1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1485 
This is certaine, that shortly after calling hym selfe better to remēbrāce, he was brought to great repentance & terrour of conscience. MarginaliaM. Hales about to kill himselfe in prison.In so much that for very anguish of hart he was ready with his penknife to kyl hym selfe there in the prison, & had (no doubt) so done, had not the mercyful prouidence of þe Lord rescued hym miraculously, as ye shall heare.Marginalia1555. Febru.
[Back to Top]It happened when supper time came that he should be called downe. M. Hales hauyng litle mynde either to eate or drinke, gate hym strayt waye to bed, where he laye all the night sobbyng & gronyng, & tooke (God knoweth) litle rest or sleepe. At length when mornyng came, about sixe of the clocke he sent his seruant for a cup of beere vnder pretence as though he were thirsty, and desirous to drinke: whether the cause were true or fayned, it is vnknowen: but this folowed, that his man was yet scarse out of the chāber, whē he with his penknife had wounded hym selfe in diuers places of his body, & was purposed (no doubt) to haue destroyed hym selfe, had not the goodnes of the Lord geuen present helpe in tyme of oportunitie. Wherby it is euident for al men to vnderstand, how Gods fauour was not absent from the man, although he thought hym selfe vtterly forsaken for his denyal: as by the sequele may wel appeare.
[Back to Top]For as soone as he had sent his man out of his chamber (MarginaliaGods mercifull prouidence in rescuing M. Hales.see what God would haue done) euen afore the chāber doore eftsoones the Butler met hym: who being desired to fil the drinke, & taking the cup, the other returned again vnto his master at the same very time when he was workyng his owne destruction: Wherby M. Hales at that time was stopt of his purpose, & preserued not without Gods manifest good wyl & prouidence. MarginaliaWinchester might rather haue sayd how theyr cruell dealing worketh desperatiō.When Winchester had knowledge of it, strayt way he taketh occasion thereby to blaspheme the doctrine of the Gospell, whiche he openly in the Starre chamber called the doctrine of desperation. Maister Hales being within a while after recouered of those woundes, & deliuered out of prison, getteth hym selfe home vnto his house: where he, either for the greatnes of his sorow, or for lacke of good counsel, or for that he woulde auoyde the necessitie of hearing Masse, hauing al thinges set in an order a good while before that perteined to his Testament, MarginaliaIudge Hales drowned himselfe.casting him selfe into a shalow ryuer, was drowned therin: which was about the beginnyng of this moneth of February, or in the moneth of Ianuary before, An. 1555.
CloseActually Hales drowned himself on 4 August 1554 (DNB).
The vnhappy chaunce of this so worthy a Iudge was surely the cause of greate sorowe and griefe vnto all good men: MarginaliaThe case of Iudge Hales drowning considered.and it gaue occasion besides vnto certain Diuines to stande somethyng in doubt with them selues, whether he were reprobate, or saued, or no: about whiche matter it is not for me to determine, either this way or that: for he that is our Iudge, the same shalbe his Iudge: and he it is that wyll lay all things open when the tyme commeth. This in the meane tyme is certaine & sure, that the deede of the man in my mynd ought in no wise to be allowed: which if hee dyd wittyngly, then do I discommend the mans reason. But if he dyd it in phrenesie and as beyng out of his wyt, then doo I greatly pitie his case.
[Back to Top]Yet notwithstandyng, seeing Gods iudgementes be secrete, and we be likewise in doubt vpon what entent he dyd thus punish hym selfe, neither againe is any man certayne, whether he did repent or no, before the last breath went out of his bodye, me semeth their opinion is more indifferent herein, which doe rather disallow the example of the dead, thē dispayre of his saluation.
[Back to Top]Otherwise, if we wyll adiudge all those to hell, þt haue departed the world after this sort, how many examples haue we in the first persecutions of the Church, of those men and women, who being registred in the workes of worthy writers, haue notwithstandyng their prayse & commendation.
MarginaliaExamples in the tyme of the first persecution.For what shall I thinke of those young men, who being sought for to do sacrifice to heathē Idols, dyd cast down them selues headlong and brake their owne neckes, to auoyde such horrible pollution of them selues? What shall I say of those virgins of Antioch who to the ende they might not defile them selues with vncleannes and with Idolatry through the perswasion of their mother castyng themselues headlōg into a ryuer together with their mother, dyd fordoo them selues, although not in the same water, yet after the same maner of drownyng, as this M. Hales dyd? What shall I say of MarginaliaEuseb. Hist. Eccle. lib. 8.other two sisters, which for the selfe same quarrel dyd violently throw them selues headlong into the sea, as Eusebius dooth recorde? In whom though perchaunce there was lesse cōfidence to beare out the paynes which should be ministred of the wicked vnto thē: yet that their good desire to kepe their fayth and religion vnspotted, was commended and praysed.
[Back to Top]An other like example of death is mentioned by Nicephorus,MarginaliaNicephor. lib. 7. Cap. 13. & that in an other virgin likewise, whose name is expressed in Hierome to be MarginaliaBrassila Dyrrachina.Brassila Dyrrachina, who to keepe her virginitie, fayned her self to be a witche, and so
conuentyng with the young man which went about to defloure her, pretended that shee woulde geue hym an hearbe, which should preserue hym from al kynde of weapons: and so to proue it in her self, layd the hearbe vpō her owne throte, biddyng him smite: wherby she was slaine, and so with the losse of her lyfe, her virginitie was saued.
[Back to Top]Hereunto may be ioyned the lyke death of Sophronia, a matron of Rome, who when shee was required of Maxentius the tyrant to be defiled, and sawe her husbande more slacke then he ought to haue bene in sauyng her honestie, biddyng them that were sent for her, to tary a whyle tyl she made her redy, went into her chamber, and with a weapon thrust her selfe through the brest and dyed. Now who is he that would reprehēd the worthy act of Achetes, which biting of his owne tongue, dyd spyt it out into þe harlots face?
[Back to Top]These examples I do not here inferre, as goyng about eyther to excuse or to mainteyne the heynous fact of master Hales, which I woulde wishe rather by silence might be drowned in obliuion:
CloseThis passage was added in the 1570 edition, probably in response to Nicholas Harpsfield's criticism of Foxe's account of Hales. In 1566, Nicholas Harpsfield, Foxe's most important contemporary critic, attacked Foxe's account. Harpsfield criticized Foxe for praising Hales as a martyr. In particular, Harpsfield criticized Foxe for maintaining that Hales might not be damned and for comparing Hales with early Christian martyrs who killed themselves rather than be forced to surrender their chastity and worship idols (DS, pp. 748-49).
[Back to Top]
CloseA version of this poem, probably written by Foxe himself (in the Rerum it is signed 'J. F.') first appeared in the Rerum (p. 265). In the 1563 edition, two lines were added to the poem, expressing the hope that Hales's soul might be cleansed andblessed through divine mercy. The last four lines of the poem were rewritten in the second edition, with a more pessimistic conclusion praying that, on the Day of Judgement, Hales's sins would not weigh too heavily against him.
[Back to Top]Si tua quanta fuit grauitas, prudentia, norma,
Iunctaq̀ syncera cum pietate fides:
Tam caro firma tibi fortisque Halise fuisset,
Sanctorum prima classe ferendus eras.
Instituit sedenim sua quis sic tempora vitæ
Sanctorum, vt nullis sint maculata malis.
Quum nihil ergo vides propria quin labe laboret,
Tu tua fac cures, cætera mitte Deo.
CloseTomkins may be said to have had greatness, as well as a lit candle, thrust upon him. He is virtually unique among the Marian martyrs in being more famous for what happened before his execution than for the execution itself. Descriptions of the burning of his hand circulated rapidly and widely among the protestants in exile. John Bale referred to it in a tract denouncing Bonner, written in 1554, although not published until Elizabeth's reign (Bale, A declaration of Edmonde Bonner's articles [London, 1561, STC 1289, fo. 108v), and Anna Hooper had heard about in Frankfurt by November 1554 (OL, I, p. 113).
[Back to Top]It is thus hardly surprising that the incident was written up in the Rerum (pp. 425-26) with only the briefest mention being made of Tomkins' actual execution. The account in the Rerum is based on an account, or accounts, almost certainly sent to Grindal.How accurate their information was is uncertain; in any case, the account, emphasizing Bonner's 'prodigious cruelty' and Tomkins' heroism along with a detailed comparison of Tomkins to the Roman hero Caius Mucius Scaevola, is long on rhetoric and short on verifiable detail.
[Back to Top]Nevertheless, this account was reprinted in the first edition of the Acts and Monuments. Foxe was able to add to this documents taken from Bonner's register: official accounts of Tomkins' examinations, the articles charged against him with the martyr's replies and two confessions of faith Tomkins made. In the course of printing the 1563 edition, Foxe also obtained a description, based on oral sources, of Bonner setting Tomkins to work on his estate at Fulham and of the bishop having Tomkins' beard forcibly shaved off, which was printed in an appendix to this edition.
[Back to Top]In the second edition, Foxe completely rewote the account of Tomkins' hand being burned which had been printed in the Rerum and in 1563. The new account was much more detailed. Foxe moved the account ofTomkins' forced labour for Bonner from the appendix. He also added another account of a compulsory beard-shaving and testimony of Tomkins' good character, all of which was obtained from fellow residents of Shoreditch.
[Back to Top]The account of Tomkins was unchanged in the second and third editions of the Acts and Monuments.
CloseTomkins' constancy is emphasised ('The notable constācie in a true Christian Souldiour'; 'Tomkins constāt in his fayth'; 'Tomkins constantly standeth to the truth of the Gospel'), and this point can be taken to apply to his robust adherence to true doctrine, and also his calm in the face of the occasionally violent caprices of Bonner, as when he was forced to make hay ('Tomkins maketh the Bishops hay'), when Bonner sought to remove his beard ('B. Boner wysheth Tomkins beard to be shauen, because he had pluckt of a peece of his beard before'), and the burning of his hand. Foxe also uses the glosses to draw a classical comparison with the treatment of Tomkins by Bonner, which perhaps carries connotations of tyranny and pagan practices which fits well with the lustful, bloodthirsty image of Bonner already established. ('B. Boner playeth K. Porsenna burning the hand of Scæuola'; 'Boner more cruell then Porsenna the Hetruscan'). An incorrect date (March 15) in 1563 is corrected to March 16 in 1570 and 1583
[Back to Top]This Thomas Tomkins a Weauer by his occupation, dwelling in Shordiche, and of the Dioces of London, MarginaliaThe godly lyfe and disposition of Thomas Tomkins.was of such conuersation, and disposition so godly, that if any woman had come vnto hym with her webbe, as sometyme they did three or foure in a day, he would alwayes begynne with prayer. Or if any other had come to talke of any matter, he would likewise first begynne with prayer. And if any had sought vnto hym to borowe money, he woulde shew hym suche money as he had in his purse, and bydde hym take it.
[Back to Top]And when they came to repay it again, so farre of was he from seekyng any vsurie at their hande, or from straight exaction of his due, that he woulde byd them keepe it longer, while they were better able. And these were the conditions of Thomas Tomkins, MarginaliaWitnesses to Thomas Tomkins.testified yet to this present day by the most part of all his neighbours, and almost of all his Parish which knewe hym, as maister Skynner, maister Lecke, and other moe. Of whom moe then halfe a dosen at once came vnto me, discret & substantial men, reporting the same vnto me, recording moreouer as followeth: That Doctour Boner Bishop of London kept the sayd Tomkins with hym in prison halfe a yeare: During whiche tyme the said bishop was so rigorous vnto him, that he beat hym bytterly about the face, whereby his face was swelled. Whereupon the Bishop caused his beard to be shauen, and gaue the Barbour. xij. pence.
[Back to Top]Touchyng whiche shauyng of Thomas Tomkins bearde,
CloseThis paragraph was first printed in an appendix at the end of the 1563 edition. It is based on oral sources and was acquired by Foxe as the 1563 edition was being printed.