
OF KING EDWARD VI. 155 Edward's reign : *' Of this young and green foundation, '^ " being yet very newly laid, thus much good edifying hath Anno 1553. |