To the Christian Reader, Grace and peace from God the father by Iesus Christ, sealed by the spirite of adoption, till he haue assuraunce of euerlasting life in him. Amen.

HOwe necessary bookes of such like arguments,
as this, by the godly labour
of our faithful and painful brother, now
published to the profite of many are, I
need not long to stand vpon, and to declare:
as well in respect of vs that professe
the gospell, in these breathing dayes, muche forgetting
our selues, though we lacke not diuers crosses to put
vs in remembraunce, and to awaken vs, as in respect of
oure enemies, who of late haue more threatned, and
bluttered out against vs, then in many years before, crying
out of persecution when they suffer not for Christ, or for
any his causes: but against him, laboring the~selues to death
to ouerthrow his kingdome, which though they burst,
they shall neuer I am sure be able to do & vndermining
his ministers most disloyally: whom he hath placed in that
highest authoritie, to execute his owne iust iudgements against
them. It is wonder to heare what complaints they
make of persecution & Tyranny, when for their iust deserts
they receiue the punishment due to their treasons,
conspiracies, and rebellions. They laye vs on, and yet
they crye out against vs, they complain of persecution, &
yet them selues are the persecutours, that set themselues
agaynst the seruauntes of the Lorde, in all ages, against his
faithful minnisters & against al professors, & which is most
lamentable againste the holy trueth of God, yea, againste

A.

God himselfe, to whome they owe all duetie and reuerence.
But alacke this is a thing common together with
them and all other heretikes, that when they haue no
truth at all, yet they must pretend some, and though they
can neuer iustifie their cause, they muste at least asseuer it,
as though they possessed it, and face vs out, to shroud their
idolatrous abhominations and curssed corruptions that
they maynteine and stand for, to their vtter destruction.
There cannot be a Traitor nowadayes executed according
to his demerits, but fauouring their superstition,
which indeede is alwayes ioined with treason, to shake
the seate of our gracious soueraigne, and to ouerthrow any
state else wheresoeuer they liue but by and by, they
take him vp and make him a martir. So did the Donatists
as Augustine witnesseth: to whom we must make the same
answere, that he did to them. They are true martyrs, of
whome the Lord sayth: Blessed are they that suffer persecution
for righteousnesse sake. They must not suffer for iniquity,
& for the wicked rending of Christian vnity: but
they that suffer for righteousnes, they are the true martyrs
in deede. If therefore they endure any thing at our hands,
they may thanke their owne vnquiet and hamering heads
that like Moules, are alwaies heauing in their dark pathes
to marre the Lords vineyard & to ouerthrow the gracious
worke of the Gospell, which God will haue to proceede,
Maugre their heads, when they haue vsed all their treasonable
practises they can against it. Neither shall the persecution
of Agar, if it may bee called a persecution rather
then a correction be compared to that of Dauid, nor
that of the theeues to our sauiour Christes, whom though
the suffering made one, yet the cause did seperate. They
crye out of persecution, and foyste out their traiterous
bookes like wildfire, that they might set al on fire & make
a hurly burly, and so open some way to their further deuised
mischiefe: They alleadge examples of particular
iudgments, against particuler persons, sarced with as many
vntruths, as their books are not with leaues, but almost
with lines: when yet they will not see that if any offence
haue bene committed on our partes it hath bene in this
that they haue bene to much borne with. For we appeal
to themselues that haue any modesty in them, whether euer
prince or state, where the Gospell onely is professed
and mainteined as it ought to be by the lawes of the
lande, did euer suffer or beare so much with them, as our
gracious prince and state hath done, no doubt of a good
purpose to winne them, & to reclaime them to the trueth
howsoeuer nowe they maye learne at length by experience
to take better heede of them, seeing they are incorrigible
and hate to be reformed. Howe long did shee keepe
her royall sword within her scabbard, vntouched with
any bloud? Surely till they had like if God of his gracious
goodnes had not preserued her maiestye to haue set her
both beside seate, sword, scepter and all: and if their diuelish
practises coulde haue taken place by rebellion at
home, or treason abroade, to layd her full low, and to haue
brought vs againe vnder their cruel & vnsupportable yoke
of their Egyptiacall bondage: From the which, the Lorde
for his mercy sake deliuer vs. If they count it therfore any
persecution, it is a iust persecution against the enemies of
God, against the enemies of our state and Country. It is
also done in loue, to draw them from iniquitie, to reduce
them from errour, & for the safegard of the whole pollitique
body. I will not speake of their persecutions, & horrible
butcheries from time to time: God shall giue better
opportunity one day and in another place. But I beseeche
thee good Christian reader marke what is deliuered concerning
persecution in this booke, then thou shalt bothe
learne what it is, and vpon whose backes it is like to light,
if they will be like him who is entred by the same gate before
vs. Neither let vs be discouraged, though it be in deed
our portion. For it shal be a token vnto vs of our saluation,
but vnto them who are persecuters of perdition and destruction.
The reason is because Christ the Capitaine & finisher
of our battell is with vs, and hath troade the pathe
before vs, with whome as long as wee suffer, let the yssues
be neuer so hard, we can not quaile nor perish. Hee
hath forewarned vs, to looke for them. They come not
by chaunce but by his appointment. They are for our good
and the cause being iust and Gods, according to his will
and for the holding out of his excellent glory, thoughe
we doe for it we shal be most happy. Our aduersaries vnderstand
not this, and therefore they smite they care not
where nor whome, but a time shall come, they shall see
whom they haue smitten, & tremble before him, for feare
of his iudgements. Be therfore of good comfort, & reioice,
O al the Saints of God, though we passe thorow this wretched
vale, in contempt and misery, in heauines, and sorrow
with mourning and teares, with lacke of liberty, & commodity,
that many vsurpers enioy: yet a day shall come of
an aboundant haruest where we shall sit vpon the seates
of glorie & be satisfied with it, when we shal be crowned
with immortality, & shall see God, euen as he is. The troubles
are short, though they be sharpe, and though they be
many, yet they are light, in comparison of that eternall
waight of glory. And you that are persecuters, whome the
Lorde hath not giuen vtterly ouer. Take heede whom you
strike. Thinke not to ouercome him whose power is infinite.
God will raigne in despite of his enemies in the midest
of them. Looke vpon your olde predecessours what
became of them. Where is Decius and Dioclesian, where
is Valerius, Maximinianus and Maximius, where is Lucius,
Iulianus & Aurelius? But you will say: these were ethnikes
and persecuted Christians, surely so do you. You are christians
in name, but you deny the power thereof. You boast
of the fayth of your ancestours, but you deny the faith of
Christe. You say you woulde not haue slaine the prophets,
but your handes haue beene the first vppon those whome
God hath styrred vp and sente amongste you? Are
you not ashamed to boaste of the Truethe, and yet to
persecute poore Christians for it? You complayn of our
harde lawes, of the seuerity of the punishment of treason,
of the iniquitie of our ministers, of the hard estate of your
false named Catholiques that liue amongst vs: of their infamye
after their death, of the contumelies they suffer in
their life, yea when they are take at their Masse how they
are brought forth in their Pageant apparrel, and what reuell
is kept with your breaden Idoll: ye complayne of our
prisons, and shew the hardnes of our saylors, at London,
at Yorke & in other places. Mystresse Tomson. Master Dimock
and others are still in your bookes, as though they
had receiued great wrongs. Thus you kick & flyng as vntamed
heifers ye care not where, sparing neither noble nor
vnnoble, that might once by any occurrent, come to your
intelligence: but al this while you speak not a word, to the
proofe of it, whereupon the proofe lieth. For in respect of
the cause, yours is false & ours true, ours the cause of Christ
& yours the cause of Antichriste, wee suffer for religion &
you for treason. Agayne there is no comparison betwixt
that punishment layd vpon you, for your iust offences, and
our persecution, laide vppon vs not for our sinnes, but for
righteousnes sake. If we haue layd a finger vpon you, you
haue layd vpon vs an intollerable clog. If we haue scourged
you with fatherly roddes for amendment:, you haue
whipped vs with scorpions, vtterly to destroy vs: if wee
haue derided your superstition & brought out your priests,
as they were playing their pageants, than the people might
wonder at their follies: you haue made vs spectacles as
much as lay in you both to men and angels, and lastly we
haue with the trueth pursued you, to bring you to the
trueth, & so to God, but you with falsehoode haue persecuted
vs to bring vs from the trueth to error, and so to the
Deuill. You talke of orderly proceeding with vs, that we
were tried in time past by order of Iustice, and disputed
withall, that wee might if we woulde, see our owne
weaknesse &c I pray you in whose Courtes hath it bene
most sound, eyther in yours, where all iustice was peruerted,
or in ours, where the trueth of Gods word guiding al;
they haue beene taught the feare of God, and to doe as
they would be done to: Where hath beene greater murthers,
by disordered dealings then amongst you, without
all colour of law & iustice, killing them by whole multitudes,
and sometimes some of youre owne profession for
company, that you mighte enioy their ritches? where hath
priuate men beene more armed, to make dispatch of princes
that mighte stand in your way, then amongst youre
selues? Your pope dispensing with the sinnes either they
had already, or should afterwardes commit: Example by
that Caitife, that vppon his pardon woulde haue slaine
the worthy Prince of Orange, had not God miraculously
deliuered him? To how many such treasons, by poisoning

A.iii.

and killing haue sundry beene sturred vp without all
pittye amongst you? Surely it is no maruell, that you
shoulde nowe pleade youre innocencie, when all the
worlde may knowe your wicked & traiterous trecheries,
that will not willingly shut their eyes. But it maye
bee, You thinke by some popishe witchery, to goe inuisible,
by hauing some of the Popes trumpery aboute you.
But you deceiue youre selues, and so doth he whom you
serue. Therefore repent, and turne to him, who is able
to saue your soules, Returne to Iesus Christe that high
pastour, that suffering for trueth with him, you maye likewise
bee glorified with him, otherwise howsoeuer you
byte his heele with the Serpent, hee will bruse your head
and in the end triumph ouer you. The Lorde Iesus sanctifie
all that are his, euen thoroughout both body, soul,
and spirite, that we may bee kept blamelesse
vnto his holy comming. Amen. Amen.
the 27. day of this third
moneth.
Thine assured in Christe
Iohn Field.