and encouraged them to kepe the high way sic currere vti tandem acciperent premium The Lord be his comfort wherof I doe not doubte and I thanke God hartely that euer I was acquaynted wyth hym and that euer I had suche a one in my house Protomartyr is the first Martyr whome he so called because he was the first that suffred here in those bloudy dayes And yet agayne I blesse God in our deare brother and of thys tyme protomartyr Rogers that he was also one of my callinge to be a prebendarye preacher of London And nowe because Grindall is gone The Lord I doubt not hath and koweth wherein he will bestowe him I truste to God it shall please him of his goodnes to strengthen me to make vp the trynytye out of Paules churche to suffer for Christ whome God the father hath annoynted the holye spirite doth beare witnes vnto Paule and al the Apostles preached Thus fare you well I had no paper I was constrayned thus to write To Augustine Berneher BRother Austine I thanke you for your manifolde kindenesse This almes was sent him by the Ladye Katherin Duches of Suffolk to who he wrote againe a worthy letter which is lâ—st and many other writen botâ— to her others I haue receiued my Ladies graces almes sixe Royalles syxe shillinges and eyghte pence I haue written a letter here vnto her grace but I haue made no mention therof wherfore I desire you to render to her grace harty thankes Blessed be God as for my selfe I wante nothyng but my Ladies almes commeth happilye to relieue my poore brothers necessity whome you know they haue cast and kepe in prison as I suppose you know the cause why Farewell brother Austine take good heede I pray you let my brothers case make your the more wary Read my letter to my ladies grace I would maistres WilkinsoÌ„ maystres Warcup had a copy of it for althoughe the letter is directed to my ladies grace alone yet the mater therof pertaineth indiffereÌ„tly to her grace and to all good women which loue God and his worde in deede and truth Yours in Christ N. R. ¶ To Maistres Glouer a woman zelous and harty in the cause and furtherance of Gods gospell MAistres glouer I wysh you grace peace and although I am not acquainted with you yet neuertheles hearing that your husbaÌ„d master Glouer is in prison for gods wordes sake and also that you are a womaÌ„ harty in gods cause and thirdly that old father Latimer is your vncle or nere cosin whoÌ„ I do thinke the lord hath placed to be his standerd bearer in our age and country agaynst his mortal foe Antichrist I was thus bold to write vnto you in goddes behalf to do accordinge to the report which I here of you that is that you be hartye in Goddes cause and hartye to youre mayster Christ in furdering of hys cause and settinge fourth his souldiours to hys warres to the vttermost of your power Let no carnality nor worldly regard of any thinge set you to declare your trew hart which you are said to beare to your mayster christ aboue all other thinges Be harty nowe also to your husbande and declare your selfe to loue him in God as the true faythfull christiaÌ„ womaÌ„ vnto her husbaÌ„d is bound to do Now seing your husbaÌ„d which is set by gods ordinaÌ„ce to be your head is redy to suffer abide in aduersity by his masters cause to cleaue to his head christ see like wise that you do your dutye accordyngly and cleaue vnto him your hed suffre with him that you maye furder his cause His cause nowe I vnderstande to be Chrystes cause and therefore beware good syster in Chryste that in no wyse ye hynder it Loue so hys bodye and the case and wealthe thereof as youre loue maye further hym to the wynnynge bothe of bodye and soule vnto euerlastynge lyfe And thys loue shall bothe God allowe your husbande shall haue iuste cause to reioyce thereof and all the godlye to commend you therefore and to number you for the same amonge the godlye and holye women of God To youre husbande I haue written more And thus fare you well nowe good deare Sister in our sauioure Christ I was the bolder to write vnto you for that I vnderstoode my dearely beloued brother Austyne whome I call Faustus shouldbe the carier a manne whome I thynke God hathe appoynted to doe much pleasure for hys preste seruauntes to hys warres Yours in Christ N.R. To a frend that came to visite hym in prison but could not speake wyth hym WElbeloued I thancke you hartelye for youre manyfolde kyndnes but the Lorde shal I trust acquite you youre meede Thoughe Sathan rage the Lorde is stronge inough to brydle hym and to put an iron chayne ouer hys nose when it shal please hym In the meane tyme they that are the Lordes wyll flee vnto hym assuredly he wyl not forsake them that seke vnto hym in verye deede and in truthe Thys bearer my manne is trustye you maye sende your token by hym Let Nycolas keepe styll the shyrtes The Lorde rewarde that Ladye VViatte whyche for hys sake hathe thus remembred me I doe not knowe her personne What canne I rendre to maystres Wylkynson for all her benefytes Nothyng surelye but to desyre the Lorde to acquite her with hys heauenlye grace If you tarye I shall haue more to saye to you peraduenture hereafter Nowe Vale in Domino charissime Yours in Christ N. R. ¶ The manner of D. Ridleyes handlinge in the Scholes at Oxford and of the impudent spite full cruel dealing of the papistes which he set before his disputation by way of a preface and is not vnfitte here to be placed among the letters translated out of his lattin copy into englysh I Neuer yet in all my life sawe or hearde anye thing done or handled more vaynelye or tumultuously then the disputation which was had with me of late in the scholes at Oxford And surelye I coulde neuer haue thoughte that it had bene possible to haue found anye within this realme beyng of any knowlege learning and auncient degree of schole so brasen faced and so shameles as to behaue themselues so vainly and so like stage plaiers as they did in that disputation The Sorbonical clamours which at Paris when popery most reigned I in times paste haue sene might be worthely thought in comparison of this Thrasonicall and glorious ostentation to haue had muche modesty Howbeit it was not to be wondred at for that they which should there haue bene Moderatoures and rulers of others and whiche should haue geuen a good example in woorde grauitye c. 1. Tim. 4. as Paule teacheth gaue worst example of all and did as it were blowe the trompet to other to rayle rage roare and cry out By reason wherof good christian reader it is manifest that they neuer sought for any truth but only for
PRO REGE MEO PROSPERIS ET ADVERSIS William Hopkinson Certain most godly fruitful and comfortable letters of such true Saintes and holy Martyrs of God as in the late bloodye persecution here within this Realme gaue their lyues for the defence of Christes holy gospel written in the tyme of theyr affliction and cruell imprysonment Though they suffer payne amonge men yet is their hopefull of immortalitie Sap. 3. Jmprinted at London by Iohn Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate beneath Saint Martines 1564. Cum gratia priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis For thy sake are we put to death euery day Psal 44. And are coūted as shepe appoynted to be slayne Roma 8. How long O Lorde Psalm 13. Behold I come shortlye Apoc. 22. Oh come Lorde Iesu Apoc. 22. He will come and nottary Abac. 2. Myles Couerdale vnto the Christian Reader moste hartelye wysheth the continuall encrease of heauenlye taste and spirituall swetnesse in the same assured saluation which commeth onely through Iesus Christ THe more nigh that mens wordes workes approch vnto the most wholesome sayinges fruitful doings of the old auncient Saincts chosē childrē of god which loued not only to heare his word but also to liue therafter the more worthy are they to be estemed embraced followed And therfore as we heare read of many godly both mē wemen whose cōuersatiō in old time was beautifyed with syngular giftes of the holy ghost according as the Apostle describeth thē in the .xi. chap. to the Hebrues so haue we iust cause to reioyce that we haue bene familiar acquainted with some of those which walked in the trade of their fotesteppes For the which cause it doth vs good to read and heare not the lying legendes of fayned false counterfayted and popish canonized saincts neither the triflyng toyes forged fables of corrupted writers but such true holy approued histories monuments orations epistles letters as do set forth vnto vs the blessed behauiour of gods deare seruaūtes It doth vs good I say by such comfortable remēbraunce conceaued by their notable writinges to be conuersaunt with them at the least in spirite S. Hierome writing to one Nitia and hauyng occasion to speake of letters or epystles maketh mention of a certayne Authour named Turpilius whose woordes sayeth he are these a letter or epistle is the thyng alone that maketh men present which are absent For among those that are absent what is so presente as to heare and talke with those whom thou louest Also that noble Clarke Erasmus Roterodame cōmendyng the booke of the Epistles or letters which S. Augustine dyd write sayeth thus by some of Augustines bokes we may perceaue what maner of man he was being an infant in Christ By other some we may knowe what maner a one he was being a young man and what he was being an olde man But by thys onely booke meaning the booke of the Epistles or letters thou shalt knowe whole Augustyne altogether And why doth S. Hierome or Erasmus saye thus No doubt euen because that in such writynges as in a cleare glasse we maye see and beholde not onely what plentifull furniture and store of heauenly grace wisedome knowledge vnderstanding fayth loue hope zeale pacience mekenes obedience with the worthy fruites thereof almighty god had bestowed vpon the same his most deare children but also what a fatherlye care he euer hadde vnto them how his mightye hand defended them howe hys prouidence kept watch and warde ouer them howe hys louyng eye loked vnto them howe hys gracious eare heard their prayers how he was alwaye myndfull of them neuer forgat them neither fayled them nor forsoke them how the armes of his mercye were streytched oute to embrace them when soeuer they faythfullye tourned vnto hym howe valiaunte also and stronge in spirite howe ioyfull vnder the crosse howe quyet and cheerefull in trouble he made them what victorye of their enemyes what deliueraunce oute of bondes and captiuitie what health from sicknes what recouerye from plagues what plentye from scarcenesse to bee shorte what helpe at all nede and necessity he gaue and bestowed vpon them By such lyke mounmentes also and writynges it is manifest and playne how the same deare children of God in their time behaued themselues aswel towards hym as also towardes their frendes and foes yea what the verye thoughts of their hartes were when they prayed as their maner was incessantlye to doe when they confessed their sinnes complained vnto god when they gaue thankes when they were persecuted and troubled when they were by the hand of god visited when they felte not onelye the horrour of death the griefe of synne the burthen of gods displeasure by reason of the same but also the swete tast of hys great mercy eternal comfort through Iesus Christ in theyr conscience Of the which thinges lyke as we may euidently perceiue rich and plentiful experience in the heauēly treasurie of that most excellēt boke which we cōmonly cal Dauids Psalter so hath not god nowe in our days left hymselfe without witnesses yea no more then he dyd in other ages before vs but of his aboundante goodnes euen when the late persecutiō was most cruel and the enemies rage most extreme he hath raised vp such zelous men women as by the wonderful operation of hys holy spirit of weake were made so valeant strong in him aswel against all idolatry superstitiō false doctrine and corrupted religion as against their own old blemishes sinnes that they haue turned to flight and cōfounded the whole rable of suche malicious papists as were the persecutors and murtherers of them Wherby they that list not stil to be blind may plainlye behold and see not onely the terrible iudgementes of God ouer against the wicked but also his wonderful doinges mixt wit mercy in and towardes hys chosen vnto whom as vnto them that loue him he causeth al things to worke for the best So that with him by the heauēly light of stedfast faith they see lyfe euen in death with him euen in heauines sorrow they faile not of ioy comfort wyth hym euen in pouerty affliction and trouble they neither perish nor are forsaken How els could they be so patiēt so quiet of minde so cherefull and merye in aduersitie and straite captiuitie some beyng throwne into dungeons vgsome holes darke lothesome and stinking corners other some lying in fetters and chaynes and loaded wyth so many irons that they could scarcely styrre some tied in the stocks wyth their heeles vpwarde some hauyng their legges in the stockes their neckes chayned to the walle wyth gorgets of iron some both handes and legges in the stockes at once sometimes both hands in and both legges out sometimes the right hand with the left leg or the left hand with the right legge fastened in the stockes wyth manicles and fetters hauyng neither stoole nor stone to sitte on to ease their wofull bodies withall
These engines are called Skeuingtons giues the forme maner wherof you shall see in the boke of Martyrs Fol. 1651. some standing in most painful engines of iron with their bodies doubled some whypped scourged beateÌ„ with roddes buffeted with fistes some hauing their handes burned with a caÌ„del to trie their patience or force theÌ„ to relente some hunger pyned most miserably famished Al these torments many moe eueÌ„ such as cruel Phalaris could not deuise worse If these vnmerciful monsters had the reward of their tiranny that Phalarts had yet shuld they not haue so muche as they haue iustly deserued wer practised by the papists the stout sturdy souldiours of Satan thus delityng in variety of tiranny and torments vpon the Saints of god as it is ful wel too well knowen as many can testify which are yet aliue and haue felte some smart therof Yea furthermore so extremely were these deare seruantes of god delt withal that although they were moste desirous by their pen and writing to edify their brethren other poore lambes of Christ one to comfort an other in him yet were they so narowly watched and straitly kepte from al necessary helpes as paper inke bokes such lyke that great maruail it is how they could be able to write any one of these or other so excellent worthy letters For so hardly were they vsed as I said afore for the most part that they could not end their letters begon Notwithstandyng al this cruel dealyng they wrote verye manye worthy and fruitfull letters moe wherof sundry are mentioned in this boke which shall God willing be published hereafter if they in whose handes they remaine wil bring them to light sometime for lacke of ease being so fettered with chaines otherwise handled as you haue heard sometime for lacke of light when they could neither see to write wel nor to reade their letters again somtyme through the hasty coÌ„ming in of the kepers or officers who left no corner nor bedstraw vnsearched yea somtime they were put to so hard shiftes that lyke as for lacke of pennes they were fayne to write with the lead of the windowes so for want of inke they toke their own blood as yet it remaineth to be sene and yet somtime they were faine to teare rent what they had writteÌ„ at the hasty coÌ„ming in of the officers Thus thus vnkindly thus churlishly thus cruelly vnnaturally were eueÌ„ they entreated handled whose most notable godly writings are here set forth in thys booke For the which such other monumeÌ„ts great cause haue we to praise god which he himself hath preserued broughte to light no dout by his siÌ„guler great prouideÌ„ce that herby we beiÌ„g taught to haue his mighty mercy merciful working the more in reuereÌ„t thaÌ„kful regard might not onely consider what heaueÌ„ly streÌ„gth rich possessioÌ„ of coÌ„stant faythe of ardent zeale of quiet patience of peace ioy in the holy ghost he vseth to arme theÌ„ that can find in their harts to abhor al vngodlines both of doctrine life but also to ioine with theÌ„ our selues in such sort that loking to Iesus our captain abiding the crosse despising the shame as they did for the ioy that was set before theÌ„ may with much quietnes of a good conscieÌ„ce end this our short course to his glory to the edifyeng of his church to the coÌ„fusion of Satan to the hinderaunce of al false doctrine to our own eternal coÌ„fort in the same our lord alone Sauiour Iesus Christ To whoÌ„ wyth the father and the holy ghost be all honour al glory al thankes and all praise world without ende Amen Faultes escaped in the pryntyng Leafe Line Faultes Corrected 3 22 I do I do know 19 1 Ridley Cranmer 19 30 Resilcat Rescilcat 20 34 proucratorum procuratorum 26 3 tanta constantia tantaque constantia 26 8 Annunciaueriâ—t Annunciauerunt 26 22 pufillum pusillum 26 34 Religioni Religionis 32 15 Sat egistis Sategistis 32 25 qÌ„ pij erant qui pij crant 33 23 equae aeque 44 14 omium omnium 44 36 Cromerum Cromeum 44 21 per manebit permanebit 45 6 veritati veritatis 49 16 felowes coÌ„captiues fellowes concaptiues 51 33 Gloria Christ Gloria Christi 53 5 before Ea. before Easter 56 11 Commedo Commendo 70 1 haue haue done 72 2 Consilij Concilij 78 4 in the se in the second 90 21 loeuers louers 92 37 after the Christes after Christes 96 30 truth it is truth is 192 7 pupose purpose 214 20 worlynges worldlinges 223 1 Saunders Philpot 249 28 Godtto God to 251 30 me from from me 297 15 thy vengeaunce gods vengeance 363 37 god gods 394 10 fayre farre 394 12 woulh would 427 9 loseth lasteth 429 9 inage Image 476 5 myne owne for myne owne 591 38 wholes holes 567 1 R. Smith I. Careles Certayne godly and fruitfull letters of D. Cranmer late Archbishop of Canterbury who first being imprisoned in the Tower of London and afterward in Oxford was there cruelly burnt for the true testimony of Christes gospel in the yeare of our Lorde 1556. the 16. daye of Februarye Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Caunterbury to Quene Mary MOst lamentably mourning moning himself vnto your highnes Thomas CraÌ„mer although vnworthy either to write or speake vnto your highnes yet hauing no persoÌ„ that I know to be mediatour for me and knowing your pitifull eares ready to heare al pitiful complaintes and seing so many before to haue felte your aboundaunt clemency in like case He desired to be released of his offence for consentyng vnto kyng Edwardes wyll and so he was but after was accused of heresy which he best liked for then he knewe hys cause was christes am now constrained most lamentably and with most penitent and sorowfull heart to aske mercy and pardon for my haynous folly and offence in consenting and folowyng the TestameÌ„t and last will of our late soueraigne Lord king Edward the syxt your graces brother which will god knoweth God he knoweth I neuer liked nor neuer any thing greued me so much that your graces brother did and if by any meanes it had bene in me to haue letted the makyng of that will I would haue done it and what I said therin as well to his counsell as to himselfe diuers of your Maiesties counsell can report but none so wel as the Marques of NorthhaÌ„pton and the Lord Darcy then Lord Chamberlayne to the kynges Maiesty which two were present at the communication betwene the Kynges Maiestye and me I desired to talke with the kings maiesty alone but I could not be suffered and so I fayled of my purpose for yf I might haue commoned with the king alone at good leasure my trust was that I shuld haue altered hym from that purpose but they being present my labour was in vayne Then when I could not disswade him from
remembrance and wish you and all the rest of our foresayde companions well in Christ It should do vs much comfort if we might haue knowledge of the state of the rest of our most dearely beloued which in this troublesome time doe stande in Christes cause and in the defence of the truth therof We are in good health thankes be to God yet the manner of our entreting doth chaung as soure ale doth in sōmer It is reported to vs of our kepers that the vniuersity beareth vs heauely A cole chaunced to fal in the night out of the chimney burnt a hole in the floore no more harme was done the balifes seruants sitting by the fyer An other night there chaunced a drunken fellow to multiply wordes and for the same he was set in Bocardo Vpon these thinges as is reported there is risē a rumor in the towne countrey about that we would haue brokē the prisō with such violēce as if the balifes had not plaid the prety men we should haue made a scape We had out of our prisō a wal that we might haue walked vpon and our seruants had liberty to go abroad in the towne or fieldes but now both they and we are restrayned of both The bishop of Worceter passed by vs through Oxford but he did not visit vs. The same day beganne our restraint to be more and the boke of the communion was taken from vs by the balifes at the Mayors commaundemēt No man is licenced to come vnto vs afore they might that woulde see vs vpon the wal but that is so grudgod at and so euel reported that we are now restrayned c. Sir blessed be God with all oure euell reportes grudginges and restrayntes we are mery in God and all our eare is and shal be by gods grace to please serue him of whome we loke and hope after this temporall and momentany miseries to haue eternall ioy and perpetuall felicity with Abraham Isaac and Iacob Peter and Paule and al the blessed company of the aungels in heauen through Iesus Christ our lord As yet there was neuer lerned man or any scholer or other that visited vs since we came into Bocardo Bocardo is a stinking and filthy prison for drunkards whores and harlottes and the vilest sort of people which now in Oxford may be called a colledge of quondās for as you know we be no fewer here thē thre and I dare say euery one well contented with his portion whiche I doe recken to be our heauenly fathers gracious fatherly good gift Thus fare you wel We shal with gods grace one day mete together be mery the daye assuredly approcheth apace the lord graūt that it may shortly come for before that day come I feare me the world wyl waxe worse worse but thē al our enemies shal be ouerthrown troden vnder foote righteousnes truth then shall haue the victory and beare the bell away wherof the lord graunte vs to be partners all that sincerely loue the truth We al pray you as you can to cause al our commēdations to be made to all such as you know did visit vs you when we were in the tower with theyr frendly remēbrances benefites Mistres Wilkinson mistres Warcup haue not forgottē vs but euen since we came into Bocardo with theyr charitable frēdly beneuolence haue cōforted vs Not that els we lacke for god be blessed which euer hetherto hath prouided sufficiently for vs but it is a great cōfort an occasion for vs to blesse god when we se that he maketh them so frendly to tender vs whom some of vs were neuer familierly acquaynted withall Yours in Christ N. R. To maister Bradford DEarely beloued I wysh you grace mercy peace According to your mind I haue run ouer all your papers and what I haue done which is but smal therin may appeare Sir what shall beste be done with these thinges This was a treatise of the communiō with other thinges which M. Bradforde sent to hym to peruse to geue his iudgement therof now you must consider for if they come in sight at this time vndoubtedly they must to the fier with theyr father and as for any safegarde that your custody can be vnto them I am sure you loke not for it for as you haue bene partner of the worke so I am sure you loke for none other but to haue and receaue like wages and to drinke of the same cuppe Blessed be god that hath geuen you libertye in the meane ceason that you may vse your pen to his glory to the comfort as I heare say of manye I blesse god dayly in you and all your whole companye to whome I beseche you to commend me hartly Now I loue my countreyman in deede and in truth I meane D. Taylor not now for my earthly countreis sake but for oure heauenly fathers sake whome I heard say he did so stoutly in time of perill confesse and yet also now for our countreis sake and for all our mothers sake but I meane of the kingdome of heauen and of heauenly hierusalem and bicause of the sprite which bringeth in hym in you and in your cōpany such blessed fruites of boldnes in the lords cause of pacience and constācy The Lord which hath begon this worke in you al performe and perfite this his own dede vntill his own day come Amen As yet I perceiue you haue not beene baited the cause therof God knoweth which wil let them do no more to his then is his pleased will and good pleasure to suffer them to do for his own glory and to the profit of them which be trulye his for the father whiche dothe guide thē that be christs to Christe is more mighty than all they and no man is able to pulle thē out of the fathers hands except I say it please our father it please our maister Christe to suffer them they shal not be able to sturre one heare of your heades My brother P. the bearer hereof would that we shoulde say what we thynke good concerninge your mynde that is not for to aunswere excepte ye myghte haue somewhat indifferent iudges We are as ye know separated one of vs can not in any thing consult with an other and muche straite watching of the baylifes is about vs that there be no priuy conference amongest vs. And yet as we heare the scholers beare vs more heauelye then the townsemen A wonderful thing among so many neuer yet scholer offred to any of vs so farre as I know any manner of fauor either for or in Christes cause Now as concerning your demaunde of our counsell for my part I do not mislike that which I perceiue ye are minded to do for I loke for none other but if ye aunswere before the same commissioners that we did ye shal be serued handled as we were though ye were as wel lerned as euer was either Peter
thus Although thy Episcopall Sea now beinge ioyned in league with the seate of Sathā thus hath now both handled me the saintes of God yet I do not doubt but in that greate City there be many priuy mourners which do dayly mourne for that mischief the which neuer did nor shall consent to that wickednesse but do detest abhorre it as the wayes of Satan But these preuy mourners here I wil passe by and bid them fare well with theyr fellowes hereafter His farewel to these mourners is in the letter nexte followyng when the place and occasion shall more conueniently require Amonge the worshipfull of the City and speciallye which were in office of the Meraltye yea and in other Citizens also whome to name now it shall not be necessary in the time of my Ministerye which was from the later parte of sir Rowland hilles yeare vnto sir George Barnes yere a great part therof I do acknowledge that I found no small humanity gētlenesse as me thought but to say the truth that I do esteme aboue al other for true christiā kīdnes which is shewed in gods cause and done for his sake Wherfore O Dobbes Dobbes Alder man knight thou in thy yere diddest win my hart for euer more for that honorable act that most blessed worke of god of the erection setting vp of Christs holy hospitales truly religions houses which by thee through thee were begon For thou like a mā of God whē the matter was moued for the reliefe of Christes poore selye members to be holpen from extreame miserye hunger and famine thy harte I say was moued with pity and as Christs highe honourable officer in that cause thou calledst together thy Brethren the Aldermen of the City before whome thou brakest the matter for the poore thou diddest pleade theyr cause yea and not only in thine own person thou diddest setforth Christs cause but to further the matter thou broughtest me into the counsell Chamber of the City before the Aldermen alone whom thou haddest assembled there together to heare me speake what I could say as an aduocate by office and duetye in the pore mens cause the Lord wrought with thee and gaue thee the consent of thy brethren wherby the matter was brought to the common counsell and so to the whole bodye of the Citye by whome withe an vniforme consente it was committed to be drawne ordered and deuysed by a certayn number of the moste wittye citizens and politique endued also wyth godlines with ready hartes to setforward such a noble act as could be chosē in all the whole city they like true faythful ministers both to their city their maister Christ so ordered deuised and brought forth the matter that thousandes of sely poore mēbers of Christ which els for extreme hunger and misery should haue famished and perished shal be relieued holpen brought vp shal haue cause to blesse the Aldermen of that time the common counsell and the whole body of the city but specially thee O Dobbes and those chosen men by whom this honorable worke of god was begon and wrought and that so long through out al ages as that godly work shal endure which I pray almighty god may be euer vnto the worldes ende Amen And thou O Sir George Barnes the truth it is to be cōfessed to gods glory and to the good example of other thou wast in thy yeare not only a furtherer and contynuer of that which before thee by thy predecessor was well begon but also diddest laboure so to haue perfyted the woorke that it should haue bene an absolute thing and a perfect spectacle of true charity and godlines vnto all christendome Thyne endeuour was to haue set vp an house of occupatiōs both that al kind of pouerty beyng able to worke should not haue lacked whervpon profytablye they myght haue bene occupied to theyr own relief and to the profyte and commodity of the commen wealth of the City and also to haue retired thithers the poore babes broughte vp in the Hospitales when they hadde come to a certayne age and strengthe and also al those which in the Hospitalles aforesayd haue bene cured of theyr diseases And to haue brought this to passe thou obteinedst not without great diligence and labor both of thee and thy brethren of that godly king Edward that christian and pierles Princes hand his princely place of Bridewell and what other things to the performance of the same and vnder what condition it is not vnknown That this thine endeuor hath not had like successe the fault is not in thee but in the conditiō state of the time which the lord of his infinit mercy vouchsafe to amende when it shal be hys grations wil pleasure Farewel now al ye Citizens that be of god of what state cōdition so euer ye be vndoubtedly in London ye haue heard Gods word truely preached My harts desire and dayly prayer shal be for you as for whom for my time I know to my lord God I am countable that ye neuer swarue neyther for losse of life nor worldly goodes from Gods holy word and yeld vnto Antichrist wherupō must nedes follow the extreme displeasure of God the losse both of youre bodies soules into perpetuall dampnation for euermore Now that I haue gone through the places where I haue dwelt any space in the time of my pilgrimage here vpō earth remembringe that for the space of kinge Ewardes raygne which was for the time of mine office in the Seas of Lōdon and Rochester I was a member of the higher house of the parliament therefore seing my God hath geuen me leysure and the remembraunce therof I will byd my Lordes of the temporalty farewell They shall haue no iust cause by Gods grace to take it that I entende to say in ill parte As for the spiritul Prelacy that now is I haue nothing to say to them except I should repeat again a great part of that I haue sayd before nowe alredye to the sea of London To you therfore my Lordes of the temporaltie wil I speake and this would I haue you fyrst to vnderstande that when I wrote this I loked dayly when I should be called to the chaunge of thys lyfe and thought that thys my wrytyng should not come to your knowlege before the time of the dissolution of my body and soule shoulde bee expired and therefore knowe ye that I had before myne eyes only the feare of God and christian charity towarde you whiche moued me to wryte for of you hereafter I looke not in this worlde either for pleasure or displeasure If my talke shall do you neuer so much pleasure or profite you cānot promote me nor if I displease you ye can not hurte me or harme me for I shall be out of youre reache Now therfore if you feare God and can be contente to heare the talk of him that seeketh nothing at your
boke the testamēt of Iesus Christ in these woful wretched dais what you shold thinke and what you should stay vpon for a certayne truth and whatsoeuer you heare taught trie it by your boke whether it be true or false The dayes be daungerous and ful of perill not only for the world and worldly thinges but for heauen and heauenly thinges It is a trouble to loose the treasures of this life but yet a verye paine if they be kepte with the offence of god Cry call praye and in Christ daily requyre helpe succour mercy wisdome grace and defence that the wickednes of this world preuaile not againste vs. We began well god preserue vs vntill the ende I woulde wryte more often vnto you but I do perceyue you be at so much charges with me that I feare you would thinke whē I write I craue Send me nothyng tyll I send to you for it and so tell the good men your partners and whē I nede I will be bold of you .3 Decem. 1554. Yours with my prayer I. Hoper A report of hys miserable imprisonment and most cruell handlyng by Babington that enemye of god and of hys truthe then Warden of the Fleete THe fyrst of Semptember 1553. I was committed vnto the Flete from Richmont to haue the liberty of the prison and within vi dais after I payed for my liberty fyue poundes sterling to the Warden for fees who immediatly vpon the paymente therof complained vnto Steven Gardiner bishop of Winchester and so was I committed to close pryson one quarter of a yeare in the Tower chāber of the Fleete vsed very extremely Then by the meanes of a good gentlewoman I had libertye to come downe to dinner and supper and not to speake wyth any of my frendes but as soone as dinner and supper was done to repayre to my chamber againe Notwithstanding whiles I came downe thus to dinner and supper the Warden and hys wyfe pyked quarels with me and complained vntruly of me to their great frend the bishop of winchester After one quarter of a yeare and somewhat more the Warden and hys wyfe fell out with me for the wicked masse and thereupon the warden resorted to the byshop of Winchester obteined to put me into the wardes where I haue continued a long time hauing nothing appoynted to me for my bedde but a little pad of straw a rotten couerynge with a tike and a few fethers therin the chamber beyng vile and stynckynge vntill by Gods meanes good people sente me bedding to lye in of the one side of which prison is the synke filth of all the house on the other syde the towne ditch so that the stinche of the house hath infected me wythe sundrye diseases During which tyme I haue bene sicke the dores barres haspes and chaynes beinge all closed and made faste vpon me I haue mourned called and cryed for helpe But the warden when he hath knowen me many tymes redy to dye and when the poore men of the wardes haue called to helpe me hath commaunded the doores to be kepte fast and charged that none of hys men should come at me sayenge lette hym alone it were a good riddaunce of hym And amonge manye other tymes he did thus the 18. of October 1553. as many can witnes I payd alwayes like a Baron to the sayd warden aswell in fees as for my boord whych was xx shyllinges a weke besides my mans table vntil I was wrongfullye depriued of my bishoprycke And sithens that time I haue payde hym as the beste gentleman doth in hys house yet hath he vsed me worse and more vylye then the veriest slaue that euer came to the hall commons The sayde warden hath also emprisoned my man Wylliam Downton and strypped him out of his clothes to search for letters and could finde none but onelye a little remembraunce of good people names that gaue me theyr almes to relieue me in prisonne And to vndoe them also the Warden deliuered the same bill vnto the sayd Steuen Gardiner Gods enemy and myne I haue suffred emprisonmente almost eighten monethes my goods lyuyng frendes and comfort taken from me the Quene owyng me by iuste accompte foure score poundes or more She hath putte me in pryson and geueth nothynge to fynde me neyther is there suffred any to come at me wherby I myght haue relief I am with a wicked man and woman so that I see no remedy sauyng Gods help but I shal be cast away in prison before I can come to iudgement But I commit my iuste cause to God whose will be doone whether it be by life or death Iohn Hoper ¶ A letter concerning the vayne and false reportes whiche were spreade abrode of him that he had recanted and abiured that doctrine whiche he before had preached THe grace and peace of God be wyth al them that vnfeinedly loke for the coming of our sauiour Christ Amē Deare brethren and sisters in our lord and my fellow prisoners for the cause of Gods gospell I do reioyce and geue thankes vnto God for your constancy and perseuerance in affliction wyshing and praying vnto him for your continuance therin to the end And as I do reioyce in your faythfull and constant affliction that be in prisō euen so do I mourne and lament to heare of our deare brethren abroade that yet haue not suffred nor felt such daūgers for Gods truth as we haue and do fele are like dayly to suffer more yea the very extreme death of the fier Yet suche is the reporte abroade as I am crediblye informed that I Iohn Hoper a condemned man for the cause of Christ now after sentence of death being in Newgate prisonner lokinge daylye for execution shoulde recante and abiure that heretofore I haue preached And thys talke riseth of this that the byshoppe of London and his chapleines resort vnto me Doubtles if our brethren were as godly as I could wish them to be thei would think that in case I did refuse to talke wyth them they might haue iust occasiō to say that I were vnlerned disdained to speak with them Therfore to auoyd iust suspition of both I haue and doe daylye speake wythe them when they come not doubtinge but they will reporte that I am neyther proude nor vnlearned And I would wysh all men to do as I doe in thys poynte for I feare not theyr argumentes neyther is death terrible vnto me wherfore I pray you to make true export of the same as occasiō shal serue also that I am more confyrmed in the truthe that heretofore I haue preached by theyr cōmunication and ye that may send to the weake bretherne abroad prayinge thē that they trouble me not with such reports of recātation as they do For I haue hetherto left all thinges of this world suffred great paynes long imprisonment I thanke God I am ready euen as gladly to suffer deathe for the truthe I haue preached as a
mortall man may be Oh Lord how slipper the loue of man yea man him self is It were better for them to pray for vs rather then to credite or reise rumours that bee vntrue vnlesse they were more certaine thereof then euer they shall be able to proue we haue enemies enough of such as knowe not God Truly this report of weake brethern is a double trouble and a triple crosse I do wyshe you eternall saluation in Chryste Iesu and also require your continuall prayer that he whyche hath begonne in vs may saue vs to the ende I haue taught this truth wyth my tounge and penne heretofore and hereafter shortly will confyrme by Gods grace the same wyth my bloode Pray for me gentle brethern haue no mistrust From New gate 2. February Your brother Iohn Hoper To maistres Wilkinson a woman harty in gods cause comfortable to his aflicted members THe grace of God and the comfort of hys holy spiryte be with you Amen I am very glad to heare of your health doe thank you for your louing tokeÌ„s But I am a great deale more glad to heare how christianly you auoyd idolatry prepare your selfe to suffer the extremity of the world rather theÌ„ to endaunger your selfe to God You do as you ought to do in this behalfe and in suffrynge of transitory paynes you shall auoyde permanent torments in the world to come Vse your life and keepe it with as much quietnes as you canne so that you offeÌ„d not God The ease that coÌ„meth with hys displeasure turneth at length to vnspeakable paynes the gaines of the world with the losse of his fauour is beggary wretchednes Reason is to be ameÌ„ded in this cause of religioÌ„ for it wil choose follow an errour with the multitude if it may be allowed rather then turne to fayth and follow the truth wyth the people of God Moses found the same fault in himselfe did amend it choosyng rather to be afflicted with the people of God Heb. 11. then to vse the libertye of the kynges daughter that accounted hym as her sonne Praye for contentation and peace of the spryte and reioyce in such troubles as shall happeÌ„ vnto you for the truthes sake for in that part Christ saith you be happy Math. 5. Pray also for me I pray you that I may do in al things the wil of our heauenly father to whose tuition and defence I commend you To my dearely beloued Syster in the Lord maistres A. W. THe grace of god be with you AmeÌ„ I thank you for your louing token I pray you burden not your self to much it were mete for me rather to beare a payn then to be a hinderance to many I did reioice at the coÌ„ming of this bearer to vnderstaÌ„d of your constaÌ„cy how that you be fully resolued by gods grace rather to suffer extremity theÌ„ to go froÌ„ that truth in God whych you haue professed He that gaue you grace to begyn in so infallible a truth wil followe you in the same vnto the end But my louing Sister as you be traueling this perillous iourney take this lessoÌ„ with you practised by wyse men whereof ye may reade in the seconde of Sayncte Mathewes gospel Such as traueled to fynde Chryst followed onely the starre and as long as they sawe it they were assured they were in the right way and had greate mirth in thery iourney But when they entred into Ierusalem wher as the starre led them not thether but vnto Bethelem and there asked the citizens the thinge that the starre shewed before as long as they taried in Hierusalem and would be instructed where Christ was borne they were not only ignoraunt of Bethelem but also lost the syghte of the starre that ledde them before Whereof we learne in any case whiles we be going in this life to seeke Christ that is aboue to beware we lose not the starre of Gods word that only is the marke that sheweth vs where Christe is and which waye we maye come vnto hym But as Ierusalem stode in the way was an impedimentte to these wise menne so doth the sinagoge of Antichryste that beareth the name of Ierusalem whiche by interpretacion is called the vision of peace and amonges the people now is called the catholike church standeth in the way that pilgrymes must go by through thys world to Bethelem the house of saturity and plentifulnes and is an impediment to al Christian trauellers yea and except the more grace of God be will kepe the pilgrimes stil in her that they shall not come wher Christ is at al. And to stay them in dede they take away the starre of light which is Gods word that it can not be sene as as ye maye see howe the celestiall starre was hyd froÌ„ the wyse men wheÌ„ they asked of the Phareseis at HierusaleÌ„ wher Christ was borne Ye may see what great daungers happened vnto these wise men whyles they were a learning of liers where Christ was Fyrst they were oute of theyr way and next they lost their guide and conductour the heauenly starre Christ is mounted from vs into heauen and there we seke hym as we say let vs therfore go the theâ—ward by the starre of hys worde and beware we happen not to come into Hierusalem the church of men aske for him If we do we go out of the way lose also our conductor guide that only leadeth vs strayght thether The Poetes write in fables that Iason wheÌ„ he fought with the dragoÌ„ in the I le of Colchis was preserued by the medicines of Medea and so wan the golden fleese And they write also that Titan whom they fayne to be sonne and heyre of the highe God Iubiter woulde neades vpon a day haue the conducting of the Sun round about the world but as they fayne he missed of the accustomed course wherupon when he went to hygh he burned heauen wheÌ„ he went to low he burned the earth the water These prophane histories do shame vs that he christiaÌ„ men Iason agaynst the poison of the dragon vsed onlye the medicine of Medea What a shame is it for a Christian man agaynste the poyson of the deuyl heresye and synne to vse any other remedye then Christ and hys woorde Titan for lacke of knowledge was afearde of euerye signe of the Zodiake that the sonne passeth by wherfore he now went to low and now to high and at length fell down and drowned him selfe in the sea Christian men for lacke of knowlege and for feare of such daungers as ChristiaÌ„ men must nedes passe by goe cleane out of order at length fall into the pitte of hel Sister take heede you shall in your iourney towardes heauen mete with manye a moÌ„strous beast haue salue of gods word therfore ready Ye shall mete husband children louers frendes that shal if god be not with them as god be praysed he is I would it were with al other
muche expedient to lead gouerne the iudgement of euery Christian mā where we may see that the Corinthians in dede had knowlege perceaued right well that neither the idoles amongest them neyther the meate dedicated vnto the idoles were any thing passed as light of both as of thinges of nothing vppon that knowledge vsed to be present and also to eate at the feast of the meate dedicated vnto Idoles Wherewithall Paule was so sore offended that he gaue this sentence if a man see thee which hast knowledge 1. Cor. 8 sit at table in the Idoles tēple shal not the conscience of him which is weake be boldened to eate those things which are sacrificed to Idoles and through thy knowledge shall the weake brother perish for whō Christ died Now when ye sinne so against the brethren and wound their weake conscience ye sinne against Christ This iudgement of Paul is more to be followed thē al our own fayned and wrested defences which would fayne seme to do wel whē we halt on both sides which god abhorreth Paule hath a profounde depe consideration of that mans fault that hath knowledge perceaueth his dissimulation to be daūgerous perilous to al persons which he dwelleth with al. First such as be of a right and stayed iudgement and will not prostrate their bodies to an Idole do condemne nedes must such dissimulation The very Idolaters themselues haue a defence of their abhomination by the presence of him that the Christiā congregatiō knoweth to haue knowledge The weaker sort that would gladly take the best way by a dissemblers halting playing of both handes embraceth both in body and in soule the euil that he abhorreth in hys hart and though he haue knowledge yet with his presence he estemeth it as other do which haue no knowledge If S Paule sayd that the weake brother doth perish for whō Christ died by him that abused knowledge in meates and drinkes that of themselues be indifferent how muche more by the knowledge of him that vseth manifeste Idolatry forbidden of God as a thing not indifferent Take hede what s Paule meaneth and what he would proue against this man which had knowledge that neither the Idoles neither the meates dedicated to Idoles were any thing Forsooth this would he proue that a poore man that wanteth knowledge by the example of him that hath knowledge doth there aduenture to do euil which he would not do in case he sawe not those that he hath good opinion of to go before him as authors of the euill And in dede the ignoraunte people or those that be halfe perswaded in a truth yea or els throughly perswaded what is euill when they haue any notable men or women for an example to follow they thinke in following of them they be excused yea although peraduenture they do it against their consciences as ye may see how many good men by the example of Peter began to dissemble yea Barnabas hymselfe the Apostle of the Gentiles Gala. 2 But how great offence this is before god so to make a doubtful cōscience or striuig against knowledge to do any thing that is not godly let the iudgement of men passe and measure it from gods word Christ sayth Math. 18 it were better a milstone were hanged about such an offenders necke cast into the sea And doutlesse the payne must be the greater bycause we geue offence willingly and agaynst our owne consciences and thys before God is a wicked knowledge that causeth an other to perishe Woe be vnto hym that is learned to bring his brother to destruction Doth a Christian man know the truth to bring his brother to a lye For those weaklinges that we make to stomble Christ died as S. Paul sayth God defend we should confyrme any mans conseience in euil Let euery mā of god waye with himselfe the doctrine of S. Paul that cōmaundeth vs to flye Idolatrye 1. Cor. 10 And marke what s Paul in that place calleth Idolatrye It is to be sene plainly that he speaketh not of such idolatry as men that lacke knowledge in their hartes what god is and what god is not do commit For in the .8 chapter before he sayth that men knowe that the idoles were no gods and that although by name the gentiles had many gods yet they knew that there was but one god Therfore he meaneth nothing by this cōmaūdement fly idolatry but to auoyd such rites ceremonies and vsages as outwardly wer vsed in the honour reuerēce of the idoles that wer no gods and waying the right vse of the Lords supper and the dignitie therof with the manner and vse of the Gentiles towards their gods he would bring the church of the Corrinthians to vnderstand how that as the diuine and sacrate rites ceremonies and vse of the sacrament of Christes body and blood did sanctifye him and declare hym that vsed it to be the seruaunt and child of God so dyd the rites sacramentes of the Gentiles defile the vsers therof and declared them to be the seruauntes and children of the idole notwithstanding that they knew in their harts the idole was nothing God by his sacrament doth couple vs vnto him let vs pray therfore to him that we pollute not our selues with any rites ceremonies or vsages not instituted by god and so diuide our selues from him In this cause if a faithful man should be at the masse it is to be considered with what mind those that he doth there accompany himselfe withal do come thyther and what the ende is of the worke that the priest doth The people come to honour the bread and wine for god and the priest purposeth to consecrate bothe god and man and so to offer Christe to the father for remission of sinne Nowe do they that adioyne them selues vnto those people professe and declare a societie and fellowship of the same impietye as s Paul layd to the Corrinthians charge S. Paule was not offēded with the Corinthians bicause they lacked knowledge of the true God but bicause contrary to their knowledge they associated thē selues with idolaters For this is true that in al rites sacraments honorings whether they be of god or of the deuil there is a professiō of a communion so that euery man protesteth to be of the same religiō that the rest be of that be pertakers with him I know there be many euasions made by men that iudge a mā may with sauegard of conscience be at the masse But forasmuch as M Caluine M. Bullynger and other haue throughlye aunsweared them suche as be in doubte maye reade theyr bookes This is my cōscience after Gods woorde Iohn Hoper ¶ An epistle of the famous learned man M. Henry Bullinger written to M. Hoper in the tyme of hys trouble which for the worthines of the matter we thought not impartinent here to place emonges hys letters Reuerendissimo VVigorniae Glocestriae Episcopo D. Ioanni
religion and therefore can not subscribe excepte we will dissemble both with God our selues and the world Haec tibi scribo frater mi charisime in domino I am legam tuā epiflolam Ah brother that I hadde practicam tecum scientiam in vite illa quā pingis Iohn 15 roga dominum vt ita verê sentiam Amen God make me thankeful for you Salutant te omnes cōcaptiui gratias domino pro te agunt idē tu facies pro nobis ores vt c. Your brother in the Lord Iesus to liue and dye with you Iohn Bradford An other letter to Maister Laurence Saunders MY good brother I besech our good god gratious father alwayes to cōtinue his gracious fauoure and loue towardes vs by vs as by instrumentes of his grace to worke hys glory confusion of his aduersaryes This frend moued them to subscribe to the papistes articles wyth this conditiō so farre as they wer not against Gods worde being in dede cleane contrary to it and yet shortly after he valiantly suffred death for refusing the same Ex ore infantium lactentium fundet laudem ad destruendum inimicū c Amē I haue perused your letters to my self haue redde them to others For answere whereof if I should write what D. Taylour and Maister Philpotte doe thinke then muste I saye that they thynke the salte sente vnto vs by your frende is vnseasonable And in deede I thynke they both wyll declare it hartelye if they shoulde come before them As for me if you woulde knowe what I thynke my good and moste deare brother Laurence because I am so synnefull and so conspurcate the Lorde knoweth I lye not with manye greuous sinnes whiche yet I hope are washed away sanguine Christi nostri I neither can nor would be cōsulted withal but as a sipher in Agrime Howbeit to tel you how and what I minde take this for a summe I pray God in no case I may seeke my self And in deede I thanke God therfore I purpose it not Quod reliquum est domino Deo meo committo spero in illum quod ipse faciet iuxta hoc iacta in dominum curam Psa 54 Psa 36 Psal 31. c. Omni cura vestra coniecta in illum c. Reuela domino viam tuam spera c. Sperantem in domino misericordia circumdabit I did not nor do not knowe but by youre letters quod cras we shal come corā nobis Myne owne hart sticke stil to dabitur vobis Math. 10. 1. Cor. 10 3. pet 2 fidelis enim est dominus dabit in tentatione euentum quo possimus sufferre Nouit dominus pios ê tentatione c. O vtinam pius ego essem Nouit dominus in die tribulationis sperātes in se c. Nahū 1. I can not thinke that they will offer any kinde of indifferent or meane conditions For if we wil not adorare bestiam we neuer shall be deliuered but against their will thinke I. God our Father and gracious Lord make perfecte the good he hath begonne in vs. Faciet mi frater charisime frater quem in intimis visceribus habeo ad conuinendum commoriendum O si tecum essem Praye for me myne own hart roote in the Lord. For euer your own Iohn Bradforde A letter which he wrote to a faythfull woman in her heauines and trouble most comfortable for all those that are afflicted and broken harted for their sinnes AH my dearly beloued most dearely beloued in the Lorde howe pensiue is my harte presently for you by reasō of the feareful iudgement of our god which euē now I heard for truth by Richarde Proude God oure good father for his greate mercies sake in christ haue mercy vpō vs so with his eternal consolation comforte you my deare harte as I desyre in my moste nede to be of him comforted Amen The cause why since the recept of your letter I haue not sent vnto you this bringer cā tel you yea if I had not heard for truth of this heuie chaunce as yet you had not thus sone heard from me For I beganne of late a peece of woorke for your comfort wherof I send you now but a parte because my hart is heauie for your sake and I can not be quiet til I heare how you do in thys crosse Wherein my deare sister I beseche you to bee of good comforte and to bee no more discouraged then was Dauid of Absolons death the good Ionathas of hys father Saules fearefull ende Adam of Cain Noe of Cham Iacob of Ruben and the Godly Bethsabee of the terrible ende of her father or at the leaste her Graundfathers death Achitophell Not that I vtterly condempne and iudge your father for I leaue it to God but because the facte of it selfe declareth Gods secrets and fearefull iudgemente and iustice towardes hym and all men and hys greate mercye towardes vs admonishynge all the worlde howe that he is to bee dred and feared and Sathan not to sleepe and vs his children especiallye howe weake and miserable we bee of oure selues and howe happie we are in hym whiche haue him to bee oure father protectour and keeper and shall haue for euer more so that no euill shall touche vs further then shall make to oure fathers glorye and to our euerlasting commoditie And therfore let thys iudgement of God be an occasiō to stirre vs vp more carefully to walke before GOD and vnfaynedly to caste oure whole care vppon oure deare father whiche neuer can nor will leaue vs for hys calling and giftes be such that he can neuer repente hym of them Roma 11. whom he loueth he loueth to the ende none of hys chosen can perish Of whiche number I knowe you are my dearely beloued sister God encrease the fayth thereof dayly more and more in you he geue vnto you to hange wholye on hym and on hys prouidence and protection For who so dwelleth vnder that secrete thyng and helpe of the Lorde Psa 90.31 he shall be cocke sure for euer more he that dwelleth I saye for if we be flitters and not dwellers as was Loth a flitter from Segor where GOD promised hym protection if he had dwelled there still we shall remoue to oure losse as he dyd into the Mountaines Genesis 19. Dwell therefore that is truste and that finallye vnto the ende in the Lorde my deare sister and you shall bee as Mounte Sion As Mountaynes compasse Ierusalem so dothe the Lorde all hys people Howe then can he forgette you whiche are as the apple of hys eye for hys deare sonnes sake Ah deare harte that I were nowe but one halfe houre wyth you to bee a Simon to helpe to carye youre crosse with you GOD sende you some good Simon to bee with you and helpe you I will bee a Simon absente to carye as I can learne youre crosse whiche you haue promysed not to hyde from
with pacience in the feare of god that ye others our brethren through our example may be so encouraged and strengthened to followe vs that ye also may leaue example to your weake brethren in the world to followe you Amen Consider what I say the Lord geue vs vnderstandyng in all thinges 2. Tim. 2 3. Cor. 7 1. Iohn 2. Brethren the time is short it remayneth that ye vse this world as though ye vsed it not for the fashion of this world vanysheth away Se that ye loue not the world neither the things that are in the world But set your affectioÌ„ on heaueÌ„ly things where Christ sitteth on the right hand of god Be meke long sufferiÌ„g serue edisy one an other with the gift that god hath geueÌ„ you Beware of strauÌ„ge doctrine lay aside the old coÌ„uersatioÌ„ of gredy lustes walke in a new lyfe Beware of al vncleannes couetousnes folish talking false doctrine dronkennes reioyce be thankful towards god submit your selues one to an other Cease froÌ„ synne spend no more time in vice be sober apt to pray be pacient in trouble loue ech other let the glorye of god profite of your neyghbours be the only marke you shote at in al your doings Repent ye of the life that is past take better hede to your doings hereafter And aboue al things cleaue ye fast to hym who was deliuered to death for our sinnes rose agayne for our iustification To whom with the father the holy ghost be al honour rule for euer more Amen Salute froÌ„ me in Christ al others whiche loue vs in the fayth and at your discretion make them partakers of these letters and praye ye all for me and other in bondes for the gospel that the same god which by his grace hath called vs from wicked papistrye vnto true christianitie and nowe of loue proueth our patience by persecution will of his mercy fauour in the end gloriously deliuer vs eyther by death or by lyfe to hys glory AmeÌ„ At Lancaster the .30 of Aug. 1554. By me an vnprofitable seruaunt and prisoner of Christ George Marshe The copy of a letter wrytten by Steuen Cotton to his brother Iohn cotton declaryng how he was beaten of Bonner BRother in the name of the Lord Iesus I commend me vnto you and I do hartely thanke you for your godlye exhortatioÌ„ and counsel in your last letter declared to me And albeit I do perceiue by your letter you are informed that as we are diuers persons in number so are we of contrary sectes conditions and opinioÌ„s contrary to that good opinion you had of vs at your last being with vs in Newgate be you most assured good brother in the Lord Iesus the we are al of one mind one raith one assured hope in our lord Iesus whome I trust we altogether wyth one spirite one brotherly loue do daily call vpon for mercy and forgeuenes of our sinnes wyth earnest repentance of our former lyues and by whose precious blood hedyng we truste to be saued onely and by no other meanes Wherefore good brother in the name of the lord seyng these impudent people whose mindes are altogether bent to wickednes enuy vncharitablenes euill speakyng doe go aboute to slaunder vs wyth vntruth beleue them not neither let their wycked sayings once enter into your minde And I trust one day to see you again although now I am in gods pryson which is a ioyful schole to them that loue their lord and god and to me beyng a simple scholer most ioyful of al. Good brother once again I do in the name of our lord Iesus exhort you to pray for me that I may fight strongly in the lordes battail to be a good souldiour to my captaine Iesus Christ our lord and desire my Sister also to do the same and do not ye mourne or lamente for me but bee ye glad and ioyfull of thys my trouble For I trust to be losed out of this dongeon shortly and to go to euerlasting ioy which neuer shal haue ende I heard howe ye were wyth the commissioners for me and how ye were suspected to be one of our company I praye you sue no more for me good brother But one thing I shal desire you to be at my departing out of thys lyfe that you may beare witnes with me that I shal die I trust in god a true christian I hope all my coÌ„panions in the lord our God therefore beleue not these euil disposed people who are the authors of all vntruth I praye you prouide for me a longe shirt against the day of our deliueraÌ„ce for the shirt you gaue me last I haue geueÌ„ it to one of my coÌ„panioÌ„s who had more neede then I and as for the money and meate you sent vs the bishops seruantes deliuered none to vs neither he whoÌ„ you had so great trust in Brother there is none of them to trust to for qualis magister talis serâ—us I haue ben twise beateÌ„ and threatened to be beaten againe by the bishop hymselfe I suppose we shal go into the countrey to Fulham to the bishops house and there be araigned I would haue you to harken as much as you can for when we shal go it shal be sodainly done Thus fare ye wel From the Colehouse thys present Friday Your brother Steuen Cotton A letter of Richard Rothe burnte at Islington to certayne condemned at Colchester ready to die for the lordes cause writen with his own blood O Deare brethren and Sisters how much haue you to reioyce in god that he hath geuen you suche fayth to preuail against these bloudthirsty tyrannes thus farre and no doubt he that hath begon that good worke in you will fulfil it vnto the ende O deare hartes in Christ what a crown of glorye shal ye receyue wyth Christe in the kingdome of god Oh that it had bene the good wil of god that I had ben redy to haue gone with you for I lye in my lordes litle ease in the day and in the night I lie in the Colehouse froÌ„ Rafe Allerton or any other And we loke euery day wheÌ„ we shal be condeÌ„ned for he sayd that I shold be burned wythin .x. dais before Easter but I lie styl at the pooles brynke and euery man goeth in before me but we abyde patiently the Lords laysure with many bandes in fetters stockes by the which we haue receyued great ioy in god And now fare you wel dere brethreÌ„ and Sisters in this world but I trust to see you in the heauen face to face O brother Munt with your wyfe my deare Sister Rose oh how blessed are you in the Lord that god hath found you worthy to suffer for hys sake with all the rest of my dere brethern Sisters knowen vnknowen O be ioyful euen vnto death feare it not saith Christ for I haue ouercommen death Oh dere hartes seyng that Iesus Christ