GENERAL LAMENT FOR HER LOSS.

xiii

of Thesu for helpe & socoure with grete haboundaunce of teares. But specyally whan they sawe the dethe so hast vpon her and that she must nedes departe from them, and they sholde forgo so gentyll a maystris, so tender a lady, then wept they meruayllously, wepte her ladyes and kynneswomen to whom she was full kynde, wepte her poore gentylwomen whom she had loued so tenderly before, wept her chamberers to whome she was full deare, wepte her chapelaynes and preestes, wepte her other true & faythfull seruauntes. And who wolde not haue wept that there had ben presente. All Englonde for her dethe had cause of wepynge. The poore creatures that were wonte to receyue her almes, to whome she was alwaye pyteous and mercyfull. The studyentes of bothe the vnyuersytees to whome she was as a moder. All the lerned men of Englonde to whome she was a veray patronesse. All the vertuous and deuoute persones to whom she was as a louynge syster, all the good relygyous men and women whom she so often was wont to vysyte and comforte. All good preestes and clerkes to whome she was a true defenderesse. All the noble men and women to whome she was a myrroure and exampler of honoure. All the comyn people of this realme for whom she was in theyr causes a comyn mediatryce, and toke ryght grete dyspleasure for them, and generally the hole realme hathe cause to complayne & to morne her dethe. And all we consyderynge her gracyous and charytable mynde so vnyuersally & consyderynge the redynes of mercy and pyte in our sauyour Ihesu may saye by lamentable complaynt of our vnwysdome vnto him. Ah domine si fuisses hic. Ah my lorde yf thou hadde ben present and had herde thes sorowfull cryes of her thy seruaunte with the other lamentable mornynges of her frendes & seruauntes thou for thy goodnes wold not haue suffred her to dye, But thou wolde haue take pyte and compassyon vpon her' (300-1).

Invocation to Christ to have mercy on her soul; not to restore her body to life, but to 'accepte that swete soule to his grete mercy to be parteyner of the euerlastynge lyfe with hym & with his blessyd sayntes aboue in heuen, which I pray you al nowe affectually to praye, and for her now at this time moost deuoutly to say one Pater noster' (302-3).

Comfort from the hope of resurrection (303—307).

'This same noble prynces yf she had contynued in this worlde, she sholde dayly haue herde & sene mater & cause of sorowe as well in herselfe as in her frendes parauenture. Her body dayly sholde haue waxen more vnweldy, her syght sholde haue be derked, and her herynge sholde haue dulled more and more, her legges sholde haue faylled her by & by. And all the other partyes of her body waxe more crased euery daye, whiche thynges sholde haue ben mater to her of grete dyscomforte. And albeit these thinges had not fallen vnto her forthwith, yet she sholde haue lyued alwaye in a drede and a fere of them. Dare I say of her she neuer yet was in that prosperyte but the gretter it was the more alwaye she dredde the aduersyte. For whan the kynge her sone was crowned in all that grete tryumphe & glorye, she wepte meruayllously. And lyke wyse at the grete tryumphe of the maryage of prynce Arthur. And at the laste coronacyon wherin she had full grete Ioye, she let not to saye that some aduersyte wolde folowe, so that eyther she was in sorowe by reason of the present aduersytes, or elles whan she was in prosperite she was in drede of the aduersyte for to come' (305-6).

'Were it suppose ye al this considerd a meetly thyng for vs to desyre to haue this noble princes here amongest vs agayn to forgo the ioyous lyfe aboue, to wante the presence of the gloryous trynyte whom she so longe hathe sought & honoured, to leue that moost noble kyngdome, to be absent frome the moost blessed company of sayntes & sayntesses & hether to come agayn to be wrapped & endaungered with the myseries of this wretched worlde, with the paynfull dyseases of her aege, with the other encomberaunces that dayly happethe in this myserable lyfe. Were this a reasonable request of oure partye, were this a kynde desyre, were this a gentyl wysshe that where she hathe ben so kinde & louyng a maystresse vnto us, all we sholde more regarde our owne prouffytes then her more synguler wele & comfort? The moder that hathe so grete affeccyon vnto her sone that she wyll not suffre hym to departe from her to his promocyon & furtheraunce but alway kepe hym at home, more regardynge her owne pleasure than hys wele, were not she an vnkinde & vngentyl moder? yes verayly, let vs therfore thynke our

vii

ADVERTISEMENT.

As several years must elapse before I can resume the work here begun, it seems but due, both to readers in the interval, and to my successor, if I am myself unable to complete my task, here to indicate some sources for volume ii., and some materials for the illustration of both volumes.

See Thomas Baker's History of St John's College, Cambr., 1869; Memoir of Margaret, countess of Richmond and Derby, by the late C. H. Cooper, F.S.A., ib. 1874 (the glossary to this will to a considerable extent serve as a glossary to the present volume); Jo. Lewis, Life of Dr John Fisher, Lond., 1855; W. G. Searle, History of Queens' College, Cambr., 1867, pp. 131-143; Early Statutes of the College of St John the Evangelist, edited by J. E. B. Mayor, Cambr., 1859; and a valuable paper by Mr Bruce in the Archæologia, xxv. Lord Acton, in his article on Mr Brewer's Calendar of State Papers (in Quart. Rev., Jan. 1877, p. 2), calls attention to the life of Fisher (by Richard Hall, ib. p. 47): 'Nobody has taken the pains to restore the true text of the original life of Fisher; and not one of More's fifteen biographers has worked from MSS.' Every English letter or other document which has Fisher for its author has a right to a place in volume ii., and the Elizabethan translation of a sermon on prayer may find refuge in the appendix. I shall be grateful for any addition to what is known of his works or life.

A taste, to borrow honest John Strype's phrase, of the more interesting contents of this part may be of service to those who now make their first acquaintance with Bishop Fisher as an author. Three of the pieces here printed are of great historical interest, the sermons (1) at the funeral of Henry VII., (2) at the Lady Margaret's month's mind, (3) at the burning of Luther's books. The letter of consolation to his sister and 'the wayes to perfect religion,' both written in the