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-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
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-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
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
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
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
What Roaring and Ranting What uncontrolable wickedness rageth every where through the Land Even as if the men of these times had been delivered on purpose to do all these abominations Jerem. 7.10 may not ruful England as much now as ever sit down in tears and even weep her eyes out for grief Dr. Gauden himself being Judge It is true indeed there are many that cry up the blessednesse of these times and the happy changes we are now under that do in a manner conclude that it is impossible any thing can be now done which may admit of amendment that nothing ought now to be accounted grievous or oppressive no not though Princes themselves become companions of theeves Esay 1.23 though open Robberies Assaults and Murthers be done by them upon the very high wayes The Poor Commons of England travelling about their lawful occasions may be now slain and their innocent blood bought and sold if they be great men or great mens Sons that do it They may Kill and Murther and do what they please and yet shall find a deliverance Oh! how are witnesses even in the case of blood now tampered with silenced ' or over-awed by Bribes or Threats What Corrupt and Vnrighteous Juryes have we How is Judgement turned into wormwood Murther into man-slaughter and man-slaughter into murther as the case lyes for or against a Phanatique as they call him or a poor Commoner But may not such as bring the price or guilt of innocent blood upon their own Families as well as pollute the Nation with it chance to have the innocent blood of themselves or some of theirs be enquired after by the next Jury whilest thus they encourage the hands of murtherers against their Brethren As for those that blesse themselves with such times times as these what are they for the most part at least but men of most filthy and dissolute lives such as were described before Haters of God and godlinesse such as cannot indure holinesse of Life or soundnesse of Doctrine but are even mad against a convincing Ministry in the Nation and the pious Examples of such neighbours as walk most close with God least their own wickednesse should be reproved or shamed and what ever their pretended devotion may be yet are they not such generally as care no more for one Religion then for another any further then it suits with the full swing and dominion of their lusts and is it not for this very reason that they contend so much for present things even with a zeal as hot as hell For our parts we account it no priviledge to live to behold what is already come in part upon us and is farther coming upon these Nations therefore are the lesse sollicitous about our death And however at present we may be judged to suffer as malâ—factors yet who can tell but that our blood may prove as fattening and sructifying towards the Common Cause as the bloud of the Martyrs did in the Church and then it will be no soliscisme to say Sanguis Martyrum semen est ut Ecclesiae sic Reipublicae Some Occasional Passages Discourses and Letters of Col. John Barksteads as they were taken from his own mouth or left behind him in writing under his own hand AFter Liberty was granted to some of his Relations and Friends to visit him in his imprisonment very many of them did at several times repair to him Those who first came to him were so affected with those choice Expressions which dropt from him that like the Woman of Samaria they made it their work to invite and encourage others to partake of the same Mercy with themselves upon which many had the opportunity to hear him speak and amongst them several sober and descreet Persons did commit to writing the things that were most remarkable which fell from him And here we begin with what he spake to several Friends who came to visit him during the time of his imprisonment Having been saith he but a very little while off of my Watch in that time giving way to a Parley with Flesh and Bloud Sathan who is never idle was not now wanting but put me for some hours to it endeavouring to present to me the greatnesse of the Sufferings I was yet to go through and my own weaknesse to go thorow them I saw indeed my own weaknesse and inability and taking the Bible to look for a word from whence I might get strength and encouragement the Lord brought to me that place of Isaiah 26.3 4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he truâ—teth in thee And so v. 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength And so v. 8. Yea in the way of thy Judgement O Lord have we waited for thee the desires of our souls is to thy Name and to the Remembrance of thee The Lord helped him by this word to conquer all his fears which did arise from the sense of his own weaknesse and utter insufficiency to conflict with those difficulties and deaths which did now encounter him neither was the Lord wanting in renewing his strength from other portions of his good Word which upon the opening of his Bible his eye by Providence was still directed to whereof hear him give his following account When I was sayes he locked up in my lodging in the Tower alone I began to consider what my present condition called for from me and taking my Bible my joy I first pitched on this Scripture Psalm 4. vers 4. Stand in aw and sin not commune with your own hearts upon your beds and be still and vers 5. Offer the Sacrifice of Righteousnesse and put your trust in the Lord. After some hours spent in Reading and Meditating upon these words and finding not one syllable in which there was not an overflowing fulness as to me At this time of my Affliction I was lead forth in my Spirit abundantly to add more the goodnesse of the Lord to me that I should so providentially pitch upon this Scripture And now my heart being filled with ravishing Joys and Rejoycings I looked a little further and reading vers 7. Thou hast put gladnesse in my Heart more than in the time that their Corn and their Wine encreased I found that Scripture aboundantly made good to me and can truly seal to this that in all my full enjoyments of the Creature I never had such Joy and Gladnesse in my heart as now and that all the Afflictions Cares and Torments I have met with are nothing to those sweet enjoyments that God hath given in through Christ No no there is more affliction in the least sin then in the greatest of Sufferings and that I can truly say there hath not one private thought past through me that I was sorry or wish I had not been so far engaged in this Glorious Cause but I have rather admired the great love of Christ to me that he
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
whoring from Thee But it is good for me to draw near to God I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works Isa. 43.2 When thou passeth thorow the Waters I will be with thee and thorow the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest thorow the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Jer. 49.11 12 13. Leave thy fatherless Children I will preserve them alive and let thy widows trust in me For thus saith the Lord Behold they whose Judgment was not to drink of the Cup have assuredly drunken and art thou he that shalt altogether go unpunished thou shalt not go unpunished but thou shalt surely drink of it For I have sworn by my Self saith the Lord that Bozrah shall become a desolation a reproach a waste and a curse and all the Cities thereof shall be perpetually wastes I have heard a rumour from the Lord and an Ambassador is sent unto the Heathen saying Gather ye together and come against her and rise up to the battel Other Passages and occasional Speeches of Col. John Barkstead taken by another hand as followeth AT the first entrance of a Friend into his Lodging the respect and affection he had for him forced him to shed a tear at which he was much displeased and said that he would have none of his Friends weep for him but those that envied his happiness those that were unwilling he should go to Heaven And having had some other discourse with his Friend as he lay on his Bed he gave a brief account of Gods dealings with him in the Prison otherwise called and esteemed by him as his Palace which is as followeth At my first entrance into this place I was deprived of all company being lockt up close-Prisoner none being suffered to come to me only my Keeper and he not very often but blessed be God the Sun of Righteousness still did shine upon me though deprived of other earthly enjoyments Now finding my self in this deserted condition for so I looked upon it with an eye of sence I began to consider with my self of my estate what a miserable man I should be were my hopes and confidence only in this life did they depend soley on such momentary things as Friends Relations Liberty c. of which in so short a time I am so much deprived but having a confidence built upon that God that I had so long trusted in I resolved to apply my self to Him which accordingly I did by Prayer and having waited long at the Posts of Wisdoms Gate for who would not have done it having a key that would certainly open it I mean that gracious Promise of an Almighty God That those that seek his face in sincerity shall not seek it in vain the Lord was pleased evidently to appear to my poor soul and told me that being here in Prison destitute of all earthly enjoyments and having nothing in this world to trust to I should find him instead of all to me I continued to make my Application to him but he was pleased afterwards for a little space to hide his face from me but blessed be his Name his Spirit did not depart but encouraged me with Jacob not to let him go till he had blessed me and after a while I beheld the light of his countenance again Now who would not trust in such a God as he is in regard such a poor creature as I am could no sooner ask but prevail And from that time to this the sweetness of that Communion that I have had with my gracious God is not to be expressed Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither can it enter into the heart of man to conceive of those things that are laid up for those that love Him Several Friends coming in to see him he was for a while interrupted in speaking but when they departed he proceeded with this ensuing discourse Several sayes he came to perswade me to repentance for that horrid sin of murdering my late Sovereign so termed by them For their good counsel I returned them hearty thanks and told them that I had with tears laid all my sins open to God and blessed be his Name he had done the like to my conscience for the pardon of which through the Blood of Christ I had a full assurance and I told them that among all the catalogue of my sins I could never find that so termed by them to be a sin The day before he dyed there came a Letter from one that pretended to be his Friend though to him unknown the substance of which was That provided he would give a very inconsiderable sum of Money he did not question the purchasing of his Life Having read the Letter he turning about to his Wife with a smiling countenance told her that there was another snare shewing her the Letter having had several others before and turning to the Messenger that brought the Letter did desire him to return his Friend many thanks for his kindness and to acquaint him that he was a very poor man and as for Money he had none but withal told him that he so little esteemed temporal life that if he had but a Farthing he would not give it to purchase it Another Letter came to his hands the morning he went to dye and advised him that if he would make his Address to the King by way of Petition he might have his Liberty Provided he would fight under the Portugal against the Spaniard He returned this Answer without the least pause and with a smiling countenance That he was now going to fight under the Banner of King JESUS and therefore such Temptations as these were very unsuitable to his Spirit Several being present at Dinner-time on the day before he dyed and refusing to eat with him he eating so heartily He told them he admired they could stand by and see a dying-man eat so heartily and they not eat at all At night at his going to Supper his Wife desired him to wash his hands it being the last time he should eat with his Friends but he refused it telling her that to morrow they would be put upon the City Gates on spikes and then the rain would save him that labour He likewise desired one of his Relations to air his last Shirt which accordingly she did all which he spake with a chearful smiling countenance Saturday being the day of his Execution his Friends came early in the morning to see him and having been there about a quarter of an hour he asked his Keeper how he had slept that night who answered Very well He likewise asked his Keeper whether he did not laugh about three of the clock in the morning supposing it to have been only a Dream but the Keeper made answer That about the forementioned time he made a very great laughter the Keeper admiring at the occasion of it said Do you laugh Sir and are to
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
reason of their bitterness against each other and partly by their pride and haughty carriage both in their Apparrel and otherwise very unsuitable he said to that state of Affliction that they are in and this in that place too whither they are sled for refuge and then desired those he spake to that they would tell all his Christian Friends and surviving Brethren he should leave behind him that he made it his last earnest Request to them even as upon his knees and as a dying man To lay aside this bitter spirit with that Pride Covetousness and conformity to this world and the fashions of it which hitherto God had been so much dishonoured by and which have brought all that evil upon us that we now groan under At Supper-time he began to discourse again as his manner was very savourly and sweetly it being usual with him to be the first in this duty and indeed he was the fittest to begin because he had so rich a treasure in him of things new and old Among other things speaking of Dr. Preston whom he often mentioned calling him his Friend and alwayes with great reverence to his name and worth he said he was the most fruitful man that ever he met with and that his custom was where-ever he came especially at meal-times to set on foot some profitable discourse and would alwayes carry it on without wearyness and that he often said he had found it very beneficial to himself and successfull to others as well those that attended at the Table as those that sat at it And did now himself make it another of his last and dying Requests that this practice also might be commended from him and in his name to his Christian Friends and that we would all endeavour as much as might be to propagate it every-where among the People of God Being something hungry and tasting the sweetness of the Creatures there provided he brake forth into great expressions of God's goodness and bounty and said when he was in his retirement abroad he seldom saw a whole Joynt of meat unless it were when they travelled in company together and yet saith he I found God all-sufficient to me even in my short commons I was satisfied I had enough my little morsels were a full table to me And then enlarging his discourse farther as his turn came to speak Ah! saith he how sweet is Christ how precious His Person is precious his Graces are precious his Love is precious his Name is precious every thing of Christ is precious Yea said a Friend that sat by and his Crosse is precious too His Crosse said he I there the Honey-comb lyes His two Brothers being called away from the Table a Friend went and sat in one of their seats next to him and asked how he found himself and whether the nearer he came to Heaven his desires of it did not the more increase Truly saith he I bless God I am not of the mind of a Judge that I once knew but will not now name who when he lay on his dying-bed and Doctor such an one saith he naming of him but shall here be concealed because being now a Bishop perhaps he may be offended exhorted him to think of the long Journey he was to take for he was past hope of recovery To which it being the time of the Judges Circuits in the Country of which himself was appointed to be one the said Judge replyed Truly saith he to the Doctor I have provided me a very good tite new Coach and a set of excellent Horses and I hope if I can get over my present ilness I shall perform my Journey very well Yea but saith the Doctor I mean your Journey to Heaven for you seem to me to be a dying man or words to that purpose At that the Judge called to his Clerk there standing by saying What thinkest thou are there any Fines and Recoveries there Truly said Mr. Corbet this was a sad speech of a dying man as if he were one that had neither thought or belief of a Heaven or of a future state in another world But I bless God for my part my Comfort lies there and I can truly say through Grace I believe there is a Real Heaven and that I doubt not but as I am going to it so I shall be shortly in the possession of it After Supper Friends parting from him received his hearty thanks for their acceptable society and his desires that they would not be slack in their prayers for him for now he said it was but a little while longer that he should need them The next morning being Saturdy and the day of his Execution his Wife coming in to him who lodged in the Tower that night asked how he did and how he had slept Better I believe saith he than my Girle did meaning her his Wife For my first sleep said he from the time I went to bed continued till two a clock and I have had two sleeps since and now shall need no more neither nights nor sleeps nor bed to lye on but within a few hours more shall be in my Fathers bosome When he was up he prayed most affectionatly with his Wife for near an hour together and among other expressions used those words of our Saviour Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me but if not thy Will be done earnestly pressing Him that he might be enabled to resign himself up to Him his God and Father that day with all readiness and willingness and as it appeared afterwards was answered in this his prayer Some Friends coming in that had been often with him before to see him once more and to stay with him till the Sled should part them and so to take their last leave of him he imbraced them with great affection saying Well! I see you will not leave me till you needs must this love of yours will not be forgotten one day when Christ shall say to his kind Friends I was in Prison and you visited me Breakfast being brought in and with other things some burnt Claret This is Funeral-drink saith he and then drinking to his Wife said I shall have better Wine anon in my Fathers Kingdom As he was eating he pointed to the several sorts of provisions that were before him saying How much sweetness doth God put into all these yet all that is in them how very little is it in comparison of what is in God himself there is a drop of sweetness indeed in this creature and a drop in this and a drop in this pointing to divers things and to his Wife last of all but I am going from these drops saith he to the full Fountain where all sweetness is and will be for ever Having finished his Breakfast with an Egg which was the last thing he ate he threw the shell away with these words pronounced with a kind of rejoycing of heart Farewel creature-comforts I shall use you no more Breakfast