Marginalia1555. February.to say vnto you that I haue a poore wife and childe whō I loue in the Lord, and whom I know for my sake you wyll tender when I am departed hence. &c.

MarginaliaAn other letter of Maister Saunders.GRace and mercy &c. It happeneth oftentymes that abundaunce of matter bringing with it much vehemēcie of frendly affection, maketh men dumme, & euen then chiefly when there is most eger purpose of speakyng, silence doth suppresse, and causeth the party so affected, vnperfectly to expresse that he goeth about to vtter. Such impediment by much matter myngled with feruency of affection, feele I some tymes in my selfe, lettyng the vtteraunce either by toung or writing, of the aboundaunce of the hart. The loue of our most gracious God and heauenly Father bestowed vppon vs in the merites of hys Christ our Sauiour, who may by concept of mynd comprehend, passing in deede all vnderstandyng? much lesse may the same by any meanes be expressedly vttered. And as such heauenly blessyngs which by fayth we fetch from aboue, be inexplicable: so is it hard to vtter, when the faythfull are set on fyre by loue, their readynes to reach forth & to giue by charitie, as by faith they haue receiued. Marginalia2. Cor. 4.But (alas) we cary this treasure in earthē vessels. Many tymes fayth is feeble and then loue loseth her feruour.MarginaliaFayth many times in vs is feble. Pray we therfore, Lord encrease our faith, and loue forthwith will be on fyre. And immortall thankes be geuen vnto our God, who in our Christ hath bestowed vpon vs the first fruites of his spirite, who cryeth in our hartes, MarginaliaRom. 8.Abba Father. And (as S. Paul sayth) Marginalia2. Cor. 4. seyng we haue the same spirite of fayth, accordyng as it is written: I beleued and therfore haue I spoken: we also beleue and therfore we speake: yea God knoweth this spirite putteth in vs a mynd to speake, but in attēpting therof, we are driuen with Moses to say: MarginaliaExod. 8.O Lord, I am slow mouthed & of vncircūcised lyppes: & with Ieremy: MarginaliaIerome. 1.O Lord I can not speake.

Albeit that this infancie restrayneth the openyng of such aboundaunce of hart in my tender Christian duety to be declared towardes you, yet I besech you let this be setled in your vnderstandyng, that as S. Paule expresseth vnto hys Corinthians that they were in his hart either to lyue or to dye, with many other such sayings vttered vnto them and the Galathians, expressing hys vehement affection towardes them: so in some part I would be lyke affected towardes all Gods children, and especially towardes you whō I know in Christ, and to whō I will not say, how much I am indebted. I thāke you for your great frēdshyp and tender good will towardes my wife: yea that good gracious God recompence you, which may worthely with the more countreuaile the same, and fulfill that which lacketh of thankefull duety in vs. And bycause of that which heretofore I haue cōceaued of you & of your more then naturall loue towardes me & myne: I make my selfe thus bold to lay this burden vpon you, euē the care and charge of my sayd poore wife I meane, to be vnto her a mother and mystres to rule and direct her by your discret counsell.MarginaliaMaister Saunders commēdeth the care of his wife to Mistres Harrington. I know she conceaueth of you the same that I do, and is thankeful vnto God with me for such a frend, and therefore I besech you euen for Christes sake, put neuer from you this frendly charge ouer her, whether I lyue longer or shortly depart. But to charge you otherwise, thankes be to God, neither I neither she haue any such extreme neede: if we had, I would be as bold with you as myne own mother. I besech you geue my harty salutations vnto M. Fitzwilliams and my good Lady, with thankes also for my poore wife and child, the Lord recompence them.

Laurence Saunders.

Furthermore as touching his fatherly care & affectiō to his wife & his litle childe, þ^e same is liuely set forth in an other letter, which he did write to his wife: wherin hee admonished her, that she should not resort much to the prison, where he was, for daūger of trouble that might ensue, the tenour of whose letter here foloweth.

¶ An other letter to his wife with a certaine remembraunce to M. Harrington and M. Hurland.  

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First in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 195-96.

MarginaliaAn other letter of Maister Saunders to hys wyfe.GRace and comfort &c. Wife you shall do best not to come oftē vnto the Grate where the Porter may see you. Put not your selfe in daunger where it nedes not: you shall I thinke, shortly come farre enough into daūger by kepyng fayth and a good conscience: which (deare wife) I trust you do not slacke to make rekoning and accoumpt vpon by exercising your inward man in medita-

tion of Gods most holy word, beyng the sustenaunce of the soule, and also by geuyng your selfe to hūble prayer: for these ij. thynges be the very meanes how to be made mēbers of our Christ meete to inherite his kyngdome. Do this (deare wife) in earnest, and not leauyng of, and so we two shall with our Christ and all his chosen children, enioy the mery world in that euerlasting immortalitie, whereas here wil nothyng els be foūd but extreme misery, euen of thē which most gredely seeke this worldly wealth: and so, if we two continue Gods childrē graffed in our Christ, the same Gods blessyng which we receaue, shall also settle vpon our Samuell. Though we do shortly depart hence and leaue the poore Infant (to our seeming) at al aduentures, yet shal he haue our gracious God to be his God: for so hath he said and he can not lye: I will be thy God (sayth he) and the God of thy seede. Yea if you leaue him in the wildernes destitute of all helpe, beyng called of God to do his will either to dye for the confessiō of Christ, either any worke of obedience: MarginaliaCare of childrē in tyme of necessity ought to be left to God, who will not see them forsaken.that God which heard the cry of the litle poore infante of Agar Saraes hādmaiden and dyd succour it, will do the like to the child of you or any other fearyng him and puttyng your trust in hym. And if we lacke fayth (as we do in deede many tymes) let vs call for it and we shall haue the encrease both of it and also of any other good grace needefull for vs: and be mery in God, in whom also I am very mery and ioyfull. O Lord what great cause of reioysing haue we, to thincke vppon that kyngdome which he voucheth safe for his Christes sake, freely to geue vs, forsaking our selues and folowyng hym? Deare wife MarginaliaWhat it is to follow Christ.this is truly to folow him, euē to take vp our crosse and folow hym, and then as we suffer with hym, so shall we reigne with hym euerlastyngly, Amen Shortly, shortly.  

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Foxe deleted a final paragraph from this letter: cf. Letters of the Martyrs, p. 196.

¶ An other letter to his wife, to M. Robert Harington, M. Hurland. &c.  

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First in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 193-95.

MarginaliaAn other letter of Maister Saunders to hys wife and other frendes.GRace and comfort. &c. Deare wife reioyce in our gracious God, and hys our Christ, and geue thankes most humbly and hartely to him for this daies woorke, that in any part I most vnwoorthy wretch shoulde bee made worthy to beare wytnes vnto his euerlasting verity, which Antichrist wyth his, by maine force (I perceaue) and by most impudent pride and boasting, wyll go about to suppresse. Remember God alway my deare wyfe, and so shall Gods blessing light vpon you and our Samuell. O remember alway my wordes for Christes sake: be mery and grudge not agaynst God, and pray, pray. We be all mery here thankes bee vnto God, who in his Christ hath geuen vs great cause to bee mery, by whom he hath prepared for vs such a kingdom, and doth and will geue vnto vs some litle taste therof euen in this lyfe, and to all such as are desirous to take it. Blessed (saith our Christ) be they which hunger and thirst after righteousnes, for such shall be satisfied. Let vs go, yea let vs run to seeke such treasure, and that with whole purpose of hart to cleaue vnto the Lord, to finde such riches in hys heauenly worde through his spirite obtayned by prayer. My deare frendes and brethren M. Harrington and M. Hurland, Pray, pray. MarginaliaMath. 26.Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro autem infirma. i. The spirite is ready, but the flesh is weake. When I looke vpon my selfe, quid ego stupidus & attonitus habeo quod dicā, nisi illud Petri, exi a me domine quia homo peccator sum? i. MarginaliaLuke. 5. Psal. 119.Being astonished & cōfoūded, what haue I els to say but those words of Peter: Lorde, goe from me: for I am a sinfull man? But thē feele I that sweete cōfort: Lucerna pedibus meis verbū Domini, & lumē semitis meis: & hæc mea est consolatio in humilitate mea. i. MarginaliaIohn. 6.The word of the Lord is a lantarne to my feete, and a light vnto my pathes: and this is my comfort in my trouble. Then waxe I bolde wyth the same Peter to say: Domine ad quem ibimus, verba vitæ æternæ habes. i. Lord to whom shall we go? thou hast the wordes of euerlasting lyfe. Thys cōfort haue I when þ^e geuer therof doth geue it. But I looke for battails which the roote of vnfaithfulnes, the which I feele in me, wyl most egerly geue vnto my conscience, when wee come once to the combate. We be (I weene) within þ^e soūd of the trumpe of our enemies. Play ye that be abroad þ^e part of Moyses, Orantes in omni loco, sustolentes puras manus. i. Marginalia1. Tim. 2.Praying in all places, lifting vp pure handes, and Gods people shal preuaile: yea, our bloud shall be their perdition who doe most triumphantly spill it,MarginaliaSapien. 5. & we then being in the hands of our God, shall shine in his kingdome, and shall stand in great stedfastnes, agaynst them which haue dealt extremely with vs: And when these our enemies shal thus see vs, they shall be vexed with horrible feare, and shall