most necessarie as true tokens and signes of a perfecte faythe they crye out againste sinne they perswade the Quéenes subiectes to obey loue hir maiestie all which I am sure agrées with the worde of God but if your preachers that you should heare preache contrarie that is that you maye be saued by some other meanes as by Masses Trentals Dirges or by the Popes pardons and if they wil animate and bolden you to disobey your lawful Quéene and soueraigne and wil preache remission of sinnes to all men that will fight in the Popes quarrel whether it be right or wrong yea thoughe it be against their owne King or countrey you may cal it y e word of God but I am out of doubt it is the doctrine of the Diuel Therefore the premisses well wayed and considered if you shoulde require at the Quéenes hande to vse fréelye the Romishe religion without checke or controlemente truely you know then no more what you aske of hir grace than the sayd Pyrates or théeues do know what they aske of theyr kyng or the fonde Schollers of theyr Schoolemaister But if the Quéenes maiestie could not haue your loue but vppon that condition then she were better to haue your hatred in denying you than your loue in graunting you But what if a king shoulde graunt such a libertie to Pirats and théeues as Mogallus did once king of Scots and the scholemaister to his schollers might not wise men iudge that the one were more méete to be a Cobler than a King and the other more fitter to be a Crow-kéeper than a Scholemaister yes truely But though you would moste gladly haue such a libertie yet at hir graces hands you are neuer like to haue it which you know wel ynough for hir grace is too wise and too goodly to grant for vncertain loue a certain mischiefe For if hir highnesse should graunt you this libertie y t is to vse your Romish religion fréely only to haue your good wil and loue would you then loue hir vnfainedly I hardly beléeue it for it wil skant stand with your religion to loue faithfully a pure Protestaunt who euer he be which loues gods word yea though he liue neuer so godly nay perhaps therefore you wil hate him the more for if he be a Papist indéede that is a sound perfect Papist he wil not stick to carry fiâ—e faggots thrée or four myles yea and further if néede be to burne a Protestant though it be his brother sister or the nearest kinne or beste friend he hath or else an haulter to haÌ„g him withal Therfore you may say what you wil but surely I thinke that you wil neuer loue hir hartily vnlesse she should become a Papist whiche the Lord forbidde or vnlesse you become Protestants which I beséech God to graunt Is not this a godly religion trow you that bréedes such charitie in your brestes making your harts so warme that you can finde in your hartes so to warme your Christian brother that neuer after he shall féele any cold That same religion is it that hath taught you neyther to care for king nor Countrey that religion is déepe in your breastes that hath wrought this in you is it not worthy to be embrased followed and honored that teaches true subiects to be vntrue to their prince and that perswades men to be foes to their Countrey you may loke a good while in gods worde or therby you can learne any such lesson Therefore howe can youre doctrine bee good that maintaines suche mischiefe Wherfore I beséech you be not wilfully blind but open your eyes and willingly sée flie vnto gods worde that will only teache you truely and cleane not to the Pope for he wil teach you falsely I remember that Christ sayeth that we must forsake father and mother sister and brother and cleane vnto our wife but I neuer reade in any part of the Scriptures y t we must disobey our prince refuse hir laws hate our country wish or procure our Princes death and cleane to y e Pope whose law is as cleane contrary to Gods word as black is too white euil to good and as the diuel is to God King Dauid was no Papist as appeared by hys obedience for if he hadde bene so King Saule when he was priuily with him in the caue I beléeue had not escaped so as he did but he being a pure Protestante be not angrye bycause I call him so for he fauoured Gods word wold not lay his hands on him or hurt the Lords annointed yet he was as heire apparaunt then to the croune and was King after the death of King Saule Nowe if worthy Dauid being such a great estate woulde not hurt a wicked King being his enimie and one that sought his death but honored and obeyed him then why shoulde any of you to him farre inferior procure or wishe any harme or disobey your most louing mercifull and peaceable Princes that tenderly loues her subiectes and carefully defendes them being the chiefe and onely proppe staye and pyller of our safetie quietnesse and florishing common wealth I beséeche God kéepe hir from being in such a snare with some of you as King Saul was with his seruant Dauid For then your close meaning would be openly spyed I feare hir grace should not finde then halfe the fauour at your handes as you haue founde mercie at hir handes for you that are of the Popes Religion would not thinke it an offence as godly Dauid did to hurt the Lordes annoynted For the Pope is so farre in your Bookes that you thinke there is no offence but that he can pardon and that nothing is an offence that woulde please him So that to please him withall where he bids you strike you will not sticke to kill and to kill where he commaundes you woulde thinke you did a godly Acte yea if it were the ruler of a Realme As though he had a commission to kill Kings and others at his pleasure Marke how the Pope and king Dauid differs The Pope will blesse you pardon forgiue you though God will not and reward you for killing them that neuer did him harme But King Dauid caused him to bée killed that killed his mortall enimie King Saule yea and that at King Saules request Now which of these two were of the better Religion thinke you the Pope or King Dauid which of them wyll you choose though you loue the Pope neuer so well yet I hope you will not vtterly cast off king Dauid Gods Prophet Therefore by Christes doctrine choose the better of them who saith you shall knowe them by their workes Nowe it plainely appeares that herein the doings of king Dauid is better than the Popes vnlesse murther be better than mercie then if Dauids doings bée better then Dauid himselfe is better and thus to conclude if you would followe the better and leaue the worse then you must followe Dauid and forsake the
change that you desire and hope for must néedes be warres troubles penurie aduersitie crueltie and such like as before is mentioned Now if you will not beléeue me beléeue y e word of God that cannot lye which plainely declares what prosperitie and blessings they shall haue that followe his worde and kéepe his commandements and also the plagues that shall happen to them that chaunge and turne from his worde which are written by Moyses the Prophet the seruant of God as followeth If thou shalt obey diligently the voyce of the Lorde thy GOD not the voyce of the Pope and obserue and do al his commandements which I do coÌ„mand thee this day then the Lord thy God will set thee on highe aboue all the nations of the earth and al these blessings shal come on thee ouertake thee if thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord thy God Blessed shalt thou be in the Citie and blessed in the fielde blessed shall be the fruite of thy bodye and the fruite of thy grounde and the fruite of thy Cattell the encrease of thy Kine and the flockes of thy Sheepe blessed shal be thy basket and the Dough blessed shalt thou bee when thou comest in and blessed also when thou goest out The Lord shal cause thine enimies that rise againste thee to fal before thy face they shal come out against thee one way and shal flye before thee seuen ways The Lord shal coÌ„mand the blessings to be with thee in thy storehouses in al that thou seâ—st thy haÌ„d vnto wil blesse thee in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee The Lord shal make thee an holy people vnto himselfe as hee hath sworne vnto thee if thou shalt kepe the commandements of the Lord thy God walke in his wayes TheÌ„ al the people of the earth shal see that the name of the Lord is called vpon ouer thee they shal be afraid of thee And the Lord shal make thee pleÌ„teous in goods in the fruite of thy body and in the fruite of thy Cattel and in the fruite of thy ground The Lorde shal open vnto thee his good treasure eueÌ„ the heaueÌ„ to giue thee rayn vnto thy land in due season and blesse al the workes of thy handes And thou shalt lende vnto many nations but shalte not borrow thy self and the Lord shall make thee the heade and not the taile and thou shalt be aboue onely and shalte not be beneath if thou obey the commaundementes of the Lorde thy God which I commaunde thee this day to keepe and to doe them But thou shalt not decline from anye of the wordes which I commaunde you this day eyther to the right hande or to the lefte to goe after other Gods to serue them But if thou wilt not obey the voyce of the Lorde thy God to keepe do all his coÌ„mandements his ordinaunces which I commaunde thee this daye then all these curses shall come vpon thee and ouertake thee Curssed shalt thou be in the Towne and curssed also in the field curssed shal be thy basket and thy Dough cursed shal be the fruite of thy bodie and the fruite of thy land the encrease of thy kine the flockes of thy sheepe cursed shalte thou be when thou comest in and cursed also when thou goest out The Lorde shall sende vpon thee cursing trouble and shame in all that whiche thou settest thy hande to do vntil thou be destroyed and perish quickly bicause of the wickednesse of thy works whereby thou hast forsaken me the Lorde shall make the pestilence cleaue to thee vntill hee hath consumed thee c. The Lorde shal smite thee with a consumptioÌ„ and with the feuer and with a burning ague and with feruent heate and with the sword and with blasting with meldew they shall pursue thee vntil thou perish And thine Heauen that is ouer thyne head shall be brasse and the Earthe that is vnder thee Iron The Lord shall giue thee for the raine of thy lande dust and Ashes euen from the Heauen shall it come downe vpon thee vntil thou be destroyed And the Lorde shal cause thee to fall before thine enimies thou shalte come out one way against them and shalt flee seauen ways before them And shalt bee scattered through al the kingdomes of the earth And thy carcasse shal be meate to all the foules of the ayre and vnto the beastes of the earthe and none shall fray them away The Lord wil smite thee with the botche of Egipt and with the Emrods and with the scab and with the Itche that thou canste not bee healed And the Lorde shal smite thee with madnesse with blindenesse with astonnying of the heart Thou shalt also grope at the noone days as the blinde gropeth in darknesse and shalt not prosper in thy wayes Thou shalt neuer but be oppressed wyth wroÌ„g be polled euermore no man shal succour thee Thou shalt betrouth a wife and another man shal lye with hir Thou shalt build a house shalt not dwel therein thou shalt plant a Vineyarde and shalt not eate the fruite Thyne Oxe shal be slaine before thine eyes and thou shalt not eate thereof Thine Asse shal be violently taken away before thy face shal not be restored to thee Thy sheepe shal be giueÌ„ vnto thine enemies and no man shall rescue them for thee Thy sonnes and thy daughters shal bee giuen vnto another people thine eyes shall still looke for them euen till they fall out and there shall be no power in thine hand the fruite of thy land and all thy labors shal a people eate which thou knowest not Thou shalte neuer but suffer wrong and violence alwaye so that thou shalt be madde for the sight that thine eyes shall see The Lorde shall smite thee in the knees and in thy thyghes with a sore botch that thou canst not be healed euen from the sole of the foote to the toppe of thine head The Lord shall bring thee and thy King which thou shalt set ouer thee vnto a natioÌ„ which neither thou nor thy Fathers haue knowne there thou shalt serue other Gods euen wood stone thou shalt be a wonder a prouerb a common talke among all people whether the Lord shall carry thee Thou shalt carrie out much seede to the fielde shalt gather but little in for the Grassehopper shall destroy it Thou shalt plant a Vineyard dresse it but shalt neither drinke of the Wine nor gather the Grapes for the wormes shall eate it Thou shalt haue Oliue trees in al thy coasts but shalt not annoint thy selfe with the oyle for thine Oliues shall fall Thou shalt beget sonnes and daughters but shalt not haue them for they shal go into Captiuitie c. Here you may sée the great blessings of God promised to his people that hearken to his voyce and obey his lawes and commaundementes so that they decline neither to the right hand nor
sides and thornes in your eyes vntill you perish out of this good land which the Lorde your God hath giuen you c. Therefore as all good things are come vppon you whiche the Lorde your God promised you so shall the Lorde bring vpon you euery euil thing vntil he hath destroyed you out of this good lande which the Lorde your God hath giuen you when ye shall trangresse the couuenant of the Lord your God which he commauÌ„ded you and shall go and serue other Gods and bow your selues to them then shall the wrath of the Lorde wax hot against you and ye shall quickly perishe out of the good land which he hath giuen you This was the lesson that Iosua a little before his death gaue vnto the Israelites his people And thus may you sée that al the charge that God and the godly giueth is to harken to the voyce of the Lord and obey his law which is his word and he wyl defend prosper and fight for vs no longer than we abide in the same So that the prosperous successe victories and other great blessings of Kings and Rulers that knowe Gods worde and professe the same is a manifest Argument that they walke rightly in his wayes and that he is wel pleased with them And such Kings Princes and Rulers as haue troubles warres euill successe and are ouercome in battell of their enemies thoughe they say they haue the true doctrine of God and that they follow it and obserue it most truely of all other yet it is an infallible token that they do offend their Lord God that they doe not walke rightly nor obserue his lawes and word as they ought and that he is not wel pleased with them And thus as God did blesse prosper Iosua and all other before him that hearkned to his voyce obeyed his worde euen so he did to other that did likewise after him For God gaue such wonderfull successe to Iudah the Captaine of the Israelites who feared God obeyed his worde against Adoni-Bezek the Cananites as he gaue to Iosua And Iudah did cut off the thumbes off his handes and off his féete according to the iust iudgement of God for his great tyrannie vsed to other for the sayde tyrant Adoni-Bezek confessed that he had vsed seauentie Kings before in like manner and they gathered bread vnder his table And then hée was compelled to say thus As I haue done God hath rewarded me God also blessed the sayde Iudah and the Israelites and gaue them many wonderfull victories after that againste their enimies the Cananites and heathen Idolators But when the Israelites hearkened not to the voyce of the Lorde and disobeyed his worde and worshipped the Gods of the Cananites and did wickedly in the sight of the Lorde then the Lordes furie and wrath kindled and waxed hote against them so that he suffered them to be ouercome and he deliuered them into their enemies handes that spoyled them and he solde them into their enemies handes so that they coulde stande no longer before their enemies and whether soeuer they went out the Lord was against them according as before he had promised And God suffered the king of Aram to preuaile against them and to carry them away wiâ—â— him And so serued him were captiues vnder him eight yéeres Consider also howe wonderfully Gedeon the Capitaine of the Israelites that hearkened to the voyce of the Lorde with thrée hundreth men through Gods power and might did ouercome the huge armie of the Madianites that were as Grassehoppers in number What a victorie did God giue to little Dauid his seruant against the mightie Giant Goliah his enemie howe did he prosper him blesse him and fight for him against the Philistines whose Images he burnt which pleased God And as God hath and doeth daylye giue victorie to such Princes Kings and Rulers that hearkened to his voyce and obeyed his worde so he hath giuen and doth giue maruellous quietnesse and peace to such Kings Princes and Rulers as do the same For God did prosper and blesse king Asa King of Iudah which hearkned to his voice and obserued his law making him raigne in a maruelous quietnesse and peace the space of fiue and thirtie yéeres bicause he tooke away the Sodomites out of the lande and put away all the Idols that his father had made and tooke away the Aultars of strange Gods and the high places and brake downe the Images cut down the Groues and commaunded Iuda to séeke the Lorde God of their fathers and to doe according to the lawe and the commaundement And he tooke awaye out of all the Cities of Iudah the high places the Images therfore the kingdome was quiet before him and the Lord gaue him rest on euery side And as the Lorde did prosper and blesse King Asa wyth suche a quietnesse and peace for breaking downe the Aultars of the straunge Gods and destroying the Images set vp by Abija his father euen so he hath blessed and prospered our most gratious Quéene with a most plentifull peace al the time of hir raigne which is thrée and twentie yéeres beséeching God to triple it with the quiet raigne of King Asa for plucking downe the Aultars for breaking and destroying the Images for abolishing the most Idolatrous Masse the Popes inuented sacrifice committed and done on these Aultars for the extirping and rooting vp the abhominable law religion of the Pope erected planted by hir sister Quéene Marie to the great dishonor of God the derogation of the passion of our sauior Iesus Christ setting forth in steade thereof not onely in euery Citie but also in euerie towne and village throughout hir whole Realme of England the pure and perfect word and lawe of God And thus it is plaine that the cause of the quiet raigne of King Asa and the peaceable and quiet raigne of our Quéene Elizabeth is all one Which is for the putting away of Idolatrie which God doth most abhorre for the setting forth of his law word which he doth chiefly desire But thoughe King Asa had peace al this while bicause he abolished Idolatrie and hearkned vnto the voice of God yet after wheÌ„ he did slide froÌ„ God put not his whole trust in him the case was then cleane altred for the Lorde tooke his peace awaye and God sent to him the Prophet Hanani who spake vnto King Asa as followeth Bycause thou hast rested vpon the King of Aram and not rested in the Lorde thy God therefore is the hoste of the King of Aram escaped out of thine hande The Aethiopians and Lybyanes were they not a great host with Chariots and horsmen exceeding many yet bycause thou didst rest vppon the Lorde he deliuered them into thine hande For the eyes of the Lorde beheld al the earth to shewe himselfe strong with them that are of perfect heart toward him Thou hast then done foolishly in
Iudah if we forsake the word of God commit Idolatrie receiue againe Papistry worship Images sette vp aulters crouche and knéele to an Idol in the Masse and force and coÌ„pel with threatning punishing emprisoning racking famishing killing and burning the people of England so to do Also what a mightie king did king Iotham become and howe did God blesse him make him victorious ouer his enimies bicause he walked vprightly according to y e lawe of God What good successe and prosperous raigne had that godly king Hezekiah and what a wonderful victorie did God giue him against the blasphemous king Sanneherib hys huge mightie host by sending his angel to fight for him bycause he hearkened to the voyce of God and did walke rightly in his sight But nowe if GOD did blesse and giue victorie plentie quietnesse peace and prosperitie to these godly kings Rulers before mentioned besids many other for hearkning and cleauing to his word and for setting forth and obeying his law that was deliuered by Moses the prophet then it is not to be doubted but that he wil and doth giue victorie plentie prosperity quietnesse and peace to al godly kings and rulers that shal put down idolatrie superstition and al heretical religions and shal plant in steade thereof the pure word of God and the Gospel which was preached and deliuered to vs by our sauiour Iesus Christ the only and very son of God And if God did sende troubles wars huÌ„ger vncurable diseases thraldome and captiuity with many other curses and plagues aswel to these kings before mentioned as also to king Saule king Salomon Rehoboam Ieroboam Baasha Elah Omri Ahab Ahaziah Ioash and Ahaz with diuers other and to them that they gouerned being the chosen people of God for committing of idolatrie reiecting y e law of God deliuered to them by Moses the Prophet Then we must néeds thinke that God wil send troubles wars hunger vncurable diseases thraldome and captiuitie with other plagues and curses vpon al those kings and their people that were not his chosen people but once gentiles and heatheÌ„ that commit idolatrie worship Images and embrace Papisticall superstition and despise and obstinatly and wilfully withstand the very true and pure word of God the gospel that at the first was taught deliuered by our sauiour Christ y e very soÌ„ of God which is more thaÌ„ ether apostle or prophet Therfore if you be not blind dumb deafe altogither senselesse you will with all spéed flée from your Papistrie superstition and idolatrie on the professors and followers wherof the aforsaid curses and plagues do dayly light and embrace the true word of God and the comfortable Gospel of Christe whiche bring the greate blessings of God as quietnesse peace plentie prosperity and victorie in this world and endlesse ioy in heauen after this life to the professors and followers therof I hope you are not foolishe but that you haue some vnderstaÌ„ding not so blind but y t you haue some glimmering and not so senselesse but that you haue some reason Shut not therfore your eyes purposely bycause you will not sée If you knew how swéete our law the Gospel is as I know how sowre your papistical law is if you knew what certaintie of saluation is in our lawe the Gospell of Christe as I know what certaintie of damnation is in your law of Papistrie the doctrine of Antichrist and if you knewe and felt how this our law the Gospel of Christ doth make the wicked to be godly and to be the children of God as I know that your law of Papistrie makes the godly to be wicked and to be the children of the Diuell you woulde then I thinke embrace our Gospel and forsake your Papistrie vnlesse you loue darknesse better than light the diuel better than God hel better than Heauen which I truste you do not Perhaps some wil saye if they that get the victorie ouer their enimies are blessed of God so they are the people of God Then y e Heathen Idolaters are blessed of God are Gods people for they haue had haue dayly good successe victory ouer their enimies yea haue many times ouercome the people of God y t had his law his word I graÌ„t it as before it appeareth but therfore they were not Gods people and blessed For the heathen and Idolatrous people bicause they haue good successe doe ouercome are not blessed and godly but the children of God are scourged and ouercome by them bycause they are euill and wicked and forsake the law of God The rodde is not good bycause it doth beate the childe but the rodde doth beate the child bycause the childe is euil It is manifest before that the children of Israel were ouercome and carried away Captiue of King Aram an Heathen Idolatour yet King Aram his people was not blessed of God nor yet wer the people of God neyther their law was the law of God althoughe they got the victorie But God deliuered the people of Iudah into their hands and suffred them to be carried awaye Captiues by them bycause they did forsake the Lord disobeyed his worde and committed Idolatrie for so God did promisse The scriptures are ful of the like examples It is most manifest throughout the whole Scriptures that God hathe chieflye blessed those Kings and countries with wealth prosperitie and victorie which mightily and spéedily pluckte down Images and false Gods and did extirpe and destroy Idolatrie and set forth earnestly and zealously the worde and lawe of God though they in some other particular things somtimes offended as King Dauid did â—n numbring of his people and committing aduoutrye and murther as King Asa for putting confidence in the King of Syria and leand not wholy vpon the Lord and as King Iehoshaphat did in going to fight with King Ahab diuers other committing such like whose faultes thoughe God punished yet he neuer therefore deliuered them into their enimies hands nor to be caryed away captiues But those Kings that cast away Gods word and hearkned not to his voice but fel to Idolatrie and worshipped Idolles and strange Gods thoughe they were neuer so godly before immediatly the Lords wrath kindled against them and stirred vp enimies to fight with them and sold and delyuered them into their enimies hands suffred them either to be killed woÌ„derfully to be plagued or to be caryed awaye prisoners and captiues So that hereby it plainely appeareth that the most safetie quietnesse prosperitie and victorie of a Prince and his people and to be moste assured to haue God on their side and to defende them is to sette forth and maintaine the true lawe of God and the Gospell of Christe and to plucke vp put away deteste and abhorre all Idolatrie superstition and all religions whatsoeuer that are contrary to Gods word But as al the Kings and people that did set forth and obey Moses lawe and
to the left hand to goe after other Gods or to serue them which blessings most plentifully he hath poured on this Realme of England euer since our gracious Quéene put downe Idolatrie and Papistrie and set forth the Gospell and word of God And also here you may plainely perceiue and vnderstand the maruellous curses and plagues promised and threatned to them that will not obey the voyce of the Lord our God and kéepe his commaundementes and ordinaunces which plagues and cursses haue aboundantlye lyghted on those Countreys and Kingdomes that embrace and maintayne Idolatrous Papistrie reiecting the Gospell and persecuting the Professours thereof Which is a manifest argument that this Religion that we haue is the true Religion wherewith God is well pleased and your Papisticall doctrine is a false and wicked religion wherewith God is highlye displeased For as God did prosper and blesse the Iewes his people to whome Moyses pronounced the sayde blessings so long as they hearkened to his voyce and obeyed and followed his word and commaundements and as hys sayde plagues and cursses fell vpon them when they harkened not to the voyce of the Lord but committed Idotrie euen so euer since he hath and doeth blesse and prosper the professors and followers of his worde and poures his sayde plagues and cursses on them that despise his worde that are enimies to the Gospell and persecute the professors of the same Marke well and you shall sée that in all ages God guided protected and blessed the Kings and Rulers that clensed their Countreys of Idolatrie and that did set forth and obeyed his law What famous victories did he giue to Iosua the Duke and Captaine of the Israelites which obeyed God and harkened to his voyce to whom God spake as followeth Moyses my seruant is deade nowe therefore arise goe ouer this Iorden thou and all thy people vnto the lande whiche I giue them that is to the children of Israell euerye place that the sole of your foote shall treade vppon haue I giuen you as I sayd vnto Moyses from the Wildernesse this Libanon vnto the greate riuer Perath all the lande of the Hettites euen vnto the great Sea towarde the going downe of the Sunne shal be your coaste There shall not a man bee able to withstand thee all the dayes of thy life As I was with Moyses so will I be with thee I will not leaue thee nor forsake thee Be strong of a good courage for vnto this people shalt thou deuide the land for an inheritaunce which I sware vnto their Fathers to giue them onely be thou strong and of a most valiant courage that thou mayest obserue doe according to all the law which Moyses my seruant hath cōmaunded thee Thou shalt not turne awaye from it to the right hand nor to the lefte that thou mayest prosper whersoeuer thou goest let not this booke of the law depart out of thy mouth but meditate therein day night that thou mayest obserue and do according to all that is written therin for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou haue good successe These were the wordes that God spake to Iosua Therfore marke y e promises of God to him if he follow do according to the law of God then his way shold be prosperous he should haue good successe none should withstand him al the dayes of his life God would be with him which in déede God performed wonderfully and kept promise with him for that he hearkned to y e voyce of the Lord and directed al his wayes according to the law of God For was not God with Iosua when miraculously he departed the water of Iorden and the children of Israel went drie ouer the same straight towardes Iericho did not God wonderfully deliuer Iericho to Iosua and his people when after the sounding of the Trumpettes the walles thereof fell downe through his power and so Iosua and all his people went into it and tooke the Citie and so they destroyed all the Idolatrous people the enimies of God that were in the same But sée howe sodainely the Lorde went from them and suffered the men of Ai to kill .xxxvj. of the Israelites and made the rest of thrée thousande of them fearefully to flée away bicause Achan in the spoyle of Iericho tooke that for a praye which the Lorde directly commaunded to the contrarie Thus you may easily perceiue that the harkening to the voyce of God following of his worde is the cause of good successe and victorie and the disobeying of his worde and following of their owne fansies was the cause of euil successe and ouerthrowe But God blessed Iosua still bicause he was not cōsenting to Achans fact who stoned him therfore to death for after y t the Lord made Iosua to vanquish and ouercome the fiue Kings of the Amorits in which conflict the Lord threw stones from heauen vpon his enimies and at Iosuas bydding the Sunne and Moone did stand still a whole day togither that he might haue time to ouercome his enimies These wonders did the Lord for his seruant Iosua and his people that harkened to his voyce and obeyed his worde Many other kings did Iosua ouercome through the strength of the Lord that fought for him and his people And when Iosua waxed olde then he called all Israel their elders their heades their Iudges and their officers before him giuing them then the same warning that Moyses and God gaue him to hearken to the voyce of the Lorde saying I am old and stricken in age also you haue séene all that the Lorde you God hath done vnto all these nations before you howe the Lorde hath fought for you Behold I haue diuided vnto you by lot these nations that remaine that as yet were not ouercome to bée an inheritaunce accordyng to your Tribes from Iorden with all the nations that I haue destroyed euen vnto the great sea Westward And the Lord your God shal expell them before you and cast them out of your sight And ye shall possesse their lande as the Lorde your God hath sayde vnto you Bée ye therefore of a valiant courage to obserue and doe all that is written in the Booke of the lawe of Moyses that ye turne not ther from to the right hande nor to the lefte c. But sticke faste vnto the Lorde your God as yée haue done vnto this daye for the Lorde hath cast out before you great nations and mightie and no man hath stande before your face hitherto One man of you shall chase a thousande for your Lorde your God hée fyghteth for you as he hath promysed you Take good héede therefore vnto your selues that yée loue the Lorde your GOD Else if yée goe backe c knowe yée for certayne that the Lorde your God will cast out no more of these nations from before you but they shall bée a snare and destruction to you and a whippe on your
and hée sayde yea and if you thynke it be not wel then mend it Then Rose Allen sayd mend it nay the Lorde mend you and gyue you repentaunce if it bée hys wil. And nowe if you thinke it good beginne at the féete and burne to the head also for he that set you a worke shal pay you your wages one day I warrant you And so she went and carryed hir mother drinke as she was commaunded The saide Rose Allen being asked of one howe she coulde suffer the painefull burning of hir hand she saide at the first it was some griefe but afterward the longer she burned the lesse she felte or wel néere none at all Thus you may wel perceiue that the Gospel that shée professed was and is the true religion and that she tooke Gods quarrel in hand or else the Lord would not haue giuen hir this wonderfull patience and haue strengthned hir and mitigated hir paines in the burnyng of hir hande as he did Byshop Bonner he mighte be called Bishop Burner wel ynoughe caused a blinde Harpers hande to be burned with a hote burning coale whiche blinde man saide that if euery ioynt of him were burned yet he trusted in the Lorde not to flye Marke here agayne I beséeche you a wonderfull and straunge example not only of the great constancie and patience of one Thomas Hawkes that was burned for his professing the gospel of Christ but of the manifest proofe therby that the cause he died in was iuste and true and that God did myraculously assiste him and mitigated his torments in the flames of the fire This worthy member of Christ Thomas Hawkes was burned for witnessing the worde of God at a Towne in Essex called Coxhall A little before whose death certayne of his friends priuily desired that in the mids of the flames he woulde shewe them some token if he coulde whereby they might be more certaine whether the paine of suche burning were so greate that a man might therein kéep his minde quiet and pacient whyche thing he promised them to doe And so secreatlye betwéene them it was agréede that if the payne myghte bée suffered then hée should lifte vp his handes aboue his head towardes Heauen before hée gaue vppe the Ghost And when hée was broughte to the stake to be burned there mildely and paciently hée addressed himselfe to the fire hauyng a straighte chaine caste about his middle after whose feruent prayers made vnto God the fire was set vnto him in the whiche when he continued long and when his spéeche was taken away by violence of the flame his skinne also drawne togither and hys fingers consumed with the fire so that al men had thought certainely he hadde béene dead sodainely and contrary to expectation the saide blessed seruaunt of God beyng mindfull of his promisse before made reached vppe hys handes burnyng on a light fire which was maruellous to behold ouer hys head to the liuing God and with greate reioysing as it séemed stroke or clapped them thrée tymes togither At the sight whereof there followed suche an outcrye of the people and especially of them whiche vnderstoode the matter that the like commonly hathe not béene hearde And so this blessed seruant of God strait way sincking down into the fire gaue vppe his spirite Thys myraculous burning of the saide Thomas Hawkes was in the yere of our Lord. 1555. These wonderful examples of the Gospellers suffring so patiently of their dying so willingly of the holy Ghoste speaking in them so abundantly of their maruellous constancie of Gods strengthning them so mightilye and hys working in them so myraculouslye that if before I had not sufficiently proued the Pope to be the childe of Sathan and your Romishe religion to be the Diuels Doctrine is sufficient to winne you to God to allure you to Christe and to embrace the Gospel our heauenly and true religion to obey your Prince to loue your Countrey and nowe with great desire to become english friends But if there be any of you so deluded by the diuel so incensed by Sathan and so bewitched with papistrie that neither any thing before written can moue you nor these maruellous examples of Gods mercifull and wonderfull protecting boldening teaching strengthning fauouring comforting assisting and defending of his seruauntes the professors of the Gospell cannot allure you then I beséeche you for I can goe no further let these fearfull faithlesse horrible dolefull and desperate deaths of the persecuting and murthering cruell Papists with their mockers and scorners of Gods word and reuolters and shunners from the Gospel that folow feare and terrifie you any longer to persiste in youre erronious and most pernitious Papisticall doctrine least you be made the instrumēts of his wrath as they were Now therfore marke them well and as you like their deaths so followe their liues And as I saide before that the Martyres of the Primitiue Churche and our persecuted Protestantes suffered all alike were patient all alike and were loued ayded and strengthned of God all alike and therfore all of one religion So the tyrannous persecutors of the Martyres long since and the Papisticall persecutors of the professors of the Gospel since that time haue died desperately horribly diuelishly and dolefully all alike and haue hadde Gods wrath and vengeaunce all alike and therefore were all of a wicked and diuelish religion And for that you shall not thinke that the Papisticall murtherers and persecutors died more godlye than they you shal sée the godly ends and deaths of some of them both And firste I will shewe you some examples of the tyrannous persecutors in the olde time of the professors of the Gospell Herod that murthered Iohn Baptist and condemned Christ was condemned to perpetuall banishement where hée dyed miserably Pylate vnder whome Christe was crucified was apprehended and accused at Rome deposed then banished to the Towne of Lyons who at length dyd kil himselfe Antiochus a tormentor of the Christians fell downe from his iudicial seate crying out whose bowels burned within him and so he dyed Decius that cruell persecutor of the Christians bothe hée and his sonne were slaine of enimies in battell The Emperour Valerian a cruell persecutor of the Christians wente not without hys rewarde therefore for Sapores the King of the Persians tooke him prisoner and vsed him for his blocke when he got vpon his horse Maxentius that greate persecutor of the Christians fell off on a bridge wyth his horse and his harnesse whyche brydge he had made for Constantine the Christian Emperoure and so be was drowned Marke the endes and death of these persecutors of the Christians Dioclesian poysoned himselfe Maximinian was hanged Seuerus was slayne by Maximinian Lucinus was slaine by Constantine Thus these persecutors of the professors of Christes Gospel neuer liue quietly nor yet dye godly Galerius the Emperour of the East parts a great persecutor of the Christians was therefore plagued of GOD wyth a
home wherwith his hart was so sore and his body so distempered that through extreme sicknesse he got him to bed and so lying he was not able for the stinke in his stomacke and painefull vomiting to receiue any reliefe of meate or drinke but cried out still sorrowfully complayning of that stinke and with no small othes for belike he made an accompt that the Pope woulde dispence with him for them cursing y e crowe that had poysoned him To make short he continued but a fewe dayes but with extreme paine of vomiting and crying he desperately died without any token of repentance of his former life You shall hardly finde a perfect Protestant and a faythfull follower of the Gospell die in this sorte as this Masse-monger did Truly if the Masse be so auaileable and of such force as you take it to be and the Pope of such a power as many of you thinkes him to be for it is written in his law as is beforesayde that he hath all power in heauen and in earth and that is enough for a Pope then eyther by the vertue of the Masse which this Burton so maintained and busily set vp or else by the Popes mightie power me thinkes this his Champion of the Masse shoulde haue bene preserued from dying thus strangely and desperately But if the Pope and his holy Masse doe suffer them that put such trust in him and confidence in the Masse to die sodainely without repentance to die desperately and to cal on the Diuell and to lie in such extreame paines and torments as a great sort of them doe and haue done surely if I were as you the Pope and his Masse shoulde goe to the Diuell ere I would trust any more to him or to it Also one Richard Denton hauing wordes of commendations sent to him from one William Wolsey that was after burned for professing the Gospell which were that he maruelled that the said Denton tarried so long behind him seeing he was the first that deliuered him the Booke of the Scriptures into his hand and told him that it was the truth desiring him to make hast after as fast as he coulde Which Denton said when the said message was done to him I confesse it is true but alas I can not burne But after though he coulde not burne willingly in Christes cause he was burned agaynst his will not in so good a cause for after that his house being on fire he went in to saue his goods therby was burned lost his life And thus he was burned for earthly goods y t refused to burne for heauenly treasure Marke this ende of a Papist and an enemie of the Gospell One Clarke an open enemie to the Gospell and all godly Preachers in King Edwardes dayes hanged himself in the Tower of London The great and notable Papist called Troling Smith fell downe sodenly in the stréete and died Dale the Promoter of the professors of Gods worde was eaten into his body with lyse so dyed as it was well knowne of many Cox an earnest Protestant in King Edwardes dayes in Quéene Maries time a Papist and promoter or accuser of the Gospellers going wel and in health to his bed as it séemed was dead before the morning Alexander the kéeper of Newgate a cruel enimie to them that lay there for Religion died verye miserably being so swolne that he was more lyke a monster than a man and was so rotten within that no man coulde abide the smell of him This cruel mā to hasten the poore lambes to y e slaughter woulde goe to Bonner Storie and other crying oute Ridde my prison ridde my prison I am too much pestred with these Heretikes It séemes that this cruell wretch was better content to haue the companie of Théeues and murtherers great offenders against the lawe that were in his prison than Gods people that professed his word that were no offenders against the lawe Beholde the great and terrible iudgement of God on the parson of Croundall in Kent who vppon Shroue Sondaye hauing receyued the Popes pardon from Cardinall Poole came to his Parishe Churche and exhorted the people ro receyue the same as he had done himselfe saying That he stoode nowe so cleare in conscience as when he was first borne and cared not nowe if he shoulde dye the same houre in that clearenesse of conscience Where vppon he beyng striken sodainely by the hande of God and leaning a little on the one syde immediately shronke downe in the Pulpet and so was founde deade speaking not one worde more Truely if they haue no better lucke with the Popes Pardons and blessings than I sée they haue they were better a great deale to haue a foole blesse them with his Bable than to haue the Pope to Pardon them or blesse them with his handes if I were desyrous to die sodainely or to breake my necke from which the Lorde blesse me and euery bodie I woulde eyther get the Popes Pardons or else haue eyther hys or one of his Cardinals blessings for other good they doe none that I can heare or sée One Iohn Peter sonne in lawe to the said Alexander the kéeper of Newgate being an horrible blasphemer of God no lesse cruell to the said prisoners that professed the word of God rotted awaye and so most miserably dyed who cōmonly when he would affirme any thing were it true or false vsed to say If it be not true I pray God I rot ere I die Also one Robert Bawlding a Papisticall persecutor was stricken with lightning at the taking of William Seaman wherevpon he pyned away and dyed One Rockwood the chiefe procurer of the great trouble of certaine Callys men for religion who at the point of death staring and raging cryed he was vtterly damned and being wylled to aske God mercie who was readie to forgiue all that asked mercie of him he brayed and cryed out all to late for I haue sought malitiously the deathes of a number of the honest men in the Towne And though I so thought them in my heart yet I dyd that laye in me to bring them to an euill death All to late therefore all to late The which same wordes the sayde Rockwood answeared to one that said I neuer saw men of such honesty so sharpely corrected and taking it so paciently and ioyfully At which time the said Rockwood fetching a friske or two scoffingly answeared all to late But whereas he sayde and ment that it was all to late for these godly prisoners to haue pardon of their Prince in this world nowe God iustly turned these words to himselfe it was all to late for hym to haue pardon at Gods hand in the worlde to come For he saide he was vtterly damned and when he was counselled to aske God mercie he said it was all to late Also one Pauier towne Clarke of the Citie of Londō a notorious enemie to y e word of
peaceably godly and myraculously as these professors of the Gospell before described and thousandes of such moe haue done then you woulde reioyce and clap your handes noysing abroade thereby that your Religion were true and most godly But bycause you can not shewe vs one suche I haue shewed you diuerse and coulde shewe you manye moe of your cruell persecuting Papistes that most desperately and dreadfully haue kylled and hanged themselues and that through the great and iust iudgement of God haue bene strucken with the Lordes mightie hande and so haue dyed most horribly dolefully diuelishly desperately to the great terror and feare of all them that either sawe it or hearde thereof Therefore if there be any sparke of Gods grace in you at all then the godly pacient and chéerefull suffering and myraculous and tormenting deathes of the professors of the Gospell will not onely allure you with all spéede to lay holde on Gods worde and to embrace the Gospell our religion but also the dreadfull dolefull horrible and most desperate deathes and endes of the cruell persecuting murthering Papistes will terrifie and feare you any longer to holde with the Pope or to followe his detestable and damnable doctrine Many of the Heathen haue onely bene wonne to become Christians by séeing the constant and pacient suffering of the Martyrs and will you that professe to be Christians be wonne to Papistrie by their crueltie and tyrannie and by their dreadfull horrible and desperate deathes I beséeche you therefore for the loue of God as you professe your selues to bée Christians so heare dayly and followe the lawe of Christ by whom you are called Christians But some of you haue saide that we may haue too many Sermons and too much talking of the Scriptures if wée may haue too many Preachings of the word of God which will guide vs to Heauen then you maye haue too many Masses which will leade you to Hell And if you thinke it is good to heare twentie Masses in a daye which worke your damnation then we thinke it is godly to heare one or two Sermons in a day that will worke our saluation Therefore if you will be Christes shéepe then muste you heare Christes voyce and his voyce is no where else to be heard but in his Gospell There is no lawe can teache vs Christs will better then his owne lawe that he spake and gaue vs hym selfe As no lawe can teache the Popes wyll and pleasure better then the Popes lawe so no lawe can teache vs better to please Christ and to performe his will then his owne lawe the Gospell If we ment to be Papistes wée woulde not followe the Gospell but the Popes lawe then if you meane to be Christians followe not the Popes lawe but the Gospell But howe can you followe the Gospell when you refuse to reade it or howe â—an you heare Christs voyce when by no meanes you wil heare the Preachers of Gods word that vtter Christes voyce That is such a fault in you that hath kept you in errour and will kéepe you still in blyndnesse Perhappes you will say that our Preachers doe preache heresie and therefore you will not heare them But how do you know they preache heresie before you doe heare them it were méete you shoulde heare them before you doe blame them But suppose that you had the true doctrine and that our Preachers should preach false doctrine then what néede you refuse to heare them preache or to reade their workes or writings for you shoulde sooner confute their heresie with your true doctrine than they shoulde allure you from your true doctrine to their heresie What néede a true man feare to heare a lyer speake of that thing he knoweth he shall sooner take the lyer in a trip than the lyer can make him beléeue his lie why should a wise man doubt to heare a foole talke for the wise man should rather deride the fooles folly than therby be allured to be a foole Therefore if your Religion be the launterne of light as some haue not sticked to call it and our religion the doctrine of darknesse then the light of your doctrine would soone bewray the darknesse of our doctrine And so the more you shoulde heare it the more you would despise it and the more you shoulde reade it the more able you would be to confute it As he that is in a faire goodly swéete beautiful bryght house néede not doubt to goe into a darke euill fauoured stinking dungeon least he shoulde be allured to tarrie there still and to forsake the faire and trim house euen so if your doctrine be good and true and the beautie and light of all other religions then you néede not feare to heare our Preachers of heresie and reade our bookes of false doctrine least you should be seduced thereby and forsake your owne true doctrine for as the vyle darke and stinking dungeon would rather enforce him that is in it to abhorre it and quickly to goe from it making him further in loue with the trymme bryght and swéete house so woulde our wicked and false doctrine if it were so make you further in loue with your owne true and godly doctrine But for that disdainefully obstinately and wilfullye you refuse to heare our Preachers and to reade our bookes it shewes that you doubte your owne doctrine that you are determyned to dwell styll in your errour and that purposely you wyll not come from darknesse to lyght nor from falshood to trueth But bycause we are most sure that our Religion of the Gospell is right and true and your Papisticall religion is most erronious and false wée willingly reade your bookes without anye feare to bée allured from our doctrine Nay we reade them desirously for that we are sure to confounde you with your owne bookes and writings And therfore Iulianus the Emperour and Apostata commaunded that the Christians should not be trained vp in good letters saying that he the Philosophers were wounded with their owne feathers as the Pope would haue vs not to be brought vp in the knowledge of gods word least we should pearce him and his Prelates with their owne pykes But séeyng wée haue Gods worde whiche is the tryer of trueth and confounder of falshoode wée desire none other arrowes to wounde you wythall than the same you shoote at vs for wyth your owne dartes wée destroy your doctrine Your Popishe Religion is so erroneous so false so foolishe so childishe so vayne so ridiculous so tyed together wyth rotten thréedes so farre out of square so contrarie to Christes doctrine so wyde from the Apostles teaching so farre from the auncient Doctors meaning so repugnant to reason and so farre disagréeing with it selfe as before it doeth appeare that vtterly it doeth bewray it selfe A lyer had néede to haue a good memorie or else he wyll soone be taken in a trippe let a théefe premeditate his matter before hande neuer so well and cast
this therefore from henceforth thou shalt haue warres Thus we may sée that King Asas peace and quietnesse was turned into warres and trouble bicause he slidde from the Lorde and hearkned not to his voyce euen so if your Idolatrous Masse shoulde be planted and vsed here as you desire then our prosperitie and peace would be turned into aduersitie and warres And then King Asa to mend the matter withall did imprison the Prophet for telling him so and did not repent and turne to the Lorde as King Dauid did when the Prophet Nathan reproued him which encreased the Lordes displeasure the more against him Here it is manifest as before and as it is throughe the whole Scriptures that God doth blesse his people with victorie quietnesse and peace so long as they stay vpon him and obey his worde and no longer Marke how God did blesse that good and vertuous King Iehosaphat the sonne of King Asa with victories peace and great riches bycause he walked rightly in the sight of God and abolished Idolatry which godly vertuous King in the third yéere of his raigne sent his Princes and Rulers and learned men with them to set forth Gods lawe and to teach it in the Cities of Iudah And they did teache it in Iudah and had the Booke of the lawe of the Lord with them and went about throughout al the cities of Iudah his kingdome and taught the people And the feare of the Lorde fell vpon all the kingdomes of the landes that were rounde about Iudah And they fought not against Iehosaphat Nowe weigh the comparison and consider the like or more Hath not the Lorde likewyse blessed our gratious Quéene Elizabeth with an vnfoughten victorie without any bloudshed against hir rebellious subiects the Papists and hath not he besides blessed hir with such a plenty quietnesse and peace al the rest of hir raigne as before was neuer séene in England bicause she hath hearkned to the voice of y e Lord as Iehoshaphat did who staid not vntill the third yéere of hir raigne but in the first yéere and in the beginning therof abolished Idolatrie and did set forth the worde of God the holy Bible in the Englishe tongue throughout all England not onely in Cities but also in all townes villages and other places and commaunded and gaue commission to all hir Bishops Doctours Preachers Curates and Ministers to preache teache and vse the same purelye and rightly and all other hir Magistrates to defende it And accordingly al the time of hir worthy raigne it hath béene and is dayly preached and taught throughout all England And as the feare of the Lord fell vpon al the kingdomes of the landes that were round about Iudah and they fought not against King Iehoshaphat euen so the Lorde our God hath feared all the Countries and Kingdomes round about Englande and therefore they haue not fought against our Quéene Elizabeth Thus you cannot choose but graūt that if Iehoshaphat was blessed and prospered of God then our Quéene Elizabeth is blessed and prospered of God if Iehoshaphat was a good King and did please God then our Elizabeth is a good Quéene and pleaseth God and if that were Idolatrie that Iehoshaphat did abolish out of Iudah then papistrie was Idolatrous that our Quéene hath abolished out of England and if that were y e law of God that Iehoshaphat proclaymed published and caused to be taught throughout Iudah then this is the very lawe and word of God that our Quéene Elizabeth hath set forth throughout al hir Realme of Englande If this and all the rest that I haue written can not persuade you that this our religion is the verye true religion and that God doth both like and allowe it then I thinke you are determined not to be persuaded But yet to winne you if it wil be marke what followed of wicked Iehoram thoughe he was the sonne of godlye King Iehoshaphat This king Iehoram when he was placed in the kingdome of Iudah after his father slew and killed his brethren and y e princes of Israel he walked not according as Iehoshaphat his father did but wrought euil in gods sight And he caused the inhabitaunts of Ierusalem to commit spiritual fornication that is Idolatry and compelled his people of Iudah thereto whervpon the Prophet Eliah spake to him by writing saying Thus sayth the Lord God of Dauid thy father bycause thou haste not walked in the wayes of Iehoshaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Iudah but haste walked in the wayes of the Kings of Israel and haste made Iudah and the inhabitaunts of Ierusalem to go a whoring as the house of Ahab wente a whoring and haste also slaine thy brethren of thy fathers house which were better than thou Beholde with a great plague wil the Lord smite thy people and thy children and thy wyues and all thy substaunce And thou shalt be in great diseases in the disease of thy bowels vntil thy bowels fall out for the disease daye by day Then the Lord stirred vp against Iehoram the Philistines and the Arabians and they came vp into Iudah and brake into it and carryed away al the substance that was in the Kings house and his sons also and his wiues so that there was not a son left him saue Iehoahaz the yōgest of his sons And after al this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an vncurable disease and in processe of time euen after the end of two yeares his guts fel out with his disease so he died of sore diseases c. And againe you may sée vnlesse you do wilfully winke that the abolishing of Idolatrie setting forth of the lawe of God was the cause that God did blesse and prosper good King Iehoshaphat and contrary the committing of Idolatrie and the compelling of the people of Iudah to sin therein and the forsaking of the law of God was the cause that God did thus plague and punish wicked Iehoram his son with wars with the taking awaye of his sons and wiues and spoyling his house and with y e falling out of his guts wherof he dyed Here you may easily perceiue that God spared not wicked Iehoram though he were the sonne of godlye Kyng Iehoshaphat whom God loued so wel for it is not the person or place but the truth and the godlinesse of the person whatsoeuer he be and whersoeuer he be that God doeth respect Therfore as God doeth nowe blesse vs and thys realme with prosperitie quietnesse plentie and peace aboue all other kingdomes that are rounde aboute vs as he did Iehoshaphat for abolishing Idolatrous Papistrie for setting forth obeying and preaching his holy worde Euen so assure your selues and loke for none other but that God wil cursse vs and plague this Realm of England with troubles warres with comming in of straungers spoyling of vs and our goods with the losse of wiues and childrē and with vncurable diseases or such like as he did Iehoram and