Marginalia1556. Iuly.
☞ My Sister deare, God geue you grace
With stedfast faith in Christes name,
His Gospell still for to embrace,
And liue accordyng to the same.
To dye therfore, thinke it no shame,
But hope in God with faithfull trust,
And he will geue you prayse with fame
When you shall ryse out of the dust.
For which most swete and ioyfull day
To God with faith your prayer make,
And thinke on me I do you pray,
The which did write this for your sake.
And thus to God I you betake,
Who is your castell and stronge rocke:
He keepe you whether you slepe or wake.
Farewell deare Mistres A. Glascocke.

¶ An other letter of Iohn Careles to Mistres A. G. to comfort her in her repentaunce, after she had bene at Masse, fruitefull for all them to bee read, which haue fallen, and are to be raysed vp agayne.  

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Agnes Glascock, as is made clear by the contents of this letter, attended mass under pressure from her husband. (Tyms also wrote to her about this). This letter was first printed in the 1570 edition and is not in Letters of the Martyrs.

MarginaliaAn other cōfortable Letter of Iohn Careles to Mistres A. G. being in great repentaunce for going to the Masse.THe peace of God in IESVS CHRIST: the eternall comfortes of his swete spirite be with you, and strength and comfort you my deare and faithfull sister, Amen.

Although the perillous dayes become, wherof CHRIST prophesied, that if it were possible the very elect should be deceiued: yet let the true faithfull Christians reioyce and be glad, knowyng that the Lord him selfe his their keper, who will not suffer one heare of their heades to perish without his almightie good will and pleasure, neither will suffer them to be further tempted then he will geue them strength to beare: but will in the middest of their temptation make away for them to escape out: So good and gracious a God is he to all his chosen childrē. And though sometymes he do let his elect stumble and fall, yet (no doubt) he wil raise them vp agayn to the further encrease of their comfort and to the settyng forth of his glory and prayse. Which thyng (my deare and faithfull louing sister) I trust shalbe wel verified on you. For I do heare say that by the manifold allurements, intycementes, procuremēts, yea & enforcemētes that you deare hart haue had, your foote hath chaūced to slyp forth of the way, to þ^e great discōfort of your soule & the heauines of your hart: but my good sister, be of good cheare, for the Lord will not so leaue you, but he will raise you vp againe and make you stronger then euer you were: so that your fall shall turne to his glorie and your profite. For if you had not by this proued the experience of your owne strength, or rather your owne weakenes, you would haue stand to much in your owne conceite, or perchaunce haue gloried in your selfe, and haue despised and condemned other weake persons that haue committed the like offence. Therfore now you may see what the best of vs all can do, if GOD leaue vs to our selues. Which thyng ought to moue you to be diligent to call earnestly vpon God for his grace and the strength of his holy spirite (without the which we are not hable to stand one houre) and to be most thankefull for the same when you haue it, and then to be more circumspect in tyme to come.

Therfore deare sister, seyng that you haue done otherwise then the word of God & your own cōscience would allow, yet deare hart, do you not thinke þ^t God therefore will cast you cleane away, but know that he hath mercy enough in store for all them that truly repent & beleue in him, although the sinnes of thē were as many in nūber as the sandes in the Sea, and as great as the sinnes of the whole world. It is a greater sinne to mistrust the mercy and promises of God, then to commit the greatest offence in the world. MarginaliaTo trust to Gods promise.Therfore (good sister) beware in any wise, that you do not once mistrust the promises of Gods mercy towardes you: but know for a very suretie that all your sinnes be vtterly forgeuen you for CHRISTES sake, be they neuer so many, so greuous, or so great.

But now (deare hart) take heede and beware that you do not cloke that sinne and increase the same dayly, in communicating with the wicked in their Idolatrie, and deuilish doings at their denne of theeues. MarginaliaCustome of sinne a perillous matter.Do not (I say) deare sister, come at any of their Antichristian seruice, lest by litle and litle you vtterly lose a good conscience, and at length esteme it for none offence: as (alas) a great nōber doth at this day, to the great perill of their soules. The Lord be mercifull vnto them and geue them grace to repent in time and turne to the Lord, and then they shalbe sure to finde mercie at the Lordes hād, as doubtles you haue done, praised be his name therfore.

Ah my deare sister, you may now see the wordes of CHRIST verified vpon your selfe: that a mans greatest foes shall be they of his own houshold: for your husband hath gotten you to do that,MarginaliaA. G. intised by her husband to go to the Masse. which all the tyrantes in the world could neuer haue made you to do. Doubtles he may be sorie for it. God geue him grace to repent, or els, without doubt, it will be layd to his charge one day when he would not by his will heare it for all the goods in the world. Well, I thinke my brother Tymmes will write him a letter shortly that shall touch his conscience, if he haue any conscience at all.

But now agayne to you deare sister. The thing that is done can not be vndone, and you are not the first that hath offended, neither are you so good and so holy, as hath at a time slipt forth of the way. Therfore I would not haue you to be so much discomforted as I heare say you be, as though GOD were not as hable to forgeue you your offence, as he was to forgeue his deare Saints that offēded him in times past: MarginaliaThe raysing vp of a troubled conscience after hys fall.or as though God were not as mercifull now, as euer he was. Where as in very deede, There is with the Lord (as the Prophet saith) mercy and plentifull redemption: and his mercy farre surmounteth all his workes: and he neuer faileth any that put their whole trust and confidence in him, how great an offēder or how wicked a trespasser so euer it be: No, MarginaliaGod turneth all thinges to þ^e best, to them that be hys.he maketh theyr falles and backeslydinges many times to turne to their profite and commoditie, and to the setting forth of his glory: As doubtles deare sister, yours shall do, if you put your whole faith, hope, and trust only in his infinite and eternall sweete mercies.

MarginaliaSathan when he can not bryng a man to hys seruice, he presseth hym with distrust of Gods mercie.Oh what a suttel, craftie, lying serpent is that Sathan our old enemie, that when he seeth that he can not make vs to cōtinue in our wickednes to do him seruice, would then bring vs into a doubting and mistrustyng of the mercy of God: which is the greatest offence that can be: yea infidelitie is the roote & originall of all other sinnes. Therfore (my swete sister) geue no place to that cruell aduersarie of mankinde, who hath bene a lyer and a murtherer frō the beginnyng, but stedfastly beleue the Lord, who hath sent you word by me his most vnworthy seruaunt, that all your sinnes be pardoned, forgeuen, and cleane released for IESVS CHRISTES sake our onely Lord and Sauiour. To whom with the father, and the holy Ghost, be all honour, glorie, praise, thankes, power, rule, and dominion for euer and for euer, Amen. Farewell my deare sister, and be of good chere. Beleue in the Lord and you shall liue for euer. The Lord increase your faith, Amen, Amen.

Your poore brother and dayly faithfull
Oratour Iohn Careles, prisoner of the
Lord. Pray for me.

¶ An other letter of Iohn Careles to A. B.  

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Augustine Bernher. Careless, as Foxe mentions in a marginal note, encouraged Augustine Bernher to marry Elizabeth despite what Foxe describes as 'certain lets' [i.e., obstacles] against the marriage. (One of Careless's letters to Bernher, urging him to press forward with his suit of Elizabeth, is ECL 260, fos. 242r-243r. This letter makes it clear that these obstacles included the oppositionof Elizabeth's family to the match).

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a faythfull Minister of the Lord, conteining certaine fruitfull preceptes of Matrimony.  

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This letter was first printed in 1570 and is not in Letters of the Martyrs.

MarginaliaA Letter of Ioh. Careles to A. B. a faythfull seruant of Christ.J Besech the same euerlasting Lord (my deare and faithfull brother) that blessed young Tobias with his wife Sara, and brought them together in due tyme with reuerence and feare, preserue and blesse you both, and your sede after you, that they may encrease the number of the faithfull by thousandes and thousādes. And as the Lord of his great mercie and fatherly prouidence hath bene alwayes carefull for you, and now hath for your comfort accomplished his good worke in couplyng you with a faithfull mate: so see that you be thankefull for his prouidence towardes you, that it may euery way in you be an encrease of loue and godlynes, yea of Christian ioy and gladnes in these sorrowfull dayes: but yet so, that you mourne with the true mourners of Syon, and be sory (yet in measure) for the hurt of the same. Pray also in faith for her prosperitie, that the Lord may build vp the walles of Hierusalem agayne.

MarginaliaPsal. 146.Oh that the Lord would turne Sions captiuitie as the riuer, into the South: Then should our hartes be made glad and our mouthes filled with laughter. Thē would the heathen hypocrites say: the Lord hath done much for them. Oh, the Lord hath done great things for vs already: whereof let vs hartely reioyce, and prayse his name therfore. For though we now sowe with teares, yet shal we be sure to reape with gladnes: and as we now go forth weepyng, bearnyng forth good seede, so shall we come again with ioy, and bring our sheaues ful of corne. MarginaliaThe death of the Martyrs is the life of the Gospell.Yea the death of the Martyrs (which is most precious in his sight) shalbe the life of the Gospell, spite of the Papistes hartes.