he fast in his goode lyfe thoughe he saw few so affected to gether wth righteouse Lott nothing returned from his holy conversation notwthstanding the multitude of wycked Sodomites on every side but the one and the other proceded and parsisted in there pietie In lyke sorte stand you fast quite you lyke men procede as spirituall souldiers and so to finishe as true Christians and then the garland to come ys yours wth the present peace of consciens wch in this lyfe vs the cheyfe reward of true Godlynes The other part of gentlemen so naked of the weddinge garment as they be voyde of oyle in there lampes lovinge better to follow the crye of there hownds then eyther to heare the voyce of the preacher or to imitate your Godly example I wyshe vs all to pittie and pray for theme that make so small accowmpt of religion and good lyfe otherwyse then of there belly God and ladie pleasure who therby as they seme to be flatt Atheysts and therefore in most wofull case so the papisticall gentlemen as fauls harted to gospell and Prynce as they be addicted to romishe Idolls be as vnfitt for civill office and auctoritie as by want of faythe they are yet for the Kingdom of glorie whervnto the Lord frame and convert theme in the tyme of his yourpose and pleasure But you good gentlemeÌ„ must think on the dignitie of your profession of the servant knowing moch to do his maysters will on the brevitie of your dayes of the best exercises to be had therein and in tyme of your recreations to glorifie God and to beware of prophanations takinge greate delight in your graciouse God not alone for your welthe health leysure and libertie but cheyfly for his illumininge spirit the feare of the Lorde and for that by grace you discearne your selves to stand the contreyes in steade and your good examples to be as glasses for theme to looke in Then may that circuit be cownted happie conteyninge so vertuouse an examplar as the congregation most blessed to have before theme a Godly and learned teacher Therfore for the better approbatioÌ„ of your state and degrees to be a warrantable caullings from God so myghtelie denyed of sum fyrst as you are curteouse and gentle vp the guyde of your names so in other things to be fownde wthin rule and good order ofte wthin the lords how 's as a sure recorde you be of the same lyvinge stones and helpinge members lovers of the Prynce proctors for her good causes but more specially for Gods and that in good sort wth whome you must lyve beyond the tyme of all Prynces helpinge gentlemen but not hurtinge neyghbors of the poore in the coÌ„treys Lykewise you worshipful of â—yne acquayntans both discrete and of good carriage of your selues I pray you preferr the holynes of religion by being found truly religiouse that so your fellowe gentlemen may be ashamed to speake evill of your good profession wheÌ„ they shall se you hate vice love vertu releyve the poore to bringe vp your familie in the knowlege and reverens of God as I have knowen you to have donn sum in the cittie and more in the contrey of wch nomber there be to few and theme over basely estemed though of great price before the Lorde and his people redemed In the meane tyme my worshipfull freynds I humblie crave the helpe of your prayers in this farr distans occasioned partly by sum doctorly frownes partly by my daughters letters and by greate boasts to se suche en Englishe churche here as nompareille and so yt ys par derrriere and finally throughe rashe trust in sum not so trustie wherby the oulde man was hether transported to be of his God iustly and gently corrected And further to premonishe bothe you and the worshipfull in the exchange I wijshe you beware of the dangerouse opinions of suche Englyshe Anabaptists bred here as whose parsons in part wth more store of there letters dothe creps and spreade amongest you in cittie and contrey The wch perilouse herysies wherewth they be so lately infected dyd not only procede of obstinacie in error but of pryde and singularitie wth the want of love and humilitie to kepe vnitie and peace amonge theme selves when they came over And as by my privat letters I have forewarned sum particuler frepuds so by this symple and forrayne labor I intended a more generall sithens I heard that one of this companie in Norwich intendeth to indure shortly an execution against hym By wch premonishement I would gladly make you more carefull and watchefull to prevent the invisible sower of darnell a monge the good wheate And so no leff to seke the right armure of prouffe and shilde of defens for our devine causes wherby to foyle theme that intend to defyle others then they seke fauls armure by wrest of scripture wth wyle weapons to make vnlawfull resistans against the most holy and auncient fayth of the vniuersall churche the wch not to manteyne and defend in sum measure by the O Christian reader and every true member of the same were suche threason to the Catholyke faythe and to her obiect Iesus Christ as the Turcks Iews and Papists should be farr better then theye bp reason in there blynde zeale they studie and labor all they can to support there fauls religions and to gaynesay the contrarie And darest thow of what condision so ever tushe and make light of this as thoughe yt appartayned not to the God forbid Gentlemen warned of the opinions of the Anabaptists Fyrst our Englishe and Outche here howld that Christ toke not his pure fleshe of the Virgin Mary and do denie her to be his naturall mother Secondly that the Godheade was subiect to passions and to deathe wch ys Impassible Thyrdly that the infants of the faythfull ought not to be baptysed Fourthly that the soules do slepe in grave wth the bodies vntill the resurrectioÌ„ Fyfthly that Maicstrates ought not to put malefactors to deathe Sixtly they condemne all warrs and Subiects in armure in the feyld Seventhly they denyt the article of predestinatioÌ„ they denye the L. day And finally they savour moch of the opinions of fre wyll and the merit of works You se now how nedefull yt ys for men to be armed and to be strong in the fayth so wastinge and wthstode in these latter dayes to be more otenpied in prayer and scripture then of custome seinge Sathan now whettens his hornes by Gods parmission to goore the more dyrefully for our further exercise and tryall And in charitie foresee as you may that suche smothe parsons and papers do not infect the poore symple so vnable to wthstand there subtill and and paynted reasons For once stayned therewth they shall as hardly be delyvered as the intangled byrd from the lyme bushe because yt ys as a rustie cancker eatinge throw wthout recoverie by eyther gentle ople or the hard stele no nor by the flaminge fyer no more then there
and by consequent the very Sonne of man that the two natures remaine distinct wth that wch ys proper to theme and yet to be but one Christ beinge hym self God-man that ys Man-god and yet notwthstandinge his Deitie ys not his humanitie nor his humanitie is not his Deitie This beinge moste true it followth that the proprieties of the humanitie as to be borne to eate drinch to die and to be buried ought to be attributed to God I meane the second parson and yet not simplie according to his Devinitie but in asmoche as he ys God-man and on the other syde that wch is proper to god may be attributed to this man as to be the Sonne of God eternall almightie and to be ever all not simplie in his humanitie but in asmoche as he ys Man-God The wch scripturely speche S. Paul vseth thus that the God of glory was crucified agayne that God redemed the church by his blodd and S. Luke sayeth that wch was conceyved in the wombe of the Virgin was the Sonne of the most highe and therfore yt may be sayde that Marie was the Mother of God in asmoche as he was Man-god That yf he wch was so conceyved and borne were not verie God how should he be our saviour and yf the same were so spoken in regard of his Deitie what maner of Deitie should that be to take his Deitie in the Virgins wombe As on the other side all the suffrings attributed to the only Sonn of God ought to be also vnderstode in asmoche as he is God-man and not simplie after his Deitie distinctlie considered in wch regard the Apostle dothe not barely saye that God was visible but addeth in his flesh And S. Iohn confesseth not simply to have sene the glory of the word but therto addeth the worde was made fleshe S. Peter speakinge of his fuffrings sayeth not simplie for as moch as Christ hathe suffred but addethe in the fleshe wch was nedefull for our salvation because he ys Man-god that suffred and not simplie God For a conclusion yt ys God-man that hathe fought and suffred in his humanitie and yt ys the Man-god wch hathe conquered by his Devinitie To the Anabaptist T.M. prisonner at Norwch SOm loving brother signifie vnto hym Fyrst he so soddanly stepping from his spirituall mother to a new stepdame reiecting the swete foode of the one and lickinge vp the poyson of the other that therefore his suffringe ys as compforthless as yt ys wshe and perilouse not only in regard of his badd opinions but in iustifienge his horrile errors and yll cause of bare 80. yeres continuans he condemnethe the vniversall churche consistinge on the faythfull Sede of Abraham in all quarters of the world frustratinge the preachinge of the gospell and Sacraments in all congregations before and after that tyme and deprivinge all martyrs sithens the comminge of Iesus Christ frome the hope of there salvation by grace and martyrdome Wyshinge that as he ought to distinguishe betwene true martyrdome and fauls so to discerne betwene the seared consciens from the malignant spirit and the salutiferous consciens from the holy Spirit the one gloriousely paintinge an evill cause by his subtill elippinge and wrest of scripture throw the wch he eubowldeneth the erringe and presumptuouse hart to suffer for error and the other revealinge the simple truthe by playne recorde of the worde of truthe no less rightlie illumininge then as trulie sanctifieng and compfortinge humblinge and mekeninge vntill Ioyfull and constant suffring the voice of Gods people being the voice of God crieng Amen to the same I am in feare that he and suche of my contreymen be more infected wth arrogant knowlege then by grace sanctifyed wth faythfull humblenes And let hym learne a lesson of the penitent theyse suffringe wth our savior for as the one in his desperat howldnes capled on Christ sayenge yf thow he that Christ save thy self and vs so the other humbled and fearinge God rebuked hym and there wth made suche a lyvely confession of Christ to be God and man as those herpticks may tremble at Gods greate iudgements for comminge so short or rather to be contrarie to the same Fyrst he caulled hym Lorde and prayed vnto hym as God the bringer of soules to his Kyngdom and next he caulled hym man sayeng this man hathe donn nothinge worthie of death wch was as excellent a confession as yt was a miraculouse conversion A rude ignorant theyfe of so wycked a lyfe as moch vnacquainted wth learning as wth vertu to make suche a sownd confession as yt may beseme you and your betters to esteme hym a holy Patterne to follow beinge therein nothing behynd Peter and the rest of the Apostles so longe tyme taught of there mayster Wherefore two fowld presoner and the rest in lyke bonds here at libertie advowchinge that the corporall eyes and hands of the Apostles saw and felt the incomprehencible Devinitie and that the same was deade in yt self and buried I pray you tell me fyrst in the parson of a man consistinge on a terrestiall and spirituall substans could ever his soule be eyther sene or felt in the handlinge of hym and will you not moche more confess that the Apostles cowld neyther se nor fele the gloriouse Devinitie of Christ so wth houlding yt self vnder the tabernacle of his bodie next tell me what glorie Maiestie brightnes or Kyngly estate dyd this poore theyfe se wth his corporall eyes in one so base and so vildly crucifyed at that tyme he neyther saw that splendor and glory as the Apostles dyd at his transfiguration nor the heavens open as Iohn dyd when Christ was baptised and thridly tell me how be saw hym to be his Lorde and God able to further hym to his Kyngdom and glory who was in the same reproche and ignominie wth hym and his fellow surely he had other clerer eyes to se God vnder the vayle of his flesh then yet ys granted to you Anabaptists even spirituall eyes and the inward sight of the hart Deceyve not your selves in sayenge that you confess Christ to be God and man when yt ys nothing so in averitie but rather vnder a clowd because yt ys wth this addition that he ys the celestiall Sede of the father or as may destone sayeth a man come from heaven Yf a fauls Christ be not fownd amonge the Anabaptists I know not where ells And what true peace of consciens can you have in suffringe for suche a forged Christ as the true Christ fore warnethe vs to be ware of and not to beleve Dare you confess that the soule of a man when the bodie is deade and buryed ys a lyve as yt ys in dede and yet will blasphemousely say that the God head of Christ dyed when his humane nature only was subiect to deathe when a man hanges on the geobet we comprehend bothe bodie and soule in sayeng the man ys hanged the man ys dead or thus the man eateth drincketh slepeth all wch ys true towching the parson of man but when we speake distinctly of the natures then neyther dothe the soule dye nor ys buried neyther eateth drincketh nor slepeth Further way and consider you Anabaptists whether you be the only spowze of Christ and the spirituall sede of Abraham specifyed to be lyke in nomber to the starrs of heaven or to the dust of the perthe or whether to you alone and to uone other churches the graces and giftes of the holy Ghoste were fyrst and last geven sythens Pentecost or whether so many thowsand martyrs sithens Christ his assention dyed in the Anabaptisticall fayth or in ours and whether yt was you that S. Iohn beheld so greate a multitude wch no men could nomber of all nations that stode before the Lambe yf you so thinck you arrogantly err wth the papists and arrians and asmoch deceive your selves as maliciousely accuse vs and the whole churche of God reiectinge you and your vilde opinions sythens the fyrst hatchinge therof by your grandsire Storck You seke to enclose the church wth in your straight corners as a childe that would lathe the whole sea into a little hole or as the papists that impryson Christ his Royall bodie in there wafer cake God open your eyes Lykewyse you my contreymen of another kynd and company removing from campion to Norden and from thence to Amsterdom and now miserably rent devided and scattered here and there Nordeners who though you howld the fundamentall poynts of our fayth wth affection to good things yet yt ys wth an vntempered zeale vnder moch weakenes contencions and discentions ioyned wth overwening and wrangling wherby you have brused the tender reedes quenched the smoking flaxe and driven sum into labarinthes and others into fowle errors God touche your harts to be warned by there perrylls and not by singularitie to fall wth them into suche errors to be less loftie and more lowly to esteme better of Gods churches abowte you and to bragg less of your owne wthout Pastor and sacraments for these 3. peres And the Lorde geve you repentans for the want of love yeare concorde and humilitie the lack wherof ys the cause you rather destroy then buylde marr then make scatter then gather Wherfore you se what your busie and vnskyllfull medling wth the discipline commes to So that as yt ys not fitt for little children to handle sharp edged tooles evenso as vnfitt for vnexperienced youthes to deale wth the hâ—â—es of opening and shutting of byndinge and loosinge and wth the sharpe swerde of excommunication a worck more beseminge grave and wyse heades vnder more stayednes then you of suche rashenes and vnadvysednes mowntinge above all churches I spare particularities The Lorde bless you and vs all wth wysdome and grace Amen FINIS
here beneathe seinge there ys suche confusions and distractions in the world so manyfould hurly burlies and vnspeakable iniuries by one man to another wthout redress the worce disposed doinge all outrage in A florishinge and pleasant estate and suche as be estemed Godly to be most miserable oppressed vexed and sett nought by all wch should not be if there were any suche provideÌ„s For brevitie sake I must silence the answere who might aswell say how cowld there be of God and his providens in former tymes seinge not only Abel and Iohn the Baptist Gods speciall servants were so sharply rewarded for there holynes and righteousenes but the Prophetts Apostles and Christ hym self All this were as moche as if the presidents and so many thowsand martyrs were starck fooles to suffer suche torments and tortures vnlest they had parfect knowlege of Gods providens wth a right felinge and hope of the last resurrection wthout wch the vildest men in the world were in the libertie of the fleshe in farr better state then we These new Saduces wth there staggeringe disciples seke to compreheÌ„d by there pudled reason that wch is incoÌ„prehencible to humayne wisdom and do marvell how the bodies so long tyme putrified in the grownd mangled by swerds and weapoÌ„s burnt to ashes torne and eateÌ„ of wilde beasts aÌ„d devowred of sea fisches how aÌ„d after what maner all these should rise by againe wth the same bodies and bodilie members Who he lyke the vnbelevinge Corynthes tearmed fooles by the Apostle and therfore disputed wth only by the similitude of corne and naturall reason These quaking questioners labor to throw downe faythe beneathe reason and to attayne by reason that wch is proper to the office of faythe To whome so ever the wch faythe ys not geven vnder so longe tyme of the gospell yt is no marvell they dowte and stagger and become rather curiouse inquisiters then Godlie learners and so might demande how the lorde cowld make Adam of claye and Eve of his ribb or how they thre parsons caÌ„n be one God and one to be three so daringe to meddle wth the mistery of all misteries lyke the Anabaptists no less quisitive in effect to wete how cowld the Devinitie of Christ assume his fleshe of hers that was so stayned by originall gilt Let the Royall Exchange Cittie and contrey beware of these perilouse people avoydinge there dowtes and devillishe questions exhortinge there wth that they be frequent hearers and readers of Gods holie worde for to be daylie strengthned in there faythe and hope wth better regard to the articles of the Christian faythe especiallie two of theme so moche oppugned by multiplienge adversaries bothe here and there namely the anabaptists Englishe and dutche denyeng the two natures of Christ in one gloriouse parsoÌ„ wth 6. more horrible opinions and the sayde dowters of the resurrection Now let all right belebers in the true Christ from Mopses the Psalmes and de Prophetts reioyce and be of good comforth vnder what cross or distress soever For assure as he hathe taken our fleshe sanctifienge and glorifiengc yt so surely shall we be glorified wth hym seingâ—he our heade the fyrst fructs of theme that slept ys risen agayne assended wth our substans the sede of David and hathe dignifyed yt on the right hand of his father as he toke yt and sanctified yt here beneathe As certainely shall we his members flesh and boane of his ryse agayne to be partakers of his Ioyes as we have bene partakers of his blessings here and suffrnigs That yf the husbandman hopeth the corne sowen by his hand vnder clodds and stones shall rise againe new fresh and wth greate in crease moche more ought we to hope that our bodies shall rise againe by Gods omnipoteÌ„cie as sede sowen wth his owne hand whether in the grave in the fyer in these a or in the feilde renewed and clarified with vnspeakeable increasings and that wth no more difficultie then wheÌ„ he made the whole frame of this world without substans or matter by his very worde St. Paul would vs to remember that as the corne must fyrst be sowen and dye in the yerthe before yt receyve a new bodye a grene blade and ripe eare so must we be the lords sedenes before the happie harvest namely sowen deade buried and rotten before we have a gloriouse and Immortall bodie even the same in substants thoughe in qualitie yt shal be changed and then to be caulled spirituall bodies differinge in suche sorte from that they were before as the celestiall bodies the sonn moone and starrs do differ one from another in glorie At wch tyme our harts eyes and eares shal feele se and heare suche a marveylouse thang of the vse they were here as neyther toungs nor all the pennes in the world are able to Express And therfore happie be the penitents for there synnes the studiers for Godlines and the lovers of God and blessed are they that in faithe do meditate and in hope do reioyce sum tymes on this Ioyfull daye Concludinge then that as there ys two deathes the fyrst and second in yerth and in hell so there vs a fyrst and second resurrection that ys from synne and from the grave the partakinge of the one ys the confirmation of the other And when our soules do invisiblie go from the bodies then that spirituall and Immortall part goethe vnto the heaven of heavens and not downe to the grave to slepe there wth the corps vntyll the resurrection as oure anabaptists of Harlem and the rest do miserablie howld wth the purtenances Sixtly the worshipfull Gentlemen of all quarters of the land are by occasion sum tymes wthin that pleasant Edifice wth whome I must be breyffer then I thought to have bene Gentlemen Presuminge lykewyse that they in curtesie wyll esteme of this poore pamphlett thoughe wthout fynenes of methode or pullishe of art You then of the better sorte tearmed gentle as gentlemen deryved from gentle condisions remember I pray you that as by the word of healthe you once felt and I trust do yet feele spirituall motions the very inward caullinge from the Lorde to the love and zeale of his truthe so to geve all diligens that you be no changelings but dutifully the same what cownterbuffs so ever do come in your way to the contrarie Affectinge the good and dislikinge the evell And let your fortitude be in sylens and hope wth prayer and paciens thoughe sum paradventure on eache syde of your habitacions do eyther hault or be key could or gonn back from that they were wth you or as starrs faullen there light vnder a bushell other sum choked wth the world and sum of a looser lyfe then ever you looked for yet as Helias continued the servant of God thoughe he saw none to be left wth hym but all gonn and Iob the worthy servant of God in so evill a tyme wherin moche vngodlynes was in the world yet stode
ends for Gods glorie and oure mutuall compforth Amen To the wch gloriouse parson we must often in these kinds make speciall sute vnto for as his graciouse presens in hearinge and readinge dothe keye from vs wronge interpretacion werynes and tediousenes so his absens ys cause of the one and the other with our disprofict and greate anoye At suche tymes then let vs crye come holie Ghoste enleghten and support our ignorans and weakenes not that God the thryd parson coeternall wth the father and the sonn can be comprehended in any man who is so incomprehencible of hym self but rather we desire his effects operation and working as we se the manyfould beames procedinge from the bodie of the sonn so farr distant from the yearth dothe yet send downe her heate and power to all the treatures And as I wyshe you profitablie to reade and heare so in walkinge in eyther Exchange feyld or how 's to remember to walk out your race and the rest of your dayes more carefully and religiousely to the Kyngdom of heaven warde for the commandement of God to our father Abraham that he should walk holilie before hym dothe also appartayne to you his children by faythe that hope to be wth hym in glory and so to practys Hezychia his sacred prayer sayenge I beseche the o Lord remember how I have walked before the in truthe and wth a parfect hart A prayer and lesson worthie to be thought on seinge the Lorde no less requireth this of vs then of the Isralitishe church sayenge what dothe the Lorde thy God require of the but to feare the Lorde thy God to love and serue hym to walk in his wayes and to cleaue vnto hym as thoughe wthout wch stickinge and cleavinge he ys no nerer God to vs then to his vniversall creatures Wherfore as the Apostle sayeth yf we lyve of the spirit let vs walke in the spirit And to walke in this sort ys to walke acceptablie and securelie My self in greate weakenes walkinge sum tymes in that worshipfull how 's although I made there the best choyce I coulde of parsons and taulk for our mutuall good yet my hart toung and eare slippinge so ofte besides the due byas wth the loss of tyme wherein to have bene better occupied makes me now to crave pardon of God and thus publykely to confess yt a fault vnto the world And therfore good bretherne of such loving acquayntans as I am hartelie thankfull for your curtesie and gentlenes so do I wishe that you occupie or spare that populouse place none otherwyse but as caullinge and necessitie requirethe The Apostle exhorteth all to applie our selves to the tyme the brevitie wherof considered yt will hasten vs to Imploy the best exercises therein Tyme For as nothinge ys more preciouse then the tyme so of manie nothinge ys more vyldlie abused and every thing more certayne then the continuans thereof It lacks but a little of xvi hundred yeres a go sithens St. Paull sayde the tyme ys but short then yt must nedes be so moche the more shorte now by so many yeres wher vpon as all Godly changers wil be the more quickned and awakened to Exchange there vnprofitable vse of the tyme to a better evenso I exhorte all misspenders abusers and voluntarie necglecters of the tyme in that royall Exchange so to change or cast away that greate faulte in theme as there right vsage of the tyme from this readinge forwards may be a testimonie of there true faythe and repentans for tyme ys so preciouse that yt must be redemed and stryven for And thus Christian reader I wyshe you to esteme moche and to devyde the tyme for severall exercises therein bothe for God and for your selves for Prince cittie and familie No dowte the devill perswades sum carnall and viciouse parsons that there tyme ys well spent beinge vsuall in the taverne and that there Impietie ys closely covered when they do bable out a few cowld prayers and come once a weke to the churche wthout regard of other duties As a daplie dronckard in Billeter lane answered one requiringe his hastie rysinge the next daye I must sayde he haue a tyme to put on my clothes a tyme to pray and a tyme to sett myne how should in order By whome we se that as all heritikes thinck theme selves to have the best religion and to be nerest vnto God so common dronckards and carnall lyvers by sum shew of civilitie esteme theme selves as honest and as truly religiouse as the best and bothe by a subtill prompt of the divill Who hathe fayre paynted hypocrites in the churche in the alchows and taverne dronkards besides adulterers blasphemers and robbers all these will make shew of religion and seme to love the churche and sermon but none otherwyse then as sum gay professors kepinge secret minions do love there wyues more for fame and to a voyde shame then for any right affection they beare to the one or the other These miserable people will also come bowldly to the Exchange and be no more a shamed to be there then a frayed in the churche at the hearinge of Gods iudgements denownced against theme because for the tyme they have no less adamant harts wthout felinge then brasen forheads wthout blusshinge Nevertheless beinge in the compass of this freyndly exhortation I beseche you as bretherne by creation although not yet by regeneration to take sorrow and greyf to hart wth syedie and vnfayned repentans that so you may be changed bothe in churche how 's and in the Exchange from that you haue bene to that you should be tremblinge at Gods iudgements and so hartylie to crave mercie and grace Estemynge now a most dangerouse thinge to think on to morrow and to neglect this days conversion Wyshing you to forgeit no longer what ys written except you be borne agayne you cannot enter into the Kyngdome of God For yf you beleyue in Christ crucifyed then must you be in better forte crucifyed wth hym that ys to slay and mortifie those enormities whervy to haue the similitude of his deathe by kyllinge suche grose synnes and also the similitude of his resurrection by rysinge agayne in to the newnes of lyfe The wch the Lord grant for his mercy sake Generally then all do stand in nede to begg and intreate that the feare of the Lorde be graven and grownded wthin our harts the wch as yt ys the spirituall bytt to curbe vs back from suche execrations so ys yt a devyne spurr to quicken vs forwards to all Christian actions The wch beinge absent ys surely the deathe of all vertue the increase of all vyce the shipwrack of conscyens and all confusion in lyfe Therfore blessed ys the man to whome the feare of the Lord ys granted because yt ys glory gladnes reioysinge and the Ioyfull crowne as Sirack sayeth and that aswell of the ritche and noble as of the meane and poore Vnderstand not here suche a feare as the bondman
in the gospell Blessed are the poore in spirit The wch noble vertu ought to be desirable to Lords ladies and the greatest Threasurers in the world That yf by grace thow haste the rytches of the soule be never ashamed nor greved but rather humbled at the povertie of thy bodie For thy head and Captayne was poore in his byrthe in his lyfe and death and previe to thie base estate because he in wysdome ordayned yt so sayeng by his servant St. Iohn I know thy tribulation paciens and povertie And you worshipfull ritche yt ys rather Christian honor then any dishonor to your degrees for to have now and then suche Godly poore at your tables to be made partakers of Gods creatures wth you as havinge sum interest in theme and so to distinguish betwene the Lords speciall poore and the prophane poore and bothe to be succoured for his sake Sum Printers and stacioners at certayne tymes haue there meting there and therfore are wthin the compass of this freyndly gretinge Prynters Fyrst I acknowledge the Arte to be moste profitable excellent and necessarie for church and common welthe and God highly to be praysed for revealinge that synguler knowledge vnto mē and also to be prayed vnto for less abuse and more right vse of the same by Printinge and fellinge suche good bookes grownded on scripture as in crease knowledge vertu and the feare of God no less then for the mayntenans of laws and civill order But as the greate nomber of Printers haue compiled more bookes then men haue braynes to conceyue memories to retayne or money to buy so the multitude of there worcks over dulleth and burdeneth and ys a greate stopp to the best and fittist readings And therfore for the better vtterās of so many ydle bookes in shopps and stalls me thincks in good pollicie the wyse and worshipfull sorte of that compame might do well to procure a staye and sum rest to be had for there over werped presses but especially for mens weake memories For manie vnhappie wytts practys to followe good writers and to the greate hurt of the churche do make huge heapes or cartlodes of fond and folyshe bookes from the wch fault I esteme the Godly Printer to be free and therfore he hym self ys to be well estemed of as his good travell and labor to be commended But suche of that caullinge in my natyve contrey as haue neyther care nor consciēs to print and publishe vayne and vnprofitable prophane and hurtfull pamphletes to the offens of God and men fillinge the peoples heades emptieng there purses wth the abuse of there eyes and eares by there fables or skossinge devices are bothe to be reproved and restrayned For as God hathe his holy and learned servants in citties and contreyes that studie and penne forthe worthie worcks for his glorie and to the benefirt of his church so the devill hathe his seducing secretaries or pennslaves in secret corners to serve the humors of suche had instruments and the affections of rude readers I have knowen in Powles churche yarde sum perilouse aswell as popish and supersticiouse bookes sould previly to the yll disposed by suche as I pray God to geue theme true repentans Shipmaisters and maryners of good interest in the exchang you also be nedefull members for Prynce people and state venturinge your ships goods and lyves by transporting of commodities from sundry contreyes and nations behowldinge more plentie of Gods wonderfull worcks his corrections and deliverances his helpe at a pinche to sum and his sodaine and corporall Iustis to others and therfore the more bownd to dread and feare hym as a Iudge and Lord to obey hym as our soveraigne mayster and to loue hym as a favorable father who returninge you saufe to contrey wyfe and acquayntants Marytiers then as Noye escapinge the greate flod dyd buyld an alter and offred to the Lorde so you to offer hartie thancks to reioyce and to lyve in good order to stand still on your watch and to remember that you must to the Sea agayne to abyde all tydes and weather For they that serve the Lorde and avoyde ryot in the quyet haven shall surely be hearde and helped in the tyme of storme In all my tyme on seaboorde the Lords greate schoule howse as I have knowen nōbers that were of another disposition so I trust the tyme hath not changed you yet lyvinge as yt hathe donn sum others changinge lyke the moone The Sea was the fyrst correctinge preacher for the space of xvj yeres wch caulled me from moche follie and that gave sum entrans to know and feare the Lord and therfore amongst so many learned and lyvinge preachers blessed be his name for the Sea my dumbe and fearefull teacher in wch navigable arte I spent the pryme of myne peres when schole had bene more firt yf habilitie had served wch will not suffer me to forget that wch I would you ever to remember namely that God is merveylouse in all his worcks and worthie to be moche thought on in your Sea stormes swellinge waves cross tydes dangerouse races longe travers in contrarie wynds the ship on hull the heline on lee full hawse in tumbling roades when shipwrack is fearedwthout fast howld of cable and aricker stepeless and fearefull nights fower beere and beanes ofte tymes in steade of byskett cowld watches and wett clothes paynefull and pumpinge leakes hale bollinge to double the poynt a luff from the rock rowmer from the sand steere at an yuch or miss the haven a fogg at the entrans storme and bellow on poope besyde myne acquayntans wth your sprung masts torne sales from the parde and suche lyke quicknings to draw all maryners nere vnto God or to harden theme further of to the devill as schollers eyther bettered or made worce by correction for as sum roote of Godlynes draweth the Godly to be more Godly so that begon roote not beinge norrished as fyer wth wodd yt becomes weaker and vanisheth at lengthe tyll they be sylthie and more fylthie yea a traytor to all goodnes as Iudas to his mayster Wherfore lovinge mates and bretherne bethinck that the crowne of glorie is set forthe vnto vs neyther in the beginninge nor in the middest but in the end of the race Sathan and flesh cast many blocks in our way not alone to hynder vs from the holy parseverans after we haue runnthe greater part of the waye but sumtymes to breake of sodaynly mens good begynnings Our cheyfe stryving must be for parseverans and the same wth good courage for the crowne that we strive and labor for ys worthie of running The Apostle to Timoth. sayeth continew thow in the things wch thow haste learned And the Hebr. sayeth that we are made partakers of Christ yf we kepe sure vnto the end that begynninge wherewth we are vpho wlden Let vs then learne to complaine agaynste the burden of our corruptions for that they hynder our marchinge forwards vnto goodnes For the