For often times Christes wil and pleasure is to beautify and adorn his kingdom w^t the weak and simple instrumentes of this world. Suche as in thold testament Amos was, who w^t many other of obscure & vnknowen name wer called frō the heards & foldes to the honor of prophets: as likewise we read of the Apostles that wer called frō fishermens craft, & put into churches. Wherefore this Georoge is not to be neglected for his vile & base occupation, whō christ called thēce to set forth and declare abrode his gospel. Rather we ought to glorify god þ^e more therby in his holines, which in so misty & blind a time inspired him with the gift of preaching, and constancy of suffring death: who after a certain time he had vsed the occupation of a Tailor, being eloquent and of good vtterance gaue and applied himselfe to the profite of Christes church. Which manne as before in those most bright & cleare daies of king Edward the 6. had not vnhappely shewed & preached w^t eloquēce þ^e power & force of the lord: so afterward in the tēpestuous time & fal of the church (at what time the cōfessors of Christ and his gospel wer turmoiled, diuers of them murthered, parte banyshed, and other some constrained for feare not to shew their heads) this Eagles expressed and vttred his manly stomake. For he wandring a brode into diuers and farre countreys, wher he could find any of his brethren, did there moste earnestly incourage & cōfort thē, now tarying in this town, and somtime abiding in that, certain monethes together, as occasion serued, lodging somtime in the coūtrey about, MarginaliaThe payn full traueil of George Eagles.& sometime for feare liuing in fields and woodes, who for his immoderate & vnreasonable going abrode was called Trudgeouer. Oftē times did he lye abrode in the night w^tout couert, spending the most part therof in deuoute and earnest praier. His diet was so aboue measure spare & slēder, þ^t for the space of. 3. yeres he vsed to drinke nothing but very water, wherunto he was cōpelled through the necessity of the time of persecution. And after whē he perceiued þ^t his body by gods prouidēce proued well inough there w^t, he thought best to inure himself therw^tal agaåst al necessities. MarginaliaThe streit diet of G. Eagles. Now whē he had profited Christes church in this sort by going about, & preching þ^e gospel, a yere or. 2. & especially in Colchester & the quarters therabout, þ^e priuy enemy which enuieth alwaies the saluatiō & blessed estate of the good, lurketh & layeth wait by all meanes possible for him. Ther wer diuers espies sēt out who had in cōaūdemēt whersoeuer they foūd him, to bring him either quicke, or deade.  

But whē this their attēpt could not preuaile, but al was in vain (the said Eagles w^t his brethrē keping in close, & hidåg thēselues in out & dark places, as in barnes, thickets, hoales, & priuy closets) his aduersaries went about another way to cōpasse this their enterprise of takynge him.

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For in the quenes name a greuous edict was proclamed throughout .4. shiers, Essex, Suff. Kēt, & Northfolk, 

promising þ^e party þ^t toke him xx. li. for his paines: doubtles a worthy hyer to entice any Iew to trechery. For many being enflamed with gredy desire of the money, deuised and inuented al waies and reasons they could possible to be enriched with the hurt & destruction of this sely mā. Wel, at length it came to passe þ^t this George being seen by chaūce at Colchester, vpon Marye Magdalen day,   at whiche time they kept a faire in the town, should haue forthwith ben deliuered to his aduersaries, if he perceiuing the same, as god would haue it, had not cōueyed himself away as fast as he coulde, whō a great multitude pursued after, & sought diligently. In a groue did he hide himself, from whēce he stale into a corne field therby, and so lay secretly couched frō the violence of his enemies, insomuch as they wer al, sauing one, past hope of taking him, & therfore ready to departe their way. This one hauing more suttlety and wicked craft in his head thē the rest, would not get him thēce with his fellowes, but climed vp into a high tree, ther to view & espie if he might se Eagles any wher stirre or moue. MarginaliaQuo non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra famet. 

Latin/Greek Translations    Close

Foxe marginal note, citing Virgil, Aeneid, 3. 56-7.[Marginal Note]

Foxe text Latin

Quo non mortalia pectora cogis auri sacra fames.

Foxe text translation

Not translated.

Translation (Wade 2004)

Why, sacred longing for gold, do you not constrain the hearts of men?

Actual text of Virgil, Aeneid, 3. 57-8

quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
auri sacra fames!

[Accurate citation, except forquoin place ofquidat the start.]

vir. æneid. 1.The poore mā thinking all sure inough, by reason that he heard no noise abrode, rose vp vpon his knees, & lifting vp his handes, prayed vnto god. And whether it wer for that his hed was aboue the corne, or because his voice was hearde, the lurker perceiuing his desired pray þ^t he hūteth after, forthwith came down, & soddainly layinge hands, brought him as prisoner to Colchester. Notwithstanding the gredy and Iudas knaue, which had so much promised him, was fayn to be contēt with a very smal reward, and glad to take þ^t to, least he should haue had nothynge at al. This George, not without great lamentation of diuers good men, and great lacke vnto the church of god, of which to his power he was a worthy instrument, was committed to prisō ther, and frō thence within 4. daies after conueyed to Chelmisford, wher he was so cruellye handled, þ^t he had but 2. li. of bred and a curtsye of water measured out to serue him for a weke together: not lōg after being brought oute to þ^e sessiōs, he was ther endited and accused of treasō, because he had assēbled cōpanies together, cōtrary to the lawes & statutes of the realm in þ^e case prouided. for so it was ordained a litle before to auoyde seditiō, þ^t if mē should flocke secretly together aboue þ^e nūber of 6. they shoulde be attached of treasō, which strait law was the casting away of þ^e good Duke of Somerset before mētioned. And albeit it was well knowen þ^t poore Eagles did neuer any thing sediciously against the Quene, yet to cloke an honest matter withal, & to cause him to be the more hated of the people, they turned religion into a ciuyll offense or crime. And though he defended hys

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