B.M. Cleop. E. iv, f. 101; Cal. vii. 238. ‹Feb. 1534.›
Reproves him at length for his communications with the Nun of Kent, and replies to seven reasons given by Fisher for not reporting her revelations to the King. Advises him to lay aside excuses, and beg the King’s mercy.
My lorde in my right hertie wise I co_m_mende me to yo_ur_ lordship doing you to vnderstand that I haue receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res dated at Rochester the xviij^{ th} of this moneth. In whiche ye declar_e_ what craft and cu_n_nyng ye haue to p_er_suade and to set a good countenau_n_ce vpon an yl mat_er_. Drawing som scriptur_es_ to yo_ur_ purpose whiche wel weyed acording to the plac_es_ whereof they be taken. make not so muche for yo_ur_ purpose as ye allege thaim for. And wher_e_ in the first lefe of yo_ur_ lett_er_s ye write that ye doubt nothing neither before god, nor befor the worlde if nede shal that requir_e_: so to declar_e_ yo_ur_self. whatsoeuer hath been said of you. that ye haue not deserued suche hevy word_es_ or terrible thret_es_ as hath been sent from me vnto you by yo_ur_ brother[807].
How ye can declare yo_ur_ self affor_e_ god and the world when nede shal requir_e_ I can not tell, but I think verely that yo_ur_ declaration made by thes l_ette_res is far insufficie_n_t to p_ro_ve that ye haue deserued no hevy word_es_ in this behalf and to sey playnly I sent you no hevy word_es_ but word_es_ of great co_m_fort wylling yo_ur_ brother to shewe you how benigne and m_er_ciful the prince was. And that I thoug[ht] it expedient for you to write vnto his highnes and to recognise yo_ur_ offence and desir_e_ his p_ar_don, whiche his grace wold not denye you now in yo_ur_ aige and sikkenes. Whiche my counsel I wold ye had folowed, rather than to haue writen thes l_ette_res to me excusing yo_ur_ self as thoughe there wer_e_ no maner of defaute in you. But my lord if it wer_e_ in an other mannys caas than yo_ur_ owne and out of the mater whiche ye fauor I doubt not but that ye wold think him that shuld haue doen as ye have doen non only worthy hevy word_es_ but also hevy dedys. For wher_e_ ye labor to excuse yo_ur_ self of yo_ur_ hering believing and co_n_celing of the nu_n_nys fals and faynid reuelations, and of yo_ur_ manyfold sending of yo_ur_ chapley[n] vnto her, by a certey_n_ intent whiche ye pretende yo_ur_self to haue had, to knowe by co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her or by sendi_n_g yo_ur_ chapellaine to her, whether her reuelations wer_e_ of god or no. alleging diu_er_se scriptures. that ye wer_e_ bound to p_ro_ve thaim, and not to reiecte thaim affor_e_ they wer_e_ p_ro_ued My Lord whether ye haue vsed a due meane to trie her and her reuelations, or no. It appereth by the p_ro_cesse of yo_ur_ owne l_ette_res. For wher_e_ ye write that ye had co_n_ceyuid a greate opinion of the holines of the woman for many considerations rehersed in yo_ur_ l_ette_res c_om_p_ri_sed in vi articles, whereof the first is grownde vpo_n_ the brute and fame of her, the secunde vpon her entreng into religion after her trauns_es_ and disfiguration, the third vpon rehersall that her gostly father being lerned and religious shuld testifie that she was a maide of greate holines. The fourth vpon the report that diuerse other vertuose prest_es_ me_n_ of good lernyng and reputation, shuld so testifie of her, w_i_t_h_ whiche gostly father and preest_es_ ye never spake as ye confesse in yo_ur_ lett_er_s. The fyveth vpon the prayse of my late lord of Cant_erbury_, which shewed you (as ye write) that she had many greate visions the sixt vpon this saing of the p_ro_phete Amos, No_n_ faciet d_om_in_u_s deus v_er_bu_m_, nisi reuelau_er_it secretu_m_ suu_m_ ad seruos suos p_ro_phetas by whiche co_n_siderations ye wer_e_ induced to the desir_e_ to know the very certente of this mater, whether the reuelations whiche wer_e_ p_re_tended to be shewed to her from god wer_e_ true reuelations or nott? yo_ur_ lordship in al the se_n_gle[808] of yo_ur_ l_ette_res shewe not that ye made no ferther trial vpo[n] the trueth of her and her reuelation, but only in co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her and sending yo_ur_ chapellaine to her, w_i_t_h_ Idle questions as of the thre mary magdalens. by whiche yo_ur_ co_m_mony[ng] and sending, ye tried out nothing of her falshed, nouther (as it is credibly supposed) entended to do, as ye myght haue doen many weyes mor_e_ easely than w_i_t_h_ co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her or sending to her; for litel credens was to be gyven to her affirmyng her owne fayned reuelations to be from god.