respect to my family I am now stripping off my clothes to fight a duel with death I conceive no other duel lawful but my Saviour hath pulled out the sting of this mine enemy by making himself a sacrifice for me And truly I do not think that man deserving one drop of his bloud that will not spend all for him in so good a cause The Truth is Gentlemen in this Age Trea on is an individium vagum like the wind in the Gospel it bloweth wher it listeth So now Treason is what they please lighteth upon whom they will Indeed no man except he will be a Traytor can avoid this Censure of Treason I know not to what end it may come but I pray God my own and my Brothers blood that is now to die with me may be the last upon this score Now Gentlemen you may see what a condition you are in without a King you have no law to protect you no rule to walke by when you perform your duty to God your King and Country you displease the Arbitrary power now set up I cannot call it government I shall leave you to peruse my tryal and there you shall see what a condition this poor Nation is brought into and no question will be utterly destroyed if not restored by loyal Subjects to its old and glorious Government I pray God he lay not his Judgements upon England for their sluggishness in doing their duty and readiness to put their hands in their bosoms or rather taking part with the Enemy of Truth The Lord open their eyes that they may be no longer lead or drawn into such snares else the Child that is unborn will curse the day of their Parents birth God almighty preserve my Lawful K. Charles the second from the hands of his Enemies and break down that wall of Pride and Rebellion which so long hath kept him from his just Rights God preserve his Royal Mother and all his Majestys Royal Brethren and incline their hearts to seek after him God incline the hearts of all true Englisâ—men to stand up as one man to bring in the King and redeem themselves and this poor Kingdom out of its more then Egyptian slavery As I have now put off these garments of cloth so I hope I have put off my garments of sin have put on the Robes of Christs Righteousnesse here which will bring me to the enjoyment of his glorious Robes anon Then he kneeled down and kissed the block and said thus I commit my soul to God my Creator and Redeemer Look upon me O Lord at my last gasping Hear my prayer and the prayers of all good people I thank thee O God for all thy dispensations towards me Then kneeling down he prayed most devoutfuly as followeth O Eternal Almighty and most mercifull God the Righteous Judge of all the world look down in mercy on me a miserable sinner O blessed Jesus Redeemer of Mankind which takest away the sins of the world let thy perfect manner of obedience be presented to thy Heavenly Father for me Let thy precious death and bloud be the ransome and satisfaction of my many and heynous transgressions Thou that sittest at the right hard of God make intercession for me O holy and blessed Spirit which art the Comforter fill my heart with thy consolations O holy blessed and glorious Trinity be mercifull to me confirm my faith in the promises of the Gospel reviveâ— and quicken my hope and expectation of joys prepared for true and faithfull servarâ—ts Let the infinite Love of God my Saviour make 〈◊〉 love to him steafast sincere and constant O Lord consider my condition accept my tears aswage my grief give me comfort and confidence in theâ— impute not unto me my former sins but most mercifull Fathâ—r receive me into thy favour for the merits of Christ Jesus Many and grievous are my sins for I have sinned many times against the light of knowledge against remorse of conscience against the motions opportunities of grace But accept I beseech thee the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart in and for the perfect sacrifice oblation and satisfaction of thy Son Jesus Christ O Lord receive my soul after it is delivered from the burthen of the flesh into perfect joy in the sight and fruition of thee And at the general resurrection grant that my body may be endowed with immortality and received with my soul into glory I praise thee O God I acknowledge thee to be the Lord O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy on me Thou that sittest at the right hand of God hear my prayer O Lord Jesus Christ God and Man Mediator betwixt God and Man I have sinned as a Man be thou mercifull to me as a God O holy and blessed Spirit help my infirmities with those sighs and groans which I cannot expresse Then he desired to see the Axe and kissed it saying I am like to have a sharp passage of it but my Savior hath sweetned it unto me Then he said If I would have been so unworthy as others have been I suppose I might by a lye have saved my life which I scorn to purchase at such a rate I defie such temptations and them that gave them me Glory be to God on high On Earth peace Good will towards Men. And the Lord have mercy upon my poor soul Amen So laying his Neck upon the Block after some private Ejaculations he gave the Heads-man a sign with his hand who at one blow severed his head from his body The true Speech of that Valiant and piously resolved Hugh Grove of Chisenbury in the Parish of Enford and County of Wilts Esquire beheaded the 16th of May 1655. in the Castle at Exon. Good people I Never was guilty of much Rhetorick nor ever loved long Speeches in all my life and therefore you cannor expect either of them from me now at my death All that I shall desire of you besides your hearty prayers for my soul is That you would bear me witnesse I die a true son of the Church of England as it was established by King Edward the sixth Queen Elizabeth King James and King Charls the first of blessed memmory That I die a Loyall Subject to King Charls the second my undoubted Soveraign and a lover of the good old Laws of the Land the just priviledges of Parliaments and Rights and Liberties of the People for the re-establishing of all which I did undertake this engagement and for which I am ready to lay down my life God forgive the bloody-minded Jury and those that procured them God forgive Captain Crook for denying his Articles so unworthily God forgive Mr. Dove and all other persons swearing so maliciously and falsely against me God forgive all my enemies I heartily forgive them God blesse the KING and all that love him turn the hearts of all that hate him God blesse you all and be merciful to you and to
God I have been long in my Race and how I have looked to Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith he best knowes I am now come to the end of my Race and here I find the Crosse a death of shame but the shame must be despised or no coming to the right hand of God Jesus despised the shame for me and God forbid but I should despise the shame for him I am going apace as you see towards the Red Sea and my feet are now upon the very Brink of it an Argument I hope that God is bringing me into the Land of Promise for that was the way through which he led his People But before they came to it he instituted a Passeover for them a Lamb it was but it must be eaten with sour herbs I shall obey and labour to digest the sour herbs as well as the Lamb. And I shall remember it is the Lords Passeover I shall not think of the herbs nor be angry with the hand which gathereth them but look up only to him who instituted that and governs these For men can have no more power over me then what is given them from above I am not in love with this passage through the Red Sea for I have the weaknesse and infirmities of flesh and bloud plentifully in me and I have prayed with my Saviour ut transiret Calix iste that this Cup of Red Wine might passe from me But if not Gods will not mine be done and I shall most willingly drink of this Cup as deep as he pleases and enter into this Sea yea and passe through it in the way that he shall lead me But I would have it remembred good people that when Gods Servants were in this boysterous Sea and Aaron among them the Egyptians which persecuted them and did in a manner drive them into that Sea were drowned in the same waters while they were in pursuit of them I know my God whom I serve is as able to deliver me from this Sea of Bloud as he was to deliver the Three Children from the Furnace and I most humbly thank my Saviour for it my Resolution is now as theirs was then They would not worship the Image the King had set up nor will I the Imaginations which the people are setting up nor will I forsake the Temple and the Truth of God to follow the bleating of Jeroboams Calf in Dan and Bethel And as for this People they are at this day miserably misled God of his mercy open their eyes that they may see the right way for at this day the Blind lead the Blind and if they go on both will certainly fall into the Ditch For my self I am and I acknowledge it in all humility a most grievous sinner many waies by thought word and deed and I cannot doubt but that God hath Mercy in store for me a poor Penitent as well as for other sinners I have now upon this sad occasion ransacked every Corner of my heart yet I thank God I have not found among the many any one sin which deserves death by any known Law of this Kingdom And yet hereby I charge nothing upon my Judges for if they proceed upon Proof by valuable Witnesses I or any other Innocent may be justly condemned And I thank God though the weight of the Sentence lie heavy upon me I am as quiet within as ever I was in my life And though I am not only the first Archbishop but the first man that ever died by an Ordinance of Parliament yet some of my Predecessors have gone this way though not by this means For Elphegus was hurried away and lost his Head by the Danes and Simon Sudbury in the Fury of Wat Tyler and his Fellows Before these St. John Baptist had his Head danced off by a Lewd Woman and St. Cyprian Archbishop of Carthage submitted his Head to a persecuting Sword Many examples great and good and they teach me Patience For I hope my Cause in Heaven will look of another Dye then the colour that is put upon it here And some comfort it is to me not only that I go the way of these great men in their several generations but also that my Charge as foul as 't is made looks like that of the Jews against St. Paul Acts 25.3 For he was accused for the Law and the Temple i. e. Religion And like that of S. Stephen Acts 6.14 for breaking the Ordinances which Moses gave i. e. Law and Religion the holy place and the Temple v. 13. But you will say do I then compare my self with the Integrity of St. Paul and St. Stephen No far be that from me I only raise a Comfort to my self that these great Saints and Servants of God were laid at in their times as I am now And 't is memorable that S. Paul who helped on this Accusation against S. Stephen did after fall under the very same himself Yea but here is a great Clamour that I would have brought in Popery I shall answer that more fully by and by In the mean time you know what the Pharisees said against Christ himself If we let him alone all men will believe in him venient Romani and the Romans will come and take away both our Place and the Nation Here was a causelesse Cry against Christ that the Romans will come And see how just the Judgment of God was they crucified Christ for fear lest the Romans should come and his death was it which brought in the Romans upon them God punishing them with that which they most feared And I pray God this Clamour of venient Romani of which I have given no cause help not to bring them in for the Pope never had such a Harvest in England since the Reformation as he hath now upon the Sects and Divisions that are amongst us In the mean time by honour and dishonour by good and evil report as a Deceiver and yet true am I passing through this world 2 Cor. 6.8 Some Particulars also I think it not amiss to speak of And first this I shall be bold to speak of the King our Gracious Soveraign He hath been much traduced for bringing in of Popery but on my Conscience of which I shall give God a very present account I know Him to be as free from this Charge as any man living and I hold him to be as sound a Protestant according to the Religion by Law established as any man in this Kingdom and that he will venture his Life as far and as freely for it and I think I do or should know both His affection to Religion and His Grounds for it as fully as any man in England The second Particular is concerning this great and Populous City which God bless Here hath been of late a fashion taken up to gather hands and then to go to the Great Court of this Kingdom the Parliament and clamour for Justice as if that great and wise Court before
Buckingham Earl of Peterborough Lord Francis Villers and Lord Peter who with a gallant company of men rendezvouz'd at Kingston where immediately Sr. Michael Livesey set upon them and routed them The Earl fled to St. Neets in Bedfordshire where in his Quarters he was taken by Collonel Scroop's Regiment of Horse where Collonel Dolbier was killed and by order of the Parliament sent Prisoner to Warwick Castle He continued there for the space of six moneths in pretty good health both of body and mind but as soon as he heard of the murther of the King his heart failed him and sickness seized on him so that he never dawed day afterwards nor could endure to stir out of his chamber lamenting the loss of his gracious Master and providing for his own violent dissolution the same way which being condemned by the same High Court of Iustice with my Lord Capel and Duke Hamilton he suffered on the same Scaffold His Lordships Speech on the Scaffold immediatly before his Death March 9. 1649. Holland IT is to no purpose I think to speak any thing here Which way must I speak And then being directed to the Front of the Scaffold he leaning over the Rayls said I think it is fit to say somthing since God hath called me to this place The first thing which I must profess is what concerns my Religion and my Breeding which hath been in a good Family that hath ever been faithful to the true Protestant Religion in the which I have been bred in the which I have lived and in the which by Gods Grace and Mercy I shall die I have not lived according to that Education I had in that Family where I was born and bred I hope God will forgive me my sins since I conceive it is very much his pleasure to bring me to this place for the sins that I have committed The cause that hath brought me hither I believe by many hath been much mistaken They have conceived that I have had ill Designs to the State and to the Kingdom Truly I look upon it as a Judgment and a just Judgment of God not but I have offended so much the State and the Kingdom and the Parliament as that I have had no extream vanity in serving them very extraordinarily For those Actions that I have done I think it is known they have been ever very faithful to the Publick and very particularly to Parliaments My Affections have been ever exprest truly and clearly to them The dispositions of Affairs now have put things in another posture then they were when I was engaged with the Parliament I have never gone off from those Principles that ever I have professed I have lived in them and by Gods Grace will die in them There may be Alterations and Changes that may carry them further then I thought reasonable and truly there I left them But there hath been nothing that I have said or done or professed either by Covenant or Declaration which hath not been very constant and very clear upon the Principles that I ever have gone upon which was to serve the King the Parliament Religion I should have said in the first place the Common-wealth and to seek the Peace of the Kingdom That made me think it no improper time being prest out by Accidents and Circumstances to seek the Peace of the Kingdom which I thought was proper since there was somthing then in Agitation but nothing agreed on for sending Propositions to the King that was the furthest aim that I had and truly beyond that I had no Intention none at all And God be praised although my Bloud comes to be shed here there was I think scarce a drop of Bloud shed in that Action that I was ingaged in For the present Affairs as they are I cannot tell how to judge of them and truly they are in such a condition as I conceive no body can make a judgment of them and therefore I must make use of Prayers rather then of my Opinion which are That God would bless this Kingdom this Nation this State that he would settle it in a way agreeable to what this Kingdom hath bin happily governed under by a King by the Lords by the Commons a Government that I conceive it hath flourished much under and I pray God the change of it bring not rather a Prejudice a disorder and a confusion then the contrary I look upon the Posterity of the King and truly my Conscience directs me to it to desire that if God be pleased that these people may look upon them with that Affection that they owe that they may be called in again and they may be not through bloud nor through disorder admitted again into that power and to that glory that God in their birth intended to them I shall pray with all my soul for the happiness of this State of this Nation that the Bloud which is here spilt may even be the last that may fall among us and truly I should lay down my Life with as much Chearfulness as ever person did if I conceived that there would be no more Bloud follow us for a State or Affairs that are built upon Bloud is a Foundation for the most part that doth not prosper After the Blessing that I give to the Nation to the Kingdom and truly to the Parliament I do wish with all my heart happiness and a blessing to all those that have been Authors in this business and truly that have been Authors in this very work that bringeth us hither I do not only forgive them but I pray heartily and really for them as God will forgive my sins so I desire God may forgive them I have a particular Relation as I am Chancellor of Cambridge and truly I must here since it is the last of my Prayers pray to God that that University may go on in that happy way which it is in that God may make it a Nursery to plant those persons that may be distributed to the Kingdom that the souls of the people may receive a great benefit and a great advantage by them and I hope God will reward them for their kindness and their affections that I have found from them * Looking towards Mr. Bolton I have said what Religion I have been bred in what Religion I have been born in what Religion I have practised I began with it and I must end with it I told you that my Actions my Life have not been agreeable to my Breeding I have told you likewise that the Family where I was bred hath been an exemplary Family I may say so I hope without Vanity of much affection to Religion and of much faithfulness to this Kingdom and to this State I have endeavoured to do those Actions that became an honest man and a good Englishman and which became a good Christian I have been willing to oblige those that have been in trouble those that have been in Persecution and truly
prayed with him almost a quarter of an hour after which the Col. turning himself again to the people spake as followeth One thing more I desire to be clear in There lieth a common imputation upon the Cavaliers that they are Papists and under that Name we are made odious to those of the contrary opinion I am not a Papist but renounce the Pope with all his dependencies when the distractions in RELIGION first sprang up I might have been thought apt to turn from this Church to the Roman but was utterly unsatisfied in their Doctrine in point of Faith and very much as to their Discipline The Religion which I profess is that which passeth under the name of Protestant though that be rather a name of distinction then properly essential to Religion But the Religion which was found out in the Reformation purged from all the errours of Rome in the Reign of Edward the sixth practised in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth King James and King Charles that blessed Prince deceased that Religion before it was defaced I am of which I take to be Christs Catholique though not the Roman Catholique Religion in the profession and practice whereof I will live and die that for my Religion Then he turnd himself unto the Executioner I have no reason to quarrel with thee thou art not the hand that throws the stone I am not of such an Estate to be liberal but there is three pound for thee which is all I have Now tell me what I lack Execut. Your hair 's to be turned up Col. Shew me how to fit my self upon the block After which his doublet being off and hair turned up he turned again to the people and prayed a good while Before he laid down upon the Block he spake again to the people viz. There is not one face that looks upon me though many faces and perhaps different from me in opinion and practice but methinks hath something of pity in it and may that mercy which is in your hearts fall into your own bosomes when you have need of it and may you never find such blocks of sin to stand in the way of your mercy as I have met with I beseech you joyn with me in prayer Then he prayed leaning on the Scaffold with an audible Voyce for about a quarter of an hour having done he had some private conference with Doctor Swadling Then taking his leave of his Friends Sheriffs and Acquaintance saluting them all with a courteous valediction he prepared himself for the Block kneeling down said let me try the Block which he did after casting his eyes up and fixed them very intentively upon Heaven he said when I say Lord Jesus receive me Executioner do thine Office then kissing the Ax he laid down and with as much undaunted yet Christian courage as possible as could be in man did he expose his throat to the fatal Ax. his life to the Executioner and commended his Soul into the Hands of a faithful and merciful Creator through the meritorious passion of a gracious Redeemer saying the forementioned words his head was smitten off at one blow Sir Henry Hide beheaded over against the Exchance March 4. 1650. AFter this Rebellion had assumed its various shapes put all by and made up with its several interests till it had quite outed the manner of true Religion when there was no Law left but the arbitrary Will and Powers of the Grandees at Westminster no man can wonder at this Turkish Example in the sad fate of this Honourable Person The truth is he was the noble Brother to that excellently prudent States-man the Right Honourable Earl of Clarendel Lord Chancellor of England But we must detract from this Martyrs merit if we involve it in his Brothers whose capacious influence upon the Councels and affairs of this Nation hath rescued all honest and loyal men from the brinks of misery and ruin ten thousand times worse then Death It is a sad Subject to Comment on especially because we may repeat nothing here but what has been most favourably and that at his honourable Relations importunity quite forgiven though I hope that pardon extends not beyond the Memory of the sufferer whatever it reaches to in the Oblivion of the Actor He was sent as he avowedly declared at his death as a Messenger only from our Sovereign King Charles the second soon after the murther of his Royal Father to the Grand Seignior that Office he aptly himself termed an Internuncio which to his and the Kindomes Enemies sounded worse then the jealousie of Popery I make use of that term to discover the occasion of this his fate since it hath its diversity of Names according to the customes and Languages of Nations as Envoy c. in the French but throughout the World barbarous or civil unlesse by sinister and bribed Artifices the very name of such persons were feared and had in publique Veneration He was bred a Merchant who traded to the Levant and who by experience had gained not only a considerable Estate therewith but also a Repute and Estimation amongst the Turkish Company who considering him as an intelligent Person in the businesse and management of that Traffique and entercourse made and constituted him their Consul at the Morea which place with what integrity he discharged and how discreetly and advantagiously for the benefit of the said Company he went through and performed we need not offer to the Test since so universally approved For the convenience therefore of that concerning which the King had them at the Port this Gentleman was pitch upon and sent thither but what he would have transacted there if not opposed is not to be ascertained only thus far we may be assured that there was little of publique matter therein especially of prejudice to this Nation or that Commerce in particular as was most falsly and scandalously noised by his Enemies as may appear by a little instance For near the same time the Right Honourable the Lord Wentworth being sent Ambassadour from the King to the Emperour of Russia to acquaint him with the horrid murther of our Sovereign his Royal Father and to desire some assistance from him in order to the reducing of his Revolted Kingdomes whereunto the Emperour frankly offered besides what he would disburse of his own the whole Estates Goods Merchandizes of the English residing in his Dominions my Lord utterly refused the motion acquainting the Emperour that the King never had harboured any displeasure against his Merchant Subjects of whose loyaltie and affection to him he was very well satisfied though it was out of their power and ability to serve him So that it was a groundless and unreasonable calumny framed on purpose to render him odious to the people that his design and errand to Constantinople was upon the Merchants there in relation to their Estates and that he was sent in the room of Sir Thomas Bendish to be his Majesties Leiger there for that
bitter Cup which by the triumphant malice and revenge of his enemies was given him bâ—im full to drink But that which chiefly conduced to the quiet and composure of his spirit was the lense and acknowledgement of Gods determination and good pleasure in the disposing of him and bringing into that sad condition which he meekly and humbly underwent submitting to that hand which so afflicted him And questionless great was that heavenly support which God ministred unto him many the alterations of those contumelies intended against him as we may see in the time and in his way to his Execution of which I shall say no more but onely insert an omission in the black cribunal and which I had from unquestionable credit that the souldiers themselves who were upon the Scaffold could not refrain from weeping but shed rears abundantly and that this other passage also that having laid down his head and given the sign the Executioner being not ready he lift up his head again and with a soul-piercing accent said to the Headsman Thou hast done me a great deal of wrong thus to disturb and delay my bliss and then submitted it to the fatal stroke and was received into glory A true Copy of the Speech of the Right Honourable James Earl of Derby upon the Scaffold at Bolton in Lancashire together with his Deportment and Prayer before his death on Wednesday the 15. day of October 1651. THe Earl of Derby according to the order of the Court-Marshal held at Chester by which he was sentenced to die at Bolton in Lancashire was brought to that Town with a Guard of Horse Foot of Col. Jones's commanded by one Southley who received his Order from Col. Robert Duckeâ—field betwixt 12 and 1 of the clock on Wednesday the 15 of October the people weeping praying and bewailing him all the way from the Prison at Chester to the place of his death He was brought to a House in the Town near the Crosse where the Scaffold was raised and as he passed by said VENIO DOMINE I am prepared to fulfil thy will O my God this Scaffold must be my Cross Blessed Saviour I take it up willingly and follow thee From thence going into a Chamber with some Friends and servants he was advertised by the Commander in Chief that he had till three a clock allowed him to prepare for death for indeed the Scaffold was not ready the people of the Town Country generally refusing to carry so much as a plank or strike a nail or to lend any assistance to that work their cry being generally in the streets O sad day O woful day shall the good Earl of Derby die here Many sad losses have we had in this War but none like unto this for now the Ancient Honour of our Country must suffer here And to add to his trouble most of the Timber that built the Scaffold was of the ruines of Latham-House but nothing could alter his Lordships resolution and courage for with a stedfast composed countenancy and a chearful he called the company which were present to prayers with him wherein he shewed admirable servence and a kind of humble importunity with Almighty God that he would pardon his sins be merciful to his Soul and be gracious to this Land in restoring the King Laws and Liberty and that he would be a Husband to his Wife a Father to his Children and a Friend to all those that suffered by his Losse or that had been Friends to him Rising from prayer he sat down with a very pleasant countenance and assured the standers by that God had heard his prayers which the blessed Spirit of God witnessed unto him in the present Comforts he now felt in his Soul Then he entered into a discourse of his life and beseecht God to forgive him the dayes and time he had mis-pent and said it was his Comfort that although he had not walked so circumspectly as he ought to have done yet he ever had a sense of his sins and a tender respect to all the Services Servants and Ordinances of his God and that he knew God had mercy for him that he had strengthened and comforred him against all the terrours of death After these and some other words to this purpose he desired his Friends and the people by to pray with him again which when he had ended rising from his knees he appeared fully satisfied of a gracious return to his prayers and never after shewed any sadness in his countenance His next business was with his Son the Lord Strange whom he publiquely charged to be dutiful to his sad Mother affectionate to his distressed Brothers and Sisters and studious of the Peace of his Country But especially said he Son I charge you upon my blessing and upon the Blessings you expect from God to be ever dutiful to your distressed Mother ever obedient to her Commands and ever tender how you in any thing grieve or offend her She is a Person well known to the most eminent Personages of England France Germany and Holland noted for Piety Prudence and all Honourable Vertues and certainly the more you are obedient to here the more you will encrease in favour with God and Man Then desired to be private in the room himself where he was observed to be about half an hour upon his knees with frequent interjections of groans and sighs before his God Then when he called the company in again his eyes witnessed to us that he had abundantly mixed Tears with his Prayers he told us that he was very willing to leave the World bering assured by the Testimony of Gods Spiit that he should be carried from Troube to Rest and Peace from Sorrow to Joy from Life to Death and that Death had no other bitterness in it to him but that it took him from his dear Wife and Children whom he humbly commended to the Protection and Providence of a better Husband and a better Father and that he did not doubt but that the General and they who sat in the Seat of Authority would make provision for them hoping that his death might satisfie all those who sought his life whom he freely forgave and desired God to do the like Then calling for his Son he took his leave of him and blessed him which indeed would have grieved any ones heart though never so hardened to see the parting of him now with his Son and with his two Daughters the Lady Katherine and the Lady Amely Stanley upon the Road betwixt Chester and Bolton the day before This ended he called the Officer and told him he was ready In his way to the Scaffold the people prayed and wept and cryed aloud to whom his Lordship with a chearful countenance and courteous humbleness said Good people I thank you and I beseech you still pray for me and our blessed God return your prayers back into your own bosomes The God of Mercies blesse you the Son of God establish you in
reason to have expected the Council would have justified my Plea which hath been Ancient Honourable Sacred and Vnviolable until this time that I am made the first suffering Precedent for 1 dare affirm it that never Gentleman before in any Christian Nation was adjudged to death by a Council of War after quarter given I am the first and I pray God I may be the last Precedent in this caâ—e I must die and I thank God I am ready for it Death would now be my choice had I the whole world in competition with it I leave nothing behind me which I much care for but my King my Wife my Children my Friends whom I trust the never-failing mercies of my God will provide for I beseech God shew mercy to those who neither had mercy nor justice for me My blessed Saviour taught him by his example and command both to pray for my enemies and to forgive my enemies I forgive them freely even those that contrived my ruine and pursued to death I thank God never persinally offended them to my knowledge in my life and let me not offend against them at my death I forgive them freely and pray God for Christs sake to forgive them also Of my Faith and Religion I shall not hope need to say much herein I hope my enemies if now I have any will speak for me I profess my faith to be in God onely from whom I look for my salvation through the precious merits and sufferings of my blessed Saviour Jesus Christ which merits and sufferings are applied to my soul by the blesâ—ed spirit of comfort the Spirit of God by whom I am assured in my own Soul that my God is reconciled unto me in Jesus Christ my blessed Redeemer I die a dutiful son the Church of England as it was established in that blessed Prince my late Masters Reign which all my of learning and temperance will acknowledge to be the most pure and agreable to the Word of God and primitive Government of any Church within 12. or 1300. years since Christ and which to my great comfort I left established in the Isle of Man God preserve it there and restore it to this Nation And O blessed God I magnifie thy Name that thou gavest me the happinesse and mercy to be born in a Christian Nation and in a Nation where thy truth was professed in purity With honour to thy Name and comfort to thy people I ascribe the comforts of the Holy Spirit which I feel in my bosome to the Ministry of thy Word and Sacraments conveyed unto me in thy Church and made effectual by the operation of the same blessed Spirit In this faith good people I have lived and in this I die pray for me I beseech you and the God of mercies hear your prayers and my prayers for mine and your salvation Presently after the tumult was over Here his Lordship began to speak again his Lordship called for the Headsman and asked to see the Axe and taking it in his hand said Friend I will not hurt it and I am sure it cannot hurt me and then kissing it said Methinks this is as a Wedding Ring which is as a sign I am to leave all the VVorld and eternally to be married to my Saviour Then putting his hand in his pocket said to the Headsman Here Friend take these two pieces all that I have thou must be my Priest I pray thee do thy work well and effectually Then handling the rough furr'd coat the Headsman had on This says he will be troublesome to thee I pray thee put it off and do it as willingly as I put off this garment of my flesh that is now so heavy for my soul then some of the standers by bid the Heads-man kneel and ask his Lordship pardon but he did not but was surly and crabbed but his Lordship said Friend I give thee the pardon thou wilt not ask and God forgive thee also Then turning up his eyes to heaven said aloud How long Lord how long then gently passing over the Scaffold and seeing one of his Chaplains on horseback among the people Good Sir said he pray for me and the Lord return your prayers into your own bosome and I pray remember me kindly to your Brother and God remember him for his love to me and mine Then turning towards his Coffin Thou art said he my bridal Chamber in thee I shall rest without a guard and sleep without souldiers Then looking towards the block he asked if all were ready That said he methinks is very low and yet there is but one step betwixt that and heaven then turning his eyes to the people he saluted them and desired again their prayers then said I see your tears and hear your sighs and groans and prayers the God of heaven hear and grant your supplications for me and mine for you and the Mediation of Christ Jesus for us all Here his Lordship caused the block to be turned that he might look upon the Church saying Whilst I am here I will look towards thy holy Sanctuary and I know that within a few minutes I shall behold thee my God and King in thy Sanctuary above under the shadow of thy wings shall be my rest till this calamity be overpast then he pulled off his blew garter and sent it to his Son and pulling off his doublet with a very religious chearfulness he said I come Lord Jesus and O come thou quickly that I may be with thee for ever upon this he said Pray tell me how must I lie I have been called a bloody man yet truly I never yet had that severe curiositie to see any put to death in peace then laying himself down on the block after a few minutes he rose again and caused the block to be a little removed then said to the Headsman Friend remember what I said to thee and be no more afraid to strike then I to die and when I put up my hand do thy work so looking round about his friends and the people he said The Lord blesse you all and once more pray for me and with me at which words he kneeled down and prayed privately within himself with great sighings about half a quarter of an hour concluding with the Lords Prayer then rising up again he said smilingly My soul is now at rest and so shall my body be immediately The Lord bless my King and restore him to his right in this Kingdom and the Lord bless this Kingdom and restore them to their rights in their King that he and they may joyn hand in hand to settle truth and peace and the Lord bless this County and this Town and this People The Lord comfort my sad wife and children and reward all my friends with peace and happinesse both here and hereafter and the Lord forgive them who were the cause and authors of this my sad end and unjust death for so it is as to mankind though before God I deserve