<P> Following the death of Edward in 1553, Mary Tudor ascended to the throne bringing the threat of reprisals against opponents of Papal Catholicism . In the first month of the new monarch's reign, Bradford was arrested and imprisoned on the seemingly trivial charge of "trying to stir up a mob" and committed to the Tower of London . During his time in prison, he continued to write religious works and preach to all who would listen . For a time whilst in the Tower, Bradford was put in a cell with three other reformers, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer . Their time was spent in careful study of the New Testament . </P> <P> On 31 January 1555, Bradford was tried by the Roman Catholic Church and condemned to death . Bradford was taken to Newgate Prison to be burned at the stake on 1 July . A large crowd delayed the execution, which had been scheduled for 4 o'clock in the morning, as many who admired Bradford came to witness his death . He was chained to the stake at Smithfield with a young man, John Leaf . Before the fire was lit, he begged forgiveness of any he had wronged, and offered forgiveness to those who had wronged him . He then turned to Leaf and said, "Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!" A century later, in his Worthies of England, Thomas Fuller wrote that he endured the flame "as a fresh gale of wind in a hot summer's day, confirming by his death the truth of that doctrine he had so diligently and powerfully preached during his life ." Bradford is commemorated at the Marian Martyrs' Monument in Smithfield, London . </P> <P> There is a 19th - century tradition tracing to Bradford the idiomatic "There but for the grace of God go I" as an expression of humility and reliance on God's grace rather than his own morality . The editor of The Writings of John Bradford, Aubrey Townsend, notes this in his preface: </P> <P> The familiar story, that, on seeing evil - doers taken to the place of execution, he was wont to exclaim, "But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford", is a universal tradition which has overcome the lapse of time . </P>

Who wrote there but for the grace of god go i