respect may resemble the Dove that Noah sent out of the Ark that could find no place to set the foal of her foot on thus hath it been for some moneths with me so that I could not with any conveniency because of those that bear an evil will to Zion write to you but my Dear Friend though I have been absent from you in the body yet I can say truly I have not been so in my Spirit the Lord knows how my Soul hath both night and day longed after you and all the rest of my Christian Friends in Christ Jesus and in all my approaches to the Throne of Grace I have made it my earnest request to the Lord Jesus Christ that the Father of all glory would give unto you more and more the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Christ And that you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all well pleasing being fruitful in all good works increasing in the blessed knowledge of our God and that you may be filled with all the love of God to his glory and your everlasting comfort I know you are ignorant why I left my Native Country and all that was near and dear unto me in this world but which is most of all the pretious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the communion of his people a losse of losses not to be made up but in Christ and in him alone and therefore my dear Friend though now you enjoy the light yet you do not know how soon it may be taken from you or you from it it is and shall be my continual prayers that it may not be for it is indeed the Judgement of all Judgements The Lord God pardon unto me in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that great neglect of it whereof I was guilty while I was with you that I did not improve it more to the comfort of my own soul. Oh my Dear Friend did you but see and hear that which I have seen and heard in my Travels especially among those that profess Popery it would make your hearts to tremble that blaspheming the Blessed Name of the Lord all manner of wickedness the horrid prophanation of the Lords day and other abominations and Oh that I could have said that I had not seen and heard too much of the same even among those that term themselves of the Reformed Religion Alas alas the best of what they enjoy here is but as the bran to the wheat in comparison to what the Lord hath bestowed on you and therefore I beseech you prize the Gospel more and more and those Godly Ministers that it hath pleased the Lord to send among you for the Lord hath not done for other people as he hath done for you I am verily perswaded it is one great cause among many others that the Lord hath dealt so severely with his own people as to give them up into the hands of his and their enemies hath been the slighting despising contemning and undervaluing the precious Gospel and the faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ the Lord in great mercy pardon it not only to his own people but to the whole Nation if it be his blessed will that they may yet know the things that concerns the glory of God and their own everlasting â—â—st before they be hid from their eyes Oh the pretious Jewel of the Gospel to which all the other enjoyments even the quintessence of whatever this world can afford are not to be compared What is there in this base world but vanity of vanities what is there in great men or great things a sparkle of fire or a storm at Sea or a treacherous Friend brings all to nothing in a moment As we have seen by sad experience every day do witness the Truth of it Therefore saith the Apostle love not the World not the things of the World a little grace is worth ten thousand worlds It was a notable saying of that worthy Marquess that he was not worthy of Christ that would not give the whole World for one dayes Communion with him Oh it is a good thing to have a heart established in grace it is good in times of prosperity it is good in dayes of adversity Oh it is good in such a day as this when one wave comes on the neck of another yet the Lord even then remembers those whom he hath promised he will never leave nor forsake yea though their troubles be many yet the Lord will deliver them out of all in his blessed time for all things shall certainly work for the glory of God and the good of his own people And now my Dear Friend do I most humbly beg in the Name of the Lord Jesus the continuance of your Prayers to the Lord for me that he would be pleased to give me more and more of his Holy Spirit that while he is pleased to give a being in the Land of the living I may in some measure live answerable to the many unexpected mercies he hath bestowed on me his poor and unworthy Servant both in relation to my soul and body and that too since I came into a strange land and truly as I want a heart to be thankful to the Lord so I want expressions to let you know it I shall onely at present say it was good for me that I have been Afflicted and if the Lord gives me life I shall not fail to let you know the goodness of the Lord to me in this day of my greatest of troubles which have not been a few And as I humby desire your Prayers for me so do I also beg your thanks to the Lord for me who hath been so gracious to me every way And oh that now with a chearful heart I might honour the Lord in this day of very great troubles and that I might be very humble and thankful and be fitted to live or to dye as the Lord shall be pleased to call me forth That which lyeth with some waite on my Spirit is not so much the losse of these outward things for I praise the Lord he hath carried me in some measure above them but that I should sin against so blessed a God and loving a Father as I have done and that I should with many of his own People provoke the Lord to give up so many of his People so far into the hands of his and their enemies as he hath done at this day would an ordinary chastisement have prevailed certainly the common Enemy had not had their will over them the good Lord sanctifie his present hand of affliction to all his more and more and oh that now in this day of his East wind he would be pleased for his Name sake to stay his rough wind and that that may be the fruit to purge them from their sin and that his People may yet live to praise him in the great Congregation and there to declare the goodness of the Lord to them in the
time of their affliction and to say it was good for them they were afflicted And oh my dear Friend I do again beg your prayers for I am very sensible I am at present but as a brand pul'd out of the fire and am very confident it is for the sakes of the Lords People that I am alive at this day The Lord grant that while I live I may live to the glory of his most holy Name I hope you will excuse me for being so tedious to you I shall therefore no further trouble you but only present my due respects to you and all the rest of my Christian Friends wishing you from my soul all good here and glory hereafter in that World which is to come And now the God of all praise that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of his Sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work and work in you that which is wel-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. I am your loving friend in the Gospel of our Lord Christ J. B. Another Letter written by Col. Barkstead to a dear Friend INdeared and endearing Friend Thine of the fourth instant came to my hands which I blesse the Lord was as seasonable as welcom and as welcom as seasonable it was to me as Apples of Gold in Pâ—ctures of Silver very Pleasant and Beautiful Dear Friend I being now a close Prisoner in the Tower in one of the as they conceive meanest and securest Prison lodgings in which when it rains I have no place to fit dry but in a high window being attended with a Life-guard of two Warders and two Souldiers day and night and denied the use of Pen Ink and Paper so that what I write is so by stealth and that so by bits that I am sore't sometimes before I have writ two lines to tear what I have written and with much trouble to secure my Paper ink and pen but yet I have adventured on a line or two to you to let you know that I received your welcom Letter every line of which was being filled with that spirit in by which my soul hath been through free mercy born up by to this very moment far beyond and above what I am here able to express Oh the infinit and Eternal Riches of the free Grace of our good God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ to poor unworthy creatures it is he and he alone that hath and doth make hard things easie soft and pleasant bitter things sweet crooked rough ways plain and pleasant this hath through mercy been his way towards me unworthy man since I became mans bond-man He even he alone out of the free riches of his never-failing Mercie in Jesus Christ hath made me his free-man He hath set my feet in large and fresh pastures He hath not only taken out the blots and blurs that my sins have made in my old Evidences since the old Record and Assurance I had many years of his Eternal and Everlasting Love to my poor soul in Jesus Christ but he even since I came within this my Palace for so I can truly and chearfully call it I say through the free Grace He hath not onely cleared up my old Assurance but hath also given me fair new Copies together with such Inlargements that are unutterable In the Deeps I cryed when and where none could hear but He and He alone who heard and answered blessed be his Name When my heart and my strength failed He then heard so that as a return of prayer yea of yours and the People of the Lord together with the breathing of his own Spirit in the hearts of his People here He hath made such gracious and full returns that I through mercy can say from the first of my being in bonds notwithstanding the weakness of my body and present want of health through extream Colds yet the Dungeon Chains Bolts and Manacles have not had the least of hardness in them no I must say it again through free Grace the Lord hath not only made them easie but pleasant yea kickings and buffetings when in Irons by some of Downing's men yet the Lord strengthened me Pray mistake me not I do not write this as having here any thing to boast of from my self or from any strength of mine no no I have not been without my buffetings though in them the Lord hath been wonderful gracious to me and he hath made me a very great gainer by them Three times since I came into this Room or Palace Satan who may be truly said to go about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour waiting his opportunity I having been for a very very little space drawn off my Out-Sentinels and begining to hold a Parly with Sence and reason with flesh and blood to look backward and forward on the right and left hand in which work I do not remember I exceeded above half an hour but I perceived a general discomposure and unsettlement in all my former settlements and immediately found Satan with a full Body ready to surprize my Main-guards but the Lord was merciful and made good his Promise to me He in the instant of time came in and shewed me where my weakness lay and where my strength I cryed out to Him as a ravished Damosel He heard and strengthened me with strength in my soul blessed O blessed be for ever his most great and glorious Name My dear Friend I hint these things only to let you know how seasonable through mercy the Lord hath made me and doth keep me off my own weakness and nothingness and unworthiness indeed I dare not be off the Watch or from going the Rounds to see if all the Sentinels be watchful every moment I do now very well understand that Command Pray alwayes Pray continually watch and pray pray and watch are and must be a Christians constant and continual and unseparable Companions at all times and in all places Now that the Lord hath thus far answered the prayers of his People what I shall be able to undergo the next hour I know not I therefore do heartily again and again beg that you would with me continually be blessing and praising the Lord for those blessed Returns he hath hitherto made to your former Prayers and lay them before you as encouragements and spread them before the Lord as Arguments for his hearing your Prayers for the future for what is yet to come for though I can say the Dungeon Bolts Chains and Manacles with kickings and buffetings have been nothing and therefore can comfortably and confidently desire the People of the Lord not to fear any of them but to fear sin only for that the least sin hath more terror in it than the greatest evil or trouble that can befall a Child of God here therefore fear O fear sin I say I do not know what a Sled a Gibbet a Halter Ax or
but be faithful to the death and you shall receive a Crown of life Oh my dear Friends it is better to fall with Christ than to stand with Caesar let us be willing to follow our Captain the Lord Jesus who is gone before as also the blessed Saints and Martyrs of Christ. We use to say He is not worthy the name of a Souldier that will not follow his Leader Let us then follow Christ the Captain of our Salvation who hath said to us Fear not him that can but kill the body and can do no more Oh let us I pray you fear the Lord and take heed of all sin for let me tell you there is more evil in the least sin than there is good in any thing this base world can afford And although here we may suffer and be condemned of men as evil-doers as our Lord Jesus and was called Beelzebub and the like yet this will be our comfort that although men do condemn us the Lord doth acquit us You know what Christ saith to his Disciples Blessed are ye when men speak all manner of evil of you for my Name sake and the Gospel then do ye rejoyce and be exceeding glad Thus I have given you to know in a few words my thoughts concerning those three things I spake of in the beginning of this Paper I had thought to have been more large but am strangely prevented by my Keeper and for want of time Only one word to let you know that blessed be the Lord for his great mercy towards me I am at present in a peaceable and comfortable condition although sometimes fainting fits do seem to seize upon me for when I look on my self then I have cause to mourn for my unworthy walking but when I look up to the Lord I have cause to rejoyce and to be glad and do desire to praise his holy Name Oh it is good to have our portion in the Lord who is our only Good for one smile of his Countenance is better than Life And therefore my dear Friends above all things labour to give your selves up to the Lord and appear for his Cause and Glory and for the Gospel and stand up for the Truth for all Truth and for the poor Saints at such a day as this is so that you may with the Apostle say experimentally I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Glory and not only for me but for all those also that love the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now my dear Brethren in the Lord I bid you farewel and commit you and yours to Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy Now to the only wise God be glory for evermore Yours for ever in our Lord Jesus Christ. J. O. Post-script Oh my Brethren I have one request to you that is That you would beg of the Lord that the Saints may dwell more together in Love And although they be not of one form yet let them labour to be of one mind in the things of the Lord and love as Brethren and take heed of judging one another which hath been a great fault Give no offence to those that are within nor to those that are without as near as you can That those that are out of the way may be won by your holy conversation in Christ Jesus Another Letter of Col. John Okey's directed to an intimate Friend and old Acquaintance of his in London Hon. Friend I Do much rejoyce to hear of your good health with your dear Wife and that the Lord doth so much comfort and strengthen you in the day of your trouble it is a great honour that he hath put upon you in this backsliding time wherein iniquity doth so much abound and most men are making shipwrack of Faith a good Conscience in this day of Jacob's sorrows now that wickedness is established by a Law Now the worse the times are the Lord grant we may be the better Oh Sir suffering-times are very glorious when the Lord is pleased to come in by his holy Spirit into the heart of a poor worm there can be no restraint where the Spirit of the Lord is for there is liberty for the loving-kindness of the Lord is better than any thing that this base world can afford My dear Friend what a favour hath the Lord been pleased to cast upon you and me that we should be called forth to bear witness to and for the Old Cause the Lord himself hath so often owned by fighting our Battels and in destroying of the proud Enemies of God and his Saints so that the sound of it is gone through the whole World And now I shall trouble you with a word to let you know how it is with me at the present concerning the inner man I do humbly desire to speak to the glory of the Lord 's free Grace that although I am in trouble on every side yet not distressed something perplexed but not in dispair persecuted but not forsaken cast into Prison but not destroyed and therefore blessed be the Lord I faint not for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.16 We reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed Rom. 8.18 and therefore the Lord grant that we may watch and stand fast in the Faith quit our selves like men be strong in his strength and in the power of his might and as Joab said Be of good Courage let us behave ourselves valiantly for our People and for the Cities of our God and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight 1 Chron. 19.13 Sir I hear my time is short and I am in some measure through much mercy ready to be offered up and if I be offered up upon the sacrifice of the Faith of the Lords People I shall joy and much rejoyce Alas you know I am a poor worm and of my self can do nothing but in the strength of the Lord I shall be able to do what the Lord shall be pleased to call me to for he hath promised to lay no more upon me than he will enable me to bear and therefore I do humbly beg your prayers for me and the rest of my suffering Brethren that are in trouble with me here or elsewhere that the Lord would be pleased to stand by us so that we be not ashamed of the Cause of the Lord and his poor People it would have been better we had never made a profession of the Gospel than for to deny any of the Truths of the Lord or the Cause of his People What are our lives in comparison of the Glory of God better ten thousand of us should dye than the Gospel
Knife are I have often set them before me and have been often going up the Ladder to see if they would terrifie me but blessed be the Lord they have not hitherto given me the least disturbance no no in all that is past I could never yet suffer so much as such a wish to pass through my thoughts Oh that I had not been engaged in this thing or that I had before 1648 deserted this Cause no the Lord would not to this day suffer such a thought to pass through my thoughts much less through my heart no I have over and over gone through the Cause from first to last even from the Blood of Rochel to Irelands Massacres the Blood of Scotland and the Blood of both the Wars in England My dear Friend and reconciled Friends on the best account I must at present leave you earnestly begging the constant continuance of yours and the People of the Lord's Prayers with and for me that as he hath so would continue to support and bear up the spirit of his unworthy Creature and in those few dayes or hours he hath yet to remain on this side Eternity he may neither do nor speak any thing wherein or whereby he should in the least dishonour God grieve the Spirit of Jesus Christ or give the least trouble to any of the meanest of the Saints or desert that Glorious Cause that the Lord doth and will own and will raise up at his appointed time in despite of all the Devils in Hell and all the Kings Princes and Great-men of the Earth whose flesh must become meat to the fowls of the Air and their Carcasses dung to the Earth for the Kingdoms of the Earth or of this world are to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever This from your truly reconciled Friend J. B. Praise and pray pray and praise and above all watch unto prayer pray alwayes and watch continually Several occasional Passages Speeches and Letters of Col. John Okey during the time of his Imprisonment in the Tower till the day of his Suffering ON Wednesday the 16th of April 1662. being the day that Col. Barkstead Col. Okey and Mr. Corbet had Sentence passed upon them at the Kings-Bench Bar after which a Friend went to visit Col. Okey and found him in a sweet and blessed frame of spirit and very chearful not in the least under any discouragement but acquainted the said Friend that they had been up at Westminster and that Sentence was given against them and declared he was not in the least disquieted at it but thankfully owned the Providence of God in bringing them from the place where they were beyond Sea to their present condition wherein he professed himself to be much satisfied and declared he had rather lay down his Life here than to have been buried in another Nation and expressed further that for what he was charged withal and condemned he had not the least trouble upon his spirit He also told this Friend that he desired to bless God for the Prayers of the Lord's People for he found the benefit and advantage of them in this time of his Tryal And with much chearfulness of spirit afterwards he did bless the Lord for his Goodness to him declaring he had got more benefit and advantage in the time of these his troubles than in many years before and one day especially since his coming into the Tower he said he was reading some verses in the 16th chapter of John and the Lord did so set home upon his spirit ver 26 27. especially that word The Father himself loveth you that he was so much refreshed in his soul that for an hour together he was as it were ravished with the Joy of the Lord the sight of which was much comfort to his dear Wife and did much refresh and chear her spirit And upon Friday the day before his Suffering several Friends went unto him about one of the clock and were with him some hours he several times spake to them saying Well Friends I shall now get to Heaven before you and shall go out of a sinful evil world into that place where I shall sin no more nor sorrow any more I bless the Lord he is good to me in all his dispensations and I could not have been without any of these afflictions Then he mentioned divers choice places of Scripture as 2 Cor. 4.8 9 and the 17 verse explaining the words to sweet advantage As for afflictions said he they are but slight and momentary and that they work to glory yea an exceeding yea a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory And much strengthening himself with the Promises of God Isa. 43.1 2. upon which Scripture he did thus descant Though Jacob was but a worm and so trodden upon by every one yet the Lord would be with him and so with all his Saints and People in their sufferings He insisted also upon that Scripture Heb. 13.5 6. together with many others which were proper to his condition and the Lord was pleased to make every one of them a strengthening cordial to him The next day being the day of Execution several Friends went again to Col. Okey by six of the clock in the morning where they found him ready dressed and with a sweet chearful spirit bid them welcome They asked him how he did he said Never better in his life and had found the benefit of prayers and it had been a sweet night unto him being sweetly refreshed which also did much appear by his chearful and fresh countenance for it was observed that he never looked better in all his dayes He declared he had much quietness in his spirit and said As for the loss of his Estate it did not in the least trouble him Then a Friend hinted to him the parting with his Wife and Relations he answered she had been a very tender Wife to him and had exprest her abundant love and tenderness in this his distress but he was not in the least troubled at their parting being assured the Lord would be better to her than he could be And also said that though his Wife had lost much since she knew him as to outwards yet she had gained much as to the better concernments for so his Wife had declared unto him which doubtless well considered will out-weigh all other losses Some of these Friends spent some time in prayer with him also the Colonel himself went to prayer and the Lord appeared very much in carrying forth his spirit to own his hand and to see his goodness in all his dispensations and to implore further assistance and between the times of prayer they had much sweet conference with him in all which he manifested a very gracious and holy frame of spirit and often declared with great chearfulness that he was ready to be offered up He was heard often to ask whether his Chariot was yet come or no and some
that he had not left me to the wickedness of my own heart as he hath left thousands that do live in pleasure and vanity and so are dead while they live Now the good Lord grant that as he hath done for me more than he hath done for many thousands so I may love Him more than many thousands do that I may yet live and die for the Glory of his holy Name and that the few hours I have to live I may wholly spend to the praise of God I humbly desire to bless the Lord that hath made me willing to live or die as may be most for his Glory and the Good of his People for I can say through Christ that strengthens me I can do all things in some measure and have learned how to want and how to abound and can say to live is Christ and to die is gain praised be the Lord that hath made my heart fit in some good measure for the work which he hath called me unto and as I hear my departure is at hand so through the Lord 's rich Grace and free Mercy to me his poor unworthy Servant I am willing to be offered up and if I be offered upon the Sacrifice of your Faith I joy and much rejoyce therein I hope by the continual Prayers of you and the rest of the People of the Lord he that hath begun that good work in me will carry it on till the coming of the Lord Jesus When I look upon my self then I have cause to fear and tremble for my strength is as weak as water but when I look to the Lord Jesus then am I strong for he hath promised He will never leave nor forsake me nor all those that trust in Him And I know that through the Lord I shall do those things that may tend to the praise of his great Name in this evil day and I hope by his Grace to honour Him more by my Death than in all my Life before for indeed although I had a desire in the day of liberty to do that which was most for the glory of God and the good of his People and on that account I did not think my Life nor any thing I had near or dear to me and can say I do believe no man did more rejoycingly go to lay down his Life than I did yet I was accompanied with so many failings in my best doings that I have cause to be ashamed and humbled for the best of all my services that ever I have performed and praised be his holy Name although I have nothing in my self to glory in yet in Christ Jesus I can and will rejoyce giving thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus who hath made me meet to be partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in light and for his unspeakable love to me in the Lord Jesus for being justified by Faith I have peace with our blessed God through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be praise and glory both now and for evermore And now a word concerning the Cause for which I am to suffer all that is near and dear unto me I shall as before the Lord who only knoweth the hearts and thoughts of all men tell you my Faith I do believe at long-run there is not a man that fears the Lord will have any reason to be sorrowful for engaging in that Good Old Cause which I am now to seal with my Blood again as I have many a time done I am satisfied in my soul that it is a most just and glorious Cause as hath been in many years asserted and although the Lord hath been pleased for the sins of his People and for a great judgment to the wicked of the three Nations to let it be in respect of the Cause as it were the Sun setting for a night yet it will certainly arise the next morning very gloriously though now it be never so much reproached by the wicked of this day And when I die I shall die in the Faith thereof And that most of the Reformed Churches in the world by report are all of that mind and I my self have heard the same from many among them where I have been abroad I bless the Lord I have no guilt upon me in reference to that Cause if I had I would let you know it And although many object against me that place 1 Pet. 4.15 Let none of you suffer as a Murderer yet I cannot after much seeking the Lord be convinced that I am such a one And in case any did it out of base ends of their own I praise the Lord I had none but looking at the Glory of God and the Good of his poor People in what I did and I bless the Lord I find the comfort of it at this day And for the Cause I shall say no more of it than what the Parents said to the Pharisees when they asked them if that were their son they told them he was of age he should speak for himself So I say this Cause hath spoken in most parts of the Christian World and will speak more when we are dead when the Fowls have eaten of our vile Bodies that are to be set up on the Gates of the City I shall only add a word to the People of the Lord to comfort them against sufferings for the Cause of God for it is a most glorious thing and honourable and therefore saith the Apostle James Count it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations And so the Apostle Paul Rom. 5 We glory in Tribulation Also the like in Phil. 1.28 29. To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake And so again the Apostle sayes Jam. 1â— 12. 2 Cor. 12.10 Act. 2 13. Blessed is the man that endureth Temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive a Crown of life So the Apostle Paul rejoyced in his Infirmities Reproaches Necessities in Persecutions in Distresses And he professes himself to be ready not only to be bound but to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Further It is the duty of Saints to suffer as the Apostle speaks He that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 We are also commanded not to fear their fears nor to be terrified by any thing that evil men can do against us but suffer as good Souldiers of Christ Jesus We are likewise to rejoyce in as much as we are partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed 1 Pet. 4.13 we may rejoyce with exceeding joy And as it brings peace to a man 's own soul so it rejoyceth the hearts of the Saints for saith the Apostle We live if ye stand fast in the Lord. And therefore dear Brethren fear none of these things for the Devil shall cast some of you into Prison and you shall have Tribulation for ten dayes
should suffer and therefore I do again beg your prayers to the Lord night and day that the Lord would strengthen us with all might according to his rich and glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light who hath called us to suffer for the Truth and not to fear base man whose breath is in his nostrils and although they seem to be in honour yet in a few dayes they shall fall and perish and become as the dung of the Earth and men like themselves shall see them no more Oh we have no cause to be troubled when we see wicked men made great for when they die none of their pomp shall follow them for as they lived undesired so will they dye unlamented My dear Friend I am fain to break off for want of time and I hope you will cover my weak lines you have them from the heart that wisheth you as well as my own soul. Thus with my love to you and my prayers to the Lord for you and yours and to the rest that love the Lord Jesus and now for the present I leave you to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God be glory and power now and ever Your faithful Friend till death J. O. A Letter of Col. John Okey to his Daughter My dear Daughter I Salute you in the Lord wishing you all Grace here and Glory hereafter I am something troubled at the cruelty of wicked men that will not let me see you in such a day as this is But it 's not to be wondred at for you know what the Scripture saith The mercies of the ungodly are cruelty it self But blessed be our good God though they can keep our Relations from us they cannot keep us from coming to our heavenly Father within a few dayes we shall be out of their hands where they shall afflict us no more for there the Oppressed shall be free from the Oppressor and therefore be not troubled for these things I thank you for your love to me as much as if I had seen you and although we are kept one from another in the body yet we are not so in the spirit but do rejoyce in one another and be not much cast down for these outward troubles that we meet with in this evil world where we are pilgrims and strangers for it 's the lot and portion of the dearest of God's People to suffer here in this world but rather rejoyce that we are accounted worthy to suffer shame for his most holy Name and I beg that you would be earnest with the Lord that he would be pleased to keep my heart close to himself that I may not dishonour the Lord nor bring a reproach to the glorious Gospel of our Lord Christ and his Cause which the Lord hath from Heaven so gloriously owned by scattering of his Enemies so often as he hath done in the sight of the Sun in bringing many of them to Justice so that the sound of it is gone thorow the whole World that it is the talk of the most part of the World and this you may be confident of that the day is not far off when God will give a glorious Resurrection to this Good Cause that is so much scorned by the basest of men who as Daniel saith shall fall in a few dayes like their own dung and perish and be seen no more for God hath set them in slippery places and therefore be not troubled at their prosperity but wait on the Lord and he shall give you the desire of your soul. And therefore my dear Daughter I humbly desire you that you would more and more give your self up wholly to the Lord to walk in all his wayes and to delight in all his wayes for his wayes are all wayes of peace and paths of pleasantness to all them that fear and love him and although earthly fathers leave you he will never leave you nor forsake you but will bless you here and for evermore therefore rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce I am very sorry that I am not able to do that for you which I desire and did intend for you and yours which I should have delighted to have done but the Providence of the Lord hath been pleased to order things other wayes praised be his Name and I hope the good Lord will supply all your wants through the riches of his Mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ to whom I shall commit you and yours who hath promised to do you good both in soul and body for he hath said When father and mother forsake you he will keep you for ever And therefore my loving Daughter be comforted in the Lord for although I go before you I shall not be lost but we shall meet again in Glory through mercy where we shall part no more for ever where we shall sorrow no more nor sin no more but shall be for ever praising his holy Name to all Eternity I shall desire you to remember me kindly to your Husband if it please the Lord to bring him home and to your Brother and so to the rest of my Friends and let your Husband know that if it please the Lord to return to his People he or his shall have a Portion in the mean time the Lord will bless that little to you that shall do you and yours more good than the treasures of the wicked like to the widows oyl and the barrel of meal that wasted not until the Lord sent more You know what David said I have been young and now am old yet he never saw the Righteous forsaken nor his seed begging their bread and Paul said We brought nothing into this world and it 's certain we shall carry nothing out having food and raiment let us therewith be content I am forc'd to break off at present but I hope to see you once more before I go hence and be seen no more I shall desire you would have a great care of those little Children that the Lord hath given you to bring them up in the fear of the Lord whilst the Lord is pleased to let you be with them And do also desire as you would do any thing for me or mine that you would be kind and loving to my dear Wife when I am gone that is the last Request that I beg of you And thus with my hearty love to you and your dear Husband and to your Children and to the rest of my Friends and to John and desire him that he would beg of the Lord to give him an heart to love the Lord and to walk in his wayes and it shall be well with him here and for evermore Thus in haste I commit you to the Lord beseeching the Lord
to keep you in all his wayes and rest Your loving Father in bonds for the Cause of God and his People till death John Okey I bless the Lord I am at present well wanting nothing but an humble and thankful heart to praise his Name There was another Letter written by Col. Okey to his Son beyond the Seas to the same effect An History of the Life and Death of Mr. Miles Corbet being intended shortly to be made publick and so many things reserved till then in the mean time it is thought convenient that a taste be given of some of those occasional Passages which fell from him whilst he was a Prisoner in the Tower in the hearing of several Friends who have faithfully collected them to be carefully laid up and wisely improved by them that survive ABout ten dayes before his Execution an old Friend having obtained leave to come to him while yet a Close-Prisoner Mr. Corbet imbracing him and rejoycing greatly to see him asked how he durst be so bold as to adventure to give him a Visit at that time and in that place and in that condition His Friend answered he was afraid of being charged at the day of Judgment with cowardise or want of love to Christ in not visiting his Members in Prison To which Mr. Corbet smilingly replyed And let it be remembred to you at that day that you were one of the Visiters there meant by our dear Lord whose Servant I hope I am and desire to be But Sir said his Friend to him I was in hopes you had been safe enough or at least would have taken care to be so when once you were abroad and had escaped so long And truly I thought so too said Mr. Corbet but God would not have it so Alas who can be hid whom he shall please to discover It seems he hath other work for me to do and I bless his Name for it I am not dismaid at all When I was beyond Sea I did the best to secure my self and was careful not wilfully to run into danger it was a meer hand of God that I was seized on for having not sent a Letter saith he in eight months time to my Wife I went to the place where I was taken to consult how to convey one safely to her and being ready to go thence to my own Lodging I was surprized suddenly and though at first I was startled at it yet I saw there was an over-ruling Providence in it and so was quieted in my own thoughts after a little space and found a power enabling me to submit And now that the Lord hath brought me hither and upon such an account as I am here for His holy Will be done for through grace I can truly say with the Apostle Col. 1.9 that I am filled with the Will of God Had I continued abroad I might have died in obscurity and have been carried out into some hole in a dust basket where my death would have signified nothing but now God hath honoured me in calling me forth to fight for him with my blood and in my own native Country too and in that famous City where I have had my breeding and education for many years and where I have endeavoured to do my Master Christ the best service I could while opportunity was in my hand And this I can truly say in some measure through grace a word which he often used that I account it an high favour All my desire is that I may not faint nor any way dishonour the Cause that I am to suffer for by my weak and unworthy carriage which I confess I am afraid of and therefore earnestly desire the prayers of Friends on my behalf that God will be pleased to support me and carry me well through this so hard and difficult a task Being asked what his Age was He answered Sixty seven years the greatest part of which time saith he God hath been pleased to use me more or less in publick services having for thirty seven years been still a Member in the several Parliaments that have been called In all which time saith he I bless God I have not sought my self nor any worldly ends And when I was without any of my own seeking freely chosen to be a Member of the Long Parliament I saw my Call so full and clear that I durst not deny but that it was of God and though saith he the Trust and Work which I was to undertake were very great and like to prove dangerous to as many as would be faithful to Christ's Interest yet through grace saith he I was resolved to go through it and accordingly I have done so to the utmost of my ability even to the prejudice of my own Estate and nearest Relations as themselves can witness and do now find pointing to his Wife and one of his Sons there standing by Proceeding further upon this subject Now in my Age saith he when I have most need of all outward comforts they are and have been of late furthest off from me I have neither Estate nor Habitation nor wherewith to keep a Servant yet in all this saith he I am comforted because it is come upon me in the performance of my duty and the defence of my Master's Cause and do well know I shall be no loser at last by Him he having been alwayes found to be a good Pay-master to them that serve Him in truth as I have desired and endeavoured to do Nay saith he I can say He hath payed me already for though I have nothing of my own no not so much as to buy Bread for me and mine yet I want nothing Ah! how good is God! and how good is his Word how faithful and how true is He that hath promised He hath said Matth. 19.29 Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Wife or Children or Lands for my Name sake shall receive an hundred fold and that even in this life besides the Inheritance of everlasting life hereafter I am sure saith he I have found it so I have had many houses in mine Exile as free as my own have found as much care and tenderness from strangers as from my own Wife and Children every body is kind to me every body shews their love and their bounty to me Ah! blessed be God saith he blessed be God! and so went on very largely in this melting and moving manner adding among many other sweet expressions a reflexion upon the Speech of good old Polycarpus for even as he said That Christ had been a good Master to him and never did him hurt for eighty six years so saith he may I say the like Christ hath been a good Master to me these threescore and seven years Another time discoursing of the frailty of humane life and the many maladies and accidents that it is liable unto he took occasion to speak of the manner of his own approaching Death Alas saith he I might have dyed long
since of some noysom disease or lingring sickness might have lain long weltering and at last been as it were smothered to death in a feather-bed and perhaps with the losse of my senses too and the use of my Reason and Memory as it happens to many that dye in age whereas now I am strong in body as one of my years may be and of sound mind having my Understanding in some good measure vigorous wherby I hope to be made able through grace to become a seasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto God and as for the pain of it I reckon it far lesse than what is usually felt in an ordinary sickness Indeed the shame is something saith he the Reproaches Mockings and Scorns that may perhaps be cast upon me all along the streets in the face of the multitude but I set Heaven saith he against all these and considering what I shall enjoy there can easily laugh at them and wear them as the Badge of my Master's Livery who himself also endured the Crosse and despised the Shame Tyburn saith he is the place that I must dye at Well! let it be so blessed be God that hath so appointed it for therein I shall be the more like unto my Lord who suffered without the Camp as a Malefactor too great to suffer within the City But the more ignominious our Death the more conspicuous will our Honour be while we are made spectacles to Angels and men And for my own part I hope through grace I shall go willingly to meet my Saviour even at Tyburn without the Camp as the Apostle exhorts I should Heb. 13.13 and there bear his reproach Some Friends to whom he spake thus rejoycing to see him so sweetly supported Truly saith he it is a blessed thing to suffer for Christ and if Conscience be clear so that the suffering be not for evil-doing there is a secret hidden comfort that goes along with it and I bless God I have found it so and do find it yet must tell you I have my damps and fears come in sometimes upon me especially when I think of my carnal Relations and other concernments of this world which do what I can will ever and anon rush in upon me and then I find my heart sinking and my flesh ready to fail till God fetch me off again by the consideration of higher things which that he will continually please to do while yet I abide in the Land of the living I still beg the help of your prayers And indeed this was a duty he would be often at especially when any new Friend came in that he judged fit to move it unto and to joyn with therein He was in the dayes of his liberty for many years a great lover of private seeking of God by Fasting and Prayer and said in the hearing of Friends about two years since at the end of such a day There was more sweetness tasted at such a Fast than at the Lord Mayors Feast And was given much to Prayer after his coming from Ireland and would much deny himself of Comforts he might have had to prepare himself for hardship About a week before his end hearing some special Friend was upon a Journey to visit him said This Visit would be against his Burial A few dayes before his suffering certain Gentlewomen partly of his old Acquaintance and partly such as he said he never remembred he had seen their faces before sent in divers good Dishes of Meat with some Bottles of Wine to Dine with him which kindness he was much affected with and said it put him in mind of those good Women in Christ's time and particularly of Mary Magdalen who brought an Alabaster box of precious Oyntment and poured on him as he sat at meat in Bethany which saith Christ Mark 14.8 she did for my Burying and shall be a kindness spoken of and remembred where-ever the sound of the Gospel shall come through the whole world Matth. 26.6 14. Even so saith he me-thinks these good Friends here have prepared for my Burial And why not for your Wedding rather said a Friend that sat by That is true too said he for it is the Bridegroom that I am going to and hope to meet him shortly and doubt not but he will meet me Much of this kind of pleasant discourse passed that Dinner-time But among other things that fell from him this is not to be forgotten Having occasion to speak of the former plenty and fulness of all things which he was wont to enjoy and of his being now deprived of them Truly saith he when I had the good things of this world about me yea even my fill of them I was more carnal heavy and earthy in my spirit less mindful of my future state and the much better things of the other world present enjoyments took up even all my heart I am sure much more of it than they ought but these temptations being removed from me now in the time of my late Exile me-thoughts I found my self much at ease and wholly at leisure for Heaven without having any desire at all to those former delights and then using this comparison which he craved pardon for it being Dinner-time A man saith he that hath the wealth power dignities and pleasures of this world by which his mind is fed and still irritated to give satisfaction to his own corrupt and evil heart is like one that is troubled with the Itch a troublesom distemper which provokes him to scratch and the more he scratcheth the more he desires and delights to scratch but all the while enrageth his distemper and hurts himself which when some Physician a friend of his sees he disswades him from scratching and tells him he will prescribe something that shall take away the cause and kill the itching humour and so give him a more healthy and sound state of body Nay but in the mean time saith he I must scratch and I will scratch and cannot help it Even so said he it was with me in the time of my prosperity when I had wealth and power and other earthly contents about me but now that I and they are separated my mind is more at quiet and more free for a sweet communion and converse with God Then he proceeded further to tell the company at Table how he spent his time when he was abroad viz. partly in Prayer partly in Meditation partly in reading Scripture and the Writings of holy men especially the Notes of the Dutch Bible and the Works of his three choice Friends as he called them Dr. Preston Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Bridge and further said that before he had done his task which he every day set himself and alwayes found delight in performing the day seemed too short for him and was gone too soon one day seeming to tumble and huddle too fast upon another And this he said was no small mercy to him especially since he was deprived of all publick Ordinances and the
therefore I do desire that all that fear the Lord would make it their work and their business to study to love God and to love one another and to love the Nation wherein they live and to give no disturbance to it For certainly Sir I should leave this as that which the Lord hath setled upon my heart their work is to sit still yea their strength is to sit still for the Lord will do his work in his own time and when he comes to do the work there is none shall hinder I think you have had all experience of it in the late works which the Lord hath done for I must own it his Indeed Sir I am sorry that my weakness of body doth prevent me from speaking more to you yet I do bless God that I have this opportunity All I shall say further is That there is a Truth and I hope I may speak it without offence that is much upon my spirit and I am confident I shall speak it without any offence at all I think we are all here Christians and there is none here I think but saith the Lord's Prayer and sayes Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven c. and I hope they go through the Prayer and say why they do pray that Prayer also say For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen God hath given the Kingdoms of the Earth to JESUS CHRIST He shall Reign and happy and blessed is that King and Nation that hath Him for their King And certainly for his Majesty that now is to reign under Jesus Christ is no dishonour at all to him For CHRIST doth and shall Rule over all the Kings Princes and Nations in the World And therefore indeed this is that Kingdom that is most certain and that we do desire and all pray that it may come and I do wish that all persons would have a tenderness and not to be at enmity with nor hate nor as much as they can cut the throats of those that own that Kingdom and the coming of that Kingdom As to other things there hath been so much said that I shall forbear speaking only this as to the business of the King I bless God I can say it I was no Actor or Contriver either within or without I was many miles from this place when that was doing I was put in by the Authority that then sat and I was called and chosen to that work and truly what I did I did without any Malice without any Contrivement in the least and did even to the very last pray for him And since his Majesty that now is came to the Throne I have as I have prayed for my own soul prayed for him and that he may reign in Peace and Righteousness to the Glory of God and the good of all the people of the Nation I shall not trouble you with more because I see your time is past and my weakness is such that I am necessitated to break off Then Col. Okey spake further as followeth Mr. Sheriff It is not only our Judgments now but it was our Practice when we were beyond the Seas we did shun any Disputes nay we avoyded occasions of seeing our own Countrymen because we would have nothing to do with the affairs in England but to pray for them and to perswade to be quiet and to sit still so that we may say as Paul did in another case They neither found us in the Temple disputing or wrangling or stirring up the People only our work was to pray for them Then Mr. Corbet said Now we have done speaking to men we may now speak unto our God truly he must help us and give us his own Spirit men may say prayers and reade them but to pray in the Spirit and to pray so as to be accepted with God requireth much strength and assistance from Him Then Mr. Corbet addressed himself to Prayer Mr. Corbet's Prayer O Lord our God our dear and heavenly Father Thou that art the great and mighty God the God of Glory all the Nations of the World are unto thee as the drop of the bucket and as the dust of the ballance O Lord what are we then that are dust and ashes sinful dust and ashes O! look upon us look upon us in our Lord Jesus Christ that great Mediator O we desire to come to thee in the Name of that blessed Mediator we pray thee let us have acceptance through Him O that we might come unto the Throne of Grace through Him and obtain Mercy at thy merciful hand and finde Grace and Help now in this time of need Truly Lord it is a day a day of need for thy poor Worms that stand in thy presence that are despised of men that are condemned of men as not worthy to live in the world O our God thou mayest also justly destroy us and thou mayest justly condemn us and then wo be to us Oh! Forgiveness belongs unto thee Mercies belong unto thee O Lord we acknowledge our Iniquities here in thy presence and in the face of this great People O Lord against thee against thee only have we sinned our Iniquities are gone over our heads they are a mighty burden too heavy for us O Lord we desire especially to bewail our Gospel-sins our walking unworthy of the Gospel our Barrenness under all the means of Grace that we have enjoyed our Unthankfulness for those Glorious Appearances of our God in these dayes in these Nations O we have withheld thy Truth in unrighteousness O we desire to bewail our sins against Love and our sins against Light and our sins against thy Mercies though we have professed the Gospel and the Truths of Jesus Christ yet O Lord where is that Love and that Fruitfulness that should have been found among us O how much dishonour hath thy holy Majestie had from us in all our stations O we desire also to be humbled for our Family-sins and the sins we committed in our stations that thou our God didst call us to O Lord we desire to acknowledge that thou art just and righteous in all thy Chastisements thy great Chastisements that have been upon the Nation and upon us and our Families We desire Lord to humble our selves before thee and to cover our faces with shame here in thy presence and in the presence of this great Assembly Wo unto us for we have sinned against thee But Lord are there not Mercies with thee are there not tender Mercies multitudes of tender Mercies that thou mayest be feared Truly such poor Wretches as we are coming in unto thee have Mercy from thee through Jesus Christ. O these sins of ours and of every one of us and those multitude of sins that thy poor Worm that now speaks is guilty of in thy sight our Lord Jesus Christ he hath born He was made sin for us Now Lord where sin is there is shame and grief and
curse and wrath and death O Lord hath not He born our sins and so likewise our shame and carried our sorrows O Lord what shame was cast upon Him as thy poor Worms are at this day and at this time a shame in the eyes of many present O Lord he was despised and rejected of men O did not He suffer death did not that Righteous one that Holy one suffer death O he dyed for those sins of ours He was cut off from the Land of the Living He poured-out his Soul unto death Nay Lord blessed Father it pleased thee to put Him to grief and he hath born our sins and ô Lord the chastisements of our Peace was laid on Him he was made sin for us Blessed Lord we will lay all our sins upon the head of the scape Goat upon our Lord Jesus Christ Him thou hast given to be a Propitiation O dear Lord in him and through his Blood thou hast found out a way of Atonement for sin and by that one Oblation that he once offered he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto thee through him Lord we come in the blood of that Mediation we desire to lay hold on the Atonement and Propitiation that he hath offered up unto thee O he hath satisfied thy Justice He that knew no sin he was made sin and thou didst lay our sins upon him and thou hast accepted of that satisfaction that he hath made and thou hast raised him from the dead and set him at thy right hand and though he dyed but once yet by that one Oblation he hath satisfied for all our sins O here is the Blood of God the Lord Jesus Christ which was God and man O that Righteous one he loved us and dyed for us that we might live he bare thy Wrath that we might be reconciled that we might find mercy yea and through him thou art merciful Thou God of Mercy shew Mercy to our souls and to the souls of all those in this great Assembly that is met here and dear Father accept us in his Mediation O 't is our comfort though he dyed but once having satisfied thy Justice thereby he doth ever live to make Intercession for Sinners Lord here is Comfort for poor wretched Sinners the Great Mediator that is so pleasant in thy sight whom thou hearest alwayes O he doth continually live to make Intercession for us we pray thee in and through Him accept these poor Prayers of ours these poor Petitions and Requests of ours which we make known to thee O it is pardoning love we seek O Reconciliation with thee before we go hence and be seen no more O Lord we do believe that thou hast sealed our Pardon that thou art reconciled to us and that there is Peace betwixt thee and our poor souls through that great Peace-maker else it would go ill with us now we are going out of this world O come and sprinkle every one of our souls with that precious Blood O that we that are in our selves vile Wretches may yet stand righteous before thee in his Righteousness O the same Righteousness of Christ which thou hast appointed for thou hast made him to be Righteousness for us and Sanctification and Redemption and He is the Lord our Righteousness O put that Robe upon us that glorious Robe of his Righteousness that we may be presented now not having our own righteousness for that is like a vile filthy Rag a menstruous cloth but cloath us with that Righteousness that we may be presented before thee in and through him without spot and without wrinkle before thy presence through him with exceeding joy O thou hast made him our King O that he would now undertake our Cause the Cause of our poor souls Come Lord Jesus thou King of Saints come tread our Enemies under our feet especially that great Enemy O Lord he hath conquered Satan he hath born our sins and hath condemned sin O he took the likeness of sinful flesh and in his flesh condemned sin in the flesh O that now through his Righteousness we might fulfil thy holy Law He is our Righteousness his obedience we now fly to O dear Lord thou hast set before us as a Refuge to fly unto that blessed hope even those Glorious things the Gospel holds out O the hope of Eternal Life which thou that art the faithful God that canst not lye hast promised unto us O thou hast set this hope of perfect Justification and perfect Sanctification before us O thou hast held it forth this same hope of Righteousness thou hast set it before us and now we fly unto it in this day of our distress to lay hold upon it O thou art pleased Lord that we might have strong consolation thou art pleased to confirm this thy Covenant with an Oath That by two immutable things the Covenant of God and the Oath of God we might have strong Consolation Now we fly to this Covenant through Jesus Christ. O be a God in Covenant with us Father say to us every one that we are thine that thou art in Covenant with us and then say Fear not Worms Else ah Lord God now were we to encounter with Death that King of Terrors what would become of us but O Lord speak Peace to us speak Comfort to us thou God of Comfort O comfort our hearts O Lord it must be done by our dear Lord Jesus Christ himself Our Father hath given us Everlasting Consolation Come and comfort our hearts ô comfort us with thy Love ô Lord ô set thy Banner of Love over us Thou dost not despise the affliction of the afflicted blessed be thy Name We have found thee Lord we bear witness to thee before this great Assembly O thou hast not despised the affliction of the afflicted thou hast seen us in our low estate and been very good to us We have had a Banner of Love over us and we bless thy Name for this very Affliction that thou hast laid upon us O that we could bear witness to thee in the face of this great City and before this great Assembly of thy Goodness and Faithfulness and of thy Mercy which endures for ever O we have tasted of thy Love and it 's good to cleave unto thee Father thou art a Refuge to the Poor and Strength to the Poor and Needy Come and be a Refuge to us in this great Storm truly we are to go through a great Storm before we come unto thee ô that we may finde Death a sweet in-let and a passage into thy blessed Arms through Jesus Christ When our poor souls shall be coming to thee we pray thee give thy Angels charge over us and strengthen us against the fears and terrors of Death O let fresh strength come from Jesus Christ at this present It is not all the Graces we have had will now do us any good unless we have fresh supplies Our fresh springs are in thee Arise O Spring O
shall only speak a word or two unto the Lord and no more Colonel Barkstead's Prayer O Eternal and ever-blessed Lord God Thou who sittest upon the highest Heavens who hast the highest Heavens for thy Throne and the Earth for thy Footstool We poor Creatures are here by thy Providence brought at this day to this place at this time and by Thee it is that we are in the Condition we are now in for which O Lord we blesse Thee and for which we can blesse thy Name Blessed be thy Name O Lord that Thou wert pleased before Thou broughtest us hither to speak Peace to our poor souls in the Blood of Jesus Christ and blessed for ever be thy Name that thou givest-in Assurance of Peace Pardon and Reconciliation to our Souls at this very minute blessed be thy Name Dear Father for the Lord's sake continue it and ô draw forth the hearts of thy poor Creatures even while one blast of breath is in us to blesse thy holy Name Father we pray Thee remember the Nation in which we live the King whom Thou hast set over the Nation Lord make him Thine and cause him to rule for Thee in Righteousness and for thy Glory that so Lord he may rule to the Comfort of all that fear thy Name O dear Father look in mercy upon all that fear thy Name in the Nation make them all of one heart and mind to advance thy Name and Glory to live in Unity one with another and to make it their business to seek Peace and pursue it that so they may thereby truly advance the Kingdom and Scepter of Jesus Christ who is coming and will come O dear Father carry forth the spirits of thy People to love Thee and one another and to walk closely and humbly and holily before Thee all their dayes Remember the Relations of thy poor Creatures here before Thee Lord do good to them that we leave behind us we commit them into thy Arms Lord take them into thine Arms O Lord thou hast said in thy Word Leave thy fatherless Children I will preserve them alive and let thy Widows trust in me Lord it is thy Word and this is thy Command that we should leave them with Thee therefore we leave them in thy Arms. Dear Father we desire from the bottom of our hearts freely and fully to forgive all that we any wayes think have done us wrong in any kind whatsoever freely and fully either in England or elsewhere and we pray Thee shew kindness to those that any wayes have shewed kindness to us for the Lord Jesus sake reward all their labour of love a thousand fold into their bosoms Look in mercy upon the Chief Magistrates that are here at this time dear Father pardon their sins and reconcile them unto thy self in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in which we pray Thee wash their souls And O Lord as for the person that is now appointed to take away our lives and to destroy our Bodies dear Father do not Thou destroy his Soul but wash his Soul in the Blood of Jesus Christ Even that person that is to wash his hands in our Blood O pardon him and let not any of his sins be remembred before Thee We leave ourselves with Thee and blessed be thy Name Thou hast been good unto us and thy Presence is with us and there is nothing that gives trouble to us at this moment Father continue this thy loving-kindness to us O Lord thou hast not blessed be thy Name caused Death to be terrible to us no Lord thy poor Creature can say with freeness and comfort that there hath not been any thing of trouble or terror that hath past thy Servant since he came into this place either for what he is to suffer or the manner of his Sufferings but here he is before Thee and begs further help and strength from Thee being willing to surrender up his Soul to Thee in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Col. Okey spake a few words more as followeth I did break off duty because you desired it and I would not be troublesome to you Then he very earnestly expressed himself further as followeth O love the Lord and hate all things that are evil I have found by experience more evil in the least sin than good in any thing this world can afford Therefore I beg it of all that are here To love God and to hate that that is evil The Lord give you Peace and Truth I hope our Relations shall not fare the worse for us but that you will shew them kindness And as to what my Brother said I thank the Lord I have the Assurance of his Love and the Pardon of my Sins through the Riches of his Grace and free love in Jesus Christ. After this Col. Barkstead called a young man who was known to him and taking a silver Box out of his pocket he charged him to give it to his Daughter Their Speeches and Prayers being ended the Executioner cleared the Cart of the rest of the People who were gotten in and then pulled down their several Caps over their eyes and upon the lifting up their hands the Cart was drawn away at which time Col. Barkstead especially was heard to say Lord Jesus receive our Souls and after he had hanged for a little space he lifted up his hand That which many did especially take notice of was That there was not so much as the least attempt made by any to raise a triumphant shout upon the drawing away of the Cart but there rather appeared the symptoms of an universal face of Sadness in that vast and generally tumultuous Assembly who were the Spectators of their several Deaths They all hung near about a quarter of an hour The first that was cut down was Col. Barkstead who was quartered according to the Sentence the other two hanging all the while The next cut down was Col. Okey Mr. Corbet hanging still who after Col. Okey was quartered had the Execution done upon him also according to the Sentence Their several Quarters were brought back to Newgate about five of the Clock in the Afternoon to be boyled A brief Account of Col. Okey's Funeral WHen Col. Okey's Body was quartered it pleased the King to send a Warrant to the Sheriff of London to deliver the macerated Body to be buried where his Wife should think meet Which thing being granted without Petition or Application from her or his Relations and the Rumour of his Funeral suddenly flying about the City and the place appointed at Stepney where his first Wife lieth in a fair Vault which he purchased formerly for a Burying-place for him and his Family there was a numerous Concourse of sober substantial People assembled to Christ-Church to attend the Corps and some thousands more were coming thither to that purpose so that there were in view about Twenty thousand People attending that Solemnity at and coming to the place aforesaid who in a solemn and peaceable manner behaved themselves as that affair required Yet it so pleased the King to revoke this first Grant to Mris. Okey and by the Sheriff of London to disappoint and send home again the Company attending the Funeral which Sheriff with much harshness and many bitter words did his work The People though much troubled at the disappointment yet so soon as they understood the King's pleasure departed and left the mangled Limbs to the dispose of them that had devoted them to the Gibbet and Ax the Company left many a thousand sighs to attend him to his then unknown Grave That Night the Body was carried to the Tower of London and there by Mr. Glendon Parson of Barkin was buried with the Service-Book afresh wounding his bleeding Limbs thereby but Rapes are imputed only to the Ravisher Mr. Glendon could not but say that his Body was laid there in sure and certain hope of a Joyful Resurrection His Testimony was true though a Poet of their own And now there he lyes and the Tower of London is his Tomb. His Epitaph he partly writ in the hearts of thousands at the place of Execution FINIS
THE SPEECHES DISCOURSES AND PRAYERS OF Col. JOHN BARKSTEAD Col. JOHN OKEY and Mr. MILES CORBET Upon the 19 th of April being the Day of their Suffering at TYBURN Together with an Account of the Occasion and Manner of their Taking in Holland As also of their several Occasional Speeches Discourses and Letters both before and in the time of their late Imprisonment Faithfully and Impartially Collected for a general Satisfaction Prov. 29.26 Every Man's Judgement cometh from the Lord. Heb. 11.13 These all dyed in Faith Printed in the Year 1662. To the READER READER THou art here presented with a most famous and pregnant Instance of the weakness and incapacity of Death yea of the worst of Deaths to disturb or in the least to discompose the Spirits of Saints who through the Faith of the Gospel have entred into Rest. Death is indeed a King of Terrors to the children of this world Col. 3.15 but it is neither King nor terrible to him in whose heart the Peace of God rules and reigns Christ hath said Oh Death I will be thy death how can it then have any Terror in it when there is no life in it it is now no more to a Believer than a dead or painted Lion which because of the want of life can upon no other account be reckoned terrible We have seen Death conquered before our faces and a company of poor frail men subject to like passions with our selves enabled by the Lord to bid defiance to that the fear of which makes the highest and greatest of men all their life-time subject to Bondage Certainly these men did familiarize Death to themselves by those many qualified and easie Notions of it which do so frequently occur in Scripture Job calls it a going to bed and a lying down to rest and sleep Job 14.1 13 14. a hiding in the Grave till the Indignation be overpast a great and signal change infinitely for our advantage yea he looks upon it as that which is in a near relation to him calling it his Father Mother and Sister Job 17.1 Old Simeon calls it but a Discharge from our Imprisonment And the Apostle looks upon it as a way to bring unto Jesus Christ Luk. 2.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is best of all Surely these men had no other apprehensions of Death than what did comport with all the fore-going Scriptural Representations of it whereof we have a most plain and clear Evidence in that they did without the least fear play on the hole of this Asp Isaiah 11.8 and with so much courage put their hand on the den of this Cockatrice and so often with Agag though in a more elevated sense and upon far better grounds express with so great and open confidence 1 Sam. 15.32 that the bitterness of Death was past And surely upon a serious and impartial reflexion upon the several Passages contained in the ensuing Narrative relating to the Lives and Deaths of these men the best grounded and the most critical Charity notwithstanding the Obliquity and Odium that lies upon the Fact for which they suffered will command us to hope and believe that they were wonderfully supported and strengthened by the Lord to drink of that bitter Cup which their Father had given them Joh. 18.11 Heb. 12 1 2. We cannot but believe that while they did run with such patience the Race which was set before them they did look to JESUS their fore-runner the Author and Finisher of their Faith and so for the Joy that was set before them endured the Cross and despised the Shame and having overcome are now set down with CHRIST upon his Throne Rev. 3 21. even as He overcame and is set down with his Father on his Throne What remains then but that we should be continually above the fear of Death which looks most gashly at a distance but when we approach it and begin to converse with it we finde that it hath neither strength nor sting and though before we came near to it we suspected it to be an Enemy yet now we perceive it is a Friend and comes to us onely upon this errand to let us know that the Bridegroom stayes for us and would have us partake of his Joy by a present entrance with Him into the Bride-Chamber Yea though thy Death comes in great Pomp and Solemnity in its Fiery Chariot yet do thou the rather for this smile upon it and give it a chearful welcome For if Believers are capable of any honour in this world it is that they are accounted worthy to suffer for the Name and Cause of their Lord and Master JESUS CHRIST This was that which gave the Church at Philippi the preheminence Phil. 1.29 that unto them it was given in the behalf of CHRIST not only to believe on him but also to Suffer for his sake Oh if the Servants of God did but believe this there would be as much crouding at the Court of Heaven for this Preferment as there is at the Courts of earthly Princes for Promotion and Advancement in their Church and State How did the primitive Christians long for Martyrdom seeking and pursuing after it publickly and boldly to the very Teeth of the Tyrants and Persecutors proclaiming their Christianity and therewith their zeal and readiness to water it with their Bloud If we are not attained to this yet let us with much courage and chearfulness conflict with it when it first sets upon us let the Gibbet and the Stake be the most pleasant and delightful prospects to us when the Providence of GOD for Christ's Cause and Interest brings us to them being assured of this that if the LORD vouchsafe so much of his comforting and supporting Presence to his People who declaredly suffer for Him in a Cause that is at least very doubtful to many good and holy men then He will much more stand by those who lay down their Lives in behalf of that which is clear and certain to all Hebr. 12.1 and concerning the truth of which we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses Let not therefore the Worm Jacob be discouraged seeing the LORD hath promised to be with him to strengthen him to help him and to uphold him with the right hand of his Righteousness Onely look well to the setling of your Spiritual state else your hearts will not be quiet and setled when you come to dye Get an Interest in JESUS CHRIST who alone hath abolished Death and brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 If thou art in CHRIST then though thou dyest the Covenant is still alive the Relation of GOD to Abraham was as firme and strong when he had been a long time dead as when he was alive therefore sayes he I AM the God of Abraham Matth. 22.32 c. And to conclude Get your hearts loosened from this present evil World be ye first crucified to
their leaves of them seemed to have a better opinion both of their Persons and their Cause then they had before and did withal give them assurance that they should not be delivered up to be sent for England untill they had had a more Publique Hearing of what they could say in their own defence But by the extream Officiousness of Sir Geâ—rge Downing and his continued Sollicitations accompanied as is reported with strange menaces these persons were soon after not only contrary to the particular engagements of the Lords before mentioned but also against the very Laws of Nations and of all humane Society and Commerce yea against their own former practise in the Case of Ravilleak who murdered the King of France By order from the States General at two of the clock in the Morning taken out of Prison and being manacled with wrist-Irons chayns and locks were thrust into a Vessel lying at Delst and from thence conveyed into one of the King of Englands Frigots provided for the purpose and so in a few dayes were brought for England where they Arrived at the Tower of London upon the Lords Day in the Evening being the day of where they were forthwith disposed of by Order of the Lieutenant to their several Prison Lodgings and there continued in a very comfortable Condition in respect of the Peace Joy and Patience in which they did possesse their Souls as will more fully appear in the ensuing part of this Narrative untill the 16. of April 1662. Upon which day they were carried up by Water to the Kings Bench Bar to receive Judgement having been already by Act of Parliament attaynted of High Treason for compassing the death of the late King Charles the First After a very short dispute whether the Prisoners at the Bar were the Persons named in the forementioned Act of Attainder yea or no Witnesses being produced who made full proof in the Affirmative and the Prisoners themselves confessing it the Jury without going from the Bar gave in their Verdict that they were the Persons named in the said Act whereupon Judgement was given against them accordingly After Sentence was given they were remanded back to the Tower and in what frame of Spirit they were and how full of Joy and Peace in believing and how sweetly and patiently both to themselâ—es and others they spent that little time which remained from the day of their Tryal to the day of their Suffering the following Collection of the occasional Speeches and Discourses which fell from them will abundantly testifie Their Opinion of the Covenant In Satisfaction to many Friends that much desired to know what their opinions were as to the Covenant and the late proceedings against it and also what they thought of the Condition of these Nations they freely and fully upon occasion still answered and largely discoursed to this effect Truly said they we can affirm and do affirm it that it was in pursuance of the Covenant that we acted and that in defence of it we now suffer and doubt not but in due time God will own his Cause and this Covenant and in such a manner too as shall be to the amazement yea to the Horrour and Confusion of them that oppose it and of others also the heretofore professed Friends of it who have lately acted so strangely upon it Was it ever imagined that any of the very first and strictest Composers and urgers of this Covenant either Here or in Scotland should deal with it as they have done That they should divide the civil part of it from the Religious and whilst their Zeal is all in a flame for the former they should be key-cold for the latter leaving that to the utmost Hazzard which was the main if not almost the whole Concernment and Intendment of it Is it likely that God will long bear with such juggling as this Or can any expect that it will passe in the Day of their Accounts Men may think to baffle with God and their own Consciences to invent shifts distinctions pretenses and put fair glosses on their Actions but let them not be deceived God is not mocked he never was and never will be as they will find at last if they repent not When some mentioned the burning of the Covenant and by Authority of Parliament too Why what then said they what though the Common Hangman hath made Bonefires of it yet is the Obligation to it burned also No verily it neither is nor can be nor is it any humane Law that can take it off but still it doth and will abide in full force and virtue either to be conscientiously performed by them that are under it or to be severely pleaded against them if they neglect it But it seems the Covenant must be abjured also and is abjured already by some and this by a Publick Law too from the Peoples representatives in Parliament and so is made the Act of the whole Natiâ—n Be astonished Oh Heavens and tremble Oh Earth Let the Sun it self be cloathed in blacknesse at this so horrid an impiety what abjure such a Covenant a Covenant so Solemnly taken a Covenant for the matter of it so Religious so Holy so universally owned by three Nations and owned in yea Authorized by Parliament sworn to by the King himself a Covenant so zealously pressed upon Peoples Consciences â—he force of which hath been so strongly urged and improved for the bringing his Majesty to the Throne what a Covenant that engageth to a Reformation and a Reformation according to the best and highest Patterns This Covenant abjured and thus abjured even by a Law and upon such deep and and sore penalties What is this but to bid defiance to God himself yea to put it to the Tryal whether there be a God or no that doth indeed look down from Heaven upon the doings of men Psal. 14.2 and whether he be such a God as will avenge these things Is it not his word that is made the Rule of this Covenanted-Reformation and was it not he himself even his own Al-knowing Divine Majesty that was attested and called in as a Witnesse to the sincerity of their hearts that took this Covenant and that upon their own eternal Damnation or Salvation And must this Covenant be abjured now This Covenant Is not Gods own Word and God himself too after a sort abjured in that Act whoever are gulty of it and what if some of those that do or shall abjure it or urge the abjuring of it upon others have formerly been Professors of Religion and so far Professors of it that they have seemed to have been in love with it delighted in it and so to have tasted of the powers of the World to come will not these of all others be the very chief of sinners whilest they become guilty of no lesse than the very sin against the Holy Ghost or at least border as near to it as possibly may be Oh amazing vengeance oh most dreadful of all
should make choice of such a poor Creature as I am to be employed in his Work I must further say that the Lord hath made crooked things straight and rough wayes plain and hard and difficult things easie to me through the Free and Rich Love of Christ Oh he hâ—th made death nothing unto me now but yet I have no strength of my own no my strength lies in my weaknesse and it is Christ alone that can renew my strength which he doth daily by setting upon my heart these following Scriptures which have been a constant relief to me The Lord is my Light and Salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the Rock of my life of whom should I be afraid Psal. 28.14 Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy Heart wait I say on the Lord. Psalm 33.11 The Counsel of the Lord stands for ever and the thoughts of his Heart to all Generations Blessed be the Soul that hath the Lord for its inheritance Psalm 138. vers 8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me the Mercies of the Lord endureth for ever forsake not the works of thine own hands Prov. 16. vers 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps in the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul commit thy wayes to the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established Prov. 28. vers 28. When the wicked arise men hide themselves but when they perish the Righteous increase But now thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel fear not I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins Esaiah 63. vers 9. In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pitty he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Lam. 3. vers 24. and 2.5.2.6 37. vers 38. The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore will I hope in him The Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the souls that seeketh him it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. Who is he that saith it cometh to passe when the Lord commandeth it not out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good Psal. 34.9 Oh fear the Lord ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him Psal. 11.22 Though hand joyne in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished but the seed of the Righteous shall be delivered Some Experimental Passages in Discourse with a Friend A Friend coming to him the week of his Tryal and Suffering did partake of many choice breathings from him some of them which he could call to mind are here faithfully collected We are to esteem Sufferings the better when they are in the Wayes of God and we must not esteem the Wayes of God the worse because they are accompanied with Sufferings in this world A Believing Souls Sufferings for Christ do confirm him the more in the wayes of Christ. A Principle of Faith finds three sorts of Promises in the Gospel First The Promise of Assistance Secondly The Promise of Acceptance Thirdly The Promise of Reward Then he proceeded in some further Spiritual Discourse Although I find I have no strength to encounter with those great Tryals I am to meet with yet I will labour to quit my heart through the Spirit of Faith from that Scripture Esa. 30.7 Your strength is to sit still and indeed I find it so Then one present did ask him if he thought the Cause in which he had been engaged would ever arise again He said The Cause lies in the Bosom of Christ and as sure as Christ arose the Cause will arise again and we die but to make way for it for when John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ he must be beheaded for it so we by our death do but make way for the next comming of Jesus Christ personally to raign a thousand years with his Saints And although we die the Cause will certainly live The Thursday before his Suffering he entertained some Friends who came to visit him with very sweet and Heavenly Discourse to this purpose That although God had given him a sight of his Eternal happines yet Satan would have brought all his sins before him yea the very sins of his youth as unpardoned yea sayes he I my self also would fain have set them before me but God out of his free love through his Son was stronger then them both and would not suffer it but gave me in a full assurance that all my sins were freely forgiven and blotted out and never to be remembred against me any more which caused such unspeakable Joyes that he was not able to utter nor was he to the best observation of Friends then present ever seen so chearful in the greatest of his prosperity At noon one desired him that he would eat he answered him that he was above that kind of meat for the Lord saith he hath fed me with the fat things of his own Spirit The night before he Suffered he was exercised with some fears least he should want strength to go through the great work he was now suddenly to engage in he took his Bible and opened it at an adventure and God gave him in such a word that was so sutable for him at the time that he rejoyced and said Blessed be his Name that never leaves me without a Word the Scripture which Providence then presented him with was Isa. 54.10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither the Covenant of my Peace be removed from thee saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Oh sayes he to his Friends and Relations then with him You are the Mountains and the Hills that must depart from me now and so took his leave of them all with much chearfulness saying Go seek the Lord for me for I cannot go one hairs breadth in my own strength At another time he thus spake to some near Friends and Relations who were with him Certainly saith he if I had known the comforts of this sweet communion with God in a Prison before I had run to a Prison long ago If I had suffered when my Brethren did suffer I had had little or no blood in my body to have spilt for Jesus Christ in this good Cause but God carried me into Germany and there made us to sow a good Seed which will never dye and now God hath brought me back again with more strength to suffer for his Name and Cause Indeed the Lord hath made me in some measure now fit to go through Sufferings for him and it is indeed He alone who hath done it Upon hearing the news of his Tryal which he knew was
alive Our desires wil be hankring after the World but surely our businesse is to labour after Poverty of Spirit and as the Lord hath by his Wise and Over-ruling Providence emptied us of the Creature and so of those empty comforts we may labour to get our hearts filled with the fulnâ—sse of him in whose fulness there is joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for ever more one drop of whose fulness is worth ten thousand Worlds Ah alas alas content doth not alwayes go cloâ—thed in silk neither is it the company of rich men and women No no they and they alone are the contented rich men and women in this World whose desires are satisfied I mean whose desires are satiâ—fied in God or whose desires God satisfies such a poor Soul looks on its present condition best because God sees it best I cannot here but cast a weeping eye and a bleeding heart back on those our many dayes and years of mercy the Lord was pleased to entrust me with both in relation to my Soul and Body but I did not honour the God of my mercies He gave me health but I abused it and therefore the Lord brought and continued sickness I neglected those precious Ordinances I did or might have enjoyed behold the Lord hath cast me into a Wildernesse where no water no bread is I neglected the communion of the Saints and have been I had almost said shut out from the society of men but more of that when I see you I neglected the society of the living and have been and am shut up as among the dead under these and many other considerations of the like nature hath the Lord been at work with my poor Soul in this my Wildernesse condition the particulars of which would be too large a volume for a letter under all which he who is who was who is to come who is the chosen faithful and true he even he hath said I will never never never leave thee nor forsake the and he that hath said it is faithful and will not lye he cannot lye Now if I can truly say the Lord is mine and I am his what care I if all the Wâ—rld forsake me If the Lord takes away the World and the things of the World and friends of the World and gives me himself I have enough It was an excellent note in yours to me God loves to the end and there is no end of that love the World and the men of the World cannot do so No no they are a lye they are empty dying vanities they are not while they seem to be nor what they seem to be Man a buble a vapour a shadow all nothing then for riches they are as uncertain riches take to themselves wings and fly away Now if man riches be thus uncertain nothings what must their dependents be but less then nothing as honour pleasure great things yea great men all a shaddow that makes no stay put passâ—s away and immediately they are not O is it not then below a rational Creature to lay out himself his precious time his strength his all upon such pittiful poor nothings but for a Christian a child of God an heir of Heaven to engage his Soul in such pittiful underling vanities O let it not be Hath the Lord broken our estates let us beg of him to break our hearts too for a broken estate and a whole and a hard heart will never agree together and there can be no content But on the contrary a broken estate and a broken heart doth very often bring much more content then the full enjoyment of the Creature I blesse the Lord I can thorow mercy seal to this truth in the Wilderness Ah my Friend my Friend a naked dying Christ is above and beyond all the honours profits and pleasures of this World An evennesse and Proportion between our hearts and our conditions brings content hath God made our estates low let not us lift up our head above our condition for this will bring bitterness in the end it is thorow the wise and over-ruling Providence of Almighty that our condition is for the present changed now if we in our present condition desire to serve the Counsel of God in our condâ—tion it will certainly exceedingly tend to our advantage See what the Spirit of the Lord sayes the 54. of Isaiah 17. When thou passest thorow the fire and thorow the water I will be with thee and so on Now if God be ours and we his he will be with us and then what will harm us what will or can our losse be or rather what will not our advantage be that it is a gallant thriving time with the People of God with you I much rejoyce and with you desire to bless the Lord for that to me is an assured sign that the Lord is at work with them and for them and when he hath fitted his people for mercies he will come and will not tarry where he gives a returning heart he is not far from healing that heart see the 3. Jer. 22. Return you back-sliding Children the very next words and I will heal your back-slidings and where the Lord comes to heal see how ready the Soul is to close with the Lord. For the following words we come to whom to thee why so For saith they thou art the Lord our God our businesse is to get an assurance that the Lord is our God and Salvation and deliverance is certainly near or at least a sutable spirit to our present condition which is all one My Friend I doubt not before this you understand the reason of my not writing I am not angry I shall never have more to do with anger as formerly No the Lord hath made me thorow mercy sensible of that evil yea of my great evil and sin therein and therefore I trust that I shall never be angry more but with sin which is and ought to be the onely object of our anger No no it is a meek and quiet Spirit that is most sutable for a Christian at all times but especially at such a time as this See Mat. 11 19. Learn of me saith Christ for I am meek and lowly Meekness signifies humility or sweetness it is the bridle of anger it is the glory of a Christian it graces his calling it keeps the soul in a continual peace it makes all other graces shine it is a grace that a Christian hath constant use of and so is of continual use in all places and on all occasions but of exceeding use in this our day for that to a humble heart all crosses are small because it admires your least mercy looking on it self as unworthy of it it is a convincing grace a grace on which the Lord sets a very high price it brings rest to the Soul and so makes 〈◊〉 life comfortable it keeps our heads and hearts lower then our conditiâ—â—â— and so frees the Soul from being destitute in the world it
is very suspiâ—â—ous of it self and so willing to know the worst of it self it bemoans and afflicts it self and thinks better of others then of it self the 3 Col 12. As the Elect of God put on the bowels of meekness loving-kindness and humility this must be done as the elect of God We read in Numbers that the Nazarites as they were to drink no wine so they were to drink no vinegar Now a Nazarite was a Type of one set apart for God such are all believers whom God hath set apart for himself God expects they should drink no vinegar that is they should not be of froward peevish waspish and sowr spirits But on the contrary of sweet meek and gentle spirits which is of great price both with God and man and of great advantage to us both in relation to our souls bodies I have been the larger in this having been here in speaking to my own soul O had I had the acquaintance with this grace formerly which the Lord hath been teaching me in the Wilderness I should certainly have been more watchful of those floods of passions then I was I should have known that nothing could be well done in anger or passion I should have considered my own frailty and laboured to have turned the stream of my affections another way I should certainly have set a higher price on the grace of meekness then I did and have made it more my business to have been humbling my soul for what had been past been mindful of renewing my Covenant daily and thereby kept my peace with my God I must beg your pardon for giving you the trouble of so many scribed lines one of thine to me excells all I can write but the excellency of the grace of meekness together with the usefulness of it at all times but more especially at such a time as this Indeed when I set pen to paper I intended anothâ—r subject but having had occasion to make tryal of the usefulnes of this Transcendent grace I could not pass it by but was enforced to present you a last of those full drafts the Lord hath been pouring forth into me even in the Wilderness of the Wilderness this I shall unridle to you hereafter But if this grace of meekness be of so transcendent excellency and usefulness then how much doth it concern us to labour both to get and keep it which that we may do the first and principâ—l means is certainly to study the word more and therein of a more full knowledge of God and Christ and of our selves Of our selves consider what once we were what we might have been and what it cost Christ to bring us out of that condition and what we would be if God should leave us to our selves but for a very little space in what condition should we then certainly be in one day Let these and the like consideratieons cause us to rise and be doing and to labour to get and keep our hearts in a ready frame and temper for every duty the Lord shall call us forth to either to do or suffer and not only so but to get our hearts in love with the duty love makes hard and difficult things light and easy and heâ— let us not loose our former encouragements nor continue in the guilt of any one sin but be careful to preserve all our former Experience to be very careful to order the duties of our present condition and conversation to beware of disturbing passions and entertain all opportunities of enjoying communion with the Saints let us be much in the exercise of faith and alwayes labouring after strength of grace indeavouring as much as in us lies to make all the wayes of Christ easie that so they may be delightful to us and when we have done all to leave the successe and issue to the Lord all whose wayes are even and none of them crooked or contrary one to the other they certainly bring strength and in all of them there is good success for that a gracious soul hath all the passages of Gods Providence to help him they being eases to the soul for that they ease the soul from care yea they make all other things easy in the wayes of Christ a gracious soul is alwayes receiving its wages in its work Psalm 110. Thy people are a willing people in the day of thy power the heart of a Christian doth readily embrace Christ because there is something in a Christians heart like Christ and from hence it is that the wayes of the Lord become strength to the righteous it must needs be easie yea even at that time when others may look upon them as most rough difficult and hard A skilful Sailor will make way to his desired port with a three quarter wind yea if he have Sea-room he will lay hold on some Tack or other though the wind blow directly against him The way from Egypt to Canaan was not long nor difficult but behold through unbelief together with a murmuring and repining spirit The constant Hand-Maids what windings and turnings did they meet with in the Wilderness before they came to Canaan the same spirit is and will be at work in every one of us and if the Lord give us not strength will exceedingly trouble us therefore we must take heed of vinegar spirits and consider that a gracious heart accounts his duty his priviledge and the reason is because the word that commands it is sweet and therefore it is he would rather come under any other burden then cast off the Yoke of Christ for that this is to him easie Now if we will follow Christ we must not think of following the World for that is at continual enmity with Christ yea those that follow the World are natural Enemies to themselves being at emnity with God To follow the World is a slighting of Christ by leaving the example of Christ and his Saints It is also below the excellency of a Christian for the Mysteries of Godliness are above the riches of the Word again it puts the soul upon a necessity of miscarrying to follow the World crosses all our prayers it hinders us from the receiving of good and deprives us of the good we had before But I must abruptly break off and take my leave of you I am Yours J. B. Another Letter of Col. Barksteads written to a Christian Friend in London MY Dear Friend I am very sensible of my great neglect of that duty which is incumbent upon me to you-ward in the Relation I stand to you that I had not long before this given you an Account how it hath been with me and what the Lord hath done for me his poor unworthy servant since I last saw you that I have been a Stranger in a strange Land I need not tell you I am perswaded you will judge favourably of me till you understand how it hath pleased the Lord to deal with me The truth is my condition in some
Friends told him Well now the time draws nigh who answered I am ready I am ready Then came the Order for his going to the Sled upon which he went with all chearfulness and so went forward with undaunted courage to meet Death in the face like a Christian Souldier indeed who through the Lord's assistance presently obtained more than a Conquest over all his Enemies As he was in the Sled and drew near to the place of Execution a Friend came to him and said Sir I have a great desire to know how it is with you and how the Lord is pleased to manifest himself unto you in the condition you are now in The Colonel replyed Friend I thank you I bless the Lord I have great cause to praise and magnifie his great and glorious Name for his unspeakable goodness towards me especially in this present dispensation for I can truly say and that by experience that the Goodness of the Lord endures for ever and praised be God for this present tryal The same Friend further replyed and said I pray Sir are you not at all dejected in your spirits are you not cast down in your mind have you not hard thoughts of God for this his strange providence towards you The Colonel replyed Friend I shall endeavour to satisfie you as well as I can in this matter and I let you know that I have not the least trouble upon my heart nor the least burden upon my spirit upon the account of my Sufferings neither have I any hard thoughts of God but on the contrary can speak to the praise of his Grace that his Goodness hath carried me forth above the fear of all these things And my Friend let me tell you further That I have had more experience of God and more acquaintance with God within these three or four dayes than ever I had in all my life and at this present I am so far from being dejected or cast down in my spirits as that I am so much elevated and lifted up in my soul that I am not able to tell you how it is with me And when he was ready to rise out of the Sled another Friend came to him and asked him how he did To whom he answered I bless the Lord I am very well and do no more value what I am now going about than this straw taking up a piece of a straw in his hand I have sayes he made many a Charge in my time but now I have but one Charge more to make and then I shall be at rest Here followeth two Letters of his to two of his old faithful Friends eminent persons in the City of London A Letter from Col. John Okey directed to a Relation of his to be by him communicated to some Christian Friends of his acquaintance about the City of London SIR HAving a little time in this place before I am removed to Newgate where I am to go as I am informed I thought good to give you some account how it is with me concerning my better part I bless the Lord I never found so much spiritual joy some years before as I have in Prison it is according as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 1.3 4 5. And therefore let the People of God not fear a Prison or to suffer in the Cause of God I shall give you a touch but of three things viz. 1. How it is with me in my spiritual condition 2. I shall speak something of the Cause for which I suffer the loss of all things which are near and dear unto me in this evil world 3. In the last place What a Mercy it is when the Lord is pleased to call forth a creature to suffer for the Truths of our Lord Jesus Christ in such a day as this is I believe you have heard these from some other of the Servants of the Lord that have gone before in whole dishes but you are like to have them in a broken dish and but a few scraps in comparison to that great feast you have had before from them that are now with the Lord. Our Afflictions sanctified are good Cordials to the soul and therefore it is no marvel that David said It is good for me that I have been afflicted And as one observeth and saith well a Prison being the place where wanting other Books a man may there best study the Book of the knowledge of himself being separated from all business but praying and praising the Lord God in Christ by the Spirits assistance And since I have by the help of the Lord looked in some measure into my heart I could not have thought there had been so much ignorance and impatience pride inordinate affection to creature-comforts revenge difidence of God self-love and iniquity of all kinds in me as I now find there is and although the Lord in great mercy hath kept me by his mighty power and restraining grace from those Jayl-bird sins as Swearing Drunkenness Lying Uncleanness and hating of his People yet I find a mass of corruption in me and a multitude of transgressions so that my sins are as the hairs of my head which cannot be numbred for the multitude of them and all this darkness and filthiness of spirit is only discovered by the light of Christ By his lowliness in washing the Apostles feet I see the height of pride in my own spirit and want of condescention when I was in prosperity and my unfruitfulness under the means of Grace and little good I did when I had an opportunity thereunto and therefore I adore and acknowledge the Justice of God that he hath most righteously deprived me of my Liberty and Estate truly now I am thereby brought nearer to Christ whereby I find through Grace that Christ is become very precious to me And more to be desired than Gold yea 1 Pet 2.7 than fine Gold and sweeter than the Honey or the Honey-comb And this I can say through Mercy I do desire to love the good Word of the Lord before my appointed food I have begged of the Lord that he would enable me more and more that I may lay open before him all my sins known or unknown and to loath my self for them and that not only for the shame which sin bringeth but rather because I should sin against so good a God and loving Father in Christ Jesus as I have done and especially for my actual known sins committed against so much Love Light Promises and Covenants from a gracious God that will not destroy me for all my abominations blessed be his holy Name for ever and for ever I desire continually to go out of my self and to rely on the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ who only is the Fountain of Life and in his Light we shall see light Oh! what Mercy is it that the Lord should be pleased out of his great Love and Compassion to cast the mantle of his free Grace upon such a poor worm as I am and
O blessed Father we beseech Thee for Christs sake draw nigh to us that we may draw nigh to Thee our God O that Thou wouldst pour down Thy holy Spirit that we may pour out our souls before Thee O Lord we pray Thee for Christ's sake give us the Spirit of Wisdom and the Spirit of Understanding and the Spirit of Knowledge and the Spirit whereby we may cry Abba Father We are not now come to tell long stories of our Iniquities time and strength would fail us they are as the hairs of our heads and as the sands of the Sea-shore but O Lord we are before Thee in the Name of Jesus Christ humbly to intreat and beseech Thee O for the Lord's sake to look upon us there was never any more unworthy of Mercy than we are yet never any poor Wretches stood in more need of Mercy than we do We humbly pray thee for the Lord's sake extend Mercy to us O Lord do not remember against us what we have done but remember what the Lord Jesus Christ hath suffered and when Thou hast look'd upon thy dear Son then look upon thy poor Worms O Lord we humbly pray Thee for Jesus sake forgive whatever is past cover us with the Righteousness of Jesus Christ let none of our nakedness appear we beg for the Lord's sake O that the Lord would be pleased to speak Peace now to our souls Blessed Father we have in some measure blessed be thy Name the assurance of thy Love sealed to our Souls by thy glorious Spirit we humbly pray Thee O Lord we beseech Thee for Christ's sake look upon us and come and pour down thy glorious and holy Spirit upon us and let us we beseech thee have yet more Assurance that our Sins are pardoned that Thou hast found out a Ransom for us that our Names are written in the Book of Life and that we shall not die but live for evermore because we are washed with the Blood of Christ even with the Blood of thy dear Son who hath loved us and died for us and washed us with his own Blood O that the Lord would be pleased now to come and warm our souls with thy Love that they may never be cold more O Lord we beseech thee receive us into the Everlasting Arms of thy Mercy O Lord we beseech Thee for Christs sake that Thou wouldst now let us see as Stephen once did by the eye of Faith even Heaven opened and the Lord upon the Throne and Jesus Christ at his Right-hand and the glorious Angels receiving our souls into thy everlasting Mercy Blessed Father we beseech thee for the Lord sake that Thou wouldst be with us and bless us and the Lord shew us Mercy onely upon the account of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray Thee bless us and with us all Thine all the World over Remember thy Churches from the rising of he Sun to the going down of the same Think upon this Nation wherein we live we humbly beg for the Lord's sake that England Scotland and Ireland might live in thy Glorious Presence and that England may be a quiet Habitation for thy People to dwell in O for the Lord's sake as Thou hast given them a Name and a Gospel above any other Nations that we have heard of or seen So pour down abundance of thy Spirit and give them Grace and hearts that they may walk answerable to the Gospel and be a Nation for thy Glory more zealous than any other Nation And Lord we humbly pray Thee continue the Mercies they yet enjoy and remove and divert any Judgements that they feel or fear And for the Lord's sake bless him that Thou hast been pleased to set over us let the King live in Thy sight we humbly beg that he may reign so here that he may reign in Glory for ever that he may be a nursing father to thy Israel and that he may be a Friend to those that are thy Friends and an Enemy to those that are thy Enemies and Enemies to thy Gospel let him remember that he is but a Steward and he must ere long give an account and the Lord grant that he may do it with much joy and not with grief and bless the Council do thou pour down thy Spirit upon them and guide and direct them to do the things that may be for thy Glory and for the Comfort of their own souls And bless the Faithful Ministers of the Gospel O that the Lord would double his Spirit upon them and that the Lord would be pleased abundantly to encrease the number of them let not that Judgment come upon the Nation that the Godly Faithful and Holy Ministers should be removed from us that their eyes should not behold their Teachers Lord let us not have a famine of thy Word for the Lord's sake but that the Gospel may continue in more splendor and glory than ever it hath done heretofore O that the Lord would be pleased to keep Idolatry out of this Nation O let not that Judgement befall this poor Nation for the Lord's sake And we humbly beg for thy Name sake that the Lord would be pleased to look upon this great City Thou hast made them famous for Religion and for owning the Gospel but Lord grant that they may not decline but that they may abundantly improve their gifts and graces and that they may walk humbly and thankfully and O that the Lord would be pleased to bless the City and the Nation from one end to another and that he would give them the blessings of the right hand and the blessings of the left that they may have the dew of Heaven and the fatness of the Earth and that they may provoke and stir up one another to praise thy holy Name and to live in Love Unity and Peace O Lord we pray thee for Jesus sake look upon us in thy presence and shew Mercy to us and look in love and mercy upon any that are near unto us we leave them with Thee we commit them into thy hands we beg for the Lord's sake shew Mercy to us and be with thy poor Servants and Lord we pray thee accept of us and our services in Jesus Christ and pardon our deadness and pardon our weakness our wanderings and all our sins even for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake since we came into Thy glorious presence and we pray Thee to accept of us and do us good and receive us to Mercy and Glory and all only for the glory of thy Name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and rose again and lives for ever at Thy right hand to whom be all Honour and Glory and Praise for evermore Then Col. Barkstead addressed himself to Prayer having first spoken to the Sheriffs these few words following Mr. Sheriff I do see your time is spent and we are drawn up into a very narrow compass And I hope you will take my word now as before I