N20568:7453
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 XXI. To a certain Gentlewoman, troubled and afflicted by h•• Parents for not coming to Mass.
I Wish you, right worshipful, and dearly beloved sister in the Lord, as to myself, the continual grace and comfort of Christ, and of his holy word, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, that you may continue to the end in the faithful obedience of God's gospel, whereunto you are called. Amen. I understand you are on your trial in the school-house of the Lord, which to me is a great comfort to see the number of God's elect by you increased, who are in that state whereof God hath not called many, as St. Paul ⟨p. 689⟩faith. May God of his infinite goodness finish and perfect the good he hath begun in you. IF then your cross be to me a comfort, a token of election, and a confirmation of God's continual favour, how much more ought it to be so unto you? unto whom he hath not only given to believe, but also to come into the rank of those who suffer for his name's sake, and that not by common enemies, but even by your own parents and kindred, as you told me. By which I see Christ's words to be true, That he came to give his children such a peace with him, as the devil cannot abide, and therefore he stirreth up father and mother, sister and brother, rather than it should continue. But my dear sister, if you cry with David to the Lord, and complain to him, that for conscience to him, your father and mother hath forsaken you, you shall hear him speak in your heart, that he hath received you, and by this he would have you see, that he maketh you like unto Christ here, that in heaven you may perfectly enjoy him. You ought to be most assured, that in time, when he shall appear, you shall be like unto him; for he shall make your vile body like unto his glorious and immortal body, according to the power whereby he is able to do all things. He will confess you before his Father; he will make you to reign with him, who now suffer for him, and with him; he will not leave you comfortless, who seek no comfort but at his hand; though for a little time you be afflicted, yet therein will he comfort and strengthen you, and at length make you to be merry with him in such joy as is infinite and endless. He will wipe all the tears from your eyes; he will embrace you as your dear husband, he will, after he hath proved you, crown you with a crown of glory and immortality, such as the heart of man shall never be able to conceive in such sort as the thing is.