your self which thing I would wish you to do if need require or else not good Wife take heed how you bestow your self that you and my poor Children be not compelled to wickedness But if you sh ll be able well to live Gods true Widow I would counsel you so to live still for the more quietness of your self and your poor Children Take heed Margaret and play the wise womans part you have warning by other if you will take an example And thus I commit you and my sweet Children unto Gods most mercifull defence The Blessing of God be with you and God send us a merry meeting together in Heaven Farewell in Christ farewell mine own dear hearts all Pray pray To my most dear and fâ—ithful Brethren in Newgate Condemned to dye for the Testimony of Gods everlasting Truth THe everlasting pâ—ace of G d in Jesus Christ the continual joy strength and comfort of his most pâ—re holy and mighty Spirit with the encrease of Faith and lâ—vely feeling of his Eternal Mercy be with you my most dear and faithful lov ng B other Tyms and with all the rest of my dear hearts in the Lord your faithful Fellow-souldiers and most constant Companions in Bonds yea of men condemned most cruelly for the sincere Testimony of Gods everlasting Truth to the full finishing of that good work which he hath so graciously begun in you all that the same may be to his glory the commodity of his poor afflicted Church and to your everlasting comfort in him Amen Ah my most sweet and loving Bâ—ethren and dearest hearts in the Lord what shall I say or how shall I write unto you in the least point or part to utter the great joy that my poor heart hath received in God through the most godly example of your Christâ—an Constancy and sincere Confession of Christs Verity truely my tongue cannot declare Example of true love and charity among the Martyrs nor my pen express the abundance of spiritual mirth and gladness that my minde and inward man hath felt ever since I heard of your hearty boldness and modest behaviour before that bloody Butcher in the time of all your crafty Examinations especially at your cruel Condemnation in their cursed Consistory place Blâ—ssed be God the Father of all mercy and praised be his Name for that he hath so graciously performed upon you his dear darlings his most sweet and comfortable promises in not only giving you the continual ayd strength and comfort of his holy and mighty Spirit to the faithful confession of his Christ for whose cause O most happy men ye are condemned to dye but also in giving you such a mouth and wisdome as all your wicked Enemies were not able to resist The Enemies not able to withstand the w sedome of God in his Saints but compelled to bid them hold their peace but were fain to cry Peace peace and not suffer you to speak As truly as God liveth my dear Brethren this is not only unto you a most evident probation that God is on our side and a sure certainty of your everlasting Salvation in him but also to your cruel Adversaries or rather Gods cursed Enemies a plain demonstration of their just eternal woe and damnation which they shall be full sure shortly to feel when ye shall full sweetly possess the place of felicity and pleasure prepared for you from the beginning Therefore my dearly beloved cease not so long as ye be in this life to praise the Lord with a lusty courage for that of his great mercy and infinite goodness he hath vouched you worthy this great dignity to suffer for his sake not onely the loss of goods Wife and Children long imprisonment and cruel oppression c. but also the very deprivation of this mortal life with the dissolution of your bodies in the fire The which in the greatest promotion that God can bring you or any other unto in this vale of misery yea so great an honour as the highest Angel in Heaven is not permitted to have and yet hath the Lord for his dear Son Christs sake reputed you worthy of the same yea and that before me and many other which have both long looked and longed for the same John Careles longeth to dye a Martyr in the Gospels cause Ah my most dear Brother Tyms whose time resteth altogether in the hands of the Lord in a full happy time camest thou into this troublesome world but in a much more blessed houâ— shalt thou depart forth of the same so that the sweet saying of Solomon or rather of the Holy-ghost shall be full well verified upon thee yea and all thy faithful fellows Better is the day of death saith he then the day of birth Eccles 7. This saying cannot be verified upon every man but upon thee my dear Brother and such as thou art whose death is most precious before God and full dear shall your blood be in his sight Blessed be God for thee my dear Brother Tyms and blessed be God again that ever I knew thee for in a most happy time I came first into thy company Pray for me dear Brother pray for me that God will once vouch me worthy of that great dignity whereunto he hath now brought you Ah my loving Brother Drake whose Soul draweth now nigh unto God of whom you have received the same full glad may you be that ever God gave you a life to leave for his sake full well will he restore it to you again in a thousand fold more glorious wise Praise God good Brother as you have great cause and pray for me I beseech you which am so much unworthy so great are my sins of that great dignity whereunto the Lord hath called you and the rest of your godly Brethren whom I beseech you to comfort in the Lord as you can full well praised be God for his gifts which you have heartily applied to the setting forth of his glory and the commodity of his poor afflicted Church Which thing shall surely redound to your everlasting joy and comfort as you shall most effectually feel or ever it be long though the wicked of the World judge far otherwise Ah mine own Hearts and most dearly beloved Brethren Cavell Ambrose and both the Spurges Blessed be the Lord on your behalf and praised be his Name which hath given you such a glorious victory Full valiant have you shewed your selves in the Lords fight and full faithfully in your painful service Faint not but go on forward as you have most godly begun for great shall your reward be at the end of this your travel Ah my good faithful Brethren all what shall I say or what shall I write unto you but even the same that good Elizabeth did say to her godly kinswoman Mary the blessed Mother of Christ Luke 1. Happy art thou quoth that good woman which hast believed for all things which the Lord hath spoken to thee shall be
ever as the true inheriter of his everlasting Kingdome unto the which thou wast undoubtedly predestinate and ordained by the Lords infallible purpose and decree before the foundation of the World was laid And that is most true that I have said I call the whole Trinity the Almighty and Eternal Majesty of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost to my Record at this present whom I humbly beseech to confirm and stablish in thee the true and lively feeling of the same Amen Selah Now with a merry heart and a joyfull spirit something mixed with lawful tears I take my farewel of you mine own dear Brother in the Lord who send us shortly a merry meeting in his Kingdome that we may both sing praises together unto him with his holy Angels and blessed Spirits for ever and ever Farewel thou blessed of the Lord farewel in Christ depart unto thy rest in the Lord and pray for me for Gods sake As I had made an end of this simple Letter I heard some comfort both of good Mr. Philpots Servant and yours but alas I do scarcely believe them Well I will hope in God and pray all night that God would send me some comfort to morrow and if the Lord give you sparing to morrow let me hear four words of comfort from you for Gods sake The Blessing of God be with you now and for ever Amen Yours for ever in the Lord Jesus John Careles living in Hope against Hope John Careles his Letter to his Wife AS by the great mercy of God at the time of his good will and providence appointed my dearly beloved Wife you and I were joyned together in the holy and Christian state of godly Matrimony as well to our great joy and comfort in Christ as also to the increase of his blessed Church and faithfull Congregation by having lawfull Children in and by the same with the which God of his mercy hath blessed us praised be his Name therefore Even so now by his mercifull will and Divine Ordinance the time is come so farre as I can perceive wherein he will for his glory and our eternall comfort dissolve the same and separate us asunder again for a time Wherefore I thought it good yea and my bounden duty by this simple Letter to provoke stir and admonish you to behave your self in all your doings sayings and thoughts most thankefully unto our good God for the same And therefore my dear Wife as you have heartily rejoyced in the Lord and oftentimes given God thanks for his goodness in bringing us together in his holy Ordinance Even so now I desire you when this time of our separation shall come to rejoyce with me in the Lord and to give him most hearty thanks that he hath to his glory and our endless commodity separated us again for a little time and hath mercifully taken me unto himself forth of this miserable world into his Celestiall Kingdome Here is a true mark of a faithful Christian forsaking wife children for Christs sake believing and hoping also assuredly that God of his goodness for his Son Christs sake will shortly bring you and your dear children thither to me that we may most joyfully together sing Praises unto his glorious Name for ever And yet once again I desire you for the love of God and as ever you loved me to rejoyce with me and to give God continuall thanks for doing his most mercifull will upon me I hear say that you do oftentimes use to repeat this godly saying The Lords will be fulfilled True obedience of a faithful woman Doubtless it rejoyceth my poor heart to hear that report of you and for the Lords sake use that godly prayer continually and teach your Children and Family to say the same day and night and not onely say it with your tongues but also with your heart and minde and joyfully to submit your will to Gods will in very deed knowing and believing assuredly that nothing shall come to you or any of yours otherwise then it shall be his Almighty and Fatherly good will and pleasure and for your eternall comfort and commodity Which thing to be most true and certain Christ testifieth in his holy Gospel saying Are not two little Sparrows sold for a farthing Matth. 10. and yet not one of them shall perish without the will of your heavenly Father And he concludeth saying Fear not ye therefore for ye are better then many Sparrows As though he should have said If God have such a respect and care for a poor Sparrow which is not worth one farthing that it shall not be taken in the Lime-twig Net or Pit-fall unsill it be his good will and pleasure you may be well assured that not one of you whom he so dearly loveth that he hath given his onely dear Son for yâ—u shall perish or depart forth of this miserable life without his Almighty good will and pleasure Therefore dear Wife put your trust and confidence wholly and onely in him and ever pray that his will be fulfilled and not yours except it be agreeing to his will the which I pray God it may ever be Amen And as for worldly things take you no care Good counsel given to his wife but be you well assured the Lord your dear God and Father will not see you nor yours lack if you continue in his love and childly fear and keep a clear Conscience from all kind of Idolatry â—uperstition and Wickedness as my trust is that you will do although it be with the loss and danger of this temporal life And good Margaret Fear not them that can but kill the body and yet can they not do that untill God give them leave but fear to dâ—splease him that can kill both body and Soul and cast them into hell fire Let not the remembrance of your Children keep you from God The Lord himself will be a Father and a Mother Care of children to be cast upon Lord. better then ever you or I could have been unto them He himself will do all things necessary for them yea as much as rock the Cradle if need be He hath given his holy Angels charge over them therefore commit them unto him But if you may live with a clear Conscience for else I would not have you to live and see the bringing up of your Children your self look that you nurture them in the fear of God and keep them farre from Idolatry Superstition The mothers duty in bringing up her children and all other kinde of Wickedness and for Gods sake help them to some Learning if it be possible that they may increase in virtue and godâ—y knowledge which shall be a better Dowry to marry them withall then any worldly substance and when they be come to age provide them such Husbands as fear God and love his holy Word I charge you take heed that you match them with no Papists and if you live and marry again
with all earnest and faithfull remembrance of you in my daily Prayers thanking God right heartily that you do likewise remember me in yours assuring you that my poor heart doth daily feel great Consolation thereby God onely have the praise for the same and all other his Benefits Ah my dear heart in the Lord well is me that ever I was born that God of his great mercy and infinite goodness hath used me most miserable wretch at any time as his instrument to minister any thing unto you either by word or writing that might be an occasion of your joy and comfort in the Lord and a provoking of you to praise and thanksgiv ng unto God for the same as your most loving and godly Letter seemeth to import Oh happy am I that the Lord hath appointed me unto so good a ground to sow his seed upon but much more happy are you whose heart the Lord hath prepared and made so meet to receive the same so effectuously gâ—ving thereto the sweet showers and heavenly dews of his grace and holy Spirit that it may bring forth fruit in due season accordingly the increase whereof we shall shortly reap together with perfect joy and gladness and that continually Therefore my dear Brother I say unto you as good Elizabeth did to her Cousin Mary Happy are you Luke 1. and happy shall you be for evermore because you have believed The most sweet and faithful Promises of your Redeemer Jesus Christ you have surely laid up in the treasury of your heart his comfortable Callings you have faithfully heard his loving Admonitions you have humbly obeyed and therefore you shall never come into judgement Remission of sins your sins shâ—ll never be remembred for your Saviour hath cast them all into he bottom of the Sea Micah 7. he hath removed them from you as far as the East is from the West Psal 103. and hath given you for an everlasting possâ—ssion his Justification and Holiness So that now no Creature neither in heaven nor in earth shall be able to accuse you before the Throne of the heavenly King Satan is now judged he is now cast out from you he hath no part in you you are wholly given unto Christ which will not lose you your stedfast Faith in him hath overcome that sturdy and bragging Prince of the World Christ hath given you the final victory over him and all his Army that they shall never hurt you What would you have more Oh my dear heart how great treasures are laid up in store for you and how glorious a Crown is already made and prepared for you And albeit the holy Ghost doth bear witness of all these things in your heart Testimony of Gods Spirit and maketh you more sure and certain thereof then if you had all the outward Oracles in the world yet I being certainly perswaded and fully assured by the testimony of Gods Spirit in my Conscience of your eternal and sure Salvation in our sweet Saviour Jesus Christ have thought it good yea and my bounden duty not onely at this time to write unto you and to shew my joyful heart in that behalf but also by the Word and Commandment of Christ to pronounce and affirm in the Name and Word of the heavenly King Jehovah and in the behalf of his sweet Son Iesus Christ our Lord to whom all knees shâ—ll bow whom all creatures shall worship and also by the impulsion of the holy Ghost by whose power and strength all the faithful be regenerate I do I say p onounce to thee my dear B o her T. V. that thou art already a Cit zen of Heaven The Lord thy God in whom thou dost put all thy trust for his dear Sons sake in whom thou dost also undoubtedly believe â—a h freely forgiven thee all thy sins clearly released all thine in quâ—ties and fully pardoned all thine offences be they never so many so grievous or so great and will never remember them any more to Condemnation As truly as he liveth he will not have thee dye the death but hath verily determined purposed and eternally decreed that thou shalt live with him for ever Thy Sore shall be healed and thy Wounds bound up even of himself for his own Names sake He doth not nor will not look upon thy sins in thee but he respecteth and beholdeth thee in Christ in whom thou art lively graffed by Faith in his blood and in whom thou art most assuredly elected and chosen to be a sweet vessel of his Mercy and Salvation and wast thereto predestinate in him before the foundation of the world was laid In testimony and earnest whereof he hath given thee his good and holy Spirit which worketh in thee Faith Love and unfeigned Repentance with other godly Vertues contrary to the Corruption of thy Nature Also he hath commanded me this day although a most unworthy wretch to be a witness hereof by the Ministry of his holy Word Experience of Christ working in his Church grounded upon the truth of his most faithful Promises the which thou believing shalt live for ever Believest thou this my dear heart I know well thou dost believe The Lord increase thy Faith and give thee a lively feeling of all his mercies whereof thou art warranted and assured by the testimony of the holy Ghost who confirm in thy Conscience to the utter overthrowing of Satan and those his most hurtful dubitations whereby he is accustomed to molest and vex the true Children of God all that I have said and by Gods grace I will as a witness thereof confirm and seal the same with my blood for a most certain truth Wherefore my good Brother praise the Lord with a joyful heart and give him thanks for this his exceeding great mercy casting away all dubitation and wavering yea all sorrow of heart and pensiveness of mind for this the Lord your God and most dear and loving Father commandeth you to do by me nay rather by his own Mouth and Word pronounced by me But now my dear Brother after that I have done my message or rather the Lords message indeed I could finde in my heart to write two or three sheets of paper declaring the joy I bear in my heart for you mine own bowels in the Lord yet the time being so short as you do well know I am here constrained to make an end desiring you to pardon my slackness and to forgive my great negligence towards you promising you still that so long as my poor life doth last my prayer shall supply that my pen doth want as knoweth the Almighty God to whose most merciful defence I do heartily commit you and all other his dear children as well as though I had rehearsed them by Name desiring them most heartily to remember me in their hearty and daily Prayers as I know right well they do for I feel the daily comfort and commodity thereof and therefore I neither will nor can
forget them nor you or any such like The blessing of God be with you all Amen Yours for ever unfeignedly John Careles A Letter of Thanks to a faithfull Friend of his by whom he had received much comfort in his inward troubles BLessed be God the Father of all mercy for the great comfort and Christian consolation which he hath so mercifully ministred unto my poor afflâ—cted heart by your means my most dear and faithful Brother Truly me thinketh your words or rather Gods words by you uttered have a wonderful power and efficacy working in my heart at the hearing or reading of them Rejoyce therefore my dear Brother and be thankful unto God for verily he both is and will be mightily magnified in you and that divers and many wayes both to the strengthning of them that stand in his Truth and also to the raising up of such as are faln from the same God make me thankful for you and on your behalf for verily great is the goodness of God towards me in giving me acquaintance in faithful love and amity with you Gods Name for ever be praised therefore and he perform all his merciful Promises upon you as I doubt not but he will for his sake in whom you trust I thank my God most heartily and also you my good Brother for that you are careful for me in your faithful Prayers remembring my just deserved sorrows as though they were your own and labouring so much to solace the same Ah my gracious good God what am I for whom thou and thy dear Children should be so careful Oh sweet Lord forgive me my great ingratitude and sin and grant that I never abuse thy great benefits Oh let the love of thine Elect which love me for thy sake be a sure sign and token yea a most firm testimony and a seal to my sinful Conscience of thine everlasting love and mercy towards me in Christ as verily it would and ought to be if mine infidelity did not let it Oh circumcise therefore the fore-skin of my heart that I may with lively Faith behold thy great love towards me in all thine Elect that I may alwayes be thankful for the same and love thee and them again most heartily and unfeignedly Ah my dear heart how sweetly and how truly yea how godly and how comfortably have yov rehearsed the sweet saying of Solomon concerning prosperity with true and godly friends What a treasure a trusty friend is I will joyn with it the Sentence which goeth a little before for doubtless it may be well verified on you A sure friend saith the Wise-man will be unto thee even as thine own Soul and deal faithfully with thy houshold folk If thou suffer trouble and adversity he is with thee and hideth not his face from thee A faithfull friend is a strong defence whose findeth such an one findeth a treasure A faithfull friend hath no peer the weight of gold is not to be compared to the goodness of his faith A faithfull friend is a medicine of life and they that fear the Lord shall finde him c. Lo my dear heart in the Lord here is a lively image or description of you for verily such an one have I alwayes found you unto me not onely sorrowing for my great sorrow but also oftentimes making me merry and joyful with such joyes as the world cannot feel There is no true friendship but amongst the godly Now let the world brag of his feigned friendship but I will boast of this true friendship in God and esteem it a more treasure then all transitory things And as for my mourning dear Brother God hath made you to turn it unto mirth for God hath put you in the stead of them to be my Comfort whom he hath in his great mercy taken away I trust henceforth to leave the mourning for my great loss and to praise God for gaining unto himself so great glory by his chosen children God make me a true mourner of Sion both for mine own sin and wickedness and also to see his honour defaced that I may be made meet and apt to hear the joyful and comfortable message that your beautiful feet shall bring me God bless thee my dear heart and faithful loving Brother and increase his good gifts of grace in thee as he hath most happily begun that you may daily more effectually feel and lively perceive the certainty of Gods grace wherein you stand and firmly to testifie the same to the Conversion or Confounding of all gainsayers and to the comfort and confirmation of all Gods dear children Amen Farewel mine own sweet Brother farewel as mine own heart Your own in Christ John Careles Another Letter of John Careles to a certain godly faithful Sister by the Name of E. K. THe grace and free mercy of God in Jesus Christ the sweet Consolations of the holy Ghost the guide of all Gods dear Children be with you strengthen and comfort you my dearly beloved sweet Sister E. K. now and ever Amen Albeit my dearly beloved Sister in Christ that as yet we did never see one another personally to any knowledge yet by the virtuous report that I have heard of you and also by the large loving Token that I have received from you methink that I do even presently see you and behold your person faithfully walking in the fear and love of God joying and rejoycing with you in the Spirit as though we were sweetly talking together of Christs Verity The Lord God do I humbly beseech in the bowels and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that he will strengthen us both with his holy and mighty Spirit that we may constantly continue in the confession of his Truth unto the end that like as we now see one another presently in Spirit we may also see one another personally in the glorious presence of God and his holy Angels where undoubtedly we shall know one anothers personage to our great joy felicity and endless Comfort Preparation to the Cross And now therefore dear Sister K. be strong in the Lord our God for doubtless the time of triall is at hand a great persecution with cruel Murthering of Gods dear Saints is like to be very shortly in this woful wicked Realm of England Therefore dear Sister for the love of God prepare you to the Cross with all diligence and make your self ready to dye with Christ that you may also live with him for ever There is no remedy if you will be Christs disciple you must needs take up your Cross and follow him for the Disciple must not look to be above his Master nor the Servant to be better intreated then his Lord. If we were of the World good Sister no doubt the world would love us But forasmuch as Christ hath chosen us out of the world to serve God in Spirit Verity let us be well assured the World will hate us and persecute us as it hath done our
might the more be stirred to bring forth the fruits of Repentance and learn to mourn in this world that in another they might be glad and rejoyce Such a broken Heart is a pleasant Sacrifice unto God Oh that I had the like contrite heart God mollifie my stony heart which lamenteth not in such wise my former detestable iniquities Praised be God that he hath given you this sorrowfull heart in respect of Righteousness and I pray you let me be partaker of these godly sorrows for sin which be the testimony of the presence of the holy Ghost Did not the sword of sorrow pierce the heart of the Elect and blessed Mother of our Lord Did not Peter weep bitterly for his sins which was so beloved of Christ Did not Mary Magdalen wash the feet of our Saviour with her tears and received therewithall remission of her sevenfold sins Be of good comfort therefore Mine own dear heart in this thy sorrow for it is the Earnest-peny of Eternall Consolation In thy sorrow laugh for the Spirit of God is with thee Blâ—ssed be they saith Christ that mourn Matth. 15. for they shall be comforted They went forth and wept Psal 126. saith the Prophet such shall come again having their gripes full of gladness Psal 51. Luke 7. Sorrow in a Christian man ought to be moderate And alâ—hough a sorrowfull heart in consideration of his sin be an acceptable Sacrifice before God whereby we are stirred up to more thankefulness unto God knowing that much is foâ—gâ—ven us that we might love the more yet the man of God must keep a measure in the same lest he be swallowed up by too much sorrow 1 Thess 4. S Paul would not the Thessalonians to be sorry as other men which have no hope 2 Cor. 7. Such a sorrow is not commendable but worketh damnation and is farre from the children of God who are continually sorrowfull in God when they look upon their own unworthiness with hope of forgiveness For God to this end by his Spirit setteth the sins of his Elect still before them Rom. 3. that where they perceive Sin to abound there they might be assured that Grace shall superabound and bringeth them down into Hell that he might lift them up with greater joy into Heaven Wherefore mine own Bowels in Christ as long as you are not void altogether of hope be not dismayed through your pensive heart for your sins how huge soever they have been for God is able to forgive more then you are able to sin yea and he will forgive him which with hope is sorry for his sins But know Brother that as oft as we do go about by the help of Gods Spirit to do that is good Satans practice to bring the godly repentance of a sinner to desperation the evil spirit Satan layeth hard wait to turn the good unto evil and goeth about to mix the detestable Dâ—rnell of Desperation with the godly Sorrow of a pure Penitent Heart You be not ignorant of his malicious subtilty and how that continually he assaulteth that good which the grace of God planteth I see the battel betwixt you and him but the victory is yours yea and that daily For you have laid hold upon the Anchor of Salvation which is hope in Christ he which will not suffer you to be made ashamed Be not discomforted that you have this Conflict but be glad that God hath given you the same to try your Faith and that you might appear daily worthy of the Kingdome of God for the which you strive God beholdeth your striving Faith against Satan and is pleased with your mighty resistance The Spirit which is in you is mightier then all the Adversaries power Tempt he may and lying await at your heels give you a fall unawares but overcome he shall not yea he cannot for you are sealed up already with a lively Faith to be the childe of God for ever and whom God hath once sealed for his own him he never utterly forsaketh Gods children fall The Devils children lye still The just falleth seven times but he riseth again It is mans frailty to fall but it is the property of the Devils childe to ly still This strife against sin is sufficient testimony that you are the childe of God Luke 11. for if you were not you should feel no such malice as he now troubleth you withall When this strong Goliah hath the hold all things be in peace which he possesseth and because he hath you not he will not suffer you unassaulted But stand fâ—st and hold out the Buckler of Faith Strife against sin is a token of Gods childe and with the Sword of Gods Promises smite him on the scalp that he may receive a deadly wound and never be able to stand against you any more James 4. S. James telleth you that he is but a coward saying Resist the Devil and he will fly away It is the will of God that he should thus long tempt you and not go away as yet or else he had done with you long ere this He knoweth already that he shall receive the foyle at your hands and increase the Crown of your Glory for he that overcometh shall be crowned Therefore gâ—ory in your temptation since they shall turn to your felicity Be not afraid of your continuall assâ—ults which be occasions of your daily victory The Word of G d abâ—â—eth for ever In what hour soever a sinner repenteth him of his sins they be forgiven Ezek. 33. Who can lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect Do you not perceive the manifest tokens of your Election First your vocation to the Gospel and after your vocation the manifest gifts of the Spirit of God given unto you above many other of your condition with godliness which believeth and yieldeth to the authority of the Scriptures and is zealous for the same Seeing you are Gods own dearling who can hurt you Be not of a deject minde for these temptations neither make your unfeigned friends to be more sorrowfull for you then need doth require Since God hath willed you at your Baptism in Christ to be Careles why do you make your self Carefull Cast all your care on him Set the Lord before your eyes alwayes for he is on your right side that you shall not be moved True Christians how they ought to be c reless in their carefull estate Behold the goodness of God toward me I am careless being fast closed in a Pair of Stocks which pinch me for very straitness and will you be carefull I will not have that unseemly addition to your Name Be as your Name pretendeth for doubtless you have none other cause but so to be Pray I beseech you that I may be still careless in my carefull estate as you have cause to be careless in your easier condition Be thankâ—full and put away all care and then I shall be joyfull in my
Careles through Christ the Beloved Say therefore with David Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name for he hath forgiven thee all thy sins as truely he hath And hereof I desire to be a Witness God make me worthy to hear from you the like true Message for my self Mine own dearly Beloved you have great cause to thank God most heartily that hath given you such Repentance and Faith The Lord increase the same in you and me a most miserable wretch whose heart is harder then the Adamant stone or else I could not thus long have stayed from writing unto you If I live and may I purpose and promise you to make amends Pray for me my most dear Brother I heartily beseech you and forgive me my long silence God our Father be with us for ever Amen Yours in the Lord John Bradford John Careles his Letter to Mr. Bradford THe Peace of God in Jesus Christ A sweet Letter of John Careles to Mr. Bradford a little before his Martyrdome the Eternal Comfort of his sweet Spirit which hath surely sealed you unto Eternal Salvation be with you and strengthen you in your joyful journey towards the Celestial Jerusalem my dear Friend and most faithful Brother Mr. Bradford to the setting forth of Gods glory and to your eternal joy in Christ Amen Ever since that good Mr. Philpot shewed me your last Letter my dear heart in the Lord I have continued in great heaviness and perplexity He mourneth for the loss and lâ—ck of Mr. Bradforâ— in the Church not for any hurt or discommodity that I can perceive coming towards you unto whom doubtless Death is made life and great felicity but for the great loss that Gods Church here in England shall sustain by the taking away of so godly worthy and necessary an instrument as the Lord hath made you to be Oh that my life and a thousand such wretched lives moe might go for yours Oh why doth God suffer me and such other Catterpillers to live that can do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and take away you so worthy a Workman and Labourer in the Lords Vineyard But woe be to our sins and great unthanfulness which is the greatest cause of the taking away of such worthy instruments of God as should set forth his Glory and instruct his People If we had been thankful unto God for the good Ministers of his Word we had not been so soon deprived both of it and them The Lord forgive our great ingratitude and sins and give us true Repentance and Faith and hold his hand of Mercy over us for his dear Son Christs sake Take not away all thy tâ—ue Preachers forth of this Realm O Lord but leave us a Seed lest Englâ—nd be made like unto Sodom and Gomorrah when thy true Loâ—â— be gone But what go I about to mingle your mirth with my mourning and your just joy with my deserved sorrow If I loved you indeed as I have pretended I should surely rejoyce with you most heartily and praise God on your bâ—half from the very bottom of my heart He rejoyceth for the honour of Mr. Bradfords Martyrdome I should praise God day and night for your excellent Election in and through his great Mercy and should give him most humble thanks for your Vocation by his Gospel and your true Knowledge in the same I should earnestly praise him for your sweet justification whereof you are most certain by Gods Gâ—ace and Spirit and should instantly pray unto him for your Glorification which shall shortly ensue I should rejoyce and be glad to see you dignified by the Crown of Martyrdome and to be appointed to that honour to testifie his Truth and to Seal it with your Blood I should highly extoll the Lord who hath given you a glorious vâ—ctory over all your enemies visible and inv si le and hath given you Grace and Strength to finish the Tower that you have begun to build Finally if I loved you I should most heartily rejoice and be glad to see you delivered from this body of sin and vile person of the Flesh and brought into that heavenly Tabernacle where you shall be safely kept and never offend him more This and much more should I do if I had a good heart towards God or you his dear childe But alas I am an hypocrite and do seek nothing but mine own commodity I would have Gods everlasting Providence give place to my peevish will and purpose although it were to the hindrance of his glory and your sweet commodity God forgive me my horrible ingratitude sins and offences against him and good Brother do you forgive me my great negligence and unthankfulness towards you and henceforth I promise you I will put my will to Gods will and pray that the same may be fulfilled in you so long as you be on this earth and when you are taken hence I will most heartily praise the Lord for you so long as I have my being in this world Ah my dear heart now I must take my leave of you and as I think John Careles taketh his leave of M. Bradford my Vltimum Vale in this life but in the life to come I am right well assured we shall merrily meet together and that shortly I trust And in taking of my leave of you my dear heart in the Lord I shall desire you faithfully to remember all the sweet messages that the Lord our good God and most dear loving Father hath sent you by me his most unworthy Servant which as they are most true so shall they be most truly accomplished upon you eternally and for the more assurance and certificate thereof to your godly Conscience he hath commanded me to repeat the same unto you again in his own Name and Word Therefore now give ear and faithful credence Hearken Testimony of Gods Spirit O ye Heavens and thou earth give ear and bear me witness at the great Day that I do here faithfully and truely the Lords mâ—ssâ—ge unto his dear Servant John Careles doth Gods message to M. Bradford his singularly beloved and elâ—ct Childe â—â—â—n Bradford John Bradford thou man so specially beloved of God I pronounce and testifie unto thee in the Word and Name of the Lord Jehovah that all thy sins whatsoever they be be they never so many so grievous or so great be fully and freely pâ—â—doned released and forgiven thee by the mercy of God in Jesus Christ thine onely Lord and sweet Saviour in whom thou dost undoubtedly believe Power and practise of the keyes of the Gospel Christ hath cleansed thee with his Blood and clothed thee with his Righteousness and hath made â—hee in the sight of God his Father without spot or wrinckle so that when the fiâ—e doth his appointed office thou shalt be received as a sweet burnt Sacrifice into Heaven where thou shalt joyfully remain in Gods presence for
good experience of these manner of Temptations both by your self and other whom you know well were the beloved of God Satan overcome in Gods Saints Be of good chear therefore dear heart be of good chear for now Satan hath wrought all his malice he hath done all that he can and hath shot off all his last Pieces wherewith he had thought to have done most mischief but now he seeth he cannot prevail the strong Tower of your Faith being so invincible he will pluck up all his Tents and get him to some other place to practise the like assaults and then will the Angels of God come and minister unto you the most sweet and heavenly Consolations of the holy Ghost To him therefore who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that ever we can desire or think I do most heartily commit you with all the rest of your Godly Prison-fellows who comfort strengthen and defend you with his grace mighty operation of his holy Spirit as he hath hitherto done that you having a most glorious Victory over the subtile Serpent and all his wicked seed may also receive the Crown of Glory and Immortality prepared for you before the foundations of the World were laid and is so surely kept for you in the hands of him who is infallible that the Devil Sin Death or Hell shall never be able to deprive you of the same The blessing of God be with you now and for evermore Amen Pray pray pray for me Your own for ever John Careles To my good Sister Mrs. Cotton THe Peace of God in Jesus Christ the eternall Comforts of his sweet Spirit be with you my dear and faithfull Sister to the full accomplishment of that good work which he hath most graciously begun in you that the same may be effectuall to the setting forth of his glory and to your everlasting Consolation in him Amen My loving and faithfull Sister in the Lord I thank you for all your loving kindness shewed unto me but especially for your godly remembrance of me in your fervent and faithfull Prayers and for your most godly and comfortable Letter whereby you do not onely much increase my joy and comfort but also put me in remembrance of my duty towards you Blessed be the Lord our God Gods great gift in women which of his great mercy hath so beautified his Church in these dayes that even unto many godly women he hath given most excellent gifts of knowledge and understanding of his Truth so that they are not onely well able to inform their own Consciences in all things necessary to Salvation but also most sweetly to comfort their sorrowfull Brethren and Sisters that sustain any trouble for the Testimony of Gods Truth yea and that which is more even in the middest of their great Conflicts of Conscience Of which most happy number of godly and virtuous women my dear heart you are one and that of the chiefest being plentifully endued with the gifts of Gods most gracious Spirit as it doth full well appear in your daily doings God onely have the praise therefore Forasmuch then as God hath given you the gift to write Note how God sometime giveth comfort by weaker vessels I shall most heartily desire you to let me hear from you sometimes be it never so little for truly I tâ—ke great Comfort and Courage thereby specially in my poor Conscience which is sore assaulted of subtile Satan and in a manner oppressed of my sin Pray dear S ster that God may give me true hearty and earnest Repentance and increase my Faith for they are both the good gifts of God onely and farre pass the reach of my power to take at my pleasure Therefore dear Sister if you w ll help me to beg the same of our dear loving Father I am sure that he both can and will gâ—ve them me in his good time And as for the fear of Death or terrour of the Fire I most heartily thank my good God I feel it not onely it is mine own sins and unthankefulness which holdeth hard battel and wageth strong warre against me which onely goeth about to separate me from my good Captain Christ that I should not enjoy his glorious victory but God being on my side as I am sure he is that cannot continually prevâ—il against me Though God for a time permit Satan to take his pleasure on me as he did upon Job yet I doubt not but in the end all shall turn to my profit through the Merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To whose most mercifull defence I commit you dear Sister with all the rest of the Lords Elect. Farewell in Christ Your unfeignedly John Careles Pray pray pray pray To my dear Brother T. V. THe everlasting peace of God in Jesus Christ the continual Comforts of his most pure and holy Spirit be with you my most dear friend and faithful Brother V. to the increase of your Faith and comfort of your sorrowful Spirit which is to the Father a sweet Sacrifice through Christ for whose sake he will never despise your humble and contrite heart but doth favourably accept the same and will in most ample wise perform the desire thereof to his Glory and your eternal Comfort in him In the mids of my manifold Crosses and Troubles wherein I am constrained to flee unto God for refuge and succour by earnest and faithful Prayer I cannot forget you my dear heart in the Lord but esteeming your state for mine own I do pour forth my complaint for yâ—u as I do for my self and rather more as I think present need doth require desiring most heartily to hear of the good success of the same in yâ—u The Lord God for his mercy sake accomplish my desi e as I doubt not but he will when he seeth it good and most to his glory and to your comfort and commodity O that I might once see you so merry in Christ Psal 57. as you have just cause to be that you might say with David Awake my glory awake lute and harp bring forth the psaltery with the merry song that I might sing a new song of praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord for the light of his favourable countenance his help and deliverance Oh! Psal 45. that would refresh me as a most precious Oyle and gladden my poor heart which is assaulted with sorrow moe wayes then one Comfort for a sick Conscience I doubt not but the same shall by your means receive much comfort though for a time it doth mourn with you that we may be made both glad together yea and that with such gladness as shall continue for ever But in the mean space I say most happy are you Mat. 9. that so heartily mourn the absence of the Bridegroom If you were not a wedding-childe you could never do it Onely Christs true Disciples do mourn for his absence therefore shall they doubtless rejoyce at his
presence which will be so much more joyful by how much the absence is more sorrowful Therefore my good Brother take a good heart unto you and be of good chear Say with the Prophet David O my Soul Psal 42. why art thou so heavy and why art thou so disquieted within me O put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his loving countenance and because he is my God Read the 41 42 Psalm for your comfort and consider that the holy King and Prophet at the making and first saying of them was even in the same case that you are now in but he still comforted himself with the sweet promises of God and so do you my dear heart for to you they do as well pertain as they did to him and as surely shall they be performed upon you as they were upon him for he is one God and dear Father unto you both and for his Mercy Truth and Promise sake Gods love goeth not by our deservings but by Faith in Jesus he must needs make good unto you all that he hath said If his love toward you stood in respect of your own merit and worthiness you might well mourn lament and complain yea you had good cause to doubt fear and mistrust but seeing he loveth you onely for and in Jesus Christ who is your whole Holiness Righteousness and Redemption lay away all mourning lamenting and complaining banish from you all fear mistrust and infidelity and know that as long as Christ doth continue Gods Son so long must the love of the Father continue towards you immutable and his good will unchangeable and cannot be altered through any of your infirmities For this is most true that as long as the Cause of any thing doth last so long must the Effect remain but Christâ—s the whole Cause why the Father loveth you and he also continueth for ever Christ onely is the cause why his Father loveth us Then must I needs conclude that the love of the Father continueth towards you for ever and as the Psalmist most joyfully so often singeth His mercy endureth for ever and ever This is most true mine own dear heart although the Lord for a time hide it from your senses that you might be the more earnest in Prayer to him for the feeling of it and also the more thankfull for it when he doth give the lively taste of it Why God sometime hideth himself from us as doubtless he will do ere ever it be long and then shall you be well able to comfort other in the same state that you are now in with the same comfort wherewith you are and further shall be comforted of God Therefore lift up your hands that are now a little fallen down and stretch forth the weak knees of your troubled minde Heb. 12. which now mourneth with a godly mourning and therefore shall it be full well comforted with that sweet peace of God which passeth all understanding and you are sure already to enjoy the blessing that Christ gave unto the godly mourners of Sion upon the mount Eccles 7. at the first Sermon that he made O happy V. in whose mourning company I had rather be then in the house of mirth and banquetting of such as see not what cause they have to mourn and be sorry Measure ought to be in mourning But yet my good Brother use a measure in this your godly mourning and make not your faithful Friends too much sorry for you Let the perswasions of such godly lovers as you do daily company withal or rather the perswasions of the holy Ghost by them move you to some godly mirth and rejoycing Consider that you are commanded by the mouth of Saint Paul Phil. 4. thereto Rejoyce in the Lord saith he and I say again Rejoyce Mark how he doubleth the Sentence that we may perceive it is a most earnest and necessary thing he requireth Obey the Commandment of God in this behalf wherein as you cannot but highly please him so I assure you Example of Christian Charity and compassion towards his afflicted Brother you shall very much rejoyce my poor heart and the hearts of other which pray for you with mourning tears and make that cruel enemy Satan and all your adversaries sorry which will rejoyce and laugh to see you mourn Oh my good Brother let it manifestly appear that the Lord of his great mercy hath heaâ—d our faithful and hearry requests for you Oh how would that rejoyce me in the mids of my troubles Therefore now to conclude because the darkness constraineth me to make an end for this time I say my dear and faithful Brother V. in respect of the great cause you have of your own part through Christ and for the glory and honour of almighty God the comfort joy and rejoycing of your dear Brethren and Sisters in Chrâ—st also your own duety by the Commandment of God and last of all to vex molest and grieve Satan withal Rejoyce in the Lord and be most heartily glad in him who is wholly yours and you are his and shall be for evermore Selah Farewel mine own Bowels in the Lord and praise God with joyful lips and a merry heart and pray for me his most unprofitable Servant which have more cause concerning my self to lament then any one man living but my good bridegroom is present and biddeth me cast away my mourning garments and therefore I must needs be merry with him and so he biddeth you to be by my mouth for he is present with you although for sorrow you cannot know him as Magdalen could not in the garden until he spake unto her The Lord God speak these words of comfort in your heart and open the eyes of your minde that you may perfectly perceive and feel his blessed presence and so rejoyce in the same for evermore Amen Comfort your heart in Christ and cast your care upon him for he careth for you Your Brother in the Lord abiding his good pleasure John Careles To my dear and faithful Brother Augustine Bernher THe peace of God in Jesus Christ the help comfort and assistance of his eternal Spirit be with you my dear and faithful Brother Augustine and with all the rest of my good Brethren and Sisters of the houses of Bâ—xterly and Manceter which mourneth for the misery of Gods People to your everlasting Consolation in him Amen Right glad I am to hear my dear and faithful Brother Augustine that God of his great mercy and infinite goodness hath yet so graciously delivered and preserved you out of your enemies hands beseeching Almighty God also from the bottom of my heart to be your continual defence unto the end as hitherto he hath most graciously been that you may live and dye both to Gods Glory the commodity of his Church and to the increase of your own everlasting joy and comfort in him Know you dear Brother that I
that is God with us Iâ— God be with us who can be against us Rom. 8. The Lord is with you your Father cannot forget you your Spouse loveth you If the waves and surges arise cry with Peter Lord I perish Matth. 8. and he will put out his hand and help you Cast out your Anchor of Hope and it will not cease for all the stormy surges till it take hold on the Rock of Gods Truth and Mercy Think not that he which hath given you so many things corporally as inductions of spiritual and heavenly Mercies Philip. 1. Desire of spiritual comfort though it be lacking is a great gift of God and that without your deserts or desire can deny you any spiritual comfort desiring it For if he give to desire he will give you to have and enjoy the thing desired To desire to have and the going about to ask ought to certifie your Conscience that they be his earnest of the thing which you asking he will give you yea before you ask and whilest you are about to ask he will grant the same as Esay saith to his glory and your eternal consolation He that spared not his own Son for you will not nor cannot think any thing too good for you my heartily beloved If he had not chosen you as most certainly he hath he would not have so called you he would never have justified you Rom. 8. he would never have so glorified you with his gracious gifts which I know praised be his Name therefore he would never have so exercised your Faith with temptations as he hath done and doth if I say he had not chosen you Exercise of tentations a great token of election I have chosen you as doubtless dear heart he hath done in Christ for in you I have seen his earnest and before me and to me you could not deny it I know both where and when if I say he hath chosen you then neither can you nor ever shall you perish For if you fall he putteth under his hand you shall not lie still so careful is Christ your keeper over you Never was Mother so mindful over her childe as he is over you And hath not he alwayes been so Speak woman when did he finally forget you And will he now trow you in your most need do otherwise you calling upon him and desiring to please him Ah my Joyce think you God to be mutable Rom. 11. Is he a changeling Doth not he love to the end them whom he loveth Are not his gifts and calling such that he cannot repent him of them for else were he no God If you should perish then wanted he power for I am certain his will towards you is not to be doubted of Hath not the Spirit which is the Spirit of truth Every lying spirit not to be hearkned unto Satan seeketh to bring tender consciences to doubting but Gods promise in Christ standeth sure for ever told you so And will you now hearken with Eve to the lying spirit which would have you not to despair no he goeth more craftily to work howbeit to that end if you should give ear unto it which God forbid but to doubt and stand in a mammering and so should you never truly love God but serve him of a servile fear lest he should cast you off for your unworthiness and unthankfulness as though your thankfulness or worthiness were any causes with God why he hath chosen you or will finally keep you Ah mine own dear heart Christ onely Christ onely and his mercy and truth All our election is in and for Christ only In him is the cause of your election This Christ this Mercy this Truth of God remaineth for ever is certain for ever and so is your Election certain for ever for ever for ever I say for ever If an Angel of heaven should tell you contrary accursed be he accursed be he Your thankfulness and worthiness are fruits and effects of your election they are no causes These fruits and effects shall be so much more fruitful and effectual by how much you waver not Therefore my dearly beloved arise and remember from whence you are fallen Psâ—l 120. You have a Shepherd which neither slumbereth nor sleepeth No man nor devil can pull you out of his hands Night and day he commandeth his Angels to keep you Have you forgotten what I read to you out of the Psalm The Lord is my Shepherd Psal 25. I can want nothing Do you not know that God sparred Noah in the Ark on the outside so that he could not get out So hath he done to you my good Sister so hath he done to you Ten thousand shall fall on your right hand Psal 90. and twenty thousand on your left hand yet no evil shall touch you Say boldly therefore Psal 125. Many a time from my youth up they have fought against me but they have not prevailed no nor never shall prevail for the Lord is round about his people And who are the people of God but such as hope in him Happy are they that hope in the Lord and you are one of those my dear heart for I am assured you have hoped in the Lord I have your words to shew most manifestly and I know they were written unfeignedly I need not to say that even before God you have simply confessed to me and that oftentimes no less And once if you had this hope Though feeling fail yet let hope hold fast as you doubtless had it though now you feel it not yet shall you feel it again for the anger of the Lord lasteth but a moment but his mercy lasteth for ever Tell me my dear heart who hath so weakned you Surely not a perswasion which came from him that called you For why should you waver Why should you waver The eye of faith must look upon nothing else but onely Christ crucified and be so heavy hearted Whom look you on On your self on your worthiness on your thankfulness on that which God requireth of you as faith hope love fear joy c. Then can you not but waver indeed for what have you as God requireth Believe you hope you love you c. as much as you should do No no nor never can in this life Ah my dearly beloved have you so soon forgotten that which ever should be had in memory namely that when you would and should be certain and quiet in Conscience then should your Faith burst throughout all things not onely that you have in you or else are in heaven earth or hell untill it come to Christ crucified and the eternal sweet mercies and goodness of God in Christ Here here is the resting place here is your Spouses bed creep into it and in your arms of Faith embrace him bewail your weakness your unworthiness your diffidence c. and you shall see he will turn to you What said I You shall
see Nay I should have said You shall feel he will turn to you You know that Moses when he went into the Mount to talk with God he entred into a dark Cloud and Elias had his face covered when God passed by Both these dear friends of God heard God but they saw him not but you would be preferred before them See now my dear heart how covetous you are Ah be thankful be thankful But God be praised that your covetousness is Moses covetousness Well with him you shall be satisfied But when Forsooth when he shall appear Here is not the time of seeing Psal 16. but as it were in a glass Isaac was deceived because he was not content with hearing onely Therefore to make an end of these many words wherewith I fear me I do but trouble you from better exercises inasmuch as you are indeed the childe of God elect in Christ before the beginning of all times inasmuch as you are given to the custody of Christ as one of Gods most precious jewels inasmuch as Christ is faithful and hitherto hath all power so that you shall never perish no one hair of your head shall not be lost I beseech you Learn here to put away doubting all tender hearts that seek after Christ I pray you I desire you I crave at youâ— hands with all my very heart I ask of you with hand pen tongue and minde in Christ through Christ for Christ for his Name Blood Mercies Power and Truths sake my most entirely beloved Sister that you admit no doubting of Gods finall Mercies towards you howsoever you feel your self but complain to God and crave of him as of your tender and dear Father all things and in that time which shall be most opportune you shall finde and feel far above that your heart or the heart of any creature can conceive to your eternal joy Amen Amen Amen The good Spirit of God alwayes keep us as his dear children he comfort you as I desire to be comforted my dearly beloved for evermore Amen This 8. of August by him that in the Lord desireth to you as well and as much felicity as to his own heart John Bradford A worthy Answer of a constant Martyr called Guy de Brez Anno Dom. 1566. GVy de BreZ a minister of the Gospel being committed Prisoner into the Castle of Tournay was visited by many Ladies and Gentlewomen only out of a desire to see him in regard he was a man so highly esteemed Some at the first view scoffed others railed on him but others were moved to take pitty and compassion on him Amongst the rest the Countess of Ren accompanied with certain Gentlewomen coming into the Prison and at her first entrance beholding the Iron chain to which was fastned Mr. Guy said she I wonder how you can either eat drink or sleep in quiet for wer I in your case the very terrour thereof would goe nigh to kill me O Madam said he the good cause for which I suffer and that inward peace of Conscience with which God hath endued mee makes me eat and drink with greater contentment then my enemies can which seek my life yea so far off is it that my bonds or chain do any way terrifie me or break off my sleep that on the contrary I glory and take delight therein esteeming them at a higher rate then chains and rings of Gold or any other Jewels of price whatsoever for they yield me much more profit Yea when I hear the ratling of my chains me thinks I hear as it were some sweet instrument of musick sounding in mine ears not that such an effect comes meerly from my chains but in regard I am bound therewith for maintaining the truth of the Gospel The same Martyr in a letter to his wife acquaints her with Gods graciâ—us dealing with him in all his assaults SPeaking of his apprehension he shews how carnal reason began to play its part against the Providence of God for saith he these thoughts came thronging into my head what meant we to go so many in company together as we did had it not been for such and such we had never been discovered or taken Under such like cogitations I lay for a while saith he even in a manner overwhelmed till by the assistance of Gods holy Spirit my minde was raised up to meditate on Gods Providence After which my heart began to feel wonderful rest and contentment saying thus in my self O my God the day and hour of my birth was before ordained by thee ever since thou hast preserved and kept me in great perils and dangers and hitherto delivered me out of them all And if now the hour be come wherein I must pass out of this life into thy kingdome thy holy will be done I cannot escape out of tâ—y hands yea though I could yet Lord thou knowest I would not seeing all my felicity depends upon conforming my Will unto thine From these considerations I received no small consolation and therefore dear wife rejoyce with mee I pray you and bless our good God for these his mercies towards me for he doâ—h nothing but that which is equal and right You have been privy to and acquainted with all the travels crosses and persecutions which have befallen me yea and have your self been partaker with me therein when you accompanied me in my voyages during the time of my exile and now after all these you see my welbeloved in the Lord how he holdeth forth to mee his hand of Providence to drive me home to himself into his blessed Kingdome I now lead you the way and when his will is you shall follow me thither Our separation shall not be for ever it will not be long ere we be gathered under one head Jesus Christ This World is not the place of our rest no Heaven is our home this is but the place of our banishment Let us therefore aspire after our true Country namely Heaven and long to be received into the mansions of our heavenly Father where we shall see our Head and Brother our Husband and Saviour Jesus Christ with the noble triumphant assemblies of the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and so many millions of Martyrs to whom I hope shortly to be gathered having finished the course of that administration which I have received of the Lord Jesus Wherefore dear wife be you comforted in the meditation of these things Take into consideration the honour the Lord doth you in giving you a Husband who is not only called to be a Minister of Christs Gospel but also so highly advanced of God as to be accounted worthy to partake of the Crown of Martyrdome It is an honour which the Angels in Heaven are not capable of Angels not capable of Mâ—rtyrdome I now rejoyce in my sufferings my heart leapeth within me in my Afflictions I finde nothing wanting unto mee I am filled with the abundant riches of my God yea so farre am I comforted therewith that I have sufficient store not only for my self but to impart thereof also to as many as I have opportunity to speak unto which bounty and favour I beseech my eternal Lord God to continue unto me his poor Prisoner yea Gods goodness to his afflicted children is oft above and beyond their expectation I am perswaded that he will perform it unto the end For by good expeience I feel that be never forsakes them that trust in him I could never have imagined that God would have been so gracious as he hath been to me his poor creature I now taste of the fidelity and bounty of Christ my Saviour I am here taught to practise what I have preached unto others Yea let me not be ashamed to confess that when I heretofore preached I spake but as a Parrat in regard of that which I have now better learned by proof and experience Prisons prove Gods School-houses to the faithful I have profited more in the Schoolhouse of this prison then ever I did in all my life before for I have the Holy Ghost who is my constant instrâ—cter and Schoolmaster teaching me how to handle my weapons in this fight of afflictions Satan on the other side who is the sworn enemy of all Gods Elect compasseth me about on every side as a roaring Lyon thinking to devour me But he who hath said Fear not John 16.33 I have overcome the World puts as it were new courage into me and then I see the Lord bruising Satan under my feet Rom. 16.20 feeling the power of God perfected in my weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 and that the Lord causeth me one while to feel my infirmity and weakness It is profitable for the godly so câ—iâ—es to feel their infirmities that so I may take knowledge how I am but a poor earthen vessel even weakness it self to humble me that God may have all the glory and then by and by he fortifies and comforts me I may truly say incredibly above all I could ask or think For I would not change my condition with theirs who persecute me I take my rest eat and drink with more hearts case then they I am indeed lodged in the strongest and vilest Prison they have dark and obscure which for the darkness thereof is called Brunaâ—â— Brunain a Prison of the Valencians where I have no ayre to breathe at but a little stinking hole where they lay all their rubbish and where the drunkards commonly vent their Urine I am laden with Irons both on my hands and feet By reason wherof he complains he wrote with â—uch difficulty and therefore could not write as otherwise he would have done which are a continual torment unto me the irons eating through the flesh even to the bare bones The Provost-Marshal comes to view my Fetters twice or thrice 〈◊〉 day fearing lest I should make an escape for preventing whereof he hath placed three Guards of Fourty men before the Prison door c. And thus having given to his Wife his Advice how to behave her self during her Widowhood and how to train up her Children with his loving Salutations remembred to her self and other his special Friends he closeth up his Letter FINIS