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937 [116]

K. Henry. 7. A prayer agaynst the Turkes.

also with their tymes, cōtinuance, interruptions and alterations, in order described & in yeares distincted: Which otherwise in most authors and writers bee so confused, that it is hard to knowe distinctlye, what difference is betwene the Saracens, Turkes, Tartarians, the Sultans or Soldans, Mamaluches, or Ianizarites: what is their Calipha, their Seriphes, their Sultan, or Bassa, in what tymes they began, and howe long, and in what order of yeares they reigned. All whiche in this present table manifestly to thyne eye may appeare.

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MarginaliaWhy the pope can not preuaile agaynst the Turkes.¶ Wherin this thou hast moreouer (gentle reader) to consider, whiche is worthy the notyng, how the Byshop of Rome all this season, from the firste begynnyng of the Turkes reigne, hath not ceased from tyme to tyme continually, callyng vpon Christen princes and subiectes, to take the crosse, and to warre agaynst the Turkes: whereupon so many great viages haue bene made to the holy land, and so many battailes fought agaynst the Turke and Soldan for wynnyng the holy crosse: and yet no luckye successe hath folowed therof hetherto, nor euer came it prosperously forward, what soeuer, throughe the excityng of that Byshop, hath bene attēpted agaynst that great enemie of the Lord: In so much that the Christiās haue lost not onely all that they had in Asia, but also vnneth are able to defende that litle they haue in Europe, agaynst his violence. What the cause is of this hard lucke of the Byshops doynges, it is hard for man to define. Let men muse as their mynde leadeth, and as the Gospell sayth, he that hath eyes to see, let him see. This is certain, that as there hath lacked no care nor diligence in the Bishop of Rome, to styrre men vp to that busines: so on the princes behalfe there hath lacked no courage, no strēgth of men, no contribution of expenses, no supportation ofcharges, no furniture or abilement of warre: onely the blessyng of God semeth to haue lacked. The reason and cause wherof I would were so easy to be reformed, as it may be quickly construed. For what man beholdyng the lyfe of vs Christians, will greatly meruell, why the Lord goeth not with our armye to fight agaynst the Turkes? And if my verdite might here haue place, for me to adde my censure, there appeareth to me an other cause in this matter yet greater then this aforesayd: which to make plaine & euident in ful discourse of wordes, laysure now doth not permit: Briefly to touch what I conceaue, my opiniō is this: that if þe syncere doctrine of Christen fayth deliuered & left vnto vs in the word of God, had not ben so corrupted in the Church of Rome, MarginaliaGod offended with idolatrye & wronge fayth of the Christians.or if the Byshop of Rome would yet reclame his impure idolatrie, and prophanations, and admitte Christe the lambe of God to stand alone, without our vnpure additions, to be our onely iustification, accordyng to the free promise of Gods grace: I nothyng doubt but the power of this fayth groūdyng onely vppon Christ the sonne of God, had both framed our lyues into a better disposition: and also soone would, or yet will bryng downe the pride of that proude Holofernes:  

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Holofernes is the Assyrian general slain by the Jewish heroine Judith in the Apocryphal Old Testament book of Judith.

But otherwise, if the Bishop of Rome will not gentelye geue place to the mylde voyce of Gods worde, I thincke not contrarye, but he shall be compelled at laste to geue place and roume to the Turke, whether he will or not. And yet notwithstandyng, when both the Turke and the Pope shall doo agaynst it what they can, the truth and grace of Gods Testament shall fructifie and increase, by such meanes as the Lord shall worke, which begynneth already (prayse to þe Lord) to come graciously and luckely forward, in most places.

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¶ A Prayer agaynst the Turkes.  
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This prayer is Foxe's composition.

MarginaliaA prayer agaynst the Turkes.O Eternall Lord God, father of our Lord Iesus Christ, creator and disposer of all thinges, iust, gracious, and wise onely, in the name and reuerence of thy sonne Iesus, we prostrate our selues, desiring thine omnipotent maiestie, to looke downe vpon these afflicted times of thy poore creatures and seruauntes: releaue thy Church, increase our fayth, and confound our enemies: And as thou hast geuē thine onely begotten sonne vnto vs, promising with him life to all that shall beleue vpon his name: so incline the obedience of our fayth to thy promises in him, that our hartes may be farre of from all other sinnefull additions and prophane inuentions, which are besides him, and not in hym grounded vpon thy will and promise. And graunt (we besech thee) to thy Church, more and more to see, how horrible a thing it is, to set vp any other meanes or helpe of saluation, but onely in him, whom thou onely hast sent and sealed. Reforme thy Church with perfecte doctrine, and faythfull teachers, that we seing our owne weakenes, may put of our selues, and put on him, without whom we can do nothing. So shall we stand stronge, when nothing standeth in vs, but thy sonne alone, in whom thou art onely pleased. Renewe in thys thy Church agayne, the decayed fayth of thy sonne Iesus, which may plentifully bring forth in vs, not leaues onely, but fruites of Christian life: And forgeue our wretched Idolatrie, and blinde phantasies past, wherwith we haue prouoked manyfolde wayes, thy deserued indignation against vs: For our hartes haue bene full of Idoles, our temples full of Images, our waies full of hipocrisie: thy Sacramentes prophaned, and thy Religion turned to superstition, because the lanterne of thy worde went not before vs, therfore we haue stumbled.MarginaliaPsal. 119. Miserably we haue walked hetherto, like sonnes not of Sara, but of Agar, MarginaliaGalat. 4.and therfore these Turkishe Agarens haue risen vp against vs. Many hard and straite waies we haue passed, but the waies of the Lord we haue not found. MarginaliaSapien. 5.Much coste we haue bestowed on bread that swageth no hunger, but that bread which onely feedeth and commeth freely, we haue not tasted. MarginaliaEsai. 55.We haue sayled farre and neare, in barkes of our owne building, but haue not kept within the Arke onely of thy promise, and therfore these floudes haue taken vs. MarginaliaGenes. 6.We haue prayed much, but not in thine appointed temple, and therefore haue not bene heard. We haue plowed and tilled, but without thy haiffer, and therfore this vntydie ground of ours, bringeth forth so many weedes. MarginaliaIudic. 14.We doe fishe apace, & that all night, but because we fishe not on the right side of the boate, in our fishing we catch neuer a finne. MarginaliaIoa. 22:Our buildinges be full of good intentions, and great deuotions, but because the ground worke is not surely layd vpon the rocke of thy promise, the East winde ryseth and shaketh them all to sheuers. MarginaliaLuke. 6.We walke and haue walked long after the preceptes and doctrines of men, hauing a shewe of wisedome, but not as holding the head, where lyeth all our strength, MarginaliaCollos. 2.and therfore these Philistian Turkes, haue hetherto so preuailed against vs. Briefly, all the partes and bones of the body be shaken out of place. Wherfore we beseeche thee (O Lord) put to thy holy hand, and set them in the right ioynt agayne: And finally reduce this same thy mysticall body againe, to his perfecte & naturall head, which is thine onely sonne Iesus Christ, and none other. For him onely hast thou annoynted & appointed. Neither is there any other head, that cā minister strength & nutriment to this body, but he alone: for as much as all other heades be sinnefull, and are not able to stand in thy sight, but make this body rather worse then better. Onely this thy welbeloued & perfecte sonne is he, in whom onely dwelleth all our strength & fulnes: him onely we confesse & knowledge. For whom, and with whom, we beseeche thee (O Lord God of hoastes) graunt to thy Church strength and victorie against the malicious furye of these Turkes, Saracens, Tartarians, against Gog and Magog, and all the malignaunt rable of Antichrist, enemies to thy sonne Iesus our Lorde and Sauiour. Preuent their deuises, ouerthrow their power, and dissolue their kingdome, that the kingdome of thy sonne so long oppressed, may recouer and florishe ouer all: and that they which wretchedly be fallen from thee, may happely be reduced againe into the folde of thy saluation, through Iesus Christ our onely mediatour and most mercifull aduocate. Amen.

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