¶The Originall of his Lyfe.
IOhn Bradford borne in Lancastershire, in Manchester, a nota∣ble towne of that coū¦trey, was of his gētle parentes brought vp in vertue & good learning euen from his ve∣ry childhode, & among other prai¦ses of his good educacion, he ob∣tained as a chief gift, the cōnynge & redines of writing, which know¦ledge was not onely an ornamēte vnto him, but also an helpe to the necessary sustētaciō of his liuing. About ye time, was one sir Ihō Ha¦ringtō paymaster to king Henry the .8. which at Boloign by order of knighthode beīg muche reno∣med, but yet by his own vertue a great deale more noble, was ther Page [unnumbered] suruier and paymaister of ye soul∣diers. Who then had the seruice of master Bradford, & so kept him both in his family & in his fauor: that it can scarce be told whether liued to other, ether more beloued or more profitable. For Bradford both lerned many things of him, & also experience and practise of thinges more increased & aboun∣ded. On the otherside, he whiche tried his seruice so faithful, este∣med him as a great treasure & so loued him: that in all his affaires he would alwaies bee coupled wt him. In which trade of life when Bradford long time had bene cō∣uersāt, ye way to riches semed not so farre of vnto him, if he woulde haue set his mind to gathering of worldly riches, but the immuta∣ble prouidēce of god drew him a∣nother Page [unnumbered] way. For after he was we¦ry of this kind of life, & had made a diligēt and true accompt of his maisters affairs: he desired licēce to depart, and so wēt from him to the intent that he being rid of all other troubles, he might serue Ie¦su Christe, the secrete working of goddes calling so mouinge him, which neuer suffred his minde to be at rest: vntil it had fully & who∣ly possessed him: In so muche that after he had forsaken his master, & gotten him to the studye of the law, his minde could not long a∣bide in that trade of lawyers, but that forsaking also that kinde of study, in whiche he was not alto∣gether ignorāt: he departed from the temple where he studied ye cō∣mon and temporal lawes, to Cā∣bridge the temple of gods lawes Page [unnumbered] to apply those studies, which per¦tained more to the ministerye of gods church. In the which, with what vehemens and force he la∣bored, it is euident by this: yt the first yere of his comimng thether, he obteined degree of schole, and was made maister of art, & gatte the fauour and admiration of all men, that by and by he was chosē felowe of Penbrooke hall, where he so daily profited, by a certayn heauēly dexterite of his wit, that as he was had in estimaciō of all good men: so also he began to be welbeloued of Martin Bucer, which hoped of no small fruit to procede, from that his so godlye disposicion. wherefore he counsel∣led him, to bestow his giftes and talent, to the common profyte of instructynge Christes flock. To Page [unnumbered] whom when he had alledged hys weakenes and lack of learnyng: Bucer answered, that though he could not fede thē with fine cakes and white bread, yet he should sa∣tisfye them with barly bread, wer it neuer so course. By whose often exhortacions Bradforde beynge boldened, althoughe of his owne accord he was redy inough while he was altogether ī this thought it came happelye to passe, that by D. Ridly bishoppe of London, he was sent for from Cambridge, to take vppon him ecclesiasticall or∣ders and functiōs. Of whom be∣yng first made deacon and after∣ward licensed to preach hauing a good stipēd out of the Cathedrall church of Poules: he diligētly la∣bored in the ministery of publike teching in ye church of god, so lōg Page [unnumbered] as kinge Edwarde liuinge there could be any place for godly tea∣chers. But when at lenght ye reli∣giō changed by death of ye prince, and he neuerthelesse exercised his office of preching: an occasō was foūd and yet most vniust (because that by the lawes it was not yet concluded) that his mouth being stopped he was thruste into pri∣son: the occasion was this. The xiii. day of August, one of the Po∣pish sect called Bourn afterward bishop of Bathe, railed with ma∣ny wordes most shamefully vpō king Edward, and the pure doc∣trine of the gospel in his time pre∣ched, whoso behaued himself, yt he had muche a doe to escape, but yt the multitude of hearers would haue laide hande vpon him, and pulled him out of ye pulpit, which Page [unnumbered] thīg they declared by manifest to∣kens. For so great was the indig∣nacion of al men kindled against him, that neither with ye reuerence of the place, nor by the aucthoritie of the bishop of London then pre∣sent, nor at the lawful commande∣ment of the Maire: this commo∣cion of the people could be pacy∣fied. But as for Bourn, he was so stricken with feare bothe by the greatnes of the tumulte, & chief∣lye for a dagger whyche was throwne from the middes of the company against the pulpit: that he durst not make an ende of hys sedicious sermond (much like the Oracions that the Tribunes in Rome wer wonte to make) nether would ye people suffer him: he hū∣bly desired Bradford which stode behind his backe in the pulpit, yt Page [unnumbered] he would take his place & speake to the people remembringe per∣chaunce, and not vnwiselye vyr∣gils counsel.
Thre daies after this was done Page [unnumbered] he was sente for by the counsell, & bishoppes, to the towre where the Queene than laye, and was com∣pelled before them to purge hym∣selfe of sedicion and heresy, surely by the same reason, that ye lambe sometyme was accused by ye wolfe for troubling the water, in which he dronke a greate deale lower than the woolfe, not that he had offended, but that the woolfe was an hungred, not that hee hadde troubled the water, but that he was not hable to resyste the other, whiche troubled it in deede. After the same sorte was Bradforde sette a fyer wyth the flame of that Sedicion, whyche hee alone dyd quenche, and so commaunded to prysone, where abydynge almoste twoo yeares Page [unnumbered] together hee sustayned manye conflictes with the Papistes and other sectes, he confirmed ma∣nye weake and coumforted the afflycted, he wrote also manye thynges, as hee hadde leysure and got opportunitye by stealth. And among other thynges hee sente manye Epistles, the copies whereof are extante, to the Ci∣tizens of London, to the Vny∣uersite and towne of Cambridge, to the townes of Walden and Manchester, also to hys twoo brethren theyr wyues and fa∣mylyes, in whiche Epistles, the syncere zeale of hys Christyan heart and godlines, doth maruei∣lously appeare. At lengthe after long labours & sorowes, he was Page [unnumbered] priuily ledde from the counter by night to Newgate. The next daie earlye in the morninge, he was brought foorth into Smithfield, with an other younge manne called Ihō Lyefe being eigh∣tene yeres olde, he was there burnte. At London the firste of Iulii. Anno M.D.LV.
