It. JOHNSON. A§1 Bishop Sandys, dated March 7, 1574, in which he earnestly pleads for more kind treatment. He thus observes, " Our Saviour saith, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy: And the apostle, He shall have judgment without mercy, that halls sheaved no mercy. I wonder what mercy you, and the rest of the commissioners, hope for, and what judgment you look for, seeing for trifles and of no weight, nay of no truth, as I doubt not you arc persuaded in your own consciences, you not only mock and molest men, de- prave and deprive them, but to their great .poverty and utter ruin, and without any bowels of mercy, you condemn them to long imprisonment. Where bath God given any such commandment? Where bath Christ given any such precedent ? Where did the apostles put anysuch thing in practice? If you say, that we hold errors, are schismatics, And promote sects ; then do you the part of a teacher, to reform our errors, to reduce schismatics to unity, and to dissuade sectaries from dissention. Your office and fimc- tion, your name and title, your degree and profession, your -knowledge and religion, yea the apostles, Jesus Christ, and God himself, requireth this at your hands. You know who saith, If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiri- tual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Compare your doctrine in time past, and your doings now, and see how they agree. We may say as the prophet said : The Lord God of your fatherswas wroth with Judah, and he hath delivered them intoyour hand, andyou havepersecuted them in a rage that reacheth up to heaven. " If to imprison and famish men, be the proper way to instruct the ignorant and reduce the obstinate, where is the office and work of a shepherd, to seek that which was lost, and bring home that which went astray ? We beseechyou, therefore, to gather something out of the Old and New Testament, that you may reduce those who go astray, and heal that which is bruised and broken. And I prayyou let us feel some ofyour charitable relief, to preserve us from death, under this hard usage ; especially as you have been the chief cause of my trouble, I desire you to be some part of my comfort. Let pity requite spite, and mercy reconi- pence malice. Thus beseeching God, that you may proceed faithfully in all the duties of a bishop, I commend you to Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. " ROBERT JOHNSON.". 'Parte of a Register, p. 117, 118.
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