MarginaliaAn. 1555. Iuly.mercifull, and sory for the euyll powred out vpon vs, and cry out vnto him with Daniell, saying: MarginaliaHe exhorteth to repentance and praier, and to bewayle our sinnes before the Lord our God.wee haue synned, wee haue sinned, greuously oh Lorde God, agaynst thy maiesty, we haue heaped iniquity vppon iniquity: the measure of our transgressions floweth ouer, so that iust is thy vengeaunce and wrath fallen vpon vs. For we are very miserable, we haue contemned thy long suffring, wee haue not harkened to thy voyce. When thou hast called vs by Preachers, wee hardened our hartes, and therefore now deserue that thou send thy curse hereuppon to harden our hartes also, that we should henceforth haue eyes and see not, eares and heare not, hartes and vnderstand not, lest we should conuert and be saued. Oh be mercifull vnto vs: spare vs good Lord and al thy people, whom thou hast dearely bought. Let not thyne enemies triumph altogether and alwayes agaynst thee, for then wyll they be puft vp. Loke downe and behold the pitifull complayntes of the poore: let the sorowfull sighing of the simple come in thy syght, and bee not angry with os for euer. Turne vs oh Lord God of hostes vnto thee, and turne thee vnto vs, that thou mayst be iustified in thy swete sentences, and ouercome when thou art iudged, as now thou art of our aduersaries. For they say, where is there God? Can God deliuer them now? Can their Gospell serue them? Oh Lord howe long? for the glory of thy name, and for thy honours sake, in the bowelles and bloud of Iesus Christ, wee humbly besech thee, come and help vs, for we are very miserable.

On this sort I say, dearely beloued, let vs publickly and priuately bewayle our sinnes: but so that hereto we ioyne ceasing from wilfulnes and sinne of purpose, MarginaliaThe prayers of sinners be not heard.for els the lord heareth not our praiers, as Dauid saith. And in Saint Iohn it is written: the impenitent sinners God heareth not. Now, impenitent are they which purpose not to amend their lyues. As for example: not onely such which follow styll their pleasures, vncleannes, carnality: but those also which for feare or fauour of men, do agaynst their conscience to consent to the MarginaliaRomish rags, and rotten religion.Romish ragges, and resort to the rotten religion, communicating in seruice and ceremonies with the Papistes, thereby declaring them selues to loue more the world then God, to feare man more then Christ, to dread more the losse of temporall thinges, then of eternall: in whom it is euident, the loue of God abydeth not. For he that loueth the world, hath not Gods loue abyding in hym, sayth saynt Iohn: therefore my deare hartes, and deare agayne in the Lord, remember what you haue professed, Christes religion and name, and the renouncing of the Deuill, sinne, and the world.

MarginaliaThe A. B C. of the Christians beginneth with Christes crosse.Remember that before yee learned A.B.C. your lesson was Christs crosse. Forget not that Christ will haue no disciples but such as will promise to deny thē selues and take vp their crosse (marke, take it vp) and follow him: and not the multitude, custome &c. Consider for Gods sake, that if we gather not with Christ, we scatter abroad. What should it profit a man to win the whole world, and lose his owne soule? Wee must not forget that this lyfe is a wildernes, and not a paradise: here is not our home, we are now in warfare: we must needes fight, or els be taking prisoners. Of all thinges we haue in this lyfe, we shall cary nothing with vs. If Christ be our captayne, we must follow him as souldiers. If we kepe company with him in affliction, we shall be sure of his society in glory. If we forsake not hym, he wil neuer forsake vs. If we cōfesse him, he will confesse vs: but if we deny hym, he wyll deny vs. If we be ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of vs. Wherfore as he forsoke his father, & heauen, & all things to come to vs, so let vs forsake all things and come to him, MarginaliaThey neuer lose that folow Christ.being sure and most certain, that we shall not lose thereby. Your children shall finde and feele it double, ye treple, whatsoeuer you lose for the Lordes sake: and you shall find and fele peace of conscience and frendship with God, which is more worth then all the goods of the world.

My dearly beloued, therfore for the Lords sake consider these thinges which now I wryte vnto you of loue, for my Vale and last farewell for euer in thys present life. Turne to the Lord: repent you your euill and vnthankfull life, declare repentaunce by the fruites: take time while you haue it: come to the Lorde whiles he calleth you: run into his lap whiles his armes be open to embrace you: seeke him whiles he may be found: call vpon him whiles tyme is conuenient: for-

sake and flie from all euill both in religion, and in the rest of your life & conuersation.MarginaliaHe exhorteth to amendemēt in religion, and conuersation. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your works and prayse God in the day of his visitation. Oh come againe, come againe you straunge children, and I will receiue you sayth the Lord. Conuert and turne to me, and I will turne vnto you. Why? will ye nedes perish? As sure as I liue (sweareth the Lord) I will not your death: turne therfore vnto me. Can a woman forget the child of her wombe? If she should, yet will not I forget you, sayth the Lord, your God. I am he, I am he which put away your sins for mine owne sake.

Oh then dere frends, turne I say vnto your dearest father. Cast not these his swete and louing wordes to the ground and at your taile, for the Lord watcheth on hys word to performe it: which is in two sortes:MarginaliaThe lord watcheth to performe his word doublewise. to thē that lay it vp in their harts & beleue it, wil he pay all, and eternal ioy and comfort. But to them that cast it at their backes, and will forget it, to them (I say) wyll he poure out indignation and eternall shame. Wherefore I hartely yet once more besech and pray you and euery of you, not to contemne this poore and simple exhortation, which now out of prison I make vnto you, or rather the Lord by me. Loth would I bee to be a witnes against you in the last day: MarginaliaBradford must be a witnes in the last day to them that reiect his counsayle.as of truth I must be if ye repent not, if ye loue not Gods Gospell, yea if ye liue it not.

Therefore to conclude, repent, loue Gods Gospell, liue it in all your conuersation: so shall Gods name be praised, his plages mitigated, his people comforted, & his enemyes ashamed. Graunt all this thou gracyous Lord God, to euery of vs for thy deare sonnes sake, our Sauiour Iesus Christ: To whom with thee and the holy Ghost, be eternall glory for euer and euer, Amen. The. xij. of February. 1555.

&By the bondman of the Lord, and your afflicted&poore brother, I. Bradford.

MarginaliaAn other letter of Maister Bradford to certaine frendes of hys, whom for danger of that time he would not name.J Beseech the euerliuing God, to geue to you all, my good brethren and sisters, the comfort of the holy spirite, and the continuall sense of his mercy in Christ our Lord now and for euer, Amen.

The worlde my brethren seemeth to haue the vpper hand, iniquitie ouerfloweth, the truth and veritie seemeth to bee suppressed, and they which take parte therewith, are vniustly entreated: as they which loue the truth lament to see and heare, as they doe. The cause of all this is Gods anger, and mercy:MarginaliaGods anger and mercy both together vpon his church. his anger, because we haue greuously sinned against him: his mercy, because he here punisheth vs, and as a father nourtereth vs. We haue bene vnthankeful for his word: We haue contemned his kindnes: we haue ben negligēt in prayer: we haue bene too carnall, couetous, licentious. &c. We haue not hastened to heauēward, but rather to helward. We were fallen almost into an open contēpt of God, and all his good ordinaunces: MarginaliaThe contempt of God and his gospell punished.so that of his iustice he could no longer forbeare, but make vs feele his anger: as now he hath done in taking his worde & true seruice from vs, and permitted Sathan to serue vs with Antichristian religion, and that in such sorte, that if we wyll not yelde to it, and seeme to allow in dede and outward fact, our bodyes are like to be layd in pryson, and our goods geuen we can not tell to whom.

This should we loke vpon as a signe of Gods anger procured by our synnes: which my good brethren, euery of vs should now call to our memories often times so particularly as we can, MarginaliaExhortation to repentance and amēdment.that we might hartely lament them, repent them, hate them, aske earnestly mercy for them, & submit our selues to beare in this lyfe any kind of punishment which God will lay vpon vs for them. This should we doe in consyderation of Gods anger in thys time. Now his mercy in thys time of wrath is seene and should be seene in vs my dearly beloued, in this, that God doth vouchsafe to punish vs in thys present lyfe. MarginaliaGods mercy the cause why we are punished here.If he should not haue punyshed vs, do not you thynke that we would haue contynued in the euyls we were in? Yes verely we would haue bene worse, & haue gone forwards in hardening our harts by impenitency and neglygence of God and true godlynes. And then if death had come, should not we haue perished both soule and body into eternall fyre and perdition? Alas, what misery should we haue fallen into, if God should haue suffered vs to haue gone on forwarde in our euils? No greater signe of damnation there is, then to lye in euyll and synne vnpunyshed of God, as now the papists (my