Common Places, Letters · Letter 33 – Letter 34
Here followe letters of M. Peter Martyr to certaine Englishmen. To a certaine friende of his. 35.
SYr your Letters full of courteſie which you wrote vntounto me, were ſo welcome as I do giuegive you excéeding great thankes for them. Vndoubtedly herein I receaued moſt comfort by them, that I vnderſtande you are ſo mindefull of me: and doe perceiue that this is doone for no other cauſe, but that you hauehave a verie great louelove of godlineſſe and to the holie ſcriptures. Therefore ſince you louelove God in me and the labour (though it bee verie ſmall) which I beſtowe vppon the Church, I reioyce in this your good wil and affection. And I pray and beſéech almightie GOD againe and againe, that he wil daily more and more increaſe, the ſtudie of godlineſſe & holie doctrine wherwith he hath hitherto adorned you. I ſorrowe vnſpeakeablie that there is euerie where in England ſo great a penurie of the worde of God: and ſince they which are bounde to féede the ſhéepe with ye doctrine of Chriſt, are of ſuch faint courage as they vtterlie refuſe to doe their duetie, I knowe not with what teares and wéeping it maie be ſufficientlie lamented: But I truſt it wil come to paſſe that we ſhall ſee things in better ſtate. God grant that I be not deceaued of this my hope. Howbeit ſo long as the Paſtors of Churches doe leaue off the function which God hath appointed thē, both indeuor you to confirme your ſelfe through ye words of God, and to your power be a furtherance to your houſeholde: which if you doe, you ſhall gouerne your familie not onelie in the fleſhe but alſo in the ſpirite. And theſe things I write, not that I thinke you to be ſlouthfull, but that I maie incourage you to the more earneſt doing of that which I iudge to belong vntounto you. As touching the controuerſie, which you would hauehave me to declare, I thinke there is not much to be ſaid: for ſomuch as you your ſelfe hauehave by your owne iudgement declared ſo ſound and godlie an opinion, as I doe wholie condeſcend vntounto that which you hauehave allowed. Garments in the exerciſe of diuine ſeruice counted amōg things indifferent.Wherefore ſince theſe bee thinges indifferent, they by themſelues make no man either godlie or vngodly: yet euen as you alſo iudge, I thinke it more expedient, that this garment and others more of that kinde, ſhoulde be taken awaie when it maie conuenientlie be doone, to the end yt eccleſiaſticall matters maie bée moſt ſincerelie executed. For while that the ſignes which be not ſupported by the worde of God, be defended and retained with ſo obſtinate a minde, there you maie verie often times ſée that men are not deſirous of things themſelues. And where that which is but a vaine ſhewe is holde in great price, it comes oftentimes to paſſe that the thing which is of great importaunce is greatlie neglected. O immortall God, howe manie Eccleſiaſticall men (as they woulde ſéeme to bée) are there at this daie, who if you ſhall pull from them the garment and the cappe, hauehave vndoubtedly nothing that repreſenteth a miniſter of the Church? But if we ſhoulde giuegive place vntounto wrath, there woulde be no ende of quarels. The young man of whome you write vntounto mee, I will as faithfullie and earneſtlie as I can commende vntounto Doctor Cookes when he commeth. And if there be anie other thing that you woulde hauehave with me, be bolde to commaund me, you ſhal hauehave me readie at your commandement. Fare you well, and louelove me as you do, in the Lord. Since I hauehave no newes that I iudge worthie for you, to knowe, this onelie I ſignifie vntounto you that all thinges are in the ſame ſtate, that they were when you were here preſent. From Oxforde the firſt of Iulie, 1550.
To a certaine friend of his. 36.
Whereas I write not againe vntounto you by Abels ſeruaunt a fewe daies ſince, I would not hauehave you ſo to take it as if your letters were not greatlie to my liking. Truely I was minded to write, but being let by the ſhortneſſe of time, becauſe he made ouermuch haſte, I was conſtrayned to put ouer vntounto this day, which I determined then to doe. It was verie welcome vntounto me to heare that which you wrote as concerning our friende Maiſter Cheeke: For conſidering the vnhappineſſe of fortune thoſe thinges may after a ſort be bornewithal, ſo he ſhewe it in déede that his faith rather ſtaggereth than is broken or extinguiſhed, which is in a manner vncredible vntounto mée that he can perfourme, ſo long as he remayneth in Englande. For my part I will deſire God, the father of our Lorde Ieſus Chriſt, and that with moſt feruent prayers, that he will ſo by his ſpirite repaire his ſhipwracke, as he may at the length with as ſmall loſſe as is poſſible ariue at the hauen of ſaluation. Concerning my Lorde of Canterburie his booke againſt Antonie, which, as you write, is nowe in the preſſe, I reioyce: ſo farre is it off that I ſhould be anie thing mooued for that cauſe: ſéeing I looke for nothing to come from that man, but ſuch as is exact, wittie, and diligently handled. But I feare leaſt that which you hauehave heard be not true, ſo great a deſire thereof hauehave you kindled in mée. I hauehave no newes at this time to write vntounto you. We are all in good health; and I teach here as I was woont before time to doe with you. God graunt that I may not labor without fruite. Italie is nowe in part troubled with gréeuous warres and in part ſéemes that it will héereafter be miſerablie handled, and that through the diſpleaſure of the Pope alone. But God almightie which gouerneth all things by his prouidence will perhappes by this meanes waſte the kingdome of Antichriſt, and will ſo diminiſhe it in this age, as he will one daie giuegive the ſame to the godlie to be derided and hiſſed at, which I beſéech Ieſus Chriſt may come quicklie to paſſe. Fare you well and louelove mee as you doe, and ſalute in my name euerie one of the Engliſh brethren. From Zuricke the 15, of March, 1557.