[COLOPHON]: Imprynted at London, at the signe of the Hyll, at the west dore of Paules. By Wyllyam Hill. And there to be sold. Anno 1548. The 11 of Decembre. _Cum Gratia et Privilegio ad Imprimendum solum._ The press mark of the British Museum copy is 4401. b. 2. B. _With Other Works._ None known. INTRODUCTION. SIR THOMAS MORE, who at that time was but Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was made Lord Chancellor in the room of Cardinal WOLSEY on Sunday, the 24th of October 1529. The following undated work--the second of his controversial ones--was therefore written, printed and published prior to that day, and while as yet he held the lower dignity of the ducal Chancellorship. ¶ The supplycacyon of soulys Made by syr Thomas More knyght councellour to our souerayn lorde the Kynge and chauncellour of hys Duchy of Lancaster. ¶ Agaynst the supplycacyon of beggars. At fol. xx. of this work occurs the following important passage, which, while crediting the Reformers with a greater science in attack, and a more far-reaching design in their writings than they actually possessed: fixes with precision the year of the first distribution in England of SIMON FISH's _Supplicacyon for the Beggers_, and with that its sequence in our early Protestant printed literature-- For the techyng and prechyng of all whych thyngys / thys beggers proctour or rather the dyuels proctour with other beggers that la[c]k grace and nether beg nor lo[o]ke for none: bere all thys theyr malyce and wrathe to the churche of C[h]ryste. And seynge there ys no way for attaynyng theyr entent but one of the twayn / yat ys to wyt eyther playnly to wryte agaynst the fayth and the sacramentys (wheryn yf they gat them credence and obtaynyd / they then se[e] well the church must nedys fall therwyth) or els to labour agaynst the church alone / and get the clergye dystroyd / whereuppon they parceyue well that the fayth and sacramentes wo[u]ld not fayle to decay: they parceyuyng thys / haue therfore furste assayd the furst way all redy / sendyng forth Tyndals translacyon of the _new testament_ in such wyse handled as yt shuld haue bene the fountayn and well spryng of all theyr hole heresyes. For he had corrupted and purposely changed in many placys the text / wyth such wordys as he myght make yt seme to the vnlerned people / that the scripture affirmed theyr heresyes it selfe. Then cam sone after out in prynt _the dyaloge_ of freere Roy and frere Hyerome / _betwene ye father and ye sonne_ [_Preface dated Argentine_ (Strasburg), _31 August, 1527_] agaynst ye sacrament of ye aulter: and the blasphemouse boke entytled _the beryeng of the masse_ [i.e. _Rede me and be not wroth_ / printed at Strasburg early in 1528]. Then cam forth after Tyndals wykkyd boke of _Mammona_ [_Dated Marburg, 8 May 1528_] / and after that his more wykkyd boke of obydyence [_Dated Marburg, 2 October 1528_]. In whych bokys afore specyfyed they go forth