Marginalia1555. Ianuary.most constaunt defenders of thy Church? thou knowest I say, that agaynst these our two gouernours (the enemies of thy holy *Marginalia* The Testament setteth vp onely the glory of Christ. Testament, and of the Churche thy spouse) be most rancke Rebels and spitefull murmurers, walkyng after their lustes, whose mouth speaketh wordes of pride, to the end they may set vp the kingdome of heretickes & schismatickes. By the power of their handes they would *Marginalia* If the chaunging of Gods promises, destroying his inheritance, stopping the mouthes of gods people, if contentions, warres & schismes, be tokens of heretickes, who so great heretickes as the Papistes be? chaūge thy promises, and destroy thyne inheritaunce, and stop and shut vp the mouthes of thē that prayse thee, and extinguish the glory of thy Catholicke Church and aultar.

It is manifest and playne, how many contentions how many conspiracies, & seditions, how great warres, what tumultes, how many, and how great troublesome vexatiōs, how many heresies and schismes (for these be the most ready deuises, and euident tokens of heretickes) for our sinnes do hang ouer vs, if they seruaunt bee taken from this life: for we acknowledge that our Lord is omnipotēt, who hath pitched his dwellyng place in the middest of his people, to the intēt to deliuer vs out of the handes of our enemyes. Turne therfore thy countenance vnto vs, shew vnto vs, O Lord, thy face. Punish vs for our sinnes accordyng to thy will and pleasure, onely now deliuer vs. We bowyng the knees of our hart, besech thee that thou wilt not reserue vnto vs punishment for euer, and we shall prayse thee, all the dayes of our lyfe. Heare our cry, and the prayer of thy people, and open to them the treasure of thy mercy, thy gracious fauour, the spryng of liuely water. Thou that hast begon, make in the hand of the seruaunt a perfect worke. Suffer not, we pray thee, the *Marginalia* Cry vp louder you priestes peraduenture your God is asleepe. faythlesse rebelles to say of thy seruaunt & her Counsellours, that they haue deuised matters whiche they can nat performe. And graunt vnto thy seruaunt an happy and an easie trauaile. For it is not impossible to thy power, not indecent to thy iustice, nor vnwonted to thy mercy.

It is well knowen vnto vs, how maruelously thou diddest worke in Sara of the age of xc. yeares,MarginaliaThe Lord gaue a promise to Sara and Elizabeth: so did he not to Q. Mary. and in Elizabeth the barrein, and also farre stricken in age: for thy coūsel is not in the power of men. Thou lord that art the searcher of harts & thoughts, thou knowest that thy seruant neuer lusted after man, neuer gaue her selfe to wanton cōpany, nor made her selfe partaker with thē that walke in lightnes: but shee cōsented to take an husband with thy feare, and not with her lust. Thou knowest that thy seruant tooke an husbād, not for carnal pleasure, but onely for the desire & loue of posteritie, wherin thy name might be blessed for euer and euer. Geue therfore vnto thy seruaunts, Philip our kyng, and Marye our Queene, a male issue, which maye sit in the seate of thy kingdome. Geue vnto our Quene thy seruant, a litle infant in fashion and body comely & beautiful, in pregnant wyt notable and excellent.

Graunt the same to be in obedience like *Marginalia* It is not best such one to be graunted vnto you for being lyke Abraham, Ioseph, Moses and Salomon he may chaunce to smell out your corrupt doctrine, and to detest your bloudy tyranny. &c. Abraham, in hospitalitie like Loth, in chastitie & brotherly loue like Ioseph, in meekenes & myldnes lyke Moses, in strength & valiantnes like Sampson. Let him bee found faythful as Dauid after thy hart. Let hym bee wise among kynges as the most wise Salomon. Let him be like Iob, a simple and an vpright man, fearyng God, & eschewyng euyl. Let hym finally be garnished with the comelynes of all vertuous conditions, and in the same let hym waxe old and lyue, that he may see his childrens children to the third and fourth generation. And geue vnto our soueraigne Lord and Lady, king Philip and Queene Mary, thy blessing, and long lyfe vpon earth. And grant that of them may come kings & queenes, which maye stedfastly continue in fayth, loue, and holynes. And blessed be their seede, of our God, that all nations may know, that thou art only God in all the earth, whiche art blessed for euer and euer. Amen.

¶ An other prayer for Queene Mary, and her conceiued chylde.  

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The third prayer (1563, pp. 1016-17; 1570, p. 1654; 1576, p. 1411; 1583, p. 1481) is stated (only in 1563) to be by Thomas Smith; presumably Sir Thomas Smith. The note identifying Smith as the author of this prayer may well have been removed at Smith's request.

MarginaliaAn other prayer for the same. O Almighty father, which diddest sanctifie the blessed virgin and mother of Mary in her cōception and in the byrth of Christe our saueour (thy onely sonne:) also by thy omnipotent power diddest safely deliuer the prophete Ionas out of the Whales bely: Defend O Lord, we beseeche thee, thy seruant Mary our Queene, with child conceiued, and so visite her in and with thy godly gyft of health, that not onely the childe thy creature, within her conteined, may ioyfully come frō her into this world, and receiue the blessed Sacramentes of Baptisme and Confirmation, enioynyng therewith daily encrease of all princely and gracious gyftes both of body and soule, but that also shee, the mother, thorow thy special grace & mercy, may in tyme of her trauaile auoyde all excessiue dolour and paine, and abide perfecte and sure from al peryl and dauuger of death, with long & prosperous lyfe, though Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Once again, Foxe added material to the 1570 edition from his chronicle source(s), this time concerning events in January 1555. Some of these events, such as the dissolution of parliament or the revival of the statutes for punishing heresy, were mentioned with less detail in the first edition (in 1563, pp. 1022 and 1019-20 respectively).

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MarginaliaIanuary 10.the Tuesday being the. x. of Ianuarye. xix. of the lower house of the parlamēt, with the Speaker came to the white Hal to the kyng, and there offered hym the gouernment of the Realme and of the Issue, if the Queene should fayle, which was confirmed by act of parlamēt within ten dayes after.

MarginaliaIanuary. 16.Vpon Wednesday following beyng the. xvi. of Ianuary, the Parliament was cleane dissolued. In this among other thinges the Bishop of Rome was established,MarginaliaThe Popes supremacye established by Parlament. and all such lawes as were made against him since the. xx. yere of king Henry. the eight, were repealed, and also Cardinall Poole, Bishop Pates, Lilly, & other were restored to theyr bloud. MarginaliaMatters concluded in the Parlament.Also there was an Act made for speaking of wordes: that who soeuer should speake any thinge agaynst the kyng or queene, or that might moue any sedition or rebellion, at the first tyme to haue one of his eares cut of, or to forfeite an hundred markes, & at the second to haue both his eares cut of, or els to forfeit an hundred pounds: & whosoeuer should write, sipher, or print any of the premisses, to haue their right hand cut of.

MarginaliaThree statutes against heretickes reuiued.Also in this parlament three statutes were reuiued for trial of heresie: one made in the fift yeare of Richard the second, an other in the second yeare of Henry the. 4 and the third in the. 2. yeare of Henry the. 5. Also the doing of M. Rose, & the other that were with him, was cōmuned of in this parlamēt, and vpō that occasiō an act was made, that certaine euyll prayers should be treason against the Queenes highnes. The prayers of these men were thus: God turne the hart of Queene Mary from Idolatrie, or els shorten her dayes. Whereof read the statute Ann. 1. & 2. Reg. Phil. et Mariæ. Cap. 9.

As touchyng the takyng of M. Rose and his felowes, word was brought therof to M. Hooper being then in the Fleet. Whereupon the said M. Hooper sendeth answere againe, with a letter also of consolation sent to the saide prisoners: the copie wherof I thought here not to ouerpasse.

¶ The answeare of master Hooper to a letter sent vnto hym concernyng certaine prisoners taken in Bowe Churchyarde.  

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Block 37: Hooper's Answer and Letter

Foxe reprinted the letters to and from John Hooper about the arrest of Thomas Rose's congregation on 1 January 1555. All of these letters were first printed by Henry Bull in An apology made by the reverende father and constante martyr of Christe Iohn Hooper (London, 1562), STC 13742, sigs. C6r-D3v. (ECL MS 261, fols. 1r-14r form the manuscript of the book sent to Grindal for his imprimatur; ECL 261, fols. 11r-14r are the letters concerning Rose's congregation). In the 1563 edition (only), Foxe printed an anonymous letter sent to Hooper, informing him of the arrest of Rose's congregation (1563, p. 1020). This letter is in Apology, sigs. C6r-C7r and ECL MS 261, fol. 11r-v; it is not printed in other editions of the Acts and Monuments nor is it printed in the LM.

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This was followed by Hooper's brief reply to this letter (1563, p. 1020; 1570, p. 1654; 1576, p. 1411; 1583, p. 1482; cf. Apology, sigs. C7v-C8r; ECL 261, fol. 12r and LM, p. 120).

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Hooper's Answer and Letter

The glosses serve to encourage the image of a small, true church suffering under age-old papal tyranny and taking refuge in mutual comfort. Two glosses containing the term 'persecution' link the ancient sufferings with the inauguration of the most recent set in Bow churchyard: Hooper's encouragement to his flock that the church is often suffering becomes a warning to Foxe's readers. The pastoral focus of Hooper's letter is made clear. It is perhaps significant that part of a gloss referring to the addressees of the letter is dropped after 1570, as this may reflect a recognition by Foxe that the potential of the letter as a source of comfort in times of trouble went beyond its immediate, historical context.

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A letter of consolation sent from M. Hooper to the godly brethren taken in Bow churchyard, in prayer, and laid in the Counter in Breadstreat.  

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Foxe includes Hooper's letter to the imprisoned congregation, urging them to be constant unto death (1563, pp. 1021-22; 1570, pp. 1654-55; 1576, pp. 1411-12; 1583, p. 1482; cf. Apology, sigs. C8v-D3v; ECL MS 261, fols. 12v-14r and LM, pp. 121-23. ECL MS 260, fol. 225r-v and Lansdowne MS 389, fols. 3r-4v are copies of this letter).

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MarginaliaA letter of M. Hooper full of most heauenly consolation. THe grace, fauour, consolation, & aid of the holy Ghost be with you now and euer. So be it.

Dearely beloued in the Lorde, euer sithens your imprisonment, I haue bene marueilously moued with great affections and passions, as well of myrth and gladnes, as of heauines and sorow. Of gladnes in this, that I perceyued how ye be bent and geuen to prayer and inuocation of Gods helpe in these darke and wicked procedings of men, against Gods glorye. I haue bene sorye to perceiue the malice and wickednes of men to be so cruel, diuelish, and tyrannicall, to persecute the people of God, for seruyng of God, saying and hearing of the holy Psalmes, and the word of eternall lyfe. These cruel doinges do declare, that the Papistes Church is more bloudy and tyrannical, then euer was the sworde of the Ethnikes and Gentiles.

When I hearde of your taking, and what ye were doing, wherfore, and by whom ye were taken, I remembred how the Christians in the Primatiue Churche were vsed by the crueltie of vnchristened Heathens, in þ^e tyme of Traiane the Emperour about 77. yeares after Christes ascension into heauen: and how the Christians were persecuted very sore, as though they had bene traytors and mouers of sedition. Whereupon the gentle Emperour Traiane required to knowe the true cause of Christian mens trouble.MarginaliaOf thys persecutiō, read before pag. 38. col. 1. A great learned man called Plinius, wrote vnto him, & said, it