Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	judgement_n	sin_n	sinner_n	2,057	5	7.5058	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51699	A cloud of witnesses, or, The sufferers mirrour made up of the swanlike-songs, and other choice passages of several martyrs and confessors to the sixteenth century, in their treatises, speeches, letters, prayers, &c. in their prisons, or exiles, at the bar, or stake, &c. / collected out of the ecclesiastical histories of Eusebius, Fox, Fuller, Petrie, Scotland, and Mr. Samuel Ward's Life of faith in death, &c. and alphabetically disposed by T.M., M.A.; Cloud of witnesses. Part 1	Mall, Thomas, b. 1629 or 30.; Flavel, John, 1630?-1691.	1665 (1665)	Wing M329; ESTC R21709	379,698	602

and ready to be burned for the testimony of the Truth O dear Brethren and Sisters how much have you to rejoyce in God that he hath given you such faith to overcome this blood-thirsty Tyrant thus far And no doubt but he that hath begun that good work in you will fulfill it to the end O dear Hearts in Christ what a Crown of Glory shall ye receive with Christ in the Kingdome of God Oh that it had been the good will of God that I had been ready to have gone with you I lie in my Lords Little-ease in the day and in the night in the Cole-house alone and we look every day when we shall be condemned but I lie still at the Pools brink and every man goeth in before me but we abide patiently the Lords leisure with many Bands in Fetters and Stocks by the which we have received great joy in the Lord. And now fare you well dear Brethren and Sisters in this World but I trust to see you in the Heavens face to face How blessed are you in the Lord that God hath found you worthy to suffer for his sake O be joyfull even unto death Fear it not saith Christ for I have overcome death Be strong let your hearts be of good comfort and wait you still for the Lord. He is at hand The Angel of the Lord pitcheth his Tent round about them that fear him and delivereth them which way he seeth best for our lives are in the Lords hands and they can do nothing unto us before God suffer them Therefore give all thanks to God O dear Hearts you shall be clothed with long white Garments upon the Mount Sion with the multitude of Saints and with Jesus Christ our Saviour who will never forsake us O blessed Virgins you have played the wise Virgins part in that you have taken Oyl in your Vessels that ye may go in with the Bridegroom when he cometh c. but as for the foolish they shall be shut out because they made not themselves ready to suffer with Christ neither go out to take up his Cross. O dear Hearts How precious shall your death be in the sight of the Lord for dear is the death of his Saints O fare you well and pray The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen Amen Pray pray pray By me R. R. written with mine own blood The Bishop asking him what he thought of his Fellow-Prisoner Ralf Allerton He answered That he thought him to be one of the elect Children of God and if he were put to death for his Faith and Religion he thought he should die a true Martyr The Bishop asking him how he did like the Order and Rites of the Church then used here in England He said That he ever had and then did abhor the same with all his heart Being perswaded to recant and ask mercy of the Bishop No said he I will not ask mercy of him that cannot give it Rought A Suffolk man so called and his Wife and several others being rebuked for going so openly and talking so freely Their answer was They acknowledged and believed and therefore they must speak and that the tribulation was by Gods good will and providence and that his Judgements were right to pur●●● them with others for their sins and that of very faithfulness and mercy God had caused them to be troubled bled and that one hair of their heads should not perish before the time but all things should work unto the best to them that love God and that Christ Jesus was their life and onely righteousness and that onely by faith in him and for his seke all good things were freely given them also forgiveness of sins and life everlasting Rupea You may said Castalia Rupea throw my body from this steep Hill yet will my soul mount upward again Your blasphemies more offend my soul then your torments do my body Russel Ieremy Russel being apprehended in the Diocess of Glasgow in Scotland A. 1539. and railed upon answered This is your hour and power of darkness Now sit ye as Judges and we stand wrongfully accused and more wrongfully to be condemned but the day shall come when our innocence shall appear and that ye shall see your own blindness to your everlasting confusion Go forward and fulfill the measure of your iniquity He comforted his Fellow-Prisoner Alexander Kennedy of whom see the second Part under K. saying Brother fear not more mighty is he that is in us then he that is in the world the pain that we shall suffer is short and shall be light but our joy and consolation shall never have end and therefore let us contend to enter in unto our Master and Saviour by the same strait way which he hath taken before us Death cannot destroy us for it is destroyed already by him for whose sake we suffer Rycetto Mr. Anthony Rycetto of Vincence being condemned to be drowned his Son about twelve years of age comieg to visit him besought him with tears to yield and to save his life that he might not be left fatherless A true Christian said his Father is bound to forego Goods Children yea and life it self for the maintenance of Gods honour and glory A Captain telling him That Francis Sega was resolved to recant What tell you me said he of Sega I will perform my vows unto the Lord my God A Priest presenting him with a wooden Crucifix exhorting him to return and to die in the favour of God reconciling himself to the Church of Rome the holy Spouse of Christ But he rejected the Crucifix and besought the Priest to come out of the snare of the Devil to cleave to Jesus Christ and to live not according to the flesh but after the Spirit If you do otherwise said he assure your selves your unbelief will bring y●u into that Lake of fire that shall never be quenched for though y●u confess with your mouth that you know Iesus Christ yet you not onely deny him by your works but you persecute him in his Members being bewitched by the Pope the open enemy of the Son of God As he was carrying to be drowned because it was very cold he called for his Cloke which they had taken from him Whereupon the Wherry-man said unto him Fearest thou a little cold What wilt thou do when thou art cast into the Sea Why art not thou carefull to save thy self from drowing Dost not thou see that the poor Flea skips hither and thither to save her life His answer was And I am now flying to escape eternal death Being arrived at the place where he was to suffer the Captain put a Chain of Iron about his middle with a very heavy Stone fastned thereto Then Rycetto lifting his eyes to Heaven said Father forgive them for they know not what they do And being laid on the Planck he said Lord Iesus into thy hands I commend my spirit FINIS These are the

and seven children brought to him the Bishop hoping to overcome him by his nat●ral affection to them and his wife beginning to exhort him to favour himself He desired her not to be a block in his way for that he was in good course running toward the mark of his salvation Gibson Some of the Articles exhibited against Mr. Richard Gibson 3 That he hath commended allowed defended and liked both Cranmer L●tim●r Ridley and all other Hereticks here in this Realm of England according to the Ecclesiastical Laws condemned for Hereticks and also liked their Opinions 4 That he hath comforted aided assisted and maintained both by words and otherwise Hereticks and erroneous Persons or at the least suspected and infamed of Heresies c. 5 That he hath affirmed that the Religion now used in this Realm is in no wise agreeable to Gods Word and Commandment c. The Bishop asking him if he knew any cause why the Sentence should not be read against him he said the Bishop had nothing wherefore justly to condemn him Sentence being read He again admonished Gibson to remember himself and so save his soul. Mr. Gibson answered That he would not hear the Bishops babling boldly protesting that he was contrary to them all in his mind though he aforet me kept it secret for fear of the Law And speaking to the Bishop he said Blessed am I that am cursed at your hands We have nothing now but thus will I for as the Bishop saith so it must be And no heresie is it to turn the truth of Gods Word into lies and that do you Mr. Gibson also propounded Nine Articles to Bonner by him to be answered by yea or nay or else by saying he could not tell 1 Whether the Scriptures of God written by Moses and other holy Prophets of God through faith that is in Christ Jesus be available Doctrine to make all men in all things unto salvation learned without the help of any other Doctrine or no 3 Whether the holy Word of God as it is written doth sufficiently teach all men of what dignity estate or calling by Office whatsoever be or they be their full true and lawful duty in their Office and whether every man be found upon the pain of eternal damnation in all things to do as he is thereby taught and commanded and in no wise to leave undone any thing that is to be done being taught and commanded by the same 4 Whether any man the Lord Jesus Christ God and man only except by the holy Ordinance of God ever was is or shall be Lord over Faith 5 By what lawful Authority or Power any man of what Dignity Estate or Calling soever he or they be may be so bold as to alter or change the holy Ordinances of God or any of them or any part of them 6 By what evident tokens Antichrist in his Ministers may be known seeing it is written That Satan can change himself into the similitude of an Angel of Light and his Ministers fashion themselves as though they were Ministers of righteousness 7 What the Beast is which maketh war with the Saints of God and what the gorgeous and glittering Whore is which sitteth upon the Beast Gilby Mr. Anthony Gilby an exiled Minister of Christ in Queen Mary's dayes in his Admonition speaks thus Whereas many have written many profitable Admonitions to you twain O England and Scotland both making one Island most happy if you could know your own hapiness and others with Pen and Tongue with Word with Writing with jeopardy and loss of Lands Goods and Lives have admonished you both twain of that cankered poyson of Papistry that ye foster and pamper to your own perdition and utter destruction of your selves and yours souls and bodies for now and ever I thought it my duty seeing your destruction to mans judgement to draw so near hom much or how little soever they have prevailed yet once again to admonish you both to give testimony to that truth which my Brethren have written and especially to stir your hearts to repentance or at the least to offer my self a witness against you for the justice of God and his righteous judgements which doubtless if your hearts be hardned against you both are at hand to be uttered Thus by our writing whom it pleaseth God to stir up of your Nations all men that now l●ve and that shall come after us shall have cause also to praise the mercy of God that so oft admonisheth before he strikes and to consider his just punishment when he shall pour forth his vengeance Give ear therefore betimes O Britain for of that name both rejoyceth whilest the Lord calleth exhorteth and admonisheth that is the acceptable time when he will be found If ye refuse the time offered ye cannot have it afterward though with tears as did Esau ye do seem to seek it Yet once again in Gods behalf I do offer you the very means which if God of his mercies grant you grace to follow I doubt nothing but that of all your enemies speedily ye shall be delivered Ye rejoyce at his Word I am sure if ye have any hope of the performance Then hearken to the matter which I write unto you not forth of mens Dreams and Fables nor forth of prophane Histories painted with mans wisdome vain eloquence or subtile reasons but forth of the infallible Word of God Is not this Gods curse and threatning amongst many others pronounced against the sinful Land and disobedient people That strangers shall devour the fruit of thy Land and be above thee c. and thy strong walls wherein thou trusted shall be destroyed c. And doth not Isaiah reckon this also as the extremity of all plagues for the wickedness of the people to have women raised up to rule over them But what saith the same Prophet in the beginning of his prophesie for a remedy against these and all other evils Y●ur hands are full of blood saith he O ye Princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah but wash you make you clean take away your wicked thoughts forth of my sight ●ease to do evil learn to do well c. Then will I turn my hand to thee and purge out all thy dross and take away thy tynne and I will restore thy Iudges as aforetime and Counsellors as of old And Moses said before in the place alledged That if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord 〈◊〉 God and do his Commandments thou shalt be blessed 〈◊〉 the Town and blessed in the Field The Lord shall ca●●● thine enemies that rise up against thee to fall befo●● thee c. Lo the way in few words O Britany 〈◊〉 win Gods favour and therefore to overcome thin● enemies But to print this more deeply upon your hearts O ye Princes and people of that Island whom God hath begun to punish seek I want you no snifting holes to excuse your faults no political

and perswaded all that pro●ess Gods Word manfully to persist in the defence of the same not with sword and violence but with suffering and loss of life rather then to de●ile themselves again with the whorish abominaon of the Romish Antichrist So the hour being come with my fact and example to ratifie confirm and protest the same to the hearts of all true Believers and to this end by the mighty assistance of Gods holy Spirit I resolved my self with much peace of conscience willingly to sustain whatsoever the Romish Antichrist should do against me When Mr. Warren the Chancellor willed 〈◊〉 chief Jaylor to carry me to the Bishop I laid 〈◊〉 his charge the cruel seeking of my death a●● when he would have excused himself I told h●● he could not wipe his hands so He was as g●●●● of my blood before God as though he had mu●thered me with his own hands He departed fro● me saying I needed not to fear if I would be 〈◊〉 his belief God open his eyes and give him gra●● to believe this which he and all of his inclinatio● shall find I fear too true for their parts that 〈◊〉 they which cruelly maliciously and spitefully pe●secute molest and afflict the Members of Chri●● for their Conscience sake and for the true test●●mony of Christs Word and cause them to be mo●● unjustly slain and murthered without speedy re●pentance shall dwell with the Devil and his Ange● in the fiery lake everlastingly where they sha●● wish and desire cry and call but in vain as the●● right companion Epulo to be refreshed of them whom in this world they contemned despised disdained as slaves misers and wretches The Bishop laid to my charge my not coming to Church Here I might have dallied with him and put him to his proofs Notwithstanding I answered him through Gods merciful help that I neither ha● nor would come at their Church as long as their Mass was used there to save if I had them 〈◊〉 hundred lives The Bishop asking me wh● should judge the Word I told him Christ wa● content that the people should judge his Doctrine by searching the Scriptures and so was Paul Methinks ye should claim no farther priviledge no● preheminence then they had The Bishop telling me He was my Bishop and therefore I mu●● believe him If you say black is white said I must I also say as you say and believe the same because you say it is so If you will be believed because you be a Bishop Why find you fault with the people that believed Mr. Latimer Mr. Ridley Mr. Hooper c. that were Bishops Because they were Hereticks said the Bishop And may not you erre quoth I as well as they I looked for learning at my Lords hand to perswade me and he oppressed me onely with his Authority He said I dissented from the Church and asked me where my Church was before Kings Edward's time I desired him to shew me where their Church was in Elias time and what outward shew it had in Christs time The tidings that I should be carried to Lichfield did at first somewhat discourage me fearing least I should by reason of my great sickness through extream handling which I looked for have died in the Prison before I should come to my answer But I rebuked immediately with Gods Word this infidelity in my self c. after this manner What make I of God Is not his power as great in Lichfield as Coventry Doth not his providence extend as well to Lichfield as Coventry Was he not with Habakkuk Daniel Meshach and Ieremy in their most dangerous imprisonments He knows what things we have need of them He hath numbred all the hairs of our head The Sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Fathers will much more will he care for us if we be not faithless whom he hath made worthy to be witnesses of his truth So long as we put our trust in him we shall never be destitute of his help neither in prison nor in sickness nor in health nor in death nor before Kings nor before Bishops Not the Devil himself much less one of his Ministers shall be able to prevail against us With such like meditations I waxed chearful of good consolation and comfort So that hearing one say They could not provide Horses enough for us I said Let them carry us in a Dung-Cart for lack of Horses if they list I am well content for my part I told Iephcot the Chancellors Servant That they should have judgement without mercy that shewed no mercy and this mercy I found at his hand at Lichfield He put me into a Prison that same night where I continued till I was condemned in a place next to the Dungeon c. very cold with small light and there he allowed me a bundle of Straw instead of a Bed without Chair Form or any other thing to ease my self withall God of his mercy gave me great patience through prayer that night so that if it had been his pleasure I could have have been contented to have ended my life In the time of my imprisonment I gave my self continually to prayer and meditation of the merciful promises of God made unto all without exception of persons that call upon the Name of his dear Son Jesus Christ. I ●ound in my self daily amendment of health of body increase of peace in conscience and many consolations from God by the help of his holy Spirit sometime as it were a taste and glimmering of the life to come All for his onely Son Jesus Christs sake To him be all the praise for ever and ever The enemy ceased not many times sundry wayes to assault me Oftentimes objecting to my conscience my own unworthiness of the greatness of the benefit to be accounted amongst those that suffer for Christ for his Gospels sake Against him I replied with the Word of God on this sort What were all those whom God had chosen from the beginning to be his Witnesses and to carry his Name before the world Were they not men as well subject to sin and imperfections as other men be Who gave first unto him What hast thou that thou hast not received All have received of his fulness They were no bringers of any goodness to God but altogether receivers They chose not God first but God chose them They loved not God first but he loved them first Yea he both loved and chose them when they were his enemies full of sin and corruption as well as void of all goodness He is and will be the same God as rich in mercy as mighty as able as ready as willing to forgive sins without respect of persons to the worlds end of all them that call upon him God is near he is at hand he is with all with all I say and refuseth none excepteth none that faith●ully in true repentance call upon him in what hour what place or what time soever it be

am called to this Place and Vocation I am throughly perswaded to tarry and to live and die with my sheep When he was imprisoned in the Fleet he writes thus I am so hardly used that I see no remedy saving Gods help but I shall be cast away in Prison before I come to Judgement But I commit my just cause to God whose will be done whether it be by life or death Winchester exhorting him to the unity of the Catholick Church and to acknowledge the Popes Holiness to be Head of the same Church promising him the Queens mercy he answered That forasmuch as the Pope taught Doctrine altogether contrary to the Doctrine of Christ he was not worthy to be accounted a Member of Christs Church much less to be Head thereof wherefore he would in no wise condescend to any such usurped Jurisdiction neither esteemed he the Church whereof they called him Head to be the Catholick Church of Christ for the Church of Christ onely heareth the voice of her Spouse Christ and flieth the strangers Howbeit said he if in any point to me unknown I have offended the Queens Majesty I shall humbly submit my self to her mercy if mercy may be had with safety of conscience and without the displeasure of God Come Brother said he to Mr. Rogers who was sent with him to the Counter in Southwark must we two take this matter first in hand and begin to fire these Fagots Yea Sir said Mr. Rogers by Gods grace Doubt not said Mr. Hooper but God will give strength The Sheriffe telling Mr. Hooper he wondred that he was so hasty and quick with the Lord Chancellor he answered Mr. Sheriffe I was nothing at all impatient although I was earnest in my Masters Cause and it standeth me so in hand for it goeth upon life and death not the life and death of this world onely but also of the world to come In his Letter for the stopping of certain false rumours spread abroad concerning his Recantation by the Bishops and their Servants The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all them that unfeignedly look for the coming of our Saviour Christ. Amen Dear Brethren and Sisters in the Lord and my Fellow-Prisoners for the Cause of Gods Gospel I do much rejoyce and give thanks unto God for your constancy and perseverance in affliction unto whom I wish continuance to the end And as I do rejoyce in your faith and constancy in afflictions that be in Prison even so I do mourn and lament to hear of our dear Brethren that yet have not felt such dangers for Gods Truth as we have and do feel and be daily like to suffer more yea the very extream and vile death of the fire yet such is the report abroad as I am credibly informed that I Iohn Hooper a condemned man for the Cause of Christ should now after sentence of death being in Newgate Prisoner and looking daily for Execution recant and abju●e that which heretofore I have preached and this talk ariseth of this That the Bishop of London and his Chaplains resort unto me Doubtless if our Brethren were as Godly as I could wish them they would think that in case I did refuse to talk with them they might have just occasion to say that I were unlearned and durst not speak with learned men or else proud and disdained to speak with them But I fear not their Arguments neither is death terrible to me I am more confirmed in the truth which I have preached heretofore by their coming Therefore ye that may send to the weak Brethren pray them that they trouble me not with such reports of Recantations as they do for I have hitherto left all things of the world and suffered great pains and imprisonment and I thank God I am as ready to suffer death as a mortal man may be It were better for them to pray for us then to credit or report such rumours that be untrue We have enemies enough of such as know not God truly but yet the false report of weak Brethren is a double cross I wish your eternal salvation in Jesus Christ and also require your continual Prayers that he which hath begun in us may continue it to the end I have taught the truth with my tongue and with pen heretofore and hereafter shortly will confirm the same by Gods grace with my blood Newgate Feb. 2. 1554. Your Brother in Christ J. H. When the Keeper told him he should be sent to Glocester to be burned he rejoyced very much lifting up his eyes and hands to Heaven he praised God that he saw it good to send him among the people over whom he was Pastor there to confirm with his death the truth which he had before taught them not doubting but the Lord would give him strength to perform the same to his glory Sir Anthony Kingston formerly his Friend then a Commissioner to see Execution done upon him coming to him a little before his death bid him consider that life was sweet death was bitter c. It is true said Mr. Hooper I am come hither to end this life and to suffer death here because I will not gainsay the former truth which I have heretofore taught among you True it is that daath is bitter and life is sweet but alas consider that the death to come is more bitter and the life to come is more sweet therefore for the desire and love I have to the one and the terrour and fear of the other I do not so much regard this death nor esteem this life but have settled my self through the strength of Gods holy Spirit patiently to pass through the torments and extremities of the fire now prepared for me rather then to deny the truth of his Word desiring you and others in the mean time to commend me to Gods mercy in your Prayers I thank God said the Knight that ever I knew you for God did appoint you to call me being a lost child and by your good instructions where before I was both an Adulterer and Fornicator God hath brought me to the forsaking and detesting of the same If you had the grace so to do said the Bishop I do highly praise God for it and if you have not I pray God you may have and that you may continually live in his fear The Knight and the Bishop parting with tears the Bishop told the Knight that all the troubles he had sustained in Prison had not caused him to utter so much sorrow A Papist telling him he was sorry to see him in that case Be sorry for thy self man said he and lament thine own wickedness for I am well I thank God and death to me for Christs sake is welcome When he was committed to the Sheriffe of Gl●cester the Mayor and Aldermen at first saluted him and took him by the hand Mr. Mayor said Mr. Hooper I give most hearty thanks to you and to the rest of

the tyranny of these most cruel Beasts that they say plainly they shall root us out at once so that no remembrance shall remain of us on earth O Lord thou knowest we are but flesh c. We confess we are punished most justly thy blessed Gospel was in our ears like a Lovers Song it pleased us for a time but alas our lives did nothing agree with holy Statutes But be thou mindfull O Lord that thy enemies blaspheme thy holy Name c. Thy Gospel is called Heresie and we are accused as Traitors for professing the same c. Albeit our sins accuse and condemn us yet do thou according to thy great Name Correct us but not in thy hot displeasure spare thy people and permit not thine inheritance to be in rebuke for ever c. Gather us yet once again to the wholesome treasures of thy most Holy Word that openly we may confess thy blessed Name within the Realm of England Amen Abide patiently the Lords deliverance avoiding and flying such offences as may separate and divide you from the blessed Fellowship of the Lord Jesus at his second coming Watch and pray resist the Devil and rowe against this vehement Tempest and the Lord shall come shortly to your comfort and you shall say Behold this is our God we have waited for him and he hath saved us Mr. Knox remained at Frankford till some more given to unprofitable Ceremonies then to the sincerity of Religion essaied by a most cruel barbarous and bloody practice to dispatch him out of the way They accused him to the Magistrates of high Treason against the Emper●ur and his Son Philip and Mary Queen of England for that in his Admonition to England he called the Emperour no less an Enemy to Christ then N●ro and Queen Mary more cruel then I●zabel The Magistrates perceiving their malice and abhorring their bloody attempt gave advertisement secretly to him to depart their City because they could not save him if he were required by the Emper●ur or by the Queen of England in the Emperours Name The night before his departure he made a most comfortable Sermon of the Death and Resurrection of Christ and of the unspeakable joyes that were prepared for Gods Elect which in this life suffer persecution for the Testimony of his blessed Name From Frankford he went to Geneva and thence to Diep and thence to Scotland At his coming to Edinburg the Lord made him instrumental for the comforting the troubled conscience of Mrs. Elizabeth Adamson who under extreme torments of body said A thousand years of this torment and ten times more joyned unto it is not to be compared to a quarter of an hour that I suffered in my Spirit I thank my God through Jesus Christ that hath delivered me from that fearful pain and welcome be this even so long as it pleaseth the Majesty of Heaven to exercise me therewith At his coming into Scotland he began as well in private conference as preaching to shew how dangerous a thing it was to communicate in any son with Idolatry Whereupon the Question was debated Whether in any wise it was lawful for Christian to go to Mass or to communicate with the abused Sacraments in the Papistical manner I was urged that Paul at the command of Iames and of the Elders of Ierusalem passed to the Temple and feigned himself to pay his Vow with others But this and other things were so fully answered b● Mr. Knox that Mr. Maitland confessed I see ver● perfectly that our shifts will serve nothing before God seeing that they stand us in so small stead before men His Answer to the fact of Paul c. was 1 The fact was most unlike going to Mass for to pay Vows was sometimes Gods command as was never Idolatry and their Mass from the Original was and remained odious Idolatry 2 I greatly doubt said he whether either Iames's command or Paul's obedience proceeded of the holy Ghost seeing he fell into the most desperate danger that ever he sustained before for obeying worldly-wise counsel Mr. Knox was so successfull in a short time through the blessing of God that the Earl of Glencarn the Earl of Marschel and Henry Drummond were so contented with his Exhortation that they willed him to write unto the Queen Regent somewhat that might move her to hear the Word of God He obeyed their desire and wrote that which was afterwards published and is called The Letter to the Queen Dowager which was delivered to her own hands by the Earl of Glencarn The Queen having read it delivered it to the Bishop of Gl●scow saying in mockage Please you my Lord to read a Pasquil which words coming to the ears of Mr. Knox occasioned him to make the Additions to his Letter In his Letter The Christians Victory standeth not in resisting but suffering as our Sovereign Master pronounceth to his Disciples That in patience they should possess their souls and Isaiah painteth forth all other Battels to be with violence tumult and blood-shedding but the Victory of Gods people to be in quietness silence and hope meaning that all others that obtain victory do enforce themselves to resist their Adversaries to shed blood and to murder but so do not Gods Elect for they suffer all things at the command of him who hath appointed them to suffer being most assuredly perswaded that then onely they triumph when all men judge them oppressed for in the Cross of Christ alwaies is included a secret and hid victory never well known till the Sufferers appear altogether to be as it were exterminate for then onely did the blood of Abel cry to God when proud Cain judged all memory of his Brother to have been extinguished Sometimes God toucheth the hearts of those who in mans judgement have power to destroy his people with pity to save them c. for two causes specially 1 To comfort his weak Warriers in their manifold temptations And 2 To give a testimony of his favour to such great ones Pity and mercy shewed to Christs afflicted flock as they never lacked reward temporal so if they be continued and be not changed into cruelty are assured signes and seals of everlasting mercy to be received from God From those words of Christ Fu●fill the measure of your Fathers that all the blood which hath been shed since the blood of Abel the just till the blood of Zechariah c. It is evident that the murderers of our time are guilty of all the blood that hath been shed from the beginning and it is but equal and just it should be so for whosoever sheddeth the blood of any one of Christs members for professing his Truth consenteth to all the murder that hath been made from the beginning for that cause As there is one Communion of all Gods Elect of which every member is participant of the righteousness of Christ so is there a communion among the reprobates by which

hath the people to be offended with us for not receiving of a Jesus Christ of wood We bear upon our hearts the Cross of Christ the Son of the everliving God feeling his Word written therein in letters of Gold Baudicon beginning to sing on the Scaffold the Sixteenth Psalm a Frier cried out Do ye hear my Masters what wicked errours these Hereticks sing to beguile the people withall whereupon Baudicon replyed Thou simple Idiot callest thou the Psalms of David the Prophet Errours But no marvel for thus you are wont to blaspheme against the Spirit of God Then turning his eye to his Father who was about to be chained to the Stake he said Be of good courage Father the worst will be past by and by The old man complaining of the blow which the Executioner gave him on the foot as he was fastning to the Post a Frier said Ah these Hereticks they would be counted Martyrs forsooth but if they be but touched a little they cry out as if they were killed Whereupon Baudicon said Think you then that we fear the Torment●rs No such matter for had we feared the same we had never exposed our bodies to this so shameful and painful a kind of death Then he often reiterated those short breathings O God Father everlasting accept the sacrifice of our bodies for thy wellbeloved Son Jesus Christ his sake With his eyes fixed on Heaven he said to his Father Behold for I see Heavens open and millions of Angels ready prest to receive us rejoycing to see us thus witnessing the Truth in the view of the world Father let us be glad and rejoyce for the joyes of Heaven are set open to us When the fire was kindled he often repeated this in his Fathers ear Faint not Father nor be afraid yet a very little while and we shall enter into the Heavenly Mansions The last words they were heard to pronounce were Iesus Christ thou Son of God into thy hands we commend our spirits Iane the Wife of Robert whilst in Prison separated from her Son Martin was drawn away by a Monk and prevailed with to let go her first faith and having promised to draw her Son Martin from his errours he was suffered to come to her which when he understood O Mother said he what have you done Have you denied him who hath redeemed you Alas What evil hath he done you that you should requite him with this so great an injury and dishonour Now I am plunged into that wo which I have most feared Ah good God! that I should live to see this This pierceth me to the very heart His Mother hearing this and seeing his tears she with tears cried out O Father of mercies be merciful to me miserable sinner and cover my transgression under the righteousness of thy blessed Son Lord enable me with strength from above to stand to my first Confession and make me to abide stedfast therein even to my last breath When they that had seduced her came to her again with detestation she said Avoid Satan get thee behind me from henceforth thou hast neither part nor portion in me I will by the help of God stand to my first Confession and if I may not sign it with ink I will seal it with my blood When Iane and Martin heard the Sentence past returning to Prison they said Now blessed be our God who causeth us thus to triumph over our Enemies This is the wished hour Our gladsome day is come Let us not then said Martin forget to be thankfull for the honour he doth us in conforming us to the image of his Son Let us remember those that have traced this death before us for this is the high way to the Kingdome of Heaven Let us then good Mother go on boldly out of the Camp with the Son of God bearing his reproach with all his holy Martyrs for so we shall find passage into the glorious Kingdome of the everliving God Some of the Company not brooking these words said We see now thou Heretick that thou art wholly possest body and soul with a Devil as was thy Father and Brother who are both in Hell Martin replied Sirs as for your railings and cursings our God will this day turn them into blessings in the sight of all his holy Angels A certain Temporizer endeavouring to stagger Martin by the consideration of the multitude that believed not as he did his Mother said Sir Christ Jesus our Lord saith That it is the wide gate and broad way that leadeth to destruction and therefore many go in thereat but the gate is narrow that leadeth to life and few there be that find it Do ye then doubt whether we be in the strait way or no when ye behold our sufferings Would you have a better sign then this to know whether we are in the right way Compare our Doctrine with that of your Priests and Monks We for our part are determined to have but one Christ and him crucified We onely embrace the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Are we deceived in believing that which the holy Prophets and Apostles have taught Martin being asked Whether he thought himself wiser then so many learned Doctors answered I pray you Sir doth not Christ our Lord tell us That his Father hath hid the secrets of his Kingdome from the wise and prudent and revealed them to Babes And doth not the Lord oftentimes catch the wise in their own craftiness Then came into the Prison to Martin two men of great Authority and perswading him to recant promised him great matters c. Martin gave them this answer Sirs you present before me many temporal commodities but alas do you think me so simple as to forsake an eternal Kingdome for enjoying a short transitory life No Sirs it is too late to speak to me now of worldly commodities Speak of those spiritual ones which God hath prepared for me to day in his Kingdome I purpose not to hearken after any other Onely let me crave one hours respite to my self to give my self to Prayer Afterwards Martin declared the effect of this combate to certain Brethren in Prison saying Let us lift up our heads Brethren the brunt is over this I hope is their last assault Forget not I pray you the holy Doctrine of the Gospel nor those good Lessons which you have learned from our Brother Guy probably he meant Mr. Guy de Brez of whom before in letter B. Manifest it now to all that you have received them not onely into your ears but also into your hearts Follow me We lead you the way Fear not God will never leave you nor forsake you Iane having ascended the Scaffold cried out to Martin Come up come up my Son As Martin was speaking to the people she said Speak out Martin that it may appear to all that we die not Hereticks She being bound to the Stake said We are Christians and that which we now suffer is

word Iesus Epitaphium in Palmerum Palmerus flammas Christi pro dogmate p●ssus Impositum pondus ceu bona Palma t●lit Non retrocessit sed contra erdentior ivit Illaesam retinens fortis in igne fidem Propterea in Coelum nunc Palmifer iste receptus Iustiti● Palmam not pereuntis habot Paulinus When he had his City Gold Silver and all taken away he said Lord let not the loss of these things trouble me for thou art all and more then all these to me Pareus David Pareus having foreseen the great miseries that would come upon the Palatinate when the Spaniards came in with their Army by Prodigies and Dreams he was perswaded to retire himself At his departure he cried out O Heidelberg Heidelberg But it is better to fall into the hands of God then of men whose tender mercies are cruelty Paschalis It is a small matter said Lewis Paschalis to die once for Christ if it might be I could wish I might die a thousand deaths for him Patingham Patrick Patingham being much prest by Bonner to recant He protested that the Church which the Bishop believed was no Catholick Church but was the Church of Satan and therefore he would never turn to it c. Peloquine The Inquisitors telling Dyonisius Peloquine his life was in his own hands Then said he it were in an ill keeping Christs School hath taught me to save it by losing it and not by the gain of a few dayes or years to lose eternity Person Mr. Anthony Person being come to the place of Execution with a chearfull countenance embraced the Post in his arms and kissing it said Now welcome mine own sweet Wife for this day shalt thou and I be married together in the love and peace of God Pulling the straw unto him he laid a good deal thereof upon the top of his head saying This is Gods Hat now am I dressed like a true Souldier of Christ by whose merits onely I trust this day to enter into his joy Peter The Apostle Peter was crucified his head being down and his feet upward he himself so requiring because he was he said unworthy to be crucified after the same manner form as the Lord was c. Seeing his Wife going to her Martyrdome belike as he was yet hanging upon the Cross he was greatly joyous and glad thereof and cried out unto her with a loud voice Remember the Lord Iesus None but Christ Nothing but Christ. Phileas Phileas Bishop of the Thumitans whilst he was in bonds before he received the Sentence of Death wrote to the Congregation over which he was Bishop exhorting them to persist in the Truth of Christ professed notwithstanding the Torments inflicted upon the Martyrs in his dayes which he thus describes Some beat them with Cudgels some with Rods some with Whips some with Thongs and some with Cords Some of them having their hands bound behind their backs were lifted up upon Timber-logs and with certain Instruments their members and joynts were stretched forth whereupon their whole bodies hanging were subject to the will of the Tormentors who were commanded to afflict them with all manner of torments not on their sides onely but bellies thighs and legs They scratched them with the talens and claws of wild Beasts Some were seen to hang by one hand upon the Engine whereby they might feel the more grievous pulling out of the rest of their joynts and members Some were stretched out after they were beaten upon a new kind of Rack Others were cast down upon the Pavement where they were oppressed so thick and so grievously with torments that it is not almost to be thought what afflictions they suffered Some died of their torments not a little shaming and confounding their enemies by their singular patience Others were condemned and willingly and cheerfully were martyr'd Philpot. Mr. Iohn Philpot Son of Sir Peter Philpot of Huntshire being threatned to be removed from the Kings Bench to Lullards Tower said You have power to transfer my Body from place to place at your pleasure but you have no power over my soul. God hath appointed a day shortly to come in the which he will judge us with righteousness howsoever you judge of us now When Story threatned him with a worse Prison he said God forgive you and give you more mercifull hearts and shew you more mercy in the time of need Do quickly that you have in hand Bonner telling him He marvelled they were so merry in Prison singing and rejoycing in their naughtiness Methinks said he you do not well herein you should rather lament and be sorry My Lord said Mr. Phi●pot the mirth that we make is but in singing certain Psalms as we are commanded by St. Paul willing us to be merry in the Lord singing together in Hymns and Psalms We are my Lord in a dark comfortless place and therefore it behoveth us to be merry least as Solomon saith Sorrowfulness eat up our heart St. Paul saith If any man be of upright mind let him sing and we therefore to testifie we are of an upright mind to God though we be in misery do sing After this conference with Bonner I was saith Mr. Philpot carried to my Lords Cole-house again where I with my six Fellows do rouz together in the straw as cheerfully we thank God as others do in their Beds of Down When he was brought before Bonner and the Bishop of Bath c. a second time before he answered any questions he fell down upon his knees before them and prayed thus Almighty God thou art the Giver of all wisdome and understanding I beseech thee of thine infinite goodness and mercy in Jesus Christ to give me most vile sinner in thy sight the Spirit of wisdome to speak and answer in thy Cause that it may be to the contentation of the Hearers before whom I stand and also to my better understanding if I be deceived in any thing Bonner telling the Bishop of Wercester that he did not well to exhort him to make any Prayer for in this point said he they are much like to certain arrant Hereticks of whom Pliny maketh mention that did daily sing Antelucanos Hymnos praise unto God before the dawning of the day Mr. Philpot replied My Lord God make me and all you here present such Hereticks as those were that sang those Morning Hymns for they were right Christians with whom the Tyrants of the world were offended for their well doing Afterwards he made this Protestation I protest here before God and his Eternal Son Jesus Christ my Saviour and the Holy Ghost and his Angels and you here present that be Judges of that I speak that I do not stand in any Opinion of wilfulness or singularity but onely upon my conscience certainly informed by Gods Word from the which I dare not go for fear of damnation The Bishop of Worcester telling him he was of ●●ch

her life should be spared if she would recant Nay that will I not said she God forbid that I should lose the life eternal for this carnal and short life I will never turn from my heavenly Husband to my earthly Husband from the fellowship of Angels to mortal Children and if my Husband and Children be faithfull then am I theirs God is my Father God is my Mother God is my Sister my Brother my Kinsman God is my friend most faithfull After her Condemnation she refused to receive my money from well affected people saying I am going to a City where money beareth no mastery Whilst I am here God hath promised to feed me When she was brought to the Stake without the ●alls of Exeter in a place called So then hay in the ●roneth of November 1558. the Priests again as●●ulted her but she prayed them to have no more ●alk with her and cried still God be mercifull to 〈◊〉 a sinner God be mercifull to me a sinner This Agnes Priest or Prest was the sole Devonshire Martyr saith Dr. Fuller under the reign of Queen Mary Wherefore as those Parents which have but one Child may afford it the better attendance as more at leisure So seeing by Gods goodness we have but this single Native of this Countrey yea of this Diocess we will enlarge c. 1 Her Christian Name which Mr. Fox could not learn ●e have recovered from another excellent Author Mr. Vowell in Hollingshead pag. 1309. 2 I am informed by the Inhabitants thereabout that she lived at Northcot in the Parish of Boynton in the County of Cornwall c. 3 She was a simple woman to behold thick but liltle and short in sta●●re about Four and fifty years of age 4 She was endited on Munday the fourth week in Lent An. Phil. Mar. 2. and 3. before W. Stanford Iustice of the Assize So that we may observe more legal formality was used about the condemnation of this poor woman then any Martyr of far greater degree 5 Her own Husband and Children were her greatest Persecutors from whom she fled because they would force her to be present at Mass. 6 She was condemned by Bishop Troublefield Bishop of Exeter c. yea she was the onely person in whose persecution Bishop Troublefield did appear and it is justly conceived that Blackstone his Chancellour was more active then the Bishop in procuring her death Potten Agnes Potten of Ipswich in a night a little before her death being asleep in her bed saw a bright burning fire right up as a Pole and on the side thereof she thought there stood a number of Queen Mary's Friends looking on then being asleep she seemed to muse with her self whether her fire should burn so bright or no. And indeed her suffering was not far unlike her dream At the Stake she and Ioan Trunchfield who sufferred with her required the people to credit and to lay hold on the Word of God and not upon mans devices and inventions and to despise the Ordinances and Institutions of the Romish Antichrist with all his superstitious and rotten Religion Pusices Shut thine eyes but a while said Pusices to an old man trembling at Martyrdome and thou shalt see Gods Light R. Rabeck I●hn Rabeck a French Martyr being urged to pronounce Iesu Maria conjoyned in one Prayer boldly answered That if his Tongue should but offer to utter those words at their bidding he himself would bite it asunder with his Teeth Ramus The great crime that the Sorbonists objected against Peter Ramus and for which he suffered much was That by opposing Aristotle he enervated Divinity Whence we may see what a Divinity they were for who made Aristotle the great Master thereof who laughs at the Creation of the World Divine Providence and the Immortality of the Soul and slighting Life eternal placed the happiness of man in this mortal Life onely and left nothing for man after death then to have it said He was happy in a word who defined humane felicity from mans ability and not from divine grace In his adverse condition he would comfort himself with the following Verses 1. Committe vitam rem decus Dei unius arbitrio Animi tibi ex sententia Confecta reddet omnia Illustris aurorae ut jubar Tua faciet ul sit aquitas Ut luce virtus sit tua● Meridiana clarior In English thus Commit to God life wealth and name And what thou wilt shalt have the same Thy righteousness shall shine more clear Then the light of the morning 〈◊〉 2. Deus ●abit his quoque finem● Durate ut vos●●t rebus servate secundis These shall not want an end Bear up and wait till G●d doth better send That which he first disliked in Popery was their execrable idolatry in corrupting the second Commandment and the Sacrament of the Lords Supper When in the Possiac Synod he heard the Cardina● of Lorain acknowledge That the first of the fifteet● Centuries since Christ was a truly golden Age but the rest were so much the worse by how much they farther departed from the first Peter Ramus concluded That the Age of Christ and his Apostles was to be restored and chosen When the Civil Wars brake forth in France for Religion he went into Germany and at Heidelberg having made to Tremellius and the Church a Confession of his Faith he received the Sacrament of the Lords Supper in that Church After his conversion he daily did read the Old and New Testament and out of each Chapter collected an Index containing Rules and Examples relating to both the parts of Christian Doctrine viz. Faith and the Actions of Faith and so made his Commentaries and certainly he had made much greater progress in Divinity had he not been so soon not much above two years after his conversion taken away by a violent death When in that horrid Massacre at Paris begun Aug. 24. 1572. he was mortally wounded Aug. 26. in the seven and fiftieth year of his age he was heard to commend his soul to God in these words O Iehovah against thee onely have I sinned and done evil before thee Thy judgements are truth and righteousness Have mercy upon and pardon my Murtherers for they know not what they do Read Some of the Articles that were exhibited against Adam Read and other Scotch Confessors were these following 1 That Images are not to be had in the Kirk nor to be worshipped 4 That it is not lawfull to fight for the Faith nor to defend the Faith by the Sword if we be not driven to it by necessity which is above all Law 12 That the Pope is not the Successor of Peter but where he said Go behind me Satan 17 That the Pope exalts himself against God and above God 19 That the blessings of the Bishops of dumb Dogs they should have been stiled are of no value 20 That the excommunication of the Kirk is not to be feared if there be no