Careles through Christ the Beloved Say therefore with David Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name for he hath forgiven thee all thy sins as truely he hath And hereof I desire to be a Witness God make me worthy to hear from you the like true Message for my self Mine own dearly Beloved you have great cause to thank God most heartily that hath given you such Repentance and Faith The Lord increase the same in you and me a most miserable wretch whose heart is harder then the Adamant stone or else I could not thus long have stayed from writing unto you If I live and may I purpose and promise you to make amends Pray for me my most dear Brother I heartily beseech you and forgive me my long silence God our Father be with us for ever Amen Yours in the Lord John Bradford John Careles his Letter to Mr. Bradford THe Peace of God in Jesus Christ A sweet Letter of John Careles to Mr. Bradford a little before his Martyrdome the Eternal Comfort of his sweet Spirit which hath surely sealed you unto Eternal Salvation be with you and strengthen you in your joyful journey towards the Celestial Jerusalem my dear Friend and most faithful Brother Mr. Bradford to the setting forth of Gods glory and to your eternal joy in Christ Amen Ever since that good Mr. Philpot shewed me your last Letter my dear heart in the Lord I have continued in great heaviness and perplexity He mourneth for the loss and lâ—ck of Mr. Bradforâ— in the Church not for any hurt or discommodity that I can perceive coming towards you unto whom doubtless Death is made life and great felicity but for the great loss that Gods Church here in England shall sustain by the taking away of so godly worthy and necessary an instrument as the Lord hath made you to be Oh that my life and a thousand such wretched lives moe might go for yours Oh why doth God suffer me and such other Catterpillers to live that can do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and take away you so worthy a Workman and Labourer in the Lords Vineyard But woe be to our sins and great unthanfulness which is the greatest cause of the taking away of such worthy instruments of God as should set forth his Glory and instruct his People If we had been thankful unto God for the good Ministers of his Word we had not been so soon deprived both of it and them The Lord forgive our great ingratitude and sins and give us true Repentance and Faith and hold his hand of Mercy over us for his dear Son Christs sake Take not away all thy tâ—ue Preachers forth of this Realm O Lord but leave us a Seed lest Englâ—nd be made like unto Sodom and Gomorrah when thy true Loâ—â— be gone But what go I about to mingle your mirth with my mourning and your just joy with my deserved sorrow If I loved you indeed as I have pretended I should surely rejoyce with you most heartily and praise God on your bâ—half from the very bottom of my heart He rejoyceth for the honour of Mr. Bradfords Martyrdome I should praise God day and night for your excellent Election in and through his great Mercy and should give him most humble thanks for your Vocation by his Gospel and your true Knowledge in the same I should earnestly praise him for your sweet justification whereof you are most certain by Gods Gâ—ace and Spirit and should instantly pray unto him for your Glorification which shall shortly ensue I should rejoyce and be glad to see you dignified by the Crown of Martyrdome and to be appointed to that honour to testifie his Truth and to Seal it with your Blood I should highly extoll the Lord who hath given you a glorious vâ—ctory over all your enemies visible and inv si le and hath given you Grace and Strength to finish the Tower that you have begun to build Finally if I loved you I should most heartily rejoice and be glad to see you delivered from this body of sin and vile person of the Flesh and brought into that heavenly Tabernacle where you shall be safely kept and never offend him more This and much more should I do if I had a good heart towards God or you his dear childe But alas I am an hypocrite and do seek nothing but mine own commodity I would have Gods everlasting Providence give place to my peevish will and purpose although it were to the hindrance of his glory and your sweet commodity God forgive me my horrible ingratitude sins and offences against him and good Brother do you forgive me my great negligence and unthankfulness towards you and henceforth I promise you I will put my will to Gods will and pray that the same may be fulfilled in you so long as you be on this earth and when you are taken hence I will most heartily praise the Lord for you so long as I have my being in this world Ah my dear heart now I must take my leave of you and as I think John Careles taketh his leave of M. Bradford my Vltimum Vale in this life but in the life to come I am right well assured we shall merrily meet together and that shortly I trust And in taking of my leave of you my dear heart in the Lord I shall desire you faithfully to remember all the sweet messages that the Lord our good God and most dear loving Father hath sent you by me his most unworthy Servant which as they are most true so shall they be most truly accomplished upon you eternally and for the more assurance and certificate thereof to your godly Conscience he hath commanded me to repeat the same unto you again in his own Name and Word Therefore now give ear and faithful credence Hearken Testimony of Gods Spirit O ye Heavens and thou earth give ear and bear me witness at the great Day that I do here faithfully and truely the Lords mâ—ssâ—ge unto his dear Servant John Careles doth Gods message to M. Bradford his singularly beloved and elâ—ct Childe â—â—â—n Bradford John Bradford thou man so specially beloved of God I pronounce and testifie unto thee in the Word and Name of the Lord Jehovah that all thy sins whatsoever they be be they never so many so grievous or so great be fully and freely pâ—â—doned released and forgiven thee by the mercy of God in Jesus Christ thine onely Lord and sweet Saviour in whom thou dost undoubtedly believe Power and practise of the keyes of the Gospel Christ hath cleansed thee with his Blood and clothed thee with his Righteousness and hath made â—hee in the sight of God his Father without spot or wrinckle so that when the fiâ—e doth his appointed office thou shalt be received as a sweet burnt Sacrifice into Heaven where thou shalt joyfully remain in Gods presence for
your self which thing I would wish you to do if need require or else not good Wife take heed how you bestow your self that you and my poor Children be not compelled to wickedness But if you sh ll be able well to live Gods true Widow I would counsel you so to live still for the more quietness of your self and your poor Children Take heed Margaret and play the wise womans part you have warning by other if you will take an example And thus I commit you and my sweet Children unto Gods most mercifull defence The Blessing of God be with you and God send us a merry meeting together in Heaven Farewell in Christ farewell mine own dear hearts all Pray pray To my most dear and fâ—ithful Brethren in Newgate Condemned to dye for the Testimony of Gods everlasting Truth THe everlasting pâ—ace of G d in Jesus Christ the continual joy strength and comfort of his most pâ—re holy and mighty Spirit with the encrease of Faith and lâ—vely feeling of his Eternal Mercy be with you my most dear and faithful lov ng B other Tyms and with all the rest of my dear hearts in the Lord your faithful Fellow-souldiers and most constant Companions in Bonds yea of men condemned most cruelly for the sincere Testimony of Gods everlasting Truth to the full finishing of that good work which he hath so graciously begun in you all that the same may be to his glory the commodity of his poor afflicted Church and to your everlasting comfort in him Amen Ah my most sweet and loving Bâ—ethren and dearest hearts in the Lord what shall I say or how shall I write unto you in the least point or part to utter the great joy that my poor heart hath received in God through the most godly example of your Christâ—an Constancy and sincere Confession of Christs Verity truely my tongue cannot declare Example of true love and charity among the Martyrs nor my pen express the abundance of spiritual mirth and gladness that my minde and inward man hath felt ever since I heard of your hearty boldness and modest behaviour before that bloody Butcher in the time of all your crafty Examinations especially at your cruel Condemnation in their cursed Consistory place Blâ—ssed be God the Father of all mercy and praised be his Name for that he hath so graciously performed upon you his dear darlings his most sweet and comfortable promises in not only giving you the continual ayd strength and comfort of his holy and mighty Spirit to the faithful confession of his Christ for whose cause O most happy men ye are condemned to dye but also in giving you such a mouth and wisdome as all your wicked Enemies were not able to resist The Enemies not able to withstand the w sedome of God in his Saints but compelled to bid them hold their peace but were fain to cry Peace peace and not suffer you to speak As truly as God liveth my dear Brethren this is not only unto you a most evident probation that God is on our side and a sure certainty of your everlasting Salvation in him but also to your cruel Adversaries or rather Gods cursed Enemies a plain demonstration of their just eternal woe and damnation which they shall be full sure shortly to feel when ye shall full sweetly possess the place of felicity and pleasure prepared for you from the beginning Therefore my dearly beloved cease not so long as ye be in this life to praise the Lord with a lusty courage for that of his great mercy and infinite goodness he hath vouched you worthy this great dignity to suffer for his sake not onely the loss of goods Wife and Children long imprisonment and cruel oppression c. but also the very deprivation of this mortal life with the dissolution of your bodies in the fire The which in the greatest promotion that God can bring you or any other unto in this vale of misery yea so great an honour as the highest Angel in Heaven is not permitted to have and yet hath the Lord for his dear Son Christs sake reputed you worthy of the same yea and that before me and many other which have both long looked and longed for the same John Careles longeth to dye a Martyr in the Gospels cause Ah my most dear Brother Tyms whose time resteth altogether in the hands of the Lord in a full happy time camest thou into this troublesome world but in a much more blessed houâ— shalt thou depart forth of the same so that the sweet saying of Solomon or rather of the Holy-ghost shall be full well verified upon thee yea and all thy faithful fellows Better is the day of death saith he then the day of birth Eccles 7. This saying cannot be verified upon every man but upon thee my dear Brother and such as thou art whose death is most precious before God and full dear shall your blood be in his sight Blessed be God for thee my dear Brother Tyms and blessed be God again that ever I knew thee for in a most happy time I came first into thy company Pray for me dear Brother pray for me that God will once vouch me worthy of that great dignity whereunto he hath now brought you Ah my loving Brother Drake whose Soul draweth now nigh unto God of whom you have received the same full glad may you be that ever God gave you a life to leave for his sake full well will he restore it to you again in a thousand fold more glorious wise Praise God good Brother as you have great cause and pray for me I beseech you which am so much unworthy so great are my sins of that great dignity whereunto the Lord hath called you and the rest of your godly Brethren whom I beseech you to comfort in the Lord as you can full well praised be God for his gifts which you have heartily applied to the setting forth of his glory and the commodity of his poor afflicted Church Which thing shall surely redound to your everlasting joy and comfort as you shall most effectually feel or ever it be long though the wicked of the World judge far otherwise Ah mine own Hearts and most dearly beloved Brethren Cavell Ambrose and both the Spurges Blessed be the Lord on your behalf and praised be his Name which hath given you such a glorious victory Full valiant have you shewed your selves in the Lords fight and full faithfully in your painful service Faint not but go on forward as you have most godly begun for great shall your reward be at the end of this your travel Ah my good faithful Brethren all what shall I say or what shall I write unto you but even the same that good Elizabeth did say to her godly kinswoman Mary the blessed Mother of Christ Luke 1. Happy art thou quoth that good woman which hast believed for all things which the Lord hath spoken to thee shall be
the life of the Gospel and bring our sheaves full of Corn. Yea the death of the Martyrs which is most precious in his sight shall be the life of the Gospel spight of the Papists hearts Pray for me dear heart that I may be counted worthy to sowe some seed amongst the sweet Saints of the Lord that I may reap the same again without ceasing A sowing time is Christs Church at the Harvest It is now sowing time of the year men say in the Country and I think I shall make an end of sowing before all March be past for I hear say that I shall prove how my Plough will enter into the stony ground of the hard hearted Papists within these four dayes I hope to hold fast and not to look back neither for fear nor flattery until I have made an end of sowing and then will I set me down and rest me and ask them all no leave and look for the lively fruit and increase thereof with joy and gladness My dear Brother the time approacheth near I praise God therefore that I must put off this siâ—ful tabernacle and go home to my heavenly Father where divers of my dear Brethren are already looking and wishing for me I beseech you therefore that you will help me forward with your faithful Prayers as I know you doe for I do feel the comfort and commodity thereof That you have observed my simple Counsell I am right glad This counsel was that he should marry notwithstanding certain lets whereby Satan sought to hinder his Marriage and I trust in the Lord God you shall finde comfort in the same And that you may so doe indeed I have been so bold to write these few words unto you because I shall see you no more in this corruptible life therefore mark them well First and above all things you must be very circumspect to keep the band of love and beware that there never spring up the root of bitterness between you If at any time there happen to rise any cause of unkindness between you as it is unpossible alwayes to be free from it see that you weed up the same with all lenity gentleness and patience The root of bitterness to be weeded out with the Spade of Patience and never suffer your self nor your wife to sleep in displeasure If you have cause to speak sharply and sometimes to reprove How and when the husband ought to reprove beware that you do not the same in the presence of other but keep your words until a convenient time which is the point of a wise man saith Solomon and then utter them in the spirit of meekness and the groaning spirit of perfect love which you must also let sometimes to cover faults and wink at them if they be not intollerable Whatsoever loss and mischance shall happen unto you Faults somtime must be covered with love take it patiently and bear it merrily and though the same should come partly through your wifes negligence yet let it rather be a loving warning to take heed in time to come then a cause of sorrow for that which is past and cannot be holpen I know by mine own experience that we are in this life subjâ—ct to many inconveniences and that of nature we are prone to displeasure Not to take unkindness for every trifle and ready to think unkindeness for every little trifle and specially with our best friends yea soonest with our loving wives which be most lothest to displease us But let us beware of this cankered corruption and consider that wrought most of all in love to bear with them according to Christs example towards his Congregation for whom he gave himself to cleanse it c. I had thought to have treated this matter at large but even now I am interrupted and otherwise letted I doubt not but you know your duty therein a great deal better then I can declare it unto you and as you know it so will do it but I love to be bold with you I intend also to write to your wife very shortly and so take my last farewel of you forever in this World And thus in great haste I am now constrained to make an end The blessing of God be alwayes with you Your own forever John Careles Pray pray pray with Faith Another Letter of John Careles to Elizabeth Wife of the said A. B. containing likewise certain godly Precepts of Matrimony pertaining to her duty THe everlasting peace of God in Iesus Christ the continual ayd strength and comfort of his most holy and mighty Spirit with increase of knowledge faith and perfect feeling of Gods eternal mercy be with you my dear and faithful loving Sister E. B. and with your godly loving husband and my dear and faithful Brother to the full performance of that good which he hath so graciously begun in you that in all things you may be madâ— rich and blessed in him and your seed after you now and ever Amen As I have been long desirous to write unto you my dear heart iâ— the Lord not onely being thereto bound of duty but also ofteâ— provoked of him to whom I owe my self and all that I am able to do I mean even that blessed of the Lords own mouth whom God hath joyned with you in that holy and Christian state of Matrimony even so at the last I have obtained time and occasion in some part to perform that which I have long purposed And forasmuch as the Lord of his great mercy and fatherly Care and Providence over you his dear childe hath now graciously accomplished that good work among many other which I as a friend of the Bridegroom have full heartily wished and often prayed for I think it good yea and my bounden duty to treat of such things as may be profitable to preserve mutual love and faithful amity between you Satan an enemy to all godly affairs which I know Satan will chiefly labour to diminish if he cannot altogether destroy the same lest by many joyful occasions you should be provoked continually to praise God for his good gâ—ft which that enemy hath by all means sought to hinder from you As for all other things I know you are sufficiently instructed and also have a most godly learned Companion who is well able further to teach you if need do require But in this thing I know my Experience is more then his Therefore my good Sister first and before all things see that you do diligently consider that as every good and perfect gift pertaining to Soul and Body is given from above and cometh from the Father of Light Even so to whomsoever the Lord dealeth any of his benefits of them he doth chiefly require alwayes a thankful heart for the same for else he will either take away his good gifts again or turn the same to their great discommodity and in the end to the increase of their condemnation So detestable in his
him before by Mr. Philpot 10 Mr. Bradfords Letter to Careles 14 Careles his Letter to Mr. Bradford 15 His Letter to his Wife 18 His Letter to several faithful Brethren in Newgate Condemned for the Testimony of Gods Everlasting Truth 21 His Letter to Mr. Green Mr. Whittel and certain other Prisoners in Newgate Condemned and ready to be burnt for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus 26 His Letter to W. Tyms Prisoner in Newgate 29 His Letter to his dear Sister Mrs. Cotton 33 His Letter to his dear Brother T. V. 34 His Letter to his dear and faithful Brother Augustine Bernher 38 His Letter to his dear Brother Henry Aalington Prisoner in the Lollardâ— Tower 42 His Letter to his dear and faithful Brother T V. 47 His Letter of Thanks to a faithful Friend of his by whom he had received much Comfort in his inward Troubles 51 His Letter to a certain godly faithful Sister by the Name of E. K. 52 His Letter to Mrs Agnes Glascock 55 His brief Admonition to Mrs Agnes Glascock written in a book of hers when she came to the Prison to visit him 57 His Letter to Mrs. A. G. to comfort her in her Repentance after she had been at Mass fruitful for all them to reade which are faln and are to be raised up again 58 His Letter to A. B. a frithful Minister of the Lord containing certain fruitful Precepts of Matrimony 61 His Letter to Elizabeth Wife of the said A. B. containing likewise certain godly Precepts of Matrimony pertaining to her duty 64 A Letter of Mr John Bradfords which he wrote to a faithful Woman in her heaviness and trouble most comfortable for all those to read that are afflicted and broken hearted for their sins 68 A worthy Answer of a constant Martyr called Guy de Brez Anno Dom. 1566. 75 The same Martyr in a Letter to his Wife acquaints her with Gods Gracious dealing with him in all his Assaults Ibid. THE EFFECT OF JOHN CARELES EXAMINATION before Doctor Martin briefly declared FIrst The Effect of John Careles examination Doctor Martin calling John Careles to him in his Chamber demanded what was his Name To whom when the other had answered that his name was John Careles then began Doct. Martin to descant at his pleasure upon that name saying That it would appear by his conditions by that time he had done with him that he would be a true Careless man indeed And so after other by-talk there spent about much needless matter then he asked him where he was born Careles Forsooth saith he at Coventry Martin At Coventry what so far man How cam'st thou hither who sent thee to the Kings Bench to Prison Careles I was brought thither by a Writ I trow How John Careles was brouht to the Kings Bench what he was I cannot tell I think Mr. Marshall can tell you Marsh In good faith I cannot tell what the matter is but indeed my Lord Chief Justice sent him from the Barr. Mart. Well Careles I would wish thou should'st play the wise mans part Thou art an handsom man and it is pitty but that thou shouldst do well and save that which God hath bought Careles I thank your good Mastership most heartily And I put you out of doubt that I am most sure and certain of my salvation by Jesus Christ so that my soul is safe already whatsoever pains my body suffer here for a little time Mart. Yea Marry you say truth for thou art so Predestinate to life that thou canst not perish in whatsoever Opinion thou doest dye Careles That GOD hath Predestinate me to Eternal life in Jesus Christ I am most certain John Careles examined upon Predestination and even so am I sure that his Holy Spirit wherewith I am sealed will so preserve me from all Heresies and evill Opinions that I shall dy in none at all Mart. Go to let me hear your Faith in Predestination for that shall be written also Carel. Your Mastership shall pardon me herein For you said your self ere-while that you had no Commission to examine my Conscience I will trouble my self with answering no moe matters then I needs must untill I come before them that shall have more authority further to examine me Mart. Dr. Martin declareth his Commission I tell thee then I have Commission yea and Commandement from the Council to examine thee for they delivered me thy Articles Carel. Yea I think indeed that your Mastership is appointed to examine me of my Articles which you have there in writing and I have told you the truth I do confess them to be mine own fact deed but you do now examine me of Predestination whereof my Articles speaketh nothing at all Mart. I tell thee yet again â—hat I must also examine thee of such things as be in controversie between thee and thy fellows in the Kings Bench whereof Predestination is a part as thy fellow N. hath confessed and thy self dost not deny it Carel. I do not deny it But he that first told you that matter might have found himself much better occupied Mart. Why Dr. Martin would not examine him of the Sacrament Why what if he had not told me thinkest thou I would not have known it yes or else thou shouldst have withstood my Commission For I tell thee truth I may now examine thee of the blessed Sacrament or any other thing that I list but that I would shew thee favour and not be too hasty with thee at the first Marsh Yea indeed Careles Master Doctor hath Commission to examine you or any other of your fellowâ— Mart. Yea marry have I I tell the truth of it Careles Then let your Scribe set his pen to the paper and you shall have it roundly even as the truth is I believe that Almighty GOD our most dear loving Father of his great mercy and goodness did Elect in Christ Mart. Tush What need all that long circumstance write I believe that God Elected and make no more ado Careles No not so Mr. Doctor it is an high Mystery and ought reverently to be spoken of And if my words may not be written as I do utter them I will not speak at all Mart. Go to go to wriâ—e what he will 〈◊〉 is more businesâ— then needeth Careles I believe that Almâ—ghty God our most dear loving Father Careles Opinioâ— of Gods Election of his great mercy and infinite goodness through Iesus Christ did elect and appoint in him before the foundation of the Earth was laid a Church or Congregation which he doth continually guide and govern by his Grace and holy Spirit so that not one of them shall ever finally perish When this was written Mr. Doctor took it in his hand and read it saying Mart. Why who will deny this D. Martin avowetâ— Careles judgment of Gods Election Careles If your Mastership do allow it and other learned men when they shall see it I have
fulfilled So I say to you my dear hearts in the Lord happy are ye all yea thrice happy shall ye be for evermore because ye have stedfastly believed the most sweet Promises which God the Father hath made unto you with his own mouth in that he hath promised you which are the faithful seed of the believing Abraham that ye shall be blessed ever world without end The Promises of God your sweet Father as ye do believe so do ye bear record that God is true The testimony whereof ye have worthily born to the world and shortly will full surely Seal the same with your Blood yea even to morrow I do understand He encourageth Gods Martyrs unto their death Oh constant Christians Oh valiant Souldiers of the high Captain Jesus Christ who for your sake hath conquered the Devil Death Sin and Hell and hath given you full victory over them for evermore Oh worthy Witnesses and most glorious Martyrs whose invincible Faith hath overcome that proud sturdy bragging Prince of the World and all his wicked Army over whom ye shall shortly triumph for evermore Ah my sweet hearts the everlasting treasures are full surely laid up for you in Heaven The immercessible and most glorious Crown of Victory is already made and prepared for you to be shortly clapt upon all your happy heads The holy Angels of your heavenly Father are already appointed to conduct your sweet Souls into Abrahams bosome All the heavenly Host rejoyceth already for that they shall shortly receive you with joy and felicity into their blessed Fellowship Selah Rejoyce with double joy and be glad my dear Brethren for doubtless ye have more cause then can be expressed But alas I that for my sins am left behinde may lye and lament with the holy Prophet Psal 119. saying Woe is me that the dayes of my joyfull rest are prolonged Ah cursed Satan which hath caused me so sore to offend my most dear loving Father whereby my exile and banishment is so much prolonged Oh Christ my Advocate pacifie thy Fathers wrath which I have justly deserved that he may take me home to him in his sweet mercy Oh that I might now come home unto thee with my blessed Brethren Well thy will O Lord be effectually fulfilled for it is onely good and turneth all things to the best for such as thou in thy mercies hast chosen And now farewell my dear Hearts most happy in the Lord I trust in my good God yet shortly to see you in the Celestial City whereof undoubtedly the Lord hath already made you free Citizens Though ye be yet with us for a little time your very home is in Heaven where your treasure doth remain with your sweet Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ whose calling you have heard with the ears of your hearts and therefore you shall never come into judgement but pass from death to life Your sins shall never be remembred be they never so many so grievous or so great for your Saviour hath cast them all into the bottom of the Sea he hath removed them from you as far as the East is from the West Psal 103. and his mercy hath much more prevailed over you then is distance between Heaven and Earth and hath given you for an everlasting possession of the same all his Holyness Righteousness and Justification Triumph of Martyrs yea and the Holy Ghost into your hearts wherewith ye are surely sealed unto the day of Redemption to certifie you of your eternal Election and that ye are his true Adopted Sons whereby ye may boldly cry unto God Abba dear Father for evermore so that now no creature in Heaven Earth nor Hell shall be able to accuse you before the throne of the Heavenly King Satan is now cast out from you he himself is judged and hath no part in you he will once more bite you by the heel and then he hath done Gen. 3. for at that time you shall squeeze his head through your own good Christ and so have you final victory for evermore In joyful triumph whereof ye shall sweetly ascend into the place of eternal rest whether your eldest Brother Christ is gone before you to take possâ—ssion for you and to prepare your place under the holy Altar with Cranmer Latimer Ridley Rogers Hooper Saunders Farrar Taylor Bradford Philpot with many other who will be full glad of your coming to see six more of their appointed number that their blood may so much the sooner be revenged on them that dwell on the Earth Thus I make an end committing you all to Gods most merciful defence whose quarrel ye have defended whose cause ye have promoted whose glory ye have set forth and whose name ye have constantly confessed Farewel for a while my dear hearts in the Lord I will make as much hast after you as I may All our dear Brethren salute you They Pray for you and praise God for you continually Blessed be the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their Labours saith the Holy Ghost Apoc. 11. and their works follow them Your own John Careles a most unprofitable Servant of the Lord. Pray pray pray To Mr. Green Mr. Whittel and certain other Prisoners in Newgate Condemned and ready to be burnt for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus Another Letter of John Careles wherein he doth animate Green Whittel and the rest of that company unto their Martyrdome THe everlasting peace in Jesus Christ the continual comfort of his most pure and holy Spirit be with you my most dear and faithful Brethren and Sisters of Newgate the Lords appointed Sheep unto the slaughter to the good performance of the great and notable work of the Lord which he hath so graciously begun in you all that the same may redound to the setting forth of his Glory and to the commodity of his Church and to your own everlasting comfort in him So be it Ah my dear hearts and most faithful Brethren and sisters in the Lord what high lauds and praise yea what humble and continual thanks am I bound to give to God our Father for you and on your most happy behalf who so mightily hath magnified himself in you thus far forth in giving you his holy and mighty Spirit to the constant confessing of Christs verity even to the cruel Condemnation and I doubt not but he will do the same to the death Oh happy and blessed are you that ever you were born that the Lord will vouch you worthy of this great dignity to dye for his sake Doubtless it is the greatest honour that God can give you in this life Yea Apoc. 11. if they be so blessed of God that dye in the Lord as the Holy Ghost saith they be To dye in the Lord and for the Lord. how much more blessed and happy then are you that dye not onely in the Lord but also for the Lord Oh that it were the good will of
God that the good hour were now come that I might go with you ah that my sins made me not unworthy of such an excellent dignity Be thankful dear hearts be thankful and rejoyce in the Lord for mighty is his mercy towards you and great is your reward in Heaven the which you like faithful persons have plucked to you with a godly violence of an invincible Faith Oh worthy warriers of the most high captain Oh constant Confessors of the everlasting verity how glorious a Crown of victory shall you shortly receive which is prepared for all such as do continue to the end Oh you sweet Saints of the Lord how precious shall your death be in his sight Oh how dear are your Souls to your Redeemer in whose hands they shall most joyfully rest and the pains of death shall never touch you Oh how blessed shall you be when Christ shall appear at the which time you shall receive your bodies again full of Immortality Oh how joyful shall you be when Christ according to his promise shall knowledge you before his Father and his holy Angels as you have most constantly confessed him to be your Lord and onely Saviour before men Oh blessed Green thou meek and loving Lamb of the Lord how happy art thou to be appointed to dye for his sake A full dainty dish art thou for the Lords own tooth Fresh and Green shalt thou be in the house of the Lord and thy fruits shall never wither nor decay Although thou go here forth sowing thy good fruits with Tears the time shall come that thou shalt reap with joy and gladness the fruits of everlasting life and that without ceasing Be merry therefore and fear not Luk. 12. for it is thy Fathers will to give thee a Kingdome whereunto he hath chosen thee before the foundations of the World were laid Oh happy Minister thou man of God how glad mayest thou be of Gods gracious favour which hath prevented thee in the day of thy tryal Oh happy Peter whose part thou hast well played therefore thy reward and portion shall be like unto his Now hast thou good experience of mans infirmity but much more proof and taste yea sense and feeling of Gods abundant bottomless mercy Although Satan desired to sift thee yet Christ thy good Captain prayed that thy Faith should not fail Luk. â—â— Gods strength is made perfect by thy weakness and his grace is sufficient for thee his dear Childe Thine Example did so incourage and strengthen thy poor Brethren that God is every way glorified by thee and shortly will he glorifie thee with himself with that glory which he hath prepared for thee his Elect darling before the World was made Therefore rejoyce and be glad for thou hast good occasion in finding such favour in his fight This is most true oh my other Brethren whom I do not know neither have I heard much of you happy are you that ever you were born and blessed be our God which hath given you such Victory over the bloody Beast Shortly shall you be clothed in large white garments Apoc. 19. and fine rayness of Righteousness and so shall you follow the Lamb on Mount Sion with new Songs of Mirth and Melody for your delivery forth of Satans Power and tyranny God for evermore be blessed for you and strengthen you to the end as I doubt not but he will for he never failed them that put their trust in him Oh my dear and faithful sister Joane Warner what shall I say to thee Thy tryal hath been great thy Victory in Christ hath been notable thou hast overcome many a sharp shower and storm shortly shalt thou arrive at the Haven of quiet rest and receive a reward due to a constant Martyr Thou shalt go home to thy Heavenly Father and possess for ever the inheritance which Christ hath purchased for thee where thy earthly Parents be still looking for thee which have triumphed over Antichrist most victoriously Oh blessed Parents of happy Children which have shewed such an example as the like hath been seldome seen I salute thee dear Sister of like constant minde whose constant example is worthy of continual memory Praised be God for you mine own sweet sisters Mat. 25. which hath made you to play such wise Virgins parts He hath plentifully poured the oyle of his Spirit into the Lamps of your Faith so that the light hereof shall never be extinct You shall enter with your Bridegroom into everlasting joy whereunto you were chosen in him from the beginning Oh my dear Brethren and sisters you blessed Saints of the Lord how much and how deeply am I bound to praise God for you both day and night Pray pray for me my dear hearts for the tender mercy of God that I may be made worthy to follow your trace Oh that I had run the race of my life as far as you have done yours John 5. and were as nigh my journeys end as you be unto yours But alas I lye like the lame man at the Pooles side by Solomons Porch and every man goeth into the place of health before me But God will appoint me one one day to put me in I trust my Lord of London's Colehouse is empty and all his Officers idle therefore they must shortly fetch more sheep to the shambles for he is the common slaughter-slave of all England B. Bonner called the slaughter slave of England But happy are you that are passed through the Pikes and delivered out of his hands and from all the Angels of the Darkness of this World which long tempted you in the Wilderness of the same but now shall the Angels of God come and minister unto you for they are your Servants to hold you up in their hands that you shall not hurt your foot no nor one hair of your head shall perish They shall carry you up to heaven in a fiery Chariot Psal 60. 2 King 2. though you leave your Mantle behinde you for a time till God restore the same to you again in a more ample and glorious sort Thus in haste as it doth appear I am constrained to make an end committing you all to Gods most merciful defence who ever have you in his blessed keeping desiring you all to remember me in your godly and faithful Prayers as I will not forget you in mine by Gods grace The blessing of God be with you all my dear Brethren and sisters All our Brethren and fellow-prisoners here have them most heartily commended unto you and pray for you without ceasing God send us a merry meeting in his Kingdome Amen By your Brother and unfeigned lover John Careles Prisoner abiding his most merciful will and pleasure Pray pray pray To my faithful and loving Brother W. Tyms Prisoner in Newgate THe Everlasting peace of God in Iesus Christ with the continuall joy comfort and strength of his sweet Spirit be multiplied and daily more and more increased in
good load Oh that I might so strike him down that he should never be able for to rise again But that stroke belongeth onely to the Lord to stâ—ike at his coming the which I trust will be shortly Oh hasten it good Lord and shorten these sorrowful and sinful dayes for thy great mercies sake Farewel my dear and faithful loving Brother The Loâ—d defend keep and preserve you from the power of your Enemies v sible and invisible and send us a most joyful and merry meeting here or elswhere as it shall please his goodness to appoint us In the mean space I shall most earnestâ—y desire you to pray for me for I never had more need in my life and doubtless you shall never want my poor prayer if it shall please God to accept the Prayer of so sinful a wretch as I am The Lord impute not my sins to me for Iesus Christs sake unto whose most merciful defence I do most heartily commit you The blâ—ssing of God be with you now and ever Amen I pray you do my most hearty commendations to Mr. John Glover I do not forget him in my daily Prayers and I trust he doth Remember me Your poor Brother alwayes mindful of you in my Prayer John Careles Prisoner abiding Gods pleasure To my dear Brother Henry Adlington Prisoner in the Lollards Tower THe everlasting peace of God in Iesus Christ the continual ayd strength joy and comfort of his most pure holy and mighty Spirit with the increase of Faith and lively feeling of his Mercies be most effâ—ctuously wrought in your heart my dear and faithful loving Brother Aâ—ingtoâ— and in the hearts of all your other godly Prison fellows to the full finishing of that good work which the Lord hath most graciously begun in you that the same may be to the setting forth of his glory the commodity of his poor afflicted Church and to your own eternal joy and comfort in him Amen My most dear and faithful loving Brother in our Lord I with all the rest of my loving Brethren here with me do most humbly and heartily commend us unto you with all faithful Remembrance of you in our daily prayers giving God earnest thanks on your most happy behalf for that he hath given you such hearty boldness and Christian constancy in the faithful confession of his everlasting Verity Blessed be God for thee my dearly beloved Brother which hath vouched thee worthy of so great a dignity as to suffer for his sake and the setting forth of his glory Oh glad in heart mayest thou be to whom it is given not onely to believe in thy Lord and Christ most lively but also to suffer for his sake as one of his silly sheep appointed to the slaughter Be of good comfort therefore my good Brother for your Calling unto the Cross of Christ was after a marvellous sort surely it was onely the Lords appointment and therefore he will well perform his own work in and upon you to the great magnifying of his glory and comfort of your Brethren whose hearts are mightily refreshâ—d to hear how heartily you have behaved your self hitherto This present day I received a letter from you at the reading whereof my Brethren and I were not a little comforted to see your Conscience so quieted in Christ and your continuance so stedfast in him which things be the special gifts of God not given unto every man but to you his dear darling Elect and chosen in Christ and such as you be And whereas you do require to know my simple minde concerning your answer unto Dr. Story and the Chancellor Truly I say you did answer them very well for there are but two Sacraments indeed that is to say the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ as you have full well answered them Praised be God for his good gifts who chuseth the weak to confound the strong and the foolish to confound the worldly wise If when you come before them again they do ask you what a Sacrament is say you That a Sacrament being ministred according to Christs Institution is a visible Sign of an invisible Grace What a Sacrament is and hath the promise of Gods Mercy annexed unto it available to all such as do worthily receive it and not unworthily worship it as they would have us to do contrary to Gods Commandment And these properties belonging to Christs true Sacraments cannot be applyed to any one of those five Sacraments which they have invented of their own brain since Antichrist began to reign to blinde the people withal I perceive dear heart that upon Friday they do intend to Condemn you and to give you your Judgement Therefore I think they wâ—ll have no great reasoning with you but bid you answer them directly either Yea or Nay to all such things as they have to charge you withal which they have gathered of you since you came into their cruel hands But if they will needs make many words with you because you are but a simple man and therefore perchance they will be the busier with you to trouble you with many questions to cumber your knowledge and then seem to triumph over you and that truth that you do hold if I say they do this as perhaps for some evil purpose they will then be you so plain and short as you can saying roundly unto them these or such like words as nigh as you can Be it known unto you that I in all points do believe as it becometh a true Christian He instructeth him how and what to Answer to the adversaries and as I have been truly taught in the dayes of that good King Edward of such godly Preachers and Prophets sent of God as have sealed their Doctrine with their Blood from whom I will dissent in no point for I am a poor man without learning but am commanded of God to follow the counsel of his constant Preachers and so do I intend to do God giving me grace and assistance thereto As for you I know you to be none of Christs Shepherds but ravening Wolves which come to kill and scatter the Flock of Christ as the Lord said you should and doâ—h will us to beware of you and your poisoned Doctrine bidding us to judge you according to your fruits whereby all men may see and know what you be We are bound to follow â—ur true Preachers that will not be wilfully blinde But the good Shepherds have given their lives for the defence of Christs Flock and I am commanded to follow their faithful and godly example and to confess with them one Truth even to the fire if God shall see it good and this as a true Christian I have hitherto done and henceforth by Gods grace intend for to do And if for the same God shall suffer you to take away my life as you have done theirs I am contented therewith His will be done God wil require accouÌ„t of
with all earnest and faithfull remembrance of you in my daily Prayers thanking God right heartily that you do likewise remember me in yours assuring you that my poor heart doth daily feel great Consolation thereby God onely have the praise for the same and all other his Benefits Ah my dear heart in the Lord well is me that ever I was born that God of his great mercy and infinite goodness hath used me most miserable wretch at any time as his instrument to minister any thing unto you either by word or writing that might be an occasion of your joy and comfort in the Lord and a provoking of you to praise and thanksgiv ng unto God for the same as your most loving and godly Letter seemeth to import Oh happy am I that the Lord hath appointed me unto so good a ground to sow his seed upon but much more happy are you whose heart the Lord hath prepared and made so meet to receive the same so effectuously gâ—ving thereto the sweet showers and heavenly dews of his grace and holy Spirit that it may bring forth fruit in due season accordingly the increase whereof we shall shortly reap together with perfect joy and gladness and that continually Therefore my dear Brother I say unto you as good Elizabeth did to her Cousin Mary Happy are you Luke 1. and happy shall you be for evermore because you have believed The most sweet and faithful Promises of your Redeemer Jesus Christ you have surely laid up in the treasury of your heart his comfortable Callings you have faithfully heard his loving Admonitions you have humbly obeyed and therefore you shall never come into judgement Remission of sins your sins shâ—ll never be remembred for your Saviour hath cast them all into he bottom of the Sea Micah 7. he hath removed them from you as far as the East is from the West Psal 103. and hath given you for an everlasting possâ—ssion his Justification and Holiness So that now no Creature neither in heaven nor in earth shall be able to accuse you before the Throne of the heavenly King Satan is now judged he is now cast out from you he hath no part in you you are wholly given unto Christ which will not lose you your stedfast Faith in him hath overcome that sturdy and bragging Prince of the World Christ hath given you the final victory over him and all his Army that they shall never hurt you What would you have more Oh my dear heart how great treasures are laid up in store for you and how glorious a Crown is already made and prepared for you And albeit the holy Ghost doth bear witness of all these things in your heart Testimony of Gods Spirit and maketh you more sure and certain thereof then if you had all the outward Oracles in the world yet I being certainly perswaded and fully assured by the testimony of Gods Spirit in my Conscience of your eternal and sure Salvation in our sweet Saviour Jesus Christ have thought it good yea and my bounden duty not onely at this time to write unto you and to shew my joyful heart in that behalf but also by the Word and Commandment of Christ to pronounce and affirm in the Name and Word of the heavenly King Jehovah and in the behalf of his sweet Son Iesus Christ our Lord to whom all knees shâ—ll bow whom all creatures shall worship and also by the impulsion of the holy Ghost by whose power and strength all the faithful be regenerate I do I say p onounce to thee my dear B o her T. V. that thou art already a Cit zen of Heaven The Lord thy God in whom thou dost put all thy trust for his dear Sons sake in whom thou dost also undoubtedly believe â—a h freely forgiven thee all thy sins clearly released all thine in quâ—ties and fully pardoned all thine offences be they never so many so grievous or so great and will never remember them any more to Condemnation As truly as he liveth he will not have thee dye the death but hath verily determined purposed and eternally decreed that thou shalt live with him for ever Thy Sore shall be healed and thy Wounds bound up even of himself for his own Names sake He doth not nor will not look upon thy sins in thee but he respecteth and beholdeth thee in Christ in whom thou art lively graffed by Faith in his blood and in whom thou art most assuredly elected and chosen to be a sweet vessel of his Mercy and Salvation and wast thereto predestinate in him before the foundation of the world was laid In testimony and earnest whereof he hath given thee his good and holy Spirit which worketh in thee Faith Love and unfeigned Repentance with other godly Vertues contrary to the Corruption of thy Nature Also he hath commanded me this day although a most unworthy wretch to be a witness hereof by the Ministry of his holy Word Experience of Christ working in his Church grounded upon the truth of his most faithful Promises the which thou believing shalt live for ever Believest thou this my dear heart I know well thou dost believe The Lord increase thy Faith and give thee a lively feeling of all his mercies whereof thou art warranted and assured by the testimony of the holy Ghost who confirm in thy Conscience to the utter overthrowing of Satan and those his most hurtful dubitations whereby he is accustomed to molest and vex the true Children of God all that I have said and by Gods grace I will as a witness thereof confirm and seal the same with my blood for a most certain truth Wherefore my good Brother praise the Lord with a joyful heart and give him thanks for this his exceeding great mercy casting away all dubitation and wavering yea all sorrow of heart and pensiveness of mind for this the Lord your God and most dear and loving Father commandeth you to do by me nay rather by his own Mouth and Word pronounced by me But now my dear Brother after that I have done my message or rather the Lords message indeed I could finde in my heart to write two or three sheets of paper declaring the joy I bear in my heart for you mine own bowels in the Lord yet the time being so short as you do well know I am here constrained to make an end desiring you to pardon my slackness and to forgive my great negligence towards you promising you still that so long as my poor life doth last my prayer shall supply that my pen doth want as knoweth the Almighty God to whose most merciful defence I do heartily commit you and all other his dear children as well as though I had rehearsed them by Name desiring them most heartily to remember me in their hearty and daily Prayers as I know right well they do for I feel the daily comfort and commodity thereof and therefore I neither will nor can
Lord and Master Christ But yet let us be of good chear for Christ hath overcome the World The pain is but short that we can feel here but the pleasure is perpetual that we shall feel elsewhere Let us set before us the Example of Christ which abode the Cross and despised the shame Consolation under the Cross in respect of the joy that was set before him even so let us consider for whose sake we suffer whose Cause we defend and what glorious Reward we shall have at the day of our victory and then doubtless the consolation of these things will make sweet all our sufferings and soon swallow up all the sorrows that we are sowled in for Gods sake I could recite divers Texts of the Scriptures to confirm this point but I need not for I am well assured that you do know them most perfectly already The Lord give you strength and assist you with his holy Spirit that you may continually walk in all points according to your godly knowledge And then shall you do not as the most part of your Gospellers do now adayes the more is the pity There are a great many in England that do perfectly know that the Idolatrous Mass is abominable devillish and detestable in the sight of God and yet alas they be not afraid to pollute and defile their bodies which ought to be the Temples of the holy Ghost with being present at it so sinning against God and their own Conscience But dear Sister K. do you fly from it both in body and Soul as you would fly from the very Devil himself Drink not of the Whore of Babylons Cup by no means for it will infect the Body and poison the Soul Be not partakers of her sins saith the Angel lest you be partakers of the Plagues that shortly shall be poured upon her O what an array is this that so many that know Gods Truth will now turn again and defile themselves in the filthy Puddle of Antichrists stinking Religion They go about to save their lives with their double dissimulation but doubtless they shall lose everlasting life by it if they do not Repent in time and turn unto the Lord. But dear sister my trust is that you do utterly abhorre the coming to any such thing I hope that you will not by any means turn back into Egypt now but that you will boldly venture through the Wilderness of Trouble and Persecution that you may come into the Land that floweth with all kinde of Heavenly pleasures and joyful delectations and possess the same for ever Let us consider how that every one of us doth owe unto God a death by nature and how soon the Lord will require it of us we know not Oh how happy are we then if God of his goodness appoint us to pay Natures debt with suffering for his Truth and Gospel sake and so making us his faithful Witnesses with the Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Confessors yea with his dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom he doth here begin to fashion us like in suffering that we might be like him also in glory Thus my dearly beloved Sister I have been bold to trouble you a little with my rude and simple Letter being made in haste as it doth appear Yet I desire you to take it in good worth as a token of my poor zeal unto you and do accept my good will And if it please God to spare me life and liberty I trust hereafter to write unto you more largely Fare ye well dear Sister E. K. the Lord bless you and all yours and pour upon you the heavenly dew of his Grace The Lord indue you with plentiful knowledge of his Verity and fill you with his holy and mighty Spirit that you may continually rejoyce in the Comforts of the same now and ever Amen Pray pray pray with stedfast Faith Your daily Oratour John Careles Prisoner of the Lord. A Letter of John Careles to Mrs. Agnes Glascock THe everlasting peace of God in Jesus Christ the continuall ayd strength and comforts of his most pure holy and mighty Spirit be with you my dear and faithfull Sister Glascock to the good performance of that good work which God hath so graciously begun in you to his glory and the commodity of his poor afflicted Church and to your own eternal comfort in him Amen In our Lord I have most humble and hearty commendations unto you my dear Sister and most faithful Mother Glascock with all remembrance of you in my daily Prayers giving God most hearty land praise and thanks for you and on your behalf in that he of his great mercy hath hitherto so mightily strengthned you constantly to cleave unto your Captain Christ notwithstanding the great assaults and manifold temptations that you have had to the contrary Doubtless dear heart it cannot be expressed what joy and comfort it is unto my very Soul to see how mightily the Lord hath magnified himself in you and other his dear elect darlings whom he will shortly glorifie with himself as he hath done other of his sweet Saints that are gone before you Rejoyce therefore and be glad for verily you have good cause if you diligently consider the great dignity that God hath called you unto even in your old age to be one of his worthy Witnesses unto the World and I think you shall with me and other your Brethren in Bonds seal the Lords Verity with the Testimony of your Blood Surely sweet Sister What an high honour it is to suffer for Christ this is the greatest promotion that God can bring you or any other unto in this life and an honour that the highest Angel in Heaven is not permitted to have Therefore happy are you Oh faithful daughter of Abraham that the Lord will now preferre you before many other yea or any other of your age that I do know in England Oh faithful and virtuous Matron which wilt not be moved from the sure Rock Christ upon whom you have so firmly built your house that neither storms nor tempests neither yet Hell gates or any other temptations shall ever be able once to prevail against it Full well doth it appear by your constant continuance that you have played the part of a wise builder in counting the Cost aforehand belonging to the finishing of your Tower and I doubt not but through Gods gift you have sufficient to the performance thereof that the Hypocrites of their part shall have no just cause to triumph against you or to mock you saying Lo this woman began to build but is not able to make an end Therefore go on boldly and fear not for God is faithfull as S. Paul saith which will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength but either will he give you grace and strength to stand unto the death which is the gate and entrance into life or else he will make such an out-scape for you as shall be to the setting forth of
his glory the which above all other things we that are his chosen children ought for to seek yea even with the loss of our own lives being yet well assured that the same shall not be shortned one minute of an hour before the time that God hath appointed Cast therefore dear Sister all your care upon the Lord which as S. Peter saith careth for you Great is his Providence for you and mighty is his love and mercy towards you with his grace he will defend you and with his holy Spirit he will evermore guide you wherewith he hath surely sealed you unto the day of Redemption He hath also given you the same in earnest for the recovery of the purchased Possession which he hath prepared for you before the foundation of the world was laid Be strong therefore and take a good heart as I hear say you be God for ever be blessed for you which hath graft his love in your good heart that nothing is able to separate you from the same but will rather chuse to suffer adversity with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a little season Oh happy woman that canst finde in thine heart to esteem the rebukes of Christ to be greater riches then all the treasures of the world as good Moses did Doubtless great is your reward in Heaven which you shall shortly receive of his free gift and not of any deserving Thus dear Mother Glascock I have been bold to trouble you with my rude and simple Letters desiring you to take them in good worth being done in great haste as it doth appear but yet proceeding from a poor heart which floweth over in love towards you as my daily prayers for you can testifie which I trust shall supply that part of my duty towards you that my Pen now wanteth I thank you dear heart for all your loving Tokens and for the great kindness you have hitherto shewed unto my poor Brother Tyms and his Wife and Children with all other of Gods people to whom you daily do good the Lord recompence the same sevenfold into your bosome as I doubt not but he will according to his infallible Promises I pray you have my hearty commendations unto your Husband I beseech the Lord strengthen him in the Confession of his Truth as my trust is that he will that we may all joyfully rest with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of God unto the which he bring us that with his most precious blood hath bought us The Blessing of God be with you now and ever Amen Your daily Orator and unfeigned Lover John Careles Prisoner of the Lord Pray pray pray A brief Admonition written by John Careles to Mrs. Agnes Glascock in a Book of hers when she came to the Prison to visit him THere is nothing that the holy Scripture throughout doth so much commend unto us as true Faith and stedfast trust in the Promises of Gods eternal mercies towards us in Jesus Christ For from the same as forth of the chief Fountain and Well-spring of life do flow all kindes of virtues and godly fruits specially true love towards God in the which we ought purely to serve him all the dayes of our life and also Christian Charity towards our Neighbours as well to help them at all needs as also not to hurt them by any means Therefore pray earnestly for the increase of faith and lively feeling of Gods mercy for all things are possible to him that can undoubtedly believe The effects of Faith Faith is that thing which assureth us of Gods mercy and whereby we vanquish all the fiery darts of the Devil Our victory that overcometh the world The knife that killeth and mortifieth the flesh and finally that which setteth us at peace with God and quieteth our Consciences alwayes before him and maketh us merry and joyfull under the Cross with many moe things then I can now express Pray therefore for faith in faith And for the Lords sake beware of Popery and Popish Idolatry the Idol of the wicked Mass and other Idolatrous Service Make not your body which is a member of Christ a member of Antichrist Remember that we shall receive of God according to that we do in the body be it good or evil Therefore glorifie God in your body which is dearly bought Betray not the Truth lest the Lord deny you If God be God follow him You cannot serve two Masters I write not this as doubting you but by the way of Admonition God keep you from all evil My Sister dear God give you grace With stedfast Faith in Christ his Name His Gospel still for to embrace And live according to the same To dye therefore think it no shame But hope in God with faithfull trust And he will give you praise with fame When you shall rise out of the dust For which most sweet and joyfull day To God with faith your Prayer make And think on me I do you pray The which did write this for your sake And thus to God I you betake Who is your Castle and strong Rock He keep you whether you sleep or wake Farewell dear Mistris A. Glascock An other Letter of John Careles to Mrs. A. G. to comfort her in her repentance after she had been at Mass fruitful for all them to be read which have fallen and are to be raised up again THe peace of God in Jesus Christ the eternal comforts of his sweet Spirit be with you and strengthen and comfort you my dear and faitâ—ful Sister Amen Although the perillous dayes be come whereof Christ prophesied that if it were possible the very elect should be deceived yet let the true faithful Christians rejoyce and be glad knowing that the Lord himself is their keeper who will not suffer one hair of their heads to perish without his almighty good will and pleasure neither will suffer them to be further tempteâ— then he will give them strength to bear but will in the midst of their temptations make a way for them to escape out So good and gracious a God is he to all his chosen Children And though sometimes he do let his elect stumble and fall yet no doubt he will raise them up again to the further increase of their comfort and to the setting forth of his glory and praise Which thing my dear and faithful loving Sister I trust shall be well verified on you for I do hear say that by the manifold allurements inticements procurements yea and inforcements that you dear heart have had your foot hath chanced to slip forth of the way to the great discomfort of your Soul and the heaviness of your heart But my good Sister be of good chear for the Lord will not so leave you but he will raise you up again and make you stronger then ever you were so that your fall shall turn to his glory your profit For if you had not by this proved the experience of your
sight is the Sin of Ingratitude The sin of ingratitude But to such as be thankful for his benefits he doth not onely to the old ever adde new but also maketh the commodity of his former gifts ever more and more to increase untill by them they are fully perswaded and throughly certified of his everlasting love in Christ Jesus which is eternal life it self so much doth he of his great mercy delight in a thankful heart Therefore I do yet once again earnestly require you that above all things you be thankful to God for his benefits God loveth a thankful hoart not onely for your Election Creation Redemption and Preservation but also for his other temporal gifts wherewith he hath endued you amongst the which the chief and most excellent is as testifieth the holy Ghost your good godly and faithful loving Husband For as the Wiseman saith Goods and possessions may come to a man by the death of his friends but a good Wife is the gift of God A good wiâ—â—tâ—e gift of Goâ— which the Lord will give for a good portion to such as fear him And the like is of a good Husband as the Lord hath now given you praised be his Name therefore He hath not given you an ignorant froward churlish brawling wastful rioting drunken Husband wherewith he hath plagued many other as he might also have done you but he hath given you a most godly leaâ—ned gentle loving quiet patient thrifty diligent and sober Husband by whom he will nourish cherish keep and defend you instruct and teach you yea care and provide for you and your Children the which he will also by him give you such things as be necessary for you He hath not dealt so with every body and yet he hath done this and much more for you my dear Sister and will thereto increase joy and love between you God delighteth in the agreement between Man Wife for as he delighteth in the love godly agreement of man wife together so is it he only that maketh them and all the whole houshold to be of one mind Unto the which his gracious work he requireth your diligence and will use you as his instrument and mean the more effectuously to accomplâ—sh the same And therefore I now require you to observe this my simple counsel the which I have here written as a testimonial of my good will towards you because I think in this life I shall never more see you Now as I have shewed you how you should be thankful unto God for his good gifts so I exhort you and as much as in me lieth charge you to be evermore thankful unto your dear loving husband who hath given himself unto you which is a more precious jewel in the Church of God then perchance you are yet aware of The duty of Wives toward their Husbands Think your self unworthy to be matched with such an Instrument of God and also reverence evermore the gifts of God in him and seek with true obedience and love to serve him in recompence of his true and painful heart towards you Be loth in any wise to offend him yea rather be careful and diligent to please him that his Soul may bless you If at any time you shall chance to anger him or to do or speak any thing that shall grieve him see that you never rest until you have pacified him and made him merry again If at any time he shall chance to blame you without a cause or for that you cannnot do therewith which thing happeneth sometimes of the best men living see that you bear it patiently and give him no uncomely or unkinde word for it but ever more look upon him with a loving and chearful countenance and rather take the fault upon you then seem to be displeased A chearful countenance Be alwayes merry and chearful in his company but not with too much lightness Beware in any wise of swelling powting or lowring for that is a token of a cruel and unloving heart except it be in respect of sin or in the time of sickness Be not sorrowful for any adversity that God sendeth but beware that nothing be spilt or go to waste through your negligence In any wise see rhat you be quick and cleanly about his meat and drink and prepare him the same according to his diet in due season Temperance in apparrel Go cleanly and well favouredly in your Apparel but beware of of Pride in any wise Finally in word and deed shew your self wise humble merry and loving towards him and also towards such as he doth love and then shall you lead a blessed life I could speak of many other things the which I have learned and proved true by experience but I know that you will do in all things much better then I can teach you because you have that anointing that teacheth you all things who hath also given you an heart to obey and serve him Yet I trust you will not be offended for this which I have written but rather accept my good will towards you whom I love in the Lord as well as I do my daughter Judith Thus as mine own Soul I commend you both to God desiring him to bless you with all manner of Spiritual blessings in heavenly things and also with the dew of Heaven and fatness of the Earth that in all things you may be made rich in Jesus Christ our Lord and onely Saviour The Lord increase and bless the fruit of your bodyes that your Children may stand round about your Table thick fresh and lusty like the Olive branches God give you both a long life that you may see and bless your Childrens Children unto the third and fourth Generation and teach them the true fear and love of God and that Faith for the which they shall be accepted in his sight God let you see the prosperity of Sion for whose lying in the dust let your hearts mourn The Lord make perfect your love together in him and alwayes increase the same Note that both these departed in quiet peace the one 1565. the other 1568. and bring you both in peace to your graves at a good age And now I bid you both most heartily farewel and I think I shall now take my leave of you for ever in this life I beseech you both to aid me with your continual Prayers as I will not forget you in mine that I may have a joyful victory through Jesus Christ To whose most mercifull defence I do most heartily for ever commend you to be kept unblameable untill his coming The which I beseech him to hasten for his Mercies sake Your own unfeignedly John Careles Prisoner of the Lord. Here endeth the Letters of John Careles A Letter of Mr. John Bradfords which he wrote to a faithfull Woman in her heaviness and trouble most comfortable for all those to reade that are afflicted and broken-hearted for their sins GOd
that is God with us Iâ— God be with us who can be against us Rom. 8. The Lord is with you your Father cannot forget you your Spouse loveth you If the waves and surges arise cry with Peter Lord I perish Matth. 8. and he will put out his hand and help you Cast out your Anchor of Hope and it will not cease for all the stormy surges till it take hold on the Rock of Gods Truth and Mercy Think not that he which hath given you so many things corporally as inductions of spiritual and heavenly Mercies Philip. 1. Desire of spiritual comfort though it be lacking is a great gift of God and that without your deserts or desire can deny you any spiritual comfort desiring it For if he give to desire he will give you to have and enjoy the thing desired To desire to have and the going about to ask ought to certifie your Conscience that they be his earnest of the thing which you asking he will give you yea before you ask and whilest you are about to ask he will grant the same as Esay saith to his glory and your eternal consolation He that spared not his own Son for you will not nor cannot think any thing too good for you my heartily beloved If he had not chosen you as most certainly he hath he would not have so called you he would never have justified you Rom. 8. he would never have so glorified you with his gracious gifts which I know praised be his Name therefore he would never have so exercised your Faith with temptations as he hath done and doth if I say he had not chosen you Exercise of tentations a great token of election I have chosen you as doubtless dear heart he hath done in Christ for in you I have seen his earnest and before me and to me you could not deny it I know both where and when if I say he hath chosen you then neither can you nor ever shall you perish For if you fall he putteth under his hand you shall not lie still so careful is Christ your keeper over you Never was Mother so mindful over her childe as he is over you And hath not he alwayes been so Speak woman when did he finally forget you And will he now trow you in your most need do otherwise you calling upon him and desiring to please him Ah my Joyce think you God to be mutable Rom. 11. Is he a changeling Doth not he love to the end them whom he loveth Are not his gifts and calling such that he cannot repent him of them for else were he no God If you should perish then wanted he power for I am certain his will towards you is not to be doubted of Hath not the Spirit which is the Spirit of truth Every lying spirit not to be hearkned unto Satan seeketh to bring tender consciences to doubting but Gods promise in Christ standeth sure for ever told you so And will you now hearken with Eve to the lying spirit which would have you not to despair no he goeth more craftily to work howbeit to that end if you should give ear unto it which God forbid but to doubt and stand in a mammering and so should you never truly love God but serve him of a servile fear lest he should cast you off for your unworthiness and unthankfulness as though your thankfulness or worthiness were any causes with God why he hath chosen you or will finally keep you Ah mine own dear heart Christ onely Christ onely and his mercy and truth All our election is in and for Christ only In him is the cause of your election This Christ this Mercy this Truth of God remaineth for ever is certain for ever and so is your Election certain for ever for ever for ever I say for ever If an Angel of heaven should tell you contrary accursed be he accursed be he Your thankfulness and worthiness are fruits and effects of your election they are no causes These fruits and effects shall be so much more fruitful and effectual by how much you waver not Therefore my dearly beloved arise and remember from whence you are fallen Psâ—l 120. You have a Shepherd which neither slumbereth nor sleepeth No man nor devil can pull you out of his hands Night and day he commandeth his Angels to keep you Have you forgotten what I read to you out of the Psalm The Lord is my Shepherd Psal 25. I can want nothing Do you not know that God sparred Noah in the Ark on the outside so that he could not get out So hath he done to you my good Sister so hath he done to you Ten thousand shall fall on your right hand Psal 90. and twenty thousand on your left hand yet no evil shall touch you Say boldly therefore Psal 125. Many a time from my youth up they have fought against me but they have not prevailed no nor never shall prevail for the Lord is round about his people And who are the people of God but such as hope in him Happy are they that hope in the Lord and you are one of those my dear heart for I am assured you have hoped in the Lord I have your words to shew most manifestly and I know they were written unfeignedly I need not to say that even before God you have simply confessed to me and that oftentimes no less And once if you had this hope Though feeling fail yet let hope hold fast as you doubtless had it though now you feel it not yet shall you feel it again for the anger of the Lord lasteth but a moment but his mercy lasteth for ever Tell me my dear heart who hath so weakned you Surely not a perswasion which came from him that called you For why should you waver Why should you waver The eye of faith must look upon nothing else but onely Christ crucified and be so heavy hearted Whom look you on On your self on your worthiness on your thankfulness on that which God requireth of you as faith hope love fear joy c. Then can you not but waver indeed for what have you as God requireth Believe you hope you love you c. as much as you should do No no nor never can in this life Ah my dearly beloved have you so soon forgotten that which ever should be had in memory namely that when you would and should be certain and quiet in Conscience then should your Faith burst throughout all things not onely that you have in you or else are in heaven earth or hell untill it come to Christ crucified and the eternal sweet mercies and goodness of God in Christ Here here is the resting place here is your Spouses bed creep into it and in your arms of Faith embrace him bewail your weakness your unworthiness your diffidence c. and you shall see he will turn to you What said I You shall