1563 Edition | Book 5 | Page 1144 
the night after that he was degraded, his wife and his sonne Thomas resorted to hym, and were by the gentlenes of the Kepers permytted to suppe with hym. For this difference was euer found betwene the MarginaliaKepers of prysons.Keepers of the Bishops prysons, and the Kepers of the kings prysons: The bishops kepers were euer crue, blasphemouse, and tyrannouse, lyke their maisters, but the Kepers of the kinges prysons, shewed for the moost part, as muche fauoure, as they possible might.
CloseWhile the gaolers of episcopal prisons were chosen by the bishops, the staff of royal prisons could and did include people of all religious persuasions. As a matter of fact, two of the major prisons where protestants were held, the Marshalsea and the King's Bench, were adminstered by men with evangelical sympathies: Sir Thomas Holcraft and Sir William Fitzwilliam respectively. Another prison, Bridewell, was governed by Richard Grafton, the printer of the Great Bible. These individuals had all been appointed by Edward VI and could not be dismissed except for a specific offence.
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CloseOnce again the ubiquitous John Hull appears. He is almost certainly the source for Taylor's final encounter with his family in prison and his meeting with them in the Woolsack inn, on his journey to Hadleigh. He is mentioned as being present on all these occasions.
Then turning to his wyfe: MarginaliaD. Taylor counselleth his wyfe.My deare wyfe (quod he) cōtinue stedfast in the feare and loue of God, kepe your selfe vndefyled from theire Popishe idolatries, and superstitiōs: you haue bene vnto me a faithfull yoke fellowe, and so haue I beene to you, whiche I praye God to rewarde you for, & doubt you not deare wyfe, but God will rewarde it. Nowe the tyme is come, that I shall be taken from you, and you discharged of the wedlocke bonde towardes me, therefore I will geue you my counsell, what I thinke most expedient for you. You ar yet a childe bearyng woman, and therefore it will be most conuenient for you to marry. For doubtles, you shall neuer bee at a conuenient staye for your selfe, and our poore children, nor out of trouble, till you be maried. Therfore as sone as God will prouide it, marry with some honest faithfull man, that feareth God.
[Back to Top]Doubt ye not, God wil prouide an honest husband for you, and he will be a mercifull father to you and to my children: whome I pray you, bring vp in the feare of God, and in learninge to the vttermoste of your power, and kepe thē from this Romyshe idolatrie. When he had thus sayde, they with weping teares prayed to gether, and kissed one the other: MarginaliaHis last token to his wyfe & his sonne.and he gaue to his wyfe a booke of the churche seruice, set out by king Edwarde, which in the time of his imprysonment he dayly vsed, and with his owne hand, he had written his name in eche ende of it. And vnto his sonne Thomas, he gaue a latin booke, called Apophthegmata, conteining the notable sayinges of the olde Martyrs, gathered out of Ecclesiastica historia: and in the ende of that booke he wrote his testamēt, and last vale, as hereafter followeth.
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CloseThis was first printed in Rerum, pp. 422-23, and then in all editions of theActs and Monuments. Copies of this are BL, Lansdowne 389, fos. 187r and 292v. ECL 260, fol. 143r is a copy of this annotated by Bull.
I Saye to my wife, and to my chyldrē: MarginaliaIob. 1. 2.The Lorde gaue you vnto me, and the Lorde hath taken me from you, and you frō me. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I beleue that they ar blissed which die in the Lorde.MarginaliaApoc. 14. God careth for sparowes, and for the heares of our heades.MarginaliaLuke. 12. I haue euer found in him more faithfull and fauourable, then any father or husband. Trust ye therfore in him by the meanes of our deare Sauiour Christes merites: beleue, loue, feare, & obey him. Praye to him, for he hath promised to helpe. Counte me not dead. for I shall certainly liue, and neuer die. MarginaliaA sure faith & hope that wee shall know one another.I go before, & you shal followe after, to our longe home. I go to the rest of my childrē, Susan, George, Nell, Robert, and Zacharie: I haue bequethed you to the only omnipotēt.
[Back to Top]I saye to my deare frendes of Hadleye, and to all other whiche haue heard me preach: MarginaliaA pure conscience fully quieted.that I depart hence with a quiet conscience, as touching my doctrine: for the whiche I pray you, thanke God with me. For I haue after my lytle talent declared to other those lessons, that I gathered out of Gods booke, the blessed Bible. Therfore if I, or any Aungell from heauen, should preache to you any other Gospell, then that ye haue receiued, Gods great curse vpon that preacher.
[Back to Top]Beware for Gods sake, that ye denie not God, neither decline from the worde of faithe, lest God decline from you, and so ye doe euerlastinglie perishe. MarginaliaA graue warning against Popery.For gods sake beware of Poperie: for though it appeare to haue in it vnitie, yet the same is in vanitie, and Antichristianitie and not in Christes faith and veritie.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe sinne against the holy ghost.Beware of the sinne against the holy ghost, nowe after suche a light opened, so plainly, & simply, truly, thoroughly, and generally to all Englande.
The Lorde graunt all men his good, & holy