oyntmēt salt and such other laudable ceremonies which no Christian man will deny Smith That is a shamefull blasphemy agaynst Christ so to vse any mingle mangle in baptising young infants Boner I beleue I tell thee that if they dye before they bee baptised they be damned Smith Yee shall neuer bee saued by that beliefe But I pray you my Lord shewe me are we saued by water or by Christ Boner By both Smith Then the water dyed for our sinnes and so muste ye say that the water hath life and it being our seruaunt created for vs is our sauiour this my Lord is a good doctrine is it not Boner Why how vnderstandest thou these scriptures Except a man be borne of water and of the spyrit he can not enter into the kingdome of God And againe Suffer sayth our Sauiour these children to come vnto me and if thou wilt not suffer them to be baptised after the laudable order thou lettest them to come vnto Christ. Smith Where ye alleadge Saynt Iohn Except a man c. and will thereby proue the water to saue and so the deede or worke to saue and putte away sinnes I will send you to Saynt Paule which asketh of the Galathians Whether they receiued the spirite by the deedes of the law or by the preaching of fayth and there concludeth that the holye Ghoste accompanyeth the preaching of fayth and with the worde of fayth entreth into the harte So nowe if Baptysme preache me the washinge in Christes bloud so doeth the holy Ghost accompanye it and it is vnto me as a Preacher and not a Sauiour And where ye say I let the children to come vnto Christ it is manifest by our Sauiours wordes that ye let them to come that will not suffer them to come to him without the necessitye of water For he sayth suffer them to come vnto me and not vnto water and therefore if ye condemne them ye condemne both the merites and wordes of Christ. For our Sauiour sayeth Except ye turne and become as childrē ye cannot enter into the Kyngdome of GOD. And so broughte I out manye other ensamples to make manifest that Christ hath cleansed original sinne bringing in ensamples out of scriptures for the same Boner Then thou makest the water of none effect and then put away water Smith It is not sayth Saynt Peter the washynge awaye of the filth of the fleshe but in that a good conscience consenteth vnto GOD. And for to prooue that water onely bringeth not the holye ghost it is written in the 8. of the Actes that Simon receiued water but would haue receyued the holy ghost for money Also that the holy ghost hath come before baptisme it is written that Iohn had the holy ghost in his mothers wombe Cornelius Paule and the Queene of Candace seruant with many other receiued the holy ghost before Baptisme Yea and although your generation haue set at nought the worde of God and like swine turned hys wordes vpside downe yet must his Church keep the same in order that he lefte them whiche his Churche dare not breake and to iudge children damned that be not baptised it is wicked Mord. By our Lady syr but I beleue that if my childe dye without water he is damned Boner Yea and so do I and all Catholicke men good M. Mordant Smith Well my Lord such Catholicke such saluation Boner Well Syr what say you to the Sacrament of Orders Smith Ye may call it the Sacrament of misorders for all orders are appoynted of God But as for your shauing annoynting greasing poling roūding there are no such thinges appointed in Gods book and therfore I haue nothing to do to beleue your orders And as for you my lord if ye had grace or intelligēce ye wold not so disfigure your selfe as ye do Boner Sayest thou so nowe by my troth and I wyll goe shaue my selfe to anger thee withal and so sent for his barber which immediatly came And before my face at the doore of the next chamber he shaued himselfe desiring me before he went to answere to these articles Boner What say you to the holy bread and holy water to the sacrament of annoynting to all the rest of such ceremonies of the church Smith I say they be bables for fooles to play withall not for the children of God to exercise themselues in and therfore they may go among the refuse Then went away Maister Mordant and my Lord went to shauing leauing there certayne Doctors as he called thē to assay what they could doe of whō I was baited for halfe an houre of whō I also asked this questiō Where were all you in the dayes of Kyng Edward that ye spake not that which ye speake now Doct. We were in England Smith Yea but then ye had the faces of men but nowe yee haue put on Lyons faces again as sayth S. Iohn Ye shew your selues now as full of malice as ye may be For ye haue for euery time a viser yea if an other king Edward shoulde arise ye would then say Downe with the Pope for hee is Antichrist and so are all his Angels Then was I al to reuiled and so sent away brought in agayne to come before these men one of them that baited me before asked me if I disobeyed confession Smith To whom I answered Looke in mine articles and they shall shew you what I allow Doct. Your articles confesse that you allow not auriculare confession Smith I allow it not because the word aloweth it not nor commaundeth it Doct. Why it is written thou shalt not hide thy sinnes offences Smith No more do I when I confesse them to almightye God Doct. Why ye can not say that ye can hide them frō God and therefore you must vnderstand the wordes are spoken to be vttered to them that do not know them Smith Ye haue made a good aunswere then must the priest confesse himselfe to me as I to him For I know his faultes and secretes no more then he knoweth mine But if ye confesse you to the Priest and not vnto God ye shall haue the reward that Iudas had for he confessed him selfe to the priest and yet went and hanged himselfe by and by and so as many as do not acknowledge theyr faultes to God are sayd to hide them Doct. What did they that come to Iohn to be baptised Smith The came and confessed theyr sinnes vnto almighty God Doct. And not vnto Iohn Smith If it were vnto Iohn as ye are not able to proue yet was it to God before Iohn and the whole Congregation Doct. Why Iohn was alone in the wildernes Smith Why and yet the scriptures say he had many Disciples and that many Phariseis and Saduces came to hys Baptisme Here the Scriptures and you agree not And if they confessed themselues to Iohn as ye say it was to all the Congregation as saynt Paule
bee free from chastisement whereof all are partakers then are ye bastardes and no children Seing then when as we haue had carnall parents which chastened vs we reuerenced them shall not we much more be subiect vnto our spirituall father that we might liue And they for a litle time taughte vs after theyr owne mind but this father teacheth vs to our commodity to geue vnto vs his holinesse Al chastisment for the present tyme appeareth not pleasaunt but paynefull but afterward it rendereth the fruite of righteousnesse on them which are exercised in it Wherefore let vs bee of good cheere good Brethren and let vs plucke vppe our feeble members that were fallen or beganne to faynt hart handes knees and all the rest and let vs walke vpright and straight that no limping no◠〈…〉 bring vs out of the way Let vs looke not vpon the thinges that be present but with the eyes of our fayth let vs stedfastly behold the thinges that be euerlasting in heauen and so choose rather in respecte of that whiche is to come with the chosen members of Christ to beare Christes Crosse then for this short life time to inioy all the riches honours and pleasures of the broade worlde Why should we Christians feare death Can death depriue vs of Christ which is all our coÌ„â—ort our ioy and our life Nay forsooth But contrary death shall deliuer vs from this mortall body whiche lodeth and beareth downe the spirite that it cannot so well perceiue heauenly thinges in the which so long as we dwell wee are absent from God Wherefore vnderstanding our state in that we be Christians that if our mortall body which is our earthly house were destroied we haue a building a house not made with handes but euerlasting in heauen c. therefore wee are of good cheere and know that when we are in the body we are absent from GOD for we walke by fayth and not by cleare fight Neuerthelesse we are bolde and had rather be absent from the bodye and present with GOD. Wherefore we striue whether we be present at home or absent abroad that we may alwayes please him And who that hath true fayth in our Sauior Christ whereby he knoweth somewhat truely what Christ our Sauiour is that he is the eternall sonne of God life light the wisedome of the father all goodnesse all righteousnesse and whatsoeuer is good that heart canne desire yea infinite plentye of all these aboue that that mans hart canne either conceiue or thinke for in him dwelleth the fulnesse of the Godheade corporally and also that he is geuen vs of the Father and made of GOD to be our wisedome our righteousnesse our holâ—nesse and our redemption who I say is he that beleueth this in deede that woulde not gladly bee with his mayster christ Paul for this knowledge coueted to haue bene loosed from the body and to haue beene with Christ for that he counted it muche better for himselfe and had rather to be loosed then to liue Therefore these wordes of Christe to the thiefe on the Crosse that asked of him mercy were full of comfort and solace This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise To dye in the defence of Christes Gospell it is our bounden duety to Christ and also to our neighbour To Christ for he dyed for vs and rose agayne that he might be Lord ouer all And seing he dyed for vs we also sayth S. Iohn shoulde ieopard yea geue our life for our Brethren And this kinde of geuing and loosing is getting and winning in deede for hee that geueth or looseth his life thus getteth winneth it for euermore Blessed are they therefore that die in the Lord and if they dye in the Lordes cause they are most happy of all Let vs not then feare death which can do vs no harme otherwise then for a momeÌ„t to make the flesh to smart but that our fayth whiche is surely fastened and fixed vnto the worde of GOD telleth vs that we shall be anon after death in peace in the handes of GOD in ioye in solace and that from death we shall go straight vnto life For Saynt Iohn sayeth he that liueth and beleeueth in me shall neuer dye And in an other place he shall depart from death vnto life And therefore this death of the Christian is not to be called death but rather a gate or entraunce into euerlasting life Therefore Paule calleth it but a dissolution and resolution and both Peter and Paul a putting of this Tabernacle or dwelling house Meaning thereby the mortall body as wherein the soule or spirite doth dwell here in this worlde for a small time Yea this death may be called to the Christian an end of all miseries For so long as we liue here we must passe through many tribulations before we canne enter into the kingdome of heauen And nowe after that death hath shot his bolt all the christian mans enemies haue done what they canne after that they haue no more to doe What coulde hurte or harme poore Lazarus that lay at the rich mannes Gate His former penury and pouerty his misery beggery and horrible sores and sickenesse For so soone as death had stricken him with his dart so soone came the aungels and caryed him straight vp into Abrahams bosome What lost he by death who from misery and payne is set by the ministery of Aungels in a place both of ioy and solace Farewell deare brethren farewell and let vs comforte our hartes in all troubles and in death with the worde of God for heauen and earth shall perish but the word of the Lord endureth for euer Farewell Christes dearely beloued spouse here wandering in this world as in a straunge land farre from thine owne couÌ„try coÌ„passed about on euery hand with deadly enemies which cease not to assault thee euer seeking thy destruction Farewell farewell O ye the whole and vniuersall congregation of the chosen of God here liuing vpon earth the true churche militant of Christ the true misticall body of Christ the very house holde and family of God and the sacred temple of the holy ghost Farewell Farewell O thou litle flocke of the highe heauenlye pastour Christ for to thee it hath pleased the heauenlye father to geue an euerlasting and eternall kingdome Farewell Farewell thou spirituall house of God thou holy and royall priesthood thou choseÌ„ generatioÌ„ thou holy nation thou wonne spouse Farewell Farewell N. R. ¶ An other treatise of B. Ridley wherein is conteyned first a lamentation for the chaunge of Religion in England then a comparison betwene the doctrine of the Gospell and the Romish religion with wholesome instructions in the end to all christians how to behaue themselues in time of tryall ALas what misery is thy church brought vnto O lord at this day Where of late the worde of the Lord was truely preached was read and heard in euery towne in euery Church
of thy brothers bloud * To All whiche loue God vnfaynedly and entend to lead a godly life according to his Gospell and to perseuer in his trueth vnto the ende grace and peace from God the father and from our Lorde Iesus Christ Amen BE not afrayd most dearely beloued in our Sauior Iesus Christ at these most perillous dayes wherein by the sufferaunce of God the Prince of darkenes is broken lose and rageth in hys members agaynst the electe of God wyth all crueltie to set vp agayne the kingdome of Antichrist agaynst whome see that ye be strong in fayth to resist his most deuilishe doctrine with the pure Gospell of God armyng your selues with pacience to abide what soeuer shal be layd to your charge for the truthes sake knowyng that thereunto ye be called not onely to beleeue in hym but also to suffer for hym Oh howe happy are ye that in the sight of God are counted worthy to suffer for the testimony of Christ Quiet therefore your selues Oh my louing brethren and reioyce in hym for whome ye suffer for vnto you do remain the vnspeakable ioyes which neither the eye hath seene nor the eare hath heard neither the hart of man is able to comprehende in anye wyse Be not afrayd of the bodily death for youre names are written in the booke of lyfe And the Prophetes doth recorde that in the sight of the Lorde precious is the death of hys Saynctes Watch therefore and praye that yee be not preuented in the daye of temptation Now commeth the day of your tryall wherein the waters rage and the stormy windes blowe Now shall it appeare whether ye haue builded vppon the fleeing sande or vppon the vnmoueable rocke Christe whiche is the foundation of the Apostles and Prophetes whereon euery house that is builded groweth into an holy temple of the Lord by the mighty workyng of the holy Ghost Now approcheth the daye of your batttayle wherein it is required that ye shewe your selues the valiaunte souldiours of Iesus Christ wyth the armour of God that yee may be able to stand fast agaynst all the craftye assaultes of the Deuill Christ is your Captayne and yee be his souldiours whose cognisaunce is the Crosse to the whiche hee wyllingly humbled hymselfe euen vnto the death and therby spoyled hys enemies and now triumpheth hee ouer them in the glorye of hys father makyng intercession for them that here doe remayne to suffer the afflictions that are to be fulfilled in his misticall bodye It behoueth therefore euery one that will be counted his scholler to take vp his owne crosse and follow hym as ye haue hym for ensample and I assure you that hee being on your side nothing shal be able to preuayle agaynst you And that he will be with you euen to the worldes ende yee haue hys promise in the 28. of Mathew He will goe foorth wyth hys host as a conquerour to make a conquest He is the man that sitteth on the white horse crowned with immortalitie and yee brethren are his fellowship whereof he is the head He hath your hart in hys hand as a bow bent after hys godly will he shall dyrect the same accordyng to the riches of hys glory into all spirituall and heauenly cogitations He is faythfull and will not suffer you to be further assaulted then he will geue you strength to ouercome and in the most daunger he will make a waye that ye may be able to beare it Shrynke not therefore deare heartes when ye shal be called to aunswere for the hope that is in you for we haue the comforter euen the spirite of trueth whiche was sent from the heauens to teache vs. He shall speake in vs hee shall strengthen vs what is he then that shal be able to confound vs Naye what Tiranne is he that now boasteth hymselfe of hys strength to doe mischiefe whome the Lord shall not with the same spirite by the mouth of his seruauntes strike downe to hell fire Yea sodaynly will the Lord bryng downe the glory of the proud Philistians by the handes of hys seruaunt Dauid Theyr strength is in speare shield but our helpe is in the name of the Lord which made both heauen and earth He is our buckler and our wall a strong Tower of defence He is our God and we are his people Hee shall bryng the counsels of the vngodly to nought He shall take them in theyr owne nette He shall destroy them in theyr own inuentions The right hand of the Lorde shall worke this wonder His power is knowne among the children of men Theyr fathers haue felt it and are confounded In lyke maner shall they knowe that there is no counsell agaynst the Lorde when their secrets are opened to the whole worlde and are found to be agaynst the lyuing God Worke they neuer so craftily builde they neuer so strongly yet downe shall theyr rabble fall and the builders them selues shall then be scattered vpon the face of the earth as accursed of God The iust shall see this and be glad prayse the name of the Lord that so meruellously hath delte with hys seruauntes as to bryng theyr enemies vnder theyr feet Thē shall the fearfull seed of Cayne trēble and quake Thē shall the mockyng Ismaelites be cast out of the doore Then shall the proud Nembroth see hys labour lost Then shal the beast of Babilon be troden vnder foot Then shall the scribes and Pharisees for madnes fret and rage Then sha theyr paynted wisedome be knowne for extreme folly Then shall bloudy Dragon be voyd of hys pray Then shall the whore of Babilon receaue double vengeaunce Then shall they scratch theyr crownes for the fall of their Maistres harlot whom they now serue for filthy lucre whē no man will buy their wares any more Then shall the Popishe Priesthoode crye weale away with care euen when the Lord shall helpe his seruauntes which day is not farre of the daye wherein the kingdome of Antichrist shall haue an ende and neuer aryse anye more In the meane tyme abide in certayne and sure hope cleauing vnto the promises of God whiche in theyr owne tyme shal be fulfilled Acquite youre selues lyke men agaynst the enemies of GOD in all humblenes of minde strong in spirite to acknowledge one God one holy Sauioure Iesus Christ one onely euerlastyng and sufficient sacrifice for the remission of sinnes euen the precious bodye of the Lorde Iesus once offered for all and for euer Whiche now sitteth on the right hand of God and from thence shall hee come to iudge both the quicke and the dead at the last day vntil that tyme occupyeth that blessed body none other place to dwell in to be kepte in to be closed in but onelye in the heauens euen in the glorious maiestye of God personally abidyng there in the fleshe not commyng downe from thence till the last houre
dignitie honour and estimation so necessary members sometime accounted so many godly vertues the study of so many yeares such excellent learnyng to be put into the fire and consumed in one moment Wel dead they are and the reward of this world they haue already What reward remayneth for them in heauen the day of the Lordes glory when he commeth with his saints shall shortly I trust declare Albeit I haue differred and put ouer many treatises letters exhortations belongyng to the story of the Martyrs vnto the latter appendix in the ende of this volume thinkyng also to haue done the lyke with these farewels exhortations followyng of D. Ridley yet for certain purposes moouing me thereunto and especially consideryng the fruitfull admonitions wholesome doctrine and necessary exhortations conteyned in the same I thought best here to bestow and consequently to adioyne the sayd tractations of that learned pastour with the lyfe and story of the authour Whereof the two first be in a manner of hys farewels the one to his kinsfolks and generally to all the faithfull of the number of Christes congregation the other more speciall to the prisoners and banished ChristiaÌ„s in the gospels cause the third containeth a fruitfull and a generall admonition to the citie of London and to all other with necessary precepts of christian office as by the tenour of them here followeth in order to be seene ¶ A treatise or a letter written by D. Ridley in steade of his last farewell to all hys true and faythfull friendes in God with a sharpe admonition withall vnto the Papistes AT the name of Iesus let euery knee bow both of thynges in heauen and thynges in earth and things vnder the earth and let euery tongue confesse that Iesus Christ is the lord vnto the glory of God the Father Amen As a man mynding to take a farre iourney and to depart from his familiar frendes commonly and naturally hath a desire to bidde his frendes farewell before his departure so lykewise now I looking daylye when I should be cauled to depart hence from you O all ye my dearely beloued brethren sisters in our Sauiour Christ that dwell here in this worlde hauing a lyke mynde towardes you all and blessed be God for such tyme and leasure whereof I right hartely thanke his heauenly goodnesse to byd you all my deare brethren sisters I saye in Christ that dwell vpon the earth after such maner as I can Farewell Farewell my deare brother George Shipside whom I haue euer found faythfull trusty and louyng in all sâ—ate and conditions and now in the tyme of my crosse ouer al other to me most frendly and stedfast and that which lyked me best ouer all other thynges in Gods cause euer hartye Farewell my deare sister Alice his wyfe I am glad to heare of thee that thou doest take Christes crosse which is layd now blessed be God both on thy backe and myne in good part Thanke thou God that hath geuen thee a godly and louyng husband see thou honour hym and obey hym accordyng to Gods law Honour thy mother in law hys mother and loue all those that pertaine vnto him beyng redy to do them good as it shall lye in thy power As for thy children I doubt not of thy husband but that hee which hath geuen him an hart to loue and feare God and in God them that pertaine vnto him shall also make hym friendly and beneficiall vnto thy children euen as if they had bene gotten of his owne body Farewell my welbeloued brother Iohn Ridley of the Waltoun and you my gentle and louing sister Elizabeth whom besides the naturall league of amitie your tender loue which you were sayde euer to beare towardes mee aboue the rest of your brethren doth bynde mee to loue My mynde was to haue acknowledged this your louyng affection and to haue acquited it with deedes and not with wordes alone Your daughter Elizabeth I bid farewell whome I loue for the meeke and gentle spirite that God hath geuen her which is a precious thyng in the sight of God Farewell my beloued sister of Unthanke with al your children nephewes and neeces Since the departing of my brother Hugh my mynd was to haue bene vnto them in stead of their father but the Lord God must and wyll bee their father if they will loue hym and feare hym and lyue in the trade of hys law Farewel my welbeloued and worshipful Cosins M. Nich. Ridley of Willimountswike and your wyfe and I thanke you for all your kindnes shewed both to me and also to all your owne kinsfolke and myne Good Cosine as God hath set you in our stocke and kindered not for any respect of your person but of hys aboundaunt grace and goodnesse to be as it were the belweather to order conduct the rest and hath also endued you with hys manifold gyfts of grace both heauenly and worldly aboue others so I pray you good Cosin as my trust and hope is in you continue and encrease in the maintenaunce of the truth honesty righteousnesse and all true godlinesse and to the vttermost of your power to withstand falshoode vntruth vnrighteousnesse and all vngodlinesses whiche is forbidden and condemned by the worde and Lawes of God Farewell my young Cosin Rafe Whitfield Oh your tyme was very short with mee My mynde was to haue done you good and yet you caught in that litle time a losse but I trust it shall bee recompensed as it shall please almighty God Farewel all my whole kinred and countreymen farewell in Christ altogether The Lord which is the searcher of secrets knoweth that according to my harts desire my hope was of late that I should haue come among you to haue brought with me aboundance of Christes blessed Gospell according to the duetie of that office and ministerie whereunto among you I was chosen named and appointed by the mouth of that our late peerelesse Prince K. Edward and so also denounced openly in his Court by his priuy Counsaile I warne you all my welbeloued kinsfolke countrymen that ye be not amased or astonied at the kynde of my departure or dissolution for I ensure you I thinke it the most honour that euer I was called vnto in all my lyfe and therefore I thanke my Lord God hartily for it that it hath pleased him to call me of his great mercy vnto this high honour to suffer death willingly for his sake and in hys cause vnto the which honour he hath called the holy Prophetes and dearely beloued Apostles and his blessed chosen Martyrs For know ye that I doubt no more but that the causes wherefore I am put to death are Gods causes and the causes of the truth then I doubt that the Gospell which Iohn wrote is the Gospell of Christ or that Paules Epistles are the very word of God And to haue a hart willyng to abide and stand in
haue robbed and spoyled all this heauenly treasure away I may well complayne on these thyngs and cry out vpon them with the Prophet saying Deus venerunt gentes in haereditatem tuam c. Psal. 72. O Lord God the Gentiles Heathen nations are come into thy heritage They haue defiled thy holy Temple and made Ierusalem an heape of stones that is They haue broken beaten down to the ground thy holy Citie This Heathenish generatiō these thieues of Samaria these Sabei and Chaldei these robbers haue rushed out of their dennes and haue robbed the Church of England of all the foresayd holy treasure of God they haue caried it away and ouerthrown it and in stead of Gods holy worde the true and right administration of Christes holy Sacramentes as of Baptisme and others they mixte theyr ministerie with mens foolish fantasies and many wicked and vngodly traditions withall In stead of the Lordes holy Table they geue the people with much solemne disguising a thyng which they cal their Masse but in deed and in truth it is a very masking and mockerie of the true Supper of the Lord or rather I may call it a crafty iuglyng whereby these false theeues iuglers haue bewitched the myndes of the simple people that they haue broght them from the true worship of god vnto pernicious idolatry and make them to beleeue that to be Christ our Lord and Sauiour which in deed is neither God nor man nor hath any lyfe in it selfe but in substance is the creature of bread and wyne and in vse of the Lordes Table is the Sacrament of Christes bodye and bloud and for this holy vse for the whiche the Lord hath ordained them in hys table to represent vnto vs his blessed body torne vpon the crosse for vs and his bloude there shed it pleased him to call them his body bloud whiche vnderstanding Christ declareth to be his true meanyng when he sayth Do this in the remembraunce of me And agayne Saint Paule likewyse doth set out the same more plainly speaking of the same Sacrament after the words of the consecration saieng As often as ye shall eat of this bread and drinke of this cup ye shall set forth he meaneth with the same the Lordes death vntill his commyng agayne And here agayne these thieues haue robbed also the people of the Lordes cup contrary to the plaine words of Christ written in his Gospell Nowe for the common publike prayers whiche were in the vulgare tongue these theeues haue brought in agayne a strange tongue whereof the people vnderstande not one worde Wherein what doe they els but robbe the people of their Diuine seruice wherein they ought to pray together with the minister and to pray in a strange tong what is it but as Saint Paule calleth it barbarousnesse childishnes vnprofitable folly yea and plaine madnesse For the godly Articles of vnitie in religion for the wholesome Homelies what doe these Thieues place in the stead of them but the Popes Lawes and Decrees lying Legends fayned fables and miracles to delude and abuse the simplicitie of the rude people Thus this robbery and theft is not onely committed nay sacriledge and wicked spoyle of heauenly thyngs but also in the stead of the same is brought in and placed the abhominable desolation of the tyrant Antiochus of proud Senacherib of the shamelesse faced kyng and of the Babilonicall beast Unto this robbery this theft and sacrilege for that I cannot cōsent nor God willyng neuer shall so long as the breath is in my body because it is blasphemy agaynst God hygh treason vnto Christ our heauenly kyng Lord Maister our onely Sauiour and redeemer it is playne contrary to Gods word and to Christes Gospell it is the subuersion of all true godlinesse and agaynst the euerlastyng saluation of myne owne soule and of all my brethren and sisters whom Christ my Sauiour hath so dearely bought wyth no lesse price then with the effusion and shedyng foorth of hys most precious bloud Therfore all ye my true louers in God my kinsfolke and countreymen for this cause I say knowe ye that I am put to death which by Gods grace I shall willingly take with hearty thankes to God therefore in certayne hope without any doubtyng to receyue at Gods hande agayne of his free mercy and grace euerlastyng lyfe Although the cause of the true man slayne of the thiefe helpyng hys neighbour to recouer hys goods agayne and the cause wherfore I am to be put to death in a generality is both one as I sayd before yet know ye that there is no small difference These thieues agaynst whom I do stand are much worse then the robbers and thieues of the borders The goodes which they steale are much more precious and their kynds of fight are far diuers These thieues are worse I say for they are more cruell more wycked more false more deceitfull and crafty for those wyll but kill the body but these will not sticke to kill both body and soule Those for the generall theft and robbery be called are in deed theeues and robbers but these for their spirituall kynd of robbery are called Sacrilegi as ye would say Church robbers They are more wicked for those goe about to spoyle men of worldly thynges worldly riches gold and siluer worldly substance these go about in the wayes of the deuill their ghostly father to steale from the vniuersall Church and perticularly from euery man all heauenly treasure true faith true charity hope of saluation in the bloud of our Sauiour Iesus Christ yea to spoil vs of our sauior Iesus Christ of his gospel of his heauēly spirit of the heauenly heritage of the kingdom of heauē so derely purchased vnto vs with the death of our maister and Sauiour Christ. These be the goodes and godly substance whereupon the christian before God must liue and without the which he cannot lyue These goods I saye these theeues these Church robbers go about to spoile vs of The which goods as to the man of God they excell and farre passe all worldly treasure so to withstand euen vnto the death such theeues as go about to spoyle both vs the whole Church of such goods is most high and honourable seruice done vnto God These church robbers be also much more false crafty and deceitfull then the theeues vpon the borders for these haue not the craft so to commend their theft that they dare auouch it and therefore as acknowledging themselues to be euill they steale commonly vpon the nyght they dare not appeare at iudgements and Sessions where Iustice is executed and when they are taken and brought thether they neuer hang any man but they bee oft tymes hanged for theyr faults But these Church robbers can so cloke colour their spiritual robbery that they can make the people to beleeue falshood to be truth and truth falshood good
not sayth S. Peter as though it were any straunge matter that ye are tryed by the fire he meaneth of tribulation which thing sayth he is done to proue you nay rather in that ye are partners of Christes afflictions reioyce that in his glorious reuelation ye may reioyce with mery hartes If ye suffer rebukes in Christes name happy are ye for the glory and spirit of God resteth vpon you Of them God is reuiled and dishonored but of you he is glorified Let no manne be ashamed of that he suffereth as a Christian and in Christes cause for nowe is the time that iudgement and correction must beginne at the house of GOD and if it begin first at vs what shall be the end of those thinke ye which beleue not the Gospell And if the righteous shall bee hardlye saued the wicked and the sinner where shall he appeare Wherefore they which are afflicted according to the wil of God let thē lay downe and commit theyr soules to him by well doing as to a trustye and faythfull maker This as I sayde maye not seeme straunge to vs for we know that al the whole fraternity of Christes Congregation in this worlde is serued with the like and by the same is made perfect For the seruent loue that the Apostles had vnto their maister Christ and for the great commodities and increase of all godlines which they felt by theyr fayth to insue of afflictions in Christes cause thirdly for the heapes of heauenly ioyes which the same doe get vnto the godly which shall endure in heauen for euermore for these causes I saye the Apostles of their afflictions did ioy and reioyced in that they were had and accounted worthy to suffer contumelies rebukes for Christes name And Paul as he gloried in the grace fauor of God whervnto he was brought stoode in by fayth so he reioyced in hys afflictions the heauenlye and spirituall profites which he numbred to rise vpon them yea he was so farre in loue wyth that that the carnall man lothed so much that is with Christes crosse that he iudged himselfe to know nothing els but christ crucified he will glory he sayth in nothing els but in Christes crosse yea and he blesseth all those as the onely true Israelites elect people of God with peace and mercy whiche walketh after that rule and after none other O Lord what a wonderfull spirit was that that made Paule in setting forth of himselfe agaynst the vanity of Satans Pseudopostles and in his clayme there that he in Christes cause did excell and passe them all what wonderfull spirite was that I saye that made him to reckon vppe all his troubles his laboures hys beatinges his whippinges and scourginges his shippewrackes his daungers and perilles by water and by land his famine hunger nakednesse and colde with many moe and the dayly care of all the congregations of Christ among whom euery mans payne did pearce his heart and euery mannes griese was grieuous vnto him O Lord is this Paules primacye whereof hee thought so much good that he did excell other Is not this Paules sayinge vnto Timothy his owne scholer and doth it not perteyn to who so euer will be Christes true souldiours beare thou sayth he affliction like a good souldiour of Iesu Christ This is true if we dye with him he meaneth Christ we shall liue with him if we suffer with him we shall raigne with him if we deny him he shall denye vs if we be faythlesse he remayneth faythfull he cannot denye himselfe This Paule would haue knowne to euery bodye for there is none other way to heauen but Christ and his way all that will liue godly in Christ shall sayth S. Paule suffer persecution By this way went to heauen the Patriarches the Prophets Christ our Mayster his Apostles his Martyrs and all the godly since the beginning And as it hath bene of olde that hee which was borne after the flesh persecuted him which was born after the spirite for so it was in Isaacks time so sayde S. Paule it was in his time also And whether it be so or no now let the spirituall man the selfe same man I meane that is indued with the spirit of almighty God let him be iudge Of the crosse of the Patriarches as ye may read in theyr storyes if ye reade the booke of Genesis ye shall perceiue Of other S. Paule in few wordes comprehendeth much matter speaking in a generality of the wonderfull afflictions death and tormentes which the men of GOD in Gods cause and for the truth sake willingly and gladly did suffer After much particuler rehearsall of many he sayeth other were racked and despised and would not be deliuered that they might obteyne a better resurrection Other agayne were tried wyth mockinges and scourginges and moreouer with bondes imprisonment they were stoned beweene asunder tempted fell were slayne vpon the edge of the sword some wandred to fro in sheepes pilches in goates pilches forsaken oppressed afflicted such godly men as the world was vnworthy of wandring in wildernesse in mountaynes in caues and in dennes and all these were commended for theyr fayth And yet they abide for vs the seruauntes of God and for those theyr brethren which are to bee slayne as they were for the word of Gods sake that none be shut out but that we may all go together to meete our Mayster Christ in the ayre at his comming and so to be in blisse with him in body and soule for euermore Therefore seing we haue so muche occasion to suffer and to take afflictions for Christes names sake paciently so many commodities thereby so waighty causes so many good examples so great necessitye so pure promises of eternall life and heauenlye ioyes of him that cānot lye Let vs throw away whatsoeuer might let vs all burden of sinne and all kinde of carnality and paciently and constantly let vs runne for the best game in this race that is set before vs euer hauing our eyes vpon Iesus Christ the ringleader Capitayne and Perfiter of our fayth which for the ioye that was set before him endured the crosse not passing vpon the ignominy and shame thereof and is set now at the right hande of the throne of GOD. Consider this that he suffered such strife of sinners agaynst himselfe that yee shoulde not geue ouer nor faynt in your mindes As yet brethren we haue not withstand vnto death fighting agaynst sinne Let vs neuer forget deare Brethren for Christes sake that Fatherly exhortation of the wise that speaketh vnto vs as vnto his children the Godlye wysedome of God saying thus My sonne despise not the correction of the Lord nor fall not from him when thou art rebuked of hym for whom the Lord loueth him doth he correct and scourgeth euery childe whom he receiueth What childe is he whom the father doth not chasten If ye
such like trumpery of the Antichristian religion thinkest thou that thou shalt bee reckened for a catholicke man or for amicus Caesaris A hūdred thinges moe may be reckened and many of more weight and of more euident superstition and Idolatrye then some of these which I haue nowe rehearsed whyche God knoweth be ill enough but these are enoughe to declare and to set before thyne eyes the thing that I intend that is if thou abyde and wilt dwell in Englande thou must eyther doe these and many other moe contrarye to Gods worde whiche forbiddeth not onely the thing whiche is euill but also sayth Ab omni specie mali abstinete vos abstayne from all thinges that haue anye appearaunce of euill or els if thou wilt not doe them howe thou canst liue in England in rest safe from the stake truly I cannot tell But peraduenture as a man is readye to finde and inuent some coloure to cloke hys conscience to doe that thing that hys harte desireth thou wilt say though at any time I shal be forced to doe any of these thinges and suche like yet will I haue no confidence in them but outwardly with my body I will keepe myne hart vnto God and will not doe that of mine owne minde willingly neyther but to auoyd an other inconuenience I trust therfore god will holde me excused for he shall haue my hart what can I doe more O my frend beware for Gods sake and know that the subtleties of Sathan are deepe Hee that is not able by Gods word to perceiue them is heauily laden Pray therfore with Dauid Lord let me not haue a mynde to inuente excuses for to cloke my sinne examine my deare frend these thy wyly wayes with the worde of God and if they do agree thou maist vse them if not know though they may seeme neuer so fine and goodly yet in deede they be of Sathans broode Gods worde is certayne that forbiddeth to worship the creature for the creatour for that is haynous Idolatry and agaynst the first commaundemēt of God and it is also agaynst the seconde commandement of the first table to bow downe or to doe worship vnto any Images of God or of anye other thinge And Gods word requireth not onely the beliefe of the hart but also the confession of the mouthe and to beare part of the charges to the mayntenance of thinges vngodly what is that but in thy so doing a consent to the thing done Now consensenters and the doers Gods worde accounteth to be gilty bothe And it is not lawfull by S. Paules doctrine whiche was inspired hym by the spirite of God to do ill that thereof the thing which is good may come Thy hart thou sayst GOD shall haue and yet wilt suffer thy body to doe the thinge that God dothe abhorre Beware O man take heede what thou sayest Man may be deceaued but no man may deceiue God for he is called and is truely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saye the searcher of the hart Now to geue God thy heart is to geue hym thy whole heart to loue him to dread him and to trust in him aboue all other thinges He that hath my commaundementes sayth Christ and obserueth and keepeth them it is he that loueth me and to dread God aboue all other is rather willingly to incurre the daunger and perill of all fearful thinges then wittingly to doe that thing which is contrarye to his blessed will and commaundement and to truste in hym aboue all thinges is assuredly to trust to his promise of his reward and of his tuition and of hys goodnes and mercy and to preferre that aboue all thinges in the world seeme they neuer so strong so wise or so good Now how canst thou say truely that God hathe thy heart after thys maner of sorte which is to haue thy heart in deede when thy deedes do declare farre an other thing Thy bodye O man is Gods and all the partes therof euen as thy soule is hee made them both and Christe with hys bloude redeemed them both and is Lord of both for he hath bought them both dearely and darest thou suffer any parte of eyther of them to do seruice to Sathan Surely in so doyng thou committest sacriledge and doest robbe God thou defilest the liuely temple of the liuing God if thou suffer thy body to doe Sathan seruice Do you not know sayth saynct Paule that your body is a liuely temple of God And may a man then take and vse any part thereof but in the seruice of God No surely it is not lawfull so to do for the man of God neyther with hand tongue nor foote nor any parte of the whole body Doth not Paule commaund to the Romaynes which pertayneth to euery christian soule As you haue in times past sayth he geuen your members to doe seruice vnto vncleannes and wickednes from one wickednes to an other so nowe geue youre members to doe seruice vnto righteousnes that you may be sanctified And I pray thee good brother what doest thou thinke is to beare the marke of the beast in the forehead and in the hand that saynct Iohn speaketh of I knowe wee ought warely to speake of Gods misteryes whiche he shewed by the spirite of prophesying to his seruaunt Iohn yet to red them with reuerence and to praye for the same so muche as God knoweth is necessarye for oure tyme to knowe I thynke it necessarye and good Wherefore what I suppose is to beare the Beasts marke I will tell thee and committe the iudgement of mine interpretation as in all other thinges to the spirituall man I suppose he beareth the Beast of Babilons marke in hys forehead whiche is not ashamed of the Beastes wayes but will professe them openly to set foorth his mayster the beast Abaddon And likewise he beareth his marke in hys hand that wil and doth practise the workes of the beast with hys power hand And likewise I wil not let to tel thee what I thinke to be signed in the forehead for the seruaunt of God whereof Iohn also speaketh reckoning vp many thousands so to haue bene signed of euery tribe I suppose he is signed in the forehead for the seruaunte of God whome GOD hath appoynted of his infinite goodnes and hath geuen him grace and strength stoughtly to confesse hym his truth before the worlde And to haue grace and strength to confesse Christe and the doctrine of the crosse and to lament and mourne for the abhominations of Antichrist I suppose is to be signed with Tau whereof Ezechiell the Prophet doth speake Thus I suppose these Prophesies are spiritually to be vnderstanded and to looke for other corporall markes to be seene in mennes foreheads or in their handes is nothing els but to looke that there shoulde come some brute beast out of Babilon or some Elephant Leopard Lyon or Camell or some other such monstrous Beast with x. hornes
that should do all the wonderfull thinges spoken in Iohn and yet of a Beast speaketh Iohn but I vnderstand hym so to be called not for that he shall be anye suche brute Beast but for that he is and shall bee the chylde of perdition whiche for hys crueltie and beastlye manners is well called a Beast The carnall Iewes knew there was a promise made that Helias should come before Christe the Messias the annoynted of God to prepare hys wayes they knew also there was a promise of Messias that he shoulde come and be a king and raygne in the house of Dauid for euermore but they vnderstoode al so grossely and so carnally that they neyther knewe Helias nor Messias when they came for they looked for Helias to come down from heauen in his own person and for Messias to come raigne in worldly pompe power riches and glorye when as the prophesies of both wer spiritually to haue bene vnderstāded of Helias that he shoulde come not in persone but in spirite that is one whiche shoulde be indued with the spirite and giftes of grace of Helias whiche was in deede Iohn Baptist as Christ hymselfe did declare to his Apostles And of Messias raygne all the Prophetes were to be vnderstanded of the raygne of hys spirituall kingdome ouer the house of Iacob and the true Israelites for euermore And so by that their grosse and carnall vnderstandyng they mistooke both Helias and the true Messias and when they came knew neither of them both So likewise I feare me nay it is certayne the world that wanteth the light of the spirite of God for the worlde is not able to receaue hym sayth Iohn neither dothe nor shall know the beast nor his markes though he rage cruellye and liue neuer so beastly and though his marked men be in number like the sand of the sea The Lord therfore vouchsafe to open the eyes of the blinde with the light of grace that they may see and perceaue and vnderstād the words of God after the minde of his spirite Amen Here remayneth two obiections whiche may seeme wayghty and the whiche may peraduenture moue many not to follow the former councel The former reason is A man will say O sir it is no small matter ye speake of to depart from a mans owne natiue countrey into a strange realme Many men haue so great lettes as how it is possible that they can or may do so Some haue landes possessions whiche they cannot carry with them some haue father mother wife children and kinsfolke from whome to depart is as hard a thing and all one almost as to suffer death and to go to a straunge country that thou knowest not neyther the maner of the people nor how thou mayst away either with the people or with the country Or what a hard thing it is to liue amonge a straunge people whose tongue thou doest not vnderstand c. I graunt here thou mayst heape a number of worldly incommodities which are surely very like to ensue the departure out of a mans owne natiue country I meane out of the whole realme into a straunge land but what of all these and a thousand moe of the lyke sorte I will sette vnto them one saying of our sauiour Christ whiche vnto the faythfull childe of God and to the true christian is able to counteruayle all these yea and to way them downe Christe oure sauioure sayth in Luke If any come to me and do not hate hys father and mother hee meaneth and wyll not in his cause forsake his father and mother hys wyfe children and brethren yea and hys lyfe too hee cannot bee my disciple and whosoeuer doth not beare hys crosse and come after me he cannot be my disciple And in the same place he declareth by the two parables one of a builder and the other of a king that is a warriour that euery man that wil not in Christes cause forsake all that euer he hath hee can not be his Disciple Look the places who will the matter is so playnely set forth that no gloses nor cloking of conscience to the manne of God can serue to the contrarye Many places there be for the same purpose for the imbrasing of Christes crosse when Christ and his cause layeth it vpon our backe but this is so playne that I neede here to rehearse no more This latter reason and obiection whereof I spake before is of more force and includeth a necessitie which after the common saying hath no lawe and therefore it is more hard to shape for it a good aunswere This may bee obiected of some alas sir I graunt al these thinges do greue me and because I vnderstand they doe not agree with Gods worde whiche is the rule of my conscience I loth eyther to looke on them or to heare them But sir alas I am an impotent man an aged man a sicke man a lame man or I haue so many small infantes and a lame wife which all liueth by my labour and by my prouision if I leaue them they shall sterue and I am not able to cary them with me suche is my state Alas sir what shal I do And these causes may chaunce to some men of God whereby eyther it shal be for them vtterly impossible to departe the country or els in departing they shal be inforced to forsake suche in extreme necessities of whom both God and nature hathe committed vnto them the care Alas what councel is here to be geuen O lamentable state O sorrowfull hart that neyther can depart and with out extreame daunger and perill is not able to tarye still And these are they whom our Sauiour Christe sawe before should be and called them in his prophesie of the latter time great bellyed or trauelling women and women that geue after they bee brought to bed their small babes suck The state of such are not able to flye the infection of the pestiferous plague of Antichristes abhominations Christ lamenting and not cursing sayth Wo be to the great bellyed and trauelling woman and women that geue sucke in those dayes For these alas my hart mourneth the more the lesse I am able to geue any comfortable councell but this that alwayes as they looke for euerlasting lyfe they abide still in the confession of his truth what soeuer shall befall and for the rest to put theyr trust now wholly in God whiche is able to saue them agaynst al apparance and commonly in extremities when all worldly comfort fayleth and the danger is at highest thē vnto his he is wont after his accustomed mercy to be most ready for to put his helping hand Daniel God suffered to be caste into the Denne of Lyons and the three children into the hote burning furnace and yet he saued them all Paule was plucked out of the mouthe of the Lyon as he sayth of hymselfe and in Asia he was brought in suche trouble that he looked for no other
it hath bene frō the beginning from time to tyme as it appereth by stories as Christes true religion is now to be found here in Englād although hypocrisie hath by violence the vpper hād And in the Apocalyps you may see it was prophesied that the true Church should be driuen into corners and into wildernes and suffer great persecution Morgan A are you seene in the Apocalyps there are many strange thyngs Phil. If I tel you the truth which you are not able to refel beleeue it dally not out so earnest matters Me thinke you are liker a scoffer in a play then a reasonable doctor to instruct a man you are bare arsed dance naked in a net and yet you see not your owne nakednes Morgan What I pray you be not so quicke with me Let vs talke a little more coldly together Philpot. I will talke with you as mildely as you can desire if you wil speake learnedly and charitably But if you go about with taunts to delude truth I will not hyde it from you Morgan Why will you not submit your iudgement to the learned men of this Realme Phil. Because I see they can bring no good ground whereupon I may with a good conscience settle my fayth more surely then on that which I am now grounded vppon by Gods manifest word Morgan No do that is maruell that so many learned men should be deceyued Phil. It is no maruell by S. Paule for he sayeth That not many wyse neither many learned after the world bee called to the knowledge of the Gospell Morgan Haue you then alone the spirite of God and not we Phil. I say not that I alone haue the spirite of God but as many as abide in the true faith of Christ haue the spirit of God as well as I. Morgan Howe knowe you that you haue the Spirite of God Phil. By the fayth of Christ which is in me Morgan A by faith do you so I ween it be the spirit of the buttry which your fellowes haue had that haue ben burned before you who were dronk the night before they wēt to their death and I weene went dronken vnto it Phil. It appeareth by your communication that you are better acquainted with the spirit of the Buttry then with the spirit of God Wherefore I must now tell thee thou painted wall hypocrite in the name of the liuing Lord whose truth I haue told thee that God shal raine fire and brimstone vpon such scorners of his worde and blasphemers of his people as thou art Morgan What you rage now Phil. Thy foolish blasphemies hath compelled the spirit of God which is in me to speake that which I haue said vnto thee thou enemy of all righteousnes Morgan Why do you iudge me so Phil. By thine owne wicked words I iudge of thee thou blynd and blasphemous Doctour for as it is written By thy words thou shalt be iustified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned I haue spoken on Gods behalfe now haue I done with thee Morgan Why then I tel thee Philpot that thou art an heretike and shalt be burnt for thine heresy and afterwards go to hell fire Phil. I tel thee thou hypocrite that I passe not this for thy fire and fagots neither I thanke God my Lord stande in feare of the same my faith in Christ shall ouercome thē But the hel fire which thou threatnest me is thy portion and is prepared for thee vnlesse thou spedily repent and for such hypocrites as thou art Morgan What thou speakest vpon wyne thou hast tipled well to day by likelihood Phil. So said the cursed generation of the Apostles beyng replenished with the holy Ghost speaking the wōdrous works of God they said they were dronk when they had nothing els to say as thou doest now Morgan Why I am able to answer thee ywis I trow Phil. So it seemeth with blasphemies and lyes Morgan Nay euen with learnyng say what thou canst Phil. That appeared well at my disputation in the Conuocation house where thou tookest vpon thee to aunswer those few arguments I was permitted to make and yet wast not able to aunswere one but in thyne aunsweres did fumble and stammer that the whole house was ashamed of thee and the finall conclusion of all thine answers was that thou couldst answer me if I were in the scholes at Oxford Morgan What did I so thou beliest me Phil. I do not belye thee the booke of the report of the disputation beareth record therto and al that were present then can tell if they list thou saydst so And I tell thee playne thou art not able to answer that spirit of truth which speaketh in me for the defence of Christes true Religion I am able by the might therof to driue thee roūd about this gallery before me and if it would please the queenes maiesty and her Councell to heare thee and me I woulde make thee for shame shrinke behinde the doore Morgan Yea would you so Phil. Thou hast the spirite of Illusion and Sophistrye which is not able to counteruaile the spirit of truth Thou art but an Asse in the true vnderstanding of thinges pertayning vnto God I cal thee Asse not in respect of malice but in that thou kickest agaynst the trueth and art voyde of all godly vnderstāding not able to answere to that thou braggest in Morgan Why haue I not answered thee in all things thou hast sayd vnto me I take them to record Phil. Aske of my felow whether I be a theefe Cosins Harke he maketh vs all theeues Phil. You know that phrase of the Prouerbe that like will holde with like And I am sure you will not iudge with me against him speake I neuer so true and in this sense I speake it The strongest answere that he hath made against me is that you will burne me Morgan Why we doe not burne you it is the Temporall men that burne you and not we Phil. Thus you woulde as Pilate dyd washe your handes of all your wicked doinges But I pray you Inuocate seculare brachium call vpon the secular power to be executioners of your vnrighteous iudgementes And haue you not a title in your law De haereticis comburendis for to burne heretickes Harps I haue hearde you both a good while reason together and I neuer hearde so stout an hereticke as you are M. Philpot. Cosins Neither I in all my life Phil. You are not able to proue me an heretick by one iote of Gods word Harps You haue the Spirite of arrogancy I will reason with you no more And so he was departing and M. Cosins also And with that the bishop and Christoforsō came in agayne and sayd Boner Mayster Doctour howe doeth this man and you agree Morgan My Lord I doe aske him where his church was fifty yeares agoe Boner Are you not halfe agreed as one man sayd once to tway parties of whō the one was
brother in the Lord Maister Robert Harrington GEntle M. Harrington I can not tell what condigne thanks I may geue vnto God for you in respecte of the great gentlenesse and paine which you haue taken for the reliefe of me and of other our afflicted brethren in Christe God be praised for his mercy whose louing prouidēce we haue seene towardes vs by such faithful stewardes as you ben towards a great many Blessed be you of God for the louing care whiche you haue taken for his poore flocke God hath reserued your reward of thanks in heauen and therfore I goe not about to render you any least I might seeme to iudge that you looked for that heere which is reserued to a better place I thanke God for that I haue found by your faithfull and diligent industry God forgeue me my vnworthinesse for so great benefites God geue mee grace to serue him faithfully to runne out my race with ioy Glorious is the course of the martyrs of Christ at this day Neuer had the electes of God a better time for theyr glory then this is Nowe may they be assured vnder the crosse that they are Christes disciples for euer Mee thinke I see you desiring to be vnder the same The flesh draweth backe but the spirite sayeth it muste be brought whether it would not Here is the victorie of the world here is true faith and euerlasting glory Who is he which desireth not to be foūd faithfull to his maister And now is the time that euery faithfull seruant of Christ hath iust oportunitie to shew himselfe a glorious soldior in the Lordes sight Nowe doe the Amalechites inuade the true Israelites that the Israelites might with spede be glorified I neede not for want of vnderstanding to admonish you hereof but as a willing souldiour in Christ to exhort you so to runne as you may get the victory and that speedely with vs. A man that is bid to a glorious feast wisheth his frend to go with him to be partaker thereof God doth cal me most vnworthy amōg other to drink of the bridecup of his sonne wherby we shal be made worthy as many of our brethrē haue ben before vs to sit at the right hād at the left hand of Christ. O what vnspeakable cōdition is that May any worldly thing stay vs from the desire therof Since we seeke the kingdome of God why do we not apprehend it being so neare offered vnto vs Let vs approch neare vnto God and God will draw neare vnto vs. God drawe vs after him that we may all runne after the sauour of his sweete oyntmentes Christe annoynt vs that we may be suppled in these euil daies to run lightly vnto the glory of the Lord. Shame imprisonment losse of goods and shedding of our bloud be the iust price which we must willingly bestow for the same Wherfore dearly beloued in the Lord let not the great charges keepe you backe frō bying this glory for the reward is x. thousand fold greater then the price That you haue married a wife whome God blesse I can not excuse you from this Marte but you must bryng your wife for a vsurie to the Lorde whose pleasure is in godly yokefelows I wish you to be as I am except these horrible bandes but yet most comfortable to the spirit assuring you that we are made woorthy thorough Christ of the kingdome for the which we suffer Praised be the Lorde for the affliction which we suffer and he geue vs strength to continue to the ende Commend me to M. Heath tel him that I woulde wish him with me to prooue howe apt he is to cary the crosse of Christ. I praye for his continuāce in Christ as for mine owne Commend me to his wife and to mistres Hal certifying them that I am brought to the gates of hel that I might neuer enter into the same but be raised vp from hel to heauen through the word that sanctifieth vs. Commend me to M. Elsing his wife and thank them that they remēbred to prouide me some ease in prison tell them that though my Lordes Colehouse be but very blacke yet it is more to be desired of the faithfull then the Queenes palace God make her a ioyful mother preserue them both to the comfort of gods people Thus for this time farewel dear brother Written in posthast because of strait keeping This daye I looke to be called before the Commissioners againe Pray deare brother for the spirite of wisedome to remaine with me Commēd me to your wife and I thanke you both for your tokens Your token I haue sent to your wife and my token vnto you is my faithfull hart with this letter Commend me to all my frends and tell them I thanke God I am chereful in Christ wishing thē to feare God more then man and to learne to despise earnestly the vanities of this worlde desiring you all to pray for me that I may end my iourney with fidelitie Amen Iohn Philpot. Here followeth an other letter of M. Philpot to the Lady Vane which because for the length I could not wholy insert I haue excerpted certaine specialties thereout as followeth THe principall spirite of GOD the father geuen vnto vs by Christ Iesus our mercifull Sauiour confirme strengthen and stablish you in the true knowledge of the gospel that your faithful heart worshipfull and deare sister in the Lord may attaine tast with all the Saincts what is the height the depth the length and the breadth of the sweete crosse of Christ. Amen c. O happy are you amōgst all other women that haue found this precious stone which is hidden in the gospell for the which we ought to sell all other thinges and to purchase the same O happy woman whose heart God hathe mooued and enlarged to be in the profession thereof Other seeke worldly goodes hohours and delightes but you seeke with a good vnderstanding to serue God in spirite and veritie This is the gate that leadeth to heauen this is your portion for euer By this you shall see God face to face which sight is vnspeakeable ioy by this shal ye see a full sight of all the beautiful heauenly powers and of all the celestiall Paradise By this shal ye know them that you neuer knewe and be ioyous and gladde wyth those whiche you haue knowen heere in God world without end c. Ah I lament the infidelitie of Englande that after so great light is stept into so huge darkenesse againe The seruaunt that knoweth his maisters will and doeth it not shall be beaten wyth many stripes Ah great be the plagues that hang ouer England yea though the Gospell shoulde be restored againe Happye shall that personne be whome the Lorde shal take out of this worlde not to see them Ah the great periurie which menne haue runne into so wilfully against God by receiuing Antichrist againe and his wicked
and forgiuen your sinnes nowe cleaue vnto him and be at defiance with his enemyes the Papistes as they doe beare witnesse with their Father the Deuill by goinge to the Church and shedding of the innocent bloud of all those that will not goe with them euen so do you beare witnes with Christ by not comming there for all those that do go thither shal be partakers of their brethrens bloud that is shed for the testimonye of Christ except they repent amend which grace that they may so doe I beseech the eternall God for his Christes sake if it be his good will to geue them in his good tyme. And the same good God that hath bene so mercifull vnto you to call you to repentance him I beseech to keepe you in his feare loue that you may haue alwayes affiance in him and euermore seeke his honour glory to your euerlasting comfort in Christ Amen Thus fare you well from the kinges bench this 28. of August By me William Tyms ¶ An other letter of W. Tyms to certayne godly women of his parish folowers of the Gospell GRace mercy and peace from GOD the Father through our Lord Iesus Christ be with you both now and euermore Amen Deare sisters I haue me most hartely commended vnto you thanking you for the great kindnes shewed vnto me in this tyme of my imprisonment and not onely vnto me but also vnto my poore wife and children and also for the great kindnesse that you shew vnto all the liuing saints that be dispersed abroad and are fayne to hide their heades for feare of this cruell persecution Deare sisters when I do remember your constancy in christ I call to remembraunce the constancy of diuers godly women as Susanna Iudith Hester and the good wife of Nabal that thorow her godly conditions saued both her husbandes life and all her housholde when Dauid had thoughte to haue slayne him for his churlish aunswere that he sent him Also I do remember Rahab that lodged the Lordes Spyes howe God preserued her and her whole housholde for her faythfulnesse that she bare to Gods people So I doe beleue that when the Lord shall send his Aungell to destroy these Idolatrous Egyptians here in England and shall finde the bloud of the Lambe sprinkled on the dore postes of your harts he wil go by not hurt you but spare your whole housholdes for your sakes Also I do remember Mary Magdalen how faythfull she was for she was the first that preached the resurrection of Christ. Remember the blessed Martir Anne Askew in our time folow her example of constancy And for the loue of God take heede that in no case you doe consent to Idolatrye but stande fast to the Lorde as the good woman did that had her seuen sonnes put to death before her face and she alwayes comforting them yea and last of all suffered death her selfe for the testimony of her God which is the liuing God Thus I beseech God to send you grace and strength to stand fast to the Lorde as shee did and then you shall be sure of the same kingdome that she is sure of to the which kingdome I pray God bring both you and me Amen By me William Tyms prisoner in the Kinges Bench. ¶ An other Letter of William Tyms to his frend in Hockley THe grace of God the Father through the merites of his deare sonne Iesus our Lord and onely Sauiour with the continuall ayde of his holy and mighty spirit to the performance of his wil to our euerlasting comfort be with you my deare brethren both now and euermore Amen My dearely beloued I beseeche God to rewarde the greate goodnesse that you haue shewed vnto me seuen folde into your bosomes and as you haue alwayes had a moste godly loue vnto his word euen so I beseech him to geue you grace to loue your owne soule and then I trust that you will flee from al those thinges that shoulde displease our good and mercifull God and hate and abhorre all the companye of those that woulde haue you to worship God any otherwise then is conteined in his holy worde And beware of those maysters of Idolatrye that is these papisticall Priestes My deare brethren for the tender mercy of God remember well what I haue sayd vnto you and also written the which I am now ready to seale with my bloud I prayse God that euer I liue to see the daye and blessed bee my good and mercifull God that euer he gaue me a body to glorify his name And deare hartes I do now write vnto you for none other cause but to put you in remembraunce that I haue not forgotten you to the end that I woulde not haue you forgette me but to remember well what I haue simply by worde of mouth and writing taught you The which although it were moste simplye done yet truely as your owne conscience beareth me record and therefore in any case take good heed that you do not that thing which your own conscience doth condemne Therefore come out of Sodome and goe to heauen ward with the seruauntes and martyrs of God least you be pertakers of the vengeance of God that is comming vpō this wicked natiō from the which the Lord our God defend you and send vs a ioyfull meeting in the kingdome of heauen vnto the which God bring you all Amen Thus now I take my leaue of you for euer in this world except I be burned amongst you whiche thing is vncertayne vnto me as yet By me your poorest and most vnworthy brother in Christ W. Tyms in Newgate the 12. day of April condemned to dye for Christes verity ¶ An other Letter of William Tyms geuing thankes to his parishioners for theyr charity shewed to his wife being brought to bed of a childe in his captiuity THe euerlasting peace of our deare Lord and only sauiour Iesus Christ with the sweete comfort of his holy mighty spirite to the encrease of your fayth to the perfourmance of his will and to your eternall cōfort in the euerlasting kingdome of heauen be with you my deare brethren and sisterne both now and euer Amen My most deare brethren sisterne in our Lord and sauior Iesus Christ I haue me most hartely cōmended vnto you with harty thankes for all the great liberality that you haue shewed vnto me specially now in this time of my necessity whē that God hath sēt my poore wife a childe in my captiuity which is no litle care to me so to prouide that I might keepe both the child my wife from the Antichristian church the which thing I thanke my good god through his most gracious prouidence I haue yet done though it be as you know great charge not to me but to the congregation of God it greueth me that I haue bene so chargeable to thē as I haue bene specially you my deare brethrē I being so vnworthy a
not awaye all thy true preachers forth of this realme O Lord but leaue vs a seede least England be made like vnto Sodome and Gomorre when thy true Lothes be gone But what goe I aboute to mingle your myrthe wyth my mourning and your iust ioy with my deserued sorow If I loued you in deede as I haue pretended I shoulde surely reioyce with you most hartily praise god on your behalfe from the very bottome of my hart I should prayse God day and night for your excellēt election in through his great mercy and should geue him most humble thākes for your vocation by his Gospell your true knowledge in the same I should earnestly prayse him for your sweete iustification wherof you are most certayne by Gods grace and spirite should instantly pray vnto him for your glorification which shall shortly ensue I should reioyce and be glad to see you so dignifyed by the crowne of Martyrdome and to be appoynted to that honour to testify hys truth and to seale it with your bloud I should highly extoll the Lord who hath geuen you a glorious victory euer al your enemies visible and inuisible and hath geuen you grace and strength to finish the Tower that you haue begunne to build Finally if I loued you I should most hartily reioice and be glad to see you deliuered from this body of sinne and vile prison of the fleshe and brought into that heauenly tabernacle where you shal be safely kept and neuer offend him more This and much more should I do if I had a good hart towardes God or you his deare childe But alas I am an hypocrite do seeke nothing but mine owne commodity I would haue gods euerlasting prouidēce geue place to my peeuish will purpose although it were to the hinderance of his glory and your sweet commodity God forgeue me my horrible ingratitude sinnes offēces agaynst him and good brother do you forgeue me my great negligence and vnthankfulnes towards you and henceforth I promise you I will put my will to Gods wil 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 hartely prayse the Lord for you so lōg as I haue my being in this world Ah my deare hart nowe I muste take my leaue of you and as I thinke my Vltimum vale in this lyfe but in the life to come I am righte well assured we shall merilye meete together that shortly I trust And in taking of my leue of you my deare hart in the Lord I shall desire you faythfully to remēber all the sweet messages that the Lord our good God most deare louing father hath sent you by me his most vnworthy seruaunt which as they are moste true so shall they be most truly accōplished vpon you eternally and for the more assurance and certificate thereof to your godly cōscience he hath cōmaunded me to repeat the same vnto you agayne in his owne name and word Therfore now geue eare and faithfull credence Harken O ye heauens and thou earth geue eare and beare me witnes at the great day that I do here faythfully and truly the lordes message vnto his dear seruant his singularly beloued and elect childe Iohn Bradford Iohn Bradford thou man so specially beloued of God I pronoūce testify vnto thee in the word name of the Lord Iehoua that all thy sinnes whatsoeuer they be be they neuer so many so grieuous or so great be fully freely pardoned released forgeuen thee by the mercy of God in Iesus Christ thyne onely Lord sweet sauiour in whom thou doest vndoubtedly beleue Christ hath cleansed thee with his bloud and clothed thee with his righteousnes and hath made thee in the sight of God his father without spotte or wrinckle so that when the fire doth his appoynted office thou shalt be receyued as a sweete burnt sacrifice into heauen where thou shalt ioyfully remayn in Gods presence for euer as the true inheritor of his euerlasting kingdome vnto that whiche that wast vndoubtedly predestinate ordeined by the Lords vnfallible purpose and decree before the foundation of the worlde was layde And that this is most true that I haue sayd I call the whole Trinity the almighty and eternall maiesty of God the father the sonne and the holy ghost to my record at this present whom I humbly beseech to confirme and stablish in thee the true and liuelye feeling of the same Amen Selah Now with a mery hart and a ioyfull spirit something mixed with lawful teares I take my farewel of you mine owne deare brother in the Lorde who sende vs shortly a merye meeting in his kingdome that we maye both sing prayses together vnto him with hys holy Aungelles and blessed spirites for euer euer Farewel thou blessed of the Lord farewell in Christ depart vnto thy rest in the Lorde and pray for me for Gods sake As I had made an ende of this simple Letter I hearde some comfort both of good Maister Philpots seruant and yours but alas I doe scarcely beleue them Well I wyll hope in God pray all night that God will send me some comfort to morrowe and if the Lorde geue you sparing to morow let me heare foure words of comfort from you for Gods sake The blessing of God be with you now and for euer Amen Yours for euer in the Lord Iesus Iohn Careles liuing in hope agaynst hope In reading this letter of Iohn Careles to M. Bradford aboue prefixed wherein he maketh so much mētion of a certayne letter of his sent to him and of the great exceeding consolation he receiued of the same thou wilt wishe peraduenture good louing Reader in thy mynd to haue some sight also of the sayd Letter of M. Bradford Wherein to satisfy thy desire or rather to preuent thy petition I haue hereunto annexed the same to the entent thou mayest not onely vnderstand the contentes therof but also receiue fruit therof to thy cōsolation likewise The purport of the letter here foloweth ¶ Mayster Bradford to Careles ALmighty God our deare father through and for the merits of his dearely beloued sonne Iesus Christ be mercifull vnto vs pardon vs our offences vnder the winges of his mercy he protect vs from all euill from henceforth and for euer Amen Deare brother Careles I hartely pray you to pray to GOD for me for the pardon of my manifold sinnes and most grieuous offences whiche neede none other demonstration vnto you then this namely that I haue behaued my selfe so negligently in aunswering your godly triple letters whiche are three witnesses agaynst me God lay not them nor none other thing to my charge to condemnation though to correction not my will but his wil be done Concerning your request of absolution my dearest brother what shall I saye but euen as trueth is that the
all other his benefites Ah my deare heart in the Lord well is me that euer I was borne that God of his great mercy and infinite goodnes hath vsed me most miserable wretche at any tyme as his instrument to minister any thing vnto you eyther by wordes or writing that might bee an occasion of your ioy and comfort in the Lorde and a prouoking of you to prayse and thankesgeuing vnto GOD for the same as your moste louing and godly letter seemeth to importe Oh happy am I that the Lorde hath appoynted me vnto so good a ground to sowe his seede vppon but muche more happie are you whose heart the Lorde hath prepared made so meete to receiue the same so effectuously geuing therto the sweete showers and heauenly dewes of his grace and holy spirit that it may bring forth fruite in due season accordingly the increase whereof we shall shortly reape together with perfect ioye and gladnes and that continually Therefore my deare brother I say vnto you as good Elizabeth did to her deare cosin Mary Happy are you and happy shall you be for euermore because you haue beleued The most sweet and faythfull promises of your redeemer Iesus Christ you haue surely layd vp in the treasury of your hart His comfortable callinges you haue faythfully heard his faythfull admonitions you haue humbly obeyed and therefore you shall neuer come into iudgement your sinnes shall neuer be remembred for your sauiour hath cast them all into the bottome of the sea he hath remoued them from you as farre as is the East from the West and hath geuen you for an euerlasting possession his iustification holynesse so that now no creature neyther in heauen nor in earth shal be able to accuse you before the throne of the heauenly king Sathan is nowe iudged he is nowe cast out from you hee hath no part in you you are wholy geuen vnto Christ whyche wil not loose you your stedfast fayth in him hathe ouercome that sturdy and braggyng Prince of the worlde Christ hath geuen you the finall victory ouer hym and al hys army that they shall neuer hurt you What woulde you haue more Oh my deare heart howe great treasures are layde vp in store for you and how gloryous a Crowne is alreadye made and prepared for you And albeit the holy Ghost doth beare wytnesse of all these thinges in your heart and maketh you more sure and certain thereof then if you had all the outward oracles in the worlde yet I being certaynly perswaded and fully assured by the testimony of Gods spirite in my conscience of youre eternall and sure saluation in our sweete Sauioure Iesus Christe haue thought it good yea and my bounden duety not onely at thys tyme to wryte vnto you and to shew my ioyfull hart in that behalfe but also by the word and commaundement of Christ to pronounce and affirme in the name and worde of the heauenly king Iehouah and in the behalfe of his sweete sonne Iesus chryst oure Lorde to whom all knees shall bow whom all creatures shall worshippe and also by the impulsion of the holy Ghost by whose power and strength all the faythfull bee regenerate I doe I say pronounce to thee my deare brother T. V. that thou art already a Citizen of heauen The Lord thy God in whom thou doest put all thy trust for his deare sonnes sake in whom thou doest also vndoubtedly beleue hath freely forgeuen thee all thy sinnes clearely released all thyne iniquities and full pardoned all thine offences bee they neuer so many so grieuous or so great and will neuer remember them any more to condemnation As truely as he liueth he will not haue thee dye the death but hath vtterly determined purposed and eternally decreed that thou shalte lyue with him for euer Thy sore shall bee healed and thy woundes bounde vpp euen of himselfe for his owne names sake He doth not nor will not looke vpon thy sinnes in thee but he respecteth and beholdeth thee in Christ in whome thou art lyuely graffed by faith in his bloud and in whome thou art most assuredly elected and chosen to be a sweete vessell of his mercy and saluation and wast thereto predestinate in him before the foundation of the world was laid In testimony and earnest whereof he hath geuen thee his good and holye spirite which woorketh in thee faith loue and vnfained repentance with other godly vertues contrary to the corruption of thy nature Also he hath commanded me this day although a most vnwoorthy wretch to be a witnesse hereof by the ministery of hys holy woord grounded vpon the truth of his most faithfull promisses the which thou beleeuing shalt liue for euer Beleeuest thou this my deare heart I knowe well thou doest beleeue The Lorde increase thy faith and geue thee a liuely feeling of all hys mercies wherof thou art warranted and assured by the testimony of the holy Ghost who confirme in thy conscience to the vtter ouerthrowing of Sathan and those his most hurtfull dubitations wherby he is accustomed to molest and vexe the true children of God all that I haue sayde and by Gods grace I will as a witnesse thereof confirme and seale the same with my bloud for a most certaine truthe Wherefore my good brother praise the Lord with a ioyful heart and geue him thankes for this his exceeding great mercy casting away all dubitation and wauering yea all sorow of heart and pensiuenesse of minde for this the Lord your God and most deare and louing father commandeth you to doe by me nay rather by his owne mouth woord pronounced by me But now my deare brother after that I haue done my message or rather the Lordes message in deede I coulde finde in my heart to wryte 2. or 3. sheetes of paper declaring the ioy I beare in my heart for you mine owne bowels in the Lord yet the time being so short as you do well know I am heere constrained to make an ende desiring you to pardone my slacknesse and to forgeue my great negligence towardes you promising you still that so long as my poore life doth last my prayer shal supply that my pen doth wāt as knoweth the almighty God to whose most merciful defence I doe heartely commit you and all other his deare children as wel as though I had rehearsed them by name desiring them most heartely to remember me in their hearty and dailye prayers as I know right well they doe for I feele the daily comfort and commodity therof therfore I neither wil nor can forget them nor you or any such like The blessing of God be with you al. Amē Yours for euer vnfainedly Iohn Careles A letter of thankes to a faithfull frend of his by whom he had receiued much comfort in his inward troubles BLessed be God the father of all mercye for the great comfort and Christian consolation which he hath so mercifully ministred vnto
vp your lippes with your owne booke Ieffrey It skilleth no matter whether ye write bread or body for we be able to prooue that he ment the bodye And where as you say they eate it spiritually that is but a blind shift of descant Palmer What should I say els Ieffrey As holy Church sayeth really carnally substantially Palmer And with as good Scripture I may say grosly or monstrously Ieffrey Thou speakest wickedly But tell me Is Christ present in the sacrament or no Palmer He is present Ieffrey How is he present Palmer The Doctors say modo ineffabili Therefore why do ye aske me Would God ye had a mynd ready to beleue it or I a tongue able to expresse it vnto you Ieffrey What say you to the baptisme of Infants Palmer I say that it standeth with Gods word therfore it ought of necessitie to be retayned in the Church Ieffrey Ye haue forgotten your self I wis for ye write that children may be saued without it Palmer So I write and so I say Ieffrey Then it is not necessary to be frequented and continued in the Church Palmer Your argument is not good M. Doctor Ieffrey Will ye stand to it Palmer Yea M. Doctor God willyng Ieffrey Note it Register More of his Examination in that tyme and place is not yet come to our hands whensoeuer God sendeth it I will impart and communicate the same to the Reader In the meane season we are credibly informed of this that sir Richard Abridges the same day after dinner sent for hym to his lodging and there in the presence of diuers persons yet alyue in Newbery and elsewhere friendly exhorted hym to reuoke his opinion to spare his yong yeares wit and learnyng If thou wilt be conformable and shew thy selfe corrigible and repentant in good fayth sayeth he I promise thee before this company I will geue thee meate and drinke and bookes and x. pound yearely so long as thou wilt dwell with me And if thou wilt set thy mynd to mariage I will procure thee a wyfe and a farme helpe to stuffe and frit thy farme for thee How sayest thou Palmer thanked him very curteously made him further answer concernyng his religion somewhat at large but very modestly and reuerently concludyng in the end that as he had already in two places renounced his liuing for Christes sake so he would with Gods grace be redy to surrender and yeld vp his lyfe also for the same wheÌ„ God should send tyme. When Sir Richard perceiued that hee woulde by no meanes relent Well Palmer sayth he then I perceiue one of vs twain shal be damned For we be of two faiths and certayne I am that there is but one faith that leadeth to lyfe and saluation Palmer O sir I hope that we both shall be saued Sir Rich. How may that be Palm Right well Sir For as it hath pleased our merciful Sauiour accordyng to the Gospels parable to call me at the third hower of the day euen in my flowers at the age of 24. yeres euen so I trust he hath called and wil cal you at the eleuenth hower of this your olde age and geue you euerlasting lyfe for your portion Sir Rich. Sayest thou so Well Palmer well I woulde I might haue thee but one moneth in my house I doubte not but I would conuert thee or thou shouldst conuert me Then sayd M. Winchcome Take pitie on thy golden yeares and pleasaunt flowers of lusty youth before it bee too late Palm Sir I long for those springing flowers that shall neuer vade away Winchcome If thou be at that poynt I haue done with thee Then was Palmer commanded agayne to the blynd house but the other two sillie men were ledde agayne the same after noone to the Consistorie and there were condeÌ„ned and deliuered to the secular power of the shiriffe there present by name sir Rich. Abridges It is reported also that D. Ieffrey offered Palmer a good liuyng if he would outwardly shew hymself conformable kepyng his conscience secret to hymselfe or at least declare that hee doubted which was the truest doctrine But I cannot affirme it for a suretie The next mornyng the 16. of Iuly Palmer was required to subscribe to certaine Articles which they had drawen out touching the cause of his condemnation in the front whereof were pluckt together many haynous termes as horrible hereticall damnable diuelish and execrable doctrine To these wordes Palmer refused to subscribe affirming that the doctrine which he professed was not such but good and sound doctrine Ieffrey Ye may see good people what shifts these heretikes seeke to escape burnyng when they see Iustice ministred vnto them But I tell thee this stile is agreeable to the law and therfore I cannot alter it Palmer Then cannot I subscribe to it Ieffrey Wilt thou then craue mercy if thou like not iustice and reuoke thy heresie Palmer I forsake the Pope his Popelings withall Popish heresie Ieffrey Then subscribe to the Articles Palmer Alter the Epithetons and I will subscribe Ieffrey Subscribe and qualifie the matter with thine own pen. So he subscribed Whereupon D. Ieffrey proceded to read the Popish sentence of his cruell condemnation and so was he deliuered to the charge of the secular power was burned the same day in the after noone about fiue of the clocke Within one houre before they went to the place of execution Palmer in the presence of many people comforted his fellowes with these wordes Brethren sayth he be of good â—here in the Lord and faint not Remember the words of our Sauiour Christ where he sayth Happy are you wheÌ„ men reuile you and persecute you for righteousnesse sake Reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen Feare not them that kill the body and be not able to touch the soule God is faythfull and will not suffer vs to be tempted further then we shall be able to beare it Wee shall not ende our lyues in the â—ire but make a change for a better lyfe Yea for coales we shall receiue pearles For Gods holy spirite certifieth our spirit that he hath euen now prepared for vs a sweet supper in heauen for his sake which suffered first for vs. With these and such lyke wordes he did not only comfort the hartes of his sillie brethren that were with hym appoynted as sheepe to be slaine but also wrested out pleÌ„tifull teares from the eyes of many that heard him And as they were singyng a Psalme came the shiriffe Sir Richard Abridges and the Bailiffes of the Towne wyth a great company of harnessed and weaponed men to conduct them to the fire When they were come to the place where they should suffer they fell all three to the ground and Palmer with an audible voyce pronounced the xxxj Psalme but the other two made their prayers secretly to almighty God And as Palmer began to arise there
it I will declare it vnto you But I praye you that you will take your pen and wryte it and then examine it and if ye find any thing therein that is not fit for a Christian woman then teache me better and I will learne it Chaunc Wel said But who shal be Iudge betwene thee and me Elizab. The Scripture Chaunc Wilt thou stand by that Eliz. Yea sir. Chaunc Wel go thy way out at the doore a litle while for I am busie and I will call for thee anon againe Then he called me againe and said Nowe woman the time is too long to wryte Say thy minde and I wil bear it in my head Then Elizabeth began and declared her faith to him as shee had done before the Bishop Chaunc Woman spirit and faith I do allow but dost not thou beleeue that thou doest receiue the body of Christ really corporally and substantially Eliz. These wordes really and corporally I vnderstond not as for substantially I take it ye meane I should beleue that I should receiue his humane body which is vpon the right hand of God and can occupy no moe places at once and that beleeue not I. Chanc. Thou must beleeue this or els thou art damned Eliz. Sir can ye geue me beliefe or fayth Chanc. No God must geue it thee Eliz. God hath geuen me no such fayth or beliefe The Chauncellor then declared a text of S. Paule in Latine and then in English saying I could make thee beleeue but that thou hast a cankered heart and wilt not beleeue Who then can make thee to beleeue Eliz. You sayd euen now that fayth or beliefe commeth of God and so beleeue I and then may not I beleue an vntruth to be a truth Chanc. Doest thou not beleeue that Christes flesh is flesh in thy flesh Eliz. No sir I beleeue not that for my flesh shall putrifie and rot Chanc. Christ sayd my flesh is flesh in flesh Eliz. Who so receiueth him fleshly shall haue a fleshly resurrection Chanc. Christ sayeth in the 6. of Iohn My fleshe is meate in deed and my bloud is drinke in deed Eliz. Christ preached to the Capernaits saying Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye shall not haue lyfe in you and the Capernaites murmured at it And his Disciples also murmured saying among themselues This is an hard saying and who can abide it Christe vnderstoode their meanyng and sayde Are ye also offended Will ye also goe away What and if ye shall see the sonne of man ascende vp to heauen from whence hee came will that offende you It is the spirite that quickeneth the fleshe profiteth nothyng I praye you Sir what meaneth Christ by that Chanc. O God forbid Would ye haue me to interprete the Scriptures We must leaue that for our olde auncient fathers which haue studied scriptures a long tyme haue the holy ghost geuen vnto them Eliz. Why sir haue ye not the holy ghost geuen and reuealed vnto you Chanc. No God forbid that I should so beleeue but I hope I hope But ye say ye are of the spirit Will you say that ye haue no profit in Christes flesh Eliz. Sir we haue our profite in Christes flesh but not as the Capernaites did vnderstand it For they vnderstoode that they must eate his fleshe as they did eate Oxe fleshe and other and drinke his bloud as we drinke Wyne or Beere out of a Bole. But so we must not receyue it But our profite that we haue by Christ is to beleeue that hys body was broken vpon the Crosse and his bloude shedde for our sinnes That is the very meanyng of Christ that so we should eate his fleshe and drinke hys bloude when he sayde My fleshe is meate in deede and my bloud is drinke in deede Chanc. How doth thy body lyue if Christes flesh bee not flesh in thy flesh Eliz. Sir I was a body before I had a soule which body God had created yet it could not lyue til God had breathed lyfe into me and by that lyfe doth my body lyue And when it shall please God to dissolue my lyfe my flesh will offer it selfe vnto the place from whence it came through the merites of Christ my soule wil offer it selfe to the place from whence it came Chanc. Yea but if thou doe not beleeue that Christes flesh is flesh in thy flesh thou canst not be saued Eliz. Sir I do not beleeue that Chauncel Why doth not Christ saye My fleshe is meate in deede and my bloude is drinke in deede Canst thou denye that Eliz. I denye not that for Christes fleshe and bloude is meate and drinke for my soule the foode of my soule For who so euer beleeueth that Iesus Christ the sonne of God hath dyed and shed his bloud for his sinnes his soule feedeth thereon for euer Chauncel When thou receiuest the Sacrament of the aultar doest thou not beleeue that thou doest receiue Christes body Eliz. Sir when I do receiue the Sacrament which Christ did institute and ordaine the night before he was betraied and left among hys Disciples as often I say as I receiue it I beleeue that spiritually and by fayth I receyue Christ. And of this Sacrament I knowe Christ himselfe to be the author and none but hee And this same Sacrament is an establishment to my conscience an augmenting to my fayth Chaunc Why did not Christ take bread and gaue thankes and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples and sayde Take eate this is my body that is geuen for you Did he geue them his body or no Elizabeth He also tooke the cuppe and gaue thankes to his Father and gaue it vnto his Disciples saying Drynke ye all hereof for this is the Cuppe of the newe Testament in my bloude which shall bee shedde for many Nowe I praye you Sir let me aske you one question Dyd he geue the cuppe the name of hys bloud or els the wyne that was in the cuppe Then was he very angry and sayd Doest thou think that thou hast an hedge priest in hand Eliz. No sir I take you not to bee an hedge priest I take you for a Doctor Chauncel So me thinketh Thou wilt take vpon thee to teach me Eliz. No sir But I let you know what I know and by argument one shall know more Christ sayd As oft as ye do this do it in the remembrance of me but a remembrance is not of a thing present but absent Also S. Paule saith So oft as ye shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup ye shall shew forth the Lordes death till he come Then we may not looke for hym here vntill his cōmyng agayne at the latter day Agayne is not this article of our beliefe true He sitteth at the right hand of God the father almighty from thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead But if
824. Dauid Beaton Archbishop of s. Andrewes in Scotland shortly after the beginning of M. George Wisard how hee by the iust stroke of God was slaine and wretchedly ended his lyfe within his owne Castle in the discourse of his story is euident to see who so listeth further to read of that matter pag. 1272. Ioannes Sleidanus in his 23. booke maketh relatiâ—â— of Cardinall Crescentius the chiefe President and moderator of the Councell of Trident ann 1552. The story of whom is certain the thing that hapned to him was straÌ„ge and notable the exaÌ„ple of him may be profitable to others such as haue grace to be warned by other meÌ„s euils The narration is this The 25. day of March in the yere aforesaid Crescentius the Popes Legate and Uicegerent in the Councell of Trident was sitting all the day long vntill darke night in writing letters to thâ— Pope After his labour when night was come thinking to refresh himselfe he began to rise and at his rising beholde there appeared to hym a mighty blacke dogge of a huge bignes his eyes flamyng with fire and his eares hanging low downe welneere to the ground to enter in and straite to come toward hym so to couch vnder the boord The Cardinall not a little amased at the sight thereof somewhat recouering himselfe ralled to his seruauntes which were in the outward chaÌ„ber next by to bring in a candle and to seeke for the dog But when the dog could not be found neither there nor in no other chamber about the Cardinall thereupon striken with a sodaine conceit of mynd immediately fell into such a sicknes wherof his Phisitions which he had about hym with all their industry and cunnyng coulde not cure hym And so in the towne of Uerona died this popish cardinall the Popes holy Legate and President of this couÌ„cel wherein his purpose was as Sleidane saith to recouer and heale againe the whole authoritie and doctrine of the Romish see and to set it vp for euer There were in this Councell beside the Popes Legates and Cardinall of Trident lxij Bishops Doctours of Diuinitie xlij And thus was the ende of that Popishe Councell by the prouident hand of the almighty dispatched and brought to naught Ex Sleidano Li. 23. This Councell of Trident being then dissolued by the death of this Cardinal was afterward notwithstanding recollected againe about the yeare of our lord 1562. against the erroneous proceedings of which Councel other writers there be that say enough So much as pertaineth only to story I thought hereunto to adde concernyng two filthy adulterous bishops to the sayd Councel belonging of whome the one haunting to an honest mans wife was slaine by the iust stroke of God with a Borespeare The other Bishop whose haunte was to creepe through a window in the same window was subtilly taken and hanged in a grinne layed for hym of purpose and so conueied that in the mornyng hee was seene openly in the streete hangyng out of the windowe to the wonderment of all that passed by Ex protestatione Concionatorum Germa aduersus conuentum Trident. c. Amongst all the religious order of Papists who was a stouter defender of the Popes side or a more vehement impugner of Martin Luther then Iohn Eckius who if his cause wherein he so trauailed had bene godly had deserued no doubt great fauour and condigne retribution at the hands of the Lord. Now for so much as we cannot better iudge of him then by his ende let vs consider the maner of his departing hence and compare the same with the end of M. Luther In the which M. Luther beyng such an aduersarye as he was to the Pope and hauyng no lesse then al the world vpon him at once first this is to bee noted that after all these trauailes the Lord gaue him to depart both in great age and in his owne natiue countrey where he was born Secondly he blessed him with such a quiet death without any violent hande of any aduersary that it was counted rather a sleepe then a death Thirdly as the death of hys body was myld so his spirit mynde continued no lesse godly vnto the end continually inuocating and calling vpon the name of the Lord and so commending his spirite to hym with feruent prayer he made a blessed and an heauenly ending Fourthly ouer and besides these blessings almighty God did also adde vnto him such an honourable buriall as to many great Princes vnneth happeneth the like And this briefly concernyng the ende of M. Luther as ye may read before more at large pag. 863. Now let vs consider and conferre with this the death of Iohn Eckius and the maner thereof which we find in the English translation of the history of Iohn Carion fol. 250. in these words expressed This yere saith he died at Ingold state Doctor Eckius a faithful seruant and champion of the Pope and a defender of the abhominable Papacie But as his lyfe was full of all vngodlines vncleannes and blasphemy so was his end miserable hard and pitifull in so much that his last wordes as it is noted of many credible personnes were these In case the foure thousand guildens were ready the matter were dispatched c. Dreamyng belike of some Cardinalship that he should haue bought Some say that the Pope had granted him a certaine Deanry which he should haue redeemed from the Courte of Rome with the foresayd summe Now what a heauenly ende this was of M. Eckius I leaue it to the Readers iudgement In the Citie of Andwerpe was as they terme hym there a Shoulted that is to say the next Officer to the Markgraue one named Iohn Uander Warfe a Bastard sonne of a stocke or kinred called Warfe of good estimation amongest the chiefest in Antwarpe Who as he was of nature cruell so was he of iudgement peruerse and corrupt and a sore persecutor of Christes flocke with greedines seekyng and sheddyng innocent bloud and had drouned diuers good men and women in the water for the which he was much commended of the bloudy generation Of some he was called a bloudhound or bloudy dog Of other he was called Shildpad that is to say Sheltode for that hee beyng a short grundy and of little stature did ride commonly with a great broad hat as a churl of the countrey This man after he was weary of his office wherein he had continued aboue xx yeres he gaue it ouer and because he was now growen rich and welthy he entended to passe the residue of his lyfe in pleasure and quietnes During which tyme about the second yeare after hee had left his office he came to Antwarpe to the feast called our Ladies Oumegang to make mery which feast is vsually kept on the Sonday followyng the assumption of our Lady The same day in the after noone about foure of the clock he being wel loden with wine rode homewards
electis Salutem Esdr. 4. ¶ Hoc Seculum fecit altissimus propter multos futurum autem propter paucos ¶ The almighty Lorde hath made this worlde for many but the world or life or come but for a few MOst certayne it is dearely beloued that Christes elect be but few in comparisō of that great number which go in the broad way to euerlasting perdition whiche lyfe after the flesh louing this present euill world deny God in word and deed whose eies are blinded and their harts hardened Most certaine it is also that our Sauior Iesus Christ hath and knoweth his owne whose names are written in the booke of life redemed with the most precious bloud of our sauiour Iesus Christ. So that the eternall Father knoweth them which be his The almighty and eternall God graunt that we may haue the testimony of our conscience and the spirit of god to beare record with our spirites that we be his elect children walking in the spirite not fulfilling the lustes of the flesh but as Christes members hauing Christ Iesu fixed before our eyes he being to vs the true way the infallible verity the eternall life Christ hath geuē vs example let vs folow him as deare children for Gods delight is to beholde his Saintes which be in the earth Let vs put on the whole armour of God and walke in the light in these euill dayes in the whiche Sathan in his Aungels seeketh whom he may deuour The almighty Lorde deliuer vs from the mouthes of those vnshamefast dogs They truely seeke ours and not vs vnto the Lord. Esdras sayth and writeth truely the world is made for them and they for the world Dearly bought let vs remember Christ which sayth I haue chosen you out of the world you shal be hated of al worldly men Did euer the couetous Idolaters Oppressors or Whoremongers loue vs Nay they loue Masse Mongers which say peace peace when there is no peace Nay either then flatter the eares or els they say no thing as dum dogges not able to barke of whom be you ware of for though they come in sheepes clothing they be rauening Wolues whose damnation sleepeth not from whose captiuitye the holy will of God saue and preserue you Amen Dearely beloued we hauing the record of our conscience that we be very members in Christes body separate from that malignant Antichristes Church Let vs reioyce in conscience and in the Lord hauing heauenly hope in al his promises which be eternall and most sure to vs in Christ our Sauiour who looseth none of all them whom the eternall Father hath geuen him but at his appearing to be our mercifull Iudge shall rayse vs vppe at that last day for the trumpe of God shall blow and be heard of all Adams posterity sounding Venite ad iuditium Come vnto iudgement come and be iudged Let vs therfore be prepared hauing the wedding garment yea the whole armour of God the mariage garment cleare Lampes that is pure hartes and burning heauenly light in the same Let vs prepare our selues richly to restore to our Lord and Mayster our talentes with the increase of heauenly liuing and occupying then without all doubt we shall heare that most blessed wish of our alone Sauiour Iesus Christ who shall then say reioyce good seruauntes I will make you Stewardes ouer many thinges Enter into the euerlasting rest and kingdome whiche hath bene prepared for you from the beginning This is the Kingdome of Iesus Christ whiche at this present is in Babilon and banished to the desert the troublesome waters of Sathan in the Antichrist and his shauelings spiewed out of Christs mouth The Lord be our ayde auenger and deliuerer when his holy will is Amen Dearely bought with the most precious bloud of our Sauior Iesus Christ that we be not deceiued by the Antichrist let vs ponder wey marke and study the heauenly doctrine of our Sauiour Christ in his last Supper the text is Bene dixit dixit bene gratias egit he spake heauenly and well he gaue thankes he tooke bread brake it gaue it to his Disciples saying take eate this Sacramentall bread and me the breade of life whiche came downe from heauen which geueth life to the worlde take true fayth heauenly hope kindled with christen charitie thankes geuing for my death let these heauēly vertues enter in your soules then enter I. This is my body This is the true eating of my body which is geuen to the death of the crosse for the ransome and sinnes of Gods elect Likewise after supper he tooke the cup hee spake well gaue thankes and gaue it them saying drinke ye all of this drinke I say by this infallible veritie and euerlasting word ioyned and anexed with this cup my bloud which is shed from before the beginning of the world for many in remission of sins he or shee that thus dwelleth in me and I in him eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud Sainct Augustine sayth why preparest thou thy tooth and belly beleeue and thou hast eaten Sainct Barnarde saith when fayth hope christian loue and thankes geuing for Christes death enter in a Christian Christ entereth and agayn S. Augustine sayth vpon these wordes of Christ you shal alwayes haue the poore with you but me shall ye not haue alwayes with you The Church had him but a few dayes touching his humanitie nowe they haue him by fayth with these eyes they do not see him O Iesus Christ thou sonne of the liuing God whiche art in the bosome of thy father God with God the very Image of God the father eternall geue vs victory ouer this Antichrist in thy most precious bloud Be faythfull to the ende and oure sauiour shall crown vs in glory let vs sanctify the name of God in thought word and deede I say vnto the Papist and will not flatter our God is in heauen whome they will not see And is no such little prety mattere as their God the Pope faineth him to be Pray for all the preachers of the veritie that God may geue vs grace and constancie They sing and say they haue him in a string tye not the dog so for feare of hanging To all the faythfull whose names in generall in the booke of lyfe by Christ are written all The godly thought and patient minde doth liberty in prison finde Who so to patience can attayne shall finde in prison is no payne Thrall trouble bownd or free as pleaseth God so shall all be Wherefore I neuer will forsake what pleaseth God lay on my backe Iohn Meluine preacher and priprisoner in Newgate ¶ A note concerning the trouble of Iulius Palmer lately come to my handes To his assured friend and brother in Chryst Mayster Perry preacher at Beuerstone geue these MAyster Perry after my harty commendations in the Lord Iesus Christ vnto you and your wife c. wheras you haue written vnto me
which in like cases was wonte to be the onely remedy against stiffe necked and stubborne persons that is you must be hampered by the lawes compelled eyther to obey whether ye will or no or els to suffer that which a rebell to the lawes ought to suffer Doe you not knowe that whosoeuer refuseth to obey the lawes of the realme he bewrayeth himselfe to be an enemye to hys countrey Do you not know that this is the redyest waye to stirre vp sedition and ciuill warre It is better that you should beare your owne sinne then that through the example of your breache of the common lawes the common quyet should be disturbed How can you say you will be the Queenes true subiect when as you do openly professe that you will not keepe her lawes O heauenly father the father of all wisedome vnderstanding and true strength I beseeche thee for thy onelye sonne our sauiour Christes sake looke mercifully vppon me wretched creature and send thine holy spirite into my brest that not onely I may vnderstand according to thy wisedome howe this pestilent and deadly darte is to bee borne of and with what aunswere it is to be beaten back but also when I must ioyne to fight in the field for the glory of thy name that then I being strengthned with the defense of the right hand may manfully stand in the confession of thy fayth and of thy truth and continue in the same vnto the end of my lyfe thorough the same our Lord Iesus Christ. Amen Now to the obiection I graunt it to bee reasonable that he whiche by wordes and gentlenes cannot be made yeld to that is right and good shoulde be brideled by the straite correction of the lawes that is to say he that wyll not be subiecte to Gods word must bee punished by the lawes It is true that is commonly sayd He that wil not obey the Gospell must be tamed and taught by the rigour of the law But these thinges ought to take place agaynst him whiche refuseth to doe that is right and iust according to true godlines not against him which cannot quietly beare superstitions but doth haâ—e and detest from his age such kinde of proceedinges and that for the glorye of the name of God To that whiche ye say a trangressour of the common lawes bewrayeth himselfe to be an enemye of his countrey surely a man ought to looke vnto the nature of the lawes what maner of lawes they be which are broken For a faythful Christian ought not to thinke alike of all maner of lawes But that saying ought onely truely to be vnderstanded of suche lawes as be not contrarye to Gods word Otherwise whosoeuer loue their countrey in truth that is to say in God they will alwayes iudge if at any time the lawes of God and man be then contrarye to the other that a man ought rather to obeye God then man And they that thinke otherwise and pretend a loue to their countrey forasmuche as they make their countrey to fight as it were agaynst God in whome consisteth the onely stay of that country surely I do thinke that such are to be iudged most deadly enemies and traytours to theyr countrey For they that fight agaynst God whiche is the safety of their countrey what doe they els but go about to bryng vpon theyr countrey a present ruine and destruction But they that doe so are worthy to be iudged enemyes to their countrey and betrayours of the Realme Therefore c. But this is the redyest way ye say to stir vp sedition to trouble the quiet of the common wealth therefore are these things to be repressed in tyme by force of lawes Beholde Sathan doth not cease to practise hys olde guiles and accustomed subâ—leties Hee hath euer thys darte in a redines to hurle agaynst hys aduersaryes to accuse them of sedition that he may bryng them if he can in danger of the higher powers For so hath hee by his ministers alwayes charged the Prophetes of God Achab sayde vnto Elias art thou he that troubleth Israell The false Prophetes also complayned to theyr Princes of Hieremy that hys wordes were seditious and not to be suffered did not the scribes and Pharisies falsely accuse Christ as a seditious person and one that spake agaynst Cesar Did they not at the last cry if thou let this man go you are not Cesars frend The Oratour Tertullus how doth he accuse Paule before Felix the high Deputie We haue found this man sayth he a pestilent fellow a stirrer of sedition vnto all the Iewes in the whole world c. But I praye you were these men as they were called seditious persons Christ Paule and the Prophetes God forbid But they were of false men falsely accused And wherefore I praye you but because they reproued before the people their giles superstition and deceites And when the other coulde not beare it and would gladly haue had them taken out of the way they accused him as seditious persons and troublers of the common wealthe that being by this meanes made hatefull to the people and Princes they might the more easely be snatched vpp to be tormented and put to deathe But howe farre they were from all sedition their whole doctrine lyfe and conuersation doth well declare For that which was obiected last of all that he cannot be a faythful subiect to hys prince which professeth openly that he will not obserue the lawes which the Princes hath made here I would wish that I might haue an indifferent Iudge one that feareth God to whose iudgement in this cause I promise I will stand I aunswere therefore a man ought to obey hys Prince but in the Lord and neuer agaynst the Lord. For he that knowingly obeyeth his Prince agaynst God doth not a duety to the Prince but is a deceauer of the Prince and an helper vnto him to worke his owne destruction Hee is also vniust whiche geueth not the prince that is the princes and to GOD that is GODS Here commeth to my remembraunce that notable saying of Ualentinianus the Emperoure for choosing the Bishop of Millayne Set him saith he in the Bishoppes seate to whome if we as man do offend at any tyme wee may submitte our selues Policarpus the most constaunt Martyr when he stoode before the chiefe Ruler and was commaunded to blaspheme Christ and to sweare by the fortune of Cesar. c. he aunswered with milde spirite wee are taught sayth he to geue honour vnto Princes and those powers which be of God but such honour as is not contrary to Gods religion Hither vnto ye see good father how I haue in words onely made as it were a florishe before the fight whiche I shortly looke after and how I haue begonne to prepare certayne kindes of weapons to fight agaynst the aduersary of Christ and to inuse with my selfe how the daâ—â—s of the olde enemy may bee borne of and after what sorte
I may smite him againe with the sword of the spirit I learn also hereby to be in vre with armour and to assaye howe I can go armed In Tindall where I was borne not far from the Scottish borders I haue knowne my countreymen to watch night and day in theyr harnes suche as they had that is in theyr Iackes theyr speares in their hands you call them northern gads specially when they had any priuy warning of the comming of the Scottes And so doing although at euery such bickerings some of them spent their liues yet by such meanes like prettye men they defended their countrey And those that so dyed I thynke that before God they dyed in a good quarrell and theyr ofspring and progeny all the countrey loued them the better for theyr fathers sake And in the quarrell of Christ our sauiour in the defense of his owne diuine ordinaunces by the which he geueth vnto vs lyfe and immortalitie yea in the quarrell of fayth and christian religion wherin resteth our euerlasting saluation shall wee not watche shall wee not go alwayes armed euer looking when our aduersary whiche like a roaring Lyon seeketh whome hee may deuour shall come vpon vs by reason of oure slouthfulnes yea and woe be vnto vs if he can oppresse vs vnawares whiche vndoubtedly hee will doe if he finde vs sleepyng Let vs awake therefore For if the good man of the house knew what houre the theefe would come he would surely watch not suffer his house to be brokeÌ„ vp Let vs awake therfore I say Let vs not suffer our house to be brokeÌ„ vp Resist the deuill sayth S. Iames he will flee froÌ„ you Let vs therefore resist him manfully and taking the crosse vpon our shoulders let vs followe our captayne Christ who by hys owne bloud hath dedicated and hallowed the way whiche leadeath vnto the father that is to the light which no man can attayne the fountayn of the euerlasting ioyes Let vs follow I say whether hee calleth allureth vs that after these afflictions which last but for a moment whereby he tryeth our fayth as gold by the fire we may euerlastingly raygne and triumph with him in the glory of the father and that through the same our Lord and sauior Iesus Christe to whome with the father and the holye Ghost be all honour and glory nowe and for euer Amen Amen Good father forasmuche as I haue determined wyth my selfe to poure forth these my cogitations into your bosome here me thinketh I see you sodainly lifting vp your head towardes heauen after youre maner and then looking vpon me with your propheticall countenaunce and speaking vnto me with these or like woordes Trust not my sonne I beseethe you vouchsafe me the honour of this name for in so doing I shall thinke my selfe both honoured and loued of you Trust not I say my sonne to these worde weapons for the kingdom of God is not in words but in power And remember alwayes the wordes of the Lord do not imagine afore hand what and how you wil speake For it shall be geuen you euen in that same houre what ye shall speake For it is not ye that speake but the spirite of your father which speaketh in you I pray you therfore father pray for me that I may cast my whole care vppon him trust vpon him in all perils For I know and am surely perswaded that whatsoeuer I can imagine or think afore hand it is nothing except he assist me with his spirite when the tyme is I beseeche you therefore Father pray for me that such a complet harnes of the spirite such boldnes of minde may be geuen vnto me that I may out of a true faith say with Dauid I wil not trust in my bow and it is not my sword that shal saue me For he hath no plesure in the strength of an horse c. But the Lordes delight is in them that feare him and put theyr trust in his merâ—y I beseech you pray pray that I may enter this fight only in the name of God and that when all is past I being not ouercome through his gracious ayde may remayne and stand fast in him till that day of the Lord in that which to them that obtayne the victorye shall be geuen the liuely Manna to eate and a triumphant Crowne for euermore Now Father I pray you helpe me to buckle on thys geare a little better For ye know the deepenes of Sathan being an olde souldiar and you haue collored with him or now blessed be God that hath euer ayded you so well I suppose he may well hold you at the baye But truely hee will not be so willing I thinke to ioyne with you as with vs younglinges Syr I beseeche you let your seruaunt reade this my babling vnto you and now and then as it shal seeme vnto you best let your pen runne on my booke spare not to blotte my paper I geue you good leaue Syr I haue caused my man not onely to reade youre armour vnto me but also to write it out For it is not only no bare armure but also well buckled armure I see not how it coulde be better I thanke you euen from the bottome of my hart for it and my prayer shall you not lacke trusting that you doe the like for me For in deede there is the helpe c Many thinges make confusion in memory And if I were as well learned as sainct Paule I woulde not bestow much amongest them further then to gaul theÌ„ and spurgal too when and where as occasion were geuen and matter came to minde for the lawe shal be their shote anchor staye and refuge Therefore there is no remedye namely now wheÌ„ they haue the maister bowle in their hand and rule the roste but pacience Better it is to suffer what cruely they wil put vnto vs then to incurre Gods high indignation Wherefore good my Lord be of good cheare in the Lord with due consideration what hee requireth of you and what he doth promise you Our common enemy shall do no more then God will permit him God is faithfull which wil not suffer vs to be teÌ„pted aboue our streÌ„gth c. Be at a poynt what ye wil stand vnto sticke vnto that and let them both say and do what they list They can but kil the body whiche otherwise is of it selfe mortall Neyther yet shal they do that when they list but when God wil suffer them when the houre appoynted is come To vse many wordes with them it shal be but in vayne nowe that they haue a bloudy and deadly lawe prepared for theÌ„ But it is very requisite that ye geue a reasonable accompt of your fayth if they wil quietly heare you els ye knowe in a wicked place of iudgement a man may keepe silence after the example of Christ. Let them not deceiue you with