playnly agaynst the fayth and holy sacramentis of Crystys church / and most especyally agaynst the blyssed sacrament of ye aulter / wyth as vylanous wordes as the wre[t]ches cou[l]d deuyse. But when they haue perceuyd by experyence yat good people abhorred theyr abomynable bokes: then they beyng therby lerned yat the furst way was not ye best for ye furtherance of theyr purpose / haue now determined them selfe to assay the secunde way / that ys to witte yat forberynge to wryte so openly and dyrectly agaynste all the fayth and the sacramentys as good crysten men coulde not abyde the redyng / they wolde / wyth lyttell towchyng of theyre other heresyes / make one boke specially agaynst ye church and loke how that wold proue. The previous controversial work produced by Sir THOMAS MORE had but recently appeared under the title of ¶ A dialoge of syr Thomas More knighte: one of the counsayll of oure souerayne lorde the kyng and chauncellor of hys duchy of Lancaster. Wherin be treatyd diuers matters / as of the veneration and worshyp of ymagys and relyques / prayng to sayntys / and goyng on pylgrymage. Wyth many othere thyngys touchyng the pestelent sect of Luther and Tyndale / by th[e] one begone in Saxony / and by th[e] other laboryd to be brought in to Englond. [COLOPHON]. Emprynted at London at the sygne of the meremayd at Powlys gate next to chepe syde in the moneth of June the yere of our lord. M.C.C.XXIX. _Cum priuilegio Regali._ Of this extraordinarily scarce first edition, there is a copy in the Corporation Library, London. As Sir THOMAS MORE felt it necessary to write this second work, of the _Supplicacyon of Soulys, after_ he had composed his _Dialogue_ the printing of which was finished in June 1529; and as his _Supplicacyon_ certainly was written and published prior to his advancement on the 24th October following: it is conclusive that S. Fish's tract had not appeared _before_ he was writing the _Dialogue_, and therefore that the date of its distribution must by this internal evidence, be fixed as in the spring or summer of 1529; however that date may conflict with early testimony, such as incorrect lists of prohibited books, assigning it to 1524, 1526, etc. Yet JOHN FOX in his _Actes and Monumentes_, [Third Edition] _fol._ 987, _Ed._ 1576, states that was "Throwen and scattered at the procession in Westminster vpon Candlemas day [? _2nd February 1529_] before kyng Henry the viij, for him to read and peruse." We have been unable to verify this procession at Westminster on this particular date, and think that if it had been so, Sir THOMAS MORE would have surely noticed to the _Supplicacyon_ while writing the _Dialogue_, the printing of which was in progress during the next four months. He may, however, have thought it necessary to write a special book against S. FISH's tract, with its distinct line of attack as he has accurately stated it.