Letter to Ministers in Geneva

•• hn Knox to the inhabitants of N • wcas • le and Barwike and unto •• her who sometime in the Realm • nglande prof • ssed Christ Jesus, and 〈◊〉 be returned to the bondage of 〈◊〉 , wisheth true, and earnestre • ancely the pour and operation • at same spirit, who called from • he Jesus the only pastour of our 〈◊〉 .

I F the reason of man shall be called to judge what fruit ensuethe the payneful travail of God's most faith •• ll servants, who at his come • andement study to repair his • itie, and to purge his temple, •• t only shall their labors be • stemed for a time to be vainly • pent, but skarsely shall the wisdom of God through man's • ashe judgment escape condemnation, nether shall the verity of his promesses be free from suspicion of falsehod and vanity. For to man's reason nothing appeareth more absurd, foolish nor unreasonable, then y ^t God (whose pour no creature is able to resist) shall send fourth his messengers to perform his work and will, and that the same shall be so impugned, that their building in their own eyes shall be overthrown, and destroyed, and that the natural man cannot se how the promesses of Christ Jesus, made to his Apostles, and under their names to all true preachers of his holy Gospel, in these words can be prouen constant, and true. I have (saith he) appointed you to go and to bring fourth fruit, & that your fruit shall abide. The stability and truth (I say) of this promise doth not suddenly appear, but rather the plain contrary. For if the fruit of the Gospel and glad tidings preached be first in this life the glory of God (I mean such good works as may declare the spirit of regeneration) shining in man after that he be planted in Christ Jesus, and after this battle the joy prepared for God's children: if these (I say) be the fruits of Christ Jesus preached, then appear the most parte of trees to be destroyed before the time of fruit doth approach. For some by tyranny and violence are rooted out from the society of earthely creatures before they begin to flourish, & so is their fruit to mans judgment impeaded and hindered, some are blasted and wythered withe stormy winds and some are corrupted ether by vermin, or by venomous humors proceeding from a corrupt fountain, so that the fruit of none almost doth appere to our eyes. To speak the matter simply and without figure, the men that appeared to the faithful laborers to have been planted in Christ, who callethe himself the very vine, and those, that profess his truth, the vine branches, are subject to so many tentacions, that skarsely emongst a thousand doth one take root and bring forth fruit with patience. Notwithstanding such, as by ty • annye & violent persecution are suddaynly rest from this life, do nevertheless produce and bring forth fruit delectable, and pleasing in the sight of him, who hath appointed an ende to the trauayl & miseries of his dear children, albeyt this fruit to the natural mā is so sow • e and unsavory, so hard and unpleasant, that the only sight of it, not only gyuethe occasion to the reprobate to utter their venom and malice against Christ Jesus: but also for a season it vexeth and tormenteth God's most dear children. For as the one doeth insolently rejoice as though God did favor & maȳtein their tyrānye, so doth the other vndiscretely lament and pronounce wrong judgment, esteminge, that more it should stand with God's glory and honor, and more also with the profet of his Church, y ^t such, as to whom he hath of mercy granted notable graces, should rather be preserved in life, then permitted and given over to the wicked appetites of cruel persecutors Howbeit as y ^e fruit of these trees is best known to God alone, so is it justified and approved by him whatsoever the foolish wisdom of the natural man shall judge in the contrary. For the prophet Isaiah pronounceth that the just perisheth (so doth it appere to mans judgment) and yet that no man putteth it in heart, that is doth earnestly consider it, that the men of mercy are taken away and the world nevertheless doth rejoice and tryumphe. But the holy ghost assigneth another cause, that the just is taken away before that his eyes behold greater miseries, that he entereth into his peace before that God's vengeance begin to be poured forth upon the proud and disobedient, and so doth their fruit abide and continue, not only to their perpetual joy, but also to the comfort and consolation of the afflicted y ^t suffer for righteousness sake even to thende. For y ^e same God y ^t of mercy had respect to their infirmity, and so did prevent the dangers that might have apprehended them, providing also for his Church above the expectation of mortal man, will not despise the sobbes of his • fflicted now in these most wret • hed, and most wicked days. But of these trees and of their fruit I cease at this time farther • o speak, because that the dolo • ous. estate of many that be alive • awsethe me some times to give thanks unto God for the happy deliverance of such as constantly departed in the Lord, whether it was by persecution of tyrants, or by natural death.

Consider with me dear brethren (I speak to you of New-castle and Barwicke) your miserable estate and most dolorous condition. Your profession did once declare before men, that ye were branches planted and engrafted in Christ Jesus, whose holy gospel (which is the pour of God to the salvation of all y ^t believe it) ye appeared to have received with all reverence and gladness. The displeasure of your natural and carnal friends, who then were enemies to Christ Jesus and to his eternal verity, some of you did patiently bear. Ye feared not to go before statutes and laws, yea openly and solemnedly you did profess by receiving the sacraments not as mā had appointed, but as Christ Jesus the wisdom of God the father had institute to be subject in all things concerning religiō to his yoke alone, to acknowledge and auouche him before y ^e world to be your only law gyuer, sovereign prince and only savior. Thus I say ye appeared at that time, to have been the delicate plants of the Eternal, the workmanship of his own hands, and the trees that in season and time should have produced good fruit in abundance. But o alas howe are ye changed? how are ye corrupted: whi •• ervnto are ye fallen? and how • aue ye deceived the expectation • f those that then did labor in • lā • inge and watering you, and • ow do sobbe unto God for your •• gratitude, calling withe tears • nto his mercy for your cōuersiō • nd that unfeigned repentance • ay suddenly appear in you. O miserable change, that ye who were once fervent professors of Christ Jesus and of his gospel, should now • e subjects to Antichrist, geuīge obedience to his false, and deceuable doctrine. O grievous fall and more thē grievous, y ^t from y ^e dignity of the sonnes of God (which prerogative ye had by grace and not by nature) ye are become slaves to Satan, iustifiing by your presence most abominable Idolatry. If ye se not the danger which hereupon dependeth, ye are more then blind, and if ye se it, and study not w ^t all diligence to avoid it, ye are not only foolish, but altogether bewitched and enraged. God did not call you from darkness to light, he did not send his son Christ Jesus unto you, contemning and refusinge many thowsandes, more noble, more wise, more ancient, and more puissant then ye are or ever were: God (I say) did not so familiarely communicate him self with you in his only beloved sonne Christ Jesus, to the end that ye at your pleasure and appetite or for the fear of worldly men, for losing of goods, or corporal life should return to darkness, that ye should refuse to serve that soueraing prince in the day of his battle, before whom all knees shall bow. But contrariwise that according as ye were called to y ^e participation of light, that so constantly ye should walk in y ^e same that as ye were appointed souldyers to fight against Satan the • rince of this world, and against • is progenye, enemies to Christ Jesus, so should ye boldly abide • n the rank, in which God had placed you, being farther moste • ertenly persuaded, y ^t he that • lieth the battle and denieth Christ Jesus before men, shall be denied before his heavenly father, yea also y ^t such as refuse not father, mother, sister and brother, are not worthy of him: and moreover y ^t such as do not boldly confess him before this wicked generation, shall never be confessed to appertain to him, nor to the glory of his kingdom, when he shall be accōpaned w ^t his angels. Which things I thoght once had been so depely grafted in your hearts, that albeit angels from heaven should have persuaded you to the contrary, y ^t ye should have holden them accu • sed, and so in that behalf have rejected their persuasion & doctrine, as a poison most pestilent, which is death & damnation to all that receive it. For so did ye once profess and such was my hope of you, y ^t so in heart you had determined: for Christ Jesus was not preached amongst you without his cross.

Howe oft hath it been bett in your ears that the servant cannot be above the Lord: that the members must be conformed to the head, that by many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God: that all y ^t will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, and that pa • tly because Satan the prince of this world can never be so brydeled during this battle, but that he will strive to recover strength, and partly because that sin remaineth in us he is permitted to sting with his venomous tail, whē his head is bruised. Was not this doctrine • ommon unto you? Yea have ye • ot hard ofter thē once, that your • yes should se Christ Jesus perse • uted in his pore members? that • is verity should be oppugned? • hat superstition, lies and Idola • rie should prevail and have the • pper hand? that the kingdom of heaven, the true preaching of his Euangil should be taken from you • or the ingratitude and stubbur • es of men, who more delyted in • arkenes then in light? None of • hese things at that time did • ppeare strange unto you, nether • yd they discorage you, but ye • emed (being admonished what • aunger it was to refuse Christ Jesus) most steadfastly to cleave to • he verity, notwithstanding that • he whole world should have refu • ed the same.

How oft have ye assisted to Ba • tisme? how oft have ye been par • akers of y ^e Lord's table prepared, used & ministered in all simplicity, not as mā had devised, nethe • as the kings procedinges did a • low, but as Christ Jesus did institute, and as it is evident, tha • Saint Paul did practice. The •• two sacraments▪ seals of Christ Euangil, ye commonly used, baptism for your children, and the table of the Lord to your own • comfort, and for the open confession of your religion. And so oft I say dear brethren did y • witness before mē, & swear b • fore God, that ye would die 〈◊〉 Christ Jesus, to the end that y • might live by him: that ye would refus • the doctrine of men, and the participation of all Idolatry▪ and would constantly stand, and stickfast to that religion, which then ye p • ofessed, and approved But ô alas what miserable ru • ne hath this suddayne and sho •• storm made of that building • 〈◊〉 was beg on amongst you? The winds have blown and the flodes are come, and the walls are fallen in one heap (God grant that the fundatiō abide) the fire is come, but in you alas is nether found gold, silver, nor precious stone, but all is brent, and all is consumed, so that if I shall judge the fruit of my pore lobors amongst you by mine own judgment reason or apprehension, I should judge myself, and my labors accursed of God, for that that I se no better success. O consider dear brethren, what grief it is, that in such a multitude none shall be found faithful, none constant, none bold in the cause of the Lord Jesus, whom so boldlye before they had professed.

God is witness, and I refuse not your own judgments, how simplye & uprightly I conversed and walked amongst you, though in his presence I was and am nothing, but a mass of corruption, rebellion and hypocrisy: yet as concerning you and the doctrine taght amongst you, as then I walked, so now do I write in the presence of him, who only knoweth & shall reveal y ^e secretes of all hearts, y ^t nether for fear did I spare to speak the simple truth unto you, nether for hope of worldly promotion, dignity or honor did I willingly adulterate any parte of God's scriptures whether it were in expositiō, in preaching, contention or writing: but that simply & plainly, as it pleased the merciful goodness of my God to give unto me the vtterāce, understanding & spirit, I did distribute the bread of life (I mean God's most holy word) as of Christ Jesus I had received it. I sought nether preeminence, glory, nor riches: my honor was, that Christ Jesus should reign: my glory, that the light of his truth should shine in you: and my greatest riches, that in the same ye should be constant. Let him amongst you that is farthest declined, convict me if he can, if that ever he did perceive me by crafty or unlawful means to seek the substance or riches of any, yea if I have not refused that, which by diverse hath been offered, and that also by the commone opinion might lawfully have been received. But to what purpose is this recited? Is it to brag of mine own justice? or yet to defend mine own innocence? not so dear bretheren, not so (for what I acknowledge myself to be before God, I have already confessed) but to let you understand, that if I have this testimony of conscience as concerning my office, ministry and doctrine, & am notwithstanding wounded almost to the death for that that my labors have not better succeeded, what ought to be your fear, lamētacion, & trembling? I fear that God hath cursed me because he hath not better blessed my labors amongst you, and yet in that behalf have I the lot, and sort commune withe the most parte of God's true Prophets, and the conditiō like with saint Paul to comfort me in my greatest desperation. For Helias did think that he alone amongst the Israelites was left a live truly to worship God. And Paul did complain that all that were in Asia had left him. He did se in his own days his beloved Church of Gallacia bewitched by false •• a • hers, and also that most notable Cōgregatiō of Corinthus, short • y after his departure from the same, he saw divided in sects, corrupted in life, given to deba • e, contencion and strife, yea, to be infected withe most pestilent heresy, I mean withe y ^e denial of the resurrection of the dead. These and other like exemples • eache us howe God's most true and painful servants have be • e frustrate of their expectation & so humbled before God, whose fruits I have to pull, and as it were by violence to draw me from the bothome of hell, to the which some times I sink for remembrance of your fall, & for my other offenses against God committed. But these exemples cannot so remedy my wound, • ut that from time to time I • ele the prick of God's heuy displeasure. And ought you thē to live void of all fear, as men that had nothing offended? My conscience doth nether accuse me, that amongst you was I a false prophet, mercenary nor idle person, and yet I quake, I fear & tremble, remembering your horrible fall, & ought you to rest, be quiet, & rejoice, against whom God's vengeance is so plainly pronounced? For if no Realm, no Natiō, City, nor particular person traitorously declinyng from God, & obstinately remaining in rebelliō after the truth known and professed, hath escaped God's vengeance, flatter not yourselves, as that your treason and rebellion should or can be ouersene by his justice, which from the beginning ys one, and to the ende shall remain inviolable.

Many have offended, and upon repentance have obtained mercy & grace: but I demāde & • ske, who cōtēning mercy offered, 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaketh, dispi • ing the lenity, and long suffering of God, hath in the ende escaped vengeance. Your treasonable fall is manifest, but the signs of your repentance do not yet appere, and therefore I say flatter not yourselves, as that ye had made pactiō with death, with hell & destructiō, as the Prophet Isaiah accuseth those of his time, who disdainfully did answer, when he called them to sackcloth and asshes, that is to show forth the tokens of true repentance & conversion unto God. In despit (I say) they answered, Let the counsel of the holy one of Israel come: in the mean time, let us eat & drink, & make merry days, for tomorrow we shall die, if the words of these bablers (so were God's servants termed) be true, and take effect. But we are out of danger: destruction nor death shall not apprehend us. The accomplishement of their visions are far of: Ierusalē is the pott, & we are the flesh, meaning thereby, that they would die & live in their native country. But the prophets boldly against such proud contempt did affirm, that their league and covenant made (as they supposed) with death and vastacion should be dissolved and broken. For the floods of vengeance should carry them to perdition: strangers should inherit their lande, and they should die in miserable bondage, in a lande polluted with all Idolatry, because they refused to serve the Lord their God in the land, which he had given to them in possession, and because they would nether give reverence nor credit to his servants the prophets, whom from time to time he sent unto them. And farther the prophets did affirm that those po • e afflicted servants of God, who c • uelly were murthe • ed ī their presence by those cruel persecutors, that thē bare dominiō in tyranny, were only they amongst the Is • aelites, that should die with honor in their own contrie. As for the rest, they should ether be led captives, or else die by hunger, pestilence or sword & so leave their names in ex • ecration and contempt to the posterities foloinge.

Beware dear bretheren that ye be not like to these mē in stub • urnnes in contynuance of sin & in contempt of grace. Ye have declined, yea, and traitorously fallen back from God, and from his verity once professed, as they did: but beware (I say) that ye defend not your impiety, that ye contemn not the threatenings of God, promising to yourselves felicity & life, when he by his word, & holy prophets pronoūcethe against you woe, death & severe judgment. For then be you most assured, that ye shall not escape y ^t irrevocable sentence of God, once pronounced by the mouthe of Jeremiah in these words: Every natiō like unto this shall I judge saithe the eternal. Then shall you fele in the ende, howe horrible and fearful it is to fall in the hands of the omnipotent. Then shall ye grope and wander to and fro seeking remedy, but shall find none: ye shall be like blind mē in extreme darkness, ye shall stūble, ye shall fall, ye shall cry and roar for anguish, but none shall be able to releaue your miseries, all creatures shall be enemies unto you because you have despised y ^e goodness and mercy of him, who so louīglye hath entreated you: first in opening unto you y ^e true knowledge of himself, and now after your horrible defection so mercifully calling you to reap̄tance again. O call to mind, dear bretheren, that fearful sētense pronounced against that fig tree, which did occupy the ground, but was unfruitful. The request and earnest supplication of the gardener could obtain no more, but that he might dig about her, and lay donge to the • ootes thereof the space of one yere, but thē, if it produced no fruit, he was compelled to give place by his own sentence to the wisdom and justice of his lord, who would not suffer such an unprofitable tree to occupy place in his chosen and delectable garden or vineyard. This was not spoken by Christ, nor meant (dear bretheren) of dead & insensible trees, but under y ^t similitude most lively is painted & set forth, what shall be y ^e end of those, that by vocation and external profession are planted in the Church of God, and so made members of Christ Jesus? who is the very wnestocke, & such as do profess him, are called branches grafted in him. This similitude (I say) do the express what shall be the end of such, as bring not forth fruit in him, to wit, they shall be cut of y ^e stock, whom by baronnes they dishonor, they shall wither and dry, & so be cast on the fire to burn forever.

I have no pleasure (God is witness) to threaten you, much less to pronounce plages and God's severe judgments against you, but seeing and considering your horrible defection from God and from his verity known and professed, • dar not cease to exhort you to • epentance. For although I should • epe silence, yet should stones • ccuse your unthankfulness. If • should flatter you and speak ac • ordīg to your appetites, saying • as we cannot redress the in • quitie of these times, we have 〈◊〉 pleasure in Idolatry, we are • orye, that the blood of innocēts • s shed in our lande, we would • e content that true religion • hulde be used, but wicked men • ow bere dominion, and therefore we must serve and obey the • yme: when God shall please to • estore his truth we will be gladd of it, but in the mean time we must obey the laws set forth by • ur superiors: God knoweth • ur hearts, and we trust he will • e merciful unto us. If on this • aner (I say) I should flatter you • aying pillows under your he • es, who already do sleape in a deadely security, should ye therefore escape God's vengeance? No no dear brethren, but by such means be you assured that God's indignation is more kindeled, both against the people, and the prophet. For when all are conjured against his truth, then must his just judgments revenge his own cause, and therefore brethren suffer the word of exhortation, suffer it I say withe trembling & fear, not esteming the threatenings pronounced against the disobedient forth of the boke of God to be voice • sparsed in the ay • e, which suddenly shall euanishe and take no effect. God forbid, that such cogitatiōs remain and prevail in your hearts, for then have ye refused God, with whom ye can have no society, except ye embrace, and receive his word, which threateneth no less damnation; death▪ shame and destruction to proud • ontemners and obstinate refusers of grace and mercy offered, then • hat it doth promise salvation, 〈◊〉 , honor and immortality to • he penitent sinner, and unto such 〈◊〉 unfeignedly mourn for their • aynous offenses against God committed. It behooveth you therefore, dear brethren, to give this honor to your God, that the viritie of his word be not measured by the weakness, frailty or infirmity of the instruments, which most commonly he useth in publicatiō of the same. For his ministers are men subject to infirmities, but the word, which they preach, is the pour of God to salvation of all that believe and obediētly embrace the same. His ministers, as they be the sons of men, of nature are they liars, instable and vain, but his eternal word, which he putteth in their mowthes, and whereof they are made imbassadors, is of such truth, stability and assurance, that albeit heaven and earth should euanishe and perish, yet shall it abide and remain forever, and that in such sort, that the same men, who blinded by prosperity and carnal affections, could not believe God speaking by his ministers, are oft compelled in their own bodies and in their posterities following to fele the stripes and sustain the plages, which they contemned, when they were first pronounced. The prophet Zechariah, accusing the Jews of his time of negligence, in reedifiing the temple after they were delivered from y ^e captivity and bondage of Babylon, saith, where be your fathers, to whom the prophet • spake? and where be the prophet that spake to your fathers? are not the one and the other dead? But my words and statutes (saithe the Eternal) which I have commanded to my servants the prophets, have not they apprehended your fathers? insomoche that they converted and said, As the Lord of • ostes hath determined to do unto us according to our ways and according to our imaginations, so hath he done. By which question and words the Prophet evidently affirmeth that, which before I have said to wit, that nether the mercy of God promised to the penitent, nether the severe punishments pronounced against the stubborn and 〈◊〉 ought to be measured by the weakness and condition of the m • s •• nger, whom God sendeth: but that whatsoever they bring fo • the of God's boke against iniquity and syn, & chiefly against Idolatry (which seperateth man altogether from God) shall be holden so constant and so true, as though God from the heavē had given witness to the same by the presence of his own majesty. The mē to whom Zechariah d • d speak, had never seen Isaiah y ^e prophet, yea, Isaiah himself was dead long before his prophetie toke full effect: notw ^t standing as their fathers felt the plagues, which he pronounced against them and against that famous City Jerusalem for the bloodshede and Idolatry in the same committed: so were the eyes of their children, to whom Zechariah speaketh, witnesses, y ^t God's wrath was in perfection poured forth vpō their fathers, which also did abide upon them, evē unto that day, that the Prophet did admonish thē. For they saw Jerusalem lie 〈◊〉 and waste, as the Caldeies had left it, they saw the ruins & miserable stones ouercouered w ^t powder of that beautiful & holy temple of God, which by Solomon was built. They farther felt them selves in poverty & bondage of strangers. For albeyt they had obtained liberty to return to their country: yet perceived they their condition 〈◊〉 little amended. Their ēnemies were more strong then they, even in their own lande. Their work was imp • added, & they did live in greater fear, then those which still remained in dispertion▪ & thus I say were both their fathers & they compelled to confess in the ende, that the words of the prophets were no vain threatnīgs. For the fathers did fele in a strange country the heavy yoke of bondage the space of 70. years, after that the bodies of many thow sandes had fallen upon the edge of the sword, and the eyes of the children did see the force and vehemency of God's wrath once kyndled. Of one thing be assured, dear brethren, that the self same God, who then spake by his prophets, doth now speak to you by his messengers, how contemptible soever they be in your eyes. and fa • there be assured, that in all his proprieties he remaineth immutable forever & ever, & therefore persuade yourselves, that what he hated in thē, he cannot love in you, and what he punished in them, he cannot spare nor pa • do in you. In them he hated murder, deceit, oppression, licentious life, declining from the true religion and manifest Idolatry committed and suffered in all their lande. In them he punished (and that most extremely) defense of their sins, contempt of mercy and persecution of his prophets. If these things be common amongst you, as alas they are to manifest, flatter not yourselves, as that your prosperity should longe continue, no bretheren but rather let the sharp judgments of God, all ready executed against the like offenders, put you in mind, that y ^e plagues and vengeances, which are contained in his holy Law, & which your ears have often hard, do presently hāge over your heads: that the blood of God's innocent childrē, which cruelly is shed in your lande (whereof ye are all guilty by reason of your permission and silence) doth continually cry in the ears of our most just God, Howe longe shall it be, ô Lord, that thowe wilt not revenge our blood upon those that dwell in the earth? that the tears of the widows oppressed, of the orphelines left comfortless, of prisoners wrongfully tormented, and of the banished, who sustain hunger and other calamities in strange contries, only because they would avoid such abominations, as amongst you are committed. Ye ought, I say, to be most assuredly persuaded, y ^t y ^e lamentable voices of all these have so beaten the ears of our God, and that the tears, which in anguish they poured forth, have so replenished and fylde the bottel, which hangethe continually in the eyes of the almighty, that he hath sworn by his own holiness, that he will arise in his hot fury, that he will revenge their cause (and that speedily) and that he will also confound his enemies the persecutors of his Church, as fire cōsumeth stubble and straw.

No time will I appoīt to these the judgments of our most just God, but this I fear not to affirm in the assurance of his spirit, who of mercy hath called me to be a minister of his word and verity, that as ye have hard the • ayes of these present dolors forespoken, when ye could fear no such dangers to come. For Barwike and Newcastle be you both witnesses, how oft and how plainly ye have hard affirmed, that y ^e light, which the most part hated (or at least did not follow) should be taken from you, and that ye for your unthankfulness should be left in uttermost darkness to your destruction: y ^t strangers should bear rule over you, and that ye should of all nations be most miserable and accursed of God, because ye did not know the time of your merciful visitatiō. Howe oft have ye hard proclaimed in your ears, O England if y ^u dydest know the honor, wherūto this day thowe art called: if thou dydest consider the graces & benefits of God this day offered unto the, thou shuldest be most happy & most blessed of all realms. For within thy land hath God erected his sanctuary, built his temple and chosen his habitation & dwelling place. From amongst you hath God by the power of his word driven out devils, superstition and Idolatry: but alas for thy unthankfulness thy God will depart from the: he will give the over again to the bondage of Satan. In lies thou delitest and therefore shall the verity be taken from the. Which sentences and threatenings albeyt then ye feared not, yet dare ye not deny in God's presence, howsoever ye dissemble in the face of the wicked world, but that amongst you spake the Spirit of truth, how weak that ever the instrument was, whom it pleased his wisdom to use for your advertisement, as your eyes do this day behold the accōplishement and execution of one part of God's most just judgments. For the verity, in which a small number did delight, is taken from you, and Idolatry, which many gaped for, is erected to your confusion and shame. God hath removed the presence of his glory from you, and the devil hath take his full possession. As this part (I say) of God's judgments, w before were pronounced, is executed in your eyes, so shall some of you, that this day behold the tyranny that is used, maintained & permitted amongst you, likewise behold the terrible plagues & severe judgments of God poured forth in full perfectiō, not only upon the cruel murderers, but also vpō such as by silence, & flattery consent to their impiety. If ye be not more then blind, ye may evidently se y ^e potēt hand of God displayde & stretched owt against you. Dothe not the suddayne & miserable fall of Calais, sometimes called the key of England, yea, & y ^e open door into forrayne countries, move you to consider, what is God's powere, & how easy it is to him to overthrow all the pride of mā in one moment? If it move not others, yet let it move the, ô Barwike▪ she was thy syster, and your conditiō was one, except y ^t as in strength, order and civil policy thow wast nothing comparable: so in theft, debate, hatred & all iniquity thou didest far surmount her & yet she hath drunk̄ the cup of God's vengeance, because y ^t being admonished, she did not reap̄t: & shall or canst thou escape the same, if thou continue, as thou hast begun? No, albeyt man and angel would promise the assurance, thy pride shall be beat̄ down to hell, thy treasonable defection from God shall be punished, as before hath been pronounced in thine ears, except y ^t by spedy reap̄tāce thou prevent God's judgments. And therefore, dear bretheren, if y ^t ye intend or think to escape God's vengeance, his heavy hand and hot displeasure, delaye no time to retu • ne unto him, call upon him while he is nigh, seek him vnfeynedly, while he is to be found, hard̄ not your hearts, whē he rebukethe your unthankfulness. Now he offerethe himself unto you, now he is near, now he is to be sound, while he callethe you to repentance by his messengers & word. Which occasiō & opportunity if ye omit, as God's justice shall shine in your punishemēt & just condemnation, so shall it be, y ^t you howl & cry for anguish and pain, and yet shall find nether counsel nor comfort. for so doth God often revenge the contempt of his graces offered.

Prowde Esau, after he had sold his birth right and had confirmed the ba • gan with a solemned oath, did eat & drink regarding nothing his own folishenes, nether rightly did he esteem (for the time) the honor & dignity which he had lost. But after, when he perceived that his father (even against his promise and determined purpose) would still bless Jacob, he •• ett, he fumed, he accused Jacob, he reasoned with his father, he begged but one blessing and that with tears, with roringe and lamentable cries: but all was in vain, he found no place of repentance: the door of mercy was shit up by his former contempt, he bowled and cried, but not for his syn & former unthankfulness, he begged blessīg, but his eye being fixed vpō this present world, he remained accursed before God, burnīg in hatred & imagining murder and the death of his brother, whom God had honored with his spiritual benedictiō. This history (as by y ^e Apostle we are taght) is not written for Esau only, but for ensample and admonition to a • l those that prefer the profane and contemptible pleasures of this earth to the benediction & inheritance promised to Abrahám and unto his seal.

Enter in judgment with yourselves, dear bretheren, & consider earnestly, what exchange ye have made. Ye have refused & • enied God the father & his dear son Christ Jesus, & so y ^e whole joy & comfort of his kingdom: ye have quit y ^e portion of your inheritance & have despised y ^e benedictiō promised to such, as should abide in the truth to the ende. And what reward have ye received? a measse of pottage, yea, much less, if the matter shall be well considered. For the favor of your Queen accursed by God, y ^e freēdshipe of the counsel destitute of wisdom, and your wretched and miserable lives, compared w ^t y ^e things, w ^c ye have lost, are much inferior to the pottage, for y ^e w ^t Esau sold his birthright. For his appetites and lusts were sacia • for a time, but I am assured that your bellies, for the which ye have refused God, are more ēptie, thē they were before. Now are ye compelled to feed y ^e proud Spaniard both within and w ^t out your cōtry. Tax followeth tax and one exaction calleth for another. The lands and inheritances must pay at pleasure of y ^e parliament▪ y ^e mouable goods cannot escape valuation and censure, where oppression and extorsion bear rule & dominiō. These are y ^e great benifites, w ^c of Jezebel ye have received for refusinge of God & bowing at her commandment to Baal. But let it be y ^t you had received sinse your revolt & falling from God y ^e greatest riches, y ^e greatest honor, y ^e greatest victory, & the most established rest, y ^t ever natiō had sinse the beginning: yet had ye changed your former glory for a mease of pottage. For do ye not know y ^t all these things shall cuanish as a dream in the night ceasō? And as concerning y ^e preseruatiō & safety of your lives, for y ^t w ^c ye have refused God, who only is y ^e auctor of life, y ^e day shall shortly come, whē ye shall prove this sentence of Christ Jesus to be true in experience, that whosoever to keep or find his life denieth Christ Jesus before mē, shall lose his life both corporal & eternal. For as your Jezebel can nothing without the will & permission of him, who is omnipotent: so can nether she nor you retain nor hold the breath in her nor your moste frail bodies, when that most potent Lord shall say, Return to dust ô ye unthankful sons of mo • tal men.

Seeing it is so (dear bretheren) that God's judgments ye cannot escape humble yourselves be times before that his vengeance be armed to your destruction. If ye continue in this deadly security, regarding nothing what honor ye have lost, it shall be to late for you to howl and cry, when youre blessing 〈◊〉 in your own cares be given to others. Repent therefore betymes, and as ye have openlie declined from God by refusal of his v •• itie so let your cōuersiō be manifest by remouynge from among •• you all kind of Idolatry. This I know appeareth to you so impossible to be {per}formed, 〈◊〉 ye judge me rather to mock you • nē to exhort you to repentance by this meāes. But, dear bretheren, consider with me, that the things, which to man seme most impossible, are easy to our God to 〈◊〉 to pass, if we will refuse our selves, and only give obedience to his commandemētes. Impossible it appeared to the afiliated children of Israel, that they • old be delivered from the tyranny of Phorao and from the bondage of the Egyptians. And • n very deed their yoke was augmented and their burdens made more grievous, many days after they had at Moses commandment asked liberty to make sacrifice to the living God • . But were they despised or frustrate of their expectation in the end? or did such as suppressed them or assisted their king in persecution of God's people, escape vēgeāce? we know the contrary. The hand of our God is no more feeble now▪ then it was then▪ his good will and love remaineth one at all time • toward such as depend vpō him. Acknowledge then your sins, mourn for your vnthākefulnes, abstain frō Idolatry, call boldly that the liberty of Christ Jesus, of his holy gospel preached may be restored unto you, consent not by your silence to the shedding of the blood of innocētes, which for the testimony of Christ's truth is shed amongst you in great abundance, but boldly bear witness, that injury is done unto them, and so shall you know shortly in experience, that God is no vain promiser of support to such, as shall be iniustly oppressed, especially for the cause of his Euangil. But alas dear brethren (I speak to you, of whose boldenes I once rejoiced, & for whose fall, God knoweth, I now mourn) if ye shall continue in rebelliō against God, because ye dare not displease men, as ye shall not escape damnation eternal, so shall ye fele in your own bodies, yea, the bodies of your posterity after you shall feel, that his prophets have not vaynely threatened bondage and thraldō against the inobedient. And be you assured that by maintaining of Idolatry you shall never attain to that quietness, which ye seek in this earth, but contrariwise God shall plage you, evē by those whom ye study to please. Therefore in few words to conclude if ye intend to escape God's severe judgments, & if ye loke to find • ō favorable, other to you or yet to your posterity, sleape no longer in your syn, consider frō what honor you are fall̄, what danger hangeth over your heads, remember how fearful and horrible it is to have God your enemy, & in depe consideratiō thereof, call for mercy, study unfeignedly to rise again, profess the truth, which ye have denied, remove to your pour iniquity f • ome amongst you, and abstain in your bodies from Idolatry committed, and maintained by your wicked rulers. And in so doing, as ye shall daily increase in knowledge, and strength: so shall ye find grace, which ye have not deserved, and that by the means of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose omnipotent spirit so illuminate your senses and understanding that clearly ye may se, what is the riches of y ^t glory, which God hath prepared for such as unfeignedly love him, and how horrible are the torments, which the slaves of Satan (I mean Idolaters, and such as for fear refuse the known verity) shall suffer with the devil and with his angels without end.

Farther of my mind concerning your duties in these most • olorous days, ye may understand by my appellation and by mine admonition to the nobility and communaltie of Scotland. God grant you his holy spirit rightly to consider and boldly to follow the way, which leadeth to life everlasting. Amē. From Geneva the .x. of Nouembre M.D.LVIII.

The days are so wicked, that I dare make special commendations to no man.

TO THE REALME OF ENGLAND and to all • state within the same John Knox 〈◊〉 true reap̄tance to be 〈…〉 God the father of our Lord I 〈◊〉 Christ with the Spirit of wisdom, d •• r • tion and true understanding.

A FTER that I had somewhat considered what from the beginning have been the great mercies of God towards his afflicted people, and what also have been his severe judgments executed against such, as ether preferring darkness to light did follow the devises and inventions of men, ether that enraged by the malice of Satan, have declared them selves open enemies to God & to his verity revealed: I thoght it my duty in few words to require of thee, & y ^t in God's name ô England in general y ^e same reap̄tāce & true cōuersiō unto God, y ^t I have required of those, to whom before particularely I wrote. For ī very deed whē in dolour of heart I wrote this former letter, I nether looked nor cold believe, y ^t y ^e Lord Jesus would so suddenly knock at thy gate, or call upon thee in thy opē stretes, offering himself to pardon thy iniquity, yea to enter into thy house▪ and so to abide & make his habitation w ^t thee, who so inobediently had rejected his yoke, so dis • ainfully had trodden under fore the blood of his testament, and so cruelly had murdered those, that were sent to call the to repentance. This thy horrible ingratitude considered, I did rather loke for punish • mentes & plagues universally to have been poured forth, then for mercy by the sound of his trumpet, so suddenly to have been offered to any withī that miserable yle. But when I did more depely way, that such is the infinite goodness of God, and that such be also the bright beams of his most just judgments, that whensoever he taketh into his protection by the conuenant of his word any Realm, Nation, Province or City, so that of mercy he becommethe to them cōducter, teacher, protector and father, that he never castethe of the same care and fatherly affection, which in his word he doth once pronounce, until they do utterly declare thē selves unworthy of his presence▪ whē this (I say) I did consider & way, I was in judgment somewhat reformed. For I find y ^t such was his care & constant love to y ^e whole seed of Abrahā (I mean of those y ^t descended of Jacob) y ^t albeit in many things they provoked him to anger, yet did his infinite goodness ever find & make a way, by y ^• w ^t his mercy was sēsibly felt of y ^t people, evē in their greatest extremities. For not only did he often pardō their offenses, long keep them in the lande, w ^c he had promised, & given to the seed of Abrahám, but also he was with them in fire & in water: yea when they were as rotton ca • ions buried as it had been in their graves in Babylon, yet did he lay in pledge the glory of his own name for their deliverance, yea and faithfully above man's expectaciō did he perform it. for he brake down the pride of Babylon, & so did open the prison, & brake up the gates of iron, which held them in thralldom. And why so? he him self doth answer, saying, For mine own names sake will I do this, and my glory will I give to none other, &c. And so this his love and fatherly care was so constant and unmovable, that nothing could utterly change it from the people, until his dear Son Christ Jesus did come of them and amongst them to notify and declare that souerayne felicity promised to Abrahám, I mean that all nations should be blessed in his seed, w ^t was Christ Jesus, who coming amongst his own was of thē rejected, denied, refused & shamefully put to death vpō a cross betwixt two thieves. And yet so tender was God's care over them, that before their polluted and wicked hands were externally almost washen frō his blood he sent unto them the message of reconsiliation, not only to those that were at Ierusalē, but even to such as were dispe • sed amongst the Gentiles, as in the Acts of the Apostles is plainly witnessed. For this prerogative had ever the Jews, that first to them were offered the glad tidings of the kingdom, unto such time as they declared thē selves by open blasphemies, continual resistance, and cruel persecution, most worthy to be deprived of that honor. This long sufferance & careful calling of that unthankful people proceeded from the same fountain, frō the which their first vocation did proceed & flowe, that is, from his eternal goodness, which did so long fight against their malice, that all creatures must justify God in his fearful, but yet most just judgments once executed and yet remainīg upon that rebellious people.

The same order I se doth God keep with thee ô y ^u happy and most unhappy England. happy, not only because thy God by his own hand hath oft deliuerd thee from corporal bondage of diverse and strange nations, as of Saxons, Romans, Goths & Danes, but especially for y ^t that by y ^e power of his eternal verity (& that of his free grace without •• y deseruyng) he did of late years break & destroy the intolerable yoke of thy spiritual captivity, and brought the forth as it had been from the bothome of hell & from the thralldom of Satan, in which thou wast holden blinded by Idolatry and superstition, to the feloship of his Angels and to the possession of that riche inheritance prepared to his dearest childrē with Christ Jesus his son. But ô unhappy and more then unhappy, that hast declared thyself so unthankful and rebellious to so loving and so merciful a father, who fy • st gave thee life, when thou didest lie polluted in blood, and dead in thy sin and now doth offer himself to be thy God, governor and father, after that thou most traitorously conspiring with Satan by solemned oath haste renounced his verity. O unhappy and more then unhappy art thou (I say) if that this thy treasonable defectiō, and God's loving kindness, yet callig the to his favors, doth not pierce thy heart with unfeigned repentance. For as this mercy and love of th • God far surmoū • eth the • eache of all mē • understanding▪ so cannot his just judgments longe delaye to power forth those horrible vengeances, which thy monst • ous unthankfulness hath long deserved, if thou • as God forbid) now shut up thine ears, blind thine eyes, & so harden thy ha • t, that nether thou wilt hear, se nor understand the gravity of thy fall, & that inestimable goodness of thy God thus lovingly calling the to thy ancient honors & dignity again, I nether dar nor will cease now by my pen (be it never so rude) to cry unto the that, which sometimes from the mouthe of my Master Christ Jesus I have pronounced in the hearing of many: that if thou shalt not know this merciful visitacion of the Lord thy God, and so prepare thyself with a penitent & thankful heart to receive, yet while time is, his large graces offered, that then thy habitatiō shall be left desolate, and where thowe hast of long time been the delectable garden planted by the Lord's hand, thou shalt become a barren wilderness, apt for nothing but to be brent and consumed by fire.

The warrant of this my proclamation and sentence (howe foolish & vain so ever it appere to mans reason) I have not by conjecture nor opiniō of mā, but frō y ^e mouthe of my God thus speakīg by Moses: Beware (saith he) that amongst you be not a root y ^t buddeth forth gall & wormwood, so that whē he shall hear the words of this execratiō, shall yet promise to himself felicity in his heart, saying, peace shall be to me although I walk after the lust of mine own heart, &c. The Lord will not be merciful saith Moses to such a one, but the fury of the eternal, and his hot displeasure shall brust forth against such a man, and upon him shall lie (that is continually abide) all the execrations, that be written in this boke, and the Lord shall blot out his name frō under y ^e heavē, &c. Thus far speaketh he against particular men, and against the whole multitude he proceadethe in this manner: The generation foloinge your sons, which shall arise after you, and the stranger, that shall come from a far country, when they shall se the plagues of this lande and the incurable diseases, by y ^e which it shall languish and consume as it were by brimstone and salt burning the whole lande, so that it cannot be sown, nether yet in it doth any herb springe up nor rise, &c. then shall all nations say▪ why hath the Lord done thus to this lande? ô what is the wrath of God's great fury? and they shall answer, For because they have left the conuenant of the Lord the God of their fathers, which he did make with them, when he brought them fo • the of Egypt. For they have gone and served other God's (I say) whom they knew not, and therefore was the fury of the Lord kyndled against this land, so that he brought upon it all the execratiōs & curses writ̄ in this boke. And the Lord in his wrath, fury and great indignatiō hath wrooted thē out of their own land, & hath dispersed thē in another land, as this day doth witness &c. This same is written with greater circumstances in the boke of Leviticus, which place if ye consider w ^t this, and considering God's eternal verity to have his effect in every age & natiō, which so doth offend, then shalt thou see, ô England, that this is the judgment which thou shalt not, nor canst not escape, if speedily thou repent not thy shameful defectiō & with all humility return to the Lord, whom so traitorously and so publicly of late days thou hast refused. For these severe judgments once executed against Israel and Judah may be to thee, who once hast professed thyself subject to God, and hast unthankfully departed from his service, & yet of mercy is called again: to the (I say) may those severe judgments be a mirror & glass, in which thou mayest behold what shall be thy final & miserable destructiō, if by unfeigned and spedie repentance thou remove not the vengeance, w ^c hangethe over thy head. And to the ende that better thou mayest try & examine thyself, I will shortly touch the stubborn inobedience of that people, the long patience and gentle dealing of God with their most miserable and lamentable destruction.

Thre hundredth years and mo from the departure of the ten tribes from the house & royal seat of David did Judah provoke God to displeasure, now by Idolatry, now by hill altars, now by cōfederacie and joining of hands with wicked princes & ungodly nations, by whom they were ever drawn from depending and trusting upon God to the vain trust and confidence of men. Against these and other vices from time to time did God send his prophets to call them to repentance and did also raise up some times good and godly Kings to make public reformation as touching the religion. But what reformation was found in life, manners and conversation, what reverence did the multitude bear unto God, how was the religiō imbrased in their hearts, and how long was it retained in such perfectiō as was commanded, the prophets do teache, & histories bear witness and plainly affirm, that even in the days of the most godly Kings (of Hezekiah & Josiah I mean) the Scribes & Lawiers did write deceytfully to thrust out the weakeons frō their cause, to spoil the wydow, & to oppress the orphelin. Their Judges were bribers, and their princes were partakers with thieves. They said that evil was good, and good evil, they would have pleasing things spokē unto them▪ and commanded, that no mention should be made of the holy one of Israel. for his word was a burden unto them. Of the Nobility some were traitors, some auaricious, some unconstant as wauerīg reeds, some greedy dogs and insatiable wolves, deuoring the pray wheresoerver they might catch it. The people of the lande were deceitful, all handy crafts, merchandise and vittayles were corrupt by their covetous practices. They were ready but to sclander and oppress the pore, the needy and the stranger. The coniuration of prophets was in the midst of them, even as a roaring lyon, &c. They healed the sores & botches of the people, princes & governors with unprofitable plasters & laid soft pillows under the heads of such, as securely slept in all iniquity. The priests had violently rent in sunder the Law of God, they had profaned his sanctuary by their own inventions, and by retaining such a myxed and inuenomed religiō, as from old Idolaters they had received, and that because it pleased their kings, chief rulers, and governors, it must needs be good and please them. They made no difference betwixt that which was holy and clean (because it proceaded frō God) & that which was profane & filthy, which wicked Idolaters had invented and devised. The pastors finally were become dumb dogs, their watchemen were blīde givē to excess, slowth fullness and sleape, & to be short; they came to that corruptiō, that the Lord did seek a man to repair the hedge again, & to stand in the gap before him, that the land should not be wasted, but yet he found none. for all were declined, all sought their own advantage, no man called for justice & equity, no mā was judged of faith and verity. They brought forth coccatrise eggs, their fete rā to mischief, thei made hast to shed innocent blood, they nether knew, nether yet would know the way of peace, but to such horrible confusiō came all things, that the verity was banished, and whosoever departed from iniquity, was made as a pray to all men. Which things, when the Lord did consider, and did see, that none would set them selves, no man (I say) that opponed himself to so horrible iniquity: his own arm gave him salvation, and his own justice did hold him up, &c. he poured forth (after divers plagues) his fury upon that nation at once, and in the hot fire of his anger did he consume them, and so did reward their wicked ways upon their own heads, as before was threatened by the mouthe of Moses.

These testimonies and many mo (which to avoid prolixity I omit) we have of the prophets, how corrupt was the whole body evē in the days of the most godly Kings, yea, even in the days, when the plagues were vpō them. And the histories do witness, that no sooner did ever any Idolater rise, but that so sone from the highest degree to the lowest, from the prince to the Prophet (a mean number except) were all ready to obey, whatsoever was commanded by such as were placed in honors and authority. The history doth farther witness, that the princes of Judah after the death of Jehoiada, by whose wife Joash was preserved in that most cruel murder of all the kingly seade made by Athaliah, and by whose most faithful diligence the same Joash was in the seuenthe year of his age made king over Judah: the conuenant and league, before broken by Idolatry, was renewed again betwixt God and the people, and betwixt the people and the king: to wit, that the one and the other should be the people of the Lord, by renewing of which cōuenant unhappy and cruel Athaliah was killed, the people did enter into the house of Baal, brake it down with his altars and images, even to powder, and finally before y ^e altars of Baal did most iustely kyl Mathā Baals great priest: after y ^e death (I say) of Jehoiada, by whose godly providence all these things were brought to pa •• se y ^e princes of Judah came & bowed thē selves unto the King, making no doubt this petition unto him, that they might have the religion, which long had been retained amongst the Kings of Judah, even from the days of Solomon, & y ^t they should not be so straytly bond, as the conuenant made by Jehoiada commanded▪ so they would not return (as may appear they did allege) to Baal, but stand content with their hylaltars, their thickets of wood and ancient Idols. And that this was their petition the history giveth plain light. For it saith, And the King hard them: & they leaving the house of the Lord the God of their fathers, served thickets, and Idols, which thing albeyt it did so displease the Lord, that he sent his prophets sharply to reb • ke their unthankful defection, yet was there no redress. For the King, princes and people were conspired against God, and so from Idolatry proceeded to cruel murder, as the histories doth witness in the days of Ahaz. The same abominations remained in all estates. For Uriah the high priest himself at the commandment of the King builded an altar as the King had sent him a pattern from Damascus, & so left the altar of the Lord, and brent sacrifice upon that great altar, &c.

In the days of Hezekiah (that zealous and Godly King) what were the hearts of the nobility and people towards God's true religiō, it may appear by the sequel. For streght after his death doth the whole multitude return with Manasseh unto Idolatry, abominations and cruel murder, yea even while the King did live, that treasonable traitor Sobna; ēnemie to God, to his true whorship and to his prophets, was treasorer and in highest authority.

Jeremiah & Ezekiel do witness that the p • inces, prophets & people were so corrupt even to the very day of the destruction, yea, and after the same, that Zedekiah (of nature by all apparāce not very cruel, but yet faint hearted for lack of faith was compelled at their commandment to put Jeremiah in prison and to give them permission to put him to death at their pleasures, whose life by God's mighty providence yet preserved, and being called to the presence of the king, to whom he gave in God's name most wholesome counsel, yet durst not the Kīg for fear of his princes nether follow the same, nether yet let them understand what communication was betwixt the Prophet and him.

Ezekiel in his vision saw the people and princes declined from God, and did also hear these words spokē by God: The iniquity of the house of Israel, and Judah is great above measure, the earth is full of blood, and the City full of defection. For they have said, The Lord hath left the earth, and the Lord seethe us not.

After that most miserable destruction of Jerusalem, when a remnant of the poor people and Nobility (who had escaped the edge of the sword) were left in the lande with the prophet Jeremiah and with Godolias the son of Ahikam, their old venom of rebelliō against God & his revealed will was nothing purged. For albeyt that the princes, Iohannan the son of Carea; & Iezanias the sonne of Hosea's with the whole people had promised unto Jeremiah by a solemned oath to do whatsoever the Lord should command unto them by his mouthe: yet when he commanded thē in the name of the Lord to abide in the lande and not to carry the people to Egypt, they nether feared, nor ashamed to say unto him, thou speakest a lie, the Lord hath not sent the to us, commaūding that we should not go to Egypt, &c. to Egypt will we go, and we will serve the queen of heaven, &c. even as our ancient kings, and fathers did before us: and so in despite of God, of his prophet, and of his word revealed unto them departed from the lande, which the Lord had given to the seade of Abraham, unto Egypt infected withe all Idolatry. And thus from their original they continued in rebelliō evē to the ende, when they did utterly forsake God. for whatsoever they pretended, it was nothing else, but a plain denial of God, of his league & of his conuenant, to contract familiarity, alliance or peace against his plain precept with that nation, from whose tyranny God had before deliuerd their fathers. And therefore he gave them: most strait commandment, that they should never return to that bondage again.

How long and how patiently did God fight against this their rebelliō, is easy to be understand by the histories and prophets: but how severe in the ende were the plagues and just vengeance poured upon the kings, princes & people, did very Ethnics thē selves give testimony & record. Their land & cities were spoiled, burnt and left desolate: womē for hungre compelled to eat their own children. Oft were they brought in thralldom & subjection of strangers, and finally the glory of the Lord was removed from his sanctuary, w ^c he him self did swear y ^t he would profane by reasō of their great abominations. And so he did, for it was brent, the vessels and ornaments of it carried to Babylon, the whole Nobility of Judah, and the Kings sons were killed in his own presence, after which most miserable sight his own eyes were put out, he led to Babylon, where he remained prisoner until his death. Those that departed to Egypt did never return again to Jerusalem, but perished most miserably, as the prophet did threaten.

This is the glass, this is the minor (ô England) in which I would, that daily thou shuldest behold, what shall be the final end of those, that do abuse the long sufferinge of God most mercifully calling all to repentance. If thou shalt think thyself pure and clean from any of the crimes, which before is noted in that people, alas thou shalt declare thyself more then impudent. For all other your iniquities omitted, this your last and universal turning from God by the open denial of his Gospel professed, declareth you from the highest to the lowest manifest tray tours against his godly majesty. It is you all together, who most cruelly have shede the blood of a number of your brethren and sisters, w ^t from under the alter cry to be revenged. There is no person giltles in God's presence, who hath bowed their knees to Idolatry (whatsoever excuse they list to pretend) but as all are Idolaters, so are and shall be reputed murderers before God, w ^c do not wash away that infamy & innocent blood by unfeigned repentance.

No other assurance will I require that your plagues are at hand, and that your destructiō approacheth, then that I shall understand that ye do justify yourselves in this your former iniquity. Absolue and flatter you who so list, God the father, his sonne Christ Jesus, his holy angels the creatures sensible and insensible in heaven and in earth shall arise in judgment and shall condemn you, if in time ye repent not. The cause y ^t I wrap you all in Idolatry, all in murder and all in one and the same iniquity, is that none of you hath done your duty, none hath remembered his office and charge, which was to have resisted to y ^e uttermost of your powers that impiety in y ^e beginning. But ye have all followed the wicked commandment, all have consented to cruel murder, in so far as in your eyes your bretheren have most iniustly suffered, and none opened, his mouth to cōplain of that injury, cruelty & murder, I do ever except such, as ether by their death, by abstaining from Idolatry or by avoiding the Realm for the iniquity in the same committed, did give testimony, that such an horrible falling from God did inwardly grieve them. These I except, but all the rest, even from the highest to the lowest I fear no more to accuse of Idolatry of treason against God committed, and of cruel murthering of their brethren, then did Zacharias the sonne of Jehoiada fear to say to the king, princes & people of Judah, Why have ye transgressed the commaundemētes of the eternal? It shall not prosperously succeed unto you, but evē as you have left y ^e Lord, so shall he leave you.

And albeyt my blood should be shed for this my affirmation, as his was, yet having the testimony of a good conscience, that I speak not nor write not of private malice against any person, I will still cry as before. For at your hands (unless that speedily and unfeignedly ye repent) shall God require all the blood, not only which lately hath been shed by your moste wicked permission, but also of all those, that for the same cause have suffered from the beginning. Tremble therefore, fear, confess and unfeignedly repent, that ye may escape the vengeance prepared. Your humiliation, confession and repentance may now obtain no less of God's great mercy, then did Josiah, his nobles and people in the same case, to whom in all things you are so like, as one beane is to another. For no crime is so heinous, which God will not cast in the bothome of the sea, ad bury in perpetual oblivion, if you with unfeigned hearts turn to y ^e Lord your God, whom so grievously you have offended.

This conversion and repentance requireth no dout a reformation, remouyng and suppressing of all abuses, all wrong, all violence, all oppressiō & fraud how long, in whom & by whome soever they have been maintained, practiced or permitted. But remitting all such things, as be without the religion, to such as God shall farther move with his holy spirit to instruct you, I say that your conversion unto God and unfeigned repentance requireth two things. First, that the religion and true honoring of God may be at once brought to that purity, which his word requireth. Secondarely, that order may be taken, so far is in you lieth, that the same religion, which God approuethe, may be kept inviolable amongst you forever, and that the people universal may be instruct in y ^e same.

For the first point touching reformation of religion y ^u must at once so purge and expel all dregs of papistry, superstition and Idolatry, that thou (ô England) must judge and hold execrable and accursed, whatsoever God hath not sanctified unto thee by his word, or by the action of our master Christ Jesus. The glisteringe beauty of vain ceremonies, the heaping of things pertaining nothing to edificatiō, by whomsoever they were invented justified, or maintained, ought at once to be removed and so trodden under the obedience of God's word, that continually this sentence of thy God be present in thy heart and ready in thy mouthe, Not that which appeareth good in thy eyes shalt thou do to the Lord thy God, but what the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that shalt thou do: add nothing to it, diminishe nothing from it.

Let not the King and his proceadinges (whatsoever they be) not agreeable to his word be a snare to thy conscience. O cursed were the hearts that first devised that phrase in matters of religion, whereby the simple people were brought to one of these two inconveniences: to wit, that ether they did esteem every religion good and acceptable unto God, which the King and parliament did approve and command, or else, that God's religion honor and service was nothing else, but devises of men. O England, England, let this blasphemy be first of all others removed. For how horrible is it to remember that the religion, and honoringe of the eternal God shall be subject to the appetites of foolish and inconstant men▪ Let God's word alone be the rule, and line to measure his religion. What it commandethe, let that be obeyde: what it commandeth not, let that be execrable because it hath not the sanctification of his word under what name or title soever it be published.

Halt no longer on both partes: let not these voices prevail in your parliament: This to our •• gement is good and godly, his the people can well bear, his repugnethe not to God's • orde, and when the people be • etter instructed, then may we • rocede farther &c. O dissem • ling hypocrites, plain messin • e • s of Satan. Now I do write, which some time I have said to our faces, that whatsoever God in matters of his religion) hath • ot sanctified by his expressed word, the same, I say, before his • aiestie remaynethe execrable, • olluted, and defiled and so in few words, this is the first point, which your true conversion requireth: to wit, that his only word reform his religion.

The inviolable preservation of God's religion (which is the second point) requireth two principal things: the one that power nor liberty be permitted to any, of what estate, degree, or authority y ^t ever they be, ether to live without the yoke of discipline, by God's word commanded, ether yet to alter, to change, to disannul, or dissolve y ^e least one i • t • in religion, which from God's mouthe thow hast received. But let his holy and blessed ordinances, by Christ Jesus to his Church commanded, be with in thy limittes and bonds so sure and established, that if prince, king, or Emperor would enterprice to change or disannul the same, that he be of the reputed ēnemie to God, and therefore unworthy to reign above his people, yea, that the same man or mē, that go about to destroy God's true religion once established, and to erect Idolatry, which God detesteth, be adjudged to death according to God's commandment: the negligence of which parte hath made you all (those only • xcepted, whom before I have • xprest) murderers of your bre • hern, deniers of Christ Jesus, & manifest traitors to God's so • eraigne majesty. Which hor • ible crimes if ye will avoid in • yme cominge, then must ye I mean the princes, rulers & • eople of England) by solemned the renew the cōuenant betwixt God and you in the same form • s Asa king of Judah did in the li • e case.

They made a cōuenant (saith • he history) that they would seek • he Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all • heir soul, and that whosoever • hulde not seek the Lord God of • srael, he should die the death, • hither he were great or small, man or woman. And they did • wear unto the Lord with a • reat oath, and with the sound • f trumpet and of shaumes, and of this oath did all the Jews r • ioyse. For with their whole ha • they did swear, and they sog • God with unfeigned affectio • and he was found of them, an • the Lord gave them rest on eve • side. This is thy duty and this the only remedy (ô England) 〈◊〉 stay God's vengeance, which 〈◊〉 thou hast deserved, and sha • not long escape, if his religion 〈◊〉 honor be subject to mutation an • change, as oft as thy rulers lis • or as by reason of death they sha • be changed and so this bries • is the first thing, which though • must with invocation of God • name provide for establishing of his true religion.

The other part, touching th • instruction of the people, standeth much in the faithful, diligence of those, to whom th • charge of preaching shall be committed. But whē I remember tha • horrible confusion, which befo • e was maintained even by those, which would be esteemed chief pillars of religion, I do more fear to be plain in this matter, then in all that, which before I have spokē. For it may be that in speaking the simple truth I may displease those, whom willingly for no earthly profet I would offend. Neuertheles seeing the cause is not mine, but pertaineth to Christ Jesus, and to the feeding of that flock, which so earnestly and tenderly he did commend to Peter, and to all his faithful pastors to the worlds end, whatsoever man shall judge, I dare not cease in God's name to require of you a severe reformation of those things, which were before utterly disordered. And first in the name of the Lord Jesus I require of you, that no dūme dog, no poisoned and pestilent papist, none, who before hath persecuted God's children or obstinately maintained Idolatry, be placed above the people of God to infect and poison (fo • other profet they shall do none) the souls of those, whom Christ Jesus hath redeemed with his precious blood. Secondly that-benefice upon benefice be heaped vpō no mā, but that a sufficient charge with a competent stipend be assigned to the workman. For ô how horrible was that cōfusiō, that one man should be permitted to have 2.3.4.5.6. or. 7. benifices, who skarsely in the year did so often preach: yea, that a man should have the charge of them, whose faces he never saw. Let that pestilence, proceading from avarice, be utterly avoided. Let not men at their pleasures preach when and where they list, but so sone as a Godly order may be established, let the partes and bonds be assigned to everyone. Londō in times past was indifferently provided for, but alas what barbarous ignorance was in the rest of the Realm.

Thirdly let no man be charged in preaching of Christ Jesus above that, which one man may do, I mean, that your Bishoprikes be so divided, that of everyone, as they be now (for the most part) be made ten, and so in every City and great town there may be placed a godly learned man with so many joined with him so preaching and instruction, as shall be thoght sufficient for the bonds committed to their charge. The utility whereof you shall understand within few years greatly to redoūde to the profit of y ^e simple flock. For your proud prelates great dominions & charge (impossible by one man to be discharged) are no parte of christs ministry, but are the maintenance of the tyranny first invented & yet retained by the Roman Antichrist.

Fortely that diligent hede be taken, that such, to whom the office of preaching is committed, discharge and do their duties. For it is not, nor will not be, the chanting or mumbling over of certain psalms, the reading of Chapiters for matins and even song, or of homelies only, be they never so godly, that feed the souls of the hugrie sheep. Christ Jesus himself, his holy Apostles, and that elected vessel Paul do teach us another lesson, all commanding us to preach, to preach, & that to preach Christ Jesus crucified, &c. What efficacy hath y ^e living voice above y ^e bare letter red, the hungry & thirsty do feel to their comfort: but the other maketh for master parsons purpose, who retaining in his hands a nonebre of benefices appointeth such in his place, as are altogether destitute of the gift of preaching. But let all such belly gods be whypt out of God's holy Tēple.

Fiftely let none, y ^t be appointed to labor in Christ's vineyard, be entangled with civil affairs, and as ye call them, the affairs of the Realm, except it be whē the civil magistrate and ministers of the word assemble together for executiō of discipline, w ^c is a thing easy to be done without withdrawīg any persō frō his charge, if that, w ^c is before expressed, be observed. For as touching their yearly coming to the parliament for matters of religion, it shall be superfluous and vain, if God's true religion be so once established, that after it be never called in controversy.

And as touching execution of discipline, that must be done ī every City & Shier, where y ^e Magistrates & ministers are joined together without any respect of persons, so y ^t the ministers, albeit they lack the glorious titles of Lord's, & the devilish pomp, w ^c before appeared in proud prelates, yet must they be so stowte & so bold in God's cause, that if the King himself would usurp any other authority in God's religion, then becometh a member of Christ's body, that first he be admonished according to God's word, and after, if he contemn the same, be subject to the yoke of discipline, to whom they shall boldly say, as Asarias the high priest said to Vsaias the king of Judah: It is not lawful for the, ô Vsaia, to offer incense, but it appertaineth to the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn it. Passe out therefore, for thou hast offended, which thing shall not redounde to thy glory, &c. This is the duty (I say) of all Christ's faithful ministers, whensoever any man, be he king or Emperor, usurpeth to himself authority against God, to rebuke him openly, to resist & gainstāde him to the uttermost of their power, whom the Lord by the spirit of his mouthe and power of his word shall cōfound, even as he did the pride of Vsaias, if they be strong & valiant in God's cause.

Now last (omitting things of no less importance to your wisdoms) for the preseruatiō of religion it is most expedient, that schools be universally erected in all Cities, and chief towns, the oversight whereof to be committed to the magistrates and godly learned men of the said Cities, & towns, that of the youth godly instructed amongst them a seade may be reserved and continued for the profet of Christ's Church in all ages.

It remaineth briefly to answer to two things, w ^c may give you occasion to • aint in this the Lord's woe • ke. First the lack of workmen to put things in such order as is requisite: and secondly the fear of tumult and sedition within yourselves, or invasion of foreign Nations. In God's Name I fear not to affirm that nether the one nor the other shall hurt you in the end, if you with your whole hearts seek God's glory to be promoted, and all sortes of abominations to be rooted out. For if you pray with earnest affection, he shall indue such as ye know not with wisdom and knowledge to rule in his Church to the comfort of his flock. There be mo laborers, then the eyes of man seeth, that profitably would work in the Lord's harvest. And as for fear of enemies, they may with Choron, Dathan and Abiron conspire against Moses and Aaron, with the Moabites and Ammonites against Jehoshaphat, or with proud Sinnacherib against Hezekiah and afflicted Zión. But rather or thou shalt de confounded, if with a perfect heart thou seek the Lord thy God, rather (I say) shall the earth open and devour such rebels, rather shall thine enemies everyone murder other, & rather shall y ^e Angels of the Lord fight for thy deliverance, or the work be hindered and perish in thy hands.

But if thou, ô England, for any respect delay thy repentance and conversion unto God, if thou shalt still foster in thy bosom the generation of vipers, if thou shalt retain in honor & authority such, as have declared them selves enemies to God and to his eternal truth not by any infirmity, but of determined malice & set purpose, to murder & destroy God's chosen children: if finally thou shalt not study to wroote out and cut of such rotten members, as can do nothing, but infect the whole body: then call I to witness against the both heavē & earth, that I and others the servants of God, who faithfully & in time have wa • ned thee of thy duty and vengeance to come, are & shall be clean frō thy blood, which shortly shall perish, if thou contemn the admonitions of God's messengers. To late it shall be for thee to howl & cry, when the flame of God's hot displeasure shall begin to burn. It will not thē be y ^e flattering intisemētes and vain policies of such, as s • ke more thē selves then Christ's glory, that will extīguishe it. No, it shall burn and shall destroy the head and the tail, the prince and the false prophet, the root & the branches of such impiety. Be warned therefore, if thou list escape vengeance, which is already prepared for the inobedient.

But ô you that in sorrow of heart see these abominations, that lament and do not pollute yourselves with them, let your hearts rest upon the Eternal, who shall be to you a rock & a strong castle of defense. Althogh the heaven and the earth should be confounded, yet shall his mercy deliver you from danger, & in very experience and joy of heart ye shall singe: ô Lord, thou art our God, we shall exalt & confess thy Name, for thou hast done woēderous things. Thy counsels are profounde, far of to man's judgment, but yet are they true & sure. The strong tenths and the palaces of the proud hast thou brought to ruin, so that they shall never be restored again, and therefore the strong people shall glorify thee, yea, the Cities of tyrannous nations shall fear the, &c. Behold this is our God whom we have abiddē, he hath saved us. This is y ^e Lord, whom we looked for, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his saluatiō, &c. This (I say) shall be the song, which in experience of the Lord's deliverance your hearts shall sing, even when God's most severe judgments shall in your eyes be executed against the ungodly, and therefore call thou for strength to continue to the ende.

THE NAMES OF SOME PART OF THOSE most faithful servants and dear childrē of God, which lately in thee and by thee (o England) have been most cruelly murdered by fire & imprisonment for the testimony of Christ Jesus and his eternal verity, whose blood from under the altar crieth loud to be avenged on them, that dwell vpō the earth, as before is mentioned, besides a great number of God's children who under the pretence of treason suffered for Christ Religion.

TO THE READER.

YF the examinations and injust accusations of these our dear brethren with the names of their wicked accusers, false Judges and cruel tormen • e • s had been sent unto us as these few names were, we would most gladly have done our diligence, that the wonderful con •• ancie of the one, & the great rage & cruelty of the other should have been witnessed unto y ^e world. which thing nevertheless we mind hereafter more largely to perform to the glory of God, to the comfort of this Church & to the perpetual cōfusiō of those murderers and members of Satā, whom the Lord shall confound by the glorious coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.