Article and required an aunswere and M. Ridley referred him to his aunswere in wryting exhybited now and also before at the time of disputation and like aunsweres were taken to all the residue of the Articles These aunsweres in maner rehearsed taken and penned of the Notaries the Byshop of Glocester began an exhortation to moue M. Ridley to turne Glo. If you would once empty your stomacke captiuate your senses subdue your reason and to gether with vs consider what a feeble ground of your religion you haue I doe not doubt but you might easely be perduced to acknowledge one Churche with vs to confesse one fayth with vs and to beleue one religion with vs. For what a weake and feeble stay in religion is this I pray you Latimer leaneth to Cranmer Cranmer to Ridley Ridley to the singularitie of his owne witte so that if you ouerthrowe the singularitie of Ridleyes wit then must needes the Religion of Cranmer and Latimer fall also You remember well M. Ridley that the Prophet speaketh most truely saying vae vae wo wo be to them which are singular and wise in their owne conceytes But you wyll saye here it is true that the Prophete sayth but how know you that I am wyse in myne owne conceyte Yes Maister Ridley you refuse the determination of the Catholike Churche you muste needes bee singular and wyse in your owne conceyte for you bryng Scripture for the probation of your assertions and wee also bryng Scriptures you vnderstande them in one sense and wee in an other Howe wyll ye knowe the trueth herein If you stande to your owne interpretation then you are singular in your owne conceyte but if you say you wyll followe the myndes of the Doctors and auncient Fathers semblably you vnderstande them in one meanyng and wee take them in another howe wyll ye knowe the trueth herein If you stande to your owne iudgement then are you singular in your owne conceyte then can you not auoyde the vae and woe which the Prophete speaketh of Wherfore if you haue no stay but the Catholike church in matters of controuersie except you wyll rest vpon the singularitie and wysedome of your owne brayne if the Prophet most truely sayth vae vae wo wo be to them that are wyse in their owne conceite then for Gods loue M. Ridley stand not singular be not you wyse in your owne conceite please not your selfe ouermuch Howe were the Arrians the Manicheis the FutichiaÌ„s with other diuers Heretickes which haue bene in the Church how I pray you were they suppressed and conuinced by reasonyng in disputations No truly the Arrians had mo places of Scriptures for the confirmation of their heresie then the Catholickes for the defence of the trueth Howe then were they conuinced onely by the termination of the Church And in deede except we do constitute the Churche our foundation stay and iudge we can haue no ende of controuersies no ende of disputations For in that we all bryng Scriptures and Doctors for the probation of our assertions who shoulde be Iudge of this our controuersie If we our selues then be we singular and wise in our owne conceites then can not we auoyde the woe that the Prophet speaketh of It remayneth therefore that we submitte our selues to the determination and arbitrement of the Churche with whom God promised to remayne to the worldes ende to whom he promised to sende the holy Ghost which shoulde teache it the trueth Wherefore M. Ridley if you will auoyd the wo that the prophet speaketh of be not you wyse in your iudgement if you wyll not be wyse and singular in your owne iudgement captiuate your owne vnderstanding subdue your reason and submit your selfe to the determination of the Church This is briefly the summe of the Oration of the Byshop of Glocester by the which he endeuored in many mo woordes amplyfiyng and enlargyng the matter eloquently with sundry poyntes of Rethoricke to moue affections to perswade Maister Ridley to recant and forsake his Religion To whom M. Ridley aunswered in few wordes that he sayd most truly with the Prophet wo be to him which is wyse in his owe conceite but that he acknowledged no suche singularitie in hym ne knewe any cause why he shoulde attribute so muche to him selfe And where as he sayde Maister Cranmer leaned to hym that was moste vntrue in that he was but a young Scholer in comparison of Maister Cranmer for at what tyme he was a young Scholer then Maister Cranmer a Doctor so that he conâ—essed that M. Cranmer might haue ben his Scholemaister these many yeares It seemed that he woulde haue spoken more but the Bishop of Glocester interrupted hym saying Glo. Why M. Ridley it is your owne confession for M. Latimer at the time of his disputations confessed his learnyng to lye in M. Cranmers bookes and M. Cranmer also sayd that it was your doyng Linc. Likewyse the Byshoppe of Lincolne with many woordes and gentle holding his Cappe in hand desyred him to turne But M. Ridley made an absolute aunswere that he was fully perswaded the Religion whiche he defended to be grounded vpon Gods worde and therefore without great offence towardes God great peryll and damage of his soule he coulde not forsake his Maister and Lorde God but desired the Byshop to performe his graunt in that his Lordshyp sayde the day before that he shoulde haue licence to shewe his cause why he coulde not with a salfe conscience admitte the authoritye of the Pope but the Byshop of Lincolne sayde that where as then he had demaunded licence to speake three woordes he was contented then that he shoulde speake .xl. and that graunt he would performe Then stepped forth D. Weston which sate by and sayd why my Lord he hath spoken foure hundred already M. Ridley confessed he had but they were not of his prescribed number neither of that matter The Bishop of Lincolne bad him take his licence but he shoulde speake but .xl. and he would tell them vpon his fingers and eftsoones M. Ridley began to speake but before he had ended halfe a sentence the Doctours sittyng by cryed and sayd that his number was out and with that he was put to silence After this the Bishop of Lincolne which sat in the middes began to speake as foloweth Linc. Now I perceiue M. Ridley you will not permit ne suffer vs to stay in that point of our Commission which we most desired for I ensure you there is neuer a worde in our Commission more true then dolentes gementes For in deede I for my part I take God to witnesse am sory for you Whereunto M. Ridley aunswered Rid. I beleue it well my Lord for as much as one day it will be burdenous to your soule Linc. Nay not so M. Ridley but because I am sory to see suche stubbornesse in you that by no meanes you may be perswaded to acknowledge your errours and receiue
he Gentile or Iew not meanyng all at once for that were impossible And there are many examples that baptisme may be singularly ministred to one person as we haue example in Christ baptised o◠Iohn and in the Eunuch baptised of Phillip with many mo such like but so haue you not of the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ but contrarywise by the expresse wordes of S. Paule you are commaunded to vse it in a Communion and participation of many together the 11. to the Corinthians Quoties conuenitis ad manducādum alius alium expectate As ofte as ye come together to eate meanyng the Lordes supper tary one for an other And also the Minister in the celebration of the sacrament speaketh vnto all that be present in Christes behalfe to cōmunicate with hym saying Take ye and eate ye Wherfore as many as bee present and doe not communicate breake Gods commandement in not receiuyng the same and the minister is no iust minister that doth not distribute the sacrament as Christ did to all that are present and where Gods word is transgressed there is not Christ present consequently it is no Sacrament Harps What would you haue it no sacrament without it be a Communion Phil. I make it not so but gods expresse word teacheth me so yea also all the auncient writers as S. Chrysostome writing vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians saith That the oblation is in vayne where as none doth communicate with the priest If by his iudgement the action of the priest alone is in vayne where is no Communion how can that be a sacrament which he calleth a vayne oblation and a vayne standyng at the aultar Cosins You are such another fellow as I haue not heard that will not haue the Masse to be a sacrament you are no man for me to reason withall Come let vs go poyntyng to the morrowmasse Chaplaine we will leaue you maister Archdeacon and him together and so they went away Afterward the Archdeacon fell into earnest perswasions with me saying Harps M. Philpot you and I haue bene of olde acquaintance a long tyme. We were schoolefellowes both in Winchester and in Oxford many yeares Wherefore I must wish you as well to do as my selfe I pray you so thinke of mee Phil. I thanke you for your good will towards me But if you be deceiued as I am sure you are I shall desire you not to wish me deceyued with you For afore God I tell you plainly you are highly deceiued and maintain fals religiō and be not those men you take your selues for and if you do not repent leaue of your persecuting of Christes truth you will go to the deuill for it Therefore consider it in time I geue you warning for in the day of iudgement els I shall be a witnes agaynst you that I told you this here talkyng together Harpsfield Fie that is but your owne vayne singular opinion I perceyue you are still now that man you were in Oxford Phil. I trust you can report no notorious euill that euer you knew by me there Harpsfield I can say no euill of your conuersation but I knew you to be a studious man Marry if you remember when we mette in disputation in Paruis you would not lightly geue ouer and for that cause I speake that I haue sayd Phil. M. Harpsfield you know in the Schooles at Oxford when we were young men we did striue much vpō vaine glory and vpon contention more then for the truth but now our yeares and our riper learnyng teach vs to fall to a truth which must bee our portion for euer And if I was then in my tyme of ignorance earnest in myne owne cause I ought now to be earnest in my Maister Christes cause and in his truth I knowe now that nothyng done vpon vayne glory and singularitie can please God haue it neuer so goodly a shew wherfore I pray you iudge not so of me now Harps What will you thinke your selfe better learned thē all the learned men in this realme Phil. My faith hangeth not vpon the learned of the world but vpon the learned of Gods word Harps Well I will talke with you no more as nowe but pray to God to open your hart Phil. I pray God open both our harts to do more his wil then we haue done in tymes past Harps Ho Keper take hym away with you Phil. I pray you Maister Harpesfield tell me what this Pronounce Hoc doth demonstrate and shew in this Indicatiue proposition as you call it Hoc est corpus meum This is my body Harpsfield It doth demonstrate the substaunce of breade which by the words spoken by the Priest and by the omnipotencie of God is turned into the substance of Christs very body Phil. Is the substaunce of the bread as you say turned into Christes body Harps Yea that it is Phil. Why then Christes body receyueth daily a great increase of many thousand pieces of bread into his body and that is his body become now which was not before and by this you would seeme to make that there is an alteration in Christes glorified body which is a wicked thing to thinke Harps Then he set about agayne and remembryng better hymselfe and seyng the inconuenience of his first assertion of the transubstantiation of bread into Christes body hee sayd that the substance of bread after the words spoken by the priest was euacuated or vanished away by the omnipotencie of God Phil. This is another song then you sang first And here you may see how contrary you are to your selues For in deed your scoolemen do holde that the very substaunce of bread is really turned into the substance of Christes body And now you perceiuyng of late the inconuenience which is obiected against you in that opinion you are driuen to imagine a new shift and say the substance of bread is cuacuated contrary to that your church hath first beleued and taught O what contrarietie is there among you and all to deface the sincere truth Harps Is not God omnipotent and cannot he doe as hee hath sayd Phil. But his omnipotencie wil not do as you say contrary to hys word and to hys honour It is not Gods honor to include hym bodily in a piece of bread and of necessitye to tye hym therto It is not gods honour for you to make a piece of bread God and man which you see before your face doth putrifie after a certaine tyme. Is not Gods omnipotency as able to geue his body with the Sacramentall bread as to make so many turnyngs away of the bread as you doe and that directly against the Scripture which calleth it bread many tymes after the consecration Are you not ashamed to make so many alterations of the Lords holy institution as you do and to take away the substantiall partes of the Sacrament as Take ye eate ye drinke
them in any wise Their leauen is not good Their salte is all vnsauery And vnder good ententes They mayntayne all their knauery And murder Innocentes They seeke to sit in Christes seate And put him out of place And make all meanes that may be made His doynges to deface They keepe him downe with bils batâ— That made the blinde to see They make a God for myce and Rattes And say the same is he They shew like sheepe sweate like Wolues Their baytes be all for bloud They kill and slay the simple soules And rob them of ther good The darke illusions of the deuill Haue dimned so their eyes That they cannot abide the truth To sturre in any wise And if ye keepe the perfect path As I haue hope you doe Ye shall be sure to haue suche shame As they may put you to For all that leade a godly life Shall surely suffer losse And eke the world will seeke theyr shame And make them kisse the crosse Ye shal be killed sayth Christ Your sorrowes shall not cease And yet in your afflictions I am your perfect peace For in the worlde ye shall haue woe Because ye are vnknowne And for because ye hate the world The world will loue his owne Be feruent therefore to the death Agaynst all their decrees And God shall surely fight for thee Agaynst thine enemies Commit your cause vnto the Lord Reuenge not any euill And thou shalt see the wicked want When thou shalt haue thy will For all afflictions that may fall That they can say or doe They are not sure of the wealth We shall attayne vnto For I haue seene the sinners spread Theyr braunches like a bay And yet ere one could turne his head Were withered cleane away Beware that mony make ye not In riches to aryse Agaynst the goodnes of the Lord Among the worldly wise For many mischiefes it hath made That may not be exprest And many euils it hath begonne Which may not be redrest For money maketh many one In riches to rebell And he that maketh gold a God He hath a soule to sell. It maketh Kinges to kill and slay And wast their wittes in warre In leauing of the Wolfe at home To hunt the Foxe a farre And where they should see iustice done And set their realme in rest By mony they be made a meane To see the poore opprest It maketh Lordes obey the lawes That they doe ill and nought It maketh Bishops suck the bloud That God hath dearely bought And where they shuld be faythfull friends And father to the flocke By money they do turne about Euen like a weather Cock The Prieste doth make a mony meane To haue agayne his whoores To put away his wedded wife And children out of doores It holdeth backe the husbandman Which may not be forborne And will not suffer him to sow And cast abroad his corne In like case it doth let agayne When that the seede they sowe It choketh vp the corne agayne So that it cannot growe The husband he would haue a wife With nobles new and olde The wife would haue the husband hangd That she might haue his gold It maketh murthers many a one And beareth much with bloud The childe would see the parentes slayne To sease vppon their good And though it be a blessed thing Created in the kinde It is a necessary euill Annexed to the mind For who so playeth with the pitch His fingers are defiled And he that maketh gold a God Shall surely be beguiled Be frendly to the fatherles And all that are opprest Assist them alwayes out of hand And see them set at rest In all your doinges and your deedes Let mercy still remayne For with the measure that ye meate Shall ye be mette agayne Be alwayes lowly in your life Let loue enioy her owne The highest trees are seldome sure And soonest ouerthrowne The Lyons lacke and suffer sore In hunger and in thurst And they that doe oppresse the poore Continue still accurst The Bee is but a little beast In body or in sight And yet she bryngeth more encrease Then other Crow or Kyte Therefore beware in any wise Keepe well your watche alway Be sure of oyle within your lampe Let not your light decay For death despiseth them that lacke And hateth them that haue And treadeth downe the riche and poore Together in the graue Exhort your Children to be chast Rebuke them for their ill And let them not at any wise Be wedded to theyr will Laugh not with them but keep them low Shew them no mery cheare Least thou doe weepe with them also But bryng them vp in feare And let your light and liuing shyne That ye be not suspect To haue the same within your selfe For which they are correct Be meeke and modest in a meane Let all your deedes be done That they which are without the law May see how right ye runne Keepe well the member in your mouth Your tongue see that ye tame For out of little sparkes of fire Proceedeth out a flame And as the poyson doth expresse The natures of the Tode Euen so the tongue doth manifest The hartes that feareth God For therewith blesse we God aboue And therewith curse we men And therby murders doe aryse Through women now and then And seeing God hath geuen a tongue And put it vnder power The surest way is for to set A hatch before the doore For God hath set you in a seate Of double low degree Fyrst vnto God and then to man A subiect for to be I write not that I see in you These thinges to be suspect But onely set before your face How sinne should be correct For flesh and bloud I know ye are As other women be And if ye dwell in flesh and bloud There is infirmitie Receaue a warning willingly That to thy teeth is tolde Accompt the gift of greater price Then if he gaue thee gold A wiseman sayth Salomon A warning will embrace A foole will sooner as sayth he Be smitten on the face And as your members must be dead From all thinges that are vayne Euen so by Baptisme ye are borne To liue with Christ agayne Thus fare well free and faythfull frend The Lorde that is aboue Encrease in thee â— perfect fayth And leade thee in his loue And as I pray with perfite loue And poure out bitter teares For you and all that are at large Abroad among the bryers Euen so I pray thee to preferre My person and my bondes Vnto the euerlasting God That hath me in his handes That I may passe out of this ponde Wherein I am opprest Inclosed in a clod of clay That here can haue no rest That as he hath begon in me His mercies many one I may attayne to ouertake My brethren that be gone That when the death shall do his worst Where he shall point a place I may be able like a man To looke him in the face For though he catch away my cloke
sayd theyr brother Bishop Ridley but also carrishly without all order of law or honesty by extort power wrasted from them all the liuinges they had And yet being not therewith satisfied he sought all the meanes he could to worke the death of the foresayd Ship-side saying that he would make twelue godfathers to goe vpō him which had bene brought to passe in deed at what tyme he was prisoner at Oxford had not God otherwyse wrought his deliuerance by meanes of D. Heath Byshop then of Worcester Teste Georg. Shipsido Wherby all good indifferent Readers notoriously haue to vnderstand what great diuersity was in the disposition of these two natures Wherof as the one excelled in mercy and pity so the other agayne as muche or more excelled in churlish ingratitude and despitefull disdayne But of this matter enough Now concerning Gods vocation how Doctor Ridly was first called to the sauouring and fauouring of Christe and his Gospell partlye by his disputation before other his Treatises it may appeare that the first occasion of hys conuersion was by reading of Bertrams book of the Sacrament whom also the conferēce with Bishop Cranmer and with Peter Martyr did not a litle confirme in that behalfe Who now by the grace of GOD being throughly won and brought to the true way as he was before blind and zelous in his old ignoraunce so was he as constant faythfull in the right knowledge whiche the Lorde had opened vnto him as well appeared by his preachings and doynges duringe all the time of Kyng Edwarde and so long dyd muche good while authoritye of externe power might defend and hold vp the peace of the church and proceedinges of the Gospell But after that it pleased so the heauēly will of our Lord our God to bereue vs of the stay and to call from vs Kyng Edward that precious Prince as the whole state of the Churche of Englande was leafte desolate and open to the enemies hande so this Byshop Ridley after the comming in of Queene Mary eftsoone and with the first was layd handes vpō and committed to prison as before hath sufficiently bene expressed first in the Tower then after translated from thence with the Archebishop of Canterbury and mayster Latimer to Oxforde was with them inclosed in the common Gayle and prison of Bocardo while at lēgth being disseuered from them he was committed to custody in the house of one Irish wher he remayned till the last day of his death and martyrdome which was from the yeare of our Lord. 1554. till the yeare 1555. and 16. day of October Furthermore as touching his disputations cōflicts had at Oxford and also of his determination had at Cambridge also his trauels in perswading and instructing the Lady Mary before she was Queene his reasons conference likewise had in the tower at the Lieutenants boord enough hath bene sayd already Besides this other conferences hee had in prison both with D. Cranmer and M. Latimer as here foloweth to be read * A conference had betwixt Mayster Ridley and Mayster Latimer in prison vpon the obiection of Antonian meaning by that name some popish persecutour as Winchester alluding thereby to the story of Victor lib. 3. de persecut Aphri IN writing agayne yee haue done me an vnspeakeable pleasure and I pray that the Lord may requite it you in that day For I haue receiued great comfort at your wordes but yet I am not so filled withall but that I thyrste much more nowe then before to drinke more of that cuppe of yours wherein ye mingle vnto me profitable wyth pleasaunt I pray you good father let me haue one draught more to comfort my stomacke For surely except the Lord assist me with his gracious ayde in the time of his seruice I know I shall play but the part of a white liuered knight But truely my trust is in him that in mine infirmitye hee should try himselfe strong and that he can make the Coward in his cause to fight like a man Syr now I looke dayly when Diotrephes wyth hys warriours shall assault me wherefore I pray you good father for that you are an olde Souldiour and an experte warriour and God knoweth I am but a young Souldiour and as yet of small experience in these fittes helpe me I pray you to buckle my harnesse And now I would haue you to thinke that these dartes are cast at my head of some one of Diotrephes or Antonius souldiers The obiection of the Antonian All men maruell greatlye why you after the libertye which you haue graunted vnto you more then the rest do not go to masse which is a thing as you know now much estemed of all men yea of the Queene herselfe The aunswere Because no man that layeth hande on the plough and looketh backe is fitte for the kingdome of God and also for the selfe same cause why Saynt Paule woulde not suffer Titus to be circumcised which is that the truth of the gospell might remayne with vs vncorrupt Gala. the second and agayne If I builde agayne the thinges which I destroyed I make my selfe a trespasser This is also another cause least I should seeme by outwarde facte to allowe the thing which I am perswaded is contrary to sounde doctrine and so should be a stumbling stocke vnto the weake But woe be vnto him by whom offence commeth it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the middest of the sea Except the Lord helpe me ye say Truth it is For with out me sayth he ye can do nothing much lesse suffer death of our aduersaryes through the bloudy lawe now prepared agaynst vs. But it foloweth if ye abide in me and my woorde abide in you aske what yee will and it shall bee done for you What canne be more comfortable Syr you make aunswere your selfe so well that I cannot beter it Syr I beginne now to smell what you meane by trauelling thus with me you vse me as Bilney dyd once when he conuerted me pretēding as though he would be taught of me he sought wayes and meanes to teach me and so do you I thanke you therefore most hartely For in deed you minister armour vnto me whereas I was vnarmed before and vnprouided sauing that I geue my selfe to prayer for my refuge What is it then that offendeth you so greatlye in the Masse that ye will not vouchsafe once eyther to heare it or see it And from whence commeth this new religion vp on you haue not you vsed in times past to say masse your selfe I confesse vnto you my fault and ignorance but know you that for these matters I haue done penaunce long agoe both at Paules crosse and also openly in the Pulpit at Cambridge and I truste God hath forgeuen mee thys mine offence for I didde it vpon ignoraunce But if ye be desirous to knowe and will vouchsafe to heare what thinges
him so farre abhorring from aâ— pryde and arrogancie that as he could not abide any thinge that was spoken to his aduauncement or prayse so neither did there appeare in hym any shewe or bragge in those things wherein he might iustly glorye whiche were his punishmentes and sufferinges for the cause and quarrel of christ For when hee was beaten and scourged with roddes by Byshoppe Boner which scarse any man would beleue nor I neither but that I heard it of him whiche hearde it of his mouth and he greatly reioyced in the same yet his shamefast modestie was suche that neuer hee woulde expresse any mention therof least he shoulde seeme to glorye to muche in hymselfe saue that onely he opened the same to one M. Cotten of the Temple a friend of hys a little before his death Moreouer to this rare and maydenly modestie in him was also adioyned the like nature of mercye and pittifull compassion whiche affection though it seemed to be little regarded of some yet in my minde is there no other thing wrought in nature wherein man resembleth more truely the image of the high maiestie of almightye GOD then thys And as in thys respecte of mercifull tendernesse manne onely excelleth all other beastes so almost no lesse may thys manne seeme to passe many other men whose customable propertie and exercise was to visite the poore prysoners wyth hym in prison both with bodily reliefe and also wyth spirituall comforte and finding manye of them I meane suche as were there for thefte and other naughty factes verye penitent and sorye for theyr euill demeanours in hope of theyr amendment dyd not onely by mouthe but also by hys letters require yea as it were of duetye in loue dyd charge his friendes to trauayle for theyr deliueraunces such was the pittye and charritable mercye of thys godlye and most true member of Christes Churche as appeareth by this letter here following To my very louing frendes and maysters M Goringe M. Ferneham M. Fleetwood M. Rusewll M. Bel M Hussey M. Calthrop M. Boyer and other my maisters of the Temple Bartlet Greene wisheth health of bodye and soule VEry friendes are they whiche are knitte together wyth the knotte of Charitie Charitie doth not decaye but increase in them that dye faythfully whereof it followeth that thoughe we be absent in body yet are we present in the spirite coupled together with the vnity of fayth in the bonde of peace whyche is loue How hee is worthy the name of a friend that measureth hys frendship with the distaunce of place or parting of persons If thy frend be out of sight is thy friendshyp ended If he be gone into the Countrey wilt thou cease to loue hym If hee be passed the seas will you so for sake hym If hee be caryed into heauen is Charitie hindred thereby On the one side we haue the vse of the fathers from the primatiue Church that gaue thankes for theyr frendes that dyed in the fayth to proue that Charitie dyed not with death On the other side sayth Horace Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt What speake I of Horrace Sayth not saincte Paule the same thynge For we are members of hys bodye of his flesh and of his bloud yea we are members one of an other Is the hand or arme foote or legge a member when it is disseuered from the bodye How can we be members excepte we be ioyned together What is the line that coupleth vs but loue When all thinges shal fayle loue fayleth neuer Hope hath hys ende when wee get that wee hoped for Fayth is finished in heauen loue endureth for euer Loue I say that proceedeth of charitie for carnall loue when that which he loued is lost doth pearish wyth the fleshe Neyther was that euer but fleshly loue which by distaunce of place or seuering of bodyes is parted asunder If loue be the ende or suÌ„me of the lawe if heauen and yearth shall pearishe it one iote of Gods wordes shall not decaye why shouldee we thinke that loue lasteth not euer I neede not to write much to you my frendes neyther can I haue laysure nowe that the keepers are risen but thys I saye if we keepe Chrystes commaundemente in louynge eache other as he loued vs then should our loue be euerlasting This frendship Paule felt when it moued him to saye that neyther lengthe nor bredth meanyng no distaunce of place neyther height nor depth shoulde seuere hym from the loue of Christe Waighe well thys place and meate it wyth Paules measures so shall we find that if our loue be vnfayned it can neuer bee ended Nowe may you saye why wrytest thou this Certes to the ende that if oure frendshippe bee stable you may accomplishe thys the laste request of your friende and performe after my death the friendshippe wee beganne in oure lyfe that amitie maye encrease vntill GOD make it perfecte at oure next meetynge together Mayster Feetewood I beseeche you remember Wittrance and Cooke two singular men amongest common prisoners M Fernham and mayster Bell with M. Hussey as I hope wyll dispatch Palmer and Richardson with his companions I praye you M. Calthrop thinke on Iohn Groue an honest poore man Traiford and Rice Aprice his accomplices My cosin Thomas Witton a Scriuener in Lombardstreete hath promised to further their deliuerie at the least hee can instruct you whiche waye to worke I doubt not but that Maister Boyer will labour for the good wife Cooper for she is worthy to bee holpen and Berard the Frenchman There bee also diuers other well disposed men whose deliueraunce if ye will not labour for yet I humbly beseeche you to seeke their reliefe as you shall see cause namely of Henry Aprice Lancelot Hobbes Lother Homes Câ—rre and Bockyngham a young man of goodly giftes in witte and learnyng and sauyng that he is somewhat wilde likely to doe well hereafter There bee also two women Conyngham and Alice Alexander that may proue honest For these and all other poore prisoners here I make this my humble sute and prayer to you all my Maisters and especiall good frendes beseechyng you of all bondes of amitie for the precious bloud of Iesus Christ in the bowelles of mercie to tender the causes of miserable captiues helpe to clothe Christ visite the afflicted comfort the sorrowfull and releue the needy The very God of peace guide your hartes to haue mercy on the poore and loue faythfully together Amen This present Monday when I looke to dye and liue for euer Yours as euer Bartlet Greene. * An other letter of M. Greene to Mistres Elizabeth Clarke WOuld GOD if it were his pleasure that with this Letter I might send you may harte and mynde and whatsoeuer there is in me elles that pertayneth vnto GOD So should I thinke it the beste message and happyest Letter that euer I could write But though I obtaine not my desire yet shall I
our eternal comfort dissolue the same and seperate vs asunder againe for a time Wherfore I thought it good yea and my bouÌ„den duety by this simple letter to prouoke styrre admonish you to behaue your selfe in all your doinges sayinges and thoughtes most thankfully vnto our good God for the same And therefore my deare wife as you haue hartily reioyced in the Lord and oftentimes geuen God thanks for his goodnes in bringing vs together in his holy ordinauÌ„ce eueÌ„ so now I desire you when this time of our seperation shal come to reioyce with me in the Lord and to geue him most harty thanks that he hath to his glory and our endles commodity separated vs againe for a little time hath mercifully taken me vnto himselfe forth of this miserable world into his celestiall kingdom beleuing and hoping also assuredly that God of hys goodnesse for his sonne Christes sake will shortlye bring you and your deare children thither to me that we maye moste ioyfully together sing prayses vnto his glorious name for euer And yet once agayne I desire you for the loue of God and as euer you loued me to reioyce with me and to geue God continuall thankes for doing his most mercifull wil vpon me I heare say that you do oftentimes vse to repeate this godly saying The Lordes wil be fulfilled Doubtlesse it reioyceth my poore hart to heare that report of you for the lordes sake vse that godly praier continually and teach your children and family to say the same day and night and not onely say it with your toungs but also with your hart and mind and ioyfully to submit your will to Gods will in very deed knowing beleuing assuredly that nothing shall come to you or any of yours otherwise then it shall be hys almightie and fatherly good wil and pleasure and for your eternall comfort and commodity Which thing to be moste true and certayne Christ testifyeth in his holy gospell saying Are not two litle Sparowes sold for a farthing and yet not one of them shall perish without the wil of your heauenly father And he concludeth saying Feare not yee therefore for yee are better then many sparowes As though he shoulde haue sayd If God haue such a respecte and care for a poore sparowe which is not worth one farthing that it shall not be taken in the lime twig net or pitfall vntill it be his good will pleasure you may be wel assured that not one of you whoÌ„ he so dearly loueth that he hath geueÌ„ his only deare sonne for you shall perishe or depart forth of this miserable life without his almighty good will and pleasure Therefore deare wife put your truste and confidence wholly onely in him and euer pray that his will be fulfilled and not yours except it be agreeing to his will the which I pray GOD it may euer be Amen And as for worldly thinges take you no care but be you well assured the Lorde your deare God and father will not see you nor yours lacke if you continue in his loue and childely feare and keepe a cleare conscience from all kinde of Idolatry superstition and wickednes as my trust is that you wyll doe although it be with the losse and daunger of this temporall life And good Margaret feare not them that canne but kill the body and yet can they not do that vntill God geue them leaâ—e but feare to displease him that can kyll both body and soule and cast them into hell fire Let not the remembraunce of your children keep you from God The Lord himselfe will be a father and a mother better then euer you or I could haue bene vnto them He himselfe wil do all thinges necessary for them yea as much as rock the Cradle if need be He hath geuen his holy Angels charge ouer them therefore committ them vnto him But if you may liue with a cleare conscience for elles I woulde not haue you to liue and see the bringing vp of your children your selfe looke that you nurture them in the feare of God and keepe them farre from Idolatry superstition and all other kinde of wickednesse and for Gods sake helpe them to some learning if it be possible that they may increase in vertue and godly knowledge which shal be a better dowry to marry them withall then any worldlye substaunce and when they be come to age prouide them such husbandes as feare God and loue his holy worde I charge you take heede that you match them with no Papistes and if you liue and marry agayne your selfe whiche thing I woulde wishe you to doe if neede require or els not good wife take heede how you bestowe your selfe that you and my poore children be not compelled to wickednesse But if you shall be able well to liue Gods true widow I would counsell you so to liue still for the more quietnesse of your selfe and your poore children Take heede Margaret and play the wise womans part You haue warning by other if you will take an example And thus I commit you and my sweet children vnto Gods most merciful defence The blessing of God be with you and God seÌ„d vs a mery meeting together in heauen Farewel in Christ farewell mine owne deare hartes all Pray pray * To my good Brother Mayster Iohn Bradford THe peace of God in Iesus Christ the eternall comforte of his sweete spirite which hath surely sealed you vnto eternal saluation be with you and strengthen you in your ioyfull iourney towardes the celestiall Hierusalem my deare frend and most faythfull brother Maister Bradford to the setting forth of Gods glory and to your eternall ioy in Christ Amen Euer since that good M. Philpot shewed me your last letter my deare hart in the Lord I haue coÌ„tinued in great heauines and perplexity not for any hurt or discommodity that I can perceiue comming towardes you vnto whoÌ„ doubtlesse death is made life and great felicity but for the great losse that Gods Churche here in Englande shall sustaine by the taking away of so godly worthy and necessary an instrument as the Lorde hath made you to be Oh that my life and a thousand such wretched liues mo might go for yours Oh why doth God suffer me and such other Caterpillers to liue that can doe nothing but consume the almes of the church and take away you so worthy a workman laborer in the Lordes vineyard But wo be to our sinnes great vnthankfulnes whiche is the greatest cause of the taking away of such worthy instrumeÌ„tes of God as shoulde set forth his glory instruct his people If we had bene thaÌ„kfull vnto God for the good ministers of his word we had not bene so soone depriued both of it and them The Lord forgeue our great ingratitude sinnes and geue vs true repentaunce and fayth hold his hand of mercy ouer vs for his deare sonne Christes sake Take
poore blinde womans life and deathe in suche sorte as is aboue prefixed hath bene confessed to be very true by diuers persons of worthy credite and yet liuing and also hath bene specially perused and examined by W. Baynbridge tofore mentioned Bayliffe then of Darbye who aswell of his own knowledge as by speciall enquiry and conference by him made with diuers others hath certified vs the same to be vndoubted besides the Testimoniall of Iohn Cadman Curate of the sayd towne and of other also vppon whose honesty well knowne and theyr report herein nothing differing from such as were best acquaynted with that matter I haue bene here the more bold to commit this story to posteritie for all good men to consider and to iudge vpon * Edwarde Sharpe ABout the beginning of the next month folowing whiche was September a certayn godly aged deuout zelous person of the Lords glory borne in Wiltshyre named Edward Sharpe of the age of lx yeares or thereabout was condemned at Bristow to the like Martyrdom where he constantly manfully persisting in the iust quarrel of Christes Gospell for misliking and renouncing the ordinaunces of the Romishe Churche was tryed as pure gold and made a liuely sacrifice in the fire in whose death as in the death of all hys other saynts the Lord be glorified and thanked for his great grace of constancy to whom be praise for euer Amen ¶ Foure suffered at Mayfield NExte after the Martyrdome of Edward Sharpe aboue sayd followed iiii which suffered at Mayfield in Sussex the xxiiii day of September anno 1556. Of whose names ii we finde recorded and the other two we yet know not and therefore according to our register here vnder they be specified as we find them Iohn Hart. Thomas Rauensdale A Shomaker And a Coriar Which sayd .4 being at the place where they shoulde suffer after they hadde made theyr prayer and were at the stake ready to abide the force of the fire they constantlye ioyfully yelded their liues for the testimony of the glorious Gospell of Iesus Christ vnto whome be prayse for euer and euer Amen The day after the Martyrdome of these foresayde at Mayfield which was the 24. of September an 1556. was a young man which by science was a Carpenter whose name we haue not put to death for the like testimonye of Iesus Christe at Bristowe where he yelding himselfe to the tormentes of the fire gaue vp his life into the handes of the Lord with such ioyfull constancye and triumphe as all the Church of Christe haue iust cause to prayse God for him The martyrdome of Iohn Horne and a woman NOw not long after the death of the sayde young man at Bristow in the same moneth were two mo godly Martyrs cōsumed by fire at Wotton Underhedge in Glocestershyre whose names are aboue specified which dyed very gloriously in a constaunt fayth to the terrour of the wicked and comforte of the Godly So graciously did the Lord worke in them that death vnto them was life and life with a blotted conscience was death ¶ A pitifull storye concerning the vnmercifull handling of W. Dangerfield and Ioane hys wife beyng in childbed taken out of her house wyth her sucking infant of 14. daies old layd in the common Iayle amongest theeues and murderers WHen I had written and finished the story of the Garnsey women with the young infant there with them burned and also had passed the burning of the poore blind woman Ioane Wast at Darby I well hoped I shoulde haue found no moe such stories of vnmerciful cruelty shewed vppon seely women with theyr children and young infantes but now cōming to the persecution of Glocester shyre about the partes of Bristow I finde an other story of such vnmercifulnes shewed agaynst a woman in child-bed as farre from all charitie and humanitie as hath ben anye other storye yet hetherto rehearsed as by the sequele hereof may appeare In the Parish of Wotton Underhedge not farre from Bristow was dwelling one W. Dangerfield a right honest and godly poore man who by Ioane Dangerfield his wife had ix Children and she nowe lying in childbed of the tenth Thys William after he had bene abroad from his house a certayne space for feare of persecution hearing that his wife was brought to bed repayred home to visite her as naturall duety required and to see his children she being now deliuered foure dayes before The returne of this man was not so soone known to some of his vnkinde vncharitable neighbours but they incensed with the spirite of Papistrye eftsoones beset the house about and there tooke the sayd W. Dangerfield caryed him to prison and so at length hee was brought to the Bishop being then Doctor Brookes in whose cruell handling he remayned a certayne space so longe till hys legges almost were freated off with yrons After the apprehension of the Husband the wife likewise was taken with her younge borne childe being but 14. dayes olde as is sayde out of her childbed and caryed into the common Iayle and there placed amongst theues and murderers where both shee and her poore innocent found so small charitie amongest the catholicke men that she neuer could come to any fire but was driuen to warm the clothes that she should put about the childe in her bosome In the meane season while they lay thus inclosed in seuerall prisons the husband and the wife the Bishop beginneth to practise not with the woman first as the serpent did with Eue but with the man craftily deceiuing his simplicitie with fayre glosing wordes falsely perswading him that his wife had recanted and asking him wherfore he should more stande in his owne conceate then shee being as well learned as he and so subtilly drew out a form of recantation wherewith hee deceiued the simple soule Whereunto after that he had once graunted that hee would consent although hee had not yet recanted they suffered hym to to go to his wife where shee laye in the common Iayle Then they with melting hartes opening their minds one to an other when he saw hys wife not released perceauing that he had not done well he declared vnto her the whole matter how falsely he was circumuented by the subtile flatteringes of the Byshop bearyng him in hand that certaynly she had recanted and thus deceiuing me sayde he brought this vnto me and so plucked out of hys bosome the copy of the recantation whereunto he had granted his promise At the sight whereof the wife hearyng what her husband had done her hart claue a sunder saying Alacke thus long haue we continued one and hath Satan so preuayled to cause you to breake your first vow made to Christ in Baptisme And so departed the saide W. and Ioane his wife with what heartes the Lorde knoweth Then began hee not a little to bewayle his promyse made to the Bishop and to make hys prayer to almighty God
them for the Sermon Wherunto they made but a small answer Then the Sheriffe made a Bill and so feared the men that 2. or 3. of them set to their hands and one of them neuer ioyed after but it was a griefe to him till he died Then did they take men with them vnto the Parsones house and in the night they tooke him and wyth watchmeÌ„ kept him vntill it was day Then should he haue bene caried the next day to the Counsell but the said Rob. Blomefield was taken so sicke that hee was like to die so that he could not carie him for his life Then the sayd sheriffe sent him to Ipswich againe and there he was for a time Then hee was sent to Burie prison from thence to the Councel and then into the Flete and so he lay in prisone from the beginning of haruest till it was nigh Christmasse and he sayd God gaue him â—uche answeres to make when he was examined that hee was deliuered with quietnes of conscience And hauing his libertie he came againe vnto the foresayd Towne and because he would not goe to Masse his liuing was taken away and he his wife were constrained to flie heere and there for his life conscience In the last yeare of Queene Maries raigne God did take him out of this life in peace Where moreouer is to be noted that this Robert Blomfield aboue named immediately after he had apprehended the saide Browne fell very sicke And though at that time he was a welthy man and of a great substance beside his land which was better then twentie pound a yeare after thys time God so plagued his housholde that hys eldest sonne died and his wife had a pining sickenesse till she departed this life also Then maried he an other a richer widow but all wold not helpe and nothing would prosper For hee had a sore pining sicknesse being full of botches and sores whereby he wasted away both body and goodes till he died So when he died he was aboue ix â—core pounds in det and it was neuer heard of any repentaunce he had But a litle before his death he bragged threatned a good man one Symon Hariston to putte him foorth to the Officers because he did weare no Surplis when he sayd seruice Wherefore it is pitie suche baites of Poperie are lefte to the enemies to take Christians in God take them away or els from them for God knoweth they be the cause of much blindnesse and strife amongest men Furthermore out of the sayde Towne were constrayned to flye Robert Boele and Iohn Trapne because they woulde not goe to Masse and receiue their Sacrament of the aultare Elizabeth Young YE heard before in the treatise of the scourging of Thomas Grene how he was troubled and beaten by doctour Storie for a certaine booke called Antichriste which he receiued of a woman because in no case he woulde detect her This woman was one Elizabeth Young who comming from Emden to England brought with her diuers bookes and sparsed them abroad in London for the which shee being at length espied and laied fast was broughte to examination 13. times before the Catholicke Inquisitours of heretical prauitie O. the which her examinations nine haue come to our handes Wherein how fiercely she was assaulted how shamefully shee was reuiled how miserably handled and what answeres she made vnto the aduersaries in her owne defence and finally after all this how she escaped and passed through the pikes being yet as I heare say aliue I thought to geue the reader here to see and vnderstande The first examination of Elizabeth Young before maister Hussie WHo examined her of many thinges First where she was borne and who was her father and mother Elizabeth Young Syr all this is but vaine talke and very superfluous It is to fil my head with fantasies that I shoulde not be able to aunswere vnto suche thinges as I came for Ye haue not I thinke put me in prison to know who is my father and mother But I pray you goe to the matter that I came hether for M. Hussie Wherfore wentest thou out of the realme Elizabeth To keepe my conscience cleane Hussie When wast thou at Masse Eliz. Not this three yeares Hussie Then wast thou not there iij. yeares before that Eliz. No Syr nor yet iij. yeares more before that for and if I were I had euill lucke Hussie How old art thou Eliz. Fourty and vpwardes Hussie Twentie of those yeares thou wentest to Masse Eliz. Yea and twentie more I may and yet come home as wise as I went thether first for I vnderstand it not Hussie Why wilt not thou go to the Masse Elizabeth Syr my conscience will not suffer me For I had rather that all the world should accuse me then mine owne conscience Hussy What and if a louse or a flea sticke vpon thy skinne and bite thy flesh thou must make a conscience in the taking her off is there not a conscience in it Elizabeth That is but an easie Argument to displace the Scriptures and especially in such a part as my saluation dependeth vppon for it is but an easie conscience that a man can make Hussy But why wilte thou not sweare vpon the Euangelist before a Iudge Eliz. Because I know not what a booke oth is Hussy Then he began to teach her the booke oth Eliz. Syr I do not vnderstand it and therefore I wil not learne it Hussy Then sayde hee thou wilt not vnderstand it and with that rose vp and went his way Her second examination before Doctour Martin WHo sayd to her Woman thou art come from beyoÌ„d the sea and hast brought with thee bookes of heresie and treason and thou must confesse to vs who translated them Printed them and who sent them ouer for once I knowe thee to be but a messenger and in so doynge the Queenes highnesse will be good to thee for shee hath forgeuen greater things then this thou shalt find as much fauour as is possible But if thou be stubborne and wilte not confesse thou wilt be wondrous euill handled for we know the truth already but thus we do only to see whether thou wilt be true of thy woord or no. Eliz. Syr ye haue my confession and more then that I can not say Martin Thou must say more and shalt say more Doest thou thinke that we wil be full answeared by this examination that thou hast made Thou rebell whoore and traitorly heretike thou dost refuse to sweare vpon the Euangelist before a Iudge I heare say Thou shalt be racked inch meale thou traitourly whoore and hereticke but thou shalt sweare afore a Iudge before thou goe yea and thou shalt be made to confesse how many bookes thou hast sold and to whom Eliz. Syr I vnderstand not what an oth is and therfore I will take no suche thing vppon me And no man hathe boughte any bookes of mee
was sent and deteyned vnto the Botchers stall I meane Byshop Stokeleyes Consistory there to heare not the opinion of Saynt Augustine and other auncient Fathers of Christes primatiue Churche of the sayde Sacramēt but either to be instruct and to heare the maymed and halfe cutaway Sacrament of Antichrist the Bishop of Rome with the grosse and fleshly imagination thereof or els to perish in the fire as he most constantly did after hee had before the Byshop of London Winchester and Chichester in the Consistory in Paules Church most plainely and sincerely confessed his doctrine and fayth in thys weighty matter c. pag. 1032. ¶ A note of William Plane IN the latter dayes of king Henry the eight aboute that time Anne Askew was in trouble one Doctour Crome was trauayled withall to recant for that he had preached somewhat agaynst thinges maynteined of the papistes in the Church And one M. Tracy hearing therof brought a letter secretly to one Plane dwelling in Bouge row and desired him to cary it to Doctor Crome which letter tended to the end to perswade him not to recant but to stand to the trueth When this good man William Plane had it as he was euer willing to further the truth so he gladly deliuered the same to Doctor Crome Which when he had receiued and read it he layd it downe vpon the table and after the sayd William Plane was gone an Arche Papist came thither to perswade him to recant and in trauelling with him he found the sayd letter on the boord which whē he had read it he examined him from whence it came so what thorow flattery and threatning he declared who was the messenger that brought it Then was William Plan◠sent for cast in the Tower where he lay miserably xiij weekes none admitted to come to him in which time he was extremely racked within halfe a finger breadth as farre as Anne Askew but they could neuer get of hym of whome he had the letter nor neuer for all theyr extremity would accuse any man so in the end he was deliuered out of the Tower and liued aboute three yeares after and so godly ended his life But vnto this day would that Tracy neuer enquire in what condition his wife and children were left although he was his Messenger in carying the letter but good Lord the straunge disease that grew vpon him by that extreme racking as it is odious to rehearse so I will wish thē to repentance that were the instruments of his tormentes if they be aliue warne other papists to the same in whom any cruelty hath bene in the like cause A note of Lady Iane. THe Lady Iane she whom the Lorde Gilford maryed being on a time when she was very yong at Newhall in Essex at the Lady Maries was by one lady Anne Wharton desired to walke and they passing by the chappell the Lady Wharton made lowe curtesie to the popish Sacrament hangyng on the aulter which when the Lady Iane saw meruailed why she did so and asked her whether the Lady Mary were there or not Unto whome the Lady Wharton answered no but she said that she made her curtesie to hym that made vs all Why quoth the lady Iane how can hee be there that made vs all and the Baker made him This her aunswere commyng to the Lady Maries eare she did neuer loue her after as is credibly reported but esteemed her as the rest of that christian profession ¶ The copy of Queene Maries letters to the Duke of Northfolke RIght trustie right entirely beloued Cosin we greete you well and hauing by the assistance of God and our louing subiects discomfited Wiate and the other rebels of our Countie of Kent who hauyng passed the Riuer of Kingston came backe agayne towards London were encountred aboue Charing crosse and there were ouerthrowen and the most part of them were there slame Wiate and three of the Cobhams Bret Kneuet Rudstone Iseley and other the chiefe Captaines taken prisoners Wee haue thought good as well to geue you knowledge hereof to the ende ye may with vs and the rest of our louyng subiects reioyce and geue God thankes for this our victory as also further to signifie vnto you that where the sayd rebell did alway pretend the matter of our mariage to be the cause of this vnlawfull stirre now playnely appeareth by good and substantiall examinations of diuers of the sayd traitours that whatsoeuer they pretended the finall meanyng was to haue depriued vs frō our estate and dignitie royall and consequently to haue destroyed our person which thing as we do ascertaine you of our honour to bee matter of truth so wee praye you to cause the same to be published in all places of that our countries of Norfolke and Suffolke to the intent our good and louing subiects thereof be no more abused with such false pretenses or other vntrue rumours or tales by whom so euer the same shall be set forth And now things beyng in this sort quieted we cannot but geue you thankes for the readinesse that you haue bene in with the force of our said countrey to haue serued vs if neede had bene praying you to do the like on our behalfe to all the Gentlemen and others with you with whom neuerthelesse we require you to take such orders as the force of our sayd countrey may be still in like readines to be employed vnder good substantiall Captaines to be chosen of the Gentlemen inheritours within the sayd shiere for our further seruice vpō one houres warning when so euer we shall require the same And in the meane tyme our pleasure is that ye haue good regard to the quietnes and good order of the country specially to the apprehension of spreaders of false and vntrue tales rumors wherby ye shall both deserue well of your whole country and also do acceptable seruice which we will not faile to remember accordingly Yeauen vnder our signe at our pallace of Westminster the 8. of Febr. the first yeare of our raigne In hast ¶ A Treatise of M. Nich. Ridley in the name as it seemeth of the whole Clergie to King Edward the vj. concernyng Images not to be set vp nor worshipped in Churches ⧠Certaine reasons which mooue vs that we cannot with safe consciences geue our assentes that the Images of Christ c. should be placed and erected in Churches FIrst the words of the Commandement Thou halt not make to thy selfe any grauen image c. And the same is repeated more playnely Deut. 27. Maledictus homo qui facit sculptile conflatile c. ponitque illud in abscondito c. That is Curied is the man which maketh a grauen or molten image c. and setteth it in a secret place and all the people shall say Amen In the first place these wordes are to be noted Thou shalt not make to thy selfe that is to any vse of religion In the latter place