Accordingly twenty-four men and seven women were discharged.* Whether these severities were justifiable by the laws of GOD or the land, I leave with the reader.

6

There was a spirit of uncommon zeal in these people to suffer all extremities for the cause in which they were en, gaged. In one of their letters, directed to all the brethren that believed in Christ, the writer, who was but a layman, says, The reason why we will not hear our parish ministers, is, because they will not stand forth and defend 'the gospel against the leavings of popery, for fear of loss of goods, or punishment of body, or danger of imprisonment, or else for fear of men more than GOD.' He then calls up their courage, Awake, O ye cold and lukewarm 'preachers, out of sleep; gird up yourselves with the 'truth; come forth and put your necks [to the yoke] and think with Peter, that persecution is no strange thing; for which of the prophets were not persecuted as well as "Christ and his apostles; not for evil doing, but for preaching God's word, and for rebuking the world of sin, and 'for their faith in Jesus Christ? This is the ordinance of GOD, and this is the highway to Heaven, by corporeal 'death to eternal life, as Christ saith, John v. Let us ' never fear death, that is killed [conquered] by Christ, 'but believe in him and live forever. There is no condem'nation to them that are in Christ. O death! where is thy 'sting? thanks be to God, that has given us the victory.— 'Let us not then dissemble, as some do, to save their pigs, but be valiant for the truth. I doubt not, but all they 'who believe the truth, and will obey it, will consider the 'cause ;† and the Lord, for his Christ's sake, makeEphraim ' and Manasses to agree, that we may all with one heart ❝ and mind unfeignedly seekGod's glory, and the edification of his people, that we may live in all godly peace, unity,

* The names of the men were, John Smith, John Roper, Robert Tod, Robert Hawkins, James Ireland, William Nickson, Walter Hynkesman, Thomas Rowland, George Waddy, William Turner, John Nashe, James Adderton, William Wight, Thomas Lydford, Richard Langton, Alexander Lacy, John Leonard, Roger Hawksworth, Robert Sparrow, Richard King, Christopher Colman, John Benson, John Bolton, Robert Gates.

† MS. p. 42.

and concord. This grant, O Lord, for Christ Jesus' sake, to whom with thee, and the Holy Ghost, be all praise, glory and honor, for ever and ever.'

Another in a letter to Bishop Grindal, occasioned by his lordship's discourse to the prisoner at his examination before him, December 19, begins thus, "Pleasethy our wisdom, my duty remembered, &c. being grieved at certain words 'spoken by you, and at your extreme dealing with us of late, I am bold to utter my grief in this manner. You 'said, if discipline did not tend to peace and unity, it were better refused; whereas our Savior Christ commandeth discipline as one part of the gospel, most necessary for the church's peace and order; the apostles practised it, and Mr. Calvin and other learned men, call it the sinews of the church, that keeps the members together; and 'Beza says, where discipline is wanting, there will be a li'centious life and a school of wickedness.-Secondly, You seemed to be offended with a late exercise of prayer, and 'fasting, saying, that you had not heard of any exercise of this kind without consent of public authority; to which the example of the Ninevites plainly answers, who proclaimed a fast before they acquainted the King with it ; ' nor did the King blame his subjects for going before him ' in well-doing, but approved it by doing the like.-Thirdly, You said, you would never ask GoD mercy for using the apparel ;* and should appear before him with a better 'conscience than we; whereas you said in a sermon, as many can witness, that you was sorry, for that you knew you should offend many godly consciences by wearing this apparel; requiring your auditory to have patience for a time, for that you did but use them for a time, to the end you might the sooner abolish them: And now you displace, banish, persecute, and imprison, such as will not wear, nor consent thereunto, and at the same time say, you fear not to appear before GOD for so doing. But if 'the Corinthians, for eating meat to the offence of their brethren, are said to sin against Christ, how much more ? do you, who not only retain the remnants of Antichrist,

* MS. p. 22.

but compel others to the same? Better were it for you to leave your lordly dignity, not given you by Christ, and to 'suffer affliction for the truth of the gospel, than by enjoying 'thereof to become a persecutor of your brethren. Consid'er (I pray you) if throughout the whole scriptures you can 'find one, that was first a persecutor, and after was persecuted for the truth, that ever fell to persecuting again and ' repented. I desire you, in the bowels of Christ, to consid ́er your own case, who by your own confession was once a persecutor, and have since been persecuted; whether displacing, banishing, and imprisoning God's children more streightly than felons, heretics or traitors, be perse'cuting again or no? They that make the best of it, say, you buffet your brethren, which if the master of the house find 'you so doing you know your reward. I desire you, therefore, in the bowels of Christ, not to restrain us of the lib'erty of our consciences, but be a means to enlarge our liberty in the truth and sincerity of the gospel; and use your 'interest, that all the remnants of Antichrist may be abol'ished, with every plant that our heavenly father has not planted. Signed, Yours in the Lord to command, WM. WHITE, who joineth with you in every speck of truth, but 6 utterly detesteth whole Antichrist, head, body, and tail, 'never to join with you, or any, in the least joint thereof; nor in any ordinance of man, contrary to the word of GOD, by his grace unto the church."

6

But neither the arguments nor sufferings of the Puritans, nor their great and undissembled piety, had an influence upon the commissioners, who had their spies in all suspected places, to prevent their religious assemblies; and gave out strict orders, that no clergyman should be permitted to preach in any of the pulpits of London, without á licence from the archbishop of Canterbury, or the bishop of London.

The persecution of the protestants in France and the Low Countries was hot and terrible about this time. The King of France broke through all his edicts, for the free exercise of the reformed religion; he banished their ministers, and much blood was spilt in their religious wars. In the Netherlands the Duke D'Alva breathed out nothing but blood and slaughter, putting multitudes to death for re

ligion. This occasioned great numbers to fly into England, which multiplied the Dutch churches in Norwich, Colchester, Sandwich, Canterbury, Maidstone, Southampton, London, Southwark, and elsewhere. The Queen, for their encouragement, allowed them the liberty of their own mode of worship, and as they brought their manufactures over with them, they proved very beneficial to the trade and commerce of the nation.

Even in England the hearts of all good men were ready to fail, for fear of the return of popish idolatry; the Queen being suddenly seized with a severe fit of sickness this summer, [1568] which brought her to the very point of death, and the presumptive heir, MARY, late Queen of Scots, being a bigotted papist. The Queen, together with her bodily distemper, was under great terror of mind for her sins, and for not discharging the duty of her high station as she ought: She said, she had forgotten her GOD! to whom she had made many vows, and been unthankful to him. Prayers were composed, and publicly read in all churches for her majesty's recovery, in which they petitioned, that GOD would heal her soul, and cure her mind as well as her body. The papists were never more sanguine in their expectations, nor the reformation in greater danger, than now; and yet Bridewell and other prisons were full of Puritans, as appears by a manuscript letter of Mr. Thomas Lever, now before me, dated Dec. 5, 1568, in which he endeavors to comfort the prisoners, and declares that though the popish garments and ceremonies were not unclean in themselves, yet he was determined for himself, by God's grace, never to wear the square cap and surplice, because they ten ded neither to decency nor edification, but to offence, dis. sension, and division in the church of Christ: nor would he kneel at the communion, because it was a symbolizing with popery, and looked too much like the adoration of the host. But at length it pleased Almighty God to dissipate. for the present the clouds that hung over the reformation, by the Queen's recovery.

*

This year was published the Bible in folio, called the Bishop's Bible, with a preface by Archbishop Parker. It was

* MS. p. 18.

only Cranmer's translation revised and corrected by several bishops and learned men, whose names may be seen in the records of bishop Burnet's history of the reformation.The design was to set aside the Geneva translation, which had given offence. In the beginning, before the book of Genesis, is a map of the land of Canaan; before the New Testament is inserted a map of the places mentioned in the four evangelists, and the journeys of Christ and his apostles. There are various cuts dispersed through the book, and several genealogical and chronological tables, with the arms of divers noblemen, particularly those of Cranmer and Parker. There are also some references and marginal notes, for the explication of difficult passages.* This was the Bible that was read in the churches till the last translation of King James I. took place.

But there was another storm gathering abroad, which threatened the reformation all over Europe; most of the popish princes having entered into a league to extirpate it out of the world: the principal confederates were the pope, the emperor, the kings of Spain, France, and Portugal; with the Duke of Savoy, and some lesser princes: their agreement was, to endeavor by force of arms to depose all protestant kings or potentates, and to place catholics in their room; and to displace, banish, and condemn to death, all well-wishers, and assistants of the clergy of Luther and Calvin, while the pope was to thunder out his anathemas against the Queen of England, to interdict the kingdom, and to absolve her subjects from their allegiance. In prosecution of this league, war was already begun in France, Holland, and in several parts of Germany, with unheard-of cruelties against the reformed. Under these difficulties, the protestant princes of Germany entered into a league, for their common defence, and invited the Queen of England to accede to it. Her majesty sent Sir Henry Killigrew over to the Elector Palatine with a handsome excuse; and at the same time ordered her ambassador in France, to offer her mediation between that King and his protestant subjects but the confederacy was not to be broken by treaties;

* Strype's Aunals, p. 216.