N20568:7292
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.
Volume 1 › Book 2 › Chapter 10 › Letter 2: LETTER II. From Mr. BRADFORD, to the CITY of LONDON.
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.
TO believe Christ our Saviour to be the head of his church, and kings in their realms to be the supreme powers, to whom every soul oweth obedience, and to believe that in the supper of Christ (which the sacrament of the altar, as the papists call it and use it, doth utterly overthrow) is a true and very presence of whole Christ, God and Man, to the faith of the receiver, but not to the stander by, and looker upon, as it is true and very presence of bread and wine to the very senses of man: to believe this, I say, will not serve, and therefore as an heretic I am condemned, and shall be burned; whereof I heartily ask God mercy that I do no more rejoice than I do, having so great cause, as to be an instrument wherein it may please my dear Lord God and Saviour to suffer.
FOR albeit my manifold sins, even since I came into prison, have deserved at the hands of God, not only this temporal, but also eternal fire in hell, much more than my former sinful life, which the Lord pardon for Christ's sake, as I know he of his mercy hath done, and will never lay mine iniquities to my charge to condemnation, so great is his goodness, (praised therefore be his holy name) although, I say, my late manifold and grievous sins have most justly deserved all the tyranny that man or devil can do unto me; and therefore I confess that the Lord is just, his judgments be true, and I have deserved them: yet the bishops and prelates, instead of persecuting them in me, do persecute Christ himself, his word, his truth, and his religion. And therefore I have great cause to rejoice that ever I was born, and hitherto preserved by the Lord; that by my death, which I deserve for my sins, it pleased him to glorify his name, to testify and confirm his truth, and to overcome his adversaries. O good God and merciful Father, forgive my unthankfulness, especially herein.
AND you, my dearly beloved, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, I humbly and heartily in his bowels do now, for my last farewell in this present life, beseech you, and every one of you, that you will consider this work of the Lord accordingly. By me be admonished to beware of hypocrisy and carnal security; profess not the gospel with