N20568:7449
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.
LETTER XX. From Mr. BRADFORD, to Mr. RICHARD HOPKINS, then Sheriff of COVENTRY, and Prisoner in the Fleet.
DEARLY beloved in the Lord, I wish unto you as unto mine own brother, yea, as to mine own heart, God's mercy, and to the feeling of the same plentifully in Christ our sweet Saviour, who gave himself a ransom for our sins, and price for redemption, praised be his holy name for ever and ever, Amen. I will not go about to excuse myself for not sending unto you hitherto, but rather accuse myself before God and you, desiring of you forgiveness, and with me to pray to God for pardon of this my unkind forgetting you, and all other my sins, which I beseech the Lord in his mercy to do away for Christ's sake, Amen. NOW I would be glad to make some amends, if I ⟨p. 688⟩could; but because I cannot, I heartily desire you to accept the will for the deed. At present my dear heart, you are in a blessed state, although it seem otherwise to you, or rather unto your old Adam, which I dare now to be so bold as to discern from you, because you would have him not only discerned, but also utterly destroyed. For if God be true, then is his word true. NOW his word pronounceth of your state that it is happy, therefore it must needs be so. To prove this I think there is no need: for you know the Holy Ghost saith, "That they are happy who suffer for righteousness' sake, and that God's glory and Spirit resteth on them who suffer for conscience to God." You know that you suffer for the sake of God and religion; or else you might soon be out of trouble. You account yourself a great sinner, and so you think you deserve this punishment: but the papists do neither persecute your sins, but in you they persecute Christ, and punish you for professing his religion. Happy are you who have found such favour with God, as to be accounted worthy to suffer for his sake in the sight of man; you shall surely rejoice with a joy unspeakable in the sight of men and of angels. YOU may think yourself born in a blessed time, that have found this grace with God, as a vessel of honour to suffer with his saints, yea, with his Son. The apostle faith, "Not many noble, not many rich, not many wise in the world, hath the Lord God chosen." Who then hath greater cause to rejoice than you, that amongst the Not many, he hath chosen you to be one? For that cause hath God placed you in your office, that thereby you might the more see his special favour and love towards you. It had not been so great a thing for Mr.