¶ The scripture cōteyneth .iii. thīges in it first [the] law to cōdemne all flesh: secōdaryly [the] Gospell/ [that] is to saye/ promises of mercie for all [that] repent & knowlege their sinnes at the preachīge of [the] law & cōsent in their hertes that the law is good/ & submitte them selues to be scolers to lern to kepe the lawe & to lerne to beleue [the] mercie that is promised thē: & thridly the stories & liues of those scolars/ both what chaunces fortuned thē/ & also by what meanes their scolemaster taught thē and made them perfecte/ & how he tried the true from the false. ¶ When [the] ypocrites come to [the] lawe/ they put gloses to ād make no moare of it then of a worldly law which is satisfied with [the] outwarde worke and which a turke maye also fulfill. Whē yet Gods law never ceaseth to cōdemne a man vntill it be written in his herte and vntill he kepe it naturally without cōpulsion & all other respecte saue only of pure love to God and his neyboure/ as he naturally eateth whē he is an hongred/ without cōpulsiō & all other respecte/ saue to slake his hongre only. ¶ And whē they come to the Gospell/ there they mīgle their leuen & saye/ God now receaueth vs no moare to mercie/ but of mercie receaueth vs to penaunce/ that is to wete/ holy dedes [that] make them fatt belies & vs their captiues/ both in soule and body. And yet they fayne theyr Idole [the] Pope so mercifull/ [that] if thou make a litle money glister in his Balams eyes/ there is nether penaunce ner purgatory ner any fastīge at all but to fle to heven as swefte as a thought and at the twinkellynge of an eye. ¶ And the liues stories and gestes of men which are cōtayned in the bible/ they reade as thīges no moare perteynīge vn to thē/ then a take of Robī hode/ & as thīges they wott not wherto they serue/ saue to fayne false discāt & iuglinge allegories/ to stablish their kingdome with all. And one [the] chefest & fleshliest studie they have/ is to magnifie [the] sayntes aboue measure & aboue [the] trueth & with their poetrie to make them greater then euer God make them. And if they finde any infirmite or synne asscribed vn to [the] saintes/ that they excuse with all diligēce/ diminushīge the glorie of [the] mercie of God & robbinge wretched sinners of all theyr cōforte/ & thinke therby to flater the sayntes and to obtayne their fauoure & to make speciall aduocates of thē: even as a man wold obtayne [the] fauoure of wordely tirantes: as they also fayne the saintes moch moare cruell then ever was any heathē man & moare wrekefull and vengeable then [the] poetes faine their godes or their furies [that] torment [the] soules in hell/ if theyr euēs be not fasted & their images visited & saluted wyth a Pater noster (whych prayer only oure lippes be accoynted with oure hertes vnderstōdinge none at all) and worsheped [with] a candell & [the] offerīge of oure deuociō/ in [the] place which thei haue chosen to heare [the] supplicaciōs & meke peticiōs of their clientes therin.