to make us a fearful noise; if then, on the other hand, the ground should suddenly quake and rive atwain, and the devils should rise out of hell and show themselves in such ugly shape as damned wretches shall see them; and if, with that hideous howling that those hell-hounds should screech, they should lay hell open on every side round about our feet, so that as we stood we should look down into that pestilent pit and see the swarm of poor souls in the terrible torments there—­we would wax so afraid of the sight that we should scantly remember that we saw the Turk’s host.

And in good faith, for all that, yet think I further this:  If there might then appear the great glory of God, the Trinity in his high marvellous majesty, our Saviour in his glorious manhood sitting on the throne, with his immaculate mother and all that glorious company, calling us there unto them; and if our way should yet lie through marvellous painful death before we could come at them—­upon the sight, I say, of that glory, I daresay there would be no man who once would shrink at death, but every man would run on toward them in all that ever he could, though there lay by the way, to kill us for malice, both all the Turk’s tormentors and all the devils.

And therefore, cousin, let us well consider these things, and let us have sure hope in the help of God.  And then I doubt not but what we shall be sure that, as the prophet saith, the truth of his promise shall so compass us with a shield that we shall never need to fear.  For either, if we trust in God well, and prepare us for it, the Turk shall never meddle with us; or else, if he do, he shall do us no harm but, instead of harm, inestimable good.  Wherefore should we so sore now despair of God’s gracious help, unless we were such madmen as to think that either his power or his mercy were worn out already?  For we see that so many a thousand holy martyrs, by his holy help, suffered as much before as any man shall be put to now.  Or what excuse can we have by the tenderness of our flesh?  For we can be no more tender than were many of them, among whom were not only men of strength, but also weak women and children.  And since the strength of them all stood in the help of God; and since the very strongest of them all was never able to himself to stand against all the world, and with God’s help the feeblest of them all was strong enough so to stand; let us prepare ourselves with prayer, with our whole trust in his help, without any trust in our own strength.  Let us think on it and prepare ourselves for it in our minds long before.  Let us therein conform our will unto his, not desiring to be brought unto the peril of persecution (for it beseemeth a proud high mind to desire martyrdom) but desiring help and strength of God, if he suffer us to come to the stress—­either being sought, found, and brought out against our wills, or else being by his commandment, for the comfort of our cure, bound to abide.