obydyence [_Dated
Marburg, 2 October 1528_]. In whych bokys afore specyfyed they go forth
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 Westm