XII men stacke at it and sayed, except he woulde disburse XII crownes they woulde fynde hym gyltye.

"Meanes were found that the XII crownes was payed. The quest commes in and sayes not giltye. Here was a not gyltye for XII crownes. And some of the bench were hanged, thei were wul served. Crownes? If theyr crownes were shaven to the shoulders they were served wel inoughe."

Again, in the sixth sermon he is stoutly upholding the good of preaching: you must be saved by preaching, you must come to church, he says; better come with a bad motive than not come at all; and so he adds a story in his quaint old way:

"I had rather ye shoulde come of a naughtye mynde, to heare the worde of God, for noveltye, or for curiositie to heare some pastime, then to be awaye. I had rather ye

shoulde come as the tale is by the Gentel-woman of London one of her neyghbours mette her in the streate, and sayed mestres, whither go ye? Mary sayed she, I am goynge to S. Tomas of Acres to the sermon, I coulde not slepe al thys laste night, and I am goynge now thether, I never fayled of a good nap there; and so I had rather ye should a napping to the sermons than not to go at al. For with what mind so ever ye come, thoughe ye come for an ill purpose, yet peradventure ye may chaunce to be caught or ye go, the preacher may chaunce to catche you on hys hoke."

It would seem that his noble auditory was sometimes noisy; and he does not hesitate to rebuke them. For example, in the sixth sermon I find him suddenly breaking away from his matter to speak as follows:

"I remember nowe a saying of Sayncte Chrisostome, and peradventure it myght come here after in better place, but yet I wyll take it, whiles it commeth to my

mind. The saying is this. Et loquentum eum audierunt in silentio, ferinon locutionis non interrumpentes. They harde hym, sayeth he, in Silence, not interruptynge the order of his preachynge. He meanes they hard hym quietely, without any shovelynge of feete or walkynge up and downe. Suerly it is an yl mysordar, that folke shalbe walkyng up and down in the sermon tyme (as I have sene in this place thys Lente) and there shalbe suche bussynge and bussynge in the preachers eare that it maketh hym often tymes to forget hys matter. O let us consider the Kynges Maiestyes goodnes, Thys place was prepared for banketynge of the bodye, and hys Maiestye hath made it a place for the comforte of the soule. . . . Consider where ye be, fyrst ye oughte to have a reverence to Godds word, and thoughe it be preached by pore men, yet it is the same worde that oure Savioure spoke. .. Heare in silence, as Chrisostom sayeth. It maye chance that sume in the companye may fall sicke, or be diseased, if therbe any suche, let them go away, with silence, let them leave their salutacions till they come in the courte, let them departe with silence."

Again, here is an extract which gives us a cunning reminder of the theological arguments common in those days, and of Latimer's adroitness in this particular. He is preaching of the time when the Saviour went into Simon Peter's boat and told him to put forth from the shore. His opponents, it seems, had made an argument of the Pope's supremacy founded upon the fact that Christ chose Simon Peter's boat rather than any other, and spoke to Peter in the singular number instead of addressing other disciples. Here is the bishop's treatment of that argument, in which, besides his polemic skill, come out some pleasant touches of life in those days.

"Wel, he commes to Simons bote, and why rather to

Simon's bote then an other. I wyl aunswere, as I find in experience in my selfe. I came hither to-day from Lambeth in a whirry and when I came to take my bote, the water men came about me, as the maner is, and he wold have me, and he wold have me. I toke one of them. Nowe ye wyll aske me why I came in yat bote, rather then in another, because I woulde go into that that I se stande nexte me, it stode more commodiouslye for me. And so did Christe by Simon's bote. It stode nerer for him, he sawe a better seate in it. A good natural rea

son.

Here comes in

"It foloweth in the text duc in altum. the supremitye of the Byshoppe of Rome. And their argumente is thys: he spake to Peter onelye, and he spake to hym in the singular number, ergo he gave him such a preeminence above the rest. A goodly argument, I wene it be a sillogismus, in quem terra pontus. I will make a lyke argument, Oure Savioure Christe sayed to Iudas, whan he was about to betraye hym quod facis fac citius. Nowe, whan he spake to Peter ther were none of his disciples by, but James and John, but whan he spake to Iudas they were al present. Wel, he sayd unto him,— quod facis fac citius. Spede thy busines, yat thou hast in thy heade, do it. . . . He spake in the singular number to him, ergo he gave him some preeminence. By like he made him a Cardinall, and it mighte ful wel be, for they have folowed Iudas ever syns. Here is as good a grounde for the Coledge of Cardinalles, as the other is for the supremitie of the Bishop of Rome. Oure Saviour Christ (say they) spake onely to Peter for preeminence, because he was chiefe of the Apostles, and you can shewe none other cause. Ergo thys is the cause why he spake to hym in the singular number. I dare say there is never a whir