saith holy scripture, "Unto good folk all things turn them to good."

And therefore, cousin, since God knoweth what shall happen and not
we, let us in the meanwhile with a good hope in the help of God's
grace have a good purpose of standing sure by his holy faith
against all persecutions. And if we should hereafter, either for
fear or pain or for lack of his grace lost in our own default,
mishap to decline from his good purpose--which our Lord forbid--yet
we would have won the well-spent time beforehand, to the
diminishment of our pain, and God would also be much the more
likely to lift us up after our fall and give us his grace again.
Howbeit, if this persecution come, we are, by this meditation and
well-continued intent and purpose beforehand, the better
strengthened and confirmed, and much more likely to stand indeed.
And if it so fortune, as with God's grace at men's good prayers and
amendment of our evil lives it may well fortune, that the Turks
shall either be well withstood and vanquished or peradventure not
invade us at all, then shall we, perdy, by this good purpose get
ourselves of God a very good cheap thank!

And on the other hand, while we now think on it--and not to think
on it, in so great likelihood of it, I suppose no wise man can--if
we should for the fear of worldly loss or bodily pain, framed in
our own minds, think that we would give over and to save our goods
and lives forsake our Saviour by denial of his faith, then whether
the Turks come or come not, we are meanwhile gone from God. And
then if they come not indeed, or come and are driven to flight,
what a shame should that be to us, before the face of God, in so
shameful cowardly wise to forsake him for fear of that pain that we
never felt or that never was befalling us!

VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, I thank you. Methinketh that though
you never said more in the matter, yet have you, even with this
that you have spoken here already of the fear of bodily pain in
this persecution, marvellously comforted mine heart.

ANTHONY: I am glad, cousin, if your heart have taken comfort
thereby. But if you so have, give God the thanks and not me, for
that work is his and not mine. For neither am I able to say any
good thing except by him, nor can all the good words in the
world--no, not the holy words of God himself, and spoken also with
his own holy mouth--profit a man with the sound entering at his
ear, unless the Spirit of God also inwardly work in