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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	woman_n	word_n	yield_v	44	3	6.2217	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19465	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 their affliction and cruell imprysonment.	Coverdale, Miles, 1488-1568.; Bradford, John, 1510?-1555, Exhortacion to the carienge of Chrystes crosse. Selections.; Cranmer, Thomas, 1489-1556. Copy of certain lettres sent to the Quene, and also to doctour Martin and doctour Storye. Selections.; Hooper, John, d. 1555. Soveraigne cordial for a Christian conscience.; Hooper, John, d. 1555. Whether Christian faith maye be kepte secret in the heart, without confession therof openly to the worlde as occasion shal serve.; Ridley, Nicholas, 1500?-1555. Frendly farewel.	1564 (1564)	STC 5886; ESTC S108888	571,783	726

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 l●st and many other writen bot● 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 Wilkinsō maystres Warcup had a copy of it for althoughe the letter is directed to my ladies grace alone yet the mater therof pertaineth indifferētly 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 husbād master Glouer is in prison for gods wordes sake and also that you are a womā harty in gods cause and thirdly that old father Latimer is your vncle or nere cosin whō 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 christiā womā vnto her husbād is bound to do Now seing your husbād which is set by gods ordināce 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

flaming fyre quicke and aliue whosoeuer will goe aboute to bewray their falshed The kind of fight against these church robbers is also of an other sorte and kinde then is that whiche is agaynste the theues of the borders For there the true men go forth against thē with speare launce with bow and byl and al such kind of bodelye weapons as the true men haue but here as the enemyes be of an other nature so the watchmen of Christs flocke the warriours that fight in the Lordes warre muste be armed and fight with an other kinde of weapons and armour For here the enemies of God the souldiors of Anti-Christ although the battel is set forth against the churche by mortall men being flesh and bloud and neuerthelesse members of theyr father the deuil yet for that theyr graund maister is the power of darknesse theyr members are spirituall wickednes wicked spirites spirites of erroures of heresies of all deceate and vngodlines spirites of idolatry Ephe 6 superstition and hipocrisye which are called of S. Paule Principates powers Lordes of the world rulers of the darknesse of this world and spiritual subtilties concerning heauēly things therfore our weapons must be fit and mete to fyght agaynst such not carnall nor bodely weapons as speare and launce but spiritual and heauenly we must fight agaynst such with the armor of God not entendinge to kill they re bodyes but their errours theyr false craft and heresies theyr idolatry superstitiō and hipocrisy Eph 6. and to saue as much as lieth in vs both theyr bodies and soules And therfore as S. Paule teacheth vs we fighte not against fleshe and bloude that is we fyght not with bodely weapon to kyll the man but with the weapons of God to put to flight his wicked errours vice and to saue both body and soule Our weapons therfore are faythe hope charitye righteousnesse truthe pacience prayer vnto God and our sword wherwyth we smite our enemies we beate and batter and beare down all falshed is the word of God With these weapons vnder the banner of the crosse of Christ we do fyght euer hauinge our eye vpon our graunde Maister Duke and captayne Christe and then we recken our selues to triumphe and to winne the crown of euerlastinge blesse when enduringe in this battaile withoute anye shrinking or yelding to the enemies after the example of our graund Capitaine Christ our Mayster after the exāple of his holy Prophetes Apostles and Martyrs when I say we are slayne in oure mortall bodyes of our enemies are most cruelly and without all mercy murdered down like a me any of shepe And the more cruel the more payneful the more vyle and spitefull is the kind of the death whereunto we be put the more glorious in God the more blessed and happye wee recken withoute all doubtes oure Martyrdome to be And thus much dere loeuers frends in god my country men kinsfolk I haue spoken for your comfort least of my deathe of whose life you loked peraduenture sometimes to haue had honestye pleasures and commodities ye myghte be abashed or thinke any euill whereas ye haue rather cause to reioyse if ye loue me indeede for that it hathe pleased God to call me to a greater honoure and dignitye than euer I did enioye before eyther in Rochester or in the Sea of London or euer shoulde haue had in the Sea of Durham whereunto I was last of all elected and named yea I count it greater honoure before God in deede to die in his cause whereof I nothynge doubte then is any earthlye or temporall promocion or honoure that canne be geuen to a man in thys worlde And who is he that knoweth the cause to be Goddes to be Chrystes quarell and of hys Gospell to bee the common weale of all the elect and chosen children of God of all the inheritoures of the kingdome of Heauen who is he I saye that knoweth this assuredlye by Goddes woorde and the testimonye of hys owne conscience as I through the infinite goodnes of god not of my self but by hys grace acknowledge my self to do who is he I say that knoweth this both loueth fereth god in dede in truth loueth beleueth hys maister Christ and hys blessed gospel loueth his brotherhode the chosen children of god and also lusteth and longeth for euerlastinge life whoe is he I say againe that woulde not or can not fynde in his harte in thys cause to be content to dye The Lord forbid that any such shoulde be that shoulde forsake this grace of God I truste in my Lord God the God of mercies and the father of all comfort throughe Iesus Chryste oure Lorde that he whiche hathe put thys mynde will and affection by hys holye spirite in my harte to stande agaynste the face of the enemie in hys cause to chose rather the losse of all my worldly substaunce yea and of my life to then to denye hys knowne truthe that he well comfort me ayd me and strengthen me euermore euen vnto the ende and to the yelding vp of my spirite and soule into hys holye handes wherof I most hartely besech hys moste holye sacred Maiestye of hys infinyte goodnes and mercye throughe Iesus Christe our Lord. Amen Now that I haue taken my leaue of my countrey menne and kinsfolke and the Lorde doth lende me life and geueth me leysure I wyll bydde my other good friendes in God of other places also farewell And whome fyrste or before other then the Vniuersytye of Cambridge whereas I haue dwelte longer founde more faythfull and hartye frendes receyued more benefites the benefytes of my naturall parentes onlye excepted then euer I did euen in mine owne natyue countrey wherein I was borne Farewel therfore Cambrydge my louyng mother and tender nurse If I shoulde not acknowlege thy manyfold benefits yea if I shold not for thy benifits at the lest loue the agayn truly I were to be counted vngrate vnkind What benyfytes hadst thou euer that thou vsest to geue bestow vpon thy best beloued childrē that thou thoughtest to good for me Thou diddest bestowe on me all thy Schole degrees of thy common offyces the Chaplaynshyppe of the vniuersity the office of the P●ortorship of a cōmon reader and of thy priuate cōmodyties emolumētes in colledges what was it that thou madest me not partner of Fyrst to be Scholer then Fellow and after my departure frō thee thou calledst me agayne to a Mastership of a right worshipful colledge I thanck thee my louing mother for all this thy kindnes and I pray God that his lawes the syncere Gospel of Christ may euer be truly taught faythfully learned in thee Farewell Pembroke hall of late mine own Colledge my cure my charge what case thou artin now God knoweth I know not well Thou wast euer named sithens I knewe thee which is nowe a .xxx. yeares agoe to be studious well learned and a greate

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 tokēs 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 thē 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 offēd not God The ease that cōmeth 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 amēded in this cause of religiō 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 happē 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 Amē 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 cōming of this bearer to vnderstād of your constācy how that you be fully resolued by gods grace rather to suffer extremity thē to go frō 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 lessō 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 frō the wyse men whē they asked of the Phareseis at Hierusalē 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 the●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 whē he fought with the dragō 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 whē he went to low he burned the earth the water These prophane histories do shame vs that he christiā 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 Christiā 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 mōstrous 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