MarginaliaAn. 1555. March.Lord and friend, vnto such tyme as ye find me eyther desiryng to be defended in my wrong, or not willing to put the mogement of my ryght cause into your handes. And becuse that the residue of matters, touching them, & their vngentle, vntrue, and vngodly doings is to long and I haue molested you to much wyth this my tedious letter, I shall now surcease: humbly beseching your good lordship to accept in good part thys my boldnes procedyng of necessity, and to pardon it for the loue of our Lord Iesu: who saue and kepe you in health, comfort, and honor, long to endure for the aduauncement of hys glory. Written at Agurguily this. ix. of March.

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Your Lordships to commaund duryng lyfe, R.F.

MarginaliaRaulins White Martyr, burned at Cardiffe in Wales.FOr so much as we haue here passed the history of M. Farrar, burned at the towne of Carmarden in Wales, I thought to adioyne and accompanie with the same, the history also of one Rawlins Whyte a Fisherman, which both in þ^e like cause, & in the same coūtrey of Wales, & also about þ^e same moneth of March & yeare aforesayd, gaue his lyfe lyke a valiant souldiour of Iesus Christ, to Martyrdome, & was bnrned at Cardiffe: the processe of whose story here followeth expressed more at large.

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This Rawlins was by his calling or occupation a Fisherman, liuing and cōtinuing in the sayd trade by the space of. xx. yeares at the least in the towne of Cardiffe, being (as a man of his vocation might be) one of very good name, and well accompted amongest hys neighbours. As touchyng hys religion at the first, it can not otherwyse be knowen, but that he was a great partaker of the superstition and idolatry that then was vsed, I meane in the raigne of king Henry the eight. But after that God of his mercy had raised vp the light of hys Gospel, through the blessed gouernment of king Edward the sixt here in this realme of England, thys Rawlins began partly to mislike that which before he had embraced, and to haue some good opinion of that which before by the iniquitie of the time had bene concealed from him: and the rather to bring this good purpose and intent of his to passe, he began to be a diligent hearer, and a great searcher out of the truth.

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MarginaliaThe desirous mynde of Rawlins to search for truth.But because the good man was altogether vnlearned, & withall very simple, he knew no ready way how he might satisfie his great desire: At length it came in his minde to take a speciall remedy to supply his necessitie, which was this: He had a litle boy which was his owne sonne, MarginaliaThe godly entent of Rawlins in setting his sonne to schole.which child hee set to schole to learne to read English.  

Now after the litle boy could read indifferently well, his father euery night after supper, sommer & winter, would haue the boy to read a peece of þ^e holy Scripture, & now & then of some other good booke. In which kinde of vertuous exercise the old man had such delight & pleasure, that, as it seemed, he rather practised him selfe in the study of Scripture, then in the trade or science which before tyme he had vsed: so that Raulins within fewe yeares in the sayd tyme of kyng Edward, MarginaliaThe meanes whereby Rawlins first came to knowledge.through þ^e helpe of his litle sonne, as a speciall minister appointed by God (no doubt) for that purpose, and through much consciēce besides, profited and went forward in such sort, þ^t he was hable not only to resolue him self touchyng hys owne former blyndnes & ignoraunce, but was also able to admonish & instruct other: and therefore when occasion serued, hee would go frō one place to an other, visityng such as he had best hope in. MarginaliaRawlins by the meanes of hys yong sonne came to the knowledge of the scripture.By which his doyng hee became in that countrey both a notable and open professour of the truth, beyng at all tymes and in all places not without the company of his litle boy, whom (as I haue sayd) he vsed as an assistance to this his good purpose. And to this hys

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great industry and indeuour in holy Scripture, God did also adde in hym a singulare gift of memory, MarginaliaThe gift of memory in Rawlins.so that by the benefite therof he would and could do that in vouchyng and rehearsing the text, which men of ryper and more profoud knowledge by their notes and other helpes of memory, could very hardly accomplish: In so much that he vppon the alledgyng of Scripture very often would cite the booke, the leafe, yea and þ^e very sentence: such was the wonderfull workyng of God in this simple and vnlearned father.

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Now, when he had thus continued in his profession the space of v. yeares, kyng Edward dyed, vpon whose decease Queene Mary succeded, and with her all kynde of superstition and Papistry crept in. Which thyng beyng once perceaued, Raulins did not altogether vse open instruction and admonitlon (as before he was wont) and therfore oftentymes in some priuate place or other, he would call his trusty frendes together, and with earnest prayer and great lamentation passe away the tyme: so that by his vertuous instructions beyng without any blemish of errour, he conuerted a great number, which number (no doubt) had greatly encreased, had not the cruell storme of persecution bene. The extremitie and force wherof at the last so pursued this good father Raulins that he looked euery houre to go to prison: wherupon many of those which had receaued comfort by his instructions, did resort vnto him and by all meanes possible began to persuade him MarginaliaRawlins exhorted to shift for himselfe.to shift for hym selfe, and to dispose his goods by some reasonable order to the vse of his wife and children, and by that meanes he should escape that daunger which was imminent ouer his head.

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But Raulins nothyng abashed for hys owne part, through the iniquitie of the tyme, and at all nothyng moued with these their fleshly persuasions, thanked thē most hartly for their good will, and told them playnly that he had learned one good lesson touching the confessing and deniall of Christ, MarginaliaRawlins promiseth to be constant to the death.aduertising them that if he vpō their persuasions should presume to deny his Maister Christ, Christ in the last day would deny and vtterly condemne him: and therfore (quoth he) I will by his fauorable grace confesse and beare witnes of him before men, that I may find hym in euerlastyng lyfe.

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Notwithstāding which aūswere, his frendes were very importunate with him. Howbeit father Raulins continued still in his good purpose, so long till at the last he was taken by the officers of the town as a man suspected of heresie: MarginaliaRawlins apprehended and conuented before the Bishop of Landaffe named Anthony Kechin.vpon which apprehension he was conuented before þ^e Bishop of Landaffe that then was: the sayd Byshop lying then at his house besides Chepstow: by whō, after diuers cōbats & cōflictes with hym, & his Chaplains: this good father Raulins was cōmitted to prisō in Chepstow. But this his keping whether it were by the Bishops meanes because he would ridde his handes of him, or through fauour of his keeper, was not so seuere and extreme, MarginaliaRawlins might eschape and would not.but that (if he had so listed) he might haue escaped oftentymes.

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But that notwithstandyng, he continued still, in so much that at the last he by the aforenamed Bishop was remoued from Chepstow to the Castle of Cardiffe, MarginaliaRawlins a whole yeare in prison.where he continued by the space of one whole yeare. Duryng which tyme this reporter resorted to him very often, with money and other relief from this reporters motherMarginaliaA godly woman stirred vp to relieue Rawlins. (who was a great fauourer of those that were in affliction in those dayes) & other of his frēdes: which hee receaued not w^tout great thankes & prayses geuen to the name of God. And albeit that he was thus troubled and imprisoned, as ye haue heard, to his own vndoyng in this world and to þ^e vtter decay of his poore wife and children: yet was his harte so set to the instruction and furtheraunce of other in the way of saluation, that he was neuer in quyet, but when he was MarginaliaExhortation of Raulins to his frendes.persuadyng or exhortyng such of his familiar frendes as commonly came vnto hym. In somuch that on the Sondayes and other tymes of laysure, when his frēdes

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