MarginaliaAnno. 1555. Iuly.hath geuen, or wil geue power to Sathan and to the worlde, to take from you the thynges, whiche he hath lent you, MarginaliaThe Lorde geueth power to Sathan somtyme ouer his Seruauntes, and to what ende.and by takyng them awaie, to try your fidelitie, obedience and loue towardes him (for ye maye not loue them aboue hym) as by geuyng that ye haue, and kepyng it, he hath declared his loue towardes you.

MarginaliaGod vseth to try his.Sathan perchaunce telleth God (as he did of Iob) that ye loue God for your goods sake. What now then, if the lord to trie you with Iob, shal geue him power on your goods & body accordingly, should ye be dismaied? should ye despaire? should ye be faint harted? should ye not rather reioyce, as did the Apostles, that they were coumpted worthy to suffer any thyng for the Lordes sake? Oh forget not the ende that happened to Iob: for as it happened to hym, so shall it happen vnto you. For God is the same God, and can not long forget to shewe mercie, to them that looke and long for it, as I knowe ye doe, and I praie you so to doe still. For the Lorde loueth you, and neuer can nor will forgette to shewe, and poure out his mercy vpon you. After a little while that he hath afflicted and tried you (saieth Peter) he will visite, comfort, and confirme you.MarginaliaIacob muste teache vs to wrastle.As to Iacob wrastlyng with the aungell, at the lēgth mornyng came, & the sonne arose: so deare hartes, doubtles it will happē vnto you. Howbeit do ye as Iob & Iacob did, that is, order and dispose your thyngs that God hath lent you, as ye may and whiles ye haue tyme. Who knoweth whether God hath geuen you power this long euen to that ende.

Go to therefore, dispose your goodes, prepare your selues to triall, that either ye maie stand to it like gods champions, or els if ye feele such infirmitie in your selues, that ye be not able, geue place to violence, and goe where ye may with free & safe conscience serue the lord.MarginaliaThis Erkinald & his wife folowyng this counsaile, did flie bothe beyonde sea. Thinke not this counsel to come by chaūce or fortune, but to come from the lorde. Other oracles we may not looke for now. As God told Ioseph in a dream by an aungel, that he should flie: so if ye fele suche infirmitie in your selues, as should turne to Gods dishonour, & your owne destruction withall: knowe that at this present I am as Gods Aungell, to admonishe you to take tyme whiles ye haue it, and to se that in no case Gods name by you might be dishonored. Ioseph might haue obiected the omission of his vocation, as perchaunce ye will doe. But deare hartes, let vocatiōs and all thinges els geue place to Gods name, and the sanctifiyng thereof.

This I speake, not as though I would not haue you rather to tary, and to stande to it: but I speake it in respecte of your infirmitie, whiche if ye feele to bee so greate in you that ye are not certaine of this hope, that God wil neuer tempt you aboue your habilitee: flie & get you hence, and knowe that thereby God will haue you tried to your selues, and to others. For by it you shall knowe how to take this worlde, and your home here as no home, but that ye looke for an other, and so geue occasion to others lesse to loue this worlde and perchaūce to some to doubt of their Religion. Wherin though that thei be earnest, yet would thei not loose so muche, as ye do for your religion, which ye do confirme to me and others, by your geuyng place to violence.

Laste of all, ye haue cause to reioyce ouer these our daies, because thei be the daies of conformation, in the whiche and by whiche, MarginaliaTribulation doeth conforme vs to the image of Christ.God our heauenly Father maketh vs like vnto Christes image here, that we may be like vnto him elswhere. For if that we suffer with hym, then we shall reigne also with him: if we be buried with him, then we shal rise with him again: if that we cōpany with hym in all troubles and afflictions, then we shall reioyce with hym in glory: if we now sowe with hym in teares, we shall reape with hym in gladnesse: if we confesse hym before men, he will confesse vs before his father in heauen: if wee take his parte, he will take ours: if we lose ought for his names sake, he wil geue vs all thynges for his truthes sake. So that we ought to reioyce and bee glad: for it is not giuen to euery one, to suffer losse of countrey, lyfe, goodes, house. &c. for the Lordes sake. What can God the Father do more vnto vs, then to call vs into the campe with his Sonne? What may Christ our Sauiour doe more for vs, then to make vs his warriours? What can the holy Ghost do to vs aboue this, to marke vs with the cognisaunce of the Lord of hostes?

MarginaliaThe Lordes cognisaunce standeth not in forked caps. &c. but in suffryng for the Lordes sake.This cognisaunce of the lorde, standeth not in forked caps, tippets,  

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A band of cloth worn about the neck as part of clerical vestments.

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Property.

The worlde shall hate you. Reioyce therefore my dearely beloued, reioyce, that God dooeth thus vouchsafe to begin to cōforme you, and make you like to Christ. By the triall of these daies ye are occasioned more to repēt, more to praie, more to contēne this worlde, more to desire lyfe euerlastyng, more to be holy (for holy is þ^e ende wherfore God doeth afflict vs) & so come to Gods cōpany. Whiche thyng because we can not do, as long as this bodie is as it is, therefore by the dore of death we must enter with Christ into eternall life, and immortalitie of soule and body: whiche God of his mercy sende shortly for our Sauiour Iesus Christes sake. Amen.

MarginaliaAn other letter of M. Bradforde to Maistres Warcup.  

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This letter was first printed in the 1563 edition and then in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 457-58. ECL 262, fo. 279r-v is a copy of this letter.

Although I knowe it to be more then nedeth, to write any thyng vnto you (good Sister) being, as I doubte not you be, diligently exercised in readyng of the Scriptures in meditatyng of the same, and in hartie praier to God, for the helpe of his holie Spirite, to haue the sense and felyng, especially of the comfortes you read in Gods swete booke: yet hauing suche oportunitie, and knowyng not whether hereafter, I shall euer haue the like (as this brynger can declare) I thought good in fewe woordes to take my farewell in writyng, because otherwise I cannot. And now me thinkes I haue dooen it. MarginaliaBradfords farewell to Maistres Warcup.For what els can I, or should I saie vnto you (my dearely beloued in the Lorde) but farewell? Farewell deare Sister, farewel: howbeit in the Lorde, our Lorde (I saie) farewell. In hym shall you farewell, and so much the better, by how muche in your self you fare euill, and shall fare euill.

When I speake of your self, I meane also this worlde, this life, and al thinges properly partainyng to this life. In them, as you looke not for your welfare, so bee not dismaied whē accordyngly you shall not fele it. To the lord our God, to the Lābe our Christ, whiche hath borne our sinnes on his backe, and is our Mediatour for euer, doe I sende you. In hym looke for welfare, and that without all waueryng, because of his owne goodnes & truthe, which our euils and vntruth cannot take awaie: Not that therfore I woulde haue you to flatter your self in any euill or vnbelief, but that I would comforte you, that thei should not dismay you. Yours is our Christ wholie, MarginaliaChrist is wholy ours with all that euer he hath.yours I saie he is, with all that euer he hath. Is not this welfare trowe you? Mountaines shall moue, & the earth shall fall before you finde it otherwise, saie the liar Sathan what he list.

Therefore good Sister farewell, and be mery in the lord: be merie I say, for you haue good cause. If your welfare, ioye, and saluation hanged vppon any other thyng then onely Gods mercy & truthe, then might you well be sad, heauie, and stand in a doubt: but in that it hangeth onely vpon these two, MarginaliaHow to aunswere to sathā, whē he moueth vs to doubte of Gods fauour.tel Sathan he lieth, whē he would you to stand in a māmering, by causing you to MarginaliaHow to looke vpon Christe.cast your eyes (which onely in this case should be set on Christe your sweete Sauior) on your self. MarginaliaHow to looke vpō our selues.In some part in deede loke on your self, on your faithe, on your loue, obedience. &c. to wake you vp from securitie, to stirre you vp to diligence, in doyng the thynges appertainyng to your vocatiō: but whē you would be at peace with God, & haue true consolation in your conscience, altogether looke vppon the goodnes of God in ChristMarginaliaIn case of iustification, let no man looke vppon him self, but onely vpō the goodnes of God in Christ. Thinke on this cōmaundement whiche precedeth all other: that you must haue no other Gods but the Lorde Iehouah, whiche is your Lorde and God: the whiche he could not be, if that he did not pardon your synnes in very deede. Remember that Christe commaundeth you to cal him father for the same intent. And hereto call to mynd al the benefites of God, hetherto shewed vpon you: and so shall you fele in verie deede, that whiche I wishe vnto you now, and pray you to wish vnto me. Farewell, or welfare in the Lord Iesus, with whō he graunt vs shortly to mete as his children, for his name and mercies sake, to our eternall welfare, Amen.

¶ To myne owne deare brother M. Laurence Saunders, prisoner in the Marshalsee.  

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This letter was first printed in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 321-22. ECL 262, fos. 140v-141r and 237v are copies of the letter; the former is Bull's printing cast-off. Because this letter was being sent to another prisoner, Bradford was cryptic and used Latin phrases in case the gaolers intercepted the letter.

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MarginaliaA letter of maister Bradford to Maister Saunders.MY good brother, I beseche our good and gracious Father, alwaies to continue his gracious fauour and loue towardes vs, and by vs, as by instrumentes of his grace, to worke his glory and the cōfusion of his aduersaries. Ex ore infantium & lactentium fundet laudem ad destruendum inimicū. &c.  

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Psalm 8. 2.

Foxe text Latin

Ex ore infantium & lactentium fundet laudem ad destruendum inimicum, &c.

Foxe text translation

Out of the mouth of infantes and babes, he will shew forth his praise to destroy the enemy. &c.

Actual text of Psalm 8. 3. (Vulgate, from the Greek)

ex ore infantium et lactantium perfecisti laudem propter inimicos tuos ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.

Actual text of Psalm 8. 3. (Vulgate, from the Hebrew)

ex ore infantium et lactantium perfecisti laudem propter adversarios meos ut quiescat inimicus et ultor.

[Note differences between the two Vulgate versions.]

I haue perused your letters to my selfe, and haue red