terrors, as also the vain flattering allurements of the world, esteeming them as vanities, mere trifles, and things of nought: who hath also wrought, planted, and surely stablished in your hearts so stedfast a faith and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, joined with such constancy, that by no engines of antichrist, be they never so terrible or plausible, ye will suffer any other Jesus or any other Christ to be forced upon you, besides him whom the prophets have spoken of before, the Apostles have preached, and the holy martyrs of God have confessed and testified with the effusion of their blood. "In this faith stand Gal. v. ye fast, my brethren, and suffer not yourselves to be brought under the yoke of bondage and superstition any more." For ye know, brethren, how that our Saviour warned his beforehand, that such should come as would point unto the world another Christ, and would set him out with so many false miracles and with such deceivable and subtle practices, that even the very elect (if it were possible) should be thereby deceived; such strong delusion to come did our Saviour give warning of before. But continue ye faithful and constant, and be of good comfort: and remember that our grand Captain hath overcome the world; "for he that is in us is stronger 1 John iv. than he that is in the world," and the Lord promiseth unto us, that for the elect's sake the days of wickedness shall be shortened. In the mean season abide ye, and endure with patience as ye have begun; endure, I say, and reserve yourselves unto better times, as one of the heathen poets said. Virgil's Cease not to shew yourselves valiant soldiers of the Lord, and help to maintain the travailing faith of the Gospel. "Yesuffering. have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye may receive the promises. For yet a very little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry; and the just shall live by faith: but if any withdraw himself, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, saith the Lord. But we are not they which do withdraw ourselves unto damnation, but believe unto the salvation of the soul." Let us not suffer these words of Christ to fail out of our hearts, by any manner of terrors or threatenings of the world: "Fear not them Matt. x. which kill the body." The rest ye know. For I write not unto you as to men which are ignorant of the truth, but which know the truth: and to this end only, that we, agree Eneid, 1. Heb. x. bor. ing together in one faith, may take comfort one of another, and be the more confirmed and strengthened thereby. We never had a better or a more just cause either to contemn our life, or shed our blood: we cannot take in hand the defence of a more certain, clear, and manifest truth. For it is not any ceremony for the which we contend; but it toucheth the very substance of our whole religion, yea, even Christ himself. Shall we, eitherb can we, receive and acknowledge any other Christ, instead of him who is alone the everlasting Son of the everlasting Father, and is the brightness of the glory, and lively image of the substance, of the Father? in whom only dwelleth corporally the fulness of the Godhead, who is the only way, the truth, and the life? Let such wickedness, my brethren, let such horrible wickedness, be far from us. For although there be that are called gods, whether in heaven, either in earth, as there be many gods and many lords, yet unto us there is but one God, which is the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by John xvii. him but every man hath not knowledge. "This is life eter nal (saith St John,) that they know thee to be the only true God, and him whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ." If any therefore would force upon us any other God, besides him whom Paul and the Apostles have taught, let us not hear him, but let us fly from him and hold him accursed. Brethren, ye are not ignorant of the deep and profound subtleties of Satan; for he will not cease to range about you, seeking by all means possible whom he may devour: but play ye the men, and be of good comfort in the Lord. And albeit your enemies and the adversaries of the truth, armed with all worldly force and power that may be, do set upon you; yet be not ye faint-hearted, nor shrink not therefore but trust unto your captain Christ, trust unto the Spirit of truth, and trust to the truth of your cause; which, as it may by the malice of Satan be darkened, so can it never be clean put out. For we have (high praise be given to God therefore!) most plainly, evidently, and clearly on our side all the prophets, all the apostles, and undoubtedly all the ancient ecclesiastical writers which have written until of late years past. Let us be hearty and of good courage therefore, and tho : roughly comfort ourselves in the Lord. "Be in no ways Phil. i. afraid of your adversaries; for that which is to them an occasion of perdition, is to you a sure token of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given, that not only ye should believe on him, but also suffer for his sake." And when ye are railed upon for the name of Christ, remember that by the voice of Peter, yea, and of Christ our Saviour also, ye are counted, with the prophets, with the apostles, and with the holy martyrs of Christ, "happy and blessed 1 Pet. iv. therefore;" for the glory and Spirit of God resteth upon you. On their part our Saviour Christ is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. For what can they else do unto you by persecuting you, and working all cruelty and villainy against you, but make your crowns more glorious, yea, beautify and multiply the same, and heap upon themselves the horrible plagues and heavy wrath of God? And therefore, good brethren, though they rage never so fiercely against us, yet let us not wish evil unto them again; knowing that, while for Christ's cause they vex and persecute us, they are like madmen, most outrageous and cruel against themselves, heaping hot burning coals upon their own heads: but rather let us wish well unto them, "knowing that we are thereunto called 1 Pet. iii. in Christ Jesu, that we should be heirs of the blessing." Let us pray therefore unto God, that he would drive out of their hearts this darkness of errors, and make the light of his truth to shine unto them; that they, acknowledging their blindness, may with all humble repentance be converted unto the Lord, and together with us confess him to be the only true God, which is the Father of lights, and his only Son Jesus Christ, worshipping him in spirit and verity. Amen. The Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ comfort your hearts in the love of God and patience of Christ. Amen. Your brother in the Lord (whose name the bearer Apoc. xii. THE SAME IN LATIN. (COVERDALE.) Ad fratres in captivitate carnis, et per varios carceres dispersos, sed in unitate Spiritus atque sacrosanctæ religionis in visceribus Jesu Christi conglutinatos. GRATIA Vobis et pax ac misericordia multiplicetur. Quam gratiarum actionem pro vobis, fratres, reddere possumus Domino super omni consolatione quam de vobis concepimus in Domino? qui (Satana sæviente, et per omnia fallaciarum genera mundo imponere studente, et regnum suum, jampridem collabascere ruinamque minitari incipiens, erigere atque denuo instaurare sedulo satagente), tanquam in petra firmissime fundati, permanetis immobiles. Jamque licet Satan per suos satellites ac ministros multos, ut audivimus, quotidie pertrahat ad sese, ut stellas etiam e cœlo prosternere dicatur, aliis nimirum metum mortis, aut amissionis commoApoc. xviii. dorum hujus mundi, incutiendo; aliis pollicendo, aut ostentando illecebras hujus mundi, opes videlicet, atque omnis generis lautitias, ædes amplas, lata prædia, opima sacerdotia, ac quid non? uti prostrati adorent (non in Domino, sed in dracone, serpente antiquo qui est diabolus), magnam illam bestiam et imaginem ejus, utque cum regibus terræ, et minore bestia, et pseudo-prophetis, scortari velint cum Babylonica meretrice, et cum illa lætari atque luxuriari, et de vino prostitutionis ejus inebriari: benedictus tamen Deus et pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui vobis dedit pectus masculum; quique fortitudine spiritus ita vos in interno homine corroboravit, ut isthæc omnia sive terriculamenta, sive hujus mundi illecebras, pro vanitatibus ac meris nugis nihilique tricis contemnere possitis; quique ita cordibus vestris tantam constantiam, fiduciam, ac amorem Domini nostri Jesu Christi persuasit, insevit, alteque impressit, ut nullis Antichristi machinis, quantumvis alioqui aut terribilibus aut plausibilibus, sinatis Matt. xxiv. vobis alium Jesum aut alium Christum, præter eum quem prophetæ prædixerunt, apostoli annunciaverunt, et sancti Dei martyres suo sanguine confessi sunt. In hac fide, fratres, state, et ne rursus jugo servitutis aut superstitionis implicemini. Nostis enim, fratres, quemadmodum Servator noster præmonuit suos futurum, ut venirent qui alium Christum Eneid 1. mundo ostentarent, eumque tot miraculorum et fallaciarum dolis atque fraudibus commendarent, ut electi quoque, si fieri posset, seducerentur: tam fortem futuram esse prædixit illusionem Salvator. Sed durate, fratres, atque confidite, et memineritis mundum a nostro Agonotheta devictum esse. "Major enim est qui in nobis est, quam qui est in mundo: " 1 John iv. et pollicetur nobis Dominus, ut propter electos dies malitiæ abbrevientur. Interea vos, quod facitis, fratres, durate; durate, inquam, et vosmet rebus, ut quidam gentilium poetarum Virgil's dixit, servate secundis: pergite præbere vos strenuos athletas Domini, et adjuvate decertantem evangelii fidem. "Patientia Heb. x. vobis opus est, ut cum voluntatem Domini peregeritis, reportetis promissionem. Adhuc enim pusillum temporis, et qui venturus est veniet, et non tardabit. Justus enim ex fide victurus est; et si se subduxerit, non probabitur animo meo, dicit Dominus. At nos non sumus qui subducimus nos in perditionem, sed ad fidem pertinemus in acquisitionem animæ." Non sinamus, fratres, ullis mundi tonitruis verba illa Christi nostris cordibus excidere: "ne terreamini ab illis qui Matt. x. occidunt corpus." Reliqua nôstis. Non enim scribo vobis ut ignorantibus veritatem, sed ut eam cognoscentibus, tantum ut per mutuam fidem consolationem communem capiamus confirmemusque. Nulla unquam melior aut major causa vel contemnendæ vitæ vel profundendi sanguinis. Nulla esse potest causa aut certioris veritatis, evidentiæ, aut claritatis. Non enim agitur controversia de ceremoniola aliqua, sed de substantia universæ religionis nostræ, adeoque de Christo ipso. Num alium Christum, pro eo qui solus est æterni Patris æternus filius, qui est splendor gloriæ et expressa imago substantiæ Patris, in quo uno plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter inhabitat, qui est solus via, veritas et vita, admittere agnoscereque volumus aut possumus? Absit, fratres, absit tanta procul impietas a nobis. "Nam quanquam etiam sint 1 Cor. viii. qui dicantur dii, sive in cœlo sive in terra, quemadmodum sunt dii multi et domini multi, nobis tamen unus est Deus, qui est Pater, ille ex quo omnia, et nos in illum, et unus Dominus Christus, per quem omnia, et nos per illum:" sed non in omnibus est scientia. "Hæc est (inquit Johannes) John xvii. vita æterna; ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum." Si quis igitur nobis alium Deum |