And here I appelle your conscience and instantly desire you to aunswer. Whether if she had shewed you as many reuelationsf or the confirmation of the kinges graces marriage whiche he now enjoyeth as she did to the contrary, ye wold haue gyven as muche credence to her as ye haue doen, and wold haue let the trial of her and of her reuelations to ouerpasse thes many yeres, where ye dwelt not from her but xx mylys, in the same shire, where her traunses and disfiguringes and prophecyes in her traunses were surmised and countrefeyd. And if percaas ye wol sey (as it ‹is› not vnlike but ye wol sey mynded as ye were wont to be) that the maters be not like, for the Law of god in your opinion standeth with the one and not with thother. Suerly my lord I suppose this had been no greate cause more to reiect the one than thother for ye know by histories of the bible that god may by his reuelation dispense with his owne Law, as with the[810] Israelites spoyling the egiptians and with Jacob to haue iiij wifes, and suche other[811].
Think you my lord that any indifferent man considering the qualite of the mater and your affeccion, and also the negligent passing over of suche lawful trialles as ye myght haue had of the said nunne and her reuelations, is so dull, that can not perceyue and discerne that your commonyng and often sending to the said nun was rather to here and know more of her reuelations, than to trie out the trueth or falshed of thes same And in this behalf I suppose it wol be hard for you to purge yourself bifore god or the worle, but that ye haue been in greate defaut hering beleuyng and conceling suche thinges as tended to the destruction of the prince And that her reuelations were bent and purposed to that ende . it hathe been duely proued, affore as greate assembly and counsel of the lordes of this realme as hath been seen many yeres heretofore out of a parliament. And what the said lordes demed thaim worthy to suffer, whiche had beleued and conceled thees fals reuelations be more terrible than any thretes spoken by me to your brother
And where ye go abought to defende that ye be not to be blamed for conceling her reuelations concernyng the kinges grace, bicause ye thought it not necessary to reherse thaim to his highnes. for vij causes folowing in your letteres affore I shewe you my mynde concernyng thees causes, I suppose that albeit ye percaas thought it not necessary to be shewed to the prince by you. yet that your thinking shal not be your triall, but the Law must diffine whether ye owghted to vtter it or not.
And as to the first of said vii causes. Albeit[812] she told youe that she had shewed her reuelations concernyng the kinges grace to the king herself, yet her seyng or others discharged not you but that ye were bound by your fidelite to shewe to the kinges grace . that thing whiche semed to concerne his grace and his reigne so nyghly . for how knew you that she[813] shewed thes reuelations to the kinges grace but by her owne seyng, to whiche ye shuld haue gyven no suche credence as to forebere the utterance of so greate maters concernyng a kinges welth And why shuld you so sinisterly iudge the prince that if ye had shewed thees same vnto him, he wold haue thought that ye had brought that tale vnto him more for the strenghing and confirmation of your opinion then for any other thing els. Veryly my lord what so euer your iudgement bee . I se dayly suche benignite and excellent humanite in his grace that I doubt not but his highnes . wold haue accepted it in good part if ye had shewed the same reuelations vnto him as ye were bounden to do by your fidelite.
To the secunde cause. Albeit she shewed you not that any prince or other temporal lord shuld put the kinges grace in dainger of his crowne yet there were weyes Inoughe, by whiche her said reuelations myght haue put the kinges grace in dainger, as the foresaid counsel of lordes . haue substancially and duely considered And therefor Albeit she shewed you not the meanes whereby the daynger shuld ensue to the kinges [grace] yet . ye were neverthelesse bounden to shewe him of the dainger.
To the third. Think you my lord, that if any person wold com vnto you and shewe youe that the kinges destruction were conspired against a certen tyme, and wold ferther shewe you, that he were sent from his maister to shewe the same to the king and wol sey ferther vnto [you] that he wold go streyct to the king, were it not yet your duety to certifie the kinges grace of the relation, but also to inquire whether the said person had doen his foresaid messaige or no, yes verely. And so were ye bound, thoughe the nunne shewed youe, it was her messaige from god to be declared by her to the kinges grace.
To the iiiith here ye translate the temporal duety that ye owe to your prince, to the spiritual duety of suche as be bounde to declare the worde of god to the peple, and to shewe vnto them the perill and punisshement of syn in an other worlde, the concelement whereof perteyneth to the iudgement of god, but the concelement of this mater perteyneth to other iudges of this realme.
To the vth ther could no blame be arrested to you if ye had shewed the nunnys reuelations to the kinges grace, albeit they were afterward found fals for no man owght to be blamed doing his duety And if a man wold shewe you secretly that there were a greate mischief entended . against the prince, were ye to be blamed if ye shewed him of it, albeit it were a fayned tale, and the said mischief were never Imagined.
To the sixt . concernyng an Imagination of master Pacy. It was knowen that he was beside himself, and therefore they were not blamed that made no report thereof, but it was not lik in this caas For ye toke not this nunne for a mad woman, for if ye had ye wold not haue gyven vnto her so greate credence as ye dyd.
To the final and viith cause where ye lay[814] vnto the charge of our soueraine, that he hath vnkyndly entreacted you . with grevous wordes and terrible letters for shewing his grace trowthe in his greate mater, whereby ye were discomforted to shewe vnto him the nunnys reuelations. I beleue that I know the kinges goodnes and natural gentilnes so well, that his grace wold not so vnkyndly handle you, as you vnkyndly write of him, onles ye gave him other causes than be expressed in your letters. And what so euer the kinges grace hath sayed or writen vnto you heretofore, yet that notwithstonden, ye were neverthelesse bounden to vtter to him thees pernicious reuelations.