this honourable â—ourt of Parliament you are not to learne that â—o defend by lawe or to countenance by authoriâ—ie the breach of gods ordinance is the defence of sin and that the defence of sinne is the hatred of God who rewardeth them to their faces that â—ate him Deut. 7.10 and therefore also you are â—ot to be taught what horrible sinnes you shall â—ommit Nomb. 26.9 if hereafter you stil maintaine such plain manifest impieties They are no trifles as you â—ee For I assure you that Dathan and Abiram â—he sonnes of Eliab men famous in the congregation had more colour of right to claime vnto themselues either the ciuill gouernement from Moses or the priesthood from Aharon Because they were the sonnes of Reuben the firste borne vnto whose lotte had he not defiled his fathers a Gen. 49.4 bedd by all likelihood either the scepter or the priesthood should haue fallen then these vsurpers haue to claim the places they are in wherevnto either by right of inheritance according to the flesh or ordinaunce from God they came by no title Here it must needes followe you of this honorable assemblie hauing regarde vnto the estate of your soules and bodies before the Lord and your good names amoÌ„g posterities that if these things set downe be true if not bring vppon me deserued shame and punishment you wil either labor to redres the miserable estate of distressed wales by erecting there a godly ministerie and abollishing all Cananitishe relikes or for the defence of a fewe vnconscionable and godlesse men aduenture to vndergoe the fierie and flaming execution of the burning decree of Gods wrath My Lords and you the rest of this assemblie be not deceiued the Lord of heauen is angrie with you and his whole hoast for the Babilonish garments of these Achanes Ioh. 7.9.21 Retayne them no longer if you would not fall before the enemie When the L. shall plead with you your wiues children family the whole land Ezek. 38.22 with pestilence or with blood as he is likely to do for these wedges of execrable golde it is not the pontificall Lordships of Bishops at whose commaundement the Lords sword wil returne again into his sheath when your gasping soules shal cry for mercy at the Lords hand it is not the proud and popelike Lordshipps of Bishopps their vsurped jurisdictions their profane excommunications their pitiles murthering of soules their railinge slaunders against Gods truth and his seruants their impious brething of the holy Ghost vpon their Idol priestes that wil driue the Lord to giue you any comfort Let me therfore thogh my persoÌ„ be base entreat you that the judgments of God against sin both in this life in that other of eternal wo misery may apeare so terible in your eies and of that vndouted consequence as you wil no longer retain vnder your gouernment these things whose continuance do giue the Lord just cause in this life to pronounce this sentence by the mouth of Ieremie against euerie on of you Iere. 22.29 that wil not promote this sute and execute the same O earth earth earth here the wordes of Iehouah write these men destitute of children men that shall not prosper in their dayes yea there shal not bee a man of their seed that shall prosper and bee a-parliament man or beare rule in England any more And in the life to come to say moreouer These mine enemies that would not haue me to beare rule Luk. 19.27 by mine owne lawes ouer them and their people bring hither slay before my face yea bind them hand and foote and throw them to vtter darknes there is weeping gnashing of teth And let me crauing vpon my knees with all submission and earnestnes and more earnest if it were possible to obtane that my countrymen by your meanes may haue the word preached euen the meanes whereby they may liue for euer with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Graunt them this my Lordes though I dye for it And this the Lord knoweth is the only scope of my writing and not the discrediting or galling of our Lorde Bb. Let not their places withstand the saluation of my brethren and the true seruice of God among them and if euer I either write or speake more against them any further then their places are like to be the ruine of hir Maiestie and the whole state let it cost me my life Here me in this sute good my Ll. The reward thereof your soules shall find otherwise I am likelie to become a wearisom and an importunate sutor vnto this high assemblye The cause is so juste that if it were as sometimes it was by the apostle him selfe decided in the Athenianes Areopago a court for heathen justice of famous and celebrated memory I doubt not but it should be hard And shal it not haue justice in the christian parliament of England Iustice my Lords I say for I seeke nothing else but that the statutes of the God of judgment and justice may be made known in my country wher now they are vnhard of Then the which I know not what can be more just neither can I see what justice in truth can be administred by them that neglect this cause Trulie for mine owne parte God aiding me I wil neuer leaue the suite though there shoulde bee a thousand parliaments in my dayes vntill I either obtaine it at your handes or bring the Lord in vengeance and bloud to plead against you for repelling his cause I hope it wil not be here said that the parliament can doe nothing in the matter because hytherto all Churche causes haue bin referred vnto the conuocation house the leaders thereof namelie to our Bishops And doe you meane it shal be so still Then shall you still maintain these horrible profanations of Gods sanctuarie whereof I haue spoken Then may it be said vnto your shame that Sion lying vppon the ground and mourning like a widdow stretched out her handes vnto the parliament of England but could find no comfort Then may you stil be said to betray Gods truth to betray the saluation of his people yea and to betray the liberties of this parliament For what assembly is there in the land that dare chaleng vnto it selfe the ordering of religion if the parliament may not When you say then that you may not deale in the matters of religion because the determinations of that cause is referred vnto the Bishops assembled in the conuocation house who in their Cannons are to prouide and see that the church be not in a decaied state do you not thereby thinke you rob your selues of your owne prerogatiue and liberties and take order that the church without controuersie may be starued and spoiled In deed if the conuocation house were such as it ought to be vz. a sinod of sincere and godly learned ministers wherein matters of relligion were determined of according to the worde and
lavvgiuer in his Church vvho hath protested that he vvil not abide to impart the glory thereof vnto any other And vvhom should they then feare in this suite The Lorde hath promised that none vvho trust in him shall perish Psal 34.22 And he hath promised that although the vvicked vvatch to slay the righteous yet he vvill not leaue him in his hand psal 37.32 Yea he hath promised to be vvith those that fear him vvhen they Esay 48.1.2 passe through the vvaters that they should not be ouerflovven and vvhen they vvalke thorough the fire that they should not be burnt VVherefore then shold they fear man whose breath is in his nostrels as long as they sincerely stand to the cause of their God Though they be but a fevv in nomber yet the Lord vvith legions of Angels standeth on their side to d scomfite all those that contende vvith him Oh J vvould that the vvords of the Lord spoken by Isaiah the Prophet vvere thoroughly vvritten in the hearts of as many in this honorable assembly as for the feare of man vvill be the hardliar dravvn throughly to stand to the cause of their God For thus comfortably the Prophet Chap. 51 of his prophesie speaketh vnto all those that vvith an vpright heart seeke the honor of the Lord. Heare me ye that follow after righteousnes and ye that seeke the Lord looke to the rocke whence you are hewen and to the hole of the pitt whence you are digged Consider Abraham your father and Sarah that bare you for I called him alone and blessed him and encreased him Hearken vnto me yee that know righteousnes and the people in whose hearts is my law fear ye not the reproch of men neither be you afraide of their rebukes I euen I am he that comfort you Who art thou that thou shouldest feare a mortall man and the sonne of man which shal be made as grasse and forgettest the Lorde thy maker which hath spredd out the heuens layd the foundations of the earth c. Novv then vvhosoeuer they be that are timerous in the cause of God as alasse vvhat flesh and blood is not too too feareful here is a stedfast rocke for them to leane vnto here is a defender for them vnder the shadovv of vvhose vvings they might be bold to contemne vvhatsoeuer their aduersaries can bring against them Are they but a fevv in nomber let them looke vnto Abraham he vvas called alone and yet the Lord blessed him and encreased him Are they afrayd of the rebukes of man vvhy they seeke the righteous vvayes of the Lord and therefore he commandeth them not to feare Are they povverfull and mighty by vvhom the suit is d scountenaunced yea but notvvithstanding they are but mortall they shal be made as grasse and the time vvill come vvherein it shal be demanded VVhere are they novv that vvithstood the cause of God in the Parliament of England Js not their memory vvritten in vvater and their hope perished together vvith them To desire the free passage of the Gospell in this land together vvith the speedie remoouing of all that hindereth the same is to plead the cause of that God vvho hath controlled kings and great Monarches yea quite ouerthrovvne them their kingdomes for denying the free vse of his seruice vvithin their dominions Euen the cause of that God vvho hath not onely brideled the rage of tyrants entending the suppression of his trueth but also turned that vnto the great good of his Church vvhereby they sought to vvorke the ruine thereof Pharaoh Achitophel Senacherib Haman came to the graue vvith blood vvhen in the eyes of men the most of them vvere likeliest to preuayle and the cause of God and his children vnlikeliest to stand The Lord in this kingdom can do the like vvhen he thinketh good Ezra 4.7.8 5.3 Cap. 6.7 7.23 The accusations and slanders of Mithridath Tabeel Rehum Shimsai Shetherboznai vvith their companions did seeme likely once and againe to hinder the buylding of the holy citie but at the length it broght froÌ„ Darius a most sure strong commandement for the furtherance of the work clean contrary to the expectation of the enemie And vvho knovveth vvhether the Lord at this Parliament vvill not stir vp the spirits of the Sates and especially of her R. excellent Maiestie that they may say vnto the enemies of this cause as Darius did vnto the men aforenamed Therefore Tatnai captaine beyond the riuer Shetherboznai vvith their companions be ye far from them Suffer the vvorke of this house of God to go forvvard And a Ezra 7.23 vvhatsoeuer is by the commandement of the God of heauen let it be done speedely for the house of the God of heauen for vvhy should he be vvroth against the realm c. vvherfore beloued vvhosoeuer you be that at any time shal be imployed eyther as Parliament or othervvise in the sâ—tting forvvard of the cause of reformation stand manfully in defence of the truth the liberty of his Church The practises of the aduersaries I mean of our bishops shevv manifestly that these reliques of cursed Babylon vvhich they maintayne among vs must needs go avvay vvith a noyse as the rest vvas ouerthrovvne They vvill not yeelde to the trueth hovvsoeuer it hath gotten the vpper hande of them The Lord must vse violence to throvv them out as he did against the caterpillers their forefathers Reuel 18.19 They haue manifested hitherto hovv desperate and past recouery the cause vvhich they defend is become in that they haue denyed to yeelde a quiet and a brotherly conference or disputation vvith those vvho are contrary minded vnto them Jf J may but procure this vvith our BB. in VVales I vvill loose my life if they be not ouerthrovven vvhich I speake not vvithout the humble acknovvledgement of myne ovvne vveaknes And let me not be thought by any to deale too confidently for J deale in a sure and a confident cause vvhich is not timerously to be delt in but in the feare of God vvith all boldnes to be stood to and auouched And whensoeuer they or any of theirs shal but aduenture their places against my life they shall perceiue by the grace of God that there is strength in the cause which hitherto they haue withstood to their smal gaine Yea but I might haue dealt more sparingly against them It vvere pity in deed but J should intreat the high court of Parliament to heale the disease of my countrie but so notvvithstanding as they vvould suffer the cause of the griefe and misery thereof still to remaine The Parliament should be sued vnto for helpe against the disease and bane of the country of VVales but so as they vvould fauor the causes thereof And vvhat malladie is there J pray you in our Church vvhereof the dumbe ministers nonresidents our Lord BB. vvith the rest of that vngodly generation are not the cause J should spare them vvho spare not the Church
nowe with all humilytie to seeke the redresse both of the one and the other at the handes of this honorable assembly This ignoraunce also and these corruptions standing as enemies in the way to hinder my bretheren from eternal life I professe my selfe to seeke their overthrowe and confusion and by the Lords assistance as longe as I liue neuer leaue either of both vntill the Church of God in Wales be disburdened of suche vnnaturall plantes Concerning you of this honorable assemblye seing I haue receaued the former blessings throughe your handes by meanes of the outward peace whereof hir right excellent maiestie hath made the whole land partaker from the Lord I cannot of conscience but in most humble submission reuerent manner put you in minde of the estate wherein you stand before the Lord vnlesse at this your meetinge there be order taken for the reforming in Wales of such things as now shal be made known vnto you to be amisse and you earnestly with all reauerence and dutie entreated to reforme May it please you therefore to vnderstand that there is not only such a defect of the seruice of the euerliuing God in all the publike meetinges for the most part of all the inhabitantes of Wales hir maiesties free borne subiects and people as the most parishes within that cuntry want the means of saluation and haue wanted the same all this time of her prosperous gouernment but also that there is such corruptions in that part of Gods seruice which is established as the Lords holy and sacted ministerie with al other ecclesiastical functions pertayning vnto the outwatd seruice of God and the gouernment of his Church are most intollerablie abused and prophaned by such as are there tollerated to intermedle with them And may it please you in like sort that some order may be taken whereby the seruice of God in his pure worship being as you heare many waies defectiue and corrupt among the people may be without delay restored vnto the integritie which shal be acceptable in the sight of God and the meanes of their saluation who professe the same This most humble and most waightie petition I am the rather encoraged at this time to prefer in as much as it doth not only tend to the saluation of many thousandes soules whō now alasse perish in miserable darknes and ignorance but concerneth the furtherance which is the point especially to be respected of the pure and sincere worship of the eternall God And it is that cause being my second incouragement which you of this high court of parliament professe all of you to fauour For who is he that will not professe him self to be the fauorer of a suit tending to the honor of God and the deliuerance of men from eternall woe and perdition And it is that cause wherein euery of you are bound vpō your alegeance vnto the Lord and her maiesty laying al other maters aside first and principally to deale and so to deale as you suffer not your selues for any worldly respectes either by the vtter reiecting or by the cold and carelesse intertaining hereof to betraie God to betray his truth to betraie the saluation of men and to betray the whole kingdome vnto the fiery wrath of Gods heauie displeasure Of all which sinnes the Lord himselfe findeth and pronounceth euery one of you to be guiltie that will not labour at this time of your assemblie for the promoting of the cause nowe in hand And howesoeuer in former times he hath seemed hitherto to wincke at the carelesse respect which you haue had to his true seruice yet you are now to vnderstand that it is to be feared lest shamefull and speedie destruction wil betide the whole kingdome if the suite wherevppon the worshipp of Gods owne Maiestie standeth be as slenderly entreated of the parliament of England as alway heretofore it hath bene And that the petition may apear to be no other then that which he by whome alone all kingdoms and common welths are maintained requireth without contradiction to be graunted by this honourable assemblie except his heauie wrath and displeasure would be procured vpon the whole land And that it may apear to be no other then that the graunt where of is the onlie way to saue them on whose behalf it is made no other thē that which no state no kingdom no councell prince potentate high or lowe can denie except they would shewe them selues to haue no care of religion and pietie that these thinges I say may appear we are to consider more at large of the petition and then whether it be such as vpon the denial thereof the wrath and anger of God is to be expected for to fal vppon them who shall denie the same and the whol land for their sinne Nowe therefore if there be nothing else required at your hand in this whole treatise following but that which the Lord himselfe from heauen pronounceth to be so neerly joined with the former points as vpon the refusall of the suite you shal openly declare that you are an assembly wherein the Lords cause shal not be hard an assemblie wherein the felicitie of miserable men shall not be respected an assembly who wittingly and willingly call for the iudgements of God vpon the whole kingdome an assembly wherein trueth religion and pietie can beare no swaye then I hope that none will be found in this honorable court to be such an enemie vnto the honor of God the felicitie of men and the quiet state of this common wealth none so prophane wicked and irreligious as euen to thinke that the consultation of this matter may be differred But if on the other side the suite be founde to be of no such importance as before is expressed or if I be found to write any thing impertinent vnto the former points or not to haue behaued my selfe so dutifull in my stile and maner of writing towards this honorable court as it became the basest vassel vnder heauen hauing a calling to deale in the like cause to carie himself towardes the princes of his people then let not my life be precious in your sight Here therefore with all humility and reuerence before the eternall God his elect Angels and Church her right excellent our dread soueraigne Queene ELIZABETH I call euerye one of you to recorde that vpon the perill of my life I will shewe that you cannot but giue eare vnto the suite which is now preferred vnto you though by my base and sinnefull hands except you will neglect the honor of God set light by the saluation of his people endanger the state of her Maiesty whom the Lord long preserue vnto his glorie with the whole kingdome and proclaime vnto the world that all religion and truth is perished from amonge you My manner of dealing herein as it shal be by the grace of God in all dutie and submission as writing vnto those whose authoritie and places I am not without great reuerence
church of Christ wil you deny me your help which yet againe and againe in the name of the eternal God I require for the precious deth passions sake of Iesus Christ I earnestly desire at your handes My Ll. and whosoeuer are parlament men as you would haue the Lord to entertaine your souls in the life to come as you would haue him shewe you any mercy as you loue her Maiesty and her life as you would haue the continuance of her peaceable raign over vs which the Lord vndoutedly threatneth to shorten because he woulde bring destruction vpon you and vs al for the contempt of his truth as you would not haue your names razed from vnder heauen as you would not haue the Lord to bring vpon vs and our land the Spanish Italian Romish or Guisian forces as you would not haue these who shal liue to see the desolation and desperat sorrow which the Lord is likely to bring vpon this land not abide to see you or your childrē ride or go in the strets as you would not haue the most contemtible to stretch forth his hand vpon the derest things you posses and offer violence vnto the frute of your bodies So entertaine this cause grant this suite and be careful of the Lords true seruice in wales Otherwise the vengeance of God I feare me will neuer leaue you and your posterities as long as there is a man of your houses left vnder heauen Ezekiel in deed is not nowe liuing to put you in mind of the necessity of redressing the things amis by laying open the corruptions of all estates vnder your gouernment as he doth cap. 22. of his prophesie His words I wil set downe that you may wey our estate with the time wherin the prophet liued and see whether the Lorde wil spare you vs if we stil prouoke him to smite There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the middest thereof saith the prophet like a roring lyon rauening the pray they haue deuoured soules they haue taken the riches and the precious thinges they haue made her many widdows in the middest thereof her priests haue broken my law and haue defiled my holy things they haue put no difference betweene the holy profane neither discerned between the vncleane and the cleane and haue hid their eies from my sabboth and I am profaned among them Her princes in the middest thereof are like wolues rauening the pray to shed blood and to destroy soules for their owne couetous lucre And her prophets haue daubed her with vntempered morter seeing vanities and deuininge lyes vnto them sayihg thus saith the Lord Iehouah when Iehouah had not spoken The people of the land haue violently oppressed by robbing and spoiling and haue vexed the poor and needy yea they haue opressed the stranger against right Thus far Ezechiel Be the sinns of our prophets of our princes and of our people the same that here he speketh against be they greater or be the lesse yet without controuersie if the Lord may say I haue sought for a man in the parliament of England that should make vp the hedge stand in the gapp before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none then woe be vnto vs for that shal follow which is set downe in the prophete Therefore haue I powred out mine indignation vppon them and consumed them with the fier of my wrath their own waies haue I rendered vpon their heads saith the Lord Iehouah And vnlesse there were just cause to thinke that this Lorde had either already or shortly ment to pronounce this sentence against vs we might cōtemne and scorn at the broken assalts of the Spaniards or any other the enemies of the Gospel and her Maiesties whosoeuer But as long as we giue not the right hand to the Lord by entering into his sanctuarye we haue just cause to feare a nation that is no nation much more a people in number as the sand which is by the seashore Our leagues and most stable couenants with the enemies the Lord will soone disanul standing thus at the staffes end with his Maiestie as we doe Let it not be sayd in this pIace that the Lord would not haue so wonderfully wrought our late deliueraunce out of the hand of the Spaniarde if he ment at al to haue called the land to reckoning for the great ignorance and wicked ecclesiasticall constitutions which are truly sayd to be maintained therein For this both Moses and Saloman Deut. 29.18.49.20 note to be the man of all those that shall not prolong their dayes Moses warneth al states in any case to take heed that there should not be among them man woman family nor tribe which should turne his hart away from the Lord God so that when he heareth the wordes of the curse he blesse him selfe in his hart saying I shall haue peace though I walked after the stubbornenes of mine owne hart thus adding drunkennes vnto thirst For saith he the Lord wil not be mercifull vnto that man but then the wrath of the Lorde shall smoke against that man and euery curse that is written in this booke shal light vpon him and the Lord shall put out his name from vnder heauen the Lord shal seperate him vnto euil according vnto all the curses that is writen in the booke of the lawe Eccles 8.11.13 And Soloman knowing the corruptions of men to be such as their harts are fully set in them to doe euil because sentence against their euil works is not spedely executed openly testifieth that although a sinner doe euill an hundreth times the Lord prolong his days yet it shal only be well with them that feare the Lord and do reuerence before him But it shall not be wel with the wicked saith he for he shal be like a shadow because he feareth not before God And therefore although at this time the Lords anger hath not visited nor caled the sinnes of our land to account with gret extremity by the hand of the Spanyard yet let vs be assured that it shall not goe wel with vs vnlesse you of the high court of parliament shew that you feare your God and doe reuerence before him in purging out of his holy seruice what soeuer is superfluous therein and in adding whatsoeuer is wanting therevnto The Lord by that deliuerance gaue vs warning that he passed by vs but so as vnlesse the corruptions of his seruice be clean don away with speed by her Maiesty and the parliament meaneth to passe by vs no more but to suffer his whol displeasure to fall vppon vs at his next comming And in deed as often as I consider our late defence from the Spanish invasion together with our deserts I am induced to think that the Lord then was affected towards vs as somtimes he was towards Israel his owne people concerning whom he speaketh Deut. 32.26 I haue sayd I would scatter them abrod I wold
as being the highest councel in the land in this cause I apeale debarred of my liberty before my cause according vnto the word be ouerthrowne The injury which I sustained the last parliament being a suitor in this cause enforceth me to craue this at your hands which otherwise I should haue perswaded my selfe to be a needles suit For wheras the auncient priueledges and liberties of this house do giue leaue during the parliament vnto any that are suitors thereunto quietly to follow their suits without feare of any arrest and being arrested do presently deliuer and set them free I was not suffred to enioy any the former liberties But contrary vnto all religion law equity and conscience to the great derogatiō of the liberties of this noble court was committed close prisoner by some who abused the high commission their dealing might haue appeared more tollerable lesse derogatorious vnto your Hh. worships if they had shewed any cause of mine imprisonmēt their abused authority only excepted which vnto this day is altogether vnknowne vnto me I know that the infirmities and wants of men who deale in good causes are commonly beaten vppon the back of the cause they handle Therefore the Lord knoweth how careful I haue bin to keepe it vnspotted and my selfe out of all vnnecessary danger Setting downe nothing before I had considered what might insue ether in regard of the matter or manner of deliuery But why did I publish a matter of such waight before I aquainted the parliament therewith Whie it is published to the ende that the parliament may bee acquainted with the suite which could not be done by priuate writing And it is but an vngodly shifte of those that woulde smother the trueth to pretend it to be against the law to moue the parliamēt in any suit that is printed As thogh the suits of men vnto that high courte were parliament statutes In deede if the parliament had enacted the remoouing out of Wales all L. Bb. dumb ministers c. Then were it an intollerable part for any to publishe their actes but by their appointment Graunt you the petition and the cauill of committing it to the presse will easily be answered If you do not meane to yeeld vnto the suite neither woulde you haue done it being mooued therevnto by priuate writing The cause I make knowne to the end it may be granted and herein let not my life be precious vnto me vpon the necessitie of the publishing hereof I stande because that the worlde may see when you redresse these things that you did nothing that you durst leaue vndone vnles you would bring swift destruction vpon your selues and the whole lande But what follie is it to thinke that such great matters wil be reformed in our dayes Rather what injurie doe they vnto the whole state who thinke that they wil any longer tollerate the breach of Gods law And in this point let the good opinion that they who alledge such pretences conceiue be wayed with my dutiful perswasions of this honorable assembly and both causes judged accordingly For mine owne part I think the majestie of the cause to be such as they who are the Lordes dare not but entertaine it and tremble to thinke that all this while it hath beene so carelesly attended vpon And it is in the behalfe thereof that I haue presumed to deale with you who otherwise durst not haue suffered my voyce to be hearde in the ears of the princes of my people Let what I haue written bee examined yea by mine aduersaries themselues if I haue any and it shal appeare that I haue made a conscience howe I haue delt with my superiors especially those concerning whom it is said you are Gods lest I should seem to leaue behinde me the least print of a minde in any sort tending to defame them or their gouernement As I haue bene carefull hereof so let the Lorde yea and no otherwise which I speak as far as my corruptions will permit grant this cause and my selfe also if it be his will fauour in your eyes In deed in regarde of the cause I come Mandatorie wise vnto this honorable assembly but in regard of my selfe I come in feare and trembling as vnto the Lords vicegerents entreating most humbly that the dignitie of so high a cause be thoght off nothing the more dishonorably because it is brought in my hands And I protest in respect of my sinnes that the Lorde may justly denie it the fauour it deserueth in your eyes because I am a dealer therein But this should be no reason why the parliament should giue it a repulse For in the eyes and eares of al the world I make it knowne that it is the cause of the liuing god wherin I deal And that if it had beene possible for me to haue written more humblye and dutifully I had done it Or if I had seene anye waye that might haue bene likelier to preuaile wirh my superiors then this I take the Lorde to witnesse vnto my soule that I woulde not haue vsed this course And I would to God I could tel how to make the cause plawsible So farre I am from setting downe any thing that might cary with it any shewe of occasion to hinder and disgrace the same Well I haue don my endeuour the successe I expect at the Lords hands vnto whome I commend the cause and the saluation of that poore people The sword of iustice reached vnto you by the Lord himselfe to take punishment onely of him that is an euil doer I fear not because I haue not offended If it should be drawne against me for this action the president would be such as they who ment herafter to prophesie vnto you might be aduisedly counseled not to prophesie and the Lord as a token of your iust destruction to ensue would say they shal not prophesie nor take shame If I haue spoken any vntruth beare witnes thereof if a trueth I dare stand to it by the Lords assistance and demand what he is that will presume to obiect and throw him selfe vnto the vengance of God by punnishing me an innocente It is a common manner with some in these dayes to threaten those who deale in this cause nowe in hand but they are to know that it is not so easie a matter to spil their bloud whose daies are numbered with the Lord. The Lord may I confesse with griefe in regard of my other sinnes bringe mine head to the graue with bloud but in this case what haue I offended And therfore vndouted woe wil betide him that shall molest me for this worke Howe soeuer it be thus I haue performed a duty towards the Lord his church my country you of this high court which I wold doe if it were to be done againe though I were assured to endanger my life thereby And be it knowne that in this case I am not afraid of earth If I perish I perish My comforte is that I knowe whither to go in that day wherein the secrets of all hearts shal be manifested the sincerity also of my cause shal apeare It is inough for me howsoeuer I be miserable in regard of my sinnes that yet vnto Christ I both liue and die and purpose by his grace if my life should be prolonged to liue hereafter not vnto my selfe but vnto him and his church otherwise then hitherto I haue don The Lord is able to raise vp those that are of puerer hands and lipps then I am to write and speak in the cause of his honor in Wales And the Lord make them whosoeuer they shal be neuer to be wanting vnto so good a cause the which because it may be the Lords pleasure that I shal leaue them behind me in the world I earnestly and vehemently commend vnto them as by this my last wil testament And haue you R. honourable worshipful of this parlirment poore Wales in remembraunce that the blessing of many a saued soule therein may follow her Maiestie your Hh. and worships overtake you light vppon you and stick vnto you for euer The eternal God giue hir Maiesty you the honor of building his church in Wales multiply the daies of hir peace ouer vs blesse her and you so in this life that in the life to come the inheritance of the kingdome of heauen may be her and your portion So be it good Lord. By him that hath bound him selfe continually to pray for your Hh. and worships IOHN PENRI