N20568:5777
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
GRACE be with you, and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God, and Jesus the Lord.
AFTER hearty commendations and thanks to you, not only for your larg• token, but much more for your loving letters, full of consolation to me as touching my person to you unknown; these shall be to certify you, that I rejoice greatly in the Lord, when I do perceive how my sweet Saviour Christ doth stir up the minds, not only of my familiar friends in times past, but also of sundry and divers heretofore unto me unknown and unacquainted, to bear part with me in this my painful and costly imprisonment, sending me things not only necessary for this present life, but also comfortable letters, encouraging and exhorting me to continue grounded and established in the faith, and not to be moved away from the hope of the gospel, whereof, according to my small talent, I have been a minister; and daily I call and cry unto the Lord in whom is all my trust, and without whom I can do nothing, that he which hath begun a good work in me, would vouchsafe to go forth with it until the day of Jesus Christ, being surely certified in my conscience of this, that he will so do, forasmuch as he hath given me, that not only I should believe on him, but also suffer for his sake. The Lord strengthen me with his Holy Spirit, that I may be one of the number of those blessed, which enduring to the end shall be saved.
AND whereas you say, that my suffering of persecution with Christ is a thing to you most comfortable, I make answer, that in all mine adversity and necessity nothing on your behalf is greater consolation unto me, than to hear of the faith and love of others, and how they have good remembrance of us always, even as the apostle reporteth by the Thessalonians, saying, Now are we alive, if ye stand steadfast in the Lord. For my trust in the Lord is, that this my business shall happen to the furtherance of the gospel, and that you will be none of those forgetful and hypocritish hearers, whereof some being but way-side hearers, the devil cometh and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved: (but let prayer be made without ceasing by the congregation unto God for them) and, no doubt, God will to your consolation gloriously deliver by one means or other his oppressed. Only tarry ye the Lord's leisure; be strong, let your heart be of good comfort, and wait ye still for the Lord. He tarrieth not that will come; look for him therefore and faint not, and he will never fail you.